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Post by FenwayFanatic on Jan 8, 2016 20:34:09 GMT -5
Betting markets still give the Patriots as good of odds as anyone. Lots of other teams have injuries too. I'm not as confident as I was last year but we got a shot.
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Post by mgoetze on Jan 9, 2016 6:22:24 GMT -5
Director of Pro Scouting Bob Quinn to be hired as GM of the Detroit Lions per Adam Schefter.
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Post by FenwayFanatic on Jan 9, 2016 12:23:38 GMT -5
The Browns are interviewing Matt Patricia per WEEI.
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Post by mgoetze on Jan 9, 2016 15:59:24 GMT -5
The Browns are interviewing Matt Patricia per WEEI. I wouldn't touch that job with a 10-foot pole, but hey, maybe he can get a raise from the Pats. |
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Post by ibsmith85 on Jan 10, 2016 0:08:28 GMT -5
What a disgrace the Bengals are!!!
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Post by philarhody on Jan 10, 2016 0:14:24 GMT -5
The New England Patriots are going to destroy the Kansas City Chiefs next week. You heard it here first.
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mobaz
Veteran
Posts: 3,044
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Post by mobaz on Jan 10, 2016 7:55:42 GMT -5
The New England Patriots are going to destroy the Kansas City Chiefs next week. You heard it here first. Only if they can keep Brady upright for 3 seconds at a time... |
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Post by Don Caballero on Jan 10, 2016 16:17:19 GMT -5
The New England Patriots are going to destroy the Kansas City Chiefs next week. You heard it here first. I think they will win but Kansas is quietly a great team. You shouldn't expect a blowout. |
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Post by philarhody on Jan 10, 2016 16:18:39 GMT -5
The New England Patriots are going to destroy the Kansas City Chiefs next week. You heard it here first. I think they will win but Kansas is quietly a great team. You shouldn't expect a blowout. I wouldn't have predicted it if it was expected! |
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Post by rjp313jr on Jan 11, 2016 10:20:02 GMT -5
The way I look at it is it's all about health. We know the guys will be on the field but are they healthy?
Are Hightower, McCourty and Chung able to play to their fullest effectiveness? If so, the defense is going to be very good. Logan Ryan will be better with those players playing well and Matt Patricia will have more freedom to get after the quarterbacks.
Are Julian Edelman and Volmer healthy? Give Brady a little more time and Edelman gets open quicker. Edelman also free's up Gronk and Amendola. Amendola is great as the third option but is easier to shut down as the 2nd. White and the running backs should also get more freedom.
IF these guys are able to play to their capabilities or close to it then the Pats will win this weekend and win the following weekend. If not, they lose Saturday and it goes down as an awful year.
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Post by geostorm on Jan 11, 2016 20:46:37 GMT -5
Here's an eval by ProFootballFocus, which I largely agree with - www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/01/10/pro-everything-you-need-to-know-for-the-patriots-chiefs-matchup/As for the observation regarding lack of NE pass rush on non-passing downs...losing DEasley was underrated, in that respect, and the pickup of Hicks helped mitigate that, and Branch's play (and Malcolm Brown's play) seems to have stepped, up in Easley's absence, but, boy, had been anticipating that 4 man interior DL rotation to really crank it up, a la SEA DL in 2013, for the playoffs... ...and with, Sheard, to my eyes, the most effective edge rusher, though on far more limited reps. rotating w/ Chandler & Ninko, on the edge...that is a match-up where I could see Sheard's reps dialed up ...and KC tackle like EFisher v Sheard (esp) & CJones, is as critical as Houston v Cannon/RT, and tied into Houston's health, which seemed far from 100% last week, as they worked Houston in for about 2/3 of DEF snaps v Texans. |
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Post by philarhody on Jan 11, 2016 23:45:13 GMT -5
Are Hightower, McCourty and Chung able to play to their fullest effectiveness? This Chief's offense is horrible. They finished 26th in the league in total offense WITH Jeremy Maclin. The key to this game? Don't give a putrid offense good field position through turnovers. There was one main reason why the Chiefs were successful this season: turnover differential. And there was only one team that turned the ball over less than the Chiefs this year: your New England Patriots |
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Post by voiceofreason on Jan 12, 2016 12:40:01 GMT -5
Final score Pats 24-13, could be even lower scoring. Pats D needs to stop the run and keep a spy on Smith. It kills a D when they hold the O to small gains on 1st and 2nd leading to third and 7+ but then let the Qb run for a 1st, can't let that happen. It leads to 3,4 extra first downs a game and keeps drives alive, contain Smith. Take Kelcie out of the equation on passing downs and maybe match Butler up with whoever is there best wr playing. If Macklin plays he won't be 100% so maybe its not him. Butler Island.
On O, just let Tom spread it out and do what he does best. Get it out quickly and quietly move the ball down the field. I think and hope Edelman has been kept out longer than he really needed. He and Tom have been putting in extra time on the side to be ready for this moment. Obviously the elephant in the room is the O-line, we will just have to wait and see if there will be any type of running game.
After looking at how pedestrian the Chiefs O has been, this game doesn't scare me so much.
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Post by mgoetze on Jan 13, 2016 11:46:59 GMT -5
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Post by nexus on Jan 13, 2016 14:46:24 GMT -5
Final score Pats 24-13, could be even lower scoring. Pats D needs to stop the run and keep a spy on Smith. It kills a D when they hold the O to small gains on 1st and 2nd leading to third and 7+ but then let the Qb run for a 1st, can't let that happen. It leads to 3,4 extra first downs a game and keeps drives alive, contain Smith. Take Kelcie out of the equation on passing downs and maybe match Butler up with whoever is there best wr playing. If Macklin plays he won't be 100% so maybe its not him. Butler Island. On O, just let Tom spread it out and do what he does best. Get it out quickly and quietly move the ball down the field. I think and hope Edelman has been kept out longer than he really needed. He and Tom have been putting in extra time on the side to be ready for this moment. Obviously the elephant in the room is the O-line, we will just have to wait and see if there will be any type of running game. After looking at how pedestrian the Chiefs O has been, this game doesn't scare me so much. But that's been the story all year, really. It just wasn't as big of a story until the Pats were forced to morph into a different offensive team following the Lewis & Edelman injuries. With Edelman back and presumably healthy, I am confident the team goes back to being maybe 90% of what they were when they started the year - which might be enough to win it all at this stage of the season when many teams are banged up. The key, for me, is the health of the front 7 and safeties. They have proven to be effective against the run, so it's unleashing their stars (Collins, Hightower, Jones, and Sheard) to make plays. I do not recall many games where those four were healthy and on the field at the same time, so it will be interesting to watch. This KC team is sneaky good, though. They remind me of the 2001 Pats. No big offensive stars, sometimes win ugly, but built well defensively, force turnovers, and do not make stupid mistakes. |
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Post by FenwayFanatic on Jan 13, 2016 23:36:57 GMT -5
Every team seems to have some big injuries, except Denver which idk if they have the QB to win. Its not 2000 rules anymore where you can win with a below average QB with a great defense.
KC has Houston and Maclin banged up as well as an injured o line and running backs. We all know about Pitt. Arizona lost the Honey Badger the Seahawks lost Graham and some RBs. The Panthers lost some guys on their defense too.
We lost lewis blount and solder for the season and have a lot of guys not at 100% but look at Pittsburgh, they're totally screwed.
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Post by jimed14 on Jan 14, 2016 10:13:53 GMT -5
It's pretty insane that synthetic marijuana is legal but the real deal isn't. |
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Post by mgoetze on Jan 15, 2016 3:24:07 GMT -5
We might yet lose McDaniels or Patricia, reportedly Jim Caldwell has not yet been told that he is safe and Quinn "apparently has a wish list containing none of the names that other teams have seriously considered" (per PFT). Also, Gronk apparently has a back injury as well.  |
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Post by rjp313jr on Jan 15, 2016 9:30:16 GMT -5
It's pretty insane that synthetic marijuana is legal but the real deal isn't. It makes sense because it's so new. That will change. |
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Post by rjp313jr on Jan 15, 2016 9:32:55 GMT -5
Here's an eval by ProFootballFocus, which I largely agree with - www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2016/01/10/pro-everything-you-need-to-know-for-the-patriots-chiefs-matchup/As for the observation regarding lack of NE pass rush on non-passing downs...losing DEasley was underrated, in that respect, and the pickup of Hicks helped mitigate that, and Branch's play (and Malcolm Brown's play) seems to have stepped, up in Easley's absence, but, boy, had been anticipating that 4 man interior DL rotation to really crank it up, a la SEA DL in 2013, for the playoffs... ...and with, Sheard, to my eyes, the most effective edge rusher, though on far more limited reps. rotating w/ Chandler & Ninko, on the edge...that is a match-up where I could see Sheard's reps dialed up ...and KC tackle like EFisher v Sheard (esp) & CJones, is as critical as Houston v Cannon/RT, and tied into Houston's health, which seemed far from 100% last week, as they worked Houston in for about 2/3 of DEF snaps v Texans. The pats scheme isn't to just let pass rushers loose especially on non-passing downs. The loss of Easily was huge but under-rated because, rightfully, people realized that there are way worse players to lose than him. |
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Post by FenwayFanatic on Jan 15, 2016 10:18:29 GMT -5
The Gronk thing scares me.
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Post by jimed14 on Jan 16, 2016 16:43:28 GMT -5
The Pats are a completely different team with Amendola and Edelman out there.
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Post by ray88h66 on Jan 16, 2016 16:44:48 GMT -5
And that's why the last few games meant nothing.
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Post by philarhody on Jan 16, 2016 17:32:34 GMT -5
Dan Fouts is so biased it's laughable.
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Post by chavopepe2 on Jan 16, 2016 18:07:32 GMT -5
Dan Fouts is so biased it's laughable. It's a complete joke listening to him call this game. |
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