Comparing football cultures and preparation

[AnOldTroll]

Most attentive fans know when their team is "for real" and when it's not.

This.

 

[chevss454]

Most attentive fans know when their team is "for real" and when it's not.

This.

Ironic coming you.

 

[AnOldTroll]

Ironic coming you.

Not gonna raz you Chevs as you see the Steelers coming to Foxboro.
I made the comment for the benefit of the posters thinking Miami stood a chance.

 

[O.Z.O.]

I agree with your point.
One thing John Fox has said that I completely agree with is : "It's not just who you play, it's when and where you play them." I'm not a huge fan of all that "strength of schedule" stuff going by straight W-L numbers either. IIRC the 2010 Pats beat a bunch of playoff teams that year and were a paper tiger. Most attentive fans know when their team is "for real" and when it's not.

Agreed. Something about that team never felt quite right to me.

At the risk of coming off as over confident, to this point this year feels a whole lot like '03-'04, '04 specifically.

 

[Patriots4ever]

This talk of our cupcake schedule is a bit disingenuous. I look more at WHEN we played a team as opposed to their final record. When we played Arizona, they were not a 7-8-1 team. They were a team that just came off a season where they were one game from the SB. They signed Jones from us to bolster their already stout defense. We went in their house with Jimmy and no Gronk and beat them in a game that was contested from start to finish. IMO that game set the tone for the Pats and for the Cards. In other words, that was NOT a cupcake game or team at the time we play them.

When we played the Jets the first time in NY, we went against Fitz who although was having a rough year, played a great game vs us as did the Jets defense. It was that game that our defense showed the ability to turn the ball over and change the game. Again, Jets are a bad team but when we played them and how they played us at home counts too.

Now fast forward to the last month of the season. BOTH the Ravens and Donks were playoff teams when we played them. In fact their seasons were on the line so they were extra motivated to beat us. We dominated both of them and knocked them out of the playoffs.
We also kicked the Fins butt, a playoff team IN Miami where Brady has not won since 2012. That matters.

So this notion that the Pats are not battle-tested is a myth especially with an 8-0 road record and Brady's historic season. I freely admit that we did not play many top QBs but how many top QBs are there? The only one we may face in this run is in the SB and that is assuming Rodgers or Ryan gets there. If not then we get a rookie in Prescott or Wilson/Hawks minus their best defensive player. I will take that ALL day. And no, I don't count Big Ben even though he can be big time. He just isn't when he plays us and the Pitt defense is not stopping our offense.

Totally agree

Nobody wants to bring up the tough schedule the Patriots had in 2014
Nobody wants to bring up the Panthers easiest schedule last year

IMO, it's a stupid argument because:

1) it's not the Patriots fault that Miami, NYJ, and Buffalol can't get their shit together.

2) the Patriots don't make the schedule and yet year after year are consistently playing the 1st place team from the other AFC divisions. Many people don't realize that the schedule is already predetermined years in advance

3) Their record outside the division is just as good as it is within it

---------- Post added at 12:02 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:01 PM ----------

It was John Fing Thomase and his report on February 2nd, the day before the game that fvcked up the mindset of the team.

I won't give this clown any clicks and will always go out of my way to bash him on the EEI page on Facebook

 

[O.Z.O.]

Totally agree

Nobody wants to bring up the tough schedule the Patriots had in 2014
Nobody wants to bring up the Panthers easiest schedule last year

IMO, it's a stupid argument because:

1) it's not the Patriots fault that Miami, NYJ, and Buffalol can't get their shit together.

2) the Patriots don't make the schedule and yet year after year are consistently playing the 1st place team from the other AFC divisions. Many people don't realize that the schedule is already predetermined years in advance

3) Their record outside the division is just as good as it is within it

It's funny. When I was a kid growing up in the 70s, I hated the Cowboys. But, I didn't attempt to dispute their greatness.

In the 80's, I hated the 49ers. Again, never tried to detract from their greatness.

In the 90's, it was the Cowboys again.

The funny thing is that (aside from the laughable Marino/Montana argument) I don't remember these teams catching flak from the average numbnuts fan the way the Pats do currently.

 

[Patriots4ever]

It's funny. When I was a kid growing up in the 70s, I hated the Cowboys. But, I didn't attempt to dispute their greatness.

In the 80's, I hated the 49ers. Again, never tried to detract from their greatness.

In the 90's, it was the Cowboys again.

The funny thing is that (aside from the laughable Marino/Montana argument) I don't remember these teams catching flak from the average numbnuts fan the way the Pats do currently.

That's because back in those days it was about football, not kneeling during the national anthem, deflated footballs, Miami boat cruises, and no internet

I enjoyed watching those 49er teams. Really, thoroughly enjoyed them. The Cowboys were a thing of beauty to watch too, and I did not like them, but whenever those 2 teams were on, I was watching because it was such great football.

The Cowboys were a disfunctional bunch too, but when the chips were on the table and it was time to play they took care of business. They even survived a 4 week hold out by Emmitt Smith, that's how good that team was...

 

[Patriots4ever]

I made the comment for the benefit of the posters thinking Miami stood a chance.

I didn't watch much of this game as I was busy with snow removal, then went to a family function, but aside from the Steelers quick 14-0 start, every time I looked at that game, the Dolphins were in scoring position

Not saying Miami had a chance as I never like warm weather teams coming up north to play in January, but the stats were close. It was clear to me that they weren't interested in tackling, or even pushing Antonio Brown OOB on a WR screen, but Miami certainly was in that game, they just made too many mistakes, esp at the QB position

People want to accuse the Patriots of not playing any QBs, that what the Steelers just defeated....a backup QB.

It was an OK win for the Steelers, IMO, but a win nonetheless. The real challenge is this week in KC, but you already know this

 

[HSanders]

Plus social media allows us into the thoughts of people whose thoughts are better left inside their own heads.

 

[Patriots4ever]

Plus social media allows us into the thoughts of people whose thoughts are better left inside their own heads.

Yeah, that's the major problem

There's a lot of people out there that shouldn't be watching football, period.

It doesn't help that there aren't many football programs on TV that focus on actual product on the field...you know the football game maybe, but it's all about ratings and clicks and that just doesn't sell anymore

 

[HSanders]

It doesn't help that there aren't many football programs on TV that focus on actual product on the field...you know the football game maybe, but it's all about ratings and clicks and that just doesn't sell anymore

Agreed. I think it says it all when NFLN stopped making their excellent "Playbook" shows in favor of s where some dudes are playing Madden on tv (seriously, WTF), and copious fantasy football garbage programs.

 

[O.Z.O.]

That's because back in those days it was about football, not kneeling during the national anthem, deflated footballs, Miami boat cruises, and no internet

I enjoyed watching those 49er teams. Really, thoroughly enjoyed them. The Cowboys were a thing of beauty to watch too, and I did not like them, but whenever those 2 teams were on, I was watching because it was such great football.

The Cowboys were a disfunctional bunch too, but when the chips were on the table and it was time to play they took care of business. They even survived a 4 week hold out by Emmitt Smith, that's how good that team was...

Rooted against them. Think the thing that started me down that path was that first Super Bowl against Cincinnati. Montana had been named the SB MVP, and it really pissed me off because Anderson started moving the Bengals down the field. All I could think was "what happens if they score and win?" After that, moved to MD, picked up my love for the Redskins (who never seem to get any credit for what they did in the 80's- 3 conference championships and 2 Super Bowl wins).

But yeah, greatness was respected then. Now, everybody has an excuse.

---------- Post added at 01:03 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:01 PM ----------

Agreed. I think it says it all when NFLN stopped making their excellent "Playbook" shows in favor of s where some dudes are playing Madden on tv (seriously, WTF), and copious fantasy football garbage programs.

has absolutely destroyed perspective of the game on the field, amongst other things.. HATE it.

 

[Mazz22]

Think we can now add the Steelers to this thread and Brown's FB video ... dumb.

 

[AnOldTroll]

Think we can now add the Steelers to this thread and Brown's FB video ... dumb.

Certainly going to add to the viewership. Don't you think?

 

[MontanaBrady]

The other side of this is the 07 Superbowl. I think the Patriots practiced too hard and were way too tight for that game.

Or against the Texans. They seemed to be dedicated that whole bye week yet they came out flat and played like crap. So where's the right balance?

 

[Mazz22]

Certainly going to add to the viewership. Don't you think?

Yep. He should just quit football now and focus exclusively on his social media empire. It is funny that everyone has honed in on Tomlin's speech and not that fact that AB had his shirt off for half the video and was also undressing fully. I mean talk about a narcissist but such are the Mills, right?