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Archives for September 11, 2016

Pats Posits: Pats Steal Another One in the Desert

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Oh ye of little faith. Never doubt the Patriots under Bill Belichick in a football game.

For all the turnover and injury attrition, the Patriots still very much looked like the Patriots Sunday night, getting a game-ending missed field goal from Arizona kicker Chandler Catanzaro to prevail over the Cardinals, 23-21.

The defense held on for dear life as Carson Palmer and Larry Fitzgerald started to put on a clinic, but made the last critical play (a drawn hold by Chris Long) and preserved the lead that Jimmy Garoppolo got back.

The offense had to put together a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter. Jimmy Garoppolo, despite one fumble lost, looked every bit a competent professional quarterback. He threw for a touchdown and 264 yards.

He was sacked just twice behind a makeshift offensive line that featured two backup tackles and two rookie guards.

The Pats are 1-0 while the rest of the division is 0-1. Things are looking rosey in Patriots Nation once again as we begin our voyage toward Super Bowl 51. The Bill Belichick magic is very much alive and well.

Here are the Posits on the 1-0 2016 Pats…

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Patriots Lead the Super Bowl Betting Chart

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 This season’s Super Bowl betting public are putting their money on the Green Bay Packers, though it needs to be mentioned that the hot favorite team of the season’s Super Bowl is New England Patriots as mentioned in the Las Vegas sportsbooks. Tom Brady, the New England quarterback won’t play the upcoming four matches for his link to the Deflategate. Yet, according to the NFL betting lines, New England has been leading the money race, as people do are putting their money believing that the Patriots will win this year.
Though a large number of the bet has been placed on the Green Bay Packers too, and they are supposedly the second favorite team for the betting public and is also among the second tier of Super Bowl teams by being at 8-1. The funny thing is, both William Hill’s Nevada book, as well as Westgate Superbook has received more bets on the Green Bay than the New England Packers. Besides, Green Bay Packers, few other teams that are present in the second tier of Super Bowl favorites are – The Seattle Seahawks (8-1) , Arizona Cardinals (8-1), Pittsburgh Steelers (10-1), Carolina Panthers (12-1) and lastly previous year’s defending champion Denver Broncos (25-1).

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Patriots Pregame Meal: Kickoff Sunday

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Yes, the day is finally here! Football is back and we can spend all day watching the appetizer games until the Pats kickoff against the Cardinals tonight.

Some notes and thoughts to pass along as we start pregaming for our pregame.

— Had been wondering about whatever uniforms the Patriots will be wearing for their Thursday night “color rush” game against the Texans next week. The Patriots were one of the only teams to resist the “fly collar” when the league switched to Nike uniforms in 2012, and I expect they’re probably resistant to anything too silly or fancy for this latest NFL marketing ploy. But still, as someone who loves uniforms/helmets/facemasks I can’t help but be a little excited to see a new Pats jersey. They haven’t worn their Pat Patriot red throwbacks since 2012 due to some stupid helmet issue. Apparently they can’t afford a second set of helmets? But hopefully these expected red uniforms that Mike Reiss wrote will be announced on Tuesday will satiate our need for some throwback Patriots.

— Lotta miserable Pats fans already chalking up a loss tonight. I’m not convinced simply because of the Patriots’ defense. The Cardinals aren’t unbeatable at home and if you happened to see the Amazon special All or Nothingabout their season, they were extremely hot and cold at times last year. They lost to the Rams at home early last season. The Patriots have the pass rushers to get after Carson Palmer. That is the key. If Hightower, Sheard, Long, Johnson and maybe Mingo are unleashed tonight, things are going to be interesting no matter how Garoppolo moves the offense.

— This is Belichick with a defense in its prime, with a ton of moveable parts, going against a quarterback who’s been known to struggle against good teams, and could perhaps be fast approaching the end of the line. The Cardinals offense did NOTHING this preseason.

— The Patriots are almost never blown out, but that’s been with Brady and often Gronk. So I get that we’re in new territory here, but the fact remains that New England is one of the best-coached and most disciplined teams in NFL history. The coaches will have a gameplan working around the guys who are out and one that should give the team a chance to win.

— Season openers are always fluky games. Both teams have surprises waiting. Tackling and ball security is often sloppy. That means the better team doesn’t always win early in the season. And let’s not forget the total meltdown the Cardinals had in Carolina in last year’s NFC Championship. Not saying they turn in a stinker like that again, but this Cardinals team has to prove that their aging stars haven’t fully fallen off the cliff.

— Pats continue to make small contract moves, locking up Ninkovich for another season. Good signing. Crazy how many deals Ninkovich has made with the Pats.

— But if we don’t re-sign Hightower and Collins I’m going to be sick.

— What will give me real concern is if LeGarrette Blount is picking up little-to-negative yardage on first down carries. That is a recipe for disaster. Keep Jimmy out of third-and-longs at all costs.

— This was a different defense without Tyrann Mathieu last season. Yes he’s back, but we’ve seen how guys coming off ACLs aren’t the same player immediately. His job is easier without Gronk in the mix, but let’s see how effective he is right out of the gate.

— Games that I’ll be keeping an eye on today: Bengals at Jets, Bills @ Ravens, Packers @ Jaguars.

— The Broncos magical run has apparently spilled over into 2016. Who needs a quarterback? Not the Broncos apparently. They certainly have a talented defense but I don’t get how games just always seem to spin into their favor in the fourth quarter in close games. Every call, every bounce, everything seems to suddenly go their way almost like it used to for the Patriots during their 21-game win streak from 2003-2004. I am trying to embrace them in the role of my NFL villain, but I just don’t understand how they continue to have a horseshoe up their ass.

— Even without Gronk I’d expect plenty of heavy offensive sets tonight. All three tackles, Bennett and Harbor/Derby and a large dose of James Develin as well. There’s certainly a path to victory with the ground and pound if we can get it going (which we couldn’t last year).

— This game feels a lot like 2008 Week 2, when the Pats had to march into New York to face Brett Favre and the Jets with Matt Cassel in his first start. It seemed like now or never for the Jets then, but the Pats still came up with a 19-10 win. They key that day was of course, no turnovers by the offense.

— No matter what happens tonight, it’s one game and the season opener at that. You can never judge a season outlook from this one game. The Pats have had plenty of close battles in the season-opener with teams that went on to be terrible. The Pats have also looked nearly-terrible in many of those games themselves. So take all the hot taeks that are surely coming this week with a grain of salt. Good or bad. It’s a long road and that’s what makes it interesting.