Patriots Nemesis Elimination Day! (Week 16 Game thread for Ravens @ Pitt, Den @ KC)

[Deus Irae]

I had to logon to post something like this. Not a surprise that a fellow Pats fan beat me to it.

That was stupid for the Chiefs to show their hand on this play, in a game that was all over but the shouting.

BB would NEVER do that, but because Andy Reid.

Same BB who had Flutie do a drop kick? That BB would NEVER do that?


Come on, people. This whole "BB would never..." schtick was old a long time ago. It's as played out as the "These two 13-2 teams suck!" mentality that affects this board during every non-Patriots game.

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

Where do people come up with this stuff? The Patriots only scored one TD against the Broncos the entire game.

I am curious about your confidence level in this team right now. Anything can happen in the playoffs but anything less than a afc championship game appearance would be a dissapointment. My concern's the lack of a pass rush and can this secondary continue to play well.

 

[AvocadoIceCream]

Gronk's days may very well be numbered. Who knows? To FCB0001010010101's original point though, our #2 TE has twice as many TDs as "would've been nice to have a TE like Travis Kelce".

This team need be afraid of no one. They easily handled Denver in Denver last week and will have Amendola and Floyd for the playoffs.

First off, I never said I'd take Kelce over Gronk...

Also lol at thinking Floyd is going to make any plays

 

[shmessy]

Same BB who had Flutie do a drop kick? That BB would NEVER do that?


Come on, people. This whole "BB would never..." schtick was old a long time ago. It's as played out as the "These two 13-2 teams suck!" mentality that affects this board during every non-Patriots game.

Not sure about the dangerousness of holding back a 1 point dropkick by a 43 year old 3rd stringQB who was never going to come in during the playoffs as a playoff strategy compared to a TD pass......

But, yes, I agree..... neither play will/would see the light of day in the playoffs.

 

[Soul_Survivor88]

I don't think so

 

[shmessy]

I don't think so

Flexing..........

 

[PatriotsPimp136]

First off, I never said I'd take Kelce over Gronk...

Also lol at thinking Floyd is going to make any plays

I think floyd will help. He could be a decoy lol. You still gotta respect him. He's a big target.

 

[pheenix11]

Watching Dontari Poe shove it up the Broncos asses was the greatest Xmas gift I could ever receive. And the Ravens lost too?

Jets suck, Rex Ryan is on a respirator and the Colts don't even know what relevancy smells like.

All is right with the world.

 

[shmessy]

Watching Dontari Poe shove it up the Broncos asses was the greatest Xmas gift I could ever receive. And the Ravens lost too?

Jets suck, Rex Ryan is on a respirator and the Colts don't even know what relevancy smells like.

All is right with the world.

".......But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight—
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night!”.......

 

[Deus Irae]

I am curious about your confidence level on this team right now. Anything can happen in the playoffs but anything less than a afc championship game appearance would be a dissapointment. My concern's the lack of a pass rush and can this secondary continue to play well.

• The team's played almost no good offenses.
• The only good team it's faced ended up beating it (Pitt didn't have Big Ben playing).
• The defense spent half the year doing the BB trick of holding the points down while mostly playing like ****.
• The offense is clearly missing Gronk, and the OL still has issues, particularly on the interior.
• Edelman's not quite himself this season (not saying he's bad, but he's not been the full Julian)
• Bennett's been limited, and we don't know if that'll continue into the playoffs
• The LBs are clearly limited, and can be exploited
• There's not enough pass rush from individuals

On the other hand

• The team's won every game we could realistically have called a "definite win", and only lost 2 overall.
• Brady's still awesome.
• Floyd potentially gives them a mini-TE, of sorts, to help out, if they want to use him that way on occasion.
• The running game, while not elite, is much improved, and (knock on all the wood you can find) both Blount and Lewis remain healthy.
• If Amendola can return, the WR depth chart is much improved over last year.
• Flowers seems to be kicking it up a notch.
• The LBs seem to usually be ending up about where they're supposed to, which is a clear improvement from the start of the season.
• Brady's still awesome.
  
• BB's still the best coach in the game.
• The AFC is down, and the Patriots might only have to face one even remotely difficult game on the path to the SB.
• Gost seems to be back to form.
• HFA, baby!
• Did I mention that Brady's still awesome? Just in case: Brady's still awesome.

That places my confidence level at "very confident of the team getting to the SB (assuming health), but fully cognizant of the team's issues and questions, and with the realization that teams like Pitt and K.C. have the potential to pull off the upset".

 

[Deus Irae]

Not sure about the dangerousness of holding back a 1 point dropkick by a 43 year old 3rd stringQB who was never going to come in during the playoffs as a playoff strategy compared to a TD pass......

There was nothing dangerous about using that play, unless you're referring to Seymour injury type of danger, in which case we can point to both Seymour (who did get injured) and Ninkovich (who did not).

But, yes, I agree..... neither play will/would see the light of day in the playoffs.

Exactly. That's not a play Reid would likely be running in a close playoff game.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

The Pats have:

1. One of the best offenses in the NFL,
2. The greatest QB of all time,
3. One of the best defenses in the NFL, &
4. The best coaching team in the NFL.

Dare I say it but whoever the Patriots face, they have their hands full.

Agreed.
Looking at the competition and comparing it to the Patriots, if the Patriots bring their A game they beat anyone else's A game. The Patriots' A game is clearly the league wide 2016 gold standard. Other than a few sub-facets, the Patriots possess top tier capability in all of its parts and sub parts. IMHO whether its Dallas, Seattle, KC, Pitt, Atl, Giants, Raiders etc -- none of these top teams possess the quality of capability on so many different levels.

Given the sample of 15 of 16 games of the season (essentially a full season), unless the Patriots pitch a 2016 outlier there are 3 possible outcomes to any upcoming Patriot playoff game (including the SB): (1) Patriots outright win[8 or more points], (2) Patriots eke out the victory(1 score margin of victory), (3) the opponent ekes out the victory(1 score margin of defeat).

Provided the football gods don't frown upon the Patriots with injuries or freak turnovers or league subterfuge, our chances for a SB victory are arguably as good if not measurably better than 2014. Whether that does translate into ring#5 is TBD.

 

[Gronkowski123]

Been on the miami board. They really don't think their coach will do it but who knows.

then he's an idiot. if gase plays the starters, they should give coach of the year to someone else.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

• The team's played almost no good offenses.
• The only good team it's faced ended up beating it (Pitt didn't have Big Ben playing).
• The defense spent half the year doing the BB trick of holding the points down while mostly playing like ****.
• The offense is clearly missing Gronk, and the OL still has issues, particularly on the interior.
• Edelman's not quite himself this season (not saying he's bad, but he's not been the full Julian)
• Bennett's been limited, and we don't know if that'll continue into the playoffs
• The LBs are clearly limited, and can be exploited
• There's not enough pass rush from individuals

On the other hand

• The team's won every game we could realistically have called a "definite win", and only lost 2 overall.
• Brady's still awesome.
• Floyd potentially gives them a mini-TE, of sorts, to help out, if they want to use him that way on occasion.
• The running game, while not elite, is much improved, and (knock on all the wood you can find) both Blount and Lewis remain healthy.
• If Amendola can return, the WR depth chart is much improved over last year.
• Flowers seems to be kicking it up a notch.
• The LBs seem to usually be ending up about where they're supposed to, which is a clear improvement from the start of the season.
• Brady's still awesome.
  
• BB's still the best coach in the game.
• The AFC is down, and the Patriots might only have to face one even remotely difficult game on the path to the SB.
• Gost seems to be back to form.
• HFA, baby!
• Did I mention that Brady's still awesome? Just in case: Brady's still awesome.

That places my confidence level at "very confident of the team getting to the SB (assuming health), but fully cognizant of the team's issues and questions that, and with the realization that teams like Pitt and K.C. have the potential to pull off the upset".

Fair enough. The Patriots are definitely not without areas of less than potent.

Your list of strengths not only hits on some important individual points but it paints a general picture of a team that will be the most difficult team to beat. And if the Patriots get, say, Sheard and/or someone else to kick their pass rush up a notch coupled with what appears to be Lewis coming to a near 2015 level? That starts to approach the area of lights out for opponents.

 

[BobDigital]

Agreed.
Looking at the competition and comparing it to the Patriots, if the Patriots bring their A game they beat anyone else's A game. The Patriots' A game is clearly the league wide 2016 gold standard. Other than a few sub-facets, the Patriots possess top tier capability in all of its parts and sub parts. IMHO whether its Dallas, Seattle, KC, Pitt, Atl, Giants, Raiders etc -- none of these top teams possess the quality of capability on so many different levels.

Given the sample of 15 of 16 games of the season (essentially a full season), unless the Patriots pitch a 2016 outlier there are 3 possible outcomes to any upcoming Patriot playoff game (including the SB): (1) Patriots outright win[8 or more points], (2) Patriots eke out the victory(1 score margin of victory), (3) the opponent ekes out the victory(1 score margin of defeat).

Provided the football gods don't frown upon the Patriots with injuries or freak turnovers or league subterfuge, our chances for a SB victory are arguably as good if not measurably better than 2014. Whether that does translate into ring#5 is TBD.

I feel more confident about this year than 2014 but solely based on the competition. 2014 had better top teams. The absolute worst case scenario imo is the Pats playing Seattle when Wilson is 100% on his game. Even then our D will not give up 31 points again and their D is not as good as it was. Losing Thomas hurts them so much.

However i think Seattle unless they get the 2nd seed has no chance to make the super bowl. After that there is a bit of a drop off to their worst possible match up and they had the edge in the first one anyway.

 

[pheenix11]

Is it just me or does this feel like an early 2000's playoff group?

Steelers, Raiders, Chiefs, Dolphins....

 

[rochrist]

Same BB who had Flutie do a drop kick? That BB would NEVER do that?


Come on, people. This whole "BB would never..." schtick was old a long time ago. It's as played out as the "These two 13-2 teams suck!" mentality that affects this board during every non-Patriots game.

I think Bill wouldn't do that, but not to be nice, but because he'd rather keep that kind of thing in his pocket for when he really needs it, ie the formation plays against the Ravens. The drop kick is a different story, that was just BB Football Historian having some fun.

 

[Deus Irae]

I think Bill wouldn't do that, but not to be nice, but because he'd rather keep that kind of thing in his pocket for when he really needs it, ie the formation plays against the Ravens. The drop kick is a different story, that was just BB Football Historian having some fun.

It was 27-10 with under 2 minutes to play when Reid had a 350+ pound NT make a jump shot pass to a receiver in the end zone. That's a big fat coach letting one of his big fatties have some fun. In the process, Dontari Poe became the only known defensive player to have both a sack and a TD pass in the same season.

The Broncos were playing like the Washington Generals. Reid decided to have his team play a little like the Harlem Globetrotters. I'm good with that.

 

[luuked]

I don't think so

Think he is talking about his entourage bringing home some of that weed to watch the game..

 

[Wordsmyth]

All Matt Lengel does is catch touchdowns!