Mike Dussault

New England Patriots Gameplan: Week 5 at Cleveland Browns

October 7, 2016 by Mike Dussault

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Dze6WLS4s

Yup, Tom Brady’s back and the 2016 season can officially start this Sunday in Cleveland. Seriously, for all the time we wasted debating Jimmy Garoppolo’s future and toughness or the gameplan for one-thumbed Jacoby Brissett, it all matters about as much as the preseason did now.

So yes Patriots fans are giddy, the rest of the NFL is worried and the Browns are preparing for worse damage than Florida right now.

But how easily the “Brady’s back” angle has made us all forget that the last two times the Patriots have faced the Browns it hasn’t quite gone as we all thought it would. There was the brutal 34-14 loss in Cleveland in 2010 and then the miraculous comeback by the Patriots in Foxboro in 2013, which also saw Rob Gronkowski’s knee blown out.

The Pats needed an onside kick recovery to escape Cleveland in that one.

The Browns have been anything but an easy out for the Patriots, no matter how the matchup looked on paper going in. But these Browns are far younger and even less talented than what the Patriots dealt with in 2010 and 2013.

Couple that with the Patriots coming off an embarrassing loss and we might just finally get the Browns blowout we’ve been waiting six years for.

Here’s the gameplan to get the season off to a new start under our favorite quarterback.

A Closer Look at Patriots’ Advanced Defensive Stats

October 5, 2016 by Mike Dussault

rob ninkovich Stats are for losers, right? Far be it from me to disagree with BB, but stats can give us a bigger picture. I always wait until four gams into the season before I jump into the stats. Anything before that is just simply too small a sample size.

As most of you know, the Patriots defense has been my long term pet project here on the blog. When you line up the 2016 stats and compare them to recent years it becomes even more clear that while the Patriots defense is good at preventing points, they’ve been pretty terrible at everything else.

I know there are plenty out there banging the “points allowed are all that matter,” but I disagree. Football is a complimentary game. Points allowed is certainly an important stat and the one at the bottom line, but the rest of the stats paint the picture of a defense that isn’t forcing turnovers, isn’t getting off the field and allowing far too long opponent possessions. That isn’t holding up their end of the bargain with the offense and special teams.

That said, it’s four games in. With Tom Brady back we can expect far more out of the offense going forward. That should help the defense. But still, every time in the first four games the Patriots have needed the defense to step up, they have failed to do so.

Let’s hope that changes in the coming weeks.

MUST READ! ESPN: An Oral History of Bill Belichick

October 4, 2016 by Mike Dussault

Call Bill Belichick what you want, but these accounts of his uncompromising life — from prodigy to professional ballbuster — reveal why history might one day call him the greatest.

Source: New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is the greatest enigma in sports

Every once and a while an amazing piece on Bill Belichick comes along and today might be one of the all time bests of those days. This oral history is fascinating and is a direct companion to David Halberstam’s Education of a Coach.

This is the real Belichick. Not the caricature the media creates because he doesn’t give them much to work with unless they ask him hard core football questions. That he’ll scoff at stupid or probing questions.

Us fans get a kick out of that, because most of the time those stories the media feels like they “have to ask”, no one really cares about. And many times the reporters themselves are just trying to gain some recognition for themselves by trying to prod Belichick “in the name of journalism.”

This is the Belichick that fascinates us Hoodie Heads. It boils down to his “Be Here Now”-esque mantra and focus on total preparation. And let’s face it, the guy was basically incubated as a football coach from the moment he was born.

Such a great read, one to hold on to for a long time. Favorite quote from Heath Evans:

“I never had greater admiration for a man besides my father than I had for Bill after the Super Bowl XLII loss. To the 53 men in that locker room and the coaching staff, he delivered a heartfelt apology. He felt like he had really let us down. Despite 18-1 being the most bitter pill I think you can swallow in sports, when I walked out of that Super Bowl locker room that night I still left with kind of a shining moment in my mind about Bill Belichick, how a man that everybody swears is so arrogant and so self-centered is really the exact opposite.”

Patriots-Bills Film Review: Defense Edition

October 4, 2016 by Mike Dussault

Yes, it’s time to take a look back at the car crash that happened on Sunday, when the Bills beat the Patriots pretty much across the board. And where else would I start than with the defense?

Now the common refrain I’ve heard over the past couple days is THEY ONLY GAVE UP 16 POINTS!

Well, this is true. And overall the Patriots defense is fourth in the league in points-per-game. That can’t be overlooked and as maddening as the Bend-Don’t-Break can be, it’s a proven game winner.

But from there just about every other defensive stat is bad. Real bad. They’re 29th in 3rd down defense and 28th in red zone defense. We’ll see how far they’ve fallen in DVOA on Tuesday.

So yes, the number of points allowed is certainly an important stat, and when you combine that with how the bad tackling, lack of edge setting, and overall sloppiness should all be corrected and there’s certainly a valid argument to be made that the Patriots defense will be okay.

But don’t ask me to feel good about how they’ve regressed in some of the most important aspects of the game since last year. Hopefully this game was just a stinker they needed to get out of the way.

Let’s take a closer look at the All 22 to get an emotionless look at what went wrong.

Pats Posits: We’re On to Tom Brady

October 2, 2016 by Mike Dussault

tom brady And that’s a wrap on Deflategate.

Tom Brady is back Patriots fans, just as the dreaded thoughts of “the end” were starting to seep into our consciousness, here comes TB12 to (we hope) the rescue.

The Patriots laid a goose egg on the scoreboard and on the field against the Bills, losing 16-0. For every bit they looked flawless against the Texans, they looked equally flawed against the Rex and Rob Ryan Wonder Twins.

But it was just another example of how even when the Pats get dominated, they never really get blown out.

Jacoby Brissett looked very much like an overwhelmed rookie and the offense was shut out at home for the first time since Drew Bledsoe‘s 1993 rookie season.

Fine. Whatever. Now Brady’s back, Gronk is getting healthier and this Garopposset Offense will soon be long forgotten as a footnote to the 2016 season.

But the defense was lit up for almost 400 yards and didn’t calm any nerves I had this week about how inconsistent they’ve been. They were terrible on third down. Allowed the Bills 36 minutes of possession. Why have they been so up-and-down in the first quarter of the season?

More on that and everything else in a “First Loss of the Season” edition of the Posits…

New England Patriots Gameplan: Week 4 vs. Buffalo Bills

September 30, 2016 by Mike Dussault

This is it. The last Brady-less game of the 2016 season (we hope). Yes, there are plenty of questions surrounding who will be under center for the Pats in this one, but ultimately this is a tepid Bills offense that should never ever waltz into Foxboro and pull out a win, even we had good ole’ Tommy Hodson back there taking snaps.

Rex Ryan always makes things interesting and despite just a 4-11 record against the Pats, the average margin of victory in the last six games against Rex is just 4.7 points. Last year the Pats beat Ryan’s Bills by 40-32 (week 2) and 20-13 (week 11). So despite the records, this game will probably be interesting.

What has made them most interesting is Rex’s schemes against Tom Brady. Recently this has involved disguising his blitzers while dropping a majority of players into zone coverage. Often times this has slowed Brady down, but as Jeff Howe points out, Brady has still done as well as anyone (which isn’t saying all that much considering the shitlist that is quarterbacks who faced Rex at least five times):

Brady has completed 60.1 percent of his passes against Ryan’s Jets and Bills for an average of 282 yards per game to go along with 27 touchdowns and eight interceptions. His 91.2 passer rating against Ryan’s Jets (2009-14) was the highest among all quarterbacks to face him at least five times.

So now what happens with (probably) Jimmy Garoppolo or (possibly) Jacoby Brissett? The Bills have plenty of defenders who can wreck a gameplan, starting with Kyle Williams. The Patriots will need a sound offensive game from whoever their QB is to keep the Bills at bay.

On the other side of the ball, the Patriots defense finally showed what they’re capable of against the Houston Texans, pitching their first meaningful shutout since 2009. Now they must contain Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy. If the Patriots defense is truly going to live up to their perceived talent level, this is another game they should be gunning for a shutout. Expectations are that high.

Here’s the gameplan for capping off the Brady suspension in style, with a win over our old pal Rexy, (who’s coming off a win btw)…

Pretty telling Rex Ryan stat: Since 2012, his teams are 4-18 after a win.

— Ryan Hannable (@RyanHannable) September 28, 2016

Will the Patriots Defense Reach Their Potential in 2016?

September 29, 2016 by Mike Dussault

<a rel=

Things are going to change in 2017 for the Patriots defense. The list of defenders due to hit free agency after this season is long and talented — Dont’a Hightower, Jamie Collins, Jabaal Sheard, Alan Branch, Logan Ryan, Duron Harmon and Chris Long are some of the high profile names.

Now, the Patriots have the cap space to re-sign who they want. They won’t re-sign all of them, but they have enough in the pipeline to overcome a few departures from that group. Guys like Trey Flowers, Cyrus Jones, Vincent Valentine and Eric Rowe are some who could potentially take elevated roles in 2017 if guys leave.

But make no mistake, change is coming and what the Patriots have right now on defense is as experienced and talented a group on paper as they’ve had since the mid-2000’s. We knew coming into the season that this defense had the chance to be special. This was supposed to be peak Patriots defense for the second time in Bill Belichick’s reign. That’s what happens when you return everyone except one defensive end, and add even more talented contributors like Long and Valentine.

But what is troubling is similar issues continue to haunt this defense and I can’t help but wonder if they’ll truly reach the level Patriots fan believed them capable of this offseason.