If Amendola cant make it through next season full healthy, do you think the Pats cut him?
Doubt it, he’d cost more to cut than to keep next year. He’s here at least until 2015 I think.
So I watched the replay of the Pats/Saints game (because it was free) and to my (very) untrained eye it seemed like that 3rd and 7 on the first drive where Brady got sacked and we settled for 3, that once Amendola broke off for the incut and Dobson broke towards the middle of the endzone the safety followed him, and the KT was open for the TD, but Brady either didn’t take it or didn’t see it. Thoughts?
Yeah KT was open, but the Saints dropped 8 into coverage and that might’ve been what made Brady hesitate. Looks like Brady saw KT too, but probably would’ve had to have thrown it earlier. 33 was in okay position to possibly jump the route. It would’ve been close. Brady was playing safe.
Really what they want to do in that situation is run the ball. If you watch NFL Turning Point they pointed out the same thing.
Has the offense been held back due to the lack of a receiving back
Absolutely. I like Brandon Bolden, but he drops every other screen pass they throw to him. There’s no question that when Shane Vereen returns he’ll bring an element that has been completely absent.
Let’s not forget how hyped he was this offseason. His unique pass-catching skills will be a huge asset and another huge problem for opposing defenses.
What are your thoughts on my two biggest areas of concern, protection/running against the Jets D-Line and stopping the Jets from running up the middle of our D-line?
Yeah, those are good concerns. Gronk should help assuming he’s back, but Connolly/Cannon and Wendell need to have good games, because the inside of the Jets line is tough. Most likely I’d expect the Pats to spread them out a little more and not allow the Jets to crowd the box and disguise rushers.
I do expect the Jets’ offense to test the inside of our line and I think you’ll see plenty of Brandon Spikes who was not himself in the first matchup, likely due to sickness.
The strange thing is that while the injuries to the defensive line might tempt teams to run on them, the injury to Mayo means the Pats will likely have better run-stopping linebackers in.
So expect the Jets to test both out and see what they have success with. Chandler Jones and Rob Ninkovich need to have big games, not letting Geno Smith out of the pocket, but also finishing with sacks when they get the chance.
Assuming that Gronk is able to play for his normal ammount of snaps and is 100% ready to play in terms of speed, strength, mental toughness…. How does his return affect the capabilities of the running game? Whether as a blocker or keeping opposing safeties/LB’s out of the box?
It’s huge in every aspect of offensive football.
On the ground, you get back your best blocking tight end, so that improves the running game. He also could force defenses into more nickel packages which again, improves the running game.
In the passing game, you get back the best third-down and red zone threat in the NFL. Two areas the Pats have struggled most on offense this season. And not only can Gronk do damage when he’s catching the ball, just having him on the field will affect the coverage the Pats see. This will open things up a little more for the outside guys like Dobson and Thompkins.
Assuming he’s the same old Gronk (though I’m sure he’ll be a little rusty), you can’t understate how much of an impact he can and will have because he’s so good and so involved with every aspect of the offense.
I may just be trying to find the positives in these ugly situations but I feel like the rookies are getting and gonna get a ridiculous amount of experience that they wouldn’t have got without these injuries. I think the next couple of seasons the Pats are going to be a young team with a ton of experience! What are your thoughts?
Ssshhh, you’re starting to sound like me. But as I said all offseason, there were bound to be bumps in the road early in the season, and that was before we started losing impact players almost every week to injury. It’s actually pretty amazing that the Pats have only lost one game to this point.
Look, I still don’t know how good Thompkins and Dobson can be, but both are showing progress and should only get better. And yes, the injury to Amendola only forced the Pats to give the rookies even more time.
Now, with Gronk coming back, it looks like the hardest part of the new offense is now behind us. Once Vereen returns it should get even better.
And this is not even mentioning the Pats’ defense. Like you said, this team is well-set on both sides of the ball for the future. Replacing Brady down the road will be a major deal, but whoever is the next QB should have a solid veteran team around him with a lot of talent.
Any way you cut it, the Pats are really set up to be good for the near future.