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.”

Read More

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."

Read More

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

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

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 comes up big on day Tom Brady does not

November 17th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

Well removed from the Week Four loss that seemed to put their season in jeopardy, the Patriots practiced more of the same in their 42-20 win over the Colts Sunday.

The win served as New England’s third straight 40 point performance while Rob Gronkowski caught yet another touchdown pass extending his streak to three games.  

But at the same time, the game also featured some things that fans have not seen out of this team in over a month.

Tom Brady was intercepted twice and threw just for 253 yards. His most notable interception came on a short fade out play that resulted in his lofting a high arcing pass that was quickly picked off at mid field. The Colts would eventually score and send New England into the locker room at the half with a sour taste in their mouths.

 “It was like a no-look throw and those don’t ever end up good,” said Brady. “I thought I had a good look presnap. Gronk got through there, but I just put too much air on the ball and ended up lobbing it up right to Mike. Hopefully, there are no more of those this year.”

Brady threw for fewer yards than he had since that dreadful Week Four loss in Kansas City while his two interceptions nearly doubled his previous season total. But despite that the Patriots still found a way to win in a big way.

Rookie running back Jonas Gray ran for a franchise record four touchdowns in the game adding to a 199 yard all around performance. He rushed with both power and agility jumping through scrums of players and scoring each of his four touchdowns on short, easy runs up the middle of the field.

Gray took the ball on 38 total plays, which given that the Patriots got off only 75 plays, speaks to the omnipresence of the running back in Sunday’s game.

“I think you’ve got to be able to find different ways to win,” said Brady. “Depending on the matchup that you get you’ve got to devise a game plan that you think is going to work. Then once you get in there, see if it works, and if it is you stay with it.”

Operating off of previous observations, the team also elected to favor a red hot Gronkowski. The tight end averaged almost 18 yards per catch vs the Colts and assembled an impressive array of hard blocks and stiff arm plays.

Speaking about a third quarter block on Sergio Brown, Grokonwski said, "He was just yappin' at me the whole time. So I took him and threw him out of the club. I was the bouncer, picked him up and tossed him out of the club on that one touchdown. So that was perfect."

Gronkowski, like Gray, seemed to give the Colts more than they could handle. The same could also be said for the Patriots defense which seemed to put its trust in the capable hands of cornerback Darelle Revis.

Revis was all over the field Sunday but delivered his most debilitating blow during a second corner coverage play on wide receiver Reggie Wayne. Revis was able to go over Wayne’s head and tip a pass intended for him up and back towards a waiting Devin McCourty.

The interception seemed to energize the Patriots defense who stood tall especially in similar situations where the Colts were close to being in a position where they could score.  

“We’re sharks,” Revis said, via ESPNBoston.com. “We smell blood in the water. Each game like this is another step closer to our goal.”

In a game that could have gone very differently, the Patriots stayed vigilant and hungry. Such are traits the team will need in the coming weeks as they face the Lions at home and then travel to Green Bay for a Week Thirteen battle with the Packers.

But for the briefest of moments, the Patriots remain focused on yet another convincing win against a well ranked opponent.

 “It was a great win, great win on the road, against a damn good football team. [But] they all get bigger from here,” Brady said after the game.

Read More

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…”

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

Patriots right wrongs with 43-17 win over Cincinatti

October 6th, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

All was well in Foxboro Sunday night. The sun rose, the sun set, the fans filled the stands and Tom Brady played hall of fame quality football. Though the former of those facts had occurred in constant repetition throughout this NFL season, the latter was yet to be present.  

After a week were fans were more critical of Tom Brady than they had been at any point in recent memory, the 15 year vet proved he had not become complacent. He marched out of the gate angry, tossing a 30 yard pass up the middle on the first play of the game before soon following it up with a thrilling string of QB sneaks and quick read plays in the red-zone. As a result the Patriots proved the haters wrong less than 3 minutes into the game when a short touchdown run by Stephan Ridley gave them a 7-0 lead.

"It was a long week. We dug deep. [I'm] proud of everybody," Brady said.

On a smaller basis than the team however, Tom Brady has reason to be proud of himself. The humble king of Patriots football tossed two touchdowns and a season high 292 passing yards all while upping his season completion percentage to a number higher than 60 for the first time in weeks.

Brady’s statistical success was in all truth boosted by climactic performances by a wide array of receivers. Finally, Tom Brady used the entire arsenal of weapons available to him.

Rob Gronkowski caught 6 passes for 100 yards and a touchdown Sunday. He glorified Brady’s day with long runs after the catch.

"I told my brother before we came to the game, 'I'm going to make 12 look like Tom Brady again today, baby!'"

Beyond the long runs, Gronkowski was on the receiving end of perhaps the biggest play of the game in regards to its place in football history. With a 28 yard toss to Gronk late in the 2^nd quarter, Brady became the 6^th quarterback in NFL history to throw 50,000 passing yards. 

“It’s awesome,” Brady said of the yardage milestone. 

Brady threw 32 passes in the game in which his team had the ball for the majority of the time. Such was made true by the fact that the Patriots defense forced 4 turnovers.

"If you turn the ball over and don't make any third downs, you have a chance to have this happen to you," said Bengals coach, Marvin Lewis.

The New England Patriots silenced any who went against them Sunday. They were angry about what happened last Monday just as angry as they were about what followed it. But there was some order to their anger. They harnessed its power and churned out a 43-17 win over Cincinnati.

"We know we're a good football team," Patriots cornerback Darrelle Revis said. "It was important for us to stick together as a team."

Read More

Patriots fans, players left questioning future of Tom Brady following loss

2014 was supposed to be one last hurrah. Tom Brady was supposed to throw touchdown after touchdown to a wide array of receivers and Darrell Revis was supposed to make the Patriots defense one that could carry a team to the Super Bowl.

2014 has been none of those things.

The team has been wrought with problems from the get-go. The fan base has been abuzz for four weeks now with talk of missed blocks, lop sided passing statistics and mediocre play calling. But all along, Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and our fellow fans assured themselves of the true possibility that the Pats could turn the season around. 

Though the Week One loss to the Dolphins hurt, though an Edelman dominated Week Two in Minnesota was worrisome and though a near loss to the Raiders in Week Three was one indicative of a team in chaos, there was hope that it could all flatten out by February.

Monday’s massive 27 point defeat at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs took that hope and snuffed it out in the middle of one of the NFL’s most watched games.

"It was just a bad performance by everybody," Brady said, truly defeated in his demeanor following the 41-14 loss. "We need to make sure we never have this feeling again. We've got to figure out what we have to do better."

Brady went 14-23 with two interceptions. He threw just one touchdown pass and amassed a mere 159 yards. Such an incompetent numbers line only drops his season statistics and raises the volume of those calls that he is on his way out of football.

"I'm doing the best job I can do out there," Brady said. "I'll try to go out there and play better, play as well as I possibly can each week."

However, what definitely hurt the most for the longtime Patriots quarterback was what was not shown on the stat sheet. The 37 year old was pulled from the game in the 4^th quarter due to his performance. That was the first time in Brady’s entire career that such a thing had happened. In his debut, rookie backup Jimmy Garrapolo went 6 for 7, gaining 70 yards and throwing his first career touchdown pass.

Brady was introspective to say the least following the score and was controversially named as the only player who did not high five Garrapolo. Brady defended by insisting the truthfulness of his support.

"I was happy for Jimmy. I was happy for our team. We kept fighting at the end. That's a good thing. The more good players we have, the better we will be as a team. So, I didn't pay attention to any of those things. I was obviously disappointed that the outcome of the game was what it was. It's been very frustrating all season the way that we have performed offensively. But we are trying to figure it out to become a better offense."

Brady insisted that he did not think too much off the huge moment in his career. That is not to say that the rest of the NFL did not do the very opposite.

Former teammate of Brady’s Rodney Harrison said in a high profile article with ESPN Tuesday that “Tom Brady looks scared to death when he drops back to pass.”

Harrison later went on to divert a lot of the blame that has been tossed upon the Pats offensive line back upon the man it is protecting.

“…at the end of the day, Tom needs to play better. The offensive line needs to protect him, but Tom -- we've said it week in and week out -- he's missing opportunities that are there; he's just floating the ball in the air."

There was an inherent demoralizing aspect of Monday’s loss to the Chiefs. It, like each and every Patriots game this season raised more questions than it answered. However, unlike the other three games played so far,  this one put the future of one of the NFL’s greatest quarterbacks in question.

Tom Brady is on his way out. The dream of playing until he turns 50 will be realized and although he may have a few years left in him, 2013, not 2014 may have been his last hurrah. 

Read More

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."

Read More

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.

Read More

Patriots distraught after stunning defeat: Brady, Gronk, offensive line fail to execute in Miami

In a game that carried the kind of anxious anticipation that for some a first day of school does, the Patriots let their fans down, failing to execute in the second half of a 20-33 loss to the Miami Dolphins. Amassing less yards of total offence in the second half than in any other game since 2003, Tom Brady was the name atop that list of poorly preforming Patriots. 

The New England quarterback lacked accuracy from the start of the game but road short screen passes to his wide-outs to a marginally acceptable first half performance. However as the third quarter commenced and the Dolphins began to pull themselves they began to hit or at least pressure Tom Brady on a regular basis. As a result, frantic throw away plays, scrambling incompletions and blatantly overthrown middle distance passes became commonplace whenever the Patriots had the ball. Whether or not these major miscues were as a result of bad communication in the huddle, bad pocket protection by the offensive line or a simple loss of composure by Brady, these problems came to a head in the final 5 minutes of the game when multiple plays that could have drawn the Patriots back into contention for the win were simply screwed up. When the dust settled, Brady had completed just 29 out of 56 passes, thrown just one touchdown pass and fumbled the football twice. 

Needless to say this man who holds himself to such a high standard of game play was not pleased. After claiming to have been "pretty pissed this morning," Brady went on to address the fact that aside from a 44 yard pitch and catch in the first half, big yardage plays were absent from Sundays contest. 

"It’s on us players to do a better job. When we have opportunities to hit open passes, we have to hit them. That’s what it comes down to. You can’t draw up a magic play. We are trying to do everything we can to make the plays that we need to make. And the execution of it out there on the field -- we need to do a better job of it." 

It is none too hard to see the stinting self-criticism with which Tom Brady described his own play Sunday but it is also none too hard to see that the South Beach collapse was not all his fault. The offensive line which only a few weeks earlier had lost its biggest rock -- Logan Mankins -- played outright terribly; both of the Brady fumbles as well as the sac came as a result of huge holes left in the line. Furthermore, the special team line that allowed for a huge blocked punt to start the game did so in another uncharacteristic lapse in brute coverage. 

But Brady insists that no one neither does nor should feel sorry for this team. Why? Because they are one that remains incomprehensibly capable of winning a Super Bowl this year. These predictions are not fantastical, I insist that much. This team that save for the loss of Mankins is fully healthy and stocked for victory just did not bring all their skills together in Week One. 

Danny Ammendola made just 3 catches while Rob Gronkowski failed to catch 7 of his 11 targets. 

But in the end all is well because after all it is a 16 game season and frankly, we all still know Ryan Tannihill and Tom Brady are as close in skill set at varsity and freshmen teems. Week One was a spat, stinging, yes, but needed as well. Mind you furthermore that the last time that the Patriots lost their first game of the season was also the last year that they won their final one.

Read More

Saving the best for last: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning put on thriller as both their careers come to a close

It was cold, almost Siberian cold. The air was uneasy, jolting around and carrying anything with it as if the wind itself was like a powerful arm flicking away anything that tried to test its power. However, amidst these single digit temperatures and strong winds, a glowing metropolis of its own casts a bright tower of light into the sky above Foxborough Massachusetts. This piece of infrastructure, known throughout its days as any number of different names is the economic center of nearly every piece of Massachusetts land south of it’s capital and yet it is not even the biggest cash cow that calls Gillette Stadium home. 

On Sunday night, one man who has played his best in the cold was at it again, facing off against the only human being who can statistically match his skillful prows.  

14 times now these two have faced off, 14 games all of which have their own unique stories. In Brady vs. Manning 1 the theme was this. An already recognized starter in Peyton Manning coming to town prepared to face a man who was making just his first start of his career following Drew Beldsoe's near lethal injury suffered against the Jets that opened the door for his backup. To that point, Tom Brady had thrown just 13 career passes as an NFL quarterback while Peyton Manning had already racked up back to back 4,000 yard passing seasons as well as making 2 Pro Bowl teams and yet by the end of the night it was Brady who led his team to victory and won the first game in one of the most storied individual rivalries in NFL history. 

4 years later in meeting number 3, Brady was shining once again hurling 3 TD's and 335 passing yards on his way to a 27-24 win that improved his career win loss record against Manning to a stellar 3-0. By that point, there was no doubt how skilled this 4th year stud from New England was. The 3 Super Bowl rings symbolized all that necessitated recognition. Before long, Tom Brady was 7-0 against Manning and his always contending Colts. Furthermore, while Peyton spent his time polishing his MVP awards, Tom Brady was a more weekly kind of guy racking up the wins and of course, winning 3 Super Bowls in 4 seasons.   

However in the 2006 Conference Championship that pitted Mr. postseason: Brady against Mr. MVP: Manning, the tables turned. In Peyton's lone successful postseason run, the Colt star stormed past the Patriots and halted Brady's bid for his 4th Lombardi Trophy.  

"I said a little prayer there on that last drive," Manning said of his game winning touchdown drive that propelled the 38-34 last second win. "I don't know if you're supposed to pray or not in those kinds of situations, but I did." 

Prayer answered. 

From that day onward, Manning and Brady were pitted against each other on a near annual basis.as for football fans removed from the bias of the fabled rivalry there truly was no answer to the question was answered every single time prior to such a game. Who is the better quarterback? Tom or Peyton? 

This was the legacy that led these two champions through New England victories in 2007, 2010, 2011 and then 2012 as well as a change of scenery for Manning and yet, the essence of each of these games stayed true to those that came before them.

This was the legacy that led those two champions down the path to greatness and while the two were both reaching into their upper 30's we braved the cold and watched what might go down as the last great meeting between two of the best. It did not disappoint. 

After 4 first quarter fumbles, one of which might have effectively ended Stephan Ridley's career as a Patriot, New England stumbled into the half facing their largest deficit of the season. It was 24-0 Denver, and Manning had thrown just 1 TD pass. The first half of the Week 11 edition of Sunday Night Football, was one of gifts by the Patriots and luck by the Broncos. Manning was never good in this game fighting the stinging cold and rarely even attempting a pass. In the end it was the passing game that for the first time this season actually cost Denver the game.  

Brady and the Patriots came out of the gates in the second half fuming. They charged up the field to score just 3:39 into the quarter and then quickly followed up with back to back quick drives that in the blink of an eye erased and even topped what Denver did in the first half. New England scored 21 points in the 3rd quarter and then even took the lead as they continued their torrent pace early in the 4th quarter. 

As the game fell late into overtime it became clear that while Tom Brady was the reason the game was tied it was his 61 year old best friend who was the reason they won it. 

"The wind, it was a strong wind," Bill Belichick said in an explanation for why he deferred the ball after winning the coin toss prior to OT. "We just had to keep them out of the end zone, obviously. I just felt like the wind would be an advantage if we could keep them out of the end zone on that first drive. We were able to do that. The wind was significant in the game, it was definitely significant."  

New England did keep Denver out of the end-zone in that first drive but after they went 3 and out on the next drive, Ryan Allen came on to punt. Once again the Broncos played the role of Santa Claus via their delivery of a mighty gift that in the end, gave the Patriots the win. 

Following a booming punt, nothing seemed to go awry until the ball was literally feet from the ground. Manning who watched his teammate Tony Carter inadvertently poke the falling ball with the tip of his fingers seemed broken while the Patriots pounced on the muffed punt that gave them back the ball at the Denver 13 yard line. 

From there, the game was all but won, Stephan Goskowski kicked the game winning chip shot field goal bing-bang-boom, game salvaged. 

Whatever you call it, the beginning of the end of this great rivalry gave us the greatest win the rivalry has ever seen. It was not perfect, there were fumbles, there were interceptions and there were badly thrown balls but in the end none of that matters. Why? Because as has been repeated throughout the sports world
"they don't ask how, they ask how many" and when you look into the numbers, the 60,000 passing yards of Peyton Manning shows that he wins on the luster of his game while Tom Brady just wins period.  

You tell me who it better. Tom? Yeah, that sounds right. 

Read More

Focus on the footwork: Why after intensive review it is clear that Monday night's non call was a huge mistake on the part of the refs

Alright Patriots fans, now that you have had your 48 hours to cool off after Monday night's disappearing flag non call that ended the Patriots prime-time game with Carolina and or further intensity your opinion on whether or not such a decision was warranted we are here on this Wednesday evening ready to provide one last look at Monday's controversy.

For those who have somehow escaped in informed of the the firestorm of fan anger that has ensued since the conclusion of that game, the New England Patriots, winners of 3 of their last 4 games fond themselves trailing 24 to 20 with 3 seconds left on the clock and the ball at the Panthers 18 yard line. With the game coming down to 1 final play the objective for Tom Brady and his New England Patriots was simple: move the ball 18 yards and therefore, win the game.

They set up in hail mary position lining Aaron Dobson up to the left of Brady and Rob Gronkowski, Danny Amendola and Julian Edelman to his right. Brady stood roughly 6 yards back from his center and upon the inaudible stomp of his foot, the Patriots pass catchers pealed out from the line of scrimmage and made moves engineered to deceive and simply out run the Panthers defense which prior to the play had lined up 5 various players all positioned in various safety like points between the 10 and 1 yard lines.

As the play rapidly developed and the clock officially ran out, the ball thrown cleanly out of the hands of Tom Brady soared midway through the end-zone obviously on a preferred route straight to the outstretched hands of tight end Rob Gronkowski. However as the pass enters the vicinity of the end-zone Gronk noticed that the ball was slightly under thrown. He immediately slammed his right foot hard into the ground and made what seemed like a successful attempt to get back into a position that would end with him hauling in the pass. But in the eyes of defender Luke Kechley that was not a desired outcome and so he launched himself forward and proceeded to push Gronkowski back out of the preferred receiving real estate.

This is defensive pass interference.

The flag was immediately thrown but frankly what Patriots fans are busy screaming about this week is what happened next. As Tom Brady clapped his hands an proceeded to march up to the 1 yard line (where the penalty would have put the ball) the 3 referees quickly congregated and proceeded to pick up the flag that had been thrown. "The game is over," the lead referee said free of emotion and so the mayhem began. Brady sprinted to the referee's side and from what was heard over the ESPN broadcast of the game uttered some choice words directed at the official all while Patriots fans across the globe sat confused as to how the call could be reversed.

The man who threw the flag was just feet from where the would be penalty occurred while those who came in to reverse it were at the very least 10 yards away. Furthermore, the reason put forth as an explanation for the result of the play was that the ball was "uncatachable".

Now frankly, none of us have ever heard that word before and as you look into the NFL rule book, none of us have read it either. In perhaps the most relevant of 6 situations in which defensive pass interference is called the NFL rulebook states that such a penalty will be called when a defender is seen "cutting off the path of a receiver by making contact with him without playing the ball."

Such was the case last night, Luke Kechley wrapped Gronkowski in a tight bear hug and while by the end of the play he was far out of the passing lane, when Kechley first made contact with Gronk, both players as well as the Panthers defender who would eventually make the open interception all sat converged at the very center of the end-zone. To that point Gronkowski had stopped running forward and as I cannot fixate on enough, it is the foot work that shows that without Kechley there, the final of Monday's game would have been very different.

In the past few months, it seemed that Boston sports teams have got the short end of the stick. Furthermore, between the called obstruction play in the World Series and the not called interference play on Monday, it seems that referees are not really sure on well anything to do with physical contact between Boston athletes and their opponents.

To see the play one more time click here

Read More

How are those fingernails?: Patriots pull out insane 2nd half comeback to drop Miami 27-17

As you look back on these past 2 weeks, it is a miracle that any Boston sports fan has any fingernails left to bite. 

You have seen the Brady-Thompkins game winning TD pass and then just hours later you saw David Ortiz belt a grand slam to tie Game Two of the ALCS  and set the stage for Jarrod Saltilamaccia to win the game and tie the series 1 game apiece. 4 games later, it was the long ball once again that brought us out of our seats as Shane Victorino in theory smacked home the long ball that sent the Red Sox to the World Series.  

And then there was the Patriots who, after pushing their Week 7 game with the Jets into overtime saw their hopes dashed by a never before called penalty. But even after all of that, we would soon come to realize that the drama had not concluded. On Saturday night, the Bruins saw a 3-2 lead turn into a 4-3 loss right before their eyes all in a matter of seconds and then hours later the Red Sox squeaked out an insane Game 3 of the World Series only to lose on a questionable obstruction call at 3rd base.  

For better or worse, it has seemed that greater forces have been renting permanent suites at Boston area sporting events and after two weeks of insanity those forces showed us that they were not ready to leave Gillette Stadium yet. 

After going 2 and 1 over the past 3 weeks, it was no military secret that in order to keep pace as a top team in the NFL, the Patriots needed a win this afternoon. But for the Patriots, the motivation tonight drove far deeper the simply the win loss record. Over the past 3 weeks, New England had lost its identity as well as several key players. As the QB of a team devoid of Vince Wilfork, Jerod Mayo and in scattered stints, Danny Amendola Tom Brady needed to be perfect and since New England's 30-23 victory in Atlanta he had not been. Since Atlanta, Brady had complied just 1 touchdown pass and had put up a combined quarterback rating of 35.3. He was not simply playing unacceptable football, he was playing BAD football.  

That trend continued through the first 30 minutes of Sunday's game with Miami.  

Through those 2 quarters, Brady put up just 25 yards through the air and struggled to even get the ball past midfield. It was obvious that he had no trust in most anybody but Julian Edelman, Gronkowski or Ammendola and when those three guys got covered, Tom was lost. The Patriots ended the half trailing 17-3. The boos began to rain down and for the first time since 2003, Tom Brady failed to compile more than 30 yards in a half. Yet by the time the Patriots reemerged from the locker room prior to the 3rd quarter, everything had changed. After New England surrendered an early punt to kick off the 3rd quarter, the Dolphins marched up the field and seemed poised to strike until a fearsome 9 yard sack of Miami QB: Ryan Tannahil pushed them into a field goal situation. The wind was fighting kicker Caleb Sturges all the way and though it helped him convert on a late 2nd quarter kick, it hindered his efforts here in the 3rd and changed the tide of the game. Sturges clanked the 46 yard attempt off the right upright and gave New England the ball on the 36 yard line. From there it took New England just 5 plays to march the ball up the field and power a 14 yard TD pass into the mitts of Aaron Dobson. That touchdown pass moved Brady up to 4th on the all-time list. 

Goskowski would convert on the extra point but for New England that was only the start of the rally. They were still down 17-10 and needed 1 more touchdown to tie the game. That nearly came just 45 seconds later as after just 1 play, Tannahill was sacked and promptly fumbled the ball which was soon scooped up by Patriot Rob Nincovich. Now at first glance it appeared that Nincovich hopped back to his feet after recovering the ball untouched meaning that after he marched into the end-zone the score would count. But looks can be deceiving as it was shown in film that Rob was in fact touched by the shoulder of a Miami offensive lineman before he got back to his feet. 

Yet regardless of that, the ball was still seated comfortably inside the 5 yard-line and before long it would be marched in for the touchdown. Game tied, 17-17. 

The Patriots would add on a game winning touchdown in the 4th quarter and as the clock expired, the boos that were heard echoing around Gillette Stadium following the 1st half seemed far off. The elation spinning inside the mind of Patriots coach: Bill Belichick was shown on his face but even more so, it was shown in the win column. Tom Brady threw just 116 yards through the air and still blasted a pick to start the game but in the end he came through when he needed to most. New England forced 3 turnovers an improved their run game combining for 152 yards and watching as Stephan Ridley put up 79 yards on the ground.  

"The momentum always kind of goes back-and-forth as the game goes on." Tom Brady said post-game "You love to have those momentum plays. We had the touchdown to Gronk [Rob Gronkowski] that got called back on the holding penalty – that would have been a big play. It's up and own and you just try to stay focused on your execution and stay focused on what you need to do." 

Brady was not perfect but today he did not half to. It was a team effort and frankly if you can get away with playing as bad as you did in the first half and still grind out the win, it becomes clear the pure potential that sits within your locker room. 

As for the hand of Tom Brady that has been noted by countless reporters as being swollen, Brady insists that he is fine. 

"I didn’t know [how] anyone knows what the back of my right hand looks like, but it looks fine to me and it feels good. I’ll be out there next week; you don’t have to worry about that."

Read More

Patriots pull out miracle touchdown on route to second comeback of season: Patriots drop Saints and improve to 5-1

Football is beautiful.

As slow as the game is, a much a commercials interrupt play almost constantly football creates a kind of atmosphere that no other game of its kin can. Football captivates us and even when we think all is lost, we stick around.

Such was the case today in Foxborough as after an up and down first 55 minutes of the game, the Patriots and Saints took it to town in the final 5 deciding the game and sending spells of screaming across most all New England living rooms.

Tom Brady of course was coming off of one of the worst games of his career. He threw for just 119 yards on 18 attempts against Cincinatti while watching his streak of 52 straight games with a touchdown pass painfully die in the doldrums of New England's 13-6 loss to the Bengals. Over the next week between the conclusion of the Cincinatti game and the beginning of this week's match-up against the Saints, worries began to pop up surrounding both Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski. Neither seemed 100% and as it stood it looked like for the 6th straight week, Brady would be devoid of his favorite scoring threat: Gronk.

But nevertheless, the game went on and as they have done all year long, New England found a way to make it work. With a dinged up Edelman, a vacated tight end position and a Danny Ammendola who would leave the game in the 3rd quarter, Brady utilized his three running backs (Stevan Ridley, Brandon Bolden and LeGarret Blount) running 30 out of his 78 plays from scrimmage in the format of the rush. This was a season high for the Patriots and also the first time in 4 games this season that Stephan Ridley had compiled more than 55 yards via the ground game. He had 96 Sunday against the Saints. As for the remaining Pats backs who saw time against New Orleans while their numbers were far diminished in comparison to Ridley, Brandon Boulden snagged a nice 12 yard gain as his long for the night.

But for Tom Brady, he knew that you cannot run 100% of your plays on the back of a rusher and while he still wasn't hurling 300 yards passing, Tom was much better this week as he smacked up 269 yards through the air and as a he posted a completion to in-completions ratio of 1.38.

But nevertheless, the Patriots squandered a 1st half lead and came to a point in the 4th quarter where the game was on the line. After surrendering the ball on 4th down and then watching Tom Brady hurl a long interception, the game seemed over until we remembered how great this Patriots defense has been this season. Over the next four plays the stifled the Saints offence and even dropped Drew Brees for a 10 yard sack thus forcing the Saints into a punt that allowed Tom Brady to get into a great position with seconds left in the game.  

"We had the attitude out there that we're never down and out, and with him, anything is possible,'' said patriots pass catcher Austin Collie, when asked about Tom Brady. "Everybody knows how good he is. You can take anyone off the street and know that Tom Brady is going to take it to the end.'' 

With just under 10 seconds left in the game the 17 yards that separated Tom Brady and his offence from the end zone they so desperately hoped to get to seemed like an impassable abyss. But with one play left in the game Brady went all out and in a throw seemingly carried by the cheers of the Patriots faithful, he found the mitts of rookie wide-out: Kenbrell Thompkins. 30-27, Patriots lead. 

Following the game, a surprisingly gleeful Bill Belichick said "Sorry if you had to re-write some of those stories there at the end, what a football game. I feel like that took about five years off my life.''

Read More

Patriots pull off revealing comeback to beat Buffalo 23-21: Danny Ammendola and Jullian Edelman crucial in victory for New England

Okay, let’s just think this through. 

In May, the Bruins threw heart-attacks through Boston with their dramatic game seven comeback over Toronto. By that point in time the Red Sox were already playing in a season in which they would eventually tally upwards of 30 comebacks. By this point both of Boston's beloved sports teams have developed a "cardiac kid" reputation.  

But nevertheless in a similar way that all of Boston's teams have developed a similar flare for postseason sucsess. The New England Patriots joined the list of comeback winning teams in Boston today as after once holding a 10-0 lead and then a 17-7 lead the erased a late 21-17 deficit to earn the win a down the Bills in dramatic field goal fashion. 

It wasn't pretty but in the end, the New England Patriots rode the stellar play of three incoming stars all the way to victory. 

After Tom Brady quickly pulled the Pats into a 7-0 then 10-0 lead after Goskowski's first field goal of the day, Stephan Ridely invoked the wrath of Bill Belichick when he pathetically tripped on his own feet then fumbled the football without being touched. After that miscue, it did not take long for Ridley's night to end as he spent the reminder of the game watching from the bench. Now at the time of the fumble it seemed that at first glance Rideley would be back after halftime but when promoted number 1 back: Shane Vereen made quick work of the Bills defense, it was clear that Stephan was never coming back. 

Vereen finished the night with his first career 100 yard game as he smacked together 101 yards on 14 carries, Vereen was a driving force in this game and in a specific display of greatness, he was the man who ran the ball on both of the carries that put the Patriots the positions that resulted in those 2 crucial 4th quarter field goals for New England. 

"I’ll take it, opening day...we made some very clutch plays when we needed to" Said Tom Brady, possibly referencing that key 21 yard run by Vereen towards the end of the game. "We got a long way to go, I mean I'm glad to start out with a win, winning is a hell of a lot better than losing but we got a long way to go." He continued in discrete acknowledgment to some 3rd quarter anger that he vented on the sideline. 

Brady went 29 for 52 in this game with an interception and of course  23 incompletions. But in his defense the target of 10 of those incompletions: Kenbrell Thompkins could largely be pinned on Thompkins himself who at one point made no effort to get both his feet down before he went out of bounds. 

But while Thompkins 4 receptions for 42 yards was less than pivotal in this game, the contributions of two men that Brady firmly acknowledged during his press conference were. After Danny Ammendola left the game in the 1st half, Julian Edelman slammed up 2 touchdowns 7 receptions and 79 offensive yards. 

"Two great play-makers they have earned a lot of trust with me, they make a lot of great plays" Brady said referencing both Edelman AND Ammendola. 

Now as mentioned before, Ammendola left the game early on with a reaggravated groin strain. 

"At first i thought he was gone for the game" Brady said. 

But Ammendola wasn't. 

He returned during the 3rd quarter and soon powered his way to 104 yard offensive day with a long of 24 yards and a responsibility of 10 of Tom Brady's 24 completions in this game. But while the numbers are impressive 2 of those 10 catches were unthinkable clutch in this nail biter of a game. 

With the ball on the New England 40 yard line and Tom Brady writhing under a 3rd and 10 situation with under 3 minutes to go in the game, Danny Ammendola broke away from the line and in a play that granted no relent for his injured groin, Ammendola laid out, catching a ball through 2 different defenders and preserving that game winning drive. But nevertheless, 3 plays later the Patriots were in an identical 3rd and 10 situation. 

With the game once again on his shoulders, Ammendola brought us to our feet again running 15 yards forward of the line turning around and jumping into the stratosphere to once again catch the pass from Brady amidst the grasp of a slew of defenders. 

"He really toughed it out, he fought all day" Brady said standing as one of many admirers of Ammendola’s sacrifice.  

The Patriots would eventually bring themselves within Goskowski's range and after spending 2 plays to center the ball right between the hash marks, Stephan Gostkowski came on looking to make his first huge kick of the 2013 season. With a perfect snap and a stellar hold, Goskowski had to trouble sticking the 35 yarder and winning the game for the Patriots. 

So there we were heart attack time back home in Boston. The Patriots had won their 10th straight season opener. 

* Notes:

- With Tom Brady throwing 2 touchdown passes in the game, he extended his streak to 49 consecutive games with a TD. This is the second longest streak in NFL history and just 6 short of setting an all time record. 

- After a 288 yard day passing, Tom Brady became the 9th player in NFL history to record 45,000 passing yards. 

- Stephan Goskowski's 35 yard game winner was only his second of his career. 






To see Stephan Goskowski's game winning field goal click here

Read More