Enemy talk: Chatter from Foxborough

BY Cory Spiers
coryspiers@gmail.com

The Internet is great because it allows us to hear all kinds of opinions from all over the place.

Wait, is that great?

When it comes to the NFL, there are a number of outlets for fans to express their opinions, frustrations and questions regarding their favorite team and their upcoming opponents.

It's a battle of 2-1 teams this weekend when Carolina travels to Foxborough to face the Patriots.

 Let's check out what some of the Patriots fans are saying online in advance of Sunday's game and whip up quick responses to the good, bad, funny and ugly.

Pats Pulpit (SB Nation):
"if this Pats defense doesn't give up 400 yards and 5 TD's, I'm going to be very disappointed. Very, very disappointed."

I hate to see anyone disappointed, but I wouldn't hold my breath on this.

The Patriots enter the game as the NFL's worst defense with 461 yards allowed per game through three games. They have surrendered a league-high 31.7 points per game.

All this would seem to play into Carolina's hand, except for the fact that the Panthers just got done playing the league's worst defense at the beginning of Week 3-- the Saints.

Despite facing a lousy Saints defense that was missing its top three corner backs, the Panthers lacked heart, creativity or emotion and were blown out of their own building in a messy 34-13 rout.

Carolina managed just one touchdown-- a Cam Newton run in the second half-- against the depleted and lackluster New Orleans defense.

With that said, I wouldn't set my expectations too low for New England's defense, particularly since they'll be at home facing an offense still searching for any semblance of an identity.

"i dunno if I trust chung to cover anybody right now"
Again, I wouldn't be so down on your defense.

Safety Patrick Chung has had a tough start to the season but the Panthers offense is without tight end Greg Olsen and has a 6-5 target in Kelvin Benjamin who was banged up and did not return to last week's game after a scary looking fall on the same knee he tore an ACL in before the 2015 season.

Receivers Devin Funchess and Russell Shepard won't light the world on fire. In fact, they might just make Chung look pretty darn capable, I'd bet.

Rookie speedster Curtis Samuel has been banged up and likely won't play Sunday.

Your move, Chung.

"Wilks/Rivera were playing checkers while Sean Payton was playing chess"
Yeah, that actually sounds about right.

Payton is a guy that knows this Panther personnel better than most anyone in the league and he showed it in Week 3.

Payton's offensive game plan was a perfect exploit of a Panthers defense that entered the game ranked No. 1 in points allowed.

Drew Brees torched the Panthers with some quick releases early and some long passes that simply took advantage of Carolina's corners matching up against speedy receivers later in the game.

Brees threw three touchdowns and the Panthers didn't look so stingy defensively after not allowing a touchdown during the first two weeks of the season.

Checkers and chess. That's a great analogy, actually.

"I don’t think the Panthers defense intended on allowing Brees to dictate matchups"

No, you're probably 100 percent right about that. 

Does any team feel good about allowing an opposing quarterback, much less Brees, to dictate match-ups, ever?

"let s play the GM, would you trade Shaq Thompson for a 3rd rounder?"

No. Certainly not. 

I'm not sure if this fan's identity makes him a Panthers fan or a Pats fan, but either way, the answer to this question should be a resounding "no". 

Thompson has been noticeably faster and fiercer on defense this season beside Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis. 

Also, if Davis misses time with the injury he sustained last week (not likely) Thompson could see an even more expanded role. 

Remember, Thompson wore a lot of hats while playing college ball at Washington and it was unclear exactly where Carolina would utilize him when they drafted him in the first round of the 2015 draft. 

He's been solid as a linebacker at this level and can only rise from here. Keep in mind, he's only 23. 

Would I call him untouchable in the trade market? No. Not given Carolina's riches at linebacker, but definitely not for a third round pick. 

Patriots official Facebook

"a great big BOO to the pats if u call in to talk about your discomfort u r treated with contemt and the rep hanhs up on u I say burn all pat shirts if you see a pat player confrontnthem amd tell them what u think boycot all thongs realed to the pats and all sponsors of these thugs"

There's a whole lot to unpack here.

I'm guessing the first bit is about boo-ing players who say they face racial injustice. Sounds like he's also advocating the burning of Patriots gear-- not a terribly crazy thing on the Internet today, you can easily find that kind of thing on Youtube right now. 

He does instruct folks to confront Pats players if you run into them (not likely and also not advisable). 

It appears as though he advocates the boycott of thongs related to the Patriots. I think I'd advocate that, too. 

In all seriousness, the league is full of and charged up with division right now. Extremists on both sides of the political spectrum are led by hate and are just waiting for a chance to strike and throw a tantrum.

We won't be sure who will protest or what they'll do until it happens Sunday, but whatever it is, there will be some group somewhere that won't be happy about it. 

My advice: sit back and enjoy the football. Protest Patriots thongs, if you must. 

"NFL "Now For Laughs". NFL is a joke and you should just turn your back on the BS!"

Last political one, I promise. 

The whole NFL is a joke rhetoric is actually not only really annoying but also pretty untrue. 

According to Nielsen data, the overall ratings for NFL games during Week 3 were up three percent over Week 3 of the 2016 season. 

In particular, the recent Monday Night game between the Cowboys and Cardinals had a 9.3 overnight rating from ESPN-- a 63 percent increase from last season's Monday Nighter between the Falcons and Saints, which earned a 5.7 rating. 

The idea that the NFL is losing ground and is suffering because of the politics is simply not true. 

Save for the few Looney Toons who burn tickets and merchandise on Youtube, the rest of the football fans seem to be marching on, buying merchandise and filling the stands. 

Next one, please. 

"We don't care we're not watching"

Well actually, people ar--

Never mind. Just breathe and move on. 

"I was going to root againist the patriots because the team that i loved took a knee. I change my mind because i can't stand Cam Newton. He is such a baby when they lost to the Broncos in the super bowl a couple of years ago."

Wow! Newton's response to losing the biggest game of his life nearly two years ago trumps even the politics of the sport for this fan. 

Impressive. Though, a shame it took him this long to realize Newton doesn't lose well. He's been that way his entire career. 

I'm pretty open to sharing my thoughts on how Newton took the Super Bowl loss in 2015. I don't advocate the way he handled it but I also understand his pain and despair. It was a tragic end to a special season. 

It's funny to see how the rest of the football fans outside of our market view Newton. 

I'm sure Newton will be plenty ready to go against the greatest of all time in Brady this weekend. It's his move, though, there are plenty of questions right now about his health and his ability to play. 

"Kuechly and McCaffrey - watch out for these guys - big game potential from big game players... Patriots 27-24"

I applaud the respect from this Patriots fan. And he's right, Kuechly and McCaffrey are two of Carolina's brightest spots right now on either side of the ball. 

Both guys do have big game potential and showed it last week even in the loss as they were two of the team's best players. 

McCaffrey caught nine passes for 101 yards and Kuechly had eight tackles and nearly intercepted Brees in the second half. 

I also think the Patriots will win but it wouldn't shock me if the Panthers rise to the level of their opponent and make it quite a game. 

Somewhere in the 20's sounds about right, actually, considering New England's defense has questions and the Panthers are facing Brady. 

I don't think it will be quite as close. I'll say New England wins 30-21, but I appreciate where this guy's head is. 

"So who are the Pansies playing this Sunday?Oh yeah,other pansies."

OK, OK. I know I said no more politics, but trust me, it was very hard to find comments (especially on Facebook) that actually had anything to do with the game and not protests. 

The inaugural edition of his post was certainly difficult. 

So, this Sunday we've got the Pansies playing the other Pansies in New England, which I think will be a very good match-up. The other Pansies have questions regarding their offense, but if they find a way to turn that around, it could be a close game. 

There are some great battles between pansies out on the West Coast, and as always, we'll have to pay attention to our pansy rivals in the NFC South and what they do this weekend. 

Intrigue abounds.