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Originally posted by IareEthan
Good point as far as them not playing each other in a while...very good point.

Last time they did play (week two of last season) the Eagles had there asses handed to them. This Patriots team is MUCH bettter than the team that beat the Eagles last year while the Eagles are only marginally better.

Originally posted by IareEthan
As for the rest...I\'m not going to dig up statistics right now, but was New England REALLY that impressive offensively against the Steelers?  Take away the final offensive series...as, IMO...the Steelers were in shutdown mode.  Take away that BIG fifteen yard penalty (the biggest momentum killer I\'ve seen in a long time).  Take away those...what...5 turnovers?  The Pats defense did a hell of a job shutting down the steelers...and their offense, again from what I saw wasn\'t overly impressive, and was only successful as a result of their defense.     Plus...one of the main reasons Pitt had the #1 defense is because they ran the ball mercilessly...completely owned the time of possession.  With the early turnovers...they couldn\'t afford to be running the ball.  McNabb isn\'t a rookie QB.  He won\'t be throwing the ball away like that.

Stop fooling yourself. Throwing up 35 non-garbage time points on anyone let alone the #1 defense is impressive.

If you watched the game you know that Pittsburgh stuck with their running gameplan well into the late-3rd quarter. If they abandoned the run early the game would have been even uglier.

You can\'t discredit the performance of an offense based on the success of the defense. New England is good on both sides of the ball.

Originally posted by IareEthan
In addition to that...I\'m banking that the Pats shutting down of the colts was all a mental breakdown on Indy\'s part.  The Pats don\'t have that edge on Philly.

The Pats shutting down the Colts was a physical breakdown of the Indy defense by the New England offense. The Pats offense had as much to do with Indy scoring 3 points as the Defense did because they did the same thing that made the Pitt defense rank so high. Control the clock.

New England\'s defense was tied with Philly for the #2 defense in points allowed but New England ALSO had the #4 offense in points scored. Thats a statistic that get overlooked all the time because the Pats don\'t have many superstars.

When you factor in the Pats #3 rushing offense against Philly\'s #16 rushing defense you see why the Pats are favored to win big.

Ethan: I must have been watching a different game than you.  I saw a pats offense with as many total yards as the Eagles put up this last week, against a much better D.  Say what you will about Pittsburgh\'s D, they are certainly better than Atlanta\'s.  I also saw the Pats score touchdowns three times on plays of more than 20 yards, including a 60 yard bomb to Deion Branch.  And as for the turnovers making it easy: every one of New England\'s 7 scoring drives but one started in New England territory.  That one started at the Pittsburgh 48.  They had three drives of over 70 yards.  I wouldn\'t say that the Steelers offense just handed them their points.

The Eagles on the other hand had five scoring drives, two of which were over 70 yards, and one of which was -5 yards...they were given the ball on the 11 and made a FG.  And let\'s not forget...the man who caught both TD receptions won\'t be playing in the Super Bowl.


Black Sammy: That is right, the Pats scored 3 more points per game than the Eagles and drove for more yards as well.  Those numbers might be slightly thrown off by Philly\'s last two weeks though.  Also, Philly\'s run D is a lot better than that #16 ranking.  I thought that the run D was what would keep Philly from being an elite D, but that\'s all changed since Trotter was inserted into the starting lineup.  If you throw out the last two weeks, when they weren\'t playing a lot of their starters, only one team has rushed for over 90 yards on them since (my New York Giants ).  This is certainly a different defense than the one that Pittsburgh ran all over, and they are better than their rankings make them appear.

But once again, I think it comes down to the coaching, and as good as Andy Reid is, he\'s up against the best.  And it\'s not even close right now.  Belichick gives his team such an incredible edge, and the team plays so smart and so under control, that after two weeks of preparation, it\'s hard to believe that they won\'t find a way to win.  If the Eagles wanna have a chance, they have to open the game up.  The lower scoring it is, the more it favors the Pats.

[GmanJoe]

This "Defending Superbowl Champs" thing is bunk. There\'s ~is~ no "defending" champs. What about teams that won the superbowl one year and then they didn\'t make it to the playoffs the next season?

This ain\'t boxing, folks. Once the season is over, whoever wins the Superbowl takes home a trophy. There\'s no defending afterwards. They keep it.

Man.....and I thought Cowboy fans were bad. Patsy fans are worse.

The Pats shutting down the Colts was a physical breakdown of the Indy defense by the New England offense. The Pats offense had as much to do with Indy scoring 3 points as the Defense did because they did the same thing that made the Pitt defense rank so high. Control the clock.
 

Uhhh, the Colts defense shut down the pats in the first half. Untill the fourth quater they were playing well, but when your offense keeps not getting first downs, you eventually get tired. Especially in that weather.

If the colts offense could stay on the field for more then 6 plays at a time, they would have won the game.

Originally posted by Deadly Hamster
Uhhh, the Colts defense shut down the pats in the first half. Untill the fourth quater they were playing well, but when your offense keeps not getting first downs, you eventually get tired. Especially in that weather.

If the colts offense could stay on the field for more then 6 plays at a time, they would have won the game.

Well it\'s not like you can blame Indy for that.  That was their main gameplan all along, keep the ball out of Manning\'s hands as much as possible.  They executed that to perfection.

I also agree with Ethan, a lot of why New England shut down Indy was mental.  They don\'t have that mental edge over Philadelphia, but they do have a lot of experience.

Eventually the law of averages will catch up to Brady, but not this season.  On a side note, you don\'t get much more consistent than 31-2 in 33 games, thats pretty much defining consistent, ugly wins or flashy ones.

Last time they did play (week two of last season) the Eagles had there asses handed to them. This Patriots team is MUCH bettter than the team that beat the Eagles last year while the Eagles are only marginally better.

Last time the Patriots played the Eagles, the Eagles were not only fighting off a boat load of injuries, but they were also in their incredible slump.  It\'s well documented.  They started the season off incredibly slow.  In addition...to say that the Eagles are only a marginally better team than at that time is foolish.  Their secondary is vastly improved.  Their linebackers are vastly improved.  Their D-line is vastly improved.  Their o-line is vastly improved.  Westbrook has emerged as a premier running back.  McNabb\'s having the best season of his career (and he\'s proving it wasn\'t just because of TO)...and the recievers are finally stepping up.  

Stop fooling yourself. Throwing up 35 non-garbage time points on anyone let alone the #1 defense is impressive.  

I agree, that is impressive.  But, I still say, you take away those stupid INTs Roethlisberger was throwing, and you may have an entirely different game.

If you watched the game you know that Pittsburgh stuck with their running gameplan well into the late-3rd quarter. If they abandoned the run early the game would have been even uglier.  

Of course they stuck with it...but that doesn\'t mean it was effective.  They couldn\'t control the clock...which is my point.  That\'s what really helped the defense throughout the regular season:  The fact that they were on the sidelines quite a bit.

You can\'t discredit the performance of an offense based on the success of the defense. New England is good on both sides of the ball.  

No question...that\'s not debatable.  New England is good on both sides of the ball.  But, IMO, not good enough on either side to warrant the hype they\'re getting.

The Pats shutting down the Colts was a physical breakdown of the Indy defense by the New England offense. The Pats offense had as much to do with Indy scoring 3 points as the Defense did because they did the same thing that made the Pitt defense rank so high. Control the clock.  

Alright...the reason the Colts lost is up for debate...but if what you say is true...then ok that\'s fine.  The fact remains, in both my scenario and your own, New England\'s defense was NOT the main cause of Indy\'s fall.

New England\'s defense was tied with Philly for the #2 defense in points allowed but New England ALSO had the #4 offense in points scored. Thats a statistic that get overlooked all the time because the Pats don\'t have many superstars.  

New England averaged about a field goal more than philly.  They tied with Philly for points allowed.  New England played the entire season...Philly had their starters benched for the final two weeks.  Had they not...Philly would have more likely than not finished first in points allowed, and would have probably tied NE for points per game.

When you factor in the Pats #3 rushing offense against Philly\'s #16 rushing defense you see why the Pats are favored to win big.

Shockwaves said it...since Trotter\'s in there...the Eagles run D is COMPLETELY different.

I just don\'t see the patriots putting up huge numbers on the eagles secondary. It will come down to kicker if the pats are going to win I say.

I remember how shocky and james were just killing the eagles secondary when the season started. 3 guys going to the pro bowl. Which you could argue for four.

They have the best secondary in the league.

Originally posted by QuDDus
I just don\'t see the patriots putting up huge numbers on the eagles secondary. It will come down to kicker if the pats are going to win I say.

I remember how shocky and james were just killing the eagles secondary when the season started. 3 guys going to the pro bowl. Which you could argue for four.

They have the best secondary in the league.

...and I just remembered why I hate the Eagles. Thanks for remimding me as to why I had so much hatred for the Eagles, Quddus. Sure feels good to have a REASON, again.

Go Patriots!

See Yuz.

Originally posted by QuDDus
I remember how shocky and james were just killing the eagles secondary when the season started. 3 guys going to the pro bowl. Which you could argue for four.

So what does that mean?

[Living-In-Clip]

All I know is this year\'s Superbowl is going to be a snooze fest. Will watch it, simply because I am off of work .

Patriots will win big.

Does anyone know of any good betting sites? I\'m thinking of throwing down 50 bucks on the Pats -7.

I\'m telling you right now, it\'s going to be a close game.  Every Superbowl the Patriots play in, with the exceptions of XX(against the Bears) has been a good game.  The last two they played were instant classics.

I stand my ground, 27-24 Patriots.

This will be one to remember.

Originally posted by Living-In-Clip
All I know is this year\'s Superbowl is going to be a snooze fest. Will watch it, simply because I am off of work .

Do you think the Colts will resign Edge? I have a feeling that the Dolphins are going to go after him hard.

Charles Woodson would be a good pick up in Indy.

Originally posted by Black Samurai
So what does that mean?

Means the eagles ended up having the best secondary in the NFL.
Obviously they were wrong again.

Originally posted by QuDDus
Means the eagles ended up having the best secondary in the NFL.
Obviously they were wrong again.

Heh. Riiight.