Stop being scared. This is our time.

[Sonder 47]

This obviously isn’t referencing everybody on this board, but I keep reading people thinking the Pats will win simply bc they are the Pats. I see it all over town too.To those people I will tell you what I have told them...

Get that garbage out of your head. 

This is NOT the Patriots dynasty. This isn’t the 18-0 Patriots. It isn’t the early 2000’s Patriots with elite talent everywhere on defense (Ty Law, Bruschi, Vrabel, Seymour, Wilfork,  R. Harrison, W. McGinest). This isn’t even the Patriots team of 3 years ago. 

Tom Brady is old. He’s checked down a ton bc he doesn’t have the arm that he used to for deep throws. Gronk is basically done. They didn’t even want him back and now you see why. Their best receiver got kicked off of the team. Their pass rush is below average without anyone like Chandler Jones or Willie McGinest.

These guys played a damn near perfect game on offense, perfect first half on defense and committed ZERO penalties at home. We played like garbage for a half and we STILL lost on the last play in New England.

The Patriots have been terrible on the road. All 5 losses to non-playoff teams. Their defense (as you know) is horrific on the road much like us.

I’m telling you guys. I love our chances. We have homefield and the horses to win. I think this is our time and we will get Clark his fathers trophy.

[Mloe68 1,521]

I was "scared" to lose last week, all I see here is opportunity. That said as long as our boys are focused on the task at hand and not day dreaming ahead to the Super Bowl, I think we have a great shot. 

[Biggjliv4 1,292]

Not scared, nor am I naive...there's a reason NE has been to 8 SB. It's  going to be a tough hard fought game that we can win though!  

[liquidfriend 1,151]

That's a whole lot of optimism.  I think people in KC are forgetting exactly how much NE has accomplished a little bit.

[xen 1,010,220]

Brady's career passer rating per stadium...  the lowest is at Arrowhead.

[xen 1,010,220]

2 hours ago, liquidfriend said:

That's a whole lot of optimism.  I think people in KC are forgetting exactly how much NE has accomplished a little bit.

Belichick defenses have given up 40 points 7 times in his career.  3 of those 7 were Andy Reid teams.  

[xen 1,010,220]

Ranking the 4 Conference championship teams at every position group

BY MICHAEL RENNER • JAN 16, 2019

Dec 3, 2017; Orchard Park, NY, USA; New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore (24) knocks down a pass to Buffalo Bills wide receiver Zay Jones (11) during the second half at New Era Field. New England beats Buffalo 23 to 3. Mandatory Credit: Timothy T. Ludwig-USA TODAY Sports

We are just days away from deciding who will represent the NFC and AFC in the Super Bowl. With so much on the line, we thought we’d do what we do best here at PFF: rankings.

These are how the grades stack up for all four teams.

QUARTERBACK

1. Chiefs

2. Saints

3. Patriots

4. Rams

It’s not surprising that this is the strongest positional group. All four quarterbacks graded inside the top 10 this season. Patrick Mahomes’ game-to-game consistency earns the top spot though. He only had one game grade below 65.0 while everyone else had at least three. From there, the only debate was Tom Brady or Jared Goff at three. Goff started the season on fire and was the third-highest-graded quarterback in the NFL through 10 weeks. His late-season lull though gave Brady the nod.

RUNNING BACK

1. Saints

2. Rams

3. Patriots

4. Chiefs

The emergence of C.J. Anderson throws a bit of a wrench into things here. Still, Alvin Kamara has consistently been the most elusive of all the backs over the last two years, while Mark Ingram II  has averaged the most yards after contact per attempt this season (3.2). Kareem Hunt would have sent the Chiefs to the top of these rankings, but that doesn’t mean that Damien Williams is any slouch in the fourth spot. His 2.7 yards after contact per attempt this season is more than respectable.

OFFENSIVE LINE

1. Patriots

2. Rams

3. Saints

4. Chiefs

Another unit where all four teams would classify as above average. In our end of season offensive line rankings the Patriots finished third, followed by the Rams sixth, Saints eighth, and Chiefs 13th. What separates the Patriots from the rest of the group is the lack of holes. The lowest-graded Pats starter is left tackle Trent Brown with a respectable 66.9 overall grade. Every other unit has a starter graded out below 60.0.

The other three though feature arguably the three best tackle tandems in the NFL. The Saints Terron Armstead and Ryan Ramczyk were both top-three at their respective tackle positions, while the same thing can be said for the Rams Andrew Whitworth and Rob Havenstein. Then there’s the Chiefs who feature PFF All-Pro right tackle Mitchell Schwartz and Eric Fisher, whose 71.7 grade this season is competent enough on the left side.

RECEIVERS

1. Chiefs

2. Rams

3. Saints

4. Patriots

There wasn’t a scarier wide receiver in all of football this season than Tyreek Hill. He broke the PFF record for deep receiving yards with 754. Add in Travis Kelcewho had the second-best yards per route among tight ends along with Sammy Watkins and you have the best receiving corps in football. The Rams would have made it a debate with Cooper Kupp healthy, but Josh Reynolds hasn’t come close to replicating Kupp’s production. Kupp averaged 2.27 yards per route before going on IR while Reynolds has averaged 1.24 this season. The Patriots are a clear fourth place without Josh Gordon and a Gronk impersonator at tight end.

DEFENSIVE LINE

1. Chiefs

2. Saints

3. Rams

4. Patriots

Maybe the most hotly contested debate of any positional group. The Chiefs have the pass-rushing prowess at the top though with Chris Jones (91.2), Dee Ford (91.0), and Justin Houston (89.7) all earning elite pass-rushing grades this season. The Saints earn the second spot with their depth. Cameron Jordan (89.7), David Onyemata (83.5), Alex Okafor(72.0), and Marcus Davenport (71.8) all earned above-average grades on the year. Aaron Donald was in his own planet though. He totaled almost as many pressures (106) as Jordan and Sheldon Rankins (who will miss the remainder of the season with an Achilles injury) combined (112).

LINEBACKER

1. Saints

2. Rams

3. Patriots

4. Chiefs

Linebacker is without a doubt the weakest positional group across the board. Demario Davis is the highest-graded of the bunch with only a 75.5 overall grade. In fact, the Saints own the three highest graded linebackers as Alex Anzalone and A.J. Klein’s grades of 71.8 and 69.7 respectively hold up. The Rams’ Cory Littleton is the dark horse of the group though, as his eight pass breakups were the most in the league this season. It’s been a decidedly down year for Dont’aHightower, who’s only gotten his hands on one pass all season long (coincidentally in the Chiefs game) and has allowed a passer rating of 100.6 in coverage. The Chiefs are clearly the worst, as Anthony Hitchenswas the lowest-graded linebacker in the NFL.

SECONDARY

1. Patriots

2. Rams

3. Chiefs

4. Saints

In our end of year secondary rankings the Patriots finished second, Rams sixth, Chiefs 17th, and Saints 28th. It was a career year for Stephon Gilmore that saw him as PFF’s highest-graded corner and first-team All-Pro selection. He carries them to the top spot. The return of Aqib Talib earns the Rams the second spot and the underrated play of Nickell Robey-Coleman from the slot is also helping. His 82.6 overall grade was top-three among full-time slot corners in the league. The Saints are capable of better play than their ranking shows, but P.J. Williams (56.4) and Ken Crawley’s (50.7) disastrous overall grades this season are what dragged them down in the season-long ranking.

Link:

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-the-four-conference-championship-teams-at-every-position-group

[Calichief 3,024]

Highly disagree with oline.

[KC Warpaint 3,251]

8 hours ago, Calichief said:

Highly disagree with oline.

i guess they are referring to the ranking among the 4 teams that are left...

[liquidfriend 1,151]

11 hours ago, xen said:

Belichick defenses have given up 40 points 7 times in his career.  3 of those 7 were Andy Reid teams.  

I'm anticipating it being a heck of a lot closer than things I've seen locally.  The Patriots know when to flip the script when it matters the most and are the most battle tested franchise ever in NFL history.  The Chiefs have a real shot to win this game, but it's not going to come easy.

[Calichief 3,024]

4 hours ago, KC Warpaint said:

i guess they are referring to the ranking among the 4 teams that are left...

Yes. And I don’t agree. 

 

[Calichief 3,024]

2 hours ago, liquidfriend said:

I'm anticipating it being a heck of a lot closer than things I've seen locally.  The Patriots know when to flip the script when it matters the most and are the most battle tested franchise ever in NFL history.  The Chiefs have a real shot to win this game, but it's not going to come easy.

No it won’t 

[sith13 1,746]

13 hours ago, Calichief said:

Highly disagree with oline.

I wouldn't disagree with being the worst among the group. We have some decent linemen but the interior OL has been banged up and rotated around all year long. In the end we have been worse than the other three teams. If we were healthy all year long the rankings would definitely be different but as things currently stand it's not an unfair assessment IMO.

[jetlord 10,210]

9 minutes ago, sith13 said:

I wouldn't disagree with being the worst among the group. We have some decent linemen but the interior OL has been banged up and rotated around all year long. In the end we have been worse than the other three teams. If we were healthy all year long the rankings would definitely be different but as things currently stand it's not an unfair assessment IMO.

Erving, Morse, and Wylie aren't all pro, but they're not huge liabilities.  If LDT can play at his peak quickly, the line isn't that bad.  The fact that Mahomes can leave the pocket without losing ability makes the play of the line a little less critical and the run game has been adequate especially on those fourth down conversions.  Maybe they're the weakest of the four remaining teams, but they're not costing the Chiefs many wins. 

[kkuenn 3,613]

Do we want LDT playing? I.mean is hen100% healthy and able to knock the rust off in his first game back and jslust few practices etc

 I hope he is back 100 percent but dont want a liability if he is not game ready to go either. 

[Calichief 3,024]

24 minutes ago, sith13 said:

I wouldn't disagree with being the worst among the group. We have some decent linemen but the interior OL has been banged up and rotated around all year long. In the end we have been worse than the other three teams. If we were healthy all year long the rankings would definitely be different but as things currently stand it's not an unfair assessment IMO.

Morse hasn’t allowed a single sack this year.