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Post by Chris Hatfield on Dec 12, 2014 8:10:53 GMT -5
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 12, 2014 8:21:19 GMT -5
They are valuable, it's just a lot of cap money to spend at that spot. Solder has a huge cap hit and hasn't earned it so far. Flashes are there, but needs to be way better. This team will have a tight cap situation and they need to reup the following guys :
My priorities (in order):
Revis
McCourty
Ayers
Vereen
Casillas
Chung
Branch
Connolly
Bolden
Maybe:
Ridley
I think Revis, McCourty and Ayers have to get done. Hopefully Ayers is pretty cheap... Maybe he takes 2 years mostly guaranteed so he can be a free agent young again but earn some coin just not a lot. He's perfect for this defense and I can't wait to see if they properly utilize a three man rotation once Jones is back. In some ways the D may be better with Ayers instead of Jones.
Casillas has been huge for the team as well. Finally, a backup LB who's great on ST and can legitimately play defense. Hopefully, is cheap as well...
Branch and Chung have been solid and should be cheap signings. Cant see another team loving Chung. Bolden should be chela too.
Connolly is tough because him or Wendell better not be starters next year so paying them may not be feasible..
Cut/restructure candidates (some not too likely):
Mayo (10.6m cap hit.. Save 4.6 if cut... Can't keep him at 10.6)
Vince (8.433m... Save 7.56m... Can't see drama again this year.. Kraft won't allow it)
Solder (7.438... Save 7.438)
Amendola (5.7.... Save 2.1... He's not worth 5.7 but probably is 2.1 some probably stays)
Browner (5.5... Save 5.5... I'm sure he's here at least another year, but no guaranteed money)
Wendell (1.65.. Save 1.2)
I left Revis out and put him as a free agent because that's the assumed course of action... The money has to come from Mayo and Solder. How they work those two will be interesting.
The time is ripe for them to be using their cap space though.
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 12, 2014 8:23:21 GMT -5
If Solder gets cut, would you put Cannon there or move Vollmer to LT with Cannon on the right? Cannon has looked the best at LT IMO. So that would probably be the move, but I fully expect them to draft a tackle or a guard high next year. |
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Post by mgoetze on Dec 12, 2014 10:28:23 GMT -5
Say rjp313jr, is it the offseason already? We're not the Buccaneers you know.  |
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 12, 2014 10:35:01 GMT -5
I'm able to follow and enjoy the season and look ahead... Crazy I know
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Post by jmei on Dec 13, 2014 12:20:27 GMT -5
The full breakdown of the deal: espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4774132/breaking-down-marcus-cannons-contractIt's a team-friendly deal-- there's only $3.2m in guaranteed money, and the Patriots can walk away in 2016 with only $1m in dead money. Basically, if he's a starting-caliber player by 2016, they'll be happy to have him at an estimated $5m cap number. If he's not, they can walk away and only owe $1m in prorated signing bonus. It's basically protection against Solder leaving in free agency after 2015-- if he does, they at least know that they have a potential starter-level guy in Cannon available for essentially a $4m option. |
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 14, 2014 11:14:23 GMT -5
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Post by texs31 on Dec 14, 2014 13:23:47 GMT -5
Collins with the block FG for a TD (Arrington)!!
Caught a little of Gasper on the radio. He felt Ayers wasn't going to be connected to Mayo as his primary role (though he is quite versatile) is more the role that they wanted Will Smith and others to play (ie the 3rd rush end). His gut would be that they'd ask Mayo to take a cut. If he's willing, they'd keep him (much rather have Casillas as ST/Backup).
That being said, if Mayo's contract gets in the way of them signing Revis? Well . . . I think we all know the answer there.
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Post by mgoetze on Dec 14, 2014 13:56:43 GMT -5
Nice INT return by Duron Harmon, made me wonder whether he could return kickoffs as well.
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Post by rangoon82 on Dec 14, 2014 14:04:44 GMT -5
getting a little tired of brandon browner flags
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 14, 2014 14:33:07 GMT -5
I pray someone thinks McDaniels is a good coach. He sucks so much it's not even funny anymore. Game plans blow. Schemes suck. Can't draw up good plays consistently. It's a joke.
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Post by jmei on Dec 14, 2014 16:07:00 GMT -5
McDaniels is the Patriots' Lucchino equivalent-- gets none of the credit when things are going well, but all the blame when things go poorly. He certainly has his flaws (tendency to go away from the run game, falls in love with gadget plays), but he's a good coach who has consistently come up with creative and effective game plans that attack opponent weaknesses.
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Post by jmei on Dec 14, 2014 16:35:07 GMT -5
I also love that Jonas Gray got some real reps in this game, and hope they'll continue rotating him in going forward. He's not going to make a ton of guys miss, but he'll hit the hole hard and can grind out the tough yards when the OL can only open tiny creases and not huge holes.
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 14, 2014 20:18:40 GMT -5
Jonas Gray better get regular carries.
I was a fan of the Dline rotation. Will be interesting to see how it plays out. Nink, Hightower and Jones made waves with a three man rush in the fourth. Maybe the rotation early kept them fresh so as the offensive line wore down they could make noise or maybe not. Some hope going forward tho. Undoubtedly, Jones has faded toward the end of the last two seasons so the time off injured and Ayers getting snaps will help his productivity.
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 14, 2014 20:20:05 GMT -5
Oh yea and McDaniels has talent but he's an ego maniac who shoots the team in the foot rather than just dominating like he should. He's annoying and won't be missed just like he wasn't the first time he left.
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 15, 2014 14:04:37 GMT -5
Wasn't too happy that Nink played all the snaps (78) while Ayers was in the low 30s.... They don't need to play Nink that much and Ayers has earned more. I'm less concerned about the earned part but it's not insignificant. I just don't think it's max effectiveness to have a player playing that many snaps. There's a reason teams like Seattle rotate and we finally have a guy worth rotating. They used all three together a bunch which is fine, but give Nink some rest. He will be better as a result.
They were up 4 scores for over a quarter.
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Post by mgoetze on Dec 15, 2014 14:13:27 GMT -5
Two notes on the Phins. First of all, I think Tannehill actually showed quite a bit of skill in this game. He is definitely a top 20 QB in this league and I think we will see him for many years to come. He just needs a better O-Coordinator (Lazor might actually get better but he's not there yet) and some guys who can actually do what Mike Wallace is being paid to do.
Secondly, Philbin's in-game decision making, which he has been criticized for in the past, was very good in this game. Declining the penalty late in the 2nd quarter to give the pats 3rd & 10 instead of 2nd & 20 was smart, as was taking his timeouts afterwards (the latter move would have been questionable if the game was close but with his team behind and Pats to get the 2nd half kick it was good). And a lot of coaches would have kicked some window dressing field goals in the fourth quarter instead of continuing to try and win the game. But anyway, it's obvious that in-game decision making is not Philbin's main problem, and I'm pretty sure he's going to be gone after this year (and I'd even bet that he's not getting a second NFL HC opportunity).
Conclusion: the Phins are going to be our most dangerous contender again next year.
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wcp3
Veteran
Posts: 3,860
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Post by wcp3 on Dec 15, 2014 16:48:51 GMT -5
McDaniels is the Patriots' Lucchino equivalent-- gets none of the credit when things are going well, but all the blame when things go poorly. He certainly has his flaws (tendency to go away from the run game, falls in love with gadget plays), but he's a good coach who has consistently come up with creative and effective game plans that attack opponent weaknesses. Eh. I don't think he's bad by any stretch, but I think a lot of the criticism is fair. He overcomplicates things for no reason, and does so at bad moments (such as abandoning the run game on the 1-yard line against SD, etc.). |
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Post by rjp313jr on Dec 15, 2014 18:30:45 GMT -5
You're right he's not bad. He's extremely over-rated. Big difference and I shouldn't say he sucks.
MoG, I agree with most of what you said about Joe P but he was dumb to not kick that FG on 4 and 18 early in the 4th. He was down 4 scores and that would have cut it to 3 scores. If it was fourth and 10 or less maybe I can see going for it since you were deep in NE territory but 4 and 18 was a prayer so they should have taken the points to cut the number of scores needed. Made no sense not to.
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Post by mgoetze on Dec 15, 2014 23:37:41 GMT -5
Well, on that 4th & 18, either choice leads to a <1% WP, so who cares really. I'm just saying it was good that he went for it on 4th & 6 and 4th & 1 early in the 4th.
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Post by mgoetze on Dec 16, 2014 0:18:01 GMT -5
So Advanced Football Analytics now has 4 teams with 19%+ chance of winning the Super Bowl and no other team above 3%. advancedfootballanalytics.com/index.php/home/tools/live-playoff-probabilitiesDenver... it obviously depends which version of Peyton Manning shows up. If we get the same Peyton Manning the Chargers got it should be an easy win for us. If 2013 Peyton Manning somehow comes back, that is a very exciting game that could go either way ... but home field advantage will help greatly. Seahawks... their offense has been pretty feeble. It feels like if we just score 17 points and take care of the football we should win, not a tall order for Tom Brady. I am much less worried about them than... Green Bay... that game against them could have gone either way. Not playing in Lambeau and having our coaching staff step up their game should give us the edge. I'm feeling pretty good about this season right now. |
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Post by jmei on Dec 16, 2014 7:18:05 GMT -5
Jesus dude, knock on wood.
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Post by mgoetze on Dec 16, 2014 7:43:45 GMT -5
Jesus dude, knock on wood. Hey, I don't do superstition, and if I did, Simmons picking against the Patriots would certainly outweigh anything I could do, right?  |
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Post by rangoon82 on Dec 16, 2014 11:02:38 GMT -5
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wcp3
Veteran
Posts: 3,860
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Post by wcp3 on Dec 16, 2014 17:45:00 GMT -5
Not really buying the GB hype. Teams that suck as much as them on the road tend not to have what it takes to get the job done.
I think Seattle will be represent the NFC once again.
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