New England will be on the road in Week 12 against the Philadelphia Eagles in the city of brotherly love. Injuries will be a big factor in this one, as both secondaries are banged up. As of now, many players on the Pats defense are questionable in terms of their availability for Sunday's game. These players include safety Pat Chung and cornerback Devin Mccourty. Defensive backs from the Eagles including Cromartie and Asomugha are also questionable to play. Quarterback Micheal Vick is doubtful with injured ribs. Considering these injuries to key players, health will play an important role in the outcome of this game.
The Eagles offense will have to put up some big numbers if they want to keep up with Tom Brady. They also need this win to stay alive in the playoff hunt. For the Patriots defense, it all boils down to execution. I'm sure the coaches will lead the players into the right direction, but will they be able to do what they have been doing over the last couple of weeks against the Jets and Chiefs? They must be able to collapse the pocket and make Vince Young uncomfortable. As a result of this, Young will probably make some bad decisions with the football. Hopefully, the Patriots can capitalize on that and cause turnovers and three and outs. One player the defense must neutralize is running back LeSean McCoy, who leads the league in most rushing categories. Look for Jerod Mayo to fill up the stat sheet with tackles, and I wouldn't be surprised if Arrington continues to impress. Controlling the line will be critical against Philadelphia's physical running game.
The special teams will need some attention in this game because both teams have an explosive and dangerous return team. The Eagles have Desean Jackson, while the Patriots have Julian Edelman. It will be interesting to see if the Patriots elect to kick to Jackson or not. They'll have to consider the weather conditions while they decide what to do. The same goes for the Eagles. Julian Edelman has definitely showed his talent on special teams, and recently, on defense too. He is the more complete player because of his tackling ability, but this doesn't mean that Jackson isn't a threat.
Look for the Patriots to have a pretty good day on offense against the Eagles defense. On paper, they look like the best defense in the league with 3 very good cornerbacks. But their defense as a whole has not lived up to its dream team potential. They have been pretty inconsistent all season, and have given up leads in the fourth quarter at home multiple times. In addition, two out of those three cornerbacks are questionable to play due to injuries. And if they do play, the Patriots will surely test those players who won't be 100 percent healthy. Look for Tom Brady to continue to spread the defense by passing to multiple receivers and backs. I think they will try to take away Gronkowski, since he has been so successful of late, so Deion Branch, Wes Welker, and Aaron Hernandez will most likely be facing man coverage for the most part of this game, which will increase their chances of success.
My prediction is that the Patriots will win by 3-10 points.
Saturday, November 26, 2011
As expected, the Patriots were able to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs, despite a really slow start on offense. The final score was 34-3, and this was a good win for the Pats. They will look to continue this type of success against under-performing teams for the rest of the regular season, as they have the easiest remaining schedule in the NFL. And the quarterback competition doesn't really get too challenging either, as the Patriots still have to play teams like the Indianapolis Colts, led by quarterback Curtis Painter, who is in place of injured superstar Peyton Manning. This will give the defense a chance to get their confidence up, and to me its really a win-win situation, as the Patriots are likely to get the AFC's top playoff seed, which would give them home-field advantage until the Superbowl if they can get that far. People who say that bad quarterback competition will make the defense worse might be forgetting that this defense goes against Tom Brady in practice, who is no mediocre passer. In my opinion, they will not only get their confidence up against poor competition, but this will help them win as many games as possible, which in turn will help them in the playoffs since they will be playing at Gillette Stadium, which is their comfort zone. And take last season for an example, the Pats had one of the tougher schedules in the league, but they ended up losing in the first round against Mark Sanchez and the Jets. In this way, a harder regular season schedule doesn't mean anything in the playoffs, because well, the playoffs are the playoffs, not the regular season.
Now, its time to look into this win against the Chiefs. There were a lot of good things I saw and I expected that this would happen. However, the Pats will have to figure out how to get the offense going in the early part of the game. They were forced to punt the ball away way too many times early in this one, and they can't afford to do this against tougher teams with better offenses. Despite the slow start, the offense was able to redeem itself in the second half. Tom Brady was good with over 200 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, and 0 turnovers. Both of his touchdowns went to Rob Gronkowski, who once again was able to free himself from loose coverage down the field. Green-Ellis pitched in well as he ran for 81 yards on 20 carries. The running game was key in the 4th quarter as the Patriots offense was able to run out the clock by maintaining possession of the ball. New running back Vereen also looked good as he ran for a touchdown. Most of these things were expected for the offense as they were playing against an average defense without key players like safety Eric Berry. It's a good thing that the Patriots didn't underestimate them, as they will have to continue to stay motivated against some bad teams down the stretch of this regular season.
The Patriots special teams had one of their best games of the season. Versatile players like Julian Edelman stepped up in a big way. Edelman not only returned a punt for a touchdown, but he made some key tackles for the kicking teams. They will need his contribution against explosive returners like Desean Jackson of the Eagles. The defense also played well, and once again, the pass rush provided a chain reaction. Since the defense was able to get to Tyler Palko on numerous plays, he was rushed to make some poor decisions. Kyle Arrington had two interceptions, and he leads the league with seven on the season. Giving up only 3 points against any team is always a good sign. And the Patriots' performance on Monday night is another sign of good things to come.
Now, its time to look into this win against the Chiefs. There were a lot of good things I saw and I expected that this would happen. However, the Pats will have to figure out how to get the offense going in the early part of the game. They were forced to punt the ball away way too many times early in this one, and they can't afford to do this against tougher teams with better offenses. Despite the slow start, the offense was able to redeem itself in the second half. Tom Brady was good with over 200 yards passing, 2 touchdowns, and 0 turnovers. Both of his touchdowns went to Rob Gronkowski, who once again was able to free himself from loose coverage down the field. Green-Ellis pitched in well as he ran for 81 yards on 20 carries. The running game was key in the 4th quarter as the Patriots offense was able to run out the clock by maintaining possession of the ball. New running back Vereen also looked good as he ran for a touchdown. Most of these things were expected for the offense as they were playing against an average defense without key players like safety Eric Berry. It's a good thing that the Patriots didn't underestimate them, as they will have to continue to stay motivated against some bad teams down the stretch of this regular season.
The Patriots special teams had one of their best games of the season. Versatile players like Julian Edelman stepped up in a big way. Edelman not only returned a punt for a touchdown, but he made some key tackles for the kicking teams. They will need his contribution against explosive returners like Desean Jackson of the Eagles. The defense also played well, and once again, the pass rush provided a chain reaction. Since the defense was able to get to Tyler Palko on numerous plays, he was rushed to make some poor decisions. Kyle Arrington had two interceptions, and he leads the league with seven on the season. Giving up only 3 points against any team is always a good sign. And the Patriots' performance on Monday night is another sign of good things to come.
Monday, November 7, 2011
The Patriots will face the New York Jets in New York during Week 10 of the NFL regular season. Not many times do the Pats go against New York teams back to back in the span of a single season. It is going to be quite interesting to see how this one plays out, and what might be even more interesting is seeing what New York Jets head coach will have up his sleeve before, during, and after the game. Rex Ryan is not shy to say the least. He believes his team has a chance to win every season, and I honestly don't blame him. If the Jest fly under the radar and somehow turn it up in the playoffs like they have been doing over the last few years, they have the same amount of chances to win a Superbowl as the undefeated Green Bay Packers.
I don't expect Q.B. Mark Sanchez to tear up the Patriots defense, but he will surely put up 20-25 points against the leagues worst defense. Stopping the running game and receivers including Santonio Holmes is going to be key for the Patriots defense, but nothing leads me to believe that they will be able to do either of these things. The Pats may have a chance if the defense can hold the Jets to field goals instead of touchdowns, which they were incapable of doing against the Giants in the 4th quarter. Players like corner back Kyle Arrington have been way too inconsistent to make me think that the defense will perform at a high level this Sunday.
A question has been asked several times by people around the NFL over the last few weeks? Is there now a "blueprint" for defenses on how to rattle Tom Brady and the offense? We have seen the Cowboys, Steelers, and the Giants manage to keep the Pats offense under control in consecutive weeks. I know that Rex Ryan is fully capable of doing the same thing, because he has proved this in the past. Only time will tell how the Pats will try to combat the schemes of opposing defenses. This is because recently, nothing they have tried has worked as good as it was in the beginning of the season when they were scoring 30 plus points on any defense.
Although schemes and other variables are always important, the Patriots biggest problem over the last 3 weeks has been overall execution. For example, we all know the following:
The Patriots offense is talented.
The Patriots defense is still good enough to win games.
The coaching and special teams are not areas of extreme concern, because they have been pretty average throughout this season.
Overall, we know these things are true. But the problem is inconsistency and a lack of execution. One week the defense under performs, while the other week it is surprisingly good. We know they are capable of doing it, they just haven't been able to execute the game plan consistently. As simple as this problem may seem, getting the job done is one of the more difficult things to do week in and week out in this league.
I don't think the Patriots will win this game judging from their play from previous weeks. And New York's recent impressive road win against Buffalo also leads me to believe that they can beat the Pats. But this doesn't mean the season is lost!
Jets 26, Patriots 21
I don't expect Q.B. Mark Sanchez to tear up the Patriots defense, but he will surely put up 20-25 points against the leagues worst defense. Stopping the running game and receivers including Santonio Holmes is going to be key for the Patriots defense, but nothing leads me to believe that they will be able to do either of these things. The Pats may have a chance if the defense can hold the Jets to field goals instead of touchdowns, which they were incapable of doing against the Giants in the 4th quarter. Players like corner back Kyle Arrington have been way too inconsistent to make me think that the defense will perform at a high level this Sunday.
A question has been asked several times by people around the NFL over the last few weeks? Is there now a "blueprint" for defenses on how to rattle Tom Brady and the offense? We have seen the Cowboys, Steelers, and the Giants manage to keep the Pats offense under control in consecutive weeks. I know that Rex Ryan is fully capable of doing the same thing, because he has proved this in the past. Only time will tell how the Pats will try to combat the schemes of opposing defenses. This is because recently, nothing they have tried has worked as good as it was in the beginning of the season when they were scoring 30 plus points on any defense.
Although schemes and other variables are always important, the Patriots biggest problem over the last 3 weeks has been overall execution. For example, we all know the following:
The Patriots offense is talented.
The Patriots defense is still good enough to win games.
The coaching and special teams are not areas of extreme concern, because they have been pretty average throughout this season.
Overall, we know these things are true. But the problem is inconsistency and a lack of execution. One week the defense under performs, while the other week it is surprisingly good. We know they are capable of doing it, they just haven't been able to execute the game plan consistently. As simple as this problem may seem, getting the job done is one of the more difficult things to do week in and week out in this league.
I don't think the Patriots will win this game judging from their play from previous weeks. And New York's recent impressive road win against Buffalo also leads me to believe that they can beat the Pats. But this doesn't mean the season is lost!
Jets 26, Patriots 21
Well, it is what it is. The New England Patriots lost to the New York football Giants in just about the worst way you could possibly lose a regular season game. The final score was close as I predicted, but New York came out on top, 24-20. Yes, there are games where the officiating is just atrocious, but to almost relive Superbowl 42 is nothing less than a nightmare for Patriots Nation. Its like the worst deja vu ever. With these two huge back to back regular season losses, the Pats see the number in their loss column creeping up, and many of the long winning streaks have come to an epic end. Those snapped streaks include Brady's 31 game winning streak at home, and the Pats 20 game regular season winning streak at home. Brady and Belichick are also stuck tied for most wins as a duo all-time at 116. Does all of this mean the season is headed down the drain, and that the Patriots dynasty days are finally over? Let's find out.
Mirroring the defensive schemes they used in Superbowl 42, the Giants were able to make Tom Brady look mortal for just enough time to escape Gillette Stadium with a very impressive victory. As most people expected, the pass rush got to Brady, but I think the offense did a good job when it counted and they surely did enough to help the team win the game. It is safe to say that Wes Welker is off his mini-slump, so that is also good news for the Pats offense going forward. In terms of the running game, the Patriots really came out with a good approach in the early going, but failed to control the possession of the ball down the stretch against the leagues worst run defense. They should have definitely mixed in some more run plays to open up the passing game, which would also allow them to be effective in play action.
At this point there really isn't much left to say about the defense. The best word to describe their entire defense as a whole is inconsistent. The coaching style is inconsistent, the play and execution is inconsistent, and I don't even know if I can say that the Patriots have a pass rush without making a fool out of myself. Like I previously mentioned, it is what it is, and I honestly don't know how they will go about improving their defense. They have went from doing enough to help win the game, to committing foolish penalties that lead to opposing game winning drives, and that dreadful Eli Manning fist pump.
Despite all of this, playoff spots are still up for grabs, as the Patriots remain tied for first place in the division. But if this continues, Pats fans won't see any action for their team in the playoffs. The only positive thing one can take from this game is that the Patriots aren't out of it until they mathematically can't make the playoffs. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being the underdog in the playoffs. The first goal of a team should be to make the playoffs. And as we all know, anything can happen after that. Why don't we just ask Aaron Rodgers and company to give us an example of such a situation.
Mirroring the defensive schemes they used in Superbowl 42, the Giants were able to make Tom Brady look mortal for just enough time to escape Gillette Stadium with a very impressive victory. As most people expected, the pass rush got to Brady, but I think the offense did a good job when it counted and they surely did enough to help the team win the game. It is safe to say that Wes Welker is off his mini-slump, so that is also good news for the Pats offense going forward. In terms of the running game, the Patriots really came out with a good approach in the early going, but failed to control the possession of the ball down the stretch against the leagues worst run defense. They should have definitely mixed in some more run plays to open up the passing game, which would also allow them to be effective in play action.
At this point there really isn't much left to say about the defense. The best word to describe their entire defense as a whole is inconsistent. The coaching style is inconsistent, the play and execution is inconsistent, and I don't even know if I can say that the Patriots have a pass rush without making a fool out of myself. Like I previously mentioned, it is what it is, and I honestly don't know how they will go about improving their defense. They have went from doing enough to help win the game, to committing foolish penalties that lead to opposing game winning drives, and that dreadful Eli Manning fist pump.
Despite all of this, playoff spots are still up for grabs, as the Patriots remain tied for first place in the division. But if this continues, Pats fans won't see any action for their team in the playoffs. The only positive thing one can take from this game is that the Patriots aren't out of it until they mathematically can't make the playoffs. There is absolutely nothing wrong with being the underdog in the playoffs. The first goal of a team should be to make the playoffs. And as we all know, anything can happen after that. Why don't we just ask Aaron Rodgers and company to give us an example of such a situation.
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