6-0 the rest of the way? Let's look at the signs. - Page 4 - New England Patriots Forums

***Rob0729*** · 11-15-2008, 05:10 PM

6-0 is possible. I wouldn't bet on it, but the Pats are going to hit the soft part of their schedule.

Miami will be a tough game, but they barely beat a bad Seattle team last week.

I don't think Pittsburgh is nearly as scary as they were a couple of weeks ago. They have as many injury issues as the Pats right now, more if you don't count Tom Brady.

Oakland and Seattle should be relatively easy games to win, but they are on the West Coast. So who knows?

I think Arizona at home at 1 PM will be an advantage for the Pats. I think the game would be very different if it was in Arizona.

Buffalo is still banged up and Trent Edwards is struggling.

I think 4-2 is realistic, 5-1 is possible, and 6-0 is unlikely but not impossible.

NJPatsfan26 · 11-15-2008, 07:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob0729

6-0 is possible. I wouldn't bet on it, but the Pats are going to hit the soft part of their schedule.

Miami will be a tough game, but they barely beat a bad Seattle team last week.

I don't think Pittsburgh is nearly as scary as they were a couple of weeks ago. They have as many injury issues as the Pats right now, more if you don't count Tom Brady.

Oakland and Seattle should be relatively easy games to win, but they are on the West Coast. So who knows?

I think Arizona at home at 1 PM will be an advantage for the Pats. I think the game would be very different if it was in Arizona.

Buffalo is still banged up and Trent Edwards is struggling.

I think 4-2 is realistic, 5-1 is possible, and 6-0 is unlikely but not impossible.

I would be very happy with 4 - 2. I think we can do better but then again I am a homer.

Miami will be the key game to over come. If we beat them, it will be a huge momentum push for the remainder of the season.

GO PATS...

condon84 · 11-15-2008, 07:51 PM

Really all depends. When we played with urgency both in the offense and defense like we did in the second half of the Jets game, then I think we have an excellent chance of running the table.

Look at what we did in the second half.

On offense, we spread the ball and didn't waste much plays. Seems like the purpose of each drive was to score TDs, no conservative playcalling and stay aggressive. We opened up the offense and let Cassel throw the ball. The result was outstanding. Aside from the dumb plays (fumble, false snap, and dropped ball), we scored points in all of our drives. More importantly we scored TDs.

On defense, while we were playing catchup, we put the pressure on and became as aggressive as I've seen us all season. We went after Favre with blitzes from our inside LBs and it worked. We also let our DLs loose and they put some nice pressure. Guyton and Mayo were in for most of the defensive series' when we were putting on pressure and those guys balled.

After we tied the game, it seemed like we changed our philosophy on defense and put the brakes on the pressure we were applying. Instead, we played softer and played the 'bend but don't break' defense. Why the change? I understand that the 'bend but don't break' defense prevents the big plays, but we where playing great with the pressure defense.

So it really all depends if the coaches let these guys play and take some risks. Yes, if we play pressure defense, our CBs might get burned like they did against SD or if we spread the the field on offense, Cassel might get beat up or throw INTs, but from watching that incredible second half, we can play that way and come out on top.

SeymourTrophies · 11-15-2008, 08:10 PM

I can't say whether or not it is an observation or a feeling because I was delirious during that game, but it seemed like when we were conservative on D, we got torn up. We went into a sort of prevent D on these 3rd and longs and got punished. When we brought heat and showed blitz, we had success. I would have liked to see us up at the line on that fabled 3rd and 15. It is Brett Favre after all, and he is not the best when he hears footsteps.

stcjones · 11-15-2008, 09:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JSn

Warning, this post is probably kinda boring if you're into the more sensational topics. Just thought I'd share my findings from a skim of the box score from Thursdays heart-attack game.

Offense:

One thing that has gone slightly unnoticed in the Jets game is the first come-back.

End of 2nd - TD
Only score of the third - TD
Opening the 3rd FG

That's 17 unanswered points, folks.

Another interesting figure about TD drives:
TD#1 - 10 plays, 68 yards in 1:29
TD#2 - 7 plays, 78 yards in 2:25
TD#3 - 8 plays, 62 yards in 1:03 (no timeouts)

Who got the points? Gaffney (TD, 2pt Conv), Moss, Watson

Who were the receivers in the final drive?
1) Watson for 9 yards
2) Watson for 11 yards
3) Welker for 17 yards
4) Welker for 14 yards
5) Moss for 16 yards

Still mad at Watson?

Well they obviously stopped us from running the ball, right? Wrong.
We went aerial because we were behind.

We had 3 more rushing first downs than the Jets.
We had only 15 fewer yards rushing than the Jets.
We had 14 fewer rushing plays than the Jets.

We had a higher red zone efficiency, as well.

So the mistakes hurt us, but they didn't kill us. Watson and Koppen aren't headed for the doghouse, they'll be making corrections.

Why did we lose?

Defense? I'll say no. Flog me if you will.

Our defense faltered stopping them on third down giving them 56% efficiency (9-16) versus our 28% efficiency (4-14).

Aside of that, our defense had better numbers all around allowing lower gains on almost all other offensive statistics!

Average gain per pass: Jets - 6.5, Pats 7.1
Average gain per rush: Jets - 3.6, Pats 5.0

My feeling is that the botched Kick coverage, much more than our defense, cost us this game. We know we have good special teams, they just haven't been real special the last couple of weeks. Correct that and spend next week working through the fundamentals with the D and we have a very real chance of matching our toughest competitors.

I expect that we will be chasing the red-zone harder now than we did in any game prior to Thursday night and the plan has to be to get ahead early and the slow the game down. Not rocket surgery, but we have to tools guys.

We stop that kick return and we probably win that game. But because we played from behind we got an eye-full of Cassel and that will only make things better from here on in. Not one team ahead of us can write him off.

A picture to make the post more interesting:

This is Brett watching us tie it up with one second left. Warms my heart.

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I wish I was an optimist like you are and hope you are right......BUT, I see us going 3-3 over the next 6.........finishing 9-7.........Hope I am wrong......

***JSn*** · 11-15-2008, 09:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stcjones

I wish I was an optimist like you are and hope you are right......BUT, I see us going 3-3 over the next 6.........finishing 9-7.........Hope I am wrong......

Hey stcjones, when does Gutz' HOF career kick in?

***Box_O_Rocks*** · 11-15-2008, 09:47 PM

The National Football Post | Seeing Is Believing

Quote:

But don’t think that this wasn’t a good game to learn from for the Pats. They came back to tie a game that no one thought they could come back from, against a very good Jets team. They showed themselves that despite DESIMATING injuries to their team, they can still find ways to win. Did you not get the sense that the Pats just refused to give in and lose? Refusing to lose is a sign of a championship team, and they were a coin toss away from pulling it off. Don’t worry about the Pats emotional state after Thursday night’s game. Thursday might have been the game that shows them that despite incredible odds, they STILL have a legitimate chance at winning the whole thing. Stranger things have occurred in New England before.