Opinion: This team has fight left in them.

The only (Brady-era) Pats team I've seen enter the post season so stale was probably the 2009 gang, coming into the wild card after having Welker go down right before. That was the only team where a lot of the players seemed to resign themselves before the game started. It was only Faulk and teenaged Edelman who seemed to have fight in them. IIRC.

I think if the Pats still have their fight they could white knuckle through a couple games this post season. Putting together four wins would be a hell of an accomplishment, because it would probably be one of the toughest things they did given the state of the players at this point (both who is on the roster and how healthy they are).

I will never count Brady and Belichick out.

tasmlab said:

The only (Brady-era) Pats team I've seen enter the post season so stale was probably the 2009 gang, coming into the wild card after having Welker go down right before. That was the only team where a lot of the players seemed to resign themselves before the game started. It was only Faulk and teenaged Edelman who seemed to have fight in them. IIRC.

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This year isn't that bad.

Henry is scary. Tannehil doesn't even need to throw the ball. That Brown dude is HUGE and fast too. They will be a hand full for sure. How many times can you tackle Henry before you get tired?

I am curious - what exactly about this team suggests that they still have a fight in them?
They can't block, tackle, run, or catch. What am I missing?

Put me down for "that's why they play the games."

I would love a trip to KC. All the pressure would be on KC. I want that game but the titans ain’t going down without a fight. The defense will have to play lights out. Right now i see nothing from this offense.

Patstastic said:

I wouldn't be shocked if Tennessee blows us out. They are playing much better. They have momentum. This has turned into such a dissapointing season. I still cannot believe this team lost to Miami at home. The Dolphins!!

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Not sure Tennessee really has that much momentum. They lost 2 of their last 3 games and the one win was against a Texans team resting all their starters. They will be a tough out surely, but I don't think they have a ton of momentum.

The Patriots have only allowed four 100 yard rushers in 16 games this season (Gore, Chubb, Mixon and Ingram) and held 4 of the last 5 opponents under 100 yards rushing for the game. Henry and the Titans offensive line will be a tough matchup, hopefully the run defense will hold up. The Patriots also have decent familiarity with Tannehill which will help a bit. Biggest question is can the offense engineer a few scoring drives against the Titans defense. I guess we'll see how much heart this team has come Saturday night at 8:15 ET.

Its not like the Titans are an unbeatable juggernaut. They have scored a lot of points though in second half of the season and have a lot of weapons other than Henry. Tannehill has been excellent. Vrabel made a great move in switching QB's.

I expect a tough game Saturday night. When push comes to shove can Pats D return to how they played against Buffalo and can the Offense pick up the pace and efficiency...I say probably and expect them to eek out a win.


However, I do not think this un it can beat KC or Baltimore on any field this year.

The 2009 parallels seem pretty weak, that was just a group with too many trash people in it to function properly as a team. The Dolphins loss was a garbage game, but this season has been full of the team gutting out close wins where lots of things went wrong before that. There is actually some track record of overcoming adversity in 2019 that didn't exist in 2009.

This feels more like 2013, or late 2015 after the injury wave hit. Lack of talent due to injuries, FA/draft busts, and too many people in & out at too many positions to get any kind of unit cohesion going. Or a more severe version of what we just saw in 2018, really.

A win or loss vs. the Titans wouldn't stun me, but it's not hard to imagine how they can squeak one out against a 9-7 team at home after what we just saw against the Bills. After that it looks really murky unless the defense goes back to looking like it did in Super Bowl 53 instead being punked by a cartoon parody of a career journeyman QB.

I have not seen a patriots offense this inept in well... ever. They have no strengths at all. I am going to hope for the best but objectively speaking, they don’t really belong in the Super bowl.

Observer said:

I have not seen a patriots offense this inept in well... ever. They have no strengths at all. I am going to hope for the best but objectively speaking, they don’t really belong in the Super bowl.

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We must lean on the run game. And I do like the 2 rb sets with burk and white.

StockingAnarchyNumber12 said:

I know it looks bad, but to start let me say im proud to watch another 12-4 season. I know some fans are angry, but I'm not. Its been an honor watching this team. With that said, I don't think its over. Im not predicting a SB win, but I believe we will beat Tennessee and Kansas City. However, I wont look that ahead and will just concentrate on Tennessee. Im not really good at Xs and Os, but I believe in this unit. I believe Brady has enough magic left to reach afccg. Maybe not win, but reach.

Onto Tennessee.

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agreed with all you said, but i rated it funny because the brady dyes his hair option made me lol

PATSYLICIOUS said:

agreed with all you said, but i rated it funny because the brady dyes his hair option made me lol

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Tom is letting his addiction to Just For Men get out of hand.

One game at a time obviously, but IF we beat KC we’re going to the SB. Save this post. Please.

UptownPatsFan said:

One game at a time obviously, but IF we beat KC we’re going to the SB. Save this post. Please.

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I'm with you. I think this team is all over the place, but if they can beat a hot Tenn team and go into KC and pull it off, they're SB bound. Whether or not they can pull it together and stop playing like sh** remains to be seen.

Chevrolet said:

Its not like the Titans are an unbeatable juggernaut. They have scored a lot of points though in second half of the season and have a lot of weapons other than Henry. Tannehill has been excellent. Vrabel made a great move in switching QB's.

I expect a tough game Saturday night. When push comes to shove can Pats D return to how they played against Buffalo and can the Offense pick up the pace and efficiency...I say probably and expect them to eek out a win.


However, I do not think this un it can beat KC or Baltimore on any field this year.

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I think the Chiefs prefer to face a team like the Pats over say Houston in the Divisional round. The Texans have an elite receiver. And their QB is a dual threat. I could see them going in there again and winning. Not the Pats though. Not with this roster.

Ras-IR Dowling said:

We must lean on the run game. And I do like the 2 rb sets with burk and white.

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They seem to go away from it for no reason especially in the 2nd and 3rd series. Same vs miami, same vs houston. There was no need for brady to throw the ball as much early on. Josh tries too much at times and I feel the team always tries too hard to out think the other team offensively instead of being patient with its strengths.

SammyBlueCat said:

I am curious - what exactly about this team suggests that they still have a fight in them?
They can't block, tackle, run, or catch. What am I missing?

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They can punt and their kicker doesn't suck. That's all I got.

Observer said:

I have not seen a patriots offense this inept in well... ever. They have no strengths at all. I am going to hope for the best but objectively speaking, they don’t really belong in the Super bowl.

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I dont think they are confident in sticking consistently to whatever they do. This is a collective mess. They are very inconsistent and seem to be trying things week to week .