Fredtoast take on the O-line issue

[Benton]

(03-06-2017, 01:47 PM)Wyche Wrote: Right, but we hear that the guy is a "HOFer", and yet we see flops, and we see bad play.  The run game has been bad for years.....heck, a decade or better.  I just think his time has passed.  The Pats manage to get Tom Brady up to 10 seconds to throw the ball, our QBs are lucky to get 3.  The Patriots start a 1st rounder at LT, a 3rd at LG, an UNDRAFTED rookie C, a 4th at RG, and a 5th at RT.  Who would you say is a better o line coach?  He's just not as good as advertised, and the split on the topic has led to some rather spirited debates.....to say the least.  Mediocre is a term that comes to mind when I think of him......the Bengals way.

To the first point, having some flops along the way is true of any coach. Belichik will probably go down as a top 5 coach... but not every team he coached was great or even good. LeBeau will probably be considered a top 5 DC... but some of his defenses (and players) were pretty bad. I think when you judge a coach you've got to look at the body of work as opposed to extremes on both ends. And for the most part, I think Alexander has had some good lines over the years. Some better, some worse.

As far as the run game, agreed. But that's not all on the line. A big part of that is on OC's calling the same $@&% running plays, and on the backs making something out of the gap when there is one. And just overall mechanics of the position. Like the last playoff game. The fumble that had the biggest impact wasn't on the lie, it was on the back trying to get a couple more inches and "save the day." Truth is, he should've tucked and just burnt time.

They're the Pats. It's hard to compare anyone to the Pats. You can be ranked #1 and they'll still make you look like amateurs. In the modern era, no team has been better about exposing a team's weakness than the Pats. It's not even about personnel. They can plug anyone in hum along.