VJCPatriot

At least not this year. Let's analyze their schedule and see how they have fared.

Game 1 vs Chiefs. 17-10W. They beat a pretty weak KC team.
Game 2 vs Jets. 19-10W. They beat a Jets team with a QB that is still learning the system.
Game 3 vs Dolphins. 38-13 loss. They get blown out by the Phins in an embarassment due to being unable to deal with the Wildcat formation.
Game 4 vs 49ers. 30-21W. They beat a weak 9ers team.
Game 5 vs Chargers. 30-19L. They get blown out by the Chargers.
Game 6 vs Rams. 23-16W. They barely beat a pretty bad Rams team.
Game 7 vs Colts. 18-15L. They get edged out by a Colts team that has not looked nearly as good as in previous years.
Game 8 vs Bills. 20-10W. They beat a Bills team that has been looking worse and worse as the season progresses.
Game 9 vs Jets. 34-31L. Cassel gets intoa shootout with Brett and has his breakout game, but the Pat's defense inability to get out of 3rd and long costs them all game long and especially in OT.
Game 10 vs Dolphins. 48-28W. Cassel has another monster game to lead the Pats to the win but the defense still looks worrisome.
Game 11 vs Steelers. 33-10L. A game that looked close at the half snowballed into a comedy of errors in the 2nd half as Steelers win this one in a laugher.

Summary:

Combined record of the teams that the Pats beat: 2-10, 8-4, 4-8, 2-10, 6-6, 7-5 = 29-43 = .403 win%

Combined record of the teams that the Pats lost to: 7-5, 4-8, 8-4, 8-4, 9-3 = 36-24 = .600 win%

Conclusion - The Pats win against mediocre and bad teams but they lose significantly more games against the stronger winning teams. This Pats team might be able to squeak into a wildcard, but based on their record against winning teams, I don't like their odds of getting by even the first round of the playoffs.

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BionicPatriot

Its been like that since 06. Outside of 07 when they beat everyone, they've struggled mightily since 05 against good teams.

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Defense, defense, defense

slash83

What do you expect from a depleted team another run at 19-0? Seriously, the teams out there fighting every week. They lost to one of the best teams in all of football with half of there star players out give them a break.

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BionicPatriot

Half?

Adalius Thomas, Brady, Maroney, to a wayyy less extent, Harrison?

That's half their stars out? No wonder our defense sucks.

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Defense, defense, defense

Brady to Brown

Well Brady is worth 5 or 6 starters (only half kidding)

Maroney

The offense will be fine next year.

The defense is where the problems are. A.Thomas and R.Harrison are just that good I guess. Brady is good enough to carry the whole team.

richpats

Aptly titled thread- the Pats have positioned themselves at the cusp of the playoffs by beating everyone they should beat and losing to the "big boys". The 3 losses this (err last) month were "big-boy" games and the Pats cracked in every one of them. Get one win in any of the 3 and we are in playoff position. Unfortunately we won't get another "big-boy" game until the playoffs (if we are lucky).

cstjohn17

But we have 3 Superbowls, as long as Pittsburgh, Indy or the Giants don't win the Pats still have a strangle hold on best team of the decade..

richpats

What worries me is that those 3 teams have the best chance of making it with their experience.

KontradictioN

UNfortunately?

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CREDIT - Sicilian

richpats

I like the lighter load in December but even if we win out and sneak into the playoffs, we really won't know what this team is capable of doing in a pressure-packed situation against a pretty good team. So far I've seen some courageous performances undone by a couple of bad plays (see Indy, Jets games).