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NFL 2014 Week 5 |OT| The Week of Embarrassment and the Fall of an Empire

brentech

Member
Yeah I saw PDS vine tweets on Twitter. He was doing what we haven't been getting from the NT spot: taking up multiple blockers and freeing up our ILB's,

Just signing Packers defensive players....

Yea. At best, you basically hope he just holds his ground and doesn't allow his guy to get to the next level.
Unfortunately for the Packers, even if he did that, it didn't matter because of what was behind him. So it just didn't matter if it was him or anyone else playing the part.
For the Packers, you might as well plug in a younger, cheaper player if neither of them can actually push guys back.
 

Dragon

Banned
Why didnt you say this in the offseason when Bionic and myself where saying he was going to have a down year?

Or last year when he was already playing bad

I pointed out he isn't good anymore last year multiple times. Hell just look at his Y/A.

YH, you argued that the Patriots were going to have a down year, and finish with a worse record than the Eagles. They certainly could but it's 1/4 way into the season. Jerk yourself off all you want, but there's a lot of football left.

MVP?

It'd be nice if he could at least play better than Geno Smith.

There are a lot of things that would be nice, like a nice cold beer right about now. Oh well.
 

BigAT

Member
"The bottom line is that he is a 37 year old quarterback, and one playing behind arguably the worst offensive line he has ever had to deal with. Anyone expecting him to play at his MVP best is sipping a special kind of kool-aid."

Yep.

That statement works without even mentioning the O-line.
 
I pointed out he isn't good anymore last year multiple times. Hell just look at his Y/A.

YH, you argued that the Patriots were going to have a down year, and finish with a worse record than the Eagles. They certainly could but it's 1/4 way into the season. Jerk yourself off all you want, but there's a lot of football left.



There are a lot of things that would be nice, like a nice cold beer right about now. Oh well.

I am not even talking about our bet. Many times I said that Brady was in decline, that is a big part of why I thought the Pats would have a down year this year. Every time I said that many Pats fans disagreed with me, I am just curious that you seem to have no problems now admitting that we shouldnt expect him to play at a high level but that didnt seem to be the sentiment at all before the season started.
 

bionic77

Member
Why didnt you say this in the offseason when Bionic and myself where saying he was going to have a down year?
All these articles basically say that if Brady has 5 seconds to throw the ball and his players get 4 yards of separation he can still put up good stats.

That sounds like a true hall of fame player to me!!!

Give me a break!

Who in the NFL couldn't succeed with time to throw the ball and receivers that get open*? Hell I am sure there are high school players that could succeed if they were given that cushion.

* Blaine Gabbert is the only one that I could think of in recent memory.
 

Dragon

Banned
I am not even talking about our bet. Many times I said that Brady was in decline, that is a big part of why I thought the Pats would have a down year this year. Every time I said that many Pats fans disagreed with me, I am just curious that you seem to have no problems now admitting that we shouldnt expect him to play at a high level but that didnt seem to be the sentiment at all before the season started.

Find me a post during the offseason where I outlined that I thought Brady was going to continue to play at a high level. Otherwise not really sure what else to say about it that I haven't already said.
 

MechDX

Member
All these articles basically say that if Brady has 5 seconds to throw the ball and his players get 4 yards of separation he can still put up good stats.

That sounds like a true hall of fame player to me!!!

Give me a break!

Who in the NFL couldn't succeed with time to throw the ball and receivers that get open*? Hell I am sure there are high school players that could succeed if they were given that cushion.

* Blaine Gabbert is the only one that I could think of in recent memory.

schaub.jpg
 

Kacar

Member
Going to the Browns game this weekend we better win now.

Will be like my 10th game or so at the Titans stadium.
 

BigAT

Member
And most people can still read sentences even when you remove every other letter from the equation.

What the fuck? What type of a response is that? I mean that Brady's age alone is enough explanation alone for his decline, the O-line doesn't even need to be brought into the conversation.
 

manfestival

Member
I believe we could have beaten the kittens and rams if we had lord glennon at the helm. Defense was shifty but its no excuse to be so lackluster and making horrible on the offensive side of the ball. The run game was ok in game 1 and was good on game two. yet were completely unable to get anything going in the air. Which shows how bad mcclown is.
 

eznark

Banned
I am not even talking about our bet. Many times I said that Brady was in decline, that is a big part of why I thought the Pats would have a down year this year. Every time I said that many Pats fans disagreed with me, I am just curious that you seem to have no problems now admitting that we shouldnt expect him to play at a high level but that didnt seem to be the sentiment at all before the season started.

The standard Bawston delusional narrative was "he was shitty in 2013 because Gronk and Amendola were hurt!"

Sure.

Brady has just been completely unable to adapt to his rapidly declining physical abilities. Unlike Manning, Marino and Elway who went from big arms to precision arms, Brady never had a great arm so once his Pennington turned into a Skelton, he was truly and completely fucked.
 

Bowser

Member
I believe we could have beaten the kittens and rams if we had lord glennon at the helm. Defense was shifty but its no excuse to be so lackluster and making horrible on the offensive side of the ball. The run game was ok in game 1 and was good on game two. yet were completely unable to get anything going in the air. Which shows how bad mcclown is.

lol what? Yeah that FB busted that one 54 yard run against us, but besides that we shut your run game down all day. The other 16 carries yielded a total of 48 yards.
 
The receivers aren't helping at all. Barely any separation.

The other thing you’ll hear people say about Brady is that the receivers just aren’t getting open. This is an argument brought to you by people not watching the tape. The Patriots are working with a stable of largely unheralded receivers, and Brady’s numbers are down…but unfortunately on this occasion 2+2=17.

A quick scan of the PFF database threw up multiple instances of Brady just missing open receivers.


You can find a snapshot like that of most quarterbacks, but the point isn’t so much that he is missing receivers but that they are wide open in the first place. He may not be working with Wes Welker and Randy Moss, but Brady isn’t struggling because his receivers can’t get open. Often times they’re open and waiting for the ball that is too late arriving.

Check this pass (top left of the image above). Brady had Edelman breaking towards the sideline and looking for the ball in acres of space. The pass should already be in the air when he looks for it, but it’s not.

Instead of hitting him as soon as he comes out of his break Brady was late enough to lead him all the way to the numbers and allow the cornerback Sean Smith a play on the ball. Had the pass been there on time Smith would have been nowhere near it and Edelman would have had room to work after the catch, instead it’s broken up and incomplete.

If you're not going to bother reading the article
.
 

Dragon

Banned
What the fuck? What type of a response is that? I mean that Brady's age alone is enough explanation alone for his decline, the O-line doesn't even need to be brought into the conversation.

Age isn't the sole reason the Patriots offense is struggling though. Your point was specious (I like this word). So I responded with a non sequitur. Their offensive line is a problem. Brady is bad, but he wouldn't be as bad without the struggles of the offensive line. They can't run the ball and the Patriots have always had a pretty balanced running game.

The standard Bawston delusional narrative was "he was shitty in 2013 because Gronk and Amendola were hurt!"

Sure.

Brady has just been completely unable to adapt to his rapidly declining physical abilities. Unlike Manning, Marino and Elway who went from big arms to precision arms, Brady never had a great arm so once his Pennington turned into a Skelton, he was truly and completely fucked.

Brady had a great arm, not sure why you think otherwise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUGj5qQFnnc obviously that was back in 2008, six years ago, but c'mon.
 

Tom Penny

Member
The standard Bawston delusional narrative was "he was shitty in 2013 because Gronk and Amendola were hurt!"

Sure.

Brady has just been completely unable to adapt to his rapidly declining physical abilities. Unlike Manning, Marino and Elway who went from big arms to precision arms, Brady never had a great arm so once his Pennington turned into a Skelton, he was truly and completely fucked.

He threw for 4800 yards and 34/8 TD's the year before...then lost Welker, Lloyd, Hernandez and Gronk for nearly the whole season. It's strange you don't see a correlation...
 

Bread

Banned
What the fuck? What type of a response is that? I mean that Brady's age alone is enough explanation alone for his decline, the O-line doesn't even need to be brought into the conversation.
But someone like Brady whose decision making only got better as the years went on has been effected immensely by the o-line. When he was given time to throw in the first half against the Dolphins, no one was talking about how terrible he was.

On Monday the line wasn't giving him shit, and he was forcing throws. He missed some throws too, no doubt, but I really think it's too early to call him cooked based off of a few games with a shit o-line.
 

Fantomex

Member
Pats fans gotta choose someone to blame and are completely torn. You either have to pick Brady for playing bad or blame it on Bellichick for not building a good team. One of their heroes is screwed, they just don't know who to put it on.
 
Houston's PFF grade -0.1

Tuck's PFF grade: +6.7


Most of these old guys Reggie brought in aren't playing bad. Problem is scheme and gameplan.
 
Pats fans gotta choose someone to blame and are completely torn. You either have to pick Brady for playing bad or blame it on Bellichick for not building a good team. One of their heroes is screwed, they just don't know who to put it on.
We've said that Brady has played bad and needs to play better and we've said that Belichick should've gotten more help.
 

Dragon

Banned
Pats fans gotta choose someone to blame and are completely torn. You either have to pick Brady for playing bad or blame it on Bellichick for not building a good team. One of their heroes is screwed, they just don't know who to put it on.

I blame Belichick for his drafting and handling of the offensive line, secondary and wide receivers. Not to mention how slow as fuck our linebackers are besides Jamie Collins.

Brady declining is only exacerbated by the problems around him.
 

eznark

Banned
He threw for 4800 yards and 34/8 TD's the year before...then lost Welker, Lloyd, Hernandez and Gronk for nearly the whole season. It's strange you don't see a correlation...

Because everything in 2012 was a decline from 2011, aside from a better interception rate. It was clear he was in decline 4 years ago. He has gotten progressively worse every year since 2010. Yeah in two of those years he had good numbers, he is one of the greatest QB's of all time so his initial down years are relative.
 

Crisco

Banned
Brady is 37, of course he's declined, but you can't really evaluate his overall effectiveness with the o-line and receivers he's playing with. When Brandon LaFell is your big FA pickup, that's trouble.
 

BigAT

Member
Honestly, what did people think was going to happen trading away your All Pro guard a week before the season started? Even if you had a decent replacement lined up, trying to build chemistry on the line (which is an underrated aspect of line play) in that amount of time is a near impossible task.
 

Bread

Banned
wtf @ that thread where the dude literally could not bring himself to eat cauliflower and chicken thighs, so he went to mcdonalds. that's unbelievable.

Remember when the pats were irrelevant for like 30 years? It's about to to happen again :D
says a dolphins fan

how long has it been since they were relevant? 40 years?
 

Kastrioti

Persecution Complex
The Lions could easily blow things, as they did last year when they were 3-1 at this time as well. That being said I think this year's team is a lot better than last year.

Looking at the schedule, we could easily be 5-1 going into the Saints game at home in week 7; that game no longer looks like a sure-fire loss btw.

We'll get some much needed help in the second half of the season as players get healthier (secondary, Kyle Van Noy, etc) and return. I think we have a CHANCE at the playoffs, not guaranteeing shit because this is still the Detroit Lions. As long as we at least split the series with Chicago we'll be in good position.

I know we Lion fans have had heartbreak, despair, letdown for the last 50 years. The past is the past and it's something we have to forget about. We are young, talented, have depth and are well coached this time around.

Like I preached during the offseason, a changing of the guard would be taking place starting this season. Guys like Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning, Eli Manning are old and are already, if not close to, approaching the end of their careers.

The QB position is becoming a little more mobile but the most important thing is what happens in the pocket. You have to be able to read defenses and audible if necessary on you're own call not the coaches, stand in the pocket and make reads and sling that ball Brent style to be successful.

Out of the young QBs in the league only Aaron Rodgers, Matthew Stafford, Matt Ryan and Andrew Luck can do those things at a high level like Peyton or Tom did back in the day. Russell Wilson is a hell of a QB but that ring was mostly due to the team around him.

Teams that draft guys like Geno Smith or Johnny Manziel are doomed to fail because that type of QB play that worked in college will not be a long term success in the NFL. In college they were not forced to audible based on what the defense showed and won't be able to scramble two seconds into the play.

I'd put Aaron above Stafford out of those four QBs I listed but the Lions are much more talented and have more depth than the Packers do. Plus the NFC is actually weaker than I thought it would be due to the decline of the 49ers, Saints and Panthers. In most power rankings the only two NFC teams above us are the Seahawks and Cardinals. I have no idea why anyone would rank the Cardinals ahead of us and the Seahawks are the defending champs. I think the Cardinals are ranked ahead of us because they're 3-0 in the overrated NFC West. No way a Carson Palmer or Drew Stanton led team makes any noise in the playoffs, if they even get their (Seahawks will win the NFC West).

This year and the year to follow are different. We're not the Lolions anymore and have confidence, youth and talent. I know we're only 1/4th into the season but you can generally see who will be relevant late into the season.

1800380_10152692715853605_5802399884749320152_n.jpg


slay-front-092814.jpg
 

Fantomex

Member
First one to the bench: Brady or Tannehill?



hey now the Pats were in the Super Bowl in 1985. Yes they got completely and utterly curb stomped by the Bears but they were there.


Tannehill will probably not get benched. Matt Moore is not really much better. He has a weaker arm and less mobility. Brady is only getting benched if he's hurt. no way Bill wants that storm coming down on him from Bawstonians
 
Death knell for Pats:

So this is how the New England Patriots dynasty dies: with thunderous applause.

With apologies to Star Wars' Emperor Palpatine, Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is the most feared hooded ruler in American entertainment. He's built a dynasty spanning 13 years, during which time the Patriots have racked up 12 double-digit-win seasons, 11 playoff appearances, 11 division championships, five Super Bowl berths and three NFL championships.

On Monday Night Football, before a Guinness World Record-setting crowd at Arrowhead Stadium, Belichick's Patriots took on the 1-2 Kansas City Chiefs and completely fell apart.

Their failure was so complete, so embarrassing, that it's hard to see any way they'll win more games than they lose—let alone collect their usual division title or represent the AFC in the Super Bowl again.

With 37-year-old quarterback Tom Brady playing the worst football of his life, behind an offensive line that can't protect him, across from a defense that's the antithesis of Patriots football, the awful conclusion is inescapable: It's over.

If Belichick is Palpatine, then Brady's Darth Vader, the right-hand man who does all the dirty work. Just like Vader's infamous mask and cape, the sight of Brady in big games used to strike fear into the heart of opposing defenses.

He still has the hair. He still has the teeth. He still has the supermodel on his arm. No. 12 still looks like No. 12 in every way, except when it comes to playing football.

I don't want to hear about Tom Brady's WRs being the problem. The guy has Gronk, Edelman, Dobson, LaFell, Vereen. His weapons are fine.
— Ian Kenyon (@IanKenyonNFL) September 30, 2014

In 2002, he led the NFL in passing touchdowns (with 28) while throwing to Troy Brown, David Patten and Deion Branch, per Pro-Football-Reference. In 2005, he led the NFL in passing yardage (with 4,110) throwing to Brown, Branch and David Givens.

In 2007, the first year he had an elite target (Randy Moss), Brady put up eye-popping numbers: 50 touchdowns, 4,806 yards and a 117.2 NFL passer efficiency rating. Those were all NFL bests, among many others, and the Patriots went 16-0.

Brady used to dominate the NFL no matter who was on the field, with him or against him.

On Monday night, he completed just 60.9 of his 23 passes for a meager 159 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions and a lost fumble. The touchdown, however, came late in the third quarter and only cut the Chiefs' lead to 27-7. The interception was a brutal pick-six that earned him what might be the first performance-related benching of his professional career. "When I suck," Brady told WEEI before the season (h/t Boston.com's Steve Silva), "I'll retire." On Monday, Brady sucked. Of course, he wasn't the only one.

The offensive line, and especially left tackle Nate Solder, has had a miserable season, and it didn't do any better against Kansas City. Pro Football Focus (subscription required) had the Patriots ranked dead last in the NFL in team pass blocking—that was before Chiefs pass-rushers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali combined for nine solo tackles, an assist, three sacks and two forced fumbles, per NFL.com.

Any quarterback would struggle in the face of that kind of heat. Brady used to be the best in the business when it came to staying cool in the pocket, and at no point this season has Brady looked anything like the unflappable guy he used to be. The 6.0 percent sack rate he carried going into Monday Night Football would be his worst since 2001, when he first stepped in as starter.

The bottom line: Brady is no longer a difference-making quarterback. He can't save the Patriots' season without help, and it's hard to see where that help will come from.

It certainly won't come from the defense.As wonderful as Brady was throughout the 2000s, the great Patriots teams of the Belichick dynasty have always been powered by their nasty, swarming, all-for-one-and-one-for-all defense. Remember the "Next Man Up" mentality?

The next Patriots defender who steps up this season will be the first.

The Chiefs offensive line lost both starting guards from 2013 in free agency this spring and is anchored by a tall, lean left tackle who entered Week 4 as Pro Football Focus' worst run-blocking offensive tackle.

Nevertheless, it blew the Patriots' front seven off the ball down after down. Tailbacks Jamaal Charles and Knile Davis combined for a whopping 199 yards and a touchdown on 34 rushes; they averaged a Jim Brown-like 5.86 yards per carry.

The unheralded Chiefs pass-catchers shredded the Patriots secondary. Second-year tight end Travis Kelce hauled in eight passes for 93 yards and a touchdown; mercurial wide receiver Dwayne Bowe schooled high-priced cornerback Darrelle Revis en route to a five-catch, 81-yard day.

The Patriots made oft-maligned Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith look like, well, Brady at his Hall of Fame best. Smith completed 76.9 percent of his 26 attempts, averaged a fantastic 9.54 yards gained per attempt and threw three touchdowns without turning it over.

This loss would be more digestible if it was just one or two issues. But the #Patriots look terrible on offense and defense
— Ben Volin (@BenVolin) September 30, 2014

When the Miami Dolphins trounced the Patriots in Week 1, the situation was critical. When the Patriots struggled to beat the hapless Oakland Raiders in Week 3, things took a turn for the worse. In Week 4, the Dolphins blew the doors off Oakland, and the Patriots coded out.

Falling to 2-2, tied with the Dolphins and Bills on overall record and just one game ahead of the New York Jets in the AFC East, the Patriots' season is already on life support—and their dynasty is dead.

Whether or not Belichick can will the Patriots to keep their heads above water in a mediocre division of a weak AFC, they're looking hard at a full rebuild on both sides of the ball.

No matter what team you root for, take a second to applaud Belichick, Brady and all the fantastic Patriots players and teams who've been so very good for so very long, indeed. Not only were they the team of the 2000s, but they were halfway to being the team of this decade as well.

But no matter how well built, no matter how wisely ruled, the sun eventually sets on every empire.

I was just going to quote a few parts but the whole thing is so good. The first line is one of the best things ever.
 
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