rex burkhead

5 Most Interesting Pending Patriots Free Agents

November 8, 2017 by Mike Dussault

I like to blog like Bill Belichick would, by focusing only on the immediate obstacle in front of the Patriots, but since we’re coming off a bye week I’m going to break with Bill a bit here and take a look at some pending free agents.

The offseason is always a fascinating slow burn, and like most years, the Patriots have a number of key players who are scheduled to hit free agency. Their departures could open significant holes on the roster. Or re-signing them could signal the direction the team plans to take in 2018 and beyond.

It’s also worth pointing out these players now because a strong second half of the season would significantly upgrade the contracts they can receive this spring.

Here are the five more interesting players/positions to me…

Three Plays That Defined Patriots Offense vs. Chargers

November 2, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots offense has settled into a pretty good, balanced groove. Their top four receivers all have similar target numbers and their running backs can do a variety of things that keep defenses off balance. It’s a new evolution for Tom Brady‘s offense and while there are still growing pains, it was largely effective, especially in the middle of the field.

The problem, as has been well noted this week, is in the red zone. This season the Pats rank 18th overall in red zone offense, a significant departure from their ranking the past three years, 2014: 5th, 2015: 4th, 2016: 10th. Really, if you’re looking for one stat that could sum what the Pats need to improve, it’s in the red zone. This is a bit of a surprise because you’d think the problem without Julian Edelman would be on third down, however the Pats have seen little dip there.

Let’s take a look at a few plays from the Chargers game that show us what the 2017 edition of the offense is.

Patriots Gameplan: Week 6 at New York Jets

October 13, 2017 by Mike Dussault

It felt like a lackluster Patriots off week, didn’t it? The Pats had an okay with last Thursday night, but it was so middle of the road that it sparked neither the “Pats are dead” nor the “Pats are Super Bowl favorites” crowds.

Sure there were plenty of complaints like there usually are. I think those were best summed up when I was listening to Dale and Holley for a minute and they were complaining about the offensive line. Then there was a pause and Holley mentioned that Pro Football Focus has the o-line ranked 11th in the league. Silence. What were we just talking about? They digressed. Yeah, it was one of those kinds of weeks, where everyone goes to default complaints but there just wasn’t the same kind of fire that existed after the Panthers’ loss.

The other big headline? That Tom Brady has a sprained AC joint in his left shoulder. By this time we just brush off Brady injuries like they’re no big deal. Brady brushed it off. We brush it off. Do we take his toughness and durability for granted? Of course! But tying any injury, no matter how small, to the offensive line are just the dots that must be connected when you have 10 days off and hours upon hours of sports talk radio time to fill.

How do we feel about the Patriots right now? If we’re being honest with ourselves it does feel like it’s off to another injury apocalypse year like 2013 started out and 2015 became. But it’s still early so no one should be abandoning ship just yet, but keeping the remaining roster healthy, especially 12, 87, 80 and 54 is critical to any Super Bowl aspirations.

In some ways it feels like the Pats are under the radar. I like how Kurt Warner put it, the Pats aren’t the favorites in the AFC, they’re the favorites to upset the favorites. That sounds about right. Still, the real football season is just starting and that’s always when the Patriots start to roll.

This week has been a soft reset. The defense didn’t look lost against the Bucs and the offense showed more explosiveness. Both ran out of gas at the end to make the game interesting, but it’s hard to kill them for that on a Thursday night on the road.

So now we get back to business against a Jets team that could field 22 high school JV players and still play the best Patriots team close in mid-October in the Meadowlands. For whatever reason, that’s just always how it seems to go unless it’s the rare exception like the Buttfumble game.

What do the Pats have to do to get their first divisional win and get the Patriots hype train back on track? Here’s the gameplan.

Notes on the Patriots-Saints Re-Watch

September 18, 2017 by Mike Dussault

At second glance, this game wasn’t as close as it seemed to be live. Remove the tension of a “Brees carving our defense in a comeback win” and it was a pretty methodical strangulation by the Patriots. While I’ll await the Coaches tape before doing any real X-and-O deep dives, there was still plenty to digest here.

Here’s something that stuck out to me.

— If ever there was a picture to sum up how calm, cool and collected Brady was in the pocket check out the shot below. Brady completes this pass to James White (circled). Completely unfazed by Cameron Jordan literally right in his face. It was that kind of night for Brady.

How Did Patriots Use Their Running Backs vs. Chiefs?

September 11, 2017 by Sam Hollister

While the Patriots played about as bad as one could have possibly imagined Thursday night, the sky is indeed not falling in New England, contrary to popular belief. Sure, the defense looked abysmal (at best), and the offense sputtered throughout the majority of the second half, but the 2017 Patriots are still a team loaded with talent that every team in the NFL should fear, and in an otherwise disappointing effort, the weapons out of the backfield showed a mere glimmer of how hard this Patriots offense will be to stop once it hits full gear.

The trio of Mike Gillislee, James White, and Rex Burkhead were a few of the lone bright spots Thursday night, with Gillislee as the unquestioned star of the show in his Patriots debut, racking up 45 yards on 15 attempts, finding the end zone on three occasions, and dominating the touches in the red zone. White also contributed 68 yards on 13 touches, and Burkhead gained 23 yards on his four touches.

Having three running backs of the caliber of this trio is an incredible thing, and I think we saw just the tip of the iceberg in terms of what these three are capable of.

Pats Posits: A Last Minute Drive in Houston Finally Falls Short

August 19, 2017 by Mike Dussault

The Patriots and the Texans played a preseason game on Saturday night that came down to the final play, with Jacoby Brissett fumbling what was almost the game-winning touchdown pass.

It might’ve been thrilling if it weren’t the preseason…

But it is the preseason and how this game ended or what the score was matters not. What matters is how well the 2017 Patriots are coming together and who looked good, bad and injured in their second preseason game of the summer.

The headliners? Rex Burkhead‘s arrival, some defensive struggles but with some individual improved performances that could really help, and Stephen Gostkowski putting us all at peace.

Despite some more big plays allowed, I feel pretty good about the team right now after the second preseason game. Elandon Roberts appeared to be the only significant injury, while some of the guys who really needed to start playing well did so.

Of course we got to see Tom Brady play (meaningless, don’t tell him) football, so it was a good day no matter what.

Here’s them Posits as we inch closer and closer to the start of the regular season.

Tweets of Note: Patriots Camp Catch-up

August 4, 2017 by Mike Dussault

Things are about to get real at Patriots training camp next week. With the Jags coming to town for joint practices and then the preseason kicking off against them on Thursday night, the preseason is about to begin. With that comes “real” football and some actual film to break down which will be a welcome departure from relying on camp reports.

The team has gotten a bit dinged up in recent days and as a result Bill Belichick has been pulling back a bit, especially on important veteran starters. I’m sure the entire team is looking forward to competing against the Jags, and those practices should see the intensity shoot back up.

The Pats will be practicing both Friday and Saturday, then will have Sunday off prior to the joint practices that start on Monday.

Let’s take a quick look at the biggest storylines in camp right now…