In early August when the Patriots kicked off their preseason many Patriots fans, myself included never believed for a second that LeGarette Blount would become what he has. Logically, such an argument could be fairly defended seeing as going into this season Blount had not logged a 100 yard rushing game since the middle of 2011 and seemed to be more of a filler than a key piece on the Patriots preseason squad. However, as Blount blew away the Eagles in New England's initial preseason game, there was a bit of a though somewhat along the lines of who is this guy? and where did he come from?
But nevertheless, while he did made the team in September, Blount was no star. He took a back seat to star teammate Stephan Ridley who was coming off of a 1,263 yard, 12 touchdown 2012 season and did not even register his first of 7 touchdown runs this season until Week Four in Atlanta. However, as Ridley suddenly ran into a wall and began fumbling footballs like they were coated in butter, the need for Blount began to be finally recognized. From Week 12 on, Blount steadily increased his rushing yardage as each game during that span has had more yards gained by Blount than the last. For Blount however, Week 17 was the ultimate highlight. In what has been officially confirmed to be the greatest single game performance ever by a Patriot running back, Blount scored 2 touchdowns, ran for 189 yards and blew things up with 365 all-purpose yards, the most ever by any Patriot aside from their quarterback.
As LeGarrette Blount has come of age, it has rapidly become known that even on this team, this team that has spent 15 years now benefiting from the services of guys like Wes Welker, Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, a 27 year old 6 foot tall 250 pound Blount is their most important weapon in this, their most important game. But while he is the most important weapon, he is not the only weapon.
In the immediate wake of divisional playoff week, it began to be suspected that something was wrong with star Broncos corner back, Chris Harris. The 3rd year corner had led his team in snaps in the 2013 regular season was soon diagnosed with an ACL tear and was ruled out for the AFC Championship. As could be fairly assumed, the loss of such a hardened pro will leave an immeasurable void within the Broncos defensive unit. That void combined with that left by the loss of Von Millar 3 weeks ago, will undoubtedly open up a huge hole for big yardage receiver, Julian Edelman to haul in passes and an equally weak linebacking core that might likely allow for guys like Shane Verreen to nab those screen passes and simply lower the shoulder and gain some big yardage.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Patriots won’t be given as much of a break. Between Wes Welker, Julias Thomas, Demarius Thomas and Eric Decker Peyton Manning has broken nearly every single season QB record in 2013 tossing 4 or more touchdowns on 9 different occasions this season.
In what might likely go down as the last meeting of Tom Brady and Peyton Manning this game will not be focused on the two. It will the focused on LeGarrette Blount and Knowson Moreno, Julian Edelman and the assortment of Denver pass catchers and frankly it should. While this game might decide the hierarchy of each of these player's careers, it will also decide who gets to go to New York to participate in the biggest sporting event on the planet and for these teams, it is that later facet of meaning that this game will contain that is the most important.
No matter the history, we live in the moment and when the moment dictates a proficiency in the Patriots running game than so be it. We will run.
0 comments:
Post a Comment