New England Patriots Discussion

[ElectricEye]

Reiss posted an interesting breakdown of the offensive line play today, courtesy of Pro Football Focus. 3 of the sacks we've allowed on the year were deemed to be Brady's fault.

Matt Light, 472 snaps in pass protection, 3 sacks allowed, 7 hits allowed, 22 pressures

Nate Solder, 293 snaps, 1 sack, 2 hits, 12 pressures

Logan Mankins, 474 snaps, 3 sacks, 4 hits, 11 pressures

Dan Connolly, 395 snaps, 1 sacks, 6 hits, 10 pressures

Brian Waters, 462 snaps, 2 sacks, 2 hits, 4 pressures

Sebastian Vollmer, 210 snaps, 3 sacks, 2 hits, 3 pressures

Ryan Wendell, 72 snaps, 0 sacks, 0 hits, 1 pressure

Good information, and encouraging stuff as far as Solder goes. He's done a very good job as the swing man along the line this year and looks to have a serious future with the team down the road. He's still got a ton of room to improve as well. Hopefully that's soon, as the numbers are lining up with the eyeball test on Matt Light.

[Nalej]

Originally Posted by Random Comment on ESPNBoston

f you look at most pressure (sacks + hits + pressures) allowed as a percentage of snaps played, the picture looks like this:
Light 6.7%
Solder 5.1%
Connolly 4.3%
Mankins 3.8%
Vollmer 3.8%
Waters 1.7%
Wendell 1.4%

Someone did the math for hit/snaps(%)... looks even cleaner
(I didn't check the math)

M.Light needs to go after this year. No more, please.

[ElectricEye]

That's not perfect, but yeah, it does give a ballpark idea of how efficient a guy has been in pass protection and Light has been the worst of the bunch by far. Freeney on Light has always been something worth watching, and even with the Colt's struggles this year, it still will be. Freeney and Mathis almost beat Pittsburgh by themselves in that game earlier in the year.

[descendency]

Vollmer is basically as bad as Light in everything except pressures.

That could be the RT vs LT discrepancy though.

I honestly thought Light had played better than those numbers indicate.

[Razor]

Originally Posted by descendency

Vollmer is basically as bad as Light in everything except pressures.

That could be the RT vs LT discrepancy though.

I honestly thought Light had played better than those numbers indicate.

Vollmer has also been hurt all year, so don't talk him down now and then love him when he returns to his usual beastly ways. :) But yeah, Light needs to go after this season.

[ElectricEye]

Originally Posted by descendency

Vollmer is basically as bad as Light in everything except pressures.

I'm with you on Vollmer. Huge drop off in level of play from last year to now, even though the numbers don't really make it look that way. He hasn't been moving people off the ball in the running game either. Very disappointing season from him.

[BradysKnee]

Dissapointing to see Vollmer DNP (back). Clearly the guy has been playing with a lot of pain.

[ElectricEye]

Mentioned this before, but I'm OK with it. Shut it down and see if you can get him right. Solder is giving good protection and we've got some depth there with Cannon as well. Scary running a rookie out there against Freeney and Mathis, but those are the types of guys Solder is able to handle so far.

[Nalej]

I think you're underselling the importance of pressures, Desc

[FlyingElvis]

So . . . do we eek one out w/Freeney and Mathis wreaking havoc all game, or is it a rout?

[Matthew Jones]

I'd be shocked if New England had too much trouble dispatching the Colts this week.

[ElectricEye]

The Colts have the talent to win some games, I'm with BB on this one. Don't let the record deceive you on that front. In terms of coaching and desire though, it's a mess. It would take a historic upset for them to beat us this weekend. Anything can happen, but this is as close to a layup as it comes in the NFL.

[Jvig43]

I would be very surprised if we didn't win this game by a large margin.

[descendency]

FML FML FML FML FML FML

Mike and Mike is broadcasting from Gillette tomorrow, but I am having to be at school from like 6 am to like 3pm because my senior project is being displayed (from 10-1, but I have to make sure it is working and whatnot) and a few other things. . .

I'm going to miss the Patriots cheerleaders :( (oh. . . and Bill Belichick)

[FlyingElvis]

Mario Manningham is a FA next year. It's probably safe to assume he'll get the Steve Smith treatment from the Giants this offseason, since they have Cruz lighting up the league and Barden looking good, too.

He could be a nice, cheap target for our deep route issues. Everything will depend on if / when he has surgery and if / when he recovers, but I'd be happy to see him in a Pats uni.


(I'm still hoping Desean Jackson continues his foolish choice to pout and give less than 100% effort, thus reducing the cost of acquiring him as an FA, but that's a different dream.)

[ElectricEye]

Manningham and D-Jack are interesting options, but both have some issues. Manningham is dumb as ****, something that we haven't particularly been keen about in the past. Desean is dream fit, but he's more than a little bit of a punk. Can't really see either of those working out, to be honest.

I'm sort of hoping for a bigger target anyway, albeit a downfield guy, not a YAC one. We only really have one guy on the roster who consistently wins in jump ball situations. Rueben Randle has broken out in a big way this year...and no one has really seemed to take much notice. Really wouldn't mind capitalizing on that if he decides to come out this year.

[FlyingElvis]

I'm not sure the jump ball type is a big need for us, though. With Gronk in the lineup we have the redzone / highpoint guy we need. What I see as our biggest need is a big play threat. We literally have nobody that can post play where the ball is caught 40+ yards downfield.

Desean is a punk this year, but I beleive it's this year only. It's stupid of him, but I completely understand how he could be a punk after basically being punked by the Eagles. They threw money at everybody except him & Shady - their two most explosive weapons. I'll lmao if Shady burns them, though it's unlikey since they will no doubt tag him.

[ElectricEye]

Oh, I absolutely agree with needing a guy who can catch the ball 40+ yards down field(at the spot). But when you look around the NFL, most of the guys who do consistent down the field damage tend to be bigger than what we have right now. I would be fairly disappointed if we went with more "smurf" receivers, even though I like Kendall Wright quite a bit.

As far as Desean goes, I've just never liked the vibe the kid gives off and it absolutely doesn't surprise me that he's gone and done the stuff he has this year. There's been murmurs of him having attitude issues going back to college, even. Love the talent, not sure I buy him as a Patriot though.

[FlyingElvis]

Less of a pipe dream than Fitz, but still a pipe dream. FWIW - I've always assumed he's a chippy pain in the ass. But I also assumed there's no other way to land in the NFL as a 5.10, 170 pound WR.

He wasn't an issue up until this year, despite outproducing his contract pretty much from the get-go.

[Matthew Jones]

Someone like Vincent Jackson would be more likely than DeSean; Jackson is someone the Patriots were rumored to be interested in trading for last year and is also a huge vertical target/deep threat. He also dominated us this year, which is something Belichick really looks for. Other interesting free agent options are Marques Colston, Robert Meachem, Pierre Garcon, and Steve Smith (Eagles.) I wouldn't hold my breath on anyone considering the Patriots are likely to pay Welker quite a bit and they probably won't want to invest too much in one position.

[ElectricEye]

Out of that group, I'm all over Meachem. He's been an inconsistent guy in New Orleans, but he's got physical skill and has had meaningful production in the past. Colston just doesn't do much for me for whatever reason. You'll have to pay quite a bit more to get him as well.

[descendency]

I wouldn't want anything Drew Brees can't make awesome.

As far as DJax is concerned, I am concerned he can't make plays in the redzone. If he could, I'd have no problem giving him a huge contract even. He's going to cost too much to be a between the 20s kind of guy though, even if he is a down the field threat.

[ElectricEye]

Originally Posted by descendency

I wouldn't want anything Drew Brees can't make awesome.

No offence intended to Brees as he's a great player, but I'll take my chances with Brady making a guy betterer ;). But yeah, Meachem isn't a centerpiece guy no matter which way you slice it. That would be more of someone you bring in who is ready to do it right this second while you wait for someone to help you later. The prospect of us drafting another receiver is just a tad bit horrifying though.

[Nalej]

I've always been a fan of J.Knox. I'd love to see him in Foxboro at some point in the future.
Just talking out my ass though, I don't know what he's contract situation is

[cmarq83]

I really like Meachem as well. He's an underrated run after the catch guy, but in a different way to a guy like Hernandez or Welker who specialize in operating in tight spaces. Meachem gets back to full speed very quickly after making a catch, and doesn't lose much speed when he makes a cut. He actually reminds me a lot of Taylor Price minus the never sees the field in the NFL part. They have roughly the same size and speed, and look very similar catching the football.

I also like the ideas of Braylon Edwards and Pierre Garcon. Those guys are incredibly inconsistent, but for a 3-4 games a year they always look truly elite. The Patriots just need a guy who can take over a game every once in a while besides Welker and Gronkowski.

My massive pipe dream is signing Mike Wallace to a RFA contract. I'd easily give up the 2 picks, and since the Steelers are so royally cap ****** for next season there is a good chance they'd be unable to match the deal. 5 years and $45 million front with a high salary in the first year would probably do it. BB would never go for it because of the picks, the fact that he has to pay Welker too, and the fact that he doesn't value receivers that much, but a man can dream can't he?

With Wallace I think our offense could be 2007 good, with the added element of the tight ends and a better stable of running backs.