The playoffs are a new season; all that matters is that we get in…

[Brady6]

The Patriots consistently finish with 12+ wins but over the past 10 years we have not gone home with the prize, in many cases the best performances occurred early in the season, in 2007, we went 16-0 but the teams peak was the first half. My point is what many of us are so panicked about is that we are not doing what we have done in years past, but in the past 10 years has that actually been an ideal way?

The goal is winning the Super Bowl; the process in getting to that goal is meaningless if this team wins the Super Bowl nobody is going to even remember that we lost to the Chiefs on Monday night football in week 4. What we have to realize about this team is that it is positioned to improve as the season progresses; we have youth and players returning from injury. The reality is that an OL with Mankins on it would have been a better line over the first 4 weeks or I would go as far as to say the first 12 games, but it may not be a better line in the playoffs. Tommy Kelly is a better DL than Sealver Siliga, Dominique Easley, and Chris Jones today, but he blew out his knee on a non-contact play in week 5 last season and as the season progress, the young players will develop with the reps. A great example of how reps develop a player is Edelman, the first 8-10 games of the season last year Edelman was productive but he was not the player he is today, in week 1 of the season there was no question Welker and Amendola were better receivers. At the end of the season, however you could easily make the case Edelman was the best of the 3. This is what I expect to see from the Bryan Stork, Cameron Fleming’s, Dominique Easley etc. of the team, progression as the season goes.

We have a lot going on right now:

- The OL is a work in progress; the first 4 weeks were the preseason for the OL still.
- Gronkowski, Wilfork, Easley, Mayo, Vollmer, and Dobson are all working their way back from major injuries.
- Brandon LaFell and Tim Wright are still learning the offense.
- Darrelle Revis is 4 games into his Patriots career, all of us posters need to stop comparing his current performance to his performance with the Jets where he played for years.
- Brandon Browner has been suspended.

I am sure there are other factors that I left out.

I believe 10-6 will get this team into the playoffs, which means we need to go 8-4 the rest of the way; we have a tough schedule. However, with 2 games each against the Bills and Jets, and a game against Miami in our stadium in mid December we should be able to come out of those 5 games with 3-4 victories. I am confident we can get to 10 wins, as especially as I strongly believe this team will be a very different animal by the final quarter of the season.

Once the Patriots are in the playoffs no matter their seeding they are contenders for the Super Bowl, the goal is getting in, and that is all that matters.

 

[Rob0729]

If you look at the Super Bowl winners since the Pats won the Super Bowl, only the Saints and Seahawks didn't play on Wild Card weekend. That is why I always thought, the whole "the Pats need the bye" talk over the last few years was funny because the bye seems to be a disadvantage. But this shows the best team in the regular season rarely wins the Super Bowl anymore.

The Pats have a long way to go to even talk Super Bowl, but in recent years there have been several teams left for dead during the regular season that have won the Super Bowl. In 2011, the Giants lost five out of six games (with four losses in a row) onto a 9-7 season. They were supposed to be one and done in the playoffs and won it. In 2012, the Ravens lost four of five games in December, fired their offensive coordinator during the season, and their defense was in disarray towards the end of the season. They pulled it together and won the Super Bowl.

Not saying the Pats will or even can pull something like this off, but this shows that it is possible and not all that unlikely for a team to do.

 

[patsfan-1982]

I don't like the way the OL and the defense when given a little bit of a test has played but its the start of week 5 and we don't even know who really is a great team and its always the team that can avoid major injury to key players and get hot at the right time that makes it to the big dance

 

[pats4life12]

I agree 100% with that. When you hit the playoffs anything can happen you just need to make it first. Sometimes that the hardest part just makeing the playoffs.

 

[Gwedd]

And the truth of the matter is that the first priority is to win the Division. You win the division, and you're in the playoffs. Simple as that.

I'm, not panicking. I certainly don't like seeing a loss like last Monday night, but it happens, and it happens to good teams as well as great teams every single year. That old adage about "On any given Sunday" certainly applies every weekend. To my mind, it's what makes the game, and the season, so great.

Barring any serious injuries, we ought to be fine.

 

[BelizePats]

I hear you. But, poor OL play cost us at least one Superbowl and we are seeing the same thing now.
When Brady has no time, this team has no change.
But the Oline this season is not the only major issue as I see it.
What I want and expect to see is a properly prepared team that is ready to execute and I have not seen this in 10 of the 16 quarters of football I have watched the team play so far this year.
This is disconcerting because coaching should be a strength of this team. But so far, I think a strong argument can be made for this not actually being the case at the quarter pole.

 

[New England Pride]

Love the positivity. Why can't we be one of these 9-7 10-6 teams that catches fire at the right time?

 

[patriot1136]

Momentum goes a long way going to the playoffs. But yeah we really just gotta win the division

 

[PatsGuy]

Home field means crowd noise. Crowd noise means difficulty in communication. Communication issues lead to penalties blown assignments etc.
The Pats need to put a consistent OL to develop consistency and with Browner back, a consistent defensive backfield so communication issues are put to a minimum

 

[BradyManny]

If their elite players are playing at an elite level, anything is possible. The play in the trenches must improve though, and that's the one where you have to wonder if the talent is there or not. Playing Stork & Fleming gives us the best shot on the offensive side of the ball. Defensively, we are really thin but Siliga coming back will bring hope. I wish we had Kelly still.

 

[New England Pride]

Also, if the ghost of Rob Gronkowski can turn back into Gronk for the playoffs...watch out. It doesn't seem like he's going to get injured any further this year. He seems to be playing a bit closer to the vest and the team is being pretty conservative about how they're using him.

 

[obgod3]

I'm not as convinced 10-6 gets them in. Maybe if 10-6 wins the division. But there are several teams capable of eating up those two wild card spots, take for example the west, I would expect to see Denver, Sd and maybe Kc with very good AFC records other than Cincy, but let's not forget about Baltimore and Houston and Indy. A collapse of one or more of those would be required. So 10-6 might not get it, 10-6 could be a tie in our division but we could lose that tie also.

I think the only way to secure a spot in the playoffs is 12-4 or maybe 11-5, but if you look at all the teams right now and do the math and look at the schedules 10-6 is a very tough road.

I agree once they are in anything can happen. The idiots on WEEI the other morning thought 9-7 would get them in, they are smoking crack.

 

[fnordcircle]

Love the positivity. Why can't we be one of these 9-7 10-6 teams that catches fire at the right time?

I'd rather be the 2007 Giants than the 2007 Patriots.

But that would require having a strong defense which despite however many draft picks we chuck at theat side of the ball it seems like a given we won't have, at this point.

 

[FCB02062]

R.e. playoffs...lets not forget the pats already have 2 conference losses and that will come into play for tie breakers. I don't see them being much better than 6-6 or 7-5 in the conference and that won't do it...if they lose Sunday they're really behind the 8 ball tiebreaker-wise, not to mention they'd now lose head to head w Kansas city and Cincinnati. ..

 

[Rob0729]

I'm not as convinced 10-6 gets them in. Maybe if 10-6 wins the division. But there are several teams capable of eating up those two wild card spots, take for example the west, I would expect to see Denver, Sd and maybe Kc with very good AFC records other than Cincy, but let's not forget about Baltimore and Houston and Indy. A collapse of one or more of those would be required. So 10-6 might not get it, 10-6 could be a tie in our division but we could lose that tie also.

I think the only way to secure a spot in the playoffs is 12-4 or maybe 11-5, but if you look at all the teams right now and do the math and look at the schedules 10-6 is a very tough road.

I agree once they are in anything can happen. The idiots on WEEI the other morning thought 9-7 would get them in, they are smoking crack.

10-6 wins the AFC East. In fact, 9-7 might win the AFC East. And I think the WEEI guys may be right.

And we are in a quarter of the way into the season. Many of the AFC teams that look to be double digit win teams could fall apart as the season goes on.

 

[varjao]

I agree once they are in anything can happen. The idiots on WEEI the other morning thought 9-7 would get them in, they are smoking crack.

Well the jets are 1-3 , the bills are 2-2 but they are the bills, I just see Miami as a legit contender in the division and they don't look like a team that will win 11 games, neither do we, so I believe 10 wins can make the division, 9-7 is not that far away.

 

[juny]

Any other recent SB winners have an OL that looked like a giant sieve in the regular season that got it together for the playoffs? That's the biggest issue right now.

 

[tasmlab]

If you look at the Super Bowl winners since the Pats won the Super Bowl, only the Saints and Seahawks didn't play on Wild Card weekend. That is why I always thought, the whole "the Pats need the bye" talk over the last few years was funny because the bye seems to be a disadvantage. But this shows the best team in the regular season rarely wins the Super Bowl anymore.

On a selfish note, I like not having the bye simply because there is another game to watch.

 

[Triumph]

 

[patsfan-1982]

Any other recent SB winners have an OL that looked like a giant sieve in the regular season that got it together for the playoffs? That's the biggest issue right now.

in 2008 pit give up 46 sacks and won the SB that year now that may not be the best example cause big ben can throw on the run and guys like Brady and manning need to step up in the pocket to get it done but my point is even a QB that gets sacked a lot can still play good if the play makers around them make plays and the defense plays good. tom Brady in 2001 was sacked 41 times in 400 pass att so we know it can be done