10 Reasons not to worry

[NEPettyOfficer72]

I know that there are some who have alot of questions and doubts but I have 10 facts to erase those worries away.

1. Bill Belichick is the best coach in the NFL, and the greatest coach ever outside of Vince Lombardi.

2. Tom Brady is the best football player and quarterback in the NFL, and the greatest quarterback ever.

3. Wes Welker is the best receiver in the NFL, and one of the greatest wide receivers I've ever seen.

4. Rob Gronkowski is the best tightend in the NFL, and one of the greatest tightends I've ever seen, quickly on his way to becoming the greatest tightend ever seen in the NFL.

5. I like Logan Mankins, and Brian Waters anchoring that Line .. two legends in their own right.

6. Deion Branch, Aaron Hernandez, and X-Factor Danny Woodhead do nothing but get open, catch passes and make people miss after catching those passes.

7. Andre Carter has become an unblockable machine at rushing the passer who is old'school, high motored and determined with Mark Anderson trying to follow closely after.

8. Vince Wilfork is great in the middle as always.

9. Jerod Mayo quarterbacking and injury riddled defense is a very good thing.

10. Defensive stars Patrick Chung and Brandon Spikes returning will be the final pieces to the defensive side of the ball.

 

[robbomango]

i have a similar list

1. Brady/Belichick

 

[strngplyr]

9 of the 10 items on your list have been in place all season. When does it all come together?

6 items on your list have nothing to do with the problem area of the team and number 10 is subjective, Spikes and Chung aren't defensive stars, neither can cover and they are both only useful against the run and should only be called stars when compared to the likes of Nate Jones, Sterling Moore, and Niko Koutovides.

You can list all the players names on the defense and how great you think they are, but the fact is that they don't perform half as well as you have listed.

I don't doubt this team, I think the offense is currently where its at in todays NFL, and we have plenty, but we don't have anything that resembles a defense, and the strong redzone D that I've been defending for awhile was nearly non-existant yesterday.

 

[supafly]

Love the optimism, but this hardly seems to be too realistic of a list.

There are a ton of holes in your thinking, such as Branch's failure to even be a contributor vs man coverage, or Woodhead's lack of blitz pickup. There is also the fact that Chung will likely not be back in the next 3 games. I wouldn't see how if his injury has now regressed. I would imagine that BB will try and save him for the playoffs, if that's an option.

I do agree that Welker, Brady, and Gronk will carry our hopes on their backs. Let's all hope that none of the 3 have any kind of off-day, or make the slightest mistake.

 

[supafly]

the strong redzone D that I've been defending for awhile was nearly non-existant yesterday.

I too had been defending the defense, as they had seemed to improve before the Colts game.

Not only did they make 2 low life teams who are a combined 4-21 look good and hang around until the final minute of BOTH games, but the secondary looks even worse to me than in the beginning.

One good point is that they only gave up 107 yards through the air and 7 pts in the second half, so maybe that's something to build on in hopes that they can at least be middle of the road come January.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

10. Defensive stars Patrick Chung and Brandon Spikes returning will be the final pieces to the defensive side of the ball.

Trust me...we need 100 more pieces to win the SB this year vs the Packers

 

[AluminumMessiah]

9. Jerod Mayo quarterbacking and injury riddled defense is a very good thing.

10. Defensive stars Patrick Chung and Brandon Spikes returning will be the final pieces to the defensive side of the ball.

I would hardly consider Chung and Spikes "stars". When they are healthy and if they play well (BIG if), they are an upgrade.

I don't want to see Jerod Mayo at QB and I'm not a huge fan of the injury riddled defense.

 

[supafly]

I would hardly consider Chung and Spikes "stars". When they are healthy and if they play well (BIG if), they are an upgrade.

That's about the best way anyone can possibly put it. I guess it's just the potential that they have that makes so many people think they're "elite" defensive players. That's nowhere near the truth, not even close. First of all, both miss a ton of time. Secondly, both are limited in their skill sets. The jury is still out on both of these players, and will continue to be until about halfway next year at the earliest before anyone can decide which side of the fence to lean on.

The positive is that they surely provide an upgrade over the current players in some areas, just not all of the areas that everyone seems to think. Both are hard hitters and can tackle well. Both provide some sort of "veteran leadership," which is ironic in itself for such young players. The problem is that both are horrible liabilities in pass coverage, and both are still proving to be somewhat undependable (not that injuries or missing time is necessarily anyone's fault).

 

[DarrylS]

Trust me...we need 100 more pieces to win the SB this year vs the Packers

Have you checked out the Packers Defense????

 

[pherein]

I know that there are some who have alot of questions and doubts but I have 10 facts to erase those worries away.

1. Bill Belichick is the best coach in the NFL, and the greatest coach ever outside of Vince Lombardi.

2. Tom Brady is the best football player and quarterback in the NFL, and the greatest quarterback ever.

3. Wes Welker is the best receiver in the NFL, and one of the greatest wide receivers I've ever seen.

4. Rob Gronkowski is the best tightend in the NFL, and one of the greatest tightends I've ever seen, quickly on his way to becoming the greatest tightend ever seen in the NFL.

5. I like Logan Mankins, and Brian Waters anchoring that Line .. two legends in their own right.

6. Deion Branch, Aaron Hernandez, and X-Factor Danny Woodhead do nothing but get open, catch passes and make people miss after catching those passes.

7. Andre Carter has become an unblockable machine at rushing the passer who is old'school, high motored and determined with Mark Anderson trying to follow closely after.

8. Vince Wilfork is great in the middle as always.

9. Jerod Mayo quarterbacking and injury riddled defense is a very good thing.

10. Defensive stars Patrick Chung and Brandon Spikes returning will be the final pieces to the defensive side of the ball.

11. Its Tebow for God sakes

 

[alvinnf]

9 of the 10 items on your list have been in place all season. When does it all come together?

6 items on your list have nothing to do with the problem area of the team and number 10 is subjective, Spikes and Chung aren't defensive stars, neither can cover and they are both only useful against the run and should only be called stars when compared to the likes of Nate Jones, Sterling Moore, and Niko Koutovides.

You can list all the players names on the defense and how great you think they are, but the fact is that they don't perform half as well as you have listed.

I don't doubt this team, I think the offense is currently where its at in todays NFL, and we have plenty, but we don't have anything that resembles a defense, and the strong redzone D that I've been defending for awhile was nearly non-existant yesterday.

10-3 says hello.

 

[nabwong]

11. You can't do a damn thing about it from your couch.

 

[reflexblue]

I know that there are some who have alot of questions and doubts but I have 10 facts to erase those worries away.

1. Bill Belichick is the best coach in the NFL, and the greatest coach ever outside of Vince Lombardi.

2. Tom Brady is the best football player and quarterback in the NFL, and the greatest quarterback ever.

3. Wes Welker is the best receiver in the NFL, and one of the greatest wide receivers I've ever seen.

4. Rob Gronkowski is the best tightend in the NFL, and one of the greatest tightends I've ever seen, quickly on his way to becoming the greatest tightend ever seen in the NFL.

5. I like Logan Mankins, and Brian Waters anchoring that Line .. two legends in their own right.

6. Deion Branch, Aaron Hernandez, and X-Factor Danny Woodhead do nothing but get open, catch passes and make people miss after catching those passes.

7. Andre Carter has become an unblockable machine at rushing the passer who is old'school, high motored and determined with Mark Anderson trying to follow closely after.

8. Vince Wilfork is great in the middle as always.

9. Jerod Mayo quarterbacking and injury riddled defense is a very good thing.

10. Defensive stars Patrick Chung and Brandon Spikes returning will be the final pieces to the defensive side of the ball.

Quick have some more, you must be parched after writing all that......Just kidding. I admire your raw optimism, but i don't share it.

 

[NHPATSFAN11]

What makes me more optimistic than the things you stated is the fact that everyone is counting them out. I love when the Pats are long shots and have been waiting for this feeling for a while, it's finally back and I love it more than ever. I hope the media and fans continue to count them out.

 

[Dutchmaster617]

I will give you the biggest reason not to worry:

In 2007, did the Giants worry? Did they worry when they came into that stadium full of 19-0 propaganda and whooped our finesse ass all over the field? No they didn't! So why the hell should we, this is our year!

 

[upstater1]

The last two years have really had an ill effect on people's hopes. The Patriots were not dominant in 2001-02, 2005-06, or 2006-07, and yet they showed a little bit more than in the last 2 years. I don't think those 05-07 teams could beat this year's team necessarily. But I do know those teams from those 3 years were not dominant. One won the SB, the other other flamed out in a weird game in Denver, and the other had the NFL and the refs come down heavy on them or else it was a sure Super Bowl win.

The point is, just because the Patriots lost the last two years with a team that is not dominant doesn't mean the same thing will happen this year.

I still believe the Patriots took the Jets way too lightly last year and didn't come to play.

 

[Dutchmaster617]

The last two years have really had an ill effect on people's hopes. The Patriots were not dominant in 2001-02, 2005-06, or 2006-07, and yet they showed a little bit more than in the last 2 years. I don't think those 05-07 teams could beat this year's team necessarily. But I do know those teams from those 3 years were not dominant. One won the SB, the other other flamed out in a weird game in Denver, and the other had the NFL and the refs come down heavy on them or else it was a sure Super Bowl win.

The point is, just because the Patriots lost the last two years with a team that is not dominant doesn't mean the same thing will happen this year.

I still believe the Patriots took the Jets way too lightly last year and didn't come to play.

The problem comes when you look at the string of three straight.

NYG-BAL-NYJ, do they take all wild card teams lightly? I understand in 07 everyone thought we would win and NYG were supposed to be a heavily flawed team that played well three straight weeks. But the Ravens and Jets were both known for beating guys with defense and shouldn't have been taken lightly by the unplanned offense we brought forward to both games (I understand the Welker injury in 09 but still this is an odd stretch of losses).

 

[Brady'sButtBoy]

This dude could be right. Just think how questionable some SB winners have looked before getting the job done. GB barely made the playoffs last year let's not forget. They were consider a flawed and underachieving team. If we're not sure which way we might go, why not go the positive route for now?

 

[signbabybrady]

I like this thread. Not because it is some amazing insight but because it is positive.

I think back to the 90s and I feel like most of us looked at reasons for why this team was getting better. We were coming off of 1-15 seasons and we were looking for reasons that this team would be better. But now post Super Bowl wins we seem to look more for reasons why this is not a Super Bowl team. We compare it to the teams we saw win and we say this is lacking and since it was there when we won we have no chance. When the truth is there are plenty of reasons to believe we have more than a good shot at winning it all.

 

[condon84]