Tag Archives: Rob Gronkowski

Jacob Hollister’s Opportunity

Leave a reply

“That’s where a lot of players, I’d say almost all players make a big jump—whether that is reflective in their status on the field, that’s another question. But just from a development as a football player, that second year is a big year. It’s a great opportunity for them to take that first-year knowledge that they don’t have as a rookie and be able to apply it in their job now.”

Bill Belichick.

 

The head coach of the New England Patriots often stresses the importance of making sure that a player is constantly progressing in his skill set and evolving his talents. A player’s biggest jump will be from year one to year two, BB is credited with saying. Many reasons factor into this. Familiarity in the system, a normal player off-season, NFL quality nutrition and strength training, among others.

Opportunity

On the Patriots there is one individual poised to make the most of his opportunity. He is part of a future trivia question: what team had not one, but two sets of twins on its roster and what season? The answer is the New England Patriots and the 2018 offseason. Time will tell if all four of them make the team. But Devin McCourty is a lock, and his brother Jason is not too far behind him. The other twins are a little more obscure. Cody Hollister is a wide receiver who spent his rookie year on the practice squad. His roster spot is always tenuous. The competition for the wide receivers will be fierce during training camp. His brother has a much clearer path.

Making the Most of It

Jacob Hollister already beat out one NFLer for a roster spot his rookie season. Late in camp last year, Jacob won the third tight end spot after the team cut James O’Shaughnessy. Hollister saw action sparingly as Gronk stayed healthy and Dwayne Allen contributed as a good blocker all season long. Tallying only 4 catches for 42 yards, his rookie season was still a valuable learning experience. He is showing up in offseason activities ready to compete.

The Skill Set

The Patriots have him listed at 239 pounds and 6’4″. The reviews from around the latest mini camp are that he has added some really good weight. He worked with Kevin Boss in Oregon to increase his skills as an in-line blocker. The increased familiarity of the system will aid him in his quest for a covered NFL roster spot. He seemed to take advantage of Gronk’s decision to sit out voluntary activities and put himself at the head of the pack heading into training camp.

“I think it’s just becoming reliable and earn the trust of your teammates,” Hollister said. “Obviously, you’ve got to earn the trust of your quarterback and earn the trust of everyone on the team, really.”

And he’s obviously been reading the Patriots manual on talking to the media as well.

The Mission

Carving a role for Hollister is key to making the roster for his sophomore season. Backing up Gronk and being a viable option for three TE sets will go a long way in keeping the offense balanced and the formations complex. The key to this is his blocking ability. If he proves that he can hold his own against the professionals on defense, he’s a lock for the third tight end spot at least. And should Gronk or Allen miss extended time at all, we could hearing his name a lot more this season.

Gronkowski Says There’s a Lot of Fake News

Leave a reply

Gronk Says ‘Fake News’ Is Being Reported

It was reported before the Super Bowl that  Rob Gronkowski was thinking about retiring. After the Super Bowl he was thinking about his career and what his plan was moving forward. Then we got that he was thinking about an acting career and sending people signs on social media with his tweets. Gronkowski on Saturday did a press conference and made a fool out of himself and the team. He talked about how much he was going to be working on his dirt bike skills and not be attending the offseason workout program.

Belichick Gave Gronk a Choice

Via CNNOn Tuesday, Gronk met with Belichick because he gave him the ultimatum: that he’s either in or out. Gronkowski said that he’s been working out and will be ready for the 2018 season, which is what he wrote on Instagram. Now, yesterday he posted a video of Patriots fans saying there is a lot of fake news being reported. I’d like to know what that is since Gronkowski is the one that started this whole thing. He’s also saying how he feels more pliable. Gronkowski is heading to the Bahamas to shoot Shark Week, but will be ready for the 2018 NFL Season.

With the NFL Draft is tonight, the Patriots had to know if he was going to be in or not. Would they have to draft a tight end? They still might, but who knows because they do need other help besides on the offensive side of the ball. I swear, since the Super Bowl every single day there’s something new to talk about with this team. It’s amazing. You have the three other teams in Boston doing well and the Patriots are still making headlines. Unreal.

Maybe some of the things being reported were blown out of proportion, however, the overall gist is there. There’s are a rift and Gronkowski was told to keep his mouth shut and get ready for the season.

 

Bill Belichick Has Had Enough

Leave a reply

Saturday Was the Final Straw for Bill Belichick

I wrote on April 1st Rob Gronkowski was coming back to play football for the Patriots. After Gronkowski embarrassed himself and the team on Saturday, Bill Belichick had enough with the nonsense. Belichick gave Gronkowski an ultimatum yesterday and said that he’s either with the team or not. This clown show that he’s been putting on is not fair to the players who are in the weight room every day getting ready for the season. Saturday was the last straw for Belichick, and wanted to meet with Gronkowski and his agent yesterday.

Gronkowski isn’t getting a raise. If he wants to play football for the Patriots and win, he needs to shut up and just get ready for the season. I don’t believe Gronkowski planned the meeting with his agent and Belichick. This was all Bill. He’s trying to get ready for the season and his two best players are acting like they don’t want to be there. Belichick doesn’t have time for it since he’s also trying to plan for the transition for Josh when he takes over next season.

Belichick Gave Gronkowski an Ultimatum

Gronkowski will be here until Brady retires after his contract is up. Gronkowski wants to get paid, but that isn’t happening and he’s not getting traded. Patriots fans that think Gronkowski will be getting paid are wrong. Belichick gave him an ultimatum that he’s either in or out. If he’s in, he can’t act like a clown and talk trash about the team. He also can’t be saying how much he wants to get paid. Gronkowski posted on Instagram yesterday, ” I met with coach today and informed him I will be back for the 2018 season with the Pats, I have been working out, staying in shape and feel great. Looking forward to another championship run. #bandsamakeherdance”. Really though, Bill Belichick has had enough of the nonsense.

Does Rob Gronkowski Deserve Better?

Leave a reply

Is Rob Gronkowski Acting like a Baby?

Aug 11, 2016; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski (87) during pregame warmups prior to a game against the New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY SportsRob Gronkowski made an appearance at the Motorcross event at Gillette Stadium on Saturday. Gronkowski said he wouldn’t take part in the offseason workouts because he was working on his dirt bike skills. If that isn’t a shot at Bill Belichick I don’t know what is. There is no way after that press conference he will ever be captain of that football team. At the end of the day, he doesn’t care if he’s on the Patriots or not.

The other question is does Rob Gronkowski deserve better? Does he deserve to go to a team that will pay him based on his performance? It’s also being reported that Gronk and Brady are still upset that Malcolm Butler didn’t even see a snap in the Super Bowl. If you’re Gronkowski, he’s thinking he’s worked hard all season to have the coach bench the one player that could’ve won the Patriots the Super Bowl. If I’m Belichick, I’m pissed. I wouldn’t blame Belichick at all for retiring after this season.

Rob Gronkowski Doesn’t Care If He’s on the Team or Not

Gronkowski has played really well for the Patriots and deserves a pay raise. However, Gronkowski knows the Patriots are cheap and don’t usually play their players. Brady has taken many pay cuts over the years so they can sign other players. At the end of the day they win and win Super Bowls. If you don’t like it, then stop complaining and just request a trade.

Rob’s comments on Saturday were, “My status is doing really great, I’ve been riding dirt bikes. I’ve been training really hard. I can vroom vroom really good. I can ride that bike like no other, and my speed is up there. Wow. Coming at me. I’ve learned never talk forward. I’m just here today in the present. I’m working hard, riding these bikes. Just drinking Monster Energy Gronks, so you can get wild, do crazy stuff that people don’t like when I do it, but I’ll just do it. Get crazy.”

Does Gronkowski deserve better? Yeah, with a pay raise. However, he won’t get that with the Patriots, so he can suck it up and just deal with it and win, or be on a 4-12 team making a lot of money. It seems like he wants to be on a 4-12 team making a lot of money.

Rob Gronkowski: Boycotting Medical Treatments

Leave a reply

More Patriots Drama…

Via UMass Blogs

Not only is Rob Gronkowski not participating in offseason workouts. He’s also boycotting traditional medical treatments. It seems Gronkowski would rather get all of his treatments at the TB12 center with Alex Guerrero. This is another shot at Bill Belichick. Deion Sanders sent out a tweet on April 13th stating that professional sports are a business first. Gronkowski retweeted that tweet. For Gronkowski to skip the voluntary workouts is one thing, but to completely boycott his medical treatments is a bigger issue.

https://twitter.com/DeionSanders/status/984859969865551872

This whole offseason for the Patriots has been nothing but drama and things leaking out about the team. We’ve been told the Patriots are different from everybody else, that they don’t let anything get to them. In reality they are just like every other organization. Belichick has been running the Patriots this way for 18 years. He isn’t known to pay his players. Gronkowski wants to get paid, and the only reason he’ll play this season is that Tom Brady is the quarterback. If Brady wasn’t the quarterback you’d be seeing him in Hollywood.

Gronkowski Wants to Get Paid

Belichick doesn’t have time to play these games, which is why he held the press conference on Friday. All this chatter and talk about the two biggest players on the team. All Belichick is doing is trying to build a team so he can be successful this year and Josh can take over in the future.

People won’t move past the Malcolm Butler benching in the Super Bowl two months after the game. Everyone is more into the benching of Butler than the Eagles actually winning the game. Is Gronk taking it too far and feeding the media with things to talk about? Maybe, but he is definitely making a statement boycotting traditional medical treatment.

Rob Gronkowski Is Back for Another Season

Leave a reply

Rob Gronkowski will be back for another season with the Patriots. The speculation comes after his Super Bowl comments about weighing his options out. According to ESPN, though, Rob Gronkowski will be in a Patriots uniform this season. The rift between him and Belichick still remains, however.

The “Patriot Way” Is Getting Old

Gronkowski likes to be taken out of his shell. Meaning having the power to do and say what he wants. Belichick didn’t like that Gronk told Amendola to be free and happy in a Instagram post. With everything mostly held in-house at One Patriot Place, some players are starting to get sick of the “Patriot Way”.

Bill’s way of doing things has been the same for 18 seasons. He’s brought five Super Bowls to New England and drafted the greatest quarterback of all time. However, players want to have more fun. Gronk wants to win, so as long as Brady returns, he’ll follow in suit. He won’t return next season for Belichick; he’ll be back because of Brady.

(AP Photo/Michael Dwyer)

Kraft confirmed the other day that there is tension between him and Belichick. However, there was more tension when Kraft first became the owner of the team. Let me say this- there’s no way he  would ever leave Brady stranded. He’s already lost Amendola, Edelman is coming back from injury, and who knows how Brandon Cooks will do.

 

Rob Gronkowski Is Tired of Belichick’s Orders

Via Bleacher ReportGronkowski and other players have tension with Belichick, but that’s not stopping Bill from doing what he thinks is best for the team. Bill has made appearances at the majority of combines and NFL camps this off-season. Why is that? Yes, because he loves the game, but there could be even something bigger happening. Bigger than just Gronkowski coming back.

Gronkowski will be back for at least two more years, as long as Brady keeps playing.

Ten Fun Super Bowl Facts to Get You Fired Up

Leave a reply

When I hosted a sports talk radio program on my college radio station at Buffalo State College, my on air name was “Dr. Super Bowl” due to my intense love of Super Bowl history. For me, this is the most wonderful time of the year. You can have your shopping days until Christmas, I’ll take the two weeks leading up to the Super Bowl. I have lost many close friends and have driven several family members to tears of boredom dropping mad Super Bowl trivia on their unsuspecting souls. However, you the true sports fan will appreciate these mind-numbing fun facts about the greatest event in the history of the world.

Wear the White Jersey

Super Bowl

It is the new rage for the home team to select the white road jersey. AFC teams are designated as the home team for even-numbered Super Bowls such as this fifty-second edition of the big game. The New England Patriots wore their blue jersey for every home game since a 2011 clash with the Dallas Cowboys. Bill Belichick no doubt made that choice because of the old superstition that the Cowboys always lose big games in their blue. Additionally, the Patriots have been the home team in five of their nine Super Bowl appearances. Each time, they wore their home jersey. Each time they were the “road” team, they wore white. Why the change this season?

Teams wearing white have won twelve of the last thirteen Super Bowls. The Green Bay Packers were the lone exception with their 2011 Super Bowl victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers. In the old days, teams did not have a choice. The home team was required to wear the dark jersey. Thus, we were robbed of what would have been a gorgeous match-up in the Orange Bowl for the 1971 Super Bowl between the Cowboys and Baltimore Colts as Dallas was forced to wear the blue instead of their famous “whites”. Dallas was the first home team to wear the white jersey doing it in the epic 1979 Super Bowl against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team that has worn the white is 33-18 all-time.

Minnesota, Here We Come

This season marks the second time the Super Bowl has been played in the land of 10,000 lakes. The 1992 Super Bowl between the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills took place in Minnesota’s Metrodome. Like this season, that game featured the top seeds from each conference. Buffalo came in as the defending AFC champion losing the year before to the Giants by a single point. The Redskins were the dominant NFC team that season and crushed their two playoff opponents en route to the Super Bowl. Washington led by journeyman Mark Rypien walloped Buffalo physically and on the scoreboard. Safety Brad Edwards had a monster game that has largely been forgotten. The 37-24 score does not do justice to this one-sided affair.

Gronk’s Super Bowl Story

Like most things pertaining to Gronk, his Super Bowl appearances have been unusual. This will be the fourth time New England has played in the big game since Gronkowski arrived on the scene in 2010. In the 2012 Super Bowl against the New York Giants, he played on a sprained ankle. Therefore, Brady targeted Aaron Hernandez much more in the passing attack. Three seasons later, Gronkowski was virtually unstoppable in the thrilling win over the Seattle Seahawks. He scored a second quarter touchdown when single-covered by a linebacker. On the go-ahead scoring drive, he made two huge receptions. Last season, the Patriots won the Super Bowl without Gronkowski in the lineup. Due to his concussion in the AFC Championship game, his status is still unclear for the Super Bowl.

I Love the 80’s

Super Bowl

The Eagles and Patriots each played in one Super Bowl during the decade of my youth. The irreplaceable Dick Vermeil coached the 1980 Eagles to their first championship in 20 years. They were awesome on defense on diverse on offense as they built their game plan around quarterback Ron Jaworski, talented running back Wilbert Montgomery and the giant wide receiver Harold Carmichael. Unfortunately, they were flat and nervous come Super Bowl Sunday as the Oakland Raiders flattened them 27-10. Jaworski was picked off three times by Rod Martin. His counterpart veteran Jim Plunkett was on his game throwing three touchdown passes and winning the MVP.

The Patriots Super Bowl appearance following the 1985 season was a train wreck of catastrophic proportions. They got absolutely steamrolled by the historic Mike Ditka-coached Chicago Bears. The Patriots can take solace in the fact that they were the first team to make the Super Bowl after winning three road playoff games. Incredibly, in each of those games, they were +4 in turnover differential including their shocking AFC championship conquest in Miami over the Dolphins.

JT is the Man

Timberlake returns for a third time to provide Super Bowl halftime entertainment. His 2001 performance alongside Aerosmith, *NSYNC and Britney Spears was way better than the game itself between the Baltimore Ravens and New York Giants. The same cannot be said of his controversial appearance at the 2004 Super Bowl when he assisted Janet Jackson with a wardrobe malfunction. That game between the Patriots and Carolina Panthers was superb. A youthful Tom Brady was heroic in leading his team to a last-second win.

Giants Assistant Bill Belichick

Belichick is the head coach for a Super Bowl for an NFL-record eighth time. However, he also coached in the big game as the defensive coordinator of the Giants in the 1987 and 1991 Super Bowls. His 1986 Giants were a historically-good unit featuring the legendary Lawrence Taylor. They punished John Elway in a 39-20 win in Pasadena. On the other hand, his 1990 team were massive underdogs against the high-powered Bills led by Jim Kelly. The Bills had come off a 51-3 dismantling of the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC championship game. The Giants squeaked by Joe Montana and the San Francisco 49ers.

The Niners had a good offense that season while Buffalo was incredible. Belichick devised a scheme where he played just two down linemen daring the Bills to run. When they Bills did run the ball to all-world Thurman Thomas, they gained yards. However, Belichick knew Kelly’s gunslinging mentality would not allow him to hand the ball off all night. New York’s defense did just enough to hold Buffalo to seventeen offensive points and a missed field goal at the buzzer. Belichick’s one other Super Bowl did not go well when Green Bay topped the Patriots in 1997. He served that team as defensive backs coach. Therefore, coach Belichick’s overall Super Bowl record is a respectable 7-3.

Bills Backup Frank Reich

Super Bowl

Anyone who paid attention to the Eagles two playoff games has to applaud the efforts of offensive coordinator Frank Reich. I am not just bragging on him because I watched him play numerous times in Buffalo as a kid. He truly has done an excellent job helping Philadelphia get to the Super Bowl with backup quarterback Nick Foles.

Against the Atlanta Falcons, Reich trusted his running game between the tackles and short passing game. The Eagles did not score a lot, but they possessed the ball the majority of the second half. That ball control led to the narrow victory over the Falcons.  Against the Minnesota Vikings, Reich won the game on third down. All season long, the Vikings had the ability to get teams off the field on third. Thanks to Reich’s tremendous game plan, the Vikings did not come close to resembling the team in the regular season as they could not stop tight end Zach Ertz whatsoever.

Reich was a member of the Bills when they played in four consecutive Super Bowls in the early 1990’s. He got into the game on two occasions. In the 1992 Super Bowl against the Redskins, he came in for some garbage time late in the fourth. Under the current concussion protocol system, he probably would have gotten in sooner because Kelly got his bell rung early and often by Richie Pettibon’s bone-crushing defense. In the 1993 Super Bowl against the Cowboys, Reich relieved Kelly in the second quarter after the Bills starter injured his knee. Reich had engineered two playoff wins that season including the greatest comeback in NFL history in the Wild Card game. On this day, the Cowboys lightning-fast defense proved way too good for Reich and the Bills. He committed an embarrassing five turnovers in the 52-17 loss.

February 4th

February 4th will be the date of the Super Bowl for just the second time. Eleven years ago, the Indianapolis Colts claimed the city’s first and only Super Bowl championship by defeating the Chicago Bears 29-17. The incomparable Devin Hester returned the opening kickoff for a dramatic touchdown for the Bears. In a steady downpour, Manning was not at his best in this game, but he was good enough especially on third down. The Colts transformed a 14-6 deficit into a 22-14 lead.

Late in the third, Chicago kicked a field goal to cut lead to five. Then, Kelvin Hayden made the play of his life. He intercepted Rex Grossman and raced fifty-six yards on the soggy turf for the score and a 29-17 victory. This was not a marvelous Super Bowl by any standards. However, it was a marvelous accomplishment for Tony Dungy and Peyton Manning on February 4th, 2007.

Don’t Lose My Number

If Nick Foles guides the Eagles to a Super Bowl championship, he will join Drew Brees and Jim McMahon as the only quarterbacks to win it wearing the jersey #9. McMahon had an amazing personality and he was a good player and all, but honestly, the Bears could have won that game with Mike Ditka himself at quarterback. On the other hand, Brees was the New Orleans Saints absolute best player when they conquered the Colts in the 2010 Super Bowl.

Tom Brady’s five Super Bowl titles are among 16 championships by quarterbacks wearing the #12 jersey. Terry Bradshaw of the Steelers was 4-0 in the 1970’s. His first two Super Bowls came as a result of their running game and incomparable Steel Curtain defense. However, he won consecutive Super Bowl MVP awards in Super Bowl XIII and Super Bowl XIV. Also, in the 1970’s, Roger Staubach and Bob Griese won two championships wearing #12. Joe Namath, Ken Stabler and Aaron Rodgers captured the other three titles adorning football’s most popular number.

40 is the New 30

Tom Brady will be the sixth person in NFL history to play in a Super Bowl over the age of 40. For that reason alone, I cheer for the guy! He joins two placekickers, two punters and the greatest wide receiver ever created, Jerry Rice. Brady is a unique individual in that he is playing as good now as he did when he was 30. Mark Brunell and Earl Morrall dressed for the Super Bowl at 39 but were well past their prime in their backup role. Carolina’s defense overwhelmed 39-year old Peyton Manning in Super Bowl 50. His best days were behind him. Yet, with Brady, he is not just the oldest player in the NFL, he is the greatest player in the NFL.

 

Brandon Fazzolari is a Super Bowl expert…@spot_Bills

Uncovering Patriots Weaknesses

Uncovering New England’s Offensive Weaknesses- Part 1

Leave a reply

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.

On to Pittsburgh

Leave a reply

Wow, that game was awful. Another loss down in Miami and an ugly showing by the Patriots to fall one game behind the Steelers heading into next week’s match-up. Despite what the scoreboard said, this might have been the ugliest game the Patriots have played all season. Kenyan Drake ran wild and Jay Cutler was routinely hitting open receivers. Then you have the 0-11 on 3rd downs. 0-11! This was the Patriots’ first game since a 24-10 loss to the Phoenix Cardinals in Week 5 of 1991 where they failed to convert on third down. That team was quarterbacked by the legendary Hugh Millen. Based on how the offense looked last night, I think Millen may have been on the field again.

Why This Might Not Be a Bad Thing

Hear me out; yes the Patriots looked terrible and fell behind Pittsburgh in the standings. If the Patriots win this coming week, they jump back ahead due to head-to-head tiebreaker, so they control their own destiny. I don’t think it’s a bad thing to drop a game late in the year. The Patriots were just humbled, shown they are not invincible by a very mediocre team. Moving forward, maybe they approach each game with more meaning. I’ve always thought since 2007 the Patriots would have been better off dropping that regular season game to the Giants. As it stands, the Patriots eight game winning streak came to an end; they know they are not indestructible. But again, they just won eight straight, this is a good team, don’t look into this loss too much.

Moving Forward

The Steelers better watch out. Coming off an embarrassing loss, the Patriots will likely be firing on all cylinders next week with home field on the line. The Patriots have typically played well coming off a loss during the Belichick-Brady era. I expect this coming week to be no different. The Patriots have won four straight matchups with the Steelers and eight of the last ten. During that four game streak the Patriots have averaged 34 points per game. Over those previous ten games, including the losses, they have averaged 30 points per game. They have historically had the Steelers number. One of the losses came with Matt Cassel at quarterback in 2008.

In addition to those factors, Rob Gronkowski will be back. At least part of the reason the Patriots offense was all out of sorts was the absence of Gronk. Gronk is so hard to cover that defenders have to hold him constantly to stay with him, and oftentimes are allowed to do so by the refs. With 849 yards and 7 touchdowns on the season, Gronkowski is a huge part of what the Patriots do on offense. Gronk has also played five games against the Steelers and averaged 99 yards per game while scoring eight times.

Another positive on the offensive side of the ball is Chris Hogan. Yes, he only had 1 catch for 1 yard this week, but the whole offense was out of sync. Hogan himself was just coming back after missing over a month. He was also limited in practice all week leading up to the game. With a full game back under his belt, I think Hogan will be up to speed and ready to contribute more.

Rob Gronkowski of the New England Patriots celebrates after scoring his third touchdown of the game in the fourth quarter against the Pittsburgh Steelers September 10, 2015 (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

 The Steelers

The thing working in the Steelers favor is they have a home game. The Steelers have been a much better home team over the last couple years. Their offense is lethal at home, but only mediocre on the road. Roethlisberger has thrown 64 more yards per game at home than on the road so far this year, while tossing four more touchdowns in one less game. Last year he averaged 81 more yards per game at home while throwing 20 touchdowns there as opposed to only nine on the road. Taking this back to the beginning of the 2015 season, Ben Roethlisberger has played 18 home games and 21 road games. During that time he has averaged 64.5 more passing yards while playing at home. He has also thrown 50 touchdowns versus 19 interceptions at home, 24 touchdowns against 23 interceptions on the road. It is clear this offense is dangerous at home.

What to Expect

I think the Patriots offense will come out clicking. Brady will be firing on all cylinders while they effectively mix in runs with Dion Lewis and Rex Burkhead. I predict the Patriots will score on their first drive of the game and not look back. The Steelers will do some scoring of their own to stay within striking distance, with a late field goal bringing them within one possession.

Patriots 34  Steelers  27

Another Ladies’ Night in Buffalo

Leave a reply

“Well it ain’t much all right I know
But it’s the only song I know
2 a.m. and the traffic’s slow
Another ladies’s night in Buffalo”

-David Lee Roth

Per usual, DLR gets it right. Buffalo, for lack of a better adjective, sucks. As I type these first few sentences, I have just witnessed Rob Gronkowski get screwed again. Why? Because he is the greatest tight end in history and no one can cover him without foul. Sure, he tried to drive a defender in to the ground so hard he would reach the 7th Circle of Hell. So what? Gronk is a victim. He is like every intern at the Today show. Just trying to do some good and then the “magic button” gets pressed and he is trapped; to no fault of his own.

But, the mainstream media with spend the lion’s share of tonight/tomorrow/this week analyzing this aggression by RG, I am here to advise to another undercurrent that I want the fans of both sides of this game to recognize; Buffalo sucks.

You’re Not Good… You Stink

The legendary Ty Webb said it best. Yes, they suck at football. But the place just sucks in general. What do they have to offer this grand nation of ours? Bad weather? The world’s largest water slide? Shitty mustaches. You are New Yorkers, but not real New Yorkers. You are a 5-iron from being Canadian. That said, you ARE a great football town. I love this #BillsMafia phenomenon. You are embracing your sheer suckiness like you part Clevelander. Golf clap to that. The videos that dominate #Barstool on Sundays make us all laugh. But my condolences. Lighting yourselves on fire or slamming your buddy through a tailgate table is basically your only hope of getting media coverage. Desperate times, desperate measures. I get it and admire your grit.

Excuses Are like A$$holes…

And so, the Bills have lost to the New England Patriots… AGAIN. What do you do as you depart (I’m glad I am dead) Ralph Wilson Stadium? Here is my best guess.

– Pick a fight with the guy you have shared season tickets with for 11 years on way to car

– Talk about the Sabres in hopes of making yourself feel better

– Review the big day you have tomorrow working your plumbing apprentice job ‘near the Falls’ just to give your life some meaning

– Tell your buddy you and your 3rd wife are actually going to see the “real” New York at Christmas

– Make a Jim Kelly reference

– Distract your sad sack Bills’ fan kids about when you met Bruce Smith in a Men’s Room at an Arby’s in 1993

– At least we have the wings, right?

Look, I am sorry. I really am.

But, like Dr. Sean Maguire said in Good Will Hunting (P.S. another case of Boston winning!), “It’s not your fault.”

You suck Buffalo. Go eat some wings and some crow while you are at it.