PatsPropaganda

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Archives for January 4, 2017

Coffin Corner: NEVER FORGET!

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If you’ve been on #Patriots Twitter or listened to the Hucksters of Boston Radio lately, you’d think the Patriots fans and reporters are the folks who had been concussed every playoff Sunday for the last 10 years, not the players. That’s the only way to explain the insane front-running, Super Bowl-assured confidence that’s been on display for the last few weeks.

Folks have already declared victory over whichever haplessly quarterbacked divisional round opponent comes to town. Nevermind that Mark Sanchez once sent Brady and the boys packing. After the divisional round, they’re certain that Andy Reid (HOF coach) and Ben Roethlisberger (HOF QB) will roll over in Foxboro. Never mind that Rex Ryan (not a HOF head coach) and Joe Flacco, twice, (not elite) have sent Belichick and Brady to early vacations. The Patriots have homefield advantage, which most fans and “experts” credit as the most impactful difference in last year’s AFCCG loss to Denver. Nevermind that both the Sanchez-led Jets and Flacco-led Ravens both won in Foxboro.

But this sports community, arguably more than any other, should know that winning football games in the regular season means about as much as Roger Goodall’s “integrity”. The Patriots went 18 and 1! The 2010 team was 2007’s equal in efficiency and was one-and-done in the playoffs! Sorry, but another reminder is needed, Mark Goddamned Sanchez, perhaps the worst starting QB in the history of the sport, beat the Patriots in the playoffs!

The most dominant team in the NFL for the last decade has 1 Super Bowl win and only gotten to the Super Bowl 3 times. You know why? Because it’s really hard to win a Super Bowl!

I don’t want to do this. I really don’t. This hurts me more than it hurts you, but you’ve given me no choice, folks. Someone has erased your data processing unit in order to forget your violent mortality and I need to jog the memories by reminding you of the searing memory that still haunts my sleep.. Ugh, here we go…

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Breaking Down Patriots Renewed Offensive Balance

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The Patriots locked up the top seed in the AFC Sunday with a 35-14 dispatching of the Dolphins, giving New England home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, an essential piece to the Patriots Super Bowl puzzle. The win was the Patriots 14th on the season, and while much of that success has been (rightfully) credited to the incredible resurgence on defense, a large component of this triumphant 2016 campaign has been the renewed balance between running and passing offensively. We know that Tom Brady has the ability to drop back and pass 50 times without much help from the run game and still will the Patriots to a win (see Divisional Round, 2014), but we have also seen just how vulnerable the Patriots become when Brady is asked to win the game by himself (see, 2016 AFC Championship Game). The lack of balance was one of the biggest factor that contributed to New England’s early exit last January, which is why instilling a consistent balance between run and pass will prove to be crucial as we head into the postseason.

Last season, according to Kevin Duffy of MassLive.com, the Patriots had their worst run/pass ratio in recent years, passing the ball 62% of the time and rushing on only 38% of plays. Coincidentally, the Patriots rushing attack ranked 30th in the NFL, which allowed teams like the Broncos to drop numbers off the ball and flood Brady’s passing lanes, without needing to give much thought to the run game. Granted, part of the lack of success running the football can be attributed to losing LeGarrette Blount to a hip injury in Week 14, but even with him, the rushing attack was still on pace to finish near the bottom in rush yards. The Patriots called upon the corpse of Steven Jackson and special-teamer Brandon Bolden to take the bulk of the carries in the AFC Championship Game, and as well as know, it did not go well.

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