2019 Game Goat Thread: Wk. 17 vs Dolphins

BaseballJones

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On the plus side, the running game was, once again, stellar. That's three weeks in a row now.

at Cin: 32 att, 175 yds, 5.5 ypc
vs Buf: 35 att, 143 yds, 4.1 ypc
vs Mia: 27 att, 135 yds, 5.0 ypc
TOT: 94 att, 453 yds, 4.8 ypc

They're going to need to pound pound pound the ball if they want to have any chance whatsoever in the playoffs. Fortunately, they appear to be doing it pretty well lately.
 
RedOctober3829

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DeadlySplitter said:
They tried to sign Jared Cook but Gronk wasn’t retired by then.

When does the schedule come out?
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During SNF I think. Pats most likely will play 1 pm Sunday in my estimation. However the SNF game determines the course of the nfc playoffs. I’m sure Fox would love to have a potential SF/Dallas or Philly game. If SF wins, it would be Minny/NO and Seattle/Philly or Dallas.
 
BaseballJones

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lars10 said:
The offense that had just scored twice in three or four minutes before Miami got the ball and were then forced to punt?
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I will not understand the thought process at the end of the first half. You call time out after Miami's third down and stop the clock with more than 1:40 to go. Force the punt, get the ball at like the 30 yard line with, say, 1:30 to go and two time outs. Their offense had just gone 12 plays, 58 yards for a FG, and 5 plays, 67 yards for a TD. Miami had punted all three possessions in the second quarter (13 plays, 47 yards total in those three drives), and weren't much of a threat at that point. Get the ball, 1:30 to go, two timeouts, hoping to just get a FG. If you don't, you don't go for it on fourth down like last week...just punt it back to Miami and go into the half tied at 10.

But they had ALL the momentum on their side and the D had just made a great stop, giving you the ball in great shape. I cannot cannot cannot understand why they didn't at least TRY.
 
lars10

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BaseballJones said:
I will not understand the thought process at the end of the first half. You call time out after Miami's third down and stop the clock with more than 1:40 to go. Force the punt, get the ball at like the 30 yard line with, say, 1:30 to go and two time outs. Their offense had just gone 12 plays, 58 yards for a FG, and 5 plays, 67 yards for a TD. Miami had punted all three possessions in the second quarter (13 plays, 47 yards total in those three drives), and weren't much of a threat at that point. Get the ball, 1:30 to go, two timeouts, hoping to just get a FG. If you don't, you don't go for it on fourth down like last week...just punt it back to Miami and go into the half tied at 10.

But they had ALL the momentum on their side and the D had just made a great stop, giving you the ball in great shape. I cannot cannot cannot understand why they didn't at least TRY.
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That and the Miami D being most likely gassed for being out there for several possessions with little rest
 
CreedBratton

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SeoulSoxFan said:
I say the Titans who are fighting for their lives today have a pretty tough road ahead, facing a pissed off Patriots team in Foxboro.
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I’ll say tho, that the Pats really struggle stopping the run & Derrick Henry is very, very good. The Pats are in big trouble.
 
Jed Zeppelin

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BaseballJones said:
On the plus side, the running game was, once again, stellar. That's three weeks in a row now.

at Cin: 32 att, 175 yds, 5.5 ypc
vs Buf: 35 att, 143 yds, 4.1 ypc
vs Mia: 27 att, 135 yds, 5.0 ypc
TOT: 94 att, 453 yds, 4.8 ypc

They're going to need to pound pound pound the ball if they want to have any chance whatsoever in the playoffs. Fortunately, they appear to be doing it pretty well lately.
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Criminal to only get 24 attempts out of Rex and Sony today. Too cute by a mile.
 
Sam Ray Not

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BaseballJones said:
I will not understand the thought process at the end of the first half. You call time out after Miami's third down and stop the clock with more than 1:40 to go. Force the punt, get the ball at like the 30 yard line with, say, 1:30 to go and two time outs. Their offense had just gone 12 plays, 58 yards for a FG, and 5 plays, 67 yards for a TD. Miami had punted all three possessions in the second quarter (13 plays, 47 yards total in those three drives), and weren't much of a threat at that point. Get the ball, 1:30 to go, two timeouts, hoping to just get a FG. If you don't, you don't go for it on fourth down like last week...just punt it back to Miami and go into the half tied at 10.

But they had ALL the momentum on their side and the D had just made a great stop, giving you the ball in great shape. I cannot cannot cannot understand why they didn't at least TRY.
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Yep, yep, yep. Imagine if the Phins had picked up the first on 3rd down, and had the ball 1st and 10 at their own 35 or 40 with 1:40 left ... and then just knelt down. Or imagine the Celtics having the ball with 7-8 seconds left in a tie at the end of regulation ... and Brad Stevens telling them to dribble out the clock and force OT rather than run a play and attempt a shot. It's that level of disrespectful of one's opponent and the game. A richly deserved loss.
 
E5 Yaz

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They were up 4 with 4 minutes left and the Dolphins on their own 25.

It's on the defense, on that drive.
 
BaseballJones

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NortheasternPJ said:
He shouldn’t have thrown a TD to the defense earlier. The D has bailed go out enough this year.
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The scary thing is if this D has lost its elite level of play then they’re d-e-a-d dead because the offense cannot carry them anymore.

Sam Ray Not said:
Yep, yep, yep. Imagine if the Phins had picked up the first on 3rd down, and had the ball 1st and 10 at their own 35 or 40 with 1:40 left ... and then just knelt down. Or imagine the Celtics having the ball with 7-8 seconds left in a tie at the end of regulation ... and Brad Stevens telling them to dribble out the clock and force OT rather than run a play and attempt a shot. It's that level of disrespectful of one's opponent and the game. A richly deserved loss.
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Well it was only in the first half but still... I can’t believe they didn’t even try to make something of that situation. Every now and then BB pulls a real head scratcher.
 
m0ckduck

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Eddie Jurak said:
This might be what the end looks like.
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If it is, that clownish lateral play at the end— as the desperate final play of a game they should have handled easily at home— will be lasered into my head as a eulogy.

I was prepared for just about any outcome headed into this season... except for the one where the Dolphins somehow deliver a greater late-season nut-punch to NE than the one they delivered last season.
 
CoffeeNerdness

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The pass rush just couldn't get home. 1 sack all game and they let Fitz scramble out of trouble for some important yardage including a TD.

McDaniels and Brady for absolute failure to integrate the young and new guys. Miami got 13 catches and 113 yards receiving from Albert Wilson and Isaiah Ford- a journeyman and a young guy. Getting contributions from guys down on the depth chart used to be a hallmark of this franchise. The Pats second leading receiver by yardage today was a linebacker. I don't know if it's scheme, trust, the offensive line, the cliff or what, but not doing better with what they had was pitiful. Kinda wish McD had taken the IND job. If he's the "heir apparent" then no thanks. Dude has had a bad season. Not one player exceeded expectations on offense this year. Many regressed.

I'll also echo the sentiments about the tight ends from up thread. Going into the season with a 27 year old cast off, a 37 year old guy, and a 7th rounder is simply boggling. There's no way they aren't the worst unit of TEs in the entire league.
 
GoDa

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Jed Zeppelin said:
Criminal to only get 24 attempts out of Rex and Sony today. Too cute by a mile.
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Football is a strange game. You typically only get a few possessions and situations often dictate what you're going to do.

If you count everything... Pats had 11 possessions.

* Hard to criticize the play-calling on the 3 TD drives. So toss those out and you're down to 8.
* Throw out the final possession, where there really weren't any options, and you're down to 7.
* The calls on the end of 1st half "drive" were certainly questionable - but it was 2 run attempts. now you're down to 6.
* On the FG drive - Pats did start 1st and goal with a no gain run. 2nd and goal was a good shot to Harry - better throw and I bet he brings it down. At that point, you probably aren't hoping for a run on 3rd and goal from the 7. down to 5.
* Of the 4 "punt" drives... 2 were 3-and-outs, each with 2 runs. Not great results, but not pass-happy. down to 3.
* One "punt" drive did end with 3 straight passes - a penalty did lead to 3rd and 20... so little hope for a run on that play. Maybe an earlier run could've helped? down to 2.
* last punt drive started with 2 runs, but was set back by a sack on 2nd and 6 and an illegal shift penalty to negate a big gain and bring up 3rd and 15 (not a running spot). down to 1.
* interception TD drive was only 2 plays.
 
BigSoxFan

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CoffeeNerdness said:
The pass rush just couldn't get home. 1 sack all game and they let Fitz scramble out of trouble for some important yardage including a TD.

McDaniels and Brady for absolute failure to integrate the young and new guys. Miami got 13 catches and 113 yards receiving from Albert Wilson and Isaiah Ford- a journeyman and a young guy. Getting contributions from guys down on the depth chart used to be a hallmark of this franchise. The Pats second leading receiver by yardage today was a linebacker. I don't know if it's scheme, trust, the offensive line, the cliff or what, but not doing better with what they had was pitiful. Kinda wish McD had taken the IND job. If he's the "heir apparent" then no thanks. Dude has had a bad season. Not one player exceeded expectations on offense this year. Many regressed.

I'll also echo the sentiments about the tight ends from up thread. Going into the season with a 27 year old cast off, a 37 year old guy, and a 7th rounder is simply boggling. There's no way they aren't the worst unit of TEs in the entire league.
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It’s as if they went into the offseason with 2 plans:

1. Get Gronk to change his mind...or something
2. Sign Jared Cook

Failed on both counts and didn’t have a viable 3rd option.
 
pokey_reese

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Yeah, this feels like the offense really has to bear a lot more of the blame than they are getting. The MIA offense really turned things around in the second half of the season to be average, but the defense was still a tire fire that was historically one of the worst ever. For Brady to complete barely over 50% of his passes for 225 yards is just abysmal against this defense, and that's on Tom and the WR group. Edelman and Harry had 6 catches on 14 targets for under 6 yards combined.
 
Harry Hooper

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BigSoxFan said:
It’s as if they went into the offseason with 2 plans:

1. Get Gronk to change his mind...or something
2. Sign Jared Cook

Failed on both counts and didn’t have a viable 3rd option.
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Seferian-Jenkins? [/joke]
 
Rook05

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Winning two playoff games was a tall task given how challenged the Pats are on offense. Three, two of which would be on the road, is nigh impossible. Such a shame given how the defense was set up, but the toothlesss offense has ground them down.
 
Jed Zeppelin

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GoDa said:
Football is a strange game. You typically only get a few possessions and situations often dictate what you're going to do.

If you count everything... Pats had 11 possessions.

* Hard to criticize the play-calling on the 3 TD drives. So toss those out and you're down to 8.
* Throw out the final possession, where there really weren't any options, and you're down to 7.
* The calls on the end of 1st half "drive" were certainly questionable - but it was 2 run attempts. now you're down to 6.
* On the FG drive - Pats did start 1st and goal with a no gain run. 2nd and goal was a good shot to Harry - better throw and I bet he brings it down. At that point, you probably aren't hoping for a run on 3rd and goal from the 7. down to 5.
* Of the 4 "punt" drives... 2 were 3-and-outs, each with 2 runs. Not great results, but not pass-happy. down to 3.
* One "punt" drive did end with 3 straight passes - a penalty did lead to 3rd and 20... so little hope for a run on that play. Maybe an earlier run could've helped? down to 2.
* last punt drive started with 2 runs, but was setback by a sack on 2nd and 6 and an illegal shift penalty to negate a big gain and bring up 3rd and 15 (not a running spot). down to 1.
* interception TD drive was only 2 plays.
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Thanks for laying it all out.Certainly could have used a LOT more out of the passing game if only to put them in more running situations.

I think I am mostly still incredulous that they ran a horizontal shotgun run on3rd and short with White in 4 down territory and that is shading my entire opinion of the run game usage.

The FG drive is the other main complaint. Run game got them downfield and they should have tried again on 2nd. Brady threw a pair of absolute howlers the next two plays.
 
CoffeeNerdness

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The Pats TEs had 51 catches on the season. Jacob Hollister had 37 catches in 10 games for Seattle going into tonight.
 
BigSoxFan

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SemperFidelisSox said:
He’s not a tight end, but they also made an offer to Adam Humphries but were turned down. You can’t say BB the GM didn’t try to make upgrades.
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Nobody is accusing him of that. But he didn’t make any upgrades on a position that his teams have historically valued very highly. Just flat out weird.
 
Rook05

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And on the GM front, this off-season was strange in that almost every move they made was logical in isolation. But every single one of them blew up in their face. Or, more charitably, was rendered moot once Andrews went down. I mean, I think the plan was to double down on the late 2018 game plan of power running and force your opponent to pass to catch up. But that doesn’t work when Marshall Newhouse and Ted Karras are playing big minutes. And then AB nuked their cap flexibility in one 10 day stretch.

Long story short, they were incredibly unlucky in their personnel decisions this year. Which sucks given that even a top 12 offense would’ve been enough to be hosting the AFCCG this year.
 
Old Fart Tree

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I'd suggest that everyone remember the adage "you're never as good as you look when you win, and you're never as bad as you look when you lose." This team looked *bad* - and not Run DMC bad, just bad - today, but they still won 12 games and have a puncher's chance against anyone in the playoffs.

That said, between having to work, the Pats blowing the bye, and my dog Yuckles requiring hospitalization for acute pancreatitis, today was not a good day. It was sort of like seeing the lights of the Goodyear blimp and it said "OFT's a *bitch*."
 
genoasalami

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Old Fart Tree said:
I'd suggest that everyone remember the adage "you're never as good as you look when you win, and you're never as bad as you look when you lose." This team looked *bad* - and not Run DMC bad, just bad - today, but they still won 12 games and have a puncher's chance against anyone in the playoffs.

That said, between having to work, the Pats blowing the bye, and my dog Yuckles requiring hospitalization for acute pancreatitis, today was not a good day. It was sort of like seeing the lights of the Goodyear blimp and it said "OFT's a *bitch*."
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It's always how you finish. They are 4-4 in their last 8 games. They look nothing like the team that started 8-0.
 
heavyde050

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NortheasternPJ said:
He shouldn’t have thrown a TD to the defense earlier. The D has bailed him out enough this year.
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But just today (against the Dolphins) Brady did just enough that one would have thought the defense would have held and got the win.
Yeah, this year, Brady has been carried by an elite defense more times than not, but not today.
 
streeter88

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Watching the team today - not just the anemic and injured offense, but also the defense now - it would not appear they are capable of beating anyone but themselves. In fact, now that Nick Folk is trending toward reliable, ST seems to be the best unit.

Ravens and Chiefs are better and have HFA, the Bills have seen them twice now, and the Titans are coached by Vrabel and have better weapons on offense. Maybe they could beat Houston, but unlikely to face them.

Remains to be seen whether they can craft some sort of rallying cry out of this, and ride that wave?
 
JokersWildJIMED

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This offense, with Brady laying another absolute egg, is very disheartening, even while running the ball very effectively. Losing Flores obviously hurt and Steve Belichick is not going anywhere The rest of the afc East is in much better shape than the pats. Dolphins with all their cap space and draft picks, Buffalo with their defense, and even the Jets in the second half of the season showed promise. We all knew it was going to end and probably not end well.
GoDa said:
Football is a strange game. You typically only get a few possessions and situations often dictate what you're going to do.

If you count everything... Pats had 11 possessions.

* Hard to criticize the play-calling on the 3 TD drives. So toss those out and you're down to 8.
* Throw out the final possession, where there really weren't any options, and you're down to 7.
* The calls on the end of 1st half "drive" were certainly questionable - but it was 2 run attempts. now you're down to 6.
* On the FG drive - Pats did start 1st and goal with a no gain run. 2nd and goal was a good shot to Harry - better throw and I bet he brings it down. At that point, you probably aren't hoping for a run on 3rd and goal from the 7. down to 5.
* Of the 4 "punt" drives... 2 were 3-and-outs, each with 2 runs. Not great results, but not pass-happy. down to 3.
* One "punt" drive did end with 3 straight passes - a penalty did lead to 3rd and 20... so little hope for a run on that play. Maybe an earlier run could've helped? down to 2.
* last punt drive started with 2 runs, but was set back by a sack on 2nd and 6 and an illegal shift penalty to negate a big gain and bring up 3rd and 15 (not a running spot). down to 1.
* interception TD drive was only 2 plays.
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They had killer penalties today...not saying they were bad calls, but they were not necessarily calls that consistently get made. The illegal shift penalty was never shown on replay (although I went back on TIVO and it seemed to be mostly on Myers and kinda weak). The OPI on Watson was a killer and a result of a challenge, but still not sure how that gets called there, especially when a far more egregious OPI occurred later in the game on MIA and was ignored. Both penalties negated huge gains and probably cost points. Add those to the fumbles recovered by Miami, it was just not their day.
 
Harry Hooper

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GoDa said:
Football is a strange game. You typically only get a few possessions and situations often dictate what you're going to do.

If you count everything... Pats had 11 possessions.

* Hard to criticize the play-calling on the 3 TD drives. So toss those out and you're down to 8.
* Throw out the final possession, where there really weren't any options, and you're down to 7.
* The calls on the end of 1st half "drive" were certainly questionable - but it was 2 run attempts. now you're down to 6.
* On the FG drive - Pats did start 1st and goal with a no gain run. 2nd and goal was a good shot to Harry - better throw and I bet he brings it down. At that point, you probably aren't hoping for a run on 3rd and goal from the 7. down to 5.
* Of the 4 "punt" drives... 2 were 3-and-outs, each with 2 runs. Not great results, but not pass-happy. down to 3.
* One "punt" drive did end with 3 straight passes - a penalty did lead to 3rd and 20... so little hope for a run on that play. Maybe an earlier run could've helped? down to 2.
* last punt drive started with 2 runs, but was set back by a sack on 2nd and 6 and an illegal shift penalty to negate a big gain and bring up 3rd and 15 (not a running spot). down to 1.
* interception TD drive was only 2 plays.
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Good post, thanks for that.
 
j44thor

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Have the "boogeymen" done anything since they adopted the nickname? Seems like the LB's have been a liability more often than not during the 2nd half of the season.
 
heavyde050

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JokersWildJIMED said:
This offense, with Brady laying another absolute egg, is very disheartening, even while running the ball very effectively. Losing Flores obviously hurt and Steve Belichick is not going anywhere The rest of the afc East is in much better shape than the pats. Dolphins with all their cap space and draft picks, Buffalo with their defense, and even the Jets in the second half of the season showed promise. We all knew it was going to end and probably not end well.

They had killer penalties today...not saying they were bad calls, but they were not necessarily calls that consistently get made. The illegal shift penalty was never shown on replay (although I went back on TIVO and it seemed to be mostly on Myers and kinda weak). The OPI on Watson was a killer and a result of a challenge, but still not sure how that gets called there, especially when a far more egregious OPI occurred later in the game on MIA and was ignored. Both penalties negated huge gains and probably cost points. Add those to the fumbles recovered by Miami, it was just not their day.
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Brady didn't play great today, but that was far from an "absolute egg". I mean that pick 6 was an abomination, and he sailed a bunch of throws. He also made some good passes and was victimized by a couple of bad drops again. I guess to me, an "absolute egg" is completion % below 50%, more turnovers than TDs, etc.
The only player that even came close to "absolute egg" was Gilmore.
Brady was not very good today, but he was good enough to give his team the lead with just over 3 minutes to go. He then helplessly watched the vaunted defense let Fitzpatrick methodically and easily pick the Patriots apart as they gave up the GW score.
 
Eddie Jurak

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pokey_reese said:
Yeah, this feels like the offense really has to bear a lot more of the blame than they are getting. The MIA offense really turned things around in the second half of the season to be average, but the defense was still a tire fire that was historically one of the worst ever. For Brady to complete barely over 50% of his passes for 225 yards is just abysmal against this defense, and that's on Tom and the WR group. Edelman and Harry had 6 catches on 14 targets for under 6 yards combined.
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The offense is what it is, and that's not good. But with the Pats being more of a defense first team this year, 24 points should be enough. Miami was able to move the ball well throughout the game, and when it mattered, the Pats defense could not get a stop. It didn;t help that Brady spotted the Dolphins a TD, but that pick-6 looked like it was all Brady. He was not under pressure.
 
BuellMiller

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Ben Watson. The OPI was iffy, but I'm just listing him because of the (coincidental) fact that he was last on the team in 2009, comes back this year and they don't get a bye, after getting one every year in between.
 
lars10

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m0ckduck said:
If it is, that clownish lateral play at the end— as the desperate final play of a game they should have handled easily at home— will be lasered into my head as a eulogy.

I was prepared for just about any outcome headed into this season... except for the one where the Dolphins somehow deliver a greater late-season nut-punch to NE than the one they delivered last season.
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Last years was a nut punch even though they went on to win the super bowl?
 
Super Nomario

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CoffeeNerdness said:
McDaniels and Brady for absolute failure to integrate the young and new guys. Miami got 13 catches and 113 yards receiving from Albert Wilson and Isaiah Ford- a journeyman and a young guy. Getting contributions from guys down on the depth chart used to be a hallmark of this franchise. The Pats second leading receiver by yardage today was a linebacker. I don't know if it's scheme, trust, the offensive line, the cliff or what, but not doing better with what they had was pitiful. Kinda wish McD had taken the IND job. If he's the "heir apparent" then no thanks. Dude has had a bad season. Not one player exceeded expectations on offense this year. Many regressed.
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Albert Wilson signed a 3-year, $24 MM deal before last year. He would be the highest-paid WR on the Patriots. Which I think sums things up as much as anything. The Patriots have largely tried to shop in the bargain bin the last two offseasons at WR, largely with bargain bin results. You can argue that guys like Wilson are overpaid, but then you wind up trading a second-rounder for Mohamed Sanu anyway.
 
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