Post by Rey Kahuka on Oct 25, 2019 13:00:56 GMT
This thread NEEDS jimanchower. “Ok Rey lol. I’m sure the Patriots don’t benefit from playing the Jets Dolphins and Bills twice a year lol, right Rey lol?”
Here we go. The link one more time, but I'm going to go deeper. People are suggesting the Patriots have it easy because of their weak division. I have not argued their division was great, I've pointed out that they beat every other division on the league at the same rate they beat their own division. What that really means folks, is that the Patriots lose to their division foes at the same rate they lose to everyone else. The division does them no favors. They play 6 division games and 10 non division games, yet still manage to lose to their divisional foes at the same rate. Nobody is arguing that the AFC East is a dogfight for supremacy; but the Patriots don't gain any advantage playing here.
In 2003, the Patriots went 14-2. One of those losses was to divisional opponent Buffalo. In 2004, the Patriots again went 14-2. One of those losses was to divisional opponent Miami. In 2006 they went 12-4, and still lost to the Jets and Dolphins. In 2008 11-5 and they again lost to both NYJ and Miami. 2009, 10-6 with 2 division losses. 2010 14-2 with one loss to the Jets and guess who knocked them out of the playoffs, in Gillette Stadium: The fucking Jets. I'll keep going. 2011 they went 13-3 with a loss to Buffalo. 2013 12-4, losing again to the Jets and Dolphins. 2014 12-4, losing to Miami and Buffalo. 2015 12-4, losing again to the Jets and Dolphins. 2016 14-2 with a loss to Buffalo. That's eight times where half of their season's losses came to divisional foes. 2017 13-3 with a loss to the Dolphins. 2018 11-5 with a loss to the Dolphins. Wow, the Patriots sure have whooped up on that weak division of theirs over the years, just feasting on them and "gaining confidence." In fact since 2003, the only times they've swept their division were 2012, and of course 2007 when they beat everyone on their schedule until the Super Bowl (lol, it's still funny!).
Now let's look at the other foolish comments from this thread, that the Patriots "don't have to worry about their division." Head to head notwithstanding (now that I've debunked that), the AFC East has not been competitive year in and year out, it's true. Here's the thing. When you win three out of four Super Bowls, you start getting loftier goals. They're worried about the #1 seed and homefield, they aren't worried about sneaking into the playoffs. You only get 16 games in the NFL, you don't take games off and coast. Some of those late season losses to division foes cost the Patriots homefield, where they would go on the road and lose to Manning's Colts and Broncos in the AFC championship game 3 times. You think the Patriots didn't want home field against Peyton Manning, who never won a playoff game in Foxboro? You think the Patriots "didn't feel pressure to win" on a weekly basis those seasons? How important is homefield to the Patriots? They've only lost 3 post-season home games during the Brady era-- twice to Baltimore and again, once to divisional opponent New York. But they don't feel pressure to win?
Better yet, can anyone imagine a scenario where Bill Belichick walks into a room and says, "Take it easy this week, it's only Buffalo." Or, "We're up two games on the Jets in the division, so the outcome of this game doesn't matter. No practice this week guys, the pressure is off." It's completely absurd. Does anyone seriously think the defense that shut down the Rams in the Super Bowl last year needs to "gain confidence" by demolishing the Redskins, Jets, insert bad team here, etc.? Think it through before posting.
One more thing I found. This is a great resource. I looked at the Pats record against every team in the NFL during the Brady era, and not only did it confirm what the overall numbers already tell us (that the Pats win against every division at the same rate they win in their own); it also showed me every division seems to have one team that the Pats have difficulty with. Much like Miami in their own division. Baltimore in the AFC North, Carolina in the NFC South, Seattle in the NFC West, Denver in the AFC West. (Sorry sdm3 , the Pats troubles in Denver pre-date Manning's arrival. In fact, the Patriots actually had a winning record against Manning's Broncos-- but he won the two most important ones, so it isn't all bad news for you.) Again, like Miami for whatever reason, there are random teams throughout the NFL that seem to trouble the Pats. But divisionally speaking, the Patriots do just as well wherever they go. If only the haters could hand pick random teams to put them in the Patriots division so it would be more fair.
I hope I've opened a few eyes on this topic. This isn't for the benefit of movieliker, who's convinced the Eagles fired a coach immediately after a game for calling a pass play, or that the Saints went 13-3 and missed the playoffs. (Neither of those is true, but I'd like to point out the Patriots once went 11-5 and missed the playoffs, without Brady or course.) He's clearly trolling or too ignorant to comprehend what I'm saying here. This is for DSDSquared and anyone else who thinks I'm misinformed or simply being a homer. The results are in. The Patriots don't gain any advantage whatsoever from playing on the AFC East.
(And before anyone can say it, for the millionth time, yes the Patriots schedule so far THIS SEASON has been atrocious. They might sweep their division this year. And yet I alone seem to be the one on this board who only sees their weaknesses. What a homer.)