{"id":26777,"date":"2019-12-29T05:00:47","date_gmt":"2019-12-29T10:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/?p=26777"},"modified":"2019-12-28T11:41:28","modified_gmt":"2019-12-28T16:41:28","slug":"new-england-patriots-news-12-29-afc-east-notes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patsfans.com\/patriots\/blog\/2019\/12\/29\/new-england-patriots-news-12-29-afc-east-notes\/","title":{"rendered":"New England Patriots News 12-29, AFC East Notes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Good morning, here is your <\/span>Sunday Patriots news 12-29 and AFC East notes<\/b> this week.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the Patriots wrapping up their 11th straight AFC East title last week, they still have some work to do in the regular season and with a win today against Miami, they clinch the #2 seed and a bye for the first round of the playoffs.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It has been a long series dominated by the home teams so it bodes well for a Patriots victory today. The team has stated that they\u2019re treating it like a playoff game. So there\u2019s that..\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/b>Quick Hitters For the Pats and the NFL:<\/b><\/h3>\n

Tre\u2019Davious White –<\/b> The Bills talented cornerback took exception to Tom Brady block that helped spring N\u2019Keal Harry for an 18-yard run last week. <\/span>\u201cChill Tom, we all know if I hit you, I\u2019ll get fined and suspended not vice versa.\u201d Which led us to one of the bigger myths about Tom Brady, that he is protected by the refs and \u201cgets all the calls.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A great tidbit this week on Twitter from Tucker Boynton that is worth passing along, not that the legion of Brady detractors will pay attention. <\/span>\u201cIn 2019 there were 140 unnecessary roughness penalties, and 127 roughing the QB calls. Tom Brady didn\u2019t receive one of those.\u201d<\/b><\/p>\n

Chandler Jones – <\/b>The former Patriots defensive end has a shot of breaking Michael Strahan\u2019s record for sacks today and we all here wish him the best in that pursuit. Having met him at Gillette a few years ago, Jones was personable as well as a talented pass rusher. But like everything else around here, there has been a lot of revisionist history surrounding Jones.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Patriots weren\u2019t going to pay him $82.5 million, and as much as I liked Jones, the defense hasn\u2019t missed a beat, going to three straight Super Bowls, winning two. This season, the team can win their 13th game of the season. What Jones is earning this year, the Patriots are paying five of their defenders. And his stellar play rushing the QB (notice we didn\u2019t say setting the edge), hasn\u2019t transformed the Cardinals defense one bit.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And without the trade, they\u2019d be no Joe Thuney who has been one of the best guards in football the past three years. It has been a trade that was a win-win. The Patriots got talent that took them to three straight Super Bowls, and Jones got his mammoth payday.<\/span><\/p>\n

NFL Investigators – <\/b>The league is supposedly growing frustrated with their inability to pin their investigation of the Patriots filming of Cincinnati\u2019s sidelines from the film crew to the Patriots football operations. They\u2019ve confiscated numerous devices and can\u2019t find the smoking gun that links the two entities\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Frustrated? Wow, I always thought that an investigation was supposed to find the truth, not just to reinforce a theory of wrongdoing. But as we saw with Tom Brady with the asinine \u201cmore probable than not\u201d, that never stopped Park Avenue. I would imagine this thorough \u201cinvestigation\u201d will finish sometime next week or the week after…timing is everything.<\/span><\/p>\n

Navy Bowl Game: <\/b>The Navy was stuck without a flight to their bowl game in the Auto Zone Liberty Bowl. They generally fly Southwest Air to their away games but the airline had no planes available at the last minute during the Christmas holiday. Robert Kraft and the Patriots stepped up and the Midshipmen flew in style.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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Navy’s football team arriving for their bowl game in the Patriots aircraft<\/p><\/div>\n

4th & 2 Podcast<\/b> – If you\u2019ve haven\u2019t checked out our <\/span>PatsFans.com podcast, <\/span><\/a>\u201cPatriots 4th & 2\u201d in a bit, Please do check it out.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Farewell 2010s, A Decade of Dominance:\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

With the game today, this will be the Patriots\u2019 final game of the decade. The first playoff game will begin the 2020s decade. It will be hard for the team to match what the past decade has brought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Patriots, with a win today will end up the decade with an incredible record of 126-34. The next closest team is the Steelers who currently sit at 102-56-1, far behind them. If you factor in the postseason, the Patriots in the 2010s are an amazing 142-40.<\/span><\/p>\n

Of course, when the talk of New England comes up, we always hear about the AFC East. Well, at home against the AFC East, the Patriots are 27-2, which would lend some credence to that…right? Well, against the rest of the AFC at home, the Patriots are 28-2. Hmm, how about \u2018dem apples?\u2019\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The best record in any decade used to belong to the Dallas Cowboys of the 1970s, who went 119-46. Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, and the team have smashed that.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

NFL Top 100, Fascinating, Must Watch Television:<\/b><\/h3>\n

If you haven\u2019t watched the NFL Network\u2019s Top 100, then you\u2019re really missing out. And for Patriots fans, seeing Bill Belichick talking history of the NFL is like manna from heaven.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Tom Brady joined Belichick, Rich Eisen, and Cris Collinsworth and the back and forth with the coach was something that we\u2019ve never had many opportunities to see. It had a little bit of everything. Brady spoke his friendship with Peyton Manning and how the two spent a few weeks during the offseason together and how he (Brady) copied some of the Colts\u2019 play calls and how much it factored into Rob Gronkowski\u2019s success.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Brady and Belichick had a great moment when he said after the first Super Bowl win, the two shared a limo ride together and Belichick in perfect Bill-speak said to him,\u00a0 “Tom, just wanted to let you know you had a pretty good year.”<\/span><\/p>\n

But Belichick also added a great moment telling Eisen when he believed that Brady was going to be special, and it wasn\u2019t in a game, but in practice before Brady had even began to play.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Forget about the lists, like any other list, or poll, it is just an exercise to get people talking and discussing the game. People get too hung up over who is on the list and who isn\u2019t. It is just an opinion folks. Tune in and enjoy some great football talk.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

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“One offseason we got together to talk football for two or three days. Just the two of us.” 🐐🐐@TomBrady<\/a> talks about his experience working with his #NFL100<\/a> All-Time teammate Peyton Manning 👀<\/p>\n

📺: NFL 100 All-Time Team on NFL Network pic.twitter.com\/l8Ct3Rl3t5<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 NFL Network (@nflnetwork) December 28, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n