Post Game Thread - Pats @ Steelers

Been a LONG while since we've lost more than 4 games...

Brady isn't cooked but there's been a slight decline but it's not helped by an eroding roster around him.

The Patriots have zero Pro Bowl calibre players under 30.

festy1986 said:

Two weeks he could of taken a sack and saved 3 points In each situation.

And two weeks he has flat out decided not to.

So ya, that's on him.

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Respect.

Mack Herron said:

Truly awful performance.

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Agree, but to be fair, a few big calls were just bad calls.

Brady has sucked and has not been superbowl worthy.

However, given that unfolded and hes going to have an entire off season to sit through KNOWN how terrible he was, it's only common sense to wait until next season to see it he course corrects it or to see if this was truly the end.

Boy, talk about a murky future.

Brady will be 42 next year. We can only hope somehow he plays great for one more year. But even then there’s a lot of work to be done on this offense.

And the defense obviously needs work as well.

This window feels like it’s closing, and it sucks. But I guess it has to do so at some point.

ctpatsfan77 said:

It doesn't help when basically your entire rookie class ends up on IR.

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Well I don’t see a guard injecting much athleticism and our corner is a healthy scratch. Our RB is a plodder and the rest were late round guys. The only one you can realtically say would’ve added much athleticism is Bentley.

Ignoring the obvious discipline issue today, I feel like all our creativity on the offense is just gone the last 4 or 5 games.

Receivers can't get open unless there is a defensive mistake it seems. And it doesn't look like were are helping them with schemed plays either. And the run game isn't really helping things (must have gotten at least half of the running yards on one drive), just run it straight into the line every time.

But worst of all, we just look old and slow much of the time.

Brady is still good enough to win. Still a top 5-7 QB

His receivers and OL are much more problematic.

robertweathers said:

How do the Patriots miss the playoffs?

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Still haven't won the division

DaBruinz said:

How many drives were killed by the ridiculous calls by the refs? At least 3 of them.. Can't win when you have to be the refs AND the other team..

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Refs sucked today. But so did a handful of key patriot players.

Do you guys realize they lost like 100 yards in penalties at the offensive line? Brady played well besides one horrible play (again.).

Josh Gordon’s two targets should be enough for McDouche’s pink slip, but it won’t be.

I think the offense would have been fine with a run pass balance, but Brady looked at that defense and figured he would need to put up points. If Pittsburgh hadn't stopped running after going for over 10 yards a carry, they would have won by 2-3 touchdowns.

ScottishPatriots said:

Better hope the Texans lose in Philly next week.

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What does it matter? This team isn’t going anywhere. The suspect drafts have caught up with them and the team has aged badly. They haven’t hit on their top overall pick since 2013. A half a decade ago.

Dilly Dilly

14-106 vs 4-40, with almost all of the 106 being "big ones". Ugly job by these refs. Remember this game the next time a Steeler fan gives you some stuff about how the Patriots always get the calls.

Belichick8384 said:

One more game in the playoffs, big deal.

I remember a time when at this time of the year we were unsure whether or not the Pats would make the playoffs. Count your blessings, folks. Not the end of the world.

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Lmao........oh wait....... ok.... you're playing the, "back in my day we never even sniffed the playoffs" card, got it. It most certainly is a huge deal if you actually wanna see this team win the SB though. Which I don't see how anyone outside of the biggest homers can think at this point.

Jlaff said:

We can't be sure we're in the playoffs now.

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Well, that would require the Patriots to lose to BUF and the JEST, in which case they don't deserve to make the playoffs.

Awful officiating aside, the whole team has been inconsistent for the entire season. Brady is 'off', the play-calling and situational awareness has been surprisingly poor, the execution has been bad, and the defense isn't particularly talented.

Something isn't right with this team, and I wonder if it's related to the chemistry in the locker room. The coaching seems lacking, the players don't seem to be responding, and the team seems incomplete in some sense. Really inconsistent in their play, but they don't seem to be entirely there mentally. Just seem lackadaisical and unfocused.

They took out Gordon on the final play of the game and put in Patterson. That's a head-scratcher, and I assume there's more to that than just a routine personnel decision. It's a bit frustrating as a fan to see, arguably, the team's best receiver (who was only targeted once in the entire second half) get pulled on the most important offensive play of the game. Why isn't Gordon being utilized in the red-area? It it McD's or Brady's fault?

I would assume they win out, but I'm not sure that's a safe bet. Regardless, they need a HOU loss in order to get an extra week of rest. Certainly possible, HOU isn't a great team, but I'm not sure they'll lose to PHI or JAX. At any rate, if both NE and HOU win out, the Pats will end up the with #3 seed; not sure who that'd have them playing haven't looked closely enough. Regardless, it's going to be a challenging game whether they end up at the #2 or #3 seed ... or worse.

UFGatorPat said:

Where is White in the slot? Where is Dorsett? We have some other damn options. I’ve been a big Josh fan but this has been a bad season for him. I don’t know who else I’d rather have.

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I mentioned that in the game thread. Pittsburgh has been HIGHLY suspect against RBs in the passing game and yet we saw very little 21 personnel used. Why?