OT: This was not the Patriots year. We knew that.

[August_West]

Are you from RI? The biggest leach state in the country? If it weren’t for Boston and the CT casinos the unemployment rate would hover around 87% in RI.

Subtract the Casinos and Boston and the only employment is serving frozen Del's to the CT people at the beaches, oh and parking their cars.

 

[nomar]

We're cool. Just had to defend my state!* You understand.

*I haven't lived in CT since 1995 but it's still my state.

 

[uconnphil2016]

Rhode Island is actually kind of like the Philadelphia of New England

 

[Robertelamin]

Rhode Island is actually kind of like the Philadelphia of New England

It's like a mix of Staten Island, Philadelphia and South Jersey. In other words it would fit right in with the cast of The Jersey Shore.

 

[HuskyHawk]

It's like a mix of Staten Island, Philadelphia and South Jersey. In other words it would fit right in with the cast of The Jersey Shore.

And driving there is like going to planet inhabited by lobotomized people with nervous twitches. Road signs make no sense at all. Living about a mile and half from RI has been an experience. I've made some good friends there, but the place has a weird vibe to it.

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

BTW, both reviews on Eagles TDs were called correctly. So pats fans can Shut up about that. On the second especially, clearly he was a runner regardless of what chris c wants to say.

I also do not get how CT residents can be Pats fans...

The second one was no contest. People are comparing it to the Jesse James play but it was not the same. The first one, however,I had a hard time identifying a moment where he “caught” it before going out of bounds.

 

[upstater]

It's like a mix of Staten Island, Philadelphia and South Jersey. In other words it would fit right in with the cast of The Jersey Shore.

I don't like our Friar friend very much, but after many years of heading to Cape Cod, I prefer now the Rhody shore. Not only are the beaches more beautiful (with the exception of Provincetown) but people aren't so damn uptight.

 

[J187Money]

Would've loved to go to the game, but... on patsfans, it was different. There have been several year long threads on this issue. There is consensus this morning.

This was me back in December: How are the Pats 12-3 and on the verge of Home Field throughout ? Mind boggling defensive stats.

"Patriots have had a very weak schedule. They have 3 wins against playoff teams: Saints, Steelers, and Falcons. They've played a lot of very weak teams. People giving the defense kudos this weekend for stopping the Bills in the second half. Except has anyone looked to see how the Bills have played in the second half for the last few weeks?

Going backward: 3 points, 3 points, 0 points, 0 points, 3 points. That's 9 points in 5 second halfs. Less than a point per quarter."

This was me last week: "Expert" predictions thread

"The Patriots D scares me to death. I'm expecting a loss.

The recent Barnwell article summed up my feelings. The Patriots offense is putting the D is fantastic position. When I read that the Jags defense had to face 4 games worth of offensive possessions MORE than the Patriots D, it jibed with what I've been seeing. I have not been convinced by them all year, but couldn't really put my finger on it. Just team speed in the middle maybe? But then when I read the Barnwell article about how the D greatly benefits from the Patriots offense, unlike any other team in the league, it gave me pause. By comparison, the Jags D faced 4 games worth more offensive possessions than the Patriots D. And that's because of the Patriots O."

You are not the average Pats fan. You are someone that is knowledgeable about football that is also a Pats fan. I'm not suggesting that nobody felt the way you did, but even on ESPN 80% of the analysts picked the Pats to win, even with the flaws. Vegas picked the Pats to win, even with the flaws.

As a dispassionate "fan" of the Pats - meaning that I'm a Packers fan that plays nice when he is around the Pats (I'm lucky enough to have a lot of access) - I'm with you. The Steelers should have beat the Pats and ended up with home field (one could argue that they did but that's another story). The Jags should have beat the Pats - I think they were a better team that folded under the spotlight. Even one of the ESPN guys said "The Eagles have a better offense, a better defense, and an overall better roster - but I'm picking the Pats to win"...

Looking back, against the Falcons and the Jags - the D played poorly, and then made enough big plays to win the games. Brady had to do what he did, but the D always seemed to tighten up at the right time. I kept waiting for that to happen last night, but the Eagles didn't turtle and won the game.

 

[intlzncster]

Certainly not without Butler.

All kinds of rumors floating around as to why. Missed team flight, missed a curfew, caught with weed, talked a ton of @#$% in the defensive back meeting room, missed walk around, blah, blah...

All I know is that he didn't kill anybody and could've helped.

 

[upstater]

The second one was no contest. The first one, I had a hard time identifying a moment where he “caught” it before going out of bounds.

People are saying that Goodell's dictates this week made Riveron gun shy. I don't think that's a really crazy thing to say. I also don't care if they changed the emphasis from the season's emphasis, since after all, they also changed holding rules, etc.

But if I were a Bills fan I'd wonder how that didn't get overturned while the Benjamin play was overturned. Both were carbon copies. One foot down, ball squirts out, another foot down, gains possession, next foot out of bounds. Exact same thing. Collinsworth--who has never been a Patriots rooter--was confused. Personally, I think they might want to get rid of instant replay for these situations. Unless a player is bobbling a ball and it's not in his hands, you might want to call it a TD even if it's moving all around against his body. That takes the confusion out of it.

Funny thing is Collinsworth and Michaels kept calling it controversial, and this morning, there is no controversy.

 

[upstater]

You are not the average Pats fan. You are someone that is knowledgeable about football that is also a Pats fan. I'm not suggesting that nobody felt the way you did, but even on ESPN 80% of the analysts picked the Pats to win, even with the flaws. Vegas picked the Pats to win, even with the flaws.

As a dispassionate "fan" of the Pats - meaning that I'm a Packers fan that plays nice when he is around the Pats (I'm lucky enough to have a lot of access) - I'm with you. The Steelers should have beat the Pats and ended up with home field (one could argue that they did but that's another story). The Jags should have beat the Pats - I think they were a better team that folded under the spotlight. Even one of the ESPN guys said "The Eagles have a better offense, a better defense, and an overall better roster - but I'm picking the Pats to win"...

Looking back, against the Falcons and the Jags - the D played poorly, and then made enough big plays to win the games. Brady had to do what he did, but the D always seemed to tighten up at the right time. I kept waiting for that to happen last night, but the Eagles didn't turtle and won the game.

Agree with everything here. Although I will say the D tightened up last year because the following guys were on the field: Butler, Logan Ryan, Hightower (caused big fumble), Ninkovich, Chris Long, Branch, Sheard. That's a good number of players. The offense conversely was not as good last year because they were without Gronk.

You can't replace those defensive players with Jordan Richards, Bademosi, Roberts, Harrison, Marquis Flowers, Lawrence Guy, and expect better results. The only upgrade was Gilmore over Ryan, and even then the upgrade was slight.

This is why the Patriots D struggled. Personnel is pretty poor, especially at LB.

 

[8893]

I don't like our Friar friend very much, but after many years of heading to Cape Cod, I prefer now the Rhody shore. Not only are the beaches more beautiful (with the exception of Provincetown) but people aren't so damn uptight.

Agree with this. Love the RI shore. Much easier and much more reasonable than the Cape. We did the Vineyard forever and those beaches are absolutely my favorite, but the hassle and expense during peak season made us start looking elsewhere around ten years ago. Found a great spot on the RI shore and been going there instead since.

 

[intlzncster]

You are not the average Pats fan. You are someone that is knowledgeable about football that is also a Pats fan. I'm not suggesting that nobody felt the way you did, but even on ESPN 80% of the analysts picked the Pats to win, even with the flaws. Vegas picked the Pats to win, even with the flaws.

As a dispassionate "fan" of the Pats - meaning that I'm a Packers fan that plays nice when he is around the Pats (I'm lucky enough to have a lot of access) - I'm with you. The Steelers should have beat the Pats and ended up with home field (one could argue that they did but that's another story). The Jags should have beat the Pats - I think they were a better team that folded under the spotlight. Even one of the ESPN guys said "The Eagles have a better offense, a better defense, and an overall better roster - but I'm picking the Pats to win"...

All that is true. Really, picking against the Pats has been a losing proposition for many years now. Vegas odds reflect that.

My claim all week was that I don't feel good about this one. And I didn't.

Looking back, against the Falcons and the Jags - the D played poorly, and then made enough big plays to win the games. Brady had to do what he did, but the D always seemed to tighten up at the right time. I kept waiting for that to happen last night, but the Eagles didn't turtle and won the game.

Over the past few years, the offense controlled the ball enough to the point where it made the D appear better (on paper) than it really was.

That was particularly the case this year--this D was smoke and mirrors. They lost so much up front, between injury, defections, and retirement, that I'm shocked they won that many games--thanks BB and TB.

BB gets credit as a defensive genius, and rightfully so, but the amount of comebacks Brady has had to engineer in the playoffs, makes you scratch your head. Why do they have to play from behind so damn often? Lack of personnel probably.

 

[Robertelamin]

I don't like our Friar friend very much, but after many years of heading to Cape Cod, I prefer now the Rhody shore. Not only are the beaches more beautiful (with the exception of Provincetown) but people aren't so damn uptight.

No disagreement here. They have great beaches.

 

[intlzncster]

Agree with everything here. Although I will say the D tightened up last year because the following guys were on the field: Butler, Logan Ryan, Hightower (caused big fumble), Ninkovich, Chris Long, Branch, Sheard. That's a good number of players. The offense conversely was not as good last year because they were without Gronk.

You can't replace those defensive players with Jordan Richards, Bademosi, Roberts, Harrison, Marquis Flowers, Lawrence Guy, and expect better results. The only upgrade was Gilmore over Ryan, and even then the upgrade was slight.

This is why the Patriots D struggled. Personnel is pretty poor, especially at LB.

Heh, I just posted a light weight version of this.

Though I would say that this Super Bowl offense, without Cooks, might not have been as strong as last years. Yes, no Gronk last year, but this year didn't have Edelman, Mitchell, nor Cooks.

And no Butler on D was killer. The only strength of this D was the secondary. And that cut out a big piece.

 

[Travelman6]

As an interesting FYI, that 41-33 score is pretty rare. This is only the 3rd game ever that has ended with that score, the last being in 1960.

The Jacksonville/Pitt 45-42 game was also only the 3rd time that score has happened (1998 being the last time).

 

[August_West]

And no Butler on D was killer. The only strength of this D was the secondary. And that cut out a big piece.

 

[HuskyHawk]

Heh, I just posted a light weight version of this.

Though I would say that this Super Bowl offense, without Cooks, might not have been as strong as last years. Yes, no Gronk last year, but this year didn't have Edelman, Mitchell, nor Cooks.

And no Butler on D was killer. The only strength of this D was the secondary. And that cut out a big piece.

Plus their two best LBs were out, Hightower and McClennan. Their inability to tackle the RBs and even WR showed just how awful the current LBs are. In the secondar, McCourty is superb at making open field tackles, and so is Butler. The other guys? Not so much. One of Butler's strengths is not allowing yards after the catch. He was missed.

Next year the team is much better if they just get Hightower, McClellan, Edelman and Mitchell back. It's loaded at WR actually. Better depth than they've ever had. The young DL, Wise and Flowers, showed great improvement.

I think we'll see the team focus on LB, OL depth (losing Canon at RT also hurt) and an edge rusher at DE, who doesn't overpursue and get burned outside by RBs.

 

[PAHusky]

Rhode Island is actually kind of like the Philadelphia of New England

`
Can you please explain this statement for all of us simpletons from the area?

 

[intlzncster]

Last nights celebratory 'cleanup' tissues, eh Auggie?

 

[August_West]

Last nights celebratory 'cleanup' tissues, eh Auggie?

just lending a friend a shoulder in a time of need.

I feel for you brother.

 

[Devland]

`
Can you please explain this statement for all of us simpletons from the area?

I would take it as a compliment. Philly is one of my favorite cities. Philly gets a bad rap. Mostly from people who have never been there.

 

[intlzncster]

just lending a friend a shoulder in a time of need.

I feel for you brother.

haha the line you tread between troll and genuine is sometimes so fine I can't help but respect it.

 

[Robertelamin]

@August_West see? He has two friends. You owe him an apology.