Tag Archives: Malcolm Mitchell

The History of the New England Patriots by Jersey Number #18-#21

NUMBER EIGHTEEN

Wide receiver Randy Vataha was one of New England’s better players in the early-1970’s catching passes from Jim Plunkett. Vataha was a teammate of Plunkett’s back in Stanford and their chemistry carried through to the pros. Vataha’s best season came in 1975 when he had 720 receiving yards and 6 touchdowns.

Donte’ Stallworth played one season plus one game with the Patriots. In 2007, Stallworth wore the #18 jersey and contributed to one of the greatest offenses in NFL history. One of his great plays occurred in the Divisional Round game against the Jaguars. On this day, Tom Brady was absolutely on fire as he’s prone to be in big games. In a nail-biter, Brady hit Stallworth on a short pattern and #18 streaked down the sideline for a huge-gainer that turned out to be the clincher.

Streeter Lecka

Stallworth came back for one game in 2012 wearing #19, caught a long touchdown on Monday Night Football and was subsequently injured on the play.

Special Teams Standout

Matthew Slater is clearly the best player to ever wear jersey #18 for the Patriots. Slater is the son of the Hall of Fame offensive tackle Jackie Slater of Los Angeles Rams fame. Slater has become one of the best special-teamers in NFL history. He’s been named to seven consecutive Pro Bowls and is a perennial team captain. He even correctly called the coin toss before New England’s championship drive in Super Bowl LI.

Slater will go down as one of Bill Belichick’s favorite players and will live forever in Patriots lore.

NUMBER NINETEEN

Do you remember who punted for the Patriots in Super Bowl XXXI? If you said Tom Tupa, you got it. The one time backup quarterback of the Phoenix Cardinals became a full-time punter when it became brutally obvious that he was better at kicking a football than throwing it. He wore #19 for the Patriots for three seasons under Bill Parcells and Pete Carroll.

In 1999, he left New England for the Jets and in an incredible twist of fate, Vinnie Testaverde tore his ACL and Tupa was forced into emergency quarterback action. The Jets were heavily favored going into 1999 to defend their AFC East title, but once Testaverde went down, their hopes were dashed. Tupa made a decent appearance as he threw touchdown pass. He made the Pro Bowl as a member of the Jets in 1999 and won a Super Bowl as a member of the Buccaneers after the 2002 season.

The Patriots used their third round draft choice in 2009 on a kick return specialist named Brandon Tate. His only season of productivity in New England turned out to be in the Patriots 2010 season when they finished 14-2. He returned two kickoffs for scores that season before leaving for the Cincinnati Bengals. To his credit, he’s still in the league.

Nineteens in the Super Bowl

The Patriots got some Super Bowl championship contributions from two other players wearing #19. Brandon “Jojo” LaFell had an excellent season in New England in 2014 as he made several key plays in the Patriots march toward their first World Championship in ten years. Against the Ravens in the playoffs, he caught the winning touchdown, then scored the first points in the Patriots win over Seattle in Super Bowl XLIX.

Unfortunately, he had an injury-plagued, drop-filled campaign in 2015. The Patriots moved on from LaFell and drafted a new #19. That guy’s name is Malcolm Mitchell. Mitchell’s finest game as a Patriot may have come in New England’s dramatic win over the Falcons in Super Bowl LI. Time and again, Tom Brady targeted Mitchell in the second half and Mitchell was up to the task in the biggest game of his life.

Sadly, Mitchell never saw the field in 2017, but it’s hard to say it mattered much when New England was able to throw for over 500 yards in the Super Bowl without him. However, he’ll be a welcome addition back to the fold in 2018.

NUMBER TWENTY

Only one player has ever worn #20 for the Patriots and only one player ever will. Gino Cappelletti is truly one of the most beloved of all Patriots. He played for Boston from 1960-1970 and upon retirement held countless franchise records. He was the AFL MVP in 1964 and was named to five All-Star teams.

Perhaps he is best known as a game analyst for almost 30 years. The combination of Gil Santos-Gino Cappelletti was in the booth for New England’s first three Super Bowl championships. Cappalletti also was in the booth for Boston College games. He is a New England treasure for sure!

NUMBER TWENTY-ONE

We have quite the potpourri of players who wore #21. But, let’s face, does anybody besides Malcolm Butler really matter? Butler made the single most impactful interception in the history of professional football. When he stepped in front of Russell Wilson pass with seconds left in Super Bowl XLIX, it allowed the Patriots to win their fourth Super Bowl in franchise history.

Perhaps the greatest thing about Butler, though, was his spirit to keep playing and performing at a high level even after his career-defining play. Butler is not the greatest cornerback in NFL history, but one can never fault him for lack of effort. He plays hard on every play, tackles well and goes for the turnover. His last game with the Patriots in Super Bowl LII was shrouded in controversy, but Butler took the high road as he departed for the Titans, praising Coach Belichick despite his benching. Frankly, it will be weird and a little sad to see him in that Tennessee jersey in 2018.

Best of the Rest

Speaking of DB’s, let’s go way back to the Parcells era when he had a #21 named Ricky Reynolds. Reynolds was exactly the kind of player Parcells loved: He was a scrappy veteran. Reynolds contributed in a big way down the stretch as he scored two touchdowns in December of the 1994 season. New England’s strong play down the stretch catapulted them to a surprising playoff spot. They were derailed by Bill Belichick’s Cleveland Browns.

Reynolds played another year and a half with the Patriots and retired following the 1996 campaign.

Randall Gay was another defensive back that wore #21 during his time in New England. Gay mostly played on special teams but saw extensive action in the Patriots Super Bowl XXXIX win over the Eagles. Unfortunately, Gay struggled up against Terrell Owens. Gay had a strong season as part of the supporting cast of the 2007 team that ran rampant through the NFL only to lose the Super Bowl in the waning seconds.

Gay’s best seasons were spent wearing #20 for the New Orleans Saints where he played in his third Super Bowl.

Our final #21 was a sensational player but not while he was a member of the Patriots. Fred Taylor amassed 11,000 rushing yards, including seven 1,000-yard seasons while wearing #28 for the Jaguars. His two seasons with New England were uninspiring and unnecessary.

Brandon Fazzolari is a Super Bowl expert…@spot_Bills

Uncovering New England’s Offensive Weaknesses- Part 1

Introduction

Every football team has at least one weakness. Honestly, it may be fair to say two weaknesses. Usually one on the offensive side of the ball, and one on defense. This article I will be dissecting any potential weaknesses on the offensive side of the ball.

Hopefully you can relate to this: when the Patriots have been eliminated from the playoffs, it damn near always catches me off guard. I can’t remember a playoff game that the Patriots have lost and I wholeheartedly expected them to lose. That just doesn’t happen. Us Patriots fans have built this expectation to win the Super Bowl every single season, and anything short of that is a failure. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have instilled this into us.

Year after year winning Super Bowls or being in contention has plateaued our standards at ‘Super Bowl or bust’. So, when the Patriots are in fact eliminated from contention, I am initially in a stage of anger and shock. Naturally, because of how great the Patriots always are, when they are eliminated, it seems like a blown opportunity. A few days after the loss, ‘hindsight 20-20’ becomes reality to me. I begin to understand why they lost, and that their weaknesses couldn’t be masked by Brady and Bill.

As a Patriots fan, even with the weaknesses that the team has, it becomes easy to overlook them or minimize them because “we have Brady and Belichick”. By the end of this article, I intend for you to fully understand the Patriots offensive weakness.

My Attempt at an Non-Bias Uncovering of the Patriots’ Offensive Weakness

Whether you want to use statistics or the eye test, the Patriots’ offense this season has been elite. Arguably they are the best in the NFL. They finished top-2 in total yards, points for, turnovers lost, and total first downs. This New England offense seems like one without a weakness.

One may in fact have a point in believing that, had the Patriots never traveled to Miami this season. In by far the worst offensive performance of the season, the Patriots were 0-11 on third down conversions. A usual staple of success for the Patriots became what derailed the team that week.

Brady Isn’t Connecting with His WRs

Taking a deeper look at what went wrong that game, it became clear that the Patriots could not throw the football down field. To be fair, they didn’t have Rob Gronkowski, who was serving a one-game suspension. Without Gronk up the middle demanding two sets of eyes, there was nothing the Patriots could do to free up their wide-receivers vs Miami’s press-man-coverage. Xavien Howard led the Miami CB group through to a no-hitter vs Tom Brady and company. Playing straight up man-coverage, with a plethora of different blitzing schemes, the Patriots were helpless.

Heading into the next week vs Pittsburgh for the biggest game of the season, New England clearly had to clean up its act. A team that usually plays zone-coverage, played tight man-coverage vs New England, following the blueprint that Miami put together the week before. The difference this time, was Rob Gronkowski, who ate up the Pittsburgh defense. While it was nice to see Gronk back, the Patriots still only completed nine passes to wide-receivers that game.

The next two games against the Bills and Jets, with the season all but locked up, the game plan seemed to revolve around running the rock. Opportunities to throw were still there, and so were the issues. Brady missed Cooks wide open deep down the field vs Buffalo that should have been a touchdown.

Cooks(36yd line) has the safety beat over the top.

An under-throw by Brady towards the middle of the field forced Cooks back inward, helping the safety catch up. Incomplete.

Against the Jets, Cooks stopped running too early, resulting in an incompletion that should have been a deep touchdown.

The Numbers

According to NFL Research, over the first 11 games this season, Tom Brady completed 42.3% of his passes of 20+ yards and had a TD/INT of 5/1. Over the last 5 games, Tom Brady has completed only 27.3% of his throws of 20+ yards and has a TD/INT of 0/3.

Through those first 11 games as well, Brandin Cooks averaged 79 yards per game. Over the last 5 games, however, Brandin Cooks has averaged 42.6 yards per game and has spit out his only two ‘under 20 yard’ games.

The Reason(?)

I want to tread lightly here, but maybe this bye-week is exactly what Tom Brady needs. I am not saying that Tom Brady is done, or seriously regressing, the G.O.A.T will probably win the MVP for crying out loud! What I am saying, however, is that Tom Brady only had to play a twelve game season last year. He had five weeks off. As fit as Tom Brady is, at age 40 the human body needs more time to recover. Tom Brady, to my estimations, has at least two years of great football left.

With that being said, he is going to have to rest more, and continue to nurture his body as he gets older, like anyone would. Tom Brady from weeks 12-16 threw at least one interception in each game. It was the first time he had thrown an INT in five straight weeks since 2002. This bye-week could indeed be what Brady’s body needs to help get him back on track.

It is also completely fair to credit this issue to injuries that transpired throughout the season. Losing Edelman in the preseason changed the entire dynamic of the offense. Before Hogan was knocked out with his shoulder injury, he was on pace for his best season. At the same time, Brandin Cooks was tearing up the field with his deep crossing and go routes. On top of that, Malcolm Mitchell, a Brady favorite, has been out for the entire season.

Hope

The good news is that both Hogan and Mitchell are likely to be back in the playoffs at some point. This would be crucial for the Patriots offense. To have weapons like Gronkowski and Lewis grouped with a dangerous wide-receiver group *that Brady trusts* could make this offense unstoppable. Right now, however, throwing outside is still a big weakness for this team.

How Will Tom Brady Share the Wealth?

Wide Receivers

Julian Edelman #11 of the New England Patriots makes a catch during a game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on January 1, 2017 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

Julian Edelman is the old standby at wide receiver. He is Tom Brady’s most trusted target. The two of them know what each other is thinking and Brady can rely on Edelman being where he is supposed to be. Edelman is 31 now and has been banged up in recent years, but he will still get fed. In his four years as a starter he has averaged 104 receptions per 16 games played. Problem is, he doesn’t usually play in all 16. With Cooks in the fold there is a chance we see a slight decline in targets this year, but I don’t think it will be much. If Edelman can stay on the field I would expect to see 90+ receptions from him again this year. About 6 receptions per game seems about right for him.

Brandin Cooks is the hardest to predict since he is the newcomer. Yes, he is coming to New England with Tom Brady, but he was already in a great offense in New Orleans. Also, with New Orleans he had less competition for targets. The Patriots are loaded with pass catchers, the Saints were mostly Cooks and Michael Thomas. Cooks averaged 81 catches the last two years for 1156 yards and 8 touchdowns. I know a lot of people are expecting huge things from Cooks, but I think that sounds about right for him again this year. He can help spread the field and open up more lanes underneath, he can also catch some of those short screen passes at the line and try to make something of them. But with 4 good wide receivers, a few pass catching backs and Rob Gronkowski I don’t see Cooks suddenly increasing his catch total. If anything goes up I think it will be his touchdown total.

Malcolm Mitchell is a good receiver, capable of starting on most teams. On the Patriots he is behind a wealth of others on the pecking order. He will keep a role in the offense however, provided he can stay healthy. Mitchell caught 32 passes and 4 touchdowns in his rookie season last year. He really came on late in the year though, catching 21 passes between weeks 9 and 12 while scoring all 4 of his touchdowns. He even caught 6 passes in the Super Bowl during the Pats late comeback. There will be some weeks where we don’t see much of Mitchell and others where he is thrown to quite a bit. I think the Patriots “3rd” wide receiver will be matchup based, Mitchell and Hogan both having their days in the sun. I’m thinking 40-45 receptions for Mitchell this year if he can stay on the field. He has had knee problems dating back to college. The larger likelihood is Mitchell winds up missing a few games and finishes closer to 35 receptions.

Chris Hogan is the forgotten man. After bringing Cooks into the fold people have seemingly forgotten about Chris Hogan. He had 38 catches last year for 680 yards, leading the league at 17.9 yards per catch. He then came up huge in the postseason with 17 catches in 3 games and 19.5 yards per catch. His play will be a bit sporadic, matchup based. Teams that are susceptible to the long ball Hogan will be given a lot of run. Teams beat more by good route running and shorter to medium range passes I think Mitchell will see the field more. Counting the playoffs Hogan had two 100 yard games and three 90 yard games last year. I expect his stats to be hit and miss again this year. 35 catches with 600 yards seems to be doable.

Danny Amendola is still around after taking a third pay cut to stay in New England. I don’t see him doing a whole lot though unless injuries ahead of him free up targets. If everyone stays healthy Amendola may fall short of 30 catches for the third time in five seasons.

Tight Ends

Rob Gronkowski #87 of the New England Patriots makes the Broncos defenders look silly. (Photo by Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

Rob Gronkowski hasn’t played in all 16 games since 2011 (though he did play 15 two years ago). I see no reason why the Patriots wouldn’t scale back his snaps with all these other offensive weapons they have. There is no reason to risk injury by sending Gronk onto the field for 60, 70 snaps a game. They have another tight end who is also a good blocker, and they have plenty of good to great pass catchers. Gronkowski’s snaps should be limited in an effort to keep him healthy and playing through January. Due to this, I don’t see Gronk catching 70, 80 balls like he has in the past. If he can stay on the field for all 16 games maybe 65 catches, but that’s a big if given his history. The touchdowns should still be there regardless. When healthy Gronkowski is an unstoppable force, impossible to cover and dragging defenders down the field like a man playing amongst boys. In a full season double digit touchdowns is still likely, but I’d hope and expect his snap count is brought down this year.

Dwayne Allen was brought in to fill the Martellus Bennett role. He is a younger, cheaper version of Bennett. Biggest problem with him is he has missed games in each of the past 4 seasons. Hopefully he can stay on the field and take some pressure and snaps off of Gronkowski. Allen is a good blocker, but also has capable hands. He scored 8 touchdowns in 2014 and 6 last season. I see him still catching some touchdowns down near the goal line. Opposing defenses will focus on Gronkowski, or maybe on the run game, freeing up a lane for Allen to slip free unnoticed. For catches I see him in the 35 range, but coming with about 6 touchdowns. That’s if Gronk can stay healthy. If Gronk goes down we could see Allen creep up closer to Bennett’s 55 receptions from a year ago.

Running Backs

HOUSTON, TX – FEBRUARY 05: James White #28 of the New England Patriots with the ball against the Atlanta Falcons during Super Bowl 51 at NRG Stadium on February 5, 2017 in Houston, Texas. The Patriots defeat the Atlanta Falcons 34-28 in overtime. (Photo by Focus on Sport/Getty Images)

James White is the main pass catching back. Honestly, that’s why he is here. He doesn’t make many guys miss and isn’t a huge threat as a runner. White is out there on the field to catch passes, create mismatches lined up against linebackers who can’t cover him. In fact, although he is a running back White has caught 35 more passes in his career than he has carries! He caught 60 balls a year ago and then added 18 more in the playoffs. He will still be the Patriots top receiving back, but they now have 4 capable runners who all have decent hands as well. They don’t have anyone like Legarrette Blount this year who has to be taken out on passing downs. All of them can catch the ball and make things happen. I see White’s receptions dropping some this year, maybe into the 45- 50 range.

Mike Gillislee has been assumed to be the main runner all offseason, and I think that will still be the case. However, the Patriots have always loved to play the matchups and I think each of their running backs will have their Sunday in the sun. Each will have a big game, but overall Gillislee probably leads the team in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns. He is also a capable pass catcher, so unlike with Blount last year it won’t be obvious the Patriots are running when their main back is in the game. I think he stays in the game and becomes a dump off option on passing plays, picking up 25-30 receptions.

Rex Burkhead is making some late noise in the competition for reps at running back. Burkhead was given a chance to start in week 17 last year with the Bengals and ran for 119 yards and 2 touchdowns. He is in the same kind of mold as a Danny Woodhead, if he carves out a starting role over Mike Gillislee he could catch 40+ balls this season. As it stands now I expect Gillislee to get the most work, but I think Burkhead will have a couple big games. I have him pegged for 25 receptions, with the ability to corral a lot more with playing time.

Dion Lewis is the shiftiest of the Patriots running backs. He can make guys look downright silly out on the field when the ball is in his hands. Lewis gets banged up though and misses a lot of time, so it’s hard to envision him having a huge role. In 2014, Lewis caught 36 passes in only 7 games as the Patriots featured him a lot more that year. Given his injury history he won’t be as heavily used. However, he did manage to catch 17 passes last year in his 7 games after returning from injury. This leads me to believe Lewis will still have some sort of role. Even with the crowded backfield he could catch 2-3 balls per game.

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