Why did we even play our starters the last two games?

[RhodyPatriot]

well, the GOOD news is you all have two weeks to construct a real nice diving board before you all jump ship. Please, just do it BEFORE the playoff game...for obvious reasons

Oh now don't get your pom poms in a knot. It is OK to analyze and criticize a team that has lost 4 out of its' last 6 games and looked "coachless" doing so.
These injures have exposed Josh McDaniels. He simply can't utilize the players on his roster....can't gameplan to get the most out of them. (only weapon in the passing game missing today was Jules) Some of that is on the QB also but when the OC and HC basically mailed in the 1st half of the game today (never seen anything like it) that sends a terrible message to the team.
Haven't seen such poor coaching coming out of Foxborough in years and years.

 

[RhodyPatriot]

Somewhere it was written about how they need to get their game "callouses".. the Pats intended to win both games.

Things did not work out, when any team is as depleted as this team not unexpected.. two weeks off will help.

Just stop. Outrageous that this team (even with all those injuries) lost to the Eagles and the Dolphins.

 

[Ring 6]

No but to me a healthy team is more important than a hypothetical game in 3 weeks. There is no team in the AFC that we can't beat if we play a above average game with our full defensive and offensive playbook, no matter where that game takes place.

There is no team in the playoffs we can beat if we play like we did the last 2 weeks. To expect to improve the team by sitting players out then hoping they play well after inactivity is shaky at best. We don't even know how many of any of the players who sat today can even play in 2 weeks. Surely if they could have played we would have at least dressed them with HFA in the line.


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[TheFlyingWedge]

They had this crazy idea on trying to defeat two subpar teams, with their "b" team. Unfortunately, the Pats could have rested everyone hypothetically, but you play to win the game!

Was wondering the same thing with all the reps going to Chung and mcCourty who were clearly still nursing some issues and seemingly playing it safe. Might as well throw guys like Ebner, Wilson and Richards in the mix to get some reps and tell them to go balls out.

 

[Tuck]

Resting players and game planning are coaching decisions. We'll know if the decisions made in the last two games were the right ones when the season is over. Can't really say more than that until then.

 

[DarrylS]

Just stop. Outrageous that this team (even with all those injuries) lost to the Eagles and the Dolphins.

They should have beaten the Eagles, but not convinced about the Dolphins..

 

[Bill Lee]

The Patriots are the only team going into the playoffs after a lousy losing game. To expect them to rebound with a good performance two weeks from now is not reasonable.

Well, if nothing else, they won't go into the game overly confident.

I don't see much linkage between what happened in this game vs what will happen in two weeks time. There will be a lot of different players on the field, and all will be better rested and certainly all will be better focused.

They will still be playing with a below average offensive line.

It was below average when they were 10-0. They just were able to hide it better due to Edelman, Amendola and Lewis.

Oh now don't get your pom poms in a knot. It is OK to analyze and criticize a team that has lost 4 out of its' last 6 games and looked "coachless" doing so.
These injures have exposed Josh McDaniels. He simply can't utilize the players on his roster....can't gameplan to get the most out of them. (only weapon in the passing game missing today was Jules) Some of that is on the QB also but when the OC and HC basically mailed in the 1st half of the game today (never seen anything like it) that sends a terrible message to the team.
Haven't seen such poor coaching coming out of Foxborough in years and years.

Sir/Madam, you've been listening to too much Boston Sports Talk Radio!

 

[PatsFanSince74]

well, the GOOD news is you all have two weeks to construct a real nice diving board before you all jump ship. Please, just do it BEFORE the playoff game...for obvious reasons

Nah, they'll all be here for the game day thread

 

[PatsFanSince74]

I was yelling "no half-measures!!" throughout the game.

that probably sounds better in Yiddish.

 

[PatsFanSince74]

These injures have exposed Josh McDaniels. He simply can't utilize the players on his roster....can't gameplan to get the most out of them. (only weapon in the passing game missing today was Jules)...
Haven't seen such poor coaching coming out of Foxborough in years and years.

With the O Line in the condition it was, I'm not sure a Coaching Staff of Belichick, Paul Brown, Vince Lombardi and Bill Walsh could have gameplanned any better. They didn't have the weapons to mount any sort of a threat in the running game, couldn't protect Brady for more than a nanosecond or two, so I'm not even sure that having Jules back would have made much of a difference...

 

[Haley]

What's a starter? I'm not even sure we have those on this team anymore. This coaching staff has taken the next man up mentality to a whole new level this year. What other organization would even consider a rotating offensive line, by actual design? This combined with our level of attrition this season has left the "starter" designation pretty vague across much of the team.

That said, if they thought the oline situation to be dire enough to warrant a full half of a nearly exclusive run game, I'm not sure why they didn't just let Jimmy G do it.

 

[PatsDeb]

There is no team in the playoffs we can beat if we play like we did the last 2 weeks. To expect to improve the team by sitting players out then hoping they play well after inactivity is shaky at best. We don't even know how many of any of the players who sat today can even play in 2 weeks. Surely if they could have played we would have at least dressed them with HFA in the line.


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Truth.

 

[BobDigital]

This is an argument we don't have an answer for yet. Here is the good news. The Pats will have a bye and a home game. Now they have time to rest their players and have a Home game to try to get back into the swing of thing when they play all out.

What you do is look at the starters and the leaders on this team and ask "can they get everyone else ready and motivated and able to put out 100% again after not doing ti for a while?"

I think we can and will. We have a lot of players who are vets and have been here before and knows what playoff time means.

 

[PatsBoy12]

I understand why we played them against the Jets . . . at least in theory. Why we played them yesterday is beyond me if that was going to be the game plan. They got Brady hurt. I'm telling you this and I hope I'm wrong obviously, but Marcus Cannon at some point, if Brady continues to play, will get him killed. Cannon is absolutely terrible to me. I know why he has to be out there and I am SO HAPPY they moved him to RT, but I will always be scared when he's in the game. The whole line is terrible, but he is the one who concerns me most. I hope Andrews is permanently back in the starting lineup. From my layman's eyes, Stork has been pretty bad. Andrews, aside from the Bills' Monday Nighter has been mostly good.

 

[PatsBoy12]

There is no team in the playoffs we can beat if we play like we did the last 2 weeks. To expect to improve the team by sitting players out then hoping they play well after inactivity is shaky at best. We don't even know how many of any of the players who sat today can even play in 2 weeks. Surely if they could have played we would have at least dressed them with HFA in the line.


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I've been saying this very thing in the past few weeks. I think most of us are assuming that guys are going to come back and be instantly what they were before. Some underestimate the importance of game reps and timing. LaFell still has no timing, though that's also a product of the other things going on on offense. The injured guys have less to do with the O-Line. Sure Brady can get it out a little quicker with Edelman in the game, which should also open more up for the other guys, but he still getting hit on the quick stuff too. He's been hit the second most since like week 8. That's never a stat you want to see for your QB.

But I digress a bit with the O-Line stuff. Yeah, the team is going to have to play much better. Some people are trying to convince themselves that NE sort of let the two games slip because they're not afraid to go anywhere to win. Even if it's true and they can win anywhere, wouldn't you still rather play every playoff game in Gillette where you're damn near unbeatable? Oh, not to mention it's still a business and more home playoff games mean more revenue. I'll maybe concede yesterday's game as a "let's just not get any more guys hurt" type game, but no one will convince me that NE didn't want to win that Jets game. But alas, none of that stuff dilutes the main point, which is you're absolutely right that the team must figure out a way to play better. The other stuff only drives it home.

 

[luuked]

There is no team in the playoffs we can beat if we play like we did the last 2 weeks. To expect to improve the team by sitting players out then hoping they play well after inactivity is shaky at best. We don't even know how many of any of the players who sat today can even play in 2 weeks. Surely if they could have played we would have at least dressed them with HFA in the line.


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It seems you and a lot of others are overrating HFA relative to what Belichick apparently thinks.

 

[Ring 6]

It seems you and a lot of others are overrating HFA relative to what Belichick apparently thinks.

Did he tell you that? This is my problem with many fans, you rationalize that since we didn't win, it wasn't important. Why did Brady play? Why did McCourty play? Kline? Amendola?
BB tried to win the game. BB is smart enough to understand that HFA matters.
BB is smart enough to understand that having your team play like THAT heading into the playoffs is a disaster.

 

[saspack]

Well, I mean, obviously Belichick got confused and thought it was still preseason.

Yep, I heard BB concussed in practice trying to fill in as left tackle.

 

[RobertWeathers]

It looks like the games didnt appear to be important to Bill --
from running out the clock before half against the Jets
to having Brady barely throw the ball in the first half, and then launch bombs that inevitably fall incomplete the second half.

If that was the gameplan, why not just have given Amendola, Gronk, Brady, and every other important player the game off the last two weeks.

1. They had a ton to work on.
2. They could still get HFA

 

[BadMoFo]

I really think we would've won yesterday if we let Jimmy play and gave him a regular game plan. The first half just screwed everything up.