Good football?

[PatriotsPimp136]

Injuries are a reality and they affect virtually every team. You cannot subtract McCourty, Chung, Jules, DA, Solder, Vollmer, Lewis from a team and expect them to play at there most capable. Fortunately it appears McCourty, Chung, Jules, DA, Vollmer will be back for the playoffs which will move the Patriots back toward their most capable.

What we are right now is not what we will be 19 days from now. The Patriots will have much more potentcy capability on both side of the ball in 19 days. Whether that raised potency capability and their ability to execute/not make bad errors is enough to defeat the next two opponents? That's why the games are played.
I continue to like our chances an awful lot but a bit dampened from a month ago....

I am hoping that we get the winner of the 4th or 5th seed even if it means facing the chiefs.

 

[alvinnf]

Didn't watch last year? That Pats team was so much healthier than this one and they weren't exactly rolling through teams in the last month.

The league felt stronger to me last year for some reason?

 

[IllegalContact]

Generally speaking around the nfl I have never seen so much bad football

 

[MassPats38]

There have been fairly substantial personnel changes from week-to-week for the past 5 weeks. When you are plugging in a nickel corner or a fullback, that would not be expected to affect game performances. The changes in RB, WR, line, safety, LB and special teams would be expected to impact game performances. "Next man up" is a great motto, but the next man up is generally a step down from the first man. Do that enough, and the ceiling on potential gets pretty low.

Any thought that the great teams don't perform worse after substantial losses ignores the reason for depth charts. The fact the Pats don't fall off a cliff after an injury means they have better talent on the roster. That talent is not generally comparable to number 1 on the chart. It is still a decline, just not as steep as it would be on other teams.

I believe the Pats can beat anyone if Jules, Brady, Gronk, Amendola, and the line are reasonably healthy (with the defense 3 weeks ago). I would agree the Pats of last week would likely fall, 2012 AFC Championship style, with lack of offensive horses. The 2013 AFC Championship was a similar theme with defensive losses. Good, but not good enough and lacking critical pieces.

I wouldn't read too much on what happens now. The playoff future turns on the future health of missing parts. In some ways, it is like making a big deal of losses and wins in preseason. The more unfamiliar faces show up on the field, the less likely the result reflects the team performance. When multiple returning starters are spelled by 2nd and 3rd choices (or waiver wire players with a check for one week), it is less of a team win or loss.