Patriots Blues

For the umpteenth week in a row, the New England Patriots could not put together 60 solid minutes of football. The defense was okay, but failed to come up with big stops when needed, such as on the 4th and 5 play in the forth quarter when Charles Clay escaped a tackle on a screen pass to get the first down and keep the drive going (I’ll give credit where credit is due, that was a very nice play). It’s blatantly obvious that this defense is not a very good unit without Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo and Tommy Kelly in the middle. While guys like Joe Vallano, Isaac Sopoaga and Chris Jones have given their maximum effort all year and been suitable replacements, it is clear that they have a disadvantage when it comes to their front seven against almost any line in the league. They continue to show that they can’t stop the running game, and therefore almost any quarterback in the league can torch the secondary for big gains (ie. Jason Campbell, Case Keenum, Geno Smith). Essentially, there is mediocrity across the entire roster and Tom Brady’s career is just sand in the hour glass being wasted by a lack of personnel. 

Image courtesy of ESPN.com

Tom Brady is 36 years old right now. Time is of the essence, and while the Pats still have this gift from the Gods, we as fans should be outraged at the Patriots’ inability to put some solid players around him. The depth at the wide receiver and tight end position coming into this season was already am absolute joke, and it seems the entire organization and fan base was banking on Gronk to come in and save the day. When he was on the field this offense was clearly much better than when he was not on the field, but in the NFL you need to have more depth. At wide receiver, the starters from this past game against Miami were Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and Josh Boyce who stand 5’ 11”, 5’ 10”, and 5’ 11”, respectively. This is a joke, in my opinion. I am aware that Dobson and Thompkins are hurt, who are 6’ 3” and 6’ 1”, respectively, as well as Gronk who is 6’ 7”, but the lack of size at the wide receiver position is definitely a concern. 

On the subject of the offensive struggles... WHY ARE WE NOT RUNNING THE BALL?? Especially in the redzone, where our lack of size without Gronk is blatantly apparant. We all know Ridley has had his fumbling issues, but c’mon Bill and Josh you gotta give the guy a chance. He’s the best runner we have, in terms of down hill running and making guys miss. Their offense takes on a different element when he’s out there, especially when he’s running the ball in the way he’s capable of. Blount can not do some of the things that Ridley can do on the field. We need Stevan Ridley down the stretch Bill, let the dude play!

The offensive line is a big issue right now. Tom has been hit far too often this year, especially in the past couple games. He hasn’t had enough time in the pocket to let the plays develop in the way they’re supposed to. The loss of Volmer was fixable, but losing Solder is a whole bigger problem. He has had two head injuries in a matter of a week, along with some type of lower body injury he was working on with trainers before the game. If they lose Solder for an extended period of time, that is a big problem for this offense as he has been one of the best tackles in the league this year and a huge (literally) piece of this offensive line. 

Basically what I’m trying to say is that this team is in a lot of trouble, to put it bluntly. They’re not getting to the Super Bowl, and they would be very lucky to get to the AFC Championship game at this point given the injury situation and lack of personell The NFL is all about match ups, and Bill has his hands full trying to make match ups that will go in his teams favor.

What In The World is Going on? (Patriots Talk)

Hey Everybody,

As most of you know, I was born and raised in the Boston area and therefore I am bound to be a fan of the Boston sports teams for all eternity. For some it sounds like it would be easy to root for teams who all have had so much success in the past years, respectively. However that is not the case recently. 

Being a Boston sports fan this week has sucked, to put it lightly. First the Bruins lost in game 6 by giving up two goals in 17 seconds, then Doc Rivers bolted for Los Angeles, and of course the Aaron Hernandez debacle.

Thanks for the Memories, Doc.

Patrice=Warrior 

                                       

Let's start off with what seems to be the number one issue in the news over the past 2 weeks or so, Aaron Hernandez. I have been following this situation since it was reported that there was a body found near Hernandez's home almost 2 weeks ago. I don't think I'm alone when I say that watching the whole situation unfold in front of our very eyes has been enticing to watch, yet so agonizing knowing this guy is so young and has so much damn talent on the gridiron. 

AHH Shit I forgot about that!

When this story first broke, we didn't really know all that much about Hernandez's past. 

However, now everything is starting to come to the surface: his friends with gang associations, past crimes (he shot a dude in the face, how did we not hear about this? BREAKING: Just got a notification he is being investigated in a double shooting in Boston, guess things can get worse for him) and his tough upbringing in Bristol, Connecticut where his father died when he was 16, which affected him deeply. 

I guess once the media gets their hands on a story, or a man (figuratively) they won't stop until every little drop of juice is squeezed out of it for the public to quench their unsatisfiable thirst for drama, particularly among those few who are deemed "celebrities" such as Aaron Hernandez. 

Along from the fact that Hernandez was just charged with first degree murder along with 5 other charges, the Patriots released him swiftly after he was arrested. From a football perspective, that is not exactly helping the Patriots.  

With Gronk coming off four forearm surgeries and a back surgery in the offseason, I'm not expecting him to be start the season which is pretty much the general consensus I'm hearing from a lot of people who know a lot more than I do. Hopefully Gronk can come back in good shape and help this offense out ASAP. 

With that being said, the New England Patriots will be playing football this year, with or without Gronk and Hernandez. 

So what does this mean for the Patriots? 

No Welker, Gronk or Hernandez, not to mention Brandon Lloyd and Danny Woodhead are gone too... Well, we still have some hope in Foxborough ladies and gents because Tom Brady is still the quarterback and Bill Belicheck is the master of puppets controlling things. With those two at the helm, I wouldn't count the Patriots out just yet. 

The big question most fans have is who will Tom Terrific throw the ball to?

The fact is that Tom Brady can make anyone a Pro Bowl receiver because that's just how good he is. While the Patriots appear to lack weapons, ask yourself when has that ever stopped them before? In 2001, our best receivers were Troy Brown and David Patten. In 2003 and 2004, Deion Branch, Kevin Faulk and David Givens were the main receivers of Brady's passes.

First and foremost, for our offense to be successful this season Danny Amendola must be productive and stay healthy, a problem that has nagged him his whole career. That applies to Julian Edelman as well, who I believe will have a career season this year filling the role of Wes Welker. Donald Jones and Michael Jenkins will also play key roles in the receiving corps this season. Look for Aaron Dobson, the rookie out of Marshall to step up and make some plays. 

What also needs to happen in order for this team to make a run in the playoffs is a change of attitude going into every game. There must be a certain physicality and toughness on both sides of the ball for this team to win the Super Bowl. No longer are the days of the high flying, throw the ball around, finesse Patriots team. This team must come into each game wanting to physically dominate and destroy their respective opponent. 

The running game has to continue to build on what they produced from last year, where they were 7th in the league in rushing. With Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Leon Washington, Branden Bolden and Lagarette Blount, (solid pick up that flew under the radar) in the backfield I have faith that they can take the pressure off Tom Brady to win games.  

The defense must to continue and improve as a unit from last season, where they ranked 29th in opponents passing YPG and 9th in opponents rushing YPG. What this defense thrives on is forcing turnovers as shown by their 20 INTs and 32 forced fumbles during the season. The acquisition of Aqib Talib had a great impact for them down the stretch of the season and the unit clearly improved when he was on the field, and I believe it cost them the AFC Championship game against Baltimore when he went down with a hamstring injury in the first quarter. To have that kind of defender that is able to man up on the number one receiver is huge for this defense because it allows the pass rush time to create pressure on the quarterback; part of the reason the Patriots forced so many turnovers last season was in part because of the addition of Talib and the flexibility he allows Belicheck with respect to play-calling. 

Also, notice all the off season drama that has surrounded the Patriots has been on the offensive side of the ball. On the low, the defense has quietly been improving this off season with most the attention on the offense. There is a whole lot of young talent to be excited about in that unit, and I'm anxious to see what Belicheck and his staff has up their cut off sleeves. 

Interesting tidbit, out of the 38 defensive players on the roster right now only five players are 30 years or older, Adrian Wilson, Steven Gregory, Vince Wilfork, and new comer Tommy Kelly. So the good news is our defense appears to be pretty set for a while.

Patriots fans, it's OK... Breath, relax... Inhale... exhale... 

Repeat after me: The Patriots will be OK. 

Admittedly, I have had my doubts about the Pat's in the past before, but have no fear, Belicheck is here. The truth is as long as Belicheck is coach and Tom Brady is the quarterback, we have a pretty good chance to win at least 10 games, make the playoffs, and make a run at the Lombardi. 

What has to change for the Patriots is their style of play. We can't put every game on Tom Brady's right arm anymore, that won't work now. He's 35 years old, and not getting any younger, and he doesn't have Randy Moss walking through that door anymore. We need to give it to Stevan Ridley, establish the run game, play some power, smash mouth football, control the clock and keep our defense off the field, and let Brady throw the ball when he feels necessary. 

To go back to my original point, it's a terrible situation for the families of Odin Lloyd and Aaron Hernandez, and I send my prayers to both families. Aaron Hernandez was a hell of a player with a lot of talent and probably could have been a special player in this league had he stayed healthy and out of trouble, but he didn't and that's why the Patriots cut ties with him. They don't need anyone, especially arrogant thugs like Hernandez. Everyone in that organization and locker room is a part of this well-oiled machine that has been running beautifully, for the most part, for the better part of this century. They will win games (enough to make the playoffs? YES) and they'll also lose games, and they'll recover from those losses and move on. That's what the Patriots do: they move on, like that girlfriend you wish you never let go. This team has shown to be resilient in the past, and I expect no less from them this season.

Thanks for reading, 

-RB

AFC and NFC Championship Game Predictions

Hello sports fans,
It's Friday and you know what that means, it's 2 days away from Sunday, which means we're only 2 days away from the AFC and NFC championship games. In case you didn't know, in the NFC Championship game the San Francisco 49ers will be heading to the Georgia Dome to take on the Atlanta Falcons and Matt Ryan (he's a Boston kid gotta give him a shout out). In the AFC Championship, the New England Patriots take on the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro. So the moment you've all been waiting for: my predictions for both championship games.

NFC Championship Game: 49ers win, 35-21

I think this will be a pretty good game start to finish, but I think the 49ers have the edge in this one. For starters, Atlanta has shown to have trouble against the run all year long, and the strength of this 49ers team is their power run game behind Frank Gore. Oh yea, and that guy Kaepernick is a pretty good quarterback too. The 49ers run the zone read much better than the Seahawks do, and in the end it will end up destroying the Falcons defense. Colin Kaepernick will be the difference maker, with his legs and with his arm. I've watched him a couple times this year, and man that dude can throw.

In terms of Atlanta's offense against the 49ers D, I don't see it going well for the Falcons. I know the Falcons have weapons across the board with Julio Jones, Roddy White, Tony Gonzalez, and Matt Ryan leads that passing attack, but it just won't work against this defense. You have to be multi dimensional to beat this 49ers team, and the rushing attack of Atlanta is not a huge concern for this defense.

Sorry Falcons fans, but between the dominating 49ers defense and their potent multi dimensional offense lead by Colin Kaepernick, I just can't see the Falcons soaring in this one.


AFC Championship Game: Patriots win 45-21

I'm doing my best to be completely unbiased with this one, so bear with me. Look, I hate predicting wins for the Pats, I think its bad luck. So if they lose this one, I take complete blame. Anyways, I believe I have some good reasons why the Patriots will win this one. Let's look first at the Patriots offense vs the Baltimore D:
The thing that the Patriots do so well, almost to perfection, is run the no huddle offense. When they get into a rhythm, they are VERY hard to beat. What the no huddle does is first off wears down the defense, secondly, since they're moving at such a quick pace the D has no time to huddle, get the right personnel out on the field and call maybe a more complicated blitz or coverage package, instead they'll just go straight up Cover 3 or Cover 2 or Man. Now this is where having Tom Brady helps. Brady can read any coverage you throw at him, and he'll sit and pick u apart all day long. The reason I bring up the no huddle offense is the fact that the Ravens have the 6th oldest defense in the NFL, averaging around 27 years old, and they just came off a came that went into double OT with Denver in the high altitude and had to play a tough game against Indy in the Wild Card round. Do you really think they're not physically, as well as emotionally tired? The amount of energy they exerted in that Denver game to stop Peyton Manning (who picked them apart for most of the game) was probably very, very taxing on them as a unit. If you look at their cornerbacks and secondary, without Ladarius Webb who's out for the year, none of those names beside Ed Reed scare me, and even then Ed Reed is 34 years old. Oh yeah, I haven't even mentioned the running game yet. The Patriots running attack this year is...awesome. That's really the only way to describe it. Between Ridley, Woodhead and Vereen, this is the best running attack that I've seen from the Patriots. They rank 7th in the league in terms of yards per game on the ground. You add this onto the passing attack with Brady, Welker, Lloyd, Hernandez, and I think it's going to be a long day for this Baltimore D.

Now let's look at the Patriots defense against the Baltimore offense, lead by Ray Rice and Joe Flacco:
I actually think this Baltimore offense is very respectable, it can't hold a candle up to the Patriots offense, but it is respectable. That being said, the Patriots defense is so improved from years past, and thank god. With the acquisition of my main man Aqib Talib, the Pats D took a HUGE step forward. We haven't had a guy like Talib who can man up and shut a receiver down, as he did with Andre Johnson last week, since Ty Law. That trade along with Devin McCourty moving to safety and the emergence of Alonzo Dennard as a legit cornerback have helped the Pats drastically this year. Not only did it help the secondary out, but the front 7 improved as well. Our line backers are probably as good a group as there is in the NFL, and our D-line lead by Wilfork makes this defense a legitimate unit, something we haven't seen around here in a while. On Baltimore's side, what they want to do is run the football with Ray Rice to set up the passing game. Flacco clearly has a big arm, as seen in Denver when he threw that miracle to Jacoby Jones in the final seconds of regulation (although that might've been the worst defensive play I've ever seen by Rahim Moore). But where the Patriots hold the advantage is in their ability to stop the run, where they rank 7th in the league. Besides a couple plays where he got big gains, we shut Arian Foster out in 2 games against the Texans. If we can shut down Ray Rice, I'll take my chances with Joe Flacco trying to beat us with his arm.

Final Thoughts: Honestly, I think the Houston Texans are a better team than the Ravens. All across the board there's just more talent than what the Baltimore Ravens have. The difference between the two teams is the leadership in the lockerroom. The Texans have Gary Kubiak, as mediocre a coach there is in the NFL and no big locker room voice. The Ravens, on the other hand, have John Harbaugh and of course Ray Lewis, the emotional leader for this team. Look, I've played football for many years, and of course watched it for longer. The thing I know is that emotion and adrenaline can only get you so far. When you come into a hostile environment like Foxboro, with a offense like the Patriots who can smack you around and get a couple scores on you in the blink of an eye. I believe the Patriots are the far supreme team, top to bottom, and the Ravens won't even know what hit them at the end of the day.


Thank you for reading this very long post and I hope you enjoyed it and learned something new along the way.

Go Pats!
-RB

PS: As you can see, I wrote a tad bit more about the Patriots game than I did the Falcons- Niners game. This is because I know a lot more about the Pats than I do any other team, and I don't really follow the NFC as closely. Sorry to disappoint.