Time to repent

[TheRainMaker]

Can I add this guy?

You really have to hate the team you cover to break a fake story right before the biggest Super Bowl for any NFL franchise to date. I would've immediately quit my job after the game and moved out of state.

Hahaha you ready for this, I hated the hire. I had a bit of a grudge for him beating us in 94 still and I bought into some of the hype the sports media was feeding us about Capers. My father had to convince me how much he meant to the 96 team and that he absolutely was the right hire. The following season pops took me to my first SB.

Wouldn't that have been erased when he came back in 1996? Granted, I didn't like how he was slowing down the Pats offense in 1997-1999, but I had to look at the bigger picture of what he was doing to other teams as well. He put up a good fight against the 1998 Broncos, derailed the 1999 Pats and was the only DC who slowed down the 1999 Colts during the regular season.

Crazy how BB was almost hired in 1997, but Bob didn't feel like it was the right time. I have no idea why he thought that. That would've been very interesting had he been the HC during that time. Capers was a hot candidate at the time as he did a great job with the Jaguars.

 

[signbabybrady]

Wouldn't that have been erased when he came back in 1996? Granted, I didn't like how he was slowing down the Pats offense in 1997-1999, but I had to look at the bigger picture of what he was doing to other teams as well. He put up a good fight against the 1998 Broncos, derailed the 1999 Pats and was the only DC who slowed down the 1999 Colts during the regular season.

Crazy how BB was almost hired in 1997, but Bob didn't feel like it was the right time. I have no idea why he thought that. That would've been very interesting had he been the HC during that time. Capers was a hot candidate at the time as he did a great job with the Jaguars.

Yeah my father reminded me about 96

 

[upstater1]

Things are actually proceeding much as I imagined it, with the exception of number of wins (8 is definitely higher than I imagined it), and the run defense, which I saw as a weakness.

With the run defense, I don't know how they are doing it. I'm a little scared that they are relying too much on CBs to make hard tackles. I'm not sure whether having Gonzalez and Marcus Jones fly in for tackles is sustainable.

I believe the success is owed to Barmore, Williams, Tonga, Farmer and Durden, as well as all the linebackers.

I was worried about them because early in the season, Spillane and Gibbens were whiffing on a lot of tackles.

My biggest concern with run defense: Landry and Chiasson are pretty awful at it. I STILL see them guessing wrong a lot of just getting swept away in the chaos, only for linebackers and our CBs to come up and make the stop.

They are team tackling like we haven't seen in a while.

All the WRs have surprised me with their level of play, every single one of them with the exception of Kyle Williams.

 

[mikey m]

I really liked just about everything we did in the offseason except for the Mack Hollins pickup. I really thought he was JAG that limited the potential of the offense. Big swing and a miss. Then, after an up-and-down preseason I started to get a little nervous. Were a lot of us just drinking the kool-aid? Would we look back after a season like the last couple and cringe at the Forged in Foxboro hype we bought in to? Oh we of little faith.

 

[Water Boy]

I was generally optimistic about the trajectory for this year.

My most embarrassing take was in the off-season after the Buffalo finale that there was a legit QB competition brewing between Maye and Bazooka Joe.

I wasn't opposed to JMcD, but thought there would be a year 2 regression with Maye to learn the system.

When Mayo was hired as HC I was on board and waving pom poms. Felt great until week 2 of the season. I know there were some posters critizing the hire and advocating for Vrabel then. I'm embarrassed for not being on that truth train.

I was optimistic about all of our draft pics this year, especially Will Campbell - arm length and wingspan be dammed. We had arm length debates in the draft forum that went on for months right up until a few games into the season.


This is a great thread, btw.

 

[Water Boy]

I thought we wouldn't be able to stop the run. D'oh

Same here. 20 plus years of 3-4 two gap, edge setting, 250lb line backer ideology was all I knew about defending the run.

 

[Edelmania]

I thought Hollins was a waste of money but he's proving to be a valuable role player and great part of the team culture.

Also thought Hawkins was complete garbage but he's having a great year so far.

 

[Thelonious]

Yeah, I had them at eight wins...so, uhhhh. Even worse, I was afraid that might be too optimistic.

I thought they were "all-set" at safety. Now everybody I thought would obviously play most of the snaps is...gone.

I thought that probably by this point we'd be saying, "Oh well, Campbell will make a really good guard anyway."

I didn't think Josh would necessarily be great. I thought he would be sorta OK but not a great fit for a gunslinger like Drake, but.... nope, he's a flipping genius.

I thought Diggs would probably be some sort of an *******: nope.

I thought we'd probably have to spend a lot of time, yet again, *****ing about the O-line: nope.

I thought the notion they might be one of the best teams in the league was a fanboy joke.


So, a pretty dismal record, thankfully!

 

[Real fan 02]

7 wins, and I would have been happy with that.

Wasn't a believer in Will Campbell coming out.

Still not thrilled they traded Joe Milton, although they did him a solid in the long run. I think he's better than Josh Dobbs, but whatever, it doesn't matter, because it's Maye or nothing.

I was wrong.

WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONGITY WRONG WRONG WRONG

I was confident in W. Campbell as he was the highest rated OL in the draft and I believed in Vrabel. Joe Milton I liked and was fun to watch. However he believes he better than the 3rd overall pick and likely believes he's better than dak.
Love his confidence.. however your not home boy.

Your a back up for a reason...

 

[ErniesPinkStripes]

I wasn't crazy about McD being back but he and Drake seem great together so happy about that.. Definitely thought Chism would have made more of an impact by now, but hopefully still good things to come.

 

[Huckleberry1]

I wasn't crazy about McD being back but he and Drake seem great together so happy about that.. Definitely thought Chism would have made more of an impact by now, but hopefully still good things to come.

I expected much more from Chism, but they haven't been using that Edelman/ Welker role at all this season.

 

[ErniesPinkStripes]

I expected much more from Chism, but they haven't been using that Edelman/ Welker role at all this season.

I don't know if it's just an eye thing but he looks slow as molasses on returns.. the numbers might not agree because I remember him having decent averages for a bit but definitely underwhelmed there..

 

[sb1]

My biggest mea culpa... being mad at Brady when he left. I was vocal about it here too. Woooof.

 

[Patriot Missile]

4) I bet the under on PF2 posting the gif of Antonio Banderas kissing his fingers 500 times.

You too? Thought I was the only one a little cringed by the amount of times by one poster.

Once or twice? No big deal, great meme. 500 times? Looks like the over will win.

 

[signbabybrady]

 

[One-If-By-Sea]

I don't know if it's just an eye thing but he looks slow as molasses on returns.. the numbers might not agree because I remember him having decent averages for a bit but definitely underwhelmed there..

He is slow as molasses. His 40 dash time was awful.

All the Chism fanatics told us there was track speed and game speed, and Chism had game speed. LOL. I hope he works out next year, but he is slow.

 

[reflexblue]

After Diggs boat controversy (back in training camp) i posted that he was a cancer that never should have been signed. I confess that hes been the exact opposite, hes been the ultimate team player. besides just being plain really good.

 

[bakes781]

We have a lot of posters that like to remind us of things they predicted correctly, I am certainly not immune.

In the name of accountability, what is your biggest miss 10 weeks in?

Mine is easy.
I did not want to rehire McD.
I thought his accomplishments were all due to BB and TB, as he never really accomplished much on his own.

I was 10000000000% wrong.
He has been a revelation and has the offense humming.

Big swing and miss by me on that one.

Same. Not that I was totally against it. I just would've preferred a new approach.

 

[palialka]

I don't know if it's just an eye thing but he looks slow as molasses on returns.. the numbers might not agree because I remember him having decent averages for a bit but definitely underwhelmed there..

You’re not the only one who has noticed this. The 4.7 speed with almost no twitch or wiggle is very obvious. I just don’t see a KR who can break the big one and take it to the house. At least he’s not coughing up the football so I think Vrabel is ok with that for this season.

Also, I can’t see him getting on the field as WR; especially with McDaniels using Diggs and Pop in the slot ahead of him. And there’s no way he’ll be used on the outside.

As of now, Chism doesn’t pass the eye test as an NFL caliber athlete and if the Pats draft WRs next year, then I believe his Pats tenure will be short lived.

Having said all that, I’ll gladly eat crow if he develops into a valuable contributor to the Pats offense in the future.

 

[signbabybrady]