Bring on New England

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Specnatz

ProFootballTalk ‏@ProFootballTalk

Julian Edelman appears headed to injured reserve http://wp.me/p14QSB-6B8K

I expected that he won't play.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by CloakNNNdagger

Interesting recycle, per Boston Herald.

link

I wouldn't worry about him.

[ThaJokaa]

Bring em on then

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

I wouldn't worry about him.

I posted it only to note that he was picked up after Edelman hit the turf.

[Pats]

Shame, he was having a good season.

Maybe Gronk will make an appearance.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Pats

Shame, he was having a good season.

Maybe Gronk will make an appearance.

Ya' think?

What's the news on him, I'm curious.

[DX-TEX]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Ya' think?

What's the news on him, I'm curious.

Just saw rumors they will hold him out until the playoffs start. Dont want risk it.

[patfanken]

Welcome to NE. The weather will be cold, wet and in the 20's when your team arrives. I hope they can adapt. Here are a few things you should know about the Pats when entering in any discussions with Pats fans.

1. We don't care about hearing about your injuries. Sorry you have them, but you aren't the only team in the league that has to deal with them. The Pats have had just one offensive lineman who has played every game this season. There is a good chance that 3 of the 5 starting offensive linemen will miss this game. (Volmer, Connolly, and Mankins) As well as the starting TE (Gronk), and 3rd WR/PR (Edelman) and that;s just the offense. We've already lost our starting CB (Dowling) 3rd LB (Fletcher) to the IR and our best DL (Jones) for the last 3 games. SO WHAT!

It would be great to have all your guys playing without any injuries, but that just doesn't happen. You have to be lucky with injuries and neither the Pats or the Texans have been. But the one thing you won't hear from most Pats fans are injury excuses. And its something we've had to learn over time. As fans we are just as prone to blame injuries for our disappointments as any team, but over the 12 years of the Bellichick era, he has never stooped to use injuries as an excuse....ever. And over the years of success he's had with the Pats, the fans have gradually learned to accept injuries as facts of life. So now we just curse them and expect the next man up to do the job. Last season the Pats had 4 different C's start games on the #1 offense in the league and made it to the superbowl

2. The Texans have had a great run and really should be considered the top team in the AFC. I'm a little surprised the Pats are favored, even if its only the by the home field advantage.

3. The Texans are hitting the Pats at a very good time. The Pats have only 2 healthy WRs (Welker and Lloyd) on the roster (plus a guy they just signed this week (Stallworth). Look for TE Aaron Hernandez to play a lot of snaps split out.

4. The Pats base formation which they run about 60-70% of the time is the 1-2-2. One RB, 2 TE's 2 WRs. It presents a lot of very tough matchups for defenses. With Gronk there there are 4 excellent Receiver options, and if the defense tries to go with nickel or dime defenses to counteract the pass threats, its a great formation to run the ball. Without Gronk, of course its less effective, but that's relative. Its still very effective.

5. For the first time in a long time the Pats are more balanced. Last week is a good example. The Pats had just 10 rushing yards in the first half against a very good rush defense, and wound up the game with 120 for the game. With the lack of WR's look for the Pats to rush the ball over 30 times

6. I know the Texans have one of the better pass rushes in the league. It will be a huge challenge for the Pats OL. But the Pats have faced other good pass rushes this season, and generally have held up well regardless who who is in there. It also helps to have Tom Brady as your QB. He gets rid of the ball very quickly. Kills blitzes, and has great pocket presence.

I think the Texans would be wise to rush just 4 most of the time. I think their front 4 is good enough to provide enough pressure without biltzing.

7. The key to defeating the Pats passing attack is pressure up the middle. Edge pressure is generally not as effective. If I were setting up the Texan defense this week, I'd be looking to get JJ Watts into the middle as much as possible either through alignment or stunts

8. Gillette Stadium has been a great home field advantage, but its not a particularly noisy crowd, like Seattle or a dome team. The stadium design is more open than a lot of fields, and I'm sad to say the prolonged success of the Pats has softened the Pats crowd a bit. I think the weather will more of a disadvantage than the crowd.

9. patsfans.com is a popular Pats message board. Most of the time there will be 5-600 fans logged on, so you can get involved in a lot of good football talk. Feel free to talk up your team, and disagree with a Patriots point view. As long as you are respectful and want to talk football, you will be welcomed. If you just want to talk trash and be annoying, your stay will be a short one. So far most of the Texan fans who have shown up have been very classy.

10, Good luck to your team on Sunday. Regardless of who wins, I doubt it will be the last time we face each other. May we both leave this game as healthy as we started it. That's the most important thing over the long haul.

The next 2 weeks (Texans and Niners) will tell Pats fans a lot of about the state of their team But at this point the next 4 games for both our 2 teams are merely for playoff seeding and getting prepared for the 2nd season. Merely rehearsals for January.

[76Texan]

Just a quick reply before I appreciate your thorough post.

We don't care to know about your injured players just the same

[76Texan]

Offensively, we do a lot of things similar to the Pats.

We flexed our TEs (either O.D. or Garett Graham) or our FB/TE James Casey from time to time.

We ran quite a bit out of the 12 personnel just the same.

And we've been quite balance with the run/pass distribution for a few years now.

But, just like the Pats, if we need to go 4 or 5 wide and sling it, we can do that, too.

[76Texan]

We don't know how much blitzing Wade is going to do.

His team went 3-3 against Belichick over the years; I trust he'll figure out something.

I still think we'll rush some off the edge to flush Brady up the pocket for our interior guys to make play.

I'm sure you've already noticed that our strength in the pass rush is up the middle.

On the other side of the ball, Kubiak has a winning record against Belichick when he was the OC of the Broncos.
I think I will trust him to put up a sound game plan.

We've won in the Frozen Tundra on a very cold day.
We've won in the Windy City on a very wet day.
Still, the weather might favor the Pats.
It could slow down our pass rush.

I think that's probably why the line had the Pats as the favorite.

[Specnatz]

Originally Posted by patfanken

Welcome to NE. The weather will be cold, wet and in the 20's when your team arrives. I hope they can adapt. Here are a few things you should know about the Pats when entering in any discussions with Pats fans.

1. We don't care about hearing about your injuries. It would be great to have all your guys playing without any injuries, but that just doesn't happen.

2. The Texans have had a great run and really should be considered the top team in the AFC. I'm a little surprised the Pats are favored, even if its only the by the home field advantage.

3. The Texans are hitting the Pats at a very good time. The Pats have only 2 healthy WRs (Welker and Lloyd) on the roster (plus a guy they just signed this week (Stallworth). Look for TE Aaron Hernandez to play a lot of snaps split out.

4. The Pats base formation which they run about 60-70% of the time is the 1-2-2.

5. For the first time in a long time the Pats are more balanced.

6. I know the Texans have one of the better pass rushes in the league. It will be a huge challenge for the Pats OL.

I think the Texans would be wise to rush just 4 most of the time. I think their front 4 is good enough to provide enough pressure without biltzing.

7. The key to defeating the Pats passing attack is pressure up the middle. Edge pressure is generally not as effective. If I were setting up the Texan defense this week, I'd be looking to get JJ Watts into the middle as much as possible either through alignment or stunts

8. Gillette Stadium has been a great home field advantage

9. patsfans.com is a popular Pats message board.

10, Good luck to your team on Sunday. Regardless of who wins, I doubt it will be the last time we face each other. May we both leave this game as healthy as we started it. That's the most important thing over the long haul.

The next 2 weeks (Texans and Niners) will tell Pats fans a lot of about the state of their team But at this point the next 4 games for both our 2 teams are merely for playoff seeding and getting prepared for the 2nd season. Merely rehearsals for January.

First, let me say I have no ill will to the Pats, while I know friends who do cause of the way fans acted at the Superbowl in Houston, but I will say you were not the rude fan.

1. Injuries are a part of it. As far as folks saying i want to face them when they are at there best .. BS. Win is a Win, if it gets you a title who cares.

2. We will get respect when we win yea in and year out so most of us could careless what espin says.

3. Injuries are never a good thing for any team and no matter who else is healthy it could spell trouble.

4. Your big TE have cause a lot of trouble for teams because usually the LB is to slow to cover and the DB is to small. It will be a key to the game that is for sure.

5. The run game has improved a great deal I have Riddley on my FFB team.

6. In the Texans version of the 3 -4 only rushing 4 is not how it is done, you max out the rush so the QB has less time to set and throw. You will see OLB dropping into coverage while a safety or Corner blitzes making the blocking difficult.

7. JJ Swatt normally is on the inside since he plays DE in a 3-4. Only time it appears he is on the edge is when the OLB drops off in to coverage and the OT swingout to far, which has happened a lot in our packages.

8. Gillette is a nice stadium and it is very home friendly.

Oh and as far as adapting to weather .. flashback to the Bears game.

[76Texan]

Thank you for the inputs, and may the best team win.

Hopefully, there won't be much luck involved, but we'll take the luck if it happens.

Have a good one!

[TheMatrix31]

I don't give a **** about anyone's injuries anymore. Not after what happened last year.

[Pats]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Ya' think?

What's the news on him, I'm curious.

Some ex NE players thought hed back before the 4 week timetable.

Looks like hes not practicing, so no go.

[Pats]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

We don't know how much blitzing Wade is going to do.

His team went 3-3 against Belichick over the years; I trust he'll figure out something.

Seems to be hit or miss with Wade.

Hes bounced around the NFL with a lot of teams.

On the other side of the ball, Kubiak has a winning record against Belichick when he was the OC of the Broncos.
I think I will trust him to put up a sound game plan.

Kubiak had Elway.

Schaub is no Elway.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by patfanken

5. For the first time in a long time the Pats are more balanced. Last week is a good example. The Pats had just 10 rushing yards in the first half against a very good rush defense, and wound up the game with 120 for the game. With the lack of WR's look for the Pats to rush the ball over 30 times

6. I know the Texans have one of the better pass rushes in the league. It will be a huge challenge for the Pats OL. But the Pats have faced other good pass rushes this season, and generally have held up well regardless who who is in there. It also helps to have Tom Brady as your QB. He gets rid of the ball very quickly. Kills blitzes, and has great pocket presence.

I wonder if anyone has noticed we have the #2 rush defense in the league?

Or the #4 scoring defense.

There's been so much talk about our pass rush & Jj Watt... I wonder if the Quality of our defense is truly appreciated.

[TEXANS84]

Heard a interesting stat this morning:

In the patriots 9 wins, they average 49 points per game (holy crap).

When the Patriots play a tough front 7, in the three losses to Arizona, Seattle and Baltimore they averaged 23 points. Take that with a grain of salt.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Pats

Seems to be hit or miss with Wade.

Hes bounced around the NFL with a lot of teams.



Kubiak had Elway.

Schaub is no Elway.

While Schaub lacks some of the physical traits that Elway possesses, he's been playing at a high level very comparable to how Elway played during those two SB runs.

He takes about 50% fewer sacks as a percentage of pass attempts.
He's completing his passes at a better rate while maintaining the equivalent YPA, with a slightly better percentage of INT per attempt.
He spread the ball around better, especially because we have more weapons.

Elway was toward the end of his career so his mobility was not at the top of his career.

Elway's record in those two years during the reg season was 22-6.

With a better defense, Schaub is enjoying a healthy 18-4 in the last two years.
With 4 games remaining, he might end up with a better level of success.

[Dawgnme]

Originally Posted by Trap_Star

I was banned from the pat's fans board last night for starting a thread titled "JJ Watt..."

It said "....has a bigger, thicker penis than Tom Brady."

Lasted only 5 minutes...they be mad.

Dude, that's