12-06-2009, 12:08 AM
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#1
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All Pro Poster
Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 19,221
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Bill Simmons' power rankings
FWIW which is nothing
Bill Simmons Week 13 NFL power poll and picks - ESPN
Quote:
9. New England
A few of my Pats friends reprimanded me for playing the "It's over!" card. As Aaron Schatz from Football Outsiders points out, the 2008 Cards were in a much lower place after their Thanksgiving shellacking in Philly than the Pats after Brees annihilated them … and the Cards nearly won the Super Bowl two months later. Very true. Things swing fast in the NFL, and the Pats have a cream-puff schedule the rest of the way. Don't rule out the No. 2 seed for them. So let's just go with the "Wow, this does not look good right now!" card.
I just have one lingering question …
How is Bill Belichick, the same guy who once figured out how to win a Super Bowl with Troy Brown as a nickelback, now completely ill-equipped to come up with any semblance of a game plan to stop good quarterbacks from throwing on him? Did my Speed Limit Corollary get him? Did he jettison too many smart/cagey veterans? What happened? The 2009 Pats have lost three games (Jets, Broncos, Saints) when he was simply outcoached, and a fourth (Colts) when he was so afraid of Peyton Manning carving up his defense that he went for it on fourth down from his own 28. During the Saints game, he was staring blankly toward the field like Art Shell as Brees did whatever he wanted. Sorry I have to go all-caps on you, but this is THE GREATEST DEFENSIVE MASTERMIND IN THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL. I knew the Belichick-Brady Gravy Train couldn't last forever, and I knew Belichick would get old eventually, but overnight?
(Just so you don't think I am overreacting, in the team-by-team updates section of Wednesday's USA Today, here's what they had for my beloved Patriots: "The Patriots allowed 480 yards on 50 plays Monday night in New Orleans, with 312 yards coming on eight plays. Said coach Bill Belichick, 'Anytime you give up that much yardage on a handful of plays, it's bad.'" It's bad? It's bad? YOU ARE THE GREATEST DEFENSIVE MASTERMIND IN THE HISTORY OF PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL! Let's move on before I punch something. Exhale. Short breaths. Easy schedule. Easy schedule. Two-seed still up for grabs. Easy schedule. Exhale.)
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