How Impressive is the Pats' 6-game winning streak?

[ivanvamp]

The Pats are currently on a six-game winning streak, which is tied for the longest current such streak in the NFL. In some senses, it looks impressive; after all, winning six games in a row against anybody is a nice achievement. In other senses, it looks singularly unimpressive; look at the teams they've beaten.

I will submit that in the league this year, this is actually a pretty solid achievement by New England. Consider the teams they've beaten. It would seem like they're not good teams. But really? Here are some facts to go with each team:

W, 37-16 at NYJ. Any road win is a good win. To do so in the Jets' biggest regular-season game in years, after the Pats were losing 2 in a row while the Jets were on a 3-game winning streak, was a totally impressive performance. Currently, the Jets are a playoff team.

W, 34-3 vs KC. Clearly KC wasn't very good. Their QB was awful. Their coach was soon to be run out of town. Not a particularly great impressive win...but don't forget, this KC team just beat.....GREEN BAY. Yes, Orton improved them at QB for sure, but the D was the same.

W, 38-20 at Phi. Rough start, but in the end, a demolition of a tough opponent. Keep in mind that the Eagles just destroyed the Jets. Yes, Vick was at QB instead of Young, but still. A solid win.

W, 31-24 vs Ind. Again, not very impressive. But the Colts have been much tougher lately, actually winning this week against Tennessee, who is fighting for a playoff spot.

W, 34-27 at Was. Look, it's Rex Grossman. But (a) it's on the road, and (b) the Skins just went to NY and beat up on the Giants (who, need I remind us, beat New England). Washington clearly has the ability to beat you. Turns out, this was a pretty nice win, even if it was a bit ugly.

W, 41-23 at Den. The Broncos were on a roll. Tebow-mania, etc. The Pats got off to a slow start but then just pummeled Denver. Denver is currently a playoff team.

So the Pats went 4-0 on the road during this streak, including wins against two playoff teams (NYJ, Den). The bad teams they beat (Phi, Ind, Was, KC) all just won this week, against NYJ, Ten, NYG, and GB, respectively, so we know that these teams are capable of winning.

All in all, I think the six-game winning streak is a solid piece of work by the Patriots.

 

[coolguy]

Not that impressive given the fact that if tom brady has one slightly off game they will lose. We been threw this for 2 and half seasons straight seasons.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

The Pats are currently on a six-game winning streak, which is tied for the longest current such streak in the NFL. In some senses, it looks impressive; after all, winning six games in a row against anybody is a nice achievement. In other senses, it looks singularly unimpressive; look at the teams they've beaten.

I will submit that in the league this year, this is actually a pretty solid achievement by New England. Consider the teams they've beaten. It would seem like they're not good teams. But really? Here are some facts to go with each team:

W, 37-16 at NYJ. Any road win is a good win. To do so in the Jets' biggest regular-season game in years, after the Pats were losing 2 in a row while the Jets were on a 3-game winning streak, was a totally impressive performance. Currently, the Jets are a playoff team.

W, 34-3 vs KC. Clearly KC wasn't very good. Their QB was awful. Their coach was soon to be run out of town. Not a particularly great impressive win...but don't forget, this KC team just beat.....GREEN BAY. Yes, Orton improved them at QB for sure, but the D was the same.

W, 38-20 at Phi. Rough start, but in the end, a demolition of a tough opponent. Keep in mind that the Eagles just destroyed the Jets. Yes, Vick was at QB instead of Young, but still. A solid win.

W, 31-24 vs Ind. Again, not very impressive. But the Colts have been much tougher lately, actually winning this week against Tennessee, who is fighting for a playoff spot.

W, 34-27 at Was. Look, it's Rex Grossman. But (a) it's on the road, and (b) the Skins just went to NY and beat up on the Giants (who, need I remind us, beat New England). Washington clearly has the ability to beat you. Turns out, this was a pretty nice win, even if it was a bit ugly.

W, 41-23 at Den. The Broncos were on a roll. Tebow-mania, etc. The Pats got off to a slow start but then just pummeled Denver. Denver is currently a playoff team.

So the Pats went 4-0 on the road during this streak, including wins against two playoff teams (NYJ, Den). The bad teams they beat (Phi, Ind, Was, KC) all just won this week, against NYJ, Ten, NYG, and GB, respectively, so we know that these teams are capable of winning.

All in all, I think the six-game winning streak is a solid piece of work by the Patriots.

None of these quite live up to 52-7 against the playoff-bound Redskins, but on a scale of 1-10, I'll give this streak a 7 or so.

 

[Fball]

There was a column on ESPN back in October about how this stretch would likely give the Pats a slightly overinflated sense of how good they are. And that was before QB's like Palko & Young were the designated starters.

Still, a win is never all that easy in the NFL, and a streak is a streak.

 

[TBradyOwnsYou]

Not that impressive given the fact that if tom brady has one slightly off game they will lose. We been threw this for 2 and half seasons straight seasons.

If you are going to be a negative Nancy I am going to simply reply with this:

 

[coolguy]

If you are going to be a negative Nancy I am going to simply reply with this:

I'm not negative just realistic. I'm tired of being hyped for a playoff run during the season, only to be disappointed in the first round by the defense.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I don't know how you can be disappointed by this defense. Don't you have to have some positive expectations to be disappointed?

 

[ivanvamp]

I'm not negative just realistic. I'm tired of being hyped for a playoff run during the season, only to be disappointed in the first round by the defense.

Good thing you weren't a fan of the 49ers in the 1980's. I mean, they won a couple of SB championships ('81 and '84), then proceeded to lose their first playoff game three years in a row ('85, '86, and '87). I mean, goodness, what an epic disaster.

Oh wait, they then won two more SBs in a row and three more over the next 7 years.

 

[nabwong]

I'd give it an 8. One reason is that we overcame being down early and rallied to win a couple of games. You know the everyone wants to beat the Pats so it's like a superbowl game for the other team every time they face us. So the fact that we were able to make in game adjustments is quite impressive, especially since we have people like Slater, Edelmann, Jones, Ihedigbo etc

 

[coolguy]

I don't know how you can be disappointed by this defense. Don't you have to have some positive expectations to be disappointed?

My expectations in BILL made me think they could win those games.

It's been almost a decade since the last championship.

 

[ivanvamp]

It's been almost a decade since the last championship.

Their last SB championship came on Feb 6, 2005.

It is now Dec 20, 2011.

That is six years, ten months, and two weeks ago.

But hey, that's "almost a decade".

 

[PatsDeb]

I think it's super impressive given that we have the worst defense on earth (according to some) and several of those games (Jets, Denver) have been big pressure cookers which we were either expected to lose (Jets) or everyone except Pats fans hoped we'd lose (Denver). We are doing a lot of this with bandaids and tape on defense. Why can't some of you be happy for your team?

 

[Ring 6]

My expectations in BILL made me think they could win those games.

It's been almost a decade since the last championship.

You expected them to win those games, they won those games, and you are disappointed.

 

[Sparetire]

You expected them to win those games, they won those games, and you are disappointed.

Im not being negative, im not bashing our D. but without tom brady 11-3 was ALOT worse. our D was a small part (very small, like 20%) of our winning record.

acknowledging that our D sucks is being realistic. anyone who says our D will worth somthing in the playoffs is just fooling himself. we will not go very far with this kind of D i promise you that.

 

[ivanvamp]

Here are the winning streaks of six or more games in the NFL this year:

Den - 6 (wk 9-14)
NE - 6 (wk 10-15)
GB - 13 (wk 1-14, one bye)
NO - 6 (wk 9-15, one bye)
Hou - 7 (wk 7-14, one bye)

That's it. Only 5 times have we seen a winning streak of six or more games.

Such a winning streak is difficult, no matter the schedule.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

The consistency is impressive but the best team we beat in this streak is 8-6. Would definitely be impressed if it became an 11 game streak to end the season

 

[BelizePats]

4 of these wins were on the road. You know how hard it is to win on the road in the NFL? Just ask Green Bay or Tennessee.

 

[ivanvamp]

4 of these wins were on the road. You know how hard it is to win on the road in the NFL? Just ask Green Bay or Tennessee.

Yep. As I wrote in the original post, "the Pats went 4-0 on the road during this streak, including wins against two playoff teams (NYJ, Den)."

Very hard to win any game on the road in the NFL. Extra hard to beat playoff-caliber teams on the road.

 

[shmessy]

My expectations in BILL made me think they could win those games.

It's been almost a decade since the last championship.

February 2005 was almost decade ago?

Your last name isn't Ignatowski is it?

 

[SyN65]

Not impressive at all. They beat 6 terrible teams. The most impressive is Philly given all their talent. Maybe Jets @ home as well.