PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Where is the finish, Patriots? – BostonHerald.com

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Where is the finish, Patriots? – BostonHerald.com

There are two types of stories you’ll read this week, ones about the secondary or ones about how they can’t finish on either side of the ball.

Finishing is really less of a concern to me. It’s something that has to be learned every season somewhat, and just because this team is taking a little longer to gain that killer instinct doesn’t overly concern me. Yet.

Brady in particular had his shaky moments when he most needed to be a steady hand, throwing two interceptions — and Seattle safety Earl Thomas dropped a third that was a potential pick-six had he held on. But this was not simply about Brady or the running backs. This was a systemic cratering at crunch time. The offense faced a third-and-2 at the Seattle 17 with nine minutes to play and the offensive line got buried; Stevan Ridley was flattened for no gain before the Patriots settled for a field goal. They led 23-10, so their growing offensive struggles did not seem significant, but the game was trending the way the Arizona and Baltimore ones had. The later it got, the less the offense produced. When something was needed most, it did the least.

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On seven of the eight drives the Patriots did not allow a play over 20 yards, guess what? They allowed zero points. The lone exception was the pass interference penalty by Patrick Chung that was later erased by a fumble. The other four drives were littered with explosive plays and they directly resulted in all 24 points.

Secondary: What goes on back there? – Patriots – Boston.com

https://www.patspropaganda.com/on-seven-of-the-eight-drives-the-patriots-did-not/

Secondary: What goes on back there? – Patriots – Boston.com

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Secondary: What goes on back there? – Patriots – Boston.com

Time to officially bury the “bend don’t break”. Now I know everyone will be killing the secondary this week, heck, we were leading the charge on the whole deep ball thing two weeks ago, but really if the Patriots can fix this one thing it’s going to make them a lot better. 

The formula for being moderately successful defensively is fairly simple: don’t give up big plays. It’s the mantra of coach Bill Belichick. The play calls by defensive coordinator Matt Patricia are almost always conservative, specifically to minimize risk for big plays that can swing a game. Yet the Patriots keep allowing them. And opponents know they are going to give them up if the Patriots don’t develop a consistent pass rush that can’t do more than spark up here or there.

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Why does it seem like players always regress in the Patriots’ secondary? The list goes on and on: Brandon Meriweather, Terrence Wheatley, Darius Butler, Leigh Bodden, Chung, McCourty, and Ras-I Dowling. Where’s the ascension? Where’s the excellence? OK, how about we settle for a turn of the head and making a play on the ball when the receiver reacts to the ball being in the air? There is much to be disappointed about with the Patriots, especially in the secondary. Without a Giants-like pass rush, the Patriots are going to have to cover better in the back end to win games.

Secondary: What goes on back there? – Patriots – Boston.com

https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-defense-secondary-3/

Quick hit thoughts on a head-shaking Patriots loss

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Here’s something new, blogging from 30,000 feet as we make our way back home after the Pats debacle in Seattle.

Where to begin on this one… Perhaps the easiest place is just how familiar it felt. Defense gave up a lot of long balls and offense went cold when it mattered most. I’m getting tired on these.

Here are some random thoughts and observations without having poured through all the stats and numbers yet…

Injuries starting to mount a little bit, Brandon Bolden, Brandon Lloyd, Matthew Slated and Patrick Chung are all potential situations to monitor.

The running game doesn’t look like one that can thrive in a ground and pound approach. They can run when the defense is on the ropes and gassed/out of position, but the Pats still don’t seem like they can run when they have to run.

Kyle Arrington starting to slide down the depth chart. I am not sure Dennard will give the outside right corner spot up.

No progress on the back end from the safeties. Chung being out at the end certainly didn’t help. They need Gregory back asap though I’m not sure how much he’ll help.

Ras-I played Money again, I’m all for giving him some more opportunities. He has to earn them in practice but a little changeup outside of Dennard might spark something.

Would Dont’a Hightower help things at all?

Very curious how Cunningham, McCourty and Ninkovich grade out.

Deion Branch might be the only healthy receiving weapon the Pats have at the moment.

O-line play was sound in protection, that’s what’s so maddening about the offenses fizzle. Run blocking seemed hit or miss.

There will be plenty of talk about how slim the Pats margin of loss has been, but their problems are real. The good news is that the killer instinct they need has time to develop still.

However, the back end of the coverage is getting exposed over and over, and now there are even more health questions there.

Despite the loss it was an awesome trip to Seattle. Ate a lot of good food, met some passionate Pats fans, and even saw Mr Kraft’s Saturday night appearance.

More analysis of the same problems coming this week…