Tag Archives: #SBLIII

Gronk spikes trade deal – No Brady, No Dice

TRADE TALK BEFORE THE 2018 DRAFT

Rob Gronkowski was almost traded to the Detroit Lions during the offseason, leading up to the Draft. After Sunday’s loss to Detroit, Rob Gronkowski was asked about all the rumblings of the trade. Gronk casually answered saying, “Yeah it happened, Tom Brady’s my quarterback, that’s all. Wasn’t going anywhere without Brady.”

Staff photo by John Wilcox.

Before the 2018 NFL Draft, Bill Belichick was looking to deal Rob Gronkowski. Rumors of talks with the Lions and Titans were being thrown around. Bill was talking with his ex Patriot friends in an attempt to move the All World tight end. Adam Schefter went on WEEI’s morning show ‘Kirk and Callahan’ Monday for an interview about the situation. According to Schefter “It would’ve been a trade involving draft picks, that was the basic trade.” He continued on about Gronkowski, “He was the only player involved in the trade and it would’ve been a combination of picks.”

HOW GRONKOWSKI NIXED THE TRADE

During the offseason Rob Gronkowski was uncertain about things, he made that clear minutes after the Super Bowl. Since Gronk showed signs of uncertainty, Bill had to keep thinking about the team and its future. Bill has never been one to wait and see about a player, he makes the necessary moves for the team. Apparently, he did and the trade was pretty much done until Gronkowski caught wind of the situation. Schefter again noted, “Basically the deal was all but agreed to, he was going to go to Detroit, and when he found out he called the Patriots.”

Now, this is coming from an NFL insider, not the Patriots or Rob Gronkowski, yet it does seem to line up with the offseasons timeline of events. Gronk and the Patriots did have a meeting before the draft, which was newsworthy because it ended the trade speculation. As Rob Gronkowski said Sunday night, he wasn’t going anywhere without Tom Brady. So what was said during the meeting is unknown to the public, but the end result is clear. New England was the only team Rob Gronkowski would play for, it did not matter if it was the defending Super Bowl champion Eagles. If Brady wasn’t throwing him the ball, he was ready to retire.

Via USA Today

NO TRADE WITH A HAPPY ENDING

For Patriot fans, the meeting between the Patriots and Gronkowski’s camp, right before the draft worked out. Rob was adamant about what he wanted, which led to Bill Belichick and the Pats agreeing to keep the tight end. I’m sure Bill had his own demands for Gronkowski as well, in the end, it all worked out.

Rob Gronkowski wasn’t traded, his deal was reworked with incentives again. If he reaches those incentives he will receive $4.3 million this season. New England doesn’t have to worry about the cap hit because of Gronkowski’s new deal, it barely changes. So, in the end, both sides seem to have benefited from that meeting before the draft. For fans of the Patriots, everything turned out great. If it wasn’t for Gronk calling the team to have a meeting, a lot of things in New England could’ve changed not just the TE. Luckily this is in the past, everyone has one goal in 2018 and that’s bringing home the Lombardi.

FLASHback to 2007’s Offense

COMPARING THE 2007 SEASON TO THIS YEARS TEAM OFFENSIVELY

In 2007, New England was a juggernaut on offense. As far as regular seasons go, well, the Patriots went undefeated. Of course, this season won’t be perfect, the offense could look quite familiar. Josh Gordon recently picked up by New England, has many fans very excited. First and foremost, he is not Randy Moss 2.0. I want to make that clear.

However, if Gordon can fall in line, keep his nose in the playbook and contribute all season, then we could be in for quite the show. The comparisons this year to the undefeated regular season are fair, hear me out.

(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

DIFFERENT NAMES – SAME GAME

New England’s offense in 2007 was unstoppable, mainly because of Randy Moss and Wes Welker. Other key players had their roles as well, only one player remains – Tom Brady. 2007 will go down as one of the best complete football teams of all time, if not the best. Here is what the offense looked like.

Starting off is Tom Brady, who has seemed to have gotten better with age. As he admits himself, “I feel like I’ve played better the last eight years then I did my first ten.”

Next, let’s look at the running game. Laurence Maroney handled the heavy workload. Patriots HOF’er Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris as the 3rd down change of pace backs. Heath Evans was the fullback.

Jumping ahead to this season, SB hero James White, Rex Burkhead, and rookie Sony Michel can all either be RBs or receivers in the slot or split out wide. In today’s NFL, I’d give the slight edge to this season’s RB core, as moving the ball through the air is more important than ever. Defenses can’t tell whether it’s a run or pass play when any of these players step on the field. Also, James Devlin is used at FB to open up running lanes and catch the ball as well.

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

PASS CATCHING COMPARISONS

Randy Moss is in the HOF, Josh Gordon is not Randy Moss. However, if Gordon is the best version of himself, he will fill the Moss role, which is taking the top off the defense with his size and speed. Brady hasn’t had this since Randy Moss, with the obvious edge going to Moss, with one caveat – the rest of the pass catchers overall compared to this year.

With Gordon attempting to do his best Moss impersonation, Brady now has a real deep threat. His targets also include Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Chris Hogan, and Philip Dorsett with special teams ace, Corderelle Patterson, being involved in some packages each game.

Josh Gordon opening up the field for these receivers will not allow defenses to double. If they do, Brady will find one of the open players. Looking at this year’s pass catchers and 2007 receivers, it’s the same concept with similarly skilled players except for Moss. Now, 2018 now has a beast like him plus Rob Gronkowski. That alone is scary for opponents.

Edelman will be back in the slot, with Gordon opening up the field. Just like Welker did in 2007

Patriots offensively in 2007, besides Randy, had an aging local legend in Troy Brown, another Patriot HOF player, along with Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth, and Jabar Gaffney. They didn’t have a huge part of this comparison in Rob Gronkowski. Ben Watson was good along with Brady, but it’s not close to Gronk alone. 2018 also adds Hollister in the mix. So, can this year’s team look anything like the 2007 Patriots?

IN CONCLUSION, WHERE DOES THIS SEASON’S OFFENSE STACK UP?

Going through it by positions was interesting, and all these comparisons depend on one player, who’s never been dependable. In the event Josh Gordon does click with Tom Brady, this year’s Patriots team will do some serious damage. As I see it, this years RB group can be better than 2007.

Pass catchers; if everything goes to plan, will put up eye-popping numbers. Rob Gronkowski, Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon and Chris Hogan with the RBs will keep defenses up at night.

No, this season won’t be as prolific as the undefeated team but will have a similar feeling to it. As always, health will play a factor as well of the offensive line.

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are still here, with players comparable or better to the 2007 team. Still, it’s too early to tell what will happen next.

No Tom Brady led offense will ever be as good, but this year is the closest it will get. Imagine all of this coming after the recent WR drama throughout the last few months.

No Need to Panic About the Patriots

Patriots Start Slow and Finish Strong

Let’s look back to September 7th 2014 against Miami. In Week 1 the Dolphins took it to the Patriots, holding the offense to zero points in the second half. New England dropped the first game of the season 33-20 to start 0-1. After that first game people were concerned, it wasn’t until Week 4 until panic set in throughout New England.

Monday night football against the Chiefs was a complete nightmare for fans, and a celebration across the country that the dynasty was finally over. New England was embarrassed on national TV, losing 41-14 leaving them 2-2 to start the season. Bill Belichick’s famous line, “we are on to Cincinnati” was repeated to every postgame question. Panic had set in by this point, all for nothing. New England didn’t panic. They went to Cincinnati and dismantled the Bengals 43-17. As the season went on the Patriots only lost two games after that, ending 12-4 to go on to win their first Super Bowl in ten years.

Two Years Later No Need to Panic Again Right?

In 2016 the Patriots got shut out at home 16-0 by the Buffalo Bills, again a bad loss in the first four games. Unlike 2014 the panic wasn’t as high, but there was concern. Just as it happened in 2014, New England started with an early loss, yet they only dropped one other game, ending the season 14-2. With a great playoff run, Patriots fans were once again in panic mode during the Super Bowl. Down 28-3 with just minutes left in the 3rd quarter, once again this team showed why they shouldn’t be doubted and how they Never panic. Another nail-biting situation, the Patriots went on to make the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history beating Atlanta in overtime.

Photo Credit: Yahoo Sports

Last year Patriots fans were in shock, more panic than ever

2017 started out with some reconstruction to the stadium, making room for a fifth banner. Fan’s were in a state of euphoria, as the Patriots had just won two Super Bowls in three years. Opening night had arrived, the circus was in town like Bill Belichick has said about banner games since 2001. Something else had arrived that night at Gillette, the Kansas City Chiefs. After all the fireworks and celebration, New England came out looking confused on defense. History was about to repeat itself once more in 2017. Kansas City embarrassed the Patriots on national TV again, beating the defending champs 42-27.

Again New England started the season 0-1, but it got worse as the defense couldn’t figure it out for the first four weeks, losing in Week 4 to the Carolina Panthers 33-30. Another 2-2 start to the season led fans to start getting worried again, just like usual the Patriots only lost one other game that year. Ending the season 13-3 and getting back to the Super Bowl again. Only this time the Patriots didn’t win the final game of the year, but it just goes to show, this is just what happens with the Patriots. They start off a little slow, not showing all their cards, still figuring things out. So should fans be worried about starting 2018 1-1? No, the answer is written in history. Especially this season with so much turnover from last year.

New England is going to take the first four games to figure everything out like they have been for years. September is an extension of the preseason for the Patriots to try different things, while they might start off slow fans should know by now they always finish strong. New England is on to Detroit after a familiar September loss, with a new WR and rookie RB Sony Michel. I’m here to say to anyone who is worried. Look at the recent timeline of events, there is no need to panic.

Boston Sports Extra

By Boston Fans, For Boston Fans