Were the Pats simply over-rated heading into denver?

Pats start the season 10-0 -- looking like the best team in the NFL.
Normal amount of injuries: Soldier goes down, Mayo plays like crap -- but Pats keep rolling.

Then more Sh*t happens:
Best 2 RBs lost
Our best outside WR is playing, but he sucks now
Edelman and Gronk injured and not quite at 100% heading into playoffs.

And the result is heading into Denver, this team was 3-4 in their last 7 (2-4 to finish the season, +1 in divisional round).

Maybe the idea that this Pats team is still elite was a myth and they just got lucky against KC?

Naaahhhhh......something was up from the beginning.......the moment they chose not to defer, something was off

voluntarysaftey said:

Pats start the season 10-0 -- looking like the best team in the NFL.
Normal amount of injuries: Soldier goes down, Mayo plays like crap -- but Pats keep rolling.

Then more Sh*t happens:
Best 2 RBs lost
Our best outside WR is playing, but he sucks now
Edelman and Gronk injured and not quite at 100% heading into playoffs.

And the result is heading into Denver, this team was 3-4 in their last 7 (2-4 to finish the season, +1 in divisional round).

Maybe the idea that this Pats team is still elite was a myth and they just got lucky against KC?

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No.

We were a legitimate 10-0 team to start the season and a legitimate 3-5 team to end it.

IllegalContact said:

Naaahhhhh......something was up from the beginning.......the moment they chose not to defer, something was off

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Tom looked off from the beginning of the game.

They weren't the better team yesterday but I still think if you play that game 10 times, the Pats win most of them, even in Denver. At home, even more so.

I don't know WTF the problem was yesterday. They just played like crap.

Their defense can match Denver's. Our offense is usually better. The OL is the question mark but that was easily their worst game of the season. As horrible as they played, they lost by two. That says a lot.

Lost by 2, mostly due to a missed XP.

Relax.

I'm watching the replay now, and that amendola drop was HUGE! Denver was hanging on for dear life in the last 10 minutes and we didn't cash in.

No, they simply didn't execute and failed to capitalize on their opportunities on Denver's side of the field.

IMO they probably were. They faded down the stretch because the offense wasn't that good, and the defense really wasn't either after injuries.

BB put a lot into this defense, and in my opinion they played pretty well for the season, but he sort of left the offense to just hum along as long as Brady was there. Run game was non-existent, O-line was pretty much trash all year, and it came down to Gronk and Edelman banged up. What was left after injuries was two units performing fairly mediocre coming in. Add a road game and a noisy stadium, with a team who can limit the pass game (which is the only game the Pats have) and you need a defense that can make some big plays. Manning averaged something like two picks a game but the Pats couldn't get any.

And I'm not really saying BB should have invested more in the offense or defense, because decisions have to be made. But the way the injuries fell, it just wasn't the way it worked out at the end.

The Pats played pretty much as badly as possible and yet if not for Gostkowski missing his first XP in 10 years would have taken the game to OT. Doesn't seem like the Pats were overrated too much.

Bobsyouruncle said:

IMO they probably were. They faded down the stretch because the offense wasn't that good, and the defense really wasn't either after injuries.

BB put a lot into this defense, and in my opinion they played pretty well for the season, but he sort of left the offense to just hum along as long as Brady was there. Run game was non-existent, O-line was pretty much trash all year, and it came down to Gronk and Edelman banged up. What was left after injuries was two units performing fairly mediocre coming in. Add a road game and a noisy stadium, with a team who can limit the pass game (which is the only game the Pats have) and you need a defense that can make some big plays. Manning averaged something like two picks a game but the Pats couldn't get any.

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Defense was pretty damn good for the most part this season, but especially in the postseason. In fact, it played better in the postseason than last year's defense did.

Denver had 244 total yards of offense, and 7 of those points came off of a turnover in our own territory. Defense was not the problem.

FourierSeries said:

Lost by 2, mostly due to a missed XP.

Relax.

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I had to double check to see when this was posted. For a split second I thought our season wasn't over and there was a game next week....lol.

Our defense was fantastic. The offense was embarrassing.

Rich Hill from Pats Pulpit put it well: The o-line looking good against the Chiefs was probably more about Houston being hurt than the Pats o-line. Similarly, Curran pointed out the overall performance against the Chiefs was clearly more a mirage.

Edelman was not himself. Gronk had to leave for huge, critical swaths of plays. Brady looked as ineffective as he did at the start of '14, and not just because of the o-line (coverage was obviously befuddling him too). Just a mess across the board. Injuries and exhaustion did this team on.

LightSkinSmurf said:

I had to double check to see when this was posted. For a split second I thought our season wasn't over and there was a game next week....lol.

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No game next week, but there's a season next year, and we'll be in contention again. As always.

voluntarysaftey said:

Pats start the season 10-0 -- looking like the best team in the NFL.
Normal amount of injuries: Soldier goes down, Mayo plays like crap -- but Pats keep rolling.

Then more Sh*t happens:
Best 2 RBs lost
Our best outside WR is playing, but he sucks now
Edelman and Gronk injured and not quite at 100% heading into playoffs.

And the result is heading into Denver, this team was 3-4 in their last 7 (2-4 to finish the season, +1 in divisional round).

Maybe the idea that this Pats team is still elite was a myth and they just got lucky against KC?

Click to expand...

I don't think the pats were overrated, I think HFA was underrated by our coach tho.

HFA was underrated by virtually everyone, oddsmakers, sportscasters, fans.

Brady without the ability to make adjustments at the line, due to crowd noise, isn't the same, especially if he's getting hit 23 times.

Fundamentals: blocking and tackling.

>>>OK I mean blocking....

FourierSeries said:

Defense was pretty damn good for the most part this season, but especially in the postseason. In fact, it played better in the postseason than last year's defense did.

Denver had 244 total yards of offense, and 7 of those points came off of a turnover in our own territory. Defense was not the problem.

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Yeah, that amazing defensive play where the Patriots were handed the ball because DEN forgot to forward pass it.