PATRIOTSFANINPA

Hello Friends
This is my first post after many times lurking around this site,but as the 3/4 mark as arrived my thought on the Patriots are as follows:

I think the Patriots play to the level of the opponent,I don't know if we came out unemotional on sunday against Detroit or not,I think the media gets into these players heads sometimes to almost think we can go out and win even without a top notch effort against lousy teams as the media was pretty much saying all week up to the game that all the Patriots had to do was show up on sunday and I think it took awhile for the players to realize that a sure win is not the case in this parity of a league anymore,Once we realized we were in a dogfight you saw the true Patriots climb out from under that proverbial rock and do what we do best..Win!

I think the Maroney situation was surely due to the fact of who we were playing,I think if it was against a top tier team he would have been out there in the second half,I think BB and staff chose to keep him out of the second half because of the caliber of team we were playing and even though they won't admit this,I think it was surely the case and not Maroney's decision to sit out because of injury but to keep him fresh for tougher opponents ahead and putting him in there might have done more harm than good with the initial injury he had although like I said was probably not an injury to have kept him out of a more important game like a playoff game.

I do like Ellis Hobbs a bit and think he maybe is a promising player for the future,but more often than not in the past several games he seemed to get a BIG PI call against him,I think its been like 3 games in a row now where a large chunk of yardage was gained by the opponents due to Ellis not being able to contain the receiver he is directly in charge of defending - If he is not able to defend the pass without commiting a penalty (whether it is a good call or not) we may need to see if we find someone who can do a better job without the major penalty especially at this crucial time of the year..Like I said he may be good in the near future but we should not take chances if someone else on the roster can go a game without a major PI call - I don't think there is any solid replacement so I guess this is his job till training camp competition comes around again...All I know is when a opposing QB throws the ball long to the receiver Hobbs is covering,I hold my breath....I know our other secondary players have made similar type PI penalties this year,But IMO Hobbs has been guilty more than any other.

The turnovers have to stop PERIOD!,We can't have the ball flying around on the ground and hopefully more intense practice specifically working on holding the ball fundamentals will help with this,We play a tough defensive Miami team this week and if we turn it over more than just once at worst,I say we have little chance to win - Brady will need to have a 0 interception day as well with better pocket protection needed to insure this,3 interceptions in 2 games says there is a bit of protection problems as I think the receiving corps is as good as it has been thus far this year and we can stop blaming receivers of screwing up,Its now better protection Brady needs- A bit more accuracy and less overthrowing helps as well - Detroit was beating us on the line most of the game...And they were like 26th in the league as a defensive unit.

Overall I say at 9-3 we should thank the almighty lord that we are where we are and as far as the top two seeds are concerned - WHO CARES? - With the only exception of having to play that extra game I don't think I have to tell anyone who knows the 2006 Patriots have NO HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE - I myself think we have a better chance to beat Indy or SD on the road than at home...An 0-3 mark against those two teams at the Razor in the past 1 1/2 seasons,tells me we are better off away from Gillette- We have NOT played a good game wearing the dark blue jerseys this year - Go back to the red retro jerseys or those ugly silver ones instead.

VJCPatriot

I'd agree that the Pats seem to not be getting much advantage out of homefield however the real reason to desire the bye week is not so much homefield as much as it is playing 1 less game. Having that extra week to help is certainly a boon but more importantly it makes it mathematically that much more likely to make it to the Superbowl.

It is tough enough facing 3 playoff quality teams and winning 3 games in a row. It is THAT much tougher to win 4 games in a row against the cream of the crop. That is why a top 2 seed and the bye week is so desirable.

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PatsWickedPissah

DC sucks
Hobbsie too short

Why hasn't anyone ever told us this before????

chris_in_sunnyvale

This team can look like world beaters (Minnesota, Green Bay, Cincy, 2nd Bills game) on some weeks; really good, but with flaws on other weeks (Chicago, 1st Jets game); competitive, but with fatal flaws on a few weeks (Denver, Indy) and outright mediocre in which it's a tossup whether they'll win or lose (1st Bills game, 2nd Jets game, Detroit, Miami). They have yet to look horrible and I don't think they will; This team is too good to get blown out by anyone. However, what's troubling is that all of these different types of games have been scattered throughout the season. By this point I'm not sure what I'm getting week to week. It wouldn't surprise me if they pummeled Miami by 20 or turn it over 4 more times next Sunday.

With this uncertainty, I've mellowed my expectations and am determined to enjoy the rest of this season and treat it like 2001. I'm not expecting the Pats to beat San Diego, Indy or even Baltimore in January. I'm not expecting them to win out the regular season, either. However, I know that as long as they have BB and Brady, they'll be going into each playoff game with the brain advantage both off the field and on. Add to that a defense that has played great most of the time and dominant a few times, they have a legitimate chance to win it all. That's not a bad team to root for.

Regards,
Chris

RayClay

Welcome to the board.

No offense, guy, but i never understood why people think they need to write a manifesto for the first post.

You make some good points, but why not kind of "work your way into the lineup"
so to speak.

Take it in good spirits, I'm not trying to be a meanie.

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PatsFan37

PFiPA,
One comment -- I'm not a doctor, but my understanding is that when players get hit in the head, it may be hard to tell immediately the extent of the injury. You'll notice that with concussive injuries, all teams are cautious.

If Maroney could have played, he would have, but that doesn't mean he was badly hurt, it reflects on the nature of the injury.

I agree that the Pats are more cautious than most teams regarding injuries and often prefer to play backups than overwork the starters. It both protects the players and deepens the team for the postseason. Where we disagree is that I think they consistently have the same strategy whether it's the Lions or the Jets.

PATRIOTSFANINPA

According to what was written on Patriots.com website in yesterday's Blitz column,It does appear that the 'Maroney being out of the game' issue was indeed in retrospect to the team (bad team-at least BEFORE the game LOL) we were playing and not because he could not return....FWIW

RayClay

Just a suggestion NEM, don't get your panties ina bunch.

Anybody see Patriots64 lately?

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PATRIOTSFANINPA

Thanks for the defending part NEM but I didn't take Ray's words as an insult or degrading...I am waiting for the 'Troll' word for that to happen,then we got problems

patsox23

Count me in as another who thinks you should write whatever the F you feel like, for however long you feel like writing it. Good first post.