i don't think bb has a problem picking talent, but i do think he values other qualities over pure talent such as versatility. he looks for guys who fit his system more than just who is the most talented player available. i think having a 6th rounder become the GOAT qb might have skewed his perceptions a bit.

jfc how can someone read what he wrote and think this is what he's saying?!

I can't agree with you. Mostly because I just don't know. And I contend you don't know either. I just don't have the information necessary to really make an assessment of how Belechick has evaulated talent and whether or not it's better or worse that someone that they might bring in.

They have put a fantastic product on the field for a very long time. When that's the case, it's hard to argue that he's doing a bad job or that things should change.

But maybe they should change. I really just don't know.

Because I said he clearly can evaluate talent he said he disagreed with that. I realize now how he meant that.

It's Belichick! If you keep typing Belechick I'm going to forward you're posts to Kraft and I'm pretty sure he'll revoke your season's tickets.

Never been much of a speller.

Not an excuse, this is not a matter of spelling. He's been our coach for what 12 years now and an asst before that, hof coach, high profile, you see his name in print at least a zillion times, you're a season's ticket holder for christ sakes. No excuse.

It's your!

hahahaha. True enough, Toro.

HOU and PIT QB casualties going to seriously help us get #1 seed.

Oh, and Flacco is horrible. If you can get better than even money on NE to come out of the AFC, I don't see how you pass it up.

What were the odds of the Ravens, Steelers, and Texans all losing this week while the Patriots win?

#1 seed and home field is within their grasp.

Pretty sick that every other team in the AFC in control of a playoff spot lost this weekend. Go Pats!

Here's to hoping we just played our last away game of the year!

I'll take one more in Indy. Pretty sick how most things fell in place for the Pats this week. Add to that the Jets losing and the Packers losing (petty, I know), and it was pretty awesome.

they only had 2 timeouts with like 5 minutes left...the math probably doesnt support a challenge...if they had 3, i think he throws it.

the defense is bad, i dont really think this can be disputed. 'how' bad it is definitely up for debate.

regarding the bolded part, i think you are looking at denver not scoring and reading too much into it. they simply didnt have the ball, due to fumbles (of which NE recovered all of them) and NE constantly moving the ball efficiently. denver still had some big plays post 1Q...sergio brown leaving mccourty out to dry on a thomas catch springs to mind.

the defensive unit that was on the field for most of sunday is bottom 5 in the NFL, if not worse....there were like 3-4 UDFA in the starting lineup and matt slater was on the field within three plays.

that of course doesnt mean it will be that way in december (poss return of two starters) nor that it will preclude them from being the favorites to make the SB.

The Pats D is a joke. They can make adjustments because they have a good coaching staff, but they have almost no talent, and our best pass rusher is now hurt/out longer.

The thing is the Pats offense doesn't ask particularly much from the defense, it usually bails it out. But I can imagine a cartoon of the Pats O' screaming to the D, "can you get us a ****ing turnover or big stop? Like, just one?" We got them in Denver and look at that, we rolled. It's how we won 3 Super Bowls.

I took 10x more joy from the Packers loss than all the others combined. All of a sudden, I'm like one of the '72 Dolphins.

It's not as petty as it is understandable. 16-0 was a unique accomplishment in this day and age. We all know everything the Pats went through, on and off the field, just to pull that off. Honestly, that was the most impressive part of the journey. Watching the Packers do it so easily 4 seasons later would have been pretty ****ty to see. And if the Packers completed the mission, it would have made all of us that much more angry losing a chance at history.

in BB's interview on WEEI yesterday he actually gave a long explanation for why he didn't make this challenge

basically, all the stuff we talked about above was in his head

- how sure he was of winning (not very)
- how many TO's they had
- first half
- magnitude of the play
- challenges remaining

he also gave an explanation to the 8 yard kickoff challenge vs the Eagles. he said 'yeah I know if was only 8 yards, so no big deal, but it happened right in front of me and I was completely sure we would win, and in given everything else blah blah'

I don't think that will be hard to find. My guess is something like +130 to win AFC at this point but I dunno. no way they are favorites to make SB

Carter to the IR.

Great, one of the few actual playmakers on the defense is gone. Just what we need.

Writing was on the wall for that one. Will feel much better if this defense only has to get through home games to get to the Super Bowl.

We all felt that way last year, too. I read somewhere that it's actually been years, possibly a couple of decades, since a team has earned back-to-back #1 seeds, and amazingly the Patriots never did it. Can anyone find a reference?

Eagles were #1 in 2002/3/4

Bills were the last AFC to do it

that's some...dubious company