Anyone else a little nervous right now?

[ShaneFalco]

it all comes down to if you believe in tebow magic?

"Tebow Magic" by dj steve porter - YouTube

by dj steve porter pretty awesome song regardless lol

 

[Satchboogie3]

I'm excited too. It's been 2 LONG weeks!
I shudder to think how brutal next Monday-Friday is going to be if we win tomorrow.

It would be a relaxing break (winning) compared to how looonnnngggg, depressing, and rage-filled the week would be if we were to lose....

 

[Jozef]

We blew out the Jets last year 45-3 only to be embarrassed by them in the divisional round. So yeah, I'm nervous.

45-3.... I like that score. That's a solid prediction.

 

[blackglass3]

Last year's game was just the worst. Sunday at 4, sitting through a whole weekend of games before ours. Then Meathead Glazer starts trouble with his ridiculous "Patriots were the first team tripping players" story and i just about threw up. I was extremely anxious by kickoff, I just wanted to shut everyone up for good. Seeing those sh*t talking punks beat us in our house left me shocked and numb for days.

So, not really all that nervous. We have seen almost every terrible loss imaginable in the span of 7 years. Horrible officiating (05), blowing a huge lead (06), not playing defense with 2 minutes left and history on the line (07), losing our best players to devastating injury (08 and 09), and then losing to our most hated rival (10). Honestly, how much worse could losing tomorrow be?

You want to know who has nothing to lose? The Pats. The playoffs simply cannot get worse for them.

 

[BradyToAmendola]

I don't know if I will sleep tonight. That's how nervous I am.

 

[QuantumMechanic]

Not to mention this would be the worst play off loss in team history.

Ummm...there was this game in Glendale, AZ you may have heard of...

 

[QuantumMechanic]

I'll be nervous at kickoff (does any other loser fan get butterflies like me?).

Always.

But one of my friends is the topper -- she's been a fan for years (even watched the 2003 intentional safety game during labor) but generally gets so nervous she can't watch any game live. Though she will steel herself up to watch playoff games live.

 

[IndianPat]

Nope. Not nervous at all. Calm before the storm.
I have no feel at all as to the outcome. Just like the players. That's why they play the game.
Though, come tomorrow game time, I will experience every snap in the game with a pounding heart. If we win, the nirvana at the Patsfans.com Ashram continues. If we loose, shut down the football season for the year with a heavy heart.

 

[Brady_to_Moss]

I don't know if I will sleep tonight. That's how nervous I am.

dam...that's nervous..i can see if they were playing say balt or maybe even pitt...but denver?


Sounds like you guys need to borrow some of my valium (which i will be taking before the game LOL)

 

[Keyser Söze]

I'm kind of a badass, so no I'm not nervous.

 

[jmt57]

Have the referee crew been announced for this game?

Officiating the game will be Gene Steratore and his crew.

I saw that yesterday and at first I got nervous, knowing that he's a Steeler fan ... err, I mean Pittsburgh native, considering the history between the Pats and Steelers.

A second later it dawned on me who knocked the Steelers out of the playoffs last week. Man, he's got to be conflicted for this game!



I am curious when the officiating decisions were made though. Considering the Steelers-Dolphins controversy from a couple years ago and the ensuing conspiracy theories based on where he lives, I wouldn't think the NFL would have him officiate a Steelers game - much less a potential Steelers playoff game - would they?

I mean after all, Roger Goodell is all about removing any possible doubt about the integrity of the NFL, correct?

 

[rjw]

I'm always a bit nervous when this defense is on the field.

 

[Keyser Söze]

The thing that concerns me the most is if the defense can get off the field. Usually my biggest issue with them that has me screaming. STOP THEM ON 3RD DOWN.

 

[deroc5050]

Ummm...there was this game in Glendale, AZ you may have heard of...

Obviously the SB was the most painful loss..In fact my life has not been the same since 2007.. lol. Well the whole way I looked at sports after 2007 changed.. It was a wild roller coaster ride all year as we started off beating the snot out of teams until towards the end when you could feel the noose tightening. Then to be up with 2 mins to go with immortality on the line and having a dropped interception and a 4th and 17 with the QB wrapped up in Seymours mitts.. my god.. the HORROR.. but with all that said losing to this team would be the worst team we would have lost to in the BB playoff era. Denver does not belong on the same field with the Pats.. its amazing there actually in the position there in. All I am saying is it will really change the perception of this team, of this regime.. to start off so strong earlier at the start of the century.. only to go out with a wimper with all kinds of shameful play off games and stats... It would be horrible for the Patriots and there fans.

Last year the Jets were a solid team.. I still think we were a slightly better team than the Jets but not on that day. I still dont understand how Rex Ryan and the Jets shut the Pats down that night.. it was like Brady was a shell of himself and really let **** get in his head. I hope we never see that side of Brady ever again.. he needs to block out what ever starts creeping in and play loose and confident.

 

[catsigater]

Yep, and that's what's wrong with this so called fan base nowadays in a nutshell. Frontrunneritis and fear of being embarassed often after acting like a jerkward on opposing teams web sites ad nauseum.

This is the first year I've visited any opposing fans' boards and I gotta say, this board generally treats trolls better than almost any other I've visited.

Hoping for a Broncos victory, but I've gained newly found respect for the Patriots and their fans.

 

[Lansdowne]

I'm definitely a bit nervous as I am for every Patriots elimination game (I term it like this because it encompasses Week 17 of 2002 and 2008 when the Pats did their part but other teams didn't). But that feeling of "pfft, we got this" has died down significantly for me.

2005 and 2009 were down seasons and there was still initial shock in the way they lost those playoff games but not as surprising in retrospect.

2006 was disappointing in a special way because they overachieved but they had a great chance at being champions and bumbled it away.

2007 I was a nervous wreck thanks to all the stupid SpyGate distractions and all the pressure of going 19-0 on top of trying to avoid the biggest upset in Super Bowl history, so even with every reason to go into the game confident I was only trying to talk myself into that confidence when really I feared what the Giants could do.

And 2010 betrayed me in a myriad of ways. Had the sense that the Pats were really coming together, gelling at the right time, as champions tend to do. There were so many storylines that made it the most fun I ever had watching a Patriots regular season (I mean 2007 was pretty fun too with all the winning and blowouts but it was more mean-spirited in nature from both sides of the spectrum). Edit - Okay, let me rephrase that... most fun since 2001. THAT season will always be in its own category.

Losing the way they did, and who they lost to, felt unjust and unfair and made me re-evaluate my love for sports. I was having too much fun with the 2010 Patriots, and I didn't want it to end yet, but it did, to those jerks from New Jersey. Guys like Bart Scott and LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Cromartie. It was a reminder that "fair" and "karma" are merely fictional concepts, even if I like to throw those terms around to this day. The Patriots' season could end tomorrow night, and another year removed from the last Lombardi trophy means the window with Brady and Belichick inches closer to closing for good.

It's a much different vibe now than it was the last time the Pats faced Denver in the playoffs. Even when they lost, there was that feeling of "it's okay, this year was a hiccup, we'll right the ship next year". But now? It feels more like a race against time. So yeah, I'm a little nervous, and I hope I've made sense as to why.

 

[Armchair Bronco]

As a Bronco fan, I'm just giddy and can't wait for the game to start. We have nothing to lose, New England has everything to lose.

If we lose tomorrow, the season was still a huge and totally unexpected success. We went from 1-4 to winning the division and then beating Pittsburgh in the Wildcard round. If New England loses tomorrow, it will be yet another one-and-done season, and it will be arguably one of the Patriots' worst losses at home in the playoffs.

I heard some interesting stats on Mike & Mike this morning. No team with an offense worse than #25 has won the SB. That eliminates San Fran. No team with a defense worse than #25 has won the SB. That eliminates the Giants, Green Bay, and New England. No team whose QB held the passing record in a given year has won the SB in the same year. That eliminates New Orleans.

So that leaves Houston, Baltimore, and Denver. So Denver has a 33% chance of winning it all, and NE has no chance!

 

[supafly]

As a Bronco fan, I'm just giddy and can't wait for the game to start. We have nothing to lose, New England has everything to lose.

If we lose tomorrow, the season was still a huge and totally unexpected success. We went from 1-4 to winning the division and then beating Pittsburgh in the Wildcard round. If New England loses tomorrow, it will be yet another one-and-done season, and it will be arguably one of the Patriots' worst losses at home in the playoffs.

I heard some interesting stats on Mike & Mike this morning. No team with an offense worse than #25 has won the SB. That eliminates San Fran. No team with a defense worse than #25 has won the SB. That eliminates the Giants, Green Bay, and New England. No team whose QB held the passing record in a given year has won the SB in the same year. That eliminates New Orleans.

So that leaves Houston, Baltimore, and Denver. So Denver has a 33% chance of winning it all, and NE has no chance!

Good God, you and your fanbase have lost their minds...

No offense, but even in your delusional thinking, you still screw the numbers up royally..

Considering that BAL and HOU play each other and everything, by your thinking wouldn't that make your Donkeys 50% odds at winning the SB?

 

[Armchair Bronco]

Good God, you and your fanbase have lost their minds...

No offense, but even in your delusional thinking, you still screw the numbers up royally..

Considering that BAL and HOU play each other and everything, by your thinking wouldn't that make your Donkeys 50% odds at winning the SB?

I'm just repeating what Mike and Mike reported this morning. If 5 of 8 teams are eliminated, the remaining 3 teams (until they play each other) have a 33% chance of taking home the Lombardi.

I think you're just upset with the realization that for NE to win the Super Bowl, it would require abandoning one of the pillars or keystones in NFL History: Defense Wins Championships.

Everyone knows that Brady is VERY good. But you're defense is, let's be honest, REALLY bad. For the "dream matchup" that everyone wants, NE vs. Green Bay, you'd have to have not ONE but TWO of the worst defenses in the 2011 campaign making it to the Big Dance.

That ain't gonna happen.

 

[supafly]

I'm just repeating what Mike and Mike reported this morning. If 5 of 8 teams are eliminated, the remaining 3 teams (until they play each other) have a 33% chance of taking home the Lombardi.

I think you're just upset with the realization that for NE to win the Super Bowl, it would require abandoning one of the pillars or keystones in NFL History: Defense Wins Championships.

Everyone knows that Brady is VERY good. But you're defense is, let's be honest, REALLY bad. For the "dream matchup" that everyone wants, NE vs. Green Bay, you'd have to have not ONE but TWO of the worst defenses in the 2011 campaign making it to the Big Dance.

That ain't gonna happen.

You may very well be right, in the sense that not BOTH Super Bowl teams are going to be offensive powerhouses. That much is very realistic.

But...with a #1 seed, another #1 seed, and a #3 seed having the top 3 offenses, I would venture that at least one team certainly gets there.

As far as the "defense wins championships" goes, we'd have to refer to the 2006 Colts and the 2009 Saints to prove that wrong immediately. While I'd agree that holds true with much more consistency that offense winning SB's, I think that it is not always going to come out that way.

Sometimes the best defense is a very strong offense, sometimes (as in SF's case) it's the other way around. SF relies on their defense to help provide and help their offense, although they certainly aren't exactly 'balanced' either.
Then again, who is balanced? The NYG may be the most 'balanced' team as of this minute, and they will have to get through 2 very tough games on the road to get there--so their odds are down.

I understand your thinking that NE has a defensive hole, and while that's true, keep in mind they are giving up about 18-19 pts a game at home. That's much better than their overall 23 a game, and it seems like some halfway decent defense to me.

On top of that, why are you not including your own team? Where is their uber-balance coming from? They are not exactly setting the world on fire on either side of the ball, are they? I could've sworn in 3 out of their last 4 games they didn't score that much...and their defense isn't exactly the stuff that's going to rival the '85 Bears, is it?

I suppose that we'll just have to wait to find out, but I am pretty sure that at least one team out of the 3 get there, with the obvious NFC foes having a better shot since there are 2 teams (NO and GB).

But I also think that this yr is not the best yr to judge how "defense is winning football games..." although I am sure that there will be an exception to the rule in the case of the winner of HOU/BAL, and even possibly the NYG or SF. That does not however, guarantee any of those teams to even go to the SB, let alone win it.

And one more thing...if you'd want to go by the "Mike and Mike" reasoning (God help us all---sigh) then all of DEN, HOU, and BAL somehow have a 33% chance of winning the SB (even though it would be higher since 2 of the teams play each other)...yet they wouldn't have anyone to play against...seeing as how they are ALL in the AFC