Archives for July 21, 2011

July 21, 2011 by Mike Dussault

Rest in peace, Mrs. Myra Kraft.
As someone who was a patient at Dana-Farber and has personally benefited from the incredible generosity of the Kraft family, it really hurts to see her go. 🙁

From patriots.com⟶

Those wishing for alternative methods to pay their respects are encouraged to make donations in Myra’s name at the Myra Kraft Giving Back Scholarship Fund at the Boys and Girls Clubs of Boston at:

Myra Kraft Giving Back Scholarship Fund
50 Congress Street
Suite 730
Boston, MA 02109
www.bgcb.org/donate_special_endowment.cfm

Sympathy cards can be addressed to:

The Kraft Family
One Patriot Place
Foxboro, MA 02035

Memories of Myra Kraft can be shared at www.Patriots.com/MyraKraftGuestbook

https://www.patspropaganda.com/fuckyeahpats-rest-in-peace-mrs-myra-kraft-as/

NESN/Howe: Patriots need team-wide approach to improve pass rush

July 21, 2011 by Mike Dussault

NESN/Howe: Patriots need team-wide approach to improve pass rush

Good stuff from Howe here, basically saying what I’ve been saying for the last year. I could rehash it all but it’s probably easier if you just click this post I wrote just after the season which I think is a good companion piece to Howe’s.

Here’s a tidbit from it, total sacks and sack leaders from each of the past seasons of the last decade:

2001 – 41 (Super Bowl Champs) Hamilton – 7
2002 – 34 (missed playoffs due to tie breaker) Seymour/McGinest – 5.5
2003 – 41 (Super Bowl Champs) Vrabel – 9.5
2004 – 45 (Super Bowl Champs) McGinest – 9.5
2005 – 33 (Lost AFCDG) Colvin – 7.5
2006 – 44 (Lost AFCCG) Warren – 7.5
2007 – 47 (Lost Super Bowl) Vrabel – 12.5
2008 – 31 (Missed playoffs due to tie breaker) Seymour – 8
2009 – 31 (Lost AFCWCG) Banta-Cain – 10
2010 – 36 (Lost AFCDG) Wright 5.5

While this doesn’t account for QB pressures, it’s a good general assumption that 40 sacks is approximately the magic number. Pats have been inching closer since the defensive rebuild began in 2008.

But the best sign from the numbers above is that the Pats improved their sack totals despite their leader only having 5.5 and not playing another game after the Colts win. This tells me that they were getting pressure from a broader number of guys. It’s not the single 12-sack OLB that the Patriots need, it’s a multitude of 3-6 sack guys who play throughout the defense.