1496 replies to this topic

[RedOctober3829]

It's a short Jets week, but it's still Jets week. Hopefully, the offense can adjust to life without Gronkowski.

Just win and then you go into the mini-bye on a high note.

[Briz]

Anonymously kick the living shit out of Bart Scott and this defense....

[Jed Zeppelin]

Really hope they go into Thursday night with the same aggression on defense. No turnovers and the offense should be fine.

[RedOctober3829]

@JasonLaCanfora: It's still early in the week, even for a Thurs game, but sounds like Pats TE Aaron Hernandez has a good shot to play in a limited role

https://twitter.com/...707831643201536

[sachmoney]

Make them bleed their own blood.

[Adrian's Dome]

Slap their faces right off of their faces.

[Eck'sSneakyCheese]

Kill them til they die from it

[rodderick]

Slap their faces right off of their faces.

Smash their faces into a jelly.

[BernieRicoBoomer]

Make them wash their feet until they are clean.

[jsinger121]

[drleather2001]

Yea. Ok. Stupid on at least three levels.

[ragnarok725]

It's going to make it all the more delicious when the Pats curbstomp them in front of their home crowd anyway.

[Ed Hillel]

Maybe they'll delete that article and burn all copies in existence after the game, like that guy from I believe it was the NYT a couple years ago.

[G String Quartet]

I got a bad feeling about this game...

[Jack Sox]

So do I. Gronk has accounted for nearly half of Brady's touchdown passes this year (10 of 21). Coupled with a short week of practice, I expect the Pats offense may struggle in the redzone.

Hopefully the front 7 can create similar havoc this Thursday that they did on the weekend. If so, I'll take our chances vs. a Mark Sanchez QB'ed team.

[Shelterdog]

I got a bad feeling about this game...

No fucking way. Patriots 77, Jets -13.

Seriously I think the Pats just blow these fuckers out. The Jets are a well-coached but ultimately they suck: I don't think Rex is able to coach them up a second time.

[RedOctober3829]

This game is all about mental toughness. Both are on short weeks and whoever is mentally more prepared to win will win the football game. Physically, neither team will be close to 100%.

If it comes down to mental toughness, it's not a hard choice which team should have the upper hand if it's the Patriots or the Jets.

[Reverend]

I got a bad feeling about this game...

That's no moon... It's Rex Ryan.

[dcmissle]

I got a bad feeling about this game...

Me too. Near miss the first go round with these guys, theoretically the Jets are still alive and need the game a lot more, and Ryan has always held his own (at least) in coaching matchups vs BB.

Short week, home game also advantage Jets. I hope Shelter has this game nailed.

[drleather2001]

Isn't the pattern with the Jets these past few years is that the first game is close, and the second game is a blowout?

[j44thor]

The challenge for NE is that so much of the offense revolves around Gronk both in running and passing game. I'm not sure if they have time to implement a new game plan before Thursday and clearly there isn't another Gronk on the roster. Perhaps Ohoh or Fells can contribute in the running game and Shiancoe can contribute a bit in the passing game but there isn't going to be nearly the level of flexibility and confusion that exists with Gronk.

[Carmine Hose]

Offensively they've scored near 2007 levels without Make It Rain and he was theorized to be the focal point of the 2012 passing offense. Getting Hernandez back in whatver role should still give them the ability to approach 30. If they tighten the coverage over the first game against the Jest (sic), they should be fine.

Edited by Carmine Hose, 20 November 2012 - 03:17 PM.

[dynomite]

Rex, for his part, is playing it straight. He's obviously sort of a clown, but it's hard to dislike Rex Ryan.

(Indeed, it seems clear that Belichick gets a kick out of him)

"I mean, he's on an extra point and he's probably done it a zillion times,'' Ryan said of Gronkowski, who underwent surgery Monday to repair his fractured left forearm suffered on the PAT. "He's probably done it a hundred times this year for the simple fact that's how many points they score. You never see that. Every single team in the league, I mean, we have [starting left tackle] D'Brickashaw Ferguson there. Whoever the player is, you don't play the game that way.

"It's just an unfortunate thing. That's just a freak deal what happened,'' Ryan said. "Unfortunately, it's part of the game. Injuries do happen. I mean, we lost [Darrelle] Revis and [Santonio] Holmes to non-contact injuries. It's just one of those things and it's unfortunate, obviously.''

Asked for his reaction to Ryan's comments, Belichick said, "I feel like I've got a good relationship with Rex. We want to beat each other and we're in the same division, but that's just competitiveness. I see Rex from time to time during the year, I had his brother [Rob] here on staff for four years and I've known his father [Buddy] for 30 years or so, a long time.

"He's the son of a coach, he's been around football his whole life, and I have, too, so there's a lot of things we have in common,'' Belichick said. "But this week it's about two teams trying to compete against each other. It's all it is.''

EDIT: ....aaaaaand right on cue, I head to espn.com/boston and find that they have headlined the link to Rex's statements thusly: "Rex doesn't feel sorry for Gronk-less Pats" (which references an earlier quote in the conference call)

And that's what ESPN.com is, the Queen of Page Clicks. So bow down to ESPN if you want, bow to it! Bow to the Queen of Out of Context, the Queen of Hyperbole, the Queen of Exaggeration. Boo! Boo! Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. BOO!

Edited by dynomite, 20 November 2012 - 03:38 PM.

[TheoShmeo]

The Gronk thing is unfortunate but I'm with Red here. The Pats are just better and they will react better to the circumstances. I can also see the Jets being a little too self satisfied with the Rams game for their own good.

But I'll know more about how I feel about the margin of victory when I learn whether Hernandez is playing and how close to 100% he is. His addition obvioulsy makes the Gronk loss easier to deal with for the Pats.

[54thMA]

Count me in with the "I've got a bad feeling about this game" crowd, the Gronkowski injury couldn't have come at a worse time with a very short week to prepare for the pain in the balls/man oh man do they annoy the fuck out of me J-E-T-S.


I'm really not in the mood to hear afterward "I never stopped believing in the team, we've got a shot to win this division for sure, making the playoffs and getting to the Super Bowl is still our goal and it always has been, we've overcome a lot of injuries and I'm damned proud of this team", nor am I in the mood to read on this forum "Great fucking win, so proud of this team, a lot of you assholes have been shitting on the Jets all year long, it's like you're all fixated on the Jets and what they do, this is a HUGE win for us, I see us running the table now and winning the division, GO DOLPHINS, LOL"...............

Just go down there, make it a business trip and kick the ever living shit out of these fucking ballbags and shut that blowhard wreckingball of a coach up......................

Edited by 54thMA, 20 November 2012 - 05:19 PM.

[MentalDisabldLst]

Why the fuck is David Koch carrying a Bill Belichick turkey?

[LogansDad]

EDIT: ....aaaaaand right on cue, I head to espn.com/boston and find that they have headlined the link to Rex's statements thusly: "Rex doesn't feel sorry for Gronk-less Pats" (which references an earlier quote in the conference call)

And that's what ESPN.com is, the Queen of Page Clicks. So bow down to ESPN if you want, bow to it! Bow to the Queen of Out of Context, the Queen of Hyperbole, the Queen of Exaggeration. Boo! Boo! Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. BOO!

As you wish.

[axx]

The Pats really need this one because after it's @Miami (Isn't Brady like 5-5 there?), Houston and SF. Probably will lose at least one of those.

[RedOctober3829]

@AlbertBreer Patriots TE Aaron Hernandez will play Thursday, barring any late setbacks. Been out since mid-October.

https://twitter.com/...069398482161664

[Salva135]

Well, I'm being optimistic here, I think the Pats have figured out their protection issues and are finally clicking. They can and will figure out a way to score a bunch of points against a defense they know like the back of their hand.

Is it going to be a tough game? Of course. I don't expect a blowout. But if the #1 offense in the league falls to pieces without Gronk then we weren't all that great to begin with.

There's only one guy who truly matters and he's playing on Thursday as far as I know.

Edited by Salva135, 20 November 2012 - 11:03 PM.

[Turrable]

But if the #1 offense in the league falls to pieces without Gronk then we weren't all that great to begin with.

I'm desperately trying to wrap my mind around this statement...

[Darnell's Son]

As you wish.

Well done.

[Rasputin]

Are we going to the mini ditka's now that the big one has had an allison Stokke?

67589 to the cube root of i

[Andrew]

heh. belichick turkey

[Mugsys Jock]

I married a New Yorker, and we live in Manhattan, and despite my objections, our eldest grew up as a MFY / Knicks fan. When the next one came along, I held firm for what is good and true and he pulls for all the Boston teams and his intelligence will be rewarded in my will.

The Pats are the only team we all root for together. The boys are 19 and 17 now, and Thanksgiving night will be the first time we'll wver go to a game all pulling in the same direction. I've been looking forward to Thursday a long long time.

[TheoShmeo]

I married a New Yorker, and we live in Manhattan, and despite my objections, our eldest grew up as a MFY / Knicks fan. When the next one came along, I held firm for what is good and true and he pulls for all the Boston teams and his intelligence will be rewarded in my will.

The Pats are the only team we all root for together. The boys are 19 and 17 now, and Thanksgiving night will be the first time we'll wver go to a game all pulling in the same direction. I've been looking forward to Thursday a long long time.

Great stuff. Enjoy!

My wife and I managed to raise our kids to be Boston sports fans while living in northern NJ. Not always easy, especially when things go poorly at the hands of any NY team as classmates can be dickheads.

My 19-year old son drove up to Foxboro with three of his buddies to go to see Pats-Colts last Sunday. That gave me a lot of pleasure. I'll also be at this game with my 12 and 17 year olds and have similarly had this date circled for a long time.

[Hendu for Kutch]

I have to go into Brooklyn to visit in-laws on Friday, several of whom are obnoxious Jets fans (otherwise known as Jets fans). I'd really appreciate it if the Patriots could just go ahead and murder the fuck out of the Jets. And then repeatedly skullfuck whatever is left. Maybe Brooklyn will be slightly tolerable if that happens.

[TheShynessClinic]

Opie these fraud motherfuckers.

[Shelterdog]

So a little weirdness in Jets land--they made a few roster cuts yesterday (Hill and Dowtin) so their roster is at 50, which is really light. (They'd been at 52 for a while.)

It's very unusual on their part. Aside from the "why not factor" of bringing in players to see if maybe they've got some skills it also inhibits your roster flexibility in the future: a practice squad player can never be on a team for a third year if the roster ever dipped below 53 during their first two years. It's probably not a huge issue but it is a small, unforced error.

[Number45forever]

I do not care for the NYJ and I wish ill upon them in tomorrow's contest.

Fortunately, I don't see any fucking way the Patriots lose this game.

[gtmtnbiker]

My wife and I managed to raise our kids to be Boston sports fans while living in northern NJ. Not always easy, especially when things go poorly at the hands of any NY team as classmates can be dickheads.

It's a lot easier to do today than 20+ years ago with the prevalence of Extra Innings & NFL Red Zone TV packages and the internet for news. I grew up in NJ as a diehard Mets/Giants fan and when I moved to the Boston area after college, I switched my allegiance to the Sox/Pats because it was hard to follow my original teams.

I never rest easy when we play the Jets. I hope it's an easy win but I'll take any Pats win that I can get.

[Super Nomario]

Guessing the inactives:
WR Salas
TE Gronkowski
G Mankins
G Petrus
DE Jones
DE Bequette
DB Martin

[Al Zarilla]

I married a New Yorker, and we live in Manhattan, and despite my objections, our eldest grew up as a MFY / Knicks fan. When the next one came along, I held firm for what is good and true and he pulls for all the Boston teams and his intelligence will be rewarded in my will.

The Pats are the only team we all root for together. The boys are 19 and 17 now, and Thanksgiving night will be the first time we'll wver go to a game all pulling in the same direction. I've been looking forward to Thursday a long long time.

The only problem with that is that some people might say "oh, you brainwashed your son to root for your teams". I'd just soon they went their own way. However, that may be easy to say for me in that my kids grew up in NorCal and the "danger" of either of them pulling for a New York team was next to zero. One of them is an A's fan now, which was great last year compared with being a Red Sox fan.

I have no idea who will win Thanksgiving night. Pats - Jets is something like the Big Game or the Civil War on this coast. You can throw the record to date out the window.

[bankshot1]

I married a New Yorker, and we live in Manhattan, and despite my objections, our eldest grew up as a MFY / Knicks fan. When the next one came along, I held firm for what is good and true and he pulls for all the Boston teams and his intelligence will be rewarded in my will.

The Pats are the only team we all root for together. The boys are 19 and 17 now, and Thanksgiving night will be the first time we'll wver go to a game all pulling in the same direction. I've been looking forward to Thursday a long long time.

I too married (and divorced) a New Yorker, and we raised a lovely 17 YO daughter. When I was first a dad living in NYC in 1995 (we later moved to bucolic Essex County, NJ in a few years) I made the All-mighty a simple request, that living in NYC, I did not think it fair to pass on the pain of the father to the child, so I professed that I didn't care if she' became a Mets fan, but prayed that she not become a MFY fan.

The All-mighty listened and she became a Sox/Celts/Pats fan.

I'm about to pick her up and drive northward to the ancestral home in Boston.

And we got tix for Celts/OKC for Friday night.

Screw the Jets.

Go Pats/Celts
Happy T-Day folks.

[Reverend]

What is all this reflective bs?

Curb-stomp them.

[Shelterdog]

What is all this reflective bs?

Curb-stomp them.

The correct regional usage in New York/New Jersey is the "Brighton Beach Special" or a "Russian Mouthwash."

[Bucknahs Bum Ankle]

The only problem with that is that some people might say "oh, you brainwashed your son to root for your teams".

I for one am proud of having brainwashed my kids into rooting for the Sox and Pats while living in Western NY. It's pretty much my greatest accomplishment as a parent.

[dcmissle]

The correct regional usage in New York/New Jersey is the "Brighton Beach Special" or a "Russian Mouthwash."

[amarshal2]

There's no Gronk. Somebody is going to have to step up over the next 6 games. The question is who?

Ridley? I think he will continue to run between the tackles as well as he has all season but I don't see a step up, particularly with less threat of a passing play in 2/3TE sets.
Lloyd? Nah. He's been inconsistent and looked a little older than we had hoped.
Vereen? I think losing Gronk hurts him most. Our best outside rusher without our best edge blocker.
Woodhead? Love having him but there's no way he's going to consistently exert his will over other teams in the NFL.
Welker? You know, I just don't see it. He's still a great player but he hasn't looked as quick as he once did and he's certainly played less consistently. I think his current high level of production has as much to do with Brady's comfort with him and his role in the system. I'm not expecting a fall-off, but I really don't see how he steps up.
Hernandez? Could be. If he's healthy, he's by far the most interesting player on the list in terms of game plan flexibility. But with the ankle injury potentially lingering, I don't think he will be the difference maker. Here's hoping he's 90%+ of his usual self ASAP. He's my 2nd guess.

So, that leaves.....Julian Edelman? This is definitely not the obvious answer. However, I do think he provides the most game plan flexibility. He and Woodhead are the quickiest/shiftiest players on the team, but he's a better receiver than Woodhead (though not as good as Welker). He can be used extensively in the screen game to keep teams honest, which McD loves. He can be used in the run game. He can be used in the middle of the field, where Gronk lived. And we've seen Brady have some confidence in him in high leverage red zone plays (3rd and 2 last week and with 5 seconds left in the half against BAL). In short, he might be the best combination of match-up problems for defenses and health. The question is how he gets on the field enough for this crazy prediction to come true? I'm not sure he can, but perhaps last week buys him more looks.

Edit: And really, the answer is most likely, "everyone/many guys step up a little" rather than one guy steps up a lot. So the better question might be, "who steps up most?"

Edited by amarshal2, 21 November 2012 - 02:09 PM.

[ragnarok725]

Rex, for his part, is playing it straight. He's obviously sort of a clown, but it's hard to dislike Rex Ryan.

(Indeed, it seems clear that Belichick gets a kick out of him)



EDIT: ....aaaaaand right on cue, I head to espn.com/boston and find that they have headlined the link to Rex's statements thusly: "Rex doesn't feel sorry for Gronk-less Pats" (which references an earlier quote in the conference call)

And that's what ESPN.com is, the Queen of Page Clicks. So bow down to ESPN if you want, bow to it! Bow to the Queen of Out of Context, the Queen of Hyperbole, the Queen of Exaggeration. Boo! Boo! Rubbish. Filth. Slime. Muck. Boo. Boo. BOO!

As you wish.

I'm just gonna leave this right here...