Still a SB chance after losing Gronk?

[oldrover]

Seems to me the Pats won 3 other Super Bowls without Gronk. You counting this team out? THIS TEAM?!?!? Not me, baby.

 

[RobertWeathers]

This team certainly still has a shot.

Hoo-man and Mulligan are a 1/10th of Gronk but with KT, Dobson, Amendola, Edelman and Boyce...thats not a bad 5 WR set.

Develin can make some plays as well.

As long as Ridley and Blount don't fumble and with Vereen out of the backfield catching balls and running every now and then, it is more than functional.

There have been teams with ok defenses with ok tight ends and lesser QB's that have won SBs.

Getting there is one thing, Beating a team like Seattle is another...

 

[Angry Man]

I feel our chances at winning that 4th Lombardi is still high even without Gronk. We did go 5-1 prior to him returning. As long as our defense can stand and not break... I feel Brady and our offense can score enough to win each game.

 

[coolguy]

This team certainly still has a shot.

Hoo-man and Mulligan are a 1/10th of Gronk but with KT, Dobson, Amendola, Edelman and Boyce...thats not a bad 5 WR set.

Develin can make some plays as well.

As long as Ridley and Blount don't fumble and with Vereen out of the backfield catching balls and running every now and then, it is more than functional.

There have been teams with ok defenses with ok tight ends and lesser QB's that have won SBs.

Getting there is one thing, Beating a team like Seattle is another...

The browns defense is one of the best and brady still put up 400 yards on them without any starting receivers .

They have a great shot.

 

[Anteros]

This team certainly still has a shot.

Getting there is one thing, Beating a team like Seattle is another...

Read this as I'm watching Seattle losing to SF. I hope that holds.

 

[chasa]

there is realisticly only 2 hurdles preventing us from getting to the superbowl

1.) the broncos, if they even make it to the AFCCG, and even if they do, i dont trust peyton in the cold.

2.) the bengals. the bengals are the only team in the AFC playoff lineup that actually scares me right now. they have a stellar defense, and their offense has the weapons to take us out.

 

[RIpats88]

My head says no, this depleted team going into denver and pulling off a win against that broncos team?

but my heart says there is a chance....so many times this season I have said "oh they are done" or "theres no chance" today for example...yet they just keep winning.

definitely not favorites, but this is the NFL where anything can happen...the last 3 superbowl winners have been long-shot Wildcard teams. its about matchups and hitting your stride at the right time

 

[GaryfromTO]

No one circles the stretchers better than the New England Patriots!

 

[FortressX]

They have a good chance.

Brady has 3 games to make the adjustment to 'no Gronk" and I think that will help.

 

[SalemPats]

This hurts becuse Gronk was such a great blocker and changed the way defenses play against us. Primarily the way they utilize the safeties. Saying that the offense is 100 times better than it was in the first couple of weeks

 

[Kdo5]

We would have a chance if our defense could get it together. The offense is still good enough especially when we get AD/KT back.

 

[PATRlOT]

It's going to take a LOT.

Vereen proved he can be a game changer. Creates huge mis-matches with opposing LBs/Safeties. Just like Gronk, except instead of a size mismatch, it's a pure speed mismatch.

A healthy Edelman & Amendola would be huge and will be needed.

Dennard healthy, along with Talib playing like we know he can, is going to be needed.

And probably most importantly, our o-line needs to wake the **** up. They are absolutely killing us with bad penalties and free sacks to the other team. Brady being the 6th most sacked QB in the league is pathetic.

Playcalling and getting rid of these horrid starts to the game are going to be key as well.

 

[IllegalContact]

Maybe.....the Afc is loaded with partially broken teams

Develin

 

[crypto]

Only the most idiotic, aughts-spoiled Boston sports fan could possibly think the Pats are toast at this point. The entire AFC is garbage. The Patriots not only beat the conference's top-seeded team but utterly outclassed it for the entire second half of the game. And no team from the NFC, including Seattle, is in a class of its own such that the Pats wouldn't have a solid chance were they to reach the SB.

 

[RIpats88]

Only the most idiotic, aughts-spoiled Boston sports fan could possibly think the Pats are toast at this point. The entire AFC is garbage. The Patriots not only beat the conference's top-seeded team but utterly outclassed it for the entire second half of the game. And no team from the NFC, including Seattle, is in a class of its own such that the Pats wouldn't have a solid chance were they to reach the SB.

If the pats can beat the Dolphins/Ravens without Gronk and the offense still looks fluid I think I will be alot more confident they can do it. I think the fear is they revert to the offense of the first 6 weeks of the season. BUT, I think Dobson/Thompkins are much better now than they were earlier in the season.

the playoffs is a new season...all I can say is every year the analysts act as if its a foregone conclusion the superbowl will be the two #1 seeds. and every year they end up being wrong and its some darkhorse team. Thats why I love the NFL more than any other sport. you dont see that in basketball

 

[Ring 6]

Put Vareen as a WR with a reborn Ridley ...

I said in threads last year Vareen is our best deep threat.

Vereen as a WR gets covered by a corner and is no longer a matchup nightmare.

 

[Ivan]

You sure as hell can't consider them favorites but the play-offs is a season onto itself, and any team can come out on top. The 2001 Patriots weren't anywhere near as talented or tested as this Patriots team and faced a SB Champion and beat them. The 2007 Giants came within a hair of missing the play-offs altogether and beat one of the greatest team's in NFL history, and last year's Ravens had no business winning a SB and ended up hoisting the Lombardi. The season isn't over, and the Patriots aren't the only team that suffers major injuries, so we really won't even know what the Play-off team's are looking like until the play-offs get here. I'm not rooting for injury to any team or player but they are a fact of life, and we could end up seeing Denver or Seattle, or another prime contender without a major piece when that time comes. Bottom line, I can see no reason why anyone would quit on this team even with the major injuries they have had.

Regardless of what happens from here on out this team has showed they are never out of any game, they never give up, and they can beat anyone regardless of the circumstances. And whether they win a SB this season or not they have created a character for this team going forward that will someday lead them to hold the Lombardi again. They are young and the young player's are getting thrown into the fire and tested as hard as can be. it isn't pretty but you could not have a better training ground for young players than this season has been for the Patriots. I love the way this team plays even though they have serious issues, I think they will continue to battle their @sses off for the rest of the season, and they will benefit greatly from all of this over the next few years.

 

[DaBronxPats14]

Bitter Sweet Victory today with an Awesome Comeback beating Browns and losing Gronk indefinitely.
Road to Superbowl just got a whole lot harder but NOT GIVIN UP. I totally have faith in TB & BB. NEVER count'm out.

 

[Ivan]

Vereen as a WR gets covered by a corner and is no longer a matchup nightmare.

Agree completely, but they are able to get him into mismatch situations that they exploit really well.

 

[Ring 6]

I don't see a team that scares me.
The defense needs to get better to make me more confident, but BB always prepares them well for big games.
Offensively, I actually think we may have somewhat of an advantage of being totally unpredictable.
I think it is possible to make Vereen the focal point of the passing game, almost eliminate the TE position, and have a stable of WRs with varied skills that can exploit the weaknesses of any secondary. Boyce showed a skillset today that the others lacked. Amendola is looking effective in the spread when we use it and may have a larger role with Gronk done. We have seen what Dobson and Thompkins can do, and hopefully they will be healthy. Edelman is kind of everyman who can fill most roles at a fair level of skill although not excelling at any, which makes him effective in the right matchups.
We have to pass block. If we do that extremely well, we will win the SB.