The "Third best in AFC and that's generous" theory

[PatsFanInVa]

We're not as good as the Colts, because they scored more points than us.

We're not as good as the Broncos, because they scored more points than us.

Otherwise, we compare pretty well to the rest of the conference.

Turnovers are bad. Dropped passes are bad. 27 points against you, also bad. Now, we can go in depth about how many short fields Manning had, whether we should have run the ball more, yadda yadda yadda. As Brady put it, "yeah and if it worked, it would have been brilliant."

With Minnesota, Buffalo, and Cinci, we were hitting on all 8. Stating the obvious. Against Denver and Indy, we didn't exactly look like crap -- just not super.

Minnesota, Buffalo, and Cinci are unlikely to be in our path on the way to the Super Bowl. Denver and Indy are likely to be.

Therefore, we're playing okay, if our goal is to win the AFC East. If our goal is to win a Super Bowl, this team needs to push its level of play up another level, and be able to maintain it. We're not on the A list right now. We're a notch below it.

The good news is the Pats tend to peak late in the season. The bad news is nobody's going to lay down because of what the Pats "tend" to do.

The sky's not falling. We're also not "The best except..."

We're number 3, maybe a little lower -- and that's in the AFC.

Not good enough. We need to be number 1.

Can it be done? Yes. Will it be done? That's why they play the games.

PFnV

 

[PATRIOT64]

We're not as good as the Colts, because they scored more points than us.

We're not as good as the Broncos, because they scored more points than us.

Otherwise, we compare pretty well to the rest of the conference.

Turnovers are bad. Dropped passes are bad. 27 points against you, also bad. Now, we can go in depth about how many short fields Manning had, whether we should have run the ball more, yadda yadda yadda. As Brady put it, "yeah and if it worked, it would have been brilliant."

With Minnesota, Buffalo, and Cinci, we were hitting on all 8. Stating the obvious. Against Denver and Indy, we didn't exactly look like crap -- just not super.

Minnesota, Buffalo, and Cinci are unlikely to be in our path on the way to the Super Bowl. Denver and Indy are likely to be.

Therefore, we're playing okay, if our goal is to win the AFC East. If our goal is to win a Super Bowl, this team needs to push its level of play up another level, and be able to maintain it. We're not on the A list right now. We're a notch below it.

The good news is the Pats tend to peak late in the season. The bad news is nobody's going to lay down because of what the Pats "tend" to do.

The sky's not falling. We're also not "The best except..."

We're number 3, maybe a little lower -- and that's in the AFC.

Not good enough. We need to be number 1.

Can it be done? Yes. Will it be done? That's why they play the games.

PFnV

I would put us at #6 at this point since we are a little shaky vs. the big boys of the NFL and until we can prove we can beat teams that are MUCH better than the likes of San Francisco,Arizona,the rest of the AFC East and Oakland...Definately San Diego deserves #3 or #4 best team as they are playing better than us,maybe the best overall D in the league when Merriman is in there and #5 best team right now I think is Baltimore..Those 2 wins against New Orleans and Cincinnati prove that along with a top defense they have enough offense to keep winning games regularly and are likely going to be division winners in their own right.

 

[PromisedLand]

PfNV,

Great post. You completely agree with me, and therefore it is a great post! Seriously, you stated the case really well.

 

[SVN]

IMO , chargers are as difficult or probably more diff matchup for us then denver..
their defense is very good and their offense is better than denver...if given a choice...facing denver maybe better (relatively) than the chargers...
somehow we all seem to forget the chargers and keep thinking of only denver and indy..

 

[CheerforTom]

I definately appreciate the step back to analyze where we really are, but in that spirit, I don't think anyone from the NFC takes us except maybe the Giants. The AFC sure, I don't know if I'd even put us as high as #3 since we've proven that we're inconsistent, but the only power ranking that matters is at the end of the year, I guess.

IMO , chargers are as difficult or probably more diff matchup for us then denver..
their defense is very good and their offense is better than denver...if given a choice...facing denver maybe better (relatively) than the chargers...
somehow we all seem to forget the chargers and keep thinking of only denver and indy..

San Diego is sort of at the same place Denver was this time last year. I haven't heard a single person mention this, but there's a very decent chance Denver drops at least one to them, if not both. That'd change everything in the AFC seeds. I don't know how we match up against them vs. Denver, but I do know I'm officially afraid of the Broncos.

 

[mgteich]

I have as us as #4 in AFC, #4 in the NFL. The Chargers should be #3.

 

[alamo]

I would put us at #6 at this point since we are a little shaky vs. the big boys of the NFL and until we can prove we can beat teams that are MUCH better than the likes of San Francisco,Arizona,the rest of the AFC East and Oakland...Definately San Diego deserves #3 or #4 best team as they are playing better than us,maybe the best overall D in the league when Merriman is in there and #5 best team right now I think is Baltimore..Those 2 wins against New Orleans and Cincinnati prove that along with a top defense they have enough offense to keep winning games regularly and are likely going to be division winners in their own right.

Let me get this straight... San Dego is #3 because we can't beat anyone better than San Francisco, Oakland, etc....

Let's look at San Diego's wins: Oakland, Tennessee, Pittsburgh, San Francisco, St Louis, Cleveland.

The only *possible* playoff team in that bunch is St Louis, and that's 50/50 or less. The reality is SD lost to KC and Baltimore and does not in any way deserve #3 status.

 

[Krugman]

I agree with PFIV on this one,third,maybe fourth,the Chargers are playing well on both sides of the ball.They wont stop running.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

First, thanks Promised Land, but I think it resonates because it's a statement of the obvious, right? I'll take it though.

Sometimes (though the in-depth stuff is informative,) a step back is what is needed. The Belichick genius goes a long way, the Brady magic goes a long way, but it's a team game. Okay, I almost went on to just repeat the post again. You guys get the point - we need to get better. It's not a tweak here, a tweak there, Watson's hands, Tom's posture, biorhythms, etc., BB's playcalling, or any other silver bullet-cureable issue. It's a not quite good enough team.

The rankings from 3 to 6 (or lower) just don't matter that much... it breaks down to #1 and a 31-way tie for #2 at the end of the day. A bunch of teams have a good shot at coming out at the #1 spot... I just don't think we're one of them until the team gets better.

Everybody has questions to answer this year, Colts included. Ours is, are we hanging around in "almost" territory, ready to get squashed in the playoffs, or are we one of the teams to beat?

Sadly, right now we look like the division winner that makes it a game or two into the playoffs, not the superpower (like last year.)

And again, I preface that with "right now." We're a work in progress yet again, which saddens me after looking like a real powerhouse against Buffalo and Minnesota.

Bears at end of month should be a test... always interesting.

PFnV

 

[RhodyPatFan]

When have we played San Fran, Arizona, and Oakland? I thought this was a Pats board not the Bears.

Third or fourth in JUST the AFC isn't bad. The NFC doesn't scare me at all. The Top 4 teams are probably in the AFC.