PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

What Went Right in ’01,’04 and Wrong in ’06,’13,’15?

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There might not be two more impressive wins of the Patriots Dynasty than taking down the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road in both the 2001 and 2004 AFC Championships. Since then, the Pats are 0-3 on the road in the conference championship, a trend they’ll want to reverse against the Chiefs on Sunday.

It got me wondering, what did those two teams have that the latter three did not? What enabled them to win the second-biggest game of the season in a hostile environment? What might we draw to this year’s Patriots squad?

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Belichick AFC Championship Hoodie Preview

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It’s already Wednesday and I’m still finding myself torn between glowing reviews of the near-perfect game against the Chargers and overwhelmed gameplanning for the Chiefs. So let’s start off easy and get a Bill Belichick Hoodie prediction in.

By all accounts the temperatures will be near zero for the game, meaning Belichick will likely be bundled up in a winter jacket like he was last week. But what should he wear underneath? What should you wear if you want to make your own hoodie to wear for good luck? Well let’s take a dive in.

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Pats Posits: Back in the AFCCG!

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The Patriots are back in the AFC Championship game for the eighth-straight time after walloping the Chargers 41-28 in the Divisional Round. This was a game against an early-dynasty rival and it felt like the kind of head-turning wins that those Patriots had to deliver.

This 2018 win over the Chargers is probably as close to a perfect game as you could ask for. In that regard, it’s like the 2007 AFCDG against the Jaguars. But these kinds of occasional explosions of football perfection have not often popped up in the playoffs, especially in games that many were questioning if the Patriots were done.

So now the question looms – can the 2018 Patriots win on the road to get to the Super Bowl?

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Patriots Gameplan: AFC Divisional Game vs. Los Angeles Chargers

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At this stage of the Patriots dynasty, the regular season is prologue. After a week off to rest up, the real season starts now, against the Chargers in the Divisional Round.

The Patriots have mostly owned the Chargers for the past decade-plus. There were notable losses in 2005 and 2008 with Matt Cassel at the helm, but outside of those the Patriots have dominated Phillip Rivers’ team, including ending their season twice, in 2006 and 2007.

It’s been a long time since then and the Chargers have remade themselves and stayed healthy for the first time in a long time, making them a viable threat to the Patriots hopes of getting to their eighth-straight (!) AFC Championship game.

What do the Pats have to do to give Everything They’ve Got and Beat LA? Here’s the gameplan!

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2018 Belichick Hoodie Update & AFCDG Prediction

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Another regular season of tracking Bill Belichick’s attire is behind us and with Sunday’s AFC Divisional game on the horizon it’s a good time to regroup on what Belichick wore this season and what he should wear this weekend.

His all-time games and wins leader, the Hot Jacket, went just 3-2 this season as Belichick shifted to a cut 2016 Gray Hoodie for seven games, going 4-3. Yes, all five of the losses came in those two pieces. Randoms like a new Bomber Jacket popped up and won two games.

Updating the all-time standings, the Hot Jacket just extended it’s overall lead over the infamous original gray cut hoodie.

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Forget Brady vs. Rivers, It’s RBs vs RBs

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I jumped back and watched last year’s Patriots defeat of the Chargers and was left thinking that if you’re betting on Super Bowl 53 and the playoffs this one might simply boil down to which stable of running backs has the better game.

While the 2018 Patriots offense is most effective with Sony Michel having early-down success, running him right into the teeth of the Chargers defense isn’t probably the smartest attack. Last year, Dion Lewis and Mike Gillislee combined for 78 yards on the ground. But it was Rex Burkhead and James White‘s combined 12 catches for 153 yards that gave the Chargers the most problems.

Here’s some more great info from Kevin Duffy of the Boston Herald:

The Chargers backfield trio of Melvin Gordon, Austin Ekeler and Justin Jackson combined for 138 targets this season, or 27.2 percent of Rivers’ throws. Oddly enough, Brady looked for James White, Rex Burkhead and Sony Michel on 27.7 percent of his passes, too. That’s a higher target share than Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram received in New Orleans.

What makes the dynamic especially intriguing: As prolific as Gordon and Ekeler can be in the passing game, the Chargers defense is abysmal at containing pass-catchers out of the backfield. They allowed a league-worst 973 receiving yards to running backs. According to Pro Football Reference, it’s the second-highest total allowed by a defense in the past decade. Only the 2015 Rams surrendered more receiving yards to running backs.

For the Patriots’ defense it’s clear that everything will key off of Melvin Gordon and Keenan Allen. Those are the two pieces that Bill Belichick will do his best to take away.

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