Two things can be true:

[40yrpatsfan]

It means teams like the Eagles, Bills, Dolphins, Chiefs don't even have to play that well offensively to score 25 points.

They're regularly scoring in the 30's, the Patriots just can't score enough to beat good teams and the proof is in the results they can't beat playoff teams.

You just aren't going to beat these teams scoring 20 points.

Listen it's a new year. We're battling a bunch of injuries to start the year, and game 1 was against a highly physical & skilled Eagles defense. I wouldn't jump to any conclusions about what the Pats are capable of this year offensively. They showed a lot yesterday and will be in every game they play this year.

 

[Wozzy]

2 back to back plays cost them the game. A game which they otherwise pretty much dominated.

I would say you could count the mistakes:

Mac over throwing early is not a problem, Mac overthrowing early in the rain is a mistake. He should shed those first games nerves and improve, and did during subsequent drives.

Turnover by Zeke, clearly a mistake carrying it like a loaf of bread in a crowded area. Early season mistake, he clearly knows better.

Bad penalty by Wise on third down lining up in the neutral zone, he knows better.

Boutte thinking he's still in college not getting his second foot down, clearly a teachable moment for the coaches.

Not taking the field goal twice in the 4th quarter and inability of the offense to convert short downs is a learning opportunity for both head coach and offensive coach.

On the final drive Bourne dropped one, Henry dropped one, and Boutte did his LSU one foot down thing again. Three of the more productive weapons on the day all made mistakes.

A learning moment for everyone, you can't let opportunities slip through your fingers.

 

[Wozzy]

It means teams like the Eagles, Bills, Dolphins, Chiefs don't even have to play that well offensively to score 25 points.

They're regularly scoring in the 30's, the Patriots just can't score enough to beat good teams and the proof is in the results they can't beat playoff teams.

You just aren't going to beat these teams scoring 20 points.

The Dolphins, Chiefs and even the Bills don't have a defense as good as Philadelphia, six of their points scored was off a wet ball in the rain thrown a little too high.... logic isn't your strong suit is it.

 

[moosekill]

The hallmark of Bill's teams at the start of the dynasty was teams that started slow, but got better and better as the season progressed, as long as there weren't major injuries. Later on, Tom was so good, and there was consistency at many of the skill positions that we expected them to win every game. This years team has a young qb, 10?? rookies on the team, young/new players everwhere. An o-line that never played together in preseason, had 2 rookies start, and a tackle who never played in preseason. Expecting them to beat last year's superbowl loser was a lot to expect. Even though they lost, they kicked the crap out of them for 3 qtrs. All in all hard not to be at least a little impressed and hopefull. Unles you are one of the posters who just loves it when they lose.

 

[Steve102]

A learning moment for everyone, you can't let opportunities slip through your fingers.

Feels like this team has to learn how to win again.

 

[Wozzy]

Feels like this team has to learn how to win again.

How not to beat themselves, the trait of a young team.

 

[Ring 6]

I would say you could count the mistakes:

Mac over throwing early is not a problem, Mac overthrowing early in the rain is a mistake. He should shed those first games nerves and improve, and did during subsequent drives.

Turnover by Zeke, clearly a mistake carrying it like a loaf of bread in a crowded area. Early season mistake, he clearly knows better.

Bad penalty by Wise on third down lining up in the neutral zone, he knows better.

Boutte thinking he's still in college not getting his second foot down, clearly a teachable moment for the coaches.

Not taking the field goal twice in the 4th quarter and inability of the offense to convert short downs is a learning opportunity for both head coach and offensive coach.

On the final drive Bourne dropped one, Henry dropped one, and Boutte did his LSU one foot down thing again. Three of the more productive weapons on the day all made mistakes.

A learning moment for everyone, you can't let opportunities slip through your fingers.

Well every team has mistakes every game. In this one turnovers on consecutive plays handed Philly 13 or their 25 points.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

I mean if nobody is allowed to critique the team then I guess we are going to the Superbowl baby!

The main point is that it's a new year with a new OC and a lot of new faces, and it's already clear that the offense looks better based on yesterday. Don't be going back to last season to claim any "trends", judge them on what they do this year. And after 1 game it's too early to judge, so try just commenting without judging for a few weeks. Otherwise it just sounds like an uninformed fan just *****in for *****in's sake.

 

[Wozzy]

Well every team has mistakes every game. In this one turnovers on consecutive plays handed Philly 13 or their 25 points.

After points, turnovers are the most important stat in football... because they most correlate to points.

The turnovers and turnovers on downs were bad, hopefully they can improve.

I'm taking heart in that they didn't look overmatched against one of the most talented teams in the league, if not the most talented team.

 

[PatsFan2]

You are all choosing misery when the point of being a fan is to find some joy. Why are you even here? The Pats owe you nothing. You act like entitled children.

Yeah and you bend with the wind grow a spine.

 

[PWRxWLF]

I don’t think it was about that, I think he was trying to show confidence in his team. If anything Belichick has been too careful in these decisions, and other teams have been benefitting from pulling out all the stops against them. There’s always going to be criticism when a decision like that fails, but at this point in their development I would rather see them be more aggressive than too cautious overall.

You could be right. I felt it was the wrong decision before the ball even got snapped and even if it was converted wouldn’t have agreed with it. I would’ve said they got away with one, similar to my reaction on the HH catch. If he had said “I was showing my offense that I trust them in that situation” I still wouldn’t have agreed but would’ve completely understood. Instead, he gave the answer he gave. Did I misunderstand and he was talking about the last 4th down attempt?

 

[Ring 6]

You could be right. I felt it was the wrong decision before the ball even got snapped and even if it was converted wouldn’t have agreed with it. I would’ve said they got away with one, similar to my reaction on the HH catch. If he had said “I was showing my offense that I trust them in that situation” I still wouldn’t have agreed but would’ve completely understood. Instead, he gave the answer he gave. Did I misunderstand and he was talking about the last 4th down attempt?

It’s was go for it or punt. Either way you have to stop them if you don’t convert. At stake was a few yards of field position and ultimately when the eagles went for it on 4th down they may have gained field position compared to each team punting.

 

[Wozzy]

IF Mac keeps hanging them like he did with some balls Today it will be a long afternoon Miami can score very fast.

After the first two drives Mac played really well, he was a big part of them crawling back in the game. He threw for 316 yards and 3 TD’s.

Miami can score very fast against the Chargers crap defense. Last year the Tua led Dolphins scored one TD and one FG against our defense.

Yeah and you bend with the wind grow a spine.

They showed moxxy when they were down 16 to nothing. It was a team loss they can all learn from.

 

[PatsFan2]

After the first two drives Mac played really well, he was a big part of them crawling back in the game. He threw for 316 yards and 3 TD’s.

Miami can score very fast against the Chargers crap defense. Last year the Tua led Dolphins scored one TD and one FG against our defense.

They showed moxxy when they were down 16 to nothing. It was a team loss they can all learn from.

We should have won given the circumstances. We choked at the end.

 

[BTTA]

Yeah and you bend with the wind grow a spine.

My self esteem and identity aren't wrapped up in false masculinity and tribal membership.

 

[BTTA]

We should have won given the circumstances. We choked at the end.

Be specific if you are going to criticise people's character in public. Who "choked" (i.e. failed because of nervous anxiety) on which plays exactly?

 

[ScottishPatriots]

We should have won given the circumstances. We choked at the end.

The offense can't function for 4 quarters, they tease you with flashes for a quarter then sink back to mediocrity.

How many times has Mac had the ball with a chance to get a signature win and failed? It's been 6-7 times against playoff teams.

It might sound harsh to blame the quarterback but you have to be consistent if you credit Brady for being clutch for winning games in the final few minutes when someone repeatedly fails then they aren't clutch and have to take a large share of the blame.

 

[archstanton543]

People are obsessed with a "signature" win. They act like the dude has never won an NFL game in his three year career. Who gets to decide when a win is "signature" or not?

 

[JarOfMayo51]

Lol, Mac throws for 300 yards and 3 tds with 1 int that should have been a catch. People saying Mac isn't playing well enough.

Faulking idiots.

Their minds were made up before the game even started, and they'll continue to blame any of the teams shortcomings on him

I had to have a conversation with my nephew who came over to watch the game, and he reminded me of so many on this board.. like 2 minutes into the game he was having a meltdown about how "we cant do anything right, we suck, why are we even watching the game" etc etc etc.. i eventually had to tell him to STFU and stop crying about every little thing... he was insufferable, everyone in my family was feeling the same way, he was basically sucking any joy of the game out of the room. i told him if he did it again, hes not invited over anymore in future for games...

 

[Huckleberry1]

You could be right. I felt it was the wrong decision before the ball even got snapped and even if it was converted wouldn’t have agreed with it. I would’ve said they got away with one, similar to my reaction on the HH catch. If he had said “I was showing my offense that I trust them in that situation” I still wouldn’t have agreed but would’ve completely understood. Instead, he gave the answer he gave. Did I misunderstand and he was talking about the last 4th down attempt?

I thought it was the wrong decision as well, and I thought they should have gone for the field goal with 9 minutes to go, but this is a young team, and overall I want him to show confidence in them and be aggressive where they can be. They are going to be in tough games all season, and they are going to have to learn how to make crucial plays during those games, so they might as well learn how to make plays under pressure now. If nothing else they will learn a great deal about who can make those plays under pressure, and who can’t. What I’m looking for this season is improvement by key players, and competitiveness as a team. My hope is that they can overcome a tough schedule and show they belong in the play-offs. If they can do that then I will consider it a successful season, if not then there is that much more work to do to reach that level. Obviously WB will be the biggest component of that development, so if Jones can build off of yesterdays performance, and become a QB they can really count on then they will be in much better shape overall. It’s much easier to build around a good young QB than it is to find one.