Ted Johnson on NFL Network's Playbook tonight

[Box_O_Rocks]

8:30 pm Eastern Time - breaking down Pats' D film and looking at the AFC Playoff picture.

Sorry Pats1

 

[Drewwho]

WOW! That sucked...he totally threw the team under the bus. Likes the Colts over the Pats says the Pats just can not get it done and picked Cinny to win the SB.

That is bullcrap!

 

[emoney_33]

WOW! That sucked...he totally threw the team under the bus. Likes the Colts over the Pats says the Pats just can not get it done and picked Cinny to win the SB.

That is bullcrap!

Did he really?


Maybe he's giving them bulletin board material to fire em up!!



Or maybe as an ex-pat he didn't want to seem like a homer and pick them. But he knows damn well in his heart that this team has a good chance

 

[SoonerPatriot]

WOW! That sucked...he totally threw the team under the bus. Likes the Colts over the Pats says the Pats just can not get it done and picked Cinny to win the SB.

That is bullcrap!

I think either Ted really believes all that, or he's overcompensating so as not to seem like a homer. Or, he knows he's not going to be part of another SB run so he doesn't want them to win it because of that.

 

[pats1]

8:30 pm Eastern Time - breaking down Pats' D film and looking at the AFC Playoff picture.

Sorry Pats1

:violent: :enranged:

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

TJ doesn't think the Pats secondary will hold up under the pressure if they play Indy again. He reported they were able to see Indy quiting after the first 2-3 series last year and questions the Colts' mental toughness until they prove it in the playoffs. He likes Cincy's chances to win the SB and talked about their O-line beating people up. He felt the Pats' success the past three weeks was from playing three "vanilla" QBs who weren't up to using the full playbooks. Wilfork in the middle and the LBs disguising the pass rush came in for kudos.

Valid if painful thoughts, which suggests BB is going to need to play the starters to give those young players all the experience they can handle.

 

[njpatsfan]

Wow ... just wow.

TJ: " .. I'll tell you what, when it comes to the Colts, they have a balanced attack, for the first time, they're running the ball ... and their defense is stellar .. so I really don't think .... I think this is a different team, uh .. and I'm not sure the Patriots can get it done ... "

Q: .. so if they meet in the playoffs, you don't think the Patriots can beat them ?"

TJ: "You know honestly .. my honest opinion is ... that they can't. I really don't think .. I think our secondary is still too young .. theres not I lot of cont- .. you know these guys in a pressure situation .... I'll never forget, a coach telling me one time in the playoffs, 'Don't be the guy to send us home' ... I mean, that's a lot of pressure ... and these young guys ... we have two rookies back there ... and Asante, he's struggling a little bit ... and on that turf .... I tell you what that's going to be a tough task"


-R

 

[Bella*chick]

Glad I missed it. Not saying they're not valid points, but I don't really want to hear them right before Christmas.

 

[SoonerPatriot]

Wow ... just wow.

TJ: " .. I'll tell you what, when it comes to the Colts, they have a balanced attack, for the first time, they're running the ball ... and their defense is stellar .. so I really don't think .... I think this is a different team, uh .. and I'm not sure the Patriots can get it done ... "

Q: .. so if they meet in the playoffs, you don't think the Patriots can beat them ?"

TJ: "You know honestly .. my honest opinion is ... that they can't. I really don't think .. I think our secondary is still too young .. theres not I lot of cont- .. you know these guys in a pressure situation .... I'll never forget, a coach telling me one time in the playoffs, 'Don't be the guy to send us home' ... I mean, that's a lot of pressure ... and these young guys ... we have two rookies back there ... and Asante, he's struggling a little bit ... and on that turf .... I tell you what that's going to be a tough task"


-R

If he's predicting the Bengals will win it all, then the Colts must not really be that much different. In fact, it means they've regressed since the Bengals are no where near as good as the Pats were in 2003 and 2004....at least by the logic he is using. Maybe one too many blows to the head for Ted.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Glad I missed it. Not saying they're not valid points, but I don't really want to hear them right before Christmas.

You get the grim details out of the way then you dig deep, play hurt, and play mean - it's always amazing what you can do when you decide your going down hard no matter what. Game face time.

 

[BelichickFan]

Well, TJ obviously knows more than me.

But if the front seven can stop the run we shouldn't be much weaker in coverage than last year. I like Hobbs as much (actually more) than Gay. Wilson and Samuel are still there. And if Hawkins need to do nothing more than worry about the pass (based on my premise that the front seven can stop the run), he should be as good, or better, in coverage as Harrison.

Not to mention that I think we can outscore the Colts, or score with them anyway, if necessary.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

If he's predicting the Bengals will win it all, then the Colts must not really be that much different. In fact, it means they've regressed since the Bengals are no where near as good as the Pats were in 2003 and 2004....at least by the logic he is using. Maybe one too many blows to the head for Ted.

He talked about how tough the Bengals played the Pats last season, and he 'implied' the Mannings are still the prissy boys from last season. His view was that our young secondary is still a liability, remember what that gauntlet did for them last year, now we need to see which DB is going to step up and show the Rodney genes.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Well, TJ obviously knows more than me.

But if the front seven can stop the run we shouldn't be much weaker in coverage than last year. I like Hobbs as much (actually more) than Gay. Wilson and Samuel are still there. And if Hawkins need to do nothing more than worry about the pass (based on my premise that the front seven can stop the run), he should be as good, or better, in coverage as Harrison.

Not to mention that I think we can outscore the Colts, or score with them anyway, if necessary.

Concur, I don't see Ted's assessment as inaccurate or the end of the world, it's what the team leaders do to prepare the youngsters for a brutal slugfest. Look at how we tried to comeback against KC and Denver, the tools are there, we just need people to play smart from the first kick to the last whistle. Game face people.

 

[shatch62]

Our DBs aren't great...

but neither are the SD DBs. I agree with Johnson that the Pats are weak in the secondary and if we go into Indy to play the Colts they will (and should) be the favorite. That being said, if we can shut down Edge and get pressure on Manning anything is possible

 

[upstater1]

Two things to rebut Ted:

Last year we threw Gay, a younger Samuel, Harrison and Wilson at Manning.

Losing Harrison hurts a lot, but Hobbs is better than Gay and Samuel is a year older.

Also, the Colts ran the ball on us in the regular season game last year, and they tried running on us in the playoffs too. It didn't work.

Seriously, how is this Colts offense different than the fantastic Colts offense of 2004? It isn't. same team, same players. They tried running on us last year too. Did Ted forget?

I have to give the Colts defense credit. I think June, Simon and Sanders have improved, and improved the defense. But they are still a little soft.

 

[JR4]

On the Bengals. There is no question they can score points but
when they play a team with a good Offense they give up a lot of points
also.

Ted is right about the secondary being the area of concern. But what's new.
Anyone who has followed the PATs knows it has been.
The other concern is the Oline that seems to keep changing from week to week.

I wish the PATs would have been where they are now just before they
faced KC.

Ted could be right but my gut says that Hobbs and Hawkins will improve
enough playing the last two games and wildcard weekend.
So much so that they will be ready for the Colts or the Bengals.

Ted is right that Samuel has been off but I believe a lot of that was
because he was too concerned that he wouldn't have help.
I bet if he begins trusting Artrell more he will start playing tighter coverage
and he will start looking more like himself.

Also, I don't know if Ted mentioned the fact that as the front seven
continues to improve it will help the secondary play better.

 

[patsox23]

Ted is right about the secondary. And yes, Asante is a year older, but from what I've seen he is also undeniably WORSE, for what reason I don't know. I think for Ted, you and me and everyone else, we will have NO IDEA how good this team is until we play Indy. Because the way it's played out with our schedule, we started getting better against relatively questionable offenses. And Miami, jets and Jax aren't going to tell us much more than we already know right now.

That said, his comment that the Colts are "finally running the ball" is asinine to the point that you have to question every word that comes out of his mouth.

 

[jczxohn1]

Colts are finally starting to show some wear and tear esp. on their offensive line,also Freeney. PAts will finally have a healthy Seymour against them, with Hobbs playing instead of Starks and a SS in Hawkins who, if he is not Rodney, at least looks better than his other replacements. We're a heck of alot more even with them than we were earlier in the yr.

 

[thechris]

TJ is just trying to keep the Patriots level-headed just in case that young secondary is starting to feel like their world-beaters.

 

[maverick4]

re:

Don't hate Ted Johnson just for speaking his views. You don't have to trash a guy just because he says something negative about the Pats. In my opinion, what he said is pretty valid.

Indy is definitely a soft team, but they are much improved on defense. Their offense is a run-first offense, which makes Peyton even more deadly off of play action.

The Pats do have some promising rookie players, but unless Artrell Hawkins becomes the second coming of Ronnie Lott, I am fearful of what will happen to the secondary come playoff time. People keep under-estimating the loss of Harrison. Rodney Harrison was maybe the best safety in the game - he made it tough for QB's to find open receivers, hit like a truck, and also quarterbacked the seconary.

As for the Bengals... I don't agree with the Bengals going to the Superbowl, but I do know that the Bengals have played the Colts tough, and they do have enough talent to do it.

.