PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Mike Dussault

Eats and Activity Recommendations in Houston

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For those of you lucky enough to be headed to Houston for the Super Bowl (I’m still available if anyone wants to send me!!), it can be tough being in a new city and not being sure where all the fun and food is at, especially if you’re looking outside of the Super Bowl 51 circus which has taken much of the city over.

Thanks to our friends at Obsidian PR, they put together a great list of places to check out this week in Houston! Because let’s face it, the Super Bowl is nothing without great

Flying Saucer Draught Emporium
Flying Saucer offers Houston’s biggest and best craft beer selection in two locations – Downtown Houston (705 Main St) and Sugar Land (15929 City Walk). Travelers should check out:
  • Downtown Saucer
    • Tuesday, 1/31 – trivia
    • Wednesday, 2/1 – Houston flights featuring a sampling of some of the city’s best beer
    • Thursday, 2/2 – tapping a keg of Founders KBS 2016 at 6 p.m.
  • Sugar Land Saucer – $3 Texas drafts all day on Sunday, Feb. 5
  • Food – I suggest the loaded rocket tots (see above!), the Saucer burger or, of course, a beer float for dessert!
Additional recommendations for travelers

Pats Posits: SB51 Here We Come

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Bill Belichick Super Bowl 36

Here it is folks, the week we all live for, it’s Super Bowl week.

I spent the weekend getting sucked into more Patriots historical pieces than I expected. First came the fourth quarter of Super Bowl 49. For the first time I was able to watch the Kearse Katch happen again. That moment always brought quick-onset Pats pit in the stomach, until now. Now I’m pretty confident Butler will in fact intercept the ball every time afterwards.

Malcolm Butler flashed not just on the interception, but on multiple plays before that. It was a nice reminder of how well he played that entire season, with plenty of glimpses toward what he would become.

Then came Do Your Job, and I still fast forwarded through the Deflategate bullshit.

Bill Belichick’s A Football Life came next, part one followed immediately by part two. I was amazed how much I’d forgotten, and truly what a disaster the 2009 season was. Every Kraft and Belichick interaction was awkward as ever, while the CaserioBot was still on version 3.1.

I even watched about 38 seconds combined of the Super Bowl 42 and 46 recap shows. Progress.

Combined, it put the Belichick/Brady run in new perspective now as they head toward their seventh together. It was a good week of prep on the Falcons, it will be a big circus this week.

Let’s enjoy every moment of it!
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Patriots Gameplan: Super Bowl Bye Week vs. The Haters

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No game this weekend so instead of a gameplan for the Pats I’m writing a gameplan for us, the Patriots fans.

It’s hard work being a Patriots fan when the games aren’t on, when we’re not kicking ass up and down the gridiron. Because we’ve been doing it for so long the countless blowhard pundits who need people talking about them often have our team in their crosshairs.

All you have to do these days is have a dumb opinion about Tom Brady and it’s going to spread like wildfire. Just ask Chris Simms.

The Pats’ merits are debated both at macro (Deflators! Videotapers!) and micro (Tom Brady can’t throw deep!, the defense hasn’t played anybody!) levels, because that’s what “sports media” is now and it’s annoying as hell to have to deal with for Patriots fans.

What can you do, New Englanders are passionate about their sports and that passion only seeps into all the other Patriots fans around the globe. I know because I hear from them. From places like Brazil and Germany and Hungary to name a few.

The support of this team runs deep everywhere by those who can appreciate excellent, once-in-a-lifetime quality football.

But this weekend let’s take a moment to appreciate what we have in this football team. How lucky we are that in this crazy world we have a diversion that has brought us all so much  joy over the last decade-and-a-half.

Let’s take a short trip down memory lane for some perspective.

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One Stat to Define Super Bowl 51 Matchup

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We’re still over a week away from Super Bowl 51 and the analysis of the matchup between the New England Patriots and Atlanta Falcons has been pouring in. This is what I live for — one opponent to focus on for an extended period of time.

In all my research into how the teams match up there’s one stat that really stick out like a Brian Baldinger Finger and that is Yards After Catch. It’s quite simple really:

  • Falcons Offense: 2nd in YAC (148.9 yards-per-game) vs. Patriots Defense: 1st in Preventing YAC (91.4 yards-per-game)
  • Pariots Offense: 3rd in YAC (145.9 yards-per-game) vs. Falcons Defense: 32nd in Preventing YAC (132.9 yards-per-game)

Usually, stats don’t really tell the whole story when presented without context. Things like yardage and sacks, stats that many use as a crutch to support their arguments are incredibly dependent on how particular games unfold. Nobody knows this better than Patriots fans, who’ve seen plenty of mush rush discipline and soft zones when they have a big lead. Those kind of situational stats don’t really tell us a lot about how good a team really is.

But Yards-After-Catch are pretty good indicators of two things — how much an offense leans on their receivers to make plays on short throws and how well defenses get into position and tackle. Those are strong tells of how the game will be fought and in the case of YAC, the stats firmly favor the Patriots.

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Making the Case for a Long-Term Logan Ryan Contract

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Patriots Cornerbacks

I’m trying to keep a focus on the Atlanta Falcons and the Super Bowl the next two weeks, but it’s hard to ignore the offseason that will start immediately after the Patriots win or lose in Houston. Most of all, I’m wondering about the defense, where there are multiple starters that are due to hit free agency, in no particular order:

Things were even more complicated at the end of last season, when we thought Chandler Jones and Jamie Collins would be in that group as well. Just because the numbers have been thinned doesn’t make it any less complicated. In fact, the last month or so of the season has really turned my priority list upside down, wondering where the Patriots can and should find the best deals.

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A Look Back at How Pats Defended Falcons in 2013

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The Pats haven’t seen the Falcons since Sunday Night Football in Week Four of 2013. Here were my post-game takeaways back when I was writing for Bleacher Report.

Schematically, at least for the Falcons’ defense, there’s isn’t a ton to take away. This is even more true when you consider the Pats leading receiver was Kenbrell Thompkins with six catches, 127 yards and a touchdown. Julian Edelman wasn’t far behind seven catches for 118 yards.

The Pats rolled Stevan Ridley, LeGarrette Blount and Brandon Bolden as their running backs, none of whom are anywhere close to the receiving threats Dion Lewis and James White are. The Falcons’ defensive coordinator was Mike Nolan back then, so the Seattle-esque defensive scheme had not been installed.

However, Matt Ryan and Julio Jones were still the straws stirring the drink back then so it’s worth taking a look at how the Pats defended them.

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Five First Impressions of the Falcons

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The extra week off gives a little extra time to jump into some more in-depth film review of the opponent, so I’ve enjoyed the chance to take a look at the Falcons. Admittedly, I get so focused on the Patriots during the season it’s hard to keep track of what every other team is doing, especially in the NFC.

First, the obvious thing to get out of the way is that the Falcons’ offense is explosive. Julio Jones and Devontae Freeman are two players that jump off the screen. Defensively, they’re fast and do a fair amount of rotation up front to keep players fresh. Vic Beasley and his 15.5 sacks are the biggest overall threat.

Here’s what Belichick had to say about the Falcons overall:

“I’d say the stamp on the team, the thing that I would notice the most is just the speed, the team speed that the Falcons have,” Belichick said. “They have a lot of fast guys. Defensively they close up space very quickly. Their linebackers run well. Their defensive line, although they have a couple of big, strong, physical guys in there, overall they have usually nine or 10 players on the field that I would say are fast. They’re either as fast or faster than probably what the average speed of their position is in the league. I’d say that’s a big stamp that (Dimitroff) has put on the team.

We saw plenty of matchups against both a fast defense (Colts 2000s) and the Seahawks scheme so I expect the Patriots will have a good idea how to attack them. The Pats certainly have the heavy personnel option to test their physicality, but there are plenty of favorable coverage matchups to exploit as well.

Here are my five other initial impressions of Atlanta:

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