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

Still Stuck on the Patriots loss.

Hello everybody,

Classic Brady...

I'm sitting here on Friday, five days have elapsed since the Patriots lost at the hands of the Baltimore Ravens. I wrote some reaction a day after the game, mostly about Brady, I was pretty heated at the time. The other day on NFL Network they aired the replay of the game, which was pretty weird because I was going to try and find the whole game on the internet that same day because I wanted to watch it for a second time. On Sunday when I was watching it, I was with a bunch of friends, kind of distracted and I missed a couple minutes of the 3rd quarter. I hate missing things, especially in a playoff football game, so I had to go back and watch it again.

While I was watching, I took some notes on what really stuck out to me during the game. What can I say, I'm kind of a football geek. Here's what I came up with after watching the game for the second time...

• Starting off the game in the first half the Pats offense was moving the ball pretty well...
• However, their  no huddle offense was stifled all day. In total, they ran 10 plays for 38 yards in the up tempo offense. If you remember from my prediction I posted before the game, I said that there no huddle offense and running game would be the difference in this game and that the Ravens could not keep with all the weapons the Patriots have on offense. Man I was so wrong...
• The running game was not even a factor for the Pats in this game. The Ravens would sometimes bring in an extra defensive back and dare the Patriots to run, but they continued to try and air it out with Brady which just is not going to work against this defense.
• Tom Brady was inconsistent all game. I don't know if his arm was tired or something, but he repeatedly hurt the offense with his inaccuracy. Numerous times throughout the game he missed his target when receivers were open but he would throw the ball with very unbrady-like accuracy and force his receivers to make tough catches, or the ball wouldn't even be catchable. Not all the blame goes to Brady and the offense, even though they clearly needed to make some plays and get more than 13 points. Some of the blame has to go on the defense...
• In the 1st quarter when Talib came out with a hamstring injury that was a huge blow to the defense and it really showed how much impact Talib has on a game. As soon as he went to the sidelines, the Patriots defense looked like the suspect defenses of the past couple years that we became so fed up with. What Talib brings to the defense is his ability to man up and shut down the oppositions best receiver. When he was on the field, it was clear the entire defensive unit was more confident and aggressive. In his absence, they had to switch up their whole defensive game plan to a more passive, read and react style like the one played before he came this year and in years past. I honestly think this was the biggest downfall for the Patriots in the game. Their defense was clearly not the nearly the same after he left the game.
• Oh yeah, we were also missing Gronk, who is a huge part of our offensive game plan and a huge weapon for Brady, literally. The proof is in the redzone, we got there 4 times and could only score one touchdown. Gronk is a redzone nightmare for defenses, without him we could not match the Ravens physicality and it showed. Gronk would've been a huge help for Brady because clearly Brady needs a 6' 7" target to throw to.
• One thing that really pissed me off is the clock management at the end of the 1st half. First off, Hernandez didn't go out of bounds with 20 seconds left, which every person who has ever played football knows you need to do, and forced them to burn a timeout. After they run a play, Brady tries hustling to the line to call a play rather than call a timeout with 14 seconds, or even spike the ball. This was actually huge in this game. If we could've gotten into the endzone it would've been 20-7 going into the half, completely changing the game. Stupid shit like that you just can't have in the playoffs.
• I have to give the Ravens credit where credit is due, the second half they completely dominated every phase of the game. It started with them running an up tempo offense in the first drive coming out of the half that completely screwed up the Pats d. They ran that to perfection and it ended with a touchdown. Also, Joe Flacco had one of the best games I've seen out of a quarterback in a while. Every throw he made was...breath taking. It was unreal, I completely underestimated Joe Flacco but he proved me and a lot of other people wrong. Even when he missed, the throws were still pretty damn good. He looked calm, confident, poised in the pocket, and continued to make big throw after big throw even while under pressure.
• Back to the Patriots now. The missed opportunities, mistakes that they made, were simply too much to overcome. Things they did in the regular season like converting on third down and scoring touchdowns in the red zone just didn't happen at all. The play that sticks out is obviously the play on 3rd and 8 where Welker dropped a pass that would've given the Pats a first down and maybe they would've scored a touchdown. Or how about in the 3rd quarter when Nate Solder got called for holding on a would-be first down that ended up being 3rd and 12, they couldn't convert, punted the ball to the Ravens in good field position and they score a touchdown on that drive...

Missed opportunities, it's been the story of this team for the past 8 or so seasons, and it's starting to get  in the heads of us loyal Patriots fans. How much longer is Brady and Belicheck's title window open? I don't know, I don't think any one really knows except the men themselves. We probably have a couple more years with a shot, but the window is definitely closing fast. The Patriots must act this offseason, open up the wallets, build for a Super Bowl team that can win NOW, but will also be good for years to come. Here is I believe what the Patriots needs are this offseason:

1. Resign Aqib Talib, Julian Edelman and Danny Woodhead. Aqib makes defense 100 times better. Julian Edelman can replace Welker as the slot receiver, if he can stay healthy. Danny Woodhead is just... Woody, he makes plays when we need him to. He can catch, run and block out of the back field, we definitely should get him back next year.
2. Let Welker go... Father time will catch up to him, he's going to want big money and a long term deal not worth it at his age. Although he's been extremely productive while he's been here, his drops are starting to become a problem. Two huge ones are obviously the most recent Super Bowl against the Giants and the one last week against the Ravens. This year, he lead the league in dropped passes with 15 drops.  I hate to see him leave, but the time has come to move on
3. Get a physical, hard hitting enforcer safety that will put fear into the opponents who come across the middle of the defense, which was very vulnerable this year. Patrick Chung sucks, let's face it, and he's a free agent who will ask for too much, let him go. Gregory was ok this year, but on coverage was very weak and easily exploited by opposing quarterbacks. Let him go and free up some cap space so hopefully we can go out and get a free agent safety (Ed Reed anyone?).   
4. Acquire a big, fast, physical receiver who has deep play capability to stretch the defense and can make tough catches for Brady. Lloyd is not Randy Moss, he isn't the type to stretch the defense down field, he is a much better intermediate, sideline receiver. Get a Randy Moss type player and give Brady yet another weapon.

Listen to me Belicheck I'm a freaking genius *Dr Evil voice*. The Pats need some help this offseason to get over the hump and win another championship. There's some tough decisions that will have to be made and I just pray that they get some quality players and aren't so damn cheap like they've been in the past. Lord knows we need another duckboat parade in Boston.

Thanks for reading,

RB

Manti T'eo, what's up with that??

Hilarious shirt on Barstool Sports

Hello everybody,

Unfortunately I’m still feeling a little sick today, so I’m home from school again. I’m not complaining though, because I get to sit at home and watch Sports Center, First Take and read all these articles and Tweets about Manti T’eo and this unbelievable story that deadspin.com broke yesterday. For those of you who haven’t heard about it, read this article: http://deadspin.com/5976517/manti-teos-dead-girlfriend-the-most-heartbreaking-and-inspirational-story-of-the-college-football-season-is-a-hoax

This story just completely blows my mind. Manti T’eo was probably my favorite player in college football this year. I remember when I heard that he lost both his grandmother and his girlfriend in the course of a day, then 3 days later proceeded to lead Notre Dame with 12 tackles over Michigan State. It was almost surreal, how someone could lose so much in such a short period of time and then go out and play an unbelievable football game. His popularity after that skyrocketed. He was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, all over the news, and it seemed like from that point on he was arguably the most popular college football player in the country. Every time I watched Notre Dame, it seemed there was always a camera on Manti T’eo. Honestly, I was rooting for him to get Heisman. I was inspired by his toughness, intensity, character, faith, and his pure football instincts. When I first heard this story, it was like…huh? I read the deadspin article and I was just so confused. I had to read it again, and again, and watch Sports Center a couple times before coming to an opinion about the situation.

I do think there’s something more to this story than just a “Catfish” situation where he got fooled  into believing someone online was a real person. In my opinion, T’eo was involved with this hoax for his own publicity. I don’t think he did this alone, I think his family helped him in this whole thing. His father is quoted in saying that he met this girl when Manti came home for breaks.  It’s just weird to me, I don’t think Manti is that gullible to get that attached to someone who he met online. He said in an interview he loved her, cared for her deeply, and called her the most beautiful girl he ever met. I understand people get in “relationships” online all the time. I just can’t believe that through all the complications; the leukemia, the treatments she underwent, the car accident she got into, her death and funeral, that he didn’t visit her at all. I just can’t believe T’eo on this one. And it honestly kills me, because I actually like T’eo. But if you connect the dots, you can come to a conclusion that he was somehow involved in  a scheme to promote his own image. I don’t think he’s a bad guy, I don’t think he’s a scumbag or anything like that. If you look at all the evidence presented to us at this time, I just don’t think it’s a “Catfish” type situation, as T’eo and the Notre Dame Athletic Director said it was. In my opinion, Manti T’eo was somehow involved in this for his own image.

This story is just so absurd on so many levels, so I knew I had to write about it. This is just my opinion right now, and as more facts come out maybe my opinion will change. Whatever comes out one thing is for sure, this is one of the most bizarre stories I’ve ever seen. Things happen online with these “Catfish” situations and people making fake accounts online, but nothing of this magnitude with as big of an icon as Manti T’eo involved.

Whatever happens, I just feel bad for the guy. I think he will be a pretty good linebacker in the NFL, wherever he may land. I also think he really is a genuine good guy who should be a role model for young people who play the game of football. He plays football with a certain tenacity, passion and intensity. While also playing a clean and fair game, the way football is meant to be played. In the national championship game against Alabama (Roll Tide!) he was a no show from the get-go. It’s clear he was affected by the investigation of the situation. Also adding to the fact, Alabama was clearly the superior football team in every single way and dominated every facet of the game.

A big question now is whether his draft stock will take a hit because of these circumstances. At this time, you can’t really say what impact it will have. As more and more things come out, maybe it will or won’t affect his draft position. NFL teams want to make sure that if they draft a player that they’re not leaving any stone unturned in terms of character, physical skills and emotional make up of a person. If it comes out that he was somehow involved in this for his own publicity, then it most certainly will hurt him. If it’s discovered that he was just a victim of a huge hoax, then it really shouldn’t hurt him. More and more will come out about this situation, and it should be very interesting to see how it affects Manti T’eo going forward.   

Looking Back on the Patriots Decade of Decadance

 

 

 Today is Tuesday, January 15^th and my New England Patriots will be facing the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Championship game in Foxborough at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, January 20^th. To say I’m wicked pumped for that game is an understatement. Tom Brady and the high octane Patriots offense (minus Gronk) play against Ray Lewis (my favorite player of all time, except when he’s playing the Pats) and a Ravens team that was way to close to beating us last year. Frankly, last year the Patriots got extremely lucky to come out of Foxborough with a win and trip to the Super Bowl. Thank god for Billy Cundiff and Lee Evans.

Well, me being me, I like to analyze the crap out of everything. So, I started thinking about how the Patriots we know and love now came to be a Super-franchise. Most people would probably say that Adam Vinateri hitting that game winning field goal at the end of Super Bowl XXXVI, which is somewhat true. But to really understand how the Patriots dominance came to be, you have to go way before that ever kick ever happened.

One of the biggest, if not THE biggest event in Patriots history would be the trade for Bill Belicheck from the New York Jets. Belicheck was scheduled to take over as the Head Coach for Bill Parcells in 1999, whom he’d worked under for many years. The funny thing is, Bill Belicheck was the head coach of the New York Jets for just a day. HAHA sucks to be you New York! Anyway, Belicheck took over as coach of the Patriots and the rest is history. The weird thing is, he actually didn’t have much success in his first campaign with the Patriots in the 1999-2000 season, posting an unimpressive 5-11 record.

Tom Terrific looking like a stud...

But then in the 2000 NFL Draft, the football gods blessed the New England Patriots with a man named… Adrian Klemm. Just kidding, that was the first guy the Pats took in that draft with the  46^th pick. Of course, I’m talking about the man, the myth, the legend… Tom Brady. Before he was Tom Brady, fashion icon, sex symbol, UGG model (hey they’re pretty comfy)  with a smoking hot wife, he was Tom Brady, a lanky kid from Cali who was probably destined for a life of being a back up his whole career.
He was picked 199^th overall...behind people who would amount to absolutely nothing in the NFL. Tommy boy sat on the bench behind Drew Bledsoe, until one hit from Bo Lewis (He played for the Jets, we steal Belicheck from the Jets, coincidence? I think not.) When Drew Bledsoe went down, and a young Tom Brady stepped in, THAT changed everything. The Patriots would not be in the position they are in today had that not happened.

I, personally, am not what you would call a religious freak. I was brought up Episcopalian, I go to church every once in a while, but I just don’t get the whole church thing. Call me crazy, sacrilegious, whatever. What my “religion” has kind of evolved into is watching football on the day of the Sabbath (hey, god said and on the 7^th day men shall rest, I think). My Sundays in the fall and into the winter for as long as I can remember have involved sitting and watching football, especially my beloved Patriots. I, like many other New Englanders, put my trust into Bill Belicheck and Tom Brady to bring some joy and victory to New England, week after week. And most of the time, it never fails. The New England Patriots have become the bar to which other franchises try to measure up to. On Sunday, they have a chance to go to their 6^th superbowl in the past 13 years. I’m no mathematician or anything, but that means we’ve gotten to the big game almost half the time from the turn of the century.  But back to my religion thing, I am a very firm believer in the Football Gods. They rule over heaven and stadiums, and one day Brady will return to be seated at the right hand of the father, (which is probably Vince Lombardi). It’s as though the Football Gods blessed the Patriots in order for some kind of weird, freakish storyline to occur. Let me break it down….

1. We somehow get Bill Belicheck in 1999, snatching him away from the enemy New York Jets.
2. We somehow end up with Tom Brady in the 6^th round who IS THE GREATEST QUARTERBACK OF ALL TIME. (If anybody wants to debate, just shut up cuz your wrong)
3. Drew Bledsoe goes down with injury.
4. Tom Terrific steps in and works miracles as only Tom Brady can do.
5. AFC Championship Game, 2001 vs Raiders. The infamous Tuck Rule game. Brady fumbles, but again the football gods are on our side, so of course Tommy Boy drives the team down the field, setting up Adam Vinateri with THE best field goal of all time.
6. The underdog Patriots stun the heavily favored “Greatest Show on Turf” St Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXVI.
7. Dynasty...

 

That Superbowl victory was almost biblical, like it was right out of a book. It’s the classic David vs Goliath, David wins, everyone likes him, but David just keeps winning so people just start to hate him. Keep hating everyone, the Patriots are here to stay.

 

So from all of us here on earth, in particular New England, Thank you to the football gods for giving the Pats a little help.

 

O yea, the football gods fucked us with David Tyree, Eli Manning and Mario Manningham...