Pneumonic

The bolded part noted above is pertinenet here I think. It's not easy for young pups to step into Belichick's defense and thrive. It takes time. It seems the young, defensive players the Pats have drafted/acquired of late are, in fact, starting to finally develop. Guys like Spikes, McCourty, Chung, Dowling, Arrington, Brace, Deaderick, Love, Cunningham appear to all be making strides and look to be poised for considerable starting reps this season. Add to this impressive looking rookies, Jones and Hightower, and you are fielding close to 11 starters in this grouping.

They only cauight him once ..............

He hasn't been good since he stopped taking steroids.

Geez, Bentley and Tasker are putrid.

Who knows what his impact will be. I seriously doubt he'll be a stud however which is why he wasn't graded out much higher than a mid rounder. But, the Pats aren't adding him because they need him to be a stud for them. He's simply yet another piece in the puzzle that they are building. Most likely he'll contribute in the return game. He obviously has huge potential in this role, on a Pats team that needs such a player. Should he show an ability to help in the run game as well as in the passing game, then he'll be a mightmare matchup problem when added to the likes of Welker, Gronk, Hernandez and Lloyd. I'm not sure what a defense could do, personnel wise, to counter this.

We know the kid is fast but he can also lay claim to the fact that he is smart. http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/jetsblog/sprinter_demps_picks_patriots_over_8GLUBMBDtD0fWzPFtIV2VO

The argument against the Pats personnel moves (both draft and FA) is VERY bizarre given that they consistently win football games. If they sucked acquiring football players then it would follow that they would suck when it comes time to win games, no? Looking at their last 3 draft classes (dating back to '09) I count 18 players who are on, or expected to be on, the '12 53 man roster. Solder, Dowling, Vereen, Ridley, Mallett, Cannon, McCourty, Gronk, Cunningham, Spikes, Hernandez, Mesko, Deaderick, Chung, Brace, Vollmer, Pryor and Edelman. Then add "other" additions such as Woodhead, Arrington, Slater, Hoyer, Ninkovich, Love, Connoly, Wendell, Moore and you are talking another 8 or so players, totaling 1/2 of the 53 man roster. Toss in what looks like an impressive draft haul this past April, as well as some key free agents of late, and you are looking at close to 2/3rd's of the current team in terms of recent player acquisitions to the roster .... a roster that many expect to be good enough to be a SB favourite this year.

No doubt Belicheck and the Pats are afforded the benefit of the doubt by analysts when it comes time to analyze their personnel and roster. And it should be the case as the Pats have demonstrably shown a consistency in filling weaknesses and holes either via the draft or through free agency. Look no further than last year as an example. They grabbed Brian Waters to play OG for them and he ended up in the pro bowl after playing stellar. And, be honest now ...... at the beginning of last year did anyone think that free agents Andre Carter and Mark Anderson would give the Pats 20 sacks between them? The Pats just stick guys into their lineup and they seemingly perform. That's why they win as much as they do.

Very good point. By all accounts, both Jones and Hightower have been impressive in Pats camp thus far.

To be determined obviously .......

Interior wise the Pats should be fine with 2 pro bowl OG's and a very good OC at the helm. If a chink in the armour is anywhere on the OL it may be outside at LT since Solder is inexperienced and unknown.

It is a game of inches as they say. Like it or not, the reality is, the Pats have consistently been dominant in this league over the last decade and, on point to someone suggesting they are in decline .... their recent record points to wishful thinking versus factual numbers showing said decline.

If you consider going from 14 wins in '10 to just 13 wins in '11 then I guess you are right .... they are in decline. Then again, they did happen to represent the AFC in last years SB game.

The Pats have won 27 games against just 5 losses the last 2 seasons and were 1 uncharacteristic pass incompletion, late in the game, away from winning last years SB. They don't need to get better; if they just stay the course they'll be a heavy SB favorite. FTR, the Giants defense actually gave up more points per game (25 PPG) than did the Pats defense (21.4 PPG) last year.

That answer has been the chosen one league wise going on over a decade now. The reality, however, is the Pats braintrust knows the answer too and have been highly effective countering it.

If only it were that easy. A front 4 with DE's like the Giants have?

Pass rush has always been the #1 key to any successful defense. No difference in this case. In the case of defending against the Pats offense ..... they are banking on their 5 OL being able to protect against 4 DL which will leave them matching up their remaining 5 skill players (less Brady) against 7 defenders knowing that not many defense will be able to field 7 defenders who are good enough in coverage to single up on those 5 skill players the Pats trot out onto the field. Then it's up to Brady to find the mismatches and to exploit them as he is so great at doing. You almost have to have a front like the Giants have with all of those DE's that they employ in their NASCAR package which causes so many protection issues for the Pats pass blocking schemes. But how many NFL defenses have a foursome of DE's that are scheme versatile like Tuck, JPP, Osi and Kiwanuka are for the Giants?

By the end of the year the Pats were lining Hernandez up, in addition to TE, at FB, RB and as slot wideout quite a bit. Most defenses cheated and slide their coverages under and inside to counter since the didn't have to bother covering any of the Pats receivers deep. With Stallworth, and especially Lloyd now in tow, the Pats now have the horses to successfully counter so it probably makes Hernandez even more of the key chess piece component. The specific problem with stopping Gronk and Hernandez is they both require double teams. Add Welker and now Lloyd and you are faced with having 4 receiving options who all could stand double coverage respect (unless you are Revis) meaning the defense simply runs out of defenders to adequately cover the Pats weapons on a consistent basis.

8-10 is my prediction. 10 gets a wild card berth and playoff game. Less than that and it's golfing again in January.

If Lloyd was struggling in camp then you might have a point regarding his age and diminishing skills. But that appears not to be the case. Neither you nor I can predict a players health so I won't even bother guessing. As far as Lloyd's inconsistent play goes ...... they stem from the following names .... Kyle Orton, Tim Tebow, Sam Bradford, A.J. Feeley and Kellen Clemens. Now, enter Tom Brady. I agree we aren't likely going to see Lloyd go for 100 catches and 1500 yards. There is simply not enough balls to go around for him to hit those numbers. However, the true value in his addition is what he brings to the table as far as "impact" plays are concerned. Those plays which end up in 1st downs or TD's. It is here where his addition is going to be most felt. Not just because his addition will surely provide for more big and impact plays that he makes but perhaps even moreso for what his addition will have on defensive coverages in the secondary ..... in so much as accounting for Lloyd's presence will open up opportunities for the likes of Gronk, Welker, and Hernandez to be even more effective than they were last year (whene they were almost uncoverable). Looking at this, defenses had best be able to trot out a Giants NASCAR package that doesn't allow Brady time to drop back and setup because it's going to be a nightmare covering Gronk, Hernandez, Welker and Lloyd.

By the sounds of it, Gronk is 100% healthy. I highly doubt Shiancoe's addition was because of health concerns for Gronk. More likely due to health concerns with their 3rd TE who hasn't practiced yet Again, I think it is unwise to dismiss Lloyd so quickly. He's been tearing it up in Pats camp and he's 1 year removed from leading the league in receptions .... and that was without having a QB the calibre of Brady tossing him balls as well as not having teammates the calibre of Welker, Gronk and Hernandez around to take away the focus defenses placed on stopping Lloyd. I think the age thingy curtailing Lloyd's game is wishful thinking on your part. Curious, since Fred Jackson is the same age as Lloyd, do you also call into question Freddie's effectiveness? The sheer size of the TE's, when coupled with their skillset, is why they are excelling as they are. You have to look at their size because that's what makes them a matchup nightmare. Gronk is 6-7 and has a huge wingspan. Scott is 6-1 without the wingspan. This gives Gronk probably a foot reach advantage on someone like Scott. Even if Scott's good enough to stay with Gronk, a QB with laser accuracy such as Brady, will simply place the ball high enough where only Gronk can catch it. That's been their MO all of last year .... defenders had blanket coverage on Gronk but the kid comes down with the ball and then, if the defender is light in the britches, he drags them downfield an additional 10 or into the EZ before being tackled. Scott would probably be better served trying to cover Hernandez .... he's only 6-3.

If a defense is running with 4 corners against a double TE set, then they could stick me in at RB and I'd go 15-150. Gronk pretty much dominated every defender that lined-up against him last year. Even double teams struggled against this kid. You think Scott will fare any differently? I think you are vastly underestimating Lloyd. It was just 2 seasons ago that Lloyd led the league in receiving yards (with Orton as his QB) and, by the sounds of it, Lloyd has been lighting it up in camp thus far. I can't say how healthy the Pats OL will be come regular season so it's a tad pre-mature to speculate at this time. If/when they get their guys back I suspect they'll be their usual stellar self as far as pass blocking goes. They have a tremendous OL coach who has made steak out of hamburger on that OL for years now. And, perhaps the biggest strength of Brady is his ability to quickly process things and get rid of the ball very in very short order. The thought of having to cover Gronk, Hernandez, Welker, Lloyd and Gaffney will keep DC's up all night long.

If you had said safety instead of corner then I'd not have questioned you in the first place. But sticking a CB on Gronk or Hernandez is an exercise in futility. Besides, if you have a 4 corners out there matched up against the Pats wideouts and TE's they'll simply run it down the Bills throats until they bring the big boys back in. Then they'll throw all over the place because they'll have a decided matchup advantage. Just like they did it all of last year.

Let's first see if Fitz can direct this team to more than a 6 win season before even starting to put him in the same sentence as Jimbo.

My point is the Bills corners shouldn't be employed because they are "large" and therefore matchup well against Gronk and Hernandez as you suggest. The Bills corners are not going to be used to cover the Pats TE's so they had best excel covering the smaller wideouts the Pats will employ.