new england patriots

Have Gronk, Will Travel: Patriots to play four playoff teams on road in 2013, including Ravens

January 22, 2013 by Mike Dussault

Have Gronk, Will Travel: Patriots to play four playoff teams on road in 2013, including Ravens

We won’t know the schedule until mid-April, but the Patriots opponents are already set, and wow it’s a tough slate.

The Broncos are the only playoff team that they will host, but they’ll have to face four other playoffs teams on the road. This includes a trip to Baltimore.

Playing in Atlanta is never easy and the Texans will be excited to get a shot at the Pats in Houston. Then there’s the always tough Mike Zimmer defense in Cincinnati.

Not an easy road, and that doesn’t even include the divison.

Patriots

HOME

Broncos
Steelers
Saints
Dolphins
Buccaneers
Jets
Bills
Browns

Away

Falcons
Texans
Ravens
Bengals
Dolphins
Panthers
Jets
Bills

Patriots Offseason Primer

January 21, 2013 by Mike Dussault

The NFL playoffs continue on with the Ravens and 49ers set to meet in the Super Bowl. It should be an outstanding physical game with some future Hall of Famers set to finally get a ring, while leaving some other future Hall of Famers still without one.

Personally I’m leaning toward the 49ers and Randy Moss, though I do have a ton of respect for the Ravens team and the playoff run that they’ve made. Baltimore certainly looks like they’re on a mission, and the quality of their wins rivals those of the Giants last year.

It should be a great game, and really there’s nothing more at stake for the Patriots like there would’ve been if Peyton, Roethlisberger or Eli were playing in it. So we’re just hoping for a good game that comes down to the wire.

We’ll have some Super Bowl commentary here on the blog, but for the most part we’re sticking with the Patriots. This will begin with evaluating the offensive and defensive schemes and the personnel. Who’s a keeper and who should be targeted for upgrade.

As the season wound down we had a couple articles for B/R covering free agency and some cursory draft needs. Might be a good time to revisit those to help the focus shift to the offseason…

Sign, Tag, Walk: Breaking Down What to Do with Each of Patriots 2013 Free Agents

Five Biggest Draft Needs for Patriots

Patriots 10 Biggest Offseason Decisions

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: AFC Championship Game Preview

January 19, 2013 by Mike Dussault

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: AFC Championship Game Preview

the Patriots’ running game this year really wasn’t much better than it was last year. There was just more of it, in large part because their hurry-up offense meant there was more of everything. One reason the Patriots run so effectively, of course, is that defenses are often planning against the pass, even when the Patriots are in non-shotgun sets with just two wide receivers on the field. One of the neat new statistics we have this year thanks to teaming up with ESPN Stats & Information for game charting is a record of how many defenders lined up in the box on each play. From that, we know that the Patriots faced a depleted box with just six or fewer defenders on 54 percent of all runs (not counting scrambles).* This ranked fifth in the NFL; the league average was 33 percent. The Patriots averaged 4.8 yards per carry on these plays with only six in the box, which was no better than average. The NFL average with six or fewer in the box was 4.8 yards per carry, compared to 4.3 yards per carry with seven and 3.4 yards per carry with eight.

The Best of the Week in PatsPropaganda

January 19, 2013 by Mike Dussault

Wow, a pre-AFC Championship Best of. It doesn’t get much better than this.

Yesterday I had the chance to attend the NFLPA Collegiate Bowl media day and Blog With Balls symposium. It was a great chance to hear both Herm Edwards and Dick Vermeil speak, and also talk to some of the players. Blogs with Balls had three interesting panel discussions, and it gave me a chance to meet a few fellow writer/bloggers.

Believe it or not but I made nice with a Jets blog, check out Brian Basset’s The Jets Blog. It was also a chance to meet up with someone who has been linked to many, many times in this space, Yahoo’s Shutdown Corner editor Doug Farrar.

Great time and great talking football with some guys who know their stuff. Thanks to Blogs with Balls for coming to LA!

Here’s the best of the week:

Mike D’s Stuff

Patriots Rivalry with Ravens Will Define Brady, Belichick’s Final Seasons <— MUST READ if I do say so myself.

PatsPropaganda & Frenz Podcast 1/17: AFC Championship Edition 11am EST

Breaking Down Patriots’ 2013 Salary Cap: Where Is Money Best Spent?

Local/National

How the terminology of the Erhardt-Perkins system has helped maintain the dominance of Tom Brady and the Patriots – Grantland

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Film Room: Conference Championships

Tom Brady through the eyes of his backups – ESPN <– MUST MUST READ

One scout’s breakdown of Patriots-Ravens: Baltimore will struggle with matchup issues – WEEI | Christopher Price

Patriots vs. Ravens: Aqib Talib a Key Difference for New England in Rematch