Patriots 2021 season thread

In my history of watching NFL football, I've never seen a game even close to that. I mistakenly believed that if the defense knew you were going to run every time, they would be able to stop the offense just about every time. That must have been what football in the 50s was like. There were 9 or 10 guys in the box all night and they still ran well.  Stevenson is fun to watch bowl people over.

I don't believe it had much to do with Jones. Just read that the guy has been second in net yards per pass since week four. This was about who they are under Belichick. He and McDaniels write the script and they don't deviate from it. It was decided that passing would have to be at an absolute minimum - with the running game carrying the load - in order to win.

There's plenty of time to involve Jones three weeks from now. Watching the game, I found myself thinking that the Bills still had no idea how they might be attacked in the air by NE. The hoodie said as much afterwards.

Greatest game evah! None of this air-raid bs. Control the trenches! I especially loved the jumbo package with Onwenu at TE. Just wait until they draft Michael Faalele (6'9 380lb OT for UMinn) and play him at FB.

They’ve got a lot to figure out

Yes I hope they focus on getting JC done early and I think they will. Lots of this years signings have big jumps in cap hits but there are always ways around that. 

An interesting one is Agholor who will count as 15m against vs 10m if they release him, that could be 5 mil in savings but much more likely a new deal is in order.

I question whether Hightower and McCourty will retire. Good chance McCourty does in my mind and DH could return but it will be for a lot less than he is making now. Maybe the year off helps DH and he has another yr in him.

The big thing in todays NFL is having a competent QB on a rookie deal, which obviously the Pats have for 3 more years. So that is an extra 25-30 million in space to spend on players to really be able to go for it. Come 2025 Mac is going to be 35+ million, I hope, if he turns into the player we are all hoping for.

I was thinking the same thing but didn't write it. More so for Hightower I think as Devin might just feel like he has done enough after winning with his brother and all. I wouldn't be surprised one way or another with both of them. Winning as you said isn't likely this yr but with how much fun and how they feel who knows.

Considering all the new faces and important rookies I would expect them to be better next yr also.

I would be surprised if Trent Brown wasn't back next season also. He left to make big money once so he is all set just like VanNoy and Collins. I love how these guys go make big bonuses else where and then come back for cheap.

I think it will be hard to bring back both JC and Trent Brown; that leaves a lot of players at full/near market value (Mason, Wynn, Nelson A, the two TEs, Judon off the top of my head). Agree on its feasibility to keep most of the rest or work around them and still be players in the market.

How about Claypool last night? It was a bad look in itself, but when you factor in how he was benched earlier in the game for a stupid penalty and how bad his team needed this win it's even worse. He didn't really take responsibility after the game either, seemingly blaming his teammate (and the ref) who was actually doing the right thing (trying to get the ball to set it for the next play ASAP). He's quite a talent, but he's an absolute goon on the field, which makes him a perfect Steeler. When you clash with Tomlin and can't fit in on the Steelers loose ship you're in trouble. Crying about the music at practice was a bad look, but at least that didn't cost his team on the field.

It's an interesting question, kind of a chicken or egg argument. The Steelers prioritize talent, while the Patriots partly have a small draft board because they value football character and work ethic as much as any team. The Pats will take chances on guys with off the field concerns, but they don't take many chances on guys with football character issues, and even then it's usually vets on one year deals who have motivational issues on a losing team. Overall, the Pats draft a ton of former college captains with leadership qualities and the Steelers take more high upside athletes.

I think this is part of the issue the Pats have had drafting WR's. Of all positions, WR historically has a lot of "me first" diva types, and that profile is a tough culture fit here. It's not an excuse, just a contributing factor. I do wonder how Tomlin would be if he didn't have the AB, Leveon, Porter, etc. types as team leaders (even Big Ben is kind of trash by QB standards). On the flip side, would Belichick's style work with that type of team long term? He'd still be able to scheme, but I'd think the culture would resemble the 09 team or worse.

I don't follow the Steelers very closely, but there's always some drama with them and I have the impression that Tomlin might have gone a bit soft in the last few years. He used to be more energetic on the sidelines, now he just looks very easy going, like someone you wouldn want to talk to, not someone that could MURDER you if you did what Claypool did. Again, this is just me impression from the outside looking in.

I certainly hate that by Claypool, yet that's Tomlins huge issue, he allows an environment that breeds Divas Brown, Bell, Juju and now Claypool. He talks about benching guys for a drive to teach them a lesson, Bill benches guys like Steveson 3 whole games to drive home his points. Heck he red shirted Harris and it likely killed is in Bradys last year, yet he 100% controls the team. Wanna send a message to Claypool, bench him next game. Yet he won't do that, if it was Bill we likely wouldn't see him for a few games.

I do think Claypool would be 100% different on the Patriots.

The only thing that makes me feel better about replacing Bill some say is Kraft has hired 3 coaches and they are all HOFers. That being said Robert is an old man now and just going to be older by then and it will be around to 25 years since he had to hire one. All that as a lead in to this.

“During a staff meeting, Meyer delivered a biting message that he's a winner and his assistant coaches are losers, according to several people informed of the contents of the meeting, challenging each coach individually to explain when they've ever won and forcing them to defend their résumés.”

www.nfl.com/news/tension-boiling-over-between-coach-urban-meyer-jaguars-players-staff