I never said clearly better so stop exagerrating the truth already. Just like you hype your team to be the best after beating 2 teams that will probably win a combined 8 games at most.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DolfanDale)</div><div class='quotemain'>I'm not sure how OR WHY a Broncos fan would look back at that game & say you deserve that win either. Can you guys look back at your playoff game with the Raiders and the Tuck fiasco and say that you deserved to win that game? Talk about getting robbed. If I were a Raiders fan, I'd still be sore about that one.</div> That's fine by me. No we didn't, but I don't make the rules. You're the only one I've ever heard suggesting that we paid off the refs.
Can't we all just get along? Seriously. Denver capitalized on our mistakes and poor officiating. So yeah, I can see how someone would think they are the better team. I believe we are 1-4 vs. Denver since 2001 so they do have our number. Hopefully we'll have their number in the future. Am I still sore about that January loss? Yes, very. And I like to make excuses, just like any other fan or player does. If you think about it, EVERY analysis of a game by a fan or hometown analyst has excuses. We didn't do this or we didn't do that is a part of it. Why don't we try this for a while and not make excuses. If Culpepper, Brady, Grossman, etc. throw interceptions even if they are hit in the pocket almost immediately every time and knocked to the ground while throwing, it is their fault. If a kicker shanks a field goal because a defender gets a hand on it, it is the kicker's fault. If an official calls pass interference on a DB even though the DB isn't guilty as evidenced by the replays, it is the DB's fault. I bet this will last all of 2 minutes after the games on Sunday. Excuses from all directions are going to come pouring in here. I guarantee it. Its a part of the NFL experience.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DolfanDale)</div><div class='quotemain'>I'm not sure how OR WHY a Broncos fan would look back at that game & say you deserve that win either. Can you guys look back at your playoff game with the Raiders and the Tuck fiasco and say that you deserved to win that game? Talk about getting robbed. If I were a Raiders fan, I'd still be sore about that one.</div> That's fine by me. No we didn't, but I don't make the rules. You're the only one I've ever heard suggesting that we paid off the refs.</div> I wasn't really serious about paying off the refs. I was just trying to make a point. I didn't see anything remotely as screwed up in the Pats-Broncos game as I did in the Raiders-Patriots game. The other part of the point was that if your going to nitpick over calls that go against you, then be prepared for others to dispute the calls that go for you.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pats_Fan420)</div><div class='quotemain'>Can't we all just get along? Seriously. Denver capitalized on our mistakes and poor officiating. So yeah, I can see how someone would think they are the better team. I believe we are 1-4 vs. Denver since 2001 so they do have our number. Hopefully we'll have their number in the future. Am I still sore about that January loss? Yes, very. And I like to make excuses, just like any other fan or player does. If you think about it, EVERY analysis of a game by a fan or hometown analyst has excuses. We didn't do this or we didn't do that is a part of it. Why don't we try this for a while and not make excuses. If Culpepper, Brady, Grossman, etc. throw interceptions even if they are hit in the pocket almost immediately every time and knocked to the ground while throwing, it is their fault. If a kicker shanks a field goal because a defender gets a hand on it, it is the kicker's fault. If an official calls pass interference on a DB even though the DB isn't guilty as evidenced by the replays, it is the DB's fault. I bet this will last all of 2 minutes after the games on Sunday. Excuses from all directions are going to come pouring in here. I guarantee it. Its a part of the NFL experience.</div> I guess I would have to disagree. I don't usually offer excuses for the Dolphins. As far as I'm concerned, if the Dolphins make mistakes then that is evidence that they aren't very good and didn't deserve to win. If the Dolphins lose because of a bad call or two, then they need to improve so that the outcome of the game is in their hands and not in the hands of the refs. I wasn't happy about the flag incident in the Dolphins-Steelers game, but I said from the very beginning that the Steelers deserved to win. The refs messed up, but the Dolphins shouldn't have let Heath Miller get by them in the first place. There might be a time when fans are justified in blaming refs, but fans use them as an excuse waaaaaaaay too much. As far as the Broncos taking advantage of Patriots mistakes, that just tells me that the Pats need to improve and stop making mistakes. Patriot mistakes are the Patriots fault and responsibility.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>You're the only one I've ever heard suggesting that we paid off the refs.</div> Can you provide written proof of that? LOL
[quote name='DolfanDale']I guess I would have to disagree. I don't usually offer excuses for the Dolphins. As far as I'm concerned, if the Dolphins make mistakes then that is evidence that they aren't very good and didn't deserve to win.[/quote] Sounds fair to me. I know that we won't agree on many things and I don't expect us to. If the Patriots mess up and lose because of poor playing then I'll agree that they were the worse team for that one game against that one opponent from now on. However, I like to look at overall performance of a team over the past few years as well. IOW, the Pats have been at or near the top of the NFL since 2001 and the Jets and Bills haven't been anywhere near it. That is the reason that I say things like "we hurt ourselves" and "we're better than that" when we have close games against them. I know that not many people view this as a decent way to loo kat things and they choose to look at week to week comparisons instead and that is fine. IMHO, the refs are in control of every game. One bad call or two can control an otherwise dominating game. It really can and I'm not just saying that to make excuses for the Pats. Its kind of like how one bad business decision can erase years of good decisions. I feel that the refs have that much power over the outcome of a game. I'm not putting words in anyone's mouth but a Steelers fan might see this as an excuse because that person may think that the Dolphins were physically outmatched and could not stop Miller. IOW, it isn't a matter of them simply not stopping them to a Steelers fan, it is a matter of them being physically unable to. See how easy it is to construe something as an excuse? I'm not saying it is, this is just an example. We'll have to agree to disagree but I see a lot of the "ref complaining" as justified. Especially a call like that interception by Polamalu in Indy last January. I'd be pissed if I was a Steelers fan because that was not only an interception, it was an awesome interception. The league even admitted it. Fortunately calls like that don't happen all the time though. What does scare me is that they are becoming more and more frequent though. I agree with you. I don't agree that Denver has been an overall better team though and that is why I think the Pats are better than they were that night. IOW I call that game a fluke. I would even venture to say that if they had played that game again that the Pats would have beaten them by a convincing margin like the Steelers did in the AFC Championship. I've also heard you say that a team is only as good as its backups and I agree. Therefore I'll say that the beating that Denver gave the Pats in their first meeting last year was a clear win by Denver because they had better players on the field and were simply a better team that game. As you well know though, things change drastically from week to week in the NFL, much less month to month. During the playoff loss the Pats had a bunch of their starters back and healthy again and that is why I get so upset about that game. They should have won it but they messed up and it just kills me that they did that, simply because I know that they are better than that. I also feel like they are better and more consistent than the Broncos overall as well. Yes, these are excuses but that just goes to show that everyone has them.
Regarding the Dolphins not stopping Miller, it doesn't really matter why they failed, they failed. It's not an excuse. It looked to me like someone missed an assignment, but it doesn't matter. If someone gets beat because of a blown assignment or they just got beat physically, they got beat. I just don't understand how people can read "the blown call wouldn't have changed the outcome" or "the Steelers deserved to win" before they understand that an excuse isn't being made. I'm certainly not going to claim that the Dolphins are a better team than another team that sweeps them (winning the second game by two touchdowns) and has a better record.
I know the Pats winning this game won't shut you up, but it will be nice to say that on Sunday night we were w/o a doubt the better team. I don't anticipate us needing any help from the refs or any unforced turnovers.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>I know the Pats winning this game won't shut you up, but it will be nice to say that on Sunday night we were w/o a doubt the better team. I don't anticipate us needing any help from the refs or any unforced turnovers.</div> Are you guaranteeing victory? I'm not trying to get you worked up. I'm just asking.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>No of course not. And believe me I don't get "worked up" over this silly banter. </div> Good, If broncos have more penalties and turnovers and lose, I am going to declare them the better team
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BearsFan1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>No of course not. And believe me I don't get "worked up" over this silly banter. </div> Good, If broncos have more penalties and turnovers and lose, I am going to declare them the better team</div> Go right ahead. I wouldn't expect anything less from you.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (DolfanDale)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>I know the Pats winning this game won't shut you up, but it will be nice to say that on Sunday night we were w/o a doubt the better team. I don't anticipate us needing any help from the refs or any unforced turnovers.</div> Are you guaranteeing victory? I'm not trying to get you worked up. I'm just asking.</div> I don't think he would be foolish enough to do that. I feel like the chips are stacked in our favor because of a pissed off home crowd and all of the goodies that come with playing at home but anything can happen. I hate that saying "any given Sunday" but it is the truth. If we can hit Plummer early and with a vengeance I think we'll win by a comfortable margin. Of course, if we fumble like the ball has vaseline on it then we'll be in trouble...again. I like to look back at last season also to see how things went. It gives me SOME comfort knowing that when we played them the first time, we came back to lose 28-20 after being down 28-3 in the 3rd quarter. The Pats were without several key players during this game including Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk, Troy Brown, Jarvis Green, Larry Izzo, Willie McGinest, Matt Light, Richard Seymour, and Rodney Harrison. On the flip side, we had pretty much all of those guys back except for Matt Light and Rodney Harrison for the playoff game. Only this time the Pats turned the ball over like crazy. Brady had a 2 play touchdown drive late i nthe game to bring the score to 27-13 but that wasn't enough, of course. I feel like the Pats have enough talent on their team that if they play solid, turnover free football they'll win. Denver is talented too but they have been hit or miss with Plummer in recent years. Last year was "hit" so hopefully this year will be "miss". Hopefully it will be a good game.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BearsFan1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>No of course not. And believe me I don't get "worked up" over this silly banter. </div> Good, If broncos have more penalties and turnovers and lose, I am going to declare them the better team</div> Does the word "grammar" ever cross your mind? Seriously guys, I think our little Bears fan is 12 years old.
If they play to the level I expect the Pats should win handily, but they have yet to give a full 60 minute effort. Therefore I'm predicting a close game. My only fear is that Brady is over excited for this game & tries to force something with his new WRs. I think the gameplan should be to run Maroney & Dillon. Then utilize the TE mismatch with play action once the DBs are caught cheating the run. As far as defensively we just have to stick to the fundmentals of tackling & not allow what happened late in the Jets game. Keeping Jake in the pocket & not allowing him to improvise on the run should also be a point of emphasis IMO.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Pats_Fan420)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (BearsFan1)</div><div class='quotemain'><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (bakes781)</div><div class='quotemain'>No of course not. And believe me I don't get "worked up" over this silly banter. </div> Good, If broncos have more penalties and turnovers and lose, I am going to declare them the better team</div> Does the word "grammar" ever cross your mind? Seriously guys, I think our little Bears fan is 12 years old.</div> My grammar was correct. Maybe the issue is on your end.
