First off I come in peace! I thought you might like a take from someone from "the dark side" so to speak. I don't know how other fans and the national media feel about this game but I and many of my fellow Pats fans see this as a very big and important contest. I think we could be seeing what are the 2 best teams in the AFC and an AFCCG preview on Sunday. The Broncos can't pound the rock like your team can and Fitz > Manning at this point to be totally honest. I think the Jets D is looking very tough right now and are up there with any D in the NFL. To top it off I see your finally got a good coach. I was very sad to see Todd Bowles join the Jets. Was hoping he stay in the NFC or at least outside the division. I think he is 100% the real deal and will be looked at as one of the truly good HCs in the NFL before long. Certainly hold the coaching advantage over a team like the Bengals. Lewis is average at best and I don't think their O can keep up that pace and their D is IMO a clear step behind yours. When healthy I think only the Steelers will be up there with the Jets and Pats as the top tier of the AFC. So I hope I have made it clear how highly I think of your team. With that said here are a few predictions and thoughts about what you might see. When it comes to our Defense vs your Offense I am expecting the Pats to run a lot of big nickle. Mayo is simply not a good player at this point. A man by the name of Freeny is currently our 3rd LB and while he is okay he will not really make much of an impact. I don't expect the Patriots to stack the box as they simply don't have that 3rd LB that is athletic enough to play in space. I would expect you will see a lot of 4-2-5 with the SS cheating up (probably Chung) and the focus on not letting ant big plays happen and making your put 15 positive plays together. I have a lot for the Jets OL but i do think the Patriots can get pressure and maybe a sack or two. Most of it will be coming from Domique Easley (last years #1 pick) in my opinion. We have other pas rushing options but I think against your very good OL Easley is the most likely to have success. The key to his game is really his first step after the snap. You need to see it to believe it. He usually is in their more for 2nd/3rd and long situations so only on the field for about 30-40 snaps a game but when he is on the field he is a guy to watch. I am expecting Butler with help to take Marshall and do their best to limit him. Marshall will get his but they want to avoid that big 40 or 50 yard play if they can. Decker could have a better game because currently the Patriots 2nd CB is the inconsistent Logan Ryan who has okay days and bad days. They don't have a 3rd option and have elected to use a 3rd safety more than a 3rd CB. The Patriots are thought of as a bad run defense team but that can be a little misleading as much of that is intentional due to scheme. They tend to go small on the DL with a pass rush front and dare you to run as opposing to not getting pass rush with their run stopping DTs and leaving their secondary to cover for a longer period of time. When they do bring out 2 big DTs they tend to defend the run pretty well. I don't see them changing up too much this game but perhaps a few more plays with big DTs than usual. I think Ivory has a good day with again the Patriots focusing on not letting up the a big run play. They are fine giving up 4-5 yards on the ground generally and waiting for a penalty or stuffed run or your RB to just get tired and need to go out of the game and bringing in a sub standard option for a s few downs that puts you in bad down and distance. When it comes to the Patriots offense vs the Jets defense.. Brandon Lafell IMO will play this game and give the Pats a bit of a boost particularly with concerns about Edelman's finger (he will play but will he drop a few balls?). I expect the Patriots to for the most part abandon the run against your talent and big DL and only do it on occasion to keep the Jets honest. Something like a 4-1 pass/rush ration is what I am expecting. Dion Lewis will be used a lot this game and the Patriots will no doubt try to get him in space with Coples if you let them. Gronk has been used less the last few weeks but a lot of that is teams focusing on taking him away with a CB and help near by. When put 1 on 1 he makes teams pay just like he always does. I don't know how you plan to cover him but Cromartie with help what appears to be most likely from what I am hearing. I don't expect Cromartie to be 1 on 1 with him often and if your coach calls too many plays like that it would be a big mistake. Revis is a great CB but he seems to have a bit of an issue covering guys with smaller guys with great quickness these days. I think putting him on Edelman would be an interesting match up and would really test that school of thought. Scott Chandler is not a big part of the offense outside of the red zone but comes in for a few plays on occasion to show a different look and against your LBs which are good but not great IMO it be something to watch. Needless to say the main key in this match up is our OL vs your DL. If you give Brady too much time nothing else really matters. The Patriots OL is banged up and might be exploitable. I have don't know for sure hwo the 5 guys playing will be for the Patriots this week but if I had to guess the usual group right now would be Cannon-Mason-Andrews-Kline-Vollmer. If Cannon is not good to go Vollmer likely goes to LT and Flemming comes in and goes to RT. Mason is a rookie who is a little banged up buy IMO has been one of the unheralded rookies in the NFL. He tends to be an amazing run blocker and more than serviceable pass blocker. Any big runs you the Patriots might get will no doubt have his finger prints on them. Either way this is not an ideal situation for the Pats. Besides Greg Hardy though no one has really been able to exploit this Patriots OL up to this point and it will be interesting to see if the Jets can make something happen as while they have great a great DL it is not really known for its pass rush. How much the Jets elect to blitz will be a good question. Brady is one of the best at making a team pay for blitzing and the Jets are one of the best a making sure their blitzing results for incompletions or negative plays. The Jets have also been notorious ball hawks so far but the Patriots do not give up turnovers easily. That will also be a key area to watch. Overall I expect a tight good game and hope for no injuries!
This was actually an informative and balanced post. I actually got something out of it, let's not rip one of the only good posts on here from a Pats fan.
You wusses are so thin-skinned. Did you even read his post? It is as even-keeled a statement as you'll see from a Patriots fan. Almost too much Jet ball-washing for my liking. Yet, the immediate responses are "Fuck you"... led by none other than the member who only operates on "repeat", and is about as interesting as BurningElvii. Why not grow a pair and discuss the game dynamics with him?
Every single post in this thread up until yours was blatantly sarcastic. Except Falco. That looked pretty intentional.
I do embrace it. I bathe in it. All the crying and tears literally any time anything Patriots related comes up makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. That is not in contradiction with my blasting some inane 2-3 word posts after someone put decent amount of effort into starting this thread and wanting to actually discuss the game. That's what I clearly was lambasting. The rest.... <noise>
I am curious on your thoughts on who will cover who now that Skrine has been ruled in along with Williams. I almost have this gut feeling that Gronk may see some time on Revis island if Skrine proves he can take Edelman out. Skrine - Edelman Revis - Gronk Cro - Lafel It is something to consider... I am also surprised you will believe that BB will allow Ivory to pick up 4 to 5 yards a play on the ground and defend the big play. If Ivory starts chugging like that the jets will walk out of Gillette owners of the AFC East. I would expect BB to do everything he can to stop Ivory and force Fitz to convert on 2nd and long. On 2nd and 5 Fitz will eat your secondary alive with marshall, decker and now owusu back in action. I would be surprised if the jets register two sacks this week. Brady is great at getting the ball out fast and our d-line just isn't getting to the qb on a regular basis. Id love for us to sack him 8 times but I just do not see it happening. Clogging his throwing lanes will be our main objective. If we can make him twinkle toe around in the pocket we will force a few turnovers which can sway the game in our favor.
No they just bathe in our tears. It apparently makes them feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Why would you need to get laid after that?
I read the post and do truly appreciate your well reasoned post from "the dark side." I agree with your sentiment that this could end with a rubber match in January and look forward to what should be the game of the week. That being said. Fuck you, fuck Boston and fuck Fen Affleck.
