Its a no win situation.....

[patfanken]

.....and we are all going to have to come to grips with it.

If we beat up on the Colts to the tune of 38 to 13, and it could get uglier that that, the general comment will be "ho hum". If its any closer than that, then its probably going to get nasty. The win will be quickly lost in questions about the Pats effort or ability, or talent.

But its not just for this game, the same issues go for the rest of the season. Any success the Pats incur will be countered by comments on the "2nd string QB parade". There will be no comments made about the Pats possible success in the playoffs, without TWICE the number of comments about the last 2 failures. And while it is not unfair to bring up those 2 playoff losses in 09 and 10, its STILL really irrelevant to the issue of THIS team. Nothing pisses me off more than pundits who opine that the Pats can't beat the Ravens because they won a game 2 YEARS ago.

So we all have to accept that the next 5 weeks have little or no meaning. Nothing good that emerges will be valued, and ONLY negatives will be worth commenting on. If the defense holds all these teams to under 20 points, it will be viewed as the result of playing inferior competition. The same will hold true for any of the offense's successes.

I know the games are important. I know the wins are necessary if we are going to get the all important bye. I know the secondary is a huge question mark. I know all these thngs, but it is still disappointing that the rest of the season has been seemingly made irrelevant because these are the teams that have been given to us by the schedule

I just can't rid myself of the nagging feeling that the rest of the season is like the game with the Colts....nothing good can come of it. I'm just biding my time, piling up wins, answering the same questions, and waiting for the playoffs to begin, hoping beyond hope that we will be lucky enough to be healthy enough to SHUT UP the naysayers.....at least for a couple of games.

Am I the only one that feels this?.....or should I just see my doctor and get some medication.
"

 

[Deus Irae]

The score is almost meaningless to me in terms of how I'll view the team's abilities, assuming the Patriots win, although I'd love to see a 60-0 game. What matters is the level of play. If the defensive backfield is as bad this week as it was last week, the game will be a negative regardless of the score. If, on the other hand, it plays significantly better but gives up more points, that'll be a positive.

 

[TB=TD]

The Patriots beat every single playoff team last year and went out in the first.

 

[TBradyOwnsYou]

tl;dr
However, I'll just point out that it technically a 1 win situation discounting the improbability of a tie.

 

[Zeus]

Usual priorities (in this order)-

1. Win the next game (Rinse and Repeat)

2. Win the division.

3. Secure a bye.

4. Secure home field throughout​

There's still lots of great football ahead. It's all good. We can worry about the play-offs when the time comes.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Each win is one step closer to our goal.

Other than Denver, they're all games we absolutely should win easily, but a bad 60 minutes and we could lose any of them. So don't take it for granted. With each win, we're closer to earning hopefully a first round bye. 13-3 and a 1/2 seed is always an accomplishment in this league no matter your schedule. Of course expectations have to be tempered given how probably the 2 best teams we've faced on the schedule have beaten us.

 

[Calciumee]

I only see the game being close if Hoyer comes in for 30 minutes, and struggles! But if he doesn't struggle, I could still see him moving the ball!

Aslong as it's a win, I will not care! You don't have to win a Superbowl by 30 points, you have to win it by 1!

 

[Tunescribe]

.....and we are all going to have to come to grips with it.

If we beat up on the Colts to the tune of 38 to 13, and it could get uglier that that, the general comment will be "ho hum". If its any closer than that, then its probably going to get nasty. The win will be quickly lost in questions about the Pats effort or ability, or talent.

But its not just for this game, the same issues go for the rest of the season. Any success the Pats incur will be countered by comments on the "2nd string QB parade". There will be no comments made about the Pats possible success in the playoffs, without TWICE the number of comments about the last 2 failures. And while it is not unfair to bring up those 2 playoff losses in 09 and 10, its STILL really irrelevant to the issue of THIS team. Nothing pisses me off more than pundits who opine that the Pats can't beat the Ravens because they won a game 2 YEARS ago.

So we all have to accept that the next 5 weeks have little or no meaning. Nothing good that emerges will be valued, and ONLY negatives will be worth commenting on. If the defense holds all these teams to under 20 points, it will be viewed as the result of playing inferior competition. The same will hold true for any of the offense's successes.

I know the games are important. I know the wins are necessary if we are going to get the all important bye. I know the secondary is a huge question mark. I know all these thngs, but it is still disappointing that the rest of the season has been seemingly made irrelevant because these are the teams that have been given to us by the schedule

I just can't rid myself of the nagging feeling that the rest of the season is like the game with the Colts....nothing good can come of it. I'm just biding my time, piling up wins, answering the same questions, and waiting for the playoffs to begin, hoping beyond hope that we will be lucky enough to be healthy enough to SHUT UP the naysayers.....at least for a couple of games.

Am I the only one that feels this?.....or should I just see my doctor and get some medication.
"

I think the Colts game is the only absolute "gimme" left, the Skins only slightly less so on their home turf. Denver will play hard and Miami/Buffalo are divisional opponents. Miami doesn't look like they're packing it in (yet) and if we're lucky, the Bills will be playing for nothing when they come to Gillette.

 

[Uncle Rico]

.... I'm just biding my time, piling up wins, answering the same questions, and waiting for the playoffs to begin, hoping beyond hope that we will be lucky enough to be healthy enough to SHUT UP the naysayers ...

I think that, while many of the details could never be predicted, the season is playing out pretty much as most here expected ... which is pretty much the way you describe it. The Patriots are cruising their way to a 13-3 or (heaven forbid) 12-4 season, while the fan base is holding its collective breath to see what the playoffs bring.

I say enjoy the ride; enjoy watching a franchise for whom 13-3 could possibly be seen as ho-hum. Enjoy seeing what kind of wrinkles can be added; maybe some of the unproven guys can do some stuff too. Enjoy the luxury of getting guys like Spikes and Chung and McCourty healthy for the playoffs. And I know I'll enjoy watching this board for analysis from guys like you and a few others, whose understanding of the game helps the less educated among us (me included) see signs of progress (or not).

Then, when the playoffs come: Well, stock up on liquor. And keep hoping. Because nothing could brighten the dullness of winter more than seeing the Pats hoist another Lombardi ... in Indy.

 

[borg]

I don't want the Patriots to hurt anyone's feelings. Shut down the operation and lets get back to horseracing...Foxborough style

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Who cares what the media says? Hang a W, any way you can, since it helps secure playoffs and home field. Next week, Hang a W, any way you can, since it helps secure playoffs and home field. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Get to the playoffs and hang some more W's on the board. Each game starts out 0-0, whether the guys on ESPN, NFL Network, and WEEI like it or not.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Forget the score Sunday unless it's close, which would really surprise me.
I'll look for a better pass rush like against KC and most importantly improved pass coverage. If the D shows continuing signs of coverage improvement and the # of injured players decrease, I'll be in a good mood for January. It's how well the receivers are covered while noting if many wide open guys are flat out missed.

 

[Dessalines]

I'm with Bill on this, no game is a given a no game is easy, it requires focus, study and execution. For Christ's sake, its the NFL. They still have Mathis and Freeny and a great receiving corps. What they lack is defensive depth and a real Q.B.. If its a win, I don't care about the point spread. I want to see the boys play well.

 

[Absurdly Metro]

Because nothing could brighten the dullness of winter more than seeing the Pats hoist another Lombardi ... in Indy.

This.

Think I just creamed in my jeans reading it.

 

[brdmaverick]

Geez, you weren't kidding about the "BACKUP QB PARADE". We are in the middle of a six game stretch in which we will be playing against QBs that did not go into the season as the starting quarterback.

 

[Sicilian]

I'll be looking for specific things over the last five weeks, individual players or units to see how they respond:

Assuming Vollmer doesn't play, how well does Solder handle a guy like Mathis? Same goes for Cannon if he has to fill in at RT for some reason (a Light injury, etc).

Right now I'm confident in the abilities of Welker, Branch, Gronk, and Hernandez. Will anyone else (Ocho, Price, Underwood, Slater) give me reason to include them too?

Can either Vereen or Ridley find some consistency by year's end?

How well does the make shift secondary seem to cover individual talented receivers (Garcon, Wayne, Collie, Lloyd, Decker, S. Moss, Marshall... there's plenty of talent left to evaluate them against)?

Can Edelman continue to get more comfortable as a DB?

When McCourty comes back, does Edelman stay in the slot instead of Molden (who's skills don't seem to fit the slot corner role all that well)?

When Chung comes back, is it Ighedibo or Moore who gets the majority of the snaps next to him?

Can Carter and Anderson keep it up? And on top of that, can we find someone between Deaderick, Brace, Vince, Love, Warren, or Ellis who can get some extra pass rush up the middle?

These are all fun things to watch for and (assuming success in them) can be good signs for us going into the playoffs that we didn't have last year.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

The biggest thing I worry about is not having solid (or usual competition in the case of the Broncos) to sharpen our playing for the post season.

The Good I see in the upcoming games
1. BB will never allow the players to take the foot off the gas
2. Greater chance to secure first round bye
3. Getting key people as healthy as possible for the post season (Branch especially as WR#3 hasn't developed)
4. The younger/newer guys getting some real game reps for when their number is called
5. I know each team is different and this team seems mentally tpougher than the last two 1 and dones. That gives me great confidence.
6. It's still Patriot football.

I'm sure there's plenty more good, but that's it for a quick response

 

[jah]

The biggest thing I worry about is not having solid (or usual competition in the case of the Broncos) to sharpen our playing for the post season.

The Good I see in the upcoming games
1. BB will never allow the players to take the foot off the gas
2. Greater chance to secure first round bye
3. Getting key people as healthy as possible for the post season (Branch especially as WR#3 hasn't developed)
4. The younger/newer guys getting some real game reps for when their number is called
5. I know each team is different and this team seems mentally tpougher than the last two 1 and dones. That gives me great confidence.
6. It's still Patriot football.

I'm sure there's plenty more good, but that's it for a quick response

I disagree about 5. I think the 2009 Patriots had pretty much no mental toughness whatsoever, but this year's team isn't where they were last year in that respect. They never blew a 21 point lead last season, and when the other team was driving down by a touchdown at the end of the game, they picked it off instead of committing pass interference.

 

[ewg_gestalt]

I disagree about 5. I think the 2009 Patriots had pretty much no mental toughness whatsoever, but this year's team isn't where they were last year in that respect. They never blew a 21 point lead last season, and when the other team was driving down by a touchdown at the end of the game, they picked it off instead of committing pass interference.

I think one of the easiest ways to deflate an opponent is to put a ton of points on the board early. It makes it a lot tougher to come back if you've been dug into a huge hole early. This week, the Patriots were down 10-0 very early, but didn't give up the ship. They stuck to their guns, kept working, and opened up a huge lead. That's a big deal, regardless of the opponent.

That's a sign of resilience. Maybe it's not the same as mental toughness. But it shows that they're not going to give up without a fight, and that's what I want to see in a Patriots team.

 

[Wax Frog]

Usual priorities (in this order)-

1. Win the next game (Rinse and Repeat)

2. Win the division.

3. Secure a bye.

4. Secure home field throughout​

There's still lots of great football ahead. It's all good. We can worry about the play-offs when the time comes.

I could swear I'd read something like this recently GMTA