signbabybrady

Dont get me wrong I dont think this defense is going to magically turn into a nasty defense.

But might there have been a little shell shock type effect a la Milloy after the cutting of Bodden. And if after this game these guys can trust their coach and get over it like they did in 03 then maybe the Secondary and D can start getting better. Not 03 better but just get better.

Lets face it the strenght of this secondary is going to come from McCourty, Chung, and Arrington. Bodden wasnt playing the 4th safety and wasnt playing the nickle causing them to manage him and he didnt light the world on fire as no one really has in the secondary so lets get over it and hope the defense takes the Bodden cutting and subsequent pour performance to heart the way the 03 team did.

Worst case scenario your offense has to score more then 30 in a few straight playoff games not the best path but possible.

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primetime

The secondary was a dumpster fire before Bodden was cut and a dumpster fire after Bodden was cut. The move may have been puzzling but the pass defense is historically bad and there doesn't seem to be any hope that it's turning the corner, and cutting a guy isn't going to change that.

The offense can't win games unless the defense can make stops, which it has proven unable to do. The Steelers had the ball for 2/3 of the game, it would have been insane if the Patriots had won.

signbabybrady

31-0 drubbing to the Bills after cutting Milloy and the team hated their coach and it was over. All I am saying is lets not get to caught up in yesterday as it was one crappy game out of a secondary and D that has played crappy already but also up until yesterday was showing signs of improvement. I think if they put yesterday and Bodden in the rearview mirror that this D can continue to get better and help you win games instead of just hold onto games for the offense. And again by saying improve and talking about 03 I am not trying to say this D will play that good but it can just play better.

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hlywoodjp

I know you said worse case, but its really hard to score 30 against good teams if the defense can't get off the field and your possessions are limited on offense.

appage21

Bringing up 03 and comparing the Milloy and Bodden situation does not help to reel me back in.

Maybe if we had players like, Seymour, Bruschi, Vrabel, McGinest, Law, Harrison...etc then maybe I could be reeled in by such an arguement.

patsfan-1982

Bodden was not a Good CB Lawyer Milloy was a all Pro SS no one would care if they had someone other then Antwaun Molden to take he's place

chris_in_sunnyvale

It worked.

I think part of yesterday's debacle was attributed to overconfidence (i.e. 39-26 win last year). It looked like the Pats had a gameplan to pick apart the zone blitz and be ready for Big Ben chucking it deep; When the Steelers switched up on them, they were caught offguard and adjusted poorly.

I like "Ticked Off Pats" better than "Satisfied Pats".

Ticked Off Pats lose to the 1-12 Dolphins in 2004, then run the table. Ticked Off Pats lose 34-20 to Pittsburgh on Halloween 2004, then win 41-27 in the AFCCG. Ticked Off Pats lose to Cleveland last year, then finish with an 8-game scoring binge never seen in the latter half of any Pats season in history (including 2007).

Satisfied Pats win 45-3 over NYJ, then lose 28-21 in the playoffs.

I'm expecting a lot more Ticked Off Pats going forward.

Regards,
Chris

PATSYLICIOUS

If the pass D is still this bad in December then I'll panic. Right now it's good to be 5-2 despite all the chaos in that defense.

Like I said in other threads, we have 2 things going for us- we can stop the run and we play well in the red zone. You'll always be in games if you do those two. If the coverage improves as I suspect it will with more continuity and experience, we can see a turnaround similar to last year's down the stretch.

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AndyJohnson

I do not think it is unreasonable that when 2 good teams face each other and one has dominated the other by beating them in the same fashion, that when the other totally completely alters its game plan on both sides of the ball it can come into the game with a confidence vs overconfidence advantage and then it builds as they succeed.

fgssand

Let's just put this game in perspective - it was an October game that would have been nice to win, but certainly was not a must by any means.

All we need to do is beat a couple of very beatable NY teams and all will be right in our world.

Our defense is not as bad as we saw yesterday, I am certain our defensive backfield play will improve as the season plays out. A few timely stops on some third and longs yesterday and the outcome would have been much different.

The whole idea here is to be playing our very best ball come November & December and then peak in January......if we can do that, we juts might have a game to play in Feb.

5-2 is not a bad record at all.

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LOVE New England sports....10 years SEVEN championships!!!