I agree with the bold, as much as the pats are struggling there is always that small chance the jets shit the bed on Sunday night.
Except that we have watched Tom Brady look increasingly less Brady-like, and both we and you know our defence is capable of stopping him even when he's on fire as he was last season. Tails are up off the back of a three win streak, and the Patriots have to come to our house to play for the division looking more vulnerable than they have for a long time. I'm the first to advocate caution and we know that the Patriots are a dangerous, dangerous opponent, but you can see why we can smell the blood in the water.
All this Patriots aren't good anymore or Dynasty over talk is ridiculous. Did anyone see how hard the Steelers and the Giants had to work to get the wins? Bills too. Its not like the Patriots are bad all of a sudden. The Jets can win Sunday Night, but it will take everything, including the fans. And if the Jets win and the Patriots fall to 5-4, I could easily see them ending up 12-4. By the way, I hate the Patriots. I am just calling what I see.
The dynasty is over, but that doesn't mean the Patriots aren't still a very good team. They're just not dominant anymore. The days of 16-0 are gone. They haven't won a playoff game since they lost the Superbowl to the Giants (3 postseasons). It will still take a huge effort to beat them, but they're not invincible. I don't think any team is intimidated by them the way most once were.
Good post, and good posts by you throughout the thread. There is something "off" about Brady right now, that's for sure. I haven't seen him pressing like this since 2009, and at the time attributed some of that to him getting his game back after missing a full season. The Patriots are, admittedly, more vulnerable than they've been for a little while. In '09 they were probably worse than their record indicated, but the Jets were not as strong during the regular season and they weren't in a dogfight for the division. Last season, NE kind of cruised through the regular season relying on nearly perfect QB play from Brady. Only 4 interceptions the entire season... that's why they went 14-2 with a pretty bad defense. This year, he's tossed 10 in only eight games. Which is why the Patriots are 5-3 instead of 7-1 (they probably still would have lost to Pittsburgh). Brady is forcing some throws and is just inaccurate on others. Their defense is inconsistent and has played well at times, but overall they're still below average and absolutely horrible against the pass. Some other random thoughts on this thread: - Ron Borges is to the Patriots what Francessa is to the Jets. He's a naysayer, a detractor, a basher... whatever you want to call it. He was picking against them when they were winning Super Bowls and is generally hated by Boston fans. Oh, and he's also a plagiarizer and was fired from his job at the Globe for it. - For those who are having a good laugh over the team being booed on Sunday... you guys are priceless. Did you see this board when the Jets were 2-3? Have you never been to a home game? Fans who don't care don't boo. There are constant references to the Pats' bandwagon, but what successful team - in any sport - doesn't have its share of bandwagon fans? Do you think every single person with a Yankees jersey knows something about baseball? Good teams attract what we call "Pink Hat" fans around these parts. - I think the Jets will win on Sunday in a close one, sending the Patriots to 5-4 and putting NY in sole possession of first place with seven games to go. I don't know what happens from there, but I do believe the Jets will hand the Patriots their first three-game losing streak since 2002. (And as a fan, I can't really complain about going nine years in between three-game losing streaks.)
I think the Pats are hiding some kind of arm/shoulder injury. Brady's pin-point accuracy has been way off the last several weeks. He had Hernandez wide open in the right corner of the endzone on Sunday in the 4th quarter and badly missed the throw. That's a pass he completes 99 times out of 100. He also underthrew potential TD passes to Gronkowski and one Gronk had to pick off his shoelaces on a crossing route.
despite all that inefficiencies you list, Brady is still Brady, Gronk/Hernandez are still TEs we have trouble containing, Welker is still a shifty little bastard with perfectly crisp routes. While this may be the weakest you've looked in years, this isn't a gimmie by any stretch of the imagination. Yes, i agree the days of patriot dominance are over, but as the cooler heads have mentioned. this is still a team that is offensively capable of beating any team in the league. what it comes down to, is can your defense step up more than they have. Anyone thinking Belichick won't have the pats fired up for this game is delusional. This game is huge for both teams. I for one am giddy with anticipation. that's right. giddy. edit: re: brady injury. i don't see that as an excuse. the past few years the very definition of pinpoint passing has been Brady. he's not that guy anymore. so its entirely feasible. and besides its not like the boston rags are saying this, its a fan's perception/opinion.
I don't think so. He threw the ball, what, 49 times on Sunday in a game that started off being really low-scoring? I've got to believe if he's hurt to the point that it's impacting his ability to throw, they would have gone to the run a lot more when the game was very tight still. The funny thing is that when the Patriots won Super Bowls after the 2003 and 2004 seasons, they weren't really dominating other teams. They won a lot of very close games and in most of their playoff match-ups they were the underdog (against the Colts and Steelers, specifically). The most "dominant" regular season teams were the '07 squad (we all know how that ended) and last year (ditto). Anyway, I do agree 100%. I think this will be a close game, but right now the Jets have all the mojo, and that's going to be a crazy crowd Sunday night. I'm not burying the Pats' season, even at 5-4, but it won't be easy for them.
The only reason you have done those things is Belichick and Brady, it is certainly not your defense and your offensive pieces would just be ordinary without Brady, not much different from the Colts, if the Colts had Manning they would probably have at least 5 wins. Not saying that your team isn't a big threat either, but the difference now and when the Pats were winning SBs consistently is huge.
Lets win our game first. IMO the Patriots dont have the team to respond to a 3 game losing streak. The Patriots are really weak minded and have shown no signs of resiliency at all. Look at the playoff game, they fall behind for like the first time all season. And what happened? they melted and showed no signs of coming back. And when they did, Sanchez roasted em anyway.
It is funny you mention the Giants because this morning on the radio, the morning show crew played a sound byte from the Giants locker room after beating the Patriots. They were mocking them for sounding like they won the Super Bowl. I can't blame the Giants... I mean, they got into a game that nobody believes they will win, everyone citing how Brady and the Pats haven't lost back to back games in so long and all - and they come out on top. Cheers.. whoop it up. I don't even really like the Giants myself. But now we are in the same seat. When was the last time the Pats lost three in a row? It cannot even be done, can it? F*ck em... I say, kick their asses this week. Hopefully the blue uni's will hide the bruises. :metal:
i'm quoting this because i want you to think of it, the next time you're going to post your prototypical sandy vag bullshit you spew in every game thread. bc according to you, we are really weak minded too.
I don't understand why people are using the fact that they haven't lost three on the spin for a long time as a reason why the Jets will find it harder to win. If they'd won two successive games then everyone would be using that as an argument for a likely Patriots victory, so how does the reverse also point towards one?
well for me, bc i'm admittedly one of them, its bc i just have too much repsect for the history brady and belichick have post loss. trends are made to be broken, i'll try to repeat that as much as possible, but the 2 game losing streak is one of many story lines in this GINORMOUS game.
The last time NE lost 3 straight we won the division(2002) so let's hope we can give them that 3rd straight L and win our first div title since then.
It is possibly absurd as a reliable point, but the fact they have been so consistent for so long lends at least some confidence in them rebounding. Certainly not the only factor one would want to believe in, and nor would it be my first. But, I heard a lot of the talking heads going on about it for a week. I still view the Pats as a dangerous team. They have loads of talent still, and one of the best coaches in the league. I never count them out, but if we play ball the way we can for a full 60 minutes, there is no reason not to believe we can get it done.
Right, but saying that we are a similar team to the Colts WITH Peyton Manning is far from the worst you can say about anyone. Most offenses need an good QB to be productive, unless they have a truly dominant running game. The Colts/Manning talent argument just doesn't hold much water to me. And saying that our offense has no talent outside of Welker & Brady is just false. As I demonstrated, the list basically narrows down to Branch and BJGE as "untalented" starters on our offense. Again, not the worst you can say about someone. Dominant offenses have won superbowls from time to time. And I honestly feel like this team has more resolve on both sides of the ball than say the 2009 Pats. 2010 they were never really tested in that regard. A little adversity this season might be good for them. Tom Brady hasn't had the best three game span of his career. Not even close. But do you really think this is the end for him? Do you really think it is all downhill from here? ... or do you think that this is an ordinary case of bad execution and subpar preparation; a speedbump so-to-speak? I am more inclined to believe the latter. You are free to your own thoughts. While we do know that RR and the Jets Defense can give Brady trouble, we also know that the opposite can be true. We are still 3-3 against you guys since RR came, not exactly dominance on either side. We also know that PIT, DAL, and NYG have elite pass rushes, which the Jets do not. As you mentioned, Jets fans have plenty of reasons for confidence. I am not going to try to convince you otherwise. But not everyone in NE believes that the sky is falling. We still have some pretty solid reasons to believe in this team. EDIT: I didn't mean for that to come off as argumentative as it probably sounds, Johnny English, for the most part I understand what you are saying and agree. Just wanted to show that some of us on this side DO have confidence.
