10-11-2015, 10:44 PM
(10-11-2015, 01:18 PM)reuben.ahmed Wrote: I might be in the former camp, lol. I mean I really don't "expect" to beat the Browns, I live in CLE - I see how they play. Many times I think their Defense is better than ours (without looking at stat comparisons). They fight hard.
I think the Bengals for a while have been in that "we can beat under .500 opponents, but can struggle with above .500" - which is still true this year in a short season perspective. I think most playoff teams fall in that camp though (and end up 10-6/11-5).
I kind of like the mindset of the Patriots (not cheating), but pulverize a team. I'm pretty sure they don't look at the scoreboard at all during the game. It was nice to hear a Dalton snippet telling Hue to keep being aggressive (while they were far up) in an earlier game this year.
This year, I'm not feeling what they had in year's past - a mistake or two could kill them (fumble/int/holding penalty/etc). It seems like the offense can recover fine.
It would be great to see this same team healthy in the playoffs with Burfict back at 100%. Enough play makers to make up for someone having a below average game.
I'm with you 100% there. I often wish we'd just bury teams like the Pats do. I also agree that this year just feels different - and I'm not one of those guys that says that every year.
The best teams often bury inferior opponents. They just don't let off the gas like we have in the past.
The training, nutrition, medicine, fitness, playbooks and rules evolve. The athlete does not.
