Are the Patriots a 3rd place team?

[PATSNUTme]

Last night I made the mistake of watching a sunday sports show with Felge, Borges and Gaspar.

I have never seen Gaspar on TV and have read some of his articles. He's young and fed right into the Felger-Borges Patriots hate. He said that he wondered if the patriots fans are willing to accept this team as a 3rd place team. Then they started to compare the Patriots to the Red Sox in that the ratings and attendance for the Red Sox have dropped.

Well comparing the Patriots to the Red Sox is like waving a red towel in front of this bull. Secondly these brainiacs forget that the jest were a 7-7 team on their way to 7-8 and out of the playoffs until the Colts took a dive

Yes the Jest and Fins have improved a bit over last year but after this draft, I think the Patriots have also. It will be a tougher division no doubt but declaring the Patriots a 3rd place team is a bit much, don't you think?

 

[BelichickFan]

I think it's ridiculous. We were better than both last year and - I'll say it - I think we've widened the gap with what we did over the weekend. I think we'll have the division in hand with a couple of weeks to go.

 

[shmessy]

Newspapers and television are fighting to be 3rd place after the internet and texting.

 

[DarrylS]

Personally tired of the resident contrarians, so I try to avoid them.. these guys make a living off of being oppositional..

 

[alphilip77]

If Crable, Cunngham, and possibly Fletcher can step up and provide the pass rush alongside TBC, I think we've got a pretty damn goos football team here. Throw in the fact that we have a very nice repetoir of receiving weapons in Gronk, Hernandez, Moss, Holt, Price, Edelman, Tate(?), Faulk, Crumpler, and Welker when he comes back, I like our chances. But we'll see.

 

[Intommywetrst]

Felger hates the Pats. One day on his radio show she let slip "If I were a Patriots fan....." He's a HUGE Green Bay fan.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

The Jets have had a very nice offseason IMO. We'll see whether that catapaults them over us but I think we will finish above them.

Dolphins, tough for me to see them finishing ahead of us.

 

[Patspsycho]

Last night I made the mistake of watching a sunday sports show with Felge, Borges and Gaspar.

I have never seen Gaspar on TV and have read some of his articles. He's young and fed right into the Felger-Borges Patriots hate. He said that he wondered if the patriots fans are willing to accept this team as a 3rd place team. Then they started to compare the Patriots to the Red Sox in that the ratings and attendance for the Red Sox have dropped.

Well comparing the Patriots to the Red Sox is like waving a red towel in front of this bull. Secondly these brainiacs forget that the jest were a 7-7 team on their way to 7-8 and out of the playoffs until the Colts took a dive

Yes the Jest and Fins have improved a bit over last year but after this draft, I think the Patriots have also. It will be a tougher division no doubt but declaring the Patriots a 3rd place team is a bit much, don't you think?

Everyone makes mistakes. You're forgiven.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

Felger hates the Pats. One day on his radio show she let slip "If I were a Patriots fan....." He's a HUGE Green Bay fan.

He's pissed ME off so much that I think I'll steal Sara Underwood away from the dweeb.

Wait...wait, wait, my wife would be wicked pissed.

 

[emoney_33]

3rd place team? I can see that happening, I mean I don't go into the season expecting to win a bye.

I'm assuming they had to mean 3rd in the AFC, because no sane and objective person would think there's even a small likelihood that we'd finish 3rd in the division.

If the Pats are 3rd in the division, well then 2 wild cards are coming out of the AFCE.

 

[blackglass3]

They must post on here. 3rd place my ass...people look at that Ravens game as if the whole season went like that. The Dolphins aren't much better than last year and the Jets will be the same as the 2009 Falcons and 2008 Browns: Big expectations and poor results.

God, am I glad I don't live in Boston and have to deal with their Big Bunch of Bullsh!t.

 

[Ring 6]

For some reason it has become heressy arround here to not drop to your knees in awe of the Jets and Dolphins. I suspect that is a combination of it being fashionable to be negative about the Patriots because of the entitlement to championships many fans feel, plus the idea that those teams added players at the one position that is most overrated and misunderstood in the NFL-WR.
So help me understand why I keep seeing comments such as
Well, no one wouldn't say the Jets and Dolphins have improve a lot

JETS
Added a WR who is under suspension to an offense that lacks a QB who can get him the ball

Jumbled around their backfield.
Jones-Green-Washington
becomes
Green-MrClassy-Rookie
Now, we could have an argument on both sides but realistically, the most sane argument is that its as likely to worse as it is to be better

Lost the guy who was touted as their best OL until the announcement that he was being cut at which time he became their worst OL Being replaced by a IAA rookie who has never played G

Traded in one disappointing corner for another

Dumped the S who started most of the time for them

Added an aging 43 DE to play 34 OLB after his own team (and appraently BB as well) didnt want him, and now are rumored to be releasing the starter at the spot with no other apparent replacement

Are rumored to be releasing their best DL (unless you count a guy who plays about 200 snaps a season before wearing out and may never recover fully to what he was)

I don't know where the surefire improvement is. I can defintely see that if the running game takes a step back and they need to rely on Sanchez throwing the ball (thats what heppened when they went from 4-0 to 7-7) the offense is worse no matter how many WRs they add.


MIAMI
Added an ILB and not much else to a 22nd ranked defense that lost its top 2 pass rushers.
Added a good WR that still has to catch passes from Chad Henne.
TBD if Ronnie Brown will be back and effective and without him they were bad.

Regardless of whether you see improvement, decline or stauts quo, it doesnt seem to be a lot of movement in any direction, and they were a LOSING TEAM at 7-9 last year.

Now, since I am not bowing at the alter of negativity I am sure I will receive the well thought out and heavily supported 'your a homer' counter arument. But how about we limit this to the actual facts and reasons and aguments of WHY these teams have clearly and dramatically improved that I seem to not be getting.

 

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Personally,I think this team is in a good portion of rebuilding mode in a few areas,depends on how much you can ask some rookies to help with this years team.

I think this is a very close 3 way race in the East - IMO The Pats have as good a shot as being 3rd in the division as they have of being in first...they NEED TO WIN ON THE ROAD and STOP GIVING 4TH QUARTER GIFTS and they will stay in contention.

I would say the Pats must win 5 of 8 on the road to be in good shape come January,I am guessing they will lose 2 games at home somewhere down the line. A 5-3 Road Record and a 6-2 Home record and they have a decent shot of the division.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Personally tired of the resident contrarians, so I try to avoid them.. these guys make a living off of being oppositional..

Wouldn't be a good day to listen to Felger and Mazz then... They are now trashing Mike Reiss assessments of how impressive Bill's draft strategies were this season... They just cannot tolerate hearing the other locals or nationals opine that Bill is still a genius...to have positioned himself well in a deep draft. There is nothing impressive about what Bill does according to Felger. They'd rather amass picks than players. How many players did we just draft??

Felger wanted them to trade up in a deep draft and not trade a 3rd for a 2nd in 2011 in a shallow draft...LOL

Felger also doesn't understand that no two drafts are alike. One of the reasons we traded a 2nd and a 7th for Welker in 2007...and a 4th for Moss that same year was the quality of that draft. Oops, now he thinks they may have decided that they may have regretted not making picks in the 2nd and 3rd in past seasons and wanted to get back into those rounds this year and last in case they were missing something...

Mike is a bright kid. I'm also convinced he's ADHD.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

The Jets finished lucky and strong and played three solid playoff games on the road, unlike our mailed-in performance at home against Baltimore. Then, they loaded up in the off season, with yet unknown results.

The division should be a brawl this season. I don't think any of us can honestly say today that we know who will win it, but I do know that the Pats won't be 3rd.

 

[BradyManny]

Last night I made the mistake of watching a sunday sports show with Felge, Borges and Gaspar.

I have never seen Gaspar on TV and have read some of his articles. He's young and fed right into the Felger-Borges Patriots hate. He said that he wondered if the patriots fans are willing to accept this team as a 3rd place team. Then they started to compare the Patriots to the Red Sox in that the ratings and attendance for the Red Sox have dropped.

Well comparing the Patriots to the Red Sox is like waving a red towel in front of this bull. Secondly these brainiacs forget that the jest were a 7-7 team on their way to 7-8 and out of the playoffs until the Colts took a dive

Yes the Jest and Fins have improved a bit over last year but after this draft, I think the Patriots have also. It will be a tougher division no doubt but declaring the Patriots a 3rd place team is a bit much, don't you think?

I'll take it a step further: how have the Jets improved?

For every addition they have made, they have lost someone. Shepard, Jones, Faneca, Washington out; Cromartie, LdT, McKnight in. Jones, Faneca and Washignton all played their positions at a high level. Cromartie is a deadbeat who has struggled recently, LdT is washed up, McKnight dropped from 1st to 4th round for a reason.

The only real noteworthy addition the Jets have actually made is Santonio Holmes. He's the only guy who might make this team better, and who isn't simply replacing - at a lower level - a player who was on their team last season.

As for the Patriots - they have not lost a single contributing player from the 2010 team - and they have added Holt, D. Lewis, G. Warren, 12 draftees - 4 of those in the top 90, and will have all the young guys from last season improving as they go into their 2nd year. Not to mention they have a bunch of 3rd year guys who should also get better. The Jets have only added 7 draftees over the last two seasons.

And its all moot. We have Brady & Belichick. I'm feeling pretty comfortable about things.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Newspapers and television are fighting to be 3rd place after the internet and tweeting.

Very true!

Not only are the Patriots not a 3rd place team but they're the team to beat in the AFC East. The Patriots won the division last season with a bad locker room, Belichick having his worst on field coaching season since he's been a Patriot, a distracted and un-Bradylike Tom Brady and Jerod Mayo MIA due to injury.
The Patriots are going to be fine. The Patriots will win the division.
Let the Jets have all the hype and all the pressure of expectations.
Rex Ryan has never had a locker room to manage like the one he now has in NY. Even the Jets 1st round draft choice Kyle Wilson comes with a reputation of having a personality that needs to be managed. Jets have also lost key parts to that team in guys like Faneca and Leon Washington.
The Patriots are going to be just fine.

 

[spacecrime]

I watched part of it. Don't kow if Borges is an idiot who doesn't understand or was just looking to take a shot at BB.

He main complaint was about value. He says BB is always looking for value. Borges said when I'm looking for a car, I don't find the cheapest junker I can, with no engine or transmission, and call it value because it is cheap.

I was waiting for Felger of gaspar to correct him, but they nodded their heads wisely.

But I wanted to shout "Value isn't getting the cheapest possible. It is getting the most for your money."

I'd like to write him as ask when he buys a car, does he buy the most expensive car made, ignoring value by going for the $500,000 custom job? or does he get what he needs to do the job.

A better analogy of BB value might be: You have a limo service. You need to buy 53 limos, and you have a budget of $2 million. Do you go for value and buy two or three high end Mercedes for the top clients, a bunch of Mercedes and BMW sedans for better jobs, and the rest of Caddies and Lincolns? This is what I call value. Or do you "trade up" and buy one Lambourgini and 52 Ford Escorts from Craigslist?

Anyway, there was no attempt at objectivity. It was the only time I tuned into Felger's Sunday show. It was an accident (my DVD movie ended and the TV was on that channel) and I won't tune in again.

 

[BradyManny]

Felger wanted them to trade up in a deep draft and not trade a 3rd for a 2nd in 2011 in a shallow draft...LOL

The thing that drives me nuts about fans reactions to the Patriots drafting strategy is just this - the lack of understanding that two drafts yield different levels of talent. At the 62nd spot in the draft, with Brandon Spikes, we drafted a guy who would've gone top 15 last season.

Everyone is calling in saying we should have traded up for an "impact player" yet they can't name one. The only guy worthy of trading up would've been Morgan, but whether he projects to 3-4, we won't know. We grabbed 4 guys from 27-90, a range in which the talent was damn near all borderline 1st rounders. I can't see how someone can complain about that.

 

[Patspsycho]

I'll take it a step further: how have the Jets improved?

The only real noteworthy addition the Jets have actually made is Santonio Holmes. He's the only guy who might make this team better, and who isn't simply replacing - at a lower level - a player who was on their team last season.

Even then, he will miss 4 games.

Jets DL is old now. They have 20 contracts expiring at the end of this coming season. That to me, puts even more pressure on them.

They are doing the reverse of Pioli's mantra: Collecting talents, not building a team.

Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it.