Since starting 0-1 in '03 the Pats have been over .500. That year they won the Super Bowl, but this is an interesting stat. Is it over for New England or are they plotting another championship under the radar?
it will never be over for them until brady retires. then it wil be. the pats struggles so far this season are the only thing keeping me going at the moment.
Well, the Cardinals are looking to be a pretty good team. And the Ravens, well, we know the Ravens. So I think the Pats may have just run into a bad spot for the moment. I would not celebrate their demise just yet.
It shows me that the Pats have been incredibly consistent since 2003, but are beginning to show signs that they are beatable.
Unlike us they have already rebuilt..they don't have an obvious replacement for Brady but they have gotten younger at every position and did it right under our nose.
I don't think that anyone is going to deny that the Ravens are one of the AFC's best teams. The Patriots went blow-for-blow with them last night, and showed that they are at least in the same ballpark in terms of quality. At this point in the season, I am happier having a 1-2 team that looks capable of beating anyone than I would be having a 3-0 team that seems poised for 2011 Bills-like disappointment. Unfortunately, I expect that McCourty will continue to struggle throughout the rest of the season. However, I don't think that our run defense will continue to get manhandled by other teams the way that they were by Ray Rice, Vontae Leach, and the Raven's OL. There simply aren't many rushing attacks that are as good as the Ravens, and they still needed penalties (some of which were deserved, some not) to sustain any offensive momentum against us. OTOH, I thought Brady and the Patriot's offense flashed the ability to exert their will against a very good defense last night, although they faltered a bit at the end. It was a very solid offensive performance after their disappointing showing against Arizona. Basically, even though we are not in an ideal situation in terms of standings, I think we are in a very good place because overall the team is playing well and our problems look easily fixable.
Are there any explanations what happened to McCourty? He looks atrocious. I just don't understand your clock management last game. Or the game before. Against ARZ you played not to lose instead of taking shots at the EZ. Then against BAL where it was the right move to run the ball, which you guys were doing well I thought, you threw a lot and let BAL save timeouts and keep them in the game.
Throw in Brandon Lloyd looking more comfortable in the offense and the Pats should be back above .500 real soon. To me that was a fantastic signing. I've always been a fan of his going to back to Illinois but I can't root for him to succeed anymore. He is going to be what you thought you were getting out of OchoSucko last year. Chandler Jones has been quite impressive and I expect the D to get better. Now where you could have issues is your secondary and I still don't trust your run game. The good news for you guys is the Bills are down to a 3rd string back and the Jets won't have Revis so Brady and with the lack of a pass rush the Jets employ Brady should pick us apart like a Thanksgiving turkey. I don't think the Pats are the best team in the AFC but I do think they could represent the AFC in the SB again if things fall right.
The book is out on McCourty that you can simply throw the ball in his direction and good things will happen. Even playing average won't shake that reputation, he needs to make QBs seriously regret throwing his way. A couple bullshit calls made him look worse than he was, and might have forced him to reduce his physicality, but at the very least he needs to come down with the easy interceptions or he will continue to get picked on. I think McDaniels is still trying to find the perfect balance for this offense. Week 1 we ran the ball down Tennessee's throat. Week 2 we tried to do the same, but learned that we aren't quite that good on the ground. Week 3 we overcommitted to our passing attack, perhaps as a result of Week 2. It seems to me like McDaniels is "overcorrecting" and we are bouncing back-and-forth between extremes as a result. I think that, with a little more time, our offense will settle down and use its strengths better. I'm still happy with the way the offense played against Baltimore, even though we didn't finish the game strong. Baltimore has a good defense, and our tempo was fucked up throughout the entire game due to the officiating.
We can survive with a weak secondary. We have proven that before. Especially if our pass rushers aren't the victim of WWF style choke holds on every play (yes, the Patriots OL was guilty too). I admit that I'm a bit confused about our run game though. Did McDaniels suddenly lose confidence in Ridley after week 2? It seems like he should have been getting many of Woodhead's carries last night. Our blocking is also very inconsistent.
The one at the end of the game was clearly pass interference on McCourty, but he was called for some bogus ones (went both ways). He just has trouble. I tried focusing on him, and I just can't figure out why he dropped so far. That's a good point. You used Lloyd a lot this game and went a little old school Patriots finding a corner and repeatedly picking on him (Williams). Yeah, Baltimore couldn't generate a pass rush and you picked them apart. If you can give Brady that amount of time consistently, it's over. The balance is interesting. It's been a while when the Patriots had a run game they could depend on. If they can depend on this one, it extends Brady for a few more years. Bill realized having the teams success resting solely on the QB won't work no matter how good the QB. Went defense in the draft and forcing a running game and getting Brady a real receiver. Down year for the AFC in general so you guys could probably get a 2 seed at 11-5 in my mind. I just don't see 13-3/14-2 happening, but who knows.
Regarding McCourty, it seems like a simple situation where he just isn't very good. We've been trying to explain his "dropoff" for a while, but at this point his rookie season looks more like the exception than the rule. I'd like to see whether he could thrive and develop in the #2 CB role with a solid cast around him, but our roster obviously doesn't allow that. It seems like his rookie season led us to believe that he could handle more responsibility than he really could.
Did he primarily play more zone his rookie year? I mean he went from being the next Revis to playing safety because he couldn't cover his man. It was such a dramatic drop off. Out of nowhere. Baffling. I think you might be right. He was opportunistic his first year. I wonder if he covered well while getting his picks or just got picks while getting burnt that first year. His tackling too, terrible for a player playing for Bill. I'm surprised Bill is still playing him to be honest. He's given a long leash for someone who has no problem to cut ties with anybody
Yeah, he did play more zone his rookie year. I also agree that his interceptions that year helped his overall play. Even though it is a very overrated statistic, interceptions encourage QBs to look first in a different direction, and be more selective with their throws. That one whiff last night was atrocious, but he is still above average in pure tackling, and helps out in the run game much more than some other CBs would. IMO Arrington has pretty much hit his ceiling, and Dowling still only has a couple games under his belt. It would be difficult to bench McCourty. For now, I think the plan is just to give him as much safety help as we can afford. With our front seven, that should usually be enough. Ray Rice kind of ruined that plan last night.
