Who cares about jets/dolphins

[PatFanCraig]

what does that have to do with the jets or dolphins idk someone help me out here i think im stuck in patfancraig's mind

It means let's focus on what we need to improve to beat the teams we need to beat to win a championship trophy like Broncos,seahawks,SF, or any of the elite teams that step up. Instead of our division rivals who are of no championship concern.

 

[Patjew]

A lot of people think he's gymrat. I really don't care about Craig one way or another. There's just no way in Hell I was reading that entire post outside of taking a Ritalin.

Yeah, to be fair I couldn't get past his first sentence. It just seems like folks are really mad about it.

 

[PatFanCraig]

I do apologize, when I'm typing an idea I'm excited about I rush through covering all the bases without stopping to think through sometimes. I'm ADHD.

A lot of people think he's gymrat. I really don't care about Craig one way or another. There's just no way in Hell I was reading that entire post outside of taking a Ritalin.

 

[PatFanCraig]

I apologize patjew. I'm part Jewish. You don't see that much. You don't see to many half Jewish people I suppose

 

[supafly]

It means let's focus on what we need to improve to beat the teams we need to beat to win a championship trophy like Broncos,seahawks,SF, or any of the elite teams that step up. Instead of our division rivals who are of no championship concern.

With all due respect, Craig---this thinking is somewhat silly in my opinion, due to the fact that each and every person in the organization will tell you that the first goal is to win the division. Once that has been achieved, the next goal is to secure a first round bye, and so on and so forth. The goals change as you get deeper into the season, but the one achievable goal right now is obviously to win the AFCE.

If you want to talk about any teams that are irrelevant, they would point to your list of SF, SEA, etc who we don't even play this year, outside of going to the SB with 2 weeks to prepare. If that were the case, then that would obviously be our goal at that time. In the meantime, it's absolutely pointless to concern ourselves with teams who we don't even play, while looking past teams that we do play 6x this season.

Going into the season, the way to the playoffs lies in the division, and having a solid record against those teams.

To take it one step further, you're also talking about 2 teams that not only both beat us last year, but finished .500 as well. I hardly think anyone in Foxborough is "looking past them."

 

[BradyFTW!]

It means let's focus on what we need to improve to beat the teams we need to beat to win a championship trophy like Broncos,seahawks,SF, or any of the elite teams that step up. Instead of our division rivals who are of no championship concern.

The short answer to that is that the Pats lost two divisional games last year. If they win either of those games, they're the #1 seed and the AFCCG is played in Foxboro. I agree that the Jets, Bills, and Dolphins aren't the 'real' challenge, but they are the teams that we play 6 times, and how well we play them determines things like byes, playoff matchups, and where those games are played.

 

[supafly]

The short answer to that is that the Pats lost two divisional games last year. If they win either of those games, they're the #1 seed and the AFCCG is played in Foxboro. I agree that the Jets, Bills, and Dolphins aren't the 'real' challenge, but they are the teams that we play 6 times, and how well we play them determines things like byes, playoff matchups, and where those games are played.

And of course...whether or not we go to the postseason.

Although we're all used to seeing postseason appearances, let's not forget that we recently had a season that saw an 11-5 team sitting home for the month of January.

We all assume that there won't be any contenders to the divisional crown, but that can turn around in a hurry. I for one, don't take anything for granted, and I would expect Belichick to coach the same way, and the players to follow that mantra.

As you said--6 of 16 games are played against divisional opponents, and winning the division is the key to making the postseason. For those reasons alone, I would guess that the NE Patriots take their divisional games quite seriously as opposed to some of the entitled fans who are already penciling in wins.

 

[Joker]