In the last month, the Patriots have been playing down to the opponent

[PATRIOTSFANINPA]

Its becoming obvious that for the last month the Patriots have been playing down to the level of the opponents.

Philly,Baltimore and Jets are far less talented but the Patriots played just good enough to win but when they played Pittsburgh who was 2nd best in the AFC at the time they played like they did earlier in the season and blew the Steelers away.

It looks like Jeckyll and Hyde for the last month and possibly the future but I guess as long as we are winning it is O.K...But I do Hate the nailbiters

I just wonder what happened to the firepower and true dominance of weeks 1-9? (with the exception of the Pitt game)

Is it the longevity of the season and guys are getting a bit tired? I don't know

What I do know is the Patriots of weeks 1-9 would have beaten the Jets by 40 today.

Maybe its the oddsmakers who are pissing opponents off by stupid overinflated point spreads and making them play harder and with alot more emotion than they would normally.

As long as we win its great,But I miss the 1-9 weeks Patriots team and hope we can see them again soon.

 

[D-cleater]

Re: In the last month,The Patriots have been playing down to the opponent

I could only listen to today's game but the past few weeks have been the most exciting football since 2001 that I can remember. The Patriots team we saw today was the team of 2003, for those new to the team. Good defense, good coaching, and effective running, and Brady coming through when a big play was needed. It's a privilege to watch and it's great to see the team trying its butt off even with homefield locked up

 

[NYCPatsFan]

Re: In the last month,The Patriots have been playing down to the opponent

...

I just wonder what happened to the firepower and true dominance of weeks 1-9? (with the exception of the Pitt game)

What I do know is the Patriots of weeks 1-9 would have beaten the Jets by 40 today.
.

Since the Jets are very familar with our schemes, I think they managed to keep Brady guessing a lot about their looks that ultimately lead him to take decisions that didn't work out well - like focusing only on Moss or trying to run to the right. So, kudos to the Jets D.

Few points that came to my mind when comparing today with the earlier weeks:

(1) the awful weather today was one of the main reasons for such a poor passing game. Had this weather been there during the first nine weeks, I doubt if we would have gone past 30

(2) By now, opponents have enough film on our various offensive schemes and how our WRs can be played. So, not too surprised that our offense doesn't look as powerful or fluid as the first half of the season.

(3) Don't think Ben Watson played today, did he? If he was absent, that took a great blocker and an excellent option for the short passes that would have worked well in today's conditions.

Glad we came out with a W. Bit disappointed that Brady didn't throw any TDs, but I guess that can wait for next week. Hopefully the Fins, who are coming off an emotional W, might be a bit flat and allow us to get an easy W and many of the records.

 

[JoeSixPat]

It's probably a combination of both teams playing "up" to the Patriots and the Patriots playing "down" to the opponents.

But overall I think the stats would show that teams are generally playing "up" to the Pats.

Apparently the Pats can't please some people no matter what - those who were lamenting the lack of a running game a day ago are now lamenting that the team has difficulty completing deep passes in 30 mph winds and freezing rain.

Beyond that, the Ravens played their "Super Bowl" at least on defense and put up some pretty good offensive numbers - I think you'll have a tough time showing that putting up 27 points against that Defense is bad.

The Steelers made it a game for a half - and then we held them without another point for the next half - so I'm unclear how we played down to them - or they played up to us.

In short, I think your thesis here needs a little more work.