If I was a Jets fan, I wouldnt back all of TradeOC's posts.

Salva??? Who let you back in here? You should be banned from this thread after your ridiculous posting before the Denver game. Are you even a fan of this team?

Ruh roh?

Dennard request for a continuance of the sentencing hearing denied. He will be sentenced today.

Hoping this doesnt come with immediate jail time or ban hammer from Goodell.

EDIT: all good for now. He's doing 60 days in March. Extra year of probation, 100 hrs community service, no alcohol.

Yeah i started to worry when i saw that they denied the continuance.

This was just for getting arrested and violating his probation. He is back in court tomorrow over the actual DUI.

Looks like he plead (or pleaded I'm never sure the correct grammar of that) no contest to refusing a chemical test was fined $500 and the DUI was dismissed. Pretty lucky it looks like.

First signs of gronk injuries are that he has a torn ACL.

Gosh the hate in the game thread is unbelievable. As if we paid the refs to make the call.

SE's hate for the Pats is strong. It was a bad call on the DPI and i think every pats fan in the thread agreed with that, but obviously pats are only team that have ever had a bad call go their way.

Gronk injury sucks. Its even hurting each time i refresh twitter and see another tweet about it likely being an ACL tear.

Even with the Gronk injury i feel at home in the playoffs they can beat nearly any team in the AFC (not including Denver). Obviously superbowl equity took a massive hit today but there is still a good chance they get to the AFCCG and anything can happen from that.

What a ****ing cheap shot. Bernard Pollard was obv when intentionally hurting him in the AFCCG too.

**** Roger Goodell and his goddamn fines. All because he's "protecting" the NFL from lawsuits. I bet most players who get CTE acquire it before they make it to the NFL.

I didnt mention it in my earlier post but man Vereen is a beast. It seemed like as soon as they decided to just feed him the ball that the pats started to comeback.

Brady GOAT but whats new right.

When you have repeatedly broken the dreams of every fan of every other team in the league over and over again, you should expect this amount of hate. Learn to relish in their saltiness.

Poor Gronk. When will Dobson be back?

In a walking boot today supposedly. Not sure when or if he comes back.

Bummed so much about Gronk. Not sure we will see him in 2014 or see the same beast again. Sucks.

Where lessor teams (and there's 31 or them in the league) put in 6-10 rebuilding years, the Patriots put up a 10-3 mark. That's why they hate us. It's the easiest thing to do. This is my 21st season as a Patriots season ticket holder. They've missed the playoffs in just 6 of those years and in only 3 did they have a losing record: 1993 (5-11), 1995 (6-10), and 2000 (5-11). Ironically, none of the losing seasons occurred during the Pete Carroll era.

So yea, we don't do rebuilding years around here much and it drives people nuts. They've been waiting years and years to see a 4-12 season and it just won't come.

Obviously, the above rosy picture blatantly ignores current events. Today was an awful day salvaged by a gritty win in which bounces - both of the calls and of the onside kick variety - went the Patriots way. A Bye week is still in play. It's likely going to be a wild card though. They could have trouble in Miami and Baltimore. They need the matchups to work out well in order to do any damage in the playoffs really. The SB is a far away dream now. Not impossible....just kinda wicked hard now. Still, this will be one of my favorite seasons regardless. They lose all those players in the offseason and more to injury and here's another 10 win (or more) season.

LOL other teams fans.

Gronk injury: I seem to be the least shocked fan in Patstown. I never, never, not once, expected Gronk to survive the season. Just yesterday, a coworker suggested a great fantasy football strat would be to target the TE's of NE, NO, and DAL, and my instant reaction was, "You can't spend a #1 pick on a guy who's unlikely to stay healthy for an entire season."

Not this fan. Kid almost caught it. If he doesn't get slowed down on his route, it's a TD. Easy call.

Gronk's style of play is simply boom or bust. Another season of entering the playoffs without him healthy (or even existent now). He doesn't protect his body properly, and that's part of what makes his highlight plays so amazing. Health is a skill, and Gronk doesn't have it. This organization should have thought more carefully before cranking out $40 million guaranteed to this guy. And they knew they got him in the 2nd round on a bargain because of an injury history. But they threw money at Hernandez very quickly as well.

And Gronk is far and away my favorite player on this team, a true difference maker, before y'all start hatin' away at Salva again.


This team was finally hitting a stride but this style of coming back in the last second is unsustainable, and without Gronk I'm not sure how this team can be considered a true contender. Too many injuries, too much horrible luck. Sitting at 10-3 is an incredible achievement and BB and Brady should be thoroughly praised for navigating this cluster**** of a season. We're going to have get super hot Ravens or Giants-style to pull this off. The possibility of a blizzard at MetLife in February is the one thing that gives me hope. I'll take my chances even against the Seahawks then.

Last week I was marveling to my wife how extraordinary it was that the Patriots were 9-3 with a roster of players (after the injury decimation) that except for Brady and Gronk (I didn't mention Chandler Jones but you could say him too) was very average at best. Like the previous poster said, this would be a 6-10 rebuild year for any other franchise. We are truly blest as fans and I kind savor all the hate from the rest of the country.

Peyton Manning would have a losing record if he was the QB of the Pats this year. TFB would be undefeated as the QB of the Broncos. Is there any doubt about this?

Throwing money at Gronk was completely fine. Bitching about it is 100% hindsight bias, and might still be wrong given how absolutely awesome the guy is when he plays. You have to take risks somewhere, this was a good calculated risk.

Pats are clearly below Seattle/Denver in Super Bowl equity, but are comfortably in the next tier if they hold on and get a bye week. Id call that a contender.

Just glad we arent playing those fearsome Jets this week though amirite?

Yes, both are very likely incorrect. Reports of Brady's demise have been exagerrated, but Manning has clearly outplayed Brady this year MDoranDOC.

This post is exactly right. I know it hasn't been talked about as much but Vereen has been an absolute beast and it doesn't seem like opponents can stop him. Also, I was pretty happy with the way Boyce played yesterday. It sucks that Gronk went out, no doubt. And it's a big blow and definitely makes this team worse but they can survive without him. I know sample size and what not but the offense did pretty damn well without him on the field yesterday. They can still move the ball.

What I haven't been able to figure out is why they can't put a complete game together. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

They were in a ton of trouble if they didnt get one of the biggest miracles in franchise history yesterday since they'd have been dogs to keep a bye week. If they get a bye though, they have a chance.

They cant put a complete game together because they arent that talented. They don't quit, they don't panic, they're mentally tough, and Im proud as hell to root for them this year, but there are holes at pretty much every positions group and the interior line is a hot mess on both sides of the ball.

Im not worried about moving the ball on offense. The Patriots pretty much always find a way to get the offense moving the ball every game. Without Gronk, some of those 7s are going to turn back into 3s, and that is going to be a problem @Denver.

Root hard for the Chargers this week.

I don't really except that. This would be a good explanation is they had been just a bit inconsistent this year. That hasn't been the case. What I've seen is them being literally inept on offense in one half to being literally unstoppable in the next half. It's happened in almost every game this year. The gap between their best and worst on offense is insanely large and I don't understand that.

Thats what the NFL looks like when you dont have a super talented team. Where exactly are the Pats rolling out elite talent on either side of the ball outside of quarterback (and fiveish games of TE)? Offensive line with a third string right tackle, a declining Mankins, and JAGs at C and G? WR, where Julian Edleman is the leading receiver? Running back? The secondary with a dinged up Talib and Dennard? DL (lol given the interior line)? LB (super lol)?

Ghost has been megaelite this year though, cant argue with that.

Pats are the team with the third least variance in performance heading into the week according to PFF. I think the answer is a combination of being very good (for the most part) at in game adjustments and variance.

Gronk may be terribly injury prone, but did you see the play? Everybody's ACL is snapping on that play.

ESPN is reporting it's a torn ACL and torn MCL in Gronkowski's right knee.