The myth of Pioli

[B_Ambuehl]

LOL I wonder if he's sharing that loaded contract he got from Clark with Bellichik.

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/c...148&position=0

This time it’s personnel
Building to collapse
By Ron Borges
Monday, December 7, 2009 - Updated 4m ago
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MIAMI - Slowly but inexorably they are dissolving in front of our eyes. It is a process that didn’t begin this year for the New England Patriots [team stats] but way back in 2004, when nobody was paying attention to much else but the lifting of another Super Bowl banner.

That season they won their third Super Bowl in four seasons but also began a widely ignored decline that manifested itself emphatically the past month and came to a sad head yesterday at Land Shark Stadium when they lost for the third time in four weeks, blowing a 14-0 lead to be beaten at the buzzer by the Miami Dolphins [team stats], 22-21.

Five years ago, the Patriots draft garnered two starters, both on the first round. Not another player drafted in April of 2004 is still in uniform. That fallowness continued in 2005 when they again picked only two current starters. In 2006, they got only one, running back Laurence Maroney [stats], plus kicker Stephen Gostkowski. Then came the disaster of 2007, when only first-round pick Brandon Meriweather was good enough to still be in pro
football.

It is a bit early to know about 2008 but other than linebacker Jerod Mayo it again appears to be a sad lot. Second- and third-round picks Terrence Wheatley and Shawn Crable seldom see the field (Crable never has) and it is becoming increasingly more disastrous that cornerback Jonathan Wilhite sees so much of it. In those five years, the Patriots drafted 41 players and got eight starters, six on the first round. Otherwise they got what Bill Belichick kept saying was “value.” Yesterday, it didn’t look that way.

Free agency has produced similarly skimpy results. Early hits were made on Rodney Harrison [stats] and Mike Vrabel, but after that the cupboard has been bare. They paid $30 million to Adalius Thomas and promised he could cover Ocho Cinco and sack Peyton Manning. He’s done neither. Shawn Springs signed a three-year, $10.5 million deal last spring and hasn’t played a snap in a month, while poor Wilhite struggles out of position because he’s a nickel back asked to play corner and rookie Darius Butler goes out and proves that while he has potential he never saw receivers at UConn like the ones catching balls behind and in front of him now, as Greg Camarillo did on fourth-and-6 on the game’s most critical play yesterday.

While there were fruitful trades for Randy Moss and Wes Welker, they have netted big numbers but no championships, which is the same amount Moss’ teams have won since he first came into the NFL.

These facts led New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton to tell his team before last Monday night’s game to be stout hearted and unafraid because “this isn’t the team that accomplished all that stuff.” Although his language was more colorful, his point was clear. These Patriots aren’t those Patriots.

“It’s not for lack of effort,” center Dan Koppen said not long after Dolphins kicker Dan Carpenter nailed a 41-yard field goal and Tom Brady [stats] responded by throwing his second interception of the day with :35 to play as Cameron Wake hammered him.

Koppen is right. The Patriots’ problems are not from lack of effort or lack of planning. They are from lack of talent. Not so lacking that they aren’t competitive, but lacking enough that most every game is a struggle now.

Today everyone will say, “They need a better pass rush.” From whom?

They will say, “They need better pass coverage.” From whom?

Some will say they need to run the ball more to take pressure off Brady and his ailing ring finger, sore shoulder and aching ribs. By whom?

Years ago, Chuck Fairbanks said it best. “It’s not about X’s and O’s. It’s about Jimmys and Joes.” For half a decade with the Pats people believed otherwise. In Bill We Trust became the motto, but does anyone honestly believe Bill Belichick forgot how to coach? A guy who has been watching game film since he was 6 now can’t break down film and discover a team’s weaknesses?

That’s not the problem. The problem is he can’t ask people to do what they are not capable of doing. Or, worse, he does and you end up with Sam Aiken, a guy brought here to replace Larry Izzo [stats] on special teams, as your third receiver making one great catch for a touchdown and dropping two key ones. Did he have a great game or a disastrous one? Probably both, which is A) not his fault because he’s playing a role he was never supposed to, and B) not something Belichick can change.

“We’ve got to find a way to play better football for 60 minutes in all phases,” Brady said. “Everyone has to focus on what they need to do better. I think that’s the most important thing. And be mentally tough to overcome adversity and if things don’t go your way, you’ve got to fight back. That’s a challenge for all of us. At times I think we do, and other times, I don’t think we fight very hard.”

The latter is a damning statement, but it’s also part of what separates the 2001 Pats from today’s. Remaining undaunted is a skill too and not everyone has it.

“We have leads in the second half, and leads in the fourth quarter,” Brady continued. “We’re just not closing the game out when we have the opportunity to. We’re searching for the answers, too.

“Coach always says, ‘You get what you deserve.’ In too many ways, you don’t deserve to win when you make as many mistakes as we do.”

That’s true whether you make them on the field or in the front office.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by FAX

See, that's the problem. Some guys see the glass half full and some guys spill it on the floor while playing "Jiggle Jugs" with a fat girl's bosom.

Still, somebody's counting and, according to Haley, we're leading the league in the drops department.

FAX

I'm optimistic, but not blind to empirical evidence.

Two of those drops were balls to Cox and Charles. Both short passes that were off target to backs.

[Mecca]

Matt Cassel throws some balls that get called "drops" that the best receivers in the league would only come up with about half the time.

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Matt Cassel sucks balls.

.

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Mecca

Matt Cassel throws some balls that get called "drops" that the best receivers in the league would only come up with about half the time.

How do you know this, Mr. Mecca? Are you familiar with the method they use to calculate this stat? How do they determine what is or is not "catchable"? Hands on the ball?

FAX

[ChiefsCountry]

I thought the Patriots had a solid draft this year at least in the 2nd round - Chung, Butler, Brace, and Vollmer were all solid picks.

[DaWolf]

Management Secrets of the New England Patriots

Has some good insights into Pioli if anyone is interested in reading it.

Also, the paragraph ending page 5 and heading into page 6 sounds a lot like what's happening here right now...

[ncCHIEFfan]

This fan base is getting rediculous. We have had a poorly managed organization for over a decade now, thats fact. Our team suck right now, another fact. Give Pioli and company a little time before we decide they are fraud!!!!

[SDChiefs]

Originally Posted by The Bad Guy

It's hilarious that the ones bitching about Tyson Jackson are likely the same ones who were saying that Glenn Dorsey needs time to develop because the DL is the toughest position for a rookie.

I don't think anyone is really bitching about TJ. I just think most think that pick should have gone elsewhere. I.E. Curry, or Sanchez.

[SAUTO]

Originally Posted by FAX

How do you know this, Mr. Mecca? Are you familiar with the method they use to calculate this stat? How do they determine what is or is not "catchable"? Hands on the ball?

FAX

i have asked this question multiple times, NO ON has been able to answer it. BUT they all say the same thing mecca did

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by SDChiefs

I don't think anyone is really bitching about TJ. I just think most think that pick should have gone elsewhere. I.E. Curry, or Sanchez.

This. Even though I liked Tyson Jackson alot. I did at draft time and still do, he was the best 3-4 player in the draft.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by FAX

How do you know this, Mr. Mecca? Are you familiar with the method they use to calculate this stat? How do they determine what is or is not "catchable"? Hands on the ball?

FAX

How do they score errors in MLB?

If you're a baseball fan, you understand the analogy.

[SDChiefs]

Originally Posted by billay

Yea and Cassel sucked cuz he didn't win 16 games like Brady. Now it looks like Brady won't win the 11 games Cassel won. Keep the contradictions coming boys.

Brady came off a season ending knee surgery. How do people not understand that it typically takes 2 years to come back to the playing level they originally were at. Wait til next year before determining that Cassel is as good as Brady.

[ChiefsCountry]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

How do they score errors in MLB?

If you're a baseball fan, you understand the analogy.

Judgement call by the scorekeeper.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by SDChiefs

I don't think anyone is really bitching about TJ. I just think most think that pick should have gone elsewhere. I.E. Curry, or Sanchez.

Sanchez is one thing. Don't like the guy but I can't understand.

But no way in hell should the Chiefs have used a #3 pick on a ****ing 3-4 ILB. Now, if the Chiefs committed to a 4-3, maybe. But once they committed to a 4-3, no ****ing way.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry

Judgement call by the scorekeeper.

Yep. Which is ridiculously slanted in favor of the batter.

Why would the NFL have a vested interest in QB stats? Insignificant position.