PatsPropaganda

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And the New England Patriots Football Machine rolls on!

Some quick thoughts while preparing for a re-watch and actual look at the stats later tonight.

I was impressed by the defense in a way that I have not been impressed with them in a long time. It was far from a perfect outing, but you can see that they have people who can get after the quarterback and generally disrupt offenses in ways it hasn’t been done since 2004.

It was a team win. The offense, defense and special teams all had their share of good plays and the bad ones. There will be much to correct this week before San Diego.

But clearly, the Patriots again have the elements on offense to move the ball. Sometimes at will. Tom Brady runs the offense quickly and precisely, never giving the defense a chance to catch their breath.

I say it now: GET READY FOR A SLEW OF OPPOSING DEFENSE FAKE INJURIES

The Jets did it with success in the playoff game. Any time the Patriots offense got rolling they’d try to kill the momentum by having someone suddenly come up lame, only to return the next play.

I think Edelman will have an outstanding year as a kickoff and punt returner, and occasional receiver/gadget player. I love him in this role and really think he can excel. Especially on kickoffs. The new system totally favors a player like him over Brandon Tate. A guy with some lateral quickness as opposed to straight-line, one cut and go speed.

Seems like every year we’re surprised to see someone play a ton on opening day that you didn’t expect. It’s even crazier when it’s a rookie and all I can say is Ras-I Dowling… WOW. Looked like the Pats shuffled him, Bodden and McCourty, and occasionally Arrington all over the field. Arrington was even back at his left defensive end pass rusher position. He’s gotta get a sack this season.

The defensive line rotation looks solid. Very good depth and a variety of different guys all who bring something different to the party.

Dane Fletcher at fullback? Whaaaaaaaaaaa? Stop making me like him so much.

Gronk and Hernando… just doin’ work. 

Matthew Slater, Deep Threat? Who thought he’d show some acumen as a receiver and haul in the deep Brady post that Brandon Tate never quite could. He should’ve had that other one too. Slater has finally won me over. He was a horrible kickoff returner but he’s a jack of all trades, and is starting to make plays. 

Koppen. I was sure he was gone for the season, until I saw him on the sideline in a cast talking casually. In my mind I imagined he was saying “nah, I don’t think it’s too bad, just being precautious , I should be good to go..”. Fingers crossed it’s not an IR announcement on Wednesday. If he makes it to next weekend without any news he might just be okay. At some point.

More to come. Obviously.

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Patriots-Dolphins First Half Thoughts

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The Patriots lead the Dolphins 14-7 at the half and it looks like this one should go down to the wire as expected. Some quick hit observations.

– Offensively the Pats are going with a no huddle approach that worked well for a stretch before stalling closer to half time.

– Nate Solder had been doing a good job on Cameron Wake until the two minute drive. He’s going to need to elevate his play in the second half, I’m sure Wake will.

– Gronk 2011 looks like Gronk 2010 so far.

– It’s just one half, but the defense looks a lot more exciting so far. Getting pressure from a variety of places.

– The Pats are rotating guys on defense all over the place. Not sure I should even try to keep track of them this year.

– I look forward to seeing Reggie Bush get the ball as much in the second half as he did in the first. He must be on double oxygen tanks right now in the locker room.

– Looks like the Dolphins are trying to exploit the Pats poor sub-package run defense from 2010, but the Pats so far have done a pretty good job. Obviously this will mean nothing if they don’t keep it up.

– Ras-I starting on the outside. Impressive. Will have to focus on him more closely on the re-watch. But exciting none the less.

– It looks like Koppen is probably done for the season unless it’s a miracle. That’s part of the game, I feel as good as you can feel about any back up with Connolly in there. He’s got experience and great coaching. That’s as well as you can hope for.

– It sure is easy to get lulled into a false sense of security when the Pats offense was going through Miami’s defense like it was a 7-on-7 drill. This one will be a dogfight down to the end, count on it.

Patriots-Dolphins Pregame Warmup

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We’re just two hours from the kick off of the 2011 Patriots season and the excitement here in the Ministry of PatsPropaganda is palpable.

We’ve been somewhat in a cocoon of Pats analysis the last week or so. You can go back and look at stats from last year, or try and guess what BB has up his sleeve, but personally I think it’s all a waste of time.

Just like this is a new year and a new team we try to attack analysis the same way. So let’s just sit back, see how the Patriots of 2011 look in a game that actually counts and then we’ll get back to figuring out what they got.

Some final quick hit thoughts prior to kickoff tonight:

– I think both teams will have surprises for one another. All signs are especially pointing to the Dolphins busting out some trickeration, but I think a great way for the Pats to combat that will be to fight fire with fire and do some trickeration themselves.

– As we saw in the Jets-Cowboys game last night the team that wins tonight will be the team that plays the closest to 60 minutes.

– Very curious to see how the Pats use their two new runningbacks. This is one area Miami might not quite have a handle on yet. My instinct tells me that the Pats are really going to exploit the screen and short passing game.

– Looking for the Pats to try and use speed rushers on the edges, that’s why I am not overly concerned with Jermaine Cunningham being out.