Deion Sanders: Losing the bye is the best thing that could happen to Pats

Ring 6 said:

Please explain how that equals more practice than playing both weeks.
If I am wrong show me how bye plus a game leads to more practice than game plus a game.

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@Tunescribe ill assume your funny is an indication of realizing how funny it was for you to believe that teams practice more when they don’t have games.
The patriots will practice Tues wed Thur fri, then have the ultimate “practice” by competing in a game Saturday. After they win the may even practice Monday in addition to Tuesday wed Thur fri next week

so perhaps you can explain to me which days are inserted into the week that aren’t on my calendar when a team has a bye.

ultimately it’s hard to understand why you are getting so bent out of shape, to the degree you are making things up, over the fact that we have differing opinions.
I accept that you believe sitting out a week will better prepare them to play the following week and that you have reasons for feeling that way. I believe they will be better prepared next week if they work and compete this week because in their current state they need the kind of improvement that can only be found by playing real football.
Not sure why this creates such angst for you.

Ring 6 said:

Well obviously if you sustain injuries that’s a negative. I was referring to the idea that sitting out a week helps a football team.

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That’s a big part of it. One more game to aggravate existing injuries instead of allowing them to heal, and to accumulate new injuries that would not have happened without the additional game.

Ring 6 said:

Please explain how that equals more practice than playing both weeks.
If I am wrong show me how bye plus a game leads to more practice than game plus a game.

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I said I was moving on from this nonsensical debate but I'll indulge you: Practice for a game focuses on the opponent. Practice during bye week focuses on things a team needs to improve upon independent of preparing for a specific opponent. A big benefit of two weeks comes on the coaching end doing game-plan prep for the two possible opponents. So, the players practice during bye week, get treatment, do conditioning work, etc. and decompress during a weekend off. Coaches, meanwhile, do preliminary work on two game plans then hit the ground running once the opponent is set. Players come back from the weekend refreshed and (in case they're injured) improved physically while coaches are more thoroughly prepared for the next game. Game week proceeds as normal with the added benefit of not having to travel. You can't dismiss the physical toll of playing a playoff-level game, especially for already injured players, and then doing the same thing six or seven days later. That's part of why teams that host divisional games usually advance to the conference championship.

OK, now I'm done. You can continue debating with the nearest mirror if you want, or create another account and do it that way.

Tunescribe said:

I said I was moving on from this nonsensical debate but I'll indulge you: Practice for a game focuses on the opponent. Practice during bye week focuses on things a team needs to improve upon independent of preparing for a specific opponent. A big benefit of two weeks comes on the coaching end doing game-plan prep for the two possible opponents. So, the players practice during bye week, get treatment, do conditioning work, etc. and decompress during a weekend off. Coaches, meanwhile, do preliminary work on two game plans then hit the ground running once the opponent is set. Players come back from the weekend refreshed and (in case they're injured) improved physically while coaches are more thoroughly prepared for the next game. Game week proceeds as normal with the added benefit of not having to travel. You can't dismiss the physical toll of playing a playoff-level game, especially for already injured players, and then doing the same thing six or seven days later. That's part of why teams that host divisional games usually advance to the conference championship.

OK, now I'm done.

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So you agree they don’t practice more if they have a bye. Glad we could agree on that.

As far as the rest, I understand the reasons you would prefer to take a week off. I agree they are valid. But there are different advantages to playing. In the case of this team in its current state I think playing a game of better for them than taking the week off.
I think they can gain momentum from playing well this week and I think they still have things to correct that can only be corrected on the field. Clearly you can understand that, although you seem to be digging your heels in that whatever you think has to be right and its 100% black and white so the only way to go is to dismiss valid, conflicting opinions.

I hope Deion is right

n6249c said:

That’s a big part of it. One more game to aggravate existing injuries instead of allowing them to heal, and to accumulate new injuries that would not have happened without the additional game.

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Sure but the value of playing a game to get the team in sync is real.

No offense to Deion, but we played like crap in December last year and the bye was just what we needed to get back on track.

The Pats playing on wildcard weekend means nothing to them. They'll be hoisting the Lombardi anyway. It's for the benefit of the league. Wildcard weekend has been pure cancer for a decade. The Patriots will get to finally make wildcard weekend great again.

The road to the SB will also get much easier from here, as Tennessee is the only real challenge for NE.

StairwayToSe7en said:

The Pats playing on wildcard weekend means nothing to them. They'll be hoisting the Lombardi anyway. It's for the benefit of the league. Wildcard weekend has been pure cancer for a decade. The Patriots will get to finally make wildcard weekend great again.

The road to the SB will also get much easier from here, as Tennessee is the only real challenge for NE.

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Almost as good as your record in Ian's pool? What place are you in again?

TommyBrady12 said:

Almost as good as your record in Ian's pool? What place are you in again?

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Undefeated, and undisputed.

StairwayToSe7en said:

Undefeated, and undisputed.

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Your other alias @Quest4SevenHomie is 125-131...

Ring 6 said:

So you agree they don’t practice more if they have a bye. Glad we could agree on that.

As far as the rest, I understand the reasons you would prefer to take a week off. I agree they are valid. But there are different advantages to playing. In the case of this team in its current state I think playing a game of better for them than taking the week off.
I think they can gain momentum from playing well this week and I think they still have things to correct that can only be corrected on the field. Clearly you can understand that, although you seem to be digging your heels in that whatever you think has to be right and its 100% black and white so the only way to go is to dismiss valid, conflicting opinions.

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Nothing you said is wrong. But the percentages all point to having a bye is the most effective way to winning a Super Bowl. Also you have failed to mention travel. Teams who play wild card weekend have to travel and play on the road which is never an advantage. Plus in football most injuries happen during game time not practice so missing a game is beneficial for heath reasons. All in all it is just better to have a bye and play at home. You can pretend like we are in a better spot by losing but the stats say we are not.

Bledsoehasaring said:

Nothing you said is wrong. But the percentages all point to having a bye is the most effective way to winning a Super Bowl. Also you have failed to mention travel. Teams who play wild card weekend have to travel and play on the road which is never an advantage. Plus in football most injuries happen during game time not practice so missing a game is beneficial for heath reasons. All in all it is just better to have a bye and play at home. You can pretend like we are in a better spot by losing but the stats say we are not.

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I never said, and in fact have mentioned many times that I haven’t, that the 3 seed is better than the 2.
I said playing in the road is worse.
I said playing in round 1 can cause you to lose in round 1.
I acknowledge injuries can occur.
I said that there is benefit in playing instead of taking the week off.
Of course a week off and a home game is better than playing and going on the the road

But the state this team is in playing a game this week is likely to prepare them better to play next week than a week off would.
Short hand, they need the work and need to improve for it to matter and playing is by far the best way to improve.

Ring 6 said:

I never said, and in fact have mentioned many times that I haven’t, that the 3 seed is better than the 2.
I said playing in the road is worse.
I said playing in round 1 can cause you to lose in round 1.
I acknowledge injuries can occur.
I said that there is benefit in playing instead of taking the week off.
Of course a week off and a home game is better than playing and going on the the road

But the state this team is in playing a game this week is likely to prepare them better to play next week than a week off would.
Short hand, they need the work and need to improve for it to matter and playing is by far the best way to improve.

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Fair enough.

lancerman said:

I actually agree with him. Team is still working on the offense and they are better off with a a home game against a winnable opponent they can test themselves against than a week off and being told to try to win a shootout with Chiefs right away

Yeah an extra week to be healthy seems nice but it’s not going to amount to a whole lot. Realistically this is the situation we are rolling with so we might as well find ways to make it work and grind it out

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I agree and mentioned that a few days ago. I dont think it’s the best thing that could happen but, this teams best chance is get some chemistry and build up something from here. Given this team characteristics and how they look weak mentally compared to other years, I think they would come out of the bye soft and flat just to be ran over by KC.

Let them grind it out and what will be will be. I’m still proud of them and happy with another winning season.

Just win on Saturday and keep your season alive. Have a week where nobody will give you a chance to win. They already have that experience of playing in KC. Frankly i am not afraid of them if our defense comes to play and we make plays on offense here and there.

turkeyneck said:

I agree that the receivers do need the work. They need the work with Brady. Who needs to maximally rest his arm, NOT work it, for there to be anything there come gametime. Don't see how that circle can be squared.

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If Brady has tennis elbow, a week of rest isn't going to make it feel any better at his age in my opinion. I've had it a few times and it took months of rest. No, I'm not a professional athlete with the best trainers and rehab facilities at my disposal but I don't think it matters in regards to such a small time frame in this case.

Yes, the offense is working so well together that they are ready to face KC and BALT and win. NOT!

We were just hoping for a couple of miracles. This way, it is more of a long shot than a miracle. Personally, I would have preferred losing to BUF and starting the winning streak in MIA.

The offense needs to improve each week. Likely, there isn't enough time. Losing one week of improvement would not have helped, or so said Deion. I agree.

I'm with Ring6 on this one, but my main reason is that the Patriots have gone from being favourites to underdogs and we can finally go back from "best defense in history" to "nobody believes in us". This team has beaten more talented teams throughout this incredible run, and they do it because when the chips are down, the guys get tougher and grind out winning plays, often with unsung heroes coming out of nowhere. We've been on the margins for practically all of our Super Bowl seasons, barely scraping by very good teams often with higher talent levels at starter positions with grit, backups making plays, greatness under pressure by Brady and brilliant game-planning.

Yes, I of course agree and understand that #2 seed with a Bye and a Home Game is better. But clearly they weren't worthy of that. They are who they are at this point of the season. They were really gonna fix it all in a one-week Bye? I'll take the opportunity where the odds are against them and they need to overcome to succeed. That's been the recipe for this entire run. When we were blowing everyone away, we came up short.

I am also of the opinion that we do hold wrinkles back for the playoffs and these critical plays often make the difference in those close games against the best teams. Breaking out the Elandon Roberts pass was probably something they were hoping to save, but they needed it in order to win a tough game against Miami and thereby gain the Bye. I know this opinion is one that is not widely shared, as I got slammed for it before about the Ratbirds game. So go ahead, I'll take the abuse, and remind y'all of it once we're hoisting #7. The running game is getting going again, and we're going to be a different team during the playoffs. Sony Michel will be the Super Bowl MVP.