And that was the smartest thing they could ever do. Full Tanking, just give up and accumulate until the Brady era is over.
I halfway wonder if your shitsbhurgers are doing the same damn thing while building Ben’s monument/effigy simultaneously
Hope springs eternal.
True - but he’s cultivated a habit of occasionally playing like one.
There can’t be a lot of fans outside New England who are real happy today about the message the Steelers (widely considered a quality team) have delivered as to the Patriots’ 2019 prospects.
It’s not mere hope, it’s thinking your team is going to win because you like them. It’s psychologically interesting.
I wasn’t wrong. That was upsetting AF.
I watched that live during the game and couldn’t believe I saw it. It’s like something you’d see in a wacky sports comedy, not a real NFL game.
Oh that was painful. I keep telling myself it’s only the first game, but my god, what the FUCK?
And of course, there are fans out there saying that it’s our fault for not keeping Brown. Da’hell? (Seriously, there are people saying we should’ve kept him)
Dan and Art are rolling in their graves.
Seriously, though. It’s like the line in Catch Me If You Can about the Yankees. Nobody can keep their eyes off the pinstripes. Teams go up against the Patriots and they’re all hyped up and they have this great plan, and then they see the logo and it’s over. The Patriots don’t do anything special, which makes you wonder why they can do it but nobody else can. It was one trick play, one or two deep passes, and a whole bunch of Edelman across the middle. Every game it’s the same thing, and NOBODY CAN STOP IT. They’re getting used up by an average-sized white boy who couldn’t even get off the bench in college, that nobody wanted and everybody passed on 6 times, who’s now Methuselah in football years.
I’ve been watching it for years, and I can’t figure it out, but I don’t feel bad about that because the guys who get paid to figure it out can’t either. It simply blows the mind.
I think you’re underestimating Belichick. You don’t have 16 seasons in a row of 10+ wins (even in the weakest division) if people are just intimidated by your reputation. He analyzes teams and is a genius at developing a style of play to beat that team. Most teams have a style they stick to; heavy passing, heavy running, blitz a lot, use trick plays, man/zone coverage, and so on. The Patriots don’t, they change every week to become the team that will beat you. That means they often don’t look like a great team. They look bland because they don’t have some cool thing that wows you every game. They are like putty that is reshaped constantly. Putty is boring and unimpressive. New England just wins. Brady seems to execute those plans well, also, so he deserves some credit. He’s a big part of why they’ve been so good for so long even if his stats aren’t always beating the other QBs. Like Belichick, he just wins.
The last Super Bowl was a perfect example. They had a game plan that was invented to beat LA on offense and defense. They forced Goff to improvise and think and make decisions, and gambled on him being a so-so QB who follows good schemes and can’t save a play on his own, and it worked. They restricted them to 3 points. They looked weak doing it, and in my eyes it was a lousy, dull game. But they won and won solidly. That’s what the Patriots do.
I think one reason why they aren’t a popular team is because they aren’t that exciting outside of winning a lot. If you are a fan of the team you have to love having your wagon hitched to a constant winner. But if you’re not, you tend to not have much reason to enjoy their games. Generally the other team in any given game is more fun and you want to see them win instead.
…Plus, odds are they probably beat your team some time in the recent past and you might resent them for that, since they win so much. As a Seahawks fan I doubt it’s hard to guess why I have a tinge of resentment toward them.
The best example of this is Super Bowl XXXIX, against the Eagles, in February 2005. The Patriots had always been a 4-3 defense team, but in between the AFC title game and the Super Bowl, they transformed themselves in pre-SB practice into becoming a 3-4 defense. Most teams would never try to change horses mid-stream like that.
I agree about Darth Hood. On SNF one of the two coaches had analyzed the last game, watched ton of film, and extrapolated what the absence of certain personnel meant for the likely plays. The other coach went for a field goal when down 20 points at 4th and goal near the end of the first half. New England plays you, specifically, when you play them. And Brady is a machine, with all the appeal of a robot, but also the near zero error rate.
Very good analysis by Atamasama.
I concur. It was also about the best defensive performance ever in a Super Bowl, unforeseen by the ‘experts’.
Finally a touchdown for the Stillers. After 75 minutes of regular season football. Apparently we can get it in if we start on the 22 and the other guys make 2 critical mistakes.
The Mason Rudolph era begins with a nice pass dropped and intercepted.
Damn it all to hell.
Montcrief, good grief.
I did NOT expect the season to start 0-2. I don’t know what the deal is with Moncrief, but that drop and interception doomed them.
On the plus side, and there is one even at 0-2, Mason Rudolph looked very much like the future. He didn’t make a single mistake outside of throwing the ball to Stone Hands. He definitely validated the faith the team put on him and made trading Dobbs an easy choice. He looked confident when Ben did not.
Damn, I wanted a win out of that. But it’s a long season, so I’m not panicked yet.
As a Seattle fan of course I was not rooting for the Steelers, but after a while I was rooting for Rudolph. He was good. I think Pittsburgh fans should be encouraged by his play, as Ben gets older. Rudolph could be a really good QB, he showed a lot of poise and athleticism, even patience when having a defender bearing down at him unblocked. As a second year player that’s impressive.
It’s even more than that. He wasn’t active for any games last year. This was his first game action of any kind out of the preseason. They said he was raw and talented but needed development time, which usually translates to “career backup at best”. He looked very much like a bonafide NFL quarterback today.
I didn’t watch the game but I heard mention that Roethlisberger was injured and left the game. Is it serious?