Now we are a few days out from Sundays game. I've read hundreds of posts for and against, Brady, Welker, BB, Offense, Defense etc.. So after I've digested this I can only come with are we in it to win it, or just be real good?

So if everyone can agree BB is in charge I feel he should say to Mr. Kraft the following:

"Boss I run the team as coach, D coord, GM, I picked every coach, player, & ball boy. I have maybe the best QB of all time, but  just can't seem to win the big one without that D I inherited 10+ years ago.  With that said is being a really good team good enough?"

In response to PATSthebest's comment:

Now we are a few days out from Sundays game. I've read hundreds of posts for and against, Brady, Welker, BB, Offense, Defense etc.. So after I've digested this I can only come with are we in it to win it, or just be real good?

So if everyone can agree BB is in charge I feel he should say to Mr. Kraft the following:

"Boss I run the team as coach, D coord, GM, I picked every coach, player, & ball boy. I have maybe the best QB of all time, but  just can't seem to win the big one without that D I inherited 10+ years ago.  With that said is being a really good team good enough?"

your post would be valid if the offense could actually score in the big postseason games....in their last 5 playoff losses the pats offense has scored 13, 17, 21, 14, and 14 respectively....now you're trying to tell me the defense has been the problem? the numbers dont lie.

I hope it's only a deep threat. A healthy Gronk and Chandler Jones, and a corner would really help.

well obviously this is a big offseason....if the pats go out and get the big receiver that everyone has been hoping for, than i think we can all infer that they knew a change was needed to get them farther in the postseason.

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

In response to PATSthebest's comment:

Now we are a few days out from Sundays game. I've read hundreds of posts for and against, Brady, Welker, BB, Offense, Defense etc.. So after I've digested this I can only come with are we in it to win it, or just be real good?

So if everyone can agree BB is in charge I feel he should say to Mr. Kraft the following:

"Boss I run the team as coach, D coord, GM, I picked every coach, player, & ball boy. I have maybe the best QB of all time, but  just can't seem to win the big one without that D I inherited 10+ years ago.  With that said is being a really good team good enough?"

your post would be valid if the offense could actually score in the big postseason games....in their last 5 playoff losses the pats offense has scored 13, 17, 21, 14, and 14 respectively....now you're trying to tell me the defense has been the problem? the numbers dont lie.

Here's what's sad about those numbers:  The 21 was vs the Jets, correct? That TD came late in the game when it was over.  In SB 42, they scored late, and it was for barely eeking the 14 points!

14!

So, they either barely score late when they wasted so much time elswhere in the game or they go dry for entire halves like on Sunday or in SB 46.

As I've been saying for almost 2 years here, the real problem is actually the offense, not the defense.

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

In response to PATSthebest's comment:

Now we are a few days out from Sundays game. I've read hundreds of posts for and against, Brady, Welker, BB, Offense, Defense etc.. So after I've digested this I can only come with are we in it to win it, or just be real good?

So if everyone can agree BB is in charge I feel he should say to Mr. Kraft the following:

"Boss I run the team as coach, D coord, GM, I picked every coach, player, & ball boy. I have maybe the best QB of all time, but  just can't seem to win the big one without that D I inherited 10+ years ago.  With that said is being a really good team good enough?"

your post would be valid if the offense could actually score in the big postseason games....in their last 5 playoff losses the pats offense has scored 13, 17, 21, 14, and 14 respectively....now you're trying to tell me the defense has been the problem? the numbers dont lie.

Here's what's sad about those numbers:  The 21 was vs the Jets, correct? That TD came late in the game when it was over.  In SB 42, they scored late, and it was for barely eeking the 14 points!

14!

So, they either barely score late when they wasted so much time elswhere in the game or they go dry for entire halves like on Sunday or in SB 46.

As I've been saying for almost 2 years here, the real problem is actually the offense, not the defense.

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

How is your own cap/FA situation?  Serious question because you only have 4 draft picks this year if I am not mistaken.  Going to be hard picking so late in the rounds with those little number of picks not being able to move up.  How do you make a big splash in the offseason?

/notroll

your post would be valid if the offense could actually score in the big postseason games....in their last 5 playoff losses the pats offense has scored 13, 17, 21, 14, and 14 respectively....now you're trying to tell me the defense has been the problem? the numbers dont lie.

Fantastic. Absolutely fantastic.  If they choose to walk from Welker, they'll be in a better spot.

Youngest D in the league, a good offense, superb base continuity on the roster on both sides of the ball, so if they walk from complementary players, new bodies won't hurt this aspect.

"ESPN.com senior NFL writer John Clayton noted that the Patriots project to have $18.6 million in cap space (link here), which would seem to set them up nicely as they build the roster."

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/new-england-patriots/post/_/id/4739136/patriots-and-salary-cap-space

Nighty night, Jets Turd.

Meanwhile, your Jets are up the creek, 20 million over the cap, unable to lure FAs, Rex Ryan was just involved in a car accident the other day likely eating and driving at the same time, and you have no QB.

LMAO

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

your post would be valid if the offense could actually score in the big postseason games....in their last 5 playoff losses the pats offense has scored 13, 17, 21, 14, and 14 respectively....now you're trying to tell me the defense has been the problem? the numbers dont lie.

Maybe it's just me, but I think a good football team should be able to win about half its games when scoring between 13 and 20 points.  The Pats haven't won a playoff game when scoring in that range since a 20-3 victory over the Colts in '04.  During the 3 Super Bowl years, they won at least 1 game each year when scoring between 13 and 20 points.

Patriots record when scoring between 13 and 20 points:

2001-2004: regular season  6-10,  playoffs 3-0
2005-2012: regular season 12-15, playoffs 0-4

They've actually been BETTER during the regular season in the past 8 years at overcoming a mediocre-to-average performance by their offense, while becoming far far worse at overcoming this same situation in the playoffs.

What does this mean?  I don't think it means the defense is worse, necessarily.  It may mean the defense is less capable of compensating for the offense against top-tier competition.

No matter how good the offense, you CANNOT rely on them to score 28+ points in every single playoff game to win.  The defense has to occasionally come though in those big moments, too.

i dont think the defense was relying on them to score 28 points....one of the td's the ravens scored were a result of an offensive turnover near midfield late in the game. and you are right, the defense could have made more plays, but the offense is supposed to the the strength of the team, and it has been the weakness in the playoffs.

First of all, this isn't 2003 or 2004. It's not even 2006.

No team is winning SBs by scoring 14 points.  The Giants scored 17 simply because of a one in a million helmet catch.

But, look at how many points are scored in the playoffs these days, generally speaking.Are there lower scoring games, here or there? Sure. But, guess what the differentiator is in those? Turnovers.

We turned it over TWICE. One int and one fumble.  The other team did not.

No one is asking for 4 TDs minimum. What about 20 points and no turnovers?

Is that a lot to ask from a loaded offense led by Tom Brady?

In response to redsoxfan94's comment:

i dont think the defense was relying on them to score 28 points....one of the td's the ravens scored were a result of an offensive turnover near midfield late in the game. and you are right, the defense could have made more plays, but the offense is supposed to the the strength of the team, and it has been the weakness in the playoffs.

Just because it is the strength of the team doesn't mean the team should get an automatic L if they perform at less than their season-average.  Against playoff competition, even the best offenses (not just the Pats) are going to score less than 20 points occasionally.  That's the whole point of my post.  The defense needs to be capable of stepping up in these situations.