Game Thought: The Pats won uglier than my high school prom date edition

What in the world was up w all this offensive line shuffling today? I know we were banged up in that area, but shouldn't they kept it simple.. #cleverpatriots

Mike the Brit said:

"No offense, I am getting tired of the "this is the Jets' Super Bowl". This is a team that lost eight straight games and 11 of 12 games. If they cannot get up to stop a slide like that, what makes them think they can get up for a game where they are two games away from ending a nightmare season."

Accountability, Rob?

The Jets played about as well as they are capable of but they still came up short -- just short, but short.

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I still maintain the Super Bowl stuff is silly, but the Jets played tougher than I expected. But this is how they have been losing a lot this year.

Ravens losing today is great for us, they would absolutely be a problem the way the Jets played us today. They're currently on the outside looking in.

Froob said:

Ravens losing today is great for us, they would absolutely be a problem the way the Jets played us today. They're currently on the outside looking in.

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They gave life to Buffalo.

Mack Herron said:

They gave life to Buffalo.

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Bills will play us tough regardless, you couldn't possible have been rooting for the ravens could you? Balt has the pass rushers that could make life tough for us if bad Nate Solder shows up.

Froob said:

Ravens losing today is great for us, they would absolutely be a problem the way the Jets played us today. They're currently on the outside looking in.

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Belichick would send Collins and Hightower a lot more against the Ravens.

Rob0729 said:

I still maintain the Super Bowl stuff is silly, but the Jets played tougher than I expected. But this is how they have been losing a lot this year.

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Edelman being out was a real killer imo, I think we win by two touchdowns with him in. He can get open even when Brady doesn't have much time to throw. Jets d was certainly impressive regardless.

JMC00 said:

Belichick would send Collins and Hightower a lot more against the Ravens.

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Still, I'd much rather have San Diego in the playoffs than Baltimore. Chargers wouldn't be a threat at home.

Rob0729 said:

I still maintain the Super Bowl stuff is silly, but the Jets played tougher than I expected. But this is how they have been losing a lot this year.

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Well, my pre-game thoughts were that they were a team with some talent who had been losing because of lousy quarterback play and boneheaded mistakes (stupid penalties, turnovers, and so on). With the exception of one interception that wasn't true today and they (obviously) gave the Patriots all that they could handle.

Froob said:

Edelman being out was a real killer imo, I think we win by two touchdowns with him in. He can get open even when Brady doesn't have much time to throw. Jets d was certainly impressive regardless.

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I don't think Edelman would have given us 2 extra TDs, but Connolly may have. Just a thought.

Froob said:

Still, I'd much rather have San Diego in the playoffs than Baltimore. Chargers wouldn't be a threat at home.

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Their pass rush was non exsistant today. Baltimore has been the beneficiary of playing the NFC South and Jags and Titans.

Case Keenum was on the Rams PS last week at this time.

They have 2 quality wins, Pittsburgh Week 2 and Miami 2 weeks ago.

RxJock1120 said:

I don't think Edelman would have given us 2 extra TDs, but Connolly may have. Just a thought.

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Edelman def would have gotten the Pats a few more 1st downs that may have led to at least another TD.

SunsOutGunsOut said:

What in the world was up w all this offensive line shuffling today? I know we were banged up in that area, but shouldn't they kept it simple.. #cleverpatriots

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1. Josh Kline benched yet again, having regressed from last season.
2. The 3-TE shuffle.

I'm curious if anyone else thinks we've gone away from attacking the 3d or 4th corner/safety/LB to attacking anyone who's covering Gronk? Look, I get he's a beast and needs to get balls, but if you spread it to the matchup, like they did in the series where they scored in the hurry up, he'll start getting more open looks as the game goes on.

It also seems that Brady still has a bit of that "just throw it up, Randy will go get it" from 2007 - that's what four straight games instead of taking a sack he throws a pick? I'll take a sack 100 times (unless 4th down and you have to throw it) over a pick.

As bad as it looked, these are the games that champions win.

Rob0729 said:

Here we go:

• First and foremost, I give the Jets a lot of credit for playing tough and hard against the Pats. For as bad as they have been this year, they have never quit on Rex.

• This game was ugly from start to finish. The Pats beat themselves a lot of this game. They need to clean it up. I will chock it up to all the starters out.

• Speaking of that, they absolutely need to get Dan Connolly back. Since he got hurt, the offensive line has really struggled.

• I don't know why McDaniels didn't use Vereen more in this game. He is a Jets' killer. They cannot stop him in the run or the pass. Should have started the game with him. My only guess is they are managing his snaps because of his ankle injury.

• I know the Pats like to play contain rush against a mobile QB, but not all mobile QBs are the same. I would have sent more pressure on Smith especially when Mangold went down. He is far more mistake prone than say Luck or Rodgers.

• I think we have seen that Amendola is invisible on offense more because he is redundant with Edelman rather than his play. He isn't as good as Edelman, but if Edelman was out he could pick up the slack.

• I don't have a lot of good to say about today's game, but I chock it up to a division foe who knows how to play you with 5 or so starters out.

• I do give the Pats defense credit because is yet another game (since Indy) that the Pats have not given up a TD in the second half. If that trend continues into the playoffs, this will be a tough team to beat no matter if they play the AFCCG in New England or Denver (assuming they get that far).

• Congrats on getting the bye. And go Bengals. Let's hope next Sunday's game is irrelevant.

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WOW, she must have been pretty brutal

reflexblue said:

WOW, she must have been pretty brutal

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You tell me. Here is a picture of her dancing on the dance floor:

Galeb said:

View attachment 7814

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She's purty.

Great game for many reasons. Our O-line needed a stiff test to gain some character and though the jets suck there dline is formidable, also it got amendola a lick of confidence going and made us grind it out which will happen in the playoffs. Im good with a tough win.

Hart Lee Chung said:

As bad as it looked, these are the games that champions win.

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Specifically, I'd quote a Belichick cliche and say to win a championship, you have to be able to win in all 3 phases. This team can.

However, the offensive line has to hold their own, and yesterday's performance won't be good enough in the playoffs, even with the D & ST playing well. We need Connolly back healthy, but I'm glad we held him out. I'm not sure he was 100% before last week - if we have the opportunity to rest him against BUF, I'd take it.