Teams New England Patriots - The Pats

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Oct 12, 2003
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Pats 21 and Done

The PATS have finally lost a game and it came at the hands of the steelers

From http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/recaps/

PITTSBURGH (AP) -- The New England Patriots are no longer perfect, all because of a rookie quarterback who still is.

Ben Roethlisberger, who doesn't know what it's like to lose an NFL game, drove the Steelers to four scores following uncharacteristic New England turnovers and Pittsburgh ended the Patriots' two long winning streaks with a remarkably easy 34-20 victory Sunday.

The Patriots (6-1) had won 21 straight counting the playoffs and a league-record 18 in a row in the regular season, but were all but out of this one after Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes to Plaxico Burress during a 21-point Steelers first quarter.

Maybe all this winning was too much to ask of Boston-area teams. With running back Corey Dillon (thigh) sitting out and Pro Bowl cornerback Ty Law (foot) sidelined for all but a few plays, the Patriots' record run ended only four days after the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years.

``It was never about the streak, that was never part of our preparation,'' linebacker Mike Vrabel said. ``It wasn't this week against the Steelers, either -- we just didn't play well enough to win, that's it.''

This was supposed to be the game that exposed Roethlisberger as a rookie -- taking on New England's defensive mastermind, coach Bill Belichick, and the Patriots' unpredictable defenses. Instead, Roethlisberger ran his own winning streak to 18 -- his last 13 games at Miami of Ohio and his first five in the NFL.

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Only former Steelers quarterback Mike Kruczek's 6-0 start while subbing for the injured Terry Bradshaw in 1976 is longer than Roethlisberger's since the 1970 NFL merger. But Kruczek never threw a TD pass in 10 games this season.

Roethlisberger already has nine scoring passes in what is fast becoming the best season by an NFL rookie QB since Dan Marino threw 20 touchdown passes and only six interceptions in 11 games for the 1983 Dolphins.

``It's only been five games,'' Roethlisberger said. ``We keep saying it over and over again, let's not get too excited.''

His teammates certainly are excited, with the Steelers (6-1) off to their best start since their 1978 team was 7-0. Roethlisberger was 18-of-24 for 196 yards and no interceptions Sunday and is 39-of-49 in his last two games.

``You can't describe his effort,'' wide receiver Hines Ward said. ``He's 5-0, and he's earning a lot of respect on this team. The guys on this team are fighting hard for him.''

Rather than Roethlisberger, it was the Patriots' Tom Brady who looked like the rookie, throwing two interceptions and losing a fumble in New England's first loss since a 20-17 defeat to Washington on Sept. 28, 2003.

``It's not weird at all (to lose), we knew it was a possibility every week,'' linebacker Tedy Bruschi said. ``That's why we played so hard and prepared so hard every week. But a couple of things happened, a couple of mistakes ... and they were rolling.''


AP - Oct 31, 8:33 pm EST
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Everything looked status quo early for the Patriots, who overcame Dillon's absence following two consecutive 100-yard games to drive for Adam Vinatieri's 43-yard field goal, the 15th straight game they've scored first.

After that, it fell apart.

Roethlisberger hit Ward for 21 yards ahead of a perfectly thrown 47-yard scoring pass to a stretched-out Burress, who quickly shed backup Randall Gay two plays after he came in for the injured Law.

``He (Gay) was a lame duck out there, so we just went right at him,'' Burress said.

It never got any better for the Patriots, playing here for the first time since upsetting Pittsburgh 24-17 in the AFC championship game in January 2002.

On New England's next play, Brady fumbled after a hard hit from Joey Porter, leading to Roethlisberger's 4-yard pass to Burress and a 14-3 lead.

Just 16 seconds later, Brady, hit by Larry Foote and Kimo von Oelhoffen, threw the ball directly to Deshea Townsend for a 39-yard interception return for a touchdown, and it was 21-3 almost before New England fans had put down their signs from Saturday's Red Sox victory parade.

``It was pretty obvious the Steelers were the better team,'' Belichick said. ``They outcoached us, outplayed us and we weren't good in any phase of the game. We didn't do much of anything right.''

Duce Staley supported Roethlisberger by running for 125 yards in his fourth 100-yard game of the season, two more than the Steelers (6-10) had all last season.

Next up for Pittsburgh -- or, as they're calling it now, Roethlis-burgh -- is unbeaten Philadelphia, 7-0 for the first time.

``We're trying to do something on this side of Pennsylvania, too,'' Burress said.

Notes

Jerome Bettis, until now only a goal-line specialist this season, added 65 yards on 15 carries as Pittsburgh outgained New England 417-248. ... Bettis had a 2-yard touchdown run after Kevin Faulk, Dillon's replacement, fumbled on the first play of the second half. ... The crowd of 64,737 was the largest since Heinz Field opened in 2001. ... The Steelers have won five straight.
 

DBAH0

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Re: Pats 21 and Done

Pats suddenly having trouble stopping the run, and today without Dillon, they had no running game at all, which allowed the Steelers to blitz Brady all day long.
 
Re: Patriots still worthy

DBAH0 said:
Pats suddenly having trouble stopping the run, and today without Dillon, they had no running game at all, which allowed the Steelers to blitz Brady all day long.

The domination on the clock and not turning the ball over were the major features to winning the game IMHO. Any team that doesn't have the depth at RB is going to suffer and man, they suffered badly this time around. Converting turnovers into points has been the Steelers stumbling block over the seasons and with 21 points on the board in the opening quarter was the perfect start needed against a premium team like New England that chalked up 20 pts with 18 minutes of offense. Considering Brady took NE to the SB as a second year player (not many starts before that??) that I can't believe what the amazement is with QB Big Ben, who says he can't do likewise ?
 

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coasting

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Re: Pats 21 and Done

No Dillon, no Pats :cool:

Damn Big Ben plays well. I wish Carson Palmer played half as well as he does. Last year Roethlisberger went to Cincinnati to meet Palmer and get some advice on being a good quarterback. I think at the end of the year Carson should go to Pittsburgh and seek out Big Ben.
 

juddy03

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Re: Pats 21 and Done

coasting said:
No Dillon, no Pats :cool:

Damn Big Ben plays well. I wish Carson Palmer played half as well as he does. Last year Roethlisberger went to Cincinnati to meet Palmer and get some advice on being a good quarterback. I think at the end of the year Carson should go to Pittsburgh and seek out Big Ben.
Big Ben does indeed play well.. Absolutely killed the Pats..

I like to congratulate Duce Staley in helping out his old team make them the only undefeated team so far in Season 04/05
 
Re: Duce Coupe & The Bus ready to rumble

juddy03 said:
I like to congratulate Duce Staley in helping out his old team make them the only undefeated team so far in Season 04/05

Obviously pre-season games don't mean much now but I can tell you that Duce had an impressive homecoming game in August that bodes well for another premium effort that will keep the Eagles D honest and I wonder if it's ironic that the depth at RB will test the Eagles who will likely miss RB B.Westbrook.
 

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Re: Duce Coupe & The Bus ready to rumble

I think any side in the league will have their RB depth tested if they lose two RBs like Westbrook and Correll Buckhalter. Considering Westbrook is pretty heavily a receiving back as opposed to a pure runner, I'd think they should cope reasonably well....McNabb is still good, TO is still good, the O-line is still solid.

Besides, the Eagles D isn't exactly shabby with the inclusion of Kearse - they can hit or take a pick equally well. Brown and Sheppard are coming on pretty well, though the frequent blitzing helps them.
 
Re: Why New England will find it hard to defend thier title

The Business said:
Bill Belichick.

Great coach...no question about it but I'll remind you that New England will need to go THRU Hienz Field ...a venue this season that the Steelers are 8-0 including a comprehensive 34-20 victory over the Pats. http://www.steelers.com/article/46652/


The major hurdle the Pats have to overcome before thinking Conference Championship is stopping Peyton Manning and the Colts !! And if they can manage to handle that difficult task, it's back to another NIGHTMARE VISIT in a very hostile environment surrounded by 65K rabid Steeler fans ready to smother the Patriot (Colts) fairytale. Here's hoping anyway.
 

The Business

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Re: Why New England will win the Superbowl

Patriots own the Colts!!! Manning throws at least 3 ints against the pats in the last couple of seasons.Ty Law (if fit) and the rest of the secondary wont have a problem against them.Manning is their bi##h.Mark my words.

The Steelers are a different story.Their rookie quarterback is the real deal and they rmind me of the Superbowl winning Pats of a few years ago.However we were without Dillon,Ashworth and Poole - 3 starters and lost Light and Law during the game. They had all been valuable contributors for the season up until that point.

It will be a tough game but you gotta know Belichick will have something up his sleeve.

As for the tuck rule,get over it,it was the right call
 

LoneStar

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Re: Why New England will win the Superbowl

The Business said:
Patriots own the Colts!!! Manning throws at least 3 ints against the pats in the last couple of seasons.Ty Law (if fit) and the rest of the secondary wont have a problem against them.Manning is their bi##h.Mark my words.

The Steelers are a different story.Their rookie quarterback is the real deal and they rmind me of the Superbowl winning Pats of a few years ago.However we were without Dillon,Ashworth and Poole - 3 starters and lost Light and Law during the game. They had all been valuable contributors for the season up until that point.

It will be a tough game but you gotta know Belichick will have something up his sleeve.

As for the tuck rule,get over it,it was the right call
item #1--patriots vs. colts could go either way. good weather benefits colts & cold and/or wet benefits pats. colts do have to play broncos this week and pats get week off...and this is a very big advantage for pats.
item #2--steelers are riding their defense. if it continues to dominate games, steelers are in great shape. rookie QBs do not have a great history of leading teams to the superbowl, much less win it!
item #3--the tuck rule was a ridiculous call. it was a fumble and the raiders got bent over and penetrated by an obscure rule. but the raiders were the team that got raped, so who cares? it wasn't that bad a call if al davis flew home mumbling to himself about contracts, nfl referees, and some guy named fat paulie!
 

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Re: Are the Patriots back?

Havent seen the game yet but taped it so i will look over it during the week. Th Giants were very impressive today though, especially Tiki. 220 yards WOW i thought he was in for a shocker early, like 12 yards from his first 9 carries and than he just went nuts.
 
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Re: Are the Patriots back?

OldSchool said:
Impressive result today particularly given Brady wasn't 100% fit.
The defensive effort was outstanding.
Antone else watch it?

Good effort by the Pats today they really got after Simms and Cadillac williams and shut down any offense the bucs were trying to get started. as good a result as it was they'd still get taken apart by any team with a decent offense. The colts, bengals, broncos etc are a class above at the minute.
 

AndSmithMustScore

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Re: Are the Patriots back?

OldSchool said:
Impressive result today particularly given Brady wasn't 100% fit.
The defensive effort was outstanding.
Antone else watch it?


Were we ever gone ;)

The first 8 games we were struggling with injuries and possibly adjusting to new coaches (go Bob bring home the Fighting Irish!)

After that the injuries lessend a legend came back from retirement and things started to click again.

Realistically i don't think we will make this years Superbowl, though if we can get games in play-offs where the temperature is very low( some snow would be good too) our record in those conditions means we would be a huge chance again.

I was surprised at todays score line considering the opposition, so the next few weeks will be interesting to see wether they are back to Superbowl type form.
 
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Re: Are the Patriots back?

The last thing the NFL need is the bloody patriots winning another Superbowl... lol i'ld rather the Raiders win it, although we all know that wont and cant happen.

I saw a bit of the game, the Buccs have been overachieving this season and i expected the Patriots to get up (i hope i tipped them!!) but i didn't expect that kind of scoreline!!! Get ready for another day of football tomorrow :D:D

Im hoping for the Lions to cause an upset (vs cinci) and indy to continue winning.. now that would be perfect (from a Bronco viewpoint ;) )
 
Re: Are the Patriots back?

Were back in buisness baby ....10 points allowed in the last 3 games is a great defensive effort and if the D can keep going we may give some of the other teams some greif come playoff time and although Indy have had a perfect season the Pats still have the mental edge over them come playoffs....to quote the late Big Kev "I'm Excited!"
 
Re: Are the Patriots back?

marcuz said:
Good effort by the Pats today they really got after Simms and Cadillac williams and shut down any offense the bucs were trying to get started. as good a result as it was they'd still get taken apart by any team with a decent offense. The colts, bengals, broncos etc are a class above at the minute.

Nearly felt sorry for Simms. He was carrying that injury and kept getting hit all the time.
 
Re: Are the Patriots back?

AndSmithMustScore said:
Were we ever gone ;)

The first 8 games we were struggling with injuries and possibly adjusting to new coaches (go Bob bring home the Fighting Irish!)

We were shaky but as you say it was mainly because of the injuries.

AndSmithMustScore said:
Realistically i don't think we will make this years Superbowl, though if we can get games in play-offs where the temperature is very low( some snow would be good too) our record in those conditions means we would be a huge chance again.

I was surprised at todays score line considering the opposition, so the next few weeks will be interesting to see wether they are back to Superbowl type form.

I'm not so sure. I don't think there would be too many teams that would prefer to play us given we are running into form.
That defensive effort was first rate.
 
Re: Are the Patriots back?

I for one had doubts in the past month but the 28-0 win surely tells us that this team doesn't pull any punches. Indy have alot to worry about suddenly. Indy have the CHOKE pressure whereas the Pats are definately BACK !! And if they are for real, they shouldn't lose to Miami & NYJ.
 

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Re: Are the Patriots back?

Are the Patriots back? Lord I hope not
 

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