Best Case - Worst Case Scenarios for first 4 Games
by ProfessorTodd on Sep 7, 2010 6:22 PM EDT
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PrintIt seems pointless at this early juncture to try to forecast the outcome of all the Patriots games this year. We don't know what kind of team we'll have in three weeks, let alone three months. But it might be possible to look at the first month of the season--the four games the team will play before their bye week--and anticipate both a best case and worst case scenario for each game. Details after the jump.
Sep 12 Cincinnati
Best case: the Patriots allow OchoCinco and T.O. to dominate the media circus in the run-up to the game while quietly taking care of business on the field and spank last year's AFC North champs at home. Record: 1-0
Worst case: the Patriots allow OchoCinco and T.O. to run wild against a porous defense and have difficulty moving the ball against the Bengals D, beginning the season with a stunning home loss. Record: 0-1
Sep 19 at New York Jets
Best case: The Patriots have been pointing to this one for a while now and proceed to embarrass Rex (%$^&*())&%#@++) Ryan, the foulmouthed coaching wonder, as Tom Brady shows that the Jets D isn't as invincible as everyone thinks and the team wins a crucial road game in the division. Record: 2-0
Worst case: The Jets defense is as good as everyone thinks and Tony Dungy will just have to learn to live with Rex's profanity since this victory catapults him to worldwide fame. The Pats can't pressure Sanchez and get picked apart while Brady spends most of the game on his back, recalling a certain unmentionable Super Bowl game a couple years back against that other New York team. Record: 0-2
Sep 26 Buffalo
Best case: New England reminds everyone that it's the same old Bills and crushes Buffalo again with a balance of runs and passes and an aggressive, pressuring defense that leads people to wonder why we were all so worried in pre-season. Record: 3-0
Worst case: The Bills somehow find a way to end a losing streak against the Pats that dates to 2003, probably with a late comeback against New England's defense which is now officially a trainwreck. Record: 0-3 (wait, wait, the Patriots can't lose to the Bills, even when they try--see last year's Monday night opener and the miraculous 25-24 comeback) Record: 1-2
Oct 4 at Miami
Best case: the Patriots open up a commanding lead in the division with their third straight AFC East victory, two of them on the road as Chad Henne proves no match for the D and Miami's D can't contain Brady and company and the "Wildcat" is nowhere in sight. Record: 4-0
Worst case: Chad Henne looks like Peyton Manning (or even Eli Manning) against the Pats pass defense and carves up the secondary for a victory while Miami proves once again that they are the regular opponent that gives Belichick the most trouble (even with all of his great teams, Coach Hoodie is only 11-9 against them). Record: 1-3
Honestly, given the uncertainties and questions marks facing this team, I could see either scenario playing out or maybe more likely, wins against the Bengals and Bills and losses in the two road games which would put the Patriots in must-win mode in the division the rest of the way. Best case, worst case, or something in between, we should have a pretty good idea of what kind of season we're in for when the bye week rolls around in Week 5.
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I have a feeling...
that we’ll loose to the bengals and jets, then we’ll win the next two weeks. making us 2-2
However, I can’t fully judge the offense or defense until I get to see them in regular season game action, and diagnose what we CAN do good, and what we can’t.
I’ll take 11 players with heart on the field over 11 guys with just talent. Talent is fleeting, it goes away over time. Heart is what drives you to be better. To push yourself beyond what you think your capabilities are. To show us that when you strive, all things are possible.- SMP
I'm also a Raider Fan dammit!!! RAIDER NATION!!!!
Same here.
December 20th, 2004. If you can guess/know what happened that day, congratulations.
Fortunately, the key player in that game is now paired alongside one of the deadliest receivers in the league…
Can Abbrederis shoot the long three and effectively distribute the ball to his big men?
"Because one of the great minds of the 21st century is raising glow-in-the-dark fish and weaving serapes..." -Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory
For all the crap we give Wil Wheaton, he can still tackle better than Asante Samuel...
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 7, 2010 11:56 PM EDT up reply actions
victory
beat teh bengals 35-28 with Kitna starting for them. 3 turnovers by the bengals sealed their fate in Corey Dillon’s first game against his former team…..also locked up the AFC East
WRONG: December 20th 2004. The 29-28 loss to Miami on the road.
Wes Welker is a Patriot.
But that win over Cincinnati was December 12th.
Can Abbrederis shoot the long three and effectively distribute the ball to his big men?
"Because one of the great minds of the 21st century is raising glow-in-the-dark fish and weaving serapes..." -Leonard Hofstadter from The Big Bang Theory
For all the crap we give Wil Wheaton, he can still tackle better than Asante Samuel...
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Sep 8, 2010 4:54 PM EDT up reply actions
i see us going 3-1
loosing to the jets….i dont fear the felons bengals
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
I think the Bengals are dangerous until their O-line gets Carson Palmer injured
Once he’s hurt, he flaps around like a lame duck. If the Pats were to meet the Bengals in the latter half of the season, I wouldn’t have been too worried. But at the moment, they’re a threat.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
i saw 2 of their preseason game
and the starters weren’t that great. i do fear their running back…their passing game…not so much.
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
I always take preseason with a huge grain of salt, especially when second-string O-lines are involved
Their first-string O-line is iffy – hell, they have three undrafted guys starting for them – but it should be noted this is the first year they’ve had any continuity on the O-line since 2005. All 5 starters return – not even the Pats can say that, with Logan Mankins being a 300lb baby.
If the O-line does struggle against the Pats pass-rush, Gresham and Shipley could both be pretty decent outlets – something Palmer hasn’t had before. If the Pats don’t get pressure on, Gresham, TO, Ocho, Caldwell and Shipley can all catch passes pretty well. The Pats got a little lucky, because Brian Leonard is out of the game. He could’ve been a royal pain in the arse in those flats routes the Pats couldn’t seem to cover in the first Bills game last year.
The other thing that hasn’t really been noted is that the Bengals had the fourth-best D last year. That’s not to be sniffed at, especially since they play Roethlisberger and Flacco/ Ray Rice twice each. Those young CBs Leon Hall and Johnathan Joseph are criminally underrated, and they have experience in the right places with Dhani Jones at MLB and Roy Williams at SS.
Also of note – Carlos Dunlap will be a situational pass-rusher for the Bengals; Cunningham may be playing the same role for the Pats. It’ll be an interesting competition to see who contributes (if at all) between the two guys.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
i believe
originally, their starting 5 lineman were all guards…just a fyi
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
a few bengal comments
LT Whitworth played some guard but was drafted as a LT from LSU. RT Roland played RT/TE all last year. C Kyle Cook only has played center so not sure where your info on the 5 guards came from. That being said, the o-line is certainly better run blocking than pass blocking which accounts for portion of why the bengals struggled throwing deep last year (not enough time). We’ll see if they can be better this year, but team is still supposedly committed to running Benson #1.
From a def perspective, I expect NE to tear apart the bengals secondary if they use all those TE’s you have. As pointed out, bengals corners are pretty darn good (joseph, hall, jones), but safeties and lb’s are pretty terrible in coverage.
And as for Palmer “flapping around like a lame duck”, totally disagree. Don’t see where he gets that rep. Got his knee crushed like TB in the 05 playoffs, came back and didn’t miss a beat. Messed up his elbow on a freak play against the giants in 08, actually played another good game against Dallas before team shut him down. And then played every game last year with a bum ankle and a brace on left hand that was broken. The guy is much tougher than people think
I got it from the last few games of the '09 season
He’s had a cannon arm in the past, but between having an iffy pocket at times, being on the move when he’s a prototype pocket guy, and having no underneath options, he was being forced to gun it deep, and he didn’t look Carson Palmer-ish.
It’s more a reflection of how good he is when he’s healthy than anything else – when he’s 100%, he’s as good as anyone in the league. It’s not that I think he’s not tough – on the contrary, he’s a hardman considering the injuries he’s played through. It’s just when he’s injured, he doesn’t quite have his cannon-arm in the arsenal.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
i got that info from nbc
question for you…will andre smith play? and what position?
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
doubt it
Bengals used a lot of 6 ol unbalanced looks last year which he would play T and roland would be “te”. But seems like mostly 3wr or 2te base sets this year so I wouls suspect see him in goaline only if at all
by gpcu02 on Sep 8, 2010 8:50 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
do you regret the bengals picked him
Non Sibi Sed Patriae.
I love my ZX-6r Kawasaki.
I bleed Scarlet and Grey...A Buckeye for Life
Hang on sloopy, sloopy hang on.. O H I O
tough one
Looking back at that draft, they really needed a lineman and if you look back the others drafted around him (Smith in stl and Monroe in jax) don’t seem to be all that great right now either. At the time, I loved the pick. Didn’t care about his man boobs/fatness, the guy started 3 years at AL in the SEC against premier defensive guys and was all-sec, damn good performance. And the bengals had a sloppy, fat, but great tackle for years – Willie Anderson.
At the end of last year when he was healthy, played well. But he seems like a vag when it comes to injuries, which is why he’s behind again this year. So at this point I’d say No, but if he isn’t starting and contributing by week 4 or so then Yes.
Dont say that!
I can’t believe that the team Cannot will it’s self to victory against the loud mouth Jets. I’d rather lose to the Bills than lose to the Jets. And even if we lose it should not be lopsided at all it should be a close game. I refuse to believe that a team with only one leader (rex) is going to win the SB!
Last year was the first year in a very long time that the Pats had consecutive losses.
If they don’t have consecutive losses: 2-2 is the worst they go.
My life has been a trivial pursuit. Trivia: where three roads meet.
The more you know, the more you know that you don't know.
by SlotMachinePlayer on Sep 8, 2010 9:18 AM EDT reply actions
We stand a serious chance of 7-9.
A 1-3 first quarter isn’t out of the question. I’m not trying to be debbie downer; we have serious coverage and edge-defense issues. If our offense is the least inconsistent, there could be blood.
Prove me wrong, Pats!
As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about. --Shaun of the Dead
Only good thing is the issues are blindingly apparent, so Hoodie can fix them
in ‘09, nobody quite predicted the gaping hole in the WR corps, and it bled all year. At least in 2010 the organisation knows where they’re weak in advance.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
Well, there is that.
As Mr. Sloan always says, there is no "I" in team, but there is an "I" in pie. And there's an "I" in meat pie. Anagram of meat is team... I don't know what he's talking about. --Shaun of the Dead
by JohnHannahRules on Sep 8, 2010 9:27 PM EDT up reply actions
The Defense is tore up dude, I don’t know if there will be fixing. Thats the price of rebuilding a defense. our only hope is that the young guys in the D step up! I would be content if Cunningham proves to be a real gun like Spikes.
There are always ways to cover over weaknesses...
You only have to think back to last season and the linebacker-heavy “Chaos” package when all the D-linemen were hurt, to think of one. Remember, you’re talking about the Coach who penned the defensive scheme of the NY Giants Superbowl-XXV-winning team that was put in the Hall of Fame – the one that shut down the aerial attack of the Bills that was previously thought unstoppable.
Token southern hemisphere guy - 14,688km from Foxboro. That's 9128 miles, for you heathens.
by Comedic.Sans on Sep 12, 2010 4:43 AM EDT up reply actions
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