My Playoff and Beyond Thoughts.

[IcyPatriot]

I think we have a Super Bowl caliber team with 2 exceptions.

1 - we have a secondary with Rodney Harrison that is playoff material and a secondary that is 8-8 material without Rodney.

2- We have WR's that are 9-7 material now. Had we had Branch, Gabriel, Caldwell we would have had playoff caliber WR's.

Also, I'd like to say we have a Super Bowl and then some caliber running game that is not being utilized. It would be nice to see 1/3 of the running plays with both Corey and Maroney IN THE BACKFIELD TOGETHER.

I would rather see Corey and Maroney miss a pass rather than see Faulk drop or fumble another one. He had small hands when drafted and he still has small hands. RB's with samll hands are not Super Bowl caliber, the DB's are just too damn strong in today's NFL.

If we play the rest of the season with no Rodney and a Chad Jackson that is not ready we have a team capable of winning 1 round in the playoffs....and 50/50 to make it all the way beyond that. In other words I feel we have no better chance to go all the way than the top 4 or 5 teams in the league.

 

[chef]

we still got a good chance to get a first round bye.
Assuming Denver spilt with SD and we beat the Bears and Jax we should get it

 

[Mr NFLfan]

There just seems to be a lot of things that don't add up. Why are we not using Chad Jackson more? As was stated we have a top notch pair of RB's who don't get utilized nearly enough. Is Josh McDaniels left to himself to devise the offensive game plans? What happened to Belichicks standard gray hoodie? Do we have faith in or rookie FG kicker because by the looks of most games thins year we don't seem to want to use him. Instead we go for it on 4th down. I've got to believe that the polish kids percentage has got to be better than going for it. How much is left of the salary cap and what were we saving it for..? Why couldn't the Pats gotten sod the same shade of green as the original grass? What happened to Ken Jr? We picked up a new WR back before the bye week has anyone even seen him? If were not using Dillon or Maroney enough why do we need patrick pass back? Will Miami who beat the bears yesterday make a run at the playoffs now like their fans think they will?

 

[CheerforTom]

we still got a good chance to get a first round bye.
Assuming Denver spilt with SD and we beat the Bears and Jax we should get it

That's what I've been thinking. I think there's a fairly good chance SD takes Denver at least once. Merriman took his suspension without fighting it so as to not miss both Denver games, that tells me they want them bad.

As for the original two items, I think they're both a little pessimistic. Rodney solidified the secondary to be sure, but just judging by last night there was a distinct improvement when he was gone. It was due to the corners playing the receivers tighter and more pressure coming in at Peyton for sure, but the point is Rodney doesn't make the difference you give him, as great as he is. Our wideout corps will be far better than Deion and Givens ever were for us.

It was a bad game. I realize now's not the time to be quoting the media, but I'm with Mike Wilbon when he said today that it was nothing more than a bad game (chiefly by Brady), and that we're still the #2 team in the league.

 

[CheerforTom]

There just seems to be a lot of things that don't add up. Why are we not using Chad Jackson more?

Because despite the TD's so far he's still a rookie WR that Belichick/Brady doesn't want to begin to rely on in tight spots. As much as we don't like it, Jackson's still inconsistent.

Do we have faith in or rookie FG kicker because by the looks of most games thins year we don't seem to want to use him. Instead we go for it on 4th down. I've got to believe that the polish kids percentage has got to be better than going for it.

I was AMAZED when we lined up to go for it at the end of the half. Quite honestly, it was one of the stupidest things I've ever seen BB call (or McDaniels, if you'd rather). We COMPLETELY lucked out on that call and didn't make anything of it anyway.

We picked up a new WR back before the bye week has anyone even seen him?

Gaffney caught a ball against Minnesota. Since then, I think he's either pulled his hamstring or started holding out for a better contract. Maybe both.