Brace Yourselves - We're in For A Tough Ride

[SVN]

Going against the 2-5 Browns was supposed to be a winnable game. Palmer (2nd half), Sanchez, Flacco, Henne, Fitzpatrick, and Mccoy all looked like HOF's against our defense. How do you think Manning is going to look?

as belichick says. records mean nothing. Baltimore was a 'loseable' game because the ravens had a winning record yet we won. Same with the chargers who although do not have a winning record are a much better team than cleveland. Same with minn. These three games were tough games for any team regardless of their records. Even the jets had to slug out wins vs the lions and broncos -two losing record teams. So looking at records or comparing one opponent to another isnt exactly the same. Frankly this is what the 'experts' in TV do. "If they cant beat X team,imagine what Y will do?"

 

[aluminum seats]

A game like yesterday could potentially be just the "awakening" (as Mayo called it) they needed, and inspire some better play from everyone.

I think this is the best thing to take from yesterday--I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner, honestly (I was expecting this kind of loss against the Chargers, say).

Point is, progression from a young team isn't in a straight line--it was inevitable there would be some kind of market correction here. I was a little surprised seeing the Pats on top of these "power polls" where they really had no business.

The Pats should be in the mix this year, and have a fighter's chance to win it--but there are obviously holes, and the team is young. A smackdown against Cleveland ain't the worst thing that could have happened.

 

[Deus Irae]

A healthy, and still capable, Fred Taylor would make a big difference for this team. BJGE is simply not a good running back, and that's having a big impact on the games. For all that people liked to pummel Maroney, here's what BJGE's ypc have been on a game-by-game basis this year:

Bengals: 4.40
Jets: 1.90
Bills: 6.13
Dolphins: 4.75
Ravens: 2.00
Chargers: 2.18
Vikings: 6.59
Browns: 1.56

It's an 8 game pattern, but it's pretty telling, IMO. The team needs Fred's toe to heal, and they need that badly.

 

[LasVegasPatsFan]

as belichick says. records mean nothing. Baltimore was a 'loseable' game because the ravens had a winning record yet we won. Same with the chargers who although do not have a winning record are a much better team than cleveland. Same with minn. These three games were tough games for any team regardless of their records. Even the jets had to slug out wins vs the lions and broncos -two losing record teams. So looking at records or comparing one opponent to another isnt exactly the same. Frankly this is what the 'experts' in TV do. "If they cant beat X team,imagine what Y will do?"

I was replying to this post:

All due respect Ian, the Colts are 2 -3 as a road team this season. The Patriots are 4 - 0 at home this season, finished 8 -0 at home last season, and Brady has won 24 straight games at Gillette.

With all of the Colts many injuries this strikes me as a very winnable game IMHO.

 

[aluminum seats]

A healthy, and still capable, Fred Taylor would make a big difference for this team. BJGE is simply not a good running back, and that's having a big impact on the games. For all that people liked to pummel Maroney, here's what BJGE's ypc have been on a game-by-game basis this year:

Bengals: 4.40
Jets: 1.90
Bills: 6.13
Dolphins: 4.75
Ravens: 2.00
Chargers: 2.18
Vikings: 6.59
Browns: 1.56

It's an 8 game pattern, but it's pretty telling, IMO. The team needs Fred's toe to heal, and they need that badly.

On the plus side, looks like he's due for a game averaging over 4 ypg....

OK, maybe not.

 

[Its_The_Patriots]

I tell you whats tough...being in an office full of Cowboys fans right now! Let me put it this way...it's not a pretty sight here today in the office.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Interesting thread. Sadly necessary after Sunday's meltdown here.

I just have a hard time understanding the mindset of the fans who need to be warned that the NFL team they follow just might lose a game or two in coming weeks. Definitely some perspective issues.

Anyway, looking forward to the big games coming up. This young team has done a great job with gritty wins against several quality opponents already. They have a record of learning from adversity (in game), so let's see how they do here.

 

[Kontradiction]

Not when the goal is to try and keep everyone on the same page and prevent a meltdown - which happened from a few people after one loss.

A game like yesterday could potentially be just the "awakening" (as Mayo called it) they needed, and inspire some better play from everyone. Hopefully when they sit down today and review the film, some of the problems we saw yesterday will get figured out and we see them come out and take it to the Steelers this week. But the point is to try and find some emotional balance. There are way too many people that are psyched when they win, and then completley crumble at a loss. They can't seem to grasp the concept that "they may lose" - and that's the point I'm trying to make with this thread.

There was a point in the 2001 season when the Pats suffered a pretty bad loss to the Dolphins in which they looked equally inept. Belichick buried the game ball from that game as a sign that the team needed to move on. Hopefully he's pulling out something like that this week.

 

[alvinnf]

Productive loss.

Are we playing a back to back doubleheader next Sunday.

One game at a time people.

Long way to go.

 

[The Dynasty]

A healthy, and still capable, Fred Taylor would make a big difference for this team. BJGE is simply not a good running back, and that's having a big impact on the games. For all that people liked to pummel Maroney, here's what BJGE's ypc have been on a game-by-game basis this year:

Bengals: 4.40
Jets: 1.90
Bills: 6.13
Dolphins: 4.75
Ravens: 2.00
Chargers: 2.18
Vikings: 6.59
Browns: 1.56

It's an 8 game pattern, but it's pretty telling, IMO. The team needs Fred's toe to heal, and they need that badly.

Good point. The lack of a running game is really hurting the offense especially with no Moss. This puts all the pressure on Brady and the WRs and quite honestly the WRs on the team arent ready to have this much pressure on them. Opposing defenses dont even really have to protect against the run, so they can just focus on confusing Brady and taking Welker out of games. The Pats need to somehow find a running game, whether its BJGE stepping up, or Taylor getting healthy, they need something

 

[aluminum seats]

There was a point in the 2001 season when the Pats suffered a pretty bad loss to the Dolphins in which they looked equally inept. Belichick buried the game ball from that game as a sign that the team needed to move on. Hopefully he's pulling out something like that this week.

Good call on that game--it was week 4, and the Pats only lost twice more the rest of their way to the SB. Granted it was only Brady's 2nd start, but the point is teams can get blown out on the way to a Super Bowl--Pats get killed by Buffalo in '03 and lost by a couple TDs to Pittsburgh in '04.

 

[TheGodInAGreyHoodie]

Brace Yourselves

I like Ron too. I agree he is tough.

 

[TBradyOwnsYou]

I had the game chat up while watching the gamecast, wow. It seemed like 90% of the people in there thought the Patriots were going 0-16 after the first 5 minutes of the game. Then we scored and it got semi-reasonable then the Browns scored again and WOAH, the Patriots are 0-50! They are the worst team ever in the history of everything! Tom Brady is a joke, Belichick is a joke, Gronkowski is on the Brown's payroll...
Holy hell people.
Ok. We aren't going 18-1 this season. That's ok, it wasn't that good for us last time anyway. Instead we go 17-2, which has treated us very well in the past!

 

[The Dynasty]

I had the game chat up while watching the gamecast, wow. It seemed like 90% of the people in there thought the Patriots were going 0-16 after the first 5 minutes of the game. Then we scored and it got semi-reasonable then the Browns scored again and WOAH, the Patriots are 0-50! They are the worst team ever in the history of everything! Tom Brady is a joke, Belichick is a joke, Gronkowski is on the Brown's payroll...
Holy hell people.
Ok. We aren't going 18-1 this season. That's ok, it wasn't that good for us last time anyway. Instead we go 17-2, which has treated us very well in the past!

Hate to break it to you, I think the Pats will lose again this season

 

[aluminum seats]

I had the game chat up while watching the gamecast, wow. It seemed like 90% of the people in there thought the Patriots were going 0-16 after the first 5 minutes of the game.

Funny, I looked in on the game thread for the first time in seems like forever. Not for nothing, but it was an embarrassment. You expect game threads to be reactionary & melodramatic, but this was just pathetic.

Seriously, whoever goes on there, snap out of it. In theory, those kinds of threads should be like hanging out in a bar or something--doesn't mean everyone has to sound ******ed or drunk.

 

[ensoul]

I figured this team would be in for a tough season. I said 9-7 or 10-6 as a record. I am very suprised they are even 6-2 at this point. I don't think this team is nearly as good as their record indicates. The offense has been struggling all year and when you let one guy run roughhouse on you for almost 200 yards it is cause for concern.

Unfortunately I think now is the time this team is going to struggle and come back to reality. They are playing the Steelers, Colts, Lions (this will be a tough game, Lions are not as big as a joke plus they are playing these guys 4 days later after the colts game) and the jets. I will get probably get flammed for this but it is not out of thr relm of possibility that the pats lose the next four games.

 

[The Dynasty]

I figured this team would be in for a tough season. I said 9-7 or 10-6 as a record. I am very suprised they are even 6-2 at this point. I don't think this team is nearly as good as their record indicates. The offense has been struggling all year and when you let one guy run roughhouse on you for almost 200 yards it is cause for concern.

Unfortunately I think now is the time this team is going to struggle and come back to reality. They are playing the Steelers, Colts, Lions (this will be a tough game, Lions are not as big as a joke plus they are playing these guys 4 days later after the colts game) and the jets. I will get probably get flammed for this but it is not out of thr relm of possibility that the pats lose the next four games.

Tough to say that they will lose their next 4 games...

Looking at the next two, fans should be happy with a split over the next 2 weeks. Thanksgiving the Lions will be on the same short week the Pats will be on as well. This could have been a game they would have taken lightly, but after this week I cant see that happening.

Even with splitting the next 4 games, their record would be 8-4 with 4 games left, and I think that is right around if not better than what most people predicted going into the season

 

[AQPE]

One of the great things about football is the "chess match" element, where each team is making adjustments based on their evaluation of the other team and of their own team. Already this year I think we've seen the Pats make pretty effective adjustments on both offense and defense.

Based on what I've seen, I'm confident in the ability of BB and his staff and the team to diagnose and come up with a good plan to address what went wrong on offense and defense against the Browns. My bigger worry is whether he has the players he needs to implement those adjustments, especially on defense.

Like many others, I'm pretty pessimistic about their chances against Pittsburgh, but fairly optimistic about the Indy game. I like their chances in each of their final 6 games, I think their toughest games in the final 6 will all be at home.

 

[ATippett56]

Pats get killed by Buffalo in '03 and lost by a couple TDs to Pittsburgh in '04.

Injuries prior to and during the game killed the New England Patriots versus the Pittsburgh Steelers in 2004. Deion Branch and Corey Dillon did not dress. Tom Ashworth was lost for the season prior to the Pittsburgh Steelers game. Matt Light and Kevin Faulk went down during the game.

 

[Steve102]

IMO, '07 really made life difficult for some fans of this team. They expect to win, and when they don't, it's bullet eatin' time. This was a bad loss, but we need to keep perspective. This team is 6-2. They have an excellent shot at being 7-3 after the next two. I think we'd all take 7-3. Granted, they must improve over yesterday's effort. We have a HOF QB in TFB, and A HOF HC in Hoodie. 11-5 is a realistic # at this point.