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CLICK HERE to Register for a free account and login for a smoother ad-free experience. It's easy, and only takes a few moments."I'm feeling better. I think I showed yesterday that I was able to go out there and practice, and I'm practicing today," McCourty said in the locker room Friday morning. "I always want to play, each Sunday. We don't get many opportunities to go out and play, so any time we do, I want to be out there."
"They've captured magic in a bottle this season," Dilfer said. "They used to come at you with four to six different formations. Now, they have so many variations, one tight end, two tight ends, three tight ends. I just broke down the recent Jets game. In their first 27 regular plays -- I excluded three goal-line plays -- they showed 27 different formations and at least a dozen different personnel groupings.
So, back to our question: How do you beat these Patriots?
Dilfer cites the New Orleans Saints' 38-17 rout of the Patriots in 2009, a milestone on coach Sean Payton's march to the Super Bowl XLIV title.
"[New Orleans defensive coordinator] Gregg Williams forced Brady to go where he wanted him to go. Through blitzing and coverage schemes, you can see their pattern: We don't want Brady to throw the ball to A. We can live with B. If he makes a mistake trying to go from B to C, we'll get home and hit him.
"The whole key is disrupting the starting point. If you can do it, you've thrown off the entire mechanism by which they're successful."
Who are the leading candidates?
The Ravens, of course, and the Steelers can give New England a game at Gillette Stadium. One scout believes that the Kansas City Chiefs might prove a difficult playoff match.
Two potent NFC teams, the Saints and Philadelphia Eagles, seem positioned to give the Patriots the most trouble; they appear to be capable of winning a 35-33 game on a neutral field, say, Super Bowl XLV at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas?
"It's the only thing these young players have left on their check list," Bruschi said. "Can they win a big regular-season game? Check. Can they come back after a bad loss? Check. Can they win the division? Looks like a check. The last one is, can you win in the playoffs?
"If they can do that consistently, they'll be raising another banner."
And for some reason the image of the Pats on ESPN associated with this article cracked me up.
And for some reason the image of the Pats on ESPN associated with this article cracked me up.
One funny thing -- on this dreadlock-happy team, the guy in the lower right could be almost anybody.
One funny thing -- on this dreadlock-happy team, the guy in the lower right could be almost anybody.
One funny thing -- on this dreadlock-happy team, the guy in the lower right could be almost anybody.
The facial hair is a giveaway that it's the BJGE though.
And for some reason the image of the Pats on ESPN associated with this article cracked me up.
One funny thing -- on this dreadlock-happy team, the guy in the lower right could be almost anybody.
But who's the guy holding the football with the nice hair cut
But who's the guy holding the football with the nice hair cut