Maybe his meds are kicking in. :up: Now that makes sense. It's just kind of ridiculous that the same coaches seem to forever be on the carousel. Guys like Dick Jauron and Wade Phillips get recycled every few years after failing over and over again. Rex is right on this one, IMO.
I think that Rex may have made BB realize he needs to do some major work on HIS defense. Belichik was mas majorly impressed with the monster scheme Rex threw at the them in the playoffs last year! He mentioned on at least a few occasions in the offseason how Rex outcoached the Pats...
The Patriots will always be media favorites as long as Brady is the QB and Belichick is the coach. Nothing new about that.
Is it really media favorites? I'm sorry but as long as BB and Golden Boy are there they are the favorites. Do you think they went 14-2 by mistake? Yes we can compete with them but they are better built to win over the course of a 16 game season and we are better built to win in the playoffs. I hate to say it but we are going to need to be the AFC East Champs to get to the SB. No more of this road bulldinky. They've got arguably one of the greatest coaches ever and they've got the best QB of this era. There is no debating that. Brady is by far and away the best clutch player in the NFL over the last decade and at their peaks he's head and shoulders above Manning.
In order to be the man you gotta beat the man. They won the division therefore they are the favorites to win it again. We did not make moves that improved the roster, (Plax addtion remains to be seen) we maintained what we had. Lost a couple of players while contributors, the powers that be believe the team can live without them The Pats added a couple of players who if they play to thier potential would constitute significant improvements over their squad last year. The media giving them the nod should really surprise no one. My hope is that we look at them as just another team on the schedule and not get drunk with victory like we did in the playoffs and forget that there are other games to play.
That's the key, if they get anything out of Haynesworth (which I'm leaning on the no) or out of OchoCinco (I'm leaning on huge contribution) then they are better. People say we didn't improve but I think we did. Our rookies won't quite have that learning curve based on position and keeping things fairly status quo in the defensive backfield are big. We also will have Leonhard back who missed significant time.
I don't. They have the better QB and don't have the question marks we do. Now there isn't a lot seperating us from them but under Ryan the Jets haven't shown they can win 12 or 13 games in the regular season. The Pats have. I also don't like the way our schedule plays out. @ Oakland, @ Bmore @ New England. That's a tough stretch. I also think @ Denver is a trap game as I fully expect us to beat the Pats in Jersey the week before that. Our December after the Washington game is rough as well. @ Philly (who we have never beaten) home for the Giants (who will be fighting for a playoff spot) and @ Miami. I see a lot of toss up games there. Now we shoudl win 9-10 games but asking this team to go 13-3 with the schedule we have is asking a lot.
I hear you but where we disagree is on the bolded. The Pats don't have question marks like we do? I'm sorry, I don't buy it. Yes, NE went 14-2. But they also posted a historically good turnover differential, and until proven otherwise, they have a mediocre defense. Everyone assumes that because their defense was so young last year, it is bound to be significantly better this year. However, I consider this a fallacy. Not all young players develop and not all young teams reach their full potential. And Tom Brady is not outdoing 39 touchdown passes and 4 interceptions at age 34. If I had to guess, I would think the Pats defense will be better than it was last year but their offense will very likely cool off a bit. To me, The Jets and Pats are extremely evenly matched teams, and let's not forget, we are 3-2 against them since Rex came aboard. I think for us to win the division we need one basic thing to happen: Mark Sanchez has to take that next step forward and become a consistently accurate, quality quarterback. If he does, the AFC East is a toss up and I think we have a better roster than the Pats do outside of the quarterback position.