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The not so grand finale to the Patriots season

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Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images

The Patriots repeat visit to Buffalo resulted in another blow out, of the touchdown kind, as the Bills won 47 to 17. 

I gotta say, I like that the Pats denied the Bills of the fifty burger, but I shall put my visceral Bills hatred aside for the moment. 

I won’t sum up the game this time as frankly, I don’t think any Patriots fan wants to relive it, and if you haven’t seen it I’d rather not be responsible for traumatising you. Needless to say, the Patriots weaknesses were made rather obvious under the late night lights, and they just couldn’t get it done.  

But, that’s all the doom and gloom you’re getting from me folks. Sure, the Patriots only just made it to the playoffs, yes there are plenty of holes to be worried about, players and possibly personnel, but this is the rebuild of a dynasty baby! 

It is not about the destination, it is about the journey, and all this is still pathway!

The Patriots picked a new quarterback and he’s good, and who knows his potential?! Okay, he isn’t a playoff game winning QB, this year, and we may have seen some of his limitations, but he’s the only rookie to make the play offs. A smart kid with determination and dedication, leadership and heart. Let’s shoot for the moon Pats fans, and whilst we are there, we don’t want to miss the stars. 

Now, I know I’ll be criticised for glass more than half full attitude, but that just how I try to be. I am also realistic, I say when things aren’t great, and that was the offensive line earlier in the year, then the secondary, special teams, oh and about that so called dominant defence… 

So yeah, the QB is a rookie who’s potential could be limited, there’s issues on both sides of the ball and less cap space to play with next season, and the Patriots only got as far as the play offs. But we got through it, together. Patriots Nation had a team to root for, a team to be disappointed in as well as proud. And, we had each other. 

It’s been a rough couple of years and we’ve sought solace in sports, and hopefully in each other. 

This isn’t the end Patriots Nation, it’s another new beginning!! With Mac Jones, David Andrews, Kendrick Bourne, Jakobi Meyers, Hunter Henry,  Rhamondre Stevenson, Adrian Phillips, Christian Barmore, (hopefully) Big Kick Nick Folk and many others, we can see the team build up once again. Remember it is not just the one, but the sum of the parts. 

Sport is a cruel mistress sometimes, and that is how it goes.  However, try to be thankful for all that you do have, be the light in someone’s day, and just thank goodness you aren’t a Jets fan… 

As some of you know, I have lost loved ones during the last 18 months, as I am certain many of you have too, it’s been tough. And so, I dedicate this article to all those loved and lost.❤️

Spoiler Alert: The Patriots win at Buffalo!

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The Patriots roll on the road with their seventh straight win!

(Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

So far this season the Patriots have had an on-the-road win streak for all six games. Mac Jones in a white jersey is plain and simple, hot.

Okay, so realistically, the win wasn’t all that. The game itself was a bit of a much for a nothingness. 14 – 10 isn’t a game full of sparkle, but as a Patriots fan, who has now finished watching the game, I’m mildly of caring, the Patriots win at Buffalo baby!

Whilst neither team blew, the wind seriously did at like 50 mph, and although the neither Patriots nor the Bills are un-used to poor weather, the ball went a little hinky here and there. And due to this, there was little to no air game for the Patriots, just 3 attempts. Josh Allen’s strength shined a little as he managed a few successful throws, 30 attempts, but this game should be known as The Run Game.

A few penalties for the Patriots again, 6 for 47 yards if you want the numbers. Looking at it IN the game though, Jonnu Smith erased a great run by Rhamondre Stevenson early in the third quarter. And that is how this game went really, there were no real bad players, just a few bad plays. Dont’a Hightower had an unnecessary horse collar tackle and a penalty called. But he redeemed himself with some great coverage afterwards. 

The Patriots did give Josh Allen a little bit too much time on the odd occasion and you can’t do that, the guy likes to get out to his right, and defenses just can’t let him unless they want to lose of course. 

Overall, it was a tricky game, but the Patriots did well! The Bills are a very good, strong team, as had been said over and over in all the discussions pre-match up. But the Patriots had plenty of pieces to look at in the positive light.

The brand new name of Daniel Ekuale chalked up the first sack of the game, boom, welcome to the Patriots!

Davon Godchaux played really well, 6 solo tackles and 4 assists. 10 tackles is a fab number for a single game, another notch on the belt of great signings by Coach Bill in the off-season! 

Christian Barmore pops up on my good list again, he was simply too much for center Mitch Morse and it was glorious to watch. 

Tight End Dawson Knox was pegged as an offensive weapon to keep a sharp eye on, and Adrian Phillips took this literally and watched that guy up close and personal. Phillips’ coverage of Knox was real good and he broke up most of those few plays that Allen managed to air out.

Speaking of tight ends (as I often do) there was a lack of a Patriots passing game which meant there was a severe reduction of tight endage action for li’l Clazzy Clare over here, however, Smith had that epic one handed pull the ball down for an awesome catch, and both tight ends were great with their blocking. Hunter in particular, sealed the edge and with Mike Onwenu in, Damien Harris made the touchdown.

And whilst on the subject of tight ends, I would just like to wish Hunter Henry a very happy birthday!

Rhamondre Stevenson, AKA ‘Mondre, is, plain and simple, a beast. There is no more “beast mode” it is now dubbed “‘Mondre mode”, which as you have probably guessed, is sheer power through the defense. It is, my friends, a beautiful thing to see. 

Ted Karras and Jakob Johnson are two names I have championed this season, and they owned up and showed up Monday night to help block and barricade for the run game. 

So there you have it Patriots Nation, a win at Buffalo, plain, nothing fancy, but delicious! A little like that first cup of coffee in the morning. Oh, speaking of coffee, time for another!

Go Pats!

Buffalo here we come!

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Patriots head to Buffalo for week 13: Preview and Predictions

As the Patriots head off to take on the mighty Buffalo Bills, plenty of Patriots Nation is determined, but nervous, at this match up.

Although a little up and down lately, the Bills are a very strong team, boasting one of the best defenses in the NFL at present and an offence with many weapons, not to mention their possibly strongest player, Josh Allen.

The Patriots are having themselves, although good, a little bit of an inconsistent season, but are currently on a winning streak, in particular all 4 of their road games.

Like the Bills, the Patriots have strengths on defense and offense, but the placing of Kyle Dugger on the COVID/reserve list creates a serious hole with the loss of such a strong player.

Neither team is at full capacity so let’s have a look at the most recent New England practice participation/injury report:

Friday 3rd December 

New England Patriots – 8 players with limited participation

CDavid AndrewsShoulder
DLChristian BarmoreKnee
LBJa’Whaun BentleyRibs
RBBrandon BoldenKnee
OTTrent BrownCalf
KNick FolkLeft Knee
LBDont’a HightowerAnkle
WRGunner OlszewskiAnkle

All that being said, anything can happen, as so far has within plenty of league games we have seen this season. 

And so, with that in mind, the Pats Prop crew have put forward their predictions. 

The Patriots go into a hostile Monday night game and manage to pull out a win in a close one, Mac leads a game winning drive late on.

Patriots 24 Bills 20

From Tom shaw-mellors

The Bills are a good team, it pains me to say it but it’s true, and this match up is one of the most worrying. However, the Patriots have been winning on the road and just hope they aren’t going to let me down after I said they would crush the Bills this season.

Patriots 33 Bills 30

From Clare ‘clazzyclare’ Cooper

Spotlight on Judon

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Matt Judon has hit the ceiling and danced upon it!

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

This season saw plenty of new faces welcomed into Patriots Nation, and one of the most successful and possibly the one most fans would vote as MVP so far, is Matthew Judon.

Drafted in 2016 by the Baltimore Ravens, Judon is possibly on track to have one of his best years as a player. In 2017, his statistically best year overall, Judon ranked 6th on PFF with 8 sacks, but in 2019 he topped his sack amount by another 1.5. So far this season he has put up 22 solo tackles, and is already at 11.5 sacks with a new team. That’s something that people shouldn’t take too lightly, being integrated into a new system can affect a player significantly. It’s a completely different player position, but take for example Jonnu Smith, a great tight end but struggling a little to really get going.

Not only is Judon putting out great stats, he is distinguishing himself as one of the team. His personality and character shines during media meetings and he isn’t shy to express himself fully – I refer your attention to the great mac and cheese Thanksgiving storm of 2021.

But seriously, how the Patriots plucked this gem stone from the clutches of the Ravens is beyond me. Although I know sensible people will say money, and that’s fair, he still seems to be one of the those players that you shuffle some cash around to keep. 

But let’s not misunderstand me here folks, I am not complaining! The confidence this 6 foot 3, 29 year old, edge-defending linebacker, Mr Redsleeves, gives this Patriots defense is fantabulous (yes that is a word, I say so).

This guy is pretty unstoppable. In fact, the only way to stop him is by a penalty-risking hold, which offensive lines have had to do, many, many times, and of those many times, officials have not called very many penalties… but now I’m just grumbling. 

Either way, I think all of Patriots Nation are in it for the long haul, I see red sleeves all over baby!

Go Pats!

The Patriots streak a win in Atlanta!

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Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Hi there Patriots Nation, to all my fellow UK fans, I wish you oodles and oodles of coffee on this sleep deprived Friday!

So, another win against the Atlanta Falcons huh?

It wasn’t an easy, utterly clean game, there were a few blips on the radar with this one, but the defense was definitely bringing the nasty against the Falcons and Matt Ryan. 

As well as the Patriots ran the ball, they went 4 for 12 on third down, and that’s not great when you compare it to last week particularly. But the Patriots defense still found a way to shut out the Falcons, and please excuse the colourful language here, spanked, a solid, veteran quarterback.

For the tight endage enthusiast, it was a little slim pickings this week. Hunter Henry played 32 of the snaps (50%) and was more often than not, heavily covered when running routes. When Nelson Agholor caught his touchdown, Hunter had three guys covering him. The Falcons cottoned on that he was a regular target of Mac Jones, his go-to tight end, and they kept him closed down. There was a beautiful, beautiful, catch towards the end of the third quarter, a nice li’l sweet treat for me, but this was undone by a throw from Mac towards Jonnu Smith for an interception. Boo.

Speaking of interceptions, the Patriots had, four. One for each of the Falcons quarterbacks and then a spare. Mr Interception himself, JC Jackson had one, well that’s becoming a given, right? Adrian Phillips and Devin McCourty didn’t want to be left out, and finally Kyle Van Noy, who took it for 35 yards, and a touchdown. Exactly what the word fabulousness was created for!

Matt Judon, a name to star on my game recap every week, stacked up another sack and that’s 10.5 for his New England Patriots season so far, SO FAR!

Kyle Dugger brought it again this week with six tackles and some glorious blocks. My favourite was towards the end of the third quarter where he just pancaked Isaiah Oliver to the floor, you could almost hear the ‘boom’. 

Another name that I should create a shortcut for, as I am typing it every week, is Jakob Johnson. This guy is slapping the face of anyone who thinks a fullback isn’t important, and I love it! With the quality of his blocking, and his integration into plays a little more, I don’t think I’m remiss in saying he is having his best Patriots season so far.

And on the note of effective blocking, from the result of that, Damien Harris ran like a freight train. Sometimes he was so quick I almost lost him! This week showed an even split of runs between Rhamondre Stevenson (now officially to be referred to as ‘Mondre, hey, if it’s good enough for the beloved David Andrews, it’s definitely good enough for me!) and Damien Harris. ‘Mondre notching up 12 attempts for 69 yards, and Harris 10 attempts for 56 yards. 

Okay, that’s enough of me for this week folks! I’m off to top up my coffee. 

Go Pats!

Don’t forget to pick up your tight endage design t-shirts exclusively at Pats Propaganda!

The Browns came to town and the Pats shut them down!

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Adam Glanzman/Getty Images

As the Patriots notch up their second home win of the season against the Cleveland Browns, they move to the nail-biting 6 – 4 for week ten.

This morning (this afternoon, this evening, whenever you take the time to read this) Patriots fans are happy bunnies, of course! And I’m not known for my negativity, so you probably won’t find much in this recap today.

However, I did want to point out one thing, fortunately, it didn’t really impact the outcome of the win for the Patriots, but they still notched up six penalties at home. Pretty much the average for a game so far this season. 

Okay, I think that brings a healthy balance of negatives so lets move it right along to the positives shall we folks?

Seriously, I’m almost lost as to where to start!

The Patriots defense against the run did have a little shaky start but they adjusted to what the Browns wanted to do and shut them down. Then the Patriots offense bullied their way through. 

The good played great: Christian Barmore with constant pressure up the middle, forcing a number of errant passes, Jakob Johnson blocking like a darn wrecking ball, and Matt Judon, well, being Matt Judon! These names make my recap every single week, and to that point I apologise for being repetitive, but these guys deserve to be mentioned every darn week!  

Kyle Dugger showed up and owned up this week being second on the defensive plays list with 5 tackles, 1 assist and an interception. Only to be bettered by Ja’Whaun Bentley with 6 tackles and 1 assist on the board. 

The ‘old guys’, and I say that very tongue-in-cheek folks, played great. Kyle Van Noy, Devin McCourty and Dont’a Hightower showed us why old guys rule baby! If only Devin could have made that one handed catch for the interception early in the first quarter, the Browns might not have even racked up a touchdown! 45 -7 is great, 45 – 0, oh my!

N’Keal Harry is a slightly controversial topic in Patriots Nation, but he brought something to the game Sunday and may be making his mark as a very effective wide receiver blocker. Going into this match-up the name Myles Garrett was the one people were most concerned about, and well, Harry said “yeah, not in my house” and he shut that guy down!

Mike Onwenu looked to be an absent with the return and line up of Trent Brown but oh no, Belichick wouldn’t take out one of his best offensive linemen. Onwenu lined up as an eligible tight end and blocked the heck out of the Browns defense. I knew I liked that guy…

The Mac-attack had himself an awesome game, throwing the ball deep to prove there was a new gunslinger in town, and his name was McCorkle Jones. That’s Michael McCorkle Jones to you Cleveland.

I know I mention tight ends a plenty, but in my own defense, this year is a bit of a year for it on the Patriots. So, whilst keeping my excitement in check, I will simply touch upon the fact that Hunter Henry had four fabulous receptions, (they were all great catches so can easily be classed as fabulous). Of those 4 receptions, 50% were touchdowns, and 100% of his targets he caught. Just sayin’…

Finally, I can report Jakobi Meyers had his first receiving touchdown and it was thrown by Brian Hoyer. Not perfect, but you know what, I think the whole of Patriots Nation will take it. Pretty much the whole Patriots team celebrated it with him in the end zone. 

And even though at this point in time I haven’t seen which players were given the game ball, mine would go to Rhamondre Stevenson. Not only did he have 4 receptions from 4 targets and 37 yards, but the kid had 20 rushing attempts for 100 yards and a total of 2 touchdowns. But, the numbers aren’t what did it for me, it was watching this guy play. Powerful, masterful and impressive! He ran through gaps that were made well by the Patriots o-line and also a few that didn’t even seem to be there! And as I can’t roll my r’s, I’ll stick with chanting STEVENSON thank you very much.

Go Pats!

The Patriots intercept a win in Carolina!

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Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

And so here we are, another victory road game Monday. They may not be clean, and they may not be pretty, the wins that is, but this is a team with a first year quarterback and more new pieces than I can count. Scrappy ain’t so bad. 

Once again the Patriots got into Sam Darnold’s head, and the poor kid threw 3 interceptions. Against the Patriots Darnold has now stacked up 1 touchdown, 9 interceptions, and zero wins. 

But it wasn’t all on Darnold, the Patriots offense didn’t bring the best versions of themselves to Carolina. The penalties for the offensive line-up were a little concerning, with false start calls on Jakobi Meyers, Isaiah Wynn and Hunter Henry, and an offensive holding call against Ted Karras. Not ideal.

The passer protection wasn’t as good as it has been either, still a work in progress I guess. 

But for yet another game I can compliment the blocking of Jakob Johnson and reiterate how I will forever be “in” on the fullback position. 

The Patriots defense played great, and as Bill always says, defense wins games! The interceptions by JC Jackson were delicious! He saw Stephon Gilmore’s one interception and raised him one! Two for JC and one for Jamie Collins and there was even a tip or two of the ball by Kyle Van Noy. You get an interception, you get an interception, everyone gets an interception… Halloween came a little late this year with interceptions getting given out like candy, and poor Darnold may have been seeing a few ghosts again.

Now, every week I hail the guy for being a baller, but Matt Judon is held more than a kid’s favourite teddy bear, and he still managed to get a hand on Darnold whilst being enveloped by an offensive lineman. 

A name I know that was on many peoples lips, Christian Barmore, and well, the kid had himself a GAME!

The injury list is always a cause for concern but right now it’s getting rather long, and after this Carolina game, particularly on the running back front! Rhamondre Stevenson was really letting loose until he got caught out with a head injury. Mid way into the second quarter he showed Sean Chandler who was boss with not only a stiff arm but one that threw the guy outta the club! Boom!

Brandon Bolden continues to roll up and show up, proving he is a valuable part of the Patriots offense, and towards the end of the second quarter he made a great adjustment to turn and make a difficult catch. He pulled out the stutter step to get a good run and even pulled a trick on Stephon Gilmore gaining himself a few extra yards.

Hunter Henry maintains his “Mr Consistent” badge with his fifth Patriot touchdown in six games. 

I think I gotta give a gold star to Mac Jones. He may not have had one of his best games, but he’s a rookie quarterback who not only “quarterbacks” really well, he pushes the pile, blocks, jumps on a loose ball to recover, and he pulls back his huge offensive linemen to try and make sure they don’t get into any disagreements. This kid rocks, it may be just my opinion, but he’s my quarterback baby! So hold my darn coffee, and bring on the Cleveland Browns! Woof!