OT: This was not the Patriots year. We knew that. | Page 3 | The Boneyard

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

upstater said:
It could be that New Haven is in New England, and that Foxboro is as close to New Haven as the Meadowlands, without any of the hassle. And the biggest factor: the Patriots were very good when I began watching them in 76. I also went to school in Boston and lived there after. Half my neighborhood was full of Patriots fans. They were on TV every weekend.
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No. The AFC was minor league compared to the NFC, at least until the Steelers and Dolphins had some success and grabbed front runner fans. The Giants played home games for a year or two in the Yale Bowl. The Patriots were dog poo in the 70’s.
 
TRest said:
No. The AFC was minor league compared to the NFC, at least until the Steelers and Dolphins had some success and grabbed front runner fans. The Giants played home games for a year or two in the Yale Bowl. The Patriots were dog poo in the 70’s.
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I looked up the historical record. Below .500 for the decade and 2 playoff appearances, losing in the first round both times. Enough to make you a fan, but I doubt most of New Haven was on board.
 
TRest said:
No. The AFC was minor league compared to the NFC, at least until the Steelers and Dolphins had some success and grabbed front runner fans. The Giants played home games for a year or two in the Yale Bowl. The Patriots were dog poo in the 70’s.
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I'm not an old geezer like you.
 
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Meh. I thought the team that played better won. Better team? IDK. They seemed about evenly matched.
Fact is, Pats could not get the stop when they needed it. Foles hit some clutch throws throughout. Play calling by the Eagles was ballsy. Went for it on 4th. Went for TD instead of FG. They played the game they needed to play to win.
Pats seemed like they were always one play behind, right up until they took the lead, which they promptly surrendered.
Once, early, Pats went for it on 4th and did not make it. Should have kicked FG or punted to trap them deep. Un-patriot's like call led to bad result.
Not concerned about Brady's fumble. Guy came in low, out of his periphery - nice play. Not much you can do about that.
Ref calls on the catches were good calls. Well officiated game.
All in all, Patriots need to get better on D - offense was fine. Get Edelman back, add one speed guy, and you're fine. Need help on D. Hightower and draft a couple guys.
 
upstater said:
I'm not an old geezer like you.
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Gotta love all these arbitrary distinctions and rules for fandom. I was a fan of the Pats even when they sucked but let’s get real - Would half of the people who went to UConn post 1990 have attended/been fans if not for the Dream Season and later successes? Fandom begins in different ways, and you don’t get a medal just because your dad happened to like a crappy NFL franchise and you stuck with it.
 
upstater said:
I'm not an old geezer like you.
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Because I know what I’m talking about? Pats fans in CT started appearing after they hired Parcells. Congrats on being the only kid in New Haven that liked them.
 
Horatio said:
To be honest , Foles is not your traditional
Back-up QB. He went to the team / system he had success with. I just thought it would take him some time to get the timing down with the recievers and that happened.
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Team, yes.
System, no way. Unless you think Chip Kelly was secretly feeding him playcalls.
 
upstater said:
It could be that New Haven is in New England, and that Foxboro is as close to New Haven as the Meadowlands, without any of the hassle. And the biggest factor: the Patriots were very good when I began watching them in 76. I also went to school in Boston and lived there after. Half my neighborhood was full of Patriots fans. They were on TV every weekend.
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I'm from New Haven. Graduated HS in '95. I had a social studies teacher who was a Pats fan. My best friend Mike, who didn't care about sports, said he was a Pats fan because it made him unique. That's it. I literally knew 2 Patriots fans. And one of them was a Pats fan to be rebellious. College was when I finally met a huge Pats fan.

My uncle, born and bred in Marblehead, was a huge Niners fan...up until 2001. He denies it now, says he just liked Montana. OK.

I don't blame people for jumping on the bandwagon--Brady is the GOAT in my mind, and it's not really close--but let's not pretend it's the not the biggest bandwagon in sports history. There were a complete afterthought in New England until B&B. Diehard Pats fans between 1985 and 2001 were scarce.

Anyway, I don't mean to argue on a bad night for you. Pats have had an amazing run and they've got as good a chance as anyone at winning next year.
 
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I don't disagree with Upstater. The conclusion I typically come to at the end of an NFL season is that every team is bad. This one was no different, and so while I agree that Pats fans should have known they weren't going to win it this year, Eagles fans could have said the same thing. They were missing arguably their two best players.
 
RoderickSpode said:
Gotta love all these arbitrary distinctions and rules for fandom. I was a fan of the Pats even when they sucked but let’s get real - Would half of the people who went to UConn post 1990 have attended/been fans if not for the Dream Season and later successes? Fandom begins in different ways, and you don’t get a medal just because your dad happened to like a crappy NFL franchise and you stuck with it.
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UConn has just as many fans as ever now!

Anyhow, yes, I lived through Fairbanks, Erhardt, Meyer, Rod Rust and Dick McPherson. Given the tenor of this board lately and the complete disloyalty to UConn, you can bet that these guys would never have stuck with a team through those 2 decades. Then again, the majority of these guys are lame Yankees fans. Talk about frontrunners.
 
nomar said:
I'm from New Haven. Graduated HS in '95. I had a social studies teacher who was a Pats fan. My best friend Mike, who didn't care about sports, said he was a Pats fan because it made him unique. That's it. I literally knew 2 Patriots fans. And one of them was a Pats fan to be rebellious. College was when I finally met a huge Pats fan.

My uncle, born and bred in Marblehead, was a huge Niners fan...up until 2001. He denies it now, says he just liked Montana. OK.

I don't blame people for jumping on the bandwagon--Brady is the GOAT in my mind, and it's not really close--but let's not pretend it's the not the biggest bandwagon in sports history. There were a complete afterthought in New England until B&B. Diehard Pats fans between 1985 and 2001 were scarce.

Anyway, I don't mean to argue on a bad night for you. Pats have had an amazing run and they've got as good a chance as anyone at winning next year.
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All I can tell you I've been following them for a very long time.

In fact, this name upstater comes from the Pts AOL boards (Bill Simmons was a regular there) in the early to mid 1990s.

Used to drive up to Sullivan Stadium regularly with 4 friends in the 1980s.

Used to take the T down there from Boston in the late 1980s.

Contracted a bad case of pneumonia when I showed up underdressed, drank too much, and froze on the T back to Boston.

Also, you graduated in 1995. Which explains a lot. Your generation lived through the worst era in Patriots history.

I am not surprised you knew hardly any people who were fans of Victor Kiam, Tommy Hodson, Hugh Millen, Dick McPherson and Rod Rust. Honestly, that is not surprising. Those 5 guys and their 1 win a year drove the Patriots fandom underground. It is telling that they immediately sold out the stadium when Parcells was hired, and they've never looked back. I graduated a decade before you and my friends and I got see the Fairbanks and Raymond Berry years. A bit different than Kiam/Rust.
 
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upstater said:
UConn has just as many fans as ever now!

Anyhow, yes, I lived through Fairbanks, Erhardt, Meyer, Rod Rust and Dick McPherson. Given the tenor of this board lately and the complete disloyalty to UConn, you can bet that these guys would never have stuck with a team through those 2 decades. Then again, the majority of these guys are lame Yankees fans. Talk about frontrunners.
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You’re born a yankee fan. I’m s yankee fan the same way I’m a black male lol
 
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The plucky upstart Patriots, gate-to-wire favorites for this year’s Super Bowl, are already the favorites for next year’s Super Bowl.

Patriots +$450
Eagles +$600
 
Fishy said:
The plucky upstart Patriots, gate-to-wire favorites for this year’s Super Bowl, are already the favorites for next year’s Super Bowl.

Patriots +$450
Eagles +$600
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You should stick to one liners. You need an editor for anything over that.
 
upstater said:
You have to get to Super Bowls to win and lose them. I've watched my team in 10 of them. Lost half of them. I will be over this one the quickest of all.

Rodney Harrison was not wrong when he said, "How in the world are the Patriots even in the Super Bowl with this defense?" He already had the answers to that question though: Brady and Gronk.
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Please they won 8 games in a row and gave up an average 12 points a game during this streak with people applauding their excellence so cut the crap trying to make someone else so tremendous. The Eagles had a very good defense and Schwartz was pitiful...... people were wide open his DBacks were nowhere to be found while he got zero pass rush for the most part. D was not a huge part of the game on either side until the strip.
 
upstater said:
UConn has just as many fans as ever now!

Anyhow, yes, I lived through Fairbanks, Erhardt, Meyer, Rod Rust and Dick McPherson. Given the tenor of this board lately and the complete disloyalty to UConn, you can bet that these guys would never have stuck with a team through those 2 decades. Then again, the majority of these guys are lame Yankees fans. Talk about frontrunners.
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Yankee fans are front runners hilarious coming from a fan base who started wearing their stuff in 2004 again in both football and baseball lol..... rough night huh. Love it
 
I have three high school school friends who followed the Cowboys, Giants and Titans/Oilers. They are all now “die hard” Pats fans and have season tickets. Every time I see them they’re wearing something with a Pats logo on it. The Giants fan even had a license plate on his truck that he got saying GNTFAN.

These are your typical fans. I don’t doubt there are actual die hards but the overwhelming majority of that fan base is made up of guys like this.
 
nomar said:
My uncle, born and bred in Marblehead, was a huge Niners fan...up until 2001. He denies it now, says he just liked Montana. OK.
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What's not to like? He's the GOAT.
 
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Fishy said:
Strange take given that the Patriots were favored to win the Super Bowl from like last February, but all right.

And Tom Brady is still pretty good. Yes, he’d be the third-best quarterback on the Eagles and he’d have to play blocker or something at the Manning family flag football games, but there’s no shame in that. He’s still the best Tom Brady.
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Not even funny. Way below your standards. Sorry not sorry your team sucks.
 
Travelman32 said:
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...
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LOL, Connecticut is the most screwed up state and it not even close. Money, taxes, corruption, crime, poverty. on top of all that a complete and utter identity crisis. Yeah a NE state should not be rooting for NE. SMH
 
mauconnfan said:
Please they won 8 games in a row and gave up an average 12 points a game during this streak with people applauding their excellence so cut the crap trying to make someone else so tremendous. The Eagles had a very good defense and Schwartz was pitiful. people were wide open his DBacks were nowhere to be found while he got zero pass rush for the most part. D was not a huge part of the game on either side until the strip.
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32nd in defense. Faced fewest offensive possessions of any team. Faced worst field position. I said all this on Patsfans board well before the game. Barnwell nailed this one: The best Eagles-Patriots preview you'll read: Barnwell makes his Super Bowl pick

Here it is: "One of the reasons Foles might be able to enjoy some success on Sunday is that the Patriots' defense simply hasn't been very good in 2017. Raw numbers note that the Pats finished fifth in points allowed at 18.5 per game, which makes them look like a dominant defense. As I mentioned on Monday, New England simultaneously finished 31st in defensive DVOA, suggesting it is one of the worst defenses in the league.

How can a defense simultaneously be great and abysmal? Context. Raw numbers don't account for the fact that the Patriots' offense makes its defense's life as easy as possible. The average Patriots drive on offense included a league-high 6.2 plays, keeping their defense fresh and off the field for long stretches of time. The New England defense faced just 172 possessions this season, the fifth fewest in football and 12 below the league average. Contrast that to the Jaguars, who finished second in points allowed and faced 204 possessions. That's nearly three additional games worth of drives to defend.

In addition, that incredible Patriots offense rarely turns the ball over and delivers the defense consistently excellent field position. Only the Chiefs turned the ball over less frequently than the Patriots on a per-possession basis in 2017. Brady & Co. turned over the ball just 6.9 percent of the time, substantially lower than the league average (11.4 percent). Only two teams went three-and-out less frequently."

As a result, the defense almost never faced a short field. The average defense in 2017 had to face just over 17 possessions that began on its own side of the field. The Patriots went up against just five of those possessions, and two of them were the Chiefs and Dolphins kneeling at the end of their victories. (If we remove drives in the final two minutes to get rid of kneel-downs, the Patriots faced three, and the league average was 15.5.)"
 
FriarJ said:
LOL, Connecticut is the most screwed up state and it not even close. Money, taxes, corruption, crime, poverty. on top of all that a complete and utter identity crisis. Yeah a NE state should not be rooting for NE. SMH
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This from a Providence fan who posts here because he can't find another one.

The ghost of Buddy Cianci says hi.
 
8893 said:
This from a Providence fan who posts here because he can't find another one.

The ghost of Buddy Cianci says hi.
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whatever, ancient history, and it doesnt change what a mess CT. is. somebody wondering how a NE state could have fans rooting for a team named NE is silly. Unless of course NY is CT.'s daddy. As I said, screwed up.
 
Fishy said:
Up until 2004, none of them were.

I went to UConn for four years and didn’t meet a single Patriots fan.
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*** comment of the thread!!! . i am 53 years old and didnt know any Pats fans.... turned down tickets to Schaffer/Sullivan Stadiums on a weekly basis. was not until the Tuna arrived that things started to change... now everywhere i go , people my age are die hard Pats fans....
 
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