We are on to Cincinnati...

TB_Helmet said:

Every year "felt different" until it didn't. 2014 after the Chiefs loss was a nightmare and last year we didn't click until week 16.



Yeah, you shouldn't do that. There's nothing wrong with being confident that the Patriots will do well, ever. Nobody should ever be made to feel bad after the fact if they thought the team was going to be good and then they weren't. It completely misses the point of being a sports fan.

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I don’t know where you getting this confidence. This has to be one of the worse offenses in the brady and belichick era. No consistency at all. They struggle to get to 20 points. It’s sad to watch. I feel good about the defense unfortunately it might be wasted due to a poor offense.

NYCPATS4LIFE said:

I don’t know where you getting this confidence. This has to be one of the worse offenses in the brady and belichick era. No consistency at all. They struggle to get to 20 points. It’s sad to watch. I feel good about the defense unfortunately it might be wasted due to a poor offense.

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Well I never said I was confident, I just said I have faith. Huge difference between the two, faith is by nature irrational.

I wasn't confident by any means that they'd come back from 28-3, or down 14 twice against the Ravens, or down 10 against Seattle, or against Jacksonville, or against KC last year...but I never lost faith in any of those games. Contrast that to people who leave games early or people in the game day thread who say they're 'turning off the TV'. They lost faith and never learned the lessons of the Brady era.

I still have faith this year that we'll win the Super Bowl due to all those single games and also this recent run where almost every years we had bad stretches but recovered from them. I won't lose faith until the whistle blows in a playoff loss. That's all I'm saying.

This season just feels too much like 2015. Because it's Belichick and Brady, I will never count them out, but I don't feel confident at all. Something is wrong, I can't say what it is, but this team doesn't feel like it has "it".

Flash said:

This season just feels too much like 2015. Because it's Belichick and Brady, I will never count them out, but I don't feel confident at all. Something is wrong, I can't say what it is, but this team doesn't feel like it has "it".

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They’ve lost to all of the other three division leaders (BAL, HOU, KC) in what many felt was a weak conference. Even worse, they were getting their asses handed to them for a good stretch at some point in all 3 games. No, you definitely shouldn’t count them out, but things aren’t looking good at the moment.

NYCPATS4LIFE said:

This year feels different and i think even the players in the back of their minds know it including bill. They will say all the right things . Offense hasn’t shown no improvements. 3 games left.

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The Pimp has spoken.

supafly said:

They’ve lost to all of the other three division leaders (BAL, HOU, KC) in what many felt was a weak conference. Even worse, they were getting their asses handed to them for a good stretch at some point in all 3 games. No, you definitely shouldn’t count them out, but things aren’t looking good at the moment.

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Ultimately, I think any team with a elite unit (be it offense or defense), good ST and then an average second unit can get to the SB and win a title. But with every drive that the offense can't sustain the margin of error for the defense shrinks.

I said it yesterday and I think I saw a similar lede from Perry or Curran but the defense made maybe 2-3 mistakes yesterday in total. The 3rd/19 completion and the TD JJones gave up. I don't even know if you can call the Kelce direct snap a mistake. The defense wasn't prepared for that but then again the Chiefs saw something and had their own trick play up their sleeves.

That's more a tip the hat play than anything else.

I still believe all the pieces are there on offense to be at least above average. But the timer keeps ticking, January is getting closer and for another week they have not been able to put things together.

Hopefully, this is a similar rallying moment for the team as the original "we're on to Cincinnati" game. The offense doesn't have the tools to light it up on demand, as in years past, but the defense is good enough to make up for a lot of shortcomings if the rest of the team doesn't beat itself.

Simply having their heads together mentally would have made a huge difference. To wit:

BB challenges a spot that is too close to call, rather than trusting his defense to make a play. He never throws that flag in years (or weeks) past. It's the kind of wishful challenge that other coaches make when desperately trying to beat the Pats, and it just makes winning harder. Showing discipline there, rather than succumbing to the general panic so many of us and, apparently, the team feel would have sent this game into OT (all other things being equal).

Botching a trick play after the missed call at the 3 yard line, because they were not focused enough on the next play thinking they would win a challenge and be granted the TD and were disorganised and rushed at the snap. (Calling a trick play on 1st and goal from the 3 stunk of desperation, too.)

There are smaller instances of this where a locked-in team (and the hyper locked-in version of Brady that we know is possible) would have made a play/better throw under pressure. As the season gets down to the wire, I think they can regroup and maximize their potential, but they need to fix their mindset and get locked-in on the next play like they have in years past when their backs have been up against the wall.

This week is as good as any for getting their heads straight. Cincinnati will bring their best in a hostile environment, but the Pats are clearly superior and can start building from that.

supafly said:

They’ve lost to all of the other three division leaders (BAL, HOU, KC) in what many felt was a weak conference. Even worse, they were getting their asses handed to them for a good stretch at some point in all 3 games. No, you definitely shouldn’t count them out, but things aren’t looking good at the moment.

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Who said the AFC was weak?

luuked said:

Ultimately, I think any team with a elite unit (be it offense or defense), good ST and then an average second unit can get to the SB and win a title. But with every drive that the offense can't sustain the margin of error for the defense shrinks.

I said it yesterday and I think I saw a similar lede from Perry or Curran but the defense made maybe 2-3 mistakes yesterday in total. The 3rd/19 completion and the TD JJones gave up. I don't even know if you can call the Kelce direct snap a mistake. The defense wasn't prepared for that but then again the Chiefs saw something and had their own trick play up their sleeves.

That's more a tip the hat play than anything else.

I still believe all the pieces are there on offense to be at least above average. But the timer keeps ticking, January is getting closer and for another week they have not been able to put things together.

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This team will struggle to get by next week at cincy. Need to stop the bleeding. Maybe they score 23 points.

Imagine if Jules had actually missed games this year. He’s a warrior for gutting it out. We’re screwed with him, imagine without

Froob said:

Imagine if Jules had actually missed games this year. He’s a warrior for gutting it out. We’re screwed with him, imagine without

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Dude is having this best year maybe of his career. It’s a shame we don’t have a true number 2 wideout to compliment him. What a waste. To me he’s a hall of fame player.

You guys spend a lot of time *****ing about the players. When are you guys going to start pointing fingers at the fools who built this team? Who replaced Chris Hogan, Cordorelle Patterson, Malcolm Mitchell and Gronk. WHO REPLACED THEM! I don't see anyone who did. Some of this is on the coaching staff too. WTF has Scarnechia been doing.? His pupils are not getting it done. They can't run block or pass block efficiently. If your O-line can't block , then there will be very little scoring.
Injuries. Injuries never stopped good execution in the past. So what has happened? They used to be able to coach around injuries.
WTF is Skippy doing? His play calling is suspect and lacks coordination. Oh but all of this is Brady's fault. I am ready to look at it as a Super Bowl hangover at this point. The team doesn't have what it takes to make it to the end, in my personal opinion.
I will happily stand corrected if I am wrong, but I can only go by what I see. 6 Super Bowls is pretty good. I remember when we had none. So, if it is not meant to be this year, so be it.

All we can do right now is control what we can. Pats really need to win out. On to Cincinnati is right! I hope we can duplicate our end-of-the-year results last time this was our rallying cry!

All the remaining games are winnable. 2 of them are at home. Bengals already won a game so maybe they are punched out for the season? Defense should have a great day. Offense will struggle yet again but 20 points should be enough.

We have three games against Cincy, Buffalo, and Miami to experiment and build our confidence. The next three weeks are critical.

Ladypatsfan said:

You guys spend a lot of time *****ing about the players. When are you guys going to start pointing fingers at the fools who built this team? .

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Good point, I don’t think anyone on this board has said anything negative about Kraft or Belichick’s decisions this year when it comes to which players are or are not on the team

supafly said:

They’ve lost to all of the other three division leaders (BAL, HOU, KC) in what many felt was a weak conference. Even worse, they were getting their asses handed to them for a good stretch at some point in all 3 games. No, you definitely shouldn’t count them out, but things aren’t looking good at the moment.

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You are right. Looks bad. One thing that drove me nutts were plays on 3-25 and we couldn’t stop that. My hangover is bad today lol

Ladypatsfan said:

You guys spend a lot of time *****ing about the players. When are you guys going to start pointing fingers at the fools who built this team? Who replaced Chris Hogan, Cordorelle Patterson, Malcolm Mitchell and Gronk. WHO REPLACED THEM! I don't see anyone who did. Some of this is on the coaching staff too. WTF has Scarnechia been doing.? His pupils are not getting it done. They can't run block or pass block efficiently. If your O-line can't block , then there will be very little scoring.
Injuries. Injuries never stopped good execution in the past. So what has happened? They used to be able to coach around injuries.
WTF is Skippy doing? His play calling is suspect and lacks coordination. Oh but all of this is Brady's fault. I am ready to look at it as a Super Bowl hangover at this point. The team doesn't have what it takes to make it to the end, in my personal opinion.
I will happily stand corrected if I am wrong, but I can only go by what I see. 6 Super Bowls is pretty good. I remember when we had none. So, if it is not meant to be this year, so be it.

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With regard to Scarnechia and the offensive line, I'll point out what I did on another
post. Their backup offensive linemen were so bad during the preseason games that
the Pats cut all of them and traded three 2020 draft picks for Bodine, Cunningham,
and Eluemunor. Bodine was cut after a few days (lost draft pick) and the other two
have played very little. Can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear forever. Ferentz
couldn't make any other roster in the NFL except ours.

robertweathers said:

Who said the AFC was weak?

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There have been plenty of posts about how we didn’t really have any competition etc, especially after KC started to fade a few weeks ago. It’s generally been thought that BAL/NE/KC made up a top heavy conference and that the NFC was much better seeds 1-6, and that’s exactly how it looks.