end of first half play calling and my mutilation of a Napoleon quote

[DarrylS]

If the Dolphins did not score would the score have been 41-6??

Maybe that was the sequence of plays that helped them wake up after a fairly listless first half??

Not sure that I have ever seen a perfectly called game...

 

[Danger Zone]

Belichick's QB had already thrown a horrible interception in his own territory to close out a half a few weeks earlier. Belichick did not have the confidence in his QB/offense to do anything but run out the clock against Miami. It didn't work, because the special teams and defense eff'd it all up.

Does that include not throwing horrible interceptions?

Unlike the prior two weeks when Brady threw picks that would have made Geno Smith feel proud.

When it comes to playing 30 minutes of bad football, Brady has been as guilty as any of them lately.

I knew Belichick would run out the clock at the end of the half. The offense had given him no confidence that they wouldn't turn the ball over with a pick six in that situation.

I'll take a road win, any way they can get it.

Obligatory complaint: Sheesh. Is Brady turning into Tony Romo with the brain dead interceptions at the worst possible time?

Our starting QB couldn't seem to do it in the second half Monday night. Two picks, two fumbles.

Well, since I believe Garoppolo will be the starting QB of the New England Patriots by this time next year, it's meaningful to me...

Will the Bucs give us a 1st round draft pick?

Reunite Tommy with Logan Mankins?

Bingo. We have bingo. To succeed as a pocket passer, you've got to have ice water in your veins to stand in there and take the inevitable hits. At age 37, Brady's ice water is room temp.

Getting a chuckle from a fun little positive factoid from an otherwise dreadful game Monday night. I smiled when I was looking up Brady's stats and noticed that Garopollo leads the NFL in passer rating. What the heck... it beats jumping off the Tobin Bridge...

Chad Henne has been sacked more than Tom Brady and has a better QB rating and yds/att. He's been benched.

Ryan Tannehill has been sacked more than Tom Brady and has a better QB rating and yds/att. He's been threatened with benching.

Colin Kaepernick has been sacked more than Tom Brady and has a better QB rating and yds/att and completion percentage. He is widely viewed as struggling.

Matt Stafford has been sacked more than Tom Brady and has a better QB rating and yds/att and completion percentage.

Alex Smith has been sacked more than Tom Brady and has a better QB rating and yds/att and completion percentage.

Ben Roethlisberger has been sacked more than Tom Brady and has a better QB rating and yds/att and completion percentage.

Aaron Rodgers has been sacked more than Tom Brady and has a better QB rating and yds/att and completion percentage.

Cam Newton has been sacked the same number of times as Tom Brady (in one less game) and has a better QB rating and yds/att and completion percentage.

Here's the sortable list of NFL QB stats. Play with it. Sort it any way you want. Try to find something where Brady is not below average or worse.

http://www.nfl.com/stats/categoryst...gory=PASSING&d-447263-s=PASSING_PASSER_RATING

Let's hope that Brady can use his leadership skills to inspire his team to score more than 7 points on offense tomorrow.

Thanks, Miguel. That gives te Patriots a lot more options. Specifically, one option would be hope that he [Brady] plays well this season and do a blockbuster trade with Mark Davis in the offseason.

Playoffs? Playoffs! Don't talk to me about playoffs. We're just trying to win a game...

My problem is that I really don't want to think about playoff seedings. ... I honestly am not sure this team can make the playoffs. The other three teams in the division all have pretty good defenses. Fortunately, the other teams in the division have serious flaws.

Ha. I was just trying to be diplomatic and avoid "you guys" type comments. What I was really thinking was, "Are you kidding me? Haven't you guys seen the way this team has been playing. They stink...."

Personally, I see absolutely no indication that the Patriots offense can play a competitive NFL caliber game. I think they will continue to struggle to score their average 16 points, which means they must rely on defense and special teams to win games. Talking about playoff seeding right now seems silly. If anything, the offense is going backwards. The starting QB only scored 7 points against KC. As I have been reminded, the TD the backup QB scored in garbage time doesn't count. Scoring 7 points isn't going to win many NFL games.

Can they turn it around? Sure. I hope they do. But, I would like to see the slightest evidence of that before I start worrying about the playoffs. I don't expect a turnaround tomorrow night.

Here's one for the chicken little side of the equation:

I believe that 2014 will end up being Tom Brady's last year as starting QB for the New England Patriots.

That's OK. I don't think he's among the top 25 passers in the NFL, either.... He's right behind Derek Carr in many of the stats.

Brady needs to look in the mirror. The Pats won this game because the coaches mostly took the ball out of his hands. Staring down receivers. Hopeless heaves down the sideline to kill drives. Throwing into heavy coverage.

I know for a fact that I've missed dozens of similarly snide and scornful posts just like these before growing tired of this little project.

Maybe (and that's being pretty damn generous) you had a bit of a leg to stand on taking a chicken-little, hyper pessimistic "Tommy is all washed up" outlook on Brady earlier in the season.

But doing so now?

You're more troll than Patriot fan if you still feel the need to push this kind of snark on us after every Brady interception or hint of vulnerability.