Good morning, here are your Sunday’s Patriots news 1-28, & AFC East Notes.
The Patriots (via Russell Baxter on PFW FB page) are 54-14 and 59-16 including Super Bowls against the NFC since the 2001 season. Something that should bode well in looking at next week’s game.
Distractions? Not Here: The Patriots are getting prepared to fly out tomorrow for Minneapolis for Super Bowl LII and once again are a game away from the pinnacle of the sport. The team has been all business in their preparation and despite a couple of comments that were highlighted this week, the Eagles are too.
While the rest of America is decidedly sick of the Patriots success, fans here are not. And much of that success has to be attributed to the attitude of Bill Belichick and his coaching staff. They never get too high, too low and keep their focus directly on what is in front of them. That focus carries over to their players.
While many teams are very successful for a year or two, they eventually stumble and fall. The Patriots have been largely immune to that for the past 17 seasons. And now they prepare for their 8th Super Bowl appearance in the Brady/Belichick era. It is crazy how successful they’ve been year after year with different supporting casts. The big game and all the hype will go over the top this week. They are prepared to handle it and the distractions. Not Done Yet.
Shots Across the Bow… From “Friendly Fire” This Week:
The Patriots are used to the barbs by national media members who never fail to pen poison pieces on the team in the week of the big game. The recent piece in ESPN about the supposed “crumbling” of the Belichick/Brady/Kraft relationship that came out just before the Divisional Round of the playoffs wasn’t a coincidence in the element of timing.
This week Dan LeBetard went right up to the line, circled it, put in an exclamation mark but stopped just short of accusing Brady of using PEDs. His only “proof”? That Brady’s age should have him playing poorly now. People forget how impressive Jerry Rice was at 40, at wide receiver no less. But people marveled at his workout regimen. Brady does the same with his guru Alex Guerrero. There are no drugs, the interview Colin Cowherd did with former Bengals WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh should have put that to bed, but we called that well over a month ago that this would be an issue….if the Patriots went to the Super Bowl…Again, surprised? You shouldn’t be.
But now they are taking the shots from within New England. And Murphy’s Rules of Combat apply to the media as they do in warfare…#1 Friendly Fire Isn’t.
One Boston radio personality claimed that David Andrews et al are on Performance Enhancing Drugs (PEDs). Granted this is the same writer who falsely accused the Patriots of filming the Rams walk-thru before SB XXXVI, which now repeated as gospel.
But then another radio voice described Tom Brady’s daughter in his video “Tom vs Time” as “an annoying little pissant” as the first impression of Brady’s video. And this is the station that Brady agrees to come on every Monday during the season.
Finally, another respected writer decided to pen a sarcastic piece about Brady’s video and it was all innocent enough, I read it. But what it suffered from was a horrible lack of timing. Patriots fans, already on edge after a week of having to listen to the ridiculous “the refs gave NE the game” against Jacksonville, coupled with the other three pieces, didn’t get the joke and unloaded on him. They’ve had enough, and aren’t taking it anymore.
What other breaking news should we expect this week? I can hardly wait…
A Double Dynasty? The Results May Play Out Again:
If the Patriots beat the Eagles next Sunday, this will be their second three Super Bowl win in four years scenario. When they completed the first in 2005, they’d won Super Bowls in the 2001, 2003, and 2004 seasons. After the defeat of the Eagles, Belichick, Charlie Weis, and Romeo Crennel shared a hug on the sidelines as both coordinators left for head coaching jobs elsewhere. Success breeds promotions.
Now they are on the edge of doing it again. If they beat the Eagles next Sunday, the Patriots will have won the Super Bowl in the 2014, 2016 and 2017 seasons. Both Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia are expected to leave as offensive and defensive coordinators to take head coaching jobs elsewhere. Assistants Brian Flores and Special Teams’ coach Joe Judge may be gone as well.
So, regardless of what happens, the 2018 version of the Patriots should look decidedly different than the one that takes the field next week. But the two key cogs, Belichick and Brady should be around for one more rodeo at least.
Brady’s “Tom vs Time” is a Peek Inside A Closed World:
In a fascinating, albeit very limited peek into the world of Tom Brady, we finally get a look at what his training regimen looks like, his often painful sessions with Alex Guerrero, and his family up close and personal.
Brady and Gisele Bundchen have kept a very private existence while leading a pretty public life. They don’t hide in the back of limos being driven from place to place with legions of security personnel keeping the public at bay. They’ve kept their discreet home life exactly that and we’ve never been able to see how they interact daily. That has now changed… a bit.
Watching Brady interact with his kids is no different than any of us experience on a daily basis, perhaps not quite in the same type of home, but it decidedly normal. One scene that stood out was Brady driving home after the opening night loss to the Chiefs on Rte 1 and merging onto 95 with Gisele trying to comfort him.
But the workouts and the sessions with Guerrero were fascinating. Even Shannon Sharpe, a noted anti-Patriots’ commentator on television said that those scenes in particular resonated with him. Because it shows the dedication that is needed to not only perform at an elite level in the NFL but to do so at an age where most players are long since retired.
Episode 2 is today…
Chung One of Bill Belichick’s Biggest… and Best Mistakes:
Pat Chung is living proof of the power of second chances. The nine-year veteran has enjoyed a career rebirth in his second stint with the team and shows little sign of slowing down.
Chung was drafted in the 2nd Round of the 2009 NFL Draft and was misused by Bill Belichick as a free safety in his first four seasons. He was considered a bust, and left for the Eagles in a good 3-year contract in 2013. That lasted a year, and Philly released Chung. The news that he was returning to New England wasn’t met with much fanfare by the media or the fanbase.
Chung and Belichick met before he signed and each vowed not to make the same mistakes twice. In his first stint with the team Belichick used Chung as a deep free safety, something he was ill-suited for. Starting in 2014, Belichick moved Chung to the box as a strong safety. There his natural physicality and the ability to stop the run and good ability to cover tight ends has him playing not good, but outstanding in his second go around with the Pats.
Bill Belichick, not one to hand out undue praise called Chung this week, one of the best players in the NFL, not safeties…players. Is that Belichick’s way of further lighting a fire under Chung because he knows he’ll need a big effort from the vet to counter Philadelphia’s excellent TE group? Quite possibly.
But if New England is indeed successful next week, it will be no doubt because of a strong performance from its stellar safety crew. And Belichick’s biggest mistake? Not any longer. Bringing him back was an exercise in self-scouting and the ability to admit he made a mistake in not utilizing a player right and fixing it.
No AFC East notes this week…
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A former US Army Special Forces NCO and Officer, Steve has been following the Patriots since their days at Fenway Park. Steve has worked in the film industry and wrote as an Military Editor at SpecialOperations.com, 1945.com as a reporter for the Millbury Daily Voice, Millbury-Sutton Chronicle, and the Grafton News. He's also a member of the Pro Football Writers of America (PFWA)
