idle thoughts - instant reaction - short version

Only one...... # of '11 draft picks that played today
Three............# of '11 draft picks that were asked not to dress for today's playoff game

Shaking of Head

Slater.........Brady's deep threat
More apparent than ever.......the lack of a physical/burner WR to break press coverage and provide Brady a legit deep threat


Shaking of Head

........Some Ds are just in Brady's head

5 yd chuck rule extended to 15 yds this playoffs...BB has been waiting almost a decade for old time football....we are back baby

My 2 Cents:
1. Why the hell is everybiody beating up on brady.
So against one of the best defenses in the NFL, who played him tough whenever they met, he had "only" 23 points. He led them on 5 long efficient drives, run for a couple of critical conversions, hit 60% of his throws and threw for aqlmost 250 yds.
Yes he missed a few too, and the first interception wasn't his best throw, biut I am pretty sure, this still comes out as a well above average game, for NFL QB Standards. Sucking is a whole different thing.

2. The Def
Hmm Whatever, after stopping them completely for 3 drives, they hang on by there fingernails for the rest of the game, or so it felt. Still they did what they had to do, and held up there part of the bargain, meaning the Ravens to 20 points.

3. The missed field goal
Tough luck for the ravens, who had battled us to a draw. But I really hate how this substracts from the fact, that they only battled us for a draw. most people react as if the ravens were the better team tonight, which is just not true. we were equal, and they had the last drive, so of course they had there chances for a TD, but we prevented it, and even if they make the FG its still 50/50.

4. The Spikes INT
They showed a nice QB-perspective on this on, and also on two similar plays where brady connected with Gronk, and I think it was clear, that Flacco just shouldnt have thrown this ball. The receive never got in front of spiks, so there was no place where you could throw to, where it wouldnt have ben Intercepted.

5. The long Brady INT
Great play by Pollard (?) and Reed, which will not happen often that way, still I do not understand that playcall from a strategic point of view. If you go methodically and convert only one or two first down, you get another FG at least and burn a lot of time. OTOH it was clearly Time burning situation already, so they probably just hoped, to catch at least one player cloggiin up the short welker routes. and I think the throw was perfect, but bthe defense unfortuately too.

6. The Giants
Well bring them on. I must say while I am horrofied of the mediot week to come, I still believe that Frisco was the more dangerous team, and revenge will taste sweet too. And BB is normally at his best ina rematch, so I feel quite confident. This ones is going to be a 10 point game.

Kulko said:

6. The Giants
Well bring them on. I must say while I am horrofied of the mediot week to come, I still believe that Frisco was the more dangerous team, and revenge will taste sweet too. And BB is normally at his best ina rematch, so I feel quite confident. This ones is going to be a 10 point game.

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ummm... The AFCCG was a rematch too.
I thought the ravens game would be a 12-18pt game. we narrowly avoided OT (or worse).


I thought SB LVII was going to be a 20 pt game. what happened then.


I am giving up on posting ridiculous blowout predictions.

The Pats have never won one of these going away. They always seem to let their opponent keep it close. This will be another 3 -6 pt nailbiter; just like usual.

Gumby said:

ummm... The AFCCG was a rematch too.
I thought the ravens game would be a 12-18pt game. we narrowly avoided OT (or worse).


I thought SB LVII was going to be a 20 pt game. what happened then.


I am giving up on posting ridiculous blowout predictions.

The Pats have never won one of these going away. They always seem to let their opponent keep it close. This will be another 3 -6 pt nailbiter; just like usual.

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We didnt play the Ravens this year, although they havent changed that mich. But we played the giants this year. Ans i,am Not saying blowout, i am just saying we will lead the whole 4Q.

Gumby said:

ummm... The AFCCG was a rematch too.
I thought the ravens game would be a 12-18pt game. we narrowly avoided OT (or worse).


I thought SB LVII was going to be a 20 pt game. what happened then.


I am giving up on posting ridiculous blowout predictions.

The Pats have never won one of these going away. They always seem to let their opponent keep it close. This will be another 3 -6 pt nailbiter; just like usual.

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Welcome to the real world. Championship games are generally hard fought and close, unless some stiff backs in. It is what it is. Take a lead from our owner's perspective and try simply appreciating that this organization is appearing in it's 5th set of them (and 6th shot at it) in 11 years. We're 3 of 4 and counting and have never won by more than 3 or lost by more than 4...

2 for 5 in the redzone; remember the Ravens were the best RZ D this season!

Kulko said:

My 2 Cents:
1. Why the hell is everybiody beating up on brady.
So against one of the best defenses in the NFL, who played him tough whenever they met, he had "only" 23 points. He led them on 5 long efficient drives, run for a couple of critical conversions, hit 60% of his throws and threw for aqlmost 250 yds.
Yes he missed a few too, and the first interception wasn't his best throw, biut I am pretty sure, this still comes out as a well above average game, for NFL QB Standards. Sucking is a whole different thing.

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He might have 'sucked' for TFB, but his TD sneak proved his passion! How often do you see a QB sneak over the top of the line, where he is likely to get hit!

Brady took the choice of the team before his body!

1 - defense: individual plays saved the day......this happens because for the most part, the DL dominated the line of scrimmage. tackle to tackle has become a very tough place to operate. we need one more of these, as it has allowed to the LB's to really step up their play


2 - offense: going to edelman and slater yielded nothing but 2 INT's....this was a waste of time, and rather than do that, they should have just kep running the ball, and more play actions with hernandesz in the backfield. he was open every time they did this.

unlike others out ther who are calling the pats lucky, I think this game was earned. they didn't let the ravens come in here and be the more physical team. it really came down to that

5 Rings for Brady!! said:

I hope this was the most unsatisfying win ever.

We will play much better next time IMO.

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Unsatisfying? We just beat one of the best teams in the AFC without Brady having a good game. This game was completely REFRESHING. We've already seen that Brady playing at an MVP level does mean much come playoff time. It was ugly, but watching this team pull this one out was awesome.

KY Pats Fan said:

I swear I developed ulcers today. The pats cannot play like that in 2 weeks. BJGE was running with authority. So one question is glaring, "Why not use him more?".

Overall, I have to say that the Ravens are one of, if not the, dirtiest team in the game. They are neck and neck with the Steelers. The refs could have called at least 5 personal fouls on them and they didn't. The refs let them play the game.

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What happened to the Law? he was laying it down in the form of 5-6 yards pc early on, then in in the later part of the game i don't remember him being in there it was Woody.

Run DMC said:

You know TB is not going to have 2 stinkers in a row, so that bodes well for us.

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i hate to say it, but TB had two stinkers in a row in 07'. Against the Chargers in the AFCCG, he threw 3 picks despite leading his team to the win and then of course the debacle in the SB. This year, another stinker in the AFCCG with two picks despite leading his team to a super bowl birth. It's not very often TB plays bad two times in a row, but he's done it before. Heck, he even did it this past year with two bad games against the steelers and then the giants.

This is so eerily reminscent of 07'. Even the pats-giants game earlier this year was basically the super bowl played over again with Manning making a big play to the tight end and then the giants pulling it out at the last second.

TommyBrady12 said:

i hate to say it, but TB had two stinkers in a row in 07'. Against the Chargers in the AFCCG, he threw 3 picks despite leading his team to the win and then of course the debacle in the SB. This year, another stinker in the AFCCG with two picks despite leading his team to a super bowl birth. It's not very often TB plays bad two times in a row, but he's done it before. Heck, he even did it this past year with two bad games against the steelers and then the giants.

This is so eerily reminscent of 07'. Even the pats-giants game earlier this year was basically the super bowl played over again with the giants pulling it out at the last second.

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Yeah it is, even down to the fact the the Giants won the NFCCG in overtime that year.

reflexblue said:

Yeah it is, even down to the fact the the Giants won the NFCCG in overtime that year.

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Oh bloody hell, really? I forgot about that.
:bricks:

stop the Brady stinker talk..When you play the elite defenses, that is what happens. The Giants game will be the same. To be honest, I'm more worried about the Pats secondary..Giants have 3 good receivers and when Eli has time, he can be deadly. SF was in his face all game, 6 sacks, yet they still won, How will the Pats pressure Eli?

ATippett56 said:

It's called a hyperbaric chamber.

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Hyperbarics are for mere humans.

Cryogenics are for Gronkowskis.

borg said:

5 yd chuck rule extended to 15 yds this playoffs...BB has been waiting almost a decade for old time football....we are back baby

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The abuse of the WRs in the playoffs is staggering. On the int where Eddleman was the intended WR, the DB that intercepted it was mugging him for 10-15 yards past the LOS.

I was seeing players mauled far past the 5 yard line.

I love how Smith was dragging McCourty by the face mask on his TD reception as he extended the ball.

I hate to say it, but if this is how the SB will be called, Patriots will probably lose. NE would be far better off with 2001 Patriots than this year's team. That team was designed for this kind of VERY LENIENT officiating. I'm not sure this team is.

BTW this was only the 3rd time that a team was -2 in turn overs and won the conference championship. 75 Steelers and 81 49'ers were the others (as per NFL Network last night). Great team effort to overcome that.

Brady play a very poor game for him, the INTs were balls that shouldn't have been thrown.

Bella*chick said:

Oh bloody hell, really? I forgot about that.
:bricks:

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Maybe just maybe Brady will throw some fluke pass and have a receiver make a fluke catch to win the game......let the Karma Flow.

reflexblue said:

Maybe just maybe Brady will throw some fluke pass and have a receiver make a fluke catch to win the game......let the Karma Flow.

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I know, right! If we're gonna ride the karma train, that is what happens. There is no way karma does a repeat just for the heck of it.

Right? RIGHT?!

Gumby said:

I thought SB LVII was going to be a 20 pt game. what happened then.

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So, Gumby, what's it like in 2023? Is GRONK still the biggest, baddest TE in all the land? Is Herndo still juking? How many rings do Brady and Belichick have?

And, most importantly, do the Jets still suck?