Well this is a good way to kick off Tuesday and turn the page to the Browns…
A Very Angry Browns Fan Christmas
(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)
https://www.patspropaganda.com/well-this-is-a-good-way-to-kick-off-tuesday-and/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nz9ZqJAGPSQ
Tom Brady vs Peyton Manning – NFL Highlights (by Ben Patterson)
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
https://www.patspropaganda.com/tom-brady-vs-peyton-manning-nfl-highlights-by/
No rush to judgment on Patriots’ struggling run defense – WEEI | Christopher Price
No rush to judgment on Patriots’ struggling run defense – WEEI | Christopher Price
It’s important to remember that the defensive stat that the Patriots crave above all else is points per game allowed, and in that regard – and when stacked against the Super Bowl winners of the last 10 seasons – the Patriots look good. Through 12 games, they’ve allowed 20.9 points per game, good for ninth in the league. Not great, but good enough, especially when you consider the final stats of the last 10 Super Bowl winners. That 20.9 per game average would rank sixth on a list of the last 10 champions, ahead of teams like the 2012 Ravens (21.5), 2007 Giants (21.9) and 2011 Giants (25.0).
I get a lot of “can the Pats win the Super Bowl with this team” questions and there are plenty of articles like this one that will make you believe it’s possible. But really it comes down to three unique games, the elements of which cannot be predicted beforehand. The Pats that won Super Bowls always seemed to get the bounces and the calls in the playoffs. The Pats that didn’t win Super Bowls didn’t get either, at least in crunch time of the Super Bowl.
Will this team have that magic? Impossible to say. But it’s hard not to like this team given all they’ve endured. They’ll be a tough out in the playoffs no matter what.
Opposing offenses would be wise to account for Minitron at all times #Patriots @edelman11
https://www.patspropaganda.com/lolpats-opposing-offenses-would-be-wise-to/
Notes on the Pats-Texans Rewatch
Had a chance to look at the non-22 replay of the Texans game today and I’m surprised it didn’t occur to me before, but their zone blocking scheme in the run game certainly gave the Pats problems.
It’s possible to misinterpret this as just more of the Pats’ defense being unable to stop the run without Wilfork/Kelly/Mayo, but I think, like last week against the Broncos, this is somewhat of a special case.
As I quoted Bruschi on earlier, it’s not easy to prepare for the zone blocking scheme, much less so when you’re defensive line is undersized and underexperienced.
Yet again, we’re reminded the Pats do have holes in their run defense, but the bigger question is will it be exposed in the playoffs? If the Pats stay at the second seed they’ll likely see Colts, Bengals or Chiefs first in Foxboro.
Of those it seems like the Chiefs might matchup best, depending on how their recent injuries play out.
Overall, the Pats were clearly flat and playing a lot of zone defense only seemed to magnify that. But it looks like there were no defensive injuries, so maybe playing zone helped keep the secondary especially out of harm’s way.
Excited to see Dobson get back in the lineup. With the way Gronk and Edelman are playing it should open up some shots to Dobson that were falling incomplete earlier in the year. He should be making those catches now.
For how maligned the defense was against the Texans, Chris Jones’ performance in the last series really stood out to me. He stuffed a run on second down and on fourth down split the center and guard and got good pressure up the middle.
Next year, in a sub-rusher/rotational role, he should really be useful. He has talent, but asking him to play almost every snap is a little much.
Through three quarters of the season, we kind of know who the Pats are now. It’s also hard to believe there’s only four games left in the regular season.
Offensively, they’ll need to put together a full game. They’re still streaky and they can’t afford to turn in a flat half in January.
Defensively, this might be the best team against the pass since 2004. Will it be good enough to shut down Peyton Manning a second time this season, and in Denver? Might just depend on the weather.
