Why should the Patriots fear any team?

[mayoclinic]

You think the 6-6 Chiefs win out, the 4-8 Bengals won out, and the lowly 10-2 patriots limp home at 3-2.
You should watch some Patriot games. They are really good.

The Patriots stink. No OL, no running game, no pass rush. The only thing they are better at is outscoring their opponent. Pitiful.

KC has lost 3 if their last 4, but have looked really really good. Just hand them the Lombardi now.

 

[TheRainMaker]

I'm not sure why people are thinking the Chiefs win out when they've been awful all year. They will not make the playoffs, but do the Pats a solid and find a way to play spoiler against Denver.

Colts had no business losing to the Chiefs and showed their QB will haunt them come playoff time when a team slows the running game down.

If the Bills lose again to the NE, the torch has been officially passed back to NE.

 

[mayoclinic]

Chiefs have lost 3 out of their last 4, and barely won in OT against Indy. So clearly they "cannot be stopped" and are going to win out.

 

[Ring 6]

The Patriots stink. No OL, no running game, no pass rush. The only thing they are better at is outscoring their opponent. Pitiful.

KC has lost 3 if their last 4, but have looked really really good. Just hand them the Lombardi now.

Only scoring 26 against the pathetic bengals and winning in the road clearly means we could never beat the Ravens who put up 14 and got blown out at home the next week by the same team.

 

[NovaScotiaPatsFan]

The Patriots stink. No OL, no running game, no pass rush. The only thing they are better at is outscoring their opponent. Pitiful.

KC has lost 3 if their last 4, but have looked really really good. Just hand them the Lombardi now.

Is this like a Karma thread now?

 

[slam]

It would be wild if the Pats not only made the Super Bowl, but actually won it. I think we’ll have a lot better idea in these next three weeks as Buffalo and Baltimore have been playoff teams the last several years.

It’d be funny if an unexpected AFC team skipped over the Mahomes/Allen/Jackson/Herbert/Burrow group to win a Super Bowl whether it’d be NE, Indy, or Denver. If it’s NE it’d be absolutely hilarious since we certainly have not suffered enough for everyone else’s tastes to be back in the limelight so soon.

 

[Pape]

I'd say Mayo didn't have enough fear. No sense of urgency.

There are, of course, situations I prefer not to face.

Like Buffalo if we've won the first two games against them, or a completely healthy former champion.

But that's different than fearing a team.

he didn't know what the **** he was doing. Point blank he was ill prepared to be running a franchise and it showed. Kraft made a huge mistake putting him in charge. He knew it too, which is why he moves that chick into the front office, trying to help him. It didn't work.

 

[Real fan 02]

he didn't know what the **** he was doing. Point blank he was ill prepared to be running a franchise and it showed. Kraft made a huge mistake putting him in charge. He knew it too, which is why he moves that chick into the front office, trying to help him. It didn't work.

Spot on... Glaser and Mayo didn't get along..hence they both ended up getting fired..

 

[Salsalife]

Defense wins Super bowls...corners stay healthy and Williams comes back and if the road runs thru Foxboro and if we get our left side back....ok.

 

[TB12TheGoat]

if Williams and Campbell come back healthy and there are no other key injuries, there is no reason to think the Pats can't win it all. I think LAR are the best team, but that means nothing. look at 2001. a historically great STL team was 14 point favorites over the Pats

can you imagine PIT fans reaction if the Pats get #7 before them? at the conclusion of the 2008 season, they were at 6 and the Pats were at 3

 

[n1997y]

Like most things in life, expectations are dynamic.
Do you think Washington players were happy to make the playoffs last year, and would have been happy losing their first playoff game, hello no!.
There was much uncertainty at the start of the year, but that was long ago, our expectations now are far different than 11 weeks ago.
We are #1 seed in the AFC as of today, anything less than a SB will be a disappointment for me, and I'm sure the players and coaches feel the exact same way.
Every team has one goal, to win the SB. As the season progresses that goal becomes unrealistic for some teams, and very realistic for others. We are squarely the latter.
SB or bust for me.

Three months ago the season had not yet started. Remember those days? We were debating what to expect from this season. Expect actions were not very high then. Events have changed those expectations.

Now we’re talking about how deep we might go in the playoffs.

Three months ago talk of making the playoffs was ofteridiculed.

Here’s a reminder:

 

[n1997y]

Our team aint perfect but it has a championship makeup-
Top level hc and qb, few teams have this. As we’ve seen with the chiefs and our dynasty these are the 2 most important spots by a mile
We can stop the run with the best of them
Special teams is rock solid
Shutdown cb, studs at 2 and nickel too
Playmaker who can take it the distance from anywhere on the field with Henderson’s emergence
Well rounded team altogether without an obvious weakness

As long as Campbell and Williams make it back, i can’t really picture myself going into any game hating our chances of winning. Especially in the afc. Some of those nfc teams could be a problem but theres no juggernauts out there

not just Henderson. This team has a lot of playmakers. Some can take it the distance from anywhere. Others can make the contested catches in traffic.

Quick quiz: without looking it up, how many players have scored TDs for the Patriots this season?

 

[Gumby]

not just Henderson. This team has a lot of playmakers. Some can take it the distance from anywhere. Others can make the contested catches in traffic.

Quick quiz: without looking it up, how many players have scored TDs for the Patriots this season?

Including D TDs?…..

5wr-3rb-2te-qb-3?D….i come to 14, but likely wrong.

 

[pazrul72]

The Patriots stink. No OL, no running game, no pass rush. The only thing they are better at is outscoring their opponent. Pitiful.

KC has lost 3 if their last 4, but have looked really really good. Just hand them the Lombardi now.

So I know this was tongue in cheek but I do think the Patriots are proving the old adage it's better to have an average team everywhere then one with strengths and weaknesses. The most impressive thing about this off-season to me wasn't that they add all pros or went all in, they just made sure there was an adequate starter caliber player in every spot. Moses is a perfect example. Is he good and dominanting right now? No, but he provides decent play and a stability that has been sorely lacking in recent years. I'm not buying they WILL win the Lombardi this year, but everyone else has weaknesses that give them as good a chance as any other team. From where they started the year that is extremely exciting and all I ask of Patriot football. Fun times.

 

[Schmo]

Maybe we're not good enough to win it all... but our head coach will dive in the pile during a fight.... our diva wr will fall in line and buy in, because he admires the OC so much.... our qb is smiling through an MVP caliber season despite being sacked twice as much as the other favorite... our rookie LT, who many say isn't physically able to play his position, will, "FIGHT AND DIE" for his teammates.........

Yet the fan base is afraid for some reason? ****ies! Bring on the best!

 

[mayoclinic]

So I know this was tongue in cheek but I do think the Patriots are proving the old adage it's better to have an average team everywhere then one with strengths and weaknesses. The most impressive thing about this off-season to me wasn't that they add all pros or went all in, they just made sure there was an adequate starter caliber player in every spot. Moses is a perfect example. Is he good and dominanting right now? No, but he provides decent play and a stability that has been sorely lacking in recent years. I'm not buying they WILL win the Lombardi this year, but everyone else has weaknesses that give them as good a chance as any other team. From where they started the year that is extremely exciting and all I ask of Patriot football. Fun times.

It is virtually impossible to build a stacked roster across the board these days. An elite QB + an average roster + average injuries + good coaching + a reasonable amount of luck can compete with anyone.

 

[40yrpatsfan]

As fans it's perilous to get ****y. There's absolutely no question we could lose to the Giants this week, for example. We're not THAT good to consider it an automatic W. Macho talk of blowout wins and a SB is not a good mindset. The division is still very much in doubt.

Thrilled with the year so far, but with the rising expectations you have to be 12 to not be anxious as well. And if we're missing Williams, Campbell or Wilson entering the playoffs, or lose some other key cog over the next month, then all bets are off.

We can safely talk about our first playoff appearance in 4 years, cause we're not finishing 0-5, but let's not get too far ahead of ourselves.

 

[BobDigital]

They can beat anyone and be beat by anyone likely to be in the playoffs. One of those weird years.

 

[captain stone]

With the stretch run coming up post bye coming up. Wanted to make mention of things being said locally and nationally about the Patriots should not want to play this team, or should want to play that team. Malarkey! They are 10-2 the first team to get ten wins on the season. Whoever they draw, they will play!

They have positioned themselves by playing high quality ball all season. They have taken the coaching, have bought in to what Vrabel is doing and are learning from winning as opposed to losing

There are things that they can improve on absolutely as it's been discussed on the forum.. they are even with basically every other NFL team as far as injuries go.

So why should they fear playing anyone? Aren't they also a good team? Well coached? Elite QB? Yes we know the chiefs, Ravens, bills are all contenders.. throw in Denver, indy as well.

One thing I can rest assured on as a fan is that Vrabel's not coaching his team to fear anyone. This patiots team even with the injuries and deficiencies can hang with anyone in the league. They didn't get 10 wins by luck!

Do you believe they should operate by "fearing " and avoiding an opponent come the postseason?

Appreciate your thoughts!

Let's go patiots!!!

Ummm... Because we're really not very good in too many areas...?

 

[p8ryts]

Ummm... Because we're really not very good in too many areas...?

Yup, can't run the ball with any consistency and defense is not good without Milton and Tonga.