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Much better games this week. I watched my Ravens v Cardinals, Saints v Rams(until it became a blowout) and Philly v Atlanta and they all delivered for the most part.

But once again, Saints/Rams produces a frustrating officiating kerfluffle. As did the Bronco's game. Next year will have roughing the passer reviews.

And Roethlisberger out for the season and Drew Brees to miss around 6 weeks. Bummer.

Well, looks like the Cowboys are going to be 3-0 after this week after Miami just changed out their QB.
The (beat up) Eagles get another rough game vs a strong looking Detroit. Philly gets homefield advantage, but with the injury situ... gonna be rough. They should get the win though, so 2-1 after this week.
Washington looks to be heading for a 0-3 start facing Da Bears.
With NYG benching Eli for Daniel Jones, Tampa should pick up a win, so Giants go 0-3 as well.

 helgrenze wrote:
Well, looks like the Cowboys are going to be 3-0 after this week after Miami just changed out their QB.
The (beat up) Eagles get another rough game vs a strong looking Detroit. Philly gets homefield advantage, but with the injury situ... gonna be rough. They should get the win though, so 2-1 after this week.
Washington looks to be heading for a 0-3 start facing Da Bears.
With NYG benching Eli for Daniel Jones, Tampa should pick up a win, so Giants go 0-3 as well.

This year is clearly the Cowboys year. We need that sweet sixth ring, though I'd settle for just getting to the superbowl this year.

 Sasori wrote:


This year is clearly the Cowboys year. We need that sweet sixth ring, though I'd settle for just getting to the superbowl this year.

Lol, Cowboys fans have been saying that since, well, forever.

It's definitely not the Steelers' year.

 Sasori wrote:


This year is clearly the Cowboys year. We need that sweet sixth ring, though I'd settle for just getting to the superbowl this year.

Dallas is benefitting from a back loaded schedule. Their opponents before their week 8 bye, in order: Miami, New Orleans, Green Bay, The Jets, and The Eagles. The way things currently look their worst case should have them at 4-3 at that point. After the bye, they have only three games that look to be locks to win in the remaining 9.

Philadelphia has a tougher road before their week 10 bye, starting with a short week against Detroit this Sunday, and Green Bay on Thursday. Only one game looks easy and that is the Jets after that. They will be lucky to be 5-5 at the bye. Their end of season doesn't look too bad with at least 4 "winnable" games out of 7.

Then, of course, there is the Patriots. Due to being in a historically bad division, as well as playing the Giant, 'Skins, Browns, and Bengals, they have the "easiest" schedule. Just those opponants makes a 10 win season look possible.

 helgrenze wrote:


Then, of course, there is the Patriots. Due to being in a historically bad division, as well as playing the Giant, 'Skins, Browns, and Bengals, they have the "easiest" schedule. Just those opponants makes a 10 win season look possible.

Combine that with a guy who KNOWS he's not gonna get touched during a game, and 10 wins looks like an easy/safe bet (seriously, look at Brady during the games: no mouthpiece and his chinstrap doesn't really touch his face, it kinda hovers near it)

The Pats have a pretty easy formula. Rack up six wins against the sad sacks in the division, and you just have to go 6-4 the rest of the way to secure a first round bye (12 is usually enough). And teams with a first-round bye have made the SB at a rate 7 times that of teams with lower seeds.

No team in my lifestyle has ever benefited more from horrendous divisional competition. Doesn't mean they haven't had great teams. It means they've had great teams who were able to coast more than the system should allow.

Also, this:

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/nfl/videos-emerge-of-the-hit-on-tom-brady-that-drew-refs-alleged-stay-off-tom-warning/ar-AAHy7lI

And this:
https://deadspin.com/tom-bradys-take-on-roughing-the-passer-sure-does-change-1838268877

What is the Patriots record against non-division opponents for the last 20 years?

Not to say that they don't have a weak division - which is certainly not their 'fault', and that they have an easier road getting nto the playoffs, but they certainly have had a lot of great teams in the last two decades.

But that's fairly obvious too, I guess.

EDIT:

Why am I taking the bait from Seahawks and Steelers fans though?!?

Getting into the playoffs every year from a weak division is one thing. Getting to the AFC championship game 75% of the time is another thing entirely. I'm no Patriots fan, but their accomplishments are unparalleled. This is especially true in the free agent era with new teams in the playoffs every year.

But how many times have they had to win a single home game against a team that played the week before to reach said AFCCG? Of course their division's ineptitude is a factor in their success.

I'm not saying their division isn't a factor. I'm saying that their playoff games aren't against the Bills, Dolphins, and Jets. They still have to beat good teams to get through the playoffs to the Super Bowl.

BTW, they are 30-10 in the Belichick-Brady Era in the playoffs.

Wild Card 2-1
Divisional 13-2
AFC Champ 9 -4
SB 6 - 3


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4-4 in road playoff games (not counting neutral site Super Bowl games).

Additionally:

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/patriots/these-stats-show-patriots-dominance-over-teams-outside-afc-east

These stats show the Patriots' dominance over teams outside the AFC East

Potential knocks against the Patriots' dynasty are fleeting fast. If you thought the Patriots' regular season dominance had to do with a consistently weak AFC East, think again.

Field Yates did his best "MythBusters" impression when he tweeted out a series of Patriots win-loss records against their division and the NFL's best since 2001.

While the Patriots' 86-24 record against the AFC East is staggering, their winning percentage (134-44, .753) against everyone else is the best in the NFL, while they have 25 more non-division victories than any other team.

New England's record against eventual division winners (24-14) makes them the only team in the NFL with a winning record in this category. Against teams who eventually made the playoffs in a given season, the Patriots (60-33, .645) are the best in the league, with the Steelers at a not-so-close second with a .480 winning percentage.

Their success against teams who finished with a winning record (75-45, .625) is also an NFL-best mark, with the Steelers trailing by a considerable margin at a .440 winning percentage.

It's settled then. The Patriots don't just take care of business against the AFC East, but no team is even close to their level of success against teams outside their division.

Easy, Alpharius. No one's confiscating their SB trophies over this. (Or anything else, apparently. )

Of course the division being a cakewalk matters. IT MATTERS. The NFL handsomely rewards best conference records. The system just didn't expect that an 75% of a division could be drek and non-competitive for basically 15 years.

It's funny that you had a defense ready at your fingertips. What it is with Pats fans and their bottomless thirst for affirmation? You have the trophies, awarded to you by the NFL. What does it matter if fans of other teams complain?



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Ork-en Man wrote:


BTW, they are 30-10 in the Belichick-Brady Era in the playoffs.

4-4 in road playoff games (not counting neutral site Super Bowl games).

That kinda tells a story, right?

You're absolutely right - it does matter, and certainly has helped!

I also have no idea why the Dolphins, Jets and Dolphins have been, for the most part, so inept and unable to figure things out.

I suppose it isn't easy, sure, but they seem to have raised incompetence to an art-form these last...20 years!

In other Patriots news...

Patriots cut Antonio Brown.

 helgrenze wrote:
In other Patriots news...

Patriots cut Antonio Brown.

Every TV sports show talking head, sports radio personality, sports podcaster, blogger and newspaper reporter should thank that dude for near daily to weekly content to talk about. And thats just this summer.

And it won’t have an impact on the Patriots at all.

Well, that was quick.

Wow, that thread title was prophetic Alpharius! He's completely taken over the NFL storylines this season (although that may change assuming no one else signs him).

It was easy to predict, given his past behavior!

I guess Antonio Brown recently tweeted that he was quitting the NFL which is probably easy to do at this point since no one will hire him and there is no job to actually quit from. I think I'm also going to quit the NFL and NASA. That'll show em.

I don’t think he’ll stick to that vow, and if he isn’t suspended, someone will definitely sign him...

...maybe.

that whole ‘text a pic of her kids to her’ thing from earlier this week?

Not good at all.

When is a Facemask not a Facemask?
When the victim is an Eagle.
When you fail to take his head off along with his helmet.

How about you tell me how this isn't a facemask?
Facemask or Not?

Alot of frustrating play calls from the Ravens sideline today. At least the game became close towards the end. It was looking like the Chiefs were going to run away with it.

Not all that dismayed at the loss, though there are some things to be worried about.

Great week for the Cowboys. Crushed the Dolphins and the Eagles lost.

Eagles loosing has hurt their chances pretty badly of doing anything this season methinks.

...but Jerry Jones is still in charge, so...

Rams v. Browns was a pretty good game, if a little boring for the first half.

Love when games get down to the very last play.

The last 2 rams games haven't really taken off until the second half. I was nervous on that last set of downs. Surprised the browns didn't try a run play.

Going to try and get to the rams/49ers next month.

We all know that the Lions player will be fined for this.
What about the Ref team that didn't call it? Even the fans in the cheap seats could tell this should have been a penalty.

Seriously, How did the refs miss this? How is this NOT a Facemask Penalty?


If the refs don't call something THIS obvious, or that play in the Saints/Rams game last year, shouldn't they get fined too?
As things stand, the refs are not held to any sort of standard when it comes to things like this. The NFL needs to move past the "Oops, we missed THAT one" mentality and start holding the refs accountable.

 helgrenze wrote:


If the refs don't call something THIS obvious, or that play in the Saints/Rams game last year, shouldn't they get fined too?
As things stand, the refs are not held to any sort of standard when it comes to things like this. The NFL needs to move past the "Oops, we missed THAT one" mentality and start holding the refs accountable.

Much as I agree with you on this, I think the NFL walked itself into a bad situation. Over the years I've been fairly vocal about why I don't watch nearly so many NFL games anymore, and about 80% of that is down to officiating. Years ago they talked about not wanting to "affect the outcome of games too much" so they stopped calling basic holding penalties on offensive linemen so much. Now, that has gotten to the point where every single play, or damn near, I can see an O-lineman getting away with a blatant hold, not 4 feet in front of a zebra, and the flag isn't hitting the field.

They've walked themselves into a bad situation where they (the league and officials) have allowed lopsided officiating, bad calls, horrible no-calls to sink in and become the norm. And for them to come out and say "we're going to fix this issue" is likely going to have to go against the "we don't want to decide the outcome of games" (even though from many fans' perspective, they do)

My mentality on it is, you're not affecting the outcome of the game by throwing a holding penalty flag every single play. The offensive lineman who's holding is affecting the outcome of the game. Officiating to the rules, while not great TV (which I think is another issue for why the officiating has gone how it has), will clean up the game. Players will rethink their technique to play within the rules and after a brief rough patch of penalty filled games, things ought to get better.