New England Patriots Thread Mod Warning Post #253

As sloppy a game as the Pats have played in a long time last night. Brady was fantastic and they still lost which shows how bad the defence was, the tackling was and the special teams was. Couldn't get off the field on 3rd down either. The Eagles converted a crazy number of long 3rd downs. Not going to win games that way.

Eagles coudn't stop Brady either though so the longer the game went on you sensed it was going to come down to which defence could get just one turnover. Kudos to the Pats OL which did a great job and protected Brady well all game apart from one single play.

The Butler thing is weird. I know he's not going to be resigned but some of the guys seeing the field ahead of him proved costly on a couple of occasions.

Something wanst right about the team last night --- they were seriously flustered which is so unpatriot like. They D couldnt execute basic plays and during the first half the O were all over the place. Maybe i'm reading too much into it but even the calling from the side line was off...The Eagles were good but nothing special...

The defense has had problems with 3rd down the whole year. It's amazing how well they were doing to keep scoring down during the year. There has been one constant talking point from pundits during the Super Bowl week in that the Eagles has an amazing roster that is loaded with talent. So losing their QB didn't sting as much as their talent around the team could make up for the injury. I think this team will challenge next year as well barring key injuries and expectations from the fans overtaking them.

A couple of points as I wallow in bitterness. It is hard to get top level talent in if you are picking in the low first round every year. Losing picks is a killer as well (not to dwell but has the NFL ever released or even gone near their study of pressure in game balls that they said they were going to do? No, nothing to be worried about that then). The goal of parity with the salary cap and the draft is working, but the Patriots is the exception to this rule every year. In reality you should only challenge every 7 years or so for a couple of years as you get to replace bad players with the best from college and pay them nothing. After their contracts run down you have to choose who to keep and this is where teams falter as they lose talent and replace it with inferior talent. This is the cycle the NFL wants and it works for all but one team so far (mainly).

Secondly, having to play the best teams from the previous year for finishing first in the AFC East means there is no let down in intensity all year. Just look at how hard it is to get back to the playoffs the next year for teams that made it this year. It will be interesting to follow the Eagles, Vikings and Jags this upcoming season and see how they do with a target on their backs and having a tougher schedule. Most teams falter with a few exceptions.

Key injuries to players was tough this year. To lose your best receiver before the season starts, then your best defensive player and play caller for the defense during the season and key players in crucial games is tough. We benefited from this in the 2014 Super Bowl with Cliff Avril having to leave with a concussion and Jeremy Lane in the first quarter, so it had to come back at the team some time. But its never nice to lose players to what looks like targeted shots to the head. If the NFL was serious about concussions they would outlaw high hits above the shoulders, but they are not.

So losing 2 vital cogs in the receivers is tough to overcome especially when those 2 players can dictate what the defense has to do. Can you imagine how difficult it will be for a team to cover for Cooks going deep, Edelman in the middle and Gronk? You cannot double all of them so one or two of them will be left free to get open. Add in James White in the backfield, Danny Amendola and Chris Hogan it could have been amazing, but that is the curse of injuries I suppose. I think there will be a drop off in performance from Brady next year (although I hope not) so this could have been the year for a last hurrah.

And then finally with the calls during the regular season from officials was there any doubt that a controversial or tight call was going to go against the Patriots? Those 2 calls for touchdowns have been called differently all year by officials so why it would change during the Super Bowl is baffling. I think they way they called them during this game was how it should be called, however you cannot change that for the last game of the year. The NFL is a joke when it comes to enforcing their own rules as they are so scared to be seen favouring the Patriots so that is why you got Deflategate. It was good to see Jerry Jones feel the incompetence of the head office, especially as he was probably smiling at the punishment handed out to the Patriots.

Those are my ramblings...yes they are from a biased view and they are only out of the hurt from losing last night/this morning. I am sure all of the NFL (bar NE fans) will enjoy this result, but it was an amazing performance the last 2 games without 2 pivotal cogs in the offense against 2 of the best defenses the NFL has to offer. That is something to be proud of at least.

99 Bortles of Beer wrote: »

Then why not have him as inactive? Why waste a spot on the team on someone you have no intention of playing?

Besides, you trust Bill to the world's end. And he said it wasn't medical related.

Hindsight is 20/20, but seeing that Butler was limited in practice at the start of the week it may have been an assumption from Rowe that Butler would just come in and replace him when the game came around.

I agree it was strange not using Butler but if one of the defensive backs went down with injury and Butler was inactive, would you have been comfortable with that? This may be why he wasn't inactive but not used. Belichick has gotten away with decisions before like this where the team won. Last night they lost so it will be questioned. He probably get the benefit of the doubt right now, but then again it is the "Not For Long" league as well.

Big Pussy Bonpensiero wrote: »

Quote from Malcolm:



Saying what we're all thinking Malcolm. The more you look back on this decision the worse it gets.

I do think Butler should have played and shouldn't have been benched. I also think it's wishful thinking on Butler's part, to think he could have been the difference. Why? Well he's hasn't been great this season and he did nothing to earn a new contract with his play. So no reason to think that would have suddenly changed last night. That said, I think it was poor form to bench him and it smacks of a classless coaching move imo.

eagle eye wrote: »

Do you know something the rest of us don't that leads you to the conclusion that it was a 'classless' coaching decision?

Honestly all these snarky comments without any facts or proof are just so disrespectful to a great head coach.

The kid was crying on the sideline for Christ's sake. He's obviously felt fit and well enough to play and I don't care how good or bad he played this season, but if he was told on short notice, then that's bad form. I also don't think he would have been so upset if he was told on Thursday or Friday that he wasn't starting. So I'm only going on my impression which could be wrong, but my impression leads me to believe it was bad man management and handled badly. And if my assumption is correct, then it's bound to effect some players because they're a tight group of guys. And that's bad coaching because you're doing more harm than good to the team.

TOss Sweep wrote: »

I don't know if the defense would have been much better but I will take him over the the crew we rolled with last night. All about playing the best team available and Butler is the 2nd best CB we have on the team.

I don't disagree with you on that. I think Butler should have had a lot more snaps or a least the Coach should have said "Go out there and play and if you're not in the game after the 1st quarter? Then I'm taking you out". I think that would have been fair and Butler would have had no complaints with that.

Patww79 wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

That's all everything here is - our own view points.