Patriots 2017 season thread

That draft pick keeps getting worse every week.

more charity from NFL refs.  all started with the "tuck" rule fiasco and here we are all these years later and the refs get intimidated into making another Favorable call for the patriots.  Amazing.

I called that it was a drop when watching it live. It was completely obvious based on what they consider a catch lately.

You do realize that the league suspended Tom Brady for a quarter of a season without any evidence, right? Not to mention that there'd be a lot more holding calls on defenders against Gronk if the league wanted to help the Pats. I mean I agree that the league cheats sometimes but not FOR the Pats. 

I also think that the bolded is the problem with your argument and is the defining scenario in this instance. They are ruling that the ball coming out meant that he didn't have possession, because it's not like a running back who had the ball and ran into the end zone. The TE "caught" the ball and the ball came out in the process of the catch. So they determined that as such, he didn't have possession. I don't agree with the rule, but if they are going to screw over Calvin Johnson, Dez Bryant and the like, then they have to be consistent here. And to be fair to the Steelers, they did have other opportunities to win/tie the game, they were lucky to even be in that situation based on that long catch at the end of the game, and the game really doesn't mean that much anyway because NE showed that they have no problem going into Pittsburgh and facing the Steelers anyway. 

If you watch a lot of football you have seen this rule inforced all the time.  Guy catches ball in back of endzone, gets two feet down but juggles ball going to ground, no TD.  This is a standard rule, nothing like the tuck rule that was almost never called or used.  He was in the action of catching the ball while crossing goal line.  To be considered a RB, he needed to make a football move and take two steps, he didn't do that.  If he catches it at the 5 yard line and runs in, it would have been a TD.

It's weird because the commentators had no clue what was going on.  So we didn't get to watch the 15 angles of it why they reviewed it, but if you watch the videos online.  The evidence is clear, it has to be 100% for them to change the call on the field.  Just some thing else for the cry baby Steeler fans to bring up for the next 20 years.

I think Bill didn't want to trade Jimmy G. before the draft because he wanted to see if Brady was declining after his 40th birthday. If he was, he would then have kept Jimmy and maybe let Brady go after the season. I don't buy Bill suddenly got soft. Once Bill saw that Brady was preforming like his same old self, then he could afford to make the trade. After all, Jimmy would be a free agent after this year and the Pats could not afford to keep them both. So, he made the best deal possible at the last minute. Plus he sent him to an NFC team so Jimmy doesn't come back to haunt him. Jimmy is now in the hands of a good GM and coach, so should do very well. I think NE fans feel good about it. I know I'm rooting for the guy.

The next draft should be interesting. Bill might find a QB for the future with the SF pick and have time to develop him for when Brady retires. I doubt Jimmy would be this good without his time spent in NE, trained by the best coach and QB. So, it all works out in the end. And now it on to Buffalo.

I don't buy the we kept him for insurance because Brady is 40 and because of that some people thought he would just turn into a pumkin. The Patriots said they kept him because they wanted to sign him long-term. That was never going to happen, we talked about this in the offseason. Unless you were ready to franchise him, you most likely weren't going to be able to sign him. Then Brady basically tells Jimmy to move on and they trade him for only a second round pick!

Then reports they wouldn't trade him to Browns, who tried to trade for him 3 times. They wanted him bad. They were willing to trade a 2nd and 3rd for AJ. Now imagine what they would trade for Jimmy? The guy that was there top target all offseason.

If keeping Jimmy was worth turning down the massive Browns offers before the draft, OK. Why not keep him for the rest of the season? Then franchise him and trade him. You are going to get a 2nd round pick, maybe a lot more. If you valued having him for a half of season as insurance so much, why not for the rest of the season? Compared to the cost of trading up in the draft to get a QB, trading for Jimmy would be cheap. The cost of a franchise tag on a QB is nothing, when the Bears are spending 15 million on Glennon type QBs. In this case you are also protected if Brady wins another Superbowl and wants to walk away. It makes zero sense.

Does anyone have any advice on where to park before a Pats game? Trying to jet up north after the game on Sunday to Maine.

Yeah the fullback is dead, for sure. They might as well have a spot for a wingback or some other dead position - it's been stupid to have a dedicated fullback position for a long time now.

Can anyone explain to me how the Poyer interception return for a TD wasn't called back? He was clearly down by contact when he ran into Britt at the 19 yard line.

Excitement in San Francisco. Some quotes about ex-Patriot Garropolo in the Chronicle, and not from the fans or the press, but from players and coaches:






So who does he remind me of? Not Brady, but Aaron Rogers. He seems to have the same knack for scrambling around, the same ability to pin-point receivers while on the move, for cross-body throws. I've always thought of Rogers as having the quickest release I've ever watched on a QB, but you know what? This guy may be even quicker.


The gift that will keep on giving. They're excited on the Bay.

Add: ...he's also got those ++tangibles. Turns out he was mic'ed up for the two-minute drill against the Titans. He can be heard setting up the pass sequence with his receivers, explaining exactly what they can expect and how they can work together to make it happen, and happen it did. I'm certain the 49ers will break the bank to keep him.