PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

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We’re less than 11 weeks away from the NFL draft and Cameron Jordan is my current “boo” of draft picks for the Patriots. My attachment to him is slowly growing, but I’m trying to keep it under control since there’s just as good of a chance he’ll end up on a team I hate as there is he ends up on the Pats.

Unfortunately it also seems like he’s in the top 10 of a lot of recent mock drafts and I expect that to continue after the combine. So he’s probably not going to be there at 17, but let’s imagine what a player like Jordan could theoretically do for the Patriots.

  • help solidify the run defense with a Ty Warren-esque presence.
  • shift inside on pass downs and generate that pressure up the middle that was missing in 2010 when Wright and Pryor were hurt.
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

https://www.patspropaganda.com/were-less-than-11-weeks-away-from-the-nfl-draft/

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New England, in particular, looks set up to really reload this offseason, coming off a 14-2 regular season. Patriots owner Robert Kraft pointed out last week that half of the team’s snaps in 2010 were played by first- and second-year players, a remarkable number for a team that had the league’s best record, and the roster only figures to get infused with more youth. The Patriots have three of the first 33 picks in April’s draft, and five selections among the top 75. This is a team with needs, to be sure. The Patriots need to regain some toughness in the trenches, and could use a premier edge rusher and maybe a bellcow back. But if they can draft like they did last year, when they really bounced back off some lackluster drafts from 2006-08, the team could be set up for a pretty good run going forward.

Albert Breer

https://www.patspropaganda.com/new-england-in-particular-looks-set-up-to-really/

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Matt Patricia was shifted to coaching the safeties in 2011 which is an interesting move in that…

  • BB didn’t name a Defensive Coordinator for 2011
  • Patricia should have less bodies to coach, and will have experience coaching two of the three levels of the Patriots defense. He looks primed to be a defensive coordinator at some point.
  • Patricia should continue to be the one who calls the defense and with less players to worry about he might be more involved with big picture defense stuff.
  • Pepper Johnson remains as the defensive line coach and you have to wonder if he really does project as a defensive coordinator. It certainly seems like Patricia is being groomed. 

https://www.patspropaganda.com/matt-patricia-was-shifted-to-coaching-the-safeties/

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Say hello to your new offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien! I know a lot of Patriots fans who are experts in offensive philosophy and play calling have had issues with BO’B in the past, but the Patriots had one of the best offenses of the last decade in 2010, so you can’t really argue with those results.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/say-hello-to-your-new-offensive-coordinator-bill/

Patriots set to tag Logan Mankins

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In what is probably the must unsurprising news of this young off-season, Ian Rapoport reports that the Patriots will tag Logan Mankins as their Franchise player. So yes, that is why you might’ve heard a guttural scream and things breaking from the general vicinity of the Mankins home region of California.

If Mankins thought the Patriots would allow him to just walk to off the reservation to whatever contract tickled his fancy he was surely mistaken. But he’s smarter than that. He had to know this was coming.

The good news is that it looks like they’re taking a similar approach like they took with Vince Wilfork last year. Mankins still hasn’t been officially tagged yet so perhaps they are talking about a new contract. This could be unlikely due to the uncertainty surrounding the CBA, but it’s nice to at least have a little hope they’re only using the tag as a way to extend their negotiating window before someone like the Jets swoop in and offer a $3 billion dollar contract.

Mankins is exactly the kind of player the Patriots (or any football team for that matter) need. Granted the Pats did okay without him early last season, but there’s no denying the effect he had upon his return. Re-signing Mankins long term would lock up a nice young piece to build around for the next decade.

If a long term deal isn’t reached and Mankins has to play under the franchise tag there’s no doubt he’ll play just as pissed off as he was last year. Which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Maybe the Pats should just keep tagging him every season just to make sure he keeps up his bad attitude and mauling ways.

Either way I hope he’s a Patriot for a long time.

Logan Mankins Patriots

Patriots’ Patrick Chung still explaining botched punt fake

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You know, I haven’t seen a single second of the Jets playoff loss since the game ended, it slowly awaits a viewing sometime in March if it’s lucky. However it seems like the failed fake punt is still very much on the minds of the media and fans alike.

On Thursday, Pat Chung showed up to read to some kids at an elementary school, and so did, in the words of Mike Reiss:

Reporters from Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Comcast SportsNet, WBZ-TV, Kraft Sports Productions, Fall River & ESPNBoston here at Chung event

Bruce Allen of Boston Sports Media Watch pointed out via twitter it was curious that the entire army showed up to an offseason charity appearance. As Bruce said:

would the media crowd be as big if it were James Sanders out there today? I’m cynical.

Just last week even the Sports Guy was still bemoaning the play via his mailbag.

Q: I’ve been playing the Pats-Jets game over and over again in Madden for the past two weeks, and never once have I panicked and accidentally let a special teams player audible to a fake punt.– Brendan, Boston

SG: (Nodding grimly.)

Okay, so clearly every one is hung up on this particular play, which by the way wasn’t accidentally allowed or made by a just a “special teams player”. But I haven’t even seen it since it happened. So I was finally goaded into re-watching it so I could form my own opinion about the call.

The first question: Could he have made the first down if he handled it cleanly? 

Even Trent Dilfer, master of all things football knowledge, and Mr. Factorback Merrill Hoge couldn’t even agree on that, Dilfer told Bill Simmons on a recent podcast. They even called in all their interns and even they were divided. How controversial!

Well let’s have a look:

Pause it at :23 and tell me he isn’t walking to a first down. It’s Chung’s delay on mishandling the snap that allows Eric Smith to beat Sammy Morris’ block. If Chung catches it cleanly, Morris kicks Smith inside and Chung cuts around them with at least ten yards before the double team on the gunner can stop, cut back and tackle him.

So it really should’ve worked. The Patriots had four blockers for three Jets. The call is aggressive, there’s no doubt. Especially in a playoff game. But if successful it would’ve left the Pats just outside field goal range and they had the numbers. You can understand why they called it and why it should’ve worked.

So I guess the question is do you want an aggressive team, or do you want a team that plays it safe?

If Brady had been picked six on his halftime lob to Branch vs the Bears would you have been bullshit at him for throwing it?

Frankly I’m often surprised when teams aren’t more aggressive like the Patriots. The Ravens in particular played conservatively versus the Pats and it ended up costing them.

So while the call was an aggressive one, it’s what we’ve come to expect of Bill Belichick. Especially in a situation like that where the Jets might’ve been sleeping. Tactically I can understand why the call was made. However it went completely wrong, and the mistake was compounded when the Jets scored a touchdown (I think, right? Again, still haven’t re-watched this travesty yet).

As for Chung it was a confident call, and one that I hope he continues to be willing to make. He boofed it. He admitted he boofed it. So let’s move on.