PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Tuesday Patriots-Texans Tweets of Note

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The Patriots and Texans are off on a good ole times camping trip in West Virginia, in what should be a competitive set of training camp joint practices.

After slicing up the Jags last week, the Texans should provide a more formidable practice partner. Houston is a young team and should be looking to set the tone for their season with this week’s work against the team that sent them packing twice last year, including in the AFCDG.

Houston has to go New England again in Week 3 so these teams know each other pretty well, both on the field and off it. A few practices together… another preseason game… This is blossoming into a strange frenemy rivalry and you wonder if BO’B can ever figure out how to crack BB.

There’s also something fascinating about Mike Vrabel now being the defensive coordinator charged with stopping Tom Brady…. but there will be plenty of time for that once the bullets are real.

Here’s the tweets that stood out from practice #1 vs. Houston.

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Concern Over Patriots Front Seven Turnover?

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This is probably as close as you’ll get to a hot take here on the Prop, but a recent commenter pointed out my concern over the front seven so I think it’s worth diving into a little more deeply. Or at least expanding upon my reasoning that there are more questions about this Patriots defense than some might want to admit.

Look, I skew toward the defensive side of the ball and I’ve got to be honest in my analysis, as much as we all want this to be a fanboy blog that does nothing but spew rainbows and sunshine about how awesome the Patriots are.

This isn’t doom and gloom. These are legitimate questions. But we can all agree that the defense remains well coached and has a number of promising young players. That is exciting. But those unproven players will need to step up because this is not an insignificant transition at the most important part of the defense.

And yes, the secondary is awesome. So hopefully that can help as things turn over.

Still, here’s what we’re looking at:

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Patriots Tweets of Note: The Final Training Camp Practice Open to Fans

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The Patriots closed out the public portions of their training camp practices on Monday, with developments on the injury front.

Now the Pats will head to West Virginia to practice with the Texans, whom they’ll play in Houston on Sunday. It’s like one big former Patriot reunion camping trip in the mountains!

It should be a fun week. I’m excited to see new Texans defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel. He should speak to the media at some point. Vrabel never disappoints with a great quote or two.

Here’s what those who were there saw at Monday’s practice.

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Mike Gillislee Predicted to Exceed Expectations This Season

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Sports predictions are wrong far more than they are right, but part of the fun of sports is making predictions, and ours is to keep your eye on Mike Gillislee when you bet on NFL this season.

Everyone knows the New England Patriots are the team to beat. You do not have to like them to appreciate that fact. On a team that isn’t afraid to spread the ball around, it is definitely interesting to try and figure out who the team’s breakout star will be, not just from season to season, but from week week.

And with every offseason, the reigning champs have been using their offseason to do a bit of maintenance and rebuilding. Starting cornerback Logan Ryan was replaced with Stephon Gilmore, while departed running back LeGarrette Blount, who set a team record for rushing touchdowns with 18 in 2016, still has his role up for grabs.

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6 Sunday Pats Posits

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Sorry for the slow couple of days here on the blog, especially after a preseason game. In case you missed it, I was helping launch our latest venture, Patshow. If you haven’t had a chance to check out episode 101 you can get it here in all its glory.

Follow @Patshow6 on Twitter for all kinds of show updates and giveaways. Things will keep ramping up over the next couple weeks.

With over 10K views in the first 24 hours, we’re thrilled with the response and can’t wait for episode 102, coming Monday 8/21. This was supposed to just be a soft launch to work out the kinks, but other than a couple audio glitches on Facebook’s end, things went about as smoothly as could be expected.

Thank you Nick Stevens and Ian and Erin at Mediaboss for their awesome work bringing Patshow to life. We’re all excited to share everything that we have planned, which will include two shows per week once the regular season starts.

Okay, enough about Patshow, let’s talk some actual Pats and get caught up on the fallout from the first preseason.

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Pats Posits: Who Limped Off, Shined and Stunk vs. Jags?

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The Patriots completed their first game of the 2017 preseason, “losing” to the Jaguars 31-24.

Yes, no one cares about who wins or loses preseason games but there was still plenty to unpack from the contest, including some great performances by some young weapons and some dreadful performances from some young veterans who are supposed to be taking a positive step forward this season.

Let’s start with the only thing that truly matters after a preseason game — injuries. Yeah, guys can play good or bad, but ultimately there’s a long way to go and no roster spots were won or lost after one preseason game. But injuries can kill a season in an instant.

  • Dietrich Wise — Oh that rookie that everyone was abuzz about this preseason? He was kneed in the head and left the game in the first half. I feel weird saying “luckily it’s just a concussion” given what we know now. In the olden days this would be written off with a “he just got his bell rung.” Now it’s a “shit, I hope this doesn’t mean he’s donating his brain to a study someday but… he’ll probably be back soon.” Of course if you’re choosing between getting his leg broken in half and getting kneed in the head, the choice is obvious, but I still don’t feel good about it.
  • Elandon Roberts — Limped off, but one of those tough as nails guys. I think he’ll be okay. Looked like an ankle thing.

Okay, injuries are out of the way, let’s talk the good, the bad and the whatever.

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Blogging Reflections on the 2007 Pats

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNVN5TePlyA

A couple really good and long pieces reflecting upon the 2007 Patriots popped up yesterday — one from The Ringer’s Kevin Clark, the other from ESPN’s Bill Barnwell. I suggest you check both out, assuming you’ve gotten over 18-1 in the last 10 years. I know I have, two Super Bowl wins certainly helped.

I thought it was a good chance to do some reflecting myself, without getting into the nitty gritty that Clark and Barnwell do, instead focusing more on what it was like to be a Patriots fan that season, and how that season gave birth to the very blog you’re reading right now.

I can’t talk about 2007 without first talking about 2006. 2006 was the year I truly became Pats obsessed. I think it was because they lost their first playoff game in Denver that year and suddenly it dawned on me that Brady-Belichick had a long road ahead of them, but a finite number chances to win more Super Bowls.

So in 2006, I made my first trip back home to see them live, hitting up the opener against the Bills. My sister Mary and I were so excited to get down to Foxboro we ended up in an empty parking lot just as the gates opened with nothing more than a case of beer and a tennis ball. Still, it was a glorious day that saw the Bills score a touchdown before we even made it to our nosebleed seats.

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