Patriots record midseason

[chrisfx811]

They'll beat the Donkeys at home and confuse the wholly living hell out of Cutler. By mid-season, the offense will be solid and the defense will be dominant (despite being "old, tired, and slow", as the mantra is in the sports media)

Cutler looked nice against SD's talented & fast 3-4 defense. The Pats will be better coached, but they put up a lot of points on a secondary that's much taller & stronger. I hope you're right, though.

From the SF game to the Buffalo game is quite a stretch run. I'm pretty confident they'll handle SF, but man, the Rams are sandwiched around 4 tough games. I just don't see a BB team losing all 4 of those. A split is likely, imho.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Looking even further ahead, even being somewhat conservative, I can see 11-5 as a very real possibility (and 11 wins should be more than enough for the playoffs, which is all I'm really concerned about right now.)

While there's always some games you expect to win that you lose, and games you expect to lose that you win, let's just start from the premise that we sweep the Fins and Jets - and only takes one from the Bills.

That's 4 more wins right there. That gives us 6 wins total (counting the KC) - and therefore would see the team need to go 5-5 in the other 10 non-division games

So assuming they take care of business within the division, is playing .500 ball a reasonable expectation for the non-division games? I think so.

So pick and choose which games you think they'll win and lose - chances are you'll be wrong on a few counts on both sides - but at the end of the day, 11-5 isn't just a pipe dream - and once the Playoffs start anything can happen.

 

[Ring 6]

Well, we are going 19-0, so it will have to be 8-0.

THERE!!!!! If it happens, I GUARANTEE I will be the first one to have predicted it.

 

[Dagg]

You wanna crown the Donkeys then crown em!! They are who we thought they were and we let em off the hook!!

 

[chrisfx811]

Looking even further ahead, even being somewhat conservative, I can see 11-5 as a very real possibility (and 11 wins should be more than enough for the playoffs, which is all I'm really concerned about right now.)

While there's always some games you expect to win that you lose, and games you expect to lose that you win, let's just start from the premise that we sweep the Fins and Jets - and only takes one from the Bills.

That's 4 more wins right there. That gives us 6 wins total (counting the KC) - and therefore would see the team need to go 5-5 in the other 10 non-division games

So assuming they take care of business within the division, is playing .500 ball a reasonable expectation for the non-division games? I think so.

So pick and choose which games you think they'll win and lose - chances are you'll be wrong on a few counts on both sides - but at the end of the day, 11-5 isn't just a pipe dream - and once the Playoffs start anything can happen.

Iirc, I predicted 11-5 or 12-4 with Tom Brady. Mainly because I thought the offense would be close to last year, but the defense would be a work in progress. Now, seeing our front d-line healthy, I think that can help balance the loss of TfB.
11-5 is my realistic pick, but 10-6 a possibility if a WC trip gets us.
I think 6-3 through week 10 is possible, but 5-4, while disappointing, wouldn't be a shocker. 7-2 would be fantastic though.

Steelers & Seahawks are tough during the stretch run, and @ Buffalo may or may not matter so it's tough to say how they approach that one..

 

[O.Z.O.]

Iirc, I predicted 11-5 or 12-4 with Tom Brady. Mainly because I thought the offense would be close to last year, but the defense would be a work in progress. Now, seeing our front d-line healthy, I think that can help balance the loss of TfB.
11-5 is my realistic pick, but 10-6 a possibility if a WC trip gets us.
I think 6-3 through week 10 is possible, but 5-4, while disappointing, wouldn't be a shocker. 7-2 would be fantastic though.

Steelers & Seahawks are tough during the stretch run, and @ Buffalo may or may not matter so it's tough to say how they approach that one..

The only tough about the Seahags is going out there to play them. The Squealers are NEVER tough, no matter how well they may be playing. BB owns them. Toughest game of the year may end up being @Buffalo, but we'll see how each team is playing by then.

 

[O.Z.O.]

Cutler looked nice against SD's talented & fast 3-4 defense. The Pats will be better coached, but they put up a lot of points on a secondary that's much taller & stronger. I hope you're right, though.

San Diego's defense is not the same without Merriman. They're going to get torched like that all year, just watch.

 

[patchick]

if Cassel is playing 5-3, if Oconnell is playing 8-0.

BRiZ, I have to give you credit. Your faith that players who have never accomplished a thing in the NFL are bound to be better than whoever the Patriots put on the field is strong, consistent and unwavering.

 

[Rob0729]

Right now, no one in the first half of the Pats schedule are playing great football. Denver is the closest, but they have no defense. So I could see 8-0 if everything fell right for the Pats which is unlikely. But I wouldn't be shocked to see 5-3 or even 4-4.

I just don't think the Colts are close the Colts we know and people talk about them like they are still the team that won 13 straight. I just don't see it.

The Chargers have a real shot of imploding after the loss last week. I think this will be the true test of what type of head coach Turner really is. Anyone can get production out of the talent the Chargers have, but a true coach can overcome a major blow like this where the players are clearly affected by the loss.

I am not 100% sold on Denver. They look like a world class offense, but the defense is suspect. Teams may figure out Cutler. If the Pats figure out how to slow down Cutler, they don't have the running game nor the defense to win a low scoring game slugfest.

San Fran is San Fran. Miami is Miami. St. Louis is St. Louis. I don't see the Pats losing to these teams unless they beat themselves.

 

[BradyManny]

Right now, no one in the first half of the Pats schedule are playing great football. Denver is the closest, but they have no defense. So I could see 8-0 if everything fell right for the Pats which is unlikely. But I wouldn't be shocked to see 5-3 or even 4-4.

Exactly. There's a very cogent line of thinking that states: we've won 21 straight regular season games, therefore, we should assume 8-0 until someone proves otherwise. Brady or not, we are the beast of the AFC, and we should have that confidence until someone knocks us off.

If Brady were going to pick any season to get a season ending injury, he picked the right one, b/c the AFC is looking weak.

 

[patriot lifer]

i thought i'd resurrect this thread since we've made it to the halfway point. enjoy.

 

[Lansdowne]

All things considered, 5-3 at the midway point is better than a lot of naysayers were giving the Patriots after Brady went down. I, for one, would be thrilled with a 11-5 record.