TNF: Pats v. Steelers thread

[HL65]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I've got a plan guys, you can borrow my bills defense next year if we can borrow your offense this year...deal?

Deal

[mailman]

Originally Posted by GB-man

I've got a plan guys, you can borrow my bills defense next year if we can borrow your offense this year...deal?

Bills are supposed to be my local team so sure Lots of Giants here and a few Jets.

[Ed Rooney]

As a Ravens fan I had to come to a classic "lesser of two evils" decision before game time last night. Would I root for the Pats against the Ravens' biggest rival, or (feeling less threatened than usual by the Steelers) would I root for the Steelers against a team that could stand in the way of home field/bye. But then, if the Steelers beat the Pats, they would have to be considered a much bigger threat.

In the end, I had to go with my heart. And my heart says that I like having the Steelers around. I like watching them play. I would never want the Steelers to go through a run of 5-11 or 4-12 years. I want them up there at 10-11-12 wins, duking it out with the Ravens two or three times a year, all in prime time. I wouldn't want the Ravens playing in a division with no other competition, racking up 12+ wins and a division crown every year. I like Ravens vs Pats in the playoffs. They are usually classic games, but Ravens vs Steelers is always a classic.

On the other hand, I want New England to have many years of post-Brady/Belicheck mediocrity, but be just good enough to draft #5 or 6 every year and never get the next Andrew Luck after losing 15 games by fielding their JV team.

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Ed Rooney

As a Ravens fan I had to come to a classic "lesser of two evils" decision before game time last night. Would I root for the Pats against the Ravens' biggest rival, or (feeling less threatened than usual by the Steelers) would I root for the Steelers against a team that could stand in the way of home field/bye. But then, if the Steelers beat the Pats, they would have to be considered a much bigger threat.

In the end, I had to go with my heart. And my heart says that I like having the Steelers around. I like watching them play. I would never want the Steelers to go through a run of 5-11 or 4-12 years. I want them up there at 10-11-12 wins, duking it out with the Ravens two or three times a year, all in prime time. I wouldn't want the Ravens playing in a division with no other competition, racking up 12+ wins and a division crown every year. I like Ravens vs Pats in the playoffs. They are usually classic games, but Ravens vs Steelers is always a classic.

On the other hand, I want New England to have many years of post-Brady/Belicheck mediocrity, but be just good enough to draft #5 or 6 every year and never get the next Andrew Luck after losing 15 games by fielding their JV team.

Your Patriots mediocrity plan is fatally flawed. The Pats drafted Brady in the 6th round, which means they can be anywhere in the order and still pick up their next gen QB.

[Ed Rooney]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

Your Patriots mediocrity plan is fatally flawed. The Pats drafted Brady in the 6th round, which means they can be anywhere in the order and still pick up their next gen QB.

That was just karma making up for having BB coach the Browns for 5 years, and provide balance in The Force for Ryan Leaf.

Please don't act like BB had all this in his master plan. When he drafted Brady, he already had an entrenched starter who had led the team to a Super Bowl. He was drafting what every team tries to draft in a late round QB - a guy who can possibly be a cheap #3/practice squad guy for a few years, and maybe grow into a decent backup (see Matt Cassel). If he had ANY designs on Brady ever being a starter, he would have taken him sooner.

You could apply reverse spin to this and say, isn't this the same guy who passed on Brady 5 times?

[Abdullah71601]

Originally Posted by Ed Rooney

That was just karma making up for having BB coach the Browns for 5 years, and provide balance in The Force for Ryan Leaf.

Please don't act like BB had all this in his master plan. When he drafted Brady, he already had an entrenched starter who had led the team to a Super Bowl. He was drafting what every team tries to draft in a late round QB - a guy who can possibly be a cheap #3/practice squad guy for a few years, and maybe grow into a decent backup (see Matt Cassel). If he had ANY designs on Brady ever being a starter, he would have taken him sooner.

You could apply reverse spin to this and say, isn't this the same guy who passed on Brady 5 times?

And Aaron Rogers was drafted late to back up Brett Favre

There's no such thing as Karma in football (it's a small pool, everybody has worked for or with everybody), and luck is the residue of design. The Pats are pretty good at turning late round picks into productive starters. That won't change when BB and Tommy boy retire unless the scouting department retires with them.

[Ed Rooney]

Originally Posted by Abdullah71601

And Aaron Rogers was drafted late to back up Brett Favre

There's no such thing as Karma in football (it's a small pool, everybody has worked for or with everybody), and luck is the residue of design. The Pats are pretty good at turning late round picks into productive starters. That won't change when BB and Tommy boy retire unless the scouting department retires with them.

Aaron Rodgers was a first rounder, drafted to take over after Favre retired. That's what you do when you think you will need a starter.

The Pats scouts during the 1999 NCAA season were Pete Carroll guys. BB was a defensive assistant with the Jets then, so don't say it was him.

There's another example of dumb luck in drafting a QB - Russell Wilson. He was a middling 3rd rounder, usually where you draft a backup. Seattle good just spent big money on Matt Flynn (a Packers 7th rounder), so Wilson wasn't expected to do anything.

Johnny U was drafted in the 9th round by the Steelers, and then cut by them, only to take over for that year's overall first round pick, George Shaw, in Baltimore.

Dumb luck. Don't claim Brady was anything but.

[stmoore]

Originally Posted by Ed Rooney

Aaron Rodgers was a first rounder, drafted to take over after Favre retired. That's what you do when you think you will need a starter.

The Pats scouts during the 1999 NCAA season were Pete Carroll guys. BB was a defensive assistant with the Jets then, so don't say it was him.

There's another example of dumb luck in drafting a QB - Russell Wilson. He was a middling 3rd rounder, usually where you draft a backup. Seattle good just spent big money on Matt Flynn (a Packers 7th rounder), so Wilson wasn't expected to do anything.

Johnny U was drafted in the 9th round by the Steelers, and then cut by them, only to take over for that year's overall first round pick, George Shaw, in Baltimore.

Dumb luck. Don't claim Brady was anything but.

Stunning post. Well put. I almost forgot about Flynn who is now back with the packers, right?

Cheers,
Steve

[Manofsteelpt]

Brady was for sure luck, but, you gotta give the guy credit too... He did work his butt off to get where he is.

[warrior]

Not saying that the Pats thought that Brady would be a future superstar...but they certainly saw something in him that most teams did not. It was a combination of luck, circumstance, and insight that led the Pats to draft him. And I wouldn't say "dumb luck".

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/patrio...181100864.html

[linesiders]

Brady was scouted and drafted by Belichick, not Pete Caroll (great guy, not a good fit after Parcells) - fired after 1999 season. The 2000 season, BB & TB's first, the Pats went 5-11 - the Pat's last loosing season.

He was someone on their radar, and not on a lot of other teams, having spent much of his Michigan starting job in platoon with other QBs. Drew Bledsoe was the QB at the time. TB went from being #3 on the depth chart (yes, they carried 4 QBs because they thought they had something special with Tom) to surprisingly being picked over Damon Huard when Bledose was injured in Game2 by Mo Lewis from the Jets. Brady's first start the week later, Game3, (I was there - great game) was a blowout victory over the Peyton Manning led Colts. The rest is football history.

interesting dynamics into a 6th round pick:

http://www.businessinsider.com/patri...m-brady-2014-5

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...-the-nfl-draft

[warrior]

Originally Posted by linesiders

Brady was scouted and drafted by Belichick, not Pete Caroll (great guy, not a good fit after Parcells) - fired after 1999 season. The 2000 season, BB & TB's first, the Pats went 5-11 - the Pat's last loosing season.

He was someone on their radar, and not on a lot of other teams, having spent much of his Michigan starting job in platoon with other QBs. Drew Bledsoe was the QB at the time. TB went from being #3 on the depth chart (yes, they carried 4 QBs because they thought they had something special with Tom) to surprisingly being picked over Damon Huard when Bledose was injured in Game2 by Mo Lewis from the Jets. Brady's first start the week later, Game3, (I was there - great game) was a blowout victory over the Peyton Manning led Colts. The rest is football history.

interesting dynamics into a 6th round pick:

http://www.businessinsider.com/patri...m-brady-2014-5

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...-the-nfl-draft

[Ed Rooney]

Well, hopefully the current Jets DB's coach is scouting the next great Patriots sixth round QB, since that's apparently how it's done.

[warrior]

Why the sarcasm? I don't really know. Not really sure the point of your post. You were the one who suggested it was simply dumb luck , right? I think the issue is a lot more nuanced /deeper than what you imply. Point was that it wasn't only luck... and I don't think anyone was saying that the Pats thought he was going to be the next great superstar. But, they did like him enough to draft him ( more than other teams) and keep him with three other qbs on the roster.

Originally Posted by Ed Rooney

Well, hopefully the current Jets DB's coach is scouting the next great Patriots sixth round QB, since that's apparently how it's done.