53 replies to this topic

[devilsrule33]

Major disclaimer: EVERY QB looks great against The Genius' D these days. Wide-open bodies EVERYWHERE. Pats have to pray that teams beat themselves these days.

Unfortunately that's the truth. Patriots pass-defense is the worst in football. Jets had wide open guys every single play.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

You're right, but don't forget to kill Brady and the offense. That three-and-out after the Jets' long drive was pretty darn awful.

I give Brady more of a pass because of how many times he's had to win games by himself the past few years. It's ALWAYS on him.

[Jerrydevil]

Unfortunately that's the truth. Patriots pass-defense is the worst in football. Jets had wide open guys every single play.

They really do stink. The Redskins are almost right there with them! How in the world do they let Victor Cruz get past them?!

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

They really do stink. The Redskins are almost right there with them! How in the world do they let Victor Cruz get past them?!

The funny thing is, the Pats get the Rams in London next, then a bye week. If the Pats win the game against the Rams (I can't pencil these Pats in for an automatic win against ANYONE right now, not with that defense), the schedule is pretty forgiving. Buffalo and Indy at home, then the Jets and Miami on the road. I can't rightly predict that the Patriots will win more than 3 of those games, but I can see them going 4-1 or even 5-0 against those teams. They'll probably lose to both Houston and San Fran after that, but if they're 8-4 or 9-3 going into those games, they should still be in good shape in their division, though they'll probably have no shot at a bye week if they don't beat at least one of those teams...they're already down a tiebreaker to the Ravens.

But even if the Pats DID go 5-0 over the next five, and suddenly had a very eye-friendly 9-3 record, I wouldn't feel any better about them than I do right now. The reasons being:

1) Pats are always good for some chest-thumping, stat-bloating bully wins that trick outsiders into thinking all is well. It wouldn't surprise me if they got a couple of them over the next five games.

2) Look at the opposing QBs over the next five weeks: Bradford, Fitzpatrick, Luck, Sanchez, and Tannehill. Granted, there doesn't seem to be QB in existence that The Genius seems to be able to contain these days, but that's a group that is either very young or not very good. If there's such a thing as a "beatable" entity at QB for the Pats, it's this fivesome. But would it surprise me if any or all of them put up Sanchez-type games against the Pats? Nope. And for some reason, Fitzpatrick really has a penchant for throwing picks to the Pats' secondary.

Even at 4-3 and looking shaky, the Pats will probably still find a way to finish 10-6 and win the division, and that's much more a testament to the Pats' schedule, the Jets not winning yesterday's game, and the state of the AFC East than it is anything the Pats are doing right. I won't be fooled by them one bit...they will be horribly exposed come playoff time, and in the Houston and SF games.

[MantaRay]

That was practically a coverage sack. Awful play by Sanchez. How about him taking a sack to make Folk's field goal try 10 yards longer? So freakin stupid. You want him, you can have him.

Coverage sack? that would imply he had more time than he did. The pocket from the center in just collapsed at the snap.
He was overwhelmed and tried to throw it out of bounds before he got crunched by the second defender who knocked out of his hands. Sanchez played a good game overall.

[Daniel]

The funny thing is, the Pats get the Rams in London next, then a bye week. If the Pats win the game against the Rams (I can't pencil these Pats in for an automatic win against ANYONE right now, not with that defense), the schedule is pretty forgiving. Buffalo and Indy at home, then the Jets and Miami on the road. I can't rightly predict that the Patriots will win more than 3 of those games, but I can see them going 4-1 or even 5-0 against those teams. They'll probably lose to both Houston and San Fran after that, but if they're 8-4 or 9-3 going into those games, they should still be in good shape in their division, though they'll probably have no shot at a bye week if they don't beat at least one of those teams...they're already down a tiebreaker to the Ravens.

But even if the Pats DID go 5-0 over the next five, and suddenly had a very eye-friendly 9-3 record, I wouldn't feel any better about them than I do right now. The reasons being:

1) Pats are always good for some chest-thumping, stat-bloating bully wins that trick outsiders into thinking all is well. It wouldn't surprise me if they got a couple of them over the next five games.

2) Look at the opposing QBs over the next five weeks: Bradford, Fitzpatrick, Luck, Sanchez, and Tannehill. Granted, there doesn't seem to be QB in existence that The Genius seems to be able to contain these days, but that's a group that is either very young or not very good. If there's such a thing as a "beatable" entity at QB for the Pats, it's this fivesome. But would it surprise me if any or all of them put up Sanchez-type games against the Pats? Nope. And for some reason, Fitzpatrick really has a penchant for throwing picks to the Pats' secondary.

Even at 4-3 and looking shaky, the Pats will probably still find a way to finish 10-6 and win the division, and that's much more a testament to the Pats' schedule, the Jets not winning yesterday's game, and the state of the AFC East than it is anything the Pats are doing right. I won't be fooled by them one bit...they will be horribly exposed come playoff time, and in the Houston and SF games.

Counting out or dismissing the Patriots seems like hockey observers doing the same with the Devils. Fact is, the Patriots went to the Super Bowl last year with basically the same team, but now they have a better running game, and perhaps a slightly better defense. They'll only get better once Hernandez gets healthier (he was really slow yesterday with the ankle injury).

You also throw in the fact that the rest of the AFC isn't that great, and the Ravens are only going to be worse with their injuries. Houston is still easily the best team in the conference, but anything can happen in a head-to-head playoff match-up.

ADDENDUM: The wild-card in the AFC is the Broncos. They'll probably continue to improve as Manning gets more used to his teammates and vice versa.

Edited by Daniel, 22 October 2012 - 10:45 AM.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Counting out or dismissing the Patriots seems like hockey observers doing the same with the Devils. Fact is, the Patriots went to the Super Bowl last year with basically the same team, but now they have a better running game, and perhaps a slightly better defense. They'll only get better once Hernandez gets healthier (he was really slow yesterday with the ankle injury).

You also throw in the fact that the rest of the AFC isn't that great, and the Ravens are only going to be worse with their injuries. Houston is still easily the best team in the conference, but anything can happen in a head-to-head playoff match-up.

ADDENDUM: The wild-card in the AFC is the Broncos. They'll probably continue to improve as Manning gets more used to his teammates and vice versa.

I'm a HUGE Pats fan, but let's face it, they were fortuitous in getting to the Super Bowl last year...that was not a great team...definitely not a complete one. Tebow was clearly in over his head against the Patriots in the playoffs (and the Denver D had clearly come back to Earth), and the Ravens, as is typical against the Patriots' D, went right down the field with the game on the line, but had a TD catch smacked away at the very last second, and missed a chip-shot FG to tie. Brady and the offense overcame SEVERAL lousy defensive performances last season...it was amazing that they went 13-3.

Dating back to the beginning of last season, teams are passing for an average of almost 300 yards per game against the Patriots in their last 23 regular season games...that is so beyond pathetic...especially considering the guy coaching them is supposed to be a defensive mastermind. I don't know if you watch many Patriots games, but it doesn't matter who they're facing...guys are constantly wide-open, all of the time, no Patriot near them. They've had some of the worst defensive play over the last year and a half that I've ever seen, especially in the secondary...the only things they've been good at on occasion is being opportunitistic with picks and turnovers, or stalling extended opponents' drives, but QBs of all skill levels have absolutely no trouble carving up the Pats' D, and it often feels like when something good does happen on D for the Pats, it's more because the other team didn't execute as well as they could have.

I am not writing the Patriots off...I would be stunned if they don't make the playoffs, though I think they will have a rough time as anything less than a #2 seed. If they go in as a #3 or #4, maybe they will their Wild Card home game, but once they go on the road...forget it. But in NFL, you can't ever stop believing until your team is eliminated from SB competition...the Giants have proven that conclusively.

[NJDevs4978]

Counting out or dismissing the Patriots seems like hockey observers doing the same with the Devils. Fact is, the Patriots went to the Super Bowl last year with basically the same team, but now they have a better running game, and perhaps a slightly better defense. They'll only get better once Hernandez gets healthier (he was really slow yesterday with the ankle injury).

You also throw in the fact that the rest of the AFC isn't that great, and the Ravens are only going to be worse with their injuries. Houston is still easily the best team in the conference, but anything can happen in a head-to-head playoff match-up.

ADDENDUM: The wild-card in the AFC is the Broncos. They'll probably continue to improve as Manning gets more used to his teammates and vice versa.

Broncos as the Wild Card? Who else is going to win that division? The rest of the AFC West stinks, including the Chargers who crapped the bed against Denver at home. And Denver will be a lot better in the second half anyway now that they're through the brutal part of their schedule.

[Daniel]

I'm a HUGE Pats fan, but let's face it, they were fortuitous in getting to the Super Bowl last year...that was not a great team...definitely not a complete one. Tebow was clearly in over his head against the Patriots in the playoffs (and the Denver D had clearly come back to Earth), and the Ravens, as is typical against the Patriots' D, went right down the field with the game on the line, but had a TD catch smacked away at the very last second, and missed a chip-shot FG to tie. Brady and the offense overcame SEVERAL lousy defensive performances last season...it was amazing that they went 13-3.

Dating back to the beginning of last season, teams are passing for an average of almost 300 yards per game against the Patriots in their last 23 regular season games...that is so beyond pathetic...especially considering the guy coaching them is supposed to be a defensive mastermind. I don't know if you watch many Patriots games, but it doesn't matter who they're facing...guys are constantly wide-open, all of the time, no Patriot near them. They've had some of the worst defensive play over the last year and a half that I've ever seen, especially in the secondary...the only things they've been good at on occasion is being opportunitistic with picks and turnovers, or stalling extended opponents' drives, but QBs of all skill levels have absolutely no trouble carving up the Pats' D, and it often feels like when something good does happen on D for the Pats, it's more because the other team didn't execute as well as they could have.

I am not writing the Patriots off...I would be stunned if they don't make the playoffs, though I think they will have a rough time as anything less than a #2 seed. If they go in as a #3 or #4, maybe they will their Wild Card home game, but once they go on the road...forget it. But in NFL, you can't ever stop believing until your team is eliminated from SB competition...the Giants have proven that conclusively.

All that may be true. Just watch most other teams in the league, and the AFC in particular, and you won't be so down on the Pats.

So far as your doom and gloom about the playoffs, try rooting for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in what seems like forever. Pats are still the team to beat in the division, and are a favorite for a first-round bye now that the wheels appear to be coming off for the Ravens. With an offense that is that explosive, you can live with a subpar defense. I'll take the Patriots to win a shootout against any team but Houson.

Also, since you're not allowed to breathe on a receiver past five yards, most defenses will appear as if they suck.

Broncos as the Wild Card? Who else is going to win that division? The rest of the AFC West stinks, including the Chargers who crapped the bed against Denver at home. And Denver will be a lot better in the second half anyway now that they're through the brutal part of their schedule.

I didn't mean "wildcard" in the literal sense. "Wildcard" in the sense that they're a team that no one is thinking about right now as going far in the playoffs.

[MantaRay]

Pats are still the team to beat in the division, and are a favorite for a first-round bye now that the wheels appear to be coming off for the Ravens. Also, since you're not allowed to breathe on a receiver past five yards, most defenses will appear as if they suck.

Fortunately, we have the bye week to try and right our ship. Our 5-1 start gives us some cushion in a rather mediocre football league. We will make the playoffs, but with out Webb, Lewis and now Reed or Ngata I don't like our chances.

It up to really Cam Cameron to get the offense up and running again as our D is finished. The last two weeks do not instill much confidence in me that the Ravens can finish out Ray Lewis' career with another Superbowl win as it did before the injuries.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

All that may be true. Just watch most other teams in the league, and the AFC in particular, and you won't be so down on the Pats.

So far as your doom and gloom about the playoffs, try rooting for a team that hasn't made the playoffs in what seems like forever. Pats are still the team to beat in the division, and are a favorite for a first-round bye now that the wheels appear to be coming off for the Ravens. With an offense that is that explosive, you can live with a subpar defense. I'll take the Patriots to win a shootout against any team but Houson.

Also, since you're not allowed to breathe on a receiver past five yards, most defenses will appear as if they suck.

I didn't mean "wildcard" in the literal sense. "Wildcard" in the sense that they're a team that no one is thinking about right now as going far in the playoffs.

In bold...they haven't really been explosive. One thing I've noticed about Brandon Lloyd is that he doesn't seem to gain much separation from his corner...everytime Brady tries to hit him deep, it seems like he's well covered.

They've been up-and-down from a production standpoint...they're #1 overall in PF (217...31 PPG), but that 52-point outburst against the Bills bloats the total a bit...yesterday, 9 of the points didn't come on offense, so they only scored 20 on offense...and the Jets actually did a pretty good job holding them in check. They just couldn't force a turnover on defense.

But the recipe for disaster is there: you have an offense that seems to be running out of gas or going out of sync in the fourth, and a defense that can't shut down the other team when it needs to. Hence, blown leads game after game. I don't feel safe right now unless the Pats are up three possessions in the 4th right now, because I've seen that 2 possession leads are not safe.

[devilsrule33]

That was practically a coverage sack. Awful play by Sanchez. How about him taking a sack to make Folk's field goal try 10 yards longer? So freakin stupid. You want him, you can have him.

The sack worked out over a throw away. I think NE with any more than 1 timeout win the game. It was unfortunate that the Jets recovered the fumble at 2 minutes and 1 second. But it gave them a free play to throw the ball without any consequence for an incomplete pass since the two minute warning was happening after the play. Not the time to use Tebow. Play action should have been the call.

[MantaRay]

Week 8 coming up!!!

[CRASHER]

Week 8 coming up!!!

Bucs and Vikings....OH BOY.....

frakking Thursday Night abortions......