An Independent Patriots Blog
Patriots Football Outsiders DVOA Chart Updated
Both the defensive and offense continue to improve, this is exactly how you want to be trending as you head toward the playoffs. However Special Teams haven’t been anything special as of late, it would be a huge boost to see one of the returners bust one for six (that isn’t called back). Had Edelman’s punt return stood it would’ve been exactly what we’re talking about.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-football-outsiders-dvoa-chart-updated/
lovely.
Wes Welker’s eyes are blue-gray and wide. Their gaze is steady, and their focus is like something alive. It misses nothing in a circular field of vision that seems greater than other people’s. Welker sees spaces that nobody else sees. He looks at a field where everyone seems to be colliding and sees a place to run. He looks at a game played by much bigger men and sees a place in which a man who stands 5’ 9" and weighs 185 pounds can create a kind of art…. Wes Welker looks at a noisy, crowded, violent profession and sees a career.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/wes-welkers-eyes-are-blue-gray-and-wide-their/
Since it’s Packers week I could’ve been a jerk and posted just the Super Lowlights from 1996. Instead let’s take a look at that whole season which really was when many of the seeds of the first dynasty were planted.
Tedy Bruschi, Willie McGinest, Ty Law, Ted Johnson, Lawyer Milloy and Adam Vinatieri weren’t born clutch players who knew how to perform on the biggest stages. This season was as much a learning process for those guys, where they learned what it would take to win a championship.
On a side note I wouldn’t mind seeing these mid-90’s uniforms brought back as throwbacks at some point. I still have a reversible Drew Bledsoe one that I bust out from time to time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODlL8azAEKo
Thanks to Fitzy for finding this Brady vid…
https://www.patspropaganda.com/thanks-to-fitzy-for-finding-this-brady-vid/
Seems like you can’t look at any Patriots related site today without finding an article comparing the 2007 Pats to the 2010 Pats. Sure, the Patriots offense has been dominant the last few weeks, and any dominant offense has to be measured against the most dominant one ever.
While the two teams have shown some offense fireworks they are completely different. Dominant offenses can take many shapes, and in the grand scheme of football the 2010 offense is more balanced and, for now, harder to defend.
Of course no one will even mention how completely different the defenses of these two teams are. Remember the “old and slow” days? Well now we’re in the “young and inexperienced” days, with a little touch of “hitting the rookie wall”.
I don’t really care about the comparisons. As always, BB has continued to evolve. Once teams figured out the answer to the spread offensive attack revolving around Moss and Welker, BB changed the question again. Now we’re seeing a horizontal passing attack that is peaking and no one can figure out how to stop it. Yet.
No one thought the 2007 Patriots offense could be stopped for a good chunk of time, but as the November and December came their dominance began to fizzle. The difference now is that the 2010 offense is just starting to hit it’s stride.
Lost in the comparison is the biggest lesson of the 2007 season, and that is that the regular season is about progressing and building to a climax in February. The 2007 Patriots just ran out of gas at the end, and that is what this 2010 must avoid.
The 2010 Patriots are far from unbeatable folks. Many of their wins earlier this season were far closer to those of the early dynasty teams than they were the 2007 edition. They just find ways to win games. Continuing to do so when your teams life is on the line is a far more difficult task and not something anyone should just assume.
Let’s remember this is still a young defense, and a good chunk of Patriots players have never experienced the intensity of the playoffs. They will need to raise their level of play again.
Many Patriots fans and pundits are already booking their tickets to Dallas, but there are still many hard battles that must be won if the Patriots are to take the field in Super Bowl 45. Even with the way the offense looks right now, it only takes on bad game, even one bad play, to put an end to the 2010 Patriots.
To quote BB “no matter who we play [in the playoffs] will be pretty good. We’ll need our best football”. Let’s hope their best football is still to come.
