The Sunday loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers was just plain embarrassing. The turnover ratio of 5-1 was the worst in almost seven years. The offense never clicked on all cylinders, and the defense could not make a tackle to save their lives.
Matt Cassel is now only the second quarterback to come off of back-to-back 400+ yard performances to follow it up will a loss. Could this be the footsteps of Brian Volek?
Preceding this game, Cassel threw for 815 yards and six touchdowns, leaving yestarday's game, his quarterback rating was a abysmal 39.4, which included two interceptions, two fumbles lost, and did not score once.
Right when I want to commend the offensive line for doing such a great job (last week versus Miami), they always find a way to surprise me.
Is it just me, or did James Harrison have the offensive line in his control? The O-line allowed five sacks and they are just as responsible for the two forced fumbles as Cassel is. I wish Matt would read this article because he needs to seriously learn what I am about to teach him:
Pocket Presence=Ball Protection=No Fumble=Patriots Success!
8 comments Last one added 7 months ago — Leave a Comment
Helen Medmim 7 months ago
lol...u can't put it all on cassel c'mon....but ne way no way is their season over i would bet $100 they make the playoffs...for a couple of reasons....#1 the jets are ridiculously inconsistent....they beat the titans but lost to the raiders earlier this year....am i the only one confused by this team...ne way two of their final four are against division opponents and i have to believe they'll lose one of them...ne's remaining schedule @2-10 seahawks (horrible secondary) @3-9 oakland (horrible everything plus moss will be supermotivated) arizona at home (horrible defense) and @buffalo who will have nothing to play for (i'm assuming) i'm not worried about miami...the remaining schedule for buf-nyj-mia all have common games which means someone's not winning out...and the ravens after having one of the easiest schedules of the first 13 weeks have a much tougher road ahead WAS-PIT-@PIT-JAX...they're 2-4 vs. teams with a winning record...one way or another i see ne in the playoffs [IF THEY WIN OUT THAT IS]
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Alex Potter 7 months ago
I totally agree that this wasn't on Cassel but, he also didn't bring his A game when we needed it most. The defense and special teams is more to blame than Cassel but he was also responsible for 4 total turnovers, a career high.Seattle should be a walk in the park if the passing game is on and we do not make any stupid drops(given it was a wintery blustery mix in foxboro Sunday night). The game versus Oakland I think we are over looking, they stop the run a lot better than what their stats prove, this game is another case of you better be able to beat them through the air.Arizona, I think is the game where the team will have nothing to play for, only because of their older starters and the fact that the division will clearly be wrapped up by then, the only thing they are possibly playing for is a first round bye. Buffalo is another game that we cannot rule out, given it will be a win, but an inter-division meeting especially between these 2 teams is always hard fought and when both teams are on, it is always a fight to the end. The Jets are def. not consistent and that will be their downfall. They will be surprised when they meet a San Fransisco defense that will stop their running game and will force Brett Favre to possibly throw interceptions. 2 of those 4 final games are inter-divisional and will really decide whether or not they will take the edge over New England in the case of a tie. New England will make it to the playoffs, if not at the AFC East champs, at least as the number 2 wild card, as long as the game steps up now because we cannot afford errors this late into a playoff run.
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Helen Medmim 7 months ago
Let's say the Pats don't win the division.....they still have a shot at the 2nd wild card spot...the ravens have games vs. WAS vs. Pit @DAL and vs. JAX the only game that's likely an easy win would be at home vs jaxonville b/c they'll have nothing 2 play for Washington will be tough i live in VA and this team is better than their record indicates....you have 2 think they will lose to pit or dallas if not both...
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Alex Potter 7 months ago
The Ravens are not a team to underestimate, they only lost to Pittsburgh in OT, 23-20.
Jax. will surely be another W in the win column because quite frankly they do not want to listen to Jack Del Rio. Dallas is a tossup and looks to be possibly in the Patriots favor, just like Washington. I totally agree, they are a way better team than what their record indicates in fact if it wasn't for some really poor losses and stupid mistakes in the beginning, they could be looking at a shot at a NFC wild card, but the NFC wild card is filled with really talented teams like Carolina who are just missing out on a division lead because of a tiebreaker. I predict they really shock Pittsburgh and win against them at home, win versus Jax. and lose to Washington and Dallas. That leave the Patriots margin of error very little and the way Miami is playing like I expressed in the article, we really cannot rule them out because the Patriots split that series, the division record for both teams is ugly but near even.
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Dracula's Buttocks has teeth 7 months ago
The Patriots have nothing to be embarrassed about. They played the best they could. Bad teams lose games. It happens.
Why should anyone be upset? A good team beat a bad team. It happens every week.
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Alex Potter 7 months ago
First of all the Patriots are not a bad team, I agree Pittsburgh is better, but given the injury situation the Patriots are still in line to win 11 games, that isn't to bad to say half of the their defense is out, their best starting QB, and possibly Wes Welker after the cheap shot he got(hopefully the wind was just knocked out of him).
Second of all there was something to be embarrassed about, the defense played absolutely horrific, and Cassel showed no sign of pocket presence, I am def. not blaming Cassel for this lost, it was a poor total team effort.
Finally, When you say they played the best they could, that could not be any less true, the margin of error was .0001% and they played like it was 99% You better believe that Bellichick turns those errors into points next week in Seattle, not that it is hard versus Seattle because they are one of the worst teams this season.
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Glenn Card 7 months ago
Hey Alex, I have your correct on most counts here but don't you think alot of those dropped balls had alot to do with this loss?
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Alex Potter 7 months ago
Well clearly, but we cannot put the blame on him entirely. The pocket presence of Matt Cassel and him allowing those two strips was just showing his inexperience, but you have to admit the team as a whole played horrible, it was def. not the team that has gotten us to this point, it was almost as we gave up towards the end.As a die-hard Patriots fan, it was hard for me to watch this because this was the San Diego game all over again except in terrible conditions, and I really hope that was the leading contributor to this loss, because we cannot afford any stupid mistakes in Seattle, come Sunday.
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