Patriots/NFL Championship Round

[McGarnagle]

We're playing Saturday at 8:15 PM

 

[McGarnagle]

Bills @ Texans Saturday at 4:30
Titans @ Pats Saturday at 8:15
Vikings @ Saints Sunday at 1:00
Seahawks @ Philly Sunday at 4:40

Divisional round:
TBD @ Baltimore Saturday at 4:30
TBD @ SF Saturday at 8:15
TBD @ KC Sunday at 3:30
TBD @ GB Sunday at 6:40

If we win next week, we get 7 full days' rest before KC, at least.

 

[Fenway]

We're playing Saturday at 8:15 PM

By pure luck the Bruins are playing at 1 PM that day

 

[CDJ]

Bills, pats, saints, Seahawks


0.0% chance Kirk Cousins goes on the road and wins a big game against a good team. Don’t know if it’s ever happened

(you’re welcome Lou, they will now win by 20)

 

[DKH]

Bummer for me - going to Providence game and will miss Patriots

 

[N o o d l e s]

Is it unusual for both conferences to play on the same day?

 

[Fenway]

Is it unusual for both conferences to play on the same day?

It seems odd - but CBS was going to fight for the Pats in their slot and NBC got Philly - If Seattle had won

 

[08SeaBass08]

Bummer for me - going to Providence game and will miss Patriots

I have the same issue, but I'll just switch my Saturday night PBs tix for Sunday afternoon and go to the Pats game. For all the legitimate complaints about Providence ownership, I've never once been denied swapping games.

 

[smithformeragent]

Still f***ing pissed.

I lay a lot of blame at the feet of Belichick the GM.

You’ve got a 42 YO QB on his last legs and you surround him with this motley crew on offense.

Shameful.

And that’s not to completely exonerate TB in this, but I agree with Ted Johnson that there’s a lot of passive aggressiveness happening in this organization and it can be linked back to the Gronkowski situation.

Try and trade me during the previous offseason? Ok, I’m going to string you along on the retirement front.

 

[yazmybaby]

If we cannot control Henry, it will be a long game. He will get his 20-25 carries, as long as we keep him to 100 yds or less on the ground we should be fine.
The Titans pass defense can be exposed. Brady needs to be on his game. A 40 or more pass attempts should be in the game plan by BB. Let's hope White, Sanu and Harry get many touches.
Prediction - 31-28 PATS.
Folk kicks a 44 yard FG to win the game for us.
PS- what is the weather supposed to be like for the game?

 

[Smitty93]

Still ****ing pissed.

I lay a lot of blame at the feet of Belichick the GM.

You’ve got a 42 YO QB on his last legs and you surround him with this motley crew on offense.

Shameful.

And that’s not to completely exonerate TB in this, but I agree with Ted Johnson that there’s a lot of passive aggressiveness happening in this organization and it can be linked back to the Gronkowski situation.

Try and trade me during the previous offseason? Ok, I’m going to string you along on the retirement front.

See, I'd disagree with this. The defense had plenty of talent and performed better than anyone could have expected. On offense, it was a combination of bad luck and some decisions backfiring.

Starting with the offensive line, no one could have seen Andrews being out for the year just two weeks before the season. Karras had shown he was a capable backup in the past, and while Andrews' leadership and intelligence are top notch, he's below average in the athletic talent department. Between Brady and 2 other excellent vets on the OL, you would have thought they could have made up for the missed leadership. Then, Wynn gets injured in Week 2, and we hear all the time how few capable offensive linemen there are in the league. Even with all of that, I believe the line was ranked middle of the pack by the various ranking metrics.

I'm going to skip the RBs because that was the same crew as last year, and while people can talk about losing Develin, his impact has always been overrated.

At WR, they really only lost Hogan and Patterson. I'm going to ignore Hogan because I don't think his presence would have done anything this year. With Patterson, that was more of the loss of a gadget player/returner versus an actual WR. They should have been able to replace the gadget plays, and return yards are less important in the new NFL.

With the guys they have, remember, there was a week where this was all this talk about one of the most talent receving corps of all time. Edelman, despite his injuries, is the model of consistency, as he's basically average 6.5 receptions and 70 yards per game each of his 6 years as a starter. They got unlucky that Harry was injured early in training camp. It was a mistake to let go of Demaryius Thomas, but it's not like the guy lit it up with the Jets. Gordon played worse than last year and then was just as unreliable. AB, well, I don't really have to get into that situation. Lastly, Sanu was a guy they'd coveted for years and thought would be perfect for this offense. We all thought he'd be a good addition, but it turns out that he's been putrid. Going back to free agency, we know they tried to get Adam Humphries and Jared Cook, but they both turned them down.

At TE, I'll agree with you that they clearly underestimated how difficult it would be to replace his non-receiving impact, whether it was blocking or drawing coverage.

Finally, Brady. He had a bad year, but it didn't feel like it was a physical talent issue (though who knows how the elbow injury affected things). He just seemed out of it mentally with an incredible amount of terrible decisions. Maybe it was the OL and the skill position personnel, but I'd give him equal blame. For whatever reason, he just couldn't mentally push past the issues this year.

Sorry for the blog-type post, but all of this is to say that I don't think it was a talent issue. I'd put a ton of the blame on the coaching. Scarnecchia couldn't figure out a way to get the OL to improve. They clearly missed Chad O'Shea, since he had run their redzone offense for years. Finally, McDaniels was as bad as he's been in years. He could never figure out what the team was good out and how to make the best of the personnel. Beyond that, the offense has always been great not because of talent but because they could execute the gameplan, and they continuously couldn't this year.

 

[smithformeragent]

I get the flip side of the argument.

Felger has been beating the drum all year that they have plenty on offense with Edelman, White and the rookies.

However, when you’re built around the underneath stuff, the slants, the check downs, the screen passes, and you all of a sudden have nothing at TE, and your answer is to throw a bunch of crap against the wall and hope for the best, that’s a failure on the part of the GM.

 

[McGarnagle]

Having slept on it, here's the best way I can balance optimism, realism, and pessimism:

With Brady and Belichick, you can never count them out until they're done. That said, if the team with its current faults goes into KC and Baltimore and wins both games en route to a Superbowl, that would be the most impressive and difficult feat of the 19 year Belichick-Brady era.

TBQH Kansas City doesn't even scare me that much. It's the cumulative wear and tear headed into a Baltimore game with no bye that looks daunting. All Pats fans need to root hard for Buffalo to make a run.

 

[McGarnagle]

Also, Jerruh is cleaning house in Dallas.

There's a report that the entire coaching staff is getting fired today

 

[CDJ]

Still ****ing pissed.

I lay a lot of blame at the feet of Belichick the GM.

You’ve got a 42 YO QB on his last legs and you surround him with this motley crew on offense.

Shameful.

And that’s not to completely exonerate TB in this, but I agree with Ted Johnson that there’s a lot of passive aggressiveness happening in this organization and it can be linked back to the Gronkowski situation.

Try and trade me during the previous offseason? Ok, I’m going to string you along on the retirement front.

I don’t think he strung anybody along, I mean I pretty much figured he would go out after the Super Bowl. And if I was thinking it you could bet your ass New England knew it was probably happening. There had been talk about it the year before. It wasn’t a huge surprise that he retired, it’s something that they knew was happening soon regardless. They just didn’t address the spot properly and that fault lies with them

I personally think Johnsons take is radio garbage tbh

 

[Seidenbergy]

I don’t think he strung anybody along, I mean I pretty much figured he would go out after the Super Bowl. And if I was thinking it you could bet your ass New England knew it was probably happening. There had been talk about it the year before. It wasn’t a huge surprise that he retired, it’s something that they knew was happening soon regardless. They just didn’t address the spot properly and that fault lies with them

I personally think Johnsons take is radio garbage tbh

90% of the fans on this board were absolutely convinced he was coming back right up until week 12 or so.

 

[McGarnagle]

Knowing the media and the drama of the Patriots, I see us winning Saturday with an impressive performance like the Buffalo game that makes us all feel positive about the team. Then Sunday all the network shows lead with a bombshell Mike Florio report about how Brady and Belichick have not talked to each other since week 6, how football ops and ownership disagreed on the handling of Antonio Brown and Josh Gordon, how Brady wants to go to Chicago and take Edelman with him, etc. And then it'll be a miserable week leading up to us losing to KC on a missed FG from Nick Folk.

 

[KesselBuiltMyHotrod]

90% of the fans on this board were absolutely convinced he was coming back right up until week 12 or so.

I never expected Gronk back once I saw the way he looked. He did not look like a dude who was preparing to jump in with a team midseason. It would have take some serious gear to get him back into playing shape in time.

 

[CDJ]

90% of the fans on this board were absolutely convinced he was coming back right up until week 12 or so.

yeah but that’s because people weren’t listening to him and not taking into account that he’s about 25 pounds lighter than he was a year prior. Plus the people on this board are not the patriots

before the season he was talking about how he doesn’t want to play football anymore because of how badly he’s hurt. He was literally crying as he said it. I knew at that moment there was a 0% chance he was coming back this season

Also I don’t think most of the people on here expected him to come back, I think they wanted him to come back. There’s a big difference

 

[Seidenbergy]

yeah but that’s because people weren’t listening to him and not taking into account that he’s about 25 pounds lighter than he was a year prior. Plus the people on this board are not the patriots

before the season he was talking about how he doesn’t want to play football anymore because of how badly he’s hurt. He was literally crying as he said it. I knew at that moment there was a 0% chance he was coming back this season

Preaching to the choir here. When I posted the same this past summer, it was met with.................resistance.

 

[AngryMilkcrates]

Patriots are hated in Tennessee.

Hated.

Manning is a legend and Brady eclipsing him is a very sore spot with nearly everyone in the state.

This could get ugly.

 

[Smitty93]

I like to think that I'm generally a positive person, but the more I've thought about this game against Tennessee, the worse I've felt. It might be the worst match-up in the AFC other than Baltimore. If they get down early, I could easily see it getting ugly. Just feels like they won't have an answer for Derrick Henry and the Titans will control the clock, leaving the offense with a limited number of possessions, where they'll have to be perfect.

Of course, this teams steps up when people count them out, so I'd love for them to prove me wrong, but it just seems that this team doesn't have "IT" this year. Maybe they'll be able to flip a switch. Maybe all of their playoff success will give them an upper hand.

I really hope that this isn't Brady's last season in a Patriots' uniform, but it would suck to have the last image be a home Wild Card Game loss with the team getting booed off the field. That's why I wish we knew definitively what Brady's plans are for next year because the guy deserves a standing ovation the last time he walks off the field in Foxboro, win or lose.

 

[Troublesome 85]

I was thinking we are all so critical of them not replacing Gronk but I was thinking yesterday.

Not 100% sure but I dont believe any TE was available in the draft that was 1st round worthy when they picked.

Gronk kinda strung em along, I think Lacosse and Watson were brought in as 2 and 3s and ASJ was brought in as a supposed #1 dont forget they also went after Cook who went to the Saints. Trade deadline Eifert and Howard were rumored to be targets. Honestly would have given up a 1st for Howard. Sanu has been bleh....

None of these are excuses but just simply a really bad timeline of the TE position since the SB

 

[Smitty93]

Can the Patriots bring him back this week as a consultant?

 

[N o o d l e s]

Imagine leaving the Pats to get fired by the Dolphins after one season