New England Patriots: Answering the Burning Questions After Super Bowl 2012 Loss

This isn't the first time fans of the New England Patriots are spending Super Bowl Monday searching for answers. This is the first time, however, that we've had Twitter to help us cope with our problems.

I opened the floor to my followers for questions, and I will answer some of the best/most thought-provoking questions of Patriot nation.

Hopefully, we can put some measure of closure on what was surely a tough Sunday night and Monday morning for fans of the team.

"Someone tell me something Patriots related that will make me feel better." - Sean Crowe, @CroweKnows

The Patriots have four picks in the first two rounds of the 2012 NFL Draft. As bad as the defense looked at times this season, there are some building blocks in place—Vince Wilfork and Jerod Mayo are obvious ones, but add Patrick Chung and Brandon Spikes to that list. There are still questions at cornerback, but Devin McCourty looked very good in coverage on Sunday night. 

Wes Welker's contract will also be a topic of much debate, but it's almost certain that he'll be franchise-tagged. With Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski and a bevy of talented running backs, the Patriots still have a bright future on offense in 2012. 

I'm not sure if any of that actually makes you feel better, but hey, it was worth a shot. Unfortunately, hibernation may or may not be an option for some of you.

"Why does defense-minded Bill Belichick have a hard time fielding a better defense?" - Daniel Wolf, @DanielWolfNFL

This loss definitely doesn't fall on the defense. If you had told any Patriots fan, analyst, player or coach that the defense would hold the Giants offense to 19 points, they'd probably have liked their chances at winning.

That's where the Patriots don't get enough credit on the season: doing enough to win. Did you know that they were the only defense not to give up over 27 points to an opposing offense all season? (note: a pick-six was returned by the Bills in a 34-31 win over the Patriots, thus seven points given up by the offense.)

They were the second-worst defense in total yards, but ranked 15th in scoring.

That was the theme of the night, too. They didn't do a lot, but they did enough for a majority of the game. The only thing they could have done more was to force a turnover. They ranked third in the NFL with 34 defensive TOs, but got only two in the postseason and none in the big game.

"Which loss was worse—this year, or 2007?" - Joe Gill, @bossprtsthennow

Is this a real question? 2007 may have been the worst loss any franchise has ever had in sports history. "18-1" is probably the only win-loss record that will ever have any level of relevance. If you asked national writers, the 2011 team wasn't supposed to make it out of the first round of the playoffs, and definitely wasn't supposed to make it past the Ravens.

The '07 Patriots had a chance to become the undisputed best team ever and fell one game short of perfection. The '11 Patriots had the second-worst pass defense in NFL history and fell one play short of a championship.

I think in hindsight, we'll look back on the '11 season as a missed opportunity, but we'll still look back on '07 as a historically epic fail.

"How do I make this day end?" - Jill DeSotle, @GronkDreams87

Drink a lot of coffee, put your head down and get to work. At least, that's how I'm approaching it.

"Out of these three—DB, WR, Pass Rusher—what do u think is their biggest draft need?" - TraderX, @FantasyTrade411

Well, TraderX—if that is your real name—as indirect as this answer may be, it really depends on their personnel decisions in free agency.

Assuming they don't lose any of their key players at any of those three spots, the first instinct has to be wide receiver. The team will likely franchise tag Wes Welker, leaving him a question mark for beyond the 2012 season. Deion Branch continues to be a gamer, but outside of him, it's been a revolving door at the receiver spots.

The offense looks fine in the short-term, and even the long-term to an extent because of the tight ends. They should be fine going forward, but they clearly need to get younger at receiver. With Brady getting closer to the end of his career, will the Patriots be patient enough to develop a receiver right now?

You could make an argument for any of those three positions, but if I had to pick a runner-up, it would be at defensive end or outside linebacker, depending on what the Patriots decide to run for a scheme in 2012.

Anderson and Carter are both question marks for different reasons—for Anderson, it's whether he can produce consistently as a pass rusher in either front, as he did for the Patriots in 2011; for Carter, it's the health of his knee.

Only time will tell how the Patriots address these needs, whether it be through the draft, trade or free agency, but it will be a holistic approach as it usually is with the Patriots—and although we'll inevitably analyze and criticize every decision to the bitter end, they'll probably get it right.

"Is the blame on the receivers or on Tom Brady?" - Ben Crawford, @Tennisben24

There's enough blame to go around here, Ben—there were some bad throws, but some egregious drops. Could some of the throws have been better? Yes. Were they still catchable balls? Yes.

This is the NFL. Quarterbacks are expected to make good throws to help their receivers out. When the quarterback doesn't make a great throw, but a catchable throw, the receiver is expected to help the quarterback out.

The blame doesn't fall on any one person specifically. But there were some pretty bad drops. Let's not rush to judgment on Brady, even though I'm sure everyone is champing at the bit.

"What was the biggest gaffe, in your opinion?" - Tom Watson, @tomwatsonpats

There were enough noteworthy gaffes for a separate article:

• Inability to recover any of the Giants three fumbles—two recovered by New York, one overturned via Patriots penalty;
• Drops by receivers/bad throws by Brady from previous question;
• Rob Ninkovich's offsides that gave the Giants new life from their own 11-yard line;
• Late 12 men on the field penalty;
• 43 drop-backs for Brady vs. 19 running plays—here has to be more balance in the Super Bowl;
• Waiting way too long to let the Giants score at the end of the game. If that's the game plan, it has to give the Patriots enough time to realistically drive the field for a touchdown;
• Others I'm sure I missed.

To single out any one gaffe as the reason for the loss, or as having any bigger bearing than any other gaffe, doesn't do justice to the team aspect of the game. It was a team loss, and although one drop may seem more important than another in terms of its place in the game, any one play or one decision that went another way could have been the difference for the Patriots.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda and Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter.