Vince Wilfork, Danny Ammendola carry Patriots to 17-16 victory over Jets

(Photo courtesy of Barry Chin/Boston Globe/Getty Images)

by Dakota Antelman

The Patriots survived their closest finish of the season, grinding out a 17-16 win over their rival New York Jets.

The game featured gritty but at times lacking defense by the Patriots and a flat offense that somehow managed to come through late in the game. All was well in the end though as, through their deficiencies, Brady and his offence ended the afternoon in victory formation having won the game and clenched a first round BYE in next month’s playoffs.

"We made plenty of good (plays) in the fourth quarter to come from behind, so that was great," Patriot QB Tom Brady said. "I'm glad it came out the way it did -- makes for a better Christmas. It's always tough to get a win here."

Brady threw for just 182 yards and one touchdown in this game amounting to just 52 yards in the first half. His offence sputtered with regularity going three and out for  much of the first quarter. Many of his favorite receivers dropped passes they should have caught and made cases against his throwing to them.

Tight end Rob Gronkowski caught for just 31 yards on the day with four passes thrown to him going for incompletions. Wide receiver Brandon LaFell, who has been seeing more and more targets each week from Brady, caught 7 passes for 64 yards but tipped a 3^rd quarter pass that was picked off by the Jets.

One receiver who excelled vs the Jets though turned in a somewhat unexpected performance. Danny Ammendola caught 8 passes for 63 yards and several key 3rd down conversions. He was only in the game by a twist of fate as well, being inserted Friday after the announcement was made that Julian Edelman had stayed home with a concussion. 

Seizing the opportunity though, Ammendola doubled his catches and yardage totals for the season and served as the backbone of the Patriots few positive gains vs. the Jets.

The real all stars in this Week 16 win however, were the players on the Patriots special teams unit.  

In one of the plays of the game, Vince Wilfork got up and tipped a late Nick Folk field goal attempt. The tip pushed the ball short of the score and preserved the Patriots one point lead late in the game.

“I just felt a soft A-gap,” Wilfork said. “[I was] making sure I was legal, not covering up the center, but at the same time getting vertical. I felt that I had a good shot of getting some penetration. It worked out well.”

A 365 pound Wilfork got nearly 8 feet above the line of scrimmage to get a fingertip on the ball. His tip also gave the Patriots the ball with decent field position late, eventually helping them secure the win with a long drive into the redzone.

“It came down to one play really to win this ballgame,” Wilfork said of the magnitude of the play. “And that one play happened to be a block and the offense taking over and just getting one first down to seal it for us.”

It was not in any way pretty but the Patriots found a way to beat the Jets Sunday afternoon. With Danny Ammendola afoot, Vince Wilfork nudged the Jets out of the playoffs and the Patriots into a first round BYE. Tom Brady hit receivers when needed and the secondary came up with interceptions and broken up passes as well.

Hopefully with some sort of retention of momentum from the sheer reality of this being a victory, the Patriots will close out the regular season next week at home against the Buffalo Bills. 

Read More

New England Patriots vs. New York Jets Preview: Pesky Jets look to rain on Patriot parade

(Photo courtesy of Charles Krupa/AP)

by Dakota Antelman

The Patriots roll into the Meadowlands for their Sunday game vs. the Jets riding high following their 41-13 win over the Dolphins that wrapped up the division for them. Furthermore, they enter their second to last game of the season aware of the fact that wins in these two games will guarantee them the number one seed in the AFC.

On paper, their next two opponents, the Jets and Bills, are not the most imposing of foes. However against each of them, especially the Jets, the Patriots have a long history of struggles that beg to make these next two contests more intense than they might seem.

Despite the Jets 3-11 record, the team is a threat to New England.

"I know the records are what they are, but we don't look at it like that," Patriots quarterback Tom Brady said. "We lost going into the Meadowlands last year."

The Jets have a way of keeping themselves in games that they could easily have been blown out in. Four of the last five Patriots/Jets games have been decided by three or fewer points. This season alone, which featured 10 New York losses by Week 13, has also featured four games decided by five or fewer points.

The Patriots attribute the Jets ability to keep pace to their defense.

“They've got a real good defense," Brady said. "We're anticipating their best game."

That Jets defense, made up of guys like Muhammad Wilkerson at the line and Marcas Williams in the secondary, like the rest of the team, has a history of elevating its game whenever the Patriots are on the schedule. In the five games since the beginning of the 2012 season, New England has scored 30 points just once.

At the same time however, New England comes to the Meadowlands with a kind of diverse attack comparable only to Patriots teams of the early 2000’s. They have three receivers (Brandon LaFell, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski) who are within striking distance of 1,000 yard seasons while they also boast a running back core that has them converting on 3^rddowns at one of the highest rates in the NFL.

If the roll over the Jets, which they might very well convincingly do, the result, though expected could lead to an immense turnover within the Jets system next offseason. Of the biggest of those potential changes stands at the coaching position. 

An eccentric Jets coach, Rex Ryan, appears to be on his last legs coaching a team that has averaged 16 points per game this year.

As has been pointed out all week, this game could in turn be his last as part of the Jets/Patriots rivalry. He insists however that he is focused on just this week’s matchup.

"It's not hard for me to do," Ryan said. "I'm a confident person, and I think I'm a decent football coach and I think people who know the game realize that. So, I don't worry about it."

If Ryan was watching the Patriots news feed this week he might have even been given some news to celebrate when a stream of announcements were made Saturday afternoon that neither Julian Edelman, LeGarette Blount or Kyle Arrington had made the trip with the Patriots to New York.

Each with mild to somewhat severe injuries, those three Patriots core players were the subjects of trending topics and worried analysis this week as they were all limited in team practices. The Jets could have predicted that at least one or two of them would have stayed back but to see Arrington, Blount and Edelman all as no shows ought to be somewhat of a surprise.

In their absence, the rest of the Patriots team will need to pick up the slack. Lucky for them, a stacked depth chart gives them the options and freedom to do that. 

Speculations dictate that RB’s who have seen decreased snaps since the signing of Blount could be thrust back into starting roles this week. Guys like Jonas Gray or Shane Vereen have their eyes set on big days.

Danny Ammendola could step in to compensate for the loss of Edelman at wide receiver, while the Patriots could also institute a more varied target distribution over the entire receiving unit including LaFell, Gronkowski and possibly even Aaron Dobson.

In terms of the secondary, where Arrington normally plays, New England will still be able to designate Darelle Revis to a full time coverage of Jets pass catchers Percy Harvin and Eric Decker while CBs, Brandon Browner and Logan Ryan could also see inflated snap counts.

All and all though, New England enters the game aware of their weaknesses but eager to exploit the Jets’. The Jets will try to rain on the Patriot parade but if the past is any indication, a close win could be in the near future for the Patriots as long as they do not get complacent.

"We have to play our best football to win," New England defensive end Chandler Jones said, "and I truly believe that."

Read More

Patriots Topple Dolphins, Claim AFC East Title with 41-13 Win

(Photo courtesy of Matt West)

by Dakota Antelman

In what progressively turned into more and more of a blow out of a game for the Patriots, the long tenured kings of the AFC East claimed another division title with a 41-13 win over the Miami Dolphins.

Tom Brady, despite completing fewer passes than he had in four weeks, was accurate when he had to be while his receivers were clutch across the board. Though the New England running game stalled at times, it too gained yardage in situations that demanded their services while the secondary and defensive lines all stood tall against their Dolphin assignments.

The Patriots put up a solid effort Sunday that was recognized by coaching immediately following the win.

“We were able to get some points on the board get some turnovers,” said Patriots coach Bill Belichick. “I think we had a good day, good punt return, a lot of good field position. We were able to make some good plays.”

However, the majority of those positives from this game all occurred after a first half that admittedly, did not go so well for New England. They got off just 25 snaps in the first half and were forced to punt on three of five offensive drives.

Things got better though as one Brady play in particular seemed to reignite the competitive spirit within the Patriots. Just five minutes into the second half, Brady tucked the ball on 3^rd down and sprinted for a stunning gain of 17 yards. He took a hit at the end of the play but popped right up motivated and angry.

“I was goanna slide but I was pretty pissed off at that time so I figured I wouldn't slide,” Brady said of the play. “Wish I didn't get knocked down but that's the way it goes.”

The long gain set the Patriots up on the three yard line from which they would score on a LeGarret Blount run one play later.

After the game, Brady insisted that it was in fact Blount’s run, not his, that gave the Patriots their newfound strength.

“Blount with a great run! But you know it’s just whatever it takes,” Brady said. “That’s what matters and I think all our guys responded the way we wanted to good to go in there and finish them off like we did.”

Across the board, the second half was a vast improvement on the first half. Rob Gronkowski hauled in three huge catches for a total of 96 yards on the day while Brady threw several pinpoint passes to wide receiver Brandon LaFell. The defense came alive as well shutting out the Dolphins offence and forcing a trio of turnovers, a fact celebrated immensely by the entire team.

 “It’s a good feeling knowing that if you have to punt you have defense that is not goanna give up points to easily.”

The defense limited the chances that the Dolphins got while also playing a hard-nosed style of football that involved omnipresent pressure on opposing running backs and passers. They sacked Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill four times in the second half and forced a pair of fumbles (both of which were recovered by Miami).

Though they did not play the way they wanted to at times, the Patriots managed to grind out a gritty win, finding points in obscure ways (like a first quarter blocked field goal) and playing a kind of mental game that broke down the Dolphins relentlessly and meticulously.

They played like the good team they have been for nearly two decades now. As with the slew of dominant teams before them, they backed that statement of superiority up with a division title won with time to spare.

“Every year is a different year for us. Every year we have a different opportunity to try to accomplish something. It doesn’t start this morning, it started back in march. It’s a lot of hard work that goes into it and I don't think you ever take winning for granted, I certainly don’t because I know how hard it is to win,” Brady said.

He then, in true “Patriot-Way” fashion, described the accomplishment as being part of a greater plan for the team.

“I think we appreciate it but I also know that we have big goals for our team this is the first one we wanted to get,” he said.

Read More

Multi-dimensional Packers offense baffles Patriots: Patriots loose 26-21

by Dakota Antelman

The Patriots suffered a stinging loss to the Packers Sunday afternoon at Lambeau Field. Embedded within the 26-21 final score were a whole host of takeaways, the most notable of which being the struggles that the Patriots had in their secondary.

Just one week after cornerstone CB, Darelle Revis deemed the Patriots secondary “the best in the league”, it gave up 26 points to the Packers and allowed 368 passing yards to their quarterback Aaron Rogers.

"When you play great teams, it comes down to you have to win one-on-one matchups," Patriot defensive back McCourty said. "They just won more matchups than we did."

For much of the first half in particular, the Packers were finding ways to beat the Patriots down-feild.

Though double coverage on Jordy Nelson effectively neutralized the Packers' hottest receiver, the Packers located a diamond in the rough in rookie receiver, Davante Adams. Adams caught six passes for a whopping 121 receiving yards and, for the first two quarters, was the Packers’ go-to guy in the passing game.

The Packers adapted perfectly to the Patriots’ work against Nelson and Cobb.

"They're a matchup defense so if they want to try to take away Jordy and Randall – it was basically Revis one-on-one with Randall and Browner with a little bit of help on Jordy -- so we tried to get Davante involved," Rodgers said. "And he made some big plays for us."

Of Adams’ 11 targets on the night, 7 came in the first half. His somewhat stark drop-off in the back half of the game directly correlated to the Patriots briefly taking control in the final minutes of the first half.

They came out and rattled off a blazing fast 80 yard drive that ultimately culminated in Patriots quarterback Tom Brady tossing a 15 yard touchdown pass to receiver Brandon LaFell. The score gave New England new life and greatly diminished the Packers’ then 14-16 lead.

Though, Green Bay turned right back around and scored a touchdown of its own in less than 45 seconds, New England managed to shut out the Packers in the third quarter. Furthermore, it was New England who drew first blood in the fourth quarter with yet another LaFell touchdown.

In the end though, the Packers managed to hold off a comeback hungry Patriots offence.

Most notably, they stifled the Patriots red-zone offence late in the fourth quarter, when a New England touchdown would have given them the lead, and ultimately punched down Brady for a 15 yard sack on third down.

“I just go back to our philosophy of winning. First, you have to find ways to win. Learn how to win, No. 1, but then you've got to find ways to win and you have to do it as many different ways as possible," Packer coach Mike McCarthy said generally about the win.

The Packers had to get creative to stop the dominant Patriots; four field goals, just one punt and a sudden dependency in a fourth level receiver in Adams dictate that much. But in the end, their creativity paid off. Their seemingly easy toppling of one of the NFL’s hottest teams proved to the league that they might very well be the favorite to win the whole NFC this January.

As for the Patriots, they will swallow the loss and turn their focus to next week’s meeting with San Diego where, if the past is any indication, an angry Tom Brady will be a dominant Tom Brady.

Read More

Patriots vs Packers preview: New England, Green Bay poised for painfully close game

by Dakota Antelman

The Patriots and Packers, perhaps the NFL’s two hottest teams, will clash in what could be a rather brilliant display of quarterback power and defensive execution.

New England, fresh off an offensive dismantling of the Lions will head to Lambeau Field in Green Bay with the understanding that their romp of the NFL may very soon come to an end. 

 "It's not realistic for us to expect to continue to blow teams out like that, or, I don't want to say blow out, but win by a large margin," coach Bill Belichick said. "I can't really put my finger on what it is. I think it's a culmination of things and preparation, I think, is at the forefront of that."

The Packers are one of the closest teams to the Patriots in terms of statistical ranking that New England has and will face for the remainder of the year. They have a top 10 passing game, average over 100 yards in the run game per game and their quarterback, Aaron Rodgers, is looking confident as ever in the pocket. Their starting running back, Eddie Lacey, has been running over defenses all season while prime receivers Randall Cobb and Jordy Nelson are both on pace for 80+ catch seasons.

The Packers, an 8-3 team that is a more impressive 7-1 since week three, pose a threat to the soaring Patriots. Needless to say however, the threat is recognized.  

"We're playing Green Bay in Green Bay," Belichick said. "That's where they've been very dominant, really, in terms of getting ahead and playing from ahead, first quarter. The numbers are staggering."

The Packers are scoring nearly 33 points per game with Rogers throwing two or more touchdowns on six different occasions this season. But at the same time there have been moments this season where the Packers defense has struggled.

They rank 12^th in the league in pass defense and 30^th in run defense. In some of the same games that Rodgers has dominated, so have the Packer’s opponents.

As New England has prepared for this marquee meeting, finding and isolating the weaknesses in the Packers secondary and defensive line has been a focal point.

The Packers in turn understand this and know they will have to step their game up if they want to stem the flow of big Patriots players; especially streaky tight end Rob Gronkowski.

“I don't know that a lot of people have had great success covering him," Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers said Friday. "He can go vertical. He's a big guy. He's got a big wing span. You've seen him catch a ball thrown behind him and pull it in. He likes the physical part of the game. He's going to challenge you in terms of tackling. If you go up on his upper body, the guy's big and strong. Tacklers bounce off of him.”

Beyond Gronkowski, tight end Tim Wright is coming off a two touchdown performance last week vs. Detroit while wide receiver Brandon LaFell has added an extra passing target for New England along the sidelines.

Tom Brady’s distribution of the ball to his varied list of receivers has the Packers unsure of how to neutralize his abilities.

As of Friday, they still seemed unsure of who would be covering who. There was even talk of 225 pound linebacker, Clay Matthews, being matched up on Gronkowski.

There is indecision in regards to how either team will combat the other. Such becomes commonplace when two teams of immeasurable greatness like the Patriots and Packers meet.

Needless to say, after weeks of games decided in the first quarter, the Patriots and Packers game could very well have Patriots fans watching a kind of game they have not seen in months; a close one. 

Read More

Tim Wright excels in 34-9 Patriots win over Deroit Lions

November 23rd, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

The Patriots kept things rolling Sunday vs the Lions when they steamrolled the Detroit Lions by a score of 34-9. They clenched their 14th straight winning season just eleven weeks into the season and, in doing so, solidified their place as one of the NFL’s best teams.

Tom Brady tossed a pair of touchdown passes, both to tight end Tim Wright while an old face named LeGarrett Blount managed to run in two touchdowns. The Patriots defense dominated as well, stuffing the Lions consistently and holding them to just three field goals.

“We did a good job today. We were ready to go. Any time you can keep a team like Detroit out of the endzone, that’s good,” Patriots coach Bill Bilichick said. “We were able to put some points on the board and make plays in all three phases of the game.”

Tim Wright staged a belated coming out party in the win. He caught his fourth and fifth touchdown passes of the year and was responsible for 36 of the Patriots 349 total receiving yards Sunday afternoon. 

Wright, who came to the Patriots from Tampa in the Logan Mankins trade before the season began, has definitely made the most of his targets this season. Wright has failed to catch just two of the passes thrown to him this season. Beyond that, now over a quarter of those 20 Wright targets have gone for touchdowns.

Needless to say, the Patriot are impressed with their new receiver’s sudden growth.

“It seems like every time we throw to him it's a touchdown,” Brady said of Wright. “So try to find him more often down there I guess. But he does a great job in coverage and finds the open spots and makes the plays so it was a big day, big day for that.”

Brady spread the ball to top targets Brandon LaFell and Julian Edelman but ran into a roadblock with tight end Rob Gronkowski who was double covered for much of the night.

Despite the lack of Gronkowski, New England still managed to get down the field on a regular basis. They did so largely on the backs of their kick returners who gave New England immaculate starting field position as well as their running backs who accounted for 90 yards of offence.

LeGarrett Blount, who returned to the Patriots midweek, carried the ball 12 times for 78 total yards and a pair of pivotal touchdowns.

“He’s a really great guy, runs hard, runs alot and once he breaks through he can make you pay,” Brady said. “He’s got a little bit of explosion so it was fun to see some of those big plays.”

The Patriots defense limited the effectiveness of Lions WR Calvin Johnson further debilitating the NFL’s most productive offence.

The Patriots went into their home stadium and took care of business Sunday. They kept with the positive trends they had been assembling in recent weeks and reached several key milestones with their ninth win of the season.

Read More

Patriots offense dominates in 51-23 win over Bears

October 26th, 2014

by Dakota Antelman

The Patriots grabbed a 51-23 win over the Bears Sunday afternoon. The game featured stand out performances by a wide array of Patriots stars. They also extended their win streak to four games ahead of their game with Denver next Sunday.

As with many of the team’s recent wins, quarterback Tom Brady initiated and sustained the game long onslaught of scoring.  He threw for five touchdowns, and completed 30 passes for a total of 354 passing yards. His completion percentage of nearly 86% was not only his best of the year but actually, the second best single game completion percentage of his career.

Coach Bill Bilichick was gushing after the game when asked about the play of his quarterback.

"I love coaching Tom. I've been fortunate to have him the whole career since he's been here," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said. "He does a great job of executing the team game plan."

Catching three of Brady’s five touchdown throws was a ferocious Rob Gronkowski.

The Patriots tight end snagged nine throws for a total of 149 yards. His longest play was a whopping 46 yard catch-and-run play in the second quarter that went for a touchdown. His two other touchdown catches were all made realities by fearsome blocks, stiff arms and victories in physical battles.

"He's a man amongst boys," said Darrelle Revis of a play on the 46 yard touchdown where Gronkowski threw aside multiple Bears in a matter of seconds. "I was watching it on the Jumbotron. I thought he was going to get tackled and he just threw the guy out the way and scored. He's a man amongst boys. He's a monster out there. I don't know what you want to call him. You can call him so many things. Megatron. I know Calvin Johnson has that name. But he does his job, and it's going well. He's doing what he's asked to do."

Gronkowski would leave the game in the third quarter with symptoms of “dehydration”. In his absence the Patriots new wide receiver Brandon LaFell staged his coming out party.

LaFell caught 11 passes for 124 total yards and a touchdown catch. His next best game in terms of yardage was the Week Four matchup against the Cheifs in which he hauled in six catches for 119 yards.

The defense would add a score in the second quarter when Rob NIncovich picked up a Jay Cutler fumble and ran it in for a touchdown. Beyond that play the secondary and safeties played decent games with Darrelle Revis holding Bears star Brandon Marshall to two catches for 24 yards.

“They had a great game plan and they executed it well,” said Marshall curtly.

The Patriots will be in action next week in Denver as they delve deeper into a section of their schedule deemed by many to be their toughest. Needless to say, the Patriots felt good after Sunday’s win and will move onto Denver with innumerable confidence.

"We're a team on a mission," said Revis of the game plan moving from the Bears to the Broncos. "This is going to be two great teams going out there."

Read More

Kenbrell Thompkins released by Patriots: Team finally dealing with target distribution problem

October 4th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Once an undrafted prospect, soon a starting wide receiver and eventually a non-factor, Kenbrell Thompkins was waived by the Patriots Saturday evening.

Thompkins, a graduate of the Cincinnati Bearcats organization, played 12 games for the Patriots a year ago. He caught 32 passes as a secondary target of Brady’s and hauled in 4 touchdowns. His 466 receiving yards were second only those of Julian Edelman while his game winning touchdown catch in Week Seven against the Saints served as possibly one of the moments of the year.

However, in the 8 games Thompkins has played in since then, he has not scored. In the back half of last season he was a player whose stat sheet was riddled with “inactive” notes, dropped passes and as a result, decreased numbers of targets from Brady.

So far in 2014, Thompkins, who was expected by many to mature greatly this season, has been a non-factor.

He had just 6 receptions for 53 yards and did not play consecutive games in the first 4 weeks of the NFL set. He showed an inability to keep with drawn up routs and as a result was actually targeted on just one play verses the Raiders two weeks ago.

While Tom Brady threw pass after pass in the direction of Julian Edelman, Thompkins just stood there on the other side of the field watching while his importance to the Patriots organization melted away.

Reports first started filtering in that he had been dropped just after 5pm and such reports were confirmed within about a half hour. The Patriots had put Thompkins on waivers, calling up Ja’Gared Davis from the practice squad. If Thompkins clears waivers, he will be eligible to be signed to the practice squad by New England.

Beyond Thompkins, the Patriots are a team in wide receiving turmoil this season. Save for the man at the top – Edelman -- the depth chart at the position has been in rotation throughout the first 4 weeks of 2014.

5 year vet, Brandon La’Fell, was promoted to number one WR last week in Kansas City. There he hauled in 6 catches for an impressive 119 yards and a touchdown, missing just two targets. On top of LaFell, the Patriots roster is also filled with names that, even though they are currently inactive, could serve as possible targets at wide receiver if Brady ever manages to branch out beyond Edelman.

25 year old Brian Tyms will not play verses Cincinnati despite his 4 game suspension concluding last week. When he does however, his quick feet and incendiary forward speed have been predicted by many to provide the Patriots with a reliable deep threat.

Lastly, second year wide receiver Aaron Dobson brings a similar skill set to the table as Thompkins. Last season he, like Thompkins went through a statistical roller coaster, catching 6 passes in Week Seven before getting shut down in the final three weeks of the year in which he caught for just 27 yards. Dobson however has gone beyond statistical ups and downs in 2014, getting benched last week for behavioral issues and catching just 1 pass so far. But over the course of a long season, he could find his way back into the WR mix.

All and all, today’s sudden placement of Thompkins on waivers was understandable. Brady for a reason probably very similar to those that prevent him from throwing at many of his other receivers did not feel comfortable targeting Thompkins. Finally the Pats front office did something to deal with that. 

Read More

The contract by the numbers: Brandon LaFell

Length of contract: 3 years
Total: $9 million
Guaranteed: $8 million
Signing bonus: $3 million

Year 1
Guaranteed: $800,000
Bonuses: $200,000 (12,500 per game on active roster)
Total cap hit: $1 million

The bottom line: In what will be a real trial year for LaFell in the Patriots roster, 1 million dollars is a pretty fair salary. In terms of the likelihood that he might earn the majority of his bonuses, the length of time that it takes for Brady to develop chemistry with his new receiver will likely limit his targets and therefore keep him healthy for most of the year. This is a good start for both LaFell and his team.

Year 2
Guaranteed: $1.8 million
Bonuses: $400,000 (25,000 per game on active roster)
Total cap hit: $3.2 million

The bottom line: In 2015, LaFell will double his salary from the year before earning 1.8 million guaranteed and up to  400,000 in potential bonuses. The increase in salary greatly reflects the plan for more targets for LaFell in 2015.

Year 3
Guaranteed: $2.4 million
Bonuses: $400,000 (25,000 per game on active roster)
Total cap hit: $3.8 million

The bottom line: In the final year of this team friendly contract, LaFell will likely grab at the very least 2.6 million dollars. Even if he misses 2 or 3 games, the team projects him to be a primary target for Tom Brady that season and plan to pay him accordingly.

Read More