
Originally Posted by
PatsSoxKnicks
A lot of people aren't going to like this and say its an excuse but its true- injuries were a big reason we lost in that game and why we have not won a SB in the last few years (11 and 12, 2010 was a younger team that just wasn't ready).
Don't believe me? Well consider that the Niners defense has had 12 players play 90% of their snaps this year. 12 players. Yup. And other than Justin Smith getting dinged up, their D has been entirely healthy for the whole year and they'll probably end up winning the Super Bowl. Now imagine if you take out just 1 of those players? How good is their D? Seeing as how their base D (+ Culliver) always plays, their backups would be tremendously inexperienced (and probably not that good either) and yet, they've been fortunate enough to not have those injuries. God forbid, they lose someone like Willis or Bowman and that team is not at all the same. That was true when Justin Smith went down as well. Injuries do in fact play a role in the NFL and sadly, we've been beaten up at the wrong time of the year with some pretty big injuries. It's unfortunate but I think we all know having a 100% Gronk in the SB last year or in this years game, would've made a huge difference.
With that said, this team is still coming along. We're one of the youngest teams in the NFL and many of our younger guys should continue to get better. The issues I see with the team:
1) We could use another taller receiver, someone who can go up and get the ball. Once Gronk went down, we lost that element of our offense. Ballard is a guy who can help with that (he's 6-6') but getting another guy would be a good idea. If this tall receiver can get downfield, that'd be a plus as well.
Other then that, our offense is pretty set. We just need to be healthy when the playoffs come around.
On defense, if we re-sign Talib, I like our corners. However, we could use another one for depth. While Arrington was good in the slot, we don't want to be an injury away from him having to play on the outside where he gets roasted. The guy who really got victimized in the AFC CG was Cole (5-5, 67 yards allowed, 157.9 QB rating against in the game). We do not want to be in a situation where we have to rely on someone like Cole in any capacity, so we could use another corner. Dowling will be coming back but at this point, expecting him to be healthy is a risk not worth taking.
The other guy in the secondary who was victimized in the AFC CG was Gregory (4-5, 54 yards allowed, 151.3 QB rating against in the game). He'd be a nice guy to have as a backup but I'm hoping the Pats upgrade from him. He's a bit inconsistent and can sometimes take bad angles. And as a safety, I'm not all that confident in his ability to cover well.
In addition, the Patriots badly need a linebacker who can cover. The Pats gave up 64 yards a game to TEs this year, which was the 3rd worst total in the league. Per Football Outsiders, the Patriots ranked 29th in DVOA at defending TEs this year. In addition to that, the Patriots gave up 51 yards a game to RBs in the passing game, which was the worst total in the league this year. Again, per FO, the Patriots ranked 23rd in DVOA at defending RBs in the passing game this year. Usually teams put a linebacker on the RBs and TEs, with safeties sometimes covering the TE. Well the Pats don't really have a safety that can matchup with TEs nor do they have a linebacker who can really cover. The Pats need to address both these areas, so I would say we look for 2 cover linebackers and a safety, so we have some depth there.
The other area where we were weak was defending "other WRs" (per Football Outsiders) but that takes into account the whole year and when we traded for Talib and inserted Dennard in, we were much better in that area.
Finally, we could obviously still use a better pass rush. Jones being healthy and improving should help but an additional pass rusher is a must.
Honestly, the Pats are pretty close to being a complete team, we just need to address a few weaknesses- mainly depth in the secondary and a LB/Safety who can cover TEs and RBs. We could also use another pass-rusher or 2. Offensively, another bigger receiver and thats about it.
The Pats are VERY close, we just need to pray for good health at the end of the year and that our younger guys continue to improve as well as some fine tuning to address depth, the pass rush and covering RBs/TEs.