PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Mike Dussault

Patriots Gameplan: Week 12 vs. Miami Dolphins

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The Patriots return home after two weeks high above sea level and two impressive wins that have put them back atop the conversation of Super Bowl contenders. Despite numerous injuries to critical players the Pats have recalibrated and look like their same old dominant selves even without heart and soul players like Julian Edelman and Dont’a Hightower.

Now the Patriots have just six games left and five of them are inside the AFC East, starting with this weekend’s matchup against the 4-6 Miami Dolphins, whom the Patriots will face twice in the next three weeks. After a 4-2 start the Dolphins have lost four straight, including twice that they’ve given up 40 or more points.

What has the Patriots’ season devolved to? It’s become all about A) staying healthy and B) beating the Steelers in a few weeks. AFC East teams do tend to play the Patriots closer than expected, but if we’re just going off expectations the Patriots shouldn’t lose more than one game the rest of the season.

What the Pats need to do to put an iron grip on their ninth-straight AFC East title in the gameplan.

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Patshow 114: Raiders Wrap, Cooks Big Gainer and my Grasshopper Pie Recipe!

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Here’s today’s latest episode of Patshow, shot live today at MediaBoss studios in Framingham. It’s a full hour of me and your old pal Fitzy (aka Nick Stevens) talking Pats. We’re also excited to announce that the Electro Breakdown Zone is now brought to you by Energizer! Please check out our dedicated show page and help support Patshow!

This is our Thanksgiving show and on it I mentioned my favorite pie was Grasshopper Pie. Here’s the recipe for those out there who’d like to make it!

 

20-30 Oreos

1 Stick of Melted Butter

1 small jar of Marshmallow Fluff

8oz whipping cream

1/4 cup Creme De Menthe

Crush the Oreos in a food processor. Pile them into a 9″ pie dish. Pour the melted butter in and mash the Oreos and butter together with a fork, and slowly push it into the pie crust shape. Put in freezer while you make the filling.

Blend the Creme de Menthe together with the fluff. It takes a little work but eventually it all comes together.

Whip the cream and fold it in with the green fluff mix.

Pour into Oreo crust. Sprinkle some extra Oreo crumbs on top and freeze. Overnight is best.

Cooks-ing with Gas: Return of the Deeeeep Threat

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When the Patriots signed Brandin Cooks this offseason the excitement about adding a weapon with Cooks’ deep speed was palpable in Patriots nation. After all we’d been led to believe that Tom Brady could no longer throw deep without Randy Moss, that the Patriots ran a gimmick offense that relied on the “dink and dunk” that any quarterback could run. Why haven’t more teams adopted that easy offensive philosophy was just a question whose answer eluded even the most stat-backed football pundit.

Here we are, 10 games into the season and there’s no question any more that the deep ball is certainly back in New England, though it never really left except from people’s perceptions. Cooks has caught 12 balls longer than 20 yards, including catches of 62 (season-long) and 52 against the Raiders and the Pats are rolling, pushing the betting odds for Patriots vs. Dolphins game to another stratosphere.

It wasn’t instant out-of-the-gate unstoppability like it was with Randy Moss, but the addition of Cooks has finally put the deep pass back on the front burner for defenses. There’s no more crowding the line, taking away the quick passes and daring Brady to throw down the field. Now, the downfield attack is coming, and defenses are wise to protect themselves from it.

Let’s take a closer look at the two big Cooks plays from the Raiders game, and examine how the Patriots are making these big plays.

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Pats Posits: Pats Make It Look Easy in Mexico

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The Patriots rolled to an “all-too-easy” 33-8 win over the Oakland Raiders in Mexico City on Sunday afternoon, cementing their place as Super Bowl favorites. Even without Marcus Cannon, David Andrews and Chris Hogan (to go on top of all the other significant injury losses this year), the New England football machine rolls on!

This one wasn’t all that interesting to be honest as the Pats controlled things pretty much from the outset. While I always enjoy a stress-free victory there’s still something unsatisfying about an easy win. But at this point obviously we’ll take it. The offense put some of their red zone troubles behind, Stephen Gostkowski kicked a career-long field goal (62 yards) to go with four others and the defense didn’t surrender a point until the game was already decided.

There’s really not much to complain about at this point of the Patriots season, which is prime spoiled fan area. So much of the rest of the league has fallen back to earth after promising starts, with the Bills leading the way, the Patriots just keep on rolling.

Still plenty to unpack from the win, here are my initial thoughts without a film review in the Posits!

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Start Planning Your Super Bowl Trip Now!

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It’s never too soon for Patriots fans to be thinking about Super Bowl tickets, and with today’s onsale of the first-ever “The Night Before” concert, there’s a lot more to do around Super Bowl weekend, whether or not you’re planning to attend the game.  The show, which is co-produced by On Location Experiences and CBS Radio, will give 20,000 fans an opportunity to soak in the Super Bowl atmosphere at Xcel center, which is home to the Wild and every major concert that goes through the Twin Cities.

While parties have always been a staple of Super Bowl weekend, they’ve always been ultra exclusive, invite-only events.  For fans that didn’t have a connection to get a ticket one of the big parties, whether it’s Playboy, Maxim, ESPN, you were basically on your own to come up with a plan for the weekend, which required navigating through a ton of options. For average fans looking to get into one of the big parties, the secondary market was often the only option, with prices usually ranging from $1,000 to $5,000.

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Patriots Gameplan: Week 11 vs. Oakland Raiders in Mexico City

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The Patriots high-in-the-sky two-game road trip continues this weekend, as New England goes from last week’s game against the Broncos at 5000 feet above sea level, to a week of practice in Colorado Springs at 6000 feet above sea level and now on to Mexico City, which is 7000 feet above sea level to face the Raiders.

Before the season this looked like a potential AFC Championship preview, but the Raiders haven’t quite lived up to expectations, losing five of their last seven. The Pats and Raiders are similar teams in that their offenses are good (NE 1st DVOA, OAK 3rd DVOA) and their defenses have been at the other end of the spectrum (NE 30th DVOA, OAK 32nd DVOA). Usually all those things kind of cancel out and what we’re left with is: Tom Brady vs. the 32nd-ranked pass defense in the NFL.

But it isn’t exactly a slam dunk. Oakland is better than their record indicates and have shown good resiliency. Nowhere was that more apparent than against the Chiefs when the Raiders had a miraculous last drive that featured two chances at the end zone with time expired. With the game coming at significant elevation, and with unknown field conditions, there are some x-factors that could play into things.

Simply put, the Patriots cannot afford to let the Raiders hang around in this one, because they can sling it when their backs are against the wall. The young Oakland team will see this game as a huge opportunity for them to make their presence in the AFC and NFL felt after a poor start. If it was in Oakland I’d like the Raiders’ chances more, but an experienced New England team, that has been practicing close to altitude all week should be extremely well-prepared and focused on this game.

What the Pats need to do to get that eighth win of the season and finally descend from the clouds back home in the gameplan.

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