You know, one thing I've always wanted to know. Everyone generally agrees that the Pats' O-Line played absolutely fantastic the first 18 games, and then got trounced in the superbowl. Obviously, the O-Line is made of fail and need to be totally revamped in the offseason.
Why does no one give credit to the Giants' D-Line? Last year I kept saying that the best way to beat the Pats is to pressure Brady. If you get him out of the pocket or get him on the ground, the Pats will do really, REALLY bad. The Giants' D-Line last year had, oh, I don't know, Michael Strahan, Osi and Justin Tuck? Not to mention Kawika Mitchell and the other linebackers made some good plays against them.
The Pats' O-Line doesn't need as much improvement as anyone. I mean, really, were they "exposed" by the Giants, or did the Giants just have an excellent defensive showing?
Now we have the loss of Samuel: Is Samuel overrated? Yes. Is he the shutdown corner the Eagles are expecting? Not really. But someone already mentioned it; he's the product of Belichick's system. He can't be so easily replaced, especially not in one offseason. The secondary is weaker, the linebackers are getting older (save for Meyo, but one rookie linebacker won't save it for everyone), and the D-Line needs some improvement.
Now, even further beyond this, the line "THEIR SCHEUDLE IS SO EASY LOL" really has no bearing on next season, beacuse as mentioned, you can't just look at a schedule and say "OH, MAN, THEY'RE GOING TO SUCK AGAIN." I mean, who knows? Baltimore still has a very strong dfense, and Cam Cameron can turn the offense around, they could go 9-7 or God forbid 10-6 and earn a wild card spot. I don't see it happening, but it's more likely than the Pats' going 16-0. But, there's a reason I mentioned the Ravens. The Ravens essentially beat the Pats last year. If it wasn't for the timeout, the Pats would be 15-1. Well, 17-2, but whatever. You know what I mean. And what was the Ravens record? 7-9. Who was the only team to lose to Miami? Baltimore. The Eagles almost won, their record? 8-8. The Colts SHOULD have beat them, but they blew it in the last 10 minutes. Hell, Brady even struggled to do anything against the Dolphins in the last half of their seond game.
So, why did the Pats lose momentum at the end of the season? Well, people started figuring them out. At the beginning it was "HOLY CRAP BRADY, MOSS, AND WELKER? O NOEZ." until the Eagles stepped in. Brady at one point was on pace for 64 TDs, and 5,000+ yards. An analyst said at week 8 "He won't get 64, but he'll top 55 easily." And where did Brady land? Barely breaking Manning's record. The Pats were figured out, and people will know how to at the very last slow the Patriots down, if not beat them altogether.
The Patriots are a 13-3 , 14-2 team. The additions of Moss, Welker and Thomas last year, gave them the momentum to go 16-0, but not the momentum to go 19-0. There have been 2 undefeated teams since the NFL/AFL merger, and I think (I might be wrong) there was one undefeated team in like, the 40's or something. Do you REALLY think we're going to see unother undefeated team anytime soon.
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