How are the 37 ppg Patriots flying under the national radar?

[Foxypats]

I prefer it when they fly under the radar. Expectations are not high,let other teams get all the attention, its all good. Some of the veterans will play the disrespect card and it will get them all fired up, all the way to New orleans hopefully !

It doesn't matter anyway. Manning or Rodgers will get the MVP and then maybe Brady will have a chance to beat them both on his way to a 4th SB!< keeping fingers crossed>

 

[CityOfChampions]

Well... and this isn't meant to be overly negative of the Patriots, but I feel I have to say it. The AFC East should be renamed to the AFC Least. Couple that with the parade of stiffs that we have been beating up on lately and this is the softest 5-game win streak in history.

I felt awful at the 37-31 victory over Buffalo. I sit corner end zone and McCourty was probably 20 yards from me when he caught the game clinching INT. Buffalo had over 500 yards of offense.

We are near bottom of the league is pass defense and 3rd down defense.

What the national media feels, appropriately or not, is that we can really run up some lopsided wins against the league's pathetic underbelly, but in the playoffs defense will matter again. In the playoffs, referees stop calling the ticky-tack stuff and our offense can be slowed down. The Ravens did it last year in the AFC Championship and damn but they nearly beat us except for Sterling Moore swatting the ball out of Evans hands, about 15 yards from where I sit. And then Cundiff choking on that FG. Then in the Super Bowl, when the Giants needed a stop, they got one. When our defense had to stop them, we couldn't.

That has also been the story of two of our losses this year to Seattle and Baltimore. With game on line, our offense was stopped and our defense could not stop anything. No lead was safe.

Our base defense can stop the run, but the middle layer is poorly constructed. Mayo, Spikes, and Hightower are all MLBs and of the three Mayo is probably the best coverage linebacker and he sucks in coverage. Spikes is only good shooting a gap as a blitzer. Hightower made Jeff Cumberland look like Russ Francis in the Thanksgiving debacle. Fortunately, we don't play base defense much and almost always put an extra DB on the field.

Talk about 37 ppg all you want, but we are the modern day Colts, terrific regular season record, but a real long shot to win it all.

I think that #7 in the power rankings is about right.

The defense still isn't fixed, though it appears to have better potential than last year.

I'm so sick of people using this against the Patriots. The AFC East isn't the only bad division in the NFL and every time other good teams struggle against inferior divisional opponents everyone says oh it's because divisional games are always tough! But for the Patriots it's oh look the Patriots are beating up on crappy teams again... Buffalo scores a lot of points and has play makers on defense, the Jets always have a good defensive game plan against us. Softest win streak in history? Go look at the Broncos win streak! Go look at their entire schedule! Our loss in Baltimore was a joke. There's a reason why the Ravens never lose at home, that's all I gotta say about that. Yeah the Seattle game was bad but our defense isn't the same as that game. Bringing up last season is irrelevant so not even going to touch that. Our defense is bad but they make big plays and that shouldn't be overlooked. Modern day Colts? Um no we will never be them because Tom Brady > Modern day Colt led Peyton Manning in the playoffs and thanks to him we will always have a shot in the playoffs. 7th in the power rankings is a joke. Patriots should be higher but I couldn't careless about power rankings, they mean nothing. "'Talk about 37 ppg all you want" I agree we should talk about the highest point average per game in history smh.

 

[upstater1]

Your reasons are all plausible, if not even likely, excuses. Except for the fact that they would overlook us because they feel like we will inevitably lose anyways. That is not how the media operates. They play the drums always when they can find drums to play.

Here are few key reasons as well:

- Talking heads (who vote for the power rankings) do not watch all the games. They miss a whole lot of things that happen in the NFL.

- We haven't played newsworthy games that would have drawn attention, until last thursday.

- We have played two nationally televised games this season, week 3 against the Ravens that we lost and last Thursday.

- The talking heads tend to start the "number crunching" later in the season, when the playoff picture is clarifying and they turn their attention to postseason and MVP race.

The Denver New England game had some of the best ratings of the year.

 

[Deus Irae]

Well... and this isn't meant to be overly negative of the Patriots, but I feel I have to say it. The AFC East should be renamed to the AFC Least. Couple that with the parade of stiffs that we have been beating up on lately and this is the softest 5-game win streak in history.

I felt awful at the 37-31 victory over Buffalo. I sit corner end zone and McCourty was probably 20 yards from me when he caught the game clinching INT. Buffalo had over 500 yards of offense.

We are near bottom of the league is pass defense and 3rd down defense.

What the national media feels, appropriately or not, is that we can really run up some lopsided wins against the league's pathetic underbelly, but in the playoffs defense will matter again. In the playoffs, referees stop calling the ticky-tack stuff and our offense can be slowed down. The Ravens did it last year in the AFC Championship and damn but they nearly beat us except for Sterling Moore swatting the ball out of Evans hands, about 15 yards from where I sit. And then Cundiff choking on that FG. Then in the Super Bowl, when the Giants needed a stop, they got one. When our defense had to stop them, we couldn't.

That has also been the story of two of our losses this year to Seattle and Baltimore. With game on line, our offense was stopped and our defense could not stop anything. No lead was safe.

Our base defense can stop the run, but the middle layer is poorly constructed. Mayo, Spikes, and Hightower are all MLBs and of the three Mayo is probably the best coverage linebacker and he sucks in coverage. Spikes is only good shooting a gap as a blitzer. Hightower made Jeff Cumberland look like Russ Francis in the Thanksgiving debacle. Fortunately, we don't play base defense much and almost always put an extra DB on the field.

Talk about 37 ppg all you want, but we are the modern day Colts, terrific regular season record, but a real long shot to win it all.

I think that #7 in the power rankings is about right.

The defense still isn't fixed, though it appears to have better potential than last year.

What a bizarre post, particularly considering the fact that the team came within less than 1:04 of winning the Super Bowl last year...

 

[jnug]

To me more than anything else the Pats not garnering much national attention is an offshoot of not sealing the deal in the two Giant Super Bowl wins. I think fans generally think they saw the same game repeated twice in those two Giant SB victories.

At least nationally, nobody cares what we did to get to those two SB's. All they care about is that we did not seal the deal twice in a row and the two games were somewhat similar in that we could not score down the stretch when the game was on the line and did not stop the Giants from scoring once they got the ball back.

So to the world outside of New England that looks like a formula and I think fans outside of NE are just not all that excited about seeing the Pats get to the SB again this season, convinced they are going to see the same game repeated. It does not help that the losses that we have had so far this year have looked much like the "formula" repeating itself. Pats don't score in crunch time to put the game out of reach....defense does not keep the opponent from scoring on the final drive of the game.

 

[mgteich]

Apparently, you think that power ratings are based on the strength of the offense. Other things, such as winning and defense actually count in the minds of some.

I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like this. Trust me, I'm glad. I hope that no one even utters Patriots and dominance in the same sentence, and I hope the Pats win out yet finish #7 in the "power rankings."

 

[Foxypats]

I find it a little strange when schedules are brought up. The AFC East is not the only division that has one team that is alot better than the rest. The AFC West is the same, the NFC West has the Cardinals and the Rams plus the Seahawks are up and down. Only the niners were competitive in that division from the start of the season. The NFC East is a mess and the Giants will probably win by default.

This defense might be statistically in the bottom of the league in several categories, but in turnovers they are at top. That translates into wins in most cases. We lost 3 games this season and except for the Ravens game, I don,t think the defence can be blamed for the other two losses. In the Seattle game(which I was at) Brady threw two costly INT's and the offense just couldn't move the ball at all. After awhile, even the best defences will tire out. People forget that the Patriots d is very young, and they are still trying to figure it all out. In the Cards game, Ghost misses a FG and the offense again stalled many times.

Inspite of the ridiculous amount of yards this team has given up, they are in prime position to end the season very strong and do some serious damage in the playoffs. I am lucky to root for a team that has given us excellent football for over a decade now and instead of focusing on the negative, I am choosing to focus on the positives. If last year we could be a min away from winning the SB, then I think we can win it this year, considering this d is better than last year!

 

[Patriot 37]

We faced the #2 SF, 4 Hou, 6 (2) Mia and 11 Jax scoring defenses in the NFL. I glad we have some tough teams especially with no Gronk to see what we got going into the playoffs.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I felt awful at the 37-31 victory over Buffalo. I sit corner end zone and McCourty was probably 20 yards from me when he caught the game clinching INT. Buffalo had over 500 yards of offense.

Really? You felt BAD when the Pats won? Ok, I'd hate to see you when they actually lose. Pats fans these days feel way too 'entitled'. Each win needs to be perfectly buffed for them not to find something to criticize. If the Pats won 81-0, I'm sure you'd find a way to harp over Spikes being a 'poor coverage' linebacker. But the fact is that EVERY team in the league has flaws. Even the Texans and 49ers. Fact also is that the Pats have tremendous strengths that make them Superbowl contenders THIS YEAR.

Talk about 37 ppg all you want, but we are the modern day Colts, terrific regular season record, but a real long shot to win it all.

I think that #7 in the power rankings is about right.

The 'modern day' Colts won the Superbowl in 2007. The 'modern day' Saints won the Superbowl in 2010. The 'modern day' Packers won the Superbowl in 2011. Teams with Juggernaut offenses and flawed defenses that can step up and cause turnovers have won 3 of the last 6 Superbowls. It's not just Defense that wins Superbowls anymore.

To top it off this Pats defense IS starting to GEL and get better. Rankings don't mean bupkus, it's all about what you do in the postseason. I think everyone agrees that a scoring record would be very enjoyable to witness, but a Lombardi would be way better. And there's also the real possiblity that both actually happen in the same season.

 

[micronin127]

I completely agree that there are other horrid divisions: AFC South and AFC West come to mind immediately. Since we are 1-2 against NFC West, I'll give that division more benefit of the doubt, aside from the Rams all those other teams can really play defense, but not a lot of great quarterback play.

Denver's 5 game win streak has included wins over the Saints and Bengals, but I wouldn't rate the Broncos ahead of the Pats.

I would put 4 NFC teams ahead of us: San Francisco, Atlanta, Green Bay, and New Orleans. In the AFC, I would put Houston and Baltimore ahead of us, though not by much.

I agree that this year's defense has a higher ceiling and I think has much more talent, but it still seems to have some common problems with last year's team like 3rd down defense and passing defense.

I used to think the defense lacked talent, but had good coaching. Now I am not convinced we have great coaching on defense as I see us sit back in soft zones and allow receivers a free release off the line of scrimmage.

There are times when the CBs are at least 5 if not 10 yards off the line of scrimmage and the safeties are at least 20 yards deep. The LBs are all susceptible to play action as they are all geared to stop the run first. So if the LBs all get sucked up into the line and the safeties are playing way way back... the middle of the field isn't really defended at all. Compared to how teams defend the Patriots by clogging the middle of the field it is a really striking contrast to see the middle of the field that wide open.

We haven't really defended TEs or RBs out of the backfield well for a few seasons. Heath Miller, Dennis Pitta, Jake Ballard, etc...

Converting 3rd down and 10 or more is supposed to be really hard to do, but against us, teams attack the center of the field and can usually find an open receiver.

I am encouraged that we blitzed more against Indy. I think that I would rather see a young defense go down fighting playing an aggressive style than getting picked apart sitting back in zones.

I also feel very fortunate to root for a team that is this consistently good. I own all the memorabilia and DVDs from the 3 Super Bowls including all the 3 Games to Glory DVDs and the 21 DVD. Really.

I think that it is possible for us to win another championship and this could be the year, but I am not so confident as to think it is a sure thing. The best thing we have going for us is that the AFC is weak this year and the injuries are piling up for Baltimore, Houston, and Pittsburgh.

 

[MossWelkowski]

I'm not sure I've ever seen anything like this. Trust me, I'm glad. I hope that no one even utters Patriots and dominance in the same sentence, and I hope the Pats win out yet finish #7 in the "power rankings."

I just can't understand why this offense is dismissed by virtually every pundit. Don't get me wrong, they are considered to be elite, but we are talking about arguably the best offense in the league's modern history. What's more amazing than their ppg stats is that they've turned the ball over what, 5 times all season? You could easily make an argument that, based on the production and lack of turnovers, this is the best offense of all-time, and that's with some very key players being banged up this year.

The only reasons I can think of:

-They don't seem as historically great because everyone is used the Pats having a great offense

-The 2007 team was more "explosive" and controversial. Randy Moss was a highlight reel, there was novelty, and the individual records by Moss and Brady were more highlight grabbing than a balanced team approach.

-Last year's Packers also put up a ton of points, and based on the eye test, there isn't much difference (but based on the stats, there is.)

-Everyone is too focused with their man crush of Peyton Manning that they dismiss that Brady's offense is averaging a full TD more per game- SEVEN points per game! That's the difference between the Broncos and the Bills as well.

-Given the Patriots struggles last year versus the Ravens and Giants, and the Jets playoff game two years ago, where they looked very average on offense, people assume that this team will inevitably fulfill the same fate.

As to that last point, I respectfully disagree that it's likely. The 2010 and 2011 Patriots were similar offensively, both great but with big weaknesses. Although Green-Ellis was a good, reliable running back, the emergence of Ridley and Vereen make them much better, as their running game would be pretty good even without being setup with a great passing game. The Pats also have more playmakers, with the re-birth of Edelman in the offense, the addition of Lloyd, and the overall depth. I would also argue that the offensive line is now deeper and more athletic. As you may recall, the Pats had a "big 3" model the last few seasons, depending almost solely on Welker, Hernandez, and Gronkowski for all production while role players would take advantage of defensive schemes designed to shut down those three. I think that some of those role players like Woodhead, Edelman, and the young running backs are now solid starters if necessary, not just guys that benefit from great talent around them.

Simply put, I don't think the stats lie. The Pats are scoring more efficiently and more frequently than they have in the past, and that's with having ONE game with a healthy Gronk and Hernandez on the field, which is the most difficult duo to defend in the league.

Who have they beaten besides Denver?

 

[Finnishfan]

Who have they beaten besides Denver?

No one with great importance.

However, our season low in points is 18 (against Cards) and we have only 3 games where we have put up less than 30 points (against Cards, Seahawks and Jets).

Furthermore, we are up 163 points on the differential, where only 2 other teams are above 100 points (Texans 116 and 49ers 111).

Combine that with the visible development of our defense, and the talking heads will soon realize that we are soon the best team out there. Not yet there though.

#7 is a justified spot based on our record, our position in the league and the strenght of the opponents we have beaten vs who we have lost to. But it's not justified based on our current form which is what the power rankings should represent.

My top 6 would be like this:
#1 49ers (although if Kaepernick fails this weekend, then the team will likely go to a crisis mode of some kind and the rank should drop significantly)
#2 Broncos (becouse their defense still has clearly the upper hand, but we are close to them)
#3 Patriots (Best offense in the NFL and improving defense, two last games show what we can do on all 3 phases)
#4 Texans (their defense is beginning to drop and even though Schaub has lead the offense to some great performance recently, they will not be able to play shootout with Broncos or Patriots)
#5 Ravens (They are close behind, but their defense has some questions especially against the rush which is always big in the postseason and their offense seems to be very up and down)
#6 Packers (trending up as well, but not as fast as we are)

 

[1960Pats]

I couldn't care less about who gets what award or where some mediot places the Pats in the power rankings. Luckily, our team's players feel the same way. All they want is the same thing that we want, a Lombardi. They just might do it too.

 

[Big-T]

Who have they beaten besides Denver?

Who have the Texans beat besides Denver?

They played the Ravens the week they lost Webb & Lewis for the year and Ngata hardly played that game because he was injured too.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

I can think of 3 reasons:

1. Our defense is still vulnerable. They've had 2 good outings, but they still did give up over 20 PPG even if you take away the safety points. And before the last 2, it looked hurrendous aside from the Rams game.

2. There ARE 7 teams in the league with equal or less losses than we have. So those are all debateable at this point

3. We are 2-2 vs. teams over .500, which is okay still not very impressive.

I don't necessarily agree with us being as low as #7, but I can't blame anyone for thinking that way.

 

[makoute]

Who have the Texans beat besides Denver?

They played the Ravens the week they lost Webb & Lewis for the year and Ngata hardly played that game because he was injured too.

They still beat the ravens though. They also beat the Bears who have a pretty good record (whether you think they are a fraud team or not). They also only have one loss as oppose to 3. Not saying they are better, but they do have more check marks in their "better" column.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Who have the Texans beat besides Denver?

They played the Ravens the week they lost Webb & Lewis for the year and Ngata hardly played that game because he was injured too.

Nobody other than those 2, but they are 10-1. In this league, 10-1 is damn impressive no matter who you are or who you played.

EDIT: forgot the Bears as makoute pointed out

 

[Uncle Rico]

The surprise to me was that Peter King had the Pats #1 in last week's MMQB Fine 15. He was making a "no dominant team" argument and seemed to figure the Pats were heating up. Seemed a bit premature — to me, you have to defer to the Niners-Texans-Falcons just on strength of record.

Still, if the Pats top the Texans and Niners in back-to-back Prime Time games, they'll be smack dab in the middle of everyone's radar. I got a sense of that building even Thursday night, with Collinsworth, of all people, seeming impressed wit how far the team overall and defense in particular had come.

 

[CityOfChampions]

They still beat the ravens though. They also beat the Bears who have a pretty good record (whether you think they are a fraud team or not). They also only have one loss as oppose to 3. Not saying they are better, but they do have more check marks in their "better" column.

They beat the Bears without Cutler.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

We've had a couple of straight games where toward the start of the season you'd say "there's no real guarantee we'd win those."

I am starting to feel that the Pats are getting reliable to win the games they should win.

I am feeling the defense gel before our eyes.

I do not yet think we have evidence that the Pats can beat the 9ers, for example. We'll see later in the season.

I agree, there's no clear "best in the league." I also agree that the Pats are "flying under the radar," especially having watched NFLN and ESPN looking for some Pats highlights recently... I kept seeing the more interesting Houston/Detroit game.

A headline saying "The Pats Score a Lot of Points!" is like a headline proclaiming "A Dog Bit a Man!"

As far as the Pats being right there in the hunt, ho hum, what else is new (again.)

No complaints about being "under the radar." The giveaway/takeaway differential strikes me as the part of this team that should give us hope. We've watched our offensive firepower wilt in key games. If it turns out that against elite teams you need the breaks to go your way. It's comforting that the guys we're fielding now are "making their own breaks."