PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Archives for December 8, 2015

by

6. Jabaal Sheard, DE, Patriots (two years, $11 million, 83.3)
Sheard has missed some time with injury, but when he’s been on the field, he’s been terrific. Despite playing only 370 snaps, Sheard is eighth among 4-3 DE in hurries (28), leaving him trailing only Ziggy Ansah in pass rush productivity among that group. He’s also added 15 stops on the season, as well.

10 Best Free Agent Signings Through Week 13

Have to agree, Sheard has been the perfect addition we all thought he would be. Would love to see him stick around past 2016.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/6-jabaal-sheard-de-patriots-two-years-11/

Edelman was at the tree lighting as a guest of honor. No boot, walked fine, no limp. Seems to be doing better, ahead of schedule. Knock on wood that his recovery stays on track and progresses as nicely as it has but if he doesn’t come back, I don’t see a Super Bowl for us. His presence on offense is significantly missed and I don’t see dola picking up the slack and making those cuts like he does

by

Thanks for the info, and Edelman was also seen in Boston this weekend with a similar report. As I’m sure everybody knows, walking around is one thing, cutting on a dime to get instantly open is another. The other thing is how quickly can Edelman get up to game speed? Remember Brandon LaFell’s first game back? What if that’s Edelman in a playoff game? (Maybe that’s a bad example since LaFell isn’t Edelman, bust still)…

Honestly if the receivers would just catch the ball I think the Patriots will be fine and make a decent run at the Super Bowl no matter where Edelman’s at. For all the stats that we can throw around at the dropoff of the offense without Lewis, Edelman and Gronk, they’re still moving the ball and even had a chance at an impossible comeback. They’re still feeling things out a bit and establishing an identity, but if Martin and LaFell pick up the slack things will be okay.

The thing is, this defense is primed for a Super Bowl run once Hightower gets back. If they can avoid a significant injury going in the next four games (certainly not a given with the way this season has gone), this will be the best I’ve felt about our defense going into a playoff run since 2007.

Pats Posits: Tuesday Edition – Reacting to the Over-reacting

by

To be honest I don’t really read or listen to a lot of the Pats analysis out there, but it’s always fun to wake up on a Monday after a loss to find out what people are apoplectic about. The loss to the Eagles was the classic example of some days you just don’t have the magic. Not to say the Pats couldn’t have won that game or that they didn’t shoot themselves in the foot, but this is the NFL. Every team has talent and regardless of records or how they looked last week, any team can beat any team on any Sunday.

Of course there are those who live in the alternate universe where the Pats get no credit for beating teams that don’t have winning records and subsequently get crucified for losing a game to one of them. It’s an easy way to give them no credit for winning more games than anyone else while simultaneously giving them all the blame when they happen to lose. Now they can declare everything that’s wrong with this Patriots team and why they won’t win the Super Bowl, etc. So yeah, that’s why I don’t need to hear what those kind of “pundits” are saying.

Aside from the obvious errors on special teams and bad throws by Brady, the problem is obvious. The receivers don’t get open as fast now, Brady has to hold the ball longer, the offensive line has to protect longer and everything has slowed down. The Eagles often flooded the field with zone defenders and that exposed the Patriots’ problems.

From WEEI.com:

Brady took an average of 2.63 seconds from snap-to-throw, his highest average of the season. Furthermore, Brady had 16 plays which took more than three seconds, something very uncharacteristic for the Patriots offense. Brady has averaged over 2.2 seconds from snap-to-throw in four straight games, which comes following the first eight games where he only had one game averaging over 2.2 seconds.

The defense was actually pretty good and will be even better when Hightower gets back. I am excited about this defense in the playoffs and there is still every reason to be excited about them.

The special teams problems were an outlier and won’t happen again.

So really, all that matters is the offense finding their groove once again and that’s something that is possible even before Gronk and Edelman return. They had flashes of it against the Eagles, they just couldn’t string it all together without a couple of game-deciding mistakes.

This season continues to feel like a weird version of 2013, with injuries piling up and constantly keeping the team in a state of flux. Last year, there wasn’t a single major injury outside of Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley, both of which happened early in the season. Each week the 2014 team seemed to be building on past performance and confirming their identity.

But this year they’ve been constantly adjusting to the latest injuries and after a white hot start they’ve been in triage mode every week since early October, trying to find ways to win without their top pieces. The offense is now a shadow of what it was in September. Maybe that’s an excuse, but it’s also a fact.

All that said, I still think the Patriots have the inside track on the top seed. The Broncos and Bengals play each other as well as the hot Steelers. There are losses in there for both of those teams. But the bye is so important with those Edelman and Gronkowski injuries. Even if they don’t get the one seed I think their chances in Denver or Cincinnati. The extra week of rest is critical.

It all just comes down to how quickly they can get their offense back and so much of it depends on the status of Edelman. I still hesitate to assume he’ll be back, because even if he is can he still get open immediately and make the impossible third-down catches in traffic? That’s asking a lot.

This might be the most interesting December we’ve had in New England in a long time, at least since 2008 where they were right on the playoff bubble. Needing wins at Jets and at Dolphins could really make those last two games meaningful and difficult. Let’s hope we’ve got at least 87 or 11 back for those.