The Pats have to win the first 55 minutes

[BobDigital]

I wanted to give sometime for the news of the Hightower injury to pass to make this thread. The Pats I am sure will do a good job filling in for him but it is a big loss and I think it changes the dynamic of this team along with the Edelman injury.

A big staple of these Patriot championship team in the last few years has been slow starter but great finishers. In the 2014 and 2016 runs they had a few great comeback to win those championships. Besides the 2 super bowls you also have that very memorable Ravens game. I think this injury changes this and the way they have to win.

Let me be clear. I still think this can be a championship team in the current landscape of the NFL. I am certainly not jumping off any bandwagons or saying the sky is falling. However I think this team now falls into the same grouping as the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Patriots. Not because of talent or cause i think it will lose but because of my belief it has now lost its ability to come back from long odds.

This is not a team that facing a playoff opponent 10 points down in the 4th that can make the plays to win. The whole cycle of getting an offensive TD and defense stop (or vice versa) that IMO has gone out the window.

No i am not betting against Brady late. The best thing you can say about a great QB is he always gives you a chance to win. The key word is chance. It is about can the other 52 guys take advantage of that chance. Now I don't think they can. I think they need to play a different game and win a different way. The Pats now will probably need to be front runners late to win or down no more than 3 points late... hopefully less.

This to me is a problem as recently against good teams the Pats have notoriously been slow starters. In all 7 super bowls in the Brady/BB era they failed to score in the first quarter. Even though they dominated Atlanta last week the slow start happened again.

This team when those big games come I think will need to have to change to a front running team or neck and neck at worst by the 3rd quarter and certainly no later than early 4th. If they need a sequence of good clutch plays at the end to win I don't see them able to string it together anymore. The good news is no team really scares me right now. I don't think a team in the NFL exist that would be impossible for the Pats to have a lead on into the 4th if they play well.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[oldrover]

Just my 2 cents.

Maybe you could ask Ian to pay you by the word.

 

[BobDigital]

Maybe you could ask Ian to pay you by the word.

I am flattered you think I should be paid at all I think it makes more sense to be paid by the letter though. Otherwise I may just start using more small words.

 

[oldrover]

2011's defense was a sieve, and a Super Bowl win barely slipped through their fingers. (sorry, Wes)

IMHO if this defense is even just mediocre, the Pats will be fine.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Damn, just beat me to my “Pats Have To Win First Sixty Minutes” thread.

 

[Huckleberry1]

Maybe you could ask Ian to pay you by the word.

Not going to happen, Ian is working a second job at Wendy’s as we speak to pay off Ken for a similar deal.

 

[n1997y]

Damn, just beat me to my “Pats Have To Win First Sixty Minutes” thread.

But five minutes short...

 

[n1997y]

I wanted to give sometime for the news of the Hightower injury to pass to make this thread. The Pats I am sure will do a good job filling in for him but it is a big loss and I think it changes the dynamic of this team along with the Edelman injury.

A big staple of these Patriot championship team in the last few years has been slow starter but great finishers. In the 2014 and 2016 runs they had a few great comeback to win those championships. Besides the 2 super bowls you also have that very memorable Ravens game. I think this injury changes this and the way they have to win.

Let me be clear. I still think this can be a championship team in the current landscape of the NFL. I am certainly not jumping off any bandwagons or saying the sky is falling. However I think this team now falls into the same grouping as the 2007, 2011 and 2015 Patriots. Not because of talent or cause i think it will lose but because of my belief it has now lost its ability to come back from long odds.

This is not a team that facing a playoff opponent 10 points down in the 4th that can make the plays to win. The whole cycle of getting an offensive TD and defense stop (or vice versa) has gone out the window.

No i am not betting against Brady late. The best thing you can say about a great QB is he always gives you a chance to win. The key word is chance. It is about can the other 52 guys take advantage of that chance. Now I don't think they can. I think they need to play a different game and win a different way. The Pats now will probably need to be front runners late to win or down no more than 3 points late... hopefully less.

This to me is a problem as recently against good teams the Pats have notoriously been slow starters. In all 7 super bowls in the Brady/BB era they failed to score in the first quarter. Even though they dominated Atlanta last week the slow start happened again.

This team when those big games come I think will need to have to change to a front running team or neck and neck at worst by the 3rd quarter and certainly no later than early 4th. If they need a sequence of good clutch plays at the end to win I don't see them able to string it together anymore. The good news is no team really scares me right now. I don't think a team in the NFL exist that would be impossible for the Pats to have a lead on into the 4th if they play well.

Just my 2 cents.

I disagree. I see several clutch players on both sides of the ball. Malcolm Butler has been there and done it. Iirc Flowers made some clutch plays in the epic comeback from 28-3. This team is about more than just one guy. So I'm not projecting any fear or expectations of shortcomings on them. I'll wait, and see what they make of their opportunities.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

We play 60.

In the last 5 min we turn it up to 11.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Talk about being | | this close in your statement. Your title said they need to win 55 minutes. You were only off by a very small 5 minutes. That's like getting a 90+% on a test -- a grade of A. Nice work...

 

[TinhWoodhead]

they can drive 55?

 

[SammyBlueCat]

This is not a team that facing a playoff opponent 10 points down in the 4th that can make the plays to win. The whole cycle of getting an offensive TD and defense stop (or vice versa) has gone out the window.

Why do you say this? Houston may be a playoff team and we came back to win. Carolina may (or may not) be a playoff team and although we lost, we did come back from 14 points down.

 

[primetime]

[very Madden voice] hey goal one, they gotta score more points than the chargers

 

[BobDigital]

Why do you say this? Houston may be a playoff team and we came back to win. Carolina may (or may not) be a playoff team and although we lost, we did come back from 14 points down.

Well it is just my guess and opinion at this point. I am not claiming it to be absolute fact. Maybe i'll be wrong (and be happy to be so if I am). I hope I never find out though and we get to front run the whole time cause it think it will be the case vs the good teams in those situations if they get into them.

 

[DarrylS]

Much like Sammy Hagar the Pats cannot drive "55"....

 

[Triumph]

28 - 3

Win the last 5 minutes.

 

[patriot1136]

I still believe this team can do it. But yes, I would much rather have a lead than need to make a comeback. My concern is not the D but the O-line. They need to get healthy, step up more, and be consistent.

 

[Doctor DDS]

One of the main attributes that makes Brady and the Pats so exceptional is their no quit mentality and their ability to come back in games that appear out of reach. The Super Bowl is the ultimate example but there are numerous other instances in the past several years when they came back to either win or at least give themselves a real shot to do so. The Cleveland and Saints games a few years back were both seemingly 99% in the loss column, Houston this year was a play away from defeat several times, the comeback drive against Denver in the playoffs was one of the gutsiest drives I have ever seen despite it falling a 2 pointer short and so on and so on. I would think that the Pats are probably the number one team in the league in ability to pull out a win in the last 5 minutes of a game (not that any Pats fans want them to take that approach)

 

[Patriot Missile]

All they have to do is win the first minute, score a td and hold them under 6 the rest of the game.

 

[chasa]

imo if they win the first 55 and then lose the last 5, its still counts as a loss, just ask the falcons.