Running the table? I wouldn't bet on it. Lower your expectations. - Page 6 - New England Patriots Forums

PATSYLICIOUS · 11-20-2012, 06:00 PM

Who knows, by the time we play Houston/SF we will need to be hitting our peak and should be beating teams of that caliber anyways, especially at home. Gronk or no Gronk, if the defense gets the ball back to Brady enough, we have a shot to win both. The other 4 games, I'd be shocked if we lose any of them.

PatsFanSince74 · 11-20-2012, 06:07 PM

Let's just beat the Jets on Thursday night.

fnordcircle · 11-20-2012, 06:12 PM

Nope - we're hitting our stride. Our defense is going to improve every week and we're definitely gonna run the table.

PatriotSeven · 11-20-2012, 06:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PP2

1) Houston nearly got beat by Jacksonville, and SF lost to St. Louis. They are good, but not invincible. SF has only played one quality opponent on the road, the Cards. The margin of victory Houston has on the road has averaged 6-7 points for the last 3 games, and none of those three opponents have offenses anywhere near versatile and potent as ours is.

2) Bills and Jets took us to the wire because we were playing badly, nowhere near our potential.

3) We are out ONE, as of right now. Hernandez will play on Thursday.

4) Our schedule isn't as rosy as you make it out to be, on top of which we have gotten better and better. We just walloped a team that's won 4 straight.

Houston got taken to OT by Jaguars with a new QB, which can impact a team in a major way. Clearly. The fact Houston got taken to OT by the Jaguars to me isn't a sign of the Texans slipping, but a reminder that at times we looked equally vulnerable against poor teams.

And if you're going to be objective, how can you make that argument and not acknowledge the SAME thing can be said about us against the Jets, Bills, Arizona and Seattle? The reality is, the Texans only lost 1 game and it was to Green Bay, a powerhouse. They beat Baltimore, the Bears and Denver. That's 3 strong teams. Again, I re-iterate. We only beat 1 strong team this year. We're just now about to be tested.

We walloped a team with a rookie QB, the same team who went 1-15 last year. That's exactly my point. Too many fans are putting weight on this. Our major scoring margin came mainly from wins against the Titans, Rams, Colts and Bills. Do you realize the Jets also destroyed the Rams, Colts and Bills?

That means little to me. Wins over strong teams carry a lot more weight than huge scoring margins against weak teams.

PS: Let me put it to you in a simpler way. We have played 3 of the top 10 best scoring defenses and we lost all 3 games. Does that make you feel confident? We have 3 more top 10 defenses left, including the #1 SF and #4 Huston, and at least one of those have a more potent offense than any of the other 3 we faced.

DaBronxPats14 · 11-20-2012, 06:38 PM

Jets are next on Thursday Nite and attention should be focused squarely on them right now. Next week will be next week etc etc etc, one game at a time. One thing that can be predicted is that NFL is unpredictable from week to week things/players change ( see Gronk).

QB12 · 11-20-2012, 06:49 PM

Don't forget that beginning in 2010 to the present, the Patriots have been undefeated in the second half of the season. Those like the OP who are arguing against running the table are actually on the wrong side of recent history

FosterTheSkins · 11-20-2012, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PatsFanSince74

Let's just beat the Jets on Thursday night.

This. The Pats barely beat the Jets last time. It wouldn't be wise to look past them.

Brady'sButtBoy · 11-20-2012, 07:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by robertweathers

...and all of those years were not 2012. Different players. Different set of circumstances.

Can they win out? Sure. Is is likely? I dunna know. Their schedule isn't easy and its a helluva lot more important to be healthy and peaking at the right time of year.

I disagree, my friend. My reason for showing their consistency in the second half was to point out just opposite of your assertion: different players, different circumstances, different schedules, all that and still there is something that isn't different: Brady and Belichick win and win at their highest percentage in the second half. Regardless of players, circumstances, etc....

Nehalem · 11-20-2012, 07:55 PM

Even if you assume a 90% chance of winning each of the next 6 games there is barely better than a 50-50 chance of running the table.

And I would not assume a 90% chance of winning each game.

EDIT: At 80% it drops to about a 1/4 chance

***AndyJohnson*** · 11-20-2012, 07:59 PM

Let me get this straight. We are arguing about whether its a lock that a team will extend its 4 game winning streak to 10 straight? Really?
I epxect to see 2 close games that could go either way at the end. That could add up to 11-5, 12-4 or 13-3 and you would have pretty much the same caliber of team going into the playoffs in any of those cases.