Coming to an Understanding: Optimists and Chicken Littles

Alot of very loud homers from last week are very quiet or absent this week....(not a shocker)

juny said:

They haven't scored an offensive TD in the 2nd half year this year (6 quarters). Sorry to do this but just showing the flip side to tie in the thread title

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Hey, let's look at the bright side. The Pats scored TWO TDs in the 2nd half last night breaking the streak of 2nd halves without TDs.

Dagg said:

Alot of very loud homers from last week are very quiet or absent this week....(not a shocker)

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He who laughs last, Laughs best.

AzPatsFan said:

He who laughs last, Laughs best.

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no matter where you go there you are.
knowlage is power, but ignorance is bliss etc.

Brady6 said:

Let me ask you a question, if you were standing in line at the supermarket and you heard the person say something about Belichick sucking at drafting, would you call him stupid or an idiot? .

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I'd buy him/her some Skittles then calmly whip out my 2014 Rutgers Players Guide and explain to this person how BB will build his next great roster

Mayo, Johnson and Maverick were spot on when they set the tone for this thread, I for one an am optimist and believe things will be better... Super Bowl better, not sure??... but it all depends on how we are playing in November/December...

For some this MB seems to have falsely empowered folks to believe that they have the power to fire or change Belichick or blame him for everything. In the past the adage has always been "players play and coaches coach", there is plenty of blame to pass around. The press follows along and just pile on as do the talk show hosts...

I hear terms like mental toughness, determination and other words what cannot be quantified..

I hear/read BB does not know how to draft, but in the absence of a longitudinal study on how every team does in the draft that needs to be quantified... every team has hits and misses. EJ Manuel just got benched in Buffalo, does that mean that they do not know how to draft either?? RGIII looks like he is not what he was advertised to be, does the Washington team not know how to draft?? Gino Smith in NY does not look all that good, Vernon Golston(nuf said). The list is long of draft busts... Christian Ponder, Kyle Boller, Brady Quinn, Brandon Weeden, Matt Leinert.. the list goes on. You cannot take anecdotal evidence and make the statement that BB does not know how to draft.

There is significant evidence that shows that any BB coached Patriots Team is a winning team, so to hop on him and intimate that he is done or should quit is folly... this is a low point for many fans, but for me it is a not as low as we experienced in days past... this is a bump in the road, and things will get better.

This team has shown very little cause for optimism for 5 straight games going back to last season - that is a trend, especially on offense. I prefer the term "realist" opposed to chicken little. realists realize that in 01 when the pats went toe to toe w STL in a loss at Foxboro there was a potential builing block there - chicken little would denounce that game.
there is nothing in the pats offense that would, could or should have fanboys thinking the pats will turn it right around and beat cin sunday...the team and its coach appear dead in the water...and the defense has been shredded by ryan tannehill and alex smith....
ive been saying it for years, belichicks bend but dont break passive defense is predicated on the other team f#cking up and when they don't the pats offense needs a near perfect game to win...and I don't see anything resembling perfection from brady and the seven dwarves right now

DarrylS said:

I hear/read BB does not know how to draft, but in the absence of a longitudinal study on how every team does in the draft that needs to be quantified... every team has hits and misses. EJ Manuel just got benched in Buffalo, does that mean that they do not know how to draft either?? RGIII looks like he is not what he was advertised to be, does the Washington team not know how to draft?? Gino Smith in NY does not look all that good, Vernon Golston(nuf said).......

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I'm as homer as anyone else here, but I'm sorry Darryl, you're going to have to give comparative examples from BETTER teams than that list of idiot front offices.......

Really? Buffalo, Jets, Skins front office comparisons are like saying "Hey, at least the US still has a better mass transit system than Ethiopia's".

rochrist said:

DOBSON. His name is DOBSON. How much of a fan do you need to be to know the names of the players?

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Nitpicker...lol

shmessy said:

I'm as homer as anyone else here, but I'm sorry Darryl, you're going to have to give comparative examples from BETTER teams than that list of idiot front offices.......

Really? Buffalo, Jets, Skins front office comparisons are like saying "Hey, at least the US still has a better mass transit system than Ethiopia's".

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Most teams have idiotic front offices, we are in a very select group that does not... that is one of the reasons we have had 13 winning seasons in a row...

Have contended for a while need to quantify the statement of "BB does not know how to draft", and in the absence of a longitudinal study for all of the NFL difficult to make any assessment.

AzPatsFan said:

Belichick sought to rebuild his WRs last year; and drafted to be able to do so. There are now so many good receivers that not all can be active.

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Yeah, that's the problem.

Wow.

Dagg said:

Alot of very loud homers from last week are very quiet or absent this week....(not a shocker)

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If those who believe in and support the Patriots were touting them after that game then they would well deserve the tag "homers." The Patriots have been coming through for Patriot fans for the past 13 seasons so it should not come as a surprise that most of their fans believe they will end up as one of the best teams in the league at the end of every season, but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't look at the team critically and try and analyze them both in terms of the longer term perspective and what is going on at that time. I have pretty much believed they would be there at the end every season since 2001, and they really haven't let me down too often, so I weigh that when i am looking at them during the season and will continue to take that into consideration watching this year's team, however despite that I would say that this is the most concern i have had for them and the season that i have had since 2008, but there is still a long way to go with one of the youngest team's in football so I am not going to count them out even though the problems they are displaying are probably the most vexing I have seen in years. I really believe a team has to win the LOS to be a winner and a potential championship team and the Patriots are getting their asses handed to them on both sides of the line right now, and that has primarily been against an easy September schedule, although KC in KC is always going to be tough. I have no intention of giving up on them until they are actually out of it because they have earned that support imo but i think they have a big challenge for them this week and could well be 2-3 after it. Belichick has his work cut out for him and it is going to be very interesting to see how he manages the problems they clearly have. Roster moves aren't likely to be available so the fixes will have to come from the players and coaches, and as a starter i would like to see him stick with Monday's OL, turn the defensive front 7 loose to play aggressively rather than read and react, and let Brady start calling his own plays as the offense is more out of sync than any time i can remember in the Brady era, and short of the OL doing a 180 that is the only remedy that i can think of to turn it around immediately.

DarrylS said:

I hear/read BB does not know how to draft, but in the absence of a longitudinal study on how every team does in the draft that needs to be quantified... every team has hits and misses.

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There have been two longitudinal studies of drafting since 2000 and both concluded the Patriots were top two in terms of drafting, and neither weighted it for the fact that they always draft at the bottom of every round every year. It is very easy to cherry pick any team's drafting and make them look bad and the only real measure is performance of the team and players, and the Patriots always come out on top by those measures. Belichick has had to rebuild this team several times over during the Brady era and right now Brady, Wilfork, and Mayo are the only players remaining from 2008 and they have the 5th youngest team in the league. They are facing serious adversity right now and it is going to be really interesting to see how they respond to it as that is also a measure of how well they have drafted in recent years. Hopefully they turn it around but either way there will be more work to do next offseason. To me that has always been the most interesting aspect of following football so i will be watching closely to see how they go about it.

I thought this was worth a bump, 3 months later:

mayoclinic said:

Every season has its own unique shape. The 2007 team came out of the gate like gangbusters, then tired down the stretch as other teams adapted. The 2003 team was terrible in its first game, had to make a significant move to address a weakness, and won a lot of ugly games en route to a SB. The 2010 team looked dominant during the second half of the season, only to lay an egg in the playoffs. We've seen some teams that looked pretty ugly during the regular season hoist the Lombardi Trophy in recent years.

We don't know what the shape of this season will be. It's only football, heresy though that may be, and the world won't end if we have a disappointing season. But past history has generally shown that the team can adapt pretty well to adversity, even if it's different than what some of us hope for, and I for one am going to try to enjoy the ride regardless of the final outcome, and not let the fan board ruin it for me.

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So far this has been as enjoyable ride as any I can remember. Hoping we can close things out, but regardless this team has been a joy to watch.

I think part of what makes following sports fun for me is the armchair second guessing (or even first guessing in the case of the Tavon wilson pick ) I like to critique the team after bad games. Some take it to an extreme and others take the "In Bill we Trust (don't criticize him)" approach.

To each his own...except when people yell at each other on this board about their opinions.

Gronkandez said:

I think part of what makes following sports fun for me is the armchair second guessing (or even first guessing in the case of the Tavon wilson pick ) I like to critique the team after bad games. Some take it to an extreme and others take the "In Bill we Trust (don't criticize him)" approach.

To each his own...except when people yell at each other on this board about their opinions.

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Second guessing is fine, up to a point, but it can go overboard. Personally, my knowledge of football has improved immeasurably since I joined this board. My enjoyment of football has not, at least prior to this season. Screening out some of the noise - especially on the game day threads - definitely made this a more enjoyable process.

I have a feeling that some will cringe upon seeing another thread from me, but I swear...it wasn't me that bumped it (ducks for cover)