- Joined
- Apr 3, 2006
- Messages
- 26,106
- Reaction score
- 52,115
1. Inconsistency, laying an egg on the road, blowing leads to good teams. You know what this sounds like? About 27-28 NFL teams. No reason to panic that the Patriots constantly come up short in tough atmospheres, fail to put teams away, and can't make the big stop. At the same time, it's time to recognize that they've fallen into a lower tier of teams scratching to get to the next level. You'll also hear from the fanbases of other teams that "we beat ourselves." Sorry, that act gets really old. Great teams don't beat themselves. They just lose to better teams and then rationalize that in a best-case scenario game, they would have won. Do you remember when the Pats used to win championships, what other teams and fans used to say? "We beat ourselves." Every losing team can point to 2-3 plays that would have changed the outcome, but the winner can point to 2-3 plays that would have made the margin of victory greater.
2. I can't stand Sanchez, but he beat us today. The Pats dared him to make some tough throws and he delivered. No, the secondary did not play well, but you have to give the little sh*t credit. Some of those passes were at tough angles that obviously Belichick did not think he's make. Now, for the Patriots' defense and secondary, here are the growing pains that everyone pledged to put up with, provided the defense was rebuilt, younger, and faster. Doesn't taste good, does it? But it was necessary.
3. I rarely get upset with penalties when they're in-the-action, such as holding or pass interference, and even late hits are okay most of the time. Gostowski's field goal wiped out by mental mistake. Fred Taylor's 30+ yard run on the first drive wiped out by illegal motion. Kyle Arrington runs into fair catch (was there anyone else in the stadium that didn't see that coming twenty yards away?)
4. Ray Rice couldn't run against that Jets defense, even without Jenkins. In fact, I don't think Chris Johnson would put up better than 3 yards a carry. So why bother with the first down runs in the second half? Here's the problem: even if the Jets don't see it coming, and are defending the pass, the best case scenario is a three yard gain. Waste of valuable plays, and plays right into the crowd's emotions.
5. Randy Moss is no longer the superhuman Techmo Bowl player he was in 2007. He is still an outstanding receiver that can exploit matchups, change the game, and clear the secondary for other players. I recall some jump balls Brady threw to Moss in '07 with 2-3 defenders. Those worked then. They shouldn't have. And they don't work now. Why force the issue when there are 4-5 other targets with more favorable matchups? The offense lacks patience and looks for the big strike too often. It will come, but you need to work for it first.
6. For so many years, we've wanted to see some sure-handed tight ends with athleticism. We've suffered through the frustration of Ben Watson never coming up with the catch, despite being oh-so-close. Now the Patriots have two tight ends with insane talent and ball instincts. Throw them the ball until some team can actually stop them, and then figure it out from there. The biggest crime today was taking Hernandez and Gronkowski out of the game by ignoring their great advantages against a weak middle-of-the-field defense.
7. I'm the biggest Tom Brady homer out there, and this is one of the few losses that I put on his shoulders. Remember those days when we beat teams by spreading the ball to Christian Fauria, David Patten, Troy Brown, and Kevin Faulk? That was how Brady became Brady. He needs to embrace his field vision and realize that zeroing in on Moss will give him better stats but less wins.
8. Wes Welker might be not be human. If he retired today, my vote would put #83 in the rafters at Gillette. A gutsy return to the game followed up by a great touchdown grab. Too bad he wasn't part of the second half game plan.
9. Don't get excited about this team until they put together a string of tough wins against good teams, on the road, and show killer instinct. Just like many NFL teams, they're capable of destroying teams at home and looking good for one half of football on the road. If you get sucked in, it's your own fault. Listen to Belichick: there's a lot of improvements that need to be made. Patriots will probably destroy Buffalo, but the Miami game will be a gauge of their mental progress.
10. Of all the guys I'd love to see come crashing down, LaDainian Tomlinson is #1. Lots of dances, lots of celebrations, lots of attitude. I just think back to his infamous bench scene, head down, jacket on, in the AFCCG in '07 while Philip Rivers was playing on a sprained MCL. I do hate Rex Ryan, Bart Scott, and Mark Sanchez, but no one can compare with LT.
2. I can't stand Sanchez, but he beat us today. The Pats dared him to make some tough throws and he delivered. No, the secondary did not play well, but you have to give the little sh*t credit. Some of those passes were at tough angles that obviously Belichick did not think he's make. Now, for the Patriots' defense and secondary, here are the growing pains that everyone pledged to put up with, provided the defense was rebuilt, younger, and faster. Doesn't taste good, does it? But it was necessary.
3. I rarely get upset with penalties when they're in-the-action, such as holding or pass interference, and even late hits are okay most of the time. Gostowski's field goal wiped out by mental mistake. Fred Taylor's 30+ yard run on the first drive wiped out by illegal motion. Kyle Arrington runs into fair catch (was there anyone else in the stadium that didn't see that coming twenty yards away?)
4. Ray Rice couldn't run against that Jets defense, even without Jenkins. In fact, I don't think Chris Johnson would put up better than 3 yards a carry. So why bother with the first down runs in the second half? Here's the problem: even if the Jets don't see it coming, and are defending the pass, the best case scenario is a three yard gain. Waste of valuable plays, and plays right into the crowd's emotions.
5. Randy Moss is no longer the superhuman Techmo Bowl player he was in 2007. He is still an outstanding receiver that can exploit matchups, change the game, and clear the secondary for other players. I recall some jump balls Brady threw to Moss in '07 with 2-3 defenders. Those worked then. They shouldn't have. And they don't work now. Why force the issue when there are 4-5 other targets with more favorable matchups? The offense lacks patience and looks for the big strike too often. It will come, but you need to work for it first.
6. For so many years, we've wanted to see some sure-handed tight ends with athleticism. We've suffered through the frustration of Ben Watson never coming up with the catch, despite being oh-so-close. Now the Patriots have two tight ends with insane talent and ball instincts. Throw them the ball until some team can actually stop them, and then figure it out from there. The biggest crime today was taking Hernandez and Gronkowski out of the game by ignoring their great advantages against a weak middle-of-the-field defense.
7. I'm the biggest Tom Brady homer out there, and this is one of the few losses that I put on his shoulders. Remember those days when we beat teams by spreading the ball to Christian Fauria, David Patten, Troy Brown, and Kevin Faulk? That was how Brady became Brady. He needs to embrace his field vision and realize that zeroing in on Moss will give him better stats but less wins.
8. Wes Welker might be not be human. If he retired today, my vote would put #83 in the rafters at Gillette. A gutsy return to the game followed up by a great touchdown grab. Too bad he wasn't part of the second half game plan.
9. Don't get excited about this team until they put together a string of tough wins against good teams, on the road, and show killer instinct. Just like many NFL teams, they're capable of destroying teams at home and looking good for one half of football on the road. If you get sucked in, it's your own fault. Listen to Belichick: there's a lot of improvements that need to be made. Patriots will probably destroy Buffalo, but the Miami game will be a gauge of their mental progress.
10. Of all the guys I'd love to see come crashing down, LaDainian Tomlinson is #1. Lots of dances, lots of celebrations, lots of attitude. I just think back to his infamous bench scene, head down, jacket on, in the AFCCG in '07 while Philip Rivers was playing on a sprained MCL. I do hate Rex Ryan, Bart Scott, and Mark Sanchez, but no one can compare with LT.
