Not bad for a rebuilding year....

[ctpatsfan77]

i agree, we did choke. Before we played the jets, who here honestly was thinking "its just a building year, atleast we made the playoffs, we arent superbowl contenders." **** that, we all thought we would make the superbowl and win it.

To be blunt, I didn't.

I felt the Pats COULD make the Super Bowl and COULD win it, but by no means am I ever willing to make the WILL claim again. I learned my lesson in 2007.

Plus, with all the injuries on the DL, I was very, very nervous.

 

[Banjo]

It could be worse... at least we're not the Buffalo Bills.

 

[ctpatsfan77]

If you read my posts, I do that all the time. Don't really see the big deal at all. Believe me, I'm aware that I'm not on the team.

Fair enough. As I said, it just seemed a little odd.

 

[Kontradiction]

One question that I've been meaning to ask since last week was why in the HELL were so many of you rooting for the Jets to beat the Colts? Mostly, the same people who rooted for the Jets last week were the same people who honestly believed that we'd be winning by 30 by halftime of this game. I just never understood the logic. On one hand, you could get a team with no defense, no running game, and a QB that chokes in the playoffs. On the other, you could get a team with a good defense, and a good running game, and an opponent that knows us better than anyone else in the playoffs. Why in the world would you choose the latter? The Jets were probably the worst possible match-up (outside of the Ravens) that we could have had today.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

I agree! This stings but the future looks really bright.

Exactly! Say it again, exactly! It stings -- as it should sting losing the div round -- but this extremely young team's future is bright. Tons of these young guys will be better next year. Lots of high draft picks with some money to play around with. And we still have one of the greatest QB-Coach combos in history. The future looks great.

Tip your cap to Rex and the Jets. They came up with a better game plan than ours. It happens (we have watched our team do it repeatedly haven't we?). It sucks. It really sucks that we shot ourselves in the foot and had to beat ourselves as well as by the Jets. Let's hope that is lesson learned by everyone on the team especially the young guys. Game over - season over - on to the draft.

 

[Patriot Missile]

The rebuilding year, while it's true, is a copout at this point. Sure, they're rebuilding. But they went 14-2 in the regular season. They defeated every opponent in the AFC playoffs save for one. They beat the team they played 45-3 barely even a month ago. Let's just call this one exactly what it is... a choke job of epic proportions. The team looked completely unenthused and completely unready for what the Jets were going to do (in spite of the fact that they were supposedly "invincible" after a bye week). From the coaching staff to the gameplan to the players to the execution, we choked on a fat one today.

Yep............but we will draft,retool and sign free agents. Our team is good and we will see you again next year as usual. Every year since 2002 we have expected this team to make the playoffs before the season even began. Not too many fans in this league expect that from their team. We are so fortunate and most don't even realize. Yes, I'm bummed but I'm trying to put it in perspective. My friend is a Lions fan who expects not to make the playoffs every year. Many of these Jets fans are excited over the last couple of seasons because their team has sucked so long. The Jets to them are new and fresh and they associate their coach and team as winners. Which to most is unheard of because they stunk so bad for so long, other than the one team coached by Parcels.

Our fanbase is turning into winesipping 49er fans. Entitled, unappreciative of this teams past success and it's recent failure's which many other fanbases would die for.. It's superbowl or bust or it is an epic failure. I get caught up in this hoopla as well and have to sit back and get a grip of reality.

 

[mgteich]

The defense played fine despite all the injuries. They were an average defense, a major accomplishment. Had the special teams and the offense played reasonably well, we would have won easily. The OL gave Brady forever to throw.

After all our issues with the defense and the OL starting the season and the successes of the tight ends, who would have thought that it would be opur passing game that failed so miserably. Brady had an MVP season, and yet, he couldn't beat the secondary of the jets.

I'll refer you back to Michael Holley in Patriot Reign, quoting BB after winning SB36:

"Can you believe we won the Super Bowl with this f***ing team?"

You could make a perfectly valid case that late-in-the-season/in-game injuries led to all the postseason woes of the last five years:

2006 Flu sweeps through the locker room a couple days before game time, bodies start dropping like flies
2007 IIRC, both Kevin Faulk and Stephen Neal went down in TGTSNBM
2008 Who knows what happens if Brady is healthy, but players on D were going down at an alarming rate
2009 Welker
2010 Wright and Brace lost late in the season, and Pryor unable to go

No, I realize that D was not the major problem today, but having a better D could not have hurt.

In any case, my point, as I've made elsewhere, is that it's f***ing hard to win Super Bowls. If you look at a season that doesn't end in a SB as a failure, it's hard to be a sports fan.

 

[Kontradiction]

Yep............but we will draft,retool and sign free agents. Our team is good and we will see you again next year as usual. Every year since 2002 we have expected this team to make the playoffs before the season even began. Not too many fans in this league expect that from their team. We are so fortunate and most don't even realize. Yes, I'm bummed but I'm trying to put it in perspective. My friend is a Lions fan who expects not to make the playoffs every year. Many of these Jets fans are excited over the last couple of seasons because their team has sucked so long. The Jets to them are new and fresh and they associate their coach and team as winners. Which to most is unheard of because they stunk so bad for so long, other than the one team coached by Parcels.

Our fanbase is turning into winesipping 49er fans. Entitled, unappreciative of this teams past success and it's recent failure's which many other fanbases would die for.. It's superbowl or bust or it is an epic failure. I get caught up in this hoopla as well and have to sit back and get a grip of reality.

When you're 14-2, it IS Super Bowl or bust. There's no other way around it. This time around was a bust. As for me, I don't feel entitled to anything. I had the team at 12-4 going into the season and didn't even think they'd sniff a bye week. So even going 14-2 and getting the bye was a surprise for me. But, after going 14-2, it's only reasonable to expect the Super Bowl. Hell, just this last week, look at the amount of threads which were proclaiming that "there's something special going on in Foxborough this year" and whatnot.

 

[condon84]

What a load of crap. This was no longer a rebuilding year once we were playing the best football in the leauge by a good margin.

Our coaches outcoached themselves and our players played scared. We choked a great opportunity away and the Jets smashed us in our own building.

No excuses for this loss.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Yeah 14-2 is a great year, without superbowll... get a clue.. losers...

 

[Tunescribe]

Not bad for a rebuilding year

The Green Beans have had their big hurrah at the expense of a young Patriots team that wasn't even supposed to win the division this season. Let New Jersey enjoy its short shelf life because believe me, they will not win the Super Bowl this year or any year in our lifetime. We went an amazing 14-2 and who could have expected it? It's all due to great coaching, great quarterbacking, and good chemistry helped along by some very promising youngsters.

I remember marveling at this team going 6-2 a few short weeks ago. Because, I posted quite a while ago in this forum that I thought our next title run would be in 2012. Our expectations were boosted artificially high by an overachieving team that (thankfully) drank the kool-aid. Thank you BB and Tom Brady and everyone else for an unexpectedly successful season. It hurts like hell to lose in the divisional round after a bye, especially to the Jabba Wrecks and the lippy Green Beans, but I KNOW we will hit the ground running next season. Watch out, NFL.

 

[Patriot Missile]

Yeah 14-2 is a great year, without superbowll... get a clue.. losers...

What happened to you?

 

[Keyser Söze]

Re: Not bad for a rebuilding year

Same exact thread up except with ..... at the end.

 

[Hardboiled]

At some point during the year, they stopped being over-achievers and re-building. They beat every significant opponent and many times did so handily. I find no solace 14-2 being above expectations. As a #1 seed, they played flat and confused and didn't seem to want it as much as the opponent. Based upon the last two years, it seems that their playoff preparation and execution needs rebuilding.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

what happened to you?

do you think im satisfied with a 14-2 reg season and a loss to a team that we are totally better then?? No... If this was baltimore, then they dominate us, but we are better then them.. That is what is wrong with me....

 

[ctpatsfan77]

At some point during the year, they stopped being over-achievers and re-building. They beat every significant opponent and many times did so handily. I find no solace 14-2 being above expectations. As a #1 seed, they played flat and confused and didn't seem to want it as much as the opponent. Based upon the last two years, it seems that their playoff preparation and execution needs rebuilding.

I won't argue that last point too much. That said, note what I said in my first post in this thread: BB did not expect to win a SB with the 2001 squad. They were a classic case of overachievers, as was this team.

 

[sevengables_2207]

Re: Not bad for a rebuilding year

Echos my sentiments exactly. Going into this season, I had the Patriots pegged for nine or ten wins. They overachieved, and subsequently showed on Sunday that there is still much work to be done.

I am looking forward to the off-season and the continued retooling of a young roster that will add a plethora of young talent via the draft.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Re: Not bad for a rebuilding year

YEAH IM GLAD IM NOT PLAYIN NEXT WEEK... CANT WAIT TO WATCH ESPN , MIKE AND MIKE AND ANY NFL SOUND FX PROGRAM BECAUSE ITS SO GREAT TO HEAR.....

 

[sevengables_2207]

Re: Not bad for a rebuilding year

YEAH IM GLAD IM NOT PLAYIN NEXT WEEK... CANT WAIT TO WATCH ESPN , MIKE AND MIKE AND ANY NFL SOUND FX PROGRAM BECAUSE ITS SO GREAT TO HEAR.....

The subtle art of sarcasm.

 

[Keyser Söze]

Re: Not bad for a rebuilding year

YEAH IM GLAD IM NOT PLAYIN NEXT WEEK... CANT WAIT TO WATCH ESPN , MIKE AND MIKE AND ANY NFL SOUND FX PROGRAM BECAUSE ITS SO GREAT TO HEAR.....

Time to go back on your meds.