Proper digestion of Game 1

[SamBam39]

Like everyone else, I watched today's game with alot of excitment and anticipation. We all love football and our Patriots and it's a long wait for the regular season to begin again after losing that playoff game in Denver last year!

We've suffered through losing Adam Vinatieri and Willie McGinest and David Givens, and been exasperated with the never-ending, depressing Deion Branch isn't paid enough so he's gonna hold his breath saga...

we've also had the excitment of drafting Laurence Maroney and Chad Jackson and the recent acquisitions of Doug GAbriel and Junior Seau, not to mention the unbelievable return of Rodney HArrison!

So we were ready for today and given the way the bills played last year, we were hoping for a pretty decisive victory. The the game started, and to our astonishment, bam! - spikes slams brady and he fumbles and the bills score - and just like that the wind is let out of our balloon and we all become concerned. we're all saying to ourselves 'ok, that was just one play, it was a bad mistake, but we'll just bounce back now and start putting them away'.

and then, we began to become really concerned because the bills were playing really well - playing hard-hitting aggressive defense and running the ball extremely well. even Losman was playing much better - with more poise and making better decisions. it was scary - we didn't want to lose at home to the 'lowly' bills and start off 0-1. but the pats scratched back and hung tough. they made half time adjustments. they started to slow down the bills rushing attack and get better coverage and pressure. their running game kept them in the game and they finally tied things up and then got the safety. they played their usual chess match at the end and avoided critical mistakes and secured the 'w'. we could all take a big breath. we dodged one.

I think we all need to keep things in perspective here. that was a gritty, determined win by the pats under very very difficult circumstances. they were without gabriel and jackson, who will wind up being their top two receivers this year most likely. and don't forget, they were missing tedy as well. they didn't panic. they played smart. MAroney and dillon looked terrific. the ghost started his kicking career very nicely. the adjutments were made nicely at halftime. and remember - this is the first game - many teams struggled today including the broncos, the seahwks, the chiefs, the dolphins(mon.), the panthers, etc. etc. Look, teams get better week by week - this is a marathin - not a sprint. as much as we'd all like, teams don't play tremendous every single week. teams usually start out with some things to work on and improve and try to get better as the season progresses. the teams that do usually are the playoff teams.

I really believe in BB's ability to keep his team's improving all the time.
I think gabriel and jackson will come in and really boost the offense.
I think we should all be very happy and grateful we won and played so well when we needed to under alot of pressure. I think there's every reason to remain sky-high with hopefulness on this team's chances long term this year.

just my take.

 

[DarrylS]

(mon.) teams get better week by week - this is a marathin - not a sprint. as much as we'd all like, teams don't play tremendous every single week. teams usually start out with some things to work on and improve and try to get better as the season progresses. the teams that do usually are the playoff teams.

I really believe in BB's ability to keep his team's improving all the time.
I think gabriel and jackson will come in and really boost the offense.
I think we should all be very happy and grateful we won and played so well when we needed to under alot of pressure. I think there's every reason to remain sky-high with hopefulness on this team's chances long term this year.

just my take.

I agree completely, the sky is not falling and this team showed me a lot today, we have all seen teams who fall apart on a fluke play(Brady's Fumble) and teams who do not come back after being down. There will be weeks that our running game does not perform as well as they did yesterday, and there will be weeks, like yesterday, the our passing game does perform well. Bottom line this is a very good and deep team, I anticipate changes and adjustments being made based on what they saw yesterday. I think the versatility on both sides of the ball is amazing and the depth is obvious, a lot of guys stepped up yesterday and the confidence in the second string players will go along in building this championship team. There are some new players to this system in critical positions LB, WR, RT, K, RB etc. and it is the first time they are assessed and tested under game conditions.

 

[SamBam39]

I agree completely, the sky is not falling and this team showed me a lot today, we have all seen teams who fall apart on a fluke play(Brady's Fumble) and teams who do not come back after being down. There will be weeks that our running game does not perform as well as they did yesterday, and there will be weeks, like yesterday, the our passing game does perform well. Bottom line this is a very good and deep team, I anticipate changes and adjustments being made based on what they saw yesterday. I think the versatility on both sides of the ball is amazing and the depth is obvious, a lot of guys stepped up yesterday and the confidence in the second string players will go along in building this championship team. There are some new players to this system in critical positions LB, WR, RT, K, RB etc. and it is the first time they are assessed and tested under game conditions.

agreed.
and again, we gotta give buffalo a ton of credit.
they played really really well, and that had alot to do with our concerns.

 

[marty]

Excellent post! Pretty much sums up my game reactions.

 

[SamBam39]

Excellent post! Pretty much sums up my game reactions.

thanks.

this is one of those games that Belichick has so much influence on the outcome. From how he builds a team, to how prepared he makes us, to his
play calling approach, to his adjustments and schemes, to his playing safe and to win and not making mistakes near the end.

It is a perfect example of a game we would've lost in the past without Belichick. And it's a big part of why we're a dynasty - and people can't see it
still - they can't figure it out - because it's so many subtle little things that aren't glamorous. we do what we need to do when we need to do it. we
are lunchpail workers and sometimes it's ugly. we don't usually blow people
out, we just make it nearly impossible for them to keep us from winning.

I mean, with that effort, scheme, and momentum, buffalo would've beaten almost anybody else today. they were playing great. but we did exactly what we needed to to defy them.