New England Patriots Discussion

[cmarq83]

I have a bad feeling for this game. San Diego always plays the Pats well just like Baltimore and the Jets. The only reason we beat them a lot of the times is because they beat themselves.

[Jvig43]

Originally Posted by cmarq83

I have a bad feeling for this game. San Diego always plays the Pats well just like Baltimore and the Jets. The only reason we beat them a lot of the times is because they beat themselves.

Agreed, it's going to be a tough game for sure. I really do think this game will show what our team is about this season. Hopefully it wont be bad haha.

[Matthew Jones]

I'm guessing the score will be 24-21 or something like that.

[Jvig43]

My friend had an extra ticket to go to the game today, and instead of taking me he took our friend who is a Colts fan. fml.

[Nalej]

Your friend sucks at being a friend

[ElectricEye]

Any word on what the active roster is today? Starting to get a little nervous. This is going to be a close game.

[nepg]

McGowan, Sanders, Page, Merriweather... Let's get rid of all of those guys and keep Barrett... Really?

[ElectricEye]

Devin McCourty has been a free completion all game. I think it's time to panic a little bit.

[ElectricEye]

A win is a win. Even if it's ugly. Somebody get our defense some energy drinks and a device capable of bringing the real McCourty back.

[Jvig43]

Originally Posted by ElectricEye

A win is a win. Even if it's ugly. Somebody get our defense some energy drinks and a device capable of bringing the real McCourty back.

Pretty much my thoughts as well. San Diego played pretty much like they always do against us in that they make enough mistakes to let us beat them. They certainly had a very good chance of winning that game, but props to the D on a number of plays made including the goal line stand.

[ElectricEye]

The only way I can really console myself is that this is a Norv Turner offense manned by Phillip Rivers with great personnel. Still, completely sucks that it's all going to be on Brady's shoulders yet again this year. We need to play better on defense. The pass rush disappeared today after a decent showing last week, even with extra pressure coming from the linebackers.

[nepg]

Originally Posted by ElectricEye

Devin McCourty has been a free completion all game. I think it's time to panic a little bit.

Crossing patterns and flags ate him and the rest of the defense up today. I think McCourty is missing the over-aggressive Merriweather early in the season a little bit.

The defense needs to tighten up on 3rd down. Other than that, I'm not all that upset about the game they played against a really good offense.

[cmarq83]

I think Darius Butler may have secretly killed McCourty and is just pretending to be him right now. You can tell by the great positioning and yet seemingly never making the play.

[ElectricEye]

Originally Posted by cmarq83

I think Darius Butler may have secretly killed McCourty and is just pretending to be him right now. You can tell by the great positioning and yet seemingly never making the play.

V-Jax got separation right at the end every single time. You could bank on it. Same thing with Marshall.


But he's still better than Butler.

[descendency]

Tom Brady = the Grinch who stole Christmas.

Poor Cammy Cam Newton just set an NFL record and not only does he lose the game but he also loses his record.

[ElectricEye]

So this game really cost us a bit on the injury front, by the looks of it. Mesko's looked pretty bad. I can live with an off the street punter, but it's certainly not ideal. Apparently he was listed as probable, but we'll have to watch that one. Dowling got hurt with a thigh and did not look like he returned. Might not be able to play for a few weeks, which kind of sucks given that he was playing pretty well. With McCourty and Bodden's struggles and Kyle Arrington just being serviceable, this hurts quite a bit.

[descendency]

McCourty just needs to use his damn chest muscles when he jams someone at the LOS. He's jamming like a chick.

edit: I said during the game "stop playing patty-cake and ******* hit him, please."

[ElectricEye]

It's not the jam that concerns me right now, it's when the ball is in the air. Last year you could separate on him and he would just instantly correct it and get in good position. This year, he's letting guys get behind him all the damn time and hasn't been able to make plays on the ball when it's in the air.


The Postgame show on the radio claimed we had a "great rush" and "hurried Rivers" tonight too....lol. I thought we looked OK at times, but it's hardly something I'm happy about.

[descendency]

It's a lot easier to do that when you get a good jam at the line though. Most passing attacks are about timing and forcing a guy out of his normal route is the only way to disrupt timing. He's just a step behind where he needs to be in my opinion.

[nepg]

The Chargers and Dolphins aren't timing passing games, though. I'm pretty confident they'll make adjustments and correct the issues in the secondary. It's not like they were playing against chump receivers the last two weeks with Bess-Marshall & Co. and Jackson-Floyd & Co.

Hoping Dowling and Arrington are OK. I'd hate to lose Mesko because he's bad ass, but I can live with a street punter.

[nepg]

At least the draft is pretty obvious for the Pats in 2012... Safety!

[cmarq83]

I think next weeks Bills game could actually be one of the biggest games on our schedule all season... Don't laugh hear me out.

With the AFC West and South in absolute shambles right now I think it's highly likely that we're going to get the 2 wildcards out of the East and the North. Now as of right now there are 3 teams in the East that are 2-0, and finally the Bills look like they might have some moxie with a great offense. If they win next week I think the Bills are around to stay for the whole season. Their schedule is an absolute joke, picture ours with Cincinnati instead of Pittsburgh, and most of their games are highly winnable. If the Pats lose they're essentially 2 games down, plus Buffalo would have ended the Pats 14 game win streak against them. With the Jets looking good too, and the Ravens and Steelers being good always, the final playoff spot could be a dogfight between the Pats, Jets, and Bills.

Now I do think the Pats are far more talented than the Bills, and if they come with their A-game they'll win easily. However, if they make mistakes they could lose, and that would be the a disaster for this team.

[ElectricEye]

Yeah, I agree. The Bills have played well against us the past few years and have the ability to steal one from pretty much anyone. Just a really, really competitive team top to bottom that has the ability to hand with anyone. Ultimately, I think we find a way to break away and score an extra ten or so point, but it's going to be a tough game. You can't run free on that Bills defense like you used to be able to with Kyle Williams playing well, the addition of Marcell Dareus, and the purging of their previously soft linebacking core.


Bad news about Aaron Hernandez. MCL sprain could keep him out 1-2 weeks. It's nice that we're playing the Bills and Oakland in that span, teams that we probably have enough to win against without him, but it still hurts the things this offense can do. Chad and Edelman will need to elevate their game and come ready to play. We should also see a whole ton more of Nate Solder at tight end, which worked out pretty well at spots yesterday.

[nepg]

Sucks about Hernandez, but I'm more concerned about Dowling and Arrington for next week. The Bills like to spread it out and they'll need both of them. I don't think the Pats will have much trouble with either the Bills or Raiders, but they are both very dangerous teams that are capable of beating anyone.

I have a lot of confidence in the OL and I think the defense will fix some of what it's been doing wrong. A lot of the defensive issues are little things, and not really all that related to talent.

[cmarq83]

Tom Curran is reporting it could be more like 4-6 weeks... bleh. That 2 tight-end set is going to be so essential when we play the Jets, yet once again they may luck out and not have to play a healthy Hernandez and Gronk.