Curran:Patriots ugly win vs. Jets doesn't ease concerns moving forward

[bormio]

Boston sports media likes to be thought of as "objective" and "smart". Say the Patriots are good - you are just a homer. Saying they suck gets you accolades from your colleagues. Curran is not as bad as most.

 

[RobertWeathers]

They are also the best defense that is #3 in points allowed as there is only one team at that spot. So am not sure what your exact point is.

I think the entire points allowed vs. other stats angle has been exhaustively debated and yesterday's game didn't add anything new to that discussion.

I'm not really interested in the other stats.

While we can agree that this is far from a stout, physical, ball-hawking defense, being #3 in points allowed and in 11 games only allowing 30 only once is better than average.

They days of dominant defenses are over.

 

[Bill Lee]

The conclusion is an overreaction: "The record looks great. The team really doesn’t."

I tend to think of Division Games, especially Road Division Games, in a special category. But, I also think we can't have our collective heads in the sand or up our butts.

In January they're going to have to beat two hungry and good teams, maybe one on the road. Right now, I don't think that's a cinch.

It's never a cinch. We know how the playoffs ended after the 18-0 season, and Randy Moss ain't walking through that door.

 

[neuronet]

Curran is right this is a bit scary...

The Patriots will close the season against the Ravens, Broncos, Jets and Dolphins. The Ravens and Broncos are both top-five in yards allowed per game, the Jets are – as witnessed Sunday – a pain in the ass and the Dolphins have gotten themselves to 7-4 and will be no picnic to play against in the South Florida heat on New Year’s Day.

Will be four tough, physical games.

He also forgot to to mention we have the Rams next week in Foxboro, so there's that. They may seem like a cakewalk, but they actually have a good D line, so it could end up being a bit of a slugfest as well.

Just as a reminder, here is the rest of our schedule:

Sun, Dec 4 vs Rams 1:00 PM
Mon, Dec 12 vs Ravens 8:30 PM
Sun, Dec 18 @ Broncos 4:25 PM
Sat, Dec 24 vs Jets 1:00 PM
Sun, Jan 1 @ Dolphins 1:00 PM

In particular keep your eye on the Monday night vs Ravens, which will be a very physical tough game (it always is with them), and then flying out on a short week to Denver.

We will be tested big time the coming weeks! This is what it's all about folks--should be some great games! Denver is now 7-4, two games behind the Raiders....thanks to the Chiefs. But this also means Denver will play with their hair on fire against us, and we might play a little lackluster (hopefully not, but last year we certainly didn't end the regular season with any fire in our belly--we coasted in neutral into the postseason...).

 

[NYCPatsFan]

At what point are people going to stop acting surprised/concerned when the Pats/Jets play insanely close games for basically the last 5 seasons now? (Outside of the Buttfumble game)

It's to be expected at this point.

Hell, even in the 2014 Super Bowl season when the Jets went 4-12...

Patriots 27
Jets 25

Patriots 17
Jets 16

If that were the Browns I'd be a little more concerned, that game was nothing less than I expected.

I am shocked that I totally agreed with Pess Pete.

 

[aluminum seats]

We're nearly into December and the team is playing it's worst football of the season. I guarantee you Belichick isn't happy with that win and the way they're playing.

I've got a totally different take on yesterday. A blowout over a Jets team that was laying down would have meant much less to me than how this game unfolded. The team is really banged up, playing a road divisional game. Brady wasn't at his sharpest. But they gutted it out, made a game-winning play on defense, and the running game closed it out. These are the kinds of games that make a Super Bowl, not the high-scoring laughers.

I bet you Belichick is pretty damn happy with that win.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I think it was somewhat encouraging defensively orher than the jets last td drive with that pathetic soft approach. I mean thats fine if youre up multiple scores but not 3 f****ng points.

When the d was allowed to play they made stops invluding 2 great ones at the end.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I've got a totally different take on yesterday. A blowout over a Jets team that was laying down would have meant much less to me than how this game unfolded. The team is really banged up, playing a road divisional game. Brady wasn't at his sharpest. But they gutted it out, made a game-winning play on defense, and the running game closed it out. These are the kinds of games that make a Super Bowl, not the high-scoring laughers.

I bet you Belichick is pretty damn happy with that win.

Agree, but only because it was a Division game on the road.
A game like that against any other team of the Jets "caliber" would otherwise have me worried. They should put teams like that away sometime in the middle of the third quarter.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

Still have issues getting to the qb. Fitz's QBR was around 115. The defense made the key stops yesterday but still need alot of work. I can't wait for that ravens game.

 

[reflexblue]

The pats have been playing their 'B' game since they came off the bye, they need to get it together again.

 

[cmasspatsfan]

The conclusion is an overreaction: "The record looks great. The team really doesn’t."

I tend to think of Division Games, especially Road Division Games, in a special category. But, I also think we can't have our collective heads in the sand or up our butts.

In January they're going to have to beat two hungry and good teams, maybe one on the road. Right now, I don't think that's a cinch.

It never is a cinch and isn't supposed to be, that's expecting a little too much.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

It never is a cinch and isn't supposed to be, that's expecting a little too much.

I was using understatement.

I might have said something like, "If they play and manage the game like they did yesterday, we'll be lucky if they aren't playing for the Division in Miami on New Year's Day, let alone expecting to beat two strong playoff teams, maybe one on the road, to get to the SB."

But, then, that would have been an overstatement.

So, I was trying to say something like "Let's just hope yesterday was an off day because of the road game after a Cross Country Flight and a fired up Divisional Rival over Thanksgiving Weekend."

 

[ctpatsfan77]

In January they're going to have to beat two hungry and good teams, maybe one on the road. Right now, I don't think that's a cinch.

Even when everything's going right, it isn't.

 

[JMC00]

Think Curran wrote the same piece in '14 when the Patriots won 17-16 in NY week 16 against the 3-11 jests lead by Geno Smith. When the offense only put up 230 yards and Brady got sacked 5-6 times.

 

[SVN]

I think personally comparing jets games in the past vs yesterday and equating the teams isnt accurate. Would anyone take our 2016 defense over 2014 defense especially the secondary with revis and browner and pass rush with jones and collins just because we are #3 in points allowed ? Yes , Every win is win. Yes, those players are not the same anymore and letting them go was the right thing but twisting stats to compare past jets games and saying "thats how it is always with them" doesnt mean we dont have problems especially on defense. Also, that team in 2014 had a much tougher schedule vs this current team and defense.Its not the same. In the end we are concerned about how well this team plays so I don't know why there is so much resistance to acknowledge they have issues. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Deus Irae]

I dont fully understand why Curran thinks that yesterday was a regression.

He watched the game.

 

[Vindicate]

It's really easy to overstate the Patriot's struggles when you look at them in a vacuum relative to the rest of the NFL. It's grinding towards the end of the season - hits are piling up and every player is starting to feel the storm in their bones.

Patriots, 100%, have issues to address if they want to make a run in the playoffs. So does every single team that is in contention. Oakland's secondary that is an abomination can be used against them in regards to their pass rush (Quick passes, tire them out); Seahawks are all over the place in terms of performance (Shoot, if we had kicked it on as we should've on the goal line they'd have another loss), Denver's offensive woes are finally catching up with them, KC... is well, KC. You get my point though. Every team in contention has a myriad of problems that is more than an achilles heel.

 

[archstanton543]

"Plus, who wants to peak in week 12, better to peak come playoffs."

If they want to peak, they better start heading up the hill soon or there won't be any time left.

 

[bormio]

He watched the game.

We stopped the Jets rushing much better than vs SF, and the Jets QB and WRs were better than SF.

 

[patfanken]

I'm not at all surprised with the contents of the story. I felt all along that nothing the Pats did on the field against the Jets short of a shut out would satisfy the mediot horde. They have CREATED a narrative that the Pats are a flawed team with a bad defense, and now they have to run with it. What I am surprised at was the story coming from Tom Curran, who up until this point had been a rare voice of reason amid the rabble of mediocrity. Maybe he got tired of fighting against the rising tide, or maybe he feared getting labelled with a "homer" tag.

I don't know why the media seems to feel that unless your team is beating your opponents in every aspect of the game, EVERY time, then you are a flawed team and we should all be wringing our hands, beating our breasts, and waiting for the sky to fall, and more importantly BLAMING someone.

This is the game of football, and when you have a situation like they do in the NFL where there is very little difference in the physical abilities of the players, almost every game is going to be closely fought. It seems ludicrous that the mediots seem to be shocked at this very simple and obvious fact. You can go to almost every game played, change 2 or 3 plays and you change the results. Isn't THAT why we watch (or watched in my case). There wouldn't be much interest if all we had to do was look at what's on paper to determine the victor.