Mike Dussault

The Propies: 2016 Patriots Regular Season Awards

January 6, 2017 by Mike Dussault

No gameplan article this week, unless you consider sitting on your couch watching some stress-free playoff football a gameplan. Instead today I’ll be handing out a bunch of “Propies” for the regular season awards, honoring the the superlative performances from the 2016 Patriots.

Yes, the next month will truly determine where the 2016 Patriots place in history will be, but if 2007 taught me anything, it’s that appreciating the regular season is what makes being a football fan the most fun. Let’s face it, the playoffs are stressful. Almost too stressful. And more often than not they’re going to end in bitter disappointment.

But can anyone at this point really feel disappointed? We got the Deflategate suspension over with, lost only Gronk to injury (still significant, but not what we saw in 2013 or 2015), and finished the regular season off in dominant fashion that gives every indication this Patriots team will come out with something to prove the next (hopefully) three games.

The Patriots dynasty continues to roll on with another 14-2 season in books!

Without further ado, we’re on to the Propies!

Putting the Patriots 2016 Defense in Historical Context

January 5, 2017 by Mike Dussault

One of the driving forces behind this blog was my realization in 2008 that Bill Belichick was going to have a chance to construct another whole defense from scratch. Few Coach/GMs have the kind of longevity to attempt this kind of thing, and as old stalwarts like Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison and Mike Vrabel faded from New England, it was up to Belichick to build another defense that could help win Tom Brady another Super Bowl or three in the second half of his career.

2007 was the Dynasty Defense’s last hurrah. In 2008, they were old and slow and by the 2009 offseason Belichick went into full “blow it up” mode. Richard Seymour was traded, Bruschi and Harrison retired, Vrabel was shipped to Kansas City. Surprisingly the 2009 defense was actually still pretty good statistically — 12th on third down, 6th in PPG, 14th overall in DVOA. But with Ray Rice‘s first-play 83-yard touchdown run in the 2009 AFCWC which kickstarted a thorough Raven domination, it was clear the Pats still had a ways to go.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_-Ti84l4Ek

Patriots Tuesday 10 Pack

January 3, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Back in the Ministry of PatsPropaganda today and excited to get back into the daily blog flow after a nice two week vacation. Hard to believe the 2016 regular season is over. In case you missed the Posits on Monday they had plenty of thoughts on the season overall.

As 20 teams start their offseasons there’s been plenty of news as teams blow things up and start anew. Luckily for the Pats this week we can take a bit of breather, focus on the regular season a bit and wait to see how this weekend’s slate of games play out.

Here’s what’s on my mind from the last couple days of Pats news…

Pats Posits: Let the Brady Legacy Tour Begin!

January 1, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots finished off their 2016 season with a convincing, if not slightly scary, 35-14 win over the playoff-bound Dolphins. New England capped off a 14-2 campaign, locking up the top seed in the AFC and looking far more like a Super Bowl contender than 2015’s squad that blew their last two.

The rest of Sunday around the NFL unfolded exactly how the Patriots would’ve scripted it. The Chiefs snagged the second seed, while the Raiders fell to the fifth. Now the Pats await the lowest remaining seed, either Houston, Oakland or Miami. I am a-okay with all of them.

Overall, the 2016 was a fascinating campaign that began with Jimmy Garoppolo, got a dash of Jacoby Brissett before a near-flawless Tom Brady took over and the team never looked back after a goal-line-stop loss to the Seahawks.

A whole lot more on the 2016 season, the playoff outlook, and yes, a thank-Hoodie-nobody got hurt win in Miami in the Posits…

The longest fumble return in #Patriots history: https://t.co/oejSkyA6Dz

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 1, 2017

Patriots Gameplan: Week 17 at Miami Dolphins

December 30, 2016 by Mike Dussault

The end (of the 2016 regular season) is here! Let’s face it, for Patriots fans the 16-game regular season is really more of a preseason. We pray to the Football Gods that no one gets hurt and rest assured that we’ll be one of the top two seeds in the AFC. Of course everyone gets worked up over who’s breaking out and who stinks, but really, does any of that matter before January?

Now this 16th game is not without meaning. The Patriots still need a win (or an Oakland loss in Denver) to lock up the top seed in the conference. A win for the Dolphins would be the difference from facing Houston (the fourth seed) or Pittsburgh (the third seed). It’s obvious which is preferable there.

So expect this to be a good game and one that both teams play to win, at least initially.

What the Pats need to do to close out a 14-2 season with the road to the Super Bowl going through Gillette Stadium in the gameplan…

Patriots Thursday 10 Pack

December 29, 2016 by Mike Dussault

Greetings from vacationland! No film review of the Jets game this week, but after catching up on LeGarrette Blount wired for sound, it’s time to weigh in on all things Pats.

Hard to believe another regular season is going to wrap up this weekend and then another chapter in the Bill Belichick/Tom Brady playoff history books will be written.

1. Congrats to our old pal Fitzy who will be heading to WAAF in the New Year! It’s always fun seeing amazing things happen to great people. But in other media news it sucked reading that Christopher Price might no longer be covering the Pats beat for WEEI. I can’t really imagine Patriots coverage without Price, who has a great sense of Patriots/New England sports history. Wishing all the best to him and hopefully he’ll stick around the Pats. His coverage is vital, along with Mike Reiss, Tom E. Curran and Jeff Howe, my must-read Pats crew.

2. Seemed like a mad dash this week to either minimize the Patriots success this year or find a way they might be beatable. Who are the Patriots AFRAID to play!? Obviously the unfortunate injury to Derek Carr transformed the AFC landscape with homefield still up for grabs. That leaves the Steelers and the Chiefs as the major threats. Making those two play each other in the divisional round is ideal. Of course there are ways that either could beat the Patriots in Foxborough. The Chiefs played them tough in last year’s AFCDG. The Steelers have the two best weapons in conference and the second-best quarterback. The real question — do the Chiefs/Steelers have the perfect game in them that it would take to knock then Pats off at home? I’m not sure. While I am sure the Pats offense will put up some points.

Pats Posits: Peaking Pats Dispatch Overmatched Jets

December 25, 2016 by Mike Dussault

Merry Christmas!! The Patriots wiped out the Jets 41-3 on Christmas Eve, moving to 13-2 with just one win in Miami next weekend standing between them and homefield advantage in the AFC. If there was any worry about a repeat of 2015, when the Pats lost to the Jets and Dolphins to close out there season, it was quickly apparent Bill Belichick’s squad came to prove a point on Saturday.

There’s plenty of praise to go around — Malcolm Butler had two interceptions and a recovered fumble, LeGarrette Blount put up his team-record 16th and 17th touchdowns and the defense was once again near impossible to score on. Tom Brady was, well, Tom Brady and, perhaps most importantly, NO ONE GOT INJURED!

The 13th win of the year only cemented what we had learned the last two weeks, that the Patriots are now firing on all cylinders and are peaking at the perfect time.

Here’s the Christmas edition of the Pats Posits…