****** Patriots v. Dolphins post game thread ******

[PATSYLICIOUS]

If you're on facebook, New England Patriots just posted a video of the "Let's Go Patriots" chant. In their stadium

 

[MP-Logick]

brandon spikes â€@BrandonSpikes55
Dear Liver....blame Lil Jon #ShotsShotsShots

Looks like they're celebrating the division title appropriately...

 

[hypotherion]

When Forehead and the Broncos pulled that win out last week all the "experts" and analysts couldn't stop talking about how it shows that the Broncos are a great team because they gutted out a win on the road against a (horrible) division rival. I can already hear the guys at ESPN blasting the Pats for struggling in Miami even though it's the same thing..

Probably, but at least NFL.com is giving credit where credit is due: New England Patriots prove they're ready for playoffs

In regards to todays game...well it's always good to win, and it always great to win the division but if we want to be hoisting the Lombardi come February we need to play better. And frankly I think we will.

 

[doesntmatter1]

Games like this are the ones where i can't envision us without welker. The dude is durabale and just consistently gets open. Pay da man.

 

[RayClay]

This is why you can'y depend on turnovers

The patriots need to get healthy before the playoffs to stand a chance.

What?.........

 

[juny]

what happened to lloyd today? only one catch (a nice 1st down catch on the final drive). how well was he covered?

 

[Sciz]

what happened to lloyd today? only one catch (a nice 1st down catch on the final drive). how well was he covered?

Sean Smith is a pretty good CB now, after being terrible for a few years. He's 6'3" and runs a 4.47, but now he actually uses his size effectively.

Lloyd did seem to be open in the end zone on a play where Brady took a sack, though.

 

[Deus Irae]

Lol so when a team scores below the league average they are more likely to lose? Thanks, Moneyball.

Of course another way to look at it is in 4 seasons the team has only failed to score 20+ 10 times.

We'd all love the team to have a top 3 D; they don't. They live and die by Brady. I can think of worse situations as a football fan.

I'm rarely surprised by what happens around here, but I do have to admit to sometimes being surprised at how willing people are to forget the problems of the past when it comes to this team. The Patriots have been a dominant offense since 2007, yet they've not won a Super Bowl in that time. Why?

Because, in that time, the offense lost playoff games in 2007, 2009, 2010 and 2011. In those 4 losses, the most the offense has put on the board is 21 points, and the other three losses have seen the team score under 20 points. So, if you can't figure out why it matters whether or not the team is capable of beating good teams on days when the offense is putting up less than 20 points, you haven't been paying attention to the Patriots since 2006.

 

[PatriotSeven]

Three observations.

1. It wasn't Tom as much as it was facing a good defense. I noticed Miami's defenders doing a great job covering our receivers, whom as a unit, lack speed. Our offense is very much scheme oriented, and when we face defenders who can hang with our receivers, it forces Brady into situations where he either has to make perfect throw after perfect throw into super tight coverage or throw the ball away. His pick came on a play where his man was completely shut down, and the coverage could not possibly be any better or tighter. Our guys are not getting any separation. We are STILL lacking the one thing we have been lacking for some time now. A downfield thread that can burn his man. We really miss Gronk. However, even when he gets back, he only gives us that separation and match-up advantage in short to medium passing situations. We're still lacking a deep threat. We really need more out of Lloyd.

2. Aqib Talib. Huge mental error and showed he is still prone to the inconsistency that ailed him in Tampa-I can't remember the quarter-we should consider ourselves lucky that Tannenhill overthrew his wide open receiver by as much as he did because Aqib would have given away an easy touchdown on that play. It was reminiscent of this:

Our CB issue still can't be considered solved as of this time and he needs to become more consistent before the playoffs.

3. Wes Welker. As has been the case ever since the infamous Superbowl drop, his drops have continued this year in critical down or scoring situations. Dropped an easy touchdown today. Didn't hurt us today, but this still worries me going forward. Gotta make those clutch catches.

 

[jnug]

Well I thought this was a terrific win today. Lots of guys injured. Lots of guys stepping up big.

What I liked:
- once again the opponent started to rip off some serous running yards and once again eventually Big Vince decided he had seen enough and put his big ole' foot down. Spikes and Mayo...blah...blah...blah. That run defense is Vince.
- Aaron looked very good even though he is most likely not 100% yet
- O-line came up real big today...a real proud performance
- running game (see above on o-line) was worthy of a team headed for the post season
- defensive errors seem to be coming down week after week since Talib has been around

What I did not like:
- What is this with Lloyd? We have seen what happens to this offense in the post season. The usual suspects in our pass oriented offense can be stifled at times. So far this guy has not shown signs that he can come up big when need an alternative to the usual suspects
- JE still cannot stay on the field for more than a couple games in a row. Injured again this week...I guess we don't know if he will be ready for next week but this just seems to go on and on with him
- When our D goes soft it has got to be the softest D on the face of the planet. Man I am going to stop calling that D soft and start calling it Charmin when they start that stuff
- I am so sick and tired of seeing McD just give up on the running game time and time again. He does not seem to get it. You have got to commit to it...tell your o-line that you are committed to it and challenge them to get it done. I don't care if you are down to 3rd string guards and tackles challenge them and go out and get it done. It is just not smart to put those guys in positions where it looks like they are just going to be takin' it all game long which is what pass blocking is. Pass blocking is allowing some big ole' defensive end to kick your *** all game long. Challenge that offensive line to perform and give them the opportunity to do their jobs. Same goes for the running backs.
- This is part 2 of the above comment. When your o-line and running backs have performed well on a drive and have been the main reason why you are down there on the 2 yard line, 1st and goal, you stick the ball in the running backs gut and let them get paid off for doing the work. Dropping back to pass the darned ball 1st and goal like that is stupid beyond belief and suggests that McD never actually played the game. Don't take the drive out of their hands like that. Show them that you have a pair of eyes. Ridiculous....if I had been on the sidelines I would have wanted to slap McD right upside the head..... He best get what football is all about figured out before the playoffs. Those guys will need to know that they can do it. Do you really want to see them 1st and goal on the 2 yard line in the post season never having done it on the ground all season long?

As for the Talib play where he got beat deep...he clearly expected that he was releasing the WR to the safety and the safety was supposed to be over the top of that play. the safety was not even trying to get over the top of the play and I refuse to believe that defense was designed for Talib to just have the receiver all to himself all the way down the field. I suspect that mistake was the safety's and not Talibs.

 

[Sciz]

2. Aqib Talib. Huge mental error and showed he is still prone to the inconsistency that ailed him in Tampa-I can't remember the quarter-we should consider ourselves lucky that Tannenhill overthrew his wide open receiver by as much as he did because Aqib would have given away an easy touchdown on that play.

Talib thought he had help behind him, and Gregory was the only player not playing cover 2. Sounds to me like Talib wasn't the one who screwed up.

 

[patsox23]

Tom generally looks for the bigger gain and tries to force it in there rather than taking what the D gives him....like the RB safety valve passes!!!

Couldn't agree more. The more accomplished and successful he has become over the years, the more likely it's been that he'll go for the "bigger play," sometimes forcing it, than take what's given to him. That has good and bad sides, but I would REALLY like to see him be a tiny bit more conservative and dump it off unless the wideout/TE is open by a lot.

 

[PatriotSeven]

Talib thought he had help behind him, and Gregory was the only player not playing cover 2. Sounds to me like Talib wasn't the one who screwed up.

Perhaps you are right, and I admit I have looked for a replay of that and could not find it anywhere for up close scrutiny. I only heard the announcers mention what you are saying, however, it looked to me like Talib should have stuck with him. I didn't like that he just let him go like that.