14-3/13-4 would be a great season and one loss to Buffalo doesn’t change that

[upstater1]

This team beats the Bills in a playoff rematch.

 

[TommyD4207]

It must be fun to live in your house. Kitchen cleaned? Great, now go clean the garage, mother****er!



True.



IMO, false. We only lost by 4 points. It wasn't as if the only thing we could be talking about is the stuff that could have been better.

This is fair.
Although the only reason it was only 4 is because Buffalo took a knee inside the red zone at the end of the game.

 

[SVN]

It must be fun to live in your house. Kitchen cleaned? Great, now go clean the garage, mother****er!



True.



IMO, false. We only lost by 4 points. It wasn't as if the only thing we could be talking about is the stuff that could have been better.

I am not sure why you are so angry. All I am saying is whats wrong in having some expectations if the team is playing well . We can always look back and say this is more than we bargained for at the end. That will always be true, no one expected them to be so good so early. But for now we can have so expectations to win more.

Anyways . I will drop out. Good luck.

 

[imahobgoblin]

It has already been a successful season. But the real question is whether it can become a special season - that's much less clear. At minimum we will need (1) run defense to shore up, (2) Drake Maye to play like an MVP rather than a second year guy, (3) luck with bounce of the ball / refs for this to become a special season. E.g., we need first half of the Bills game. But this team is never that far away from the second half of that game either - which is the drama of the playoffs!

Looking into the next 2-3 seasons:
We absolutely need more depth and frankly star power in the defensive front. I'd take 2-3 more guys on the edge that can be 5-7 sack contributors in a rotation vs. a single 15+ sack contributor (probably easier to find / lighter on resource allocation too).

We need more physical interior OL and eventually replacement for RT Moses (who is old).

I think we need another weapon as well - doesn't have to be a WR1, but someone who can make several ++ plays per game. That could come from Kyle Williams developing, trading for a WR1 (AJ Brown? not sure worth headache given age), or finding a special TE/WR in draft. Given our draft position, finding a special TE seems more likely than WR. Special TE to me means someone who can either hit 20+ yard plays as a mismatch or who can take 5-10 yard plays and add 5-10 yards on top regularly, while still being a solid blocker in run game. You aren't going to find a Gronk or Kelce easily but can you find a Tucker Kraft?

We aren't that far away but adding depth to the roster overall (esp. on defense) will be paramount underlying those front-line needs.

This is not allowed in this forum. I tried saying something like this before the Buffalo loss, and was blasted because we have already arrived and are competing for a championship with a championship roster. The rebuild is already done.

 

[jal]

It must be fun to live in your house. Kitchen cleaned? Great, now go clean the garage, mother****er!



True.



IMO, false. We only lost by 4 points. It wasn't as if the only thing we could be talking about is the stuff that could have been better.

Nobody is complaining about the overall result; but seasons are organic and it's more fun to talk about where the ceiling could be this year. We have a chance to win the SB! Why wouldn't we talk about that? Otherwise this site would be nothing more than a weekly kumbayah from here on out - that's boring

 

[imahobgoblin]

Not really. It's a good season but will you really remember it fondly in 10 years if it doesn't result in at least a deep playoff run? The standard here for special is a ring. Fair or not, that's the truth.

Clown Show Posse sighting.

 

[jal]

Clown Show Posse sighting.

You're right - we should do nothing but kumbayah from here on out. That's definitely more interesting than talking about where the ceiling for this team might actually end up.

 

[Bill Lee]

I am not sure why you are so angry. All I am saying is whats wrong in having some expectations if the team is playing well .

Flip side: What is wrong with being appreciative that we've made so much progress?

We can always look back and say this is more than we bargained for at the end. That will always be true, no one expected them to be so good so early. But for now we can have so expectations to win more.

I'm no expert in philosophy or psychology, but I don't think it's too hard to see why greeting success with expectations of even greater future success till the end of time as challenges continue to get more difficult doesn't often end well. This thing called reality tends to rise up and bite one in the ass.

Anyways . I will drop out. Good luck.

Peace, out!

 

[imahobgoblin]

This team beats the Bills in a playoff rematch.

There is very reasonable. Williams and Big Country will be back. This tightens up the interior and slows down the run so Cooks is in check. The penetration also will open up the outside for a better pass rush. Big Country will be healthy and the o-line better. Diggs will not repeat a poor game. Josh Allen is Josh Allen - an MVP. HE can win any game and its not shameful to lose to him. Its shameful to be up 21-3 and blow it.

 

[pazrul72]

I'm certainly not complaining. I called this a successful season already, far better than anyone here could hope for. But I'm also just being realistic that "special" seasons end in a ring or at least a SB appearance for this franchise. We aren't decades removed from our last ring, it's only been 7 years (5 if you felt some vicarious joy from Tompa Brady's 7th). The only exception to that would be 2007 for obvious reasons but we aren't that this year.

Do you remember 2002, 2005-06, 2008-10, 2012-2013, 2015, or 2019-24 with any special pride & joy?

Actually 2008 was one of my favorite seasons and I know that sounds like blasphemy with Brady being injured. Plus by the end of the year it was clear they were frauds losing to every good team they played, but I enjoyed the hell out of it because the pressure was off. It wasn't super bowl or bust, with zero expectations I was able to watch players like Cassel grow and that was fun. There are good parts to every team even the ones that don't win Superbowls or make a deep playoff run.

That said I do agree with your overall point in regards to this year. Preseason I would have been thrilled to be 10-7 with a wild card loss. Being the #2 seed with 3 games to go has raised my hopes and losing round one would now be disappointing.

 

[imahobgoblin]

Flip side: What is wrong with being appreciative that we've made so much progress?



I'm no expert in philosophy or psychology, but I don't think it's too hard to see why greeting success with expectations of even greater future success till the end of time as challenges continue to get more difficult doesn't often end well. This thing called reality tends to rise up and bite one in the ass.



Peace, out!

Because the majority of other Pats fans are just utterly insufferable people. We truly have one of the worst fan bases in the league.

 

[MrTibbs]

People are going overboard and taking that home loss as two losses. Everyone seems to foget that Pats beat them in Buffalo. The Patriots were up by double digits BOTH times they played them. For a team in it's first year rebuild that's a pretty significant stat. It shows the gap between the two teams is very slim. Let's see what happens as Vrabel and company fill out the roster and get more depth and better players in there.

 

[mgteich]

This team beats the Bills in a playoff rematch.

likely if Williams and Spillane are near 100%.

 

[upstater1]

Just thinking about 2008, the team went 11-5. It was still the era of 6 teams in the playoffs per conference. So when people mention that the Patriots went to the playoffs 11 straight times and that KC's streak was recently broken, we should remind them that IF 7 teams qualified for the playoffs back then, the Patriots would have made 19 straight appearances.

Or 24 out of 27 years (1995-1998, 2001-2019, 2021)

 

[TheRainMaker]

Just thinking about 2008, the team went 11-5. It was still the era of 6 teams in the playoffs per conference. So when people mention that the Patriots went to the playoffs 11 straight times and that KC's streak was recently broken, we should remind them that IF 7 teams qualified for the playoffs back then, the Patriots would have made 19 straight appearances.

Or 24 out of 27 years (1995-1998, 2001-2019, 2021)

Here's a question: Had the Pats made the playoffs in 2008, they would've faced Baltimore at Gillette. Do they win?

 

[mgteich]

Because the majority of other Pats fans are just utterly insufferable people. We truly have one of the worst fan bases in the league.

naah!

just the most entitled.

 

[stinkypete]

I think the majority opinion here is that this season is already an unqualified success.

I disagree somewhat with sugar coating Sunday’s loss by saying it was only by 4. Buffalo dominated most of this game. 14 points essentially came on one play drives, and our first TD required a major blown call on the Boutte catch.

This is not to say the team is a fraud. I think they are good enough to beat any team on any given Sunday, but, to beat four good teams in a row is probably a tall order.

For all the heat that the defense (deservedly) is facing for Sunday’s meltdown, I look at the run game as the fatal flow of this team right now. If we had the ability to churn out a long, clock killing drive late in the game, we would’ve won. Well advanced metrics say this is the most efficient pass game in the league, the eyeball test and the drive chart betray that.

The good news is, this is probably the easiest element of a roster to fix.

 

[upstater1]

Here's a question: Had the Pats made the playoffs in 2008, they would've faced Baltimore at Gillette. Do they win?

No. Heh.

 

[upstater1]

I think the majority opinion here is that this season is already an unqualified success.

I disagree somewhat with sugar coating Sunday’s loss by saying it was only by 4. Buffalo dominated most of this game. 14 points essentially came on one play drives, and our first TD required a major blown call on the Boutte catch.

This is not to say the team is a fraud. I think they are good enough to beat any team on any given Sunday, but, to beat four good teams in a row is probably a tall order.

For all the heat that the defense (deservedly) is facing for Sunday’s meltdown, I look at the run game as the fatal flow of this team right now. If we had the ability to churn out a long, clock killing drive late in the game, we would’ve won. Well advanced metrics say this is the most efficient pass game in the league, the eyeball test and the drive chart betray that.

The good news is, this is probably the easiest element of a roster to fix.

The Bills had 3 good minutes in the entire first half.

So how did they dominate the entire game?

27 of those minutes were total domination by New England. 24 points in one half.

If you're going to take away the quick strikes of the Patriots drives, why wouldn't you do the same for the Bills' 54 yard kick off return and the 50 yard bomb (which was intercepted but ruled a catch) by the Bills?

 

[Ring 6]

13-4 is a joke. They should be 14-2. If they showed up at all for the Raiders, they'd be 15-1. If they weren't so undisciplined vs Pittsburgh, they'd still be undefeated. They can't find their way to the endzone with a map. The only way this team get's to the Super Bowl is with a ticket. RoBeRT KrAFt iS a J0ke oF aN owNer. Hand job loving glory hound. And Mcdaniels doesn't know how to call plays to save his life. All they did is s3t this franchise back y3ars by eff'ng up the draft slot.


That's my best disgruntled fan I can come up with. Carry on.

Well you have a lot of role models here to draw from.