PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

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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Pats Posits: New Chargers Chapter

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In recent years, the Pats’ playoff games, especially in the early rounds lacked a certain excitement that was present in the early years of the dynasty. Epic matchups in 2001 (Raiders/Tuck Rule), 2003 (Titans) and 2004 (Colts) gave way to snoozers against the Jaguars, Tebow Broncos and the Texans.

When was the last divisional round that really made you sweat? Surely not Marcus Mariota and the Titans last year. No, you’d have to go back to 2014 against the Ravens, a team that was just eliminated by the now Los Angeles Chargers that the Pats will face this Sunday. And really, that’s been the most anticipated matchup since 2004.

At this point in the run, it’s far more entertaining to face teams that the Pats have history with. Teams that we can even talk ourselves into them losing to, and that’s what they’ll get with the Chargers. I’m excited to see one of the old guard coming to town.

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A Quick Look Ahead Patriots 2019 Offseason

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There’s no better weekend than wild card weekend when you’re on the bye week. There’s wall-to-wall playoff football and no stress if you’re a Patriots fan.

It’s easy to overreact to how the season ends so now’s a good time to take a quick glance ahead at the storylines we’ll turn the page to as soon as we know the final fate of the 2018 Pats.

Here are the six areas to get a jump on:

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5 Patriots Standout Stats

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As I updated everything on the big Pats stat page I keep, it occurred to me that most of the important numbers I track supported what I thought I saw with my eyes.

This wasn’t a dominant offensive team, but it is an underrated defensive one. Inconsistencies on special teams also fed into what set this edition of the BB/TB Pats apart.

Let’s dive into five key stats that defined the inconsistent-but-hopefully-peaking 2018 Patriots.

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Patriots 2018 Season Snap Counts: Nobody Died

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If nothing else, the NFL season depends on attrition. Just a key injury to a player or two can completely derail the best-laid offseason plans. It happened in the first quarter of the first game of the 2008 Patriots’ season. That’s why you shouldn’t bet on Super Bowl 53 in June.

These days, all that really matters is if Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, Dont’a Hightower and Rob Gronkowski make it to January. Despite any regular season ups and downs these guys have always shown up when the lights are brightest. And they will always give the Patriots a fighting chance in any game, even in, gasp, Kansas City.

Here we are on the playoff bye week and guess what, nobody died. Outside of the disappointing loss of Ja’whaun Bentley and a few guys taking a game off here and there, the 2018 Patriots have remained remarkably healthy and that is everything to their Super Bowl chances.

They’ve got their bumps and bruises for sure, as does every team, but with every key veteran piece accounted for the Pats should still have their best football in front of them.

Here’s a breakdown of who played the most, it’s no surprise the Pats once again gained a first round bye.

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