Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

After a fine game (thankful for Vereen and Cannon showing up on the playing field) which featured the good (all things Gronk!,Law Firm, Brady, "No-Name Defense") and the bad (Light and Connolly injuries), I wanted to highlight a few things about yesterday's broadcast that show the Pats are different or treated differently.

First, Gruden prides himself on getting the stars of MNF game to come in to his "lair" or bus and chat while watching video. Guess who did NOT show up: Tom Brady. Brady is a superstar who does not sit for such interviews -- Aaron Rogers and Drew Brees do. Of course, Gruden had the ever-classy Bob Kraft as a substitute.

Second, noticed how Gruden & Jaws kept marveling at the many role players on the Pats. Of course our now famous collection of "no-Name Defense" made up of other teams rejects, undrafted agents drew substantial comment. Gruden noted that Merriweather and Sanders were cut before the season and now the Pats had Adams, Molden and Moore. All commentators sounded like they were shaking their heads that the defense was playing as well as it has.

Then in the post-game show, Dilfer played the skeptic. "Yes, they have numerous sacks but they really don't have an impressive pass rush." He concluded, the Pats don;t have anyone the opposing team feared, no one offenses had to game play for". None of this is surprising. What this tells us is that experts hold the Pats to a higher standard. The more critical scrutiny is a form of complement. What they are overlooking is that the Pats are constantly improving, the "No-name Defense" has held in and are growing, our defense did not commit many penalties. The people BB cut are not exactly lighting it up for their new teams, which speak to his judgment.

As a counterpoint, have you noticed that Ron Borges was very complimentary of the Pats defensive performance last night. Who says a leopard can't change his stripes?

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

Dilfer can suck it

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

I enjoyed Dilfer for the most part last night.

I forget who was trying to stir up drama with the "running up the score" nonsense but one of the announcers brought it up like 10 times in the final 2 minutes. Dilfer refused to bite, and basically said if you don't like it, stop it.

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

I'm curious if Brady's no-show has anything to do with his contract with Westwood One and his weekly pre-game radio bit with Jim Gray. :shrug:

Regards,
Chris

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

Honestly, Palko is so god awful that there is very little to be learned about last night's defense.

I can't emphasize to you enough about how bad Palko is.

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

He looked better that Curtis Painter last night.

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

Some people look at information and then make a determination.

Some people determine then warp the facts.

Look at the defensive stats for our defense and Baltimore's defense against Pittsburgh's. We gave up points early. Baltimore puked up a 10 point 4th quarter lead.

Difference is they are "elite" so it doesn't matter.

Classic "yeah but"........always an excuse.

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

I was a little surprised that Dilfer took this angle because that's falling into the 'who are their stars' trap. Don't get me wrong, I can certainly understand his skepticism with the defense; it's just that his reasoning for coming to that conclusion that leaves me scratching my head. All one has to do is compare the number of big name players and the number of wins that the 49ers have in comparison to the Eagles to see that is irrelevant.

I've been hearing opposing fans say something similar about the Pats for eleven straight years, yet the team keeps winning. I would have thought that a seemingly very intelligent and analytical person such as Dilfer would have figured out by now that it is about building a team, and not just collecting talent.

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

Arguably one of the worst backups in the NFL

Re: Notice how MNF, Gruden, Dilfer showed the Pats are different..
 

Re: Dilfer, I'm going to go out on a limb and say that opposing offenses are game planning for Andre Carter.