Gameplan

Patriots Gameplan: AFCCG vs. Pittsburgh Steelers

January 20, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The conference championships are the best football games of the season. It’s a real football environment in front of a team’s real fans, and it’s often played in the rain and cold, at least here in New England. It’s hard to put the Patriots eleventh trip to this game in perspective. I certainly don’t take it for granted, even after going to the last five-straight of them.

It’s amazing that the Patriots and Steelers haven’t met since 2004’s AFC Championship, a game that had plenty of narratives in just the fourth season of Belichick and Brady. The Steelers had been the team to defeat the Pats and end their 21-game winning streak, and New England got a chance to avenge that loss and they did, in surprisingly easy fashion against rookie Ben Roethlisberger.

Now, 12 years later, they meet again to battle for a chance to play in Super Bowl 51. With Peyton Manning retired, there simply isn’t another opponent that connects to the original dynasty years quite like the Steelers do, at least in the AFC.

This will be an old school matchup in more ways than one. These are two physical teams, with good quarterbacks and a number of weapons that can score early and often.

Here’s the Patriots gameplan to get through the Steelers and raise the Lamar Hunt Trophy for the seventh time under Bill and Tom, ninth time overall. Wow, did I just write that? What a run this has been, and now it’s time to take it to the highest level of all time.

Patriots Gameplan: AFCDG vs. Houston Texans

January 12, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The playoffs are here. Finally. Yes, it feels like most of what occurred in between watching the Patriots walk off the field in Denver after squandering a golden chance at another Super Bowl appearance to now was a bit of an annoying, meaningless blur. Brady’s suspension, Garoppolo, Brissett, a bunch of forgettable games, one or two good ones, losing Gronk, finishing strong and boom, January is here.

This is when things matter. This is when the legacies of Brady and Belichick can take a step forward. This is what we the fans live for. And here come the 9-7 Houston Texans, the biggest underdogs in an NFL playoff game since the turn of the century. Super Bowl betting is very much in the Patriots favor and this one isn’t all that scary.

Which is kinda scary.

It’s a far cry from the Colts in 2004 or even these same Texans in 2012. We kinda like these guys. Vrabel, Wilfork, RAC, BOB…But the Texans are standing in the Patriots’ way of a record sixth-straight conference championship game appearance, so throttle them we must.

Here’s the gameplan to survive and advance at the expense of some old pals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mN9f7oXM-U

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 Gameplan: Week 16 vs. New York Jets

December 22, 2016 by Mike Dussault

The 12-2 New England Patriots look to take another step toward securing homefield advantage as they welcome the 3-8 New York Jets. The Jets beat the Pats in Week 16 of 2015, helping to knock them from the first overall seed. This time the Pats are at home and against Bryce Petty they’ll look to dispense with the recent spat of close games with the green and white.

Just four weeks ago in the Meadowlands, the Pats overcame a 17-13 hole with nine straight points to win 22-17. But now the Jets are already focusing on the offseason and the Pats are looking to prevent a repeat of last year’s collapse that allowed the AFC Championship to be played in Denver instead of New England.

Here’s the gameplan for a Christmas Eve edition of Patriots-Jets…

Patriots Gameplan: Week 15 at Denver Broncos

December 16, 2016 by Mike Dussault

We’re going back. It’s no secret that Denver has been a house of horrors for Tom Brady and the Patriots. Three times has Brady’s playoff run ended in Denver (2005, 2013, 2015), more than any other away stadium or team. The annoying thing about Denver, and this was especially true in both losses there last year, is that they’re fluky weird games, with Gostkowski’s missed extra point still looming large over last year’s season ender.

Now the Broncos are not the same team that won the Super Bowl this year. Free agency departures, retirements and injuries have depleted a team that rode their impenetrable defense to a championship last season, despite an offense that was the least lethal to ever raise the Lombardi Trophy.

This is an important game for so many reasons. The tangible — that the Patriots can clinch a first round bye with a win and give themselves options to rest some key players down the stretch. The intangible — getting the Denver monkey off their back and potentially eliminating the Broncos from playoff contention in the process.

Yes, there would be a lot to feel good about after a Patriots win this Sunday, and it appears that the Broncos are primed to get throttled, IF, the Patriots can finally just play their game in the Mile High Stadium.

What the Pats need to do to put a nice big bow on the 2016 season before turning their sites to the playoffs in the gameplan…

Patriots Gameplan: Week 14 vs. Baltimore Ravens

December 9, 2016 by Mike Dussault

There are certain games that define a team’s regular season and this one against the Ravens sure has the makings of a pivotal contest for the 2016 Patriots. There are plenty of reasons one could argue the Ravens are an inferior team, like their 27th-ranked offense or their 3-4 start to the season and struggles on the road.

But here’s the fact, the Ravens know how to play the Patriots. They won’t be intimidated coming to New England, where the Patriots have already lost two games this season. We all thought the 2014 Divisional Playoff game would be a cakewalk, instead the Pats had to dig themselves out of two 14-point holes as Joe Flacco consistently tore them apart until his final game-sealing interception.

Add in the atmosphere of a December Monday Night Football game, the lingering bad blood from the Ravens starting Deflategate and this one should be a classic that will tell us a lot about the 2016 Patriots.

Strap on your helmets for my gameplan…

Patriots Gameplan: Week 13 vs. Los Angeles Rams

December 2, 2016 by Mike Dussault

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The Patriots welcome the Rams on Sunday, in the midst of a 15-year celebration of Super Bowl 36 with plenty of former players returning to Foxboro. Oh how times have changed since 2001, when the upstart Patriots took on what some thought was a burgeoning dynasty in St. Louis. Instead it was the start of the New England dynasty and now the Rams are in Los Angeles, mired in mediocrity under Jeff Fisher, despite having some of the most talented players in the NFL.

These games are hard to get up for, especially with the Patriots looking at the top two ranked defenses in DVOA coming up the next two weeks. Luckily with Aaron Donald, the best defender in the NFL right now, along with Todd Gurley, the Rams’ talent second-year running back who’s mired in an ineffective second season but still entirely capable of running roughshod, Bill Belichick should have enough ammo to keep the Pats focused on getting a win.

The Patriots are neck and neck with the Raiders battling for homefield advantage and the next three weeks will determine how things end up. The last thing the Pats can afford is a brainfart against a team coached by someone who doesn’t even know who their running backs are.

How the Pats can lock up win number ten on the season in the gameplan…