The New England Patriots Thread

[Dude]

Tom Brady will...

Throw for ___3650__ yards.
Throw _34_ touchdowns.
Throw 6__ interceptions.
Rush for 38___ yards and 1_ touchdowns.
Complete _64___% of his passes.

The leading receiver (any position) will be: _____dobson______. Yards? ___1100 TDs caught? _9_

The leading running back will be: _________ridley________. Yards? 1200 Rushing 8 TDs.

Defensive Yards Allowed: __300__ per game.
Defensive Points Allowed: __22__ per game.
Interceptions: 12___

Team Record: _12 -_4

Denver at Home: W/L. W
Against the Jets: Win Both, Lose Both, Split (Don't care, but will: __split_)

How will the receivers do in their second year? Better

How many games will Gronkowski play? 11

(Just for the heck of it) Will Mallet ever be traded? If so, when and for what? Not this year

Biggest surprise?

no fumbles for ridley

 

[NEhomer]

______ pouts from Brady

_______ games before Gronk goes down with season ending injury

_______ # of teams that "play their superbowl against the Pats" (In honor of briz)

_______ times Belichick refuses to answer a simple question from the media

_______ number of new rules to protect Brady

_______ prison altercations by Hernandez

_______ times the Patriots get caught cheating

_______ number of anti-Pats threads started at the Hoop

_______ games before it's clear that Brady doesn't have recievers to throw to

 

[BigKen]

Cdumler7 and others.........you laugh at my predictions and yet you think that the Broncos are indestructible.

My belief is based on several factors.

The first is that the Patriots will get back 8 players from the IR. Will they be the same players they were before the injuries? 90-10 that they will be close to the same.

The second is that the defense will be significantly improved with the addition of Revis and Browner at DB. The Pats replaced Spikes in the middle with Hightower and Collins will fulltime on the outside. Add to that the signing of James Anderson of the Bear (105 tackles, 6 sacks in 2013) and the linebackers are improved.

Hence, the defense will be markedly better than the group of players in 2013 that finished the season. Oh. yeah and with 8 guys off the street and practice squad they lost the AFC Championship Game. What's not to like?

On offense, it appears that everyone has put Brady in a wheelchair and is ready to roll him into the old players home. Odd thing is that everyone seems to forget that this team that lost the AFC Championship Game did so with 4 of their starting offensive linemen out of the championship game. The only starter playing was Nate Solder. Mankins was injured and replaced by a guy named Kline. Wendell was a replacement center who had moved from guard. The right guard was guy named White and the right guard was Marcus Cannon who was a converted guard. Brady was playing behind a picket fence and not a solid wall. He also had a limited number of targets. Edelman was his only unhurt regular. Amendola had a torn groin but was playing at 50%. Brady had no tight end, basically leaving him to scramble (not very good at that) and hand off to the running backs.

All of the above may seem like excuses, but if the Patriots were at 100%, or close to the same team thatwas on the field in October 2013, the AFC Championship would have been much closer or possibly reversed.

The 2014 Patriots will be a much improved team and the players signed are players who are on the field 16 games. I'd be willing to wage that Talib doesn't make it through 16 games for Denver.......considering he hasn't played 16 games in the past four years.

 

[cdumler7]

I guess if you are going to call me out I might as well respond. I'm not arguing with you of whether the Patriots will be improved this year. I'm arguing with what you put because the numbers you provided were just off the charts ridiculous.


First off you are predicting Brady to almost have his career year when he probably has his worst set of weapons in a long time. If Gronk were healthy I could maybe see being ok with that but I'm guessing it won't be till about half way through the season before he is close to 100%. You have him setting career highs in rushing touchdowns plus then 2nd highest total in passing touchdowns while setting his single season highest in total touchdowns. That is asking a lot from even Tom Brady at this point especially considering they are becoming more of a power run style team.


Then your 208 yards per game prediction is just ludicrous. Seattle this past year put together one of the greatest defensive seasons since the 2000 Ravens. You have New England blowing them out of the water by almost 70 yards on defense. The 15 points per game is another that is pretty darn impressive.


Again I don't have a problem with you predicting New England to be a great team as I have them as one of the 2 best teams in the AFC right. My problem is with your predictions of especially how great the defense will be. I mean you are talking about having a legendary defense and I'm sorry but the likelihood of that happening is like .5% if that.


Now your whole list of players that got injured I could give you just as long of one for the Broncos when they played New England in the Championship game. Injuries are a part of the game. You can't expect that the Patriots are all going to stay healthy once again just like I don't expect the Broncos to stay healthy once again. They will both lose key players (hopefully not as many as last year) at some point this season.


Also I think you are overestimating the ability of Browner. Seattle's defense helps Cornerbacks to bet set up for success. Look at what happened when they lost him for the year in their defense actually improved statistically.

 

[melmaan]

Unless that #1 pick turns out to be ALL THAT.... the Dominique Easley projection for D-player of the year may not be so farfetched.... He's got a lot of old time MAD Dog in im!
A great player w/ some real Nasty on a team that will have the spotlight on them.
Here's hoping he's healthy

 

[JDM]

I'm excited. This team was in the AFC Championship with 3 first team all pros on IR. Add the best corner in the game (though not an enormous upgrade at the position ignoring health; Revis is also much more durable), get our stars back, and we'll be back there again. From there anything can happen, especially with Brady behind center.

 

[JDM]

I do think the defense has every bit of the talent necessary to be elite.

 

[Southieinnc]

I do think the defense has every bit of the talent necessary to be elite.

Uh-oh. You said the E-word. I happen to agree. We could have a dominating defense......

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Cdumler, I was just about to comment on Big Ken being a big homer but then vegas above takes the trophy!

I think we can all expect the Pats to be solid again. I have always envied Revis being on the Jets so I'm hoping he pans out. The NFL is so awesome just because nothing can be predicted. On that day, no way could your Broncs have beaten Seattle. Played the very next week, they could have won handily as Russell tosses four pics...you just can't tell till they play the game.

I see no need to go out on limbs and predict shit. I hope Brady stays healthy, things gel at the right time and they win it all again. I sure as hell won't predict that though.

Yes sports can be unpredictable... But Rusell Wilson is not throwing 4 picks the next week if they played again... I'd put 10,000 on it...

 

[cdumler7]

Yes sports can be unpredictable... But Rusell Wilson is not throwing 4 picks the next week if they played again... I'd put 10,000 on it...

First off my guess is he was being a bit sarcastic. What he was trying to get across was the idea that from week to week you just never quite know what is going to happen. Wilson could have had a bad game the next week. And heck you never know 4 interceptions is not completely out of the realm of happening. I mean in his 2 years in the league he did have a 0 touchdown 3 interception game. Even the legends in the NFL have all had 4 interception games at one point in their career. So yes 95% of the time you would probably be just perfectly fine putting down that $10,000 and not worrying about losing it but eventually Wilson is going to have that bad of a game.

 

[NEhomer]

If Seattle fans thing their team, and Russell in particular, is going to shred each team they face this year like that SB performance, they're indeed delusional.

There's a reason why it's been eight years since a returning SB team has even won a playoff game.

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

First off my guess is he was being a bit sarcastic. What he was trying to get across was the idea that from week to week you just never quite know what is going to happen. Wilson could have had a bad game the next week. And heck you never know 4 interceptions is not completely out of the realm of happening. I mean in his 2 years in the league he did have a 0 touchdown 3 interception game. Even the legends in the NFL have all had 4 interception games at one point in their career. So yes 95% of the time you would probably be just perfectly fine putting down that $10,000 and not worrying about losing it but eventually Wilson is going to have that bad of a game.

Wilson mentally is as prepared as any qb I've ever watched ... Not saying he can't have a bad game in his career because like you said they all do... BUT you put Wilson in a big game and he's not gonna choke it away... Like I said I'd throw the bank at that one... Wilson threw 9 picks all year long and some of those picks weren't on him but receivers pooching catches and hanging them up to be picked... He's amazingly efficient ... Without Wilson even with our good D Seattle is not playing in the Super Bowl...

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

If Seattle fans thing their team, and Russell in particular, is going to shred each team they face this year like that SB performance, they're indeed delusional.

There's a reason why it's been eight years since a returning SB team has even won a playoff game.

Young Patriots team did it... Why can't a young Seattle team... ? There sitting nicely right now with everything still intact... So we'll see... And I don't think Seattle fans thinks there gonna shred every team they face...

 

[cdumler7]

Young Patriots team did it... Why can't a young Seattle team... ? There sitting nicely right now with everything still intact... So we'll see... And I don't think Seattle fans thinks there gonna shred every team they face...

Well few things...Russell Wilson is not Tom Brady. Wilson has been good up to this point in his career but he is still nowhere near HOF type level.

Second: The Patriots had both a top 5 or so defense with one of the greatest offenses the NFL has ever seen. Seattle while having a good offense, I wouldn't put them top-5. They are greatly helped by the defense giving them short fields and knowing they don't have to score big time to win.

Third: The Patriots had great injury luck in that season. It is hard to have everything fall into place like that. This is why the undefeated record is so darn hard to break.

 

[MHSL82]

Some of the teams I am going to break their schedules down into groups. It's subjective and team dependent. A gimme for the Pats are tough games for the dwellers. Some have added divisional motivation/familiarity. I was tempted to just make one group "division foes" but that's not good for hedging my predictive bets, IMO. Here goes, in the following post. (Give me some time, if I don't get back soon, I'm busy.)

I might get more specific later for some teams if I feel like it. For now, it's just general.

Join in, if you'd like... Or correct me.

 

[HaroldSeattle]

Well few things...Russell Wilson is not Tom Brady. Wilson has been good up to this point in his career but he is still nowhere near HOF type level.

Second: The Patriots had both a top 5 or so defense with one of the greatest offenses the NFL has ever seen. Seattle while having a good offense, I wouldn't put them top-5. They are greatly helped by the defense giving them short fields and knowing they don't have to score big time to win.

Third: The Patriots had great injury luck in that season. It is hard to have everything fall into place like that. This is why the undefeated record is so darn hard to break.

I believe he's referring to Tom Bradys second SB win. TB 2001 stats and RW 2013 stats are really close if you compare them. Back then the Pats had a good defense and Tom wasn't expected to carry the team.

 

[SonnyCID]

Well few things...Russell Wilson is not Tom Brady. Wilson has been good up to this point in his career but he is still nowhere near HOF type level.

Second: The Patriots had both a top 5 or so defense with one of the greatest offenses the NFL has ever seen. Seattle while having a good offense, I wouldn't put them top-5. They are greatly helped by the defense giving them short fields and knowing they don't have to score big time to win.

Third: The Patriots had great injury luck in that season. It is hard to have everything fall into place like that. This is why the undefeated record is so darn hard to break.

Brady wasn't HOF caliber after his first SB either.

Wilson is just as good as Brady was at this same point in his career.

 

[ram29jackson]

Patriots are going to suck this year at least compared to the last 10 years

 

[JDM]

Patriots are going to suck this year at least compared to the last 10 years

Based on?


They swapped revis for Talib, lost Blount and spikes, and that's about it. They get back 3 first team all pros from IR to a team that went to the AFC championship without them

 

[ram29jackson]

Based on?


They swapped revis for Talib, lost Blount and spikes, and that's about it. They get back 3 first team all pros from IR to a team that went to the AFC championship without them

Based on its the offseason and upseting homerific fans is fun