patriots

Good breakdown of what will be different this time around…

The Patriots upped the tempo and ran 82 snaps (including penalties), favoring Danny Woodhead as their lead back (52 snaps). Woodhead’s status for the AFC Championship Game is in question after he injured his thumb on the first play Sunday and didn’t return. Belichick said Woodhead could have returned, but the injury might limit his effectiveness. The coaching staff was disappointed in the production of the running game against Baltimore (77 yards, 34 carries, 2.3 average). Running back Shane Vereen, who is coming off a career-best performance against the Texans, was inactive for the game.

Well that certainly makes me feel gross, but interesting if you can handle rehashing it.

To sum up:

On the touchdown play that sealed it for the Giants Dean Pees had an all out blitz called, Rodney noticed Hobbs on Burress and tried to get Junior Seau to check to cover 2 to give Hobbs over the top help, but Junior said no and wanted to run the blitz. Ugh….

Thank you Ayanba…  Ayanba… Ayanba-gonna-have-a-target-on-his-back.

A Patriots source tells me Ayanbadejo’s quotes have spread through the locker room faster than the flu virus travelling across New England. Players who are aware of the quote are furious and feel it is one of the most disrespectful things ever said about the franchise. The Patriots will publicly deny all of this, especially Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. They’ll act like the quote doesn’t matter. They’ll say they things like: “Never heard of the quote” “What quote?” “What’s a quote?” “Is that a sentence of some sort?” But privately, I can guarantee you, Belichick and Brady, in particular, will be furious. Spygate and losing the bid to go undefeated are sensitive areas to both men who are perfectionists, and feel Spygate is an unfair stain on both of their legacies. Belichick feels this especially (and I agree with him). Again, all of this will be publicly denied but it’s true. Motivational ploys and trash talking are often vastly overrated, but not in the Patriots locker room. That quote will be presented like Ayanbadejo said he was coming to Foxborough to set the stadium on fire.

Pats should shut down Foster running the ball, but below is what most concerns me…

Arian Foster was largely contained on the ground against the Patriots in Week 14, but he did manage his most receiving yards in a single game this season. Foster was able to outflank the Patriots linebackers on underneath routes, allowing him to gain sufficient yardage as a check-down receiver. The Patriots did well to cut down on big plays against Houston in the first meeting, and would be likely to stick with their plan of conceding shorter gains to Foster rather than compromising their downfield coverage. Nonetheless, it’s worth watching Foster out of the backfield in the passing game.