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Patriots Friday Q & A! Ask me anything!
One Thing That Could Hold the Patriots Back from a Super Bowl Run | Bleacher Report
One Thing That Could Hold the Patriots Back from a Super Bowl Run | Bleacher Report
My Friday column is up on Bleacher Report, and you can probably guess it but I’m talking about turnovers in the playoffs.
The Patriots had this game in hand not only because of their passing game, but because of a hidden battle in which they comfortably got the upper hand. In battling for column inches with the likes of Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Wes Welker, the Patriots’ running game is always going to come off second best. This season though, the dirty little secret around the Patriots is they have the running game to balance their offense and terrify the rest of the AFC.
Marquee Matchups: The Hidden Battle | ProFootballFocus.com
Good read on the Patriots run game.
Do you think the pats will re-sign welker in the off-season? If it were me, I’d do it in a heartbeat. This guy might be the reason why we haven’t lost more games this season, and the reason why we’ve been close in the games we’ve lost. His offensive value is too high for this team to let go. People point to Edelman to replace him, and while edelman is good, he can never stay healthy!
Unfortunately I don’t. Not because I don’t want Welker back but because it’s just a long shot that they’d be able to figure out a long term contract this off-season if they couldn’t do it last year. And to franchise him again makes zero sense because you’d in effect be paying him in two years what you didn’t want to pay him over three plus years.
It’s unfortunate but I still think the Patriots will be okay offensively. They’ve been in the top 10 in points scored almost every year Belichick has been here and that was even before Welker. No question he’s a great player and it will be a significant loss to overcome, but the combination of Hernandez, Gronk and Edelman will soften the blow and allow them to continue to have solid receivers who can control the middle of the field.
The offense will evolve again, but they also have a stable of young running backs, including Jeff Demps who is on IR, that could make for an interesting next generation Patriots attack.
There’s no question they’ll have to add some receivers this off-season if Welker does walk away which will be interesting given their difficulties finding guys who Brady can trust.
It will be sad to see Welker go, but the Patriots will be okay.
AFC East draft primer: Patriots – AFC East Blog – ESPN
AFC East draft primer: Patriots – AFC East Blog – ESPN
The Patriots will be drafting toward the end of the first round, because they are a quality team heading to the playoffs. New England doesn’t have a lot of holes to fill, but pass defense is the biggest issue. Expect the Patriots to stock up on good safeties and cornerbacks. Talib and Chung are both free agents and may not return. Receiver depth also will be an issue. Welker is playing on a one-year franchise tag and the Patriots are not expected to pay Welker market value for his immense production. The emergence of Julian Edelman this season would ease that blow. But depth will be needed on the outside.
I don’t touch the draft or college football until after the Patriots season is over, but I disagree with this assessment that CBs and Safeties are the primary need.
As I see it right now the main position to target is defensive tackle and I’d be happy to take two of them, and I’d prefer at least one of them is a “get upfield” type.
I really don’t care who the secondary consists of. Any secondary can be managed if your front seven gets consistent pressure.
However my second area of need is directly related to the Patriots struggles covering the middle of the field. I’d like to see a coverage linebacker picked up. Someone who can compliment Mayo/Spikes/Hightower. Dane Fletcher could compete in that spot already assuming the Pats re-sign him after the season.
And I would definitely not rule out a wide receiver, which will certainly make things interesting since they’ve missed on so many of them.