Archives for October 9, 2014

Obviously! Well, he was part of it at least. I think putting actual interior linemen (Connolly-Stork-Wendell) at the interior line positions is really what did it. I wish I could ask BB why they wanted to try tackles inside early this season. I guess the real answer, not the BB-speak “we’re just trying to find the best guys”, would be an attempt to put more size in the middle of the line because that had been lacking in recent seasons.

But what you lost with those tackles was the quickness needed for guards who are pulling and tracking down defenders to block in space. Those are key elements of the Patriots offense and the difference between Connolly pulling and Cannon/Devey doing it are light years apart.

There’s no question, at this point Stork looks like he could be the starting center for the next decade. While Wendell/Connolly certainly made things look a lot better on Sunday night, I think that is still a long-term area of need. So keep an eye on those first round guards next spring in the draft.

I think Tim Wright has a ton of potential in this offense and we just saw him scratch the surface on Sunday night. The Hernandez comparison is an easy one to make and the potency of a high-functioning two tight end offense is well documented.

The key as I see it is getting Gronk’s blocking back to 100 percent. That’s what made Gronk the ultimate tight end weapon and right now he’s still getting the power to block and sustain back. We’ve seen great strides from him the last couple weeks in the passing game – he’s running more comfortably, and doesn’t look aware of his knee or anything else. But watching him block, it’s not where it needs to be.

So get Gronk back blocking like he did in the old days and then you can phase out Hooman for Wright. I don’t know if they’ll be able to get to the same level of fast execution the 2011/2012 offense had, but they’ll present similar matchup problems for opposing defenses.

2013 had to be one of my favorites since I really started blogging full time about the Patriots in late-2007. They overcame so much seemingly impossibly-to-overcome adversity – near complete overhaul at WR, loss of both Hernandez and Gronk, Wilfork, Mayo and Kelly. That team reached as deep as any team I’ve ever seen.

2007 was obviously a thrill ride that came to a crashing halt, but I really enjoyed 2006 as well for similar reasons to 2013 – lots of turnover and adversity that was overcome. To think that team came as close as they did to going to the Super Bowl is special.

Every years has its moments, but 2013 and 2006 really stand out to me personally.

I don’t really even know if Tyms is going to see the field and really, he could be the 53rd guy on the roster right now – a tenuous spot. Might take an injury to Dobson for him to dress for a game. We’ve seen plenty of wide receivers tear it up in the preseason only to never be heard from again. It made sense to keep him on the roster because he cost nothing, but how much value will he have now? I’m not sure.