AndyJohnson

The Jets game in 2010.
Again, I don't see the value in comparing stats in losses to the regular season, leaving out the wins, and calling it an offense that isn't built for the playoffs.

Ice_Ice_Brady

Good post, Andy. However, I disagree with your comment about Hernandez. Perhaps it is semantics. He has been playing WR for quite some time and rarely lines up as a tight end. When you say that moving him to WR would make him average, perhaps you are talking about a traditional outside WR. Hernandez as an inside WR is an ideal role for him and makes him way above average.

DocHoliday

It's not a playoff thing (aside from being injured by that point). It's just the teams we end up facing in the playoffs.

Because, surprise surprise, they're pretty good.

EDIT: The teams overall execution was suspect against the Ravens so perhaps it's a mental thing too. It is an extremely young team after all.

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ivanvamp

The Jets game doesn't qualify, like at all. They averaged 32.4 points a game that year but only had 14 points until 24 seconds were left in the game. Even with that garbage time TD they still underperformed by more than 11 points from their season average.

No, scoring 21 points in a loss doesn't qualify it as a "shoot out loss". Not even close.

And I haven't "called it an offense that isn't built for the playoffs." Again, you're making things up. I *am* wondering why there is a pattern of serious underperformance by the offense in their playoff losses. As I suggested earlier, maybe it's the match ups. Four of the five games were against teams (Bal and NYG) that seem to present matchup problems for NE. Maybe it's just as simple as that.

But maybe not. And only a fool simply chalks it up to that without examining other possible reasons.

Deus Irae

No, Brady didn't play well in that game. He started off well, but he struggled after that once the Jets defense got its confidence and began to force things into the short middle. Brady was unable to find an answer for that. As for "counted for nothing, that's simply not true". That screen pass INT cost the team points. That sure as heck counts for something.

And I know that the team had Crumpler. They also had Gronk and Hernandez. My point was that health is not the only needed component. These playoff losses have been the product of failures on multiple fronts: Health, execution, playcalling, WR3 talent/non-talent, inability to stretch/widen the field, etc....

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

DocHoliday

If I recall The offense has expected man coverage but was instead faced with a new look zone.

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Deus Irae

It's never been just me, so your point is meaningless. Your unwillingness to admit what the team has said and the media has reported doesn't make your position true, it just makes further discussion of the issue not worth pursuing. When the point comes up, I continue to point out your error and you continue insisting you haven't made one. It's essentially become a cycle of life sort of thing.

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

Deus Irae

Go take a look at the team over the course of the season, and imagine Welker going down. I see 4 easy to find likely, or at least quite possible, losses:

Buffalo
Miami
Jacksonville
New York

I'd also look at the Denver game, where Welker played a very significant role, particularly with some big conversions early on, as a game that had the potential to be a loss without Welker.

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

Deus Irae

They also thought that Ryan was going to bring the house, but he sat back in nickel and defended the field. The Patriots would probably have blown the Jets out if they'd scored TDs on those first two drives, because the Jets were set up to crack mentally after 45-3, but once the score was held at 3-0, the Patriots were then held to a 3-and-out and the Jets went up 7-0, the difference in the confidence of the Jets was almost tangible.

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"The object in life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane."
- Marcus Aurelius

PatsWickedPissah

You're talking about the Jets walking the fine line between despair and confidence here but it brings to mind this. Are we really sure that the Patriots have moved beyond that 2009 team that in BB's words to Brady was not mentally tough? I had thought so but the ravens loss made me wonder once again. I may be emotionally over reacting but both the the offense and the defense have exhibited behavior where they're doing fine for a portion of the game but once something goes wrong, a cascade of wrongs follow. The exact opposite of this took place during the Lombardi winning years. Pats would hang close and tough until that opponent turnover moment and thereafter the opponent would do the imploding. Even with Mayo & Wilfork, there still seems to be something still missing in the character of the 2012 team.

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Throughout history, poverty is the normal condition of man. Advances which permit this norm to be exceeded — here and there, now and then — are the work of an extremely small minority, frequently despised, often condemned, and almost always opposed by all right-thinking people. Whenever this tiny minority is kept from creating, or (as sometimes happens) is driven out of a society, the people then slip back into abject poverty.
This is known as "bad luck." RAH