PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

For a team that has played with the lead for the past few years, why has the pass rush been so average (at best)

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It’s a good question because you could say that “well, they had 48 sacks in 2013, the most in five years and 11 more than they had in 2012.”

But if you’ve watched the games you know the pressure has not been good enough, especially in the biggest moments. Of course the AFCCG stands out, but given Peyton’s release, the air in Mile High and the depleted defensive line rotation for the Pats, it’s easy to see why the Pats might’ve struggled in that one.

I come back to one of the recurring themes here on the blog since it started in 2010 – the lack of interior rush. In 2011 and 2013, the pass rush from the defensive ends was good. In ‘11, we had Nink and Andre Carter with Mark Anderson coming in as the DPR. For most of the season, it was as good a pass rush as we’ve seen since 2007.

Last year, they were forced to use more 1-gap principals with their defensive tackles because they just weren’t big or strong enough to consistently 2-gap. So we saw some better interior rush from Chris Jones and sometime Chandler when he slid inside.

But overall in 2013 it was a mish mosh and nowhere near consistent enough. Chandler could be a super star if teams can’t pay so much attention to him.

Enter Dominique Easley, i.e. everything I’ve been clamoring for since 2010. He’s a disruptive interior force who explodes off of the ball. In theory, that kind of player will not only bring pass rush himself, but take attention away from the other pass rushers.

I really think that with Easley in the fold, along with a hopefully healthy Will Smith, a progressed Michael Buchanan and Nink/Chandler that we’ll finally have the consistent pass rush we need.

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I will say this about my experience with the Patriots: There’s never anything done from a team or individual perspective without meticulous planning or a specific understanding as to what the team goal was for that day, that week, that season. If everyone is not all on the same page, all it takes is one meeting with Bill Belichick or your position coach and you are back in line. That’s what they do there.

Kevin O’Connell on Brady and the Pats

patriots – Backup plan: Former second-string Patriots QB Kevin O’Connell has advice for Jimmy Garoppolo – WEEI | Christopher Price

https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-blog-17/

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yahoosports:

kevinkaduk:

Rob Gronkowski was made for Whose Line Is It Anyway?

Gronktastic

https://www.patspropaganda.com/yahoosports-kevinkaduk-rob-gronkowski-was/

Tom Brady is Still Good at Football

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I’ve been getting some questions in regards to the ProFootballFocus.com/ESPN Insider report that Tom Brady is no longer a top five NFL quarterback. As much as I usually ignore articles like this, it’s the dead season so I might as well weigh in.

As readers of this blog might know, I generally ignore arbitrary rankings whether they’re of teams or players. There’s an endless quest by sports writers out there to rank everything. They’re great click bait and instantly inflammatory if a fan feels his team or player is ranked too low.

And when you piss off fans your work tends to spread like wildfire and you end up on WEEI talking to D&C.

Do these rankings really matter on any given Sunday? Nope. And how boring would sports be if every team and player was easily rankable and that’s how it always played out.

So generally, I could really care less what PFF has to say. A couple years ago they were killing Vince Wilfork to the point where they had to come out and explain why. They also had Matt Ryan, Phillip Rivers, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Ben Roethlisberger, Matt Schaub, and Tony Romo ranked ahead of Brady in 2010. You know, the year Brady was the first ever unanimous MVP of the NFL.

PFF certainly has made a good run out of telling everyone how the Patriots really aren’t that good.

I’ve always issued caution when referring to PFF’s grades in general. They are but one analyst’s opinion and not the end-all be-all of football grades. The fact that the grades for each game are available by Monday, before All-22 game film is made available has always bothered me.

Regardless, it’s impossible for ANYONE, even with All-22 to accurately grade every play. They don’t know the play call. They don’t know the defense. They don’t know the coverage. They don’t know if there was a missed adjustment call. They don’t know much of anything except who was closest to the ball when it was complete or incomplete, or who tackled the ball carrier.

We also have no idea who is grading these games, how consistent they are and exactly what their football backgrounds are. 

In general, I like PFF to run my own opinions against, but to take every stat and piece of information they pass on as indisputable truth is a stretch. They provide a little piece of the big picture.

Now, as for Brady, I’m not a blind homer. He’s in his late-30’s. It’s inevitable that he’s likely declined a bit in certain areas over the last few years, but to state that his decline is obvious is just hyperbole.

It’s also convenient to pile on Brady after what was unquestionably the most challenging year of his career. Not only for the receiver turnover but all the injuries (especially to Gronk) and that one big glaring arrest.

Is Brady still a Top 5 quarterback? I don’t really give a shit. All I know is that there is no other quarterback I’d rather have leading my team and what he did last year with the new receivers and all the injuries did nothing but cement in my mind that he’s one of the best of all time.