Still a SB chance after losing Gronk?

AndyJohnson said:

Why temper expectations?
They are most likely going to have a week 1 bye, and a home divisional round game vs Indy, Cincy or KC. Are your expectations low there?
Then an AFCCG either at home or in Denver. I expect a very very competitive Patriot team there.
Are those kind of expectations the ones you would temper? I wouldn't.

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Expectations of a SB i meant since what this thread was about. Let me put it this way, If the pats win the next 2 and secure homefield throught I willl feel much better about their chances. Right now I find it hard imagining them beating miami and ravens back to back. Cincy has a great shot at the bye.

AndyJohnson said:

Rather than looking at who isn't here, lets look at who is.
What teams do you think we can't beat?

Remember, we are likely to have a bye.
That means a home game vs Cincy, Indy or KC probably. I love our chances in any of those.
Then that means another one of them or Denver in the AFCCG.
I give us a strong chance in that as well.

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Without Gronk you lose the matchup advantage vs Denver and they can suffocate the short middle and Cincinnati already showed what they can do in the red zone when they don't have to defend Gronk.

Then there's what's likely Seattle.

SVN said:

Not really sure about the bye. We have to win out with 2 tough road games ahead and cincy on the heels. Cincy has steelers/vikings/ravens with last 2 at home. They might very well get the bye which means ravens/dolphins/chargers at pats in the first round

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We are 47-6 in December since 2001 and 41-4 since 2003.
I like our chances to not lose more of the next 3 games than Cincinnati.

everlong said:

Without Gronk you lose the matchup advantage vs Denver and they can suffocate the short middle and Cincinnati already showed what they can do in the red zone when they don't have to defend Gronk.

Then there's what's likely Seattle.

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Denvers defense stinks. With or without Gronk on the field.
We played Cincy without Ridley and Vereen, and an offense that was struggling working rookies and newcomers in.
Thats fine if you think they are a better team, I just don't agree.

every team that makes the playoffs has a shot at winning the SB if anything the 7-6 ravens are the hottest team in the AFC and that's not saying much so the pats got a shot just like Denver, KC. cincy and indy have a shot

A chance... sure, until they are eliminated, they have a chance. I think the match ups are going to be a problem in the red area. Run the ball, pound away, and maybe. In this pass happy 2013 league, i just dunno.

AndyJohnson said:

We are 47-6 in December since 2001 and 41-4 since 2003.
I like our chances to not lose more of the next 3 games than Cincinnati.

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Past does not mean anything right now. Those teams with those teams were healthier and had better defenses.

I am just going to kick back and enjoy wherever this team takes us the rest of the way. The Pats already have overachieved amidst all the debilitating injuries. If/when they win the division, I'm going to buy some division champs gear for the first time.

I'm with you Tunes...this has been, in one respect, a total vindication of BB's coaching style. To have this team where it is with THESE horrific team destroying injuries is quite simply awesome.I'm not big on memorabilia but I think I will join you with respect to this year's Patriots...

IcyPatriot said:

Put Vareen as a WR with a reborn Ridley ...

I said in threads last year Vareen is our best deep threat.

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Interesting you mention - was thinking how this changes the game plan and I do think that BB will be forced to use Ridley. Take Gronk away, and you are going to have to find ways to become more multi-dimensional/explosive elsewhere. With a guy like Gronk, you can play it a little bit more safe/game management given Gronk is always a way back in a game. Time to re-establish a ground game and hope that Ridley can hold on.

Patsfan_22 said:

They can get TO the superbowl. Without Gronk I don't see them beating Seattle.

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They wouldnt be able to beat the 49ers either in the SB.

Seattle and San Fran are no joke, definitely the cream of the crop in the NFC.

No chance, in my opinion, but they'll go down swinging.

Well...losing Gronk sure doesn't improve our chances to making it to the SB.

in the end, the secondary will kill us

everlong said:

Let's see how the fan base feels after losing another key piece.

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I never thought they had a realistic chance of winning the SB before Gronks injury. I'm going with a punchers chance in hell.

Re: Re: Still a SB chance after losing Gronk?

IllegalContact said:

in the end, the secondary will kill us

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Not their fault that pass rush is poor. All levels of defense is shaky right now

juny said:

Not their fault that pass rush is poor. All levels of defense is shaky right now

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our pass rush is based on coverage. We were putrid today vs gordon-the one guy they had to take away.

If we can get off on 3rd downs and Brady plays well, yes we can.

To answer the thread's question, "Sure, but they have a lot smaller margin for error tonight than they did 24 hours ago."

This injury doesn't change my view on this year's version of the Patriots any more than that. I've come to think of this team as capable of anything between "One and done" in January and hoisting the Lombardi in February.

They have been inconsistent all season, often because of all the injuries to which they have had to adapt. But it also seems to be more than the injuries; at times, they just seem to be out of sorts for large parts of different games, only to pull a rabbit out of their helmets at the very end as they did against the Saints, Broncos, Texans and, now, the Browns.

How long can they keep that up? Maybe all the way to winning the SB...but, maybe not also...in any event, their margin for error is a lot smaller now if they are going to be able to do so.

This team can absolutely, 100% still win the Super Bowl. Do the injuries make it harder? Absolutely. But every game we have in the playoffs we will have an advantage in probably the two most important areas, QB and HC. As long as we have TB12 and BB we can beat anyone on any day at any stadium.

Looking at the standings it is likely we will finish with the 2 seed. I think if you give this team an extra week to prepare we have a good shot at beating whoever we come up against, likely the Bengals. They have a strong D but its not the same without Geno Atkins. I'm not too concerned about their offense and think we can handle Andy Dalton. Plus it will likely be at home so I think the conference championship game is definitely possible.

If we make it to the AFC title game we will likely come up against Denver or KC. I like our chances against KC because I don't trust Alex Smith as a big time playoff QB. I think we can certainly beat Denver again on the road this time, especially in a January game. We saw how Manning struggled in Foxborough, I think the same could happen in Denver.

If we can manage to get to the Super Bowl anything can happen. I don't care who it is, nobody in the NFL scares me on a neutral field, outdoors in New Jersey in February.

The injuries absolutely hurt but I'm not gonna give up on this team yet. If there is something they have shown this season its heart, determination and resilience. I think there are two things that are key to how far this team can go. The first is kind of obvious, can the O-line protect Brady? If they can keep him on his feet and give him time I think we can pick apart any defense. The last few years we have struggled its because the O-line couldn't protect Brady, can they do it this time?

They other thing I think is key and is probably a surprise is Stevan Ridley. The offense will now run through Shane Vereen, but Ridley will have to step up and pick up some of the load. Without a TE to give us a versatility advantage of being able to run/pass out of any formation, I would love to see us utilize more two back sets. I think we can accomplish a similar thing to having a well rounded TE by having a RB like Vereen who we can flex out to WR. That will either take a LBer out of the box to help run the ball or force a safety down and maybe open things up deep for our WR's. Either way I think Ridley will have a major part to play, as long as he can hold onto the damn ball.

So yes, this team can still win the Super Bowl even without Gronk, Mayo, Wilfork, Vollmer or whoever we may lose. As long as we have Brady and Belichick I will have confidence.