Thoughts on last night's game

[godef]

1. So does anyone still wonder how a juggernaut like this year's Patriots can be stopped and why it is so hard to go undefeated? When all those little things go wrong, dropped passes, questionable calls, etc, in combination with a brave oppoent who refuses to kneel down and plays a magnificent game. The odds are, it happens at least once, and more typically several times in the course of a 16-game schedule. Give credit to the Patriots for overcoming all of it and coming out on top, but if this continues every week for the remaining 5 games, we will not go undefeated. If.
   [*]I will never disrespect the Eagles again. I’ve always thought SB XXXIX was not as close a game as the score indicated, and I always thought they were overrated in general, a product of the weak NFC (which by the way has a slight 2-game edge over the AFC thus far this season).
   [*]Not only did Patriot fans all over breath a big sigh of relief, so did all the casinos. Shame on any casino that closed betting on the game, just get out of the business already. If you think about it, a 24-point spread really was over the top, considering the Eagles were 5-5. Buffalo is overrated. And insofar as Washington goes, sh*t happens, 52-7 one week doesn't translate into 52-7 every week. But the bandwagon was in cruise control and everybody was picking the Pats and the casinos panicked.
   [*]When I watch a game in which I expect the Pats to win, and in fact we are in danger of losing, I go through a process of mentally prepping myself for a possible loss, where I essentially presume we are going to lose, anything after that is a bonus. Not that I don't hold any hopes of a comeback, I do, it's just a thing I do. Did this in the 4th quarter of the Indy game, and I did it again last night when we were behind by 4 and Philly had the ball. It looked bleak.
2. Al and John did not see any offensive PI by Moss, and neither did I. I think Randy has a bad habit of merely laying his hands on the cover guy, which in itself is not interference. But then when separation occurs and his hands remain on the defender, it appears he's pushing off. And his reputation doesn't help, I think there were other isntances where he got away with actual PI.
3. This game should deflect from the Randy-Moss-is-the-real-MVP talk. Moss was defensed into a non-factor in the second half, yet Brady still found another way to win, this time in the form of Wes Welker; so is Welker now the MVP?! OK, Moss was undoubtedly still drawing a lot of attention which freed up other resources which still makes him invaluable, but the buck still stops with Tom Brady.
4. I once again have the fear of God in me (OK, the football gods), and I hope that Pats do too, if they haven’t had it all along. We are beatable (by anyone other than Indy). We can still go undefeated, but we’re going to have to earn it. Anyhow, does anyone think Belichick ever lost this fear of God? Nope, he’s been around too long. It really is just us fans, not the Patriots. I last felt this way following the Cincinnati and Miami games in 2004, when the Bengals gouged our defense for a lot of yards, and then we blew that game in Miami. I was worried we had peaked, but then we turned in a magnificent performance at the Jets the next week, and all was well again.

 

[patsox23]

good thoughts, godef. Thanks for posting.

 

[BradyManny]

[*][/FONT]When [/SIZE]I watch a game in which I expect the Pats to win, and in fact we are in danger of losing, I go through a process of mentally prepping myself for a possible loss, where I essentially presume we are going to lose, anything after that is a bonus. Not that I don't hold any hopes of a comeback, I do, it's just a thing I do. Did this in the 4th quarter of the Indy game, and I did it again last night when we were behind by 4 and Philly had the ball. It looked bleak.

Ditto, as a fan, I prepare myself for the worst as well - but last nite I was never really worried. Colts game, I was - but I still felt like we'd score any and every time we had the ball last nite. Some brutal calls (Ghost's FG was good, Moss did not push off) and some inefficiency and the rest zone aside, the offense still had its way - so its only a matter of time before it takes the lead for good.

 

[questionman]

I wonder how this will translate into the next games. Baltimore really doesn't have the offense. Heck, the Bengals D handled them. But now the Steelers game looks a little different. I know that BB will adjust to stop the exploits that allowed the Eagles to move the ball, but how much did the Steelers learn? I remember the Pats showing the "game plan" to beating the Colts a few years ago and then other teams were having success with it. Will that happen here?

 

[BlitzFritz]

Great post Godef

i think any team that can score points could be a challenge for us going forward. so im not so worried about baltimore.

i am worried about pittsburgh, esp with the Pats coming off a Monday night game. they will have just a short week to get rested and ready.

get prepared for a tough game!!!!

:rocker:

 

[IndianPat]

Jimmy Johnson said it best on Fox - you need good quarterbacking to beat the Patriots. In all three games that we were down in score during the second half- Dallas, Indy and Philly, we were down to teams that had good quarterbacks (in Feely's case - probably the best game of his professional life as a QB). And that's the reason why we are so good - we have an awesome QB.

While I was concerned about the play of the defense - you have to remember that they didnt give a big play. When they did gave up a score - it was over the course of a 10-15 play drive. GOOD - because on each play the defensive effort is geared to giving up very little. Also, there is a possibility of the enemy's offense making a mistake over a long drive. BAD - because our defense tires out over the course of three or four drives like that.

Even the great Chicago defense of 1985 was burned by the good quarter backing play of Dan Marino. We could have easily lost yesterday if Feely had not made those two mistakes. The two QB's who have the ability to make plays in our remaining schedule are Roethlisber and Eli Manning. They are both terrible at times and very good at other times. We get past those two teams and we will have our unbeaten season. All this talk about blue print to beat the Patriots is BS. You need a great quarterback on the otherside to even have the possibility of beating Patriots.

Ofcouse, the playoffs are a totally different matter - likely to meet atleast two good quarterbacks in the three games needed to win the SB.

 

[Bobs My Uncle]

I don't see the Pats losing this season. Barring crippling injuries of course.

I suppose it's possible but far too much has to go right for a team left on the schedule to beat the Pats that I just don't see it happening.

Book it, Dano.

 

[Bertil]

Pittsburgh must be greatly emboldened by yesterday's game because they're a better QB'd version of the Iggles (especially since the Phillys ran a 3-4 the entire game). **** LeBeau can run a few blitzing schemes on the vaunted Pats OL that they've probably not seen, at least this year. I'm not sure they're going to be able to pull it off, in fact I highly doubt it. It's just that the "blueprint" as it's being called is right in Pittburgh's wheelhouse.

 

[bakes781]

As many have already stated, Feeley played the game of his life. Had McNabb been the QB we would've seen another blowout IMO.

 

[SkiHound]

I just saw it as a game that was going to happen. The Eagles aren't a bad team and played like a team with nothing to loose and lots to prove. They had a good game plan and executed it very well. Feeley probably had a career game. And I certainly don't think the Pats brought their A game. There's a reason that even really great teams usually loose a game or two. In some ways this may be a good thing cause it will definately give the coaching staff a "teaching moment."