This team isnt that bad

[sb1]

True, and if they didnt have to play the Bills twice, it would be looking a lot better.

Agreed.
They play the Bills twice in 3 weeks in December. I don’t know if that helps or hurts our chances to steal one.

 

[Pats1971]

Agreed.
They play the Bills twice in 3 weeks in December. I don’t know if that helps or hurts our chances to steal one.

Its hard to look at both teams and think, oh yeah, we can beat them.

 

[Ring 6]

What have you seen, that would make you predict the pats will beat the bills? Other than the pats have played 1 defense in the top 10, and got rolled in that one. I dont usually make predictions, but if I did and based it on what I see. The pats have won 2 games that were played by two of the worst teams in the NFL, 4 others they lost.

That’s why they play the games.

 

[Pats1971]

That’s why they play the games.

Right....its just hard to make predictions of winning 10 games, when I am worried if they will beat the jets next week. If Wilson does not hand us the ball 7 times it could be a nail biter.

 

[jdlboot14]

The point is, they aren't a good team right now. But it doesn't mean they're incorrigibly bad either.
True, good teams should find a way to win 3 close games and be 5-1.
But those 3 games were lost with 1 fumble, 1 foot left kick, and 1 errant pass respectively.
Literally 1 play cost each game.
And errors like fumbles and interceptions can be improved upon, and usually are throughout a season.
We've faced 2 of the best 5 teams in the NFL in a 3-week span, and should have won both.
But, that's why we're still not "good" yet.
This team is VERY new to each other. But we're still competing with the best, neck and neck.
So, I agree - we're not as bad as our record indicates.
Unfortunately there are no points for that. So, we have to go the hard way.

 

[Ring 6]

Right....its just hard to make predictions of winning 10 games, when I am worried if they will beat the jets next week. If Wilson does not hand us the ball 7 times it could be a nail biter.

Who gives a crap about making predictions. What does a prediction mean?
That’s why this stuff is garbage. Every game is different, players get injured, players improve, teams learn how to use players better, opponents learn how to expose weaknesses.

What you have is this:

A team that has turned over half of its roster in one off season. One that has complex schemes on both sides of the ball that require more cerebrally than most. One that is reknowned for game planning and approach each opponent differently.
A team that has a rookie QB who has played his first 6 games in the NFL and done incredibly well while being spoon fed more or more diverse scheme and responsibilities.
A team with almost every receiver being new to that complex offense still learning it.
A team with an OL that was supposed to be a strength because of his those players have played that has been mediocre and at times a weakness.
A defense that has overall been a little better than average but at times excellent. That is playing a new base scheme it never played before and also has almost half its snaps coming from guys who weren’t here last year.
A team that has uncharacteristically not been at its best in the clutch.
A team that has taken SB contenders to the wire twice but also got taken to the wire by a bad team.
There is no way to know what the next 6 much less the next 11 games are going to look like based solely upon the first 6.
There are tons of reasons to believe they will play better in many if these areas in the next 6 than they did in these 6.

The amount they need to improve based upon how competitive they have been seems reasonable. Other teams will improve too.

All the first 6 games really tell us is there are 2 in the W column, 4 in the loss and 11 more to play to try to improve in that record.

Im going to stay optimistic and watch what happens. If you want to cry and be miserable trying to argue about how 4 losses are more than 4, that’s up to you.

 

[archstanton543]

A team that has turned over half of its roster in one off season. One that has complex schemes on both sides of the ball that require more cerebrally than most. One that is reknowned for game planning and approach each opponent differently.
A team that has a rookie QB who has played his first 6 games in the NFL and done incredibly well while being spoon fed more or more diverse scheme and responsibilities.
A team with almost every receiver being new to that complex offense still learning it.

Then why not run a less complicated system until the new guys master it? I never get this argument. Why not adjust your "system" to the players you have on the team seeing as how you brought then in. Being too rigid is part of the problem. It's the reason why they don't draft receivers the succeed (98% of the time).

 

[RobertWeathers]

FWIW the 2000 NEP were penalized 6.18 times per game. The 2021 NEP are getting flagged 6 times a game.

Penalties are not the main reason for their record. Talent and youth are.

 

[RobertWeathers]

Then why not run a less complicated system until the new guys master it? I never get this argument. Why not adjust your "system" to the players you have on the team seeing as how you brought then in. Being too rigid is part of the problem. It's the reason why they don't draft receivers the succeed (98% of the time).

Their system's strength is it's flexibility.

Besides ...dumming down the offense when TB12 was here was a ridiculous assertion. That's why they went after vet WR when Tom was here and it worked.

 

[‘Mondre]

You are...

everybodysayitwithmenoweverybodyjoinin!!!

 

[SHOWTIME15]

FWIW the 2000 NEP were penalized 6.18 times per game. The 2021 NEP are getting flagged 6 times a game.

Penalties are not the main reason for their record. Talent and youth are.

I would throw in coaching as another reason the team isn't that good this year so far...

 

[A Defiant Goose]

This optimism got bent over the desk and railed just as fast as I thought it would. This site is getting depressing

 

[SHOWTIME15]

Agreed.
They play the Bills twice in 3 weeks in December. I don’t know if that helps or hurts our chances to steal one.

Bills are a great team, but as we saw this past week, even they look vulnerable. If the Pats can hang with Tampa and Dallas, they can hang with Buffalo. We may not beat them twice but we can hang with them.

 

[50-yard-line]

Forgot about that...although I still feel like it might take 11 wins now to get in. Definitely curious to see who does/doesn't make it this year and the records...but I feel like it's definitely going to be more challenging than past years.

I thinkt he games against the Titans, the Colts, the Browns, and the Chargers are the four that decide whether or not New England makes the playoffs. All four could be playoff teams, with three taking wildcards (or at least two taking wildcards (if the Chargers win the west). if the Pats can win 2 of these games, they have a chance. If they will 3, they have a very good chance.

One game at a time, though, right? The Jets are coming off a bye - look ahead to the Chargers and the New England playoff hopes die on Sunday of this week. They need to take care of business.

 

[Ring 6]

Then why not run a less complicated system until the new guys master it? I never get this argument. Why not adjust your "system" to the players you have on the team seeing as how you brought then in. Being too rigid is part of the problem. It's the reason why they don't draft receivers the succeed (98% of the time).

Well I think that’s kind of the point. They are installing the system at a slower rate because of all the new players. They did scale back and are increasing it over time, which is why there is plenty of reason to expect improvement.

 

[Ring 6]

I thinkt he games against the Titans, the Colts, the Browns, and the Chargers are the four that decide whether or not New England makes the playoffs. All four could be playoff teams, with three taking wildcards (or at least two taking wildcards (if the Chargers win the west). if the Pats can win 2 of these games, they have a chance. If they will 3, they have a very good chance.

One game at a time, though, right? The Jets are coming off a bye - look ahead to the Chargers and the New England playoff hopes die on Sunday of this week. They need to take care of business.

Good breakdown.

 

[paco130]

Then why not run a less complicated system until the new guys master it? I never get this argument. Why not adjust your "system" to the players you have on the team seeing as how you brought then in. Being too rigid is part of the problem. It's the reason why they don't draft receivers the succeed (98% of the time).

I agree. Simplify the schemes and add on as players get acclimated. Keeping it complex to start doesn't make sense.

 

[Sicilian]

I agree. Simplify the schemes and add on as players get acclimated. Keeping it complex to start doesn't make sense.

I think this is essentially what they've been doing. Most of the breakdowns I've seen in the earlier games was that they were playing very vanilla (at least on offense) and it was too easy for teams to defend. But the last few games there have been more complex routes, better timing on the throws, etc, and we've seen an uptick in a lot of offensive metrics. I think they did simplify it, and the results weren't great because they don't have the weapons that are just going to win on pure talent. But as they've added wrinkles and Mac is getting more decisive and comfortable, we're seeing guys like Henry and Bourne start to be impact players. Just need Agholor and Smith to follow suit. Meyers is their Steady Eddie.

 

[sb1]

I thinkt he games against the Titans, the Colts, the Browns, and the Chargers are the four that decide whether or not New England makes the playoffs. All four could be playoff teams, with three taking wildcards (or at least two taking wildcards (if the Chargers win the west). if the Pats can win 2 of these games, they have a chance. If they will 3, they have a very good chance.

One game at a time, though, right? The Jets are coming off a bye - look ahead to the Chargers and the New England playoff hopes die on Sunday of this week. They need to take care of business.

Pats are the 7th AFC seed right now if they beat the Cowboys. Kinda annoying but nothing they can do about it now. Absolutely gotta take care of business.

If they can't even beat the Jets then they don't deserve to play any games after week 17.

 

[sean10mm]

I am not a "fire Belichick/cut everyone" guy, but this season has been bad in ways we didn't even see in 2020 and (so for) it's not getting better.

Penalties, 12 men on the field, blocked punts, fumbles, turning turtle with play calls/game management decisions when going for the throat used to be the baseline, general sloppiness, it's alarming. Like the Pats had questionable decisions and sloppy games sometimes before of course, but now it's the norm.

They have basic roster problems too, but that's almost secondary to how disorganized and mentally soft they're looking week in and week out, especially now that we're long past week 1.