Tag Archives: New York Jets

New England Patriots News 12-08, AFC East Notes

Steve Balestrieri
December 8, 2019 at 5:00 am ET

Good morning, here is your Sunday Patriots news 12-08 and AFC East notes this week. 

Gameday! The Patriots are back at home to take on the Chiefs in the late afternoon game later today. 

Yesterday was Pearl Harbor Day and we paused to remember those Americans who died that day as we were thrust into World War II. Today, 78 years ago, we declared war on Japan and the world changed forever. 

The weather isn’t supposed to be a factor in Foxboro this week for a change and the Patriots finish with three of their final four games at home. With KC, Buffalo, and Miami on the slate, they only travel to Cincinnati to finish off the year. 

 Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:

Nick Folk – The veteran kicker is back with the team according to ESPN’s Field Yates. Folk suffered appendicitis and was released for Kai Forbath But after one week, and an extra point miss, Forbath is gone and Folk is back. 

Dez Bryant – Is the latest contestant for “Whose Name Can We Throw at a Wall at WR?” Dez Bryant! Come on Down! Please stop with the nonsense, the team is going to bring in a guy who doesn’t know the offense and has played for two years with a month to go in the season? Ah, we’ll take the under.

Some of the tweets this week have been unintentionally hilarious. I saw two different folks begging Kraft to allow AB to return as “Patriots Nation is suffering”, sorry, but if there is one fan base that ISN’T suffering it is this one. 

Bart Scott –  Is the latest NFL player that seemingly has a future in politics. Just like nearly every candidate has a preponderance to spout “facts” without checking, Scott was the latest hot take artist to firmly place his foot in his mouth (again). “They’ve (Patriots) never won when they had to go on the road!” Sounds great on tape for the anti-NE crowd. But rewind to January…AFCCG in Arrowhead. Not to mention not one but two conference title games in Pittsburgh…oops.

My Cause, My Cleats – Lots of good entries from the Patriots this season. I like all of them. But sorry, Alejandro Villanueva of Pittsburgh gets my vote with a cause that close to my heart, (and one I’ve donated to), the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. 

Villanueva was a Lieutenant in the 75th Ranger Regiment and did multiple combat tours in Afghanistan. Was awarded the Bronze Star for Valor. The SOWF helps families and children of our Special Operations warriors who have been killed or severely wounded in combat. Hey Bill, there’s an Army guy worth having…just sayin’.

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. 

McDaniels, Caserio Already On the Hot List of Hires: 

Bill Belichick has always had to retool his coaching staff and front office people seemingly every year. This spring was no exception as the team lost a slew of coaches including the de facto Defensive Coordinator and all of the defensive staff save Belichick’s own son Steve.  

And although we’re only three-quarters of the way through the 2019 season, a couple of names are already surfacing on other team’s radar. Josh McDaniels and Nick Caserio are once again two of the hottest names to be mentioned as being coveted by other teams. 

Caserio has been courted twice by the Houston Texans. Houston was even charged with tampering by New England this spring. Now Houston, as of last week, stated that they’re fine with having no GM and allowing Bill O’Brien to run the show as the head coach and de facto GM. Don’t believe it. O’Brien smartly deflected it as to avoid another tampering charge. Look for Houston to make another big push for his services as Caserio’s chances of landing an extension in New England are slim. 

Josh McDaniels has already been rumored to be on the Dallas Cowboys’ radar as well as the Carolina Panthers who have fired head coach Ron Rivera. Rivera was always a highly thought of coach despite three winning seasons in nine years at the helm. The Dallas job would carry plenty of prestige (and no doubt a high salary) but with the meddling Jerry Jones trying to own, act as the general manager, and be the de facto head coach is not a good situation for any coach. 

Tom Brady Leaving? Too Soon for That Talk:

You know the post-season is approaching when all of the talk is designed to scare the snot out of Patriots fans. “Is This the Year they Fall?”, “The Pats Can’t Win on the Road”, and now with four games to play and the team just a tie-breaker out of the top seed in the AFC, “Are We Seeing the End of Tom Brady in NE?” 

Aren’t we used to this by now? It isn’t a NE post-season upcoming without a writer from the “network” trying to dig up some dirt, or in the case of this fall, writing a bunch of words without saying a single thing, or some other pseudo-controversy. Now its Brady.

Tom Brady’s status is in doubt… something we’ve known since the spring. (SBalestrieri)

Look Brady may well be done in New England after this season, he could retire, he could become a free agent and sign to be the quarterback of the London Silly Nannies (Family Guy reference). Or he could pack Gisele and the kinder up and decide to run for political office. 

Honestly, (and excuse my French), I don’t give a shit. And neither should you. This isn’t breaking news, we’ve known this since the spring.  There are four more games left to play and then the playoffs beckon. This season there are so many intriguing storylines to watch, it would a shame to be sidetracked by needless worrying over silly crap that won’t be addressed until after the season is over. The endless fodder with that is just rot.

And when the season is over, hopefully, with the team making one more trip to Miami, there will be plenty of time for the doom-sayers to sound the death knell and begin the mourning phase for the franchise. But for now, just ignore the same old BS and enjoy the ride. 

NFL Schedule Week 14, 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: 5-11 (ouch)
Season:121-70-1

Thursday Night Football
Dallas over Chicago 0-1 

Sunday
Atlanta over Carolina
Indianapolis over Tampa Bay
NY Jets over Miami
SF 49ers over New Orleans
Minnesota over Detroit
Houston over Denver
Baltimore over Buffalo
Cleveland over Cincinnati
Green Bay over Washington
LA Chargers over Jacksonville
Pittsburgh over Arizona
Oakland over Tennessee
New England over Kansas City
SNF Seattle over LA Rams
MNF Philadelphia over NY Giants

Bye week: No teams

Thursday Night Football – Baltimore over NYJets

Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:

Bills Have a Tremendous Opportunity At Their Doorstep:

The Buffalo Bills are the NFL’s biggest secret at 9-3. Nobody has (other than in Western NY) given them much love this season. They’ve been virtually ignored as being a “fluke team from the woeful AFC East” so far. They did get a few raised eyebrows when they curb-stomped Dallas on Thanksgiving Day, but the Cowboys have been in free fall. But all of that can change today. 

They have the opportunity, and the personnel to knock off the mighty Baltimore Ravens today and vault themselves right into the mix of the AFC race. That will be no easy task, but they’ll be at home in front of a loud, raucous crowd and have the defense to slow down the Ravens. If they were to upset Baltimore, it opens up a lot of different scenarios. 

A Bills win with a Patriots loss sets up a game in two weeks for the AFC East crown. And coincidentally, another Buffalo win there puts them where? The #1 seed. Now, there is a ton of ifs there, but for the first time in a very long time, the Bills can control their own destiny come playoff time and actually host a playoff game.  

Dolphins Staff Has Weathered the Storm :

The Miami Dolphins have played hard for head coach Brian Flores and his new coaching staff all season long in a rebuilding year. But they’ve remained competitive and won a couple of ballgames and that has the needle pointing up in Miami. 

Miami’s staff is free of the distractions of whether or not they’ll be here next year and can go about the business of building a better team in 2020. Cleveland, Cincinnati, the NY Giants, Dallas and the Dolphins’ opponent today the NY Jets all face wholesale changes. 

Flores is building something in South Beach, whether or not he can take Miami back up to the level where they aspire to be, will in no small way go to whether they can find a franchise QB next spring. Tua look good in teal?

Jets May Have to Go Without Bell Today:

The New York Jets have a game at home with the Miami Dolphins today. But they may have to go without their $52.5 million dollar running back Le’Veon Bell. Bell has missed practice for two straight days with an illness. 

 “I don’t know. They just said it was an illness. He’s sick,” coach Adam Gase said. “It’s probably the same thing that’s going on with a lot of these other teams. The biggest thing was getting him checked out and then getting him out of the building so nobody else gets sick.”

Bell has averaged just 3.2 yards per rush this season, his first with the Jets and his first without that stellar offensive line of the Steelers to run behind. Which shows how important that line is to running backs (take not Sony Michel haters). The Jets and Miami are playing today for the purpose of who has the ignominious title of being in last place in the division. Tickets are readily available. 

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“Well, the more you see them, the more you can get used to playing them. One of the problems with the RPO play, just in general, is just the offensive pass interference and blocking down field conflicting with the pass. So, if it’s a run, it’s no problem. If the ball actually gets thrown, like what happened last week in the Houston game – it was called once. I would say any time you run that play there’s some degree of, “Is there blocking down field or not?” Sometimes there is, sometimes there isn’t. It’s a tough call for the officials, but that’s sort of what that play – the complications of that play defensively.”– Bill Belichick being asked about how difficult it is to defend the RPO (run/pass option).

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“So, how was your week?”

Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]

Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on blog talk radio as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.

 

New England Patriots News 11-24, AFC East Notes

Steve Balestrieri
November 24, 2019 at 5:00 am ET

Good morning, here is your Sunday Patriots news 11-24 and AFC East notes this week. 

Gameday! The Patriots are back home to face the Dallas Cowboys later this afternoon. 

 Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:

Bill Belichick – As part of the NFL’s Top 100 Panelists, is it any wonder that Bill would rave about one of the last of the two-way specialists, Earl “Dutch” Clark who played for the Portsmouth Spartans? Last full-time player to drop kick. On Jim Brown, Belichick said, “I’d still put him in there on 3rd and 1.”

Rob Gronkowski – Is holding a beach party on Super Bowl Sunday… that was his big announcement on Tuesday. If you expected anything else, shame on you. He’s made it clear that he’s in a good place with his retirement. He just hints around that he may not be done just yet. It is sinking the hook into a fanbase that is desperate for him to return. As I said earlier this week on the Pats UK Podcast, if he was coming back, the Patriots would have announced the press conference. 

Look, he put up with a bunch of injuries and surgeries and was always the good, loyal soldier who busted his tail for the team and the league. If he can use his fame to further his own business ventures….more power to him. 

AB – Now that Gronk isn’t coming back, Patriots fans are clamoring for AB to return. It is really a panic move as they’re convinced that the Patriots can’t win #7 without bringing AB back to the offense. Brown’s apology looked suspiciously like Drew Rosenhaus wrote it up, right down to the semicolon. 

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. 

Myles Garrett Suspension Upheld: 

The NFL has upheld the Browns player’s indefinite suspension. One interesting tidbit was that Garrett in his appeal said that Mason Rudolph uttered a racial slur towards him in the moments immediately before Garrett ripped off Mason’s helmet and swung it, hitting the Steelers QB over the head with it. 

The Steelers were justifiably ticked that Garrett used this ploy to lessen his suspension now when prior to his hearing, he hadn’t said a word about this, which makes it quite unbelievable. 

In fact, when he apologized to the Steelers and Rudolph on the day after the game, he didn’t utter a word about this. “Last night, I made a terrible mistake. I lost my cool and what I did was selfish and unacceptable. I know that we are all responsible for our actions and I can only prove my true character through my actions moving forward. I want to apologize to Mason Rudolph, my teammates, our entire organization, our fans and to the NFL. I know I have to be accountable for what happened, learn from my mistake and I fully intend to do so.”

The NFL replayed its on-field audio and could find no such thing was uttered by Rudolph. Timothy Younger, Rudolph’s attorney made the following statement: “According to ESPN, in his appeal, Myles Garrett falsely asserted that Mason Rudolph uttered a racial slur toward him, prior to swinging a helmet at Mason’s uncovered head, in a desperate attempt to mitigate his suspension. This is a lie. This false allegation was never asserted by Garrett in the aftermath of the game, never suggested prior to the hearing, and conspicuously absent in the apology published by the Browns and adopted by Garrett. The malicious use of this wild and unfounded allegation is an assault on Mason’s integrity which is far worse than the physical assault witnessed on Thursday. This is reckless and shameful. We will have no further comment.”

Isaiah Wynn Will Return Today, Coaches Confident on His Impact :

Isaiah Wynn has been activated and should see his first action since September later today against the Cowboys. While we believe he’ll definitely help the Patriots offense, we have tempered our expectations a bit. But the Patriots coaches are having no such thoughts. In fact quite the opposite. 

Running back coach, Ivan Fears, normally a man who gives faint praise, surprisingly was quite confident. Asked how much Wynn could help, he said: “A lot,” running backs coach Ivan Fears replied. “We were just talking about it. Isaiah is a very good football player. He’s a talented athlete that’s got a great love for the game and he’s got a little nastiness, which is what you need. Having him back in there will make a world of difference when it comes to making some of the blocks that we like to see that guy make — and I think he’s capable of doing that stuff. That’s probably going to open a hole here or there.”

“ I think right now, what we’re seeing is a guy that’s really, completely healthy. Stronger than he’s been,” said Dante Scarnecchia. “We thought he was a good player when we went into the season and we still think even that much more of him now.”

“I really like Isaiah,” Scarnecchia added. “I like the person. I like the player. We all like the person and we like the player. We’ve just gotta keep him out there. That’s really important.”

Bill Belichick chimed in as well. “Isaiah always works hard,” Belichick said. “He did a lot of scout team work to get his timing back and all of that, so working against a defense. But yeah, he works hard and he’s always ready to go.”

Sanu and Dorsett Are Questionable Today: 

As the Patriots get ready to play Dallas this afternoon, they are physically beaten up and have 12 players listed on the injury report. QB Tom Brady headlines the list with an elbow injury that just popped up on the report, but he’s expected to play. Right now, however, the big names that are questionable are WRs Mohamed Sanu and the Phillip Dorsett. 

With a Patriots offense that is struggling to move the ball consistently and score in the red zone, losing both of those players will really put a damper on the offense if they can’t play today. Sanu injured his ankle returning a punt against the Eagles and Dorsett suffered a concussion after he was drilled in the aftermath of his touchdown catch. 

The Patriots listed as questionable to play include: QB Tom Brady (right elbow), RB Damien Harris (hamstring), WR Mohamed Sanu (ankle), WR Phillip Dorsett (concussion), WR Julian Edelman (shoulder), WR Matthew Slater (hamstring), OT Marcus Cannon (illness), DE John Simon (elbow), LB Ja’Whaun Bentley (knee), CB Jason McCourty (groin), S Patrick Chung (heel/chest), S Nate Ebner (ankle/back)

NFL Schedule Week 12, 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: 13-1
Season:105-56-1

TNF Houston over Indy 1-0

Seattle over Philadelphia
Detroit over Washington
Oakland over NY Jets
New Orleans over Carolina
Cleveland over Miami
Pittsburgh over Cincinnati
Chicago over NY Giants
Buffalo over Denver
Tampa Bay over Atlanta
Tennessee over Jacksonville
Dallas over New England
SNF 49ers over Green Bay
MNF Baltimore over LA Rams

Bye week: Arizona, Kansas City, Minnesota, LA Chargers

Week 13 Thanksgiving Day Football
Detroit over Chicago
Dallas over Buffalo
New Orleans over Atlanta 

Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:

Bills Have a Tough Four-Game Stretch Upcoming:

The Buffalo Bills are 7-3 and off to their best start in 20 years, but although the defense is playing very well, the offense can’t seem to get untracked or find an identity. Offensive Coordinator Brian Daboll is trying to find a package that works. But after the Bills game against Denver today, they have a very tough four games that may define their season. 

The Bills go to Dallas, come home against the Baltimore Ravens and then go back on the road in back-to-back weeks against the Steelers and Patriots before closing out at home against the Jets. 

How the Bills fare in those four big games, with three of them on the road will go a long way in determining if they are playing in the playoffs or going home. The Bills have only made the playoffs once in 20 years and that was a one and done 10-3 loss.This year’s Buffalo team seems much better designed and constructed to handle tough games down the stretch. 

Dolphins Facing a Browns Defense Missing 6 Week 1 Starters:

The Miami Dolphins are taking on the Cleveland Browns today and the Browns have a bunch of players who are missing. Morgan Burnett injured his Achilles and is out this week.  Both Myles Garrett (suspended for the remainder of the season) and Larry Ogunjobi (suspended 1 game) are both going to be missing for their roles in the melee at the end of the Steelers game. 

But the Browns have had a slew of injuries on their defense. Sunday they could be without six of their original Week 1 starters on defense. That could play into the hands of Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Dolphins offense. 

Or will it be Josh Rosen? With Miami not going anywhere this season, there is some noise about replacing Fitzpatrick with Rosen to end the regular season and build for the future. Will that hold Rosen? Or will they look to the draft (still Tua?) to find their franchise QB? 

Jets Face Big Test in the Raiders At Home:

The New York Jets have built up a little bit of momentum winning their last two games against the Giants and Redskins but now face a much tougher test against a Raiders team that is in the playoff hunt. And the defense will be looking to set the tone. 

The Raiders have a very tough, physical offensive line and running back Josh Jacobs, the league’s 4th leading rusher has run for 100 yards or more in four of his last six games. But the Raiders have also given up six sacks in their last two games and that may be a key to a win today. 

While Derek Carr is completing 72 percent of his passes thus far this season, look for Gregg Williams to attack the Raiders with blitzes and over-pressure to force the issue. “We don’t catch and react. We’re an attacking defense and you’ve got to do a really, really, really good job on not letting them get outside,” Williams said. 

“When you let them get outside, it’s a tough game to play because now you’ve got to match up with them in space. If your athlete isn’t as good as their athlete – they do a good job. Tom Cable, Jon Gruden, that staff is a really, really good staff on running the football and we’ve got our work cut out for us this week.”

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“Yeah, we’ll share it when the injury report comes out after practice. I’ll make sure you get a copy. No point in guessing on it. Might as well go out and practice, see what they can do, and make an accurate report. I’m not going to sit here and try to ouija board it here this morning, tell you how a guy is going to feel before he’s gone out and done anything. I mean, that wouldn’t be responsible on my part.”– Bill Belichick being asked if he had a sense on the status of Sanu and Dorsett. When pressed if he’d share, this was his answer.

________________

“So, how was your week?”

Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]

Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on blog talk radio as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.

 

New England Patriots News 11-17, AFC East Notes

Steve Balestrieri
November 17, 2019 at 5:00 am ET

Good morning, here is your Sunday Patriots news 11-17 and AFC East notes this week. 

Gameday! The Patriots are back from their bye week and are set to take on the Eagles in the late afternoon game. It is a big matchup for both teams and should be one of the best games to watch today. 

Veterans Day is tomorrow. To those who served before me, to those I served with and to the ones who followed and will follow in the future…I salute you. 

 Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:

Bill Belichick – Addressed the Myles Garrett incident (more below) and how the Patriots address those issues. “Every situation is different. There’s no two that are the same. We can go back and look at 50 of these through the years, some type of fighting or ejections. They’re all different. I wouldn’t say it’s like offsides penalties. There’s a lot of different things happening, different situations and so forth and so on. Yeah, fundamentally, I told players what we should do in those situations, how we should handle them. I think they’ve done a good job with it.”

Tom Brady – This will get plenty of airplay now, as Brady’s personal trainer says Brady could play until he’s 46, or 47. “We talk about it all the time, Alex Guererro said. “Every year he just adds another year. He goes in and he’s like, ‘Guys, I feel so good still. I think I am going to go till 45.’ I am like, ‘OK.’ Now he’s like, ‘Alex, I think I can go like 46 or 47.’”

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. 

Patriots – Bills – The Patriots have had enough prime time games this season. And thankfully there won’t be another added as the NFL has released the late-season schedule and the Patriots and Bills will meet on Saturday, December 21 at 4:30 p.m. The game could have got flexed to another night game

N’Keal Harry’s Situation Will Be Closely Watched Today:

Will he play or will N’Keal Harry be inactive again? If he does play, how active will he actually be? Will he just play enough to get his feet wet or is he ready to jump in and become an integral part of the Patriots offense, which we all envisioned when he was drafted this past spring?

Nobody knows the answers to those questions just yet. But some of those answers we’ll find out later this afternoon. It isn’t quite as simple as just coming off of IR and being close to being physically ready. That’s just a small part of the equation. 

For a rookie like Harry, he was just beginning to round into form during training camp, learning the offense, his route tree and was just beginning to learn the little nuances of the offense as Tom Brady likes to run it. He and Brady were working a lot of one-on-one during STs portions of practice as he was getting the chemistry and timing down for the first time. For someone like Julian Edelman, who’s been in the system for several years, it is much simpler. He already has that built-in chemistry with Brady, and he’d just have to get his timing down.

Harry had to basically restart everything from scratch. However, he was able to sit in the meetings and soak up all of that, so that part of it should be just fine. Knowledge of the playbook and his route tree is essential. Then he just has to be where Brady expects him to be. Brady throws to spots on the field where he expects (actually demands) his receivers to be. We watched him discuss this with Harry and everyone else who has come along, down to the minutest detail. 

If he doesn’t trust that you’ll be there, you won’t get many second chances. But the reason the Patriots offense has been so successful for so long is that Brady and Josh McDaniels always try to put players in their best position to succeed. They don’t ask a guy to do something he’s not good at. They’ll find your strengths and play to them.

I can’t wait to see what Harry can bring to the table. Just know this… what you see today and moving forward this season, is just scratching the surface on his potential moving forward… Let the games begin… 

Miles Garrett Situation, Scary, Ugly, and Dangerous: 

As the game on Thursday night between the Browns and Steelers was winding down, an ugly incident unfolded and will have fans and media discussing it for a long, long time. Myles Garrett took down Pittsburgh QB Mason Rudolph hard after he tossed a screen pass. Rudolph took exception to that and as the two were on the ground, he twisted Garrett’s helmet. 

What unfolded went from ugly to scary to dangerous in a matter of seconds. Garrett and Rudolph began to tussle and then the Browns edge rusher ripped Rudolph’s helmet off his head and then swung it hard and made glancing contact (thankfully) before bedlam ensued. Maurkice Pouncey, coming to Rudolph’s defense tried to kick Garrett in the head several times before punching him on the ground.  The benches emptied and it nearly got out of control. 

The referees insisted on playing out the game which was at that point smoking around a powder keg and Freddy Kitchens wisely sent out the Browns backup QB to take the final snap. Garrett was suspended indefinitely, at least through the rest of the season and the playoffs and rightfully so.  There is absolutely no defending what he did. And for one of the NFL’s youngest and brightest stars, it is crushing for his team as they hope to climb out of a deep hole and make a playoff run. 

I still can’t believe what I watched there. I fully expected to Rudolph to go down and not get back up. No one wants to see that, especially if the aftermath were very different which it could have been. 

Pouncey was suspended three games for kicking Garrett in the head. Larry Ogunjobi was suspended for one game for his own actions, as he leveled Rudolph after the fact. The Steelers and the Browns are bitter rivals, everyone knows that, but what transpired was way beyond football and any rivalry. Thankfully, Rudolph wasn’t seriously injured and the courts didn’t get involved in this. Which is the last thing anyone, especially the NFL wants to see.

What Is the NFL Doing With The Kaepernick Workout?

It is a bizarre scenario with the entire Colin Kaepernick being shadow-banned by the league, his lawsuit which was settled out of court and now his league-sanctioned workout. Actually, it wasn’t sanctioned, it was almost an ultimatum. Take it or leave it.

Kaepernick was given no notice and had only hours to agree to the terms, will supposedly work out this Saturday (this was written on Friday) for representatives from 24 NFL teams in a private event funded and arranged by the league.

The entire thing is crazy. Why on Saturday, the day before a game when coaches and general managers are prepping for their game the next day? Tuesdays are the day off for all of the teams that play on Sunday and would have been a much better choice. 

The Patriots will attend and if they were interested in Kaepernick, and we’ve examined this n the past, they’d have to change their offense if they wish to get the most out of Kaepernick’s talents. Could it be a look to the future? Kaepernick is now 32 and after not playing for several years, how much of a future does he truly hold? 

NFL Schedule Week 11, 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: 4-9
Season:92-55-1

TNF Browns over Pittsburgh 1-0

Carolina over Atlanta
Dallas over Detroit
Indy over Jacksonville
Buffalo over Miami
Baltimore over Houston
Minnesota over Denver
NY Jets over Washington
New Orleans over Tampa Bay
San Francisco over Arizona
Oakland over Cincinnati
New England over Philadelphia
SNF LA Rams over Chicago
MNF Kansas City over LA Chargers

Bye week: Green Bay, NY Giants, Seattle Seahawks, Tennessee

Week11 Thursday Night Football Browns over Pittsburgh

Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:

Bills, Hauschka Looking to Rebound:

The Buffalo Bills lost a golden opportunity to gain ground on the idle Patriots by dropping a 19-16 decision to the then 2-6 Cleveland Browns (the Browns have now defeated Buffalo and Pittsburgh to move to 4-6). The loss dropped the Bills to 6-3 and two games behind the Patriots (New England owns the tie-breaker too). 

With the Patriots facing a tough test against the Eagles this afternoon, Buffalo is facing the Miami Dolphins who’ve won two in a row. Miami’s offense should have a tough task taking on the Bills defense, but after practicing in the cold and snow this week, the game is in South Beach, so that may have some bearing on it. 

One player looking for some bounceback is kicker Stephen Hauschka. He hasn’t been good this season (4th worst FG average) and his range looks seriously shorter than we remember. He missed two big kicks last week, right before the half, and at the end of the game. Those kicks were costly.

Dolphins’ Fitzpatrick Maintains His Love for the Game:

The Miami Dolphins are just 2-6 but QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has lost none of his enthusiasm and love for the game. ESPN Insider Field Yates was a guest on One Bills Live podcast and said Fitzmagic’s love of the game rivals that of Brett Favre. 

“And, not that Ryan Fitzpatrick has had Brett Favre’s career at all,” he said, “but he reminds me of Favre in his pure enjoyment of football. Fitz seems to have a blast every time he is out there. Sometimes people may see it as carefree, I look at it as passionate. He’s a warrior. He’s incredibly tough. I think his teammates respect the heck out of him. I’ve really enjoyed the various chapters of Ryan Fitzpatrick’s career.”

The Dolphins players respect and believe in Fitzpatrick, which is why he’s still the starter and Josh Rosen is not. 

Jets Facing Haskins, Redskins Today, Prepare for Heat Young Man:

The New York Jets are facing the woeful Washington Redskins this afternoon and Washington is starting rookie QB Dwayne Haskins. The Skins want to run the ball with Adrian Peterson and Darius Guice but the Jets have a very good run defense. 

Translation, Gregg Williams is going to stack the box to take away the run and blitz the heck out of Haskins. The rookie will be throwing to Terry McLaurin, his Ohio State teammate, but don’t expect him to have much time to throw it down the field.

This one is ready-made for Williams to throw the kitchen sink at Haskins. Look for the rookie to have a rough outing against the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets today. He’ll need the cold tub tomorrow.

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“See what happened, check it out, absolutely,” Belichick deadpanned. “Interact with everybody, see what they think, get my opinions out there. I don’t want to get left behind on that. Then brush my teeth.”– Bill Belichick being asked about jumping on social media first thing in the morning to give his take on issues trending around the league.

________________

“So, how was your week?”

Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]

Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on blog talk radio as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.

 

New England Patriots News 11-10, AFC East Notes

Steve Balestrieri
November 10, 2019 at 5:00 am ET

Good morning, here is your Sunday Patriots news 11-10 and AFC East notes this week. 

The Patriots are off, on their bye week so, this weekend is a time to watch the other games and check out some of the Pats’ future opponents.

Veterans Day is tomorrow. To those who served before me, to those I served with and to the ones who followed and will follow in the future…I salute you. 

 Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:

Tom Brady/Ed Reed – We saw a glimpse of the two in the tunnel before the game on Sunday night embracing and it wasn’t hard to see the respect those two have for each other. Of course, NFL Films detailed the respect Brady and Belichick have for Reed a long time ago. Reed was honored at halftime after being inducted in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

OBJ/Larry Fitz – It seems Larry Fitzgerald to New England rumors will finally go the way of the dodo. And the rumor makers have seemingly found new fodder for the rumor mills- Odell Beckham Jr. We’ll be hearing and seeing this rumor a lot from now on.

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. 

Iron Men – The Patriots offense played virtually the entire game against Baltimore with the same 10 players. Nine players were on the field for 100 percent of the snaps. A 10th player, Phillip Dorsett missed one play and was replaced by Jakobi Meyers. The only position where the team rotated was running back.

Former Patriot DE Jake Bequette Now An Army Officer: 

After his playing career ended, former Patriot defensive end Jake Bequette fulfilled a life-long dream of his, in serving in the US military. Jeff Howe of the Athletic got in touch with Bequette who is now a 1st Lieutenant and serving in the 101st Airborne Division at Ft. Campbell, KY. 

Bequette, now 30, spent parts of four seasons with the Patriots (2012-2015) before moving on with his life. Initially, he couldn’t pass the medicals to enter the Army because of the injuries he suffered as a football player. 

“I’ve known for a long time I wanted military service to be part of my life,” Bequette said to Howe. “I couldn’t say for certain exactly how that was going to manifest itself. I wanted to play football for as long as I could. Toward the end of my time in New England, I knew if I wanted to serve in active duty, if I wanted to do what I wanted to do — be an infantry officer and go through Ranger School and all that — it was kind of now or never.”

Bequette graduated the physically grueling Army Ranger School in 2018 and has already conducted two combat tours. 

“Ranger School is a life-changing experience,” Bequette said in the interview. “It challenged me like I’ve never been challenged before. Mentally, physically, it’s a great leadership challenge as well. That was a goal I had going in, to graduate Ranger school. I was lucky enough to accomplish that goal. It was tough going from football. I played ball at about 270 (pounds). I went into Ranger School about 245. I graduated at about 200 pounds. People lose a lot of weight during Ranger School. Coming from a sports background, we’re used to being well-fed. Ranger school is more about pushing yourself past what you think are your boundaries. That was definitely one for me.”

With Veterans Day tomorrow, it is great to see more young men like Bequette take up the call and serve our country. Maybe this will soften Bill Belichick about getting an Army guy on the team… Maybe not.

Patriots Players Up and Down At the Bye Week:

It is hard to argue with the fact that the first half of the season has been very successful for the team at 8-1. While too many people (media/fans/hot take artists) are dwelling on their one loss, only one team, San Francisco has a better record at this point. 

So, here are our Patriots Players who have performed well or better than expected at this juncture of the season and those who have not. 

Players Trending Up: 

Jamie Collins – Taking a page out of the Pat Chung “Yes you can go home again”, Collins has been fantastic through the first half of 2019. The Browns cut him loose after a so-so time in Cleveland. He has been a huge FA signing by Bill Belichick. He’s had 48 tackles, including seven tackles for a loss, six sacks, four passes defended, two forced fumbles, and three interceptions.  And scored a touchdown. 

Yes, you can go home again. We were very wrong with this signing. And right beside Collins, you can add Kyle Van Noy and Dont’a Hightower.  The Boogeymen cometh.

Stephon Gilmore – No surprise here. He’s finally getting the due across the league as the best corner in football and his performance through the first nine weeks has put a stamp on that.  Remember a few years ago in his first few games as a Patriot? Bill Belichick took a lot of heat on that one… Those people are very quiet now.

Jake Bailey – The Patriots rookie punter caught a bit of flak when the usual ninnies who are infinitely better GMs than Belichick whined: “Why is Bill wasting a 5th round pick on a punter?”  After watching him put several punts in the ozone during minicamp/training camp he beat out Ryan Allen who was outstanding at directional punting in his time here.

But Bailey has been getting better and better with his own directional game and he still routinely puts punts into the flight path at Logan. He’s helped out with kickoffs as well as punting and has proven to be a very smart selection…Imagine that?

Honorable mention: Tom Brady, Julian Edelman, James White. Much is always expected from these three and they’ve done nothing to disappoint. 

Players Trending Down:

Offensive Line – The favorite whipping boy, Marshall Newhouse is already on the tip of everyone’s tongue but in reality, he hasn’t been bad. He’s a long-time veteran journeyman offensive lineman, thrust into the starting left tackle for the most successful franchise over the last 20 years. Has he been good? No, but he’s hardly alone.  

The offensive line as a whole has not performed as expected and that includes such usually solid performers Shaq Mason and Marcus Cannon.

Sony Michel – As the season began, we all expected big, big things from the Patriots 2nd-year running back. Things haven’t worked out that way as Michel has struggled.

While much of his struggles concern the play of the line (see above), Michel isn’t totally blameless as he’s not seeing the holes and reacting quickly enough. 

Rookie Class – With the exception of the aforementioned Bailey and Chase Winovich the Patriots haven’t got much from their rookie class. N’Keal Harry has been injured and hasn’t played a snap. 

Joejuan Williams, Damien Harris, Jarrett Stidham (thankfully), and Byron Cowart have barely seen the field. Yodny Cajuste and Hjalte Froholdt are on IR. Ken Webster was cut and is a Dolphin.  Although UDFAs Jakobi Meyers and Gunner Olszewski have played well in spurts. And part of that is the depth that the roster has…Glass half-full.

NFL Schedule Week 10, 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: 9-5
Season:88-46-1

TNF Raiders over LA Chargers 1-0

Kansas City over Tennessee
Arizona over Tampa Bay
NY Giants over NY Jets
New Orleans over Atlanta
Green Bay over Carolina
Buffalo over Cleveland
Baltimore over Cincinnati
Detroit over Chicago
Indy over Miami
LA Rams over Pittsburgh
SNF Dallas over Minnesota
MNF San Francisco over Seattle

Bye week: Patriots, Eagles, Broncos, Texans, Jaguars, Redskins

Week11 Thursday Night Football Browns over Pittsburgh

Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:

Bills Getting No Respect From Vegas, Underdogs at Cleveland:

The Buffalo Bills are 6-2 and have only lost to the Patriots and the Eagles. But somehow they are three-point underdogs as they travel to the dog pound to take on the very dysfunctional Cleveland Browns who are 2-6.

Has Cleveland done anything to deserve the preseason hype piled upon them? And the Bills are getting no love or respect around the NFL as they have compiled a very good record through the first half of the season. The Bills are completely healthy today, they had nobody on the injury report, a rarity these days.

Baker Mayfield and the underutilized OBJ will be facing a very tough defense in the Bills this week. Look for the Browns to feed Nick Chubb a lot in the early going as the Bills have struggled a bit in their run defense. Take the Bills, they’re for real. 

Dolphins Gesicki Being Utilized More Lately and Thriving:

The Miami Dolphins barely used 2nd-year tight end Mike  Gesicki in the first four games of the season but in the last four, his numbers have more than doubled as he begins to thrive in the Miami offense. Gesicki had just six catches in the Dolphins first four games but has 15 more in the last four. 

Gesicki had 22 catches as a rookie last season and has nearly equaled that halfway through the 2019 season.  Gesicki has developed a nice rapport and chemistry with veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, who recognizes the value of a big (6’6) tight end. 

“The big thing about playing with Fitz is that he’s just going to give you a chance to go make a play, which as a receiver, tight end, any pass catcher, that’s the trust and the belief that you want your quarterback to have in you that when the play … worst comes to worst, he’s just going to give you a shot and go make a play for him,” he said in an interview with The Audible.

Jets Enter Home Stadium “Rivalry Game” Against the Giants:

The New York Jets are 1-7 and in the throes of another meltdown and are facing the 2-7 New York Giants in what some NY fans are dubbing the “Toilet Bowl”.  Expectations are so low for this game, that some innocuous comments by Jets LB Jordan Jenkins have been termed trash-talking by the media.

Said Jenkins, “We both share the same stadium. It’s almost like playing for the rights [to it].”

“It’s the team right up the street. You’re competing with who has bragging rights for the year and all that type of stuff,” he said. “We know it’s going to be a physical game. We’re battling for who’s home field it really is. It’s going to be fun.”

I doubt even the Patriots would find that bulletin board material. But I digress. C.J. Mosley will miss another game, it was a huge mistake for the Jets coaches to allow him to come back …too early against the Patriots and now he’s hurt and the season is rapidly becoming a wasted one for the big-money free-agent inside linebacker.

The clock is already ticking for Adam Gase and a loss to the Giants and his hot seat may become too hot to handle.

________________

“Yeah, because that’s the way it is. It’s not about rating what did or didn’t happen. It’s about correcting the mistakes and improving on them, and there’s a lot of room for all of us to do that, and that’s what we’ll focus on – every player, every unit, every coach. I mean, when you look at it collectively, there are things we could have done better in every area that would have helped us, and we all need to address those and we all need to improve on them.” – Bill Belichick being asked about whether any positional group played well on Sunday against the Ravens.

________________

“So, how was your week?”

Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]

Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on blog talk radio as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.

 

New England Patriots News 11-03, AFC East Notes

Steve Balestrieri
November 3, 2019 at 5:00 am ET

Good morning, here is your Sunday Patriots news 11-03 and AFC East notes this week. 

Game Day, as the Patriots are in Baltimore to take on the Ravens on Sunday Night Football on NBC.

 Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:

Oh, those Frequent Flier Miles – NFL teams in 2016 flew a total of 564,820 miles during the course of the season. Traveling around the world equals 25,000 miles, so NFL teams basically circled the globe 22.5 times in 2016. That is a lot of logistics to cover.  

Tomlin, Steelers Fined – The Steelers were fined $75,000 and head coach Mike Tomlin an additional $25,000 for failing to accurately report Ben Roethlisberger’s injury during Week 2. The Steelers’ QB hasn’t played since then but the team listed him missing practice as non-injury related. 

Boogeymen 2? Child Please – The 49ers defense has been outstanding this season, but perhaps they need pointers on originality. Yes, the Niners are calling their defense “the Boogeymen” as well as the Patriots. On the Niners Instagram page on Thursday night, they posted a picture of DeForrest Buckner sacking Kyler Murray with the caption, “the Boogeymen live in the backfield.” 

Brady/Gisele Buying in CT – The Patriots QB has been the subject of endless rumors of the TMZ variety, i.e. “Rift with BB, “Taking shots at Kraft”, Playing elsewhere in 2020” yada, yada. So the news they just bought a house in Greenwich, CT won’t slow those down at all. It’s a long commute to Foxboro … However, if you’re wondering about the home they just purchased, “The home sits on 10 acres of land and was built in 1990. It features approximately 14,862 square feet of living space with 7 bedrooms, 8 full and 4 half bathrooms, 2-story foyer with staircase, 2-story great room, formal dining room, gourmet kitchen, breakfast room, family room, gym, indoor pool, 3-car garage and more. Outdoor features include a motor court, balcony, patios, gardens, swimming pool, and a tennis court.” 8 full, 4 half bathrooms? Never have to wait there… 

If you care to take a look at the humble manse of the Brady clan, check out the pictures of the new place here:

Sad End For Josh Gordon in New England: 

After the Patriots announced that Josh Gordon was going on IR and would then be released, one’s immediate reaction was to believe that he was having a relapse of his well-known substance abuse problems. That is perhaps unfair but hardly a stretch since it has been a constant thorn in his development and his career. 

Tom E. Curran of NBC Sports Boston was the first to report that the Patriots were growing concerned with Gordon being consistently late to things. That is troubling because that is where it started with Cleveland so long ago. And as Curran said, “he was showing signs of undependability.” That, the team couldn’t afford to play around with. 

And with diminishing production, just 20 catches for 287 yards this season, perhaps they felt that he was not going to ever recapture the speed and athleticism that he once dominated the league with, albeit for a very brief time. 

But they had a decision to make. The team invested in a first-round draft pick in N’Keal Harry this spring and as Curran points out, right now, he’s faster and more athletic than Gordon. But after missing the first half of the season, could the team have moved on too quickly from Gordon? Certainly but we aren’t in the building there every day so at this point, you’d have to assume the coaches know better. 

But after watching Gordon here for the past two years, you can’t help but root for him personally to conquer the inner demons that have haunted him for most of his life. He’s now a Seattle Seahawk, but more than anything we all root for the per    Watching those tapes of 2013, my what a player he could’ve been. 

Steve Belichick, Calling the Plays For the Defense:

It is hard to argue with the job that the Patriots defense is doing these days. And while the naysayers will point out the schedule, regardless of who you are playing when your defense is scoring as many touchdowns as they are allowing, then you’re on to something special. 

Of course, some radio hot take artists will tell you that the only reason Steve Belichick got hired by his father was through nepotism. Now, it turns out that Steve is the one that is calling the defensive signals in from the sidelines. Many believed that it was Jerod Mayo who was calling the signals or that the two were sharing the responsibility. 

But this week, Andrew Callahan of the Boston Herald reported that several players confirmed that it is the younger Belichick is the one calling the signals. And when you hear him speak, he sounds exactly like his father. And if his football mind is half as keen as his father (and early results play out that he’s on the right track), then the future is bright indeed for the younger Belichick. 

Patriots Players to Watch Today :

With the Patriots taking on the Ravens tonight, here are our Patriots players to watch for the game. If they are to leave Baltimore victorious these players will have to step up for them in a big way tonight. 

Jamie Collins: The Patriots linebacker is in the middle of an outstanding career renaissance in his second stint with the team. The most athletic linebacker in a very solid group, he’s been tremendous through the first half of 2019. 

He’ll have to be on top of his game tonight.  The Ravens running game, through the read-option is where they make things difficult defensively. One of the key players to combat that is Collins. 

Mohamed Sanu: The wide receiver is in his second week with the team and should be a little bit farther along in the offense this week than he was against the Browns. The team really needs him to learn the offense as quickly as possible to become a trusted member of the passing game. 

We expect that he’ll see more targets tonight as he begins to settle into this offense. We look for Sanu and Julian Edelman to be a dangerous pair inside for Tom Brady to utilize. 

Pat Chung: One of the Patriots’ most versatile and important players on the defense, Chung is somehow always overlooked when talking about his worth to this team. 

Chung plays a huge role in run support and he’ll be the first line of defense against the Ravens’ tight ends, where Mark Andrews is the team’s leading receiver. 

Julian Edelman: The Patriots offense’s most irreplaceable piece after Brady should play a big role in the offense tonight. The Ravens defense is quite different than the ones we were used to seeing in the past. After watching several of their games if there is a weakness in this unit, it is with the short, quick passing game.

That is a recipe for Edelman and Sanu to become big factors in the game tonight. If they are successful, the offense should be in better shape than we’ve witnessed lately. If the Ravens shut them down, it will be a long evening for Brady & Co. 

N’Keal Harry: Harry hasn’t even been activated yet, so we’re leaning a bit forward in the foxhole here (Friday night), but the feeling here is that not only will Harry be activated, but he will play as well. 

We’re going to temper expectations in his first NFL game action, but it is really important for him to get some game action and get his feet wet before the bye week. He can do all the things that Josh Gordon did for the offense, but now the 1st-round pick will have to go out and prove it. Welcome to the NFL… 

NFL Schedule Week 9, 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: 14-1
Season:79-41-1

TNF San Francisco over Arizona 1-0

Houston over Jacksonville (9:30 a.m. London)
Philadelphia over Chicago
Indy over Pittsburgh
NY Jets over Miami
Kansas City over Minnesota
Carolina over Tennesse
Buffalo over Washington
Seattle over Tampa Bay
Oakland over Detroit
Green Bay over LA Chargers
Cleveland over Denver
SNF New England over Baltimore
MNF Dallas over NY Giants

Bye week: Falcons, Bengals, Rams, Saints

Week 9 Thursday Night Football Raiders over LA Chargers

Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:

Bills Look to Rebound Vs Haskins, Skins:

The Buffalo Bills went through a rough patch to a small degree, after a close win over the Titans, they had more trouble with the Dolphins than perceived and then played poorly in a 31-13 loss to the Eagles last week. But this week, their defense is facing rookie QB Dwayne Haskins, in the loud, friendly confines of Buffalo. 

For the Bills defense, this should be a prime time to get their A-game back under control and going against a rookie 1st-round QB in Haskins who, the Redskins were loathing to put in the game because the coaches felt he wasn’t ready. Now, they have no choice and Haskins is being thrown into the deep end of the pool. 

This Bills defense is excellent and is a tough test for even the most experienced pro QBs. For a rookie making his first start and on the road in Buffalo? This could get ugly early. Expect the Bills to roll big today. 

Dolphins Continue to Lose But Confidence in Flores Grows:

The Miami Dolphins may be winless and going nowhere, but the fans see the growth (baby steps) and the players’ trust and belief in Brian Flores and what he’s trying to accomplish down in South Beach. 

The Dolphins will be meeting the Jets for the 108th time in their history today and they’re going to have to accomplish a few things if they want to get off their winless streak and sink the Jets even lower in the standings. 

They’ll have to limit LeVeon Bell and the Jets running game, Bell’s offensive line is a far cry from what he enjoyed in Pittsburgh and he’s been a non-factor. Miami will be looking to continue the struggles of Sam Darnold. After returning from illness with a stellar game against the Cowboys, Darnold was awful against New England and that continued last week with more interceptions. His confidence was shaken by that nightmarish New England game, and the Dolphins defense has to continue that trend. 

Finally, Miami has to empty the tank to get the offense going, try every trick and gadget play they can think of. What a way to end their winless streak if they could get B-Flo a win over their long-time rival Jets.

Jets Once Again Teetering on the Brink of the Abyss :

The New York Jets are back in familiar territory, and that is they’re straight into the eye of another really bad season. Disfunction has followed this franchise around gum on your shoe for too many years. The 2019 season was supposed to usher in a new era, with a franchise QB, a new coach, and a new attitude. But so far, we’ve seen that nothing has changed. 

Granted, some things that happened were completely out of their control. Sam Darnold’s illness and then Trevor Siemian’s gruesome injury were just horrible bad fortune. How many teams could rely on a practice squad QB by the first quarter of Week 2 and be successful? Not many. 

But since Darnold’s return, the wheels have seemingly came off again. After a huge win over the Cowboys, everything was pointing in the right direction and confidence was sky-high. Then came the debacle against the Patriots where the team was shellacked 33-0. Darnold looked lost and Adam Gase left him in there long after the game was decided. 

Darnold’s struggles continued against the Jaguars and the team lost 29-15 as he threw for three more interceptions. With the trade deadline, the team jettisoned former 1st-round pick (6th overall) Leonard Williams and stated that they were open to trading Le’Veon Bell, who they just rewarded with a huge FA contract this spring. They then dangled Jamal Adams who is their best player on defense. 

Now, the Jets are facing a must-win against the winless Dolphins or this season the team may implode again. And this won’t bode well for Gase…

________________

“Well, we have a lot of confidence in our secondary. There’s a give and take with the rush and the coverage, so the more guys you have in coverage, the fewer guys you have rushing. The more guys you have rushing, the fewer guys you have in coverage. I mean, it’s pretty basic so you try to do what you think is best in a particular situation or against a particular team and the matchups that you have. There’s an element of changing it up, but ultimately it comes down to that decision – do you want to rush more and cover with less, or cover more and rush fewer. There’s middle ground there. We’ve done all of the above and I’m sure we’ll continue to do that, like we always have. It’ll just depend on the situation, the team, so forth.” – Bill Belichick being asked about bringing extra pressure on opposing QBs and the pressure it puts on the secondary.

________________

“So, how was your week?”

Follow me on Twitter @SteveB7SFG or email me at [email protected]

Listen to our Patriots 4th and 2 podcasts on blog talk radio as Russ Goldman, Derek Havens and myself from PatsFans.com discuss the latest Patriots news and game analysis.

 

New England Patriots News 10-27, AFC East Notes

Steve Balestrieri
October 27, 2019 at 5:00 am ET

Good morning, here is your Sunday Patriots news 10-27 and AFC East notes this week. 

Game Day, as the Patriots take on the Browns in the later game this afternoon.   

 Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:

“We’re Not in Kansas anymore Toto” – If I told you… say three or four years ago that the Patriots would have Antonio Brown, Demaryius Thomas, Josh Gordon and Michael Bennett on the roster in the same season, and then either cut or trade every one of them? I’d have been locked up. It just goes to show what a crazy season it has been.

Behind the Scenes – The Patriots video department was the subject of a very cool behind the scenes clip for the Patriots All-Access crew. Ever wonder what it takes for the video crew to break down the coaches’ film from games and how fast it gets to the coaching staff? Check it out here:

Mohamad Sanu – has been made to feel right at home this week. Sanu spoke about Tom Brady who spoke highly of the Patriots’ new acquisition. Sanu jokingly said that Brady even offered him the #12 jersey that Sanu wore with the Falcons. Sanu’s answer? “Nah, you got that. I’ll change to 14.” Asked as a follow-up if he offered anything to Brady for the jersey, Sanu laughed it off and said, “No, I’ll just go out there and do my job and let him be great.”

Bill Belichick, Not a fan of the Weathermen- The Patriots coach has never been a fan of the weathermen who are predicting heavy rains for the Browns game this afternoon. Asked during a press conference if the team was preparing for the deluge, Belichick scoffed at the notion.

“In the Giant game, it was supposed to be a monsoon and everything and, like usual, there was not one drop of rain and let’s say minimal wind. Although there was some wind. It was across the field, so it didn’t affect the game that much.

“We went down to Miami. We thought it was going to be hot… So predicting heat in Miami in September … maybe you and I can figure that out.

“I’ve seen the forecast. This is the exact same forecast we had for the Giants. Not one drop of rain. So we’ll see. I don’t know. I’m sure it’s hard to get it right, especially specific locations like this. Where it is 10 miles from here and where it is here makes all the difference in the world to us. That’s the world we’re in. So we’ll see.” If there is one person who Belichick believes is wrong more than the weatherman? Charley Casserly.

Trade Deadline Approaching, But Will Anyone Trade With Bill? 

After the Patriots traded for Mohamed Sanu, their cap space was down to $10K according to Miguel, aka @Patscap. Not $10 million but 10 thousand.. Yikes.  That number was increased to a little over $2.8 million with the trade of Michael Bennett to the Dallas Cowboys but still leaves the team with precious little room to maneuver.  With the trade deadline rapidly approaching, do they have enough cap space to make another deal? And will anyone make a trade with New England? 

There are still some players out there who the Patriots have been linked to but how much they are actually interested at this point remains to be seen. Or was their interest simply doing their own due diligence? Among those players are:

TE O.J. Howard: Howard is a big, athletic tight end in the Gronk mold. We’re not comparing him to Gronkowski, but he could be that kind of complete tight end. He’s 6’6, 255 and he can run. But he’s woefully underutilized in Bruce Arians’ offense in TB and has just 13 catches so far this season. The Patriots reportedly inquired and were told no…He’s not playing today, I’d try one more time.

TE Austin Hooper: The Falcons trade of Sanu made sense, their season is shot and they still have Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. The got a 2nd round pick for Sanu which will help with the retooling process there. But trading Hooper? That would be folly for Thomas Dimitroff.  He’s only 24 years old and is on pace for a 100 catch 1100-1200 yard season. Several teams have supposedly asked about Hooper but have been told that he’s staying. 

TE Tyler Eifert: The Cincinnati Bengals tight end has been another name that has frequently been rumored to be on the Patriots radar. Eifert is a very good tight end when he’s on the field which is very rare in the past three years. Eifert appeared in a total of 14 games in the three seasons of 2016-2018. He has appeared in all seven games this season and has 17 catches for 118 yards and a touchdown. Picture a more fragile Rex Burkhead…

Rumors persist about WRs A.J. Green of the Bengals and Danny Amendola returning to New England. But unless the Patriots decide that they are not going to activate rookie WR N’Keal Harry, bringing in another wide receiver just doesn’t make sense at this point.

Redskins LT Trent Williams name continues to be tossed about to the Patriots, who were reported to have offered Washington their 1st round draft pick for the veteran tackle who hasn’t played a down this year. How they could afford him now under the cap is a major mystery. 

Patriots Players to Watch Today :

With the short week due to Monday Night Football, we didn’t get to post our normal players to watch that we usually do on Friday. So, with the game in just a few hours, we still have time to share our players who we feel need to step up for a Patriots victory today. So, (Jim Lang voice) Heeeerrrree they are.

Stephon Gilmore: The best cornerback in the league is facing the most explosive, dynamic playmaker for the Browns in Odell Beckham Jr. today. This is the kind of matchup that is tailor-made for the national television audience. 

Baker Mayfield has been trying to force things to Beckham in the early going of the season. Will he do it again today in Gillette? Seeing two players of this magnitude competing against one another is always must-watch territory. 

Mohamed Sanu: The newest Patriots wide receiver has only been on the ground for a few days. We expect that he and Tom Brady will eventually forge a nice chemistry on the field. But how much can we reasonably expect this week? 

Wouldn’t it be a great storyline if Sanu can turn in a big game this afternoon? But we’ll temper expectations a bit this week …and next. After the bye week, he should be fully involved in the offense. 

Dont’a Hightower: The Patriots linebacker is off of the injury report and he’ll be needed against the Browns top running back Nick Chubb this week. Cleveland needs to move the ball on the ground and control the clock against the Patriots defense. They can’t get into 3rd and long situations. Chubb is the man who can do this. Hightower is the player the Patriots need to step up against the Browns today. 

Hightower is always at his best in big games. Against an opponent who was considered the up and coming team of the year and on national television, this is a big game. How well the Patriots defend or don’t defend Chubb will go a long way in determining this game today. 

Marshall Newhouse: The Patriots left tackle hasn’t been great thus far this season. He hasn’t been terrible, just not great. He’s facing the Browns’ best defender in Myles Garrett who leads the Browns with nine sacks. 

We don’t expect Dante Scarnecchia to put Newhouse out there all alone. I would expect the Patriots to chip Garrett with a tight end or have help with running backs to stay in and block. However, Newhouse will also be under a microscope this afternoon. 

James White: It seems like the Patriots Swiss Army Knife at running back is on here every week. With the running game sputtering for the most part and Rex Burkhead hurt again, the team has come to rely heavily on White, who is as reliable as they come. 

Look for Tom Brady to target White heavily again this week. The pass rush of the Browns is a concern, one way to minimize it is to get White involved in the short, quick passing game where he’s outstanding. 

NFL Schedule Week 8, 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: 11-3
Season: 65-40-1

TNF Minnesota over Washington 1-0

Seattle over Atlanta
Indy over Denver
Tennessee over Tampa Bay
New Orleans over Arizona
LA Rams over Cincinnati
Philadelphia over Buffalo
Chicago over LA Chargers
Detroit over NY Giants
Jacksonville over NY Jets
San Francisco over Carolina
Houston over Oakland
New England over Cleveland
SNF Green Bay over Kansas City
MNF Pittsburgh over Miami

Bye week: Dallas, Baltimore

Week 9 Thursday Night Football San Francisco over Arizona 

Eastbound and Down AFC East Notes:

Bills Still in the Market For a WR After Losing Out on Sanders:

The Buffalo Bills tried to bring in Emmanuel Sanders from the Denver Broncos to help out their passing offense but lost out on the bidding war with the San Francisco 49ers. Today the Bills are facing the suddenly desperate Philadelphia Eagles in what is a big barometer test for both teams. The Eagles were considered one of the top teams in the NFC but dropped two in a row to fall to 3-4. The Bills are 5-1, but are hearing the same lament as their neighbors in the AFC East, “They haven’t played anybody.”

Besides Sanders, who would have made the division race even better this season, the Bills are also rumored to be looking at the Jets Robby Anderson, Eagles WR Nelson Agholor, Taylor Gabriel of the Bears, as well as Miami’s DeVante Parker and A.J. Green of the Bengals.

It will be interesting to see if the Bills can land a quality WR by the trade deadline and improve the passing game. With a good running game and a very good defense, an improved passing game would put the Bills in great position down the stretch.

Dolphins Could Get Two Important Players on IR:

The Miami Dolphins season is one of rebuilding and evaluation of the players on the roster to decide whether they will remain when the team begins it long retooling in 2020. But two Dolphins players that are eligible to soon return of the PUP list are DL Robert Nkemdiche and CB Cordrea Tankersley. 

It will be interesting to see what these players can bring to the table for head coach Brian Flores who has the unenviable job of starting from scratch. Nkemdiche was a highly touted prospect who spent three forgettable years in Arizona. 

In other news, many teams have contacted Miami about RB Kenyon Drake but the Dolphins request of a 4th round pick is deemed too high. Current indications are that most teams aren’t willing to part with any more than a 6th rounder.

NY Media Turning on Jets Adam Gase Already:

This didn’t take long. A week after hyping the game with the Patriots, the media has already grown tired of New York Jets head coach Adam Gase. After being forced to play his third-string QB for about a month, Gase finally got his starter, Sam Darnold, back two weeks ago. And after an impressive win over Dallas, Darnold …and Gase were overmatched and overwhelmed at home against New England. 

But according to the NY Daily Post and noted flip-flopper, Manish Mehta, Gase is redefining  “non-competitive” one blowout loss at a time. Well, with their starter, it IS one blowout loss. Amazed? You shouldn’t be.

It seemed like yesterday, Mehta was guffawing over the Jets’ weak slate upcoming. Now the sky is falling. 

________________

“Smart kid picks things up well. We’ll see what we can do here. Sometimes as it accumulates – early downs, third down, red area, situational stuff. We’ll see what the load looks like, but he’s made good progress both days. Works hard. Good kid. Is really in-tune and trying very hard to pick up things quickly and get on the same page as everybody else. That’s obviously a long way to go, a lot of work to do, but he’s working hard at it, so we appreciate that.” – Bill Belichick being asked about new Patriots WR Mohamed Sanu

________________

“So, how was your week?”

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Patriots Week 7 Report Card, 33-0 Shutout Win Over the Jets

Steve Balestrieri
October 23, 2019 at 7:32 am ET

 Patriots Improve to 7-0 In Impressive Defensive Showing

The Patriots put this one away early, jumping out to an early 17-0 lead in the first quarter and then never looked back as they cruised to a 33-0 blanking of the Jets. The defense was outstanding, allowing zero points, holding the Jets to just 154 yards total and just 2 of 11 on third down. 

The shorthanded offense was clicking early but had their issues later in the game, although it is hard to find fault after they put up 33 points. Most everyone, including the Jets, had this one as being much closer than the first meeting. It wasn’t. 

So, while it wasn’t perfect, it was plenty good enough. Check out our grades and see how the team fared in this week’s blowout win.

Quarterback: B

Tom Brady once again had so-so numbers, 31-45, 249 yards one TD, one INT. But his TD numbers could have been inflated if not for two near scores with James White and an obvious DPI on Trumaine Johnson when got beaten by Jakobi Meyers on a double move as well as a Michel drop where it looked like a score. Regardless, Brady ran the offense very smoothly, especially early, scoring on three of their first four possessions which put the game into the win column. 

He had a pick where he was hit as he threw and that was partially on him for holding the ball too long and an intentional grounding call. The microphones on ESPN picked him up yelling “He was right there!” Ah, no Tom he wasn’t. But he was also victimized by some drops. Overall, with a short-handed offense, he ran it very well. 

Running Backs: C

The running game remains an issue, and while we can point at the running backs, in reality, there is far too frequently nowhere for them to go. As a group, the backs averaged only 2.2 yards per carry. Sony Michel had only 42 yards on 19 carries but did have three touchdown runs. 

Damien Harris got his first carries as a Patriot and finally got some work in, which is a positive sign. Brandon Bolden and James White had very little production in the running game this week. With no fullback, LB Elandon Roberts filled in as a goalline blocker and used his downhill, thumping style to good use. 

Wide Receivers: B

Julian Edelman and James White (as we pointed out in our keys to the game) were the biggest pass receivers, each hauling in seven passes and filled in their roles well. White just missed a pair of TD receptions, getting knocked out of bounds at the one-yard line and scampering down the right sideline and just being taken down around the ankles. 

Jakobi Meyers is gaining the all-important trust factor with Brady, he had five catches for 47 yards including some nice grabs in traffic. While his snaps may see a downtick with the addition of Mohamed Sanu and the return of Josh Gordon and N’Keal Harry, he’s building his rapport with #12 and that will come in hand down the stretch.

Phillip Dorsett returned from his hamstring injury and had a really nice 23-yard TD where he dusted Johnson down the seam. Brandon Bolden had a beauty of a catch along the sideline. A pretty back-shoulder catch for 28-yards where he got his feet in like a top-flight wide receiver. Next week, maybe they’ll try him as a kicker…

Tight Ends: B

Ben Watson and Eric Tomlinson combined for 100 snaps (Watson 62, Tomlinson 38) after not being on the team a week ago. Considering Tomlinson had to jet to Texas for the birth of his child and then zip back this week, was a testament to hard work. The Patriots early in the game went with the heavier two-TE look and it worked pretty well. 

Watson’s timing was off a bit early, he turned too late for the first pass from Brady and it bounced off his face mask but after that, he contributed in the passing game with three catches including a key fourth-down conversion (Trust factor). Tomlinson had a catch but provided decent in-line blocking but did have a holding penalty. 

Offensive Line: C

The offensive line did a good job of pass protection overall, Brady wasn’t sacked and hit just two or three times. But of course, much of that has to do with Brady himself. He was getting the ball out incredibly fast which has to frustrate the pass rushers who have no chance of getting home. Marshall Newhouse continues to struggle against pressure from the outside, however. 

The run blocking remains a hit or miss operation, mainly miss. We can all point the finger at Sony Michel and say he isn’t hitting the hole fast enough, but there frequently isn’t a hole to hit and he’s getting met in the backfield. 

With the game salted away in the fourth quarter, the Patriots attempted eight rushes. This is where they traditionally eat the clock up and go home happy. Those eight rushes netted 10 yards. That isn’t going to get it done. 

 Defensive Line: A-

The defensive line once again was outstanding. Le’Veon Bell had a decent game numbers-wise but was a total non-factor. He got most of them on his own. Lawrence Guy, Danny Shelton, Deatrich Wise, and Adam Butler were stuffing everything at the point of attack. And they created lanes for the pass rush to get home. 

On a day where the Patriots had just one sack, the pass rush was the difference here. As was picked up by ESPN microphones, Sam Darnold was “seeing ghosts” 

Linebackers: A

The Patriots linebackers are having an outstanding season, the depth and versatility in this group are the strength of the defense. Utilizing the “0-blitz” early in the game, they were rushing free and caused Darnold to throw interceptions and sail his throws off his back foot. 

John Simon came free on one and knocked the ball out of Darnold’s hands, which was scooped up by Kyle Van Noy who jumped up and rushed into the end zone. It was eventually blown dead as a Jet TE had bumped legs with Van Noy on the ground. 

Dont’a Hightower rocked Bell on one of the few screens the Jets attempted on a bone-jarring hit that put a bow on the evening. 

Secondary: A

The secondary continued their stellar play, no touchdowns, no points, only 86 yards passing and four interceptions. Robby Anderson who had a huge game against Dallas was rendered to a milk carton by Stephon Gilmore. Slot receiver Jamison Crowder had just four catches for 26 yards, blanketed by Jonathan Jones. The Jets only had four first downs passing. 

Bill Belichick and Jerod Mayo utilized the “Cover 0” technique for much of the game, telling the Jets that they weren’t afraid of getting beaten deep. They weren’t. Before the game, Darnold told the NY media, that Jets offense was going to become unstoppable. Maybe soon but not on Monday Night. 

The only downside was the play of J.C. Jackson who was too grabby on Demaryius Thomas and was flagged three times. 

Special Teams: A

Mike Nugent had a clean game, one field goal and four extra points with no misses. A look at Jake Bailey’s 37.3 net average on Monday and you’d think he had a bad game. That would be wrong. He did have a shank early in the game, but his plus-50 punting was outstanding dropping four inside the 20-yard line including a beauty he dropped on the one which bounced out of bounds at the three. He skied a 59-yarder that should have been put in orbit, with over a five-second hang time.

The return game was good and they recovered a muffed punt by former Patriot Braxton Berrios. A great night for the STs

Coaches: A+

The Patriots coaching staff had extra time to prepare and it showed. The first quarter was complete domination for the Patriots in a game the Jets were hoping to show that they were on their way. They were, but not where they expected. Bill Belichick took Adam Gase to school and Josh McDaniels deserves high marks for scheming up an impressive start with a very banged up offense missing several key pieces.

The defensive coaches knew what they needed to do against Darnold and their players produced much better than anyone could have hoped for, and certainly better than most expected.   

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6 Thoughts Following the Patriots Win Over the Jets

Ian Logue
October 22, 2019 at 10:58 am ET

The Patriots improved to 7-0 after embarrassing the Jets in front of their own crowd and the world Monday night, demoralizing a New York team that had been riding fairly high coming into the game after beating the Cowboys the week before.

With Jets quarterback Sam Darnold back under center, New York seemed to be poised to turn things around and potentially give New England their first loss of the season.  Unfortunately for Darnold, the result was quite the opposite and here are some thoughts on the Patriots’ seventh win of the season.

1) It’s hard not to wonder how we’ll someday look back on this defense given the performance they’ve put forth so far through the first seven weeks of the season.  As Patriots fans, most people look back on the days of Ty Law, Willie McGinest and Tedy Bruschi as the glory days of this group, but the 2019 version has been far more dominant than anyone could have ever expected.

Monday night was certainly a terrific example of how good they could be after they forced six Jets turnovers, including 4 interceptions by Darnold.  It started right away after Devin McCourty nabbed the first, picking the Jets signal-caller off on just his second snap of the contest and setting the tone for the rest of the night.  The turnover gives McCourty an NFL best 5 on the season and it was a good job by the safety who made a nice play on the football.

They kept Darnold off balance all night and came at him from all angles, putting him under constant duress and forcing quite a few errant throws.  Darnold, who was mic’d up for the game, was spotted on the sideline saying, “I’m seeing ghosts” and that quote would come back to haunt him for the rest of the evening as New England refused to take the foot off the gas the entire night.

The Patriots made Darnold miserable Monday night.

It didn’t get any better and he finished having completed just 11-of-32 (34%) for 86-yards for the game.  New England’s defense held New York to just 2-of-11 on third down, with Darnold completing a paltry 3-of-10 (30%) for 27 yards and three interceptions.

The interception total is just ridiculous.  Last night’s game gives New England 18 on the year, nearly double that of the next closest team, which is Pittsburgh with 8. They’ve also defended 50 passes, well ahead of the next closest team, which is the Buffalo Bills with 36.

As Mike Reiss pointed out last night, according to ESPN Stats and Info, it’s the second-highest interception total through the first seven games in the last 30 seasons.  The only team with more is the Packers, who had 20 during their Super Bowl season in 1996 (unfortunately, most of us remember who they beat to win it).

The critics will point to the competition this group has faced so far, but good teams are supposed to beat up on inferior clubs and the Patriots did more than beat up the Jets, they absolutely annihilated them.  This is a group who collectively right now is playing so well as a unit and they didn’t back down all night.  In fact, despite the lopsided score, this game even had a strange feel as if it was still much tighter than the scoreboard showed given the fact they never let up and were playing just as hard in the fourth quarter as they were when the game started.

Needless to say, while it’s hard to believe, we’re witnessing history each week.  With 9 games stil left to go, this unit definitely appears poised to potentially write themselves further into the NFL record books and at the rate they’re going, it should be fun to see how it plays out.

2) With the Patriots without Josh Gordon Monday night, it was Jakobi Meyers who stepped up and had another solid outing.  Brady was 5-of-5 targeting him, with their chemistry starting on the first drive of the night after the Patriots faced a 3rd-and-7 at midfield.  Meyers hauled in a 9-yard pass to extend the drive, but then made a further impact on the ensuing 3rd-and-10 play where he made a key block to allow Julian Edelman to pick up 14-yards.

Both of those moments were big as it helped extend the drive and set up the eventual 3-yard touchdown run by Sony Michel.

It was good to see and Brady clearly appears to be finally getting some confidence throwing to him.  He also went to him on early downs, connecting on 3-of-3 targets for 34-yards on second down, including a 23-yard reception early in the second quarter that helped put them near the goal line to take advantage of a Darnold strip-sack.  That play eventually led to another Michel touchdown.

Overall, games like these could pay dividends down the road and with the addition of receiver Mohamed Sanu, who the Patriots acquired from Atlanta on Tuesday, this is a group that could suddenly become even more dangerous if Meyers can continue to grow into the speedy threat he already appears he can be.


Michel rushed for 3 touchdowns on Monday night.

3) It was another tough night for Sony Michel, who despite his 3 touchdowns had to, once again, battle for nearly every yard.

It’s no secret that the Patriots are still trying to work things out up front on the offensive line and as a result, things aren’t coming easy for the second-year running back.  He carried 19 times for 42-yards Monday night, averaging a mere 2.2 yards per carry.  The frustrating part of last night is the fact that he failed to gain a yard 9 times, including 3 for a loss and 6 for no gain.

It’s been a difficult year for Michel, who coming into the game had 100 carries on the season, which isn’t far off from the 91 he had heading into week 7 in 2018.  But he certainly had better luck breaking through the line last season.  He had 15 carries last year through six games where he didn’t pick up a yard after he was dropped for a loss 7 times and ran for no gain on 8 others.

This season, that total was at 24 heading into last night, with 10 negative carries and 14 where he was stopped for no gain.

It’s not that hard to figure out knowing how injuries have caused shifts in the line-up compared to last season and it’s a further reminder of just how good David Andrews was in providing that middle push to open things up, as well as the effect the absence of James Develin is having.

It was interesting to see the Patriots experiment with several players last night to try and address the issue, with Elandon Roberts and James Ferentz as two players who saw action at fullback against the Jets and both did a decent job with their first opportunities.

Give Michel credit, as he’s remained pretty even-keeled so far this season and is still managing to have a productive year.  But we’ll have to see how things play out in the coming weeks as unfortunately, this quietly still remains an area to keep an eye on.

It wasn’t Brady’s best game, but he was certainly the better QB Monday night.

4) Tom Brady may have not had his best game last night but he was on point in the first quarter after completing 13-of-17 (76%) for 118-yards and a touchdown as New England pulled ahead of the Jets while building an early 17-0 lead.

Two of his best throws of the night came on their third possession where he threw a perfect back-shoulder strike to Brandon Bolden for 26-yards, which helped set up another flawless 26-yard scoring strike to Phillip Dorsett, which Brady dropped in perfectly in the back of the end zone where only Dorsett could come down with it.

The early down success was key as Brady was 11-of-15 (73%) for 57 yards on first down, along with 15-of-20 (75%) on second down.  That kept them out of long-yardage situations as they only faced 3rd-and-9 or longer on just 6 of their 16 third-down attempts.  That allowed them to continue moving the football and sustain drives, holding the football for over 38-minutes and giving their defense plenty of time to recharge and make Darnold’s life miserable.

But after the game Brady was happy but still appeared frustrated as he likely knows the offense remains a work in progress.  Hopefully, Tuesday’s addition of Sanu will start making things a little easier.

5) One player who managed to stay off of everyone’s radar Monday night was Mike Nugent, who quietly had a good game.

Nugent was a perfect 4-for-4 on extra points Monday night, as well as hitting a 34-yard field goal.  Each kick was straight and never in doubt, which is a stark contrast to his first outing where he was erratic and didn’t look anywhere near close to comfortable out there.

It’s a good sign as with the colder months coming, the kicking game tends to be a key part of the offense given how scoring tends to drop as the elements become more difficult for offenses to operate in.  Seeing Nugent settle in was a pleasant surprise and the fact he was able to go out there and get it done should have most fans feeling a little better since the Patriots will still need to soldier on without Stephen Gostkowski, who is lost for the rest of the season.

6) We’ll end on this note, which saw one of the most hilarious sequences in Bill Belichick’s tenure happen last night and it was pretty funny to watch how it all unfolded.

With just over 10-minutes to go in the game and leading 33-0, the Patriots saw their offense stall at the Jets’ 33yd line.  With the punt team on the field and facing 4th-and-2, the Patriots took a delay of game penalty, likely looking to give punter Jake Bailey a little more room to work with to pin the Jets in deep yet again.

Adam Gase declined the penalty, which seemed to amuse Belichick.  It then appeared Belichick ordered Brandon Bolden to commit a false start penalty, hoping to again move them back.  But Gase, again, declined the penalty.

From there, cameras caught Belichick smile, knowing he was still out-thinking Gase even at this point in the football game.  It was an absolutely terrific sequence and certainly will likely go down as a moment that will be mentioned years from now once he walks away.  Fortunately, all of us got to watch it happen in real-time.

https://twitter.com/espn/status/1186477725328072704

It was all-in-all a great night and the Patriots will now return home to get to work as they’ll next face the Cleveland Browns at Gillette Stadium this weekend.

Patriots Boogeymen Bedevil, Whitewash the Jets 33-0

Steve Balestrieri
at 7:32 am ET

In the end, it wasn’t any more contested or closer than the first meeting. The Patriots’  defense flummoxed, frustrated, and dominated the Jets from the opening bell. They throttled the Jets in a 33-0 embarrassment in front of a national television audience on Monday Night Football.    

Just a week after Sam Darnold made a triumphant return from an illness and was the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week, the Patriots had him literally “seeing ghosts” in the first half, forcing him into 5 turnovers. Darnold, who is one of the up and coming young quarterbacks in the NFL was left tonight looking silly and quite unprepared. 

But if Darnold was left seeing ghosts or Boogeymen in his sleep tonight, he didn’t have the worst game on the New York side. Head Coach Adam Gase was taken to the woodshed by Bill Belichick, his team looked completely unprepared and Gase made no adjustments that could be seen and left his young quarterback in far too long in a game that was decided in the first 30 minutes. 

The Patriots put a stamp on this one early. After receiving the opening kickoff, Tom Brady led a methodical, perfectly executed, time-consuming, soul-sucking drive that covered 14 plays and ate up nearly nine minutes of the first quarter. The much-ballyhooed return of MLB C.J. Mosley was nonexistent as Brady and the offense converted 3rd downs of 7, 10 and 5 yards before Sony Michel finished it off with a 3-yard touchdown on 3rd and 2. 

The Jets’ first possession took just two plays for the defense to force its first turnover of the night, one of six in total, five of which belonged to Darnold (four interceptions and a fumble). On 2nd and 8 from the 10-yard line, the Patriots overloaded a blitz on the right side and Darnold, under pressure lobbed the pass too high and it was easily picked off by Devin McCourty. 

What a difference a week makes. After Darnold picked apart the Cowboys, the confidence level was running high in New York. Darnold was talking about finding the weaknesses in the Patriots’ defense and exploiting them. He even added that once  TE Chris Herndon returns the Jets offense would be “unstoppable.” Not exactly bulletin board material, or overly cocky, but he and the Jets offense had no answers to what was to come. 

Gase, in another move that will be dissected for a long time to come, allowed his young quarterback to be mic’d up before the game, perhaps allowing himself the fleeting thought that after last week, this was to be the changing of the guard in the AFC East. Late in the first half, ESPN ran a clip of Darnold on the bench where he looked lost and admitted he was “seeing ghosts out there”. That clip, unfortunately, will follow him for a long time to come. 

What the Patriots did on defense was simple in its plan and yet brilliant in its execution. They blitzed the woeful Jets offensive line with the linebackers (Boogeymen) running free and forcing Darnold to throw off his back foot all game long. Or they would show the blitz and drop seven into coverage and give him nowhere to throw the ball. 

The Jets never adjusted, and never found an answer. While the Patriots only had one sack for 13-yards last night, the pass rush was the biggest factor for the defense. They had Darnold throwing off his back foot where the ball was continuously sailing on him. Darnold finished the game just 11 of 32 for 86 yards with four interceptions and a fumble. His passer rating for the game was just 3.6. He threw as many interceptions as the Jets were able to pass for first downs. They averaged just 2.7 yards per game.

Le’Veon Bell had a nice game with 15 carries for 70 yards including a couple of really nice runs where his patented patience allowed him to bust a few where it appeared he had nowhere to go. But in truth, he was a total non-factor. 

Robby Anderson, fresh off his big game against Dallas was once again relegated to a milk carton by Stephon Gilmore. Anderson had one catch for 10 yards while being targeted eight times. Gilmore had one of the Patriots’ interceptions. Demaryius Thomas who was chirping at the Patriots and Bill Belichick last week, made it sound like a big revenge game fell flat on his face. Targeted nine times, he had just three catches for 42 yards. 

If there was one downer on the defense, it had to be that cornerback J.C. Jackson was being singled out by the referees for flags. He was whistled for three penalties on the night.

But back to the offense. For all the hand-wringing the fans and much of the media are doing, they scored 31 points, (the defense scored two on a safety), and when the game was still in doubt, put 17 points on the board in the first quarter.

Was it a well-oiled machine? Hardly. But missing two key offensive linemen including the left tackle, two fullbacks who are key to the running game, both tight ends, their “X” wide receiver (Josh Gordon) and their most productive running back (Rex Burkhead), they did what they had to do. 

The Patriots’ two tight ends hadn’t played a snap this year but despite the lack of playing time and timing, both Ben Watson and Eric Tomlinson played a significant amount of snaps. Jakobi Meyers is building his trust factor with Brady more every day and was targeted five times and had five catches for 47 yards. He also drew a pass interference penalty on Trumaine Johnson that would’ve been a touchdown. Johnson bit on a double move and had to grab him or get burned. The usual suspects, Julian Edelman and James White each had seven receptions. 

Tom Brady had a so-so night number wise but ran the offense efficiently and utilized everyone at his disposal, completing passes to eight different receivers. His two best throws were a nice 28-yard back-shoulder throw to supersub Brandon Bolden and a beautiful 26-yard touchdown pass to Phillip Dorsett who dusted Johnson in coverage.

Sony Michel had little running room, finishing with just 42 yards on 19 carries, but added three short touchdown runs. Edelman chipped in with a few jet sweeps. And linebacker Elandon Roberts, known for his downhill run-thumping style, was pressed into service as a blocking fullback for goalline and short-yardage. He did very well. 

So while the pundits will continue to decry about the Patriots opponents or lack thereof, they don’t care. They’ve enjoyed this one for a moment and are already moving on the Browns.  After that they will face the Ravens, Eagles, Cowboys, Texans and the Chiefs. One at a time. Those games will ultimately define their season. But they are 4-0 in the division, including 3-0 in the division on the road, 4-0 on the road overall where they were just 3-5 last year. 

Sleep well Patriots fans, and even though Halloween is still 10 days away (nine since it is officially after midnight), but remember Boogeymen do exist. I think they’ll be haunting the dreams of Mr. Darnold for many nights to come.  

_________

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Patriots Players To Watch, Week 7 MNF  Against the Jets

Steve Balestrieri
October 21, 2019 at 7:41 am ET

The Patriots are on the road again and are taking on the New York Jets on Monday Night Football. They’ve had some extra time off since their Thursday Night Football game but will the time off help them to prepare or will they lose a bit of their edge? They will be missing several members of the offense this week.

Here are our Patriots players to watch this week as they try to improve to 7-0 on the season against the Jets. 

Tom Brady: 

The Patriots, despite having the extra time off since last Thursday’s game are entering this game shorthanded and banged up on offense. That means more pressure on the QB to get it done with less. WR Josh Gordon, TEs Matt LaCosse, Ryan Izzo, and RB Rex Burkhead are out, while WRs Julian Edelman, Phillip Dorsett, and Gunner Olszewski are all questionable. 

Brady will be operating with one healthy receiver (Jakobi Meyers) and two tight ends that have been on the team for a week (Eric Tomlinson and Ben Watson), although Watson spent all of the training camp here with New England.

Couple that with an offensive line that has been missing two players all season and things won’t be easy for the Patriots QB. He and Josh McDaniels are going to have to get creative this week. 

Jamie Collins:

The Patriots linebacker is enjoying arguably his finest season with the Patriots and is turning back the clock with the way he’s been playing. With the Jets getting Sam Darnold back last week, they got much more aggressive offensively, throwing on first down more and with Darnold’s mobility he can move in the pocket and make plays with his legs. 

Collins will be one of the players who will be very important for the Patriots to ensure that Darnold doesn’t get out of the pocket. With LT Kelvin Beachum out this week, Brandon Shell will be getting his first NFL start. The Patriots will no doubt want to test Shell and Collins, as well as Kyle Van Noy, will be line up on the right side of the defense to try to bring pressure on Darnold.

Collins had a monster game against the Jets a month ago, with 3.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 QB hits, and a pass defensed. The defense will be looking for him to have another big game this week against a much different offensive team.

Julian Edelman/James White:

We’re lumping these two together this week since they will no doubt be the two players that Brady will target the most and the Jets will put the onus on stopping. Edelman against Brian Poole is a mismatch and one that he’d win easily, but expect Poole to have some help this time around. I’d expect the Jets to use a linebacker or safety on occasion to double up Edelman and force Brady to beat them elsewhere. 

James White missed the first game due to the birth of his son, and Rex Burkhead had 17 touches (11 carries, six receptions) in his absence. I’d expect that White will have a similar workload this week. In the passing game, Sony Michel may see a few touches as well as Brandon Bolden but maybe it would a nice time to let 3rd-round pick Damien Harris get his feet wet. UDFA Jakobi Meyers is the only WR not on the injury report.

The Patriots are going to have to ride Edelman and White heavily, something the Jets coaches are well aware of. The adjustments made in-game will ultimately tell the tale here. 

Adam Butler:

Butler is playing more snaps than any Patriots defensive lineman thus far this season. That speaks volumes to his progression in Year 3, and his versatility in being able to adapt to different situations. It is his play, which is the reason that Michael Bennett’s snaps have decreased so rapidly, more than anything else. 

With Bennett suspended this week, more will be thrust on Butler’s plate. With the ever-dangerous Le’Veon Bell in the Jets backfield, the Patriots defensive linemen have to stop Bell from penetrating and allow the linebackers to clean up. They also have to push the pocket on Sam Darnold and create pressure from the inside. 

Butler has been very good at being a disruptive penetrator inside and this will be a big opportunity to shine. The Bennett news will have him thrust more into the spotlight. And with a national audience tonight, Butler has a chance to create even more playing time for himself with a big game against the Jets.  

Ben Watson: 

Watson will be playing in his first game with the Patriots since the 2009 playoff loss to the Ravens at Gillette Stadium. He spent all of training camp with the team and was a frequent side session participant with Tom Brady getting some 1-on-1 work. But with just a week of practice, his first since the end of camp, it isn’t known how much he’ll play. 

The Patriots need some production from the tight end position, something they’ve gotten very little from Ryan Izzo and Matt LaCosse who has been hurt most of the season. Especially, this week with the situation involving the injuries to the wide receivers, they need someone to step up.

Watson, despite being 38-years old, still runs well and looks like someone much younger. If he can stretch the seams of the defense, just a little bit and give them some production in the middle of the field, it will open things up for Edelman and White.     

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