NFL Live: Tedy Bruschi on the Colts giving up on 16-0

[emoney_33]

I play a lot of Halo which most of you won't truly understand my reference but whatever

When I was good my friends and I would string together long win streaks and decimate other good people. (in Halo you are ranked to level 50 by beating people) So we would play people all day at level 50, beating them to hell and going on with these long streaks and there was pressure to maintain that. We would face the same people more than once and they would trash talk us and while we may have been the better team, our frustration if we got down would force us into making poor, reckless decisions.

This was on Halo. Something nobody cares about but the people in the games. Imagine being on the national scale, where every football fan in the nation is potentially putting you under the microscope. The Giants went into that game with nothing but their desire to win. They had confidence since they kept it close on us and rolled through the playoffs.

As the underdog the pressure was off, if they lost then they fulfilled peoples expectations of them. None of us will ever know how those players felt on that field, but I can imagine the thought of 19-0 didn't help them

Your public halo matches are just an example of human tendencies. You and your friends did this as a hobby, not trained for years to do it as a career. However we are talking about trained athletes, who are better equipped to handle pressure. I don't believe the Patriots would have played any better if they went into that game 17-1.

Oh and a closer comparison sticking to the Halo world would be the top MLG teams, as they are on the big stage and the games get really intense.

 

[Jangles]

Your public halo matches are just an example of human tendencies. You and your friends did this as a hobby, not trained for years to do it as a career. However we are talking about trained athletes, who are better equipped to handle pressure. I don't believe the Patriots would have played any better if they went into that game 17-1.

Oh and a closer comparison sticking to the Halo world would be the top MLG teams, as they are on the big stage and the games get really intense.

If you don't think those teams are under pressure on that stage you're nuts

I understand football players are meant to deal with pressure different than average people. However the prospect of going 19-0 isn't an "average stressful situation" even NFL standards.

Bruschi himself backs up my claims by saying at 15-0 it felt like they had a gorilla on their back. Do you think there was any less pressure in a single elimination tournament and then one of the biggest stages on Earth?

 

[emoney_33]

If you don't think those teams are under pressure on that stage you're nuts

I understand football players are meant to deal with pressure different than average people. However the prospect of going 19-0 isn't an "average stressful situation" even NFL standards.

Bruschi himself backs up my claims by saying at 15-0 it felt like they had a gorilla on their back. Do you think there was any less pressure in a single elimination tournament and then one of the biggest stages on Earth?

You are arguing that the pressure affected their play. My point is that they are trained to handle pressure and not let that affect their play. The guys on the main stage of MLG Halo are under a lot of pressure but they play just as well there as when they are practicing without pressure.

There's no doubt that there was a lot of pressure on the Patriots, but I don't believe that all that pressure cracked them in the last game. I believe they still play the same poor game if everything else was the same except for say they lost the 1st game of the regular season.

I think the perfect season helped them in December because they were playing with a lot of passion through December and found themselves in some really tough battles. I just think that the Giants were the better team that day for reasons that aren't directly related to the 18-0 record going into the game.

 

[Jangles]

You are arguing that the pressure affected their play. My point is that they are trained to handle pressure and not let that affect their play. The guys on the main stage of MLG Halo are under a lot of pressure but they play just as well there as when they are practicing without pressure.

There's no doubt that there was a lot of pressure on the Patriots, but I don't believe that all that pressure cracked them in the last game. I believe they still play the same poor game if everything else was the same except for say they lost the 1st game of the regular season.

I think the perfect season helped them in December because they were playing with a lot of passion through December and found themselves in some really tough battles. I just think that the Giants were the better team that day for reasons that aren't directly related to the 18-0 record going into the game.

Perhaps

While I don't think pressure getting to the players is anything you could watch on TV and say "oh, right there. Pressure got him" I just think it's silly to rule it out as a potential cause for their play