Good morning, here is your Sunday Patriots news 01-05 and AFC East notes this week.
With the Patriots eliminated from the playoffs by the Titans, it marks the first time they won’t be in an AFC Championship Game since the 2010 season when the Jets beat them in the divisional round.
Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:
Richard Seymour – The former Patriot defensive lineman is once again a finalist for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Big Sey is more than deserving and he was truly dominant in the middle of the Patriots defense and was an integral part of three Super Bowl championships here in New England.
Here’s hoping that he gets the call from Canton and will be wearing a gold jacket this summer.
Julian Edelman – ThePatriots wide receiver always has some great video content that he drops on the fans before big games and this week was no exception. The video that he posted this week was one of his best and Patriots fans, if you haven’t seen it yet, should check it out.
Earn it. Every down. Every drive. #GottaBelieve pic.twitter.com/4LdGgUesHO
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) January 4, 2020
Tom Brady – Not to be outdone, Tom Brady had an even better one, narrated by Christopher Walken… the only thing missing was the quote from Man on Fire, “he’s about to paint his masterpiece”….
It’s too late to be scared. pic.twitter.com/Yv6GRDrqtR
— Tom Brady (@TomBrady) January 4, 2020
Antonio Brown – Took to Instagram to take a shot at the Patriots and Bill Belichick. With the Patriots losing he tweeted a picture of he and Belichick hugging with the hashtag “What Could Of Been #YouChangedOnMe, #LookAtMeNow, #ABForPresident.”
4th & 2 Podcast – If you’ve haven’t checked out our PatsFans.com podcast, “Patriots 4th & 2” in a bit, Please do check it out.
Brady Puts Retirement Speculation At “Pretty Unlikely”:
With the game winding down against the Titans, the talk picked up, which had talked about all week ad nauseam “Is this the last game for Tom Brady with the Patriots?” And it took Brady all of about five seconds to be asked that if he was going to return.
“Just very grateful for the experience playing this year for the team, this organization, and over the course of my career, too. I appreciate it. I hope I’ve always tried to do the right thing out there. Who knows what the future holds? So I’ll leave it at that.”
“I just don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said, “and I’m not going to predict it. And no one needs to make choices at this point. I love playing football. I love playing football for this team. I’ve loved playing for this team for two decades and winning a lot of games. And again, I don’t know what it looks like moving forward, so we’ll just take it day by day.”
We won’t really know anything for the next two months because Brady doesn’t become a free agent until March. But at this point, it would make no sense for the Patriots to move on from him unless they feel Jarrett Stidham was ready to be the next Brady. With a better receiving core around him in 2020, there is no reason the Patriots can’t be right back in the mix. But there is a slew of other free agents to make decisions on as well.
NFL Releases Non-Statement on Video Taping Flap:
Unless you’ve been living under a rock or in Timbuktu, you’ll have noticed the NFL has been once again dragging its collective feet when it comes to an investigation regarding the Patriots. ESPN’s Adam Schefter was the first to release the NFL statement that they’re continuing this latest flap. “The investigation is ongoing and there has been no discussion of any potential discipline. Any suggestion of potential discipline or a timeline on an announcement is pure speculation.”
Last week, it was widely reported that “NFL investigators were frustrated that attempts to link the video crew with football operations”, think about that for a second. Instead of investigating whether there was a link or not. They were frustrated that there wasn’t.
While Schefter posted this statement, he also did a 180 and speculated on possible punishment by listing infractions by Cleveland and Atlanta that all had to do with football operations. Hmm, think he knows something?
NFL Schedule Wildcard Weekend, Who Are Your Winners:
How are you feeling about the games this week? We have a post on our PatsFans Forum where our readers can predict the slate of games for that week. I did it on our weekly Sunday column here and will post it up below. Here is the link if you’d care to pick your own: https://www.patsfans.com/new-england-patriots/messageboard/picks/
Last Week:8-8
Final Regular Season:162-93-1
Wild Card Weekend:
Saturday – Buffalo over Houston
Tennessee over New England 1-1
Sunday – New Orleans over Minnesota
Philadelphia over Seattle
Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:
Bills Miss Golden Opportunity to Advance:
The Buffalo Bills had dominated their road playoff game against the Houston Texans for better than 40 minutes, where it appeared they were destined to win and move on. But everything changed in an instant and they went home frustrated and still winless in the postseason since 1995. The Bills lost to Houston in overtime 22-19.
“We had opportunities to win the game and we came up short,” said coach Sean McDermott. “Not an easy thing, not an easy pill to swallow this time of year. A lot of pain in that locker room.”
The Bills had everything going their way until a sack by JJ Watt that forced Buffalo to kick a field goal to go up 16-0 lit a fire in the Houston sideline. If Buffalo goes up 20-0 there it is likely game over. But it woke up the Texans offense who were dead until then but were on fire after that.
Still, the chances were there in overtime, they stopped Houston and were moving toward a game-winning field goal when they were stopped by a bad penalty. Then two huge breakdowns by their normally outstanding defense put the Texans in chip shot field goal range. It was a tough, tough loss for a team that is trending upwards.
Dolphins #1 Need in 2020? A Franchise QB:
The Miami Dolphins started the season 0-7 and were embarrassed early in the season which had some wondering if they would tank the season for Tua. But Brian Flores wasn’t interested in the #1 pick and his players believed in him and what he’s trying to build in South Beach. The Dolphins finished 5-4 down the stretch and are still in decent position in the draft.
With plenty of cash under the cap, the Dolphins need to decide if one of these QBs coming out is a guy they feel they can build their team around for the next decade. Josh Rosen obviously isn’t going to be that guy, but veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick has more than showed enough for Flores that he can be the steady veteran presence that can be a bridge until whoever they decide on is ready to go.
Free-spending Jets Back to Square One:
The New York Jets parted ways with former GM Mike Maccagnan last June, but not before he spent a boatload of money in free agency. Now, GM Joe Douglas is put in the same position the Jets were in for the past several years. They have holes abounding in their roster and have a lot of free agents hitting the market.
But the Jets really need help along the offensive line where they could use three new starters, in the secondary, and at edge rusher. Although they have about $60 million in cap space with potentially a third more if they cut some contracts, they have 22 free agents of their own this spring. And two of them are going to command some big money.
Safety Jamal Adams won’t come cheaply this spring and although he’s not a free agent yet, the time to resign him is now before he hits the market. He’s slated to make $3.5 million in 2020 and will be looking for a new deal. How much? I think the Jets would begin with how much Landon Collins got (6-year, $84 million, $44.5 million guaranteed) as the starting spot. That won’t be bargain-basement territory.
Neither will WR Robby Anderson, who has the speed that all teams are coveting these days. At only 26 and with 52 catches in 2019, he’s a guy who can play, but at what cost? If I’m the Patriots, I’d kick the tires on Anderson if he hits the open market. A 6’3 WR with speed is a good thing to have.
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“We gave up 14 points tonight but in this game, it was too much. Weren’t able to get the ball back at the end. There were a lot of good things, but just not quite good enough tonight and that’s what it was. I have a ton of respect for this football team, these guys competed all year, everybody, all three units. We played hard and just came up a little bit short tonight. – Bill Belichick on the play of the defense in the second half. It was somewhat telling when Belichick said 14 points was too much.
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“So, how was your 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)
