Don Banks: Patriots haven't been tested.

[Silver Blue&Red]

Blah, Blah, Bah. The same shyte every year. If the Pats, lose,> "I told ya so", the Pats win it all"> Cricket, cricket, cricket.... How lame has "journalism" become?

 

[The Brandon Five]

The average record for the AFC is .506. For the NFC it is .494 (obviously). So the AFC was actually better than the NFC in inter-conference play. Not sure where they are getting the idea that the NFC is stronger.

 

[BlueThunder]

Pats ranked #1 in Defense (points against) and 2nd only to Atlanta in Offense (points scored ) of all the playoff teams....

Screw the idiot talking heads.....

 

[Tony2046]

Hey Donny boy! Put your money where your mouth is.

The guys who win or lose money think otherwise.



2017 Odds to Win the Super Bowl. NFL Future Odds. Super Bowl 51 Odds (LI). NFL football futures. Pro football gambling odds.

 

[deroc5050]

Its just 1 stupid article... Vegas has the Pats ridiculously favored. If you bet 100 dollars on the pats to win the Super Bowl you get like 45 dollars back.

 

[Joker]

I'd punch you in the nose ,Don but it looks like someone beat me to it....

 

[patchick]

Who the fook is that guy

Don Banks? Among other things, he's the reporter who back in 2008 had the scoop that the Patriots planned to trade back in the draft and take Jerod Mayo, the one true scoop I can recall in the BB era.

Everybody, do you think the Patriots have been "tested"? Truly? Banks wasn't saying that being untested makes them frauds, just that their biggest challenges by far lie ahead. IMO that's true.

It's not just who they haven't faced yet. It's that the current Patriots team did not exist until the late stretch of the season. It took them a while to incorporate the many new pieces and adjust for the absence of Collins and then Gronk. Think about how this board shifted dramatically on the defensive "eye test." The Patriots are a different team now than earlier in the season.

They're not alone. Dak Prescott is no longer a true rookie, which makes the Cowboys a different team. The Carr-less Raiders are certainly "untested." Etc. This is a year when teams have been built as much during the season as before it. I love the way the Pats are coming together, I think they deserve to be favored to win it all, but I have no problem with the "untested" assessment.

 

[fightingirish595]

Dallas and New england are the only great teams. The other rest of the teams are seriously flawed

 

[Deus Irae]

Nothing wrong with what he said.

 

[Mosi Moose]

Somewhere CHB is yelling "hey that's my ****in job."

Tomato cans for everyone!

 

[Koma]

Who the fook is that guy

Just another deflategate truther.

Banks was at SI for quite a while, but was recently let go and was hired at Patriots.com last month. It sounds like he caught on quickly to the local media's formula that there's always something to be concerned about with the Patriots.

 

[Deus Irae]

Just another deflategate truther.

Banks was at SI for quite a while, but was recently let go and was hired at Patriots.com last month. It sounds like he caught on quickly to the local media's formula that there's always something to be concerned about with the Patriots.

The link is right there, in the O.P.. Go listen to the piece.

 

[Todd Bradley]

Stories like these only fuel the team even more.

Keep em coming Don...

 

[aluminum seats]

Don Banks? Among other things, he's the reporter who back in 2008 had the scoop that the Patriots planned to trade back in the draft and take Jerod Mayo, the one true scoop I can recall in the BB era.

Everybody, do you think the Patriots have been "tested"? Truly? Banks wasn't saying that being untested makes them frauds, just that their biggest challenges by far lie ahead. IMO that's true.

It's not just who they haven't faced yet. It's that the current Patriots team did not exist until the late stretch of the season. It took them a while to incorporate the many new pieces and adjust for the absence of Collins and then Gronk. Think about how this board shifted dramatically on the defensive "eye test." The Patriots are a different team now than earlier in the season.

They're not alone. Dak Prescott is no longer a true rookie, which makes the Cowboys a different team. The Carr-less Raiders are certainly "untested." Etc. This is a year when teams have been built as much during the season as before it. I love the way the Pats are coming together, I think they deserve to be favored to win it all, but I have no problem with the "untested" assessment.

Far too reasonable a take....get mad!!

 

[Jackson 2]

The Patriots played 4 games vs. AFC playoff teams, 2 of them without Brady. Their record was 4-0 in those games with the average score 30-13. They lost their only game vs. an NFC playoff team, Seattle 31-24, and were in that one right to the end.

 

[deroc5050]

The Patriots played 4 games vs. AFC playoff teams, 2 of them without Brady. Their record was 4-0 in those games with the average score 30-13. They lost their only game vs. an NFC playoff team, Seattle 31-24, and were in that one right to the end.

Yeah and the defense clearly picked the perfect day to have its worst game of the season. Seattle struggled to score for most of the season and for some reason the hawks **** all over the Pats D. But that was awhile ago. I am sure it would be different now.

 

[GrogansArmy]

Agreed. Further, the Patriots went 8-0 on the road. I don't care what 8 NFL teams you are up against, to win all 8 games on the road is a test in itself. So much so we may never see the Patriots go 8-0 on the road again for many years (even in years we win the SB yet again ). Winning all 8 road games is a major testament to preparedness, mental ability, singular focus on winning.

Think I read the other day only 5 teams (in NFL history) have ever gone 8-0 on the road. And the Pats have now done it twice - this year and in 2007. Freaking amazing.

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

Before the season started we were supposed to have, IIRC, something like the 7th or 8th toughest schedules, based upon last year's records. Guess what, half of last year's playoff teams STINK this year and we played several of them. Might happen next year too, somebody's schedule right now looks like it will be very hard, and next year it will be in the 30s on strength of schedule. Goodell happens (translation: **** happens)

 

[50-yard-line]

In the NFL today, how does a team get "tested"? Three-quarters of the teams are mediocre at best. A team's schedule prohibits them from getting more than one of the top four seeds in the other conference. You can't play Green Bay AND Seattle, or Dallas and Atlanta, or any two of those four, if you're in the AFC.

If not for the Patriots, it's possible the Donkeys would be in the playoffs over one of the other AFCW teams.

So even if the point is valid, it's illogical. They played the AFC North and the NFC West, and both looked like good divisions until Arizona and Cinci crapped the bed.

The only AFC playoff team the Cowboys played was Pittsburgh - it was a squeaker. Either team could have won.

 

[Deus Irae]

In the NFL today, how does a team get "tested"? Three-quarters of the teams are mediocre at best. A team's schedule prohibits them from getting more than one of the top four seeds in the other conference. You can't play Green Bay AND Seattle, or Dallas and Atlanta, or any two of those four, if you're in the AFC.

If not for the Patriots, it's possible the Donkeys would be in the playoffs over one of the other AFCW teams.

So even if the point is valid, it's illogical. They played the AFC North and the NFC West, and both looked like good divisions until Arizona and Cinci crapped the bed.

The only AFC playoff team the Cowboys played was Pittsburgh - it was a squeaker. Either team could have won.

The point made by Banks is perfectly valid and logical. People here are embarrassing themselves over nothing.