PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Clare Cooper

The Patriots streak a win in Atlanta!

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Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Hi there Patriots Nation, to all my fellow UK fans, I wish you oodles and oodles of coffee on this sleep deprived Friday!

So, another win against the Atlanta Falcons huh?

It wasn’t an easy, utterly clean game, there were a few blips on the radar with this one, but the defense was definitely bringing the nasty against the Falcons and Matt Ryan. 

As well as the Patriots ran the ball, they went 4 for 12 on third down, and that’s not great when you compare it to last week particularly. But the Patriots defense still found a way to shut out the Falcons, and please excuse the colourful language here, spanked, a solid, veteran quarterback.

For the tight endage enthusiast, it was a little slim pickings this week. Hunter Henry played 32 of the snaps (50%) and was more often than not, heavily covered when running routes. When Nelson Agholor caught his touchdown, Hunter had three guys covering him. The Falcons cottoned on that he was a regular target of Mac Jones, his go-to tight end, and they kept him closed down. There was a beautiful, beautiful, catch towards the end of the third quarter, a nice li’l sweet treat for me, but this was undone by a throw from Mac towards Jonnu Smith for an interception. Boo.

Speaking of interceptions, the Patriots had, four. One for each of the Falcons quarterbacks and then a spare. Mr Interception himself, JC Jackson had one, well that’s becoming a given, right? Adrian Phillips and Devin McCourty didn’t want to be left out, and finally Kyle Van Noy, who took it for 35 yards, and a touchdown. Exactly what the word fabulousness was created for!

Matt Judon, a name to star on my game recap every week, stacked up another sack and that’s 10.5 for his New England Patriots season so far, SO FAR!

Kyle Dugger brought it again this week with six tackles and some glorious blocks. My favourite was towards the end of the third quarter where he just pancaked Isaiah Oliver to the floor, you could almost hear the ‘boom’. 

Another name that I should create a shortcut for, as I am typing it every week, is Jakob Johnson. This guy is slapping the face of anyone who thinks a fullback isn’t important, and I love it! With the quality of his blocking, and his integration into plays a little more, I don’t think I’m remiss in saying he is having his best Patriots season so far.

And on the note of effective blocking, from the result of that, Damien Harris ran like a freight train. Sometimes he was so quick I almost lost him! This week showed an even split of runs between Rhamondre Stevenson (now officially to be referred to as ‘Mondre, hey, if it’s good enough for the beloved David Andrews, it’s definitely good enough for me!) and Damien Harris. ‘Mondre notching up 12 attempts for 69 yards, and Harris 10 attempts for 56 yards. 

Okay, that’s enough of me for this week folks! I’m off to top up my coffee. 

Go Pats!

Don’t forget to pick up your tight endage design t-shirts exclusively at Pats Propaganda!

The Browns came to town and the Pats shut them down!

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Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

As the Patriots notch up their second home win of the season against the Cleveland Browns, they move to the nail-biting 6 – 4 for week ten.

This morning (this afternoon, this evening, whenever you take the time to read this) Patriots fans are happy bunnies, of course! And I’m not known for my negativity, so you probably won’t find much in this recap today.

However, I did want to point out one thing, fortunately, it didn’t really impact the outcome of the win for the Patriots, but they still notched up six penalties at home. Pretty much the average for a game so far this season. 

Okay, I think that brings a healthy balance of negatives so lets move it right along to the positives shall we folks?

Seriously, I’m almost lost as to where to start!

The Patriots defense against the run did have a little shaky start but they adjusted to what the Browns wanted to do and shut them down. Then the Patriots offense bullied their way through. 

The good played great: Christian Barmore with constant pressure up the middle, forcing a number of errant passes, Jakob Johnson blocking like a darn wrecking ball, and Matt Judon, well, being Matt Judon! These names make my recap every single week, and to that point I apologise for being repetitive, but these guys deserve to be mentioned every darn week!  

Kyle Dugger showed up and owned up this week being second on the defensive plays list with 5 tackles, 1 assist and an interception. Only to be bettered by Ja’Whaun Bentley with 6 tackles and 1 assist on the board. 

The ‘old guys’, and I say that very tongue-in-cheek folks, played great. Kyle Van Noy, Devin McCourty and Dont’a Hightower showed us why old guys rule baby! If only Devin could have made that one handed catch for the interception early in the first quarter, the Browns might not have even racked up a touchdown! 45 -7 is great, 45 – 0, oh my!

N’Keal Harry is a slightly controversial topic in Patriots Nation, but he brought something to the game Sunday and may be making his mark as a very effective wide receiver blocker. Going into this match-up the name Myles Garrett was the one people were most concerned about, and well, Harry said “yeah, not in my house” and he shut that guy down!

Mike Onwenu looked to be an absent with the return and line up of Trent Brown but oh no, Belichick wouldn’t take out one of his best offensive linemen. Onwenu lined up as an eligible tight end and blocked the heck out of the Browns defense. I knew I liked that guy…

The Mac-attack had himself an awesome game, throwing the ball deep to prove there was a new gunslinger in town, and his name was McCorkle Jones. That’s Michael McCorkle Jones to you Cleveland.

I know I mention tight ends a plenty, but in my own defense, this year is a bit of a year for it on the Patriots. So, whilst keeping my excitement in check, I will simply touch upon the fact that Hunter Henry had four fabulous receptions, (they were all great catches so can easily be classed as fabulous). Of those 4 receptions, 50% were touchdowns, and 100% of his targets he caught. Just sayin’…

Finally, I can report Jakobi Meyers had his first receiving touchdown and it was thrown by Brian Hoyer. Not perfect, but you know what, I think the whole of Patriots Nation will take it. Pretty much the whole Patriots team celebrated it with him in the end zone. 

And even though at this point in time I haven’t seen which players were given the game ball, mine would go to Rhamondre Stevenson. Not only did he have 4 receptions from 4 targets and 37 yards, but the kid had 20 rushing attempts for 100 yards and a total of 2 touchdowns. But, the numbers aren’t what did it for me, it was watching this guy play. Powerful, masterful and impressive! He ran through gaps that were made well by the Patriots o-line and also a few that didn’t even seem to be there! And as I can’t roll my r’s, I’ll stick with chanting STEVENSON thank you very much.

Go Pats!

The Patriots intercept a win in Carolina!

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Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

And so here we are, another victory road game Monday. They may not be clean, and they may not be pretty, the wins that is, but this is a team with a first year quarterback and more new pieces than I can count. Scrappy ain’t so bad. 

Once again the Patriots got into Sam Darnold’s head, and the poor kid threw 3 interceptions. Against the Patriots Darnold has now stacked up 1 touchdown, 9 interceptions, and zero wins. 

But it wasn’t all on Darnold, the Patriots offense didn’t bring the best versions of themselves to Carolina. The penalties for the offensive line-up were a little concerning, with false start calls on Jakobi Meyers, Isaiah Wynn and Hunter Henry, and an offensive holding call against Ted Karras. Not ideal.

The passer protection wasn’t as good as it has been either, still a work in progress I guess. 

But for yet another game I can compliment the blocking of Jakob Johnson and reiterate how I will forever be “in” on the fullback position. 

The Patriots defense played great, and as Bill always says, defense wins games! The interceptions by JC Jackson were delicious! He saw Stephon Gilmore’s one interception and raised him one! Two for JC and one for Jamie Collins and there was even a tip or two of the ball by Kyle Van Noy. You get an interception, you get an interception, everyone gets an interception… Halloween came a little late this year with interceptions getting given out like candy, and poor Darnold may have been seeing a few ghosts again.

Now, every week I hail the guy for being a baller, but Matt Judon is held more than a kid’s favourite teddy bear, and he still managed to get a hand on Darnold whilst being enveloped by an offensive lineman. 

A name I know that was on many peoples lips, Christian Barmore, and well, the kid had himself a GAME!

The injury list is always a cause for concern but right now it’s getting rather long, and after this Carolina game, particularly on the running back front! Rhamondre Stevenson was really letting loose until he got caught out with a head injury. Mid way into the second quarter he showed Sean Chandler who was boss with not only a stiff arm but one that threw the guy outta the club! Boom!

Brandon Bolden continues to roll up and show up, proving he is a valuable part of the Patriots offense, and towards the end of the second quarter he made a great adjustment to turn and make a difficult catch. He pulled out the stutter step to get a good run and even pulled a trick on Stephon Gilmore gaining himself a few extra yards.

Hunter Henry maintains his “Mr Consistent” badge with his fifth Patriot touchdown in six games. 

I think I gotta give a gold star to Mac Jones. He may not have had one of his best games, but he’s a rookie quarterback who not only “quarterbacks” really well, he pushes the pile, blocks, jumps on a loose ball to recover, and he pulls back his huge offensive linemen to try and make sure they don’t get into any disagreements. This kid rocks, it may be just my opinion, but he’s my quarterback baby! So hold my darn coffee, and bring on the Cleveland Browns! Woof!

The Patriots grind out a win in LA baby!

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Staff Photo By Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald

It’s not an easy season to be a Patriots fan, a roller coaster of game performances and Tom Brady doing so good elsewhere. It’s pretty tough being a rookie quarterback too. I mean, Mac Jones is giving the Patriots literal blood, sweat, and almost tears! I feel sorry for whoever has to wash his road game white jerseys, blood is an absolute pain to get out…

But his sacrifice was not in vain, as the Patriots bring home a win on the road.

Unfortunately, it was a scrappy and perhaps messy game. It wasn’t one of the best performances we have seen by Mac so far, although that may be less of an “on paper” kind of thing and more of a visual confirmation. And some of the solidity that had begun to grow back on the offensive line seemed to have been edging away a little. 

Plenty is being criticised of the coaching too. Now, I am loath to attempt to be critical of something I probably know less about than Nike the dog, but towards the end of the second quarter, Mac threw the ball all over the place, and the Patriots did not undertake a run play. Normally that’s no big deal, but in a game that was currently sitting at 10-14 with the half bearing down on them and against a defense that is known for being weak against the run, I thought perhaps a run drive may have been a good choice. Don’t get me wrong, that’s just my rookie opinion and they did end that drive in a field goal bringing the deficit to just one point. 

The officials didn’t help much either, with what felt like a million penalties called against the Patriots and maybe two called on the Chargers. Obviously, I am exaggerating for dramatic effect, but you’re fans, you know that’s how it really felt. 

The actual recorded statistics were in fact, 4 penalties by the Patriots for 30 yards and 5 for the Chargers for 40 yards. As the sands of time fall, it would appear that officials do not call holding on Matt Judon, I mean, he is that much of a beast – they must think he is just too tough to need it, right?

But I digress as usual, but hey, we all know you come for the wit, and stay for the tight endage, wink wink. 

Moving swiftly along to the more positive aspects of the game such as the great showing of Myles Bryant! Devin McCourty had a fabulous tackle and tug-out of the ball towards the end of the second quarter, only bettered by that glorious hand flick Kendrick Bourne undertook to prevent an interception, although it was following the miss of a high ball catch, it was still kinda beautiful.

Jakob Johnson continued to prove his worth and the fullback spot on the roster, with some fabulous blocking, notably the first Damien Harris rushing touchdown of the game. Not only that, but perhaps due to the absence of James White, Mac has begun to utilise Johnson in short passes too. Fabulousness for all you fullback fans out there!

Hunter Henry was a little quiet in this game, perhaps expected what with the Chargers weakness against the run, but the Chargers know what a great tight end Hunter can be and had him covered plenty, and that was obvious right from the start of the first quarter. 

It would seem the revenge tour was not to be for Hunter, other than the great second quarter reception that almost, almost, resulted in a touchdown and the lovely end of game punt catch, but the other ex-Chargers player, Adrian Phillips, made up for the both of them! Phillips notched up two interceptions and a touchdown against his former team, and he looked pretty darn pleased with himself. 

I have to end my recap this week with my favourite moment of the game. Chargers defensive lineman Jerry Tillery had the latest hit on a quarterback I may have ever seen. It was so late David Andrews had been stationery for what felt like ages, only to turn and witness the terrible slam Tillery made into Mac. Andrews, being the utter beast he is, stepped over Mac to get in Tillery’s face with the speed of someone, well let’s say a guy a bit little less squishy than Andrews is. The fierceness on Andrews’ face was momentous and I may have swooned a little. 

Now, I do not condone any form of violence, but if you can find someone who will fight for you the way Andrews would for Mac Jones with the look on his face Andrews had, that person is a keeper… Just sayin’

And so concludes the game against the Chargers. I hope the Patriots can keep this, albeit scrappy, momentum going into Carolina, they are presently 3-0 on the road! Now, where did I hide the good Halloween candy…

Go Pats!

The Patriots with a Jet sweep and a 54 – 13 win at Gillette Stadium!

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Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

With a win of more than 40 points over the opponent it is difficult to make any concerns of the negative nature, but I have heard the whole “well the Patriots still have some problems and the Jets really sucked” vibe.

These things are true, I have to admit I had a few not greats on my list, in particular the receiver coverage, or little lack of it, is still of a concern to me. Whilst the penalties appeared to be less, there wasn’t any of those “too many men on the field” issues, but the Patriots did still rack up 6 penalties for 95 yards. 

However, this is Victory Monday! And it was a victory! Yes, the Jets really, well, “jetted” but this is sport; it’s not an exact science, even the best teams have the worst of days, and the Patriots capitalised on the not so great Jets having a rather bad day.

But hold on there folks, I am not saying that is the only reason the Patriots won. I’m just covering what you may be thinking, some of you, possibly, and the things that may still be cause for concern. That is all. 

Me? Well, I thought the Patriots played great. Honestly, I do still have my concerns, one game a season doth not make, however, this win is soft, and warm, and glorious, and I want to grab my coffee and snuggle down with it.

National Tight Ends Day saw the two free agency shopping spree pick ups, Smith and Henry, involved! Jonnu Smith finally had a chance for plenty of passes, and his early first quarter, 28 yarder, was a powerful run, wrestling with a guy proving his athletic prowess hasn’t gone away. Unfortunately, Smith suffered a shoulder injury and left the game during the second quarter, not to return but not before putting up 1 rushing attempt for 5 yards, 5 passing targets for 2 receptions and 52 yards in just 22% of the snaps. 

The other Patriots tight end, and I’ll tell you a little secret here, he’s my favourite Patriots tight end on the team (I know, I know, you are all shocked out of your socks to hear that!) Hunter Henry made National Tight Ends Day his own by catching a short right pass from Mac Jones for his fourth touchdown as a Patriot. Not only that, Hunter’s fourth touchdown was also his fourth straight game with a receiving touchdown, and that my dear friends, is the longest streak by a Patriots tight end since the great Rob Gronkowski in 2013. Boom! (Information courtesy of Patriots .com)

There are many other delicious points to note on Sunday’s performance other than the lovely tight endage we got to witness. 

Damien Harris had himself a game rushing for 106 yards, 2 receptions for 7 yards and 2 touchdowns, not only that, but he ran faster than he ran all game (his words in the press conference) to go celebrate with him, when his teammate and fellow running back JJ Taylor completed his first NFL career touchdown. I just love stuff like that!

Taylor, whilst only racking up 21 yards rushing, had a single reception for 5 yards and totalled 2 touchdowns.

But wait, the feast continues; Jakobi Meyers took a big hit but kept hold of the ball for the gain, proving he is really becoming a great slot receiver. We saw some substantial blocking by Hunter Henry, with a run or two with opposing players hanging off him (yes, I know that’s like, one of my most favourites things). Jakob Johnson brought it with some significant blocks, and the fullback even had 2 receptions for 32 yards! Brandon Bolden snatched his first touchdown of the season and Kyle Dugger an interception! The Patriots offense used a bit of trickery and a bit of razzle dazzle, and I will lap that stuff up with a spoon! 

One more tasty morsel I have to mention, was the early first quarter, laser focused run by Miles Bryant, who seemed to lock in on poor Zach Wilson and to heck with anything else, he flattened the young quarterback on the third down, resulting in the Jets having to punt and so ending their initial first quarter drive.

So there you have it folks, my seventh regular season game wrap-up. I hope you found it tasty enough to enjoy with your coffee and that you have a great week!

Go Pats!

Behold: National Tight Ends Day!

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Mark Konezny USA TODAY Sports

The tight endage cometh, and boy oh boy, does it!

Okay, so I guess I should hold my horses there a little, with the seventh game on the horizon the Patriots are 2-4 with just 4 tight end touchdowns. Well, to be fair, that’s more than 2019 and 2020 put together… Oof!

And so, on this day of National Tight Ends celebration, I thought I would plot the path 2021 has seen of its tight endage. 

Cast your mind back to earlier this year. The Patriots had Ryan Izzo, Matt LaCosse, Devin Asiasi, and Dalton Keene as rostered tight ends. Then they signed Jonnu Smith, and Patriots Nation rejoiced – some tight end production was in our future! Two rookies going into their second year, one could argue it may be a little bit more like their first, due to a lot of covid restrictions and injuries, but still. 

What was next? Hunter Henry, baby! Coach Bill surprised many, and scooped up the guy he had been following since his college days, and we were soon to see why!

During the spring practices, training camps and such, we saw the likes of Troy Fumagalli, a decent tight end from Denver who always seemed to be in the wrong place at the wrong time when it came to position depth, and although some good showing, Fumagalli unfortunately suffered an injury, and failed to make the roster.  David Wells, previously of the Kansas City Chiefs, danced around in New England in 2020, and was back again for another spin around the floor in 2021, but it didn’t quite stick. 

Ryan Izzo was shipped off to Houston for a seventh round 2022 draft pick, and the whole of Patriots Nation cried… okay, okay, I cried, just me.  

Matt LaCosse found his way onto the practice squad, and with the way players who sat out of the 2020 season had been given the chop, at least he got to stay in New England. Where, to be fair, he had a rather good spring camp, possibly what secured his spot with the Patriots still.

So, the roster cup still floweth over with tight endage, two rookies and two free agency signed veterans. 

Unfortunately, Dalton Keene suffered more injury setbacks and started training camp on the PUP list only to undergo season-ending knee surgery. His return in 2022 could see Keene with a fight on his hands, a very unfortunate situation, but he really hasn’t shown much, or had much chance to, and either way, we won’t be seeing him as a Patriot for 2021. 

And then there were three to run those two tight end packages. Could I be any more excited (yes you need to hear that in the tone of Chandler Bing from Friends).

And this is where excitement has moved to puzzlement for many Patriots fans. 

Devin Asiasi has not played a regular season game in 2021. He has continued to be on the inactive list for every game. A healthy scratch most would say, but is there something we just don’t know? 

Are Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith just more tight endage than the Patriots need?

The fact that the combined receptions and yardage matches 2019’s tight end figures, and exceeds 2020’s already, and they have only played six games does say a lot, and not just about the tight ends, but the quarterback too. Makes 2021 the year of tight endage an easier sell, huh?

Okay, I’m being a little presumptuous with my glass 99% full again, but it’s National Tight Ends Day, and I like tight ends and I can not lie – I’m sure there’s a t-shirt with that on it somewhere…

Much love to you all for National Tight Ends Day!

I Like Tight Ends Short Sleeve Unisex T-Shirt
Tight Endage!! Unisex T-Shirt

The Cowboys rode into Foxborough and caught themselves a win!

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(AP Photo/Steven Senne)

I sit here tired and a little sleep deprived again, as the Patriots almost won, again. 

I guess you can only cry moral victory so many times, so I’m not gonna be the girl who cried wolf and even try, but it was one more frustrating loss at Foxborough.

Yet another predicted shut out win by the visiting team, eeked out into a close scrappy game, that with just a hair’s breadth of a chance, could have seen the score sheet so very differently for the Patriots. 

It’s still early in the season, technically. There are plenty of games still to play (11 for anyone who is counting) but as they stretch out these “almost wins” the stats don’t look good, and the chances of being a playoff team are beginning to look not very feasible.

Someone said to me I wasn’t even a glass half full girl, but a glass 99% full, and in a way, I do try to be. I don’t want to be negative about the team I love, but I am when it is necessary, and as hopeful and positive as I am, I’m not unrealistic.

As per usual there is some good and some bad. So let’s get to what wasn’t so great, so that I can celebrate what was!

I have a rather general bad, and forgive me but this point is a little too general to name just one player, but the man coverage of receivers was at times, really rotten. The Cowboys’ receivers overall were too fast for the Patriots, but they seemed open just too often for my liking. 

The offensive line had a positive/negative day. They were great with the run… less so with the passing, and the offensive holding penalty by James Ferentz that nullified Jakobi Meyers’ 25 yard, and first ever, passing touchdown… *insert your own curse word of choice folks*. 

Whilst the Cowboys racked up penalties like they were notches on a bedpost – twelve – the Patriots were almost demur with five. The Cowboys’ left guard Connor Williams gets a total naughty badge with four penalties all to himself. Three for offensive holding and one for unsportsman like conduct where he had a 2-for-1 and dropped the Cowboys right back (15 yard penalty) to just about end the drive with a 49 yard field goal. 

With the exit of Stephon Gilmore, JC Jackson is the guy, whether he, or we, want him to be or not. But he continues to be in my notes with inconsistency. I find myself jotting his name down each game with something fantastic like “prevents key catch,” but then, too often, with such things as “poor marking,” “gives receiver too much room at the first down marker,” and “holding penalty”. 

And so my sleep deprived, caffeine requiring brain, moves on to some of the glimmers of hope we can have as Patriots fans.

Damien Harris is, in short, a beast. The direct snaps and power throughs of his are rather delicious. Ted Karras had a great assisted block about five minutes into the fourth quarter, Harris running like a beast twice to gain yardage, that then saw Rhamondre Stevenson power over the line for his first career touchdown. Yummers.

Justin Bethel had himself a game with some serious pressure on the punter at the beginning of the third quarter only to round it out with the take down of the punter towards the end of the third quarter. Not to mention Kyle Dugger’s rebound interception was tipped by Bethel. A “nice job” badge for him this week.

Matt Judon is a name that I put down so often on these recaps I am super glad I do not have to pay for the usage! I have images of John Harbaugh gazing at a photo of Mr Red Sleeves himself wondering why he ever let him go, but boy are Patriots fans glad he did! I’m pretty sure the only way an offense can stop Judon is by over the top holding that should get a penalty call but quite often doesn’t!

Another name I put down a little regularly is Hunter Henry. And before you start on me because I like tight ends (we all know I do, I don’t deny it) just hear me out. He is Mr Consistent in a sea of inconsistency at the moment. Mac Jones with a deep left ball, Hunter with the catch and a touchdown. Do I need to say anymore? 

Yes? Okay, how about the blocking that he carries out, and he may have only been targeted twice, but two targets for two receptions, he received all that he was targeted with and it’s not the first game that has happened either. Finally, to conclude the tight end enthusiasm, it took four guys to take him down on this short pass reception towards the end of the third quarter. Oh boy!

But seriously, there is still plenty wrong with this Patriots team, and I’m not denying that, as you can see from above. But I just try and shed light on a bit of the positive too. Whilst also helping those that were unable to watch the game, catch up from my perspective, for what it’s worth of course. Besides, I know you all come for the tight endage coverage really, admit it.

Go Pats!