"The Patriots [are a] contender, not just for playoffs, but deeper than that"

[Huckleberry1]

Who hijacked Biffins account?

C’mon

Own up to it.

This deep fake sh.t isn’t funny.

Someone could get hurt.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Who hijacked Biffins account?

C’mon

Own up to it.

This deep fake sh.t isn’t funny.

Someone could get hurt.

I couldn't believe it either.

 

[Biffins]

Eat crow Rex.

Shout out to Dan Orlovsky who tells Rex "I bet you the Pats make the playoffs" when we were 2-4 and Sexy Rexy was going wild saying how much the Pats sucked. Rex didn't take the bet.

 

[Biffins]

Who hijacked Biffins account?

C’mon

Own up to it.

This deep fake sh.t isn’t funny.

Someone could get hurt.

 

[stinkypete]

I think it it is a little early to call it a champ defense. Let's see how it looks vs Tenn, Bills and the Colts. That will tell us a lot IMO.

I am ready to declare the pass defense a championship level unit. It successfully shut down Tom Brady and Justin Hebert, and absolutely brutalized lesser QBs.

I am taking a wait and see approach with the run D. Despite being a top 10 unit, and putting up a respectable showing against Dallas and Carolina the run defense has been otherwise tested very little. We have been lucky to miss out on facing some premier backs.

The Indy game will be telling. If the defense is able to contain Jonathan Taylor, it might make a believer out of me.

 

[ralmat55]

The run D will be fine. Don’t discount how they played against Cleveland just because Chubb was out.

With the signing of Judon and Godcheaux and the resignings of Guy, Davis and Van Noy plus the drafting of Barmore, this is the best, biggest and most athletic front 7 the Pats have fielded since the Seymour, Big Vince, Willie and Tedy days.

Now that they’re playing more zone especially on early downs they can and are playing less nickel because their big LBs are no longer tasked with the impossible task of single covering RBs and TEs.

Guy, Davis and Godcheax across the front with Judon and Van Noy at OLB and High and Bentley at MLB should be able to compete with any OLine and RBs they’re going to go up against.

 

[mgcolby]

He didn’t want a minivan at qb? WTF?! Lol. When’s the last time that Mf’er drove a nice ass mini van? Mini van will take you across the country with your whole family with good solid power and absolute comfort and protection.

Touched a nerve?

 

[BobDigital]

Fraid not. The ceiling is too low on this team. Even if the Patriots are the most consistent playoff team, they will have possibly the lowest ceiling of any team they face.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Fraid not. The ceiling is too low on this team. Even if the Patriots are the most consistent playoff team, they will have possibly the lowest ceiling of any team they face.

Based on what observation?

 

[RobertWeathers]

I am ready to declare the pass defense a championship level unit. It successfully shut down Tom Brady and Justin Hebert, and absolutely brutalized lesser QBs.

I am taking a wait and see approach with the run D. Despite being a top 10 unit, and putting up a respectable showing against Dallas and Carolina the run defense has been otherwise tested very little. We have been lucky to miss out on facing some premier backs.

The Indy game will be telling. If the defense is able to contain Jonathan Taylor, it might make a believer out of me.

The run D is fine. Issues occur when the have 3 down linemen/base nickel. Once they go with any 4 of a Barmore/God/Guy/Davis/Wise combo they are fine.

 

[Lagaffe_07]

Fraid not. The ceiling is too low on this team. Even if the Patriots are the most consistent playoff team, they will have possibly the lowest ceiling of any team they face.

We are the best team and the most consistent one for the last month in the NFL. My only concern is that we peaked too early. I hope the bye doesn’t kill our momentum. If they can keep that level of play for 6 weeks and in the playoffs it will impressive.

 

[Wozzy]

By the time the playoffs arrive, Mac will have had one season under his belt. Not exactly a rookie anymore, but not with the experience of a second or third year pro. Still, enough for me to be confident in his ability to lead the Pats offense.

Entering week six against the Jests, considered their "get right" game, the Patriot's Offense was ranked 29th in turnovers and bottom third in penalties. It's not a stat, but it's also safe to say they were one of the poorest blocking teams in the league. To say the Patriot's Defense was playing with one hand tied behind their back for the first third of the season is accurate.

Despite this the defense is ranked #1 in Points Per Drive, as well as overall points allowed. They've forced the 3rd most turnovers, given up the 3rd fewest total yards in the league and 3rd fewest yards per drive. They are 6th best on the third down percentage, and 3rd best in red zone percentage. They have the 8th most sacks, 8th best sack percentage, 8th most QB Hits, have given up the 8th fewest rush yards per attempt and the opposing QB Rating against is second best in the entire NFL. They lead the entire NFL in Interceptions by three.

Since the offense became a complementary piece on this team, the defense has become impossible to move or score upon. They're arguably the best defense in the entire league and any attempt to diminish this is a troll job.

We need to start a thread about how the offense has improved.

Currently they're ranked 9th in points per drive, turnovers have improved from 29th to 17th worst, they have the 5th best third down percentage in the league and have improved from dead last in the red zone to 18th.

The real Patriots didn't show up until week seven agains the Jests and they haven't looked back. Mac has been consistently good since week one. If they stay healthy, play mistake free and execute they can beat any team in the league.

 

[Simpelton]

He didn’t want a minivan at qb? WTF?! Lol. When’s the last time that Mf’er drove a nice ass mini van? Mini van will take you across the country with your whole family with good solid power and absolute comfort and protection.

I agree. If anything the Patriots are like a good minivan. Solid workman's vehicle that gets the job done day in, day out, has more power and efficiency than you think, and isn't the least bit flashy in doing so.

 

[Steve102]

"Winter is coming for the rest of the league"

hahahahah

 

[Le Numéro Douze]

Shout out to Dan Orlovsky who tells Rex "I bet you the Pats make the playoffs" when we were 2-4 and Sexy Rexy was going wild saying how much the Pats sucked. Rex didn't take the bet.

Dan Orlovsky is one of the rare national pundits that I really like listening too. Well, unless he is on First Take, then, it is unwatchable because SAS gotta get his **** in and we do not get Dan's analysis, just shouting matches.

 

[sb1]

I am ready to declare the pass defense a championship level unit. It successfully shut down Tom Brady and Justin Hebert, and absolutely brutalized lesser QBs.

I am taking a wait and see approach with the run D. Despite being a top 10 unit, and putting up a respectable showing against Dallas and Carolina the run defense has been otherwise tested very little. We have been lucky to miss out on facing some premier backs.

The Indy game will be telling. If the defense is able to contain Jonathan Taylor, it might make a believer out of me.

I agree re the run defense. The Colts will be the measuring stick for that game. Maybe the Bills too (gave up 190 and 130 last year to them).
At least they're better than they were in the first quarter of the season or at least I'd like to think so.


163 against the Chargers but a big chunk of that was on one long run.

Other than one stinker against the Bucs, our own running game has been really good and since the second Jets game it's been excellent. That's what you want for January football.

 

[Sicilian]

The run defense is in that kind of tier 2 category for me. Tier 1 would be teams like the Bucs and Saints, who seem to have just steady, consistently dominate run D. The Patriots are good, and when they need to make a stop against the run (3rd/4th and 1, goal line, etc) they've been very good at it. And when they're not worried too much about the pass, they're good against the run, like in Carolina. They're not quite good enough to stop the run while the pass is their top priority in the game plan, but very few teams are. Maybe as Barmore gets more experience, and as Hightower and Van Noy continue to get their groove back (feels like they've both been getting stronger as the year goes on), that will change, but I agree with everyone above who says the Colts will be the next really good test of that.

Of course, the way things have been going for the Patriots so far this year, Taylor will get a high ankle sprain this weekend against the Bucs and go on IR just long enough to miss the Pats game.

 

[BobDigital]

Based on what observation?

Rookie QBs don't win championships cause they can't come up big in big moments like even 2nd year guys can. Our passing game is based on our run game being effective, and a good D will limit our run game. Our offensive weapons aren't good enough to win 1v1s consistently if the run game doesn't soften the D up. Our D has played well, but a lot of that has to do with the offenses we faced not playing well. I think we have a good D, but not good enough to limit 3 or 4 legit offenses in a row like we would need to.

We're basing our defensive ability on holding down a Hunt/Chubb-less Browns team. The Falcons without Ridley/Patterson on Thursday. The Panthers with Sam Darnold in full Sam Darnold mode and a not 100% McCaffrey. And the Jets. The only decent offense without injuries we faced in that time period (LAC) put up a respectable 24 points. I like our D, but I think we are over hyping a small sample size of weak/injured competition. Overall they are a good but not great unit.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Rookie QBs don't win championships cause they can't come up big in big moments like even 2nd year guys can.
Our passing game is based on our run game being effective, and a good D will limit our run game. Our offensive weapons aren't good enough to win 1v1s consistently if the run game doesn't soften the D up.
Our D has played well, but a lot of that has to do with the offenses we faced not playing well. I think we have a good D, but not good enough to limit 3 or 4 legit offenses in a row like we would need to.

We're basing our defensive ability on holding down a Hunt/Chubb-less Browns team. The Falcons without Ridley/Patterson on Thursday. The Panthers with Sam Darnold in full Sam Darnold mode and a not 100% McCaffrey. And the Jets. The only decent offense without injuries we faced in that time period (LAC) put up a respectable 24 points. I like our D, but I think we are over hyping a small sample size of weak/injured competition. Overall they are a good but not great unit.

Thats not an argument for a low ceiling. Thats an argument saying they haven't proven themselves enough for you to be convinced.

To say key cogs like Mac, Rham, Bourne, Agholor, Meyers, Barmore, Dugger and other new players this year don't have a high-enough ceiling to improve more this year is a joke.

 

[sb1]

Rookie QBs don't win championships cause they can't come up big in big moments like even 2nd year guys can.
Our passing game is based on our run game being effective, and a good D will limit our run game. Our offensive weapons aren't good enough to win 1v1s consistently if the run game doesn't soften the D up.
Our D has played well, but a lot of that has to do with the offenses we faced not playing well. I think we have a good D, but not good enough to limit 3 or 4 legit offenses in a row like we would need to.

We're basing our defensive ability on holding down a Hunt/Chubb-less Browns team. The Falcons without Ridley/Patterson on Thursday. The Panthers with Sam Darnold in full Sam Darnold mode and a not 100% McCaffrey. And the Jets. The only decent offense without injuries we faced in that time period (LAC) put up a respectable 24 points. I like our D, but I think we are over hyping a small sample size of weak/injured competition. Overall they are a good but not great unit.

The Bills are the #2 scoring offense and Colts #5 and they have arguably the best running back in the league right now. The Bills haven't played a lot of great teams but the Colts have.

Will be a good test for our defense. I wouldn't expect a repeat of the Falcons game.