Giants Wrap Up, etc

It is true in my humble opinion that the 16-0 record doesn't mean that much unless they go 19-0. As good as the regular season record was, would you be happy if they finished the year 16-1? The thing that bothers me most abut this years team is that they are the complete opposite of what previous versions were. The Pats superbowl runs in 2003 and 2004 were marked by a great defense and a ball control, run first offense that was built to win in Foxborough in January. Remember when they beat the Colts 17-3 in the playoffs? Do you think that will be the score in this years playoff rematch with Peyton? It'll be more like 38-35 and that's pretty scary. The other calling card of past teams is that they got better as the year went on, often playing their best football in December. It's very safe to say that the Pats played way better in September and October than they did in both November and December this season. I'm supposed to be recapping the Giants game, right?

The Giants game proved two things that we already knew. First, Tom Brady is the best Qb that ever lived. All night long he was under constant pressure, often getting hit right after he threw. Yet despite the barrage, he completed 32 of 42,(76%) for 356 yards and two touchdowns. In addition to the bomb that Moss dropped, Ben Watson had 2 drops, that would have put Brady well over 80% passing. The second thing the Giants game proved is that the Pats defense is an area of great concern heading into the playoffs. Part of the reason why the Pats D looks great statistically is that the offense is so good. When the O has taken a big lead, the D knows their going to see a lot of passing. The O also holds the ball forever and (when they do have to punt) usually leave the other team in bad field position. In the games that were close this year, the defense did come up big when they needed to. But don't you just wonder, if Eli can throw for 4 TD's, how many will Peyton throw for? Maybe it was playing down to the opponent, maybe it was hard to "get up" for all the games. Maybe it was how they were uncharacteristically run on all season. But the Defense hasn't given us reason to believe that they can win a playoff game if the game is put in their hands.



Other Giant's Game Notes:

- I already touched on the porous defense.
- Joshy actually did OK.
- Ben Watson can't catch and when he does, he's got to be the easiest TE in the NFL to tackle.
- Maroney is starting to look better.
- Brady is the best QB that ever lived.
- Faulk was BIG in that game, 8 catches for 64 yds.
- Welker quietly broke the Pats single season reception record (112 catches).
- What the hell happened to the Pats kick off coverage? It seemed like Eli started every drive on the 40!



2008 Patriots Opponents:

Home games
Bills
Broncos
Cardinals
Chiefs
Dolphins
Jets
Rams
Steelers

Road games
Bills
Chargers
Colts
Dolphins
49ers
Jets
Raiders
Seahawks

YUP, the Pats get to play on the west coast FOUR times.
YUP, the Pats get to play AT Indy - AGAIN




I was wrong, the Patriots will actually pick 7th in the NFL Draft..