manxman2601
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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments.Want to watch the game again. Didn’t see JC Jacksons name called very often, if at all. What was his snap count? Woods who I thought was going to be one of the go to’s was almost invisible. Was he on Woods or Reynolds?
I can understand your frustration, but I think you are being a bit too harsh. I get mad a Josh when he goes empty on 3rd and short to often for my taste, but to say he wasn't trying different things is a little over the top.Here are some ideal thoughts I have.
1. The offensive game plan in one word? Stubborn. They went away too much from what was working and went too much to what was. They failed to change their pace or rhythm really the entire game and the result is a mere 13 points and a max at a chance of 19. Just cause it was good enough today doesn't mean it is good enough in general.
While I understand that sometimes you find yourself in a defensive game we've seen before when such games can be blown wide open (KC this year and the Carolina SB). The lack of aggression here was annoying and could have been a mistake. Usually it would have been. You don't want for a team to get the lead until you decide to attack. They never even ran a true hurry up or no huddle. Also on 2 attempts to Sony and 6 to Hogan they were 0 for 8 in passing. I get testing it, fine. But when it isn't working and you have something that i,s don't force a match up you are clearly losing if you don't have to.
Again a bit harsh. Cooks is a very good player, but not good enough to get top WR dollars. BTW- I am on record that NO WR is worth top WR money.2. Invisible yards 1 - While I wasn't the first to say it I will repeat it. Cooks had the most forgettable 120 yards I've ever seen. I watched every second of the game and I couldn't tell you were half of them came from. This has been the story of Cooks in his career. A guy who gets a lot of stats but rarely seems to effect games. Particularly big ones. The lone exception is that Jags game last year for us.
Good of you to recognize the "field position" aspect of the game. Too often in this age of 30 point per team games, the value of field position is lost on tpp many fans3. Invisible yards 2 - While it doesn't usually show up on the stat sheet the STs (save for field goal kickers) was on point for both teams. The Pats had that great early run back but besides that both teams found themselves constantly pinned back. The Pats downed a number of balls inside the 10. It was a good field position game.
I can only say, "be careful what you wish for". EVERY kicker misses at some point. There was a time in this game when making over 50% of your FG attempts got you an NFL career, and any kick over 40 yds was a risky proposition.Gost - He has now missed makeable kicks in back to back to back SBs. His contract is up this year. While I don't think they should move this HAS to change how you look at him. Yes. The other kicker missed one too but he had a gimpy plant leg. Frankly speaking you can't go into another SB with Gost and be afraid to try anything over 50 or just accepting you will miss one or two kicks. Generally speaking you can't keep taking points off the board vs the best competition in the NFL. It bit them last year. Not this year or in 16'. If they go again with Gost it may bit them that time. Something to think about.
5. Beware the peaking team - The Saints and Rams were on a downward trend and the Pats were on an upward one. Any Saints fan looking at this game and believing they would have won is wrong. They were not the same team they were weeks ago and neither were the Rams. The Saints wree frankly lucky to get by the Eagles and failed to beat the equally struggling Rams. The Pats would have beat them too. This team was peaking at the right time and people in the media ignored it. Like the ignore the Giants and the Ravens in 2012 and other peaking team. We need to remember these kind of teams are the most dangerous. During next years playoffs I will need to give this factor more weight.
6. Defense going into 2019 - The priority is to keep the key parts of the unit together for next year right now. Maybe Gronks walks and maybe not. You can't control that. In any case after what this unit did this year I don't want to mess with it too much. Every year we see the Pats revamp core parts of this unit, extend the preseason into the regular season, install and practice the more complex plays after thanksgiving and hope it is working and attack by the playoffs. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
Wouldn't it be nice to go into next year not having to worry about teaching a bunch of new people the scheme, hope to build chemistry with a number key players and just hit the ground running? I think they would be nice. It doesn't mean you need to keep everyone. But I think Flowers and the McCourty bros need to be a priority. It doesn't mean we need to pay Devin 14M cause frankly he isn't worth that. But keep him happy and here and try to keep the core of this unit together one more year.
7. Edelman - He is a HOFer. You play the game to win championships and the guy absolutely is one of the top options I want on my team for that. The thing about Jules is he doesn't abuse the bad teams as much as a Julio Jones would, but he can get work done vs any defense and be a key playmakrer Doesn't matter the scheme or talent he is up against. Unless you literally don't give a QB time to throw he will get a bunch of yards on you. He is an unstoppable force in these games. Denver has come the closest in 15' but most of that had to do with Brady not having time, not Edelman being unable to get open in a reasonable amount of time.
No, keep the OL intact.I dont think this is a question. Always go with Flowers over Brown.
In the end this was BBs defense. Flores will be a good hire just based on his personality and as a culture builder. But whether he can come up with gameplans like that and instill them in his players on his own we shall see next September.
I can understand your frustration, but I think you are being a bit too harsh. I get mad a Josh when he goes empty on 3rd and short to often for my taste, but to say he wasn't trying different things is a little over the top.
BB himself gave him kudos for the adjustment he made just before the TD drive. The fact that they hadn't practiced that package tells me that he went through a number of OTHER adjustments before finally finding something that worked consistently.
Not so sure of that. At best it’s a really close call, certainly arguable either way. Remember, we are not talking about an OL who is just a serviceable starting tackle. We’re talking about the largest player in the NFL, about whom no less than Von Miller said:I just think given everything that Flowers is the harder to replace player than Brown. The hypothetical was pick one of the two. In reality the Pats might pick both (if reasonably possible) or maybe neither.
Note that Miller said that in August 2017, before Brown spent a year under the tutelage of Dante Scarnecchia and flipped over to play LT on a line that protected Brady to the tune of one sack total in three-plus playoff games.He's the best right tackle in the National Football League! And he may even be a top-five tackle, period, in the National Football League. There’s not another tackle who’s that tall, that big and can move the way he moves.
Not so sure of that. At best it’s a really close call, certainly arguable either way. Remember, we are not talking about an OL who is just a serviceable starting tackle. We’re talking about the largest player in the NFL, about whom no less than Von Miller said:
Note that Miller said that in August 2017, before Brown spent a year under the tutelage of Dante Scarnecchia and flipped over to play LT on a line that protected Brady to the tune of one sack total in three-plus playoff games.
Wynn may turn out to be a successful LT in the NFL, but he is an untested rookie that was questioned as undersized for an NFL OT when he was drafted. Not a sure bet, nor a player who should be tagged as an easy replacement for a 6’8” 380lb top LT.
They're wrong, like you said the game was close right thill the end, the 'boring' super bowls were the ones that were totally lop-sideded with scores such as 46-10.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Flowers too. Just not sure I’d call him elite and put him at the top of his NFL cohort. I don’t think he’s quite at the level of the JJ Watts and Von Millers and Clowneys that are routinely expected to be the best in the league. I see Flowers as being just a hair from reaching that level, so far. He might be there or get there, but for now I’m seeing Trent Brown as being just a bit more key. YMMV. I’d love to see them both stay. If either leaves it won’t be the end of hope for another trophy next year.And Trey Flowers is an elite player who can play anywhere on the DL. With Wynn there is at least another player on the roster who has elite traits and was chosen to play tackle. Who exactly do we have to do what Flowers has been doing for 3 years now ?
Wise ? Simon ? Rivers ?
Boston Sports Info @bostonsportsinf 21h21 hours ago
New England Patriots held the LA Rams to 13 total yards on 13 total 3rd down plays in the Super Bowl 13 total yards on 3rd down in an entire game against the 2nd best offense in the NFL amazing
Bob D....lots of great points worthy of discussion...Here are some ideal thoughts I have.
1. The offensive game plan in one word? Stubborn. They went away too much from what was working and went too much to what was. They failed to change their pace or rhythm really the entire game and the result is a mere 13 points and a max at a chance of 19. Just cause it was good enough today doesn't mean it is good enough in general.
While I understand that sometimes you find yourself in a defensive game we've seen before when such games can be blown wide open (KC this year and the Carolina SB). The lack of aggression here was annoying and could have been a mistake. Usually it would have been. You don't want for a team to get the lead until you decide to attack. They never even ran a true hurry up or no huddle. Also on 2 attempts to Sony and 6 to Hogan they were 0 for 8 in passing. I get testing it, fine. But when it isn't working and you have something that i,s don't force a match up you are clearly losing if you don't have to.
2. Invisible yards 1 - While I wasn't the first to say it I will repeat it. Cooks had the most forgettable 120 yards I've ever seen. I watched every second of the game and I couldn't tell you were half of them came from. This has been the story of Cooks in his career. A guy who gets a lot of stats but rarely seems to effect games. Particularly big ones. The lone exception is that Jags game last year for us.
3. Invisible yards 2 - While it doesn't usually show up on the stat sheet the STs (save for field goal kickers) was on point for both teams. The Pats had that great early run back but besides that both teams found themselves constantly pinned back. The Pats downed a number of balls inside the 10. It was a good field position game.
4. Gost - He has now missed makeable kicks in back to back to back SBs. His contract is up this year. While I don't think they should move this HAS to change how you look at him. Yes. The other kicker missed one too but he had a gimpy plant leg. Frankly speaking you can't go into another SB with Gost and be afraid to try anything over 50 or just accepting you will miss one or two kicks. Generally speaking you can't keep taking points off the board vs the best competition in the NFL. It bit them last year. Not this year or in 16'. If they go again with Gost it may bit them that time. Something to think about.
5. Beware the peaking team - The Saints and Rams were on a downward trend and the Pats were on an upward one. Any Saints fan looking at this game and believing they would have won is wrong. They were not the same team they were weeks ago and neither were the Rams. The Saints wree frankly lucky to get by the Eagles and failed to beat the equally struggling Rams. The Pats would have beat them too. This team was peaking at the right time and people in the media ignored it. Like the ignore the Giants and the Ravens in 2012 and other peaking team. We need to remember these kind of teams are the most dangerous. During next years playoffs I will need to give this factor more weight.
6. Defense going into 2019 - The priority is to keep the key parts of the unit together for next year right now. Maybe Gronks walks and maybe not. You can't control that. In any case after what this unit did this year I don't want to mess with it too much. Every year we see the Pats revamp core parts of this unit, extend the preseason into the regular season, install and practice the more complex plays after thanksgiving and hope it is working and attack by the playoffs. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
Wouldn't it be nice to go into next year not having to worry about teaching a bunch of new people the scheme, hope to build chemistry with a number key players and just hit the ground running? I think they would be nice. It doesn't mean you need to keep everyone. But I think Flowers and the McCourty bros need to be a priority. It doesn't mean we need to pay Devin 14M cause frankly he isn't worth that. But keep him happy and here and try to keep the core of this unit together one more year.
7. Edelman - He is a HOFer. You play the game to win championships and the guy absolutely is one of the top options I want on my team for that. The thing about Jules is he doesn't abuse the bad teams as much as a Julio Jones would, but he can get work done vs any defense and be a key playmakrer Doesn't matter the scheme or talent he is up against. Unless you literally don't give a QB time to throw he will get a bunch of yards on you. He is an unstoppable force in these games. Denver has come the closest in 15' but most of that had to do with Brady not having time, not Edelman being unable to get open in a reasonable amount of time.
This one is going to be structure less. Just some disorganized observations that will help me digest what I just saw.
1. A family emergency caused me to miss the first half, and I'm sure that was one of the reasons my blood pressure remained so low. After looking at the stats and hearing about that first half, I image it must have been extremely frustrating, especially given how well the defense was playing.
2. I knew about the Brady pick, which after I saw a replay of it, wasn't as horrible as I thought. Coleman made a nice play on the ball, it gets deflected, and unfortunately falls right to the wrong guy. Deflections like that are usually what happens to the winning team. You just got to have them.
When the CJ Williams fumble just barely squeezed out of bounds before a Patriot could recover it, I got a bad feeling. Reminded me of the 2011 Superbowl, when the Giants fumbled 4 times and the only one we fell on was negated by a penalty. Usually fumbles are 50-50 affairs. THAT game would have changed if those odds had born out in 2011.
I thought before the game that we had pretty much gone the playoffs WITHOUT doing much in the TO battle. You don't often win playoff games losing the TO battle -2. like in KC. I had hoped that THIS game would mark a significant change. Instead right at the start of the game the Rams get a deflection TO when we were in FG range, and 2 plays later, Hightower makes a great move jumping a route, and drops the ball. Again, not a good trend.
3. I know how frustrated you guys must have been watching it because in the brief moments that I could catch some of the game on Radio, Zolak was getting really frustrated on the way the offense was going, making complaints about BOTH Brady and McDaniels.
4. In the end, much to my surprise (again) both the AFCCG and the Superbowl were games that the Pats should have won much more convincingly, but shot themselves in the foot enough times that they allowed the opponent to either stay in the game or get back into it. That is NOT usually a recipe for success when you are playing the best teams in the league.
5. OK raise your hand if you had 13-3 in the pool? Wow, what a slug fest. I was really impressed with the Rams DL. Michael Brockers doesn't get much national pub, but he made a number of significant plays for the Rams in this game. Granted they only had the one sack and 4 QB hits, but they definitely made Brady "feel" them for most of the night.
6. That being said, if you had told me the Pats would have 155 yds rushing, I would have expected the Pats to have won in a romp. Then again if you had told me the Pats would have 12 first downs in the first half to 2 for the Rams, I wouldn't expect the score to be 3-0 midway through the game.
7. The offense WAS moving the ball over the first 3 quarters, but never with anything like the consistency they did in the TD drive in the 4th quarter. It was about the only time the offense seemed to have had any kind of rhythm at all.
8. Speaking of that last TD drive. Brady has been to 9 superbowls and in EIGHT of them he has led his team to 4th Quarter drives that either won the game (in 6 occasions) or put his team ahead, only to have the defense fail to hold the lead. (sadly twice)
9. IIRC the Pats D was 7th in the league in points allowed, which is pretty good. But that being said, we NEVER saw the kind of pressure put on opposing QB's during the regular season that we witnessed over the course of these 3 playoff games.
I mean every was worried about Tom Brady's heath against their all star DL, while the no names not only sacked Goff 4 times, they got TWELVE hits on him. That was against an OL that allowed the fewest sacks in the regular season It was AWESOME. Not only that, the DL held the Rams to just 55 rushing yards, and literally half the 34 yards Todd Gurley managed came on a 16 yd run that looked like the Pats had covered at the hole, but a nice cutback by Gurley to go along with the backside over running the play allowed for the run. If not for that run, Gurley, one of the top RB's in the game would have averaged UNDER 2 yds per carry.
10. I was surprised to see that Brandon Gooks had 120 yds receiving. Pretty impressive since he was covered so closely all night. Most of the receptions he DID have required a really good throw and catch to make it happen. The only time I remember seeing him with any real space was when there was a bust and he was wide open in the endzone. Fortunately Jason McCourty came out of no where to make the play of the game.
11. BTW - Goff had a "respectable" 223 passing yard, but remember about 50 of them came in the complete garbage time of the last drive of the game. CBS did a great job of showing us how often the Pats had everyone covered. It sometime looked like the DB's and LBs knew the routes better than the receivers.
12. I was a bit worried with Chung went down, but we REALLY have a lot of quality depth in our secondary which is only going to get better next year with Jackson having a year under his belt and a healthy Duke Dawson joining JJones in a very talented deep secondary. (and no I don't believe Devon is retiring, though I wouldn't shock me if his brother did.
13. The Pats have gone through stretches during this run where they have been crushed by injuries. Imagine the kind of Game Brady would have had against the Eagles if Edelman was healthy and Cooks had played more than a quarter of the game. But THIS season might have been the best I can recall in the area of injuries.
14. I waited all year to see HIghtower make a real impact on the defense and earn that big money. Tonight he earned every penny.
15. I have to say that I was more impressed with Sony Michel in THIS game than I have been in any previous game, even when he put up more yds. The Rams front seven pretty much neutralized BOTH the Dallas and Saints running game in their 2 previous playoff games. Tonight Sony averaged 5.2 ypc on 18 carries. And these were HARD yards.
In previous posts I commented that Michel doesn't impress you as big back, or a quick back like Deion Lewis, who makes people miss. But what I noticed and it was confirmed tonight was that Michel finds the hole. To me he doesn't have first round size, power, or elusiveness. But what he DOES have is first round "eyes". He is EXCELLENT at finding the hole and maximizing whatever yards are there. I think next season we will see him integrated more in the passing game and he will become even more valuable.
16. I think we have seen the last game here for Hogan, Claybourn, and Shelton. I actually see Gronk coming back, though it wouldn't surprise if he hangs it up. At best we keep Flowers or Brown, not both. It will be interesting on who they end up choosing to keep. If you could only keep one, who would YOU pick?
17. Miguel has the Pats roughly at $20MM under the cap. I can see another $15MM or so added to that number before FA. That's not a lot of room compared to some teams, but enough to begin building next year's group.
18. With 12 picks currently, this can be a seminal year for the Pats in the draft, much like 2010 was in building this latest iteration. I can see a significantly rebuilt WR group.
19 Amazing, but Tuesday's parade will mark the TWELVETH such event for the City of Boston since 2001. I can't imagine how the city is managing they current drought of about 100 DAYS. Talk about being spoiled. Its like EVERY year, EVERY major sport is either winning a championship of competing for one in the playoffs. I know I have lost any perspective of what it must be like to live somewhere OTHER than the greater Boston area.
20. The fans at the game in Atlanta were LOUD. I mean, affecting the other team loud. You don't see that happening much in Superbowls. Very impressive.
You know for a team that everyone else in the country is supposed to hate, we have a LOT of fans across the country. Tom Brady's shirt is almost always one of the top 10 best sellers. I mean, think about it. Everyone has had 18 years to buy their Brady shirt. You would think that everyone who wanted one would have it already....years ago. Yet every year Brady is one of the best sellers. Maybe the haters are buying his shirt to throw Darts at. .
21. I hope there is a rewatch thread. I'd like to figure out just what the Rams were doing to disrupt the Pats early one, AND investigate what the Pats did to shut down the Rams so completely.
22. After watching that game, I have a feeling Miami fans are VERY excited to see Brian Flores coming to town. I just wish Romo mentioned his importance to the defense strategy more. I also wish we had another year or two of him being the DC.
23. Always love to read what the draftnicks have to say about the Pats prospect. But I have to say that because the Pats are always picking so low it takes away from the draft because you know that so few of the players that will get talked about, will NEVER reach the Pats. Though this year (as last) it will be interesting to try and figure out which QB prospect the Pats will bring in.
OK. I hit the 2am limit, Congratulations to us all. What an amazing run that shows no signs of slowing down. What a privilege to be a fan of this team, and in a community of people like yourselves.
It strikes me after listening to and reading a lot of analysis, that everyone's talked about BB's making everyone play left-handed and taking away the biggest advantage that the other team has. Yeah, we all know.
But nobody has identified that this was exactly what he did with McVay's Offensive Plan, which was the single biggest weapon they had. His offense was very dependent on his memory and intensive film study providing a basis for the offensive game design and play calling. So BB went completely against his tendencies to give him nothing to go on. They took away the safety blanket of McVay's knowing what would work and forced a young Goff into having to make difficult decisions under pressure.
I doubt the Patriots would have used the same game plan against the Saints.Sean Payton and Drew Brees would have picked that defense apart, by the way. They would have understood what they were seeing and used backs and tight ends underneath wherever the rusher left a whole in the zone. They would have run the ball a lot more at Hightower whenever he was lined up as the sole LB.
This one is going to be structure less. Just some disorganized observations that will help me digest what I just saw.
1. A family emergency caused me to miss the first half, and I'm sure that was one of the reasons my blood pressure remained so low. After looking at the stats and hearing about that first half, I image it must have been extremely frustrating, especially given how well the defense was playing.
2. I knew about the Brady pick, which after I saw a replay of it, wasn't as horrible as I thought. Coleman made a nice play on the ball, it gets deflected, and unfortunately falls right to the wrong guy. Deflections like that are usually what happens to the winning team. You just got to have them.
When the CJ Williams fumble just barely squeezed out of bounds before a Patriot could recover it, I got a bad feeling. Reminded me of the 2011 Superbowl, when the Giants fumbled 4 times and the only one we fell on was negated by a penalty. Usually fumbles are 50-50 affairs. THAT game would have changed if those odds had born out in 2011.
I thought before the game that we had pretty much gone the playoffs WITHOUT doing much in the TO battle. You don't often win playoff games losing the TO battle -2. like in KC. I had hoped that THIS game would mark a significant change. Instead right at the start of the game the Rams get a deflection TO when we were in FG range, and 2 plays later, Hightower makes a great move jumping a route, and drops the ball. Again, not a good trend.
3. I know how frustrated you guys must have been watching it because in the brief moments that I could catch some of the game on Radio, Zolak was getting really frustrated on the way the offense was going, making complaints about BOTH Brady and McDaniels.
4. In the end, much to my surprise (again) both the AFCCG and the Superbowl were games that the Pats should have won much more convincingly, but shot themselves in the foot enough times that they allowed the opponent to either stay in the game or get back into it. That is NOT usually a recipe for success when you are playing the best teams in the league.
5. OK raise your hand if you had 13-3 in the pool? Wow, what a slug fest. I was really impressed with the Rams DL. Michael Brockers doesn't get much national pub, but he made a number of significant plays for the Rams in this game. Granted they only had the one sack and 4 QB hits, but they definitely made Brady "feel" them for most of the night.
6. That being said, if you had told me the Pats would have 155 yds rushing, I would have expected the Pats to have won in a romp. Then again if you had told me the Pats would have 12 first downs in the first half to 2 for the Rams, I wouldn't expect the score to be 3-0 midway through the game.
7. The offense WAS moving the ball over the first 3 quarters, but never with anything like the consistency they did in the TD drive in the 4th quarter. It was about the only time the offense seemed to have had any kind of rhythm at all.
8. Speaking of that last TD drive. Brady has been to 9 superbowls and in EIGHT of them he has led his team to 4th Quarter drives that either won the game (in 6 occasions) or put his team ahead, only to have the defense fail to hold the lead. (sadly twice)
9. IIRC the Pats D was 7th in the league in points allowed, which is pretty good. But that being said, we NEVER saw the kind of pressure put on opposing QB's during the regular season that we witnessed over the course of these 3 playoff games.
I mean every was worried about Tom Brady's heath against their all star DL, while the no names not only sacked Goff 4 times, they got TWELVE hits on him. That was against an OL that allowed the fewest sacks in the regular season It was AWESOME. Not only that, the DL held the Rams to just 55 rushing yards, and literally half the 34 yards Todd Gurley managed came on a 16 yd run that looked like the Pats had covered at the hole, but a nice cutback by Gurley to go along with the backside over running the play allowed for the run. If not for that run, Gurley, one of the top RB's in the game would have averaged UNDER 2 yds per carry.
10. I was surprised to see that Brandon Gooks had 120 yds receiving. Pretty impressive since he was covered so closely all night. Most of the receptions he DID have required a really good throw and catch to make it happen. The only time I remember seeing him with any real space was when there was a bust and he was wide open in the endzone. Fortunately Jason McCourty came out of no where to make the play of the game.
11. BTW - Goff had a "respectable" 223 passing yard, but remember about 50 of them came in the complete garbage time of the last drive of the game. CBS did a great job of showing us how often the Pats had everyone covered. It sometime looked like the DB's and LBs knew the routes better than the receivers.
12. I was a bit worried with Chung went down, but we REALLY have a lot of quality depth in our secondary which is only going to get better next year with Jackson having a year under his belt and a healthy Duke Dawson joining JJones in a very talented deep secondary. (and no I don't believe Devon is retiring, though I wouldn't shock me if his brother did.
13. The Pats have gone through stretches during this run where they have been crushed by injuries. Imagine the kind of Game Brady would have had against the Eagles if Edelman was healthy and Cooks had played more than a quarter of the game. But THIS season might have been the best I can recall in the area of injuries.
14. I waited all year to see HIghtower make a real impact on the defense and earn that big money. Tonight he earned every penny.
15. I have to say that I was more impressed with Sony Michel in THIS game than I have been in any previous game, even when he put up more yds. The Rams front seven pretty much neutralized BOTH the Dallas and Saints running game in their 2 previous playoff games. Tonight Sony averaged 5.2 ypc on 18 carries. And these were HARD yards.
In previous posts I commented that Michel doesn't impress you as big back, or a quick back like Deion Lewis, who makes people miss. But what I noticed and it was confirmed tonight was that Michel finds the hole. To me he doesn't have first round size, power, or elusiveness. But what he DOES have is first round "eyes". He is EXCELLENT at finding the hole and maximizing whatever yards are there. I think next season we will see him integrated more in the passing game and he will become even more valuable.
16. I think we have seen the last game here for Hogan, Claybourn, and Shelton. I actually see Gronk coming back, though it wouldn't surprise if he hangs it up. At best we keep Flowers or Brown, not both. It will be interesting on who they end up choosing to keep. If you could only keep one, who would YOU pick?
17. Miguel has the Pats roughly at $20MM under the cap. I can see another $15MM or so added to that number before FA. That's not a lot of room compared to some teams, but enough to begin building next year's group.
18. With 12 picks currently, this can be a seminal year for the Pats in the draft, much like 2010 was in building this latest iteration. I can see a significantly rebuilt WR group.
19 Amazing, but Tuesday's parade will mark the TWELVETH such event for the City of Boston since 2001. I can't imagine how the city is managing they current drought of about 100 DAYS. Talk about being spoiled. Its like EVERY year, EVERY major sport is either winning a championship of competing for one in the playoffs. I know I have lost any perspective of what it must be like to live somewhere OTHER than the greater Boston area.
20. The fans at the game in Atlanta were LOUD. I mean, affecting the other team loud. You don't see that happening much in Superbowls. Very impressive.
You know for a team that everyone else in the country is supposed to hate, we have a LOT of fans across the country. Tom Brady's shirt is almost always one of the top 10 best sellers. I mean, think about it. Everyone has had 18 years to buy their Brady shirt. You would think that everyone who wanted one would have it already....years ago. Yet every year Brady is one of the best sellers. Maybe the haters are buying his shirt to throw Darts at. .
21. I hope there is a rewatch thread. I'd like to figure out just what the Rams were doing to disrupt the Pats early one, AND investigate what the Pats did to shut down the Rams so completely.
22. After watching that game, I have a feeling Miami fans are VERY excited to see Brian Flores coming to town. I just wish Romo mentioned his importance to the defense strategy more. I also wish we had another year or two of him being the DC.
23. Always love to read what the draftnicks have to say about the Pats prospect. But I have to say that because the Pats are always picking so low it takes away from the draft because you know that so few of the players that will get talked about, will NEVER reach the Pats. Though this year (as last) it will be interesting to try and figure out which QB prospect the Pats will bring in.
OK. I hit the 2am limit, Congratulations to us all. What an amazing run that shows no signs of slowing down. What a privilege to be a fan of this team, and in a community of people like yourselves.
Against the Saints I think the Pats would have triple-teamed Michael Thomas and dared Brees to throw deep to everyone else.I doubt the Patriots would have used the same game plan against the Saints.