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Michael Lombardi

Patriots Book Review: Gridiron Genius by Michael Lombardi

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I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of Michael Lombardi’s new book coming in September, Gridiron Genius. If you’re a fan of the kind of stuff I write… i.e. pretend Pats football GM, coach, team builder… this is the book for you!

Around 2014 I found a group of concrete articles I wanted to write every week. Mondays are Posits, just general thoughts about the team. Tuesdays are film review, Wednesdays are scouting reports and then Fridays are the big one, my favorite, the gameplan. Well, Lombardi pretty much gives you the real version of all these things and I couldn’t put it down.

First, I will obviously focus much on Bill Belichick in this review and he is a huge part of the book, but there are tons of great stories about Bill Walsh and Al Davis as well in here. As a fan of the game, anything about Bill Walsh instantly perks my attention and Lombardi spent plenty of times getting to know him. And of course, there’s Davis, who became somewhat of a cartoon by the end, but we forget what a passionate football mind he was and one-of-a-kind. He had his preferences and it’s interesting to see how the game changed on him.

That aside, the Patriots stuff, oh the Patriots stuff.

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Lombardi: Pats Excerpts from Monday Column

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Here’s what respected NFL.com coumnist Mike Lombardi had to say about the Pats in his Monday column…

In New England, the Patriots faced another tough team in the Baltimore Ravens and the game had a playoff feel. The Patriots are young, but in the last two weeks they had to overcome poor starts, plays and mistakes to win. This was a huge win for the young Patriots, because beating a tough team like the Ravens requires mental and physical toughness something they have worked all off season to achieve.

In one Sunday, Deion Branch caught the same amount of passes that Randy Moss had in four games with the Patriots. But more important than the amount of catches, was the location of those completions that makes the biggest difference. Branch is not in New England to replace Moss, but rather to help run routes that enhance the playbook.

The Patriots’ secondary was extremely physical and these young players are starting to grow up.