New England Patriots thread (MOD WARNING - #4503)

eagle eye

I thought this would be a fitting one to start this thread with.

Bill Belichick Bandwagon Filling Up As Football Fans Are Begging Patriots to Shut Rex Ryan Up


Rex Ryan is doing something I didn’t think was possible: He has America rooting for the Patriots this Sunday afternoon. As we all know, it’s been a long time since the Patriots were the country’s football darlings. The team that went against John Madden’s advice and marched down the field against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI has evolved into the NFL’s version of the New York Yankees. For the past 10 years, the Patriots have been merciless, methodical and successful. In pro sports, that’s a recipe that will get you hated by fans across the nation.

By 2008, when the Patriots hit Arizona looking for perfection, most of the country cheered for the Giants. People had had enough of Tom Brady’s good looks, Randy Moss’ touchdown celebrations and Bill Belichick’s stoicism.

Now, that stoicism is just what the football-loving nation craves. The fans of that nation, like all of us here in New England, have had more than enough of Ryan’s big mouth. They’re tired of his "it’s all about me and Bill Belichick" routine. Tired of his players cranking up the verbal hostility to the point where there are as many bleeps as there are words in an Antonio Cromartie sound bite.

There was a time when Ryan was funny, refreshing. A time when he was the perfect counterbalance to Belichick. He was Everyman (OK, Everyman-and-a-half), coaching an NFL team. Last year, he coached his underdog unit to a shocking run to the AFC Championship Game. Then came HBO’s Hard Knocks.

Then came Ines Sainz. Then came the "hot mature feet" of Michelle Ryan (or at least someone who looks an awful lot like her.)

Enough.

The Jets are no longer cute. They’re no longer lovable. They’ve become a group of crude, annoying loudmouths as they get set to take the field in Foxboro this Sunday afternoon.

Of course, that’s not how it’s being played in New York. Check out just about any NYC newspaper this week, and you’ll find at least one sports columnist writing about how Belichick needs to loosen up and be more like Ryan. About how it’s only football and the Pats need to stop acting like the game plan is a matter of national security.

There was a time when the rest of the country agreed. That opinion is changing. Go ahead and read the columns, blogs and posts around the country. Fans have had enough. It’s one thing to have a little fun, but it’s another to have your players calling the game’s best quarterback an a-hole (withouth the hyphen). In a period of our history where we are finally questioning the vitriol spewed in the public discourse, we can do without a bunch of overpaid players and coaches spewing a little more.

Meantime, the Pats continue to go about their business quietly and efficiently. It’s a pretty good model to follow, isn’t it?

Ryan has managed to do something we’ve never seen before. He’s making Belichick’s demeanor lovable. Now, it’s up to the Patriots coach to do something no one has ever done before.

Shut Ryan up.

http://www.nesn.com/2011/01/bill-belichick-bandwagon-filling-up-as-football-fans-are-begging-patriots-to-shut-rex-ryan-up.html

Tristram

Liked that!

Prefab Sprouter

I never thought I'd see the day but I hope the Patriots beat them. When Rex Ryan can make a Raiders fan root for the Pats, then you know he's gone too far.

patriot83

Hey great article. It is true though, the Pats have really become a hated franchise generally in the NFL with most teams and fans wanted to stomp us down and only Ryan putting his foot in it could turn most fans in our favour - success breeds distaste, happened to the 49ers and Cowboys and the Steelers in the 70s as well......oh well.....here's just hoping the extra support dipping their toe in are satisfied with the result on Sunday as well, as well as the loyal foot soldiers!

(sorry - channeling Wes Welker today....) :D

Also nice one in starting up a NE thread - kind of new to boards myself and was thinking this was missing, but thought I should also share another Irish Patriots site - Paddy Patriots, Official Irish NE Patriots fan site: http://www.paddypatriots.com/forum/index.php

The Sparrow

I still hope Rex and the Jets beat the Patriots. It's more fun having the Jets around and it would be easier for Pittsburgh to beat them.

GO JETS!

kryogen

Its an odd feeling to have the majority of fans rooting for a patriots win, i prefer it when everybody wants us to lose actually, makes the victory that much sweeter

really would love to shut Ryan up this weekend, cant wait for the game

themont85

Nick Mangolds response to Wes Welker.

nickmangold Wes Welker is a great player. He's really taken advantage of watching film. If we don't keep a Spy on him, he could really open the Gate
about 1 hour ago

Wea Welker has started something great.

Peyton Manning

Haha, touché Mr. Mangold!

The build up to this game, while slightly childish, has made it one of the most anticipated playoff games ever. Sunday cannot come quick enough.

davyjose

Should be a cracker of a game alright.

Just a shame there has to be a winner.

unknown13

The pundits seem to be all over the Patriots. As a Patriots fan I am worried. The Jets have some very quality players. This is going to be a close game.

darragh16

The Jets make my blood f*ckin boil. Arrogant dicks! Don't care how the Pats do it, but they better win!

*Also loved Wes Welkers interview*

de5p0i1er

Everyone is getting sick of Ryan's mouth and his players following his lead.

Peyton Manning

Bart Scott may have made a big mistake, saying that Wes Welker's days of pulling on the Pats uniform are numbered. With the NFL having written to both teams to remind them that if any of this verbal jousting extends to physical altercations on the field, there will be repercussions. Any leniency the officials may have wanted to show will now be out the window, so there could be a lot of penalties in this one, especially on the side of the Jets defence after Scott's comments.

ReacherCreature

http://plixi.com/p/70410799

Game on.

eagle eye

New York Post stoops to the same level as the Jets.:mad:

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg640/scaled.php?tn=0&server=640&filename=rsahk.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

spillit67

eagle eye wrote: »

New York Post stoops to the same level as the Jets.:mad:

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg640/scaled.php?tn=0&server=640&filename=rsahk.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

I'd say you're loadsa craic.

How precious are some Pats fans? Pats/Rats, comeon, it's a weak rhyming joke!

Peyton Manning

It's not as if the MA papers would ever stoop to such terrible puns....

Oh wait.

Chucky the tree

Wonder if anything will come of this.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/16/video-shows-pats-used-wall-tried-to-trip-jets-gunner

bruschi

Chucky the tree wrote: »

Wonder if anything will come of this.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/16/video-shows-pats-used-wall-tried-to-trip-jets-gunner

saw that, but is there anything to it? they are players, suited up. the jets one was coaching staff, who stood foot to foot. they were just standing near the sideline. to me, it didnt seem as obvious as the Jets incident, discounting the obvious trip by Alosi

minty16

Fair play to Rex Ryan. He's done a smashing job. The Jets destroyed the Pats last night and it could have been more. Ryan tactically outdone Bellichick too. Great performance. Cant wait for the Championship games.

spillit67

The Jets smack talk clearly got to the Pats with Welker getting involved and benched for a period of the game for doing it. Will there anymore consequences for Welker you guys reckon?

Peyton Manning

spillit67 wrote: »

The Jets smack talk clearly got to the Pats with Welker getting involved and benched for a period of the game for doing it. Will there anymore consequences for Welker you guys reckon?

Any consequences are done with (the benching). Belichick doesn't like to give the media anything. The Jets could have had a party on a dead relative's grave and he'll still want his players to tow the "They're a good team, it'll be a good game, we just have to prepare" line. He was just disappointed that Welker broke protocol, I doubt there'll be any long lasting consequences.

SK1979

Tom_Brady wrote: »

Any consequences are done with (the benching). Belichick doesn't like to give the media anything. The Jets could have had a party on a dead relative's grave and he'll still want his players to tow the "They're a good team, it'll be a good game, we just have to prepare" line. He was just disappointed that Welker broke protocol, I doubt there'll be any long lasting consequences.

Is that quote for BB's media briefing today? Did anything else interesting get said in that, or in TB's radio interview?

Peyton Manning

SK1979 wrote: »

Is that quote for BB's media briefing today? Did anything else interesting get said in that, or in TB's radio interview?

No no, that's just what he expects from his players in the run up to these games. Don't let the media have anything, and don't respond to any of the taunts. Welker broke that rule so he was benched as a result.

SK1979

Tom_Brady wrote: »

No no, that's just what he expects from his players in the run up to these games. Don't let the media have anything, and don't respond to any of the taunts. Welker broke that rule so he was benched as a result.

KK, so it was you just "paraphrasing" the great man.

I think there was a press conference today (or maybe a conference call) and I was just wondering whether any other news / excuses / reasons (delete as appropriate) came out of it.

Also TB definitely had a radio interview too.

Peyton Manning

Ah right.

Belichick's press conference here

Brady's Dennis & Callahan radio interview here

ReacherCreature

Reports emerging that Brady played in 2010 with a stress fracture in a foot.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81dc96c4/article/report-brady-has-stress-fracture-in-foot-that-predates-2010?module=HP_headlines

Pat Kirwan of the NFL also asks whether Brady was ill and presents his arguments for it. Brady denied he had the flu. Personally I didn't think Tom was himself, he wasn't chewing out the players like the role he adopted this season. Maybe I'm wrong.

davyjose

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Reports emerging that Brady played in 2010 with a stress fracture in a foot.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81dc96c4/article/report-brady-has-stress-fracture-in-foot-that-predates-2010?module=HP_headlines

Pat Kirwan of the NFL also asks whether Brady was ill and presents his arguments for it. Brady denied he had the flu. Personally I didn't think Tom was himself, he wasn't chewing out the players like the role he adopted this season. Maybe I'm wrong.

Maybe you are. Did you read the bottom where Brady himself said he was fine?

ReacherCreature

davyjose wrote: »

Maybe you are. Did you read the bottom where Brady himself said he was fine?

If Brady was suffering from swine flu with two broken legs he'd lie as much as he can to get back in the game.

eagle eye

Well Brady may have had a problem all year but the Patriots don't do excuses. It is what it is, we lost, there is next year to worry about with a more experienced team and hopefully a few affective additions through the draft and/or trades.

eagle eye

Its kinda odd/weird in a way that Matty Cassel will replace the injured Tom Brady in the pro-bowl.

Tom Brady will undergo surgery on his right foot as early as Thursday, according to a report from Boston.com, as the Patriots quarterback will take care of a lingering stress fracture in his foot with a procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The injury first came to light in November, when the quarterback was listed on the injury report with a foot problem, and Brady was listed on the injury report for much of the rest of the season with a foot injury.
However, the injury didn’t seem to hinder Brady’s performance, as the quarterback had one of the finest seasons of his career — he threw 36 touchdowns and just four interceptions over the course of the regular season, and is the odds-on favorite to take home his second NFL MVP award.

http://itiswhatitis.weei.com/sports/newengland/football/patriots/2011/01/19/tom-brady-reportedly-set-for-foot-surgery/

Hazys

But they are who we thought they were!

By that i mean the Jets...looking at the game last night, imagine the Pats had scored TDs on their 2 first drives against the Jets, it would have been similar result to last night. I believe the Pats are better than both the Steelers and Packers also but unfortunately that doesnt really matter, you gotta win when you gotta win...but here's looking forward to next year.

ReacherCreature

Congrats to Mr. Brady on winning AP Offensive Player of the Year award.

Link: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81e0e0bc/article/bradys-gaudy-stats-14-wins-add-up-to-another-ap-honor?module=HP_headlines2col

Peyton Manning

ReacherCreature wrote: »

Congrats to Mr. Brady on winning AP Offensive Player of the Year award.

Link: http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d81e0e0bc/article/bradys-gaudy-stats-14-wins-add-up-to-another-ap-honor?module=HP_headlines2col

Follow up congratulations for Bill Belichick who won AP coach of the year too.

eagle eye

Thought I'd try and get this thread going again. Started it before a Jets game and try to revive it after we thump them.:D

Anyways after a rough couple of weeks things took a nice turn last night with a couple of unknowns making our defense a lot more solid. Just looking at the remaing games and its quite possible we could go 13-3. We have the easiest schedule of all teams for the remainder of the season based on current form.

Chiefs - 4-5
@Eagles - 3-6
Colts - 0-10
@Redskins - 3-6
@Broncos - 4-5
Dolphine - 2-7
Bills - 5-4

eagle eye

Very interesting little stat and while almost everybody's numbers are down in losses this one is really a huge difference. Deoin Branch only has 57 yards in our 3 losses (19 yds a game) vs. 427 in our 6 wins (72 yards a game)

Peyton Manning

Slightly disappointed that Matt Cassel won't be coming home on Monday. I don't think he's a great QB, but he stepped in well for Brady the season he went down and will (or at least should) always be respected by Pats fans for that.

Also, a couple of milestones from Sunday night's win. Brady and Belichick became the starting QB and coach combination with the most wins in NFL history, and Welker became the fastest player to reach 1,000 yards in a season. 9 games, 1,006 yards, that's phenomenal.

As for some potential NFL records that may be in sight, Wes is on course for 1,788 receiving yards. Jerry Rice's record is 1,848 so Wes would need to increase his average yards per game slightly to 120 yards a game for the rest of the season. As for receptions, he currently has 72 and is on course for 128. Again, to break Marvin Harrison's record of 143 he would need to average just over 10 receptions a game for the rest of the season. Brady currently has 3,032 passing yards, and would need 293 yards per game for the rest of the season to break Marino's record of 5,084. I think it's a very realistic target considering the quality of opposition we have left to play. He's currently on course for 5,390 yards, 41 TDs and 17 picks.

Peyton Manning

Taylor Price released

Very disappointed, he has a lot of potential and never seemed to get a chance to run with our offence. I can only assume Belichick didn't like what he saw in practise and if you don't click with Brady, then you don't really have a chance here. Still gutted though, someone will pick themselves up a good little receiver off waivers.

eagle eye

I never really rated Price, just too hit and miss when he got opportunities. Wonder is Ocho about to burst on the scene after a horrible season to date?

ReacherCreature

Ocho has to step up. When he was hurt there were rumours that Price would step in and produce but alas no. I didn't think he got enough reps myself. Hope he catches on as there was a little buzz about him post-Draft.

Amirani

Rob Gronkowski is insane, surely the best TE in the NFL at the moment.

kryogen

Gronkowski is definitely the form TE in the league at the moment, possibly for the last 12 months actually. He has been outstanding.

ReacherCreature

Without a doubt he's the best in the league at the moment.

Mr. Guappa

kryogen wrote: »

Gronkowski is definitely the form TE in the league at the moment, possibly for the last 12 months actually. He has been outstanding.

Jimmy Graham has been outstanding too. They are both just second year players too!! I saw a feature recently on the TE's in that draft: Gronkowski and Graham being the standouts so far; plus Aaron Hernandez, Tony Moeaki, Dennis Pitta, Ed Dickson and Jermaine Gresham - hell of a draft class.

eagle eye

If you didn't know them you'd think they are Patriots fans making this video. Particularly love the start of it with Terrell Suggs, must have killed him a little inside to say that.:D

http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-network-total-access/09000d5d824d6b95/A-Call-to-Arms-Tom-Brady?module=HP11_cp

Megatitan

Whats the chances of Pats getting to the superbowl? I see they're 4/1 with bookies. Is they're a chance of a Pats v Packers final or will they meet before that?

tallaghtoutlaws

Megatitan wrote: »

Whats the chances of Pats getting to the superbowl? I see they're 4/1 with bookies. Is they're a chance of a Pats v Packers final or will they meet before that?

The only time they can meet each other in the playoffs is the Superbowl.

ReacherCreature

Megatitan wrote: »

Whats the chances of Pats getting to the superbowl? I see they're 4/1 with bookies.

I'm a Pats fan but I cannot see them making it to the Superbowl - that kills me to say so.

Peyton Manning

I wouldn't fancy us against the Ravens or Steelers in the playoffs, and I can only shudder to think what New Orleans or Green Bay would do to us if we did manage to make it. But hey, any given Sunday and all that jazz.

kryogen

It could be very ugly if we did reach a SB this year against the Packers/Saints

Peyton Manning

New 5 year contract for Mayo according to Schefter