The Kids Are on the High Wire Tonight: Possibly A Dramatic Milestone Night

[shmessy]

The kids are on the high wire with no nets tonight, folks.

In that WR corps, there is a ton of pressure on newbies Thompkins, Boyce, Dobson and Sudfeld. Edelman is being called on to be the stud veteran.

Game one, Brady relied heavily on NFL veterans Amendola and Vereen. They aren't there tonight. Obviously, there is no Gronk tonight either.

No way BB originally intended to have to rely on these guys this early in the season.

This could be a flop.......or could be the game we someday look back on as the night these guys really made their entrance into the NFL and stamped a new identity on the Patriots.

I haven't been this anxious (and frankly, mystified) by the prospects of a Patriots regular season game in quite some time.

The beautiful thing is that even if they should lose - - the Pats are in decent shape. The injuries to Vereen, Gronk, Amendola should not keep them out too long (Vereen on Nov 18th should be the last to get back).

If the newbies look good and they win tonight? Well, then the depth and staying power of this team just got more impressive. Bad news for the rest of the NFL.......Bad news for the rest of the NFL.

 

[Gwedd]

As I commented on another thread.......

I'm of two minds on this one. I fully expect to see the Patriots win. I expect that win because it's at home, it's a division game, and it's against the JESTS.

BUT...

As to the two minds, that's about the score. I see this as either being

a.) One of those 9-6 Field Goal slugfests

OR

b.) A blowout of biblical proportions.


I'm leaning towards the latter due to Ridley wanting to redeem himself. The Rookie WR's wanting to redeem themselves, and, especially, Leon Washington wanting to make a statement against his former employer(s).

 

[Palm Beach Pats Fan]

the 12-9, 9-6 type game has crossed my mind.

Just win... Though I also hope TB's TD streak isn't stopped tonight.

I expect us to run the ball a ton.

 

[Patriot_in_NY]

Yeah....... I'm a little anxious myself. It's weird, not really the typical pre-games nerves. It's kinda like the "open the box and see what's inside" feeling. Time to start drinking heavily I think. :eat1:

 

[SVN]

As I commented on another thread.......

I wont be a blowout. Our offense is not the same. It sounds nice and giddy to expect the rookies to shine but its not going to be so. Even sudfield is going to be out. This is a tough defense to play and rookies will have even less time to get open vs them. Unless our D scores a TD or two this is going to be slugfest.

 

[fumbrunner]

How is the weather looking? Torrential downpour? Showers? What's up?

Gotta make a call on starting KT on my FF team

 

[supafly]

How is the weather looking? Torrential downpour? Showers? What's up?

Gotta make a call on starting KT on my FF team

I believe that Reiss claimed that the rain may not be too intense, and could even possibly hold off altogether; but you'd better double check on some of the links on the homepage just to be safe.

The Thompkins factor is a tough call. On one hand, he was targeted 14x on Sunday and no one else is really available to think that will be much different. He could possibly have a breakout type of game. On the other hand, he didn't look too hot either.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I'm guessing Thompkins and Dobson will be the outside receivers with Edelman playing the slot, and Boyce getting plenty of time as well. 0 receptions from the TEs wouldn't be shocking, though Hooman catching 4 or 5 passes wouldn't shock me either. I wish Ballard had come back 100%, that's gotta be one of the worst knee injuries ever. A shame about Fells too. We could really use one of those guys right now.

 

[DarrylS]

When this team was being put together they thought they would have AH, so when he fell off of the face of the earth.. everything changed dramatically.

Our offense has been predicated on good TE play, and a lot of the rest if the O falls into place... shyt happened.

The kids will come through...

 

[Gronkowski123]

Wanna see Dobson already, he needs to play with confidence!

 

[shmessy]

This could be a flop.......or could be the game we someday look back on as the night these guys really made their entrance into the NFL and stamped a new identity on the Patriots.

Looks like "flop" was the winner tonight.

But sure nice to at least get the win.

....and experience, experience, experience will pay dividends down the road.

 

[captain stone]

Talent pays dividends.