PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Coffin Corner: Eureka! Oh… damn.

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bill belichick

Last night, I had a tragic Eureka moment. Something popped into my head, right before it hit the pillow, quickly shared it with my wife, thought okay, I will write about this tomorrow and hit the sack. But then I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t get rid of it. It just hung there, a terrible thought, a stressful idea. So here we are. This is how I write at 4 o’clock in the morning. Not great so far, I have to admit.

At the beginning of this season, I wrote about LaGarrette Blount being a 1,000-yard rusher because of the offensive design and Marty Bennett and I thought that was a hot take. At the time, it seemed to be. The truth is, it was just right. And I worry that what you’re about to read, might be just right as well, which terrifies me. That is why I’m up writing this as my mutt Beagle, Wally, snores by my side. This idea, this ear worm, this feeling is so powerful that it is literally keeping me up at night.

I haven’t heard any real mention of it. Nothing on Twitter. No recent articles. Somehow even Shannon Sharpe and Skip Bayless haven’t stumbled upon it in their daily word jumble. Forget idea, ear worm, feeling or take, what you’re about to read is a theory, a theory so mind-erasingly simple you will wonder how Tomato Can Shaughnessy hasn’t made it into an annual column. You will wish you’d never heard this simple theory (no real conspiracy to it, sorry, Roger), but it will stalk you like the STD in “It Follows” and you will feel obligated for your own sanity to make nice with the next person you see, in order to pass it along and keep this awful, terrible theory at bay. But it’s coming.

WARNING: This theory may cause chest pain, migraines, anxiety. In rare cases, this theory may lead you to question everything you hold dear. 100% of recipients report unexplained loss of vision, hearing, and speech due to the alcohol consumed as a result of this theory. “No, you’re an alchawlic, you ever think about that?! Huh? You crazy rabbit,” will become your goto phrase to wife and children alike after every Patriots game as a result of this theory.

All right, enough of the build-up, here it is: I think we’re more than halfway through the last season of the Hoodie. There I’ve said it. I think 2016-2017 season will be Belichick’s last.

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Taking a Look at the Patriots Most Improved Player

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marcus cannonThe Patriots eked out another nail-biting victory Sunday in East Rutherford, improving to 9-2 on the year and keeping pace with the Oakland Raiders for the top spot in the AFC. While Brady and the Patriots offense struggled at times to get going, the offensive line did a nice job against the formidable front seven of the Jets, headlined by elite talents Sheldon Richardson and Muhammad Wilkerson, complemented by the 2015 7th-overall pick Leonard Williams.

Tackles Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon led the way to the unit’s second clean sheet of the year, as they allowed no sacks and only surrendered four QB hits. Cannon’s play thus far in 2016 has been a revelation when compared to how abysmally he played last season. Cannon was one of the main culprits in the complete and utter failure by the offensive line against the Broncos in the AFC Championship Game in January, and in my mind, cost the Patriots a chance at a Super Bowl. After that game, I hoped to never see Cannon don a Patriots uniform again, but to his credit, he has enjoyed an incredible renaissance in his sixth season in the NFL.

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Patriots Tuesday Ten Pack

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tom brady bill belichick

It’s hard to believe we’re closing in on the final quarter of the 2016 regular season. Football is getting cold and meaningful and before long we’ll be gearing up for another playoff run. As I wrote in the Posits yesterday, we’re getting so close to the end of the line without any major injuries it has me even more nervous.

Let’s hope the good health continues. We all know season-ending injuries in December are the ultimate season-changers. There’s little time to adjust so you have to redefine yourself on the fly in critical games. Not preferable.

Otherwise, it’s hard not to feel pretty good about the 2016 Patriots right now. They’re a bit banged up, have their crappy defensive possessions and Gostkowski’s still missing a kick almost every game, but compared to the rest of the league, the Pats have to be the Super Bowl favorites, even with their messy edges.

Here’s a ten pack of thoughts after letting the win over the Jets marinate, along with taking stock of the rest of the league.

1. From 2010-2015 the Patriots were 6-9 in games that they didn’t force a turnover. This year they’re 4-2, which speaks to the lack of turnovers this year, but also their ability to win in spite of it. I wonder if this will pay dividends down the road. From 2010-2013 the Pats failed to force a turnover in four-straight season-enders. They got one against the Broncos in 2015, but that wasn’t enough. Obviously things are way easier when they do get takeaways, but winning without them at this rate is pretty unique to this defense. Not feeling like they have to rely on them could be a positive spark.

2. The Raiders, Chiefs and Broncos should all beat up on each other (and hopefully we beat up on the Broncos), so I think the odds must be good for the Pats to secure the top seed in the AFC as long as there isn’t an injury-induced meltdown in December like there was last season. The better offenses like the Raiders, Chiefs and Steelers seem at least capable of pulling off a playoff upset in Foxboro, but let’s face it, the Pats will be firm favorites against anyone in the AFC as long as the game is at home.

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Pats Posits: Toughness and Resiliency

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The Patriots survived the Jets like they often do, coming up with three big defensive plays and a game-winning touchdown drive in a 22-17 victory that moved Tom Brady into a first place tie with Peyton Manning with 200 all-time wins.

The defense that hadn’t forced a turnover in three games came through with a forced fumble from Malcolm Butler, a blocked field goal attempt by Alan Branch and a game-clinching strip sack by Chris Long.

The offense turned in a gritty performance, with Brady still hobbling with a knee injury and losing Rob Gronkowski in the first half to a back injury. The final come-from-behind touchdown drive took eight plays and 83 yards and including a fourth-down conversion that went to James White.

Vintage Brady, with passes to Edelman (24 yards), Lewis (16 yards) and Hogan (25 yards). It once again illustrates why the Patriots are always so hard to beat — they never quit and are always at their best with the game on the line.

The Jets couldn’t make the last play to seal the game and the Patriots did.

The Pats are now 9-2 and remain tied for the top seed in the conference with a two-game lead in the division.

More on the win, with only Rams standing between Brady and becoming the winningest QB of all time in then Posits…

malcolm mitchell

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Best/Worst in Weekly Patriots Links – 11/26

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tom brady gif

After a stint at WEEI as a columnist/co-host (with Dale and Holley), one of my very favorite sports writers Jerry Thornton has re-signed to Barstool, with a presumably Von Miller-esque deal. He gets us going this week with a rant within his “knee-jerk reaction” piece that makes me want to blast “Crazy Train” and run into brick walls:

Yet (Brady’s) ability to leave the pocket and throw on the run is the best of his career. But you Deflategate Truthers keep telling yourself it was always about air pressure. If there was a drop off in Brady’s performance, we’d never be hearing the end of it from you anti-science Flat Earth shitbags. But now that he’s playing some of his best football ever with allegedly untampered footballs, the silence is deafening.

Is it Sunday yet?! Absolutely love it and really couldn’t be more true. Proof is in the pudding with another ho-hum AFC player of the week award to add to the TB resume. If you don’t read Jerry’s “knee-jerk reaction” series after every game, start now. You’re genuinely missing out.

Okay, enough with the fun and games. Let’s refocus our efforts on continuing to fix the defense, which suffered an enormous (literally) loss this week with the suspension of defensive tackle Alan Branch. 

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Patriots Gameplan: Week 12 at New York Jets

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This year’s first Patriots-Jets game comes late in the season and with the Jets sitting at the bottom of the AFC East it’s certainly lacking some of the usual flash that this rivalry has. Despite the Jets down season, expect this one to be a battle down to the end. That’s pretty much how they always go, even when the Pats are en route to the top seed in the AFC and the Jets are busting out their golf clubs.

Three of the last eight matchups between these two have gone to overtime, including last year’s second-to-last game of the season which saw the Jets win 26-20. Overall the Patriots have won three of the last five games against the Jets by a total margin of 10 points.

No matter which Jets are on IR, or how bad Ryan Fitzpatrick has been or how much Revis has declined, the Patriots better be ready to go.

Here’s the gameplan to get it done.

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An Appreciation of James Develin

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develin

Well, it was another relatively easy victory for the Patriots despite defensive struggles in the first half. It was good to see the defense, specifically the secondary, rebound a bit in the second half, as they were able to do just enough for the Patriots to coast through the majority of the fourth quarter, giving Brady and Edelman a victorious homecoming.

Brady had another great day, throwing for 280 yards and four touchdowns, but the rushing attack stole the show in my opinion. The Patriots rushed for their highest yards per carry total on the season, averaging 5.7 YPC, and racked up their second-highest yardage total on the ground of the year. A large part of that success was the play of James Develin, who played a season-high 34 snaps and constantly carved out lanes for LeGarrette Blount to run through on the way to his second-highest rushing total thus far in 2016.

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