patsox23
Experienced Starter w/First Big Contract
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.You want to go into the playoffs full throttle.
You sound young. One bye week is good, two is bad.
When the Pats had a bye week locked up a couple years ago, they played the starters well into the fourth quarter against the Niners week 17.
Belichick would NEVER rest his starters before a BYE WEEK. Never has, never would, never will.
You do know that the Patriots will have a week off, in other words, two weeks (plus a day, maybe) between the Giants game and their first playoff game, right? Nowhere in your posts have you acknowledged this. If Jax comes into Fox, they'll be beat up from a playoff game and no time off since their bye, whenever that was. Finally, Belichick hasn't let up on the throttle late in the season in prior years, so I wouldn't expect him to start now. And, Brady would fight him tooth and nail if he tried to bench him.We will be in trouble if we go into the playoffs undefeated, full throttle. They will look like the team in the second half against the Colts in last years AFC Championship game or the tired run D against the Ravens. Everyone plays their best against them because they want to be the team to beat the Pats. We need full focus and strength against the Jaguars and Colts. Addai and Taylor will eat up a tired team. We need two bye weeks. A loss this week will take a lot of pressure off the team and we can forget the Giants game. Treat it like the fifth exhibition game.
You are forgetting that this team under BB attempts to win every game regardless of its record. Further, it takes each game as a separate challenge, does not look ahead, and refuses to acknowledge any goal beyond winning the next game. It appears you are tired and losing energy from this wild season and all this talk about the pressure of being perfect. Get some rest, drink healthy fluids, and chant your one-game-at-a-time mantra when you start to feel stress. Good luck!We know the Patriots win matchup wise against any team in the league. The main goal now is maintaining energy until the games count in January. That is what we've learned the most over the last couple of weeks.
You do know that the Patriots will have a week off, in other words, two weeks (plus a day, maybe) between the Giants game and their first playoff game, right? Nowhere in your posts have you acknowledged this. If Jax comes into Fox, they'll be beat up from a playoff game and no time off since their bye, whenever that was. Finally, Belichick hasn't let up on the throttle late in the season in prior years, so I wouldn't expect him to start now. And, Brady would fight him tooth and nail if he tried to bench him.
You are forgetting that this team under BB attempts to win every game regardless of its record. Further, it takes each game as a separate challenge, does not look ahead, and refuses to acknowledge any goal beyond winning the next game. It appears you are tired and losing energy from this wild season and all this talk about the pressure of being perfect. Get some rest, drink healthy fluids, and chant your one-game-at-a-time mantra when you start to feel stress. Good luck!
This thread is sofa king stupid.
I don't give a damn if the Jets and Dolphins think they're Superman, it won't make a lick of a difference. The Giants could be in more of a position to be resting players than the Patriots, as they will not have a bye the following week.
The Patriots are going to finish 14-2 worst scenario possible, and that would still give them the number one seed. THEY WILL ABSOLUTELY STILL HAVE A BULL'S EYE ON THEIR BACKS. Would you rather the Steelers come into Gillette a second time and know that they got their asses handed to them in December or would you like them to come in knowing they've already beaten the Patriots?
The teams in the playoffs will be plenty motivated enough because (and I know this might shock you) their season is quite literally on the line. It would be stupid of the Patriots to want to lose a game because they're afraid of a team "trying real hard" to beat them because it's going to happen whether they're undefeated, have one loss, or finish 12-4.
Really, I disagree. Not saying that the Patriots are going to lay down on Sunday, they will give it everything they have, but I don't know how much is in the reserve right now. Just saying it wouldn't be a bad thing if they did lose this one for stated reasons. And I disagree, if the Pats lose two the bullseye would not be anywhere near as big. The media would toss them aside and jump on Big Ben and Peyton in a heartbeat.
Nope, I'm ready and well rested from my couch. The team is exhausted. I'm suprised there weren't more injuries on Monday night because of it.
I think this thread is dumb, but I'll try to play Devil's advocate anyway just for fun:
Other teams (who have no playoff hopes) are treating their game vs the Pats as "Their Superbowl", thinking that if they end our undefeated season bid, they will have acheived something worth bragging about... something to hang their hat on in an otherwise fruitless season.
We have seen a number of teams play above their heads... with a passion and determination that we are finding hard to match week in and week out (indeed, any team would).
That being said, would those same teams view their game vs the Pats any differently if we were 11-1 and not 12-0? or would they still see us as the #1 team and the concensus choice to win the SB and still treat it like "Their Suberbowl"?
While some of the intensity might be gone, I still think teams would bring their A game in order to play the part of the spoiler. Yeah, we are cellar dwellars, but we beat the Patriots!
In any case, you play each game to win it and in no case is losing a game a 'good thing'. The closest you can come to arguing that is if losing a game will help you avoid a playoff matchup vs a team that you have consistently had trouble with. Even then, 'losing is good' is a hard sell.
Ok, I'll come back to the original premise in the thread, it is naive and ridiculous to think that the team is experiencing pressure and is, therefore, tired due to the attention about having a perfect season. This is wrong on so many levels, that it's hard for me to take this premise seriously, but here goes:The Pats are tired and their undefeated season is the only story in the NFL. What should be meaningless games towards the end of the schedule are now going to be overscrutinized and the team is going to be under a microscope. A loss to the Steelers would deflect the media attention and give the Patriots an opportunity to begin resting players, disguising schemes for the playoffs and the best part about it, the media would write them off and crown the Steelers as the team to beat in the playoffs. We would still have home field and that would serve as extra motivation to beat them a second time. The team is feeling the pressure now and a loss or two would deflect that and make the Patriots not the only story in the league and perhaps and underdog.
This is different. The motivation is off the charts for opposing teams now. Philly was what, 23 point underdog, biggest in the NFL. Baltimore was a 20 point underdog at home. Biggest in the NFL. The non-stop talk about are the Patriots the greatest team in the history of the NFL. All the opposing team has to do is say, are we man enough to beat the best team in history of the league? Look at the play of the two no name quarterbacks over the last couple of weeks. I don't want Jacksonville coming in here with the motivation of being the biggest underdog in the history of the playoffs. This stuff does matter. The last two weeks have proven it.