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Archives for January 16, 2022

Patriots Ups & Downs Wildcard Weekend

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Timothy T Ludwig/Getty Images

What a crushing way to end the season, just crushing. The Patriots fell 47-17 in Buffalo last night, being completely overpowered by the divisional champions. For the final time this season, here are your Ups & Downs.

Ups ⬆️

Mac Jones

I came away from the game feeling better about Mac Jones. Sure, he didn’t play great, but for me he was an up overall on the night. He was one of the few players who was fighting until the very end, which is frankly embarrassing that your rookie quarterback is setting the tone.

On the field he did make some really good plays, and found the endzone a couple of times when the game was finished, again, it felt like only him and Kendrick Bourne were still trying. I think the team needs to get him a real WR1 threat, Agholor just isn’t that.

Not dismissing his mistakes, but, I think he will take a lot away from this game and will fuel a fire under him into the off-season.

Kendrick Bourne

I think we’ve come to find that Kenrick Bourne can be a real complimentary piece to the offense moving forward. Bourne caught two touchdown passes, albeit once the game was effectively over, but, it’s carried on a trend from the season of his good productivity. Bourne is an up.

Downs ⬇️

The Secondary

The defense was terrible all game, and I’m really concerned about how the team will rebuild a secondary unit that gave up five touchdown passes in a complete mis-match with the Bills.

I can honestly say that I never felt like the unit was going to find a turnover or force a punt with coverage.

The off-season will be intriguing to see where Bill goes with this unit and the defense overall, but last night they were just bad.

Matthew Judon

Judon has been a shell of himself since the bye, I can’t recall him forcing any pressure on the opposing QB which as harsh as it may sound, is not good enough.

He came out of the blocks with blistering pace, potentially on course to break the Patriots season sack record, but something changed with him during the week off, and it’s played a part, like last night in not making it hard enough for the enemy signal caller.

A Final Note

I’m just going to leave the downs there, I could go on about all of the mistakes, bad play calls, but we know what happened out there.

There is going to be lots of movement in the next few months that will re-shape this roster, especially on defense. But just from a personal note, I wanted to say thanks to everyone for tuning in to mine and Clare’s content this season. We’ll be back with plenty during the off-season to keep you up-to-date on all things Patriots.

The not so grand finale to the Patriots season

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Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Patriots repeat visit to Buffalo resulted in another blow out, of the touchdown kind, as the Bills won 47 to 17. 

I gotta say, I like that the Pats denied the Bills of the fifty burger, but I shall put my visceral Bills hatred aside for the moment. 

I won’t sum up the game this time as frankly, I don’t think any Patriots fan wants to relive it, and if you haven’t seen it I’d rather not be responsible for traumatising you. Needless to say, the Patriots weaknesses were made rather obvious under the late night lights, and they just couldn’t get it done.  

But, that’s all the doom and gloom you’re getting from me folks. Sure, the Patriots only just made it to the playoffs, yes there are plenty of holes to be worried about, players and possibly personnel, but this is the rebuild of a dynasty baby! 

It is not about the destination, it is about the journey, and all this is still pathway!

The Patriots picked a new quarterback and he’s good, and who knows his potential?! Okay, he isn’t a playoff game winning QB, this year, and we may have seen some of his limitations, but he’s the only rookie to make the play offs. A smart kid with determination and dedication, leadership and heart. Let’s shoot for the moon Pats fans, and whilst we are there, we don’t want to miss the stars. 

Now, I know I’ll be criticised for glass more than half full attitude, but that just how I try to be. I am also realistic, I say when things aren’t great, and that was the offensive line earlier in the year, then the secondary, special teams, oh and about that so called dominant defence… 

So yeah, the QB is a rookie who’s potential could be limited, there’s issues on both sides of the ball and less cap space to play with next season, and the Patriots only got as far as the play offs. But we got through it, together. Patriots Nation had a team to root for, a team to be disappointed in as well as proud. And, we had each other. 

It’s been a rough couple of years and we’ve sought solace in sports, and hopefully in each other. 

This isn’t the end Patriots Nation, it’s another new beginning!! With Mac Jones, David Andrews, Kendrick Bourne, Jakobi Meyers, Hunter Henry,  Rhamondre Stevenson, Adrian Phillips, Christian Barmore, (hopefully) Big Kick Nick Folk and many others, we can see the team build up once again. Remember it is not just the one, but the sum of the parts. 

Sport is a cruel mistress sometimes, and that is how it goes.  However, try to be thankful for all that you do have, be the light in someone’s day, and just thank goodness you aren’t a Jets fan… 

As some of you know, I have lost loved ones during the last 18 months, as I am certain many of you have too, it’s been tough. And so, I dedicate this article to all those loved and lost.❤️