mayoclinic

In no particular order:

1. The Pats didn't deserve to win today. Too many mistakes, too many blown opportunities. FGs instead of TDs. Blocked punt. Missed 2-point conversion. Missed game-winning FG. Just not good enough.

2. The refs stunk and may have changed the course of the game, but that doesn't change the fact that the Pats didn't deserve to win.

3. Arizona has a legitimate defense, and they dominated our OL. Scar has some work to do before next Sunday night.

4. The special teams cost us 10 points with the blocked punt and the missed GF. Scott O'Brien has some owrk to do before next Sunday night.

5. The defense was awesome, and it's a shame the rest of the team let them down. They held Arizona to 245 yards overall, and gave up 20 points only because of the blocked punt. They made several big plays, including one in crunch time (when people were deriding them for "letting the team down once again") which gave the team an opportunity to win the game.

6. One loss means nothing. Especially a non-conference loss. The 2003 SB team lost it's opener 31-0. We've seen time and time again that the teams that start the season looking unbeatable are seldom the ones hoisting the Lombardi Trophy at the end of the season. This is a young team, and I'm much more interested in how they finish than how they start.

7. With that in mind, the overall focus and intensity was poor. The team seemed flat and out of sync, and just didn't play with the same intensity and energy as last week, except for the defense. I suspect we'll see a different performance next week, but the lack of focus and consistency is somewhat concerning.

8. The Packers and Giants are 1-1, and both have a ton of problems. The Saints are 0-2. The Ravens lost to Philadelphia and gave up almost 500 yards of total offense. So one of the might Pats or the might Ravens will start their season 1-2 after next week's debacle. But I wouldn't count the loser out of the AFC race.

9. The game day threads are an embarrassment. Every missed play turns into hand wringing, epithets being hurled at the players involved, and cries of doom. Some "fans" seem to take delight in seeing the team fail. We're so spoiled by the sustained success of this team.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

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NJPatsfan26

nice run down.

hoping the team can learn from this and the coaches get the team back on track.


only week 2 but the feeling around here is we lost the SB again.

MoLewisrocks

I agree, nice rundown, although I'd say the defense deserved to win. Offense probably did too. Not so sure the offensive coaching staff and FO did. This looked like a team unable to adapt or adjust on the fly to the loss of one player. Might want to rethink their strategy and reshuffle the roster because he's going to be gone for a while.

Haley

Penalties, penalties and more penalties. I have not seen us play this sloppy in a long time.

Deus Irae

I don't buy the argument that the team didn't deserve to win. They overcame major OL problems, a limited Welker and the loss of Hernandez, and they won the game but for that holding call.

However, I did want to bring up an x's/o's thing.


Even without Hernandez, and even with that O-line, they seemed to move the ball much better with 4 wide formations, IMO. I won't bother going back to look at it and break it down, because the loss of Hernandez will likely change the offense a lot moving forward, but I think we should expect more spreading the field moving forward.

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resdubwhite

A lot more drops today and missed passes.

Ball to gronk in the endzone being one. Lloyd had a couple of drops too.

Shame.

strange exciting game. sucks to lose it.

mayoclinic

I thought the phrase "the defense played awesome, and it's a shame the rest of the team let them down" implied that I thought the defense deserved to win.

As for the offense deserving too, I'm not so sure. The OL played poorly. There were too many penalties and missed opportunities. Too many field goals. 18 points just isn't enough production, especially when the defense gives you a short field to win the game and the special teams spots the opposing team 7 points. BB preaches "complementary football", and there wasn't much complementary out there today.

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"OVER Loading at ANY position can create a Fatal Advantage. THAT is what interests ME. Attacking With Concentrated Force. THAT is what WINS. In the words ~ more or less ~ of General Patton: 'I'm fighting a WAR, here. Let the B*****ES worry about their FLANKS.' " - Off the Grid

"The key to any successful organization is to anticipate things, not react to them." - Michael Lombardi

Bill B.

The Patriots looked like they were playing with no heart for the first three quarters of a game. I don't know if losing Hernandez had any effect, but it sure seemed like they were going through the motions. Maybe the injury right after a turnover took some steam out of them.

Play-calling was way too conservative. This team should be lighting it up. Too many run attempts on third down. With AZ being tough against the run, the Patriots should have been trying to pass deep more.

Brady looks like he has lost some confidence in his receivers and Oline. He took one sack before anyone touched him. There were a few drops early and I don't think Brady and Lloyd are on the same page. Is Gaffney still available?

This team is young. When we had an older team, the veterans always were able to bounce back. I hope the younger guys can let this loss go and come out withmore ddetermination next week.

PATSYLICIOUS

The cardinals deserved to win today. It just stings knowing that we had a chance to steal one at the end on a major blunder by the other team.

There is no one player, coach, or official to blame for the loss, plenty of blame to go around.

If Hernandez avoids IR, today might not matter if we play well enough rest of the year as we're capable.

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PatsFaninAZ

Nice run down.

Special teams was the story to me. I'd add to your list a net 10 yard punt from the 38 or so. That was horrible and, if I remember right, led to the Cardinals long TD drive. Really poor.

Arizona is a very good team, and I'm glad our division opponents have to play them. They are very stout in their half of the field and they put guys on the ground. Peterson is getting very close to a shut down corner.

The short story of the game to me was first about the Cards' inexplicable decision not to kneel down when they should have and then the Patriots' decision to kneel down when they shouldn't have. Treating a 40 plus yard field goal as a given is a hubris.