Game Thoughts: I hope no one was injured on the plane flight home edition

[Tony2046]

brady was so uncharacteristicslly not composed last night. complaining about flags and non-flags quite a bit - you could tell it affected him.

It affected me. For the first time in my life I told someone that I thought the refs might have been paid off and then I thought "oh christ....am I wearing a tinfoil hat now.....?".

What's next? Pyramid building Aliens? I am worried about myself.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I went to bed pissed..woke up feeling like a truck hit me and i got robbed...but 18-1 aint bad..

Praying on Gronk.

Oh and F the refs

 

[sieglo]

I can understand fumbling punts, but when you're up 14 in the 4th quarter, you fair catch it if there is an opponent on top of you. Harper effed up.

I rated this a Winner but I think it's also on the coaches to tell Harper to fair catch the damned ball, or just let it bounce.

 

[Galeb]

I rated this a Winner but I think it's also on the coaches to tell Harper to fair catch the damned ball, or just let it bounce.

I don't know if the coaches told him right before the play, but I'm sure they have during practice sometime. Either way, this isn't high school. That was a terrible decision.

 

[tasmlab]

Brady's been a grump for three weeks. All frowns. Not enjoying himself.

All said, 24 should've been enough to win. The Pats defense were supposed to keep the Broncos offense under 14 or the like. IMO.

 

[bobbutts]

brady was so uncharacteristicslly not composed last night. complaining about flags and non-flags quite a bit - you could tell it affected him.

I don't recall ever seeing him so mad as late in the game when he was screaming and made an X with his forearms.

 

[Galeb]

Brady's been a grump for three weeks. All frowns. Not enjoying himself.

All said, 24 should've been enough to win. The Pats defense were supposed to keep the Broncos offense under 14 or the like. IMO.

Keeping Denvers Offense to 14 would have been a lot easier without corrupt officials and a bad Harper turnover on a punt.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Still mad this morning because it was a very winnable game. Hightower leaving was the nail in the coffin so to speak. Denvers run game had nothing up until that point.

Despite the horrible officiating which was hard to overcome and the injuries I came away encouraged. That was a ugly game with so few personal options and players grinded it out until the end.

It was a testament to what this team was about when faced with adversity of the highest kind. Again, how do you overcome crucial penalties on 3rd down stops and 3rd down gains when the refs find something every time? Btw I don't think there was 1 penalty in the last 18 minutes against Denver which was peculiar in a bad way.

It is what it is. A loss. But I have a strong feeling the outcome will be much different with a full squad of players. Hightower, Edelman, Amendola, Collins and Gronkowski are all difference makers and you can't compete against that if they are all on the field. I remain confident about representing the AFC in the Super Bowl once again and there is nothing the refs can do about it.

 

[Todd Bradley]

Brady's been a grump for three weeks. All frowns. Not enjoying himself.

Coincidentally enough, the officiating the last three weeks has been atrocious.

Giants game, the Butler non-PI, tons of Gronk offensive PI, Bills game, the "inadvertent whistle", tons of non-Roughing calls and cheap shots on Brady, Broncos game....well I don't even have to go in-depth.

Can't blame him for being pissed. He has every right to be.

 

[Rob0729]

One thing I forgot:

People talk the issue with the clock at the end of the game didn't matter because they kicked the field goal anyway are wrong. If Brady knew the clock was running when they set it, he might have got it off about 10 seconds sooner. That would have given him one or two shots at the end zone and let the Pats win it in regulation.

 

[Canuck]

brady was so uncharacteristicslly not composed last night. complaining about flags and non-flags quite a bit - you could tell it affected him.

Brady has 15 years of experience of both regular and playoff games. He has seen it all. He knows bad officiating when he sees it and he was visibly upset with the officals last night and with good reason.

 

[Gumby]

I don't know if the coaches told him right before the play, but I'm sure they have during practice sometime. Either way, this isn't high school. That was a terrible decision.

This was my thought: 90% on the ST coach.

SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL is what BB preaches. It was like 6 min left in the Game up by 14 getting the ball on the 35 and Denver was ready to quit. worst case Tom runs 3:30 off the clock and pins them back with a punt. We didnt need a return. Coach should have told him to fair-catch at all costs, let alone with a gunner bearing in and distracting him from the catch. A fair catch and we either get a freebie 15 for interference or spotted on the 35.

The rest of reasons why we lostwere mostly out of pats control, this reason was not.

 

[BlueThunder]

Word out is Harper was cut......If true, BB's knife is swift

 

[luuked]

Word out is Harper was cut......If true, BB's knife is swift

I doubt it has too much to do with the punt. Amendola is most probably ready and Keyshawn seems to also be healthy enough to play. I assume Harper will soon join the practice squad again.

 

[luuked]

A fair catch probably doesn't stop him from dropping it though. But that is what happens when you have a very inexperienced punt returner.

Rob go back to the play and check it out again. He gets panicked because he sees Latimer coming unblocked towards him, takes the eyes off the catch and needs to double clutch it but Latimer hits his arm before that can happen and thats why the ball fell.

If he calls a fair catch he doesnt have to be concerned about Latimer or at the very least is able to cleanly catch the initially muffed ball because contact with Latimer would not have happened at the same time as the catch attempt.

 

[Galeb]

Rob go back to the play and check it out again. He gets panicked because he sees Latimer coming unblocked towards him, takes the eyes off the catch and needs to double clutch it but Latimer hits his arm before that can happen and thats why the ball fell.

If he calls a fair catch he doesnt have to be concerned about Latimer or at the very least is able to cleanly catch the initially muffed ball because contact with Latimer would not have happened at the same time as the catch attempt.

It also makes it easier to jump on the ball when no one hit you.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL is what BB preaches. It was like 6 min left in the Game up by 14 getting the ball on the 35 and Denver was ready to quit. worst case Tom runs 3:30 off the clock and pins them back with a punt. We didnt need a return. Coach should have told him to fair-catch at all costs, let alone with a gunner bearing in and distracting him from the catch.

Totally agree. The one thing we could not have happen there was a turnover. As the punt was in the air I was screaming at the TV "Fair catch it! Fair catch it!"

 

[PatsFan37]

I have been touting his praise for a while, but Logan Ryan has really become a solid #2 CB and has been a big upgrade from Brandon Browner. Sure he gave up that TD at the end of the game, but he made Demaryius Thomas his biatch. He covered Thomas so tightly that Thomas quit on plays.

Feeling like saying something positive...

What I like about Butler and Ryan is they shadow receivers like cornerbacks but tackle like safeties. Both are superb in run support and at stopping YAC.

Belichick has always been good at drafting linemen, but now he's succeeding at something many folks on this board thought he couldn't do (at least since Wilson and Samuel): building a secondary from the draft. He's done extraordinarily well with LBs, too. Next up: WRs?

 

[aluminum seats]

This was my thought: 90% on the ST coach.

SITUATIONAL FOOTBALL is what BB preaches. It was like 6 min left in the Game up by 14 getting the ball on the 35 and Denver was ready to quit. worst case Tom runs 3:30 off the clock and pins them back with a punt. We didnt need a return. Coach should have told him to fair-catch at all costs, let alone with a gunner bearing in and distracting him from the catch. A fair catch and we either get a freebie 15 for interference or spotted on the 35.

The rest of reasons why we lostwere mostly out of pats control, this reason was not.

There were like 14 minutes left, not six.