People would like to see another 2002 season with a three team race except the New York team comes from Buffalo this time. They missed the playoffs that year then won the next two Super bowls. I still remember the last game. The Jets won and eliminated the Patriots. Miami just needed to win the last game against the Patriots at Foxborough. I can still remember the look of disbelief on Wannstadt's face at the end of the game. I also remember the tough game at Orchard Park last year. Miami tried but I can't see the Dolphins getting past the Bills and Patriots. Both teams look good enough to get into the playoffs this year.
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The Jets Dolphins and Bills have built amazing defensive lines tailored to get Brady. Specifically, all three teams are really strong in the middle of the defensive line which is where Brady feels most vulnerable to pressure. I don't think he will have an easy time of it this year.
Rex took a team someone else built, had it go to two straight AFC championship games and then proceeded to run the team into the ground. You can say blame the GM but Rex didn't have any input into players being signed or drafted?
I'll take Bill on his worst day over Rex any day, Bill has his players focused and ready for all scenarios. Rex doesn't believe in any discipline as we heard from many players last year how they hadn't prepared as much as they should have.
Miami will be a challenge, more so than Buffalo, but not sure about their QB being ready to turn up his game.
Forget the Jets, forget about them for the next 20 or so years.
It's the Patriots division again this year.
The question is will they put up 100 points or more against the Colts because of all the Deflategate stuff?
I'll take Bill on his worst day over Rex any day, Bill has his players focused and ready for all scenarios. Rex doesn't believe in any discipline as we heard from many players last year how they hadn't prepared as much as they should have.
Miami will be a challenge, more so than Buffalo, but not sure about their QB being ready to turn up his game.
Forget the Jets, forget about them for the next 20 or so years.
It's the Patriots division again this year.
The question is will they put up 100 points or more against the Colts because of all the Deflategate stuff?
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Let's get right to it, shall we? Super Bowl L final score: Patriots 37, Seahawks 28. Tommy lights up the 49ers' home field a deflated football throw from where he grew up in San Mateo. Recall that scene in Skyfall where that gangster fell onto the sandy lair and was eaten by two Komodo dragons? Well, the Patriots will once again chew up the AFC East at 12-4, maybe 13-3. Jets fans will love watching "shutdown corner" Darrelle Revis isolate frustrated wideouts on his island while his offense goes 3-and-out all day. Love those J-E-T-S Jet, 4-12 (maybe that's optimistic). Clueless Joe Philbin will walk the plank in South Beach (7-9) and Sexy Rexy, way out in the boonies, will yell to be heard east of Tonawanda. Maybe 8-8. Maybe.
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Typical New York fan. Never mind that there's nothing about the Jets in this article. This is how SOMEBODY (not the Jets) has retooled to keep the team from Boston from winning the division this year. If the Jets can't, let's root for Buffalo and/or Miami who we used to root against but who aren't the Patriots.
It might work. It probably won't.
It might work. It probably won't.
As Newt said to Ripley in Aliens, "It won't matter!" There's nothing and no one among the Dolphins, Jets, and Bills that will beat the Brady-Belichick combination. Deal with it!!!
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Made up charges failed to dethrone the Patriots then all they whiners have left is the teams they put on the field. Good luck with that.
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There was always too much gotcha in the NFL's case which smacked far more of neglect than anything else.
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And therein lies the backing for Deflategate...
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It's all very exciting. I'll hate to miss it, but we've decided that in our house NFL football will no longer be viewed. The extraordinary damage to players' health, notably due to concussions, is unconscionable, so we must boycott it.
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A lot of wishful thinking. Until you have a star QB, nothing really kicks in in this game. All those QBs are tier 3 compared to best-in-class Brady.
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The Dolphins got a break from the scheduling gods: they don't have to play a winter game in Foxborough this year. (They also don't have to go to Buffalo in December or January.) It probably won't be enough for them, but taking a nearly automatic loss off their schedule can't hurt. The Dolphins have historically had problems with cold weather since they rarely play in it, and that's not likely to change this year.
I still predict a division win for the Pats, but they won't coast into it as they have in recent years. That will hurt the Pats in the postseason because they will have less opportunity to rest players in those final games, and because they might not get as good a position in the postseason seeding.
I still predict a division win for the Pats, but they won't coast into it as they have in recent years. That will hurt the Pats in the postseason because they will have less opportunity to rest players in those final games, and because they might not get as good a position in the postseason seeding.
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In the past the Pats have NOT been able to coast into the playoffs. Perhaps as to the division YES but they have always been in a dog fight as to having home field advantage through out the playoffs. So resting players has not happened much. In 2014 they lost in Denver, 2007 they played at Indy, 2005 in Pittsburg. usually home field advantage goes into at least the next to last weekend of the regular season.
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Signing some top free agents in the off-season and getting some good picks in the draft is a step, but both of these teams are a long, long way from dethroning New England.
Front office, scouting, coaching, culture, tradition, conditioning programs, team doctors, owners, personal trainers, nutritionists,
The Patriots are best of breed in all of the above.
You can't turn Rutgers into Princeton by hiring a few top professors or turn Fifth Third Bank into Wells Fargo by nabbing a couple great executives.
Front office, scouting, coaching, culture, tradition, conditioning programs, team doctors, owners, personal trainers, nutritionists,
The Patriots are best of breed in all of the above.
You can't turn Rutgers into Princeton by hiring a few top professors or turn Fifth Third Bank into Wells Fargo by nabbing a couple great executives.
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In this case guys just don't know if they love the game or winning more. it leads them to do more to gain the edge over their opponent and teammates. They also don't use starters as much as they use packages. Of course there are guys who play in all of them or quite a few of them if they know the plays in the package. Otherwise he puts the best players into the group who will do the things that they do best and quite often take advantage of another team's weakness at the same time. The guys who can do more and do it well find themselves on the field more often. Once you find enough players for all the packages that deal with situations, then you fill the openings with the best players left. This year I noticed quite a few safeties on the roster.
The millions of Patriots fans thank you in the media who have spent so much of the past year attacking them and there team. Of you thought Brady and company were motivated before, hold on to your seat. Your hatred is the best fuel for the Pats. Thanks!
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Love the illustration.
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The skill level of the players may have approached that of the average Partiot, but the coaching (Belichick & Co.) and Quarterback (Tom Brady) skills are still several levels above that of any other team in the AFC East.
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Dethroning the Patriots will be mission impossible for the AFC East until Brady and Belichick are no longer attached at the hip. The two of them eat, sleep, and breathe football. In addition to their powerful union is the way the Patriots scout and draft their players. Belichick craves versatility and football IQ in his players and is a huge believer in regenerational leadership. All of the Patriots scouts are Belichick clones in terms of rating and evaluating talent. Another key to the Patriots dominance has been their ability to adjust their scheme to their talent. And they accomplish this to perfection, not just on a yearly basis, but a weekly basis. No gameplan is identical, there is no one system or style of play, they have assumed formlessness. This lack of form will continue to befuddle the AFC East and much of the NFL this season and into the foreseeable future.
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