CityOfChampions

How isn't it fair? Danny Woodhead clearly scored the game winning touchdown and it was called back by a bogus holding call that never gets called. Saying that the Cardinals held the Patriots to under 20 points isn't *exactly* the truth. But it's fine - Seahawks fans can keep bringing up the Cardinals game if they want and say how you guys can do exactly the same thing to the Patriots to win. You'll just have to hope that Mesko's punt gets blocked again and gives your team a 1st and goal so you can score an easy TD, a clear TD will have to get called back, and Gostkowski will have to miss a game winning chip shot.

PatsFanSince74

I've had this game down as a "gotta worry" game since the schedule came out in April. Now that the season is underway, I don't see any reason to change that view. I have way too much respect for Pete Carroll because we know he's going to have his team ready to play.

Their victory over the Cowboys was impressive (a real beat-down) and they did hang tough with the Cardinals in Arizona before people realized that that was a meaningful accomplishment. I do discount the win over Green Bay for the obvious reasons and they played St. Louis and Carolina basically even over the last two weeks.

It's gonna come down to whether their Offense can keep Brady off the field for big chunks of time. That in turn comes down to whether our D can contain Marshawn (big Vince is gonna have to have a big day) and whether Wilson, with his 70ish Pass Rating, can cause problems for our shaky secondary. Their D limited Rodgers to 220 yards without a TD, but the rest of the resume is impressive on paper but hasn't really been tested, as I don't have Tony Romo or Cam Newton among my top tier QB's and the Cardinals changed QB's during the opener.

Belichick specializes in taking away what an opponent does best, so I'd look for the Pats to flood the box to stop Lynch and dare Wilson to cause trouble.

Crowd noise won't be a factor in play calling since it's been amply documented that the Pats have now streamlined their Offensive calls to one word signals. This isn't Brady's first Rodeo, so I don't worry about him being able to get the snap count off, though the crowd will probably be good for a couple of false starts, which hopefully won't occur at critical junctures.

So, lots of "if's" here, but I see the Pats coming to play and putting up 23--30 points on this D. I'm afraid that we might have to rely on Gostkowski having a big day and maybe coming through in the clutch, which, frankly, worries me.

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It is what it is. It wasn't what it wasn't.

Haley

The defense is for real.

What this thread is missing is how our defense stacks up against their offense. Here are a couple of weak points that may work in our favor.

• Seattle is 31st in the league for passing YPG (with 147.0 YPG on average) while 7th in the league rushing (with 140.2 YPG on average) leaving them 27th overall for offense (ypg) and typically running the ball more often than passing.
  
• They have the most penalized offense in the league and a highly penalized defense (12th). I would site the replacement refs as an excuse here but the sheer volume of penalties cannot be entirely written off this way.
  
• They have a -1 turnover ratio on the year versus our +10.

This is why I think Seattle needs to hold us to a pretty low score to win. Unless we really take the day off, I don't see Seattle scoring many points either from their D or O.

In any case, should be a great game. And as always, anything can happen. I am looking forward to it!

everlong

They're 7th in rushing yards per game not 26th.

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"When Peyton Manning was a kid he used to go to bed at night and dream about throwing the winning touchdown for the Saints in the Superbowl. And on Sunday he did."

There's only two conclusions for Patriots fans on rookies. They are either a bust or being fitted for their bust in Canton.


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Haley

Whoops, thanks. I must have failed to refresh my page properly. Ill fix my post.

PatsDeb

I think they are pretty good, but I am not sure they have played an O as good as ours. Green Bay is arguably the best they have seen, but Green Bay has not had a running game to speak of for several years, and they really haven't been themselves this year (plus, Seattle stole the game on the final play). It will be interesting to see how the Pats' O does against them. Protecting Brady will be paramount.

PatsFan2

Amazing how that Califronia Team featuring Aaron Rodgers - DeShawn Jackson and Marshawn Lynch turned out to be better pros than their USC counterparts.

mayoclinic

Very nice summary by Doug Kyed of the chess match that will go on between the NE offense and the Seattle defense:

Patriots Will Need to Utilize No-Huddle Offense to Find Mismatches in Seahawks' Defense - New England Patriots - NESN.com

I personally think that Seattle and SF have the 2 best defenses in the NFL, so it will be a great matchup to watch.

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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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RelocatedPatFan

My hope is that it's considered a top performing defense (before the game).

After the game, I hope the pundits are saying maybe it's not as good as we thought and it was the lack of competition that was making it look better than it was .

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Don't let a small thing like Facts get in the way of a good opinion.

convertedpatsfan

Yeah, they're good.

It is a small sample size from 2012, but they were also a top 10 defense in 2011 so it's not like this is a huge surprise.

Crowd noise is going to impact the speed at which we can play as well.

I'd love to have Hernandez back for this one, but I really hope Mankins and Vollmer are good to go too. We may need them even more than Aaron.