Their Defence looks really bad. But I remember the year they started 2-2 people assumed Brady was done, and they won the SB.
That was 2014. Ironically one of those losses was to the Chiefs: score was 41-14 with Alex Smith having a 144.4 passer rating (compare to 148.6 yesterday) and Brady being replaced by Garropolo lol (Brady had a 59.9 rating in that game which was worse than yesterday).
I know I'll get called crazy, but I believe the Chiefs did something to confuse the Patriots cheating / stealing of defensive signals. When you watch the Patriots play when the cheat is working, you see a QB in Tom Brady who knows exactly where the open receiver is going to be because he's got coaches talking in his ear (way past the NFL limit) telling him exactly where the defense will be. When NFL teams figure out a way to stop the stealing of defensive signals, the Patriots look like an average team like we saw last night. Tom Brady looks confused because he suddenly loses that "prescience" to know where the open man will be. He's not as great as everyone thinks he is, he's just didn't have the cheat working last night.
I was saying that the reason it looked as though the falcons were gassed is because the pats were a better conditioned team, their cardiac capacity was better...that is to their credit because they do take it very seriously, and it is an important element in being a championship team.
LOL sure was last night. Dude is an impressive QB. Moves the pocket well, makes the smart throw. He is a mobile Chad Pennington to me.
All I know is that Hunt was my rookie of the year prediction and I drafted and started him in all three of my leagues. It was a good night!
I saw him in his underwear in the locker room...dude is shredded....I like football...and Beer...and girls..
If they start slow they have to finish strong. Which means, if they are around .500 after the first six games, our two late games vs them could make or break their chances to win the div and make the playoffs. Thing is, they'll come out with a VENGEANCE next gme and destroy whomever they play next. Who is their next opponent?
they have lost a lot of good personnel over a calendar year, their simply not as strong...I don't underestimate them but its fact, you can't replace all that good talent with bodies and expect not to take a hit.
They go to New Orleans, where the Pats defense got shredded a few years back. The Saints defense has been average or worse though, so I expect a 44-41 kind of game. The Pats offense should do well versus the Saints (maybe some issues if Amendola is still out) but the real question is if the Pats have an answer for Brees (especially if they can't generate a pass rush without blitzing). Too soon, even if they go 0-2 to start the season, to declare Brady done or the Pats Dynasty collapsed -but it will get my hopes up. It HAS to happen at some point, so why not 2017?
I was one of the few that was SCREAMING for us to get Andy Reid when he was let go from Philadelphia. 4 straight NFC Championship appearances while at the helm of the Eagles? I don't understand why we never made a play for him.
Judging from how Tannehill has been received, i don't think many on here would have been patient enough with Smith to get to enjoy the Smith that's playing today.
I consider this fake news. Very few people on this site actually called for his head in regards to benching etc. But when you play like Ryan played for 4.5 years, you are not going to win over many sound football minds. He has always had the "potential" tag that kept him from being 86'd. And unfortunately for him (and us) he wrecked his knee when he was on the cusp of realizing it.
Tannehill > Smith for their first 3 years and by a lot so I'd certainly have wanted him gone by then. Smith took till year 4 to reach league average level, Tannehill got there by year 3. Smith became consistently above average year 6.. Tannehill we don't know because of injury. Smith is definitely an example of a QB that took a long time to become consistently above average and yeah I'd have wanted him gone before that happened. Just remember, it's more likely than not that a QB that ends up consistently above average shows he's above average well before year 6! So playing the odds game you'd rather move on earlier than year 6 than wait to see if he develops like Smith.
For all those heaping praise on Alex Smith, I think you're forgetting what a QB friendly offense Andy Reid has. Think of how many mediocre to bad NFL QBs Andy Reid has made look like superstars over the years and who have been mediocre to dreadful on other NFL teams. No difference here. Alex Smith is an average NFL QB who is excelling in Reid's system.
Andy Reid is definitely a good coach, but Alex Smith reached that "consistently above average" level his last 2 years San Fransisco (years 6-7) and actually had his best year so far there. Also, Reid has really only coached 3 QB's: Donovan McNabb, Michael Vick and Alex Smith (unless you count Doug Pederson who was pretty bad in Reid's first year, 1999). McNabb to me is not an average QB, Vick I'll grant had his best passing stats under Reid but isn't "average" either once you include his running game, and as pointed out Smith didn't really improve going to KC. So I do think Smith is above average even without Reid.
Kevin Kolb and Jeff Garcia. And let's not forget his work with Brett Favre while Offensive Coordinator in Green Bay. He also coached Nick Foles for half a second.
Here are the stats for those two: https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/K/KolbKe00.htm https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/G/GarcJe00.htm Not much sample size (total of 7 games started for Kolb and 6 for Garcia under Reid) but as you can see in both cases they didn't do better under Reid than under others. Kolb is basically the same with or without Reid, and Garcia may have had a resurgence under Reid but he didn't play better with Reid than during his early years or in the years right after Reid. So maybe Reid isn't as influential as you might think on why Alex Smith is playing well (there's obviously some influence, but maybe not as great as you might think).
Translation. You like soccer. Wine coolers. And men football bodies and there is nothing wrong with that!
How about that one where he had Gronk wide open along the left sideline? Clean pocket and only needed a moderately deep throw and he missed him badly. Even with Gronk's extreme catch radius, he could not adjust and reach that terrible throw.
Maybe he did not have his constant helmet radio going like he usually does. Could a technical glitch have exposed him? Not being allowed to cheat like usual perhaps?
One thing was he was looking for Rex Burkhead a lot for his dink and dunk game, and Rex could not get open very well. From what I recall anyway.
You can only do it with smoke and mirrors on defense for so long. Their front 7 is average with Hightower. When he goes out, they are below average and can be exploited. They were very vulnerable on the edges against KC. Hightower has only averaged like 12 games played per season in his career. They have a very nice set of DBs though. Have to give them that.
Though they gave up 40+ in those games, unless they were shutout, they did not lose by 40+. I guess you did not mean to word it that way.
Knowing the Pats' luck, usually, the Falcons kicker would have doinked it off the upright, and everyone would be 2nd guessing them for taking the air out of the football in that situation.
From his rookie season, how many years passed before Alex had the same OC for two years in a row? That probably slowed his development.
Hmm.. so my question to Gronk is what constitutes the "Tom Brady era"? Reason I ask is because in 2001 Tom Brady didn't start their first two games and didn't play a snap in the first game. So if Gronk is willing to include 2001 where Tom Brady wasn't even the QB on opening day but he was on the roster, then why not include 2000 where NE also lost their 1st game (lost 1st 4 games actually), Brady appeared in at least one game, and did NOT win the SB!! What has NOT yet happened is Tom Brady opening a season with 2 consecutive losses. So if NE loses at the Saints next week, then we'll have really seen something never before seen in the "Tom Brady era".
Hey great point! 2009-2010 Smith had Jimmy Raye as OC. That was years 4-5 of his playing years (2008 he was on IR).