The annual predict the Patriots season thread

[Brady_to_Moss]

jets will go 7-9...just another prediction before the thread is closed

 

[PatriotsInGA]

1 - at Tennessee Titans September 9 W 33-21
2 - vs. Arizona Cardinals September 16 W 30-14
3 - at Baltimore Ravens September 23 W 23-16
4 - at Buffalo Bills September 30 W 17-10
5 - vs. Denver Broncos October 7 W 45-30
6 - at Seattle Seahawks October 14 W 28-21
7 - vs. New York Jets October 21 W 38-21
8 - at St. Louis Rams October 28 W 37-17
9 - Bye
10 - vs. Buffalo Bills November 11 W 24-20
11 - vs. Indianapolis Colts November 18 W 27-13
12 - at New York Jets November 22 W 30-27
13 - at Miami Dolphins December 2 L 24-27
14 - vs. Houston Texans December 10 W 33-31
15 - vs. San Francisco 49ers December 16 W 18-14
16 - at Jacksonville Jaguars December 23 W 42-17
17 - vs. Miami Dolphins December 30W 26-14

Divisional Round: vs. Broncos W 31-20
AFCCG: vs Texans W 24-7
SB47: vs Falcons W 27-17

 

[crawhammer]

Heading into the preseason I was thinking 16-0 could be a real possibility, but after extremely poor play (particularly by the offense) and some curious roster moves, the best things going for this team now seem to be a weak division (and conference) and a soft schedule. Because of the latter this team will still win 12 to 14 games however another disappointing end to the postseason seems inevitable.

Concerns:

(1) The OL looks very suspect. Not sure who's mostly to blame for the Waters absence but it seems to me that the team could have done much more to entice him back. This current OL could be a huge problem (if Brady goes down the season is OVER).

(2) No WR depth again. I don't understand cutting Stallworth, Gaffney and Branch (the latter two at least should be on the roster imo). Edelman and Slater are useless to the passing game (and neither do enough well on special teams to justify their roster spots). And Greg Salas? Come on. Welker will produce per usual but Lloyd has now been put in a position of at least duplicating Branch's production and he really has not looked at all in sync with Brady thus far. The success of the passing game is vital to this team's overall success so really they should be much deeper at the WR spot.

(3) Pass defense. Where's the pass rush coming from? A lot of expectations are being placed on Jones but he likely cannot match the QB pressure exerted last season by Carter and Anderson. The Patriots are likely going to have to come up creative ways of getting after the QBs. Furthermore, the DBs are not exactly stellar (I'm especially down on McCourty). Much like the team in general tough, the best thing the pass defense has going for it is the soft schedule (they'll be facing one stiff QB after another for practically the entire season).

Otherwise I'm not expecting much from the running game. Ridley looks like he'll be adequate but I'd prefer BJGE. Also, Woodhead may have been a nice story (two seasons ago) but I really don't have much use for him anymore. Really they're pretty thin at RB.

Finally, Ryan Mallet, QB of the future? Let's hope not because the guy's a total stiff. I don't consider comparisons to Bledsoe as a positive either but even still he's not ever going to be as "good" as Bledsoe.

Great seasons coming from Brady, Gronkowski and Hernandez (the obvious three), and on defense, from the LBs (Hightower looks like a real dynamic player).

Patriots win the AFC East (easily), and win the AFCCG (vs Baltimore), but lose to Green Bay in the Super Bowl.

 

[PATSNUTme]

1 - at Tennessee Titans September 9 L The sky is falling game
2 - vs. Arizona Cardinals September 16 W
3 - at Baltimore Ravens September 23 W
4 - at Buffalo Bills September 30 W
5 - vs. Denver Broncos October 7 W
6 - at Seattle Seahawks October 14 L
7 - vs. New York Jets October 21 W
8 - at St. Louis Rams October 28 W
9 - Bye
10 - vs. Buffalo Bills November 11 W
11 - vs. Indianapolis Colts November 18 W
12 - at New York Jets November 22 W
13 - at Miami Dolphins December 2 W
14 - vs. Houston Texans December 10 W
15 - vs. San Francisco 49ers December 16 L
16 - at Jacksonville Jaguars December 23 W
17 - vs. Miami Dolphins December 30W

13-3 We lose to TN, Seattle is always tough place to win ( at home it's a win) and SF after beating the Texans

Ok its' time to see how we did.

I had 2 of the losses but 13-3 fell short of the 12-4 final record.

 

[jmt57]

I'm going to say 12-4. Personally I just don't think it's realistic to expect any NFL team to do better than that (and yeah, I know what the Pats record has been in recent years). There are almost always going to be those games that the opposing team comes up with an unexpected game plan; an injury to a key player just before kickoff or during the game; a freak play, tipped pass or bad bounce; a blown call by the refs; and one or two games that the team just simply comes out flat.

Which games those will be, who knows? But since I have to pick four I will say the Seahawks, Ravens, Titans and 49ers. I'm tempted to say 11-5 with a loss at Buffalo too but I'll stick with 12-4.


For part two I will say the Pats, Bengals, Texans and Chiefs are division winners with Baltimore and Buffalo as the wild cards in the AFC. In the NFC I'll go with the Eagles, Bears, Saints and 49ers as division winners, with Green Bay and Atlanta also in the playoffs. Houston over Baltimore and San Francisco over Chicago in the conference championships, then the Texans win their first Super Bowl.

Well, I got the Pats record correct, and three of the four teams they would lose to ... but was way off with the NFL (especially NFC) predictions. :bricks:

 

[PatsDeb]

I can't find my original post, but I know I predicted 12-4 without saying which games would be losses, because I never know. Maybe I AM psychic after all! LOL. What surprises me is how many people correctly predicted losses to Seattle & San Francisco. The Seattle loss, to me, was one of the surprise losses.

Another great year! Thanks Patriots!

 

[PatsDeb]

Well, I got the Pats record correct, and three of the four teams they would lose to ... but was way off with the NFL (especially NFC) predictions. :bricks:

Pretty good, in any event!

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Props to those who came close in predicting actual w's and l's. I'm not smart enough to be able to do that successfully.

I had them 12--4 and I explained why I had them winning one game less than in 2011, despite the fact that they were a "better" team than a year before, by saying "funny stuff happens."

I'll admit that "funny stuff happens" wasn't a very scientific explanation, but it did prove to be accurate with the officiating in the Ravens game, the Pats mysterious first half sleep-walking in the Cardinals game, offset by a little bit of luck in the Jets game in Foxboro and a last minute pick @ Jacksonville.

I had them in the AFCCG v. the Steelers but I'll take an "Incomplete" on that because of the injuries to Polamalu and Big Ben (prime examples of "funny stuff happens!") and I'll also admit that I didn't see Peyton's fantastic season coming nor did I see how successful he could make the Broncos. I had the NFCCG as Packers and 'niners.

I called a Pats-Pack SB and I'll have to stand by that, even though GB will probably have to go on the road for at least one and maybe two games.

I, of course, had the Pats winning in New Orleans.

 

[Uncle Rico]

Man, this place will FREAK. OUT. if the Pats start 2-2. Then two losses in a row in December? Yikes.

I'll go 14-2. No game-by-game breakdown, but I think the Pats will be like the '10 team -- stout against top teams, couple of WTF losses along the way. Home playoff wins against Indy (which beat Denver in Wild Card) and KC en route to a stomping of the Bears in the SB.

Well, ahem, lessee. Guess I didn't anticipate the slow start. And the Arizona game will go down as the WTF loss of all WTF losses, especially if this season ends in Denver (I don't think it will). Would be funny if Indy in the Divisional game came true. KC in the AFCCG — that won't happen; guess I was reading too much Peter King then.

 

[ivanvamp]

1 - at Tennessee Titans September 9 - w, 23-17
2 - vs. Arizona Cardinals September 16 - w, 27-24
3 - at Baltimore Ravens September 23 - L, 23-16
4 - at Buffalo Bills September 30 - w, 27-13
5 - vs. Denver Broncos October 7 - w, 33-27
6 - at Seattle Seahawks October 14 - w, 34-20
7 - vs. New York Jets October 21 - w, 38-16
8 - at St. Louis Rams October 28 - w, 41-21
10 - vs. Buffalo Bills November 11 w, 30-23
11 - vs. Indianapolis Colts November 18 - w, 45-31
12 - at New York Jets November 22 - L, 27-24
13 - at Miami Dolphins December 2 - L, 28-27
14 - vs. Houston Texans December 10 w, 35-20
15 - vs. San Francisco 49ers December 16 - w, 27-21
16 - at Jacksonville Jaguars December 23 - w, 42-17
17 - vs. Miami Dolphins December 30 - w, 37-10

Total: 13-3

Final record was close. Was off on which games, though. That's ok. I'll take 12-4 and the 2 seed. Two weeks to get healthy, and they'll be set up for a good playoff run.

 

[The Boston Patriot]

I am extremely happy to admit my prediction of 10-6 was wrong.

 

[captain stone]

11-5; a undertalented, deteriorating OL and unproven Safeties will prevent us from having the privelege
of losing the SB to the jints again.

Thanks for the bump, Nut.
I'm happy that I underestimated the win total, though my concerns about the OL remain.
And having McCourty at Safety makes that position only half as bad as I had originally feared.

Edit: and I'm also happy that the jints won't be playing in the SB this year.

 

[WhiZa]

Record prediction in more detail :13-3

That Baltimore game could go either way.

1 - at Tennessee Titans September 9 - Win. First start for Locker will be a rough one.
2 - vs. Arizona Cardinals September 16 - Win. No offense in Phoenix to speak of. They just won't be able to catch up.
3 - at Baltimore Ravens September 23 - Win. BB gives a big smile to Ed Reed after the game
4 - at Buffalo Bills September 30 - Loss. Buffalo looks like a different and confident team. They want to beat us more than we want to beat them.
5 - vs. Denver Broncos October 7 - Win. Before the season this game was touted as the best of the year. In reality Manning legacy begins it's decline while he fights through taking a year off and trying to build a chemistry with his new team.
6 - at Seattle Seahawks October 14 - Win. No QB to speak and their offense won't be able to keep up.
7 - vs. New York Jets October 21 - Win. Wouldn't surprise me if Tebow was starting at this point.
8 - at St. Louis Rams October 28 - Win. Rams don't even want to be in London. Patriots have done it before.
9 - Bye
10 - vs. Buffalo Bills November 11 - Win. Learned a lot from the last Buffalo game and we are able to find the Bills weaknesses
11 - vs. Indianapolis Colts November 18 - Win. In a barn burner
12 - at New York Jets November 22 - Win. Sanchez wins his starting job back though
13 - at Miami Dolphins December 2 - Win. Dolphins will be playing better than earlier in the year, but still can't score more than 20 points.
14 - vs. Houston Texans December 10 - Loss. Houston has stayed healthy throughout the year and is best in the AFC
15 - vs. San Francisco 49ers December 16 - Loss. Playoffs are locked in at this point
16 - at Jacksonville Jaguars December 23 - Win. Jax is playing for a draft pick
17 - vs. Miami Dolphins December 30 - Win. Miami is playing for a draft pick

I was pretty close. Only got the SF loss correct as far as losses go. We should of never lost that Arizona game. Still bugs me.

 

[JJDChE]

Well, I got the Pats record correct, and three of the four teams they would lose to ... but was way off with the NFL (especially NFC) predictions. :bricks:

Not bad, I think you're the winner (I didn't check all the predictions, but if anyone had Arizona I'd be seriously impressed). I picked 12-4 with the losses to TEN, BAL, SEA and HOU. You squeaked me out by one!

 

[Rob0729]

I didn't pick individual games, but I had 12-4. I also predicted before the season that the Jets would go 7-9 which was close.

 

[Joker]

I predicted 10-6 (chicken little homer) and the Jets suck...at least I was 50% right...

 

[Nikolai]

1 - at Tennessee Titans September 9 W
2 - vs. Arizona Cardinals September 16 W
3 - at Baltimore Ravens September 23 W
4 - at Buffalo Bills September 30 L
5 - vs. Denver Broncos October 7 W
6 - at Seattle Seahawks October 14 L
7 - vs. New York Jets October 21 W
8 - at St. Louis Rams October 28 W
9 - Bye
10 - vs. Buffalo Bills November 11 W
11 - vs. Indianapolis Colts November 18 W
12 - at New York Jets November 22 W
13 - at Miami Dolphins December 2 W
14 - vs. Houston Texans December 10 W
15 - vs. San Francisco 49ers December 16 W
16 - at Jacksonville Jaguars December 23 W
17 - vs. Miami Dolphins December 30 W

14-2

The team looks like a 12-4 team, but the cupcake schedule helps a lot.

Ha! Well, I got the Seattle game right and I had the right idea about how this team looked (12-4). I just bought into the hype of an easy schedule. I didn't make NFL predictions like I usually do, but the only thing I think I would have had right was Balt winning the AFC North and Pitt missing the playoffs. Everyone knew Houston, but I wasn't sold on Denver. In the NFC, I would have been way off with the exception of the easy one, SF.

Overall, not too shabby, but not nearly as good as my 2010 opus.