Patriots Pregame Thread Patriots Chargers Sunday @ 8pm - pregame thread

[mgteich]

That’s kind of two separate issues. Obviously you want to contain the spread if someone is verifiably sick/flu.

As to the flu vaccine, it REDUCES your risk of catching, and makes affects milder if you do catch it, but once you have it….stay away from others.

OK, fair enough.
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Do you believe that any member of MIA might have played while having the flu?

Do you believe that any patriot player might have come to work Sunday or later understanding that he might have gotten a bad cold or flu from others?

How long is flu communicable?
=======
There is a source. The outbreak may or may not been able to be prevented if a player stayed home or immediately went home when sick. It is also possible that the teams could have prevented the spread with better policies or better adherence to those that they have.
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LET'S BE CLEAR
I can certainly believe that a player on MIA or NE knowingly came to work sick and may even have known that he possibly had the flu.

As Fryar did years ago, would you be shocked in Boutte or someone else played with the flu and even that the team might have known about it?
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I do NOT think that the game Sunday will be affected. But that certainly could have been the case,

 

[SlowGettingUp]

From an AI - Chargers' injury situation. Any informed folks here care to comment?

 

[n1997y]

Didn’t Drake Maye confess in an interview that he played sick during a recent game?

OK, fair enough.
======
Do you believe that any member of MIA might have played while having the flu?

Do you believe that any patriot player might have come to work Sunday or later understanding that he might have gotten a bad cold or flu from others?

How long is flu communicable?
=======
There is a source. The outbreak may or may not been able to be prevented if a player stayed home or immediately went home when sick. It is also possible that the teams could have prevented the spread with better policies or better adherence to those that they have.
========
LET'S BE CLEAR
I can certainly believe that a player on MIA or NE knowingly came to work sick and may even have known that he possibly had the flu.

As Fryar did years ago, would you be shocked in Boutte or someone else played with the flu and even that the team might have known about it?
======
I do NOT think that the game Sunday will be affected. But that certainly could have been the case,

 

[Zuma]

McDaniels on the Chargers: "We are Going to Need Every Ounce of Our Toughness." | Press Conference 1-8-2026

McDaniels" Do i I think he is out there throwing swear words around? No I don't".

 

[Mack Herron]

 

[Dexter]

 

[WinstonSmith]

No "weird" is an alleged Pats fan predicting they lose a home playoff game to an inferior opponent who by virtually all stats, both
offensively AND defensively, is considerably weaker.
It's one thing if we're playing the Bills,Rams or Eagles. OK, you can make a case.
The Chargers? Hell no.
All playoff games can be tough.
I expect the Patriots to win. Maybe easily.

The Patriots are only favored by 3.5 points, and you mock someone for picking against the Patriots? The Charges are considered stronger on defense than the Patriots by most prognosticators

Defensive points allowed, while the most important primary defensive indicator, surprisingly isn't the most predictive stat, especially considering the small sample size built into the NFL season.

Most advanced defensive statistical models, that factor in strength of schedule, special teams play, and offensive play, rank the Chargers defense over the Patriots defense.

I personally think the Patriots will win on Sunday, but the Chargers have a quality defense that could win the day.

 

[neuronet]

Chargers match up well against the Pats. This could end up being a close one. I hope not but it’ll be an interesting game! Excited for some postseason Pats football baby!!!

 

[DaBruinz]

Patriots released Miles Battle from the PS.
Patriots re-signed Sebastian Gutierrez to the PS.

Wonder if the re-signing of Gutierrez has anything to do with Munford going from limited to DNP and giving the Pats someone to elevate in the event that Tonga and Munford both can't go..

 

[DaBruinz]

Chargers match up well against the Pats. This could end up being a close one. I hope not but it’ll be an interesting game! Excited for some postseason Pats football baby!!!

How does a team that plays 80% zone match up well against a team whose offense thrives against Zone?? Help me understand your train of thought on this.

 

[jimnance]

The Patriots are only favored by 3.5 points, and you mock someone for picking against the Patriots? The Charges are considered stronger on defense than the Patriots by most prognosticators

Defensive points allowed, while the most important primary defensive indicator, surprisingly isn't the most predictive stat, especially considering the small sample size built into the NFL season.

Most advanced defensive statistical models, that factor in strength of schedule, special teams play, and offensive play, rank the Chargers defense over the Patriots defense.

I personally think the Patriots will win on Sunday, but the Chargers have a quality defense that could win the day.

Pstriots defense is a different story with Milton Williams than w/o.
They were the #1 best run defense in the NFL before Williams got hurt. Their run defense struggled after.
Well, he's back. And there's no question Pats D > Bolts D with Williams. W/o him? Probably not. Chargers D is very good Pats' is better.
But that's only half the equation; both D 's are very good.
But Patriots O is far superior.
Pats # 2, Charters # 20.
Not close.

 

[JMC00]

Has anyone looked at how the Chargers have fared traveling to the East Coast this season

Lost to 21-18 to the Giants, who ran 42 times for 161 yards.

Lost to 35-6 to the Jaguars who ran it 47 times for 192 yards, 4 TD

Needed a last second FG vs Miami to win 29-27 vs the Dolphins and that was with them picking off Tua 3 times, Miami ran it for 21 times, 137 yards, 2 TD

and these were all 70-80 degree games

Then look at their loss at home to the Commanders , Commanders ran it 27 times for 163 yards, 2 TD

Eagles should have beaten them too, 25 rushes, 134 yards, lost in OT 22-19, should have been a win for the Eagles but Hurts threw 3 INTs in regulation and then threw an INT in OT. Which even with the 3 INTs Chargers needed a last second FG to send it to OT


Line up and run it down their throats in the 20 degree weather.

 

[Ring 6]

I would think that if an employee knowingly came to work with an illness, they could be subject to disciplinary action.

I would think that the players' union could negotiate whether flu shots should be required.

Being forced to work very closely with a person known to be sick might very well put a team at a liability.

Consider if we played a player (as we did Fryar in the past) and 3 key OL's couldn't play the next Sunday. I believe that opponent could have grounds to sue, especially if they lost a close game. The league might have the right to impose disciplinary action on the offending team.
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This post is next level whackamole even for you.

 

[DaBruinz]

Even at full strength the Defense sleep walks too much for my liking. They have been bailed out by the offense all year and i expect more of the same. I doubt the defense holds the chargers to 13 or 20 points like we did with the jets and fins. We need to win on offense against a very tough D.

We're going to agree to disagree about the defense "sleep walking". It's been well documented that the Pats play a vanilla defense on their 1st series to see how the opponent will act and that they adjust accordingly. They had a Ref-aided hiccup against the Bills but have otherwise played like a top 5 D in everything but turnovers.

The Pats held both the Jets and Phins to 10 points in the 2nd meeting. If you look at the other games outside of the Buffalo game, the Pats defense Held teams to 18 points.

The Chargers D is good, but I disagree that they are "Very tough". They gave up more than 21 points a game. They lost to a Jaguars team where the Chargers D was gashed for 4 rushing TDs on 192 yards rushing. IMHO, their Zone D actually benefits the Pats rushing attack. A rushing attack that put up 117 yards against Cleveland and 246 yards against the Bills.

Look at the Chargers Offense in the 6 weeks prior to Hebert getting injured:
The only time they put up more than 30 points was against crappy teams in the Cowboys and Raiders. They failed to score a TD against the Jaguars. They couldn't muster 20 against a crappy Chiefs team. It took them OT to beat the Eagles.

The only part of the Chargers offense that I worry about is their TEs.. Because they have 3 that could cause issues since our LBs can't cover a TE to save their lives. But, covering a TE won't matter if the Pats get pressure on Hebert. Which I believe that this Defense can do without having to blitz with Williams, Landry and Spillane back.

 

[Ring 6]

OK, fair enough.
======
Do you believe that any member of MIA might have played while having the flu?

Do you believe that any patriot player might have come to work Sunday or later understanding that he might have gotten a bad cold or flu from others?

How long is flu communicable?
=======
There is a source. The outbreak may or may not been able to be prevented if a player stayed home or immediately went home when sick. It is also possible that the teams could have prevented the spread with better policies or better adherence to those that they have.
========
LET'S BE CLEAR
I can certainly believe that a player on MIA or NE knowingly came to work sick and may even have known that he possibly had the flu.

As Fryar did years ago, would you be shocked in Boutte or someone else played with the flu and even that the team might have known about it?
======
I do NOT think that the game Sunday will be affected. But that certainly could have been the case,

Tom Brady says he has a ring because he scoffs at that thought.

 

[WinstonSmith]

Pstriots defense is a different story with Milton Williams than w/o.
They were the #1 best run defense in the NFL before Williams got hurt. Their run defense struggled after.
Well, he's back. And there's no question Pats D > Bolts D with Williams. W/o him? Probably not. Chargers D is very good Pats' is better.
But that's only half the equation; both D 's are very good.
But Patriots O is far superior.
Pats # 2, Charters # 20.
Not close.

Pstriots defense is a different story with Milton Williams than w/o.
They were the #1 best run defense in the NFL before Williams got hurt. Their run defense struggled after.
Well, he's back. And there's no question Pats D > Bolts D with Williams. W/o him? Probably not. Chargers D is very good Pats' is better.
But that's only half the equation; both D 's are very good.
But Patriots O is far superior.
Pats # 2, Charters # 20.
Not close.

"And there's no question Pats D > Bolts D with Williams. W/o him? "

Actually there are plenty of questions regarding the Patriots defense being superior to the Chargers with or without Williams.

The absence of Williams for a few games wouldn't account for the Chargers 10th ranked DVOA defense vs the Patriots 23rd ranked defense. DVOA accounts for the issues that I listed previously.

It's ok to admit that the Patriots are not perfect.

 

[DaBruinz]

The Patriots are only favored by 3.5 points, and you mock someone for picking against the Patriots? The Charges are considered stronger on defense than the Patriots by most prognosticators

Defensive points allowed, while the most important primary defensive indicator, surprisingly isn't the most predictive stat, especially considering the small sample size built into the NFL season.

Most advanced defensive statistical models, that factor in strength of schedule, special teams play, and offensive play, rank the Chargers defense over the Patriots defense.

I personally think the Patriots will win on Sunday, but the Chargers have a quality defense that could win the day.

What a team is favored by means Jack.

If a model rolls in Special Teams to the Defense, is a crap model.

Defensive Points allowed is just ONE of the stats. You also have to look at Rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed, and things such as % of drives ending in a score.

The Chargers run defense has been abused by decent to good running teams. As I pointed out. They gave up 192 yards and 4 rushing TDs to the Jaguars.. They also saw their Run defense give up 118 and 116 respectively to 3rd String RBs like Woody Marks and Jaleel McLaughlin. What do you think they're going to do against Stevenson and Henderson? The Pats put up 177 yards on the Browns, who were the best run defense at the time the Pats played them. The Pats put up 246 rushing yards against the Bills.

Diggs and Hunter Henry are excellent against Zone defenses. Some of Stevenson's best catch and runs have been against Zone. Chism and Boutte have shown promise against it. Maye has done very well against Zone schemes this year.

 

[WinstonSmith]

What a team is favored by means Jack.

If a model rolls in Special Teams to the Defense, is a crap model.

Defensive Points allowed is just ONE of the stats. You also have to look at Rushing yards allowed, passing yards allowed, and things such as % of drives ending in a score.

The Chargers run defense has been abused by decent to good running teams. As I pointed out. They gave up 192 yards and 4 rushing TDs to the Jaguars.. They also saw their Run defense give up 118 and 116 respectively to 3rd String RBs like Woody Marks and Jaleel McLaughlin. What do you think they're going to do against Stevenson and Henderson? The Pats put up 177 yards on the Browns, who were the best run defense at the time the Pats played them. The Pats put up 246 rushing yards against the Bills.

Diggs and Hunter Henry are excellent against Zone defenses. Some of Stevenson's best catch and runs have been against Zone. Chism and Boutte have shown promise against it. Maye has done very well against Zone schemes this year.

"If a model rolls in Special Teams to the Defense, is a crap model."

Sorry, I didn't mean to confuse you. They don't roll in special teams into the defense, but they do account for the situations that both the offense and special teams place the defense into. Rushing yards and TDs are built into the model.

I'm on record that I believe that the Patriots will win, so I won't respond to the rest of your post.

 

[jimnance]

"And there's no question Pats D > Bolts D with Williams. W/o him? "

Actually there are plenty of questions regarding the Patriots defense being superior to the Chargers with or without Williams.

The absence of Williams for a few games wouldn't account for the Chargers 10th ranked DVOA defense vs the Patriots 23rd ranked defense. DVOA accounts for the issues that I listed previously.

It's ok to admit that the Patriots are not perfect.

And it's ok to admit you're wrong

 

[jimnance]

"And there's no question Pats D > Bolts D with Williams. W/o him? "

Actually there are plenty of questions regarding the Patriots defense being superior to the Chargers with or without Williams.

The absence of Williams for a few games wouldn't account for the Chargers 10th ranked DVOA defense vs the Patriots 23rd ranked defense. DVOA accounts for the issues that I listed previously.

It's ok to admit that the Patriots are not perfect.

Couldn't help but notice you conveniently didn't respond at all about the 2 offenses.
The gap between them is large.
The gap between the defenses is not large
Advantage Patriots
Case closed