Red hot, Patriots maintain their understated attitude

[Box_O_Rocks]

http://www.startribune.com/510/story/773278.html

Good luck getting a New England Patriot to compare this year's quietly successful 5-1 team to the franchise's three Super Bowl champions.

"Oh, I don't know," center Dan Koppen said. "We really don't do that stuff around here. Past teams, past years. They don't mean much, really."
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"We just play the game," linebacker Mike Vrabel said.

"You can't compare apples and oranges," safety Rodney Harrison said.

OK. How about another really big-name player?

"You got the wrong guy, dude," running back Corey Dillon said. "I don't talk." Hmm.
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The Patriots enter Monday night's game at the Metrodome as one of only five teams with fewer than two losses. But they also rank in the bottom half of the league in nine of the 34 main statistical categories the NFL tracks, including passing (22) and pass defense (20).

Then again, who cares? This is the Patriots, and, of course, they're winning.
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"I don't think there is anything magic to it," Belichick said. "Basically, we just tried to follow a blueprint, get players that we felt like fit our system and would be able to do the things both on and off the field that we would require them to do."
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"I would say there is probably nobody that's done a better job than Bill over the course of time that he's been in New England at instilling the team concept," Childress said. "There really is an unselfish attitude there."

Over the years, the Patriots also have been exceptional at reloading after injuries and defections by core starters.
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Maybe late Monday the Patriots will be able to compare themselves to those Super Bowl champs. Probably not.

"It's just too early," Koppen said. "We still have a lot of work to do before we can even talk about being like those other teams."

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Vikings still among those striving to be the Pats
http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/10-06/10-30-06/15sports.htm

The New England Patriots are still the standard in this league that all others strive for, a model of salary cap management, successful drafts and on-field consistency this decade that hasn't been matched.
Teams are sure trying, though.
Take the Minnesota Vikings, who no longer introduce individual starters before their home games, preferring instead to run out together.
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"It's an approach that I think we're buying into," said linebacker Ben Leber, who left San Diego to join Minnesota this year. "I think everybody knew at the beginning of the season what we were. We've heard the people talking, 'You guys don't have a big-name guy,' and all that. And we were OK with that. ... We knew it was just a matter of time before we could be successful, too."
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That includes Corey Dillon and rookie Laurence Maroney, who have rushed for a combined 689 yards. They're up against a defense that has risen to the league's top ranking in yards rushing allowed with a mere 70.8 per game.
"That's what great defenses do," Leber said. "Really, it's just been all the way down to fundamentals. The front four has been getting after it. ... We're playing good ball right now, and I just hope we can keep it running."

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Pats to battle mighty Norsemen
http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17395953&BRD=1710&PAG=461&dept_id=353135&rfi=6

After winning their first four division games against AFC East rivals, the New England Patriots will travel to Minnesota on tonight for the first of four match-ups with NFC North opponents.
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[Tom Brady]"You can't look past anybody. This team is a terrific team we're playing. They play especially well at home. They're tops in their league in pretty much every defensive statistical category. They could've easily won the two games they lost. We're certainly not looking past them. We never look past anybody. This week is no different."
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"We watched film on them and they have a great defense," Maroney said. "We just have to go out there and run off of what we see."
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"They're the best in the league based on what everyone says," Patriots defensive end Jarvis Green said. "With McKinnie on the same side at 340 pounds and 6-foot-8, that's a lot of weight over there - 600 pounds plus. They've also got some pretty big guys on the left side. It's a dominating team. We know they're going to run the ball."
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[Brad Childress] "We had the benefit of playing some 3-4 (defensive) teams in the preseason, but it's not something that you practice against every day. That's not what we do. Their top three guys are substantial. It's hard to move them out of the way one-on-one."
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"He's hitting his receivers," Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi said of Johnson. "He has some good receivers that are doing a great job. What he's doing is when he doesn't see a receiver down field, he'll dump it off to his tight ends or running backs. He does a great job of that.
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The Vikings expect to see a similar game plan from Tom Brady, who has connected with 11 different receivers this year and is ranked 12th in the league in passing.

"Not only does he know where all his people are - and he should - he does a great job of identifying defenses and knowing what he's facing and what's going to beat that," Childress said. "I think he has a great, natural slide in the pocket. He doesn't get out of whack fundamentally. He keeps his shoulders perpendicular to the line of scrimmage, throws a very good deep ball and he has the ability to throw on time."
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"They've really played pretty well in every game," Belichick said. "I don't know how they lost to the Bears or Buffalo. I think they were the better team in those two games as well."

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Vikings' weapons making Pats weary
http://www.projo.com/patriots/content/projo_20061030_30pats.32a5538.html

All week, as his team prepared to face the Minnesota Vikings tonight in Minneapolis, New England coach Bill Belichick mentioned how grateful he was to have an extra day to prepare.
Belichick mentioned Minnesota's massive offensive line, the steady-if-not-spectacular play of quarterback Brad Johnson, the running of Chester Taylor, the strengths of corners Antoine Winfield and Fred Smoot.
The Pats' coach even commented that the Vikings would be fun to watch if New England wasn't about to face them on the field.
Of course, Belichick talked up the Buffalo Bills, as well, 10 days ago, and we all know how that turned out: a 28-6 Patriots win that New England controlled from start to finish.
So maybe it's all smoke and mirrors.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Patriots at home in any dome
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/today/s_477344.html

The Metrodome is always loud on game day.
The din can be deafening and the building has been known to shake, giving the Minnesota Vikings one of the most intimidating home-field advantages in the league.

But when game day gives way to game night, like it will on Monday when the New England Patriots come to town, it's another environment altogether.
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[Jim Kleinsasser] "Those fans get revved up and come into the dome, it's going to be tough for other teams to play."

If any team can handle it, it's the Patriots.

 

[psychoPat]

Great editorial judgment, Box!

Not only finds the stories i'd miss ...
but digests them
so well that we have time to read other threads too.

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

Tony Adams previews the New England Patriots visit to the Minnesota Vikings...
http://sportsedge.vip.com/archives/2006/10/pats_at_vikings_1.html

Minnesota is one of the toughest road venues in the NFL, but the trip to Minneapolis holds no fear for this battle hardened New England squad.
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On paper, there is little difference between the teams.
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...Tom Brady has regained his confidence and is working well with his receivers.
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After missing the playoffs last year, the Vikings brought in a new coaching staff and have been among the most disciplined teams in the NFC.
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While quarterback, Brad Johnson has been solid, without being brilliant this year, he will not be able to rely on Taylor to move the ball on offense. Minnesota will need to make several big passing plays down the field to win this game.

Disciplined? I seem to recall the Vikes led the league in penalties prior to this weekend...

 

[bishbash]

Good stuff, Box'!
(and Thanx for the Cliff Notes versions!)

 

[Box_O_Rocks]

http://www.telegram.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061030/NEWS/610300392/1009/SPORTS

The Patriots are 5-1 and winners of three straight. The offense looked somewhat sharper last week against Buffalo, and the defense continues to be outstanding in the one area that matters most, that being points surrendered.

But four of those wins have come over AFC LEast teams. The other was against a Cincinnati club that continues to send mixed signals about its authenticity.
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The Vikings have not only scored first in each of their six games, they’ve scored on all six of their opening drives. But what Belichick didn’t mention is their propensity for surrendering the lead.
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While most of Minnesota’s wide receivers are in a questionable state of health, the 5-foot-11, 213-pound Taylor has never looked stronger — and faster, as evidenced by the 95-yard touchdown run he dropped on the Seahawks.
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The Minnesota run defense has given up an NFL-low 70.8 yards a game and should provide quite a test for Corey Dillon and Laurence Maroney, who played his college ball at the University of Minnesota. Maroney knows the Metrodome — the Golden Gophers calling it home as well — but isn’t worried about noise being a factor.

 

[SVN]

http://vikings.scout.com/2/584800.html

But don’t tell the Patriots they are a team without superstars. Coaches and players bristle at those comments.

“I don’t really know where all of that is coming from. I never said that. We just tried to put together a good football team,†said Belichick, who is the only coach to win three Super Bowls in a four-year span. “I think we’ve got a lot of good players, guys that work hard. Football is important to them, they’ve been very productive players in this league for a number of years and they’ve had a lot of individual and we’ve had a lot of team success. You can call them whatever you want to call them, but I think they’re pretty good football players.â€

Safety Rodney Harrison seemed downright offended by that “no superstars†line of questioning.

“I don’t know what’s a superstar, but I know (Tedy) Bruschi, myself, you look at Richard Seymour, Tom Brady, Larry Izzo, Corey Dillon, all of those guys have been across the water to Hawaii. When you say superstars, we like when the league says that because you know what? You just keep underestimating us and it’s going to keep feeding us before we get hungrier and hungrier,†Harrison said. “If you want to say we’re a bunch of average players or old guys that just work hard or just overachieve, then it’s all good. We’ll just keep going out there doing what we do and we’ll see what happns on Sundays.â€

Pissed off rodney is always good.

 

[DefenseRules]

http://vikings.scout.com/2/584800.html


Pissed off rodney is always good.

Yes it is. It's good for us and bad for them. :rocker: