Patriot World Weighing in on Weis
I always think one of the more interesting places to seek opinions on new acquisitions was from where the acquisitions came. I distinctly remember Jets fans flocking into the Chiefs blogosphere and bulletin boards warning Chiefs fans about bringing in Herm Edwards: “he’ll ruin your offense and make your defense okay.” Ha, I wish our defense was “okay.” But few experts can match the crystal-ball ability of die-hard fans of an aquisition’s previous teams.
That said, the Patriots blogosphere and their board community has been mostly muted on the entire issue, to say nothing of the New England media. Despite the fact that the Patriots won three championships with him, and haven’t won anything but an AFC championship without him, there hasn’t been a lot of interest in the Weis story. Patriots Planet, one of the premier Patriots boards, has little discussion over Weis. Fansided.com’s own Musket Fire turns up nothing as well. Not much other than news of the hire in the New England media.
Perhaps due to the playoffs, which coincided with the Weis hire. Perhaps because there’s simply no interest.
The little interest there has been of the Weis hire in Patriots circles, has been mostly (if not entirely) positive. Some of this feedback is linked and posted after the jump.
Michael Hurley of nesn.com, a media outlet owned by Boston sports teams, writes that Patriots failing to bring Weis back in is a “big loss”:
"When he was running the offense under Belichick, the Patriots were an unpredictable bunch. One week, Antowain Smith would rush for 117 yards; the next, he’d run for just 28. And the Patriots would come out on top in both.There would be end-arounds and halfback passes, and there would even be David Patten rushing, catching and throwing a touchdown in the same game. The players during Weis’ time in New England weren’t always the most talented, yet role players like Jermaine Wiggins, David Givens, Patten and countless others became bona fide stars."
Jamie, the lead blogger for Musket Fire, writes by email:
"You guys got yourself a great offensive coordinator. It’s going to take a little while for Weiss to get acclimated to the current personnel and get the guys he needs to run his offense, but when he does, the Chiefs’ offense will be operating at maximum efficiency. It helps that you have Matt Cassel who will already be familiar with the concepts from his time with the Patriots. Weiss’ offense sometimes dulls you, but it is very efficient, moves the ball, and scores points. Then he suddenly wow you with a big play. But the biggest thing that Weiss brings to the table is his ability to make the proper in-game adjustments to what the defense is doing. The Patriots’ ability to make the proper adjustments during the game was what separated them from the rest of the NFL during the Super Bowl years. Keep in mind, Weiss didn’t have all of the talent that the Patriots’ offense has had since 2007. What the current Patriots’ offense is missing are the in-game adjustments."
Just for fun, here‘s a thread started after the Ravens game at PatriotsPlanet.com, by a fan noting the difference in Tom Brady’s production in playoff games under Weis (leading up to 2004), and games after Weis departed (games after 2004):
"Brady has played a total of 18 playoff games. I found the numbers, then put them in an excel sheet, and tabulated a few figures for your enjoyment.1st 9 playoff games. 9 wins, 0 losses.190 completions on 304 attempts. 63% completion.1951 yards for 11 TD’s, 3 INT’s.Defensive opponents included Indy/Pittsburgh/Philly (04), Tennessee/Indy/Carolina (03), and Oakland/Pittsburg/St.Louis (01).Last 9 playoff games. 5 wins, 4 losses.205 completions on 333 attempts. 61% completion.2157 yards for 17 TD’s, 12 INT’s.Defensive opponents included Baltimore (09), Jacksonville/San Diego/NY Giants (07), NY Jets/San Diego/Indy (06), and Jacksonville/Denver (05).An interesting pattern from these recent games is that about every other playoff game, Brady throws a 3-pick game going back to the 2006 season. . .One could discuss the differences in talent that Brady has had to throw to, the O-lines that have protected him, the opponents he has faced, the scheme/philosophy, the Pats defenses, or the coaches/coordinators who called the plays."
What have you heard from Patriots fans about the Weis hire? (Or the impending Crennel fire, for that matter.)