Relief...or Regret?

"I'm sure you do feel a little bit of both. But I know damn well that you feel one...more than you feel the other."

"And the question was...Which one is it?"

BB isn't driving this team like he did the 07 team. This team was mentally tough enough to win the SB in the midst of deflategate, they're certainly mentally tough enough to endure the pressure of a potential perfect season.

Indifference

Galeb said:

BB isn't driving this team like he did the 07 team. This team was mentally tough enough to win the SB in the midst of deflategate, they're certainly mentally tough enough to endure the pressure of a potential perfect season.

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What is BB doing differently?

Dealing with Deflategate and dealing with a perfect season are not the same.

I don't understand the obsession people here have with avoiding perfection. In the playoffs every game has tons of pressure since losing ends your season no matter if you arrived here at 9-7 or 16-0.

The loss against Denver hurts on its own because of how the game unfolded and also what a win would have meant in terms of seeding. Don't see a reason to be happy about any of it except for the miracle of Gronk.

robertweathers said:

What is BB doing differently?

Dealing with Deflategate and dealing with a perfect season are not the same.

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I never implied that they were the same, but the teams ability to perform as well as they did against a very good Seattle team in the midst of Deflategate is a sign of great mental toughness.

BB has admitted that he rode the 07 team too hard in the pursuit of a perfect season. He's not riding them nearly so hard now.

Not gonna lie, I thought 16-0 was a real possibility if we could have won the denver game. It made the regular season that much more exciting for me. The chase to perfection. Another shot and in all likelihood our last shot at 19-0.

If it weren't for injuries i really think we could have done it and that also annoys me. Now my interest in the regular season is just about wrapping up home field and I don't really care about anything else.

I'm still more pissed at the circumstances surrounding the loss than I am the loss itself or the team we lost to

Galeb said:

I never implied that they were the same, but the teams ability to perform as well as they did against a very good Seattle team in the midst of Deflategate is a sign of great mental toughness.

BB has admitted that he rode the 07 team too hard in the pursuit of a perfect season. He's not riding them nearly so hard now.

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I'm not disputing the mental toughness of the 2014-2015 Patriots. They have that in spades.

You said that he isn't driving this team unlike he did in 07. To me thats different, which is fine.

With that said, in December of 07 BB went beyond anal in having the team focus on the smallest of smallest details- to the point of stressing the team out.

My point is that it didn't seem to me that he had reached that point with the team yet. To your point, I think with the injuries, he was just trying to field a team that could compete.

In 07 they lost Sammy Morris, Mike Wright and Rosy Colvin- thats it.

robertweathers said:

I'm not disputing the mental toughness of the 2014-2015 Patriots. They have that in spades.

You said that he isn't driving this team unlike he did in 07. To me thats different, which is fine.

With that said, in December of 07 BB went beyond anal in having the team focus on the smallest of smallest details- to the point of stressing the team out.

My point is that it didn't seem to me that he had reached that point with the team yet. To your point, I think with the injuries, he was just trying to field a team that could compete.

In 07 they lost Sammy Morris, Mike Wright and Rosy Colvin- thats it.

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BB learned a valuable lesson from 07. He'll never drive a team like that again. I wish I remembered where I saw him talk about it.

Stephen Neal was a huge loss during the playoffs in 07.

PatsBoy12 said:

Indifference

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You took the words right out of my mouth.

HeadHunter said:

You took the words right out of my mouth.

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To me, it was a great story for 2007 and damn if they didn't come so close. But let's leave it alone. I do believe it was a possibility because the team looked so great right out of the gates and they're playing in a league right now that is so watered down and there are sooo many mediocre teams out there right now. In fact, I even commented that I don't remember a time when there were this many bad teams. But I wasn't counting on it or even wishing for it. I would have been elated if they did it, no doubt. But I didn't care when I woke up yesterday that they were 10-1, other than the fact that the game really does feel like it was taken from them by the refs. And I also needed to know about High and Gronk. Other than that, please just get HFA and I'm good to go as a fan.

For me, the anger is rooted in the belief that we got screwed. I've never dealt well with losing, either as a fan or participant, but I've also always been able to (sometimes begrudgingly) accept it when I've felt the other team or opponent was better than my team or me. What I've never been able to reconcile is being on the receiving end of a f### job (unless it's carnal, of course.) And we were on the receiving end of a decidedly uncarnal f### job Monday day evening.

This team at full strength is a slam dunk 19 - 0 best NFL team in history.

Injuries finally caught up to the Pats. I hate to even think that because I know that Belichick builds a team to withstand injuries, but I have to believe with Jamie Collins out there the Broncos don't run for 175 yards and that he makes Osweillers life miserable.

I wanted 19 - 0 for Brady because I know how hard he has worked this season. Kraft has the patent on 19 - 0 and maybe now that Goodell has kicked his little pal in the nutsack again, that Robert will stop kissing up to him.

Galeb said:

BB isn't driving this team like he did the 07 team. This team was mentally tough enough to win the SB in the midst of deflategate, they're certainly mentally tough enough to endure the pressure of a potential perfect season.

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You can't drive the team when so many of them are on the sideline chucking gatorade to the players still standing. Getting to overtime was an honorable defeat, particularly considering the shellshock the team must have felt after losing Hightower and then Gronk. Even the coaches must have had a "WTF?!" voice going off in the back of their heads.

If we can go at least 3-2, we should get an all important bye.

"Expectoration" refers to spitting.

I wanted an undefeated season in response to framegate. If Carolina earns that distinction it'll feel like pretenders stole our cheese.

The Denver game was bad for fans, difficult for the players, but probably a positive contribution to the championship quest (assuming the two knee injuries are minor).

The team has been getting treated poorly since defamegate, but it has been mostly pointed at Brady. With the refs, it is now about the entire team being treated poorly. I like that. Injustice is easily the greatest motivator in the entire range of human emotions.

MainePatsFan26 said:

You can't drive the team when so many of them are on the sideline chucking gatorade to the players still standing. Getting to overtime was an honorable defeat, particularly considering the shellshock the team must have felt after losing Hightower and then Gronk. Even the coaches must have had a "WTF?!" voice going off in the back of their heads.

If we can go at least 3-2, we should get an all important bye.

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Maybe I'm just not saying it right. If this attempt doesn't work, I'll use all caps on the next one. BB has admitted that he rode the 07 team too hard for too long, and that in hindsight, he would have done it differently.

Galeb said:

BB learned a valuable lesson from 07. He'll never drive a team like that again. I wish I remembered where I saw him talk about it.

Stephen Neal was a huge loss during the playoffs in 07.

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I'll back you on that. He absolutely said <paraphrasing> that while it was still a great season, he did some things that as a coach he wouldn't do again.

Yea Neal went down in the SB.

Regret
Losing to a playoff contender and subsequently losing the home field tie breaker advantage to this team offers me no relief