The New England Patriots, who still could parlay the “overlooked and disregarded” vibe into a deep run into the postseason and possibly a Super Bowl appearance, begin their effort to put the latest loss to an undefeated team in the rear-view mirror on Sunday, with a rematch against the Dolphins.
And as they do so, only one player — running back Fred Taylor — missed practice on Wednesday due to injury.
That said, 18 players worked on a limited basis, including left tackle Sebastian Vollmer, who missed Monday night’s game with a “head” injury that actually was an injury to the thing he carries around inside his head.
Coach Bill Belichick is hoping that the rest of the team acquires amnesia regarding the 21-point butt-kicking that the Pats took in the Bayou.
“[When] the game’s over, it’s over,” Belichick said Wednesday in comments distributed by the team. “We’re on to the next week. We’ve had big wins, we’ve had tough losses. We haven’t had any ties, but it would be the same on that, too. We move past that game and move on to the next and then this is the most important one.”
They’ve got five more that will be “most important” at some point between now and January 3, against the Dolphins then the Panthers then the Bills then the Jaguars then the Texans.
And the Patriots easily could run the table and finish with a 12-4 record, which could then allow them to forget about the entire regular season and focus on trying to scale the postseason mountain at a time when everyone is focused on teams like the Colts, Saints, and Vikings.
Can they parlay a “crappy defense because Richard Seymour, Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruski, Rosevelt Coleman, Asanti Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, and Rodney Harrison all retired or were allowed to leave” into another Super Bowl run?
After watching the Saints get a TD by a receiver open by 30 yards, and seeing another take a routine short pass 70 yards because the Patriots DBs couldn’t figure out which direction to run to try and make the tackle, I doubt they’re going to make much noise in the post season.
I admire your optimism, Mike, really, and I think this team is fully capable of running the regular season table if they can (finally) get a road win in Miami.
But frankly, considering the Pats many weaknesses right now, I don’t think too many of us are booking flights to South Florida for the first weekend in February.
While Belichick was going over what the Patriots would do in case of win, lose and tie scenarios does Monday night’s game count as a forfeit since he quit with five minutes left?
Don’t forget the Broncos
No doubt, the Saints totally handled the Patriots, but does anybody remember that the Patriots had the Colts totally beaten just a couple of weeks ago? The undefeated Colts in their house!
The Patriots DB’s are not terrible. Drew Brees was on fire and most of his passes were perfect throws. The Colts won’t be facing a similar QB until the playoffs. If the Colts get taken down in their first playoff game and the Patriots are on the other side of the bracket, they might not even have to face Rivers.
A Super Bowl appearance and rematch with the Saints is a definite possibility. Brady can carry this team and nobody has handled the Patriots WR’s like the Saints. Do you see anybody else doing that to them again this year?
“While Belichick was going over what the Patriots would do in case of win, lose and tie scenarios does Monday night’s game count as a forfeit since he quit with five minutes left?”
^^^^^
Pretty indicative of someone with an anti-Belichick agenda…considering (other) teams have been known to take WEEKS off at the end of the season… which seems like much more of an affront to the game then pulling starters with 5 minutes left of a blowout.
Sorry, but the ticket buying public isn’t spending hundreds of dollars to see Jim Sorgi play for 3 and a half quarters, or to watch Tony Dungy blatantly throw in the towel at the end of the week 17 two years ago, sitting on the ball when down by a field goal with less than 2 minutes to go to purposely allow the Titans to preserve a win so they could grab the last playoff spot. THAT is blatant disregard for the game of football and the spirit of competetition. Not what happened Monday Night.
But if the good ol’ All American Colts do it, it must be ok, eh Citizen? Hypocrisy at its finest.
# SF Saints Fan says: December 2, 2009 9:17 PM
No doubt, the Saints totally handled the Patriots, but does anybody remember that the Patriots had the Colts totally beaten just a couple of weeks ago? The undefeated Colts in their house!
The Patriots DB’s are not terrible. Drew Brees was on fire and most of his passes were perfect throws. The Colts won’t be facing a similar QB until the playoffs. If the Colts get taken down in their first playoff game and the Patriots are on the other side of the bracket, they might not even have to face Rivers.
A Super Bowl appearance and rematch with the Saints is a definite possibility. Brady can carry this team and nobody has handled the Patriots WR’s like the Saints. Do you see anybody else doing that to them again this year?
————————————————————-
It doesn’t matter if another team can or can’t handle the Patriots WR’s like the Saints (by the way the Saints handle the whole Patriots team not just the WR’s) all it takes is a point lead to win.
I love the fact that the cowboys have been written off..
Cant wait till Sunday, I hope you douche bag Giants Fans are ready, i am flying up to watch your stupid annoying New York Faces when your season ends!! cue, stupid new york accent whoa! whoa!
This is ours for the taking, especially that the true ELI is on display and the defense can no longer save him and win him super bowls!
I don’t think that the Patriots had the Colts beaten by any means, if that were the case then they would have won.
This year Payton can play awesome for 20 minutes, but the rest of the time he sucks (or in the case of Miami he only plays 20 minutes – and awesome the entire time).
I would like to see Payton play awesome an entire game. Until then, Drew is my #1 pick (Brett being my #2).
“but does anybody remember that the Patriots had the Colts totally beaten just a couple of weeks ago?”
No, I don’t. Do you think the Dolphins had the Saints and the Colts beat too?
Someone had better notify GreenPeace of the senseless slaughtering of Dolphins that is about to take place on Sunday. Japanese fishermen will be seen vomiting over the sides of their boats in Biscayne Bay.
The beat-down in N.O. was certainly humbling, but which team in the AFC feels that they can beat the Pats in the playoffs?
Chargers? They will always be a joke. Josh was right, the Pats own them.
Steelers? They probably won’t even be in the playoffs.
Colts? Yea, maybe. Peyton is damn good, but I’d still give the Pats a 50% chance against them.
Bengals?….whoops, excuse me I just pooped in my pants a little bit writing that one.
So the NFC finally seems dominant, but does anybody remember who pulled the plug on, “The Greatest Show On Turf”? I do.
KyleOrtonsArm says: December 2, 2009 9:07 PM
Don’t forget the Broncos
======================================
The freakin Bronco’s?
The Pats have serious problems, with the vast majority of them on defense, and therefore won’t go far in the playoffs.
Having said that, the Bronco’s would get a beat down from the Pats.
The Bronco’s, lol.
The pats can totally win the Superbowl…
If by focusing on the next opponent they mean…
Video tape the next opponents defensive coaches figure out when they are blitzing and run crazy screen passes and dumpoffs where the other team is blitzing from.
OneManWolfPak & ftomeo:
“but does anybody remember that the Patriots had the Colts totally beaten just a couple of weeks ago?”
Poor choice of words on my part. The Patriots “were” in control of that game and they failed to close the deal. The Manning boys are two of my favorite QB’s and the one in Indy is a very special player. The Patriots had a big lead late in the game and failed to close the deal. I was impressed by the way the Patriots played against the Colts for 3 quarters, but not so impressed by the way they finished the game.
Who would the Colts rather face in the playoffs?
Patriots and Brady
Colts and Rivers
Bengals and Palmer
Basically which teams are the easiest “outs”? The Colts would almost certainly have to face one of these teams to get to the Super Bowl.
Personally, I would rather not face the Patriots again.
@hayward giablommi
Pulling your starting QB at the end of a game with NO MEANING is completely different from what Belichick did against the Saints. If Caldwell had pulled Peyton every time the Colts were down in 4th quarter, the Colts would be 5-6.
@SF Saints Fan
Did you miss the end of the game and all of the reports after? I’m pretty sure the Colts won that one.
@slicknick
I agree, Peyton hasn’t played well an entire game in several weeks. The entire team hasn’t. I hope that changes this week.
I don’t know why the pessimissim. They lost to an excellent NO team. They’ll pick it up. They don’t stay down too long.
It’s not like they lost to the Bills in the same fashion Miami did last week. That really hurt.
12-4
SureThing says:
December 3, 2009 9:40 AM
@hayward giablommi
Pulling your starting QB at the end of a game with NO MEANING is completely different from what Belichick did against the Saints. If Caldwell had pulled Peyton every time the Colts were down in 4th quarter, the Colts would be 5-6.
Your point is well taken, but just in case you didn’t notice, about the only time the Pats had any momentum was up to the point Brady was picked off, right after Welkers big punt return early in the game. From that point on New Orleans took total control of the game. Anybody could see there was very little possibility of a New England comeback. I think when Belichick “conceded” the game with 5 minutes left it was with the future of this season in mind. I think he let his starters stew on the sideline, so the memory would be imprinted in their minds going forward. If the Patriots are going to make a run at it, there’s very little doubt New Orleans is going to be the team that stands in their way (or whatever team comes out of the AFC). Sorry Viking fans. It was done as a future motivational tool. With that said, I think Belichicks foresight probably doesn’t even come into play. Right now I don’t think any betting man has the Patriots getting past Indy. Even San Diego, Pittsburgh, or Cincy are 50/50 propositions. But to say “stick a fork in them” is silly too. I understand the need to troll can be pretty strong for some posters here, but really, have we reached a point where fat drunk and stupid is the way to go through life?
Just my 2 cents.
“overkil2 says:
December 3, 2009 9:52 AM
I don’t know why the pessimissim. They lost to an excellent NO team. They’ll pick it up. They don’t stay down too long.
It’s not like they lost to the Bills in the same fashion Miami did last week. That really hurt.”
———————————————–
x11ty billion.
the Patriots should have very little concern. I think Monday was an aberration more than anything else. Case in point: The Dolphins were handling both the Colts & Saints easily, but in the Colts case were a dropped pass from Ginn away from winning that one, and in the Saints game…. well you all know what happened. meltdown of almost “against the jets with testaverde” proportions.
My point is any given Sunday….. (or Monday night, as it were). The Patriots are still the strongest team in the AFCE and due to that will have a berth in the postseason, where they traditionally step up their game. I see them as every bit the genuine superbowl contender as the Colts or Saints. You can be undefeated in the regular season, it only takes one loss to be bounced out.
hayward giablommi says:
December 2, 2009 9:30 PM
“While Belichick was going over what the Patriots would do in case of win, lose and tie scenarios does Monday night’s game count as a forfeit since he quit with five minutes left?”
^^^^^
Pretty indicative of someone with an anti-Belichick agenda…considering (other) teams have been known to take WEEKS off at the end of the season… which seems like much more of an affront to the game then pulling starters with 5 minutes left of a blowout.
Sorry, but the ticket buying public isn’t spending hundreds of dollars to see Jim Sorgi play for 3 and a half quarters, or to watch Tony Dungy blatantly throw in the towel at the end of the week 17 two years ago, sitting on the ball when down by a field goal with less than 2 minutes to go to purposely allow the Titans to preserve a win so they could grab the last playoff spot. THAT is blatant disregard for the game of football and the spirit of competetition. Not what happened Monday Night.
But if the good ol’ All American Colts do it, it must be ok, eh Citizen? Hypocrisy at its finest.
_________
Hypocrisy…born and raised in New England. What a laugh that Pats fan morons like “co”ward even have the audacity to bring up that word in regards to any other fans. LMAO!!!!
DarnFlorio says:
December 3, 2009 1:58 PM
hayward giablommi says:
December 2, 2009 9:30 PM
“While Belichick was going over what the Patriots would do in case of win, lose and tie scenarios does Monday night’s game count as a forfeit since he quit with five minutes left?”
^^^^^
Pretty indicative of someone with an anti-Belichick agenda…considering (other) teams have been known to take WEEKS off at the end of the season… which seems like much more of an affront to the game then pulling starters with 5 minutes left of a blowout.
Sorry, but the ticket buying public isn’t spending hundreds of dollars to see Jim Sorgi play for 3 and a half quarters, or to watch Tony Dungy blatantly throw in the towel at the end of the week 17 two years ago, sitting on the ball when down by a field goal with less than 2 minutes to go to purposely allow the Titans to preserve a win so they could grab the last playoff spot. THAT is blatant disregard for the game of football and the spirit of competetition. Not what happened Monday Night.
But if the good ol’ All American Colts do it, it must be ok, eh Citizen? Hypocrisy at its finest.
_________
Hypocrisy…born and raised in New England. What a laugh that Pats fan morons like “co”ward even have the audacity to bring up that word in regards to any other fans. LMAO!!!!
Sounds like Hayword hit a sore spot “fill-in-the-blank” Florio
DarnFlorio says:
December 3, 2009 1:58 PM
hayward giablommi says:
December 2, 2009 9:30 PM
“While Belichick was going over what the Patriots would do in case of win, lose and tie scenarios does Monday night’s game count as a forfeit since he quit with five minutes left?”
^^^^^
Pretty indicative of someone with an anti-Belichick agenda…considering (other) teams have been known to take WEEKS off at the end of the season… which seems like much more of an affront to the game then pulling starters with 5 minutes left of a blowout.
Sorry, but the ticket buying public isn’t spending hundreds of dollars to see Jim Sorgi play for 3 and a half quarters, or to watch Tony Dungy blatantly throw in the towel at the end of the week 17 two years ago, sitting on the ball when down by a field goal with less than 2 minutes to go to purposely allow the Titans to preserve a win so they could grab the last playoff spot. THAT is blatant disregard for the game of football and the spirit of competetition. Not what happened Monday Night.
But if the good ol’ All American Colts do it, it must be ok, eh Citizen? Hypocrisy at its finest.
_________
Hypocrisy…born and raised in New England. What a laugh that Pats fan morons like “co”ward even have the audacity to bring up that word in regards to any other fans. LMAO!!!!
———————————————-
also ignor the above.
This shows what a LOSER I am,
I have gone to every pats post
useing a different name (they keep
kicking me out) to talk shit!!
I suck and I have no friends!!!
shamalamadingdong says:
December 3, 2009 2:25 PM
DarnFlorio says:
December 3, 2009 1:58 PM
hayward giablommi says:
December 2, 2009 9:30 PM
“While Belichick was going over what the Patriots would do in case of win, lose and tie scenarios does Monday night’s game count as a forfeit since he quit with five minutes left?”
^^^^^
Pretty indicative of someone with an anti-Belichick agenda…considering (other) teams have been known to take WEEKS off at the end of the season… which seems like much more of an affront to the game then pulling starters with 5 minutes left of a blowout.
Sorry, but the ticket buying public isn’t spending hundreds of dollars to see Jim Sorgi play for 3 and a half quarters, or to watch Tony Dungy blatantly throw in the towel at the end of the week 17 two years ago, sitting on the ball when down by a field goal with less than 2 minutes to go to purposely allow the Titans to preserve a win so they could grab the last playoff spot. THAT is blatant disregard for the game of football and the spirit of competetition. Not what happened Monday Night.
But if the good ol’ All American Colts do it, it must be ok, eh Citizen? Hypocrisy at its finest.
_________
Hypocrisy…born and raised in New England. What a laugh that Pats fan morons like “co”ward even have the audacity to bring up that word in regards to any other fans. LMAO!!!!
Sounds like Hayword hit a sore spot “fill-in-the-blank” Florio
________
The only “sore spot” he hit was the back of your throat, loser. No wonder they call you “suckalottadingdong”.
DarnFlorio says:
December 3, 2009 3:41 PM
shamalamadingdong says:
December 3, 2009 2:25 PM
DarnFlorio says:
December 3, 2009 1:58 PM
hayward giablommi says:
December 2, 2009 9:30 PM
“While Belichick was going over what the Patriots would do in case of win, lose and tie scenarios does Monday night’s game count as a forfeit since he quit with five minutes left?”
^^^^^
Pretty indicative of someone with an anti-Belichick agenda…considering (other) teams have been known to take WEEKS off at the end of the season… which seems like much more of an affront to the game then pulling starters with 5 minutes left of a blowout.
Sorry, but the ticket buying public isn’t spending hundreds of dollars to see Jim Sorgi play for 3 and a half quarters, or to watch Tony Dungy blatantly throw in the towel at the end of the week 17 two years ago, sitting on the ball when down by a field goal with less than 2 minutes to go to purposely allow the Titans to preserve a win so they could grab the last playoff spot. THAT is blatant disregard for the game of football and the spirit of competetition. Not what happened Monday Night.
But if the good ol’ All American Colts do it, it must be ok, eh Citizen? Hypocrisy at its finest.
_________
Hypocrisy…born and raised in New England. What a laugh that Pats fan morons like “co”ward even have the audacity to bring up that word in regards to any other fans. LMAO!!!!
Sounds like Hayword hit a sore spot “fill-in-the-blank” Florio
________
The only “sore spot” he hit was the back of your throat, loser. No wonder they call you “suckalottadingdong”.
———————————————-
AGAIN I AM STILL A LOSER
Japanese fishermen will be seen vomiting over the sides of their boats in Biscayne Bay.
LAUGH OUT LOUD!!
FIRST, the Pats would have to beat even ONE SINGLE GOOD TEAM (which they have NOT done this season) before they or any of their moronic fan base can even talk about winning a post-season game. Somehow the collective tiny brains of their deluded fan base fail to grasp this simplistic concept. Looking to past performance means dick as regards current performance, fools.
I, pornflorio ( aka cornflorio aka darnflorio ) am
a total loser!!!
Only I would go on a 2 day old post and
talk shit with myself under different user names.
I have lost my mind!
LMFAO!!!!!!
P0rnFl0ri0 says:
December 4, 2009 11:14 AM
I, COWARDLY IMPOSTER, am
a total loser!!!
Only I would go on a 2 day old post and
talk shit under a COWARDLY IMPOSTER user name.
I have lost my mind!
LMFAO!!!!!!
___________
First correct thing you have ever said here, COWARDLY IMPOSTER.