Patriot run game carries team past Colts to 8th Super Bowl

(Photo by Matt Stone/Boston Herald)

by Dakota Antelman

The New England Patriots were dominant in their dispatching the Colts from the AFC Championship Game.

After jumping out to an early lead which they held onto until halftime, the Patriots scored 21 points on Andrew Luck’s Indianapolis Colts in just the 3rd quarter alone. They fought through a heavy rainstorm with sometimes debilitating wind gusts to finish the night nearly perfect in their numerous redzone drives.

Tom Brady was crucial in ensuring that perfection, completing 23 of 35 attempted passes for 220 passing yards and three touchdown passes. His success in his record ninth AFC Championship game moved him into sole possession of the postseason touchdown passes record.

Though the game, like the season was not a perfect one for Brady, it was enough to get the Patriots to Glendale in convincing fashion.

"I know we've had some ups and downs this year," Brady said, "but right now we're up, baby, and we're going to try to stay up for one more game."

Brady had plenty of help in getting past the Colts though. As the Indianapolis secondary seemed to negate the efforts of Rob Gronkowski for much of the game, and a hip injury took wide receiver Julien Edelman off the field for some time, Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDanials repeatedly called upon seasoned running back LeGarette Blount.

Blount, who ran for 166 yards and four touchdowns in last year’s Divisional Playoff game against the Colts, put up three touchdowns and 148 rushing yards Sunday.

“He ran his [butt] off, ran hard for four quarters” teammate, Shane Vereen said of Blount. "Coming into the game, we didn't know what the game plan was going to be, because we didn't know really what to expect from the Colts' defense. We were expecting some wrinkles but we were able to run the ball."

According to ESPN Stats & Information, Blount had 68 rushing yards AFTER contact. On one notable play midway through the third quarter, Blount earned a first down by continuing to push forward after the Colts defenders assumed he was down and let go of him.

"He made some great cuts in not good conditions," Belichick said of Blount, citing still other carries where Blount simply shook defenders off him without any need for his power running game. "He's a tough guy to tackle."

The Patriots made themselves hard to tackle both in a literal and metaphorical sense in the AFC Title Game. Through Blount’s dominant day, Julien Edelman’s nine catch effort as well as a shutdown showing by the Patriots secondary, the Patriots gained separation from the Colts early and never relented in their scoring assault.

As they revel in their AFC Title Game blowout, New England keenly turns its collective head towards Glendale Arizona where in two weeks, the Patriots will face the Seahawks in hot pursuit of their fourth Super Bowl title.

As Bill Belichick said with a smug hint of a smile following Sunday’s win, “Were on to Seattle.”

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Perfect plays by imperfect Patriots help beat Ravens

(Photo by Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)

by Dakota Antelman

As has been a common theme in the last few playoff Patriots meetings with the Ravens, Tom Brady and the Patriots offence overcame a partially sluggish outing to squeak out a nail biting 4^th quarter win.

On the back of a slew of trick plays and one head scratching manipulation of the NFL rule book, the Patriots overcame two 14 point deficits to advance to the AFC Championship game for a fourth straight season.  

Needless to say, the game was a rough one to watch. For many Patriots fans, the alarm was sounded in the first quarter as the Patriots fell behind by two scores and then sounded again when the Ravens pulled away once again to start the second half.

Patriot quarterback Tom Brady did not deny the unfavorable position that the early game struggles put the team in.

"Behind twice by 14 wasn't necessarily in the plan," Brady said. "It took a lot of execution to overcome it."

Stumbling and struggling through the early minutes of this Divisional Playoff game, Bill Belichick and his coordinators eventually recognized the need to rework their entire approach to the game.  “Trick play” soon became the defining phrase of the affair.

Brady clocked a four yard touchdown run early. Soon after that, the Patriots put into motion an unheard of call that involved playing ineligible receivers and setting up with too few offensive linemen. That specific play had the Ravens defense scrambling and their coach John Harbaugh furious.

Following the game, Harbaugh stuck to his argument that that play was one that employed an illegal formation. So loud in fact was the back and forth chatter between Patriot and Raven camps that the NFL had to jump in and insist that the play was legal.

All that nonetheless, occurred after the Patriots continued to pile on with sly play calling. Rob Gronkowski was seen lining up on defense. College quarterback turned wide receiver, Julian Edelman, threw a touchdown pass to WR Danny Ammendola. And in the game’s final seconds, the Patriots lined up with a 3 defensive linemen set and stifled a desperate hail mary attempt by Joe Flacco.

Trick plays saved the day for the Patriots. It was not pretty and at times it even made this team appear to the league as more of a lucky team than a skillful one. But amidst it all, they got out of the Divisional Playoffs alive.

"It was a wild game," Patriots coach Bill Belichick said, "but I'm just thankful our players hung in there and made the plays they needed to make."

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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."

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Julian Edelman, Kyle Arrington, Le Garette Blount do not travel to New York, out vs. Jets

(Photo courtesy of Jared Wilkerham/Getty Images)

By Dakota Antelman

According to multiple reports, the Patriots realized the extent of several key players’ injuries Saturday afternoon before they travelled to New York for their game against the Jets. As a result, they elected to leave WR Julian Edelman, RB LeGarette Blount and CB Kyle Arrington home; ruled out for Sunday’s game.

All week, injury trouble has been a common theme and an overtly discussed topic for the Patriots. Julian Edelman had been listed as limited in each of the Patriots practices this week reportedly nursing a concussion. During that time, LeGarette Blount had participated in almost no contact drills as he is said to be dealing with a shoulder injury.

Finally, Kyle Arrington, who pulled up lame during last week’s game with Miami, has been out for much of the week with an injured hamstring.  Even though an MRI conducted Monday morning showed no major damage to Arrington’s hamstring, the CB appears to be still feeling soreness and as a result will not play.

The losses of Blount, Edelman and Arrington stand as big stories going into Sunday’s game. But against a 3-11 Jets team that has the worst passing game in football and is ranked 20th in pass defense, the Patriots ought to be able to compensate.

Without Edelman, who has hawked big target numbers from Brady all season, passes could be distributed to less targeted players like Danny Ammendola or Brian Tyms. Tyms has only been targeted six times this season, catching one ball. Ironically, that catch went for a touchdown in Week Four vs. Buffalo.

In the run game mind you, the Patriots excelled earlier in the year when Blount did not even play for them. Predictions and past trends dictate that rookie running back Jonas Gray could see increased snaps while an appearance from draftee James White has not yet been ruled out.

The New England secondary will likely absorb the loss of Arrington seamlessly as, beyond cornerstone CB Darelle Revis, Brandon Browner has been on the rise in recent weeks, increasing his effectiveness and thereby decreasing the yards his opponents gain off of him. The Jets passing game, which largely consists of just two capable targets (Eric Decker, Jeremy Kerley) could be negated by Revis and Browner alone.

Las Vegas favored the Patriots to win this game on Monday and still does on Saturday night. Though a lack of Blount, Edelman and Arrington stings on paper, a Patriots team that prides itself in positional depth feels they are able to absorb the loss. 

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Thoughts on Julian Edelman Concussion, Patriots Mid-Week Injury report

(Photo courtesy of Matt West/Boston Herald)

By Dakota Antelman

Wednesday’s rain forced the Patriots to hold their practice indoors at their domed Dana Farber Field House. But that did not dampen flames on the midseason hot stove for New England.

While the team ran through their midweek drills and press conferences, a flurry of transactions and announcements  were completed by the team.

The majority of these transactions fixated around the post-practice injury report. Among lesser stories were the listings of long snapper Danny Aiken and Cameron Flemming as being limited in practice. Among greater stories were those surrounding players like Kyle Arrington, Domonique Easley and Julian Edelman.

Arrington was listed as limited on the practice report meaning he participated in some but not all of the drills the team ran Wednesday. His presence no less, was reassuring to Patriots fans who watched him go down with a hamstring injury back on Sunday. It was made so by an MRI that Arrington reportedly underwent on Monday that showed no further injury to his hamstring.

While it remains to be seen whether or not he will practice at full participation in the coming days, his appearance at Wednesday’s practice hinted at him possibly being available for Sunday’s game with the Jets.

One player who will not be playing on Sunday though is rookie defensive tackle, Domonique Easley.

Easley has been suffering from knee pain for much of the season but that did not prevent the first round draft pick from making three starts and appearing in 11 games. He was a mobile addition to the defensive line that was appreciated by coaches of that largely big bodied unit. His 10 tackles in 11 games were among the most of Patriots DT’s while an interception in Week Four had him equal with Vince Wilfork as the only Patriot DT’s with interceptions this season.

Complications from his tearing both his ACL during college however saw the Patriots put him on injured reserve on Wednesday. The transaction officially ended what was a promising rookie season for Easley.

Needless to say, roomers of today’s Easley move have been circulating all week while the results of the Arrington MRI suggested a similar level of participation as was true today. Patriots fans could have predicted those two moves. What came as a bit of a surprise however was the sudden announcement via the practice report that Julian Edelman had been recently diagnosed with a concussion.

All that the team has divulged on the Edelman concussion matter is that said concussion limited his ability to participate in Wednesday practice. No reports have been made about when he suffered the concussion just as no report has been made regarding the severity of the concussion. More so, Edelman’s status for next Sunday’s game vs the Jets has been suddenly made unclear by this reported diagnosis.

The Patriots have made headlines this week trying to stay focused on Sunday’s game and find reason to stay invested in a matchup with New York that figures to be a blow out. They made headlines on Wednesday however when they were suddenly given reason to worry about games beyond this week following their troubling injury report. 

Very simply, any prolonged injury to their offensive anchor, Edelman, could definitely hurt the Patriot going into and in the first games of the postseason.

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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.

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Brady, Edelman do it again as Patriots defeat Broncos 43-21

November 3rd, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are two of the best quarterbacks in NFL history. But after Brady’s Patriots rolled out a 43-21 demolition of Manning’s Broncos, the debate was at least temporarily settled; even Manning acknowledged that much.

On a cold afternoon in Foxboro, Brady threw for four touchdowns and 333 yards while Manning’s proneness to weather initiated mistakes was highlighted by 23 incompletions and a pair of interceptions.

“I don’t normally stink but I stunk today.” Manning said glumly after the game.

The Patriots shut down Manning from kickoff on. Bill Bilichick started the attack by sending Manning throwing into the wind.

As the game went on, the Patriots continued to break the backs of the Broncos. Most notably, a huge hit by Devin McCourty on Wes Welker resulted in one of Manning’s passes being deflected up in the air by Welker and eventually intercepted by Patriot linebacker, Rob Nincovich. With multiple similar turnovers limiting Denver’s time on the field, the Patriots churned out a 24 point second quarter and thus effectively ended the game.

"The quarterback stinks, usually you're not going to win many games," he said.

Beyond Manning’s blunders though, the Patriots offence was once again rolling. Rob Gronkowski caught nine passes for 105 receiving yards and a touchdown grab. Behind him, Julian Edelman put up an 89 yard receiving day. He also scored a touchdown during the second quarter offensive explosion.

His most impressive play though came roughly three minutes after the touchdown catch when he ran a Denver punt 84 yards into the endzone. Edelman was the beneficiary of strong blocking by the Patriots kick return unit but also contributed to his own cause with a mid-field cut back rout that threw him into a vast wealth of open space.

"Minitron can do so many things, he's so quick," Brady said of Edelman. "What he did on the punt return was incredible."

New England has now scored 94 total points in the past two games with Tom Brady throwing for 9 touchdowns. The team is rolling and has long since distanced themselves from their worrisome 2-2 start to the season.

Needless to say though, this win carries a whole new kind of momentum boost. Knocking off the Broncos to take over control of the number one seed in the AFC east has the Patriots riding high going into their bye week.

"[Brady’s] playing unbelievable right now, and so is the team," Gronkowski said after the game. "Everyone, we’re just coming together. We’ve got team chemistry all over and we’re all playing well…”

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More of the same for Patriots: Patriots def Raiders 16-9

Sunday's sputtering Patriots win over the Raiders was just about as poorly executed a win as could be without turning into a loss.

The Patriots managed just under 300 yards of offence and logged just 78 yards in the ground game. Their offence was blatantly skewed towards the likes of Rob Gronkowski who caught the game's lone touchdown pass and Julain Edelman who continued his trend of dominance over his opponents and his teammates. Edelman hauled in 10 receptions for 82 yards, upping his season yardage tally to 260 yards on the season.

Beyond the receivers, quarterback Tom Brady kept with his theme of mediocrity this season, throwing short passes, many swatted tosses and amassing an only slightly improved completion percentage of 64.56 against the Raiders. Also at fault for the lack of power in the passing game was the Pats offensive line who allowed two sacks of Brady as well as a monster hit to his back late in the 3rd quarter.

On defense, the run stopping core of Vince Wilfork and Jarod Mayo were consistent limiting the Raiders to 67 yards on the ground and no touchdowns. The secondary which was fraught with penalty flags a week ago sported much improved discipline against the Raiders although CB Logan Ryan was tagged for a pass interference call late that nearly cost the Patriots the win.

On the play that followed that 40 yard spot foul call, Raiders RB Darren McFadden took a hand-off up the middle for what looked to be a game tying 6 yard touchdown. The score was negated however by a hold of Vince Wilfork.

"When I turned around and everybody wasn't coming to celebrate with me, I knew something wasn't right," McFadden said.

On the next play after the holding penalty, Vince Wilfork made a rare interception off of a tip play by Logan Ryan in coverage. With the Patriots in possession with under a minute left on the clock, Brady took a knee and sealed out the disappointing win.

And lo and behold, a win coolly similar to each and every game the Pats have played this season. Edelman was dominant, Gronkowski caught a TD and the offensive line was weak. Those were the themes felt by the Patriots and their fans Sunday. And so we fear that if such trends as these continue that when games against the Broncos, Packers and Chargers roll around that 16 points just won’t cut it.

"We did just enough to get the victory," Gronkowski said. "Sometimes it's frustrating, but what we did today is not always going to get the job done."

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Patriots offence lacking variety in targets: Amendola, Vereen, Wright, LaFell not trusted by Brady?

If one were to peer behind all the positive statistics produced during Sunday’s 30-7 Patriots win over the Minnesota Vikings, they would see that the Patriots, so far are falling into a pattern of favoring that could catch them soon.  

Patriot wide receiver, Julian Edelman has been without a shadow of a doubt, QB, Tom Brady’s, favorite target this season. He has been thrown to 15 times. In comparison, Brady has only thrown 44 completions this season meaning that Edelman has been the recipient of nearly 30% of his quarterback’s focus.

“We just have to find ways to get everybody the ball and spread it around to different guys,” Brady said to WEEI Wednesday morning.

With nearly half of his 398 passing yards coming via the mitts of Edelman, Brady is obviously struggling, for one reason or another, to build trust in his receivers.

Rob Gronkowski who, during preseason was drawn up as a piece intrinsic to each and every play he played this year, has been hit with just 8 receptions, the longest of which going for just 18 yards late in the game against Miami. Another example, Aaron Dobson was thrown two passes in his season debut Sunday. He caught just one of those passes, churning out a 13 yard gain well after the result of the game was under any sort of question.

Lastly, there is Danny Ammendola who, despite his struggles last season remains a player with multiple 100 catch seasons under his belt. Brady has thrown to Ammendola just 6 times this season. As for why the strange discomfort with Ammendola in particular, offensive coordinator Josh McDanials insisted that it was not due to any lack of skill on Ammendola’s part.

“I think Danny has shown that he can be an obvious contributor in our offense,” he said. “He did it last year -- played through some different things. And came up huge for us in a number of situations in a number of games. So I have a lot of confidence in Danny.”

The Patriots are struggling in fundamental football ways. Such struggles could be said to be very detrimental to any hope of a playoff run. The Patriots are well aware of this and know they need to vary their attack.

“To make us hard to defend is to be able to throw the ball to everybody.” Brady said “Those guys [Edelman and Gronkowski] have seen the majority of the throws, and I’ve got to do a better job of finding the other guys. There’s a lot of good routes, they’re big targets, guys are working really hard to get open, so hopefully it shows up this week in our pass game. We’re going to work hard on it this week to see if we can all be on the same page more often.”

Up and down the hierarchy of Patriots magnates, there is an understanding that it would be in the team’s best interest to involve more receivers than just Edelman.

 “I have to do a better job to create a little more balance on our team offensively with our personnel, our play-calling, our plays and so forth.” Head coach Bill Belichick said, “Because we have a lot of good players. We have to be more effective,”

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Tom Brady bests old friend as he and coach set records: Patriots defeat Vikings 30-7

In a game of inches, the Patriots won their game against the Vikings by a mile.

With their identity as a team suddenly under question, the Patriots went to Minnesota knowing a win was necessary. Furthermore, though the game featured a warm reunion of old friends in Tom Brady and Matt Cassel, it soon turned cutthroat with emotions running high and big plays bountiful. 

Beginning with the defense, the Patriots came into this game with the number one priority of shutting down the Vikings big playmakers. Even after Adrian Peterson was deactivated following his arrest for child abuse Friday, that was still true. Though the attention had shifted it was still powerful in its direction at wide receiver Cordarrell Patterson. They stacked the line and rejoiced as big bodies like Jarod Mayo and Vince Wilfork clogged up the middle portions of the field with ease. Furthermore, tight coverage by the cornerbacks helped break up passes to Patterson before they could even get to him.

New England limited Patterson to just 4 receptions for 56 yards and 0 touchdowns thrown by Cassel. 

However as the Patriots also knew prior to kickoff, Patterson is the kind of player that can do more than just catch passes. Since joining the league a year ago, he has become one of the best kick returners in football. In knowing that, the Patriots and their kicker Stephan Gostkowski were prepared and fully capable of limiting any chance the Vikings star got to make any more big plays.

Gostkowski was kicking shots into the stands all afternoon allowing for just one return by Patterson. That return went for just 8 yards though and actually resulted in Goskowski’s best net yardage on a kick all game.  Additionally, Goskowski was greatly helpful to the Patriots in their offensive game. His three field goals and three PAT’s helped keep the game out of reach of the Vikings.

Among the other players whose play the Patriots were the beneficiaries of were Devin McCourty who intercepted a pass from Cassel and then returned it for 60 yards, Julian Edelman who was dominant in his first good game this season, and Stephan Ridley who produced a reassuring 101 yards rushing in the game. 

All and all, accurate throws by Tom Brady, 81 receiving yards by Edelman, 4 interceptions of Matt Cassell and a shutdown run defense helped even the Patriots record at 1-1. 

Beyond that, the brilliant game was even more so for stone faced Bill Belichick and his partner for all time in Brady. Though the pair’s record this season is mediocre, both of them hit monumental milestones for wins Sunday. Belichick became the 6th coach in NFL history to record 200 wins while Brady’s 149th win put him third on the all-time wins list for quarterbacks.

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One by one: A precise breakdown of the recent additions made to the Patriots via free agancy

After a week that included the resigning of Julian Edelman, the loss of Aqib Talib and eventual replacing of him with Darrelle Revis, the request for release made by Vince Wilfork, the signing of Brandon Browner, and finally the deal that brought former Panther Brandon LeFell to the Patriots, one big question has rang through Foxborugh almost without cease. That question being, amidst all this, are the Patriots better?

By alot.

Looking back to last season, a season ended by the firepower of Peyton Manning and his legion of dexterous receivers but also an incurable slew of injures to the Patriots, it was those injuries that evidently held this team out of actual Super Bowl contention. Right out of the gate, New England's most promising young running back - nimble Shane Vereen - was knocked out of his Week 1 match-up with Buffalo as a result of a broken hand. He did not return until Week 11 against Carolina. Also felled in Week One however was wide receiver Danny Ammendola who fell victim to a hip strain that between several flare ups amounted to 4 missed games and a diminished trust on the part of Tom Brady in the man who was supposed to be the replacement to Wes Welker. Averaging just 6.9 targets and 4.5 receptions per game, Ammendola was possible the biggest disappointment of the 2013 regular season for the Patriots largely because of his inability to stay healthy and therefore develop a connection with the passer. Keeping on the topic of injures, it would only be about a month before things got even worse for New England as in Week 4 against the Falcons, middle defensive lineman - Vince Wilfork - went down with a freak achilles injury. That knock took him out for the entire season. From there, the theme of injury susceptibility had been set for these 2013 Pats. By mid-season, their line backing core had been decimated and their offensive line had been compromised by a nearly constant turnover as a result of injuries to various starters.

When the one rock left on that unit - Nate Solder - suffered concussions in back to back weeks towards the end, many Patriots fans partially expected it solely because when it came to injury, everything that could possibly go wrong last season did. But Solder was not even the best example of that. After missing the first 6 games of the season as a result of a slew of off-season surgeries, star tight end - Rob Gronkowski - returned in Week 7 against the Jets only to be taken out at the knees 6 games later. As a result of the low blow, Gronkowski tore both his ACL and his MCL and did not return to action before the season was over.

If one were to try to pinpoint the cause for the Patriots short comings last season, injuries would be a viable pick. You see, the Patriots had enough skill under contract to win the Super Bowl only when it came to the sideline, many of those talents were simply not there. Knowing that success in 2014 would be gotten by health, the Patriots went into free agency looking to replace those who are prone to injury with those who are not. That theme was evident right from the first sequence of transactions we saw this week.

Though he was one of the best corner backs in years for the Patriots, the 5 interceptions in 19 regular season games, Aqib Talib made were overshadowed by the back to back injuries in AFC Championship games to Talib as well as the 3 regular season games he missed in 2013. After 23 games in New England, the Aqib Talib experiment was concluded when the team allowed him to walk and sign a 57 million dollar contract with Denver. But the importance of having a shutdown corner in New England did not leave with Talib.

Less than a 24 hours after the Talib contract was signed, the Patriots inked a 1 year 12 million dollar contract with former Jet and Buccaneer Darrelle Revis effectively replacing Talib with someone even better. Through 7 seasons, Revis has missed games due to injury in just 2 seasons. During the 95 games he has played, Revis has defended 108 passes, made 21 interceptions and 284 total tackles. Solely on the basis of playing time, Revis has made the team better than they were with Talib.

Also coming into the system is 4th year, hulk of a human corner back, Brandon Browner. Standing at 6 foot 4 inches and 221 pounds, Browner was a key name within the Seattle Seahawks' Legion of Boom that won them the Super Bowl this season. He defended and average of 1.25 passes in the 8 games he started this season keeping true with a theme of consistency he has built himself in Seattle. He defended 23 passes and picked off 6 more in his rookie year and dispite suffering a bit of a drop off 1 year later piled in 35 tackles with 3 more interceptions and 3 powerful fourced fumbles.

It seems that the only drawback about Browner is the big black mark next to his name that cost him the last 8 games of the regular season, the 3 playoff games the Seahawks won en route to the Super Bowl and the first 4 games of this coming season. Midway through December is was announced that Browner was facing a drug suspension as a result of failed tests from earlier in his career and on December 18th, he was suspended indefinitely from the league. During the offseason however, he was told he would be allowed to return in Week 5 of this coming season.

Now I know what you are thinking. You are thinking 'hey, haven't we already had our fair share of bad character signings in Boston?'. The answer to that is yes but here me out. While Browner was dealt a pretty sizable deal when it comes to the cap, not much of the deal is guaranteed. In fact just 4.8 million of the 17 million dollars Browner is eligible to receive will come guaranteed. The remaining 12 million plus will only be earned if Browner can meet a wide array of statistical milestones, namely 250,000 dollar paydays if he can appear in 75% and then 85% of the team's plays in years 2 and 3 of the contract.

Fact is with the Browner deal, if he works out, the Patriots will have a booming, ball hawking hulk covering an opponent’s secondary targets on the large majority of plays. And yet if things go badly and Browner does not reform himself, than the Patriots will get out without much financial lament.

Finally, we cannot help but recognize the work of Julian Edelman and how much he absolutely deserves the contract he was dealt. But nevertheless, even after the Patriots locked down Edelman with a 4 year 17 million dollar contract, they looked to add one more target for Tom  Brady. Late Saturday night, they signed, former Panther, Brandon LaFell to a 3 year 9 million dollar contract therefore locking down a durable target of healthy Amendola skill for the reminder of Brady's productive career. In 5 years with Carolina, LaFell has made just 167 receptions but has miraculously averaged almost 14 and a half yards per reception. Additionally, in each of his 5 seasons, LaFell has improved upon his yardage totals from the year before. In each of his last 3 seasons, he has logged 600+ receiving yards. 

Fact is every team will have its weaknesses only the good ones are better at makeing up for those weaknesses elsewhere. In 2014, the Patriots will likely be a team with weak linebackers and safety but that will not matter because their corner backs and downfield receivers will be without refute.

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Thoughts on Patriots not using the franchise tag

Each year, one of the first signs of which teams are contenders and which teams are pretenders can be seen in what each team does in the off season. Good selfless GM's who truly do what is best for their team with the money and privileges they possess ultimately turn out good, committed teams with at least a chance at winning it all come February. 

But money does get in the way, and no matter how rich they may be, cash does not flow into the NFL's individual teams with infinite quantity. In New England, much of the Patriot's financial talks of late have circled around two players - Aqib Talib and Julian Edelman - and more to the point what might happen if either of them escaped to free agency. 

Fact is, even with the deep cash pool that Robert Kraft has accumulated since he took over the Patriots 20 years ago, with both Edelman and Talib coming off spectacular years in which Talib owned the Patriots secondary and Edelman accumulated over 100 catches, they knew that the price for bringing them back in 2014 might be very stiff. However, at least until 3:00PM Monday, there was another option. 

In what has been named as the franchise tag, each NFL team is presented with the opportunity to retain one player, no matter their level of play and no matter another team's interest for one base rate. In Patriots history, they have never been a team in love with the tag but most notably utilized it 2 years ago on Wes Welker.  

But for the second straight season, the annual deadline for teams to either use or forgo the franchise tag came and passed without action in Foxbourgh and at least for the time being, it appears to be a rather questionable decision.  

In what was surely the best season of his career, Talib in particular made a serious case to get paid the 11.5 million dollar salary for a franchise tagged CB. He made 4 interceptions and defended 13 passes while making 35 tackles.

"[Talib] wasn't on the field a lot of the time since he's been with us," Robert Kraft said at the Super Bowl. "It's a balance, of us balancing all that out and what is he worth. I think he's happy here and would like to be here. We're happy with him and we'd like to have him here. Now it's just about doing business." 

According to ESPN Boston's Matt Reis, one of the biggest reasons the Patriots did not hand Talib those 11 million dollars was his health. Though he played all but 3 games this season and was a key role player in every single one, he has now been knocked out of two straight AFC Championship games. But nevertheless, the latter of those two injures was certainly not his fault. He is no Danny Ammendola. 

So if that does not make sense, what does?

More than any other, a logical explanation for the Patriots' negligence is that that there have been rumors that he and the team are negotiating a contract at a substantially lower annual salary. In a scenario like that, the Patriots are being smart in knowing that by locking down Talib for 2 or 3 years at say 7 or 8 million a year, they would then have the additional 3 or 4 million dollars to add on to a big contract to lock down Julian Edelman who will most likely be a far more sought after name than Talib. 

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Statistically speaking: A preview of the AFC Championship Game solely through numbers

As the long awaited AFC Title Game sits so tantalizingly close to us Go, Titletown looks at some key stats and trends that might play a role in this game.

New England Patriots (12-4-0, AFC East Champions, 2nd seed)
Denver Broncos (13-3-0, AFC West Champions, 1st seed)

The History...

Tom Brady has never lost to a defense coached by current Broncos defensive coordinator, Jack Delrio. He has pitched an 8-0 record with no interceptions thrown.

 Bill Belichick is 2-1 against Peyton Manning in the playoffs and has held the star QB to just 18.33 points per game in those 3 playoff games

In 3 Brady vs Manning playoff games, Brady has outscored Manning 78-55

Two quarterbacks have respective TD/INT lines of 3/2 for Brady and 2/6 for Peyton Manning in their 3 games vs one another.

In the biggest game of John Fox vs Bill Belichick Bill beat John in the Panthers 32-29 in the 2003 Super Bowl.

The Last Time They met...

The Patriots pulled off the biggest comeback in franchise history erasing a 23 point half time deficit en route to a thrilling OT win.

In that game, Tom Brady out dueled Manning by throwing for 354 passing yards over the 150 Manning threw for. Brady tossed 3 touchdowns to the 2 thrown by Manning and the 1 interception.

After fumbling 3 times in the first quarter, Stephan Ridley and LeGarette Blount were both benched as the Patriots run game rushed for just 116 yards in the game. By comparison, top Denver rusher, Knowshon Moreno alone rushed for 224 yards on 37 carries in the game.

Julian Edelman led the game in receptions as well as yards hauling in 9 passes for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns.

And now the big one...

Since these two teams week 12 game, the Patriots have actually outscored the Broncos by a margin of 190 to 177.

The running game of the Patriots is drastically better than that of the Broncos. Since week 12, a combination of LeGarrette Blount and Stephan Ridley have rushed for 914 yards, that is 239 more than the 675 rushed by Denver.

According to Sports Center's twitter feed, of the 3 times Peyton Manning and Tom Brady have met in the playoffs the home team has not only won every time but also has won the Super Bowl.

At last check, Sports Illustrated is reporting the odds for this one as being -5.5 for Denver. That signals that the Broncos are a heavy favorite.

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