@tiamat63 said:

Spoke to this yesterday.

You NAILED it!  As much well earned credit McDaniel got this season and throughout the playoffs - this was easily their worst game plan and job of adjusting.  And YES the lack of patience to stick with their strength of running the ball could have opened up collateral part of the offense before the point of no return/too little too late...

@flugel said:

I'm stunned NE didn't make a better effort to run the ball.  That might have helped their rookie QB and rookie LT some at least a little bit.

Spoke to this yesterday.

@tiamat63 said:

I went in big early on SEA -2.5 when the line opened.  One of my largest single game bets ever.     The difference was the the SEA Dline vs the Pats Oline/protection designs.

McDaniels had no answer the entire first half for the Hawks nickel pressures.

What the Browns did to the Pats OLine was why I thought the Seahawks would win. 

@reality said:

@orion said:

Dan Marino's Dolphins.

We have all seen teams quickly go from looking like perennial contender as the SB loser to not coming close to sniffing again.

Cam Newton's 15-1 Carolina Panthers wrecked in SB 50 by MVP Von Miller & Company.

@reality said:

We have all seen teams quickly go from looking like perennial contender as the SB loser to not coming close to sniffing again.

Dan Marino's Dolphins.

@tiamat63 said:

 Cincy had an OL in worse shape than N.E. along with a front office that struggled to fill talent gaps.   

 You're right, nothing is guaranteed. But if the Pats keep doing what they've been doing the last few years, then they will at least be in position to have deep playoff runs. 

 Cincy has had flash-in-the-pan success since the early days of Andy Dalton. 

Fully agree that in actuality the situation have important differences. 

You are spot on with the main point.  Nothing is guaranteed.  We have all seen teams quickly go from looking like perennial contender as the SB loser to not coming close to sniffing again.

@reality said:

Counter would be Cincy thought the same a few years ago....

 Cincy had an OL in worse shape than N.E. along with a front office that struggled to fill talent gaps.   

 You're right, nothing is guaranteed. But if the Pats keep doing what they've been doing the last few years, then they will at least be in position to have deep playoff runs. 

 Cincy has had flash-in-the-pan success since the early days of Andy Dalton. 

@tiamat63 said:

 The Pats have a bright future with a long window of being contenders open again.   At least, it appears that way.  Now it's on them to fix the left side of the OL (Campbell to guard?) and to make sure the skill positions are able to contend with top-tier defensive talent.  

 Not like we would know, but it isn't easy losing a SuperBowl.    N.E. can take solace in the fact that they're built to take runs at repeat appearances.  

Counter would be Cincy thought the same a few years ago....

@sdbacker80 said:

I bumped the line to -9.5.  I expected at least a two score game.

way too many questions as it stands now on offense 

Suspect inexperienced LT, LG struggling.

Young albeit talented but inexperienced QB.

Bourne and Diggs don’t strike a lot fear as downfield weapons.

Henderson is underutilized and some then sometimes misutilized. 

NE is one of the worst Super Bowl teams in recent memory and Seattle isn’t in my opinion even a top half Super Bowl winner.

I went in big early on SEA -2.5 when the line opened.  One of my largest single game bets ever.     The difference was the the SEA Dline vs the Pats Oline/protection designs.

McDaniels had no answer the entire first half for the Hawks nickel pressures.

@sdbacker80 said:

NE is one of the worst Super Bowl teams in recent memory and Seattle isn’t in my opinion even a top half Super Bowl winner.

Yep, but they made Seattle's D look like the '85 Bears.

@sdbacker80 said:

I bumped the line to -9.5.  I expected at least a two score game.

My two 'locks' were Kupp 4+ receptions and Sehawks alt spread -7.5. I was this close to just hammering those two things for roughly +300, but my dumbass added Drake Maye under 1.5 passing TDs just to get wanged at the very end. It looked so good too.

way too many questions as it stands now on offense 

Suspect inexperienced LT, LG struggling.

Young albeit talented but inexperienced QB.

Bourne and Diggs don’t strike a lot fear as downfield weapons.

Henderson is underutilized and some then sometimes misutilized. 

NE is one of the worst Super Bowl teams in recent memory and Seattle isn’t in my opinion even a top half Super Bowl winner.

@orion said:

Yup.  They have a good young QB....and many other pieces in place. 

You and I have been pretty much on the same page regarding Sam Darnold.  But no matter what we still may think of him, as a super bowl winning QB, we have to eat crow. 

It makes me laugh to think Minny put all of their eggs in to JJ McCarthy... How laughable...

@tiamat63 said:

The Pats have a bright future

Yup.  They have a good young QB....and many other pieces in place. 

You and I have been pretty much on the same page regarding Sam Darnold.  But no matter what we still may think of him, as a super bowl winning QB, we have to eat crow. 

   Diggs is a headcase, seems to always be taunting or arguing or bitching or something. He's also very effective to get open - except the Seattle defense had his number. He had way over a hundred yards receiving a couple games before the super bowl, something like that.

   I'm happy for Darnold. and glad the Seahawks won.  

@tiamat63 said:

 The Pats have a bright future with a long window of being contenders open again.   At least, it appears that way.  Now it's on them to fix the left side of the OL (Campbell to guard?) and to make sure the skill positions are able to contend with top-tier defensive talent.  

 Not like we would know, but it isn't easy losing a SuperBowl.    N.E. can take solace in the fact that they're built to take runs at repeat appearances.  

At least next season for sure until Maye gets his bread. With that being said, we shall see how they fare playing a markedly harder schedule next season. I certainly have no doubt, though, that Maye is a "have a chance every year he's healthy" kind of QB though. 

The only interesting thought, though, is this conversation with exactly what was said with Joe Burrow after losing the Superbowl. To your point, it's hard to climb that mountain when the league is set up to have parity.

@jrb12711 said:

The better team won in a clear mismatch of skill- not much more to say really. Just like last year with the Chiefs, the blemishes just get exposed in these games with a clearly better squad more often than not. Not to mention, the Pats played a historically easy schedule and it all amounted to the beatdown you saw last night. 

With that being said, it is pretty funny to me people dogging Maye like he wasn't a 23 year old young dude in the biggest game there is. 

 The Pats have a bright future with a long window of being contenders open again.   At least, it appears that way.  Now it's on them to fix the left side of the OL (Campbell to guard?) and to make sure the skill positions are able to contend with top-tier defensive talent.  

 Not like we would know, but it isn't easy losing a SuperBowl.    N.E. can take solace in the fact that they're built to take runs at repeat appearances.  

With that being said, it is pretty funny to me people dogging Maye like he wasn't a 23 year old young dude in the biggest game there is. 

@londonbrown said:

Come on Seattle !

I’ve hated the Patriots and especially Tom Brady for years. Spygate should have resulted in harsher penalties and the refs were up Brady’s ass every week  

I was rooting for NE, only because they would have passed the Steelers in SB wins.

Wow, talk about getting blown out. Seattle was never in danger

https://x.com/i/status/2020688574434210232

https://x.com/i/status/2020684454818189487

This has been a defensive masterpiece. Even against an overmatched Pats squad.   The Xs & Os squarely favor SEA tonight.