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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Doug Martin, Alshon Jeffery and Percy Harvin.For most Pats fans, losing to Peyton Manning in the post-season is one of the most painful experiences to deal with. They would rather lose to ANYONE else. The only losses that sting more than the losses to Peyton are the losses to his brother, Eli, in the Super Bowl.
A few days after feeling down about another tough loss to swallow at the hands of Peyton, I'm beginning the process of moving on. I'm "on to the off-season," in the words of Bill.
As I start to look forward, I have a different take than most fans do regarding losing to Peyton Manning in the playoffs. As much as it stings in the short term, the longer term effects of such a loss have proven to be a huge net positive.
Therefore, if the Pats are going to lose and not win it all in a given year, I WANT their post-season loss to be to Peyton Manning. Why, you may ask?
Well, because over the course of Bill Belichick's entire tenure in New England, no losses have seemed to sting Belichick (and the Krafts) more than the losses to Peyton Manning in the AFC Championship game. (Even more so than losing The perfect season or to The Giants for a second time.)
The constant, singular factor that has motivated Belichick and the Krafts to aggressively upgrade their roster and open up their checkbooks has always been a season-ending loss to Peyton Manning. Just take a look at the past history.
38-34 loss in 2006 AFC Championship Game in Indianapolis: Defense blew a 21-6 halftime lead. Brady had absolutely no weapons to work with in the passing game (Reche Caldwell was the team’s leading receiver). The Pats’ defense got chewed by tight end Dallas Clark for 137 yards.
2007 Off-season: Pats went out and signed the big fish on the market - Adalius Thomas - to help cover tight ends and rush the passer. They completely revamped the offense, bringing in Randy Moss, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth at wide receiver, finally giving Brady the weapons necessary for an explosive pass offense. Slapped the franchise tag on Asante Samuel to make sure he stuck around for more season even though they had no intentions of signing him long term. Didn't trade out of the first round and took Brandon Meriweather, who they talked up as a ball hawking, versatile defensive back who could play corner and safety. They even signed guys like Sammy Morris and Kyle Brady to provide higher quality depth on offense after the disaster that 2006 was.
2007 season: An all-time great team that can within a few odd bounces of going 19-0.
26-16 loss in 2013 AFC Championship Game in Denver: Pats’ pass defense gave up 400 yards and 2 TD to Peyton Manning, getting torched for 137 yards by Demaryius Thomas while running Alfonzo Dennard out there as a starting corner. Brady's weapons in that game consisted of Edelman, Austin Collie, Matthew Mulligan, and Michael Hoomanawanui. Amendola was invisible, Gronkowski was injured.
2014 Off-season: Let Talib walk, but sign the big fish on the market once again - Darrelle Revis - and also pick up Brandon Browner to immediately upgrade the secondary in a big way. Signed Brandon LaFell in an attempt to bring in an outside the numbers wide receiver threat to help open up the offense. Opened up the checkbook and re-signed Julian Edelman, who many thought would not be back after the commitment made to Danny Amendola the previous off-season. Took a flier on proven pass rusher Will Smith, who was ultimately cut at the end of camp. Stayed put in first round of draft and took a risk on a guy lauded as an undersized, disruptive interior rusher in Dominique Easley, who is more of a passing down player than a “four down player.”
2014 season: Super Bowl victory over defending champion Seattle.
As much as it stings for Pats fans to lose to Peyton Manning in the playoffs, the good news is that it seems to sting Belichick and the Krafts just as much, if not more. They have consistently reacted with big, bold off-season moves the last two times their season was ended by Peyton Manning. These moves immediately upgraded the roster and led to Super Bowl appearances in the following seasons.
So while losing the AFC Championship game Sunday and not being able to celebrate a fifth Super Bowl this season blows right now, the silver lining is that maybe we are in store for another epic off-season that really focuses on making the most out of Brady's last few great years.
A revamping of the offensive line to allow the team to protect Brady better and run the ball more effectively as he ages? Better outside the numbers wide receivers or a tight end like Aaron Hernández who can dictate coverage, get deep, and separate against man coverage? An added pass rusher or versatile defensive back who is a ball hawk? A trade up in the draft? A trade for a proven veteran burning to win a ring? An impact free agent signing? Who knows?
Bottom line: All I know is, if we had to lose this post-season, I'm actually GLAD we lost to Peyton Manning, because that has been the single greatest motivating factor for Belichick and the Kraft's to aggressively improve this team. And i think the process has already begun to take shape, with the number of staff changes being made already. This feels like it is just the tip of the iceberg.
And let's be honest: Tom Brady is going to be 39. We only have a few more cracks at it with him at the level he's currently playing at. No one beats father time. And as great of a coach as Belichick is, there will no doubt be a drop off for a period of time when the team has to transition to a new QB. It's inevitable. You're not going to just have a guy like Andrew Luck drop into your lap like Indianapolis did.
So, If the pattern holds to form, get ready for an exciting off-season and pencil the Pats in for another Super Bowl appearance next year.
If you believe that, then you need to step out of the time warp you're currently stuck in and realize Moss and TO would be of no value today.Sign Moss and TO veteran minimum and line them up every time with Gronk,Edelman and Lewis. 19-0
It's not the coverage scheme, its the pass blocking.Or Rex Ryan's defense exhumed. Regardless of personnel, injured RBs, inadequate alternate receivers, we need a package for when we see the "drop 7-8 into the passing lanes for crossing routes" stuff. Not excusing the horrible OLine, but this defense kills us and creative play calling could still loosen that up a bit.
Remember, as horrible as that game looked, we were a 2 pt conversion from overtime. Happy as hell to take an ugly win and hope we match up better in the SB, because that football takes funny bounces, it ain't round.
If you think about it. That is Peyton's recipe for winning the SBThat arguably makes it even more frustrating. Peyton did jack sh*t all year and gets carried to a SuperBowl.
It's not the coverage scheme, its the pass blocking.
Brady will beat 7-8 in coverage all day long if the OL blocks the 3 or 4.
He won't beat 5 in coverage is he has as little time to throw as he did in this game, and the others that we struggled in, particularly SB 18-1.
Yeah and if it were the other way we'd be saying Peyton lost to Brady. I don't think this game changes much in the grand scheme of things in the Brady Manning debate. It really only matters if Peyton wins a 2nd and not only that, but how he performs in doing so.Answer to question: none.
They didn't "lose to Peyton."
They lost to themselves (O-line and Special Teams) and the Bronco's D.
Funny comment coming from you.Wrong again.
If the reports about Edelman and Amendola limping around after the game are accurate then we'd have had little chance against the Panthers. Also the o-line was a problem all year with Brady getting hit and sacked way more than in years prior. This was just the worst case of it. But the Panthers would have given us serious problems as well.
It's not the coverage scheme, its the pass blocking.
Brady will beat 7-8 in coverage all day long if the OL blocks the 3 or 4.
He won't beat 5 in coverage is he has as little time to throw as he did in this game, and the others that we struggled in, particularly SB 18-1.
The running game sucks because the line sucks.Well, we had the same line we had before. It's also the lack of a running game.