Official. Pats-v-Seahawks SB.
This was my projected outcome. I still predict SEA will win the whole thing. They seem like the most complete team: solid coaching; good QB [who is not currently choking]; unstoppable WR with 1-2 punch at HB; great D and specials; NFCW Battle tested [unlike Pats].
Brett James@thebrettjames1
·10h
Patriots path to a Super Bowl:
Dolphins x2 (7-10)
Panthers (8-9)
Saints (6-11)
Titans (3-14)
Bills (12-5)
Browns (5-12)
Falcons (8-9)
Buccaneers (8-9)
Jets x2 (3-14)
Bengals (6-11)
Giants (4-13)
Ravens (8-9)
[Playoffs]Justin Herbert; CJ Stroud; Jarrett Stidham
Dante Koplowitz-Fleming@DanteKopFlem
·10h
Fewest points scored in the Wild Card, Divisional, and Conference Championship Games en route to a Super Bowl appearance:
54 – 2025 Patriots [Maye]
61 – 2000 Ravens [Dilfer]
68 – 2007 Giants [Eli]
This was Maye’s statline somewhere in the 2nd QTR vs Broncos:
8/14 [57%], 46 yds, and 50 yds rushing, 1 TD. Maye is Fields!
NFL Researcher@NFL_Researcher
·10h
The Patriots have averaged 18.0 PPG this postseason, the fewest by any team to make the Super Bowl since the 1979 Rams (15.0).
One seemingly underrated area though is the Pats’ Dline, especially the interior. They make life hard on both HB and QB, which allows Maye to effectively game manage and scramble on pivotal downs.
Butch’s overall ’26 playoff impression.
Collinsworth, of all ppl, perhaps summed it up best:
“These games more often than not are lost not won.”
BJ, Payton, McVay, all good, all offensive minded, all aggressive, all ‘analytic driven’…watching SB from home just like the rest of us.
Why?
Because they all passed up on gimme 3 points that could’ve absolutely turned the tide.
BJ’s missing 3 points would’ve meant that 4rth down magic Caleb TD doesn’t send the game to OT [where Bears lose], rather sends them to the next round vs SEA who looked much more beatable than I surmised.
Payton’s missing 3 points? I mean, Jesus, he’s playing with a backup QB who had ZERO live snaps in a game that ended 10-7. No, he couldn’t have guessed the 2nd half would turn into a blizzard, but that’s why you TAKE. THE. POINTS.
McVay’s missing 3 points would’ve meant that final drive just needed to get into FG range as opposed to needing a TD with no TOs and under a minute left. Much more doable since the Rams were moving the ball well all game.
Time mismanagement also plagued the losing HCs.
Payton was aggressive before the half which quickly gave back the ball to Pats [with 3 TOs] who then scored what ultimately became the game-deciding TD.
McVay had zero TOs left by the end making it nigh impossible to drive the field and score a game winning TD.
Meanwhile, their ‘defensive’ counterparts in Vrabel and McDonald mostly called it more ‘conservatively’. [One may argue, more ‘logically’ given their victories.] Does Vrabel or McDonald call that Caleb-to-DJ killshot in OT that was INTed? Or do they simply keep handing it off for another 10-12 yards with an O that was driving? Think we know the answer, and that is why they’re in the SB.
Vrabel, like McVay, did go for it on 4rth, but it was 4rth and inches as opposed to 4rth and 1-2 yds, and even then it nearly ended in disaster. Honestly, it looked short to me live.
Playing ‘to win the game’ resulted in losses.
When one thinks of Genghis Khan likely images of a marauding wild general come to mind; however, many of his victories derived from relying on his enemies’ rashness to chase his ‘fleeing nomads’. Little did the cocky suckers realize it was a feigned retreat leading to slaughter.
Now fast forward to Hitler dogmatically sticking to the philosophy of Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg Blitzkrieg! Or alternatively, ordering his generals to hold positions to the death when a tactical retreat would’ve been optimal.
Hope Ben Johnson takes this lesson to heart:
a great general knows when to blitzkrieg, when to feint, and when to TAKE THE FUCKING POINTS.
