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

by Dakota Antelman

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Read More

Practice squad experiments Charley Hughlett, Xavier Grimble released

November 28, 2014
by Dakota Antelman

After last week’s running back shakeups, the Patriots worked out several roster moves with their practice squad this week.

After they were signed on Wednesday, long snapper Charley Hughlett and tight end, Xavier Grimble were both suddenly dropped Friday.

Hughlett, a 24 year old had spent time with the Jaguars, Cowboys, Browns before being picked up by the Patriots mid-week. He was signed in a package deal with former Giants and 49ers tight end Xavier Grimble.

Those deals were in turn made in direct correlation with the release of linebacker Deontae Skinner and Daxton Swanson from the New England practice squad.

In their place, Hughlett and Grimble attended both Patriots practices before they were dropped Sunday.

The moves were puzzling to some who pointed towards a recent concussion suffered by starting long snapper Danny Aiken as at least the reason for Hughlett’s hiring. Aiken was hit at the line of scrimmage late in last Sunday’s game vs. Detroit and was limited in practice all week.

Though always stating that the Hughlett signing was for “precautionary reasons,” the general assumption Wednesday was that Hughlett was signed to fill in for Aiken vs. a rough and tumble Packer’s special teams unit this Sunday.

As for Xavier Grimble, his signing seemed to serve as an opportunity for the Patriots to build depth at tight end. Before the Grimble signing, New England only had three tight ends under contract, none of whom were on the practice squad. His presence served to only add an extra layer of protection should Rob Gronkowski, Michael Hohomanonui or Tim Wright go down with injuries.

Removing him from the mix however still does not do much to damage the Patriots as a team. The same can be said for Hughlett as even if Danny Aiken does not play like he should Sunday, the team could easily work past it.

Such is proven by the fact that for portions of the preseason the Patriots did not even carry a long snapper.

Furthermore, the release of Hughlett and Grimble now opens up two extra spots for players to be brought in. New England has an opening on the active roster as well. 

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

Getting to know Tim Wrght: TE has quietly become a huge part of Patriots red zone offence

October 26th, 2014

Dakota Antelman

Patriots tight end Tim Wright has quietly become one of Tom Brady’s favorite targets in the red zone.

The second year Rutgers alumni came to New England in August in the then controversial Logan Mankins trade. He came after playing an impressive rookie season in Tampa in which he caught five touchdown passes and 571 yards worth of catches.

Though Patriots fans were largely disappointed with the loss of their all-star offensive linemen, they could have seen the bright side of the trade right off the bat; that bright side being that Wright already had a decent reputation in Tampa. His skill was there and yet very few looked at how much better he could be catching passes from Tom Brady.

Now however, he seems to have played his way into a place where he must be recognized.

He has caught 14 of 15 passes thrown to him for a total of 142 yards receiving. Though those numbers are not stunning compared to those of say Julian Edelman or Rob Gronkowski, the few statistics that measure a player’s clutch play are.

7 of Wright’s 14 receptions have gone for first downs. He has averaged over 12 yards per play and has twice caught passes that went for 20 yards or more. Furthermore, in the red zone, Wright has been surprisingly impressive.

Standing at 6 foot 4 inches, Wright towers over many corners who are assigned to cover him. Furthermore, though he weighs 220 pounds, Wright has a towering vertical leap ability that allows him to get even higher above his defenders.

As a result it is Wright that currently stands in a tie for second place on the Patriots touchdown reception chart with three scores caught in the first eight games of this season.

Tim Wright, as a very young player may not be getting the recognition he deserves quite yet. But if the Patriots can hold onto him in the coming years he could become a force to be reckoned with as the second best tight end on the team. 

Read More