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James Harrison

Patriots Super Bowl 52 Film Review: Defense Edition

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The Patriots’ defense is correctly in everyone’s crosshairs after Super Bowl 52, but don’t lose sight of the fact that the defense faced a 4th-and-1 with 5:39 left in the game from the Eagles 45-yard line with a 33-32 lead. That’s the game right there.

Trey Flowers bursts through the line but was pushed off course just enough the he couldn’t quite get the quarterback. Instead, Foles made an excellent slide to his left and made a clutch off-balance throw to pick up two yards to Zach Ertz. Conversion. Game-winning touchdown scored seven plays later.

A stop right there and the Patriots are most likely Super Bowl champs and we’re sweeping the defensive shortcomings under the rug just like the Eagles defense, who gave up 600 yards, are doing right now. Both defenses were systematically shredded for most of the game, but one clutch play determines which got blamed for the loss and which got credited for the win.

Philadelphia’s gameplan was a greatest hits of everything the Patriots defense struggled with this season. Bunch sets, toss sweeps, some run-pass options… for an inexperienced front they just had no anticipation for what the Eagles were doing. The second level and edge players were where they wanted to target but they didn’t fear the Patriots pass rush when it came time to take some deep shots as well.

Here’s what stood out to me:

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Pats Posits: Belichick and Brady off to Super Bowl No. 8

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The Patriots defeated the Jaguars 24-20 in the AFC Championship and will return to the Super Bowl for the third time in four years where they’ll face the Philadelphia Eagles. The Patriots faced the Eagles the last time they were attempting three-of-four titles and defeated them in Super Bowl 39.

There will be plenty of time to jump into that intriguing matchup, but for now we have to talk about the AFC Championship. Really, it was one of the most remarkable games in Patriots history. The Jaguars played absolutely perfectly for the first 50 minutes. They attacked the Patriots’ weaknesses, they played mistake-free and they even knocked out Rob Gronkowski. Dion Lewis was getting nothing on the ground and the Jaguars had a number of early sustained drives.

But the Pats kept battling like they always do. Without Gronk or a running game, Brady, with some help from super clutch Danny Amendola, willed the Patriots to victory. Of course it didn’t come without the defense turning around after getting shredded early. They once again made the key plays that opened the door for the Patriots to come back. Stephon Gilmore‘s pass defense sealed what was a championship-worthy performance by a defense comprised of many new faces from last season.

I always say you can never truly appreciate a win until you’ve accepted a loss is very possible, and this game had that. Of course 28-3 has ruined us in that regard because now, more than ever, we know the Patriots are never truly out of it until the clock reads zero.

This never gets old. And the Patriots keep finding new ways to demonstrate just how mentally and physically tough they are. The Jags had all the look of the teams that beat the Patriots at home in the playoffs — the two Ravens teams and one Jets team all had a swagger about them, a fearlessness that Jacksonville seemed to emanate as well. But this time their clean game didn’t matter because the Patriots simply outplayed them in the final ten minutes.

It was perfect football in all three phases and in tight games like this that’s what makes all the difference. When it came time to finish the game the Jags couldn’t do it, and Tom Brady did.

Here are the Posits on another crazy epic playoff win.

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Pats Posits: It All Clicked vs. Titans

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After watching the Patriots-Titans game in the bar on Saturday night I had to go back and take another look at it to get the full scope of how it went down. I knew the broad strokes, but trying to analyze the minutiae is just about impossible in between ordering drinks, conversations and shooting Facebook Live videos.

I came away thinking that this was the total team win I had been hoping for. The returning pieces fit in fairly seamlessly and once again we saw more of the Pats team we remember from the middle part of the season, a dominant one that comes at you in a variety of ways. The 2017 aren’t the team that looked blah down the stretch. That team was holding back some key pieces. Now, with everyone back, we saw the real 2017 team, and they should be the overwhelming favorite to win Super Bowl 52 now.

The funny part was remembering how uneasy I felt at 7-0 after the Titans put together a perfect drive, capped off by a near-impossible catch. It almost seemed like it might be one of those games that are far closer than it should be, but alas, it was just a matter of time. Yes, the neutral zone infraction that saved the Pats from punting was where the Titans lost any control of the game, ending up in a 21-7 hole, but really, there was no stopping the Patriots in this one no matter how Tennessee played.

The Patriots look primed to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars, who I spent a good portion of last night getting a jump.

More on this AFC South playoff run in the Posits!

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Pregame Meal: Divisional Weekend

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Playoff gameday!! This is why we write all them blogs!! Yes, the excitement is palpable here as I write this, just five short miles from Gillette Stadium with the wind and rain pouring down. Temperatures are scheduled to drop tonight and I’m really hoping that it doesn’t turn into one of those games where the field is leveled due to the conditions. Obviously that makes it a far more favorable game for the Titans, especially with their strengths up front and Derrick Henry‘s running.

Even more exciting for me this morning is that we’re taking Patshow on the road tonight! Nick and I will be joined by some local legends like Jerry Thornton (Barstool, From Darkness to Dynasty author), Matty Blake (WAAF) and George Kippenhan who does the Shit Pats Fans Say videos with Nick at TKO Shea’s in Rockland. We’ll be broadcasting live pregame and giving away a ton of tees and swag to those who join us. And even if you can’t join us you can tune in at Facebook.com/Patshow6 and see all the shenanigans from the comfort of your own living room.

Here are some notes as we count down the long hours until tonight…

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Pats Posits: The Season Starts Now

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Happy New Year! The Patriots finished off their regular season by beating the Jets in frigid temperatures and improving to 13-3 on the 2017 season. It wasn’t exactly an exclamation point finish, but it was effective and seemingly injury-free. The bottom line? The Pats now have homefield advantage for the third time in four years and the last two times they’ve had it they’ve won the Super Bowl.

I’m not going to dwell too much on the Jets game. I’m sure there are plenty of takes out there extrapolating all kinds of major implications from how the Pats performed in what were some pretty tough conditions. But I don’t think there’s much to take from it, though it does finish off a full 16-game sample and in that broader regard there’s plenty to talk about.

First, we have to start with Dion Lewis, who once again carried the team as you might hope a running back would do when there are tough conditions for the passing game. It’s just such a huge relief that we made it through the regular season without another catastrophic injury. Specifically — Tom Brady, Lewis, Rob Gronkowski and Danny Amendola are just absolutely critical to the Super Bowl chances and it looks like all will be ready to go.

With that group upright the Pats will be a hard out for anyone, no matter how the game unfolds.

Let’s take a moment to catch our breath as the Pats await to see who they’ll play next Saturday night in the AFCDG.

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Patriots Gameplan: Week 17 vs. New York Jets

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Ah, the final gameplan of the season. These are always my favorite pieces of the week to write, and now as I sit here in California on my final day of vacation, preparing myself to return to the arctic cold of Boston, I can’t help but feel a bit relieved that the regular season prologue is nearly behind us.

Let’s be honest, at this point it’s hard to move the needle for Patriots fans. Looking back on 2017 it’s hard to recount much more than the Steeler game and the injuries. Wins are relief. Losses are catastrophic. Then we get to this point, where the Patriots will hopefully wrap up the first seed, and none of it really matters.

So here we are, staring down the barrel of another 13-3 season. A meltdown loss to the Jets at this point would be beyond surprising. Our 5-10 pals from New York adjacent are closing out a disappointing season, but they still gave the Pats trouble back in October, with the Pats getting a 4th down stop at their own 49 yard line to preserve the 24-17 win.

Considering the circumstances now, with the Pats needing a win to assure themselves of homefield advantage and the Jets ready to mail it in to the offseason, not to mention the bone chilling cold which this game will be played in, all signs point to the Pats rolling.

Here’s the gameplan…

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Patriots Add James Harrison

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You might’ve gotten the impression that I was a bit concerned about the Patriots defense heading into January after my piece from this morning. For those reasons I welcomed the afternoon’s news of James Harrison signing with the team just days after his somewhat surprising release by the Steelers.

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