We are on to Kansas City...

[venecol]

The positives are that the defense will be another week removed from the flu and will hopefully have JMac back. The negatives are that the offense still has zero identity this late into the season and nobody can consistently beat the press other than Edelman. Their defense sucks, but so has this offense of late.

I'm not seeing any positives at all. Texans had a poorly ranked defense and Pats couldn't score until 5 minutes left in the game. This is not getting better, even with Wynn back, Harry 3 weeks in, etc. etc.

Not buying into yet another excuse (flu) because the Patriots themselves aren't using it as an excuse.

Patriots scoring against bad teams: 207 to 38
Patriots against supposedly good teams: 115 to 107

The WR carousel has finally come back to bite the team. Too many really bad decisions at that position. Team looks slow on offense. Team looks slow on defense when they play fast teams. KC is too fast for this team.

The only possible hope is that McDaniels swallowed the real playbook and he's still waiting to shard it out before next week.

 

[PatsFan2]

Get up two scores on this Offense it's game set match... this D will be lucky to hold KC to 20. I have nothing to say about this Offense words can't explain.

 

[PatsFan2]

I'm not seeing any positives at all. Texans had a poorly ranked defense and Pats couldn't score until 5 minutes left in the game. This is not getting better, even with Wynn back, Harry 3 weeks in, etc. etc.

Not buying into yet another excuse (flu) because the Patriots themselves aren't using it as an excuse.

Patriots scoring against bad teams: 207 to 38
Patriots against supposedly good teams: 115 to 107

The WR carousel has finally come back to bite the team. Too many really bad decisions at that position. Team looks slow on offense. Team looks slow on defense when they play fast teams. KC is too fast for this team.

The only possible hope is that McDaniels swallowed the real playbook and he's still waiting to shard it out before next week.

We have lost to Two Teams with winning records yeah KC have a wining record easy math there. I know who I'm betting the house on. I can't remember a Patriots Offense going backwards this time of the year and one with no identity...they can't consistently run or pass.

 

[luuked]

Just as useless as lip reading his discussions, over analyzing his moods or reading body language

Look you can pretend like it was "just lip reading" but there was none of that involved in Harry being essentially benched after the INT. And then a day later we hear that we shouldn't have so high expectations of a guy in his third game.

Well what is it then ? Is he allowed to make mistakes or do we require perfection and his first mistake in the game gets him benched ?

The problem is that people then use those soundbites from Brady or other players through the week trying to make some kind of point. There is no point to make based on them. They are worthless PR speak.

 

[varjao]

It's not possible that this team is going to play so bad and poorly coached 2 weeks in a row (and more considering the Eagles game, Dallas I'll give a pass due to weather) so statistically I think there's a good chance they play much better against KC. Our defense is still a good one with a lot of talented and experienced players, we have problems with running QBs, it's BBs kryptonite, it's unfair to pick this sample and define the defense as trash. We have good ST, their defense is bad, get the RB's involved in the passing game, White, Burkhead. Is Izzo still on the roster? He was garbage in blocking duty but he can catch a pass over the middle of the field, we need people who can catch a pass a lot more right now. We need some production from TE's whomever they are ASAP to open lanes for the WRs.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Get up two scores on this Offense it's game set match... this D will be lucky to hold KC to 20. I have nothing to say about the Offense words can't explain.

There is no question our O is not playing well.

In the absence of a high-powered offense we need to play good D, control the clock, run the ball and play great on STs.

If we don't do all four of those vs KC we will lose.

 

[Kontradiction]

I'm not seeing any positives at all. Texans had a poorly ranked defense and Pats couldn't score until 5 minutes left in the game. This is not getting better, even with Wynn back, Harry 3 weeks in, etc. etc.

Not buying into yet another excuse (flu) because the Patriots themselves aren't using it as an excuse.

Patriots scoring against bad teams: 207 to 38
Patriots against supposedly good teams: 115 to 107

The WR carousel has finally come back to bite the team. Too many really bad decisions at that position. Team looks slow on offense. Team looks slow on defense when they play fast teams. KC is too fast for this team.

The only possible hope is that McDaniels swallowed the real playbook and he's still waiting to shard it out before next week.

I could easily envision a scenario where this team gets completely tuned up this weekend. It’ll depend on whether the defense’s issue was how bad the flu bug was. They have the speed on defense to stick with KC. We’ve seen that before. But this offense blows. Will anyone besides Edelman and White be able to get open? Will the rookies run the right routes when the play breaks down? Will Harry not get completely out-muscled on a god damn slant? A lot to work on with that side of the ball.

 

[WHPats]

Won't give up on this team yet. I know, I see all the same problems everyone else does. But still 10-2. Still have Belichick, still have Brady. Still have 3 out of 4 games remaining at home.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

There is no question our O is not playing well.

In the absence of a high-powered offense we need to play good D, control the clock, run the ball and play great on STs.

If we don't do all four of those vs KC we will lose.

Wasn't the bye week supposed to be for fixing the offense and the rookies getting on the same page with Brady? what happened?

 

[StairwayToSe7en]

Looking at the schedule, after NE lays pipe on their b!tches from Kansas City, the only competitive game left is vs the Bills, who NE owns, and the game is in Foxboro. Looks like 14-2 is a lock, even though the team has mailed it in for a second consecutive regular season. Not bad for a dynasty that has become bored with football from September to December (which I can't blame them for.)

 

[catent]

I think KC is a similar team to HOU in a lot of ways, but ultimately not quite as good.

Watson is playing as well, if not better than Mahomes right now (at this point in time).

In terms of WRs and RBs, HOU clearly has the better group; the only offensive edge KC has over HOU is Kelce.

We have the personnel to matchup with them - this defense was essentially built to match up with the likes of KC.

Defensively, KC isn't great, much like HOU. The offense will have the opportunity to score points if they can execute.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Wasn't the bye week supposed to be for fixing the offense and the rookies getting on the same page with Brady? what happened?

Wish I had the answers.

I think the KC game is pretty huge for us for multiple reasons.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Looking at the schedule, after NE lays pipe on their b!tches from Kansas City, the only competitive game left is vs the Bills, who NE owns, and the game is in Foxboro. Looks like 14-2 is a lock, even though the team has mailed it in for a second consecutive regular season. Not bad for a dynasty that has become bored with football from September to December (which I can't blame them for.)

Beating the Bills is far from given considering the way the offense is playing.

Wish I had the answers.

I think the KC game is pretty huge for us for multiple reasons.

Losing to KC is not fatal for getting a bye week, but losing to both KC and Buffalo is. If they lose to KC, they can still get a bye if they win out. Otherwise, you are looking at the 3 seed and a date with Tennessee/Houston.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

 

[catent]

Can anyone recall instances where Belichick has called this season's team "tough", "mentally tough", or other buzzwords he uses to indicate he feels good about a particular team?

 

[CISGS]

I admit that it is HIGHLY unlikely, but this could be one of those "New England demolishes Kansas City and Brady throws 5 TDs" type games. Just to remind mfs who seem to forget.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Beating the Bills is far from given considering the way the offense is playing.



Losing to KC is not fatal for getting a bye week, but losing to both KC and Buffalo is. If they lose to KC, they can still get a bye if they win out. Otherwise, you are looking at the 3 seed and a date with Tennessee/Houston.

Yes but I think its huge they play well and the offense shows some progress.

 

[catent]

Quite frankly, Ferentz looked pretty good at C after coming in (which shocked me).

He's smaller in stature like Andrews, but more active and gets his feet moving a lot more than Karras. His activity at the LOS pre-snap also caught my attention.

Based on what I saw from him last night, I'm not overly concerned if Karras has to miss some time.

 

[StairwayToSe7en]

Beating the Bills is far from given considering the way the offense is playing.

I can't even imagine what kind of distraught suicidal mess you were last year when NE got their asses kicked by 5 non-playoff teams.

 

[SHOWTIME15]

I can't even imagine what kind of distraught suicidal mess you were last year when NE got their asses kicked by 5 non-playoff teams.

Thanks bandwagoner. I've been a patriots fan since 1993 - I know the ups and downs of winning and losing. And furthermore, I've been on this forum since 2008. Y0u on the other hand joined a few months ago and weren't even here when they lost to 5 non-playoff teams last year.