Aren't we all going a little overboard?

[Deus Irae]

Are some people going overboard? Absolutely.

Did some people go overboard in the opposite direction after the Jets loss earlier this year? Absolutely.

It happens.

 

[shmessy]

Pats had a 17 point lead in the 4th quarter....

The D played terrible in the 4th, if it wasnt for Sanders' INT bailing them out they were looking at OT or even a loss. I understand they were in the prevent and yards werent really a concern, but they did allow the Colts to score on drives of less than 3 minutes twice. Belichick even commented on how they didnt play a full 60 minutes that week, the Jets has been the only game all year where the team played a full 60 minutes.

Your word for word quote was "Bottom line is besides the Ravens game this defense hasnt truly been tested wire to wire."

 

[TruthSeeker]

He does have a point though, the Ravens game is the only game that the Pats have really been in that was fairly tight throughout and the defense could not sit back and relax with a double digit lead. I am in the minority that still is not 100% sold on the defense that they are ready to win in the playoffs when the offense doesnt give them a double digit lead to work with. Dont get me wrong, they are having a very good season, exceeding mine and many others expectations, but I still am not 100% sold on them being ready for what may come in the playoffs.

I don't know why you think that you're in the minority in thinking that our defense is inexperienced and could let up in an important situation. I think that's rather obvious. What would be unexpected is if they handled those situations consistently well (see the Ravens).

The last 2 weeks have had offenses playing catchup the vast majority of the game and the Patriots defense not letting the opponents back in it - which is a vast improvement from what happened earlier in the year. But this was against the non-offense called the Sanchez-led (it's too cold to play football) Jets and in a cold, extremely windy (30+ MPH) game where almost any (how do the Patriots do this?) offense would struggle. So, although very impressive in a number of ways, it's way too small a sample to say that the defense has "solved" their problems of giving up lots of points to a decent offense in relatively benign conditions. But it's looking very positive! :rocker:

 

[shmessy]

I dont know I have seen some posts and read some articles that have said that anything less than the SB would be a disappointment at this point and that people should start booking their hotels in Dallas.

I haven't seen much of that on this board. In fact, I'd put that percentage here at under 10% of the posters.

Where I HAVE seen that kind of thing, however has been in the media - - particularly John Clayton (believe it or not in this week's ESPN Power Rankings), Bob Ryan, Dan Shaughnessy, etc.

I wouldn't really project what you're seeing from the media onto the posters of this board necessarily.

 

[hambone1818]

All I have heard this week is how the Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl and Tom Brady is the greatest QB ever...it is as if the Packers are not going to even show up. Also can someone please note that Brady almost threw three picks last Sunday; if it is was not for the butterfingers of the Bears the whole complexion of the game would have been different.

Not sure if this has been brought up in the thread as I haven't read all of it, but while I agree with the overall sentiment (let's not get ahead of ourselves), I completely disagree with the idea that calling Tom Brady the best quarterback ever is 'going overboard'. Name me another cold-weather QB who has put up the numbers he's put up? Take half the elite QB's in history out of their comfy dome or warm-weather stadium and tell me they'd have the same success. The guy has 3 SB's, 2 SB MVP's, soon-to-be 2 league MVP's, many of the best streaks in history (home winning, consecutive wins, consecutive playoff wins, on and on), the best winning percentage in history, some of the best overall numbers in history despite playing in NE and the best season by a quarterback in history.

So no, I don't that that part of your statement is 'going overboard'.

 

[SanAngeloState]

We almost got beat by the colts for pete's sake! Buffalo too although that was before the offense changed.

Not ready to proclaim them the best of all time just yet! Sorry!

 

[Synovia]

We almost got beat by the colts for pete's sake! Buffalo too although that was before the offense changed.

Not ready to proclaim them the best of all time just yet! Sorry!

Well, the best of all time almost got beat by the Ravens, Eagles, Colts, Giants, and did get beat by the Giants....

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

As far as "almost" throwing three picks, first I only remember two, and one was a ridiculous effort by #54 to get his hands on a ball, and the other was on a tipped pass. Neither was a bad throw, just good defensive effort. And trust me, neither would have effected the outcome of that game.

Yeah we "almost" went undefeated...

 

[PatsFaninAZ]

I don't think it's illegitimate to pick up on some things in the Bears game that were negatives. Brady did have some trouble seeing linebackers and the team was not great in the red zone, even though it was trying to score.

The Patriots had 14 points that I'd put not in the "lucky" category, but definitely in the "fortunate" category.

As far as blowouts go, there are different types. I'm not sure I view this one as the total domination that people are suggesting, but instead a very solid game where a few key plays made the score lopsided and our team played a solid game with a big lead.

Not sure it matters, though -- but it will be interesting to see whether the red zone efficiency was a one-time blip or something that the Bears maybe figured out and that other teams can also figure out.

 

[NYCPatsFan]

Follow up to my earlier post that who cares as long as the players don't:

From TB's interview this morning (ESPN boston blog):

Brady: 'Nobody's off the hook' with Bill - New England Patriots Blog - ESPN Boston

======
Tom Brady held his weekly media conference in the New England Patriots locker room Wednesday morning, and the quarterback touched on a few topics.

* On the team’s 11-2 record: “Everybody wants to get excited about our 11-2 record, but not us. We’re just trying to become a better football team. There’s a lot of football left. We’ve got great teams ahead of us on the schedule. Nothing is set in stone. Yeah, we’re in a good position but we can be in a bad position after the next three games. There are no guarantees. There are three games left and none bigger than this week [at home against Green Bay Sunday night]. I expect us to prepare hard today and tomorrow and be ready for Sunday.”

 

[The Dynasty]

Your word for word quote was "Bottom line is besides the Ravens game this defense hasnt truly been tested wire to wire."

And that is fact. They werent tested wire to wire in the Colts game, they had a 17 point lead and allowed the Colts back in the game. By wire to wire I mean that every possession is critical. When you are up by 17 points, I wouldnt call that possession critical.

 

[shmessy]

We almost got beat by the colts for pete's sake! Buffalo too although that was before the offense changed.

Not ready to proclaim them the best of all time just yet! Sorry!

Please.

Who here has written that?

Are you hearing voices in your head?

 

[shmessy]

And that is fact. They werent tested wire to wire in the Colts game, they had a 17 point lead and allowed the Colts back in the game. By wire to wire I mean that every possession is critical. When you are up by 17 points, I wouldnt call that possession critical.

What????

Are you ok?????

Seriously, if there's enough time to come back, as obvious there was, every possession is critical.

Are you even thinking when you type?

 

[Synovia]

And that is fact. They werent tested wire to wire in the Colts game, they had a 17 point lead and allowed the Colts back in the game. By wire to wire I mean that every possession is critical. When you are up by 17 points, I wouldnt call that possession critical.

The patriots almost lost that game. The colts had the ball on the 20 yard line down a couple points at the end of the game. Every possesion WAS critical.

And the Patriots DID lose that game last year, and the year before.



And which drives of week 3,6,7,8 weren't critical?

 

[The Dynasty]

The patriots almost lost that game. The colts had the ball on the 20 yard line down a couple points at the end of the game. Every possesion WAS critical.

And the Patriots DID lose that game last year, and the year before.



And which drives of week 3,6,7,8 weren't critical?

When you have a double digit lead you are able to sit back and relax a little bit. The Patriots should not have allowed the Colts back into the game, if Sanders didnt bail them out they would have lost it this year too.

 

[Synovia]

When you have a double digit lead you are able to sit back and relax a little bit. The Patriots should not have allowed the Colts back into the game, if Sanders didnt bail them out they would have lost it this year too.

No, when you have a double digit lead AGAINST THE COLTS you can not sit back and relax a little.

How many times have the colts come back in the 4th quarter while down by double digits the last couple years? A dozen?

 

[The Dynasty]

What????

Are you ok?????

Seriously, if there's enough time to come back, as obvious there was, every possession is critical.

Are you even thinking when you type?

When they were up by 17, they were able to sit back and relax a little bit. Maybe your definition of critical is different from mine.

 

[Synovia]

When they were up by 17, they were able to sit back and relax a little bit. Maybe your definition of critical is different from mine.

Not without putting the game into jeapordy they weren't.

 

[Brady-To-Branch]

All I have heard this week is how the Patriots are going to win the Super Bowl and Tom Brady is the greatest QB ever...it is as if the Packers are not going to even show up. Also can someone please note that Brady almost threw three picks last Sunday; if it is was not for the butterfingers of the Bears the whole complexion of the game would have been different.

The Pats D was dominating their offense.

We can play "what if" all we want.

What if the Pats were in a close game, would they still be ultraconservative on offense and settle for FGs late?

What if Fletcher didn't commit that holding penalty?

What if my aunt had 2 balls?

 

[MassPats38]

I am in the minority that still is not 100% sold on the defense that they are ready to win in the playoffs when the offense doesnt give them a double digit lead to work with.

The prevalent theme on this board appears to be the defense is improving, not that it is good or elite. It is unquestionably still a work in progress, a work advanced faster than many would have anticipated given its youth and loss of key veterans.

I doubt many want to see a scenario in which the offense puts up 14 and hopes the defense can shut the opposing offense down. The scores these last two games have a great deal to do with the offense coming out quickly and putting the opposing team in a deep hole, thereby making it predictable.