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Think that the Patriots after the rash of injuries this year might ‘learn a lesson’ and try to sign a big name RB/WR/TE next season? And if it does, who is/are the best fit/fits?

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But what if they get injured then? I don’t see how signing big names helps prevent injuries. They’re returning their entire offense and are staring down the barrel at having to keep Hightower/Collins/Chan and even Butler the following season. 

However I did start to put together a rough list of offseason needs for this year and here’s an early look.

  1. Tackle (Vollmer/Cannon entering last years)
  2. Early Down Running Back (draft, Gaffney, Blount is FA)
  3. Linebacker (middle guy, coverage speed, cut & re-sign Mayo on cheap)
  4. Cornerback (badly need depth, look FA deals)
  5. Wide Receiver (Amendola possible cap casualty)
  6. Tight End (always a need, find ideal Gronk compliment at Y-TE)
  7. Guard (Are Mason/Jackson/Kline the answer?)
  8. Defensive End (Sheard/Ninkovich/Chan entering last years)
  9. Defensive Tackle (always a need)

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Edelman back at practice and things are starting to look up for the rest of the season. 

https://www.patspropaganda.com/edelman-back-at-practice-and-things-are-starting/

If the Pats don’t get a bye and finish with the #3 seed, who would you rather them face out of Pittsburgh, Buffalo, NYJ or KC?

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I really do think they’ll end up with a bye but let’s play. Or put it this way, they’ll either end up with a bye or the Steelers don’t make the playoffs since they have to play both the Broncos and Bengals and could very well win both of those game, plus you have the Bengals vs. Broncos.

The Chiefs scare me the least. I know some are scared of them after last year but I have a hard time seeing them come in and upsetting the Patriots in New England.

Next I’d go Buffalo simply because they’re just a little less talented than the Jets. But they’ve got some good pieces to give us some problems, especially if their run game gets going. But I think the gameplan to beat them is well-known to the Pats and very executable.

The Jets are a little scary given their overall talent. The Week 16 game in New York should be a doozy and that will give us a better sense of where both teams are at after their down-to-the-wire game in Week 7. The question for them boils down to whether or not Fitzpatrick has a perfect game in him. If he does I could see them pulling off the upset.

I’m going Steelers last because as I said, I think it’s an unlikely matchup because if they win the games they need to to get in, it will likely propel the Pats into a bye. Still they have the best quarterback of the bunch and while I like a lot of the Jets pieces better, I just give the Steelers a slight overall edge and their deep speed with Bryant and Brown is worrisome.

Submit a Question!

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Submit a Question!

It’s hard to believe that we’re already wrapping up another regular season, but I don’t think we’ve seen the Patriots team that we’ll see in the playoffs yet. Part of that is gaining more trust in Scott Chandler, Brandon LaFell and James White, the other part is just getting Gronk, Edelman and Hightower back into the fold. 

I’m usually pretty positive but I think we have to accept that this Patriots team might have to win one or two playoff games with minimal, if any, Edelman. Seems like most are simply counting on him to be back and the same old guy for the AFC Divisional round but I think that’s asking a lot. Still, you have to feel okay about any potential first round matchups even without Edelman. But beating the Broncos/Bengals (possibly on the road) in the AFC Championship? That’s a toss up I think if Edelman isn’t back at at least 75%.

Not even worrying about the Super Bowl yet, but the hope would be that by that point Edelman would be pretty effective by that point.

Tons to discuss, what’s on your minds Pats pals?

Patriots vs. Eagles Film Review

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Little late on my film review this week, usually I like to get these things over with after a loss. Still it was good to get a closer look at things and shockingly I started with the offensive side of the ball.

Here’s what stood out in the All-22.

– The Eagles rushed only three guys a lot in this one, often with four deep defenders and their other four in the middle zones. It was effective because the offense is just not as sharp as it was with Edelman and Gronk.

– Keshawn Martin is playing the Edelman role in the offense now, but he struggles to get open quickly and definitely doesn’t have the surest hands either. Another thing that stuck out with him was how he couldn’t quite run the rub routes like Edelman does. This is a fine line between doing it well and getting a penalty, he just doesn’t have the experience and savvy quite yet.

– Replacing Gronk was done by committee as expected, you can’t just plug Chandler into the Y-TE role and ask him to block like Gronk does so Watson and Williams had magnified roles. Chandler (at the 46 yard line) should’ve gotten the ball on the first third down of the game below, instead Brady tried to hit LaFell deep, a recurring theme in this one. Just seems like Brady doesn’t quite trust Chandler yet and when he does go to him Chandler’s been inconsistent. Still a work in progress there.

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– I’d like to see more of James White, or at least see him made more of a focal point in the offense rather than just a rotational guy, which he still seemed to be despite his best statistical game of his career. Each week he’s taking small steps, but if the Pats are going to make a Super Bowl run I believe they have to embrace White more.

– Always hate to be critical of Brady but this wasn’t a great game for him. I think part of it is just trying to do too much, looking too hard for kill shots. There are guys open but he’s not finding them and often when he is, they’re dropping the ball. They had 17 third downs against the Eagles and 11 of them were eight yards or longer. That’s not winning on first and second down, and when they really got away from the run in the second half, Brady missing the easy 4-6 yarders really started to hurt.

– Glad that Josh Kline was at practice on Wednesday, but Fletcher Cox pretty much had his way with him all game long.

– Nothing against the guy personally, but Brandon Bolden might be my least favorite Patriots running back of all time. Pretty much the opposite of dynamic. As I’ve said before, he gets what’s there and no more.

– Again, why they abandoned the run in the second half I have no idea. They ran it 8 times in the second half, four of which were Brady sneaks. In the first half they ran it 17 times and averaged over four yards-per-carry.

– The play before Brady’s goal line pick six the Eagles got instant pressure while Cannon/Jackson/Stork and White were trying to block just two guys. Just gross. See below…

– Incredible how smooth Brady was on the trick play where he caught the ball for 36 yards. But right after that came his second interception which I’d say should not have been thrown even if LaFell broke off the route. Too many chuck-it-ups in this one and I feel like Brady was again going for a kill shot when they just needed a score on this drive more than a big play.

– The furious comeback fell just short, but credit to the Pats for hanging in there. Always a good sign and the biggest silver lining that can be taken from this loss. But the other silver lining has to be James White. He earned more trust in this one and is the only new guy showing consistent separation and ability to make defenders miss. We could look back as this being the game that the offense started to return to form with White being a big piece going forward.

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This morning we’re taking a closer look at the latest DVOA numbers from Football Outsiders, broken down by receivers the Patriots have faced. Now the talent levels are a little different than last year, but can you really fault Belichick for letting Revis and Browner go after seeing these numbers? 

Kyle Arrington has fallen off a cliff in Baltimore so it’s not like keeping him around necessarily fixes the “Other WR” ranking. I also think the RB number (20th) would be a little better had Collins not missed four games either.

But I do think rounding out the corner depth and providing competition for Coleman (who I like) in the slot.

Lean times 2008-203 though, eh?

https://www.patspropaganda.com/this-morning-were-taking-a-closer-look-at-the/