SirAndrew

The targeting rule is a great idea, but the problem is the NFL does everything wrong. The league is a poorly officiated unjust mess with Roger and Kraft as commissioner. The NCAA manages to get rules right most of the time, while the NFL would mess it up. I can already imagine everyone getting ejected against the Pats, while the Pats players take guys heads off with no penalty. The only way the NFL improves player safety is by Goodell actually taking something seriously for once. This league won’t accomplish much progress until new leadership eventually takes over imo.

I’d say Allen is a crazy 7. You never know what you’ll get.

Exactly, neither team makes it to that Super Bowl without the ability to score points. This Bills team is playoff bound because of their elite defense. There aren’t many elite offenses/QB’s in the league, and we will be able to collect regular season wins against many lesser opponents. We will need our offense to get it together before the playoffs. It will be an early exit if this putrid offense doesn’t turn it around. I’m very much a realist about this team. We are playoff bound, and have an elite defense. There are tons of reasons to feel good about this team. However, we aren’t going deep in the playoffs without fixing this offense.

Cool observation, but I’m over the idea of losing to all those NFC EAST teams. The team I want to beat in 2019 is located in Foxboro.

Yeah, I agree with the posters who say the Pats will lose a few games this year. I believe that to be true, but who really expects them to go 16-0? Just because they lose a few doesn’t mean they aren’t contenders. I’m not going to celebrate because the Pats look “vulnerable”. What does that even mean? I would be celebrating if they had a terrible record, and the dynasty was clearly over. The Chiefs and Pats are the only real AFC contenders, with a few teams who have potential to contend on the outside.

I get that, I’m just saying that Belichick is still a defensive mastermind. Wentz, Prescott, and Jackson are all insanely overrated. It isn’t tough to imagine Belichick making them look bad.

Nah, Belichick will shut down QB’s like Prescott, Wentz, and Jackson. We also play those three QB’s this season, and I’m not afraid of any of them. Dallas scares me the most being a Thanksgiving Day game. All of those games are very winnable for a team with an elite defense. I’m not saying the Pats will win all those games, but the Texans, Ravens, Eagles, and Cowboys are all very winnable games. The Chiefs game will be the most interesting imo

Which one throws picks into triple coverage? Is that Jekyll or Hyde?

Exactly, Patriots are always the best team by default. It’s hard not to be the best when the refs are on your team.

Right, and when people say the Pats look “vulnerable”, are they referring to the offense? Nothing about their defense looks “vulnerable”. There are no complete teams with both offense and defense in the AFC. Only elite defense or elite offense, but no team has both. I’m taking the elite defense with Brady as the QB over any other situation in the AFC.

Yes, in the AFC. The NFC’s strength is irrelevant as far as the Pats chance to win a title imo. The Super Bowl is just one game, and anything can happen in a one game winner take all championship. It’s getting there that’s such a challenge, and not much stands in their way in the AFC.

Yep, but that doesn’t mean the Pats can’t be the best team in the conference. I actually think we’re close to being the best team in the conference behind the Chiefs and Pats, so that concept doesn’t change my opinion that the Pats are the team to beat.

I still think the Chiefs are the only potential challengers to the Pats (unless we get our offense together, so we can challenge them as well). The Ravens and Texans are much better than anyone they have played this season, but are also both overrated and not real contenders imo.

People have unreasonable expectations for the Pats. People were talking about how bad they looked in Washington last week. They won 33-7, with Brady passing for over 300 yards and three TD’s. How many teams would call that a bad week? Even against Washington. If they aren’t beating teams 50-0 with Brady throwing for over 300 yards every game, somehow they are declining. The reality is they are unbeaten, and winning games is the most important stat. Let’s give our team some credit too. Brady looked rotten against us, because the Bills have an elite defense.

Yeah, but it’s tough to say they’re not, because who is number one then? If that question can’t be answered, it means the Pats still have a strong case.

I get that, but unpredictability is the only area I actually see. I don’t think Daboll really has maximized the offense’s strengths, or masked deficiencies. He hasn’t called this offense consistent with the fact that we have an elite defense with a young QB. The run game and high percentage short passing games are crucial with an elite defense. I see too much of an emphasis on establishing the passing game at times when the running game needs to be used. Josh Allen is not ready to consistently take over games at this point in his career. Our offense needs to be a team effort, and sometimes it feels like our play calling is placing too much on Allen’s shoulders imo. Daboll began the season by having Allen throw on 17 consecutive plays against the Jets. That’s absolutely absurd for any team that doesn’t have Brees, Brady, or Mahomes. Eventually incorporating Singletary helped us crawl back into that game.

Yeah, I’m feeling good about this season. You always need breaks to be a winning team, but we could easily be 2-3 if our opponents made field goals. Rather than talking about our elite defense (which we do have), we’d be discussing how our putrid offense ruined the season.

Agree, but my issue with Daboll is the fact that I don’t see what his “system” is. This offense lacks an identity, and that falls on the OC. It’s early in the season, and that could easily change, but I’d like to see more consistency with what he’s trying to do. I’m alright with a guy either succeeding or failing with his system. What I don’t like in an OC is someone who doesn’t appear to have a vision for his offense. Daboll has failed at every stop as OC, and he hasn’t done enough to prove it was a fluke.

He was, I’ll just never be able to deal with watching him carry the football. His ego is on display with every carry.

Sammy’s hurt, and Shady’s fumbling. Way to bring an old school Rex Ryan Bills presence to KC.

I’d take the out of this world QB. It’s much harder to maintain an elite defense for a lengthy period of time. It involves locking up too many guys to keep the unit together. Guys begin to walk, signing for bigger money elsewhere. QB’s are protected by the rules, and have increasingly long careers. Elite QB’s almost guarantee one title with decent management. Elite defenses don’t guarantee anything these days.

Holding someone to 31 points is “destroying” them?

He is unquestionably the goat. He also has the greatest head coach of all time, and often had a really good defense. Both things that Rodgers and Manning never had.

The Pats won because they had the ball last. Chiefs probably win that game if they won the OT coin toss (or Ford doesn’t line up in the neutral zone) Neither D was stopping anyone in that second half. Brady is the goat, but he and Mahomes both played brilliantly. Neither would have been to blame for the loss. It’s far more nuanced than saying Brady is better than Mahomes in 2019 just because he won head to head

The Pats shut him down for one half last year.