Author Archives: @stevea1127

About @stevea1127

I'm 25 from Taunton Ma and have a passion for sports especially Boston. My strong sports are MLB and the NFL. I'm hoping to get a job in sports writing someday.

Boston versus New York rivalry isn’t the same in football

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Boston versus New York doesn’t have the same meaning in football

The Patriots travel to play the Jets on Sunday afternoon. The 7-3 Patriots are coming off a bye week after getting pummeled by the Titans in Tennessee. The history of the Patriots and Jets isn’t the same obviously as the Red Sox and Yankees. For one thing, the Jets aren’t that good of a football team. They can’t seem to get it together and get crushed by the Patriots almost every time they play them. With the Red Sox and Yankees, both teams are good and the rivalry is always intense. Those games are primetime and usually come down to the last minute. With the Patriots and Jets, it’s sometimes not even close and it’s over by the first half.

The Patriots and Jets don’t have hype around the games they play against each other.

Devin McCourty is looking forward to going down there on Sunday saying, “When we go down there, it’s not many Patriots fans in there. If they are in there, you probably don’t want to be too loud in that stadium because the Jets fans will get rowdy. It’s a lot of fun.” The Patriots don’t lose back to back games often and after a bye, they’ll be ready to go. Rob Gronkowski will be back after an extended time off due to injury so he should be ready to go.

The Patriots are 61-54 all-time against the Jets. At MetLife Stadium the Patriots are just 4-3 but again the hype between those two teams isn’t there. Despite the Patriots struggles on the road this season, I really don’t see them losing to the Jets – not with again having extra rest and time to prepare. The only great rivalry between Boston and New York is Red Sox versus Yankees. The other three leagues don’t have the same hype.

 

Rob Gronkowski retirement rumors continue

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Rob Gronkowski might retire at the end of the season

Rob Gronkowski hasn’t had a very productive season for the Patriots this year. He was triple covered at the beginning of the season when he was playing, or he’s always out of games because of injury. His contract is incentive based and if he doesn’t get guaranteed money he could retire at the end of the season. Gronkowski threatened to retire after the Patriots almost traded him to the Detroit Lions and before that after the Super Bowl. Seems like he’s always injured lately and one more big hit from a serious injury. The Patriots with Gronkowski and without Gronkowski in the lineup though is interesting.

Gronkowski’s stats with him in games versus  him not in games

According to the Boston Globe. In the 35 games, he’s missed in the last 7 seasons playoffs included the numbers don’t fall off much. Since the start of the 2012 season when he suffered his first significant injury the pats are 67 and 19 with him in the lineup. They are 26-9 without him in the lineup. They have scored 30.5 points per game with him and 27.8 points without him. They made two Super Bowls with him but also won without him in 2016. Since the 2016 season, the pats are 14-2 without Gronkowski including 11-0 in 2016. This year they are 2-1 and averaging 34 points per game without him.

Brady will convince him to stay

Now the Patriots only put up ten points against the Tennesse Titans. They could’ve used Gronk on Sunday even just for blocking. Gronkowski should retire at the end of the season if he continues to be forced onto the sidelines. He also has slowed down significantly since 2011.  The only quarterback he’ll play with is Tom Brady.  So he’s either going to hang it up which is what I think he’ll do or Brady will convince him to stay.

Dion Lewis Predicts a Victory on Sunday

Dion Lewis says Patriots are cheap

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Dion Lewis had some comments about his former team

The Tennessee Titans beat the Patriots on Sunday 34-10. They were also meeting some familiar faces from Mike Vrabel to Dion Lewis on the Titans. Malcolm Butler and Eric Rowe didn’t say that it was a personal win for the Patriots. However, Dion Lewis made some honest remarks about the Patriots being cheap after the game. “Yeah, it was personal when you go cheap you get your ass kicked.” Seems like someone who only cares about themselves and not someone who is a team player.

Bill Belichick only cares about winning and doing what’s best for the team. Lewis was a great running back and won one  Super Bowl with the Patriots. For him to publicly say that instead of going around it will come back to haunt him later. The Patriots don’t forget comments like that, and the next time they play you they’ll put up points. Secondly, Lewis wasn’t even great yesterday, he had a few nice runs but nothing outstanding. Marcus Mariota had a better game. Let’s see how many Super Bowls, Lewis win with the Titans.

If you want to make more money, play somewhere else

Dion’s comments have sparked the Patriot haters to have an ‘I told you so’ moment. The Patriots are known for not paying their players enough. Brady has taken the most pay cuts on the team but look how many championships he’s won. He’s sacrificed his pay because all he cares about is winning. Clearly not the same for Lewis who really hasn’t had a great season so far. He’s having an average season at best. That’s fine though. If you want to win, stay in New England. If you want more money and don’t care about winning, play somewhere else. Simple as that.

Mike Vrabel will be facing his old team Sunday

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Mike Vrabel will face New England on Sunday

The Patriots will see some familiar people on Sunday afternoon when the Patriots travel to Tennesse to play the Titans. One of those people is former Patriot Mike Vrabel. Vrabel now the head coach of the Titans will make his return to face his old team as a coach. With the Patriots he played in 125 games starting in 110 of those. He also won three Super Bowl Championships all with the Patriots and Brady as the quarterback. He had eleven interceptions and 48 sacks with the Patriots. He’ll be in the Patriots Hall Of Fame soon no question about that.

Belichick has respect for Vrabel

Belichick praised Vrabel today at his press conference saying. “He loved to play on the scout team defense. He’d be there best pass rusher, he’d play middle linebacker … he’d play strong safety. (Troy) Polamalu, Ed Reed, (Dwight) Freeney, whoever we were playing, he would love to be those guys (in practice). Play against their offense then take all the snaps on defense … they bring a lot of good positive energy to the team … you can’t put a price on guys like that.” Sunday will be the first time Belichick will be facing a former player that turned into a  head coach.

Vrabel did catch a pass from Tom Brady in Super Bowl XXXVIII against the Carolina Panthers. If it wasn’t for the Patriots and Belichick he probably wouldn’t be a head coach right now. All the things he learned about football was from his time in New England. After New England, he went to Kansas City for two years and really didn’t have the production he had with the Patriots. Vrabel didn’t like being traded to the Chiefs but he’s over it now and has respect for the Patriots organization. Sunday should be a great game for New England anyway. I think the Patriots destroy the Titans and Malcolm Butler gets burned like he has all season.

Comparing Tom Brady to Aaron Rodgers

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A Good Sunday Night Match-up This Week

VIA NBC Sports

Sunday Night Football this week should be entertaining. The Green Bay Packers travel to Foxborough to take on the Patriots. The Patriots are coming off a win over Buffalo where they didn’t really get things going until the second half. The Packers are coming off a loss to the Rams and fell to 3-3-1. Comparing Tom Brady to Aaron Rodgers is interesting. Brady is so far ahead of him in pretty much everything. He’s won five Super Bowls while Rodgers has only won one Super Bowl. Brady has thrown 504 touchdown passes while Rodgers has only thrown 326. Brady’s thrown for 68,359 yards and Rodgers has thrown for 40,785. Brady clearly is the better quarterback and it’s not even close.

Brady Is So Much Better Than Rodgers

Rodgers falls into the Drew Brees category in my opinion until he wins more Super Bowls. Brady does more with less talent than any quarterback ever. Brady did have some nice things to say about Rodgers on WEEI “Even for me, I watch his game and it makes me want to get out there and practice and improve because I think he’s so phenomenal with how he manages himself in the pocket. His ability to throw the football is unlike anyone in probably the history of the league. So it’s just pretty awesome to watch.” He is a great quarterback like Drew Brees but he’ll never be on Tom Brady’s level without championships.

Brady takes his game to another level. From the way, he prepares to the way he performs on the field. There is so much work that goes into being the best at the position which Brady has nailed. Brady isn’t going to answer who he thinks the greatest quarterback of all time is because he has too much class for that. He will though give credit to every player he faces. He is no Peyton Manning either until he at least wins another Super Bowl. But Brady? There’s no way Rodgers will ever catch up to Brady.

James White does it all

Patriots Running Back James White At J.P. Licks for Boston Medical Center

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James White hosted an event at J.P. Licks in Dorchester on Tuesday afternoon. From 4-5PM White served ice cream and the money was then sent to benefit the kids at the Boston Medical Center. It was a quick turnaround for White after just beating the Buffalo Bills in Buffalo the night before. But he was glad to be there to talk to the kids and fans. White holds an event called Sweet Feet for Strikes that also benefits the Boston Medical Center. It was formerly known as the Mayo Bowl until he passed the hosting responsibilities to White.

Boston Sports Extra Was There

Boston Sports Extra was at J.P. Licks in Dorchester yesterday and was able to ask him a couple of questions. With the Patriots playing the night before and the Sox winning the World Series BSE were the only ones there. Yesterday was also the NFL trade deadline which the Patriots did nothing. White wasn’t going to answer any football-related questions. Yesterday at J.P. Licks it was all about the kids from the Boston Medical Center.

This was the second year White hosted the bowling tournament which he did in September. White said at the time ” it’s good to have teammates come out here, have fans come out here and have just everybody come together and have a good time and try to raise a lot of money. That’s what it’s all about, trying to raise as much money as possible for Boston Medical Center.” White also told BSE yesterday that it is great to have his teammates go to the bowling tournament to support a great cause. It’s great what White does on the field being the best running back he can for the Patriots. But it’s also great what he does off the field for charity.

The Patriots barley get a win over the Bears

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The Patriots get a win barley

A sloppy performance by the Patriots with turnovers and almost blowing it at the end. However, a win is a win, right? I don’t remember an ugly win like what we saw today from this Patriots team. Also, Bears quarterback Mitch  Trubisky ran all over the Patriots defense like he was Michael Vick at the beginning of the game. He rushed for six carries for 81 yards and one touchdown. Really, there’s no excuse for that Patriots defense to give up all those rushing yards to a quarterback.

As for Cordarrelle Patterson, who made up for a fumble earlier in the game by returning a punt for a touchdown, celebrated too early. Cross the line in the end zone. Then you can celebrate. Patterson was at the 10-yard line when he reached over and high fived J.C. Jackson before he scored. Belichick will be giving Patterson an earful on that one.

The Patriots improve to 5-2 on the season

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Brady had a careless interception to James Devlin late in the fourth quarter to give the Bears a chance to go down the field and score. Then the final play of the game, with that hail mary pass, that almost tied the game for Chicago if the Patriots defense didn’t stop Kevin White on the one-yard line. It’s one of those games that you just get on the plane learn from it and fix what happened in this game today.

Chris Hogan had himself a game today and so did Josh Gordon. Gordon is really finding himself in this offense which is great. James White and Julian Edelman also had some good plays today.

Overall, there’s no excuse why that game was close. Sony Michel left the game with a bad knee injury and was carted to the locker room from the sideline. James White stepped up in a big way today. Rob Gronkowski didn’t even make the trip to Chicago as the Patriots are saving him for the Bills game next Monday Night. They’ll make the corrections from today’s game and be ready to pound the Bills next Monday.

Patriots versus Bears Game Preview

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Patriots travel to the windy city

The Patriots will travel to take on the Bears on Sunday afternoon. After barely beating the Kansas City Chiefs to improve to 4-2 on the season, the Patriots face a tough Chicago Bear defense on Sunday who allowed just 41 points in the first three weeks of the season but let up 31 against Brock Osweiler and the Dolphins last week. Bears also failed to sack Dolphin quarterback Brock Osweiler on 44 dropbacks and lost the game by 3 in overtime. The Bears are now 3-2 so what do the Patriots have to do to win the game?

Patriots and Bears should be a good matchup

On offense, the Bears rank 10th in points, 19th in yards, 22nd in passing yards and 8th in rushing yards.  On defense, the Bears rank 4th in points, 10th in yards, 16th in passing yards and 4th in rush yards.

For the Patriots on offense, the Patriots rank 4th in points, 14th in yards, 19th in passing yards, and 11th in rushing yards. On the defensive side, the Patriots rank 19th in points,  20th in yards, 21st in passing yards, and 18th in rushing yards.

Belichick is impressed with the Bears

Bill Belichick is impressed with the Bears saying yesterday at his press conference. “This has been a really impressive team to watch. Obviously, a team we don’t know very well and a lot of changes since the last time we saw them, even in practice a couple years ago here. But, changes on the coaching staff, a lot of changes on the players, but playing very well. They’re really a good defensive team, take the ball away, powerful up front, a lot of good, smart coverage players. You know, Vic [Fangio] does a really good job with that group.”

Overall, the Patriots need to move the ball and score early. Gronkowski will most likely be double covered, so that gives room for the other receivers to get open. Expect Chris Hogan to have a good game as he caught two huge passes from Brady towards the end of the Kansas City game. Also, Sony Michel should find some holes and have a good running game too. Get ready for those screen passes with James White and even Edelman. Also possibly Josh Gordon with the deep ball. Defense needs to also play better for 60 minutes than they did in the second half of the Kansas City game. It will be close, but the Patriots should pull it out.

 

Takeaways from Patriots versus Chiefs

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Patriots versus Chiefs felt like a playoff atmosphere

That Sunday night had the feel of a playoff game. 83 points were scored between the two teams. Going into the game, you knew it was going to be high scoring. Patrick Mahomes let the inexperience get to him in the first half throwing two interceptions. However, the Patriots defense fell asleep and connected with Tyreek Hill for a 75 yard touchdown with time winding down in the fourth quarter. The game looked over at halftime the score was 24-9 and the Kansas City defense couldn’t stop the Patriots in the running game or the passing game.

The Patriots could host the Chiefs in the playoffs

According to NFL Research, the Patriots have won 88 straight games when leading by 14+ points at halftime. In the second half, the first time the Chiefs had the ball, Mahomes would find Kareem Hunt for the 67 yard touchdown. It’s like the Patriots defense fell asleep for the entire second half. Even on the Chiefs side, the Patriots were moving the ball all over the place and that defense couldn’t stop it. Mahomes is the real deal though and will be a special player for years to come. The strip sack by Brady to put the Chiefs right back into the game is something we don’t see from Brady.

The Chiefs scored too quickly even Brady said it after the game. “I think, I’m glad when he was running — Tyreek was running to score — I said, ‘Good, score quick.’ Because then we had enough time.” Really Mahomes will learn from that and move the ball down the field as Brady did. Three minutes is too long to give Brady enough time to move the ball and score. Nice win for the Patriots though when they meet again in the playoffs the game will be in Foxborough.

The Hightower interception was perfect and he read Mahomes perfectly on that play. The Patriots did a good job at getting to Mahomes in the first half. Then Mahomes found his quick release in the second and started making plays for the Chiefs. Overall, a great game and I can’t wait for these two to meet again in the playoffs.

 

The Revolution are Getting a New Practice Facility

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The Revolution are getting a new facility

The Revolution held a groundbreaking ceremony this morning for their new practice facility. The training center will be behind the current practice fields. It’s set to be ready by the spring of 2019.

It was last fall when the Revs were talking about building a new training facility in Foxborough. The new complex will feature four training fields, three grass fields, and a turf field. Also a training facility for the team and the academy.

Owner Robert Kraft said this morning it will be good for the community. Team President Brian Bilello said, this morning “We’re really excited about today, and the future of the Revs.”

 Jonathan and Robert Kraft were there

Jonathan Kraft said the project is the “next big milestone” for the team. Kraft also said;

“Many teams overseas already have their academy programs on the same site as their first teams, allowing for academy players to get inspired by the professionals. We’ve got all this space to work with, and we will keep adding as needs of the team and the sport demands.”

The two main fields will be built behind the facility so players and coaches can walk straight to the field from their locker rooms.

Since the Patriots have their own set of practice fields, it will be good for the Revs to have their own facility, too. Five months ago Foxborough residents approved a change to allow for outdoor athletic facilities and fields behind the stadium. Having it done by the spring of 2019 seems pretty quick but it’s going to look nice when it’s done.

After having a late night last night, the Krafts say we are fortunate to live in a great sports town that cares about its teams. Town Manager William Keegan is glad the vote went through and the facility will be built.