An Independent Patriots Blog
Break It Down, Super Bowl matchups: Vince Wilfork vs. Giants’ O-line – Audibles
If you enjoy X and O breakdowns you’ll love this article about how the Patriots used Vince Wilfork against the Ravens and what a match-up problem he will pose for the Giants interior offensive line that struggled against the 49ers.
Patriots – Scouts’ Super Bowl Take, Part 1: How to beat the Giants – WEEI | Christopher Price
Always great stuff when Christopher Price gets takes from scouts on upcoming match-ups.
NFC scout: “The Patriots will have to be disciplined in the pass rush, not because Eli Manning is a scrambler, but because he’s very good at sliding to buy time and giving wide receivers time to create and escape coverage for big plays. The Patriots’ inside rushers can push the pocket, while the ends have to be disciplined to not give Eli space.”
AFC scout: “What stands out to me about the Patriots off last week’s game against Baltimore was their ability to get around and harass the quarterback with just their front lineman, they got push in the middle of the pocket and were able to condense to get middle pressure. That is key vs. Eli Manning.”
Tom Brady got the job done for Patriots in AFC title game – The Boston Globe
Must read as always from Bedard, here’s a great little nugget:
Brady was efficient, he made smart decisions for the most part, he adjusted plays well and put the ball – even on his two interceptions – where either his teammate was going to catch it or the defender was going to make an outstanding play.
He averaged 6.64 yards per attempt – the stat that usually is the truest indicator of how well a quarterback plays (or how poorly a defense does). In the regular season, that would have been Brady’s third-lowest YPA, behind the loss to the Steelers (5.54) and the late-season win over the Dolphins (6.61). Brady’s YPA for the season was 8.60.
The fact is, Brady has now played in 21 playoff games. His average YPA in those games is 6.81. In the Patriots’ 16 victories, it’s 6.94. In the five losses, it’s 6.43.
The difference is negligible. What you saw on Sunday is how playoff football is played, especially against the type of scheme that always has given Brady and the Patriots trouble.
Here’s a little nugget from Tom E. Curran on Spikes:
Brandon Spikes played well against the Ravens. He also did stupid things like throwing a punch during one post-play scuffle and shoving Marshal Yanda from behind after another.
I have no problem with Spikes playing like this. You need a guy on your defense with this kind of attitude. It’s only “stupid” if you get a penalty for it. Otherwise it’s just Spikes being Spikes which I think takes a lot of players out of the game.
Spikes was all over Ray Rice the entire game, and it looked to me like Rice was affected. Spikes is the exact antidote to the kind of malaise we saw so much of in 2009. I think he’s a major building block on this defense and alongside Mayo forms one of the best young inside linebacker tandems in the NFL.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-giants-super-bowl-35/
New England Patriots try to forget Super Bowl loss to New York Giants – ESPN Boston
This is a great article to really set the table for Super Bowl 46 and all the storylines that we’ll inundated with over the next eleven days.
This week’s Sports Illustrated featuring Tom Brady on the cover. Let’s hope next week features the Giants because the one that comes out before the Super Bowl is the jinx one, right?
https://www.patspropaganda.com/patriots-giants-super-bowl-38/
As we settle into the void and mentally prepare for the coming Patriots campaign, it’s hard to be too reflective about the team without getting sucked into a meaningless direction. There’s just so much noise — the centerpieces of the Patriots current dynasty are in the middle of it all — Belichick, Brady, Gronk and […]
