Are Pats Piling it on to Create a Psychological Edge?

[tombonneau]

I have not seen a team like NE so completely destroy the opposing team on a consistent basis in a long time. I think the early 90s Cowboys come close. It was not a question of if the Cowboys would beat you, the question was by how much. When you saw the Boys on your teams schedule, you basically knew it was an L.

I remember watching those games and thinking, “Man, no one is going to beat the Cowboys. This sucks.”

Now since then, there have been some good dominant teams. The late 90s Broncos coming closest to those Cowboys teams.

But I don’t think there has been a team with the aura of invincibility that this Pats team has. Again, the question isn’t are they going to beat you. It’s by how much.

To me, I think this psychological edge is a big reason why the Pats are scoring so many points. It’s getting to the point where I’m sure lesser teams in the back of their mind are just going to be thinking “Ok, hopefully they won’t beat us too badly.”

I mean really, if you are any other team other than the Colts, you are thinking in order to beat this team we have to:

A) Play our A game and make ZERO mistakes
B) Hope they turn the ball over 5 times
C) Score off all those turnovers

That’s it. That’s your game plan. And I think a lot of that mentality is coming from NE showing no mercy and not calling off the dogs. They are literally scoring at will.

And when other teams see that, and see them scoring 48 and 52 points like it’s nothing, it has to be psychologically demoralizing when you all of a sudden are down 14-0. Because you’ve seen it before and you know they aren’t going to let up and let your D get some cheap 3-and-outs and let you sneak back into the game. It’s not gonna happen.

So to me, I think all this talk of running up the score is serving to create a very real psychological edge for this team. And I’m all for it.

 

[BelichickFan]

I think partly. I know the Patriots have seemed overly aggressive (to me) with playcalling against the Colts before, knowing they need to score almost every time; that has probably been reversed now.

Additionally, and this will sound stupid but I believe it, I bet some Colts, maybe subconsciously, don't think they can beat the Patriots. They may not think it but deep down you KNOW there's more doubt right now that a week before we played them in the past few years.

 

[JoeSixPat]

I think my theory is worth repeating.

Belichick knows that if you always want your players to play at the peak of their abilities... you always have your players play to the peak of their ability.


It's that simple - and you make no apologies for it. This is a long season - its not just about this game - its about the team using the full season to lean to play on all cylinders at all times.

The Rockies are a good case in point - winning 21 of 22 games, they swept their way to the World Series... and then sat for 8 days. Few players or coaches will admit it, but they got out of their routine and lost their winning ways.

 

[Metaphors]

I think partly. I know the Patriots have seemed overly aggressive (to me) with playcalling against the Colts before, knowing they need to score almost every time; that has probably been reversed now.

Additionally, and this will sound stupid but I believe it, I bet some Colts, maybe subconsciously, don't think they can beat the Patriots. They may not think it but deep down you KNOW there's more doubt right now that a week before we played them in the past few years.

The thing about the Colts is that they really don't gameplan against anyone. They just out-execute and out-athlete the opposition. Their offense scores 30 against everyone and has a defense that is built to cause and take advantage of the mistakes from "20 point" offenses trying to "35 point" offenses.

Works fine in the regular season but falls apart in the playoffs due to weather, facing a dominant defense and/or facing a team that CAN score 35 points. Would have happened last year too if not for the adjustment just before AFCC halftime to go away from the WRs and feed the backs/TEs. Great adjustment and won them a SB.

I doubt the Colts offense will change much on Sunday, but if the Colts D comes in with new looks that they haven't run all year...then your "psychological edge" point will be right on. It will still come down to execution, but if I'm the Colts I feel more comfortable with my D sticking to what they know. Throwing a new gameplan at them (especially the younger guys) 5 days before the biggest game of the year is a recipe for breakdowns and negative big plays.

 

[Patriots4Life83]

I think it is necessary now for us to crush the opponents. If someone hangs with us for awhile we lose the air of invincibility that we have created.

Right now teams get hyped up to play us and as soon as they are down by 14 points they no longer believe they have a chance. If we only beat the Redskins by 3 then suddenly we are undefeated but also within reach.

The message is loud and clear: we are unstoppable.

 

[letekro]

They're not piling it on. They're executing the plays that will help against good teams. We're not going to run Heath Evans against the Colts, why should we run him against the Redskins? Just because they s*ck? Just shoot me. Please, I'm serious. I can't take these threads anymore. :bricks:

 

[tombonneau]

I think it is necessary now for us to crush the opponents. If someone hangs with us for awhile we lose the air of invincibility that we have created.

Right now teams get hyped up to play us and as soon as they are down by 14 points they no longer believe they have a chance. If we only beat the Redskins by 3 then suddenly we are undefeated but also within reach.

The message is loud and clear: we are unstoppable.

Exactly. The second we win a game by a "mere" 6 points it's "The Russian is cut!!!" moment from Rocky IV.

I think pouring it on week-after-week we maintain the Ivan Drago Aura.

 

[BelichickFan]

The thing about the Colts is that they really don't gameplan against anyone. They just out-execute and out-athlete the opposition.

I agree with that but even though they don't "gameplan" like we do, their playcalling does change. They're running more now, throwing less, and with Harrison either out, gimpy, or 95% that would seem to be the plan again I would think. But if they think they need 41 points that could change.

 

[BadMoFo]

This same point was made by, of all people, Tiki Barber.

He said teams are going to be thinking that there is no way that we can beat the Patriots and will play under intense pressure not to screw up against us, and will then screw up homehow.