Are the New England Patriots in trouble?

[12thMan]

Since the free agency season has begun, no team has been depleted quite like the New England Patriots.

In years past, it seems like they could lose a player here and there, and still put together a championship caliber team. But I'm wondering if the window has begun to close on a modern day NFL dynasty?

Here's the list of players lost:

Adam Vinatieri
Willie McGinist
David Givens
Tom Ashworth
Matt Chatham
Andre' Davis
Tim Dwight
Christian Fauria

[That Guy]

it doesn't look good. last year they had no secondary and it costs them a shot at making noise in the playoffs. and now they don't look like they'll be nearly as good. They do get harrison back though.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by That Guy

it doesn't look good. last year they had no secondary and it costs them a shot at making noise in the playoffs. and now they don't look like they'll be nearly as good. They do get harrison back though.

Yeah, but he had a very similiar tear to Culpepper's. So he want be nearly as aggressive as he's been in the past.

[#56fanatic]

they still have a good O-line, Tom "all I do is win the big one"Brady, Corey Dillon, and Bill Bilechek(i dont know how to spell his name) It doesn't seem to matter who he puts on the field for defense , they always turn out to be pretty good. I wouldn't doubt what they will do next year, they should still be pretty good.

[Redskins8588]

Are the Pats taking it bent over this year so that they will be able to keep R. Seymore next year?

[Redskins8588]

I dont know there run deffense wasnt that good last year...

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by Redskins8588

I dont know there run deffense wasnt that good last year...

uh, they were #8 in run D last year, and #31 in pass defense. Run D wasn't exactly their biggest problem.

[Redskins8588]

My bad I must have gotten the 2 mixed up, by the way where did you get those stats? Are you in with the in crowd when it comes to stat, you know what I mean??? j/k

[jdlea]

John Clayton was on Sportscenter the other day saying they have 20 mil in cap space and he doesn't know what they're waiting for. He thinks they're going make an offer to LaVar, but that's just his gut. Maybe after they do that, they'll sign some wide outs.

[That Guy]

Originally Posted by Redskins8588

My bad I must have gotten the 2 mixed up, by the way where did you get those stats? Are you in with the in crowd when it comes to stat, you know what I mean??? j/k

nfl.com stat section

law and harrison usesd to be in that secondary at full health and at their peaks. after both of them bowwed out, it hurt.


btw, they have the money to sign arrington and law right now, both would be huge upgrades for them, but they tend to be a bit cheap. beyond those two the FA market is low on known high talent commodities.

[saden1]

They had their SB run. As a fan, I can deal with 3 SB in 4 years followed by 3 years or meritocracy/down years.

[Defensewins]

Their starting safety Rodney Harrison was lost on the third game last year. He is the equivalent of Sean Taylor and we saw what happened to our D backfield when we lost Taylor for a few games last year.
Rodney Harrison is of the hardest hitting and great safety's in the NFL. It was a big loss, plus losing Ty Law in the same year was alot to overcome in one year. Yet they still made the playoffs. Rodney Harris will be back this year and the Pat's will be one of the top 5 teams in the NFL again. They still have a great O and D line, great RB, QB and LB's. That will make them good. Plus they have great depth in the defensive line. They might not be dominate like they were 2 years ago but they will make the playoffs and who knows from there. The young CB's need to pan out for them to be great.
They are not in bad shape. Right now I would rate them on par or slightly better than the Redskins. They play in the much tougher AFC.

[dmek25]

i agree with saden.their run is over(for now)im also not sold on crowning belichek a great coach.remember,it took an injury to bledsoe to even get brady on the field

[MTK]

I'm interested to see how this all works out for them. They seem to have this attitude that they can plug anyone in and it's their system that drives their success. They haven't been afraid to let big names go, and they always seem to be able to keep on chuggin'. You have to wonder if sooner or later it will catch up with them.

[12thMan]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

I'm interested to see how this all works out for them. They seem to have this attitude that they can plug anyone in and it's their system that drives their success. They haven't been afraid to let big names go, and they always seem to be able to keep on chuggin'. You have to wonder if sooner or later it will catch up with them.

I think it will catch up with them. I don't know how, two years running, you could have that type of turnover and it not hurt. On top of that lose two coordinators.

But we'll see.