PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

How Can Pats Stop Eagles’ Run-Pass Option?

by

By now you’ve probably seen some mention of the Eagles and their vaunted Run-Pass Option, also known as a packaged play. It’s one of the latest trends in football and Philly has used it to excellent effect this season, starting with Carson Wentz and continuing with backup Nick Foles.

Here’s a quick look at what they look like:

As you can see it’s tough to defend for a similar reason to why the Patriots offense is tough to defend in general — both adjust post-snap to what the defense does and exploits where they’re weakest.

Here’s the Patriots getting burned by the Jags and their own RPO.

[Read more…] about How Can Pats Stop Eagles’ Run-Pass Option?

The Patriots Have Been Sent Off!!

by

I went down to the Patriots sendoff this morning, which was a good time though a bit of an extended wait for the good stuff. The area and stairs around the Hall were absolutely mobbed with reports of the first fans arriving at 3am!! I wasn’t quite that passionate but got there around 8:30, well ahead of when the actual Patriots appeared.

One thing is for sure, Patriots fans are as rabid and hungry for another Super Bowl as ever and the creativity in their signs and costumes was outstanding. You’d never have known it was a Monday morning with so many apparently skipping work and school to see their favorite team head off.

The cheerleaders got the crowd fired up until Zolak and Socci took the stage amazed that this was their third sendoff in four years. From there it was a bit of a wait, and with a crisp, cold wind blowing through, I started to regret not packing a nip or two to warm me up. But soon enough the Patriots emerged from their locker room door. Jonathan Kraft spoke first, then Belichick and it was all short and sweet. “Thanks for coming, see you there maybe, if not, then next Monday” kind of thing. Oh well, what did we expect?

[Read more…] about The Patriots Have Been Sent Off!!

How Do Eagles Stack Up to Pats’ Past Super Bowl Challenges?

by

With one week to go until Super Bowl 52 the Patriots-Eagles matchup is becoming pretty clear. Any consolation Patriots fans might’ve taken from facing Nick Foles instead of Carson Wentz went(z) out the window after Foles systematically destroyed a vaunted Minnesota Vikings defense in the NFC Championship.

Then came this quote from respected analyst and former Patriots staffer Mike Lombardi:

“[The Eagles] really don’t have an identity offensively. They are very unpredictable and they play left-handed. Belichick is so good at making a team play left-handed, but it is kind of hard to make a left-handed team play left-handed.”

Hmmm, that’s not good for my pregame stress levels.

Let’s take a look at how the Eagles stack up against the Patriots previous seven Super Bowl opponents by my favorite stats — points and DVOA efficiency.

[Read more…] about How Do Eagles Stack Up to Pats’ Past Super Bowl Challenges?

Can Patriots Solve Takeaway Drought?

by

I enjoyed watching the below video, taken from a presentation at Notre Dame that Matt Patricia gave. James Light has posted numerous excerpts from it, they’re all fabulous, but this one sparked my attention to a detail that has really flown under the radar with this Patriots defense — their lack of takeaways.


Outside of not forcing a turnover in their 2010 divisional loss to the Jets, this is the first time under Belichick the Patriots have failed to get a takeaway in the playoffs. And it’s not really that surprising for this Patriots defense. They’ve had just two takeaways in the last seven games, including zero in their last four.

[Read more…] about Can Patriots Solve Takeaway Drought?

Patriots Scouting Report: Super Bowl 52 vs. Eagles

by

I’ve spent the last few days taking a look at a bunch of Eagles games and, like last week watching the Jags, it’s been an enjoyable experience. I get so caught up trying to decipher the Pats game film each week of the regular season that I never get much of a chance to check out another team. Now with a couple weeks to prepare it was nice to not be under the gun and immerse myself in the other team in the Super Bowl.

It should be a fantastic matchiup which should make any bet on Superbowl LII an interesting one.

The games I focused on were primarily toward the end of the season, once Nick Foles took over for Carson Wentz, including a special focus on the two playoff games. Here’s a bunch of things that stood out to me and how I could see the Eagles matching up with the Pats.

[Read more…] about Patriots Scouting Report: Super Bowl 52 vs. Eagles

CLNS Pats Chat: Eagles a Tough Matchup for Pats?

by

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66C1nmBJOEg&feature=youtu.be

 

Here’s Mike Petraglia (aka @Trags) and Jimmy Toscano discussing why the Eagles are a tough matchup for the Pats. Things sure don’t get any easier for Tom Brady, facing as tough a front as he’s seen all year and one that has insane depth with eight players who can all produce for the front four. We all know pressure with the front four is what it’s all about against the Patriots defense and the Eagles should cause plenty of problems.

 

Patriots Super Bowl First Quarters vs. Fourth Quarters

by

Mike Reiss brought up one of the Patriots most impossible and infamous stats to Bill Belichick yesterday, that the Patriots had yet to score a point in the first quarter of any of their seven Super Bowl appearances. Belichick scoffed even though the players said last year he was all over them about getting off to a fast start against the Falcons, which of course did not happen.

For as remarkable as the Patriots’ dominance since the early 2000s has been to never have scored a point out of the gate is just as remarkable and it’s hard to even guess why. The team has run the gamut from a defense-first squad to an unstoppable offensive one, but it never made a difference. Here are the Pats’ overall stats from Super Bowl first quarters:

Team Defense Table
Play Results Play Type
Tm G Plays ToGo Yds 1st% TO% TD FG 1D Int Fum Sack Pass Rush Punt FG
NYG 2 18 8.00 5.17 33.3% .0% 6 11 7
PHI 1 15 8.07 3.00 6.7% .0% 1 7 5 3
SEA 1 20 7.10 3.75 25.0% 5.0% 5 1 11 8 1
CAR 1 19 9.11 4.68 15.8% .0% 3 9 7 2 1
STL 1 11 7.36 4.55 18.2% .0% 2 5 4 2
ATL 1 17 9.24 4.24 23.5% .0% 4 2 10 5 2
Totals 7 100 8.18 4.24 21.0% 1.0% 0 0 21 1 0 2 53 36 10 1
Pct 7% 0% 0% 21% 1% 0% 2% 53% 36% 10% 1%
Provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 1/25/2018.

[Read more…] about Patriots Super Bowl First Quarters vs. Fourth Quarters