PatsPropaganda

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Patriots Defensive Observations

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Some notes and such on the Patriots defense following the re-watch of the Bears game.

– Jarrad Page was out there a lot, over Brandon Meriweather in some cases. Once Devin McCourty was lost half way through the second quarter there was some juggling so it’s hard to say exactly what the depth chart situation is. But it’s clear that the coaches like Page and he’s getting more and more play time every week. He did have a blown coverage and missed tackle in the second half, but pretty much any defender who played a lot in those conditions did as well. 

– Maybe Meriweather just doesn’t play well in the cold? Sounds stupid but his reduction in playing time was definitely notable as he had re-emerged as an every down player as of late. 

– Patrick Chung had more time in the slot but seemed to do a better job than he had in the last few games. He was reacting quick and getting to the ball. He should be back to 100% by the playoffs.

– There were times when the Patriots had 4 safeties on the field. Clearly they need to get healthy at cornerback.

– Early reports via Gresh and Zo were that Devin McCourty wouldn’t miss a game with his rib injury. It looked like the injury happened on the play where he forced the fumble. Didn’t look like a major collision or anything. If it’s anything serious I’d be pretty surprised, would have to be a freak thing in that case, and it sounds like McCourty isn’t the kind of player who suffers freak injuries.

– Ron Brace saw time at nose tackle for the first time this season and looked fast and strong off the ball. He also got some time as an interior rusher next to Vince Wilfork. With Myron Pryor and Mike Wright out Brace got a chance to do some pass rushing, in the past it had been Kyle Love and Gerard Warren doing it so it’s a positive sign that Brace is improving. You can never have too many big strong defensive lineman, and with Brace playing well it really bodes well for the future.

– Kyle Arrington had a very solid game against the Bears, might come down to him or Dan Connolly for the 12th man award.

– As I kind of expected the lack of Brandon Spikes didn’t really mean much for Dane Fletcher. Fletcher has been primarily a passing down linebacker, and it looks like Eric Moore showed enough in his first week to get some looks as the designated pass rusher opposite Tully Banta-Cain in nickel and dime packages. Moore made some good plays, so I expect we’ll see more of him. If he can bring some consistent pass rush it would be a great addition.

– The Patriots lost their top sack player (Mike Wright) and haven’t lost a game. Pretty impressive considering how much people bag on our pass rush. When he/Pryor get back it should give the defense even more of a boost, especially because their legs should be fresh.

– Great day for Gary Guyton. If had been since the opener versus the Bengals when he last made a big play and in this game he made two. Hopefully he can continue to ascend. Given it’s his third year he really should be starting to hit his stride.

Going for the Jugular, Tom Brady-style

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They said after the game that BB wanted to kneel on the ball and let the clock expire for halftime. But Brady was like ‘sorry coach, Deion go long’ and boom, effectively ended the game ’07 style. Opponents are going to have to hope the Pats offense has a horrid day if they hope to beat them in the playoffs. Not saying it won’t happen, but things are going to have to go very right for a team to walk into Foxboro in January and come out with a win.

Do the Patriots have a championship defense?

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Tonight as I listened to Bob Neumeir suggest that the Patriots and their fans felt “blase” with this impressive run the team has put together, I realized that it wasn’t too long ago we had the worst pass defense in the NFL. At least according to the “pundits”.

So now, as the media anoints the Pats as the favorites to be playing in Dallas, we have to honestly ask ourselves if this defensive group has what it takes to win the big one.

If they continue to force turnovers like they have been them the answer is a resounding yes. But the fact is Shaun Hill, Mark Sanchez and Jay Cutler aren’t really elite NFL quarterbacks despite what you might’ve heard.

Peyton Manning is elite, and he came within a bad throw of putting just as many points on us as we put on them. Philip Rivers is elite, and he came within a missed Field Goal of taking the Pats to overtime.

I have no doubt that the Patriots run defense is up to the challenge of winning a Super Bowl. I’ve seen them shut down Adrian Peterson, and a number of strong running teams like the Ravens and the Steelers. 

But the teams that have effective passing attacks will give the Pats a run for their money. And with Aaron Rodgers likely out this weekend the Patriots will not face an elite passing attack until the playoffs.

In that case the Pats best chance for the Super Bowl will be to avoid Rivers and Manning at all costs. Luckily they’ll most likely have the home crowd and conditions on their side if facing either of them, but even then it’s probably going to be interesting.

That doesn’t even touch on the teams in the NFC the Pats could face. They could be even more scary, with Matt Ryan, Drew Brees and Michael Vick all possible opponents.

The legacy of this young defense will be written based not on how they beat the Bears on December 11th but how they perform when it’s do or die. To shut down an elite quarterback they will need to play on a level we still have yet to see.

Will they get there? They have three more games to work on it, and a prayer that Devin McCourty’s ribs are just bruised.

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This is what an elite NFL quarterback at the top of his game looks like.

https://www.patspropaganda.com/this-is-what-an-elite-nfl-quarterback-at-the-top/

Notes on a White Wash: Patriots Snow Blast Bears

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The fact that I was never really worried about the Bears this week concerned me slightly. If you look at history the Patriots traditionally own the NFC lately, and despite the short week, snow and wind I still felt pretty sure the Patriots would win the game.

And they did. In a convincing matter. These 2010 Patriots are certainly playing their best football of the year just as the game start to matter most. If you’ve been a Patriots fan for longer than three years you might find yourself having a lower level of enthusiasm about regular season wins. That’s what happens when you go 16-0 yet lose the last game.

This was a huge win, especially when coupled with the Jets loss. The Patriots are now within striking distance of the number one overall seed in the AFC. With the way they’ve been playing lately they’re as close to unstoppable as any football team I’ve seen in a while.

The ‘07 Pats peaked too soon, but this group seems to be hitting their stride exactly at the right time. But there is still much football to be played, and improvement to be made, that will hopefully culminate in early February. That’s still more than two months away.

So for now just some quick hit thoughts…

– Biggest concern is absolutely the status of Devin McCourty. He’s really been the spark in the secondary, and his loss would be a tough one to overcome. Luckily there is time for him to get healthy. Well, maybe an extra week considering Aaron Rodgers will likely be out next weekend.

– Who would’ve thought we’d see new pickup Moore making some noise with his pass rush? Can’t wait to see what they’ll do with him in normal conditions. From Mike Reiss:

The five-year veteran played in his first game as a Patriot and recorded four tackles, a sack and a forced fumble. 

“I’m excited and thankful that God gave me the opportunity to go out there and play, and thankful to Coach Belichick for bringing me in,” Moore said in an upbeat Patriots locker room. “It’s great, with all the guys embracing me and helping me out, learning this defense." 

– Whe McCourty went out it was Patrick Chung who was moved to outside corner. Now more than ever the Patriots will need Jonathan Wilhite back.

– Remember when people we’re convinced the Pats were dead in the water without a Julius Peppers-type acquisition?

– Give it up for Shayne Graham, Zoltan Mesko and the long snapper. Just one missed XP? I’ll take it.

– I saw the Jets losing the to Dolphins from a mile away.

– In the AFC contender/pretender game today Jacksonville proved they were better than the Raiders.

– Tom Brady is playing at a level that hasn’t been seen since mid-season 2007.

– Who’d have thought Branch and Welker would be this deadly together? 

– I think they’re just keeping Fred Taylor fresh in case he has to go. Benny’s getting the bulk of the carries from here on out. We won’t see much out of Fred unless we have to.

– Funny, we’re not hearing much about how horrible Bill O’Brien is anymore, are we? Remember when it was all on "play calling”? 

– The defensive stat numbers should continue a positive trend this week. Everyone was writing the Patriots off before they killed the Jets because of their pass defense, but they’ve really come together in the last two weeks. This must continue. If they’re going to regress in a game better to get it out of the way in the next three weeks and not in the playoffs.

– Playoffs. We all want the bye, but let’s just take a moment and appreciate what we’ve seen this year. A young defense come of age and a quarterback playing absolutely out of his mind. Let’s not  forget an epic coaching job by Bill Belichick and staff.