Idle thoughts - the differential edition

12 - the broncos have to go to cincy next week (mon nite) ....... I hate cincy in pressure situations, but it's not the playoffs yet

Yeah Browners' penalties are too obvious. Yes, the total body of work, but why grab someone's arm when it's obviously way too early.

McCourty got away with a borderline pass interference in the end zone as well. Someone needs to teach him to TURN AROUND, the ball hit him in the shoulder pad, would have been easy interception.

MassPats38 said:

Ken - the KC game was much worse. Credit the Miami D with that athletic interception, but the Pats were moving the ball at the time. KC was much more than just out of sync. It was a beatdown, and the offense looked like a victim that entire game before some garbage time points.

Heels - don't worry. A loss by the Lions to the Pack in GB and it may yet find itself on the outside looking in (given its Turkey Day game with the hapless Bears it may yet find a way to lose both remaining games). I agree that win out and earn a bye is unsettling as it has been 3 years since Detroit's last visit to the postseason and it last won a playoff game with Barry Sanders in 1991.

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I was mistaken about the AFC South - it's mathematically possible for the New Orleans Saints to go 8-8 and win the division with a .500 record if they win three in a row.

The NFC is there for the taking by the Seahawks or the Packers, unless Drew Stanton is the next Tom Brady, which he may be. The Cardinals look like the 2001 Patriots - smart coach, great D, efficient QB and just enough weapons to put a couple of TDs on the scoreboard.

I agree that it's hard to envision the Lions going into Lambeau and taking care of business, but the Packers can be had.

everlong said:

2. I'll be rooting hard for Arizona to knock off Seattle.

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Not me. It would really suck for the Pats to get to the SuperBowl and have it be a home game for Arizona Cardinals. No thanks. I want Arizona gone.

goheels22002 said:

The NFC is there for the taking by the Seahawks or the Packers, unless Drew Stanton is the next Tom Brady, which he may be. The Cardinals look like the 2001 Patriots - smart coach, great D, efficient QB and just enough weapons to put a couple of TDs on the scoreboard.

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I believe Dallas wins HFA by winning their next 2 games against Indy and @Washington. They have the rushing game and OL to pound Indy and keep Andrew Luck off the field. GB could win out and still end up as only the #3 seed. I know it's hard to take the Cowboys seriously, but their OL is a big weapon in playoff situations, and they are 7-0 on the road if they have to go that route.

hwc said:

Not me. It would really suck for the Pats to get to the SuperBowl and have it be a home game for Arizona Cardinals. No thanks. I want Arizona gone.

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To clarify I meant this week I'm rooting for Arizona so Seattle doesn't get home field for the playoffs because nobody is going in there to knock them off. A lot of teams can go into Arizona and win given their QB situation. I'd still rather play AZ in the SB than Seattle though but given the choice I'll take any of other teams.

everlong said:

To clarify I meant this week I'm rooting for Arizona so Seattle doesn't get home field for the playoffs because nobody is going in there to knock them off. A lot of teams can go into Arizona and win given their QB situation. I'd still rather play AZ in the SB than Seattle though but given the choice I'll take any of other teams.

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An interesting tidbit from Peter King today:

The Seattle Effect. “It’ll be interesting to see how Philadelphia comes out of the Seattle game physically,’’ said one Dallas Cowboy last week, before his team’s trip to Philadelphia for the Sunday night game. This player remembered how physically spent the Cowboys were after playing Settle earlier in the year, and said it could be a big factor in how the team recovered to play the next week. Well, maybe he is on to something. The Eagles are the eighth team in a row to lose the week after playing Seattle; Philadelphia, San Francisco, Arizona, Kansas City, the New York Giants, Oakland, Carolina and St. Louis all lost the week after playing the Seahawks.

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http://mmqb.si.com/2014/12/15/nfl-week-15-winners-losers/2/

The only thing bad about Browner's play yesterday was the stupid late hit. The play was over and he still had to throw the guy down.

As far as the PI, holding, etc, it's really just part of his game. He's going to be as physical as possible and try to get away with whatever he can. It's going to cost us a couple penalties a game but the trade off in the overall disruption to the offense makes it worth it.

It doesn't make sense to interfere when it's obvious you know it'll be called. Physical is one thing, grabbing someone's arm is another. It doesn't make them drop future passes, it's just a stupid thing to do.

1960Pats said:

Is it really necessary for the Pats to have a constant feed of loud music fill every moment? It makes it almost impossible to have a football discussion with the person sitting next to you. Just another reason to leave the red seats and head into the nice quiet bar.

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The music and resulting inability to talk with seatmates about the game is what I hate most about going to games (well, maybe the ticket prices come first ).

hwc said:

Not me. It would really suck for the Pats to get to the SuperBowl and have it be a home game for Arizona Cardinals. No thanks. I want Arizona gone.

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I think the Super Bowl is essentially a neutral site even if the home team is in the game. Each team's season ticket holders only get a fraction of the tickets. If you live in Phoenix you have the advantage of not having to pay for a flight and hotel, but you still have to cough up the big bucks for the tickets. Maybe a slight advantage for the Cards there, but I think the Pats have more fans country-wide.

hwc said:

Not me. It would really suck for the Pats to get to the SuperBowl and have it be a home game for Arizona Cardinals. No thanks. I want Arizona gone.

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Won't happen, so don't worry about it. Seattle has a viable chance at the #1 seed, and that's the team I want to avoid.

I just saw differential in the title and moved on because it reminded me of dreaded differential equations

Oswlek said:

Won't happen, so don't worry about it. Seattle has a viable chance at the #1 seed, and that's the team I want to avoid.

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Not me. I would love the Pats to play Seattle or Green Bay. No fear here. I think they can beat either team with a two week game plan. But first let them take care of business and win the next 4 games they play.

mayoclinic said:

An interesting tidbit from Peter King today:



http://mmqb.si.com/2014/12/15/nfl-week-15-winners-losers/2/

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Wasn't there something similar about the Patriots last year or the year before? Heck, even this year opponents are 5-6-1 after facing the Pats. (Chicago had a bye the week after and got blown out by GB after their bye). One of those wins was by one point (Buff over Min), another was over Oakland who had yet to win a game at that point and Green Bay beat Atlanta while giving up 37 points.

Rob0729 said:

Good stuff. I will respond to a few.

• I still think there is good chance the Broncos lose next week in Cincy and the Pats clinch the the #1 seed by the end of the day. The long range forecast in Cincy will be a high of 35. Granted Cincy is so up and down, who knows which Bengals show up.
• I am not worried about the Jets. They got killed by Buffalo and they really haven't faced a good team since other than the Dolphins who are average at best.
• I won't mention Gray because I don't want to derail your thread.

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I agree I think Cincy will beat Denver. Denver is definitely the better team- their defense is really underrated and among the league's best- but Cincy is playing for their season. The reality is a win or loss probably won't make a difference for Denver. They can lose one more and would still keep the the 2 seed. The Patriots may lose again but it isn't likely. I see Cincy showing up with all of their ammo for this one, and I could see Denver just packing in it if they get behind.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

I agree I think Cincy will beat Denver. Denver is definitely the better team- their defense is really underrated and among the league's best- but Cincy is playing for their season. The reality is a win or loss probably won't make a difference for Denver. They can lose one more and would still keep the the 2 seed. The Patriots may lose again but it isn't likely. I see Cincy showing up with all of their ammo for this one, and I could see Denver just packing in it if they get behind.

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Their defense is good, but I think you are overstating them a bit. I think they have faced some bad offenses (KC, Buffalo, and even the Chargers who the Pats only gave up one TD and totally shut them down in the second half) in recent weeks that make them look better. The Chargers missed two very makeable field goals and Rivers shot himself in the foot a few times yesterday. I think they have an above average defense, but not among the league's best.

If I am the Bengals, I am trying to stop the run and take away the short routes and forcing Manning to air out the ball. They have the defense to do that. As weird as it sounds, I think they kill the Broncos in a shootout. Manning's arm is shot.

Ice_Ice_Brady said:

their defense is really underrated and among the league's best

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I'll agree with the latter, but the former is debatable. Virtually every analyst on the planet thinks Denver's defense is very good, so I don't see how anyone could call them "underrated."

a couple of comments on the comments:

1. One of the most impressive things about the Pats record this year is the quality of their opponents. When was the last time the Pats played an opponent who WASN'T above .500. I think it was the KC game.

2 This reminds me a bit of the 2003 season. A very underrated team who accomplished something I don't think any team has come close to. That team won TEN game (including the playoffs and repeats) against teams that won at least 10 games

3. Before the mediots anoint the Seahawks defense as the next incarnation of the 1985 Bears think about this, whose great offense have they played?

They play in a division that included the Niners (who don't have much in the way of Receivers and a limited and flawed QB), the Rams (who are on their #2 QB) and the Cardinals (who are on their #3 QB) They also got to play the Eagles led by their #2 (Sanchez) The Giants when Eli was truly horrible. Against Washington led by a revealed RGIII A bad Carolina team who they beat despite scoring jusr 13 points. They beat Oakland with a rookie QB and gave up 24 points. Their ONLY 2 wins against good offenses (vs Denver and GB) came within the first 3 games of the season, or as we have come to know it, as the post pre-season part of the year.

Their 4 loses cam against KC, SD, and Dallas - 3 teams that have decent offenses, but not great ones, and their other loss came vs the Shaun Hill led losing record Rams. All those winning teams scored at least 24 points (2 scored 30)

There is no question the Seahawks have a very good defense, one of the best in the league, but before they ascend to Olympus we should consider who they played. They've had a lot of good fortune in who and when they've played them. I respect their D, I don't fear them. The Pats D has a better record when playing against quality offenses. Just something to think about.

4. Another thing to think about, is that the only team in the league who has a worse passing attack than the NJ Jets are the Seattle Seahawks.

5. IMHO the Bills did us a huge favor if the Packers are knocked out of the playoffs because they lost homefield advantage. I think they are a more dangerous potential opponent than Seattle.

patfanken said:

1. One of the most impressive things about the Pats record this year is the quality of their opponents. When was the last time the Pats played an opponent who WASN'T above .500. I think it was the KC game.

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It was actually the Jets