aluminum seats
Pro Bowl Player
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2006
- Messages
- 10,468
- Reaction score
- 11,360
1) First thing I thought as I watched the opening TD drive……”How did they ever lose this game?”
2) Forget last year—Brady had been throwing to so-so receivers his ENTIRE CAREER up until this year. Deion Branch? Where was he? Oh right, the Pats were 12-1 at the start of this game, as I hear Madden say “Branch has missed a lot of this season….” I had forgotten, or blacked out, how often he was out, and when he WAS in, how often he was a non-factor. Givens? I realized he played when I saw him go back to the huddle at one point. David Patten made a few plays. A sorry crop, particularly considering the fact that they had Dillon running like a wild man to free things up for them. If the Pats had that running game now? Wow.
3) On the other side of the field, man, look at that guy Welker! Tearing it up years ago. His punt return in the first half probably single-handedly kept Miami in the game. Morris looked pretty good too.
4) One guy who did perform was Kevin Faulk. Man, is that guy perpetually overlooked or what. Just makes plays—running, catching, blocking, whatever. As true now as it was then.
5) Did Belichick always keep his hands on his head like that? I didn’t remember that. His arms must have been tired at the end of the game. What was up with that?
6) The Pats secondary: Earthwind Morland, Troy Brown, etc. etc. But they got the job done (well, until the collapse at the end.) Got me to thinking: Eric Mangini was a good secondary coach. The problem these days is everybody gets rushed through the ranks. Belichick coached behind Parcells for years before he got his shot. There was Weis and Crennel still coordinating. Mangini was a good secondary coach, then was a little over his head as defensive coordinator, and is now a lot over his head as head coach. I think if he survives the controversies of this year he’ll be a good coach in this league. But I also think if he had just taken it more slowly, he would have been a lot better off.
7) It’s amazing how close the Pats were to undefeated that year—I’d like to see that Pittsburgh game they lost again, too, which I remember as a fiasco in the first 20 minutes. But thank God they lost to the Steelers! Can you imagine the insufferable myth-making that would have gone on if the Pats were undefeated going into this game? Would have been stomach-turning.
8) Having said that, wow, what a loss. Up 11 with a few minutes to go, Miami scores, and then Brady throws one of the worst picks ever. Madden mentioned, and I remembered, a pass Brady threw the week before that was incredibly ill-advised too, but he completed that one. It obviously led him to think he could do ANYTHING, so in a lot of ways this quick correction was a blessing—could have happened in a game that actually meant something. Besides that pick, Miami still had to score again, they converted on a long 4th down, Brady threw ANOTHER bad pick when the Pats were down only one with plenty of time left, etc. Yeesh.
Bottom line? Fascinating to watch. Offense is better now, linebackers younger so probably better then. This year's team beats that team.
2) Forget last year—Brady had been throwing to so-so receivers his ENTIRE CAREER up until this year. Deion Branch? Where was he? Oh right, the Pats were 12-1 at the start of this game, as I hear Madden say “Branch has missed a lot of this season….” I had forgotten, or blacked out, how often he was out, and when he WAS in, how often he was a non-factor. Givens? I realized he played when I saw him go back to the huddle at one point. David Patten made a few plays. A sorry crop, particularly considering the fact that they had Dillon running like a wild man to free things up for them. If the Pats had that running game now? Wow.
3) On the other side of the field, man, look at that guy Welker! Tearing it up years ago. His punt return in the first half probably single-handedly kept Miami in the game. Morris looked pretty good too.
4) One guy who did perform was Kevin Faulk. Man, is that guy perpetually overlooked or what. Just makes plays—running, catching, blocking, whatever. As true now as it was then.
5) Did Belichick always keep his hands on his head like that? I didn’t remember that. His arms must have been tired at the end of the game. What was up with that?
6) The Pats secondary: Earthwind Morland, Troy Brown, etc. etc. But they got the job done (well, until the collapse at the end.) Got me to thinking: Eric Mangini was a good secondary coach. The problem these days is everybody gets rushed through the ranks. Belichick coached behind Parcells for years before he got his shot. There was Weis and Crennel still coordinating. Mangini was a good secondary coach, then was a little over his head as defensive coordinator, and is now a lot over his head as head coach. I think if he survives the controversies of this year he’ll be a good coach in this league. But I also think if he had just taken it more slowly, he would have been a lot better off.
7) It’s amazing how close the Pats were to undefeated that year—I’d like to see that Pittsburgh game they lost again, too, which I remember as a fiasco in the first 20 minutes. But thank God they lost to the Steelers! Can you imagine the insufferable myth-making that would have gone on if the Pats were undefeated going into this game? Would have been stomach-turning.
8) Having said that, wow, what a loss. Up 11 with a few minutes to go, Miami scores, and then Brady throws one of the worst picks ever. Madden mentioned, and I remembered, a pass Brady threw the week before that was incredibly ill-advised too, but he completed that one. It obviously led him to think he could do ANYTHING, so in a lot of ways this quick correction was a blessing—could have happened in a game that actually meant something. Besides that pick, Miami still had to score again, they converted on a long 4th down, Brady threw ANOTHER bad pick when the Pats were down only one with plenty of time left, etc. Yeesh.
Bottom line? Fascinating to watch. Offense is better now, linebackers younger so probably better then. This year's team beats that team.