Metaphors

Sigh. I can understand why the Pats aren't happy with the performance. I can't understand why fans are struggling so much with this game.

Let's just jump right to 4 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. Pats up 31-3. Colts with 5 series, three 3-n-outs, 1 turnover, 134 total yards. This despite the Pats starting their 4th string center, their ST gunner at safety, the lead singer for the Monkees at CB and I believe the guy who played the dad on the show "Webster" at LB. Any complaints at this point would be silly.

So 19 minutes left and the Pats trade 9 minutes of clock for 7 points. That is just what you do when you are up 28 points late and the opponent is willing to take 15 plays to score.

Now there are 10 minutes left and up 21 points. Pats get 9 yards but miss a first down because Brady's pass is a little off and Welker loses his footing. Not a great effort but hardly a reason to get out on the ledge.

9 minutes left and the Colts burn nearly 2 minutes going 30 yards. Then a great pick by Mayo (his 1st ever I believe) and the Pats are up 21 with 7 minutes left and the ball near midfield. 53 minutes into the game and the game is pretty much precisely where most people would have predicted it would be.

That means the real issue is what happened after the 7 minute mark. The Pats lost their concentration. The offense screwed around instead of trying to run out the clock. The defense allowed 2 deep passes to Garcon that never should have happened (just like Slater as the deep safety in the 4th quarter should never happen).

Does anyone really believe those 7 minutes happen if the Pats weren't up 21 points? For that matter, does anyone believe the defense would have looked anything close to this if Belichick wasn't treating this game like a glorified scrimmage. Chung a (relatively) healthy scratch. Slater going wire-2-wire at safety. Molden giving up snaps at corner to Jones (signed on Wednesday) and Moore (only a safety up to this point).

The Pats have no reason to be proud of those last 7 minutes. No excuses for poor focus regardless of who is playing or what the score is. But lets stay close to reality for a bit. The Pats have been playing in other teams' Super Bowls for nearly 3 months now (look at the schedule and every game but KC was a statement game or a must-win for the opponent). The Pats finally get a tomato can with more to gain by losing and proceed to wipe them out for 3+ quarters. I'm inclined to cut them some slack for falling asleep when the game really wasn't in doubt. As long as they take it as a learning experience (and sounds like they are), I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

Patriot Missile

Played well enough to win. Never thought the game was in jeopardy until the onside kick. Offense was impressive today passing wise. 11 targets 11 catches for Welker. 5 of 6 for Gronk and it was nice to see Ocho in there on some no huddle. He's getting there. This team really didn't run it that well against that wretched run defense of Indy, kind of surprised considering how much teams have to commit to our passing game.

Defense was disturbing today. Especially in the first and 4th quarter. That 9 or 10 minute drivein the first quarter was taxing to watch. 4th quarter although pretty much garbage time is concerning. To give up 3tds should not happen against any opponent never mind the hapless Colts. 10-15 on 3rd downs at a 66% clip isn't getting it done either. Some no name Qb to complete 30-37 passes and a QB rating of 113 doesn't sit well either. The strength of this defense has been keeping the points down despite gangs of yardage and in many of the wins you see a lot of yards by the QB but the QB rating is dreadful.

I'm not giving the win back. I'm always happy to see them win. This team has had ugly wins and this wont be the last one. Think back to 2003 and we almost lost to a expansion team in its 2nd year in Houston pulling out a 3 point victory in ot. This team should get healthier each week with a few players coming back. They have shown improvement as of late but Mr Edward Hyde did rear his ugly side today.

PATSYLICIOUS

Exactly, people are putting way too much into this.

In 2007 we killed every team, playing this 60 minutes stuff and looking dominant kickoff till the 4th quarter clock hit zero. And what happened in the biggest game that year? We break down at the end on defense and give up 2 big TD's blowing 2 leads. Finishing games in January has almost zero correlation to finishing games in the regular season. In fact anybody who's paid attention since 2005 knows regular season overall means very little. You make the playoffs and from that point it's a crapshoot.

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Dufflebagz

Wow, apparently winning can be "A RIDICULOUS performance" and "Pathetic". Were you not around in years like 03? Saying "they came in mentally weak" is kinda funny...did you miss the first 3 quarters? If anything, you could say they became complacent.

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TheTruth3402

Just wanted to comment on these points.

1. I don't believe the Colts are a terrible run defense, just an inconsistent one. The teams that have been successful against them have been high volume running offenses, averaging about 40 touches per game. At some point, it just comes down to increasing the odds. They managed to shut down the likes of Chris Johnson, Mendenhall and Cedric Benson. Others needed a lot of touches to get over 100. They clearly brought it today and the Pats folded.

3. Brady is what he is. He plays conservatively. I've come to accept it. I watch a lot of quarterbacks who will almost never resort to the check down option unless a defender is hanging on them. Brady takes it right away quite often. Just a different philosophy.

4. This seemed to be a gameplan specific approach. Did not see a lot of 5+ rusher pressure packages. I believe the thinking must have been sit back in coverage and make Orlovsky beat it. That thinking worked for 3 1/2 quarters, but allow me to say that I absolutely despise this philosophy! I wish we would always just be physical at the LOS and bring pressure frequently enough to make the QB nervous. Defenses thrive when they can successfully bring it.

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Rob0729

I agree. The Pats seemed to approach this game more as a way to get back up players time. You didn't mention Niko Koutouvides who had a career day in tackles. You also didn't mention Nick McDonald, Stevan Ridley, and Marcus Cannon got a lot of playing time today.

I also mentioned in another thread that the 2004 Patriots (who are better than any team this year including the Packers), had a 13 point lead against a bad Miami team with three minutes to go in the game. The Pats lost that game by 1 point.

supafly

Nice thread, always enjoy your thoughts.

However, this statement is far from true.

First of all, there will not be BOTH wildcard teams that finish at 13-3. That is impossible. I would even venture a friendly bet with you that NEITHER wildcard team will be 13-3.

The #5 seed wild card may very well be 12-4 or even 13-3, but the #6 wild card will be a fight from the following teams, all of which are currently 7-5:

(NYJ currently 7-5)
(TEN currently 7-5)
(loser of AFCW which will be one of DEN 7-5, or OAK 7-5)
(CIN currently 7-5)

Secondly, I would also imagine that at least one or more of the teams that are currently 9-3 will lose AT LEAST one more game. To think that all of NE, HOU, BAL, and PIT will all sweep their last 4 games is borderline ridiculous in my opinion.

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Deus Irae

I don't really care about the 4th quarter crap because I'm not surprised that the team quit early against an 0-11 team, but if you defend the team running up the score, you have to accept when people bash the team for the garbage play the Patriots put forth at the end of the game. They're either supposed to play hard all the way through, or they're being asshats when they pile on the points.

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TheBostonStraggler

I can't speak for everyone (and not this poster as I didn't read enough from him), however, many posters are simply responding to, yet again, the world is collapsing because of the 4th quarter. Is it unreasonable to believe this game is not an indication of the imminent collapse of the Patriots regardless of the negatives one can take away from it?

I actually am disappointed with their play in the 4th quarter even with it, seemingly, a wipeout of a game. I'm not so much down on the continual 5 to 10 yard pass plays because that is routine NFL defense when you are up by that much. However, to give up multiple big strikes should not happen when you know a team is going to pass. Further, the Patriot O, which had been unstoppable in the 2nd and third quarter, could have chopped off Indy's legs with a first down or two. Yet they were struggling for positive yardage. IMO, never should the Patriots be unable to get first downs over a 4 possession span. They should never be giving up that many big pass plays (especially when the dime package is in). Whether BB and staff were experimenting with substitutions or not, it is on BB and the coaching staff to be able to have the team achieve these very modest goals....

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