The Official 2023 New England Patriots Thread

[HuskyHawk]

Just for conversation, as an outsider that admittedly hates the Patriots.

2020 - Brady left and the plan was to see what Stidham could do. He couldn't win the job and they brought in Cam Newton. Stidham played in portions of 5 games, did not start.

2021 - Mac is drafted and starts games. 23 TD, 17 INT, 3,801 yds.
2022 - He starts 14 games, 14 TD, 11 INT, 2,997 yds. Zappe and Hoyer start the other games. Some fans want Zappe to take over.
2023 - Jones is benched in Game 4. 5 TD, 4 INT, 898 yds.

It looks like, to me, the Patriots (blame whoever you want) have screwed the pooch trying to replace Brady. Newton was a panic move when Stidham fell on his face. And Mac Jones hasn't really done anything in 2+ years. And trust me. If anyone knows failed QB moves, it's me. And he's one.

They never really thought Stidham could be the starter. They hoped Cam might rekindle his magic. He was a one year stop-gap to let them draft a guy the next year if Cam couldn't revive his career. He couldn't, so they drafted a guy. Has this gone well? No. But the team was really old when Brady moved on and they needed to rebuild anyway. They mostly did that on defense (replacing almost everyone), but not offense.

Mac is certainly part of the problem, maybe a big part. But no QB in the league would succeed behind that line and with that offensive cast and system. Is he failed at this point? Not yet. But he's using up what rope he has.

Short memories, but they said this about Tua and Hurts as well.

The Miami Dolphins have a dilemma: Help Tua or draft his replacement? | FOX Sports

The Dolphins sit high in a QB-rich draft, which leads to a dilemma: Do they get help for Tua or draft his replacement?

www.foxsports.com

 

[Deepster]

They never really thought Stidham could be the starter. They hoped Cam might rekindle his magic. He was a one year stop-gap to let them draft a guy the next year if Cam couldn't revive his career. He couldn't, so they drafted a guy. Has this gone well? No. But the team was really old when Brady moved on and they needed to rebuild anyway. They mostly did that on defense (replacing almost everyone), but not offense.

Mac is certainly part of the problem, maybe a big part. But no QB in the league would succeed behind that line and with that offensive cast and system. Is he failed at this point? Not yet. But he's using up what rope he has.

Short memories, but they said this about Tua and Hurts as well.

The Miami Dolphins have a dilemma: Help Tua or draft his replacement? | FOX Sports

The Dolphins sit high in a QB-rich draft, which leads to a dilemma: Do they get help for Tua or draft his replacement?

www.foxsports.com

So....

1) If Stidham wasn't a viable option, why let Brady go and why wait so long to get a Newton in camp?

2) Why couldn't they have re-tooled with Brady?

3) If the O Line is the end all, be all excuse then Zach Wilson is in the same (or better) position for why he's not succeeding, right?

 

[HuskyHawk]

So....

1) If Stidham wasn't a viable option, why let Brady go and why wait so long to get a Newton in camp?

2) Why couldn't they have re-tooled with Brady?

3) If the O Line is the end all, be all excuse then Zach Wilson is in the same (or better) position for why he's not succeeding, right?

They promised Brady in his last extension that they wouldn't tag him. He wanted to try playing elsewhere. They waited because there was nobody out there. I admit, that's a failure. But like I said, the roster sucked from years of trying to win. It was a really old, slow team with little cap space. So that was our tank year and Cam was cheap.

Almost every bad team with bad QB play currently has a terrible OL. Pats, Jets, Giants and even the Bengals (Denver sucks on the D side and Carolina sucks at everything). The Jets may have a worse OL, I don't know. They are both bad. So are the Giants. The Bengals may be even worse. The Patriots have faced a pretty tough schedule in that regard, so have the Jets aside from KC.

The Bengals have the best young QB in the game, and a great group of receivers and have the 2nd worst offense in the NFL (Giants dead last). Offensive Linemen aren't getting the job done and it's a problem across about 1/3 of the league.

 

[Deepster]

You reference the Bengals struggles as an OL problem and I hear more about Burrows calf being the driving issue. He’s not right. Can’t get anything on the ball. Can’t make the throws with zip or the long balls (Chase has been invisible).

Now could lack of protection of bad OL play be a combo problem or contributing to that? Sure. But it’s definitely not just a bad OL there. Fair points on everything else.

 

[HuskyHawk]

You reference the Bengals struggles as an OL problem and I hear more about Burrows calf being the driving issue. He’s not right. Can’t get anything on the ball. Can’t make the throws with zip or the long balls (Chase has been invisible).

Now could lack of protection of bad OL play be a combo problem or contributing to that? Sure. But it’s definitely not just a bad OL there. Fair points on everything else.

He's hurt because their OL is an absolute sieve and he keeps getting killed back there. They need to sit him, but it means a superbowl contender will be out of contention already and I think they had a hard time with that.

I consider it an interesting look at building a team. Keep Tee Higgins with Chase? Ok, but you need OL. KC traded Hill and rebuilt the OL and DL (after getting dominated in the trenches by Tampa in the SuperBowl the year before). Now their WR suck, but they win anyway. The Patriots used to prioritize the OL but it hasn't been good without Dante coaching it. Hoped Klemm could fix it.

 

[Deepster]

No. He was hurt all preseason with it. The OL certainly hasn’t helped though.

 

[HeGotGame]

Drafting a kicker who makes 50% of his kicks in the 4th was definitely the right move

 

[Scoe]

Husky Hawk is going through his rough drafts for the last 2 hours, trying to spin this one.

 

[Scoe]

Drafting a kicker who makes 50% of his kicks in the 4th was definitely the right move

Looks like Saints got the right kicker who was undrafted lol.

 

[superjohn]

The Bengals have the best young QB in the game, and a great group of receivers and have the 2nd worst offense in the NFL (Giants dead last). Offensive Linemen aren't getting the job done and it's a problem across about 1/3 of the league.

I love Joe Burrow but he's only a year younger than Patrick Mahomes and he can't hold Mahomes jock.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Husky Hawk is going through his rough drafts for the last 2 hours, trying to spin this one.

Nothing at all good about this game. Utter and complete disaster in every phase of the game.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I love Joe Burrow but he's only a year younger than Patrick Mahomes and he can't hold Mahomes jock.

When healthy, which is almost never, I think he’s the 2nd best QB in the league. Reminds me of something little appreciated abut Brady, he was almost never seriously hurt in 20 years. A lot of the better QBs in the league are a lot less durable. Mahomes has been durable.

 

[Deepster]

Patriots offensive rankings through five weeks...

• Points/game: 32nd
• Yards/game: 26th
• Yards/pass attempt: 29th
• Yards/rush: 29th
• EPA/play: 32nd
• Success rate: 30th
• EPA/dropback: 32nd
• Dropback success rate: 30th
• EPA/rush: 32nd
• Rush success rate: 29th

 

[HuskyHawk]

Patriots offensive rankings through five weeks...

• Points/game: 32nd
• Yards/game: 26th
• Yards/pass attempt: 29th
• Yards/rush: 29th
• EPA/play: 32nd
• Success rate: 30th
• EPA/dropback: 32nd
• Dropback success rate: 30th
• EPA/rush: 32nd
• Rush success rate: 29th

Angry emoji not aimed at you or the post, just at the team and offense specifically. It's a train wreck. I didn't comment on the Jets thread but I think it may be a blessing that Wilson is playing. I don't think he's all that bright, but his tools are phenomenal and if he figures it out and the game slows down for him you'll be glad he got the chance.

Mac is pretty sharp, but I just don't think he has the tools to make plays when the whole offensive scheme is obliterated play after play. Teams just putting 11 in the box and overwhelming the line. Screens are tackled for a loss because nobody blocking the CBs. RBs hit behind the line every time. The only thing that could save that is a WR who could get behind the D very quickly and QB that could turn a broken play into a long TD. OL can't block. Neither TE can block. Parker is the only WR who can block and he's the deep threat.

 

[87Xfer]

They have to be tanking at this point. They can't actually be this bad, right?

 

[HeGotGame]

Its tough between Mac and Ridder who is the worse QB in the league.

 

[87Xfer]

I think Mac is a good QB, but he's been gutted by the team leadership since day 1. I'm no expert, but it seems like there needs to be some serious change in NE. BB?

It's OK, I was a fan in elementary school when the Pats' tradition was being historically awful. Was in college in MA and was wearing the "Berry the Bears" T-shirt for that massacre. Then they were the "dynasty". We're back to awful, for now. So it goes.

Thankfully I'm not as emotionally connected to them as I am to UCMBB.

 

[Dove]

DeVonte Adam's sucks big wildebeest balls

 

[HuskyHawk]

Mac made a great throw that Parker should have caught. Probably would have won the game. He almost made one of the worst throws you’ll see on his INT. But they scored two TDs, which is progress I suppose.

 

[Huskygamble19]

I see the big improvement over Matt Patricia. thank god for Bill O'Brien.

 

[Dove]

DeVonte Adam's sucks big wildebeest balls

Yeah, I meant Parker!! Doh!!!

 

[Husky25]

I'm off the Mac Train and blame Patricia, Judge, and mainly Belichick for putting Patricia and Judge in positions to so negatively influence Jones for so long.

Hope he does well wherever his career takes him, but it's tough to see Foxborough as that place.

Of course not having any weapons that opposing DCs take seriously doesn't help either (Also on Belichick). It's not that Mac isn't Brady. No one is Brady.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Patriots actually looking like an NFL team so far today.

 

[Waquoit]

Patriots actually looking like an NFL team so far today.

Who was playing QB? I know what the the uni said on the back but I'm dubious.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Who was playing QB? I know what the the uni said on the back but I'm dubious.

He played more or less like always. Made a few bad throws, mostly good ones. Guys caught the ball, line gave him time. The biggest change I saw was a massive increase in pre-snap motion, misdirection and a real effort to disguise what they were doing. That was a welcome change, I’m no expert and I felt like I could reliably predict what they were running before. So the D definitely could.