Not once have I thought “we could lose this game” this season

[Brady6]

I am not trying to sound overconfident, I am just being honest, I have watched every minute of every game this season, and not one single time have I thought to myself – **** we could lose this game.

These are some things I have thought this season:

- Danny Amendola has made me look like an idiot for the negative things I said in prior years about his play. He has been sensational this season, making key play after key play. I am not going to jump on the Amendola fan wagon because I do not deserve to be on it, I should have given him more of a chance to find his place on this team. He has now and he has been invaluable.

- As I was telling some guy in my gym locker room today, I never thought Dion Lewis would be as good as he is, he came out of now where, and has once again reminded me that draft position does not mean very much these days. As a player he is nowhere near Barry Sanders but from a pure elusiveness aspect he is Sanders like.

- The primary reason I have not thought we might lose is Brady, he just seems completely in control this season, he is playing as good as any QB has ever played in the NFL.

- Edelman is in the best shape of his career, he is playing through a hand injury right now and always seems to have a mid-season slump (look at 2013 and 2014 he slumped for 2-3 games I the middle of the season too). Overall though he has taken his game to new heights.

- Gronkowski is the most dominate non QB offensive player in the NFL. He demoralizes defenders dragging them like they are mere mortals down the field.

- Jamie Collins is the best defensive player in the NFL. I know JJ Watt is great, but he is just a pass rusher and on the line defender, Collins can dominate a football game in some many different ways. The blocked kick last week was remarkable, I laughed out loud watching the replays.

- I do not understand why they do not give Dobson more opportunity, is he a punk during the week or something? He seems to play well when given a chance, he makes plays.

- Butler has played as well as any CB outside of the top 5 this season, he is always competitive with the receiver, people were critical of him today, he only allowed 5/11 for 83 yards, playing against a WR with 6 inches on him and ran routes from the slot about 50% of the time today. I have been please with him and Logan Ryan.

- We need to bring in another CB, personally I think with LaFell back and Martin as depth trading Dobson to KC for Sean Smith makes sense for both teams. I like Dobson but I think the coaching staff feels a different way, he has a season left on his contract, so KC could try making something out of him. Smith plays RCB so that would put Butler at LCB, Smith at RCB, and Ryan in the slot. Add Coleman as the dime CB and I am very confident that we can be a top 10 secondary.

- Easley is coming on; he is only going to get better. He is one of the most explosive interior DL off the snap that I have ever seen at any level.

- I would like to see more out of Malcolm Brown, Jordan Richards, Geno Grissom, and Trey Flowers. They have all flashed but nothing consistent yet.

- Mason and Jackson have been our best draft picks, and Andrews and Coleman have been better than most teams 2nd and 3rd round picks.

- Vollmer at LT and Cannon at RT (when he is healthy) could be a better line than Solder at LT and Vollmer at RT. That aside I would rather have a healthy Solder no matter what.

- Chandler Jones is almost as big as Richard Seymour according to my eyes and the added size has made him much better.

- Donta Hightower is playing terrific, he has really emerged since the start of 2014, and him and Collins are the best LB tandem in the NFL and #2 is not even close.

- Alan Branch has to be about 380-400lbs, no joke, he is massive, and playing very well. I am also very happy with what I have seen from Hicks since his arrival, consider that both these players were cast offs from other team and their play stands out even more.

- I was hoping from more of a leap forward this year from Siliga.

- I was wrong about Bolden emerging as a top RB, I said that a lot in the preseason and it has not been the case at all.

- Every time I see #85 I smile and think how smart Belichick is, as I have said many weeks in the game day thread, our 310lb TE is one of my favorite players.

Overall great season thus far, they have proven they can win multiple ways, and with some much youth this team will only get better.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

Dobson will have a 2014 amendola season. Come on strong late in the season

 

[Froob]

Why is Dobson catching so awkwardly compared to his rookie year? Guy makes every catch difficult.

 

[PATS16N0]

dat font doe

 

[makoute]

Chandler Jones is nowhere near the size of Seymour, you might need to take a second look at that.

 

[SammyBlueCat]

- Gronkowski is the most dominate non QB offensive player in the NFL. He demoralizes defenders dragging them like they are mere mortals down the field.

Yup

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

For me the 'never felt like we would lose once this season' was valid until today's game. Jets were winning in the 4th with the following factors in play: they had noticeably slowed down the Patriot O better than anyone this year, consistent decent pressure on Brady from their pass rush D, Patriots leading rusher was Brady at 15 yards/we literally were completely one dimensional, Jets were having good success throwing the ball/converting 3rd downs, and arguably the Patriots were making more mental errors than the Jets: JE dropped a certain TD, Lafell stunted how many drives with drops? (his drops hurt the Patriots o HUGELY) and even Brady made a noticeable clock management error with I think about 2 minutes and 46 seconds to go. (he runs that play clock down to 1 second then snaps the ball then it probably takes it to the 2 minute warning even with an incompletion).

While I didn't think it was ever dire chance of defeat, in my view this game fits fairly into the 'we could lose this game' feeling. I tell ya, if we didn't complete that 3 and 17, this game becomes the Jets game to lose. It's their ball, probably at their own 35, and about 10 minutes to go. Put another way, if we don't convert that 3 and 17, if that following Jet possession is another 3rd down conversion parade and it ends in a TD? The Patriots would have been looking at a 10 point deficit with 6 minutes to go -- which is to say we're looking squarely at a loss. This year have we ever been that short of a sequence away from looking squarely at a loss?

On a side note, I think these are needed games for the Patriots. Patriots have a lot of young guys who play key roles. IMHO getting tested and forced to grit it out in the 4th/forces them to play their best with the tension of the game on the line is the kind of thing this team needs. The previous 5 games did not provide that 'we could lose' factor that a team uses to stay on top of their game.

 

[New England Pride]

Ive sounded off for a while about Dobson. Clearly they don't like him for some reason we can't see through the TV on Sundays. I too was wrong about Amendola.

 

[TheBostonStraggler]

Dobson will have a 2014 amendola season. Come on strong late in the season

I hope you're right but I wouldn't bet the mortgage payment on it .

As another poster eluded to below, something is up with Dobson.
When I see Dobson play I see a guy who has 'it' to be productive. But the coaching staff obviously sees something else. I suspect one thing might be the concern for his consistency. BB ain't exactly known for having patience with inconsistency.

 

[Archeryaddict12]

I hope you're right but I wouldn't bet the mortgage payment on it .

As another poster eluded to below, something is up with Dobson.
When I see Dobson play I see a guy who has 'it' to be productive. But the coaching staff obviously sees something else. I suspect one thing might be the concern for his consistency. BB ain't exactly known for having patience with inconsistency.

I can have my one prediction and we'll address it when needed

 

[Joker]

- Danny Amendola has made me look like an idiot for the negative things I said in prior years about his play. He has been sensational this season, making key play after key play. I am not going to jump on the Amendola fan wagon because I do not deserve to be on it, I should have given him more of a chance to find his place on this team. He has now and he has been invaluable.

Sawree pal...but MY Danny says YOU ARE on the fan wagon and we are all extremely pleased.

 

[Tunescribe]

"I take on all comers. I am ... Danimal Amendobeast."

 

[Canuck]

I haven't got the walk out of the room because I can't bear to see the other team win feeling yet this season but I have had a few anxious moments like when the Jets recovered the onside kick.

Patriots got Amendola to replace Welker but Amendola got off to a slow start because of injuries. Edelman took over and never let Amendola take it back. Now that Amendola is healthy it's like we now have two Welkers on the team.

Dion Lewis would have been an ideal runner for the Jets game. My only concerns is how healthy can he be for an entire season.

I agree, Brady is playing some of his best football of his life. Much like the starting pitcher in baseball, I worry a little bit about how his arm will react to a short week after so many passes.

Both Edelman and Gronk are playing well. Better yet, Brady is back to spreading the football around to diff receivers. 8 different receivers in the Jets game caught passes. If LaFell can get back to his 2014 form this offense will be even more hard to defend.

I thought when LaFell got injured, Dobson would step up and be the go to guy in his place. For some reason he was inconsistent and he fell out of favor. Now I think he is in danger of not being on the team next year.

I thought with our secondary that we would be a middle of the pack defense but it looks like we have a chance to be a top 10 defense. We still could use a quality CB but Butler and Ryan are doing as well as can be expected. Our safeties seem to be doing well.

Our front 7 on defense looks solid. It looks like letting Wilfork go was the right move but I wish we had the disruptive force like Wilfork when he first came into the league. Looks like they solved the problems they had against the run at the beginning of the season. Hightower and Collins are some of the top LB's in the league. I thought I would see more of Brown but he hasn't looked out of place when he is out there.

 

[TommyD4207]

Why is Dobson catching so awkwardly compared to his rookie year? Guy makes every catch difficult.

He's got the yips.

 

[LightSkinSmurf]

If I'm being honest, I thought we could lose the jets game.

 

[convertedpatsfan]

If I'm being honest, I thought we could lose the jets game.

I agree. It wasn't about the quality of teams, but rather the number of chances we were blowing. There must have been 4 or 5 dropped INTs, the early fumble we failed to capitalize on, the numerous long 3rd downs we gave up, settling for FGs in the red zone at the start of the game (1 for 3, with a 4th drive stalling just outside at the Jets 20), the missed sacks on Fitzpatrick that turned into 5-yard runs, the constant stream of dropped passes, et cetera.

But I think the key word you said is "could." Not that we "would." This team is resilient. It's what got us back from 14-down against Baltimore twice, and down 10 to the Seahawks in the 4th. And when the Colts throw the kitchen sink at us, we don't blink. When the Jets had so many bounces go there way, nobody on this team gave up. And after every drop, the team just kept grinding and it's incredible to think we scored 30 on the #1 D with as many struggles as we had and only 18 active offensive players. This team shows us every week what it takes to be a champion.

 

[manxman2601]

I'm not entirely convinced Collins is the best defensive player on the team, never mind the NFL. But that's only because I'm such a big Hightower fan. Collins probably does edge him but HT had 7 QB hurries and 7 run stops yesterday. The guy is a beast.

The two of them are so important to this defense, they create so much of the QB pressure we get. Hightower's blitz that got Collins his sack was a thing of beauty yesterday.

 

[manxman2601]

- I would like to see more out of Malcolm Brown, Jordan Richards, Geno Grissom, and Trey Flowers. They have all flashed but nothing consistent yet.

- Mason and Jackson have been our best draft picks, and Andrews and Coleman have been better than most teams 2nd and 3rd round picks.

I think the first paragraph is a little harsh, particularly on Jordan Richards and Tre Flowers who haven't really been given a chance yet. Both played very well in pre-season and Richards hasn't done anything wrong in his limited opportunities. And credit to Patrick Chung, he's playing his best NFL football right now and keeping Richards' opportunities as limited as they are.

As for Malcom Brown, I never fret with a rookie not dominating on this team in his rookie year - it's such a complicated system. Don't forget, people were criticising Collins, Hightower and Easley in their rookie years. I'm prepared to be patient on Brown.

Mason has shown tremendous promise and Jackson has been fine and I'm very happy with Andrews and Coleman. In terms of hitting at every point in the draft, this last one might just end up being BBs best. Other drafts will have had better high points but in terms of hitting from the first to the seventh round (and beyond), whilst its still too early, I have a feeling this could be the class.

 

[RelocatedPatFan]

While I didn't think it was ever dire chance of defeat, in my view this game fits fairly into the 'we could lose this game' feeling. I tell ya, if we didn't complete that 3 and 17, this game becomes the Jets game to lose. It's their ball, probably at their own 35, and about 10 minutes to go. Put another way, if we don't convert that 3 and 17, if that following Jet possession is another 3rd down conversion parade and it ends in a TD? The Patriots would have been looking at a 10 point deficit with 6 minutes to go -- which is to say we're looking squarely at a loss. This year have we ever been that short of a sequence away from looking squarely at a loss?

On the flip side, how many 3rd and 17's did the Jets need to complete, just to stay in this game. Hard to take a play away from one side without revisiting plays on the other side.

Most teams have a chance to win each week, but I didn't feel like the game was out of our control. Just needed better execution. Brady was excellent as the game progressed and factored in the Jets rush vs OLine protection. He was more mobile, extended plays which may take some getting used to, but seems a valid part of his repertoire...given that it now appears at the ripe old age of 38 .

 

[nabwong]

Brady6 can be taken off suicide watch now.

All kidding aside, welcome to the Afandola Club.