NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bowl?

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

hambone1818 said:

....A thread like this is just like an offseason or bye week thread; we have until 8:15 on the 11th until the next game and we can't even talk about our next opponent because we don't know, what's the harm in sizing up the NFC?

...

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You probably also have no concerns about walking under ladders, opening umbrellas in the house and breaking mirrors. I'm jealous! But, I just don't like getting ahead of ourselves when the Pats have at least two strong opponents to face if they are to get to face any NFC a team.

On another level, I think some of us are just trying to reflect the attitude that we hope the team has as it gets ready for the Playoffs. I think most of us are sane enough to know that our attitude doesn't make any difference to what happens on the field.

Re: NFC team you’d like to face when we get to the Super Bowl?

IcyPatriot said:

It's not my place pal but to offer advice as a regular member.

What would Belichick think of such a thread?

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What would Belichick think of most of these threads?

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

I would be thrilled to face ANY NFC team because it would mean we're in the Super Bowl.

But we've got a long way to go before that happens. A home game in NE is no guarantee of victory as we found out last season. And even if we do win, there's a potential road game in Denver where we've had very little success even before Manning got there (yes, we even lost to Jake Plummer in the play-offs). So we're a long way from Jersey.

Also, don't forget this year's Super Bowl is outdoors in New Jersey in February. That should push some of those dome teams down the list a bit.

Re: NFC team you’d like to face when we get to the Super Bowl?

ivanvamp said:

What would Belichick think of most of these threads?

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Belichick is too busy preparing for the playoffs in the new year to think about these threads:

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

Eagles.

The Patriots playing a SB in the Jets home is great. I want the Giant fan to be equally "happy" for a rival.

Re: NFC team you’d like to face when we get to the Super Bowl?

pherein said:

I agree but Panthers are way to high on your list Kon lol. We know that team.

1. Seahawks
2. Packers
3. 49ers
4. Saints
5. Eagles
6. Panthers

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The Panthers have the kind of defense that, without Gronk, would give us quite a bit of trouble. That's why they're that high on my list.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

PATRlOT said:

I think the Seahawks are the best team in the NFC and should make the SuperBowl, however that isn't exactly the question. I think we'd match up the worst with the 49ers, compared to the Seahawks.

1) 49ers (least want to play)
2) Sehawks
3) Packers
4) Panthers
5) Saints
6) Eagles (most want to play)

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Seattle should go below Carolina and SF.

The current run game can run on Seattle. The other two are a tougher nut.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

patsfanincleveland said:

Seattle should go below Carolina and SF.

The current run game can run on Seattle. The other two are a tougher nut.

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The patriots ran on the Panthers this season.

Blount – 10 carries for 49 yards.
Ridley – 13 carries for 48 yards.
Vereen – 1 carry for 7 yards.

Carolina was second in rushing yards allowed this season which is great and all but teams ran 352 times against them which is the least in the NFL so it makes sense that they would have a low total yards allowed, they ranked 12th in yards per attempt.

San Fran is a tough defense with Willis and Bowman in the middle without a doubt.

I don’t understand why you feel we can run on Seattle? They were 7th in rushing yards allowed, 7th in yards per attempt allowed and 1st in rushing touchdowns allowed. They have Red Bryant, Brandon Mebane, Tony McDaniel, Clinton McDonald and Michael Bennett who are all big and strong against the run.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

My list is:
Seattle
San Fran
Carolina
Green Bay
New Orleans

as the order of least desirable to most desirable to face. Seattle & San Fran have tough defenses that Brady has had trouble scoring against, and even though their O's have struggled of late, we know our D can make anyone look like the Broncos O at any given time. Carolina may be trouble, but we almost beat them in their house. I don't think Rogers is going to hold up for a playoff run. NO is a different team outside in freezing weather. Hope we make it far enough to consider this relevant!
Forgot Eagles - i'd put them above NO.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

San Fransico

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

Brady6 said:

The patriots ran on the Panthers this season.

Blount – 10 carries for 49 yards.
Ridley – 13 carries for 48 yards.
Vereen – 1 carry for 7 yards.

Carolina was second in rushing yards allowed this season which is great and all but teams ran 352 times against them which is the least in the NFL so it makes sense that they would have a low total yards allowed, they ranked 12th in yards per attempt.

San Fran is a tough defense with Willis and Bowman in the middle without a doubt.

I don’t understand why you feel we can run on Seattle? They were 7th in rushing yards allowed, 7th in yards per attempt allowed and 1st in rushing touchdowns allowed. They have Red Bryant, Brandon Mebane, Tony McDaniel, Clinton McDonald and Michael Bennett who are all big and strong against the run.

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That was with Gronk in the lineup.

The Tampa Bay O/T loss to Seattle in Seattle seems to be a good "blue print" for beating Seattle.

Rankings are done. It's now about game plans and matchups.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

Why not just rank every team in the playoffs to avoid getting ahead of ourselves?

From most to least afraid (from a Patriots standpoint):

Would not have much faith in the Patriots against:
1. SEA - they're just too good.
2. GB - don't think our offense would be able to keep up.
3. SF - again, I think they're just that much better than the Pats.

Could see it going either way against:
4. DEN - it'll be a close one and we know it.
5. IND - can Luck carry his team better than Brady?
6. CAR - would be a very even match I think.

Patriots would probably beat:
7. KC - most teams that go deep in the playoffs have a better offense, but with that defense, you never know.
8. NO - just keep in mind the Super Bowl will be played outdoors.
9. PHI - don't really think the Eagles are THAT good, but Foles could be legit.
10. SD - like Philly, I don't think the Chargers are good enough.

Blow it all up if we lose to:
11. CIN - Cincinnati is 3-5 on the road and Dalton sucks in big games. If the Patriots can't beat them, there's no use wondering what could have been because nothing could have been.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

Brady6 said:

I don’t understand why you feel we can run on Seattle?

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We sure as hell didn't run well on SEA when we played them last season, as we had the 2nd lowest rushing output of the entire 18 game season, with a 26 attempt for 87 yard total day. That comes out to a very measly 3.3 ypc.

If you remember, the gameplan was to throw the ball like wild in order to avoid their obvious strength in the run game, as Brady put up almost 60 passing attempts. We attempted to run the ball on them just enough to keep them honest, but the overall total was 58 passing attempts vs 26 rush attempts. Obviously, Belichick felt that we had a much better chance at winning the game throwing on them, and basically he was correct had the defense not blown a 23-10 lead with about 6 min left in the game.

I think it's just more of a hope that we could establish the running game on any of those 3 tough defenses (SEA, SF, CAR), much like TB did when they played SEA. The lack of Gronkowski obviously hurts us even more if we really had the opportunity to face any of those 3 teams.

I don't necessarily disagree with patsfanincleveland's idea to try and run on SEA to try and replicate what a team like TB did. I just am not as sure that we could actually pull it off as he seems to be.

NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Supe...

patsfanincleveland said:

That was with Gronk in the lineup.



The Tampa Bay O/T loss to Seattle in Seattle seems to be a good "blue print" for beating Seattle.



Rankings are done. It's now about game plans and matchups.

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Makes sense, thanks for the explanation!

NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Supe...

ivanvamp said:

What would Belichick think of most of these threads?

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That he's happy he gets paid unlike us

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

Elijah said:

Blow it all up if we lose to:
11. CIN - Cincinnati is 3-5 on the road and Dalton sucks in big games. If the Patriots can't beat them, there's no use wondering what could have been because nothing could have been.

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I think that could be said for a lot of the teams that we'd face in the first game, and the poll from the Herald or whatever publication it was is pretty telling.

The team most Pats fans want to face is the IND Colts, coming in at 50%. The next team Pats fans most want to face is the KC Chiefs at about 26%. The least team that Pats fans would want to face in the divisional round is actually the CIN Bengals, with only 24% of voters feeling confident against them.

It's strange how you can ask 3 different people what the think about the AFC competition (aside from DEN), and all 3 people will have totally different opinions on what teams are difficult and what teams are easier.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

supafly said:

We sure as hell didn't run well on SEA when we played them last season, as we had the 2nd lowest rushing output of the entire 18 game season, with a 26 attempt for 87 yard total day. That comes out to a very measly 3.3 ypc.

If you remember, the gameplan was to throw the ball like wild in order to avoid their obvious strength in the run game, as Brady put up almost 60 passing attempts. We attempted to run the ball on them just enough to keep them honest, but the overall total was 58 passing attempts vs 26 rush attempts. Obviously, Belichick felt that we had a much better chance at winning the game throwing on them, and basically he was correct had the defense not blown a 23-10 lead with about 6 min left in the game.

I think it's just more of a hope that we could establish the running game on any of those 3 tough defenses (SEA, SF, CAR), much like TB did when they played SEA. The lack of Gronkowski obviously hurts us even more if we really had the opportunity to face any of those 3 teams.

I don't necessarily disagree with patsfanincleveland's idea to try and run on SEA to try and replicate what a team like TB did. I just am not as sure that we could actually pull it off as he seems to be.

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And stopping and tackling blount is a hell of lot tougher than little ridley.

NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Supe...

Too me, I don't care who we face. If you execute, you can beat any team.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

supafly said:

We sure as hell didn't run well on SEA when we played them last season, as we had the 2nd lowest rushing output of the entire 18 game season, with a 26 attempt for 87 yard total day. That comes out to a very measly 3.3 ypc.

If you remember, the gameplan was to throw the ball like wild in order to avoid their obvious strength in the run game, as Brady put up almost 60 passing attempts. We attempted to run the ball on them just enough to keep them honest, but the overall total was 58 passing attempts vs 26 rush attempts. Obviously, Belichick felt that we had a much better chance at winning the game throwing on them, and basically he was correct had the defense not blown a 23-10 lead with about 6 min left in the game.

I think it's just more of a hope that we could establish the running game on any of those 3 tough defenses (SEA, SF, CAR), much like TB did when they played SEA. The lack of Gronkowski obviously hurts us even more if we really had the opportunity to face any of those 3 teams.

I don't necessarily disagree with patsfanincleveland's idea to try and run on SEA to try and replicate what a team like TB did. I just am not as sure that we could actually pull it off as he seems to be.

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I was at the Seattle game.

A quick review of the game line would show well over 500 yards of offense. The only thing that kept the offense from putting up 40+ points were dreadful, unforced red zone errors.

Seattle is lighter, faster defense.

They also tend to be more undisciplined.

Re: NFC team you’d least want to face if we are fortunate enough to make the Super Bo

coolguy said:

And stopping and tackling blount is a hell of lot tougher than little ridley.

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This about sums it up.