OT: 2007 Patriots

[Snooky97]

I’ve tried to watch a lot of the 07 games recently as I’ve just wanted to find out how dominate we were that year..

Also does anyone else think if the 15” season patriots didn’t suffer so many injuries that season do they finish 16-0?


I was still fairly young when the 07 season happened and it wasn’t massively publicly known in the UK at the time what was happening.

My question is how good were they? Was it as dominant as a lot of the games shown or am I missing something?!

I also wondered if anyone has any old threads on here that I could look at from when the 07 season was happening.

 

[jah]

First half of the regular season was total domination. Second half had some close games but we always pulled it out in the end (sometimes with controversy such as @ Baltimore). Last regular season game was really a storybook ending. I might be misremembering but I think Brady's 50th, Moss' 23rd, and the 16-0 clinching TD all occurred on the same play.

And then the Super Bowl happened...

 

[Bradyking12]

This close....

 

[Dingleberry]

Every time I accidentally see a clip of that goddam final game, I get massive diarrhea cramps.

07 season was like my first marriage. It was great for a few months, but I'd rather not be reminded of it ever again.

 

[fnordcircle]

One of the most colossal failures in all of sports. You're on the precipice of immortality and doing something that might not be repeated in our lifetime in an age where it shouldn't be possible.

And they just laid an egg. Yes there was holding. Yes there was amazing catches. But the 2007 team shouldn't have been that close to the Giants. They had too much talent and too much leadership on both sides of the ball. I don't know what the gameplan was and I don't know if the players failed to execute that gameplan but I lay that one at the feet of the coaches more than the players or the refs. Just like I blame the Rams coaches for not being able to adjust and get more than 3 points.

 

[Bradyking12]

One of the most colossal failures in all of sports. You're on the precipice of immortality and doing something that might not be repeated in our lifetime in an age where it shouldn't be possible.

And they just laid an egg. Yes there was holding. Yes there was amazing catches. But the 2007 team shouldn't have been that close to the Giants. They had too much talent and too much leadership on both sides of the ball. I don't know what the gameplan was and I don't know if the players failed to execute that gameplan but I lay that one at the feet of the coaches more than the players or the refs. Just like I blame the Rams coaches for not being able to adjust and get more than 3 points.

Apparently Brady's ankle sprain affected his deep throws.

 

[upstater1]

This close....

Am I wrong in blaming Randy for not going up and high pointing that?

He was trying to run it in.

All he needed to do was go up, catch it, and get tackled. They still had a timeout left.

 

[Doctor DDS]

2007 Patriots were that dominant. Through 10 games they had outscored their opponents by over 240 points and included wins on the road against the 13 win Cowboys and Colts. I think the hype, spygate, additional taping controversy right before the superbowl and a few injuries finally caught up with them. Neal getting hurt early in the game created tremendous pressure on Brady and with a bad wheel it stifled the offense. That said, they did have a clutch drive to take the lead with just over 2 minutes to go and were a play or a call from pulling it out.

2015 team was excellent and at 10-0 they certainly had a chance to run the table. But they were not a phenomenon like the 2007 team.

 

[PATSYLICIOUS]

Am I wrong in blaming Randy for not going up and high pointing that?

He was trying to run it in.

All he needed to do was go up, catch it, and get tackled. They still had a timeout left.

I believe that was moss’s intentional strategy for jump balls. He would not go up for it so that defenders wouldn’t know the ball is coming. Check the crazy catch against miami from that year, he hardly goes up for it and catches the ball rather low.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

This close....

Corey Webster probably made the defensive play of the game for them. Otherwise we tie it with a Ghost FG.

I’ve moved on. It doesn’t hurt nearly as much anymore with 3 additional rings.

 

[Kontradiction]

One of the most colossal failures in all of sports. You're on the precipice of immortality and doing something that might not be repeated in our lifetime in an age where it shouldn't be possible.

And they just laid an egg. Yes there was holding. Yes there was amazing catches. But the 2007 team shouldn't have been that close to the Giants. They had too much talent and too much leadership on both sides of the ball. I don't know what the gameplan was and I don't know if the players failed to execute that gameplan but I lay that one at the feet of the coaches more than the players or the refs. Just like I blame the Rams coaches for not being able to adjust and get more than 3 points.

Those Giants were the perfect match-up for the Patriots. Especially a banged up Pats team. They could get to Brady in a hurry with 3-4 down linemen and dedicate the rest to coverage. That’s the worst kind of match-up against any kind of offense but especially one like New England where their starting RG left early on and their QB was nursing a gimpy ankle.

 

[patsinthesnow]

The 2015 Patriots offense with Edelman, Gronk & Dion Lewis all healthy was a machine. The front seven was great with Branch/Hicks/Brown at DT, Jones/Ninkovich/Sheard at DE & Hightower/Collins at LB. McCourty & Chung provided high level veteran S play & Butler/Ryan/Coleman formed one of the more underrated young CB groups.

Before Dion Lewis was injured vs. Redskins (Edelman out for the regular season the week after vs NYG):

35.6 PPG
20.4 PPG against

That offensive pace would’ve been the third highest scoring team of all time. Brady had 20 TDs & 1 INT through 7 games. The 2015 team had a chance to be historic before Edelman/Lewis injuries & the OL went to crap. Not sure but I think the LBs dealt with injuries too.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Those Giants were the perfect match-up for the Patriots. Especially a banged up Pats team. They could get to Brady in a hurry with 3-4 down linemen and dedicate the rest to coverage. That’s the worst kind of match-up against any kind of offense but especially one like New England where their starting RG left early on and their QB was nursing a gimpy ankle.

Their defensive line was better than our offensive line, and their WRs were better than our DBs. That's all it came down to.

 

[TheRainMaker]

One of the most colossal failures in all of sports. You're on the precipice of immortality and doing something that might not be repeated in our lifetime in an age where it shouldn't be possible.

And they just laid an egg. Yes there was holding. Yes there was amazing catches. But the 2007 team shouldn't have been that close to the Giants. They had too much talent and too much leadership on both sides of the ball. I don't know what the gameplan was and I don't know if the players failed to execute that gameplan but I lay that one at the feet of the coaches more than the players or the refs. Just like I blame the Rams coaches for not being able to adjust and get more than 3 points.

Bruschi had admitted the pressure got to them (at least defensively). They had 3 missed opportunities in the first half alone to give the ball back to the offense and they failed. Eli Manning was so bad in the first half, but the Pats bailed him out with dropped INT’s. He threw at least 3 right at the Pats defenders and Hobbs was only able to get one.

While the Ahmad Bradshaw fumble recovery was pathetic, it’s as clear as day Woods recovered it and then Bradshaw stuck his little hands in there and wrestled it away after Woods had clear possession. That was BS the refs blew that.

There was an ESPN special a few years ago with Steve Spagnolo and Josh McDaniels talking about that game. Spagnolo said he knew If he came out with the same game plan he did in their first meeting, then they would’ve gotten blown out. So he said that he started blitzing guys specifically on third downs that he never blitzed during the entire year to throw off the Pats. One play in particular was when the Giants get teams in passing downs they like to have two linebackers over the center and then one blitzes while the other goes back in coverage. Normally Antonio Pierce is the one that blitzes Kawika Mitchell goes in coverage. After the snap, both run backwards as if they are going into coverage only having Mitchell turn right around and shoot the gap to sack Brady.

McDaniels said during that special that he was thrown off by the Giants game plan and couldn't come up with the right adjustments.

Michael Strahan has said that he had a meeting with the D line and said if they don’t have a good game they were going to lose.

I believe that was moss’s intentional strategy for jump balls. He would not go up for it so that defenders wouldn’t know the ball is coming. Check the crazy catch against miami from that year, he hardly goes up for it and catches the ball rather low.

I wasn’t a fan of it. That was such a critical moment, you have to just out jump and outmuscle your opponent. Not the time to get cute. I went ape s**t after seeing him just alligator arm it.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I think defensively the 2007 team was not as great as the stats showed. They were given a high octane offense and hardly had to win games for us that year. When the offense stalled in the SB, the D couldn't hold the lead since it wasn't in that position very often that year.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

This close....

you mean this close

 

[Uptown]

you mean this close

I think you guys meant THIS CLOSE

 

[neuronet]

Are we really doing this? Sadists.

 

[DarrylS]

IN 2007 I was in uptown NOLA for Mardi Gras on the day of that Superbowl my bro in law and a neighbor set up a TV under a pop up tent on the "neutral ground" on Napolean near Tipitina's, they even got me a barcolounger so I could multitask during the Bacchus parade...

Worked out well, by the end of the game there were about 150 folks all crowded and watched the game after the Pats lost I got up silently and just walked away.. came back later to clean it all up, but it was very devastating for me.. until next year.

Still wear a "Moss School of Receiving" T-Shirt that was available in 2007.. a tad raggedy.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I think you guys meant THIS CLOSE

Asante should have caught it but if he did it would have been an incredible catch