Is it too much to hope...

[ublinkwescore]

That this loss to the ravens is the loss that finally crushes the patriots' spirits, or that Baltimore has finally exposed the patriots O and teams can now more effectively defend against their attack meaning the pats will struggle to score points even with the help of the refs?

[better days]

Re: Is it too much to hope...

I think we are seeing the decline of Brady & the Pats* myself. NOBODY stays on top forever. Flacco was the best QB on the field yesterday without question.

[Crisis]

Re: Is it too much to hope...

Every year this thread comes up once they lose and they end up in the Superbowl/deep in the playoffs the next year again.

I think we should all just accept the fact that as long as Brady is healthy/in the league, that team isn't going to hit any wall.

[Ingtar33]

Re: Is it too much to hope...

That this loss to the ravens is the loss that finally crushes the patriots' spirits, or that Baltimore has finally exposed the patriots O and teams can now more effectively defend against their attack meaning the pats will struggle to score points even with the help of the refs?

probably too much to hope for

Personally I've thought for a while that they were a soft team... yesterday proved a middle-of-the-road better-then-average football team with some grit can give them all they can handle. That certainly explains how the pats lost to the cards... the card's defense was certainly not soft. Or how they lost to an underwhelming giants team in the superbowl... two times in a row.

Its not that the pats are particularly vulnerable to tough football teams... just their offense certainly is... and playing tough hard nosed defenses week after week like the playoffs requires of them make their eventual loss all that more certain. The Patriots teams that won the superbowl 3 times were tough football teams (also cheaters... but i personally think even knowing what the other team is calling won't matter if your players can't execute, or win in the trenches). Their teams recently are not.

Besides, this makes 2 straight years the heart of their current offense was hurt in their last game. Gronk couldn't run during the superbowl last year, and this year he had a broken arm. It seems more likely that without Gronk, shutting down Welker and Hernandez is a lot easier.

[better days]

Re: Is it too much to hope...

Every year this thread comes up once they lose and they end up in the Superbowl/deep in the playoffs the next year again.

I think we should all just accept the fact that as long as Brady is healthy/in the league, that team isn't going to hit any wall.

Well, we should not accept it as fact because it is not a fact. Brady has said he wants to play until he is 40. If anyone thinks he will be the same QB he was when he won that first Super Bowl (while Cheating) they are deluding themselves. The Pats have had an easy road to the playoffs because they have not had much competition in the division. Even if they win the division next year, I don't see them having a high seed. Like I said Flacco was the best QB on the field yesterday.