SumnerH said:I think the Pats are looking awesome, but you honestly have them as 14 point favorites over Green Bay on a neutral field? That needs explanation.
No it doesn't.
J-man is a good dude, but he's prone to serious bouts of hyperbole.
SumnerH said:I think the Pats are looking awesome, but you honestly have them as 14 point favorites over Green Bay on a neutral field? That needs explanation.
It'd be nice if the O-line started playing like it did when the team was putting up 40 a game. They've been mostly getting pushed around lately, and I don't want to see a replay of the game that shall not be mentioned.dynomite said:
I will say that I have a strange sense of zen about this year's playoffs. If they have home field and a healthy Brady, Gronk, and Revis (knockonwoodknockonwood no backsies!!!!), there's nothing else to ask or hope for.
TomTerrific said:
Good. Baltimore fans must be livid.
To be fair, they have faced pretty good defensive fronts the last 5 weeks and put up 34, 21, 23, 41 and 17 points.DegenerateSoxFan said:It'd be nice if the O-line started playing like it did when the team was putting up 40 a game. They've been mostly getting pushed around lately, and I don't want to see a replay of the game that shall not be mentioned.
But, now Josh Gordon is out against the Ravens. San Diego fans must be livid.TomTerrific said:
Good. Baltimore fans must be livid.
Those 8 catches over the last 3 weeks are impossible to replace!!!millionthcustomer said:But, now Josh Gordon is out against the Ravens. San Diego fans must be livid.
Pittsburgh actually lost to NO and TB and lost by three to TEN. But you're mostly right; CIN and BAL went 7-0-1 against the NFC south.Old Fart Tree said:The AFC N sucks. That's the benefit of getting to play the NFC south; three fucking teams make the playoffs. If the AFC East had played the NFC south, they'd have two or three reps too.
They won't face a front 4 anywhere near as good as Miami, NYJ or Buffalo. Add Connolly and Edelman back in and I think they will be able to score points at a high rate. Even if the O is miss firing, I think the D is good enough for them to win with a subpar performance by the offense.H78 said:After how they've played the last few weeks, is SoSH as confident now as we all were 5 weeks ago about the Pats steamrolling the AFC, even with HFA?
I'm legitimately worried about the O line and Brady's erratic accuracy costing them in the Divisional Round or AFCCG.
Today?Silverdude2167 said:They won't face a front 4 anywhere near as good as Miami, NYJ or Buffalo. Add Connolly and Edelman back in and I think they will be able to score points at a high rate. Even if the O is miss firing, I think the D is good enough for them to win with a subpar performance by the offense.
Who scares you?
H78 said:Today?
Baltimore. They have the kind of guys who step up in the playoffs and given how the O line is playing I could see them in Brady's face and limiting the Pats to under 20 points, which could be good enough for them to win.
A month ago I thought the Pats would smoke Baltimore. I don't feel nearly as confident now that the O line is struggling again.
I really don't think it's fair to disregard the line play in New York last week. That was hardly HFA for the Jets and they were constantly in Brady's face. I don't think the O line will suddenly play better just because more people in the stands are wearing Patriots merch in the next two games.ivanvamp said:Throw today's game out. They were missing two starting OL and their two best receivers (Gronk/Edelman). Yeah the rest of the guys didn't play too well, but it's a completely different team with Gronk and Edelman plus the starting OL.
So, taking today's game out, here are their home scores, from Cincy through Miami:
43-17
27-25
51-23
43-21
34-9
41-13
Average: 39.8 - 18.0
Not saying that's what the scores will be during the playoffs, but a fully healthy offense, playing at Gillette, and yeah, I'm pretty confident.
However, if you tell me come game time that Connelly and Solder and Edelman aren't playing, and yeah, I'll be worried.
Yes, the same team that didn't do that last week and got abused in NY. This is becoming a bit of a trend. I think we're better off acknowledging it than finding a million homerish reasons to justify why we shouldn't expect the problems to pop up in January.E5 Yaz said:
You mean the O-line that sat 2 starters and the starting TE today?
Who on Baltimore steps up in the playoffs? This is not their superbowl team.H78 said:Today?
Baltimore. They have the kind of guys who step up in the playoffs and given how the O line is playing I could see them in Brady's face and limiting the Pats to under 20 points, which could be good enough for them to win.
A month ago I thought the Pats would smoke Baltimore. I don't feel nearly as confident now that the O line is struggling again.
So you haven't seen the Patriots get dumped because the Jets, Ravens (x2), and Giants (x2) came in and beat the Patriots in part because questionable offense lines?DrewDawg said:So there's a blueprint?
Remember in 2012 when we all said they were old and not a Super Bowl team? Suggs and Ngata can bring it when they have to.Silverdude2167 said:Who on Baltimore steps up in the playoffs? This is not their superbowl team.
So you are afraid of a team because of two players? That 2012 had been in the AFCCG the year before and had a ton of players returning. This team not so much.H78 said:Remember in 2012 when we all said they were old and not a Super Bowl team? Suggs and Ngata can bring it when they have to.
My suggestion is just to acknowledge that it's an area of concern and not dismiss it because we want to wish it not to be true.Papelbon's Poutine said:The reason they got dumped by those teams was they had great D lines. The Pats will not see a D line comparable to that unless they face Seattle or Detroit in the Super Bowl. I'm not dismissing o line issues but they are not as bad as you are making them out to be.
And if not "worry about it then", what is your suggestion? They're not adding players at this point. Do you think they aren't trying to improve the play of every unit, every week?
NOBODY not named Mike Felger thought that Baltimore team was going to win. We all said they were too old, but it turns out when your O-line sucks an older defense can take advantage.Silverdude2167 said:So you are afraid of a team because of two players? That 2012 had been in the AFCCG the year before and had a ton of players returning. This team not so much.
I mean you are right about the o-line and it could sink them and that is true about facing everyone, but Baltimore has beat one winning team this year (Pitt in week 2). I don't see a reason to be afraid of them beyond losing to them 3 years ago They are a few injuries away from calling us to play for them in the secondary and their offense should have issues with the Pats D.H78 said:NOBODY not named Mike Felger thought that Baltimore team was going to win. We all said they were too old, but it turns out when your O-line sucks an older defense can take advantage.
Sure there is. You doubt think "Have a dominant DL" counts as a blueprint any team can copy?DrewDawg said:So there's a blueprint?
As of this morning Baltimore was #3 in sacks, behind Buffalo and Philly.Shelterdog said:. Sure there is. You doubt think "Have a dominant DL" counts as a blueprint any team can copy?
More than half of those sacks 23 of 45 came in four games against Tampa (8), Atlanta (5), Titans (5), Jacksonville (5), That is 1.8 sacks per game for the other 12 games or 29 over a 16 game season. It is not a fair analysis to remove those four games and compare then compare them against the rest of the league over a 16 game season, but those 4 teams had 12 wins total.H78 said:As of this morning Baltimore was #3 in sacks, behind Buffalo and Philly.
H78 said:As of this morning Baltimore was #3 in sacks, behind Buffalo and Philly.
H78 said:As of this morning Baltimore was #3 in sacks, behind Buffalo and Philly.
No, you didn't.DrewDawg said:
We get it.
But there is a reason they're the 6th seed.
H78 said:No, you didn't.
Revis and Browner can take the Smith's out of the game and I don't see Justin Forsett killing this team.H78 said:Yeah, I mean I don't think Baltimore would come into Foxboro and blow the Patriots out. But with their pass rush and just 21 points scored, I could easily envision a situation where they win a 21-17 kind of game. They seem to have JUST enough offensive firepower and JUST enough of a pass rush (mixed with our O line issues) to be a problematic matchup.
You are aware that the Pats Defense has given up 21 points once since their bye, right? That was to the second highest scoring offense in the league on the road, so what makes you think Baltimore can get there?H78 said:Yeah, I mean I don't think Baltimore would come into Foxboro and blow the Patriots out. But with their pass rush and just 21 points scored, I could easily envision a situation where they win a 21-17 kind of game. They seem to have JUST enough offensive firepower and JUST enough of a pass rush (mixed with our O line issues) to be a problematic matchup.
But that doesn't mean anything, only the matchup does. The Pats lost to three non playoff teams this year, so why aren't they susceptible to losing to a tough, hard-hitting team with a legitimate pass rush?DrewDawg said:
Relax dude.
Everyone here understands that "any given Sunday" and all that. But you are severely overhyping a team that struggled to beat the Browns at home today and only made the playoffs because the Chargers choked.
They lost to 3 non playoff teams that had 8-8 records or better. They didn't lose to crap teams and they laid down for the Bills today.H78 said:But that doesn't mean anything, only the matchup does. The Pats lost to three non playoff teams this year, so why aren't they susceptible to losing to a tough, hard-hitting team with a legitimate pass rush?
If the best teams won every year, the #1 seeds in both conferences would always play in the Super Bowl. That rarely happens because, as we all know, football (seemingly more than any other sport) is a game of matchups, and my only point is Baltimore would be a tough matchup. Tougher than we want to believe they are. This is only worsened by the recently suspect O line play.
Would I bet on the Pats? Probably. But I would be 0% shocked if they lost a close game to a Ravens team with a defense built the way it's built.
Ok, so because the Jets, Bills, Dolphins and Chargers didn't score 21, no one will, right?Silverdude2167 said:You are aware that the Pats Defense has given up 21 points once since their bye, right? That was to the second highest scoring offense in the league on the road, so what makes you think Baltimore can get there?