6-0 the rest of the way? Let's look at the signs.

[SVN]

most important games from pats pt of view (of course all of them are important)
pats@miami - it starts with this
jets@tenn - tenn cant drop this one .
pats@oakland - they should beat a they are supposed to beat , a team which jets lost to so it gives them that game advantage
bills@jets - bills win will be huge if they can pull the upset
denver@jets - interested to see how the jets handle the broncos 3WR attack

 

[Patslifer]

6-0......lol

 

[JSn]

6-0......lol

Patslifer = Seldom Right, Never in Doubt

 

[Gwedd]

6-0......lol

Dat's what I'll be doin; when dey hit it...

We can easily do 6-0. Whether we will or not is why they play the game, but yeah. This team can do that thing.

 

[Patslifer]

Patslifer = Seldom Right, Never in Doubt

Really?

I said Jackson was a bust - correct

Maroney was made out of glass - correct, on ir

The d would cost us games - correct

The pats will not go 6-0 ( how much would you like to bet). Put your money where your mouth is, I will be you 100 bucks the pats don't go 6-0.

 

[Patslifer]

Dat's what I'll be doin; when dey hit it...

We can easily do 6-0. Whether we will or not is why they play the game, but yeah. This team can do that thing.

Great logic....we can easily go 6-0, but we might not. Are we going 6-0 or not? If it's so easy make the call. Not going to happennnnnnnn.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Still mad at Watson? Sure, he was inconsistent and your notes just underscore that - he's shown what he can do well, doing it well each time (see Welker, Wes one each) is what we should expect of a talent like Ben. I know he can do it, so I'm looking for him to excell.

My feeling is that the botched Kick coverage, much more than our defense, cost us this game. We know we have good special teams, they just haven't been real special the last couple of weeks. Correct that and spend next week working through the fundamentals with the D and we have a very real chance of matching our toughest competitors.

The injuries to NE's first string players has seriously impacted Special Teams. Seeley can hopefully get the unit tuned up again with the long break between games.

 

[southparkcpa]

warning, this post is probably kinda boring if you're into the more sensational topics. Just thought i'd share my findings from a skim of the box score from thursdays heart-attack game.

offense:

one thing that has gone slightly unnoticed in the jets game is the first come-back.

End of 2nd - td
only score of the third - td
opening the 3rd fg

that's 17 unanswered points, folks.

another interesting figure about td drives:
Td#1 - 10 plays, 68 yards in 1:29
td#2 - 7 plays, 78 yards in 2:25
td#3 - 8 plays, 62 yards in 1:03 (no timeouts)

who got the points? Gaffney (td, 2pt conv), moss, watson

who were the receivers in the final drive?
1) watson for 9 yards
2) watson for 11 yards
3) welker for 17 yards
4) welker for 14 yards
5) moss for 16 yards

still mad at watson?

well they obviously stopped us from running the ball, right? wrong.
we went aerial because we were behind.

We had 3 more rushing first downs than the jets.
We had only 15 fewer yards rushing than the jets.
We had 14 fewer rushing plays than the jets.

We had a higher red zone efficiency, as well.

So the mistakes hurt us, but they didn't kill us. Watson and koppen aren't headed for the doghouse, they'll be making corrections.

why did we lose?

defense? I'll say no. Flog me if you will.

our defense faltered stopping them on third down giving them 56% efficiency (9-16) versus our 28% efficiency (4-14).

Aside of that, our defense had better numbers all around allowing lower gains on almost all other offensive statistics!

average gain per pass: Jets - 6.5, pats 7.1
average gain per rush: Jets - 3.6, pats 5.0

my feeling is that the botched kick coverage, much more than our defense, cost us this game. We know we have good special teams, they just haven't been real special the last couple of weeks. Correct that and spend next week working through the fundamentals with the d and we have a very real chance of matching our toughest competitors.

I expect that we will be chasing the red-zone harder now than we did in any game prior to thursday night and the plan has to be to get ahead early and the slow the game down. Not rocket surgery, but we have to tools guys.

We stop that kick return and we probably win that game. But because we played from behind we got an eye-full of cassel and that will only make things better from here on in. Not one team ahead of us can write him off.

a picture to make the post more interesting:

this is brett watching us tie it up with one second left. Warms my heart.
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remember scott mitchell????

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Thanks for the analysis. Really helpful.

I flashed back to the SB when the Jets won the toss in OT. I had a sinking feeling that the D once again wouldn't be able to deliver one big stop.

Yeah, I don't know what happened on the Kick coverage, but it sure looked like aliens had occupied our guys' bodies. I was as baffled as anyone out here.

As for the rest of the season, we gotta be realistic. It going to be tough. We really can't underestimate how big a W on Thursday would have been.

The good news is that the Jets, like the Pats, have two non-division games against teams with .500+ records, the Titans and Broncos. We've got the Steelers and Cards. If we were even in the standings, that would definitely tilt in our favor, even tho I don't like the idea of banking on beating Big Ben or Kurt Warner in a money game. Problem is we have to make up a game.

Another problem is that the Fins don't have any non-Division games against anybody with a .500+ record. They've got the Raiders, Rams, Niners and Chiefs, who are 7--29 overall.. The Bills only have the Broncos, otherwise their remaining non-division rivals are 6--21.

Bottom line is that there's no room for error for anybody in the Division now.

We have to beat Miami and Buffalo in their houses in big games, not look past Seattle or the Raiders and split the Steelers and Cards to end up 10--6. If I thought we had any momentum, I'd say, "hell yeah, we can do that" and would also feel that 11--5 wasn't out of the question, but let's face it, we've had two games in three weeks against teams with a lot on the line (Indy and NYJ) and we lost both of them.

We've got to take care of business and hope for a few breaks along the way. I think I'd put winning the division this year right up there with any of the SB wins in evaluating BB as a Coach.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

6-0 is certainly possible, and we'll know where we stand in a couple of weeks, because the 2 toughest games are the next 2: @Miami and home with Pitt.

@Miami: toughest game of the bunch. They'll be on a 4-game win streak. The game of the season imo.

Pitt: not impressed with them - can't see us losing.

@Seattle: Hawks could be a problem with Hasselback returning, but we should win.

@Oak: no problem

Ariz: they'll fold in the Dec cold and playoff pressure

@Buf: you never know with that game.

We know that Sammy Morris is on the mend, and I have to believe that Lamont Jordan is coming back soon as well. Those guys will be huge for us down the stretch.

I feel very good about 11-5, and 12-4 is possible.

 

[Rob0729]

6-0 is possible. I wouldn't bet on it, but the Pats are going to hit the soft part of their schedule.

Miami will be a tough game, but they barely beat a bad Seattle team last week.

I don't think Pittsburgh is nearly as scary as they were a couple of weeks ago. They have as many injury issues as the Pats right now, more if you don't count Tom Brady.

Oakland and Seattle should be relatively easy games to win, but they are on the West Coast. So who knows?

I think Arizona at home at 1 PM will be an advantage for the Pats. I think the game would be very different if it was in Arizona.

Buffalo is still banged up and Trent Edwards is struggling.

I think 4-2 is realistic, 5-1 is possible, and 6-0 is unlikely but not impossible.

 

[NJPatsfan26]

6-0 is possible. I wouldn't bet on it, but the Pats are going to hit the soft part of their schedule.

Miami will be a tough game, but they barely beat a bad Seattle team last week.

I don't think Pittsburgh is nearly as scary as they were a couple of weeks ago. They have as many injury issues as the Pats right now, more if you don't count Tom Brady.

Oakland and Seattle should be relatively easy games to win, but they are on the West Coast. So who knows?

I think Arizona at home at 1 PM will be an advantage for the Pats. I think the game would be very different if it was in Arizona.

Buffalo is still banged up and Trent Edwards is struggling.

I think 4-2 is realistic, 5-1 is possible, and 6-0 is unlikely but not impossible.

I would be very happy with 4 - 2. I think we can do better but then again I am a homer.

Miami will be the key game to over come. If we beat them, it will be a huge momentum push for the remainder of the season.

GO PATS...

 

[condon84]

Really all depends. When we played with urgency both in the offense and defense like we did in the second half of the Jets game, then I think we have an excellent chance of running the table.

Look at what we did in the second half.

On offense, we spread the ball and didn't waste much plays. Seems like the purpose of each drive was to score TDs, no conservative playcalling and stay aggressive. We opened up the offense and let Cassel throw the ball. The result was outstanding. Aside from the dumb plays (fumble, false snap, and dropped ball), we scored points in all of our drives. More importantly we scored TDs.

On defense, while we were playing catchup, we put the pressure on and became as aggressive as I've seen us all season. We went after Favre with blitzes from our inside LBs and it worked. We also let our DLs loose and they put some nice pressure. Guyton and Mayo were in for most of the defensive series' when we were putting on pressure and those guys balled.

After we tied the game, it seemed like we changed our philosophy on defense and put the brakes on the pressure we were applying. Instead, we played softer and played the 'bend but don't break' defense. Why the change? I understand that the 'bend but don't break' defense prevents the big plays, but we where playing great with the pressure defense.

So it really all depends if the coaches let these guys play and take some risks. Yes, if we play pressure defense, our CBs might get burned like they did against SD or if we spread the the field on offense, Cassel might get beat up or throw INTs, but from watching that incredible second half, we can play that way and come out on top.

 

[SeymourTrophies]

I can't say whether or not it is an observation or a feeling because I was delirious during that game, but it seemed like when we were conservative on D, we got torn up. We went into a sort of prevent D on these 3rd and longs and got punished. When we brought heat and showed blitz, we had success. I would have liked to see us up at the line on that fabled 3rd and 15. It is Brett Favre after all, and he is not the best when he hears footsteps.

 

[stcjones]

Warning, this post is probably kinda boring if you're into the more sensational topics. Just thought I'd share my findings from a skim of the box score from Thursdays heart-attack game.

Offense:

One thing that has gone slightly unnoticed in the Jets game is the first come-back.

End of 2nd - TD
Only score of the third - TD
Opening the 3rd FG

That's 17 unanswered points, folks.

Another interesting figure about TD drives:
TD#1 - 10 plays, 68 yards in 1:29
TD#2 - 7 plays, 78 yards in 2:25
TD#3 - 8 plays, 62 yards in 1:03 (no timeouts)

Who got the points? Gaffney (TD, 2pt Conv), Moss, Watson

Who were the receivers in the final drive?
1) Watson for 9 yards
2) Watson for 11 yards
3) Welker for 17 yards
4) Welker for 14 yards
5) Moss for 16 yards

Still mad at Watson?

Well they obviously stopped us from running the ball, right? Wrong.
We went aerial because we were behind.

We had 3 more rushing first downs than the Jets.
We had only 15 fewer yards rushing than the Jets.
We had 14 fewer rushing plays than the Jets.

We had a higher red zone efficiency, as well.

So the mistakes hurt us, but they didn't kill us. Watson and Koppen aren't headed for the doghouse, they'll be making corrections.

Why did we lose?

Defense? I'll say no. Flog me if you will.

Our defense faltered stopping them on third down giving them 56% efficiency (9-16) versus our 28% efficiency (4-14).

Aside of that, our defense had better numbers all around allowing lower gains on almost all other offensive statistics!

Average gain per pass: Jets - 6.5, Pats 7.1
Average gain per rush: Jets - 3.6, Pats 5.0

My feeling is that the botched Kick coverage, much more than our defense, cost us this game. We know we have good special teams, they just haven't been real special the last couple of weeks. Correct that and spend next week working through the fundamentals with the D and we have a very real chance of matching our toughest competitors.

I expect that we will be chasing the red-zone harder now than we did in any game prior to Thursday night and the plan has to be to get ahead early and the slow the game down. Not rocket surgery, but we have to tools guys.

We stop that kick return and we probably win that game. But because we played from behind we got an eye-full of Cassel and that will only make things better from here on in. Not one team ahead of us can write him off.

A picture to make the post more interesting:

This is Brett watching us tie it up with one second left. Warms my heart.
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I wish I was an optimist like you are and hope you are right......BUT, I see us going 3-3 over the next 6.........finishing 9-7.........Hope I am wrong......

 

[JSn]

I wish I was an optimist like you are and hope you are right......BUT, I see us going 3-3 over the next 6.........finishing 9-7.........Hope I am wrong......

Hey stcjones, when does Gutz' HOF career kick in?

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

The National Football Post | Seeing Is Believing

But don’t think that this wasn’t a good game to learn from for the Pats. They came back to tie a game that no one thought they could come back from, against a very good Jets team. They showed themselves that despite DESIMATING injuries to their team, they can still find ways to win. Did you not get the sense that the Pats just refused to give in and lose? Refusing to lose is a sign of a championship team, and they were a coin toss away from pulling it off. Don’t worry about the Pats emotional state after Thursday night’s game. Thursday might have been the game that shows them that despite incredible odds, they STILL have a legitimate chance at winning the whole thing. Stranger things have occurred in New England before.