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BigKen
Day to Day
Watching some of the local post-game and nightly shows from Boston, many of the television sports people are not giving any breaks to the big dogs in Foxboro.
Tom Curran is looking like Tom Brady's cup, trying to defend the GOAT. He's trying to lay most of the blame for the Patriots' poor performance on the "young" receivers, Harry and Meyers. Notice he didn't say 'rookie'?
Finally, two or three people got pissed off and started listing the underlying problems:
1. Brady's ego and attitude. There doesn't appear to be any communication between Brady and Meyer, Harry, Dorsett or Sanu. Where's the disconnect? Sanu is a late arrival, but he's a veteran. The main point that was brought up was that Braddy stopped giving a shit when Gronk walked away. Brady's biggest problem is that he didn't attend one OTA or mini-camp to get familiar with any new offensive players. Brady did not play in the preseason enough to learn their numbers.
2. Brady's attitude on the field and screaming at his teammates doesn't go over well with any of them. This isn't the old NFL. These kids play fast and they expect to see the ball in front of them and not have to turn into a pretzel to catch a ball behind them. Odd Stat: Brady was 14 for 20 for 204 yards 3TDs and QB Rating of 128.9 throwing to Edelman and White on Sunday. Throwing to everybody else he was 10 for 24 for 104 yards 0 TDs 1 INT and a QB Rating of 40.0.
3. Bill Belichick has been uncharacteristically quiet. He can't defend a team that he built or failed to build properly. In February of 2019 the Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl utilizing a very good defense and a better than average offense. When free agency began, BB sat on his hands and watched as critical pieces of his offense and defense decided not to come back. The Patriots don't have a lot of guys with huge paychecks but have a ton of guys with medium sized paychecks so they don't have much of a bank account to work with. Yet Belichick supposedly really tried hard to get Cole Beasley and other WRs who for some unknown reason said, "Nope, can't play for less than $10M a year." Did BB look at his roster and figure out anything that he could do to find a little extra cash? No, he sort of blamed the cap.
4. Belichick didn't make an effort to alter his draft even though he knew that his offensive line was much weaker than last year. Isaiah Wynn tore his Achilles in 2018 and BB had no idea whether or not he could play in NFL or not. Instead of drafting an offensive lineman, he took Harry instead of Metcalf. Metcalf was burner with world-class speed but there were doubts about his ability to run difficult routes. Harry is not a TB12 type receiver. He's big, physical and slow but has hands and the ability to outjump smaller defenders. Good pick, but the wrong pick. OL was a known weakness and BB ignored it to concentrate on the excellent defense.
5. Josh McDaniels hasn't come into 2019. He still thinks he has the Tom Brady of 2014. He's still trying to go fifty yards downfield at least three times a game when he can't see that Brady cannot throw the ball that far. In what could have been a TD pass to Edelman who had a step and half on double coverage Sunday, JE11 had to slow up and wait for a forty seven-yard pass that would have been fifty-three in 2014. The defenders easily knocked the ball away. McDaniels, instead of realizing that this kind of play won't work, wastes opportunities trying to accomplish nearly impossible passing plays.
6. The game against the Texans cannot be used as a measuring stick for this team. 9 of 11 players on defense were truly sick with the flu. Most of them got an IV at half time with huge doses of antibiotics and massive doses of vitamins. 7 members of the offense were in the same condition and four were offensive linemen. Notice that the Patriots left the field at the half down 14-3 and outscored the Texans 19-14 in the second half. The Texans were gassed late in the fourth quarter and the Patriots were shitting and puking their guts outs out in the blue tent. Not saying that the Patriots would have won the game if the flu bug hadn't decided to visit, but the Texans beat a severely unhealthy team on Sunday. One can only hope that the bug was passed along as payback.
So who gets the most blame? If you want to praise Belichick and Brady for wins, then one must also blame them for losses. Belichick can't cure the flu and neither can Brady so they can't be accused of something out of their control.
BUT........If the Patriots want to be competitive in the future, they have to pressure every player to attend OTAs and mini-camps to become familiar with all of the new guys that arrive every year. If they don't attend, get rid of them. If a player doesn't want to attend Organized TEAM Activities, then they are not a team player. No exceptions. Belichick also has to recognize and repair rip and tears in the team fabric and not try to tape over a hole. The tape will get wet or worn and the hole will be exposed when there is no needle or thread available.
Finally....... TB12 has to be told so that he understands and shown film so that he can make adjustments that he is 43 years old an that his reaction time and physical strength is not the same as it was in 2014. He must make adjustments because receivers need to have the ball thrown in front of them and also above their ankles. Time catches up with all of us. The problem is that there is no mercy in the NFL for getting old.
Tom Curran is looking like Tom Brady's cup, trying to defend the GOAT. He's trying to lay most of the blame for the Patriots' poor performance on the "young" receivers, Harry and Meyers. Notice he didn't say 'rookie'?
Finally, two or three people got pissed off and started listing the underlying problems:
1. Brady's ego and attitude. There doesn't appear to be any communication between Brady and Meyer, Harry, Dorsett or Sanu. Where's the disconnect? Sanu is a late arrival, but he's a veteran. The main point that was brought up was that Braddy stopped giving a shit when Gronk walked away. Brady's biggest problem is that he didn't attend one OTA or mini-camp to get familiar with any new offensive players. Brady did not play in the preseason enough to learn their numbers.
2. Brady's attitude on the field and screaming at his teammates doesn't go over well with any of them. This isn't the old NFL. These kids play fast and they expect to see the ball in front of them and not have to turn into a pretzel to catch a ball behind them. Odd Stat: Brady was 14 for 20 for 204 yards 3TDs and QB Rating of 128.9 throwing to Edelman and White on Sunday. Throwing to everybody else he was 10 for 24 for 104 yards 0 TDs 1 INT and a QB Rating of 40.0.
3. Bill Belichick has been uncharacteristically quiet. He can't defend a team that he built or failed to build properly. In February of 2019 the Patriots won their sixth Super Bowl utilizing a very good defense and a better than average offense. When free agency began, BB sat on his hands and watched as critical pieces of his offense and defense decided not to come back. The Patriots don't have a lot of guys with huge paychecks but have a ton of guys with medium sized paychecks so they don't have much of a bank account to work with. Yet Belichick supposedly really tried hard to get Cole Beasley and other WRs who for some unknown reason said, "Nope, can't play for less than $10M a year." Did BB look at his roster and figure out anything that he could do to find a little extra cash? No, he sort of blamed the cap.
4. Belichick didn't make an effort to alter his draft even though he knew that his offensive line was much weaker than last year. Isaiah Wynn tore his Achilles in 2018 and BB had no idea whether or not he could play in NFL or not. Instead of drafting an offensive lineman, he took Harry instead of Metcalf. Metcalf was burner with world-class speed but there were doubts about his ability to run difficult routes. Harry is not a TB12 type receiver. He's big, physical and slow but has hands and the ability to outjump smaller defenders. Good pick, but the wrong pick. OL was a known weakness and BB ignored it to concentrate on the excellent defense.
5. Josh McDaniels hasn't come into 2019. He still thinks he has the Tom Brady of 2014. He's still trying to go fifty yards downfield at least three times a game when he can't see that Brady cannot throw the ball that far. In what could have been a TD pass to Edelman who had a step and half on double coverage Sunday, JE11 had to slow up and wait for a forty seven-yard pass that would have been fifty-three in 2014. The defenders easily knocked the ball away. McDaniels, instead of realizing that this kind of play won't work, wastes opportunities trying to accomplish nearly impossible passing plays.
6. The game against the Texans cannot be used as a measuring stick for this team. 9 of 11 players on defense were truly sick with the flu. Most of them got an IV at half time with huge doses of antibiotics and massive doses of vitamins. 7 members of the offense were in the same condition and four were offensive linemen. Notice that the Patriots left the field at the half down 14-3 and outscored the Texans 19-14 in the second half. The Texans were gassed late in the fourth quarter and the Patriots were shitting and puking their guts outs out in the blue tent. Not saying that the Patriots would have won the game if the flu bug hadn't decided to visit, but the Texans beat a severely unhealthy team on Sunday. One can only hope that the bug was passed along as payback.
So who gets the most blame? If you want to praise Belichick and Brady for wins, then one must also blame them for losses. Belichick can't cure the flu and neither can Brady so they can't be accused of something out of their control.
BUT........If the Patriots want to be competitive in the future, they have to pressure every player to attend OTAs and mini-camps to become familiar with all of the new guys that arrive every year. If they don't attend, get rid of them. If a player doesn't want to attend Organized TEAM Activities, then they are not a team player. No exceptions. Belichick also has to recognize and repair rip and tears in the team fabric and not try to tape over a hole. The tape will get wet or worn and the hole will be exposed when there is no needle or thread available.
Finally....... TB12 has to be told so that he understands and shown film so that he can make adjustments that he is 43 years old an that his reaction time and physical strength is not the same as it was in 2014. He must make adjustments because receivers need to have the ball thrown in front of them and also above their ankles. Time catches up with all of us. The problem is that there is no mercy in the NFL for getting old.