Warrior General Games

Pats Defense up the middle is the best in the league with Wilfork, Mayo, and Merriweather who is going to break out at safety. They also really solidified the secondary this off-season. Their cbs have been terrible the past few years and they've still managed to be a dominant team. With the new guys they brought in, they will be much better back there.

On offense, Moss and Welker have had 2 full years in the system now, which is scary. I recall Welker saying they barely knew all the plays in 07 when they joined the team, and with Brady, put up the greatest offensive display in NFL history. They were even respectable last season with a qb who hadn't started a game since high school. Joey Galloway and Fred Taylor are older guys, but have been consistent performers, underrated for years, who are among the best at their positions. Belichick has a knack for revitalizing older guys and getting pro-bowl caliber performance out of them when other teams considered them washed up (Rodney Harrison, Corey Dillon, Sammy Morris, and Moss to name a few).

Overall, the pats are much younger across the roster than any season in recent history and Belichick increased the number of 2 a days in camp to 7 I believe. If I were the rest of the league, I would be terrified....

Originally posted by rjssob
Hoping to try to and get this forum somewhat interesting and away from the nonsense that is most likely a direct result from a long off season....

First Topic:
Patriots best NFL franchise over the last 10 seasons and will be back in the Superbowl this season....Discuss!

+1

In after Pats homers.

Edit: Think of this post as a playful "oh you guys" rather than some sardonic cry

Originally posted by csull36
Pats Defense up the middle is the best in the league with Wilfork, Mayo, and Merriweather who is going to break out at safety. They also really solidified the secondary this off-season. Their cbs have been terrible the past few years and they've still managed to be a dominant team. With the new guys they brought in, they will be much better back there.

On offense, Moss and Welker have had 2 full years in the system now, which is scary. I recall Welker saying they barely knew all the plays in 07 when they joined the team, and with Brady, put up the greatest offensive display in NFL history. They were even respectable last season with a qb who hadn't started a game since high school. Joey Galloway and Fred Taylor are older guys, but have been consistent performers, underrated for years, who are among the best at their positions. Belichick has a knack for revitalizing older guys and getting pro-bowl caliber performance out of them when other teams considered them washed up (Rodney Harrison, Corey Dillon, Sammy Morris, and Moss to name a few).

Overall, the pats are much younger across the roster than any season in recent history and Belichick increased the number of 2 a days in camp to 7 I believe. If I were the rest of the league, I would be terrified....

If only i had something to add

Pretty quite for a Sunday night

Looks like lots of Moss dicussion ITT.

Coming from a Minnesota fan perspective, Moss is the greatest bandwagon player ever. When things are going well, he is simply one of the best WRs in the game. When things are not going well, he pouts and sulks and becomes disinterested. The only knock I have against him is that he's not really a physical guy (besides the obvious 'not trying' stuff).

Moss has said in the past "I play when I want to play" and crap like that. He's done all sorts of stupid things, like squirting a referee with a water bottle, walking off the field before the game ended, and (literally) running into a traffic cop - while she was on foot.

When he was in Oakland he was clearly tanking to drive down his value so he could go somewhere else.

When he's on though, he's worth all of that trouble. a 6'4" guy with 4.2 speed and crazy body control. He is a freak.

lol @ increasing number of 2-a-days. I bet that's the difference this year!

Oh also, after scanning this thread Manning > Brady. No argument imo.

Originally posted by MattyP
lol @ increasing number of 2-a-days. I bet that's the difference this year!

Yeah, injuries are fun fun.

I personally don't like extra 2ADs if you have a good development program. When Tomlin came in, he was over aggressive with conditioning and stuff so there were like 10 or so injured Steelers at the end of '07 (which is why they kind of tanked in December). He eased up in '08, and the Steelers stayed even throughout the season.

Getting prepared for September is kind of dumb imo. Prepare your team to be tip top around November. Periodization basically states that you can't be in peak shape for too long. It's better to be average in your first two months then take off in the last 2. Hell, even if you start playing great in November, that's November, December, January, and one week of February you may have to play. That's too long for anyone to maintain peak shape. Olympic athletes train for ~3 years for usually a couple of days of peak shape. That's why the Pats declined in '07 as the season went on. That's why when teams like Denver, NYG, Pittsburgh, etc had easier TCs, they won superbowls.

Look at Washington. Last season, a lot of people had them in the top 5 in power rankings up until about November when Portis got hurt and the team, as a whole, either had playing injuries or just dropped off in ability.

That's why I like winter teams. They train right.

Edit: Pretty much agree with everything MattyP said.

Originally posted by soapbox
Yeah, injuries are fun fun.

I personally don't like extra 2ADs if you have a good development program. When Tomlin came in, he was over aggressive with conditioning and stuff so there were like 10 or so injured Steelers at the end of '07 (which is why they kind of tanked in December). He eased up in '08, and the Steelers stayed even throughout the season.

Getting prepared for September is kind of dumb imo. Prepare your team to be tip top around November. Periodization basically states that you can't be in peak shape for too long. It's better to be average in your first two months then take off in the last 2. Hell, even if you start playing great in November, that's November, December, January, and one week of February you may have to play. That's too long for anyone to maintain peak shape. Olympic athletes train for ~3 years for usually a couple of days of peak shape. That's why the Pats declined in '07 as the season went on. That's why when teams like Denver, NYG, Pittsburgh, etc had easier TCs, they won superbowls.

Look at Washington. Last season, a lot of people had them in the top 5 in power rankings up until about November when Portis got hurt and the team, as a whole, either had playing injuries or just dropped off in ability.

That's why I like winter teams. They train right.

Edit: Pretty much agree with everything MattyP said.

wise words spoken like a true woman

Originally posted by MattyP
lol @ increasing number of 2-a-days. I bet that's the difference this year!

This is why your team is soft.

Originally posted by MattyP
Oh also, after scanning this thread Manning > Brady. No argument imo.

right, you have no argument.

Originally posted by soapbox
I'm guessing homer.

Which of those guys (on either my list or Fred's list) would he beat out? I've been following him. He's good, but he isn't better than those guys. He's young though... so there's time for him to improve.

At least half of them. The only ones he wouldn't beat would be IMO.

Ed Reed
Nick Collins
Adrian Wilson
Troy Polomalu

I think hes better than Chris Hope tbqh, but playing with him has made him that way. Dawkins in his prime was a beast but I would take Griffin over him.

And looks like the players and coaches would agree with him making the Pro Bowl this past season. And you cant tell me it was fans who got him in, Titans dont have that big of a following.

So for him to not even get mention is ridiculous especially when he is far better than half of those and the only ones better at this point are seasoned veterans.

Oh look what a quick google produced.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/215781-the-top-five-best-safeties-in-the-nfl
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/article/2009-05-27/safety-rankings-reed-polamalu-are-pure-playmakers
http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8111c44d&template=without-video-with-comments&confirm=true

Must be homers. Must be.

Reed>>>> all others by a wide margin.