Real schedule release

[tasmlab]

It'll could be pretty frustrating if the Seattle opener plays out like the super bowl did. Hopefully the OL will be ready for the rush and hopefully everybody learned something. (The opening game can be fluky for any team, still...)

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

I think the running game could be significantly better - we added a really good FB, a much better Guard, and more TEs that can block. And a better running game will improve play action.

For the Seahawks in particular, we couldn't run on their elite nickel package, and that hurt the passing game. I'm guessing the Seahawks won't have as easy a time stopping the run this coming game. And they are overall worse than when we last played them - no Walker, for one, and some losses in the Secondary.

They couldn't run on their elite nickel package because they didn't try to run on their elite nickel package.

Instead, they kept dropping their injured quarterback back and punting one thousand consecutive drives.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

It matters one zillion times more how we finish than how we start.

That said, I won't be surprised to see us kick the **** out of our early opponents and start 5-0.

The trip out west to kick off the season is a splendid opportunity to avenge a miserable title game loss and take out our aggressions for a frustrating, non celebratory off-season.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

In shocking news, the 7-9-1 Dallas Cowboys - who have not won a divisional round playoff game in the last 30 years - will be on more prime/primary games (11) than either of the super bowl contestants (8 each)

They’re the top draw in the NFL, even when they suck.

Why are you complaining? Having so many prime time games sucks. I wish there was a way we could play every single one of our games on Sunday at 1:00 without being a team that sucks so bad that they play every single game on Sunday at 1:00.

They did not commit identity suicide by destroying their logo and uniforms.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

True, but that is due to circular logic.
They're the top draw because fans are so familiar with them, and so heavily marketed & advertised.
Fans are familiar with them because they are on so often.
Rinse, lather repeat.
It's similar to when a mediocre-at-best song gets played over and over again, then people become familiar with it, so it becomes 'popular' and best-selling, and then back to step one, being played over and over again.



I'm not complaining about lack of prime time games for the Patriots; I much prefer an afternoon game.

Besides being a Pats fan, I am also an NFL fan.
Because I am an NFL fan, I want to see the best football games each and every week.
That means zero Cowboys-Giants games, or some similar slop - especially when it is the one and only game available in that time slot.
7-9-1 teams that haven't done squat in 30 years deserve to be on as seldom as possible.

Rehashing a worn out inferior product works when masked by other forces (the NFL's overall popularity), but providing a superior quality product (best possible games) is a better long term strategy.

Fans/consumers will adapt, as they do with any other product. Think back to the early post-merger Steelers; previously nearly 40 years with only one playoff appearance (a shutout loss), then immense nationwide popularity - because they were winning, and had great teams.

At one time New England football fans were force fed an inferior product (the New York Giants) on television. People watched - because for the most part it was the Giants or no NFL at all, and again, familiarity. The ratings were good due to a near-monopoly on the airwaves, not the quality of the play.

When the Patriots are not on, I want good matchups, with good teams. If the NFL and networks invest a bit by showcasing these other, better teams, it will pay off in the long run, in their never-ending quest for increased revenue.

Of course the NFL indeed prioritizes short term profit at all costs.

Doing the smart, right thing, appropriate to the sport and its players and coaches, and treating long term invested genuine fans with acknowledgement and respect, would be astronomically more profitable.

But ownership is not smart, except perhaps in how they are adept at taking advantage of mass stupidity and systemic corruption.

 

[mgteich]

Of course the NFL indeed prioritizes short term profit at all costs.

Doing the smart, right thing, appropriate to the sport and its players and coaches, and treating long term invested genuine fans with acknowledgement and respect, would be astronomically more profitable.

But ownership is not smart, except perhaps in how they are adept at taking advantage of mass stupidity and systemic corruption.

ROFL

You truly believe that you know how to promote long-term profits better that the owners of billion-dollar enterprises.

How long is long term? How long have you been watching football? Is it more profitable now or less profitable? How many of the top teams are less profitable? I suspect it is those team teams that sacrifice short term from profits and fail in the long term.

 

[Sorrynotsorry]

Oct 7th...

I hope we ruin da bears.

 

[Actual Pats Fan]

ROFL

You truly believe that you know how to promote long-term profits better that the owners of billion-dollar enterprises.

How long is long term? How long have you been watching football? Is it more profitable now or less profitable? How many of the top teams are less profitable? I suspect it is those team teams that sacrifice short term from profits and fail in the long term.

rofl

Billion-dollar enterprises make ridiculous, often fatal investment decisions all the time. Most of the ones that don't have one person with a brain and awareness at the top making decisions.

Yes, and specifically, as I've said before, Kraft's net worth today would be at least $1 billion greater had he reversed the identity suicide perpetrated less than a year before he bought the team, which was a money grab for NFL Properties and a surrender by James Orthwein to the propaganda that the team's most recent three seasons on the field represented the history of the franchise. Common practice for marketing agencies to recommend New! Different! Cool! to boost sales to the large demographic of those with money to spend and no taste or concern with the product.