I trust that most feel a bit better now

[BJ_McWild]

I actually think that this style of football will give the Pats a better chance to win in the playoffs than if they were just slinging it all over like most folks seem to prefer.

A 'banged up Brady' means more LoMo/Taylor/Faulk and I think a commitment to a hardnosed running attack will serve us well especially against the high-flying teams where getting into a shootout is a bad idea.

Think about the first quarter of the NO game. A long drive, lots of power running, Brees on the sideline. We got pass happy, got picked and never got our mojo back.

I'd like to think that a serious dose of "Voltron" will give us a good chance to go deep this year.

 

[SoCal Pmen]

If they finish out the season at 11-5 and get the 3 seed, they may have a chance to host the AFC Championship in Jan. It would require them to beat SD on the road and hope Cinci/Pitt/Baltimore to beat Indy in the second round which is not unfathomable. Beating SD will be a monstrous feat given how well they're playing down the stretch so hopefully they'll develop some rust in the bye week.

 

[klinefan]

YOu never know and we may pull it together, but we beat a very poor Carolina team and a pretty poor Buffalo team. Just barely.

So I'm not getting my hopes up right now.

I'll wait until we get a 1st down in the 4th quarter....kind of hard to do well when you can't do that.

 

[SoCal Pmen]

YOu never know and we may pull it together, but we beat a very poor Carolina team and a pretty poor Buffalo team. Just barely.

So I'm not getting my hopes up right now.

I'll wait until we get a 1st down in the 4th quarter....kind of hard to do well when you can't do that.

That poor Carolina team throttled one of the best teams in the league last night.

 

[mayoclinic]

Two weeks ago, the sky was falling here on this board and in Patriot Nation. Everyone was looking for scapegoats.

Well, we are now 9-5 and two games ahead in the division. We are currently the 3rd seed in the AFC. ... Curiously, this is exactly where most of us thought this team would be at this point in the season. Also, both the offense and defense are about where most of us predicted.

So, I guess those who expected a 13-3 season or thereabouts are disappointed. For the rest off us, we look forward to the rest of season and to the playoffs.

I don't agree.

I was one of those who thought that 14-2 was possible if everything came together, and I stand by that. We lost 3 games that we had won: against Denver (in OT, after being up 17-7 at the half), against Indy (up by 17 in the 4th quarter) and against Miami (up 11 in the 3rd quarter). Win those games and we're 12-2 instead of 9-5, with very winnable games left against Jax and Houston. Certainly if the offense had performed this season at the level that most people had expected at the beginning of the season, we would have won all 3 games.

As far the sky falling 2 weeks ago, well I don't think that happened, it's fair to say that no one anticipated that this team would encounter the kind of inconsistency and turmoil which we've seen this season. Most people expected Brady to get better and stay better after shaking off the rust, for the offense to run smoothly, and for the defense to gel towards the 2nd half of the season. None of those things have really happened. And Lategate and the benching of a healthy AD twice in one season would have been unthinkable at the beginning of the year, not to mention some of the questions that have been asked about the coaching and play calling.

I don't think many expected the offense to be struggling the way it has this late in the season, if at all. We've score 21 or fewer points in 6 of our 14 games, including the last 4 (17, 21, 20 and 17, for an average of 19 PPG against NO, Miami, Carolina and Buffalo). We averaged 33 PPG over the same 4 game stretch last season. We lost the opening game in December for the first time in BB's 10 years as HC, we lost 2 in a row for the first time since 2006, and we lost 3 out of 4 for the first time since 2002. Not expected, especially after our 6-2 start. It took us until week 14 to win a true road game.

I don't think the sky is falling, and I'm not disappointed. I assumed growing pains were possible. And I think this team still has a shot to do something this year, and will be great in the future. But I don't think I would say that things are exactly where we expected, either. I'd be interested in any posts from the beginning of the season predicting these kind of ups and downs, inconsistency, offensive struggles, or anything predicting an inability to close out opponents, lack of killer instinct, inability to make the clutch plays, or lack of knowing how to win.

Maybe your crystal ball was just better than the rest of ours, but somehow I doubt it.

 

[SyN65]

Not really. We still haven't fixed any of our problems. We beat Buffalo, big deal. Their terrible and have a circus at QB and a terrible offensive line. We still can't finish games. Our offense was pathetic yesterday.

 

[klinefan]

That poor Carolina team throttled one of the best teams in the league last night.

They were asleep when the played us, must have been looking forward to Minn.

 

[klinefan]

Not really. We still haven't fixed any of our problems. We beat Buffalo, big deal. Their terrible and have a circus at QB and a terrible offensive line. We still can't finish games. Our offense was pathetic yesterday.

I concur. You are about to be viciously attacked as a troll though. I must warn you.

 

[tanked_as_usual]

The team's 2-2 in the past 4 games, and has looked nothing better than mediocre even in the best game it's played during that span. I'm not sure that's "feel a little bit better" material.

unfortunately, you are correct.........which is why I stick to my notion that 'the pats are in it until they are out' and not bounce around on an emotional yo-yo

its been the same team for awhile...they are consistently inconsistent this year, so much so that 'any given sunday' applies to them more than any other team.....for both good and bad

 

[NJPatsfan26]

unfortunately, you are correct.........which is why I stick to my notion that 'the pats are in it until they are out' and not bounce around on an emotional yo-yo

its been the same team for awhile...they are consistently inconsistent this year, so much so that 'any given sunday' applies to them more than any other team.....for both good and bad

"they are consistently inconsistent this year"

Sums it up for me....Wishing they were either one way or another....

 

[muzz]

I don't agree.

I was one of those who thought that 14-2 was possible if everything came together, and I stand by that. We lost 3 games that we had won: against Denver (in OT, after being up 17-7 at the half), against Indy (up by 17 in the 4th quarter) and against Miami (up 11 in the 3rd quarter). Win those games and we're 12-2 instead of 9-5, with very winnable games left against Jax and Houston. Certainly if the offense had performed this season at the level that most people had expected at the beginning of the season, we would have won all 3 games.

As far the sky falling 2 weeks ago, well I don't think that happened, it's fair to say that no one anticipated that this team would encounter the kind of inconsistency and turmoil which we've seen this season. Most people expected Brady to get better and stay better after shaking off the rust, for the offense to run smoothly, and for the defense to gel towards the 2nd half of the season. None of those things have really happened. And Lategate and the benching of a healthy AD twice in one season would have been unthinkable at the beginning of the year, not to mention some of the questions that have been asked about the coaching and play calling.

I don't think many expected the offense to be struggling the way it has this late in the season, if at all. We've score 21 or fewer points in 6 of our 14 games, including the last 4 (17, 21, 20 and 17, for an average of 19 PPG against NO, Miami, Carolina and Buffalo). We averaged 33 PPG over the same 4 game stretch last season. We lost the opening game in December for the first time in BB's 10 years as HC, we lost 2 in a row for the first time since 2006, and we lost 3 out of 4 for the first time since 2002. Not expected, especially after our 6-2 start. It took us until week 14 to win a true road game.

I don't think the sky is falling, and I'm not disappointed. I assumed growing pains were possible. And I think this team still has a shot to do something this year, and will be great in the future. But I don't think I would say that things are exactly where we expected, either. I'd be interested in any posts from the beginning of the season predicting these kind of ups and downs, inconsistency, offensive struggles, or anything predicting an inability to close out opponents, lack of killer instinct, inability to make the clutch plays, or lack of knowing how to win.

Maybe your crystal ball was just better than the rest of ours, but somehow I doubt it.

Thank You

............................................

 

[brdmaverick]

I feel better about our record, but I DON'T feel better about the team right now.

Against Carolina and Buffalo we scored a total of 4 touchdowns. Three of those touchdowns included significant yardage via pass interference penalties. The offense just isn't right.

 

[Jimke]

Every time the Patriots win a football game, I am happy. When they

get into the playoffs, it gives me another week or more to see them

play. I am solely a New England Patriots fan.

 

[PatsWickedPissah]

I can't see how we'd "fell better" now than a couple weeks ago. Geting trounced by NO was always a possibility. Did not bother me greatly given the opponent. One game does not make a season. But since then we have been consistent in one thing only, and that's inconsistency. After the 2nd half against the Panthiz I thought maybe the Pats O had at last learned how to play in the 2nd half and a possible 60 minute effort was in the cards, but the relapse into 2nd half lethargy, 3 and outs, strange play calls and less than good decision making by Benji's dad has not made this fan feel any better regarding the likelihood of playoff successes.