Some interesting tidbits from Curran looking back on the year

cmasspatsfan said:

I heard him I'm pretty sure he meant personel or coaching, he didn't mean they were scripted to lose. If that makes you guys feel better believe what you want but you guys actually believe the NFL is scripted from the fools who brought us deflategate?

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It's not scripted per se. Deflategate is exhibit A on how they do try to influence events. And it would have succeeded had they not targeted a person who would not just roll over and play dead. All of the lies and deceit that the NFL would have gone uncovered forever. The draft picks they took are a way to influence the game.

That isn't the first time they have done that.

FourierSeries said:

lol @ these conspiracy theories and comments about body language.

The team was decimated by injury, the OL played like **** due to poor communication, and Ghost uncharacteristically missed an XP. That's why we lost.

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Ya so dejected that he probably wins that game if BB decides to kick the FG with 6 minutes to go.

FourierSeries said:

lol @ these conspiracy theories and comments about body language.

The team was decimated by injury, the OL played like **** due to poor communication, and Ghost uncharacteristically missed an XP. That's why we lost.

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Seriously, anyone who thinks for a second that the game was scripted is smoking the same stuff Chandler had. Besides, if someone was going to script a game like that, they should look for better script writers next time because that one sucked.

robertweathers said:

You can't make a defense think you might run the ball when you damn well know they can't - and won't.

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And this was the problem. Denver had 4-6 rushers on every play teeing off on the pass. You'll never tire a D out when you give them that advantage.

fair catch fryar said:

Seriously, anyone who thinks for a second that the game was scripted is smoking the same stuff Chandler had.

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Yeah, posts like that are embarrassing, honestly.

Ehh.... Is Curran really noting anything of significance that Patsfans.com hadn't been discussing for months?

ViperGTS said:

I agree. His demeanor as I've stated here before in that game was dismal. No energy, no enthusiasm. Just kind of mopey. Also, hearing Matt Lights take on the line performance was eye opening. How can a team that is known to be prepared for everything not do something? The lack of adjustment smacks of something. I mean this team swapped Arrington for Butler, and put Browner on Matthews in the damn Super Bowl.

I've often wondered if players feel something. Such as, the gameplan doesn't feel quite right. Or certain adjustments that they know should be made aren't. I've also wondered if the NFL doesn't ping someone and say don't bring your A game. If you do we will do X to you. Not saying they ask to throw the game (which effectively they are) but to keep it close, especially against Manning. No one but the HC knows it, the players can only sense it. In the end, if the Pats' gameplan is worse than what you would get out of a high school coach, you must ask yourself why.

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Because football's hard.

Believe it or not, it's really hard to make the last game or two almost every year, really hard.

50-yard-line said:

Regarding the point about Edelman and Amendola...throwing 30-35 times a game instead of 50 time a game would go a long way to diminishing the wear and tear on these guys, including Gronk.

The offense became too 1dimensional, for whatever reason. You have to at least make the defense think you might run the ball...sure, you can surprise them now and then, but you can't live on a pass-only offense in the NFL, especially with a bunch of rookies on the OL.

That's my only knock against Josh, but it's one that makes me cringe.

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This was by far my biggest concern, and was the main reason why I didn't see us going as far this year. The team was already struggling to get the running game going when Blount was healthy. Once he became injured the hope was that Bolden/White could give us "enough" to run the ball 20-25x a game with some kind of reasonable success. The decision to bring in Jackson seemed to work on paper, but I have to admit that I wonder if sticking with Bolden may have been the better decision in this instance?

After all, Bolden at least knew the system well, whereas Jackson was clearly struggling with more than just looking old and gassed. He seemed very tentative and was having some problems with finding the open lane and waiting for OL to pull, etc. I have no problem with the decision because if Jackson picks things up, he's likely fine to get us to the 100 yard marker per game (not on his own, of course, but paired with a handful of snaps from White and Bolden) and offers enough of a running game threat that maybe it offsets the loss of Blount. Unfortunately, it just didn't work out that way.

As far as blaming JMcD (and I use the term loosely, b/c I know that you're not meaning to come down hard on him), I would be a bit hesitant to do that. I think they attempted to get things going in the MIA game, but just realized that they were going to have to try and do it solely on the back of Brady. The lack of a running attack, coupled with poor play from the OL was the biggest reason why we lost, in my opinion. You've got to be able to keep the defense honest, and you can't allow your QB to get hit that many times. Not having a WR who could effectively play LaFell's role was also a HUGE disadvantage, and something that I spoke of in mid-December. Last year we saw those role players like LaFell, Amendola, Vereen etc have big showings in the postseason. It wasn't just all about Gronk and Edelman. This year, we needed much of the same, but didn't get it.

Lavictoire said:

I've posted the same thought years ago. When Brady comes out with that mopey body language I wonder if he knows a win is not in the script.

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Please.. your making it sound like they lost 45-7....

They lost 20-18 with a chance at the end of the game to tie it with a 2 pt conversion...

The loss sucks, but they fought hard all game.

AzorianPats said:

Please.. your making it seem like they lost 45-7....

They lost 20-18 with a chance at the end of the game to tie it with a 2 pt conversion...

The loss sucks, but they fought hard all game.

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It's truly amazing to see how tough they played last week, and how close the game was. How many teams could see their QB get hit 20+ times and still almost win the game?

Denver was inviting us to run all game..Their edge guys treated every down like it was 3rd and pinned Brady back. They had 5-6 DB's and we still couldn't run the ball..

Cannon, Vollmer and Flemming are getting killed (they deserve it) but the interior guys lack of a job getting any type of push is just as alarming.

We spent all game on 3rd and long and that played right into what Denver wanted. Like i said, they invited us to run all game. If we were running the ball for 4+ yards a carry, and having 2nd and 4 and such, this would have been such a different game.

So the talk of Brady body language being "mopey" well WTF you expect him to be? He got creamed in every play, literally...

supafly said:

It's truly amazing to see how tough they played last week, and how close the game was. How many teams could see their QB get hit 20+ times and still almost win the game?

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It just shows supa that this team as balls the size of grapefruits...

Thats something the fan base should be proud of.

AzorianPats said:

Please.. your making it sound like they lost 45-7....

They lost 20-18 with a chance at the end of the game to tie it with a 2 pt conversion...

The loss sucks, but they fought hard all game.

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Yes. And that stuff about Brady's "mopey body language" is rubbish.

Brady is probably the greatest control freak who ever pulled on a football jersey. When he sits there with no expression after something goes off-script, he's trying to control his emotions and focus on what comes next, chanting his mantra or whatever ... And the sign is that he played absolutely 100 per cent to the very end of the game.

BB was "proud of the way this team fought" and so should Pats fans be.

ViperGTS said:

Did you not hear Matt Light and what he said? It's far more than than what you said. The question is why?

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I agree with you. The silent snap count issues that Matt Light talked about go straight to the OL issues and playing on the road in a deafening stadium. If the game was in Foxboro, Brady would have been able to vary the counts and change up plays at the line. Nevertheless, the OL, the OL coach, and the attention to detail will be different in 2016, and the preparation for games on the road will be a major point of emphasis.

QuantumMechanic said:

Thoughts on LaFell:

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They tried to appease his need for involvement despite drops. They tried to feature him against Kansas City despite minimal returns on plays designed for him. It didn’t work ... The fact he played sparingly and didn’t even see a pass from Brady against Denver, however, was a flashing billboard that the Patriots third-best receiver is at a crossroads.


im afraid this crossroads looks like the one in North by Northwest

its hard for me to write this, because I was looking forward seeing this type of guy in NE
to me the biggest problem were not his drops or even separation issues -
i was really disappointed seeing him going for his health instead for the ball at every critical situation

Mike the Brit said:

Yes. And that stuff about Brady's "mopey body language" is rubbish.

Brady is probably the greatest control freak who ever pulled on a football jersey. When he sits there with no expression after something goes off-script, he's trying to control his emotions and focus on what comes next, chanting his mantra or whatever ... And the sign is that he played absolutely 100 per cent to the very end of the game.

BB was "proud of the way this team fought" and so should Pats fans be.

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I completely agree the Pats should be proud, and I'm not surprised BB was proud of his team. The Pats just ended up with one of the worst positional match-ups in this type of play-off game that I've ever seen, and they still almost won the game. The positional match-up, of course, was the Patriots OL against the Denver DL playing AT A HOME PLAYOFF GAME. So one can just tick down the unfortunate match-up factors:

* A OL with (arguably) it best player (LT) on IR, and its second best player plagued by very serious injury and playing out of position.

* A tremendous amount of injuries throughout the OL all year, causing an almost complete lack of the type of cohesiveness that is so critical for effective OL play. If you don't think OL cohesiveness is important, just look at how the OL play improved last year when Connoly (now retired) was able to settle LT Soldier down after the surprise Mankins trade and Wendell (IR'd this year) settled down the right side of the line.

* Denver is just a really sucky place to for the visitor in a playoff game. Now that Seattle's fans have calmed down a bit I think Denver has by far the best home field advantage in the league. Apart from the thin air (which is a clear advantage to the home team), at play-off time when the fans become their most (fan)atical that place is absolutely deafening and a nightmare for the visitor. I admit I am not speaking from personal experience but I lived in the area in the early 80's and their home field advantage was written about extensively by visiting teams (plus, the fans were completely bonkers).

* Related to the play-off game noise level, it looked like the OL, particularly the OT's couldn't pick up the calls, which of course was a disaster.

* The Denver pass rushers feed on that crowd noise, and they were absolutely frothing at the mouth, particularly Dr. Von Miller ("Dr." because he should be awarded a honorary Ph.D. by the University of Denver in the field of "Beating the Hell Out Of The Patriot OL").

* Last but not least, Vollmer had a bad game (I think he is still severely injured, he just couldn't seem to move like normal) and Cannon had a terrible game (he could have been injured too, I don't know). Not being able to hear the calls and facing perhaps the quickest and best pass rusher in the league (Von Miller seemed to start moving a second before the ball was snapped) just was not a good match-up for Cannon.

So: that was just a perfect storm of a bad match-up for the Patriots OL. The defense played so well that they still almost won the game anyway. And the great TB was almost able to bring us back. He had a couple of bad throws, but when your 38 year old quarterback is hit a record number of times what do you expect? I was proud of TB and proud of the team.

@DaBruinz

So if Belichick kicks the FG and they still score the TD they don't win?

Score would have been 22-20

Proud of Brady: Yes
Proud of the defense: Yes, although Jamie Collins in coverage is, ah, not good…at all
Proud of Gronk, Edelman, Amendola: Yes
Proud of the rest of the "skill position"(snicker) players: No
Proud of the HC, OC & OL coaches: No
Proud of the OL: Not one feckin bit.

JMC00 said:

@DaBruinz

So if Belichick kicks the FG and they still score the TD they don't win?

Score would have been 22-20

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I'm guessing they would've attempted the 2 point conversion to try and make it 23-20, but either way, they still would've won at 21-20 even if they did not convert it.

captain stone said:

Proud of Gronk, Edelman, Amendola: Yes
Proud of the rest of the "skill position"(snicker) players: No

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I think this aspect was overlooked a bit. Last season's SB run saw excellent contributions from everyone including LaFell's 2 huge postseason TD grabs, Amendola's 2 huge postseason TD grabs (he obviously really stepped it up in the playoffs), Vereen's excellent performance in the SB, as well as the running game in the AFCCG. It was a much better overall team contribution.

This year was....Edelman and Gronk, with a small amount of Amendola sprinkled in. Definitely not the kind of effort needed from your skill position players at the season's most important point.