stevedogc

I dont understand why the Pats would take Brady out, only to put him back in for most of the 2nd half. The only reason I can think of is that the Pats coaching staff feel Welkers injury will keep him out of the playoffs and that they were trying to get Brady some game time with Edelman, Aiken, etc.

ctpatsfan77

Either that, or they just wanted to get Hoyer some experience when he didn't know he was going to be coming in to the game. . . .

Heck, I honestly think that if Hoyer had somehow made it in for the TD, that we would have seen another botched two-pointer to end the game.

Or, more generally, Belichick was trying to decide what to do in terms of the playoffs (since he has some control over which teams get the wild cards), and was hedging his bets based on other teams' performances.

Another point, as someone noted: if the Patriots were seriously trying to win the game in the fourth quarter, why have Brace and Alexander in?

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"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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emoney_33

I am completely confident that other teams in the playoffs has NO bearing whatsoever on what BB decides or is thinking. He doesn't throw games to attempt to pick ONE opponent.

There's a difference between trying to win at all costs, and trying to win while resting players. It is beneficial to the team to get guys rest at some point in the game because there is no bye.

Cassel was NOT instructed to botch that play against Miami BTW. Just no way.

PATSYLICIOUS

Perhaps it was. And hopefully the awful playcalling on the last couple Brady drives also did. We need to run the ball in the playoffs and you won't blow as many double digit leads. If O'brien really hasn't figured that out yet we're not beating anybody

mosi

I think you are 100% right on. They wanted to get some real time reps with Welkers stand ins.

The reason you did not see Brady in at the end is the outcome of the game is of little value to the Pats.

ctpatsfan77

The scenario was eerily similar. CIN and NE competing for the 3 and 4 seeds. 3 seed was guaranteed to play the Steelers, and Cincinnati quickly pulled all of its starters. In other words, Bengals were saying, "You want the 3 seed? Be our guest."

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"Momentum was quickly snatched away by New England, who once again proved that any Patriot, at any moment, can make a play." —Inside the NFL, Packers v. Patriots

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redsx8827

That's what i got out of it. I think at halftime they realized that brady hasn't played enough without welker

Mack Herron

I care less about the reason he was in and more about his total inability to move the offense and that awful interception. Looked like Thigpen out there. When the going gets tough, who on this team can make a play?

emoney_33

Pulling starters when you don't have a bye is not exactly a surprising move when you don't have a lot to gain. The patriots aren't looking to only their next game and playing based on who they "want" to play.

They are trying to get better and resting hurt guys. I mean yeah it's not terribly important to win, but I don't think they are losing on purpose to face a certain opponent either.

TheGodInAGreyHoodie

Actually what happened was at the start of each drive Hoyer and Brady played a round of "rock, paper, scissor" with the winner getting to be QB and the loser sat on the bench.

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