How differently does the season unfold if we convert that 4th & 2?

[PittPatriot]

The Patriots have held out starters or limited the playing time of starters in the past. They needed to play Week 17 to try and continue some momentum and work on things. If the season unfolds differently, there is no telling if Welker is in there at that moment and not on the bench.

Why does every non-SB season in recent memory seem to have a "defining moment" that caused our season to unravel?

2009: 4th and 2? - how does this change the way Brady played in the playoffs?
2008: Letting Favre convert 3rd down in OT - we'd have been 1 and done, regardless. No way we beat the Steelers last year.
2007: Helmet catch/Asante drop/going for it on 4th and 7 instead of kicking FG
2006: Converting a 3rd down or stopping one in the AFCCG - still a better D on paper than what we have now...and was with Dallas Clark tearing up BB's defensive game plan.
2005: Brady to Bailey

In the end, either we have it takes to win, or we don't. In all of the seasons listed above, the only year we "deserved" to win was 2007. All the other years, the better team(s) won and beat us fairly.

 

[mgteich]

Don't you think that beating the colts would have made us unbeatable against the ravens?

A win would have no effect on the playoff standing so we would of still gotten blown out by the Ravens.

 

[BradyManny]

Why does every non-SB season in recent memory seem to have a "defining moment" that caused our season to unravel?

2009: 4th and 2? - how does this change the way Brady played in the playoffs?
2008: Letting Favre convert 3rd down in OT - we'd have been 1 and done, regardless. No way we beat the Steelers last year.
2007: Helmet catch/Asante drop/going for it on 4th and 7 instead of kicking FG
2006: Converting a 3rd down or stopping one in the AFCCG - still a better D on paper than what we have now...and was with Dallas Clark tearing up BB's defensive game plan.
2005: Brady to Bailey

In the end, either we have it takes to win, or we don't. In all of the seasons listed above, the only year we "deserved" to win was 2007. All the other years, the better team(s) won and beat us fairly.

I think we deserved to win in 2006. There were some very sketchy calls in that game by the refs, and anytime the refs become that prominent in a game's outcome, it's frustrating.

Let's face it, this team has had a lot of shocking, heartbreaking moments since 2005. Maybe what Seinfeld says is true, everything evens out.

 

[The Dynasty]

Don't you think that beating the colts would have made us unbeatable against the ravens?

We probably wouldnt have faced the Ravens...the whole playoff seeding would have been thrown off by that game.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

It was the right call.

Indy plays NE with no huddle to wear down the defense to capitalize in the 2 half. Manning just completed 2 long scoring drives in minutes and the NE D was spent.

Brady had Welker open coming across the middle with his man beat, but didnt see him.

That was a scripted call. It was Faulk all the way because of the matchup he drew. It had worked to perfection in practice, unfortunately they practice against this defense. Faulk had trouble getting off the jam, his forte isn't coming off the line, it's coming out of the backfield. That meant he didn't get a couple of yards beyond the sticks, and that was the goal. That was why Brady's throw appeared high and Faulk had to leap to make the catch. The Colts D is speed based and they closed on him before he could get to the ground.

I just love the way people wanted to put the game in Hansen's hands, or better yet on his leg, in that situation. Ball wouldn't have made it to midfield. With 2 minutes and TO's left that is childsplay for Manning once he gains momentum. The Butler PI call that was contrived bs was what changed the momentum and complexion of that game, but
we all knew it was coming because it always does, nothing the kid could do. We were up 13 with less than 5 minutes to go. That was unacceptable.

Once that happened we needed to be able to grind it out and move the chains at that point and we just couldn't. Situational football, we have to be built to play it again consistently. Bill told them there would come a time in this season when we HAD to make a 4th down conversion with the season on the line. That was it. We couldn't quite do it. Belichick told them before the game this was their shot at catching the Colts and if they didn't they wouldn't. The Colts likely would have staggered a bit after losing that kind of game. We would have had the tie breaker. Lots of things could and likely would have unfolded differently thereafter. But they didn't for a reason, we just had no margin and too many players who don't know how to win absent one.

 

[pheenix11]

If the refs made the right call on that play we would have gone 13-3, had home field advantage throughout after edging the Colts in tiebreaker based on head to head and we would be getting ready for the Superbowl in 2 weeks.

Things do turn around that much from small things, I have seen it again and again. That loss was devastating mentally to the team and in the end this game is 90% mental.

All you gotta do is look at the tuck play in 2001 to see how much things can hinge on one moment. I'd venture to say that if Walt Coleman didn't make the right call then we would obviously not have won SB 36 and probably not 38 or 39 for that matter either.

Somewhere in a parallel universe Asante Samuel caught that INT in SB 42 as well and Brady would be getting ready for his 5th ring.

 

[oldskool138]

All you gotta do is look at the tuck play in 2001 to see how much things can hinge on one moment. I'd venture to say that if Walt Coleman didn't make the right call then we would obviously not have won SB 36 and probably not 38 or 39 for that matter either.

The Tuck Rule play didn't destroy the Raider's confidence. They were in the SB the following year.

 

[patsfan-1982]

No, they'd have won the Houston game because a bye would have been on the line, and probably the Miami game for the same reason. I tack on three more wins to the record if the 4-2 had been converted. That's how huge that call was.

your acting like they rested all there starters like the colts did they where trying to win vs the fish and could not do it. they where trying to beat houston and could not do it the same with the colts.




it is what it is the pats where a 10-6 one and done team.


if anything would have help this team it would have been BB not sending players home in the snow. that pretty much shutdown moss for the rest of the year. and maybe they should have rested there players vs houston at lest welker would not have got hurt. but it's all a what if. what if seymour was here what if we won this game or that game we will never know.

 

[upstater1]

I think we deserved to win in 2006. There were some very sketchy calls in that game by the refs, and anytime the refs become that prominent in a game's outcome, it's frustrating.

Let's face it, this team has had a lot of shocking, heartbreaking moments since 2005. Maybe what Seinfeld says is true, everything evens out.

2006 sticks in my craw more than 2007 does, because in 2007 we deserved to lose. One was a Super Bowl during an undefeated season and the other an AFCCG but as we get further away from 2007, I come back more often to Troy Brown getting an OPI in the first half, the lack of call on Reche in the end zone, and the PI against Hobbs. Just brutal.

 

[Disco Volante]

they where trying to beat houston

...What are you talking about? Brian Hoyer was under center during the potential game trying drive as well as some of the first half.

Wilfork, Warren and Maroney weren't even active.

 

[BradyManny]

2006 sticks in my craw more than 2007 does, because in 2007 we deserved to lose. One was a Super Bowl during an undefeated season and the other an AFCCG but as we get further away from 2007, I come back more often to Troy Brown getting an OPI in the first half, the lack of call on Reche in the end zone, and the PI against Hobbs. Just brutal.

I disagree we deserved to lose in 2007 - sure, the Giants played their butts off, but all things considered, we played a good game. The defense played well most of the game, the offense scored in the 4th quarter when it had to. The game was in our hands, and then one freak play changed it all.

But I'll agree 2006 is equally as frustrating. That game was on NFLN the other nite. I just wanted to vomit. Really, its the OPI on Brown that I think is the most frustrating - it's absurd how much it changed the game, and what a ripple effect it had. It's similar to Tek hitting into a DP in the 5th inning of game 7 of the ALCS with runners on first and third. Had the play gone the other way, the game gets out of hand, and no comeback ensues. That call on Brown was pretty bogus, and it gave the Colts life, and Manning just took over.

I'm sure the frustration we feel is a fraction of what the players feel when they think back to those two games. So the guys that have been there the whole time, who have the success from the first half of the decade, and the brutal, shocking losses of the second half of the decade - guys like Brady, Faulk, Light, Wilfork, etc. - I can only imagine how motivated they must feel. Just as a fan, I just pray we get one more ring in this BB/Brady era, almost just to purge some of those rough losses from the memory.

 

[upstater1]

Just as a fan, I just pray we get one more ring in this BB/Brady era, almost just to purge some of those rough losses from the memory.

That would be nice. Just one would do.

 

[Lansdowne]

Umm... we lose to the Ravens as a 11-5 instead of a 10-6 team?

Maybe it would have boosted the confidence of the team winning the game, but I don't see how it would have fixed our pass rush problems. This year's team simply wasn't up to the task.