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Celticspride

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About Celticspride

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    FF Geek
  • Birthday 03/17/1977

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    Boston
  1. Celticspride

    18 - 1

    That's a great question. Obviously Belichick would never say anything public about his confidence or lack-there-of in Gostkoski, but the fact that he didn't have Gostkoski attempt a FG in that situation speaks volumes. If it was a 4th and 5 or 6 you could make the case that Belichick was confident (or overconfident) in his offenses abilities to convert the 1st down. But even when the Pats were going for all those 4th downs during the year they were in managable down and distances....The chances of making a 4th and 13 conversion are extremely small...Belichick's not stupid, so the fact that he went for it over trying a reasonably lengthed FG is a pretty strong statement in his lack of confidence in Gostkoski IMO...Personally I think Gostkoski is a pretty good young kicker (with one of the strongest legs in the league when it comes to kicking off which is huge in a game of field position), but based on the Super Bowl I wouldn't be surprised if the Patriots brought in a kicker next summer to compete with Gostkoski. I think Gostkoski will still be the Pats kicker next year but I don't see how he can be too secure in his job based on how he's been used (or under used) by Belichick this year....
  2. Celticspride

    18 - 1

    People are very critical of not attempting a FG in that position. Besides the criticism of the O-Line, that's probably the biggest complaint NE fans have. I think it was a terrible decision (and obviously didn't work out), but I don't think it was arrogance on Belichick's part...I think it was a lack of confidence in Gostkoski and nothing more (reportedly Gostkoski didn't look good in warmups, despite kicking a few 50 yarders he was extremely erratic and the last time Gostkoski was on the field was the kickoff after NE scored their first TD and it went off the side of his foot and went OB)...And I'm sick of people saying "you gotta take the 3 pts" because that was far from a sure 3 pts, but still, making that FG is extremely more likely than converting 4th and 13, and I believe if Belichick had it to do over again he'd attempt the FG. Who knows though...BB would never say....Anyway, to answer your question- yes he is taking a lot of heat for that decision. He's taking a lot of heat for a few decisions- that being the worst (and also deciding to deactivate their 3rd TE Steven Spach who could've assisted in max protection sets, and also for not really adjusting the offensive gameplan when it obviously wasn't working).... This is definitely not a game that Belichick will be remembered for, but it is what it is. The Patriots got outplayed, Bill got outcoached and he's taking some well-deserved heat. The uproar would be a lot louder if he hadn't won 3 super bowls in the recent past, but people are still getting on him.... The most surprising thing to me (as a life long New England sports fan who has grown up in a very negative, pessimistic atmosphere) is how this loss is being treated. Fans haven't been all that negative at all. A lot of disappointed people, but not the anger like you saw after many past losses....I guess with the recent success NE teams have had, we've been spoiled and its tough to get too down over a loss, but it's still strange to me....I mean I can remember fans getting much more angry and upset over regular season losses (for the Pats and especially the Red Sox) in the past....
  3. Celticspride

    11 straight road victories in one season

    That's probably it. Which means your previous argument is not only irrelevant, but also untrue!
  4. Celticspride

    Patriot fans...

    Maybe...? But since when is that a crime (or against the NFL rules)...If it was there'd probably be a lot more guys getting fined....
  5. Celticspride

    11 straight road victories in one season

    deuce, nice facts, but your link is wrong. It claims the Pats' opposition only had 99 total wins this season...Here are the actual facts: NYJ- 4 (X 2) BUF- 7 (X 2) MIA- 1 (X 2) NYG- 10 DAL- 13 IND- 13 BAL- 5 PIT- 10 SD- 11 PHI- 8 WAS- 9 CLE- 10 CIN- 7 Total= looks like 120 to me.... So much for your "easiest schedule in the league argument"...
  6. Celticspride

    11 straight road victories in one season

    But noone was talking about the Ptriots. The poster who brought up the Giants' easy schedule isn't even a Pat fan to my knowledge, he was just making a correct observation that was relevant to the post. New England's division schedule is completely unrelated to this entire discussion. Also, obviously their divisional schedule was a piece of cake, but they're non-divisional schedule was as tough as anyone else I believe- They played some tough competition in non-divisional games this season, including 7 playoff teams and even Cleveland had 10 wins- (Indianapolis and Dallas, Washington, San Diego, Jacksonville, Pittsburgh, Giants).
  7. Celticspride

    Patriot fans...

    Nice! Belichick's taking a page out of Halas and Lombardi's books!!!
  8. Celticspride

    11 straight road victories in one season

    What does the Patriots division schedule have to do with the Giants' record of 11 straight road games?
  9. Celticspride

    Patriot fans...

    The fact that New England traded two picks to move up to get him (one of those picks turning out to be Greg Jennings) will make it extremely tough to take if Jackson doesn't step up. Imagine how good Jennings would look in a Pats uniform? Belichick and Pioli have drafted very well but it looks like they dropped the ball on that one....
  10. Celticspride

    Patriot fans...

    Thanks for the link (and your input)....
  11. Celticspride

    Patriot fans...

    The Patriots have some major questions to answer going forward. On offense the first step is trying to sign Moss. Eventhough he came up rather lame in the playoffs, just having him on the field allowed guys like Faulk and Welker to be productive underneath so even when he doesn't produce he's a valuable weapon and the Pats have to make every reasonable attempt to sign him. Stallworth is gone, but that's not that big of a loss. He made some big catches this year but Gaffney and or Jackson should be able to duplicate his production. The offensive line was thought to be a major strength for this team and they are all wrapped up for the forseeable future, but after sunday's game I'm not so sure that's a good thing. I still think they'll be fine, and I am a huge fan of their interior line, but Kazcur is definitely a liabilty and Light has always struggled against speed rushers (except Merriman for whatever reason), so I wouldn't be surprised to see them bring in another tackle either thru free agency or the draft to compete with Kazcur. And maybe Ryan O'Callaghan is worth a look- he can't possibly be as bad as Kazcur, could he? The defensive line is set- Green, Wilfork, Warren and Seymour are all very good and under contract (although Seymour was a disappointment this year, so hopefully it was because of his knee injury...If not, that's going to be an area of concern)....The LBs are a huge question mark- I assume Colvin will be back eventhough his cap number is pretty high and Adalius Thomas will be back, and Vrabel will be back but he's not getting any younger and who knows what's gonna happen with Bruschi and Seau. Both are getting up there and their play isn't going to get any better (And Bruschi was already inconsistent). I'm not counting on Eric Alexander to be a productive player, so they are going to have to find some young play-making LBs in a hurry. Oscar Lua is one guy who might help, but considering his age he's probably still a year or two away from helping (and thats if he ever develops into a valuable NFL player)....the secondary is another question mark- I'm guessing Samuel is gone, and Hobbs is definitely not ready to be a #1 CB. Gay is a free agent (and shaky even if he re-signs). They have a few guys that are great nickel corners, but even counting Hobbs no solid starters (assuming Asante leaves). Harrison had a very good year but he's not getting any younger. James Sanders looked very good at times and should be able to be more productive in the future, but Merriweather is far from a sure thing, and Wilson is probably gone considering his lack of production and the fact that he was in the coaches doghouse for much of the year. I'm assuming they'll take a CB or LB at #7 and will be defense-heavy in the rest of the draft, but with the Pats, who knows....
  12. Celticspride

    18 - 1

    Don't feel bad. You're not as obnoxious as a lot of Patriot haters have been (or as many Pats fans were throught the year). Honestly the fact that they seemed to buy into what the press was saying is one of the things that I found really disturbing as a Pats fan. Throughout their run they've been one of the harder workeing, blue collar teams. Early this year they were working hard and talented which made for an unbelievable run...but at some point it seemed like a lot of the Pats were walking around like they deserved all the positive press, that the championship was a forgone conclusion and they ended up getting that thrown right back at them in the super bowl.
  13. Celticspride

    18 - 1

    They were crowned by many people in the media (and fans too) but usually New England's done a great job of not buying into the hype. This year it seemed they definitely bought into the hype and several times late in the year they seemed to thing they could just show up and win. They were able to overcome some of those bad performances and still win, but not Sunday.
  14. Celticspride

    Patriot Nation....

    I totally agree. The o-line played awful, but it's the coaches job to make adjustments when things aren't working. McDaniels called a terrible game and it seemed like Belichick was more interested in coaching the defense and was barely watching his offense when they were on the field. Maybe he was overconfident in Brady and McDaniels ability to make adjustments themselves?...I don't know...But it was terrible game from Belichick right down to the last guys on the roster....You could count on 1 hand the Patriots that actually had a decent game (Welker, Faulk, Ray Ventrone, Kelley Washington and Adalius Thomas are a couple that come to mind....)
  15. Celticspride

    18 - 1

    You're right. 41 other teams have lost a super bowl, but they are the only 18-0 team to lose a super bowl. That "choke" label will be with them forever. It's softened somewhat by the fact that they have 3 championships in recent history, but this one will sting.
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