The unintentional comedy of BB on Hard Knocks would be off the charts.I am convinced that avoiding Hard Knocks is the #1 reason BB wanted to be sure the Pats made the playoffs this year. Along with having the chance to win a Super Bowl.
The unintentional comedy of BB on Hard Knocks would be off the charts.I am convinced that avoiding Hard Knocks is the #1 reason BB wanted to be sure the Pats made the playoffs this year. Along with having the chance to win a Super Bowl.
The whole thing would have been amazing in an excruciating, eight hour art film kind of way. Everybody in the entire organization just being totally unnatural and quiet when the cameras are around, then giving the most deadpan boring answers in any kind of interview segment.The unintentional comedy of BB on Hard Knocks would be off the charts.
I have to think that if forced to be on Hard Knocks BB would come up with an entire disinformation campaign around it- what to run when cameras on/there, what players to involve. I also imagine he'd fight access at every step in every possible way.I am convinced that avoiding Hard Knocks is the #1 reason BB wanted to be sure the Pats made the playoffs this year. Along with having the chance to win a Super Bowl.
This is clearly the sort of well thought-out, informative post that the mods were hoping for by asking us to hold ourselves to higher standards.
It should work great for Indy as long as there is a massive windstorm inside the dome.Sure, go ahead and stack the box. We'll see if it works out as well for you as it did for Buff.
Stacking the box is living on the edge defensively, as evidenced by Harris' long TD run. Once you get through that 1st and 2nd level, it's off to the races.
I understand that Indy has a decent run defense, so I don't really think they will have 10 or 11 in the box. I just think they will go heavy up front. That makes them susceptible to the screens, tosses, short crosses, etc.
Harris surprises me. I thought he would need to miss at least this game to rehab his hamstring. Also thought this would be a good week to plug in Taylor for his speed and quickness in a dome game.Harris, Phillips, Dugger, Uche all present. Taylor not.
8 episodes of guys doing their best imitation of C3PO with his power off, only to return to normal after the cameras go away. Interspersed with interviews that are 101 variations of no comment.The unintentional comedy of BB on Hard Knocks would be off the charts.
Preach, brother, preach.This game might be a tougher test than the Buffalo game was, but should also give us a much better sense of where the team is at, without the insane weather weirdness impact. 538's ELO has this game as 50/50, ESPN's FPI has the Pats at 53.5% to win, and while FO hasn't updated their matchups yet, DVOA likes both of these teams a lot, so with the Pats on the road I would expect them to predict a close one as well.
I'm not sure where the anti-Wentz confidence is coming from, he has a slight edge in DVOA over Jones, a moderate advantage in QBR, and a 22-5 TD-INT, which as a ratio is behind on Aaron Rodgers and Kirk Cousins. He doesn't take a ton of sacks, averages 4 yards per carry when he runs the ball (which he has done 41 times this year), and gets his DPI yards about the same as everyone else. I'm not saying that he is awesome, but I'm certainly not counting on him to beat himself. Luckily, JC Jackson is ready to take on that role. I hope that if you take Pittman away with a top corner, there isn't much left, and then it is just a slugfest in the trenches.
Hemoglobin? Are you predicting a bloodbath Saturday night?
I'd expect a lot of screen time for Stacey James, either shooing the film crew out of sessions {"This meeting is over, guys."} or blocking them from entering certain meetings entirely.The whole thing would have been amazing in an excruciating, eight hour art film kind of way. Everybody in the entire organization just being totally unnatural and quiet when the cameras are around, then giving the most deadpan boring answers in any kind of interview segment.
Hah, that's funny. I made my post at around 10 am, and at that time, FO had Wentz at 14, and Jones at 15 by DYAR (how they sort by default), but then they updated at 1:48 pm and they flipped. I assume, since both teams were on a bye this week, that it's because their weekly QB update shifts the defensive opponent adjustments made for previous games. In any case, as you said, it's close enough to be basically a wash by their metrics.Preach, brother, preach.
I’ll admit I was somewhat dismissive of Wentz earlier in the season, but I think the “Wentz will kill his team if allowed to” idea is flat out wrong, Also,
it’s unclear to me how you trade off the threat Taylor represents against Wentz and his game, just given the greater ability of QBs, even mediocre ones, to generate yards and scoring in today’s NFL.
Wentz in general has done well when he’s had good coaching, and Bad Wentz is mostly memories of 2020. He appears to have a good coach right now, so that’s at least some cause for concern.
Minor correction: Jones is slightly ahead of Wentz, not vice versa as stated, in FO’s QB stats such as DYAR and DVOA. But it’s very close, so I’m kind of just viewing that as a wash.
Dugger being back would be huge, and I have to imagine with covid precautions, if there were any concern they wouldn't let him practice around his teammates.Harris, Phillips, Dugger, Uche all present. Taylor not.
Yeah and the sharp money has been pouring in on the Colts since the Pats opened -2.5 on the lookahead a week ago. Interestingly, Belichick has been a guy the Sharps have loved to fade in the past as well as many games this year only to defy their overvalued position consistently. I recall one year in the mid-2000’s maybe when we covered like 10 weeks in a row or something like that.I think anyone underestimating the Colts is making a big mistake. Maybe the Pats win. Maybe the Pats win handily. Maybe the Colts will do Colts-like things. But they're actually pretty good.
#3 in the NFL in points scored
#9 in the NFL in points allowed
Best running back in football (now that Henry is out). Awesome offensive line. A QB who is very capable especially if teams load up against the run. Seven games this year with a passer rating of over 100. Other than their loss to Seattle to start the year, all their losses are to very good teams: Rams, Titans (x2), Bucs, and the Ravens. They've also beaten San Francisco and destroyed Buffalo, and now the win against Miami looks like a quality win too.
So yeah, they're very good. They're at home. Like the Pats, they're coming off their own bye week. I think this game will be a handful for the Pats and if they can't slow Taylor down, it might be a very very hard game to win. Of course, the Pats have won games where they've allowed lots of rushing yards but very little in the air, so it could also go that way.
We shall see.
It's so cringy. It must be how Yankee fans felt prior to 2004. At some point, little brother will grow up. But right now he's an immature deadbeat smoking weed and popping pills in his parents basement.Colts are running this as a paid ad on instagram and other social media sites
View: https://www.instagram.com/p/CXeBIq7JLBr/?utm_medium=copy_link
Yep, Colts haven't beaten the Patriots since 11/15/09. In fact, since 2001 the Patriots are 15-5 against the Colts including the postseason including winning the last 8 in a row and 9 of the past 11.Lol what rivalry exists between these teams? When is the last time the Pats lost to the Colts, 4th and 2? Rivalry. Hahaha.
If Godchaux can continue to shine, and Dugger and Phillips can be back to full speed roaming and destroying, I think we can make that latter stat move to 0-7.Indianapolis is 7-0 when Taylor runs for 100 yards or more and 0-6 when he doesn’t.
You know those lists of the most important people in the Brady-Belichick era that include Mo Lewis? Ryan Grigson should be there too. Underrated in the story of the Pats' sustained dominance over the AFC for 20 years is the fact that only a single new elite QB appeared in the conference between 2005 - 2017, and he was kneecapped by a GM who ran a clinic in how to squander the advantages of a cost-controlled young QB.Andrew Luck going 0-Career against the Pats was a beautiful thing.
7-1.Interesting stat from today's Athletic:
If Godchaux can continue to shine, and Dugger and Phillips can be back to full speed roaming and destroying, I think we can make that latter stat move to 0-7.
1st time in a while that Bailey is not on the report. That's good.
It's true that they've beaten mostly bad teams, but I think part of why they are well-regarded is that the flip side of that is most of their losses were close against good teams.7-1.
I expect Taylor to gobble up 130ish yards, and I expect the Pat's to win by double digits.
Edit: to add a little more context, the Colts have beat the Dolphins when they were sliding, the Texans twice, the Jets, the Jaguars, the 49ers (who have beaten nobody), and the Bills (who can't stop a nose bleed). The Colts wanting to run 40 times and prove "were tough, too!!1!" Falls perfectly into BBs bend but don't break mentality.
Taylor can rip 130 yards, Wentz can get 180, and we win by double digits.
The Bills have one of the better defenses in the league - they're 3rd in scoring defense, 1st in total defense (2nd in both on a per-drive basis). The Colts put up 41 on them, though they were also abetted by four turnovers.Edit: to add a little more context, the Colts have beat the Dolphins when they were sliding, the Texans twice, the Jets, the Jaguars, the 49ers (who have beaten nobody), and the Bills (who can't stop a nose bleed). The Colts wanting to run 40 times and prove "were tough, too!!1!" Falls perfectly into BBs bend but don't break mentality.
Delicious, salty tears still taste good after aging for 7 years. Ideal gas law aside, I'm sure the Colts would have won that game instead of losing bythreemore than five touchdowns if only the ball had been slightly more firm.
That is a pretty amazing stat that I never would have guessed. Thank you for pointing that out. I know his career was shorter than expected, but batting .000 against a team is still hilarious considering how much of a "rivalry" it was for a while.Andrew Luck going 0-Career against the Pats was a beautiful thing.
Luck was frequently placed ahead of Brady in all those delusional quarterback rankings you see out there. Meanwhile, Brady and the Patriots posted the following point totals against Luck and the Colts: 59, 43, 42, 45, 34, 38.That is a pretty amazing stat that I never would have guessed. Thank you for pointing that out. I know his career was shorter than expected, but batting .000 against a team is still hilarious considering how much of a "rivalry" it was for a while.
Seems like a bit of psyops to me. Their game plan is probably more like "don't let them run the ball down our throats for 200+ yards".Is it possible that maybe "put it in Mac's hands" is not the best defensive approach for Indy to take?
Andrew Luck going 0-Career against the Pats was a beautiful thing.
Irsay needs to hang a banner, “Compared to Goldman Sachs on a Message Board.”God that sparked joy. I remember a colts fan telling me I would root for Indy because of luck. I told him plenty of my classmates went to Goldman Sachs, I sure as fuck didn’t root for their employer to do well. Once you’re off the farm you’re on your own.
Nice to have two stud talents are running back. Rhamondre can carry the load, and Bolden is fine as a secondary/third down option.
Belichick spoke at length on Thursday about Bolden’s increased contributions to a Patriots team on its way to the playoffs, both in terms of his on-field play and his leadership.
“Brandon’s one of the best and always has been,” the coach glowed
You just know BB has a soft spot for these undrafted guys who carve out long careers. Someone like Bolden is just wanting to make a single opening day roster and dude went out and had a decade+ career.
Devine Ozigbo is the RB on the practice squad. I don't think that the Pats would go into a game with 2 healthy tailbacks. He averaged 5.2 yds/rush in his career at Nebraska (including 7 his senior year). I would have to imagine him being elevated tomorrow, rather than going into the game with only 2 healthy "tailbacks" (I would have said RB, but I didn't want to lump JJ into that list). But, of course, there is me, a schlub behind a keyboard, and then there is BB/JMD. So maybe Harry lines up behind Mac in the pistol.Meanwhile JJ Taylor is still not practicing after being put on the Covid list 2 weeks ago right? This could have been his entrance but may be his exit.