ghst187
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As much as I dislike the Pats, they have been a model for success for quite some time now, heck their QB, who arguably already one of the best of all time, goes down and they still almost go to the playoffs. They've let many of their best players walk rather than pay them ridiculous salaries and they've cut cancerous players without blinking or missing a beat. Honestly, outside of Moss and Brady, there really doesn't seem to be anything overly impressive about their roster. If I had to choose a roster on paper without considering all the Pat's SB rings, there are a number of rosters I'd pick over the Pats. In other words, I would argue that overall, our personnel is better than theirs. We have 11+ Pro bowlers and we can't seem to even win a playoff game. Meanwhile the Pats have had patchwork castoffs and has beens make up much of their secondary and LB corps yet they still find a way to stay in the hunt. As I watched them tonight, I thought about the differences between them and us...and why they have had so much more success than us.
1) QB play: The QB just doesn't hardly make any mistakes. He's frustratingly efficient, doesn't force stuff, and just keeps the team moving down the field. Its not his arm or his legs that wow you, its his brain. He'll dump the ball off and take 4 yards versus taking a sack or forcing it into coverage. The fact that he keeps the offense moving forward frustrates defenses until the defese starts blitzing and then Brady hurts you. And by protecting the ball, you keep pressure on the other team without giving them something for nothing. And yeah I know that every other team in the league won't measure up to a Tom Brady in the category, but even the no-name backups come in and look good.
2) Penalties: When a game is tight and its crunch time, you won't see the Pats make a stupid penalty. There won't be a false start or a personal foul or a holding call that kills a drive or gives the other team a cheap first down. If you're going to beat them, you have to beat them straight up because they'll make you earn it.
3) Coaching: Probably related to above, but this team always looks prepared to win. I can't remember them ever laying eggs (other than the Wildcat fiasco) like say....we did against St Louis or Philthy. On a similar note, their play calling is nothing fancy but always seems to get the defense off balance. They run the ball effectively despite the fact that their RB corps is pretty average and/or has-beens. Also on a related note, the Pats always seem to have a lot of synergy. They are much better than you would think the sum of their parts would suggest. Its quite uncanny.
Overall, the Pats have proven that it doesn't take a roster with 22 Pro Bowlers to win consistently. With the mandated parity, you actually don't even have to be all that good to win a SB. You just need to play smart, disciplined ball, stay relatively injury-free, and get a few lucky breaks (See last two Squeeler SB teams gag). So what it all means for us, and none of this is earthshattering to anyone here....
1) We need Romo to take care of the ball and just take what is given. Don't throw the game-changer INT or take the drive killing sack. Just keep the team moving forward. We can run for 3rd and 1 or 2. So far, it looks like Romo has figured all this out for this coming season.
2) Drastically cut down on penalties. Our offense has no problems getting 10 yards in 3 downs. Getting 15 and 20 is dramatically more difficult for us. We are also very good at stopping teams from getting 1st downs....except for all the times we give it to them by way of penalty. So far in preseason, I've seen no reason to believe that we'll be any better in this category this year, although I'm still hopefull. (I guess we can pray that God will heal Flo's hearing)
3) We need unity. Axing TO, Pac, and Tank could only have helped this. The Pats players happily play their roles. The team as a whole knows itself, its strengths, weaknesses, and identity. Our 90's SB teams had this also. We can do more with lesser players if those lesser players play their parts. The team is stronger when it is far bigger than any one player.
I'm convinced that if we exhibit the 3 above traits this season that we should win at least a playoff game or two. In addition, if we're fortunate on the injury front and catch a break or two we could land in the SB.
PS, if you real all of this, I'm impressed.
1) QB play: The QB just doesn't hardly make any mistakes. He's frustratingly efficient, doesn't force stuff, and just keeps the team moving down the field. Its not his arm or his legs that wow you, its his brain. He'll dump the ball off and take 4 yards versus taking a sack or forcing it into coverage. The fact that he keeps the offense moving forward frustrates defenses until the defese starts blitzing and then Brady hurts you. And by protecting the ball, you keep pressure on the other team without giving them something for nothing. And yeah I know that every other team in the league won't measure up to a Tom Brady in the category, but even the no-name backups come in and look good.
2) Penalties: When a game is tight and its crunch time, you won't see the Pats make a stupid penalty. There won't be a false start or a personal foul or a holding call that kills a drive or gives the other team a cheap first down. If you're going to beat them, you have to beat them straight up because they'll make you earn it.
3) Coaching: Probably related to above, but this team always looks prepared to win. I can't remember them ever laying eggs (other than the Wildcat fiasco) like say....we did against St Louis or Philthy. On a similar note, their play calling is nothing fancy but always seems to get the defense off balance. They run the ball effectively despite the fact that their RB corps is pretty average and/or has-beens. Also on a related note, the Pats always seem to have a lot of synergy. They are much better than you would think the sum of their parts would suggest. Its quite uncanny.
Overall, the Pats have proven that it doesn't take a roster with 22 Pro Bowlers to win consistently. With the mandated parity, you actually don't even have to be all that good to win a SB. You just need to play smart, disciplined ball, stay relatively injury-free, and get a few lucky breaks (See last two Squeeler SB teams gag). So what it all means for us, and none of this is earthshattering to anyone here....
1) We need Romo to take care of the ball and just take what is given. Don't throw the game-changer INT or take the drive killing sack. Just keep the team moving forward. We can run for 3rd and 1 or 2. So far, it looks like Romo has figured all this out for this coming season.
2) Drastically cut down on penalties. Our offense has no problems getting 10 yards in 3 downs. Getting 15 and 20 is dramatically more difficult for us. We are also very good at stopping teams from getting 1st downs....except for all the times we give it to them by way of penalty. So far in preseason, I've seen no reason to believe that we'll be any better in this category this year, although I'm still hopefull. (I guess we can pray that God will heal Flo's hearing)
3) We need unity. Axing TO, Pac, and Tank could only have helped this. The Pats players happily play their roles. The team as a whole knows itself, its strengths, weaknesses, and identity. Our 90's SB teams had this also. We can do more with lesser players if those lesser players play their parts. The team is stronger when it is far bigger than any one player.
I'm convinced that if we exhibit the 3 above traits this season that we should win at least a playoff game or two. In addition, if we're fortunate on the injury front and catch a break or two we could land in the SB.
PS, if you real all of this, I'm impressed.
