PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Patriots news and over-reaction analysis

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I apologize for the straight up text posts the last couple days, but the fact is that I don’t really feel like seeing any stupid Jets stuff on here, nor do I really feel like being overly positive about the regular season just yet and posting highlights or any of that stuff.

My TV went off as Shonn Greene went to sleep on the football in the end zone and I haven’t turned it back on for anything sports related since. So yes we’ve seen tweets popping up about Bart Scott’s angry interview, Kris Jenkins telling Brady to shut up, the Jets staying up until 4am partying after the win, the Jets taunting those brave Patriots fans who stuck around until the end, the videos that Rex showed the Jets of the Patriots mocking their Jet celebration, and so on. But I’m just ignoring it all.

So this will continue to suck for a couple days then pretty soon no one will care any more and it will be all about what happens in the championship games. So we just need to ride out another twenty four hours and then the Pats will be out of the cross hairs and fade into offseason anonymity like everyone else.

So here are just some quick hit thoughts about all the storylines that are swirling right now:

I never like to stereotype the fan base of any team. I think every team has it’s intelligent, civil fans as well as it’s loudmouth, jerk fans. But let’s just say I’ve never seen so many personal attacks and trash talking from a collective fan base like I’ve seen from some Jets fans the last couple days. It was yesterday afternoon that the emails and comments really started rolling in. I’m thinking about doing an entire blog post about one special email that was sent to me. Again, I’m not going to say all Jets fans are a-holes, because we all know there are some a-hole Patriots fans out there, but the collective vitriol from a chunk of them is unprecedented for me.

Let’s be honest if the Jets didn’t get us this year they might never get us. The have zero rookie contributors and a collection of hungry vets on one year deals. Combine those factors with a veteran defense and a quarterback who played a perfect game, it’s not really that hard to understand how they beat New England. On paper is looks like a 6 seed beat a 1 seed, but we all know how close these teams really were, especially when the game went like it did.

The Patriots meanwhile have one of the youngest defenses in the NFL, and will get back at least two huge defensive starters for 2011. No doubt the Patriots have work to do, but there’s no question about which team is better set up for the future. I said it all last summer that I truly didn’t believe we’d see this incarnation of the Pats really start to peak until 2011/2012 and nothing that happened this season will change that. We might not get perfect MVP seasons out of Brady next year or the year after, but as the defense gets better we won’t need him to.

A lot of people seem critical of BB’s decision to bench Welker for the first series. While Welker’s presser was subtle and funny, I support BB’s decision. As my Dad always used to say ‘never get in a pissing contest with a skunk’ and that’s what WW did. I appreciated the comedy of it, but that’s not how the Pats do business. When Welker did that I became more concerned about the game because for the first time it felt like maybe the Jets really were getting under the Patriots skin. Ultimately I know it’s all in fun, but I much prefer to walk quietly and carry a big stick.

A week ago the Pats had one of the best offenses of the last decade but today apparently they must find a wide receiver. I’m not on board with that. While I think a mid-round draft pick could be a possibility I highly doubt there will be a major free agent splash like Ochocinco. Brandon Tate deserves another year. Welker and Branch need an offseason to get completely healthy. Let’s not forget the jump Brady had from year one back from an ACL to year two back. Then there’s also Taylor Price and Julian Edelman waiting in the wings. So I really wouldn’t even be surprised to see zero additions to this position in the offseason.

I’ve always really liked Matt Light but there’s part of me that wonders if this offensive line needs a little shake up. The last three playoff games they have not been able to keep the pressure off Tom Brady, and at some point you have to wonder has this line combination has peaked. I’m not a huge Kaczur fan but would a Vollmer-Mankins-Kopper-Connolly-Kaczur line make sense? I don’t think the Pats can pass up a dominant OL in the draft, especially if they don’t figure out a way to get Mankins back.

The Jets can say whatever they want. I really wish Deion Branch hadn’t said anything about them being classless. We all know the personality of that team. Did you expect anything differently from them after the ended our season? And that’s why I’ve been in a media black out since Sunday. This game was in fact not the last time these two teams will ever meet. And if the Jets lose this weekend or in the Super Bowl their offseason will be almost as miserable as the Patriots will be.

That’s all for now as we slowly begin getting to know the draft prospects….

Not playing the Patriots blame game.

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So hopefully by the end of the day today we’ll be able pin the exact one thing that was responsible for the Patriots loss. 

Was it Welker’s benching? Was it Patchung!’s bobbled fake punt? Are the wide receivers simply unable to get open? And where was Aaron Hernandez? Do Woodhead AND Law Firm now need to be replaced? Tom Brady’s lost three straight playoff games, let’s get rid of him! And so on…

Trying to find the one or two ingredients responsible for a loss is like trying to find one or two ingredients in meatloaf. Yes you can see some of the obvious ones, but others you can’t, and ultimately it’s the special combination of ingredients that are responsible for the result, each contributing in their own small special way.

The Patriots did not execute like champions and they deserved to lose. There’s no one positional fix or upgrade that is going to solve all the problems we did or didn’t see against the Jets.

The off-season will begin with a good hard look at the Patriots personnel and coaching staff based on the entire season. Some big picture concerns based on not just what we saw yesterday:

  1. pass defense – biggest weakness of the 2010 Patriots.
  2. pass protection – break downs in the last three playoffs losses.
  3. pass rush – loss of Mike Wright/Myron Pryor didn’t help.

Bruschi breaks down the Patriots loss to Jets

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Bruschi breaks down the Patriots loss to Jets

Great read from Tedy, he obviously knows what it takes to win in the playoffs and what the Pats were lacking yesterday. The Jets had a plan and they executed it, and the insight Tedy provides here is interesting.

My reactionary thought is that another explosive running back, a big, tough runner might be just the thing this team team needs on offense to overcome what the Jets did yesterday. 

While much of it can attributed to the Pats being flat, we can also expect to see the same defensive game plan from opponent next season. Building a team to defeat that defensive scheme (sans the fake injuries) begins shortly. 

But I think we’ve seen enough playoff letdowns to know that some kind of evolution on offense is needed again. Seems like forever since we won a playoff game doesn’t it?

Focusing on the Patriots big picture

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As this loss slowly sinks in it’s pretty clear what happened. Sanchez played mistake-free, accurate football, the Jets veteran D was all over Brady, and the Pats came out and stayed flat. We all knew exactly what the Jets needed to do to win, and they did it. You have to respect that. 

It was pretty obvious that despite only losing two games in 2010 the Patriots were vulnerable if you didn’t beat yourself and executed. How many of the fourteen wins were just the other teams beating themselves? San Diego, Indianapolis, Miami both times are just a few that come immediately to mind.

That’s the hallmark of a well-coached team. They don’t beat themselves. They play hard for sixty minutes, and usually the other team won’t even do that.

But today the Jets played harder and were better than the Patriots, and take a 52-51-1 all-time series lead.

It’s surprising that a team that rose to the occasion in so many big regular season games failed to show up when it was all on the line. They played tight, the Jets vets did not.

If you asked me before the season in my heart of hearts what would I have predicted? That the young defense would struggle early but peak as the playoffs got here. No chance in hell they’d go 14-2 with that schedule, but alas they exceeded all our expectations and grabbed the first overall seed.

What I questioned then, a question that was answered today, was if this defense was really primed and battle tested to get the critical stops and plays that are required to win in the playoffs. Interceptions and sacks are great in the regular season, but they’re critical in the post season. Today the young Pats proved they aren’t quite there yet.

While the offense was one of the top five of the last decade it sputtered when it counted most. So while it was disappointing to see the Jets shut it down, also realize that it was more about not executing than it is needing entirely new personnel. Perhaps a new weapon at RB to replace Sammie Morris/Fred Taylor, or even some shuffling in the offense are probably the only significant spots to be addressed.

We also can’t forget about getting the desperately needed Leigh Bodden and Ty Warren back. This sucks right now, but really the fact is that we’ll be right back in the thick of it next season. 

So I don’t really feel suicidal right now. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a deeply disappointing loss. But the Jets are built Super Bowl or bust, and this year they got us with it. They will be a far different team than the Patriots when the two meet again in September (assuming there’s football). 

I probably won’t turn on ESPN until sometime in mid-March, but we’ll slowly shift our focus to the draft and what the Pats might look to do with all their picks. 

My over reactionary draft needs would probably be:

  1. DE
  2. OLB
  3. RB
  4. OT/OG
  5. S

Should be an interesting off season. So long to the 2010 Pats, you gave us four great months, followed by what’s looking like six months of agony.