PatsPropaganda

Unfortunately I just don’t think he’s gotten his explosion back and I think that’s why they backed off on playing him so much. The separated shoulder probably didn’t help either.

There were definitely some standout moments for Easley, but anytime you draft a guy coming off a major injury there’s some element of risk. Everyone who tears an ACL says you’re not back to yourself until you’re have a full season under your belt.

I still love Easley and think there’s a role for him to play going forward. If we have to wait until next year so be it. But the solid play of Chris Jones/Siliga and Branch to some extent has lessened how much the Pats need Easley this year.

I wouldn’t IR him, just give him a couple weeks off and see where we’re at. You never know if you might need a pass rush or when he might suddenly start feeling a lot better.

Amendola’s dead money if he’s cut falls from $6.8 million this year to $3.6 million next year. That’s still a significant number but his cap hit does go up another million so it’s very possible they’ll cut him or try to rework.

Dobson’s still on his rookie deal and never really got a full offseason so there’s no reason to do anything with him. Give him a chance to compete in 2015 but his spot is definitely not assured. If I were him I’d be living in Foxboro all offseason.

Regardless of those guys I don’t see WR as a huge need next offseason because I like LaFell/Edelman as the starters. They can fill in around them, likely with a slot guy to replace Amendola. I’d like to see Tyms back as well, so along with Dobson you have good depth of size guys.

Maybe a mid-range free agent or middle round draft pick, but I wouldn’t expect fireworks.

My off-the-cuff needs will be to lock down Revis/McCourty, upgrade Chung with an in-the-box safety who can cover better, figure out the RB situation with Ridley/Vereen hitting free agency and then really focus on the offensive line and defensive ends.

This rebuild was one of the reasons I started blogging about the Pats – I was fascinated to see how Belichick would rebuild the defense from scratch essentially. When else in recent football history has a coach like BB had this kind of chance?

At max health I think it’s complete, but really the major pieces took far longer to come together than I would’ve thought. I think it was the Chandler Jones/McCourty to safety/Revis & Browner that made the most difference in the last couple seasons.

Maybe it sounds dumb, but yeah, two physical talented corners, one of whom might just be the best in the game, have had the biggest impact this year that we’ve seen since 2008. Frankly, the Patriots defense has been one you just hoped wouldn’t lose the game for you from 2010-2013, this year they are a defense than can win games.

Prior to this year you picked up pieces here and there… Mayo was a major one at first, then came Ninkovich emerging from nowhere in 2009, Kyle Arrington developing into a top-notch slot guy, and now the pieces have been filled in with Chris Jones/Siliga coming last year, Hightower coming as another first rounder and effectively taking over for Mayo. Wilfork of course has been a big part of it all along and for that he’s like the granddaddy on defense.

But I think what we’ve learned is that an elite secondary can make an okay pass rush sufficient. They don’t have a dominant front seven just yet, but perhaps they will peak in the playoffs as Chandler returns and Hightower gets fully healthy. We’ll see, but they are really good this year and it’s been a long journey to get here.

I think the run game would be better with Mankins, but I am still okay with the trade. Simply put, I think Connolly and Wendell are upgradeable and I wanted to try to replace both of them last offseason. They did draft Stork, someone I mocked to them, and I love that move. He’s still a rookie but he’s shown a lot of promise.

The problem is that without Mankins, Connolly had to slide to left guard and Wendell, who was just a center before this year, was the best (or only legit) option at right guard.

Part of the recent struggles could be related to Connolly’s ankle injury. We tend to not talk about injuries unless they keep guys out of the lineup, but I think that has been a factor. I can’t totally kill Connolly/Wendell, both have had their moments this year and I think Wendell has far exceeded my expectations as a guard.

Still, they’re upgradeable.

Overall they just aren’t getting much push, nor are they getting the second level with any consistency. The running backs are getting hit in the backfield and need to make something out of nothing.

This offseason I’ll be back beating the drum to acquire multiple guards.

Yup, very good point that no one is talking about. Still, I think the Pats have the pieces to stop the Ravens offense that they didn’t have in the past. However I think, as we saw last year in Baltimore, the Ravens are a different team facing Brady without Lewis and Reed. We saw the same thing in ‘09 with our defense when we lost that veteran swagger (for lack of a better term). 

There was something unflinching about the Ravens defense facing us with Reed/Lewis. But they just don’t have that any more in my view and they’re no longer in the Pats’ heads. 

So while I do think the Ravens are one of the best and most underrated teams in the AFC, I don’t think they’d pose a major problem like they did in years past. I’d still prefer them to Indy again, even though we’ve stomped them the last three times. Something about that Colts offense feels like they could put together the kind of game it would take to win in Foxboro. Not sure why I feel this way, just a gut instinct. Let the Broncos deal with them. I’ll take the Ravens in the divisional round.