Gameplan

Patriots Gameplan: Week 5 vs Colts

October 4, 2018 by Mike Dussault

This post is sponsored by Goldberg and Wiegand.

Just like that there’s another game for the Pats, a Thursday night meeting with the Colts who we haven’t seen since Week 6 of 2015. The Patriots-Colts rivlary certainly needed a little cool down period after a decade of Brady-Manning then Deflategate. Two seasons have passed and it’s a good time to renew those old bad feelings.

The Patriots once again staved off their annual demise in September and bounced back with a dominant win over the Dolphins that reassured everyone that the New England Football Machine roars onward. Teams truly have to prove it every season and that’s why the Patriots continue to be the class of the NFL. Some teams may play perfect and catch them early in the season and get lucky, but like the house in Vegas, it’s just a matter of time before the Patriots start winning again.

The return of Julian Edelman and the hopefully-continued development of Josh Gordon are what we’re all watching fro tonight. Those two players could put the Patriots back in the conversation about the most dangerous offenses in the NFL. Meanwhile, the defense has two lights out games, and two stinkers. On a short week, things won’t be any easier on them, at least they’re at home.

What do the Pats need to do to get the win before an extended off-week at 3-2? Here’s the gameplan.

Patriots Gameplan: Week 4 vs Miami Dolphins

September 28, 2018 by Mike Dussault

The 1-2 Patriots return to the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium after a two-game road losing streak to face the 3-0 Dolphins. The Pats last left Foxboro looking like a team mostly rejuvenated, especially on defense, but after losses in Jacksonville and Detroit the tide has turned against them. Usually, we should remain even-keeled about what happens in September but a 1-3 start would put the Pats in uncharted territory and behind the eight ball in the division for the first time in forever.

It’s been a long week of buildup as 2017 continues to get drudged up and every former Patriot free agent is now seen as the one who got away and has set the Patriots on course for demise. Still, football is a weird game. You can say the Pats lack talent, but that’s always kind of been the case. They’ve built their dynasty by believing in the system and everyone doing their job. And everyone has not been doing their job.

That’s where we can find hope. That with simply better one-on-one play and tackling things can turn around quickly and a team that looks like it might be falling apart can return to playing winning football.

The Dolphins have a huge opportunity. The Pats are on the ropes and a win for Miami would put them firmly in the driver’s seat in the division, especially since they haven’t won at Gillette since 2008’s wildcat game. They’ve won five times against the Pats in Miami since then which would make the rematch in December all the more exciting no matter what happens between now and then.

Miami has played good football and deserves their 3-0 record, but the Pats have a way of busting out their best football when their backs are against the wall. It’s hard to remember a time when they were more backed into a corner than right now and I’m sure we’ve all been itching to see them get back on the field.

What do the Pats have to do to turn their season around and avoid a disastrous start? Here’s the gameplan.

Patriots Gamplan: Week 3 at Detroit Lions

September 21, 2018 by Mike Dussault

It’s been a long week in Patriots Nation. The team got blasted on the field. Another book came out and drudged up more things from 2017, a recurring occurrence now. Even the low-risk Josh Gordon acquisition was met with controversy. Sometimes it can be exhausting being an even-keeled Patriots fan man blogger and this was one of those exhausting weeks. But with a win in Detroit over Matt Patricia the Pats can get everything back on track and shut up a lot of the noise once again.

Despite a first-game shitshow, the Lions are going to put up a good fight. Like the Patriots, they’ve shown some holes but they’ve also had their share of nice plays, especially against the 49ers in a tight three-point loss.

While I know we will see a far better Patriots squad I also don’t expect it to be perfect. There’s still too much to work through, especially dealing with potential absences of Trey Flowers and Patrick Chung. Under any circumstances, a Pats defense without those two would be severely affected and that could be even more exacerbated if everyone plays as sloppy as they did in Jacksonville.

What do they have to do to get the all-important win and return home to face the Dolphins? Here’s the gameplan.

Patriots Gameplan: Week 2 at Jacksonville Jaguars

September 14, 2018 by Mike Dussault

Week Two is here and the Patriots face a tough AFC Championship rematch on the road in Jacksonville. How many times have we seen these kinds of games early in the season? The young upstarts are looking for a franchise-altering win. Sometimes, like the 2009 and 2010 Jets, they live up to the hype. But often the emotional drain of beating the Patriots makes the young upstarts sleepwalk through the rest of their season.

More often than not the Patriots just prove their still the Patriots.

There’s no question the Jaguars are a talented team, but talented teams are hit or miss when they go against methodical football machines. If the Jags play with the kind of energy that the 2009 Jets did, they could and should exact their revenge. The Patriots are in it for the long haul though and even a loss in Florida that exposes flaws will be just a bump in the road of their development toward December and January.

It’s always fun to have an exciting road game against a potential new rival early in the season. What do the Pats have to do to get the win and make the rest of the league Patriots-depressed again?

Here’s the gameplan.

Patriots Gameplan: Week 1 vs. Houston Texans

September 7, 2018 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots will kick off the 2018 season hosting the Houston Texans, a talented team that has run into the New England buzz saw seven straight times. Last year’s three-point defeat was as close as the Texans have been since 2013 and they should enter Gillette Stadium with something to prove and a confidence they can finally win in Foxboro. Had it not been for a last-minute Tom Brady miracle the Texans would’ve pulled the upset last year and should have every reason to think they can make it happen here in 2018.

There’s always such an element of unknown for week one. Often the games are sloppy as no one has really tackled yet, nor is anyone in true game shape. Penalties and special teams play perhaps the biggest role of all.

We are all aware that the Patriots of September are not the Patriots of January and February, even though the reaction will be as if they are. The Pats will likely continue to audition players, use rotations where they might not later in the year and generally be straightforward in their approach as they try to figure out what they’ve actually got this year.

So it’s important not to overreact to the outcome or sloppiness of any of these first few games. Still, it’s an AFC opponent and a win would be a good first step in the conference standings.

Here’s what the Pats need to do to survive Bill O’Brien and the Texans and get the 2018 season rolling.

Patriots Gameplan: Preseason Week 4 at the G-Men

August 30, 2018 by Mike Dussault

The regular season is fast upon us! But first, we must sit through one last preseason scrub-fest. For many of those wearing the Flying Elvis tonight, it will be the last time they might ever put an NFL football helmet on. In that regard, I enjoy watching players on the fringe leaving it all out there like it’s the Super Bowl.

The hope is that no one important touches the field tonight. Of course, some who are kinda important will have to. Julian Edelman will likely see a good dose of snaps. So will Hoy-dog, not that anyone really cares about him. But the very most important pieces should be protected. Isaiah Wynn was an unfortunate casualty but appears to be the only significant injury loss of the summer.

Today’s final preseason gameplan will once again just be five areas to focus on. Next week we get into the PatsProp in-season schedule — Posits Monday, Film Tuesday, Scouting Wednesday, and Gameplan Friday being the blog staples.

Here’s the final “gameplan,” bring on the regular season!

Patriots Gameplan: Preseason Week 3 vs. Carolina Panthers

August 24, 2018 by Mike Dussault

I swear to Hoodie, I’m not going to call week three of the preseason a “dress rehearsal” but it’s really the last time we’re going to get anything much of interest before the annual scrubfest against the Giants. This will be the last time we see anyone important before the bullets are real against the Texans, and for that reason, there will be plenty to react to from tonight’s game.

A good place to start would be these five lingering questions, where you can swap in Eric Decker for Kenny Britt. If he remembers how to catch he’s got to be close to a roster lock. If he’s not, you know he fell off a cliff. There’s no question all eyes will be on the receivers, especially Phillip Dorsett. If he busts a big play, things will look on track. Better than a big play, I’d rather a tough catch, but that won’t get the kind of attention a long gain would.

As has been the case in the preseason I’m diverting from the usual gameplan because, well, preseason games are minimally gameplanned. All they want to do is avoid bad plays that have no chance for success. Otherwise, it’s vanilla ice cream on both sides of the ball. However last week showed a bit of an exception with de facto defensive coordinator Brian Flores sending more blitzes than I can recall seeing in the preseason.

This week there will be even more of a focus on the defense because Cam Newton is the kind of quarterback that the Patriots don’t blitz. He’s also the kind that gave them fits last year, so this first half at least should be an excellent test for the new front.

More on that and everything else I’ll be watching in the final dress re… meaningless audition of the summer.