OT:How good is Hotlanta?

[anditsgood]

Their D is going to the death of them

 

[WaterfallJumper]

Right. Last year's SB team that barely beat practice squads on its way to the SB, and is worse this season, isn't legitimate.

Yet we couldn't beat them. Twice. Not sure where you're going with this stellar logic.

 

[FourierSeries]

Yet we couldn't beat them. Twice. Not sure where you're going with this stellar logic.

Because we were one of the teams decimated by injury that I was referring to. Pay attention, little guy.

 

[pwes]

Last year both Carolina and Denver were legitimate teams. To say otherwise is just foolish. But Carolina is trash this year and Denver may be pretenders. Its still early but all their wins are against teams with losing records. They play one team with a winning record and get demolished. We'll have to see how this continues.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

Looks like several competitive teams in NFC. Hope, and expect that Pats are scouting them now, and not waiting until January.

 

[fightingirish595]

Defense leaves a lot left to be desired

 

[Gronk]

Atlanta: Strong pretender

Hotlanta by the Allman Bros: sometimes I think it's Elizabeth Reed before I skip it

 

[Joey007]

What about Oakland? Anyone else thinking we might play them in January this year?

 

[Gronk]

What about Oakland? Anyone else thinking we might play them in January this year?

Yes they are good and fun to watch. Tough division though, could see both WCs coming from there if DEN/KC/OAK all split their own games amongst themselves (this would make it harder for any of them to grab the #1 too)

 

[JMC00]

Falcons started 5-0 last year and then finished 3-8

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

They haven't beaten a legitimate team yet.

Huh? They beat both Super Bowl teams from last year.

Concidering the Broncos game was in Denver, gotta give extra props. We all should know by now that's a tough place to play.

 

[FourierSeries]

Huh? They beat both Super Bowl teams from last year.

Concidering the Broncos game was in Denver, gotta give extra props. We all should know by now that's a tough place to play.

It's not a tough place to play in at all if you're healthy.

 

[Flash]

I'm not convinced just yet. Kyle Shanahan's offense always falls apart during the second half of the season. If Matt Ryan and others can keep up their strong attack after Week 10 then I'd say they are a big threat in the NFC. Minnesota is still #1 IMO.

 

[deroc5050]

Denver and Miami seem to always be tough for the Pats.

 

[BradyFTW!]

It's not a tough place to play in at all if you're healthy.

Going into Sunday, the Broncos had won 34 of their last 40 home games dating back to 2012. The Pats have won 35 of 41 home games over the same period. We're almost identically good at home, so if Denver's "not a tough place to play in at all if you're healthy", then neither is Foxboro.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Right. Last year's SB team that barely beat practice squads on its way to the SB, and is worse this season, isn't legitimate.

You heard it here first, folks. The 4-1 defending Super Bowl champions aren't legitimate.

 

[FourierSeries]

Dating back to 2012, the Broncos had won 34 of their last 40 home games going into Sunday. The Pats have won 35 of 41 home games over the same period. We're almost identically good at home, so if Denver's "not a tough place to play in at all if you're healthy", then neither is Foxboro.

Squeaking out wins over teams that are bad and/or decimated by injury doesn't make it a tough place to play.

The last time we took a healthy team there we emasculated them.

 

[pherein]

Think we know these guys pretty well. They are a paper tiger. Surprising wins but never win the games that matter. Always have a good run game until it matters. They are much like the Atlanta fans that burn the teams jerseys every year. You never hear we have the best fans in Atlanta so there is no real connection between fans and the team. If they lose they are morons and if they win they are a SB team. Feel kind of sorry for guys that play there.

Old but its the same thing we hear every year. Like Philly I think the team is held back by the fans.
Matt has a huge problem choking in big games, but is fine with no pressure. They have pretty good weapons on offense but never get it together when it matters. The defense is pretty bad, not as bad as ours has been, but when you consider we put 32 pts on them in 1/3rd of the clock time... Tom would do the same with a way better defense.

 

[BradyFTW!]

Squeaking out wins over teams that are bad and/or decimated by injury doesn't make it a tough place to play.

The last time we took a healthy team there we emasculated them.

It's football, nobody's ever healthy. The Broncos haven't been healthy for a lot of our matchups either. And the emasculation you're referring to happened 5 years ago when Tim Tebow was their quarterback. You're using the same argument that people spent a decade-plus using to diminish the Pats' success, claiming that our dominance at home isn't that impressive since it largely comes at the expense of the Jets, Dolphins and Bills. They're wrong for the same reasons you're wrong here.

All that aside, I'm still not understanding whatever logic it is you're attempting here. Someone said in a very general sense that it's hard to win in Mile High Stadium. You're disagreeing with that because we did it once in 2011? Seems like you're implicitly saying that it's easy because we can do it, which makes no sense to me because the Patriots do a lot of things that are very hard to do, like win their division 11 times in 12 years or win 4 Super Bowls.

Winning in Denver is objectively hard to do, which makes it all the more impressive when we do it.

 

[TheFlyingWedge]

Denver and Miami seem to always be tough for the Pats.

Miami early in the season with that heat and humidity is really tough - guys are cramping up left and right. Later in the season due to milder weather, (and maybe improved conditioning on the part of the players) Miami's not as bad.