Never NEVER Give-up Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 With most of the big names in NFL free agency already signed, now is a good time to look at the teams that have improved the most over these past few weeks. These are teams that had a specific plan in free agency, went out and executed that plan. As a result, their rosters are much improved. espn Insider Link http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/7750689/buffalo-bills-defensive-line-best-free-agent-fixes-nfl?addata=2009_insdr_mod_nfl_xxx_xxx Here are the (top 2 of the) five best team fixes in free agency: 1. Buffalo Bills' new defensive line If you want to see a shocking transformation of a weak unit into a dominating unit, look no further than Buffalo, which is making the transition from a 3-4 to a 4-3 defense. The Bills' scheme shift comes with some huge additions. They made a huge splash by signing the best defensive free agent on the market, longtime Houston Texans defensive end Mario Williams, and they followed it up by nabbing DE Mark Anderson, who played for the New England Patriots in 2011; Anderson is coming off a 10-sack season. The key might be on the inside, however. The Bills have a pair of defensive tackles, Kyle Williams and Marcell Dareus, who will be terrific and should actually be better in the 4-3. When you include the possibility that LB Shawne Merriman may have something left in the tank, this has a chance to be among the most dominating defensive fronts in 2012, after being the weakest unit on this team in 2011. This will be a fun group to watch in the future. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. New England Patriots' wide receivers How do you dramatically improve an already dominant passing offense? Well, you keep it together while adding the right parts to broaden what you can do. Right now, this Tom Brady-led offense looks almost unstoppable. Some of the Patriots' recent moves include giving Wes Welker the franchise tag, re-signing Deion Branch, getting Chad Ochocinco to restructure his contract, re-signing young developmental speedster Matthew Slater and acquiring two veteran receivers, Anthony Gonzalez (Indianapolis) and Brandon Lloyd (St. Louis) -- the latter of whom may be the guy the Patriots have been looking for to stretch the field and loosen up defenses. It is surprising that the Pats have not really addressed the defensive weaknesses of their team so far in free agency, but at least for now it looks like they can outscore teams with this electric passing game. And the defense could be helped in the draft. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Best Player Available Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Nothing new here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 The offense wasn't the problem with the Pats last year. Not to mention Branch and CO are in major decline, Gonzalez can't stay healthy, and Lloyd has only had 1 (really) good year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boyst Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 The offense wasn't the problem with the Pats last year. Not to mention Branch and CO are in major decline, Gonzalez can't stay healthy, and Lloyd has only had 1 (really) good year. Could not have said it better. I do not get what the hype about Lloyd is about. I understood how good Welker would be when he was on his way to NE but I cann't imagine Lloyd to perform. Something about that offense doesn't really let the ball travel down field. It may get a few plays now and then but it is not something that I really think is that big of a threat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaineMoxie Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 The offense wasn't the problem with the Pats last year. Not to mention Branch and CO are in major decline, Gonzalez can't stay healthy, and Lloyd has only had 1 (really) good year. Agreed. The Pats* are Brady and Welker. Gonzalez isn't bad, but he's not going to light it up and Lloyd is OK. Ochocinco? Seriously? They are a far cry from the days when Moss was in his prime. In fact, they haven't won a Super Bowl seven years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H2o Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 We have definitely had the best off-season, thus far, of any team. The Pats moves are scary to me though. Brandon Lloyd "found himself" in Josh McDaniels' offense and turned into a good WR. Put him with Josh McDaniels and Tom Brady and he could be great. Brady has helped make a lot of pedestrian WR's rich like David Patten, David Givens, Deion Branch, and Troy Brown. He helped revive Moss. Lloyd probably has another 4 good years and it sucks that he signed with the Pats* if you ask me. They have Lloyd, Welker, Hernandez, Gronkowski, and Branch. Their defense is garbage, but they have all the makings of the highest scoring offense in the NFL. We will be GREATLY improved with our additions and actually having a competent D-Coordinator, but the road to winning the AFC East still goes through NE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Could not have said it better. I do not get what the hype about Lloyd is about. I understood how good Welker would be when he was on his way to NE but I cann't imagine Lloyd to perform. Something about that offense doesn't really let the ball travel down field. It may get a few plays now and then but it is not something that I really think is that big of a threat. Agreed. The Pats* are Brady and Welker. Gonzalez isn't bad, but he's not going to light it up and Lloyd is OK. Ochocinco? Seriously? They are a far cry from the days when Moss was in his prime. In fact, they haven't won a Super Bowl seven years. I assume the thinking with Lloyd is that he had his best year ever in Denver under McDaniels, who is back as the Pats' OC, and that it will translate to the Pats. Even if that's true, he's a) not a speedster and b) 3rd or 4th on the importance list. As for Gonzalez, catching-on to their system will be tough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CSBill Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 Nice to get some love . . . the expectations will be high, a problem we have rarely had in the last 10 year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sllib olaffub Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 No one is going to give Buffalo anything. Yes, we went out and were active in aquiring talent to make this defense work - and, I have to believe Dave Wannstedt was the reason for it. He has more name recognition and probably more right to demand and make decisions about personnel than anyone on our management team (funny, our D.C. is bigger than our coach and GM, but they are working together and are really doing a great job of that, I think). Anyway, we now have a D-line that can pressure the opposition's QB's. But, New England is watching it, and they've been working on the problem of the Giants, and how they can't beat that style of game, since 2007. As much as I think a truly dominant Defense can overcome any game-planning, I also believe the Patriots can hand it to us if they want to until we prove that assumption wrong. Now, they already tore us up with their duo of TE's, and with those WR's in the mix, and add a really good RB and that offense will be so, so tough. We've taken steps to get to Brady and make him rush his throws. But, we still have a weak area in one LB spot (maybe two, depending on how good Sheppard turns out) and I'd say at least one of our CB's is suspect. So, to be able to handle the Patriots when we're not getting to Brady, we'll need to be able to cover the TE's and WR's. I say finding a top notch LB is more important than adding another CB - although a top notch CB would be good, too. I just happen to think LB is a bigger weakness for us, and that we ought to make sure we can handle our opponents on more than just one level (D-line). Wannstedt has had a year to plan his move. He must have surveyed the roster, already decided who could play where, and given his list of needs to Nix. If he feels we need a top notch LB to make it work right, or another CB, I'll bet we add something by summer. All said, let's not take New England lightly. I want to watch them crumble under our pressure as badly as anyone - but they aren't going to play to our strengths; rather, they'll be looking to exploit our weaknesses. Wannstedt V.S. Bellicheck is going to be a FUN game to watch! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve O Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 As the Giants have shown, Brady can't pass from his back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajzepp Posted March 30, 2012 Share Posted March 30, 2012 As the Giants have shown, Brady can't pass from his back. There it is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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