OT: Good for you Blinky

[BostonBullit]

I caught some of the Skins/Boys game yesterday and it was good to see ol Blinky Caldwell catching some balls and helping his team. I know he had those horrific drops in the AFCCG but for a guy that was pressed into a role that he really ain't cut out for he didn't do too bad for the Pats last season....good to see him land on his feet

 

[BlitzFritz]

I caught some of the Skins/Boys game yesterday and it was good to see ol Blinky Caldwell catching some balls and helping his team. I know he had those horrific drops in the AFCCG but for a guy that was pressed into a role that he really ain't cut out for he didn't do too bad for the Pats last season....good to see him land on his feet

Sorry, but i have to say PULLEASE !!!

Good "ole Binky" cost us a Super Bowl <--- one rather reasonable way to look at it. There were other factors, but if you isolate him, you can say that.

No way on god's earth was BB gonna keep a guy who chokes in the clutch. That is un-patriot-like.

again, sorry, but i have nothing good to say about him. Nothing. :bricks:

 

[bradmahn]

Sorry, but i have to say PULLEASE !!!

Good "ole Binky" cost us a Super Bowl <--- one rather reasonable way to look at it. There were other factors, but if you isolate him, you can say that.

No way on god's earth was BB gonna keep a guy who chokes in the clutch. That is un-patriot-like.

again, sorry, but i have nothing good to say about him. Nothing. :bricks:

Without Caldwell the Patriots don't even have a shot at getting to the Super Bowl, so stfu with the "he cost us a SB" crap. He had one horrendous drop (the other was minimal because of Gaffney's TD grab the next play) but the blame for the AFCCG falls at the feet of a worn out defense and a running game that was supposed to be a strength that fell apart down the stretch and into the playoffs. Caldwell's big time catch against the Chargers was "clutch" and, next to Troy's strip, the biggest play of that game.

The guy was a huge part of a 12 win season and now he's vilified like Peyton Manning around here. Grow up.

 

[Tommysgirl]

I clicked over to the game and the first thing I saw was him drop a pass. I felt so bad for him.

 

[BlitzFritz]

Dudes, i cant believe you feel any need to defend the guy.
he's probably a great guy, and yes he did a fine job during the season, nothing spectacular, but solid. (tho you couldargue that Jabar was passing him as the season went on)

what cannot be denied is that he dropped 2 passes in critical situations due to CHOKE NERVES.

i'm done. he has no place on a championship, 60 min men team.

 

[#56300ex]

Yes, he did drop 2 critical passes, but the WHOLE TEAM dropped the ball in that game. I seriously doubt the Patriots lead they gave up in that game was attributed directly to Caldwell. It's a team sport, they ALL played like garbage the second half and they ALL lost the game. Now get over it, it's the 2007 playoffs.

 

[Keegs]

Caldwell's drops were horrendous.

His drop where Gaffney bailed him out cannot be excused. He choked TWICE.

There's no way this team was going to keep a guy that can't handle the pressure of a big game. No way. He just doesn't fit with the Patriots.

Everyone says "yeah but what about his catch during the Chargers game?"

well that catch was nice but all starting receivers in this league can make that catch, and 75% of them wouldn't run out of bounds after making the catch.

 

[BbRrUeSwCsHkIe]

Reche was the leading receiver on a team 30 minutes from a Super Bowl. And since Chicago sucked he probably would have been on 70% of everyone heres TOP PATRIOTS OF ALL TIME list.

 

[Lansdowne]

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Reche was the leading receiver on a team 30 minutes from a Super Bowl. And since Chicago sucked he probably would have been on 70% of everyone heres TOP PATRIOTS OF ALL TIME list.

Ugh. That's what bothers me as much as anything. We can make a case for being the best team last year. Even more so, we can make a case for being the second best team behind INdy.

I know that if we are fortunate enough to make it to the SB, there won't be an "easy" team waiting for us in Arizona like the Colts had last year. Chicago was the worst SB team I've seen since the 94 Chargers. It's typical of the Colts that they had such an easy, un-remarkable opponent in the SB last year. Had they played Philly of 2004 or Carolina of 2003 or the Rams of 2001 they would have lost.

 

[wdkantro2]

If Caldwell choked twice in the AFCCG, how many times did the defense choke? 21-6 at the half? 32 points in the second half. Please. The real difference in the game came down to our defense vs. their offense, and our defense failed. It wasn't Caldwell's fault the defense gave up 32 in the second half.

 

[ShrewBeer]

To all you idiots who claim caldwell is a choke artist: who got us to the afccg in the first place? who came up with the big catch to get us there? who ran his ass off and got open? hmm.....without your "choke artist", there would be no game to choke in.

 

[FrontSeven]

.. but the blame for the AFCCG falls at the feet of a worn out defense and a running game that was supposed to be a strength that fell apart down the stretch and into the playoffs.

This gets to be like "Buckner blew it", no? Lots of things went wrong before and after Buckner booted that ground ball. Buckner became the lightning rod for people that just couldn't handle the fact that they lost. They weren't good enough. The team lost, and one guy's failure is usually just a symptom, not a cause.

Caldwell did drop a huge pass, but he also caught a huge one against the Chargers. So, up to that point he was Mr. Clutch, and we weren't getting to the AFCCG without him. People do forget that. It's a convenient memory lapse.

People forget that Tom threw a pick too. Oh, well. Hey, nobody is perfect and he proved it that day.

Like you said, the defense fell apart. I was worried about them after that really tough west coast game, and then the stories about the flu. That was the perfect recipe for a defense just running out of gas. People who do not know the facts like to say, "Aging defense" but that wasn't it at all.

It was our bad luck, and luck is part of a SB run. Bad luck can happen. We saw it last year and it did stick in a few craws around here. But blaming Caldwell is pretty lame. The team was not ready to win another championship.

 

[FrontSeven]

If Caldwell choked twice in the AFCCG, how many times did the defense choke? 21-6 at the half? 32 points in the second half. Please. The real difference in the game came down to our defense vs. their offense, and our defense failed. It wasn't Caldwell's fault the defense gave up 32 in the second half.

I don't think the defense choked; I think they ran out of gas due to the tough west coast game followed by some guys getting the flu. It wasn't our time.

Also, the worst thing for the defense might have been playing with a lead at the half. If they were capable of responding to a demand or challenge, it might have happened if they had been behind. Being sick with the flu makes that pretty doubtful, although I do think they play great from behind at the half.

Everything went wrong.

 

[BlitzFritz]

I never thought I would hear hardcore Pats Fans defending a guy who had two major drops in a playoff game. Drops when NO ONE WAS WITHIN FIVE YARDS OF HIM. PURE PRESSURE, OH MY FRICKIN GOD IM GONNA MAKE A TOUCHDOW...oops.

Think about Tedy. Brady. Rodney. FFS those guys are Patriots. They MAKE PLAYS when the game is on the line!!!

I do agree that you cant blame Reche for the whole loss, thats for sure.

But no way was BB gonna keep around a guy who cant be counted on when everything matters. He was dead before camp started. (Think Grady Little)

You guys can wax nostalgia all you want, but that is true.

Please dont tell me to care one tiny bit about the guy.

 

[unoriginal]

I never thought I would hear hardcore Pats Fans defending a guy who had two major drops in a playoff game. Drops when NO ONE WAS WITHIN FIVE YARDS OF HIM. PURE PRESSURE, OH MY FRICKIN GOD IM GONNA MAKE A TOUCHDOW...oops.

Think about Tedy. Brady. Rodney. FFS those guys are Patriots. They MAKE PLAYS when the game is on the line!!!

I do agree that you cant blame Reche for the whole loss, thats for sure.

But no way was BB gonna keep around a guy who cant be counted on when everything matters. He was dead before camp started. (Think Grady Little)

You guys can wax nostalgia all you want, but that is true.

Please dont tell me to care one tiny bit about the guy.

Kevin Faulk and Troy Brown are also Patriots. They've screwed the pooch a few times themselves. I've followed this and other Pats boards to know the prevailing opinion of Faulk's hands until a season or so ago.

Caldwell was cut because he wasn't one of the best five or six receivers in training camp. On this team that's not that damning a criticism.

It's like thinking Max Lane got cut because he gave up 2 sacks to The Reverand in the Super Bowl.

 

[ShrewBeer]

But no way was BB gonna keep around a guy who cant be counted on when everything matters. He was dead before camp started. (Think Grady Little)

You guys can wax nostalgia all you want, but that is true.

Please dont tell me to care one tiny bit about the guy.

u wanna claim reche choked? how about brady throwing the pick with plenty of time left on the clock to score. u wanna try calling brady a choke artist? no. because he's proven in other games he is not. and so did reche. he came up big in other games when the pressure was on.

 

[Deus Irae]

Dudes, i cant believe you feel any need to defend the guy.
he's probably a great guy, and yes he did a fine job during the season, nothing spectacular, but solid. (tho you couldargue that Jabar was passing him as the season went on)

what cannot be denied is that he dropped 2 passes in critical situations due to CHOKE NERVES.

i'm done. he has no place on a championship, 60 min men team.

Wow....... just wow.

Try counting up all his drops last season and comparing them to, say, Moss and Welker this year.

 

[RayClay]

I have nothing but good wishes for Reche. He gave us his all when we were really stuck.

I appreciate clutch players more than anything and the greatest have all had moments when they really blew it, it's just part of the game.

Usually it's nerves from trying too hard and I'll never get down on a player for that. Lack of effort and preparation is another story

 

[Boston Jay]

Have no hard feelings for Caldwell. He was unexpectedly put into the #1 role when that other guy altered some plans and performed decently. This team was just stacked at WR and there was no place for him anymore. Good luck to him in the playoffs.