Patriots 2011 Regular Season

[Smokeeye123]

Pats should let BJGE walk next year and sign one of the plentiful elite WRs available in free agency. Dwyane Bowe...Vincent Jackson...Stevie Johnson...If we managed to keep Welker, had a healthy Gronk, Hernandez, and Brady we'd be the best offense of all time...

The Pats do not need more receivers, they just need to resign Welker. Ochocinco still has two more years in his contract, and I have a feeling that he will breakthrough in the playoffs. Think about it, how can other teams prepare for him, if they don't have anything to study? And how can they account for Gronk, Aaaron, Wes and Ocho/Deion all at the same time? Ocho -> Secret playoff weapon.

Regarding the backs, I don't like when BJGE runs, unless it's a 3 yds to go or less situation. Anymore than that I feel like it's a wasted play. Kevin Faulk should retire and they should make him a RBs coach. Groom Ridley to be the main back, and have Woody in there for some touches now and then, and for screen plays. Also let Vereen hang around.

Yeah, because they have so many talented WRs like Welker and...Oh wait, he's the only one. 

Ochocinco is being cut after this season, branch will move on, and there will be a gaping hole at WR. Now I see the pats either getting a WR in the 1st or 2nd round or signing one of the plentiful FA WR. Dwayne Bowe, Vincent Jackson, Desean Jackson, Mike Wallace, Steve Johnson, or even Brandon Lloyd.

[PosImpos]

Patriots should hope to God that the Bengals win next week.

I don't see any way that the Broncos beat the Steelers.

[Redz]

Patriots should hope to God that the Bengals win next week.

I don't see any way that the Broncos beat the Steelers.

Yeh, definitely.  GO CINCY!  Let the Steelers and Ravens battle it out.

It's really hard to get confident about the Pats chances though.  It wouldn't shock me if they win in the playoffs, but nothing much has changed for the better from the last two seasons.

[Donoghus]

Patriots should hope to God that the Bengals win next week.

I don't see any way that the Broncos beat the Steelers.

I think Cincy has an excellent shot of knocking off the Texans.  Despite the loss, the Bengals played real hard today and their defense is pretty legit.  Whether Houston starts Yates or Delhomme, its a good matchup for the Bengals.  If the Bengals play like they did in the 2nd half today, I could definitely see an upset here.

Pats would get a huge break if this scenario happens.

[nickagneta]

Saying it now...Pats are the Superbowl Champs this year.

I have no logic or anything to back this other than I've got that "feeling" and that "feeling" has been working well over the last decade.

[Smokeeye123]

I'd rather face the Ravens then Steelers. And I feel like it would be close to a 50/50 shot if it was Green bay/New Orleans in the superbowl. both NO and GB have bad defenses and great offenses, just like us.

[Neurotic Guy]

I'd rather face the Ravens then Steelers. And I feel like it would be close to a 50/50 shot if it was Green bay/New Orleans in the superbowl. both NO and GB have bad defenses and great offenses, just like us.

I do shudder to think what Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers will do to the Pats defense.  I'll be rooting for a surprise coming out of the West - San Fran or Detroit.  There are a lot of teams that can beat the Pats.  Can't give 21 points leads to anyone from now on.

On the other hand, there is no team they can't beat, but I think if the road to the superbowl includes Pittsburgh, Baltimore and then NO/GB, it's going to be very tough to beat 3 of those teams in a row.   

[Donoghus]

I have absolutely no idea what to expect in the AFC.  I can see the Pats going anywhere from one & done to winning the AFC. I really don't know. The defense is extremely worriesome and you can't get in a 17-0 or 21-0 deficit in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh & Baltimore both have their deficiencies but also pose difficult matchups for the Pats.  Ray Rice scares the heck out of me and Big Ben had his way with the Pats earlier this season.  

I really think the AFC is a crapshoot this year.

NFC's gonna be either Green Bay or New Orleans.  Back & forth on which one, though.

[footey]

Hoping that Cincinnati will beat Houston. Little doubt that Pitt will take care of Denver. That would enable us face Cincy, and let Pitt and Baltimore duke it out.

[Redz]

I have absolutely no idea what to expect in the AFC.  I can see the Pats going anywhere from one & done to winning the AFC. I really don't know. The defense is extremely worriesome and you can't get in a 17-0 or 21-0 deficit in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh & Baltimore both have their deficiencies but also pose difficult matchups for the Pats.  Ray Rice scares the heck out of me and Big Ben had his way with the Pats earlier this season.  

I really think the AFC is a crapshoot this year.

NFC's gonna be either Green Bay or New Orleans.  Back & forth on which one, though.

As nice of a story as SF has been, I'm hoping for a Saints/Packers NFC title game.  The last two champs matching up.  They've been the best two teams this year.  Would be very exciting game.

[GronkSpike]

Pats should let BJGE walk next year and sign one of the plentiful elite WRs available in free agency. Dwyane Bowe...Vincent Jackson...Stevie Johnson...If we managed to keep Welker, had a healthy Gronk, Hernandez, and Brady we'd be the best offense of all time...

The Pats do not need more receivers, they just need to resign Welker. Ochocinco still has two more years in his contract, and I have a feeling that he will breakthrough in the playoffs. Think about it, how can other teams prepare for him, if they don't have anything to study? And how can they account for Gronk, Aaaron, Wes and Ocho/Deion all at the same time? Ocho -> Secret playoff weapon.

Regarding the backs, I don't like when BJGE runs, unless it's a 3 yds to go or less situation. Anymore than that I feel like it's a wasted play. Kevin Faulk should retire and they should make him a RBs coach. Groom Ridley to be the main back, and have Woody in there for some touches now and then, and for screen plays. Also let Vereen hang around.

Yeah, because they have so many talented WRs like Welker and...Oh wait, he's the only one. 

Ochocinco is being cut after this season, branch will move on, and there will be a gaping hole at WR. Now I see the pats either getting a WR in the 1st or 2nd round or signing one of the plentiful FA WR. Dwayne Bowe, Vincent Jackson, Desean Jackson, Mike Wallace, Steve Johnson, or even Brandon Lloyd.

Oh please 

I'm sorry but I don't agree with you. Why the heck would the pats need more WRs? Especially those two, only thing they know how to do it's to moan like b**ches. You forget there is not a single team that has 2 TEs quite like the Pats like do. They OWN the middle of the field, Aaron + Gronk + Wes.

If Deion moves on, Ocho will take his place. Sometimes Brady's problem is that he has so many targets that anyone of his receivers can have a big day. Some days you see Welker, others Aaron, Gronk, Deion...

And I believe that Ocho is better than Deion right now, from the opportunities Ocho got in the last few weeks he totally owned 1 on 1. Brady just targets him few times, most of them he has not been the most accurate.

Forget the offense, if they improve the defense they will be pretty hard to beat. I think they need to draft only DBs, LBs and a good pass rusher in April.

BTW go CINCY!

[ManchesterCelticsFan]

One observation for the Pats defense the last 7 games...

A remarkable ability to correct mistakes as the game goes on. Bill is on his game making adjustments.

I havent seen that quality in a Pat's team since pre 07...yeah before the 16-0 season.

I've noticed that also, especially these last two games because of the large 17 and 21 point deficits the Patriots dug themselves into.

The defense is extremely worriesome and you can't get in a 17-0 or 21-0 deficit in the playoffs.

It's almost like Bill had his team get into a hole early just to turn to the "hurry up offense" to not give the opposition defense time to prepare for what's coming at them and practice coming back from significant deficits in the playoffs. Why else would Bill not have learned from the Miami game the week before and play the 'hurry-up offense' / 'no-huddle offense' sooner? The fact the Patriots scored 49 unanswered points after that (in a mere 3 quarters extrapolating to 65 points/4-quarter pace)  doesn't help negate this thinking. lol.

[PosImpos]

I have absolutely no idea what to expect in the AFC.  I can see the Pats going anywhere from one & done to winning the AFC. I really don't know. The defense is extremely worriesome and you can't get in a 17-0 or 21-0 deficit in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh & Baltimore both have their deficiencies but also pose difficult matchups for the Pats.  Ray Rice scares the heck out of me and Big Ben had his way with the Pats earlier this season. 

I really think the AFC is a crapshoot this year.

NFC's gonna be either Green Bay or New Orleans.  Back & forth on which one, though.

As nice of a story as SF has been, I'm hoping for a Saints/Packers NFC title game.  The last two champs matching up.  They've been the best two teams this year.  Would be very exciting game.

The Superbowl might end up being a kind of victory lap for whichever of those two teams advances.

[Greenbean]

Saying it now...Pats are the Superbowl Champs this year.

I have no logic or anything to back this other than I've got that "feeling" and that "feeling" has been working well over the last decade.

Oh man Nick I know what you are talking about. I had that feeling last year. It was the first time ever that the feeling betrayed me. I was stunned. I no longer trust the feeling so I hope you are right! It way less fun as a fan to be wrong about these things.

[Rondo2287]

Just did something that I think its pretty interesting.  So we all know how bad the defense is, but I basically compared throughout the course of the season our opponents PPG and then what we allowed.

What I found was that on Average New England's D allows .65 ppg less than their opponents scoring aveage. 

The highest scores allowed over opponents averages were,

Indy 24 allowed vs 15 average
Washington 27 allowed vs 18 average

Biggest variance the other way was holding KC to 3 points vs a scoring aveage of 13.


So I think what this information tells us is that the Pats D is average