Now that that is out of the way, I just have a few questions.
1) Do people here really think that BB doesn't know how to pace the team so that they are ready to play in the playoffs? I mean, what year was it again that NE played worse in the playoffs than they did earlier in the season?
2) Even if we accept that NE is a tired team, don't we think that having three straight home games - two of which against mediocre at best teams - and a near-certain bye will go a long way towards solving that problem?
3) Are we really to believe that NE has some holes massive enough that average teams like Balt and Philly can nearly beat them that are unfixable? That the same team that was on pace to annihilate the point spread record just needed someone like Philly to solve? Why again has NE's first 10 games become irrelevent in relation to the last two? Isn't it legitimately possible - nay, probable - that they just played bad games again teams that played well?