Official Pats/Texans post-game thread

[Joker]

Momentum...moron. Why dont you go bash Bill Polian and Jim Caldwell some more .

well then, Indy must have incredible momentum having been blasted to smithereens the last two games...why don't you find another team to "root" for with your idiotic pessimism...you make me sick to be even associated with the frontrunning back biting "fan" you are

 

[jmt57]

Aaahh, the beauty of 20-20 hindsight. You get to second guess another decision maker and offer that as 'proof' that you know it all, and he is so dumb.

 

[mayoclinic]

Barring Welker which is the real story of the game

We have major issue holding onto Q4 leads. The D starts playing 10 yards off every damn play and the vanilla defense thats run is just manna from heaven for guys like Schaub, Manning etc.

Then when the O gets the ball back we seem to panic and try and force it downfield. Just go back to whats been working (screens, slants etc) and use Taylor in the running game

At the moment, Indy, SD and NO will hand us our butts on a plate

Yup.

Goals for the game:

1. Avoid key injuries - oops, missed on that one.
2. Play well and build some momentum for the playoffs - oops, missed out on that one.

0 for 2.

This is the most maddeningly inconsistent team in BB's 10 year reign. I know the game was essentially meaningless, but it would have been nice to build on some of the things we did well the past few weeks to show some consistency and momentum going into the playoffs. Instead, we have another blown 4th quarter lead and defensive collapse down the stretch on the road, with vanilla play calling. It doesn't inspire confidence. Our 2-6 road record ties the 2000 club for the worst road record in the BB era.

This team may win a game in the postseason, but I don't see any indication to suggest that we are capable of putting together a sustained run on the road against top competition.

 

[upstater1]

If the game was "meaningless", there was no reason to be playing Brady or Welker when he'd already made Faulk inactive and was planning on playing "rotate the O-line" all game long. It's that simple.

Belichick's been off his game this season, to put it kindly, and it's time for people to admit that instead of defending some of the most idiotic decisions the man's ever made.

You keep saying there was no reason and then people give you a reason and you ignore it.

 

[PatsWSB47]

If some of you can't figure out why that had to happen there is no hope for you... A rookie UDFA QB conversion project with a broken arm who has seen spot duty for the last several weeks is now Tom's #1 target for the playoffs... And matching the kid up for practice with Hoyer wasn't going to do Edleman any good either...

Bingo. I think it was discussed at halftime and the decision was made then. The defense is what concerns me right now.

 

[ArmyPatsFan]

Re: Pats are okay

Finally a post that brings some logic with it......5 starters were inactive..the Oline was a revolving door.....3rd stringers on the DLine.....it is what it is. I have no doubt if we play Houston next week we win easy.

...now how long until the sky is falling crowd jumps in...

Oh well Patters moved the original thread....

 

[Deus Irae]

You keep saying there was no reason and then people give you a reason and you ignore it.

Stupidity is an unacceptable reason. I'm not ignoring the ridiculous excuses being passed out. I'm laughing at them.


Edit: I defended/explained Brady being put in for the 3rd quarter after the Welker injury had already happened.

 

[Sean Pa Patriot]

Well the 2 things that concern me...


The Welker inj is huge, and depressing...


The defense, say what you want to say, was horrible.. it showed signs of life, but Whilhite and tackling was awful.. That should be our concern...


I would have liked to be 11-5 or 12-4, but we are the division champs and play next week...

 

[Kontradiction]

Totally pessimistic post.

1. If you noticed, Manning and Wayne and ALL the Colts played longer than Welker.

And this changes the fact that it was a bad decision to put the starters (including Welker, Moss, and Brady) in there how?

2. That wasn't our first team defense!??! Please. Brace, Wilhite, Alexander weer out there in the fourth quarter.

Seriously, you believe that was the first team?

The first team defense was in for the vast majority of the game. On top of that, Wilhite is a bad name to throw out. He has seen a lot of playing time this season. It's not like the Texans offense put up 400 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter alone.

Or wait... do you really think this is a good defense?

 

[Marqui]

Re: Pats are okay

...now how long until the sky is falling crowd jumps in...

Any minute now. That train is never late.

 

[BaltimorePatsFan]

There's always next year. It's not like the end of the world or anything.

Okay, I'm just kidding.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Which is why it is so upsetting that we lost one of our top three weapons (and, arguably, the most important piece to the passing game) in a "meaningless" game. Let's take a look at what we accomplished in this game...

1. BB once again showed an inability to make a solid decision. Are we going to rest the starters or not? Are we going to try or not? Whomever said that this was BB's worst coaching season might be right... though I'm not old enough to remember his Cleveland years.

He made his decision, you seem to be one of the ones who just couldn't decipher it.

2. Lost what is probably the most important piece to our offense to what looks to be a torn ACL. Bad news for a guy that depends on his wheels as much as Welker does.

And he was lost without being hit. Could have happened in practice next week...

3. Blew another 4th quarter lead on the road.

4. First unit defense limps into the playoffs with zero confidence after allowing 400+ yards of total offense, including 300 through the air and 119 on the ground and 2 TD's a piece.

That was not the first unit defense...

5. Subjected Brady and his cracked/broken ribs to more punishing hits in a "meaningless game"... one in which he never really looked good or comfortable, from what I saw.

If you watched at all you should be able to figure out why Brady had to return to the game...

If there's any good news, it's that Edelman looks extremely good. However, I was hoping that we could keep Welker and Aiken in the slot and line him up on the outside split wide on the other side of Moss. He has the quickness to get out of single coverage. But now, we aren't going to have that look. I sincerely hope that Welker just has a badly sprained knee and can make it back in the divisional round. God knows that we aren't going to be able to depend on our defense to do it against the Chargers and Colts of the AFC. My guess? We barely get by our Wild Card opponent then promptly get smoked in the divisional round by the Colts. This year feels a lot like 2005.

This is football. Football players play football. Reps are how teams improve. This team had taken all season to begin to round into form. Today Edleman and Brady needed all the reps BB dared to give them because the next time they take the field it's win or go home. Reps with Hoyer do nothing for Edleman. You also can't rest everyone and the players who don't often suffer the consequences because you are resting starters...

 

[harrylime70]

Welker just a freak injury as pointed out...For all the talk of the resting even the Colts played startes in the snow and whether we like it or not it was far more meaningless to them. BB took out Faulk and obviously has to play some starters for a few series (plus they may have wanted to play) as has been the case in these types of games for many years. No blame on anyone and hindsight is a wonderful thing.

That said what I dont understand is why we didnt just close this game out in the 4th when we led by 14. If we risk players for that long we may as well finish the job (keep them on the field) and get the confidence boost or whatever it is we were looking for. It seemed a very confused plan at times that was made up as we went along on the sidelines. We seem to have been like that a few times this season which is so unlike Bb and the Pats. Surely a clear plan for this game i.e take Brady and Co out after a set time would have been a better clearer plan!!!

 

[blackglass3]

Stupidity is an unacceptable reason. I'm not ignoring the ridiculous excuses being passed out. I'm laughing at them.

You're pointless to argue with, and have been since Seymour got traded. Nothing is going to change your mind, so I won't bother. Let's just say I gave what I thought was a valid reason for Welker playing, you continued to be against it whilst laughing at me and saying my thinking is stupid, and that's the end of it.

 

[rabthepat]

Nice to hear the Choir singing my tune finally...the 2009 Pats are pretenders. Hopefully, you guys will get on board to address the "Belichick" issue after the season.

 

[Deus Irae]

This is football. Football players play football. Reps are how teams improve. This team had taken all season to begin to round into form. Today Edleman and Brady needed all the reps BB dared to give them because the next time they take the field it's win or go home. Reps with Hoyer do nothing for Edleman. You also can't rest everyone and the players who don't often suffer the consequences because you are resting starters...

Welker playing at all was a bad decision. Brady playing in the 3rd quarter made sense. Brady playing in the 4th quarter was a bad decision.

 

[blackglass3]

This is football. Football players play football. Reps are how teams improve. This team had taken all season to begin to round into form. Today Edleman and Brady needed all the reps BB dared to give them because the next time they take the field it's win or go home. Reps with Hoyer do nothing for Edleman. You also can't rest everyone and the players who don't often suffer the consequences because you are resting starters...

I totally agree with everything Mo said in this post.

 

[upstater1]

And this changes the fact that it was a bad decision to put the starters (including Welker, Moss, and Brady) in there how?



The first team defense was in for the vast majority of the game. On top of that, Wilhite is a bad name to throw out. He has seen a lot of playing time this season. It's not like the Texans offense put up 400 yards of total offense in the fourth quarter alone.

Or wait... do you really think this is a good defense?

Well, on 1, when every coach in the league is playing their guys, makes you wonder if you know more than all the coaches in the league. For me, I don't want Brady out there without his binky. For that reason alone, Wes plays.

On two, yes, I do think it's a good defense. No, I don't think Brace and Wilhite and Alexander are good. The first team defense was NOT out there. How can you say that? How can say it when Warren, Bodden, Wilfork didn't play? When our bench was out there and some of TODAY'S starters weren't out there.

Please.

 

[Deus Irae]

You're pointless to argue with, and have been since Seymour got traded. Nothing is going to change your mind, so I won't bother. Let's just say I gave what I thought was a valid reason for Welker playing, you continued to be against it whilst laughing at me and saying my thinking is stupid, and that's the end of it.

How you justify playing Welker and not playing Faulk? Yes, I'm laughing at people missing that obvious disconnect.

 

[MoLewisrocks]

Bingo. I think it was discussed at halftime and the decision was made then. The defense is what concerns me right now.

That wasn't the starting DL or secondary playing in that game. Butler had a nice pick but a couple of other costly miscues. Ditto Whilhite. They will be nickle and dime players if that next week,