the Matt Patricia 2018-19 playoff nfl thread

bob sutton fired as chiefs defensive coordinator

tony romo with blood on his hands

xp interesting that all players who scored in that 1st ot win (tuck rule game) are still active! except for james jett who is now 48 and retired that year

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/boxscores/200201190nwe.htm

This playoffs had good potential to have a cool weird match-up in the Superbowl and for it to end up the Pats vs. the Rams. Fxxx this...

I guess it might be cool to see Eric Dickerson pop up someplace on radio or TV, but this match up is lame.

Even the Boston big money crowd seems bored as I guess they are having issues selling some packages etc. At least so far, it is the easiest Superbowl ticket to get in years.

should be a good game, just a hard one to care about

I liked this piece from Slate I found:

https://slate.com/culture/2001/12/bledsoe-vs-brady-who-should-the-patriots-pick.html

The Bledsoe-Brady controversy is a perfect example of how the introduction of a salary cap has turned NFL conventional wisdom on its head. Indeed, the irony of the situation is that all the Boston talk-radio cranks convinced that Brady is a better quarterback are almost certainly wrong. Sure, the guy has fine mechanics and uncanny poise in the pocket. But despite his torrid start, four teams with solid pass defenses—Buffalo, Denver, Miami, and St. Louis—contained him handily. Brady’s rolled up his biggest numbers against the Colts, whose pass defense would have trouble keeping some 1-AA college teams out of the end zone.

Bledsoe, on the other hand, has about as good a stat sheet as you can compile in nine years of professional play. He made the Pro Bowl in his third year and led the Patriots all the way to the Super Bowl in his fourth. In 1995, he became the youngest player ever to throw for 10,000 yards; his current career stats include 136 touchdowns and nearly 30,000 yards. And he’s done all this despite an ever-changing roster of coaches that would make George Steinbrenner blush. Belichick is Bledsoe’s third head coach; the Pats’ current offensive coordinator, Charlie Weis, is his fourth.

So if this were simply about which quarterback has more talent, you’d be a fool to choose Brady. But think about what Bledsoe could fetch if the Patriots, a team with gaping holes all over the place, traded him. In April, the Atlanta Falcons gave up a first-round draft pick and a solid wide receiver-kick returner for Michael Vick. Bledsoe would probably claim an even higher bounty: Paul Zimmerman, Sports Illustrated football Svengali, recently suggested Bledsoe would probably fetch a starter plus two first-round draft picks.

Jettisoning Bledsoe would also take his $7.5 million per year contract off the books—Brady makes only $300,000 per year—next season or the season afterward, freeing up money for a desperately needed offensive lineman or two, plus a playmaker at wide receiver. (Because of the complicated rules of the cap, the Patriots could get rid of Bledsoe next year or the year after without taking a debilitating hit, though it depends in part on how they get rid of him.) In other words, you’re trading proven greatness at quarterback for four or five starters. Even if Brady turns out to be mediocre, all the extra quality players make the transaction a net winner for the team, and the surest way to turn this year’s squad—which is performing far beyond its talents, thanks to good coaching and a bit of luck—into a serious Super Bowl contender.

If Bledsoe really wants to stay with the Patriots—and, to his credit, he’s been the epitome of a loyal, club-friendly athlete for his entire stay in Foxboro—he’s welcome to take a pay cut. Otherwise, he should go. Harsh? Perhaps. But that’s the new reality of the NFL. Someday, the Tom Brady decision will turn out to be an object lesson too.

Oh, and what happens if it turns out he's actually the GOAT and Bledsoe was just above average?

lol beautiful

TBRR, though, back in those days, I thought Brady was an ok QB, who got super lucky with an outstanding supporting cast that made him look better than he was. Certainly the fact that he's been underpaid all along is the key to why they've been able to put together so many high quality teams.

it's hard to remember specifics but brady was so obviously *different,* i think part of it was being freed of expectations but they were so much looser with him whereas you could look up "labored" in a thesaurus and find bledsoe as a synonym. no disrespect to drew who is a great dude by many accounts but there was always part of him that seemed to be playing football out of obligation.

i'd like someone to dig up some actual bledsoe truther articles. there are boston media guys who never recovered from bledsoe being their main locker room source and ensuing bitterness.

brady was p much a ~game manager~ his first couple few years def wasnt clear he was gonna go nuclear, the thing that was clear tho was that the league was passing bledsoe by his feet were way too slow he just stood back there and got the shit sacked out of him, so the choice was p obvs at the time imho

from the outside looking in it was clear Bledsoe was about as legit a big game quarterback as Elvis Grbac or Jake Plummer, and Brady clearly had confidence and smarts and a Montana vibe and certain leadership skills that were impossible to teach. I mean hindsight and all but to read this in 2019 is extremely wonderful:

Bledsoe, on the other hand, has about as good a stat sheet as you can compile in nine years of professional play. He made the Pro Bowl in his third year and led the Patriots all the way to the Super Bowl in his fourth. In 1995, he became the youngest player ever to throw for 10,000 yards; his current career stats include 136 touchdowns and nearly 30,000 yards.

i mean holy cats

it's kind of crazy though to think that Drew Bledsoe's true legacy is as the guy who got Wally Pipped by both Tom Brady and Tony Romo, and was released by Buffalo so the Bills could bring on the J.P. Losman era.

also I guess it was just a different era but it is astonishing to me that his career passer rating was 77.1!

pains me to defend the nfl but those 'four super bowl officials have ties to southern california' stories are terrible and outlets should feel ashamed for running them

weird how the refs always seem to be biased against the Patriots

tom brady was born in california; perhaps he is a sleeper agent

ummm northern california hello

hmm orchestrating a move to send his backup QB to his hometown team and then he immediately is injured

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CsHAt3SUsAAvBSn.jpg

from the outside looking in it was clear Bledsoe was about as legit a big game quarterback as Elvis Grbac or Jake Plummer...

― omar little, Monday, January 28, 2019

aw this seems a bit unfair

ROB RYAN is yr new *inside* linebackers coach for the hatcats

no word on who will coach the right guards

These are supposedly the most popular #SuperBowl snacks in each state. Baked chicken breasts for CA? 😂😂😂 When in the history of EVER have you munched on baked chicken breasts while watching football??? pic.twitter.com/jl13XiNBAC

— Elina Shatkin (@elinashatkin) February 1, 2019

betcha can't eat just one

"Bledsoe was about as legit a big game quarterback as Elvis Grbac or Jake Plummer..."

Bledsoe did get wins to get them in the Superbowl twice, when you add in coming off the bench to beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh during the 2002 AFC title game.

I think the big thing for Bledsoe is that Parcells left and they just could not get above .500 those couple of years with Pete Carroll. In hindsight, it is pretty wild that Pete Carroll was the head coach between those two considering the success with USC and the Seahawks.

There was a handful of guys that were in those early Pats Superbowl teams that were also from Parcells time.

If this is the end of the road for the Pats, I will grant that playing the Rams does have some symmetry.

I was being hard on Drew. It’s just sort of a weird way for his career to go, considering he was a #1 overall draft pick and did in fact have some success.

lol at the proliferation of "cake" as superbowl snack

I just time traveled into the future Rams win 27 to 20

— Jose Canseco (@JoseCanseco) February 3, 2019

will be rooting for jose rather than the Teams tonight

This halftime show is hot garbage.

Man, does this band suck

Go Rams!

Why do people like this music?

Because they lack musical education which means dumbing it down and maximizing the spectacle is everything imo

But it’s the super bowl so we’re not gonna get Brahms or w/e

This game has been boring. Gurley could make a difference

this game rules

Good

No need to be defensive about it

this may be the worst 2.5 hours of tv i have ever watched lol

Rams just need to be themselves right now

Like that

who had the under

I'm going I Love Baseball from here out

Appozigze in advance

Tie game

This is what America deserves

Haha

this game is going to have to get PRIT-TEE good to make up for Adam Levine shirtless

Lucky

Huge break

gorgeous pass