Mike Dussault

Patriots Gameplan: Week 10 vs. Seattle Seahawks

November 11, 2016 by Mike Dussault

After a bye week and an exhausting election, I think we’re all ready for Patriots football to be back and it would be hard to ask for a better game than a rematch of Super Bowl 49 against the Seattle Seahawks.

Let’s face it, the competition in the NFL stinks this year. Many teams have regressed and only a couple have risen to new heights. But the Patriots and Seahawks are two well-coached teams that play a physical brand of football. It should be a fantastic game and one of the last/only true tests for this New England team.

Here’s my gameplan, with some help from Bill Belichick’s Super Bowl 49 gameplan.

Patriots’ Do Your Job Keys vs. Seahawks in SB49

November 10, 2016 by Mike Dussault

If you haven’t watched the Do Your Job documentary from NFL Films above, stop reading this blog and get on it right now. This, along with Bill Belichick’s A Football Life, are the two most critical must-watch pieces about the dynasty Patriots. Nowhere else will you find the kind of look behind the curtain that these two shows provide.

One of my favorite parts (and no, it’s definitely not the Deflategate act) was where the Patriots coaches talked about their keys to the game going into Super Bowl 49. It’s worth a quick look back since this Seahawks team is very much like the one they saw in Arizona and the keys are likely to be very similar.

If you want to hop to the part where they talk about these keys, fast forward to 22:30.

Belichick on Patriots Injury Improvements (so far…)

November 8, 2016 by Mike Dussault

Brady after Gronk looked lost for the season in Denver, 2015.

If there’s one dead horse I’ve been beating this season it’s that all that really matters for the 2016 Patriots are injuries. We can argue about Jamie Collins, the ups-and-downs of the run game or the defense’s lack of sacks or poor start on third downs early in the season, but all that’s going to matter come January is what the Injured Reserve list looks like.

In the last three seasons, the Patriots won a Super Bowl and lost to the Broncos in Denver. One team was almost fully healthy. The other two were shells of their initial September rosters.

It’s sad that this is what football has come to in some ways… that who got hurt is nearly as important as who won. But when you have a well-oiled machine like the Patriots at this phase of Bill Belichick’s tenure, that’s what the season gets reduced to. And with the rest of the NFL withering into mediocrity or worse, I can’t help but wonder if this is the year the Patriots just go berserker right through the Super Bowl and finish the job the 2007 team fell just short on.

If the Patriots core remains intact, it’s hard finding a team that will be able to stop them, at least on paper, though history tells us any potential Super Bowl will go down to the final drive no matter who the opponent is.

The good news is at the halfway point the Patriots are pretty as close to full health as could be realistically hoped. Belichick touched on it a bit on Sunday, including how the team has made changes to try to prevent injuries.

We’ve tried every year to work a little bit harder, try to do things a little bit better, and hopefully some of those little things are paying off. I know the players work extremely hard on their training as well as their nutrition, hydration, rest, recovery, all the things that go into performance. We’re always looking to fine tune those for each individual because they’re all different. We all have different makeups and different little things that can help different players in unique ways, so always trying to stay on top of that. I think our staff has done a good job and the players have done a good job, so hopefully we’ll be able to continue that over the next eight regular season games.

I always viewed injuries as the will of the Football Gods, but it’s good to know the team is making every effort they can to prevent them.

Ranking the Patriots Impending Free Agents

November 4, 2016 by Mike Dussault

Dont’a Hightower

The Patriots are set for a major re-evaluation of their defense this offseason with a number of key free agents that will force them to determine the direction they want to go. The offensive free agents won’t be far behind. Of course, things certainly look a lot easier now (unfortunately) than they did when both Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins were still on the team. Two less major pieces to worry about paying.

And really, the poor overall performance of many of the impending free agents still on the team make it easier too. Again, unfortunately. But of course things can change quickly as the important part of the season and playoffs roll around. A huge playoff performance by one of these players could up their importance and price tag.

We’re at the halfway point of the season, so why not take stock of where we’re at?

One note before we dive in, Malcolm Butler is a restricted free agent. The Patriots should, in my opinion, pursue a long-term extension with him, but the team can easily slap a first round tender for around $3.6 million and retain his rights unless someone wants to give up a first rounder for him, which I wouldn’t entirely rule out. So for our purposes here, I’m leaving him off this list, but if he was on it he’d be second.

Let’s do it, starting from the lowest priority, counting down to the most important.

5 Patriots Defensive Fixes for the Bye Week

November 3, 2016 by Mike Dussault

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The bye week is a time to take a step back and reflect on what the team needs to do better moving forward into the second half of the season. Never has that been more true than with the Patriots defense, now that they’ve traded away one of their key contributors. There are holes to fill and improvements to be made.

Aside from replacing Jamie Collins from a personnel perspective, it’s also worth taking a look at the scheme and what things haven’t quite been working out the way the Patriots coaching staff might’ve envisioned them.

Here are five moves for the Patriots defense that should help them moving into the winter months.

Patriots Film Review: Defense Got No Juice Edition

November 2, 2016 by Mike Dussault

In today’s film review I’m going to try to ignore Jamie Collins. It would be easy to make this all about Collins and how his play in this single game may or may not have impacted him getting traded. But here on the blog I’m about the future and without Collins there’s plenty of work to be done. What exactly the remaining players need to do to pick up the slack is what I prefer to focus on.

Let’s take a look at what went down in Buffalo.

— Alan Branch should’ve had two sacks on the first drive but Tyrod Taylor twice evaded his finishing grasp, including one on third down that allowed the drive to keep going. At least he was winning his matchup. That’s the biggest thing that hasn’t been happening. And yes, as it’s been said this week, Branch might be the Pats best defensive player the first half of this season, at least in the front seven. Put me down for Malcolm Butler overall.

— After giving up a BDB (Bend-Don’t-Break) first drive, allowing three points, the Pats forced a three-and-out on the next drive but the third down should’ve been converted if not for a Buffalo drop. The Pats rushed five and again, nobody got home, including, uh, #91, who was stopped stone cold coming off the edge by a nice block from the running back. Lucky stuff.

But let’s cleanse the palate with another of what are becoming weekly Elandon Roberts GIFs. Watch him push the lead blocker #70 back into the hole and use him to help make the tackle.

Elandon Roberts

Why Did This Patriots Defense Need a Message Sent to Them?

November 1, 2016 by Mike Dussault

Bill Belichick GIF So by now you’ve heard the news, the Patriots traded Jamie Collins yesterday and because of the bye week, we get to spend the next two weeks doing nothing but trying to figure out why. The resulting media maelstrom was entirely predictable since this is the biggest BB shocker move in the age of social media over-saturation, where everyone has an opinion and will express their outrage.

Yesterday, I wrote some initial thoughts, but as things have simmered and the talking points have coalesced, it’s time to wade into the fray again to try and make some sense it.

The one thing I keep coming back to is the famous “we’re building a team, not collecting talent” quote. Whatever the reasons may or may not be, and there are plenty of them, Belichick believed the team, and specifically the defense, would be better without a super talented player like Collins.

We can talk about him being inconsistent at times (who isn’t?) or that he wanted a monster deal the Patriots would never get him, or whatever else has popped up over the last 24 hours, but no one outside the building has the full picture like Bill Belichick does. No one knows the internal team dynamics nor the true X-and-O’s like him.

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