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The Best/Worst Weekly Links in Patriots -10/8

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He’s back and he’s angry. The Days of Judgement are upon us.

CC: Roger Goodell, Troy Vincent, Bart Hubbuch, Mike Kensil, Bill Polian, Jim Irsay, John Harbaugh, Ryan Grigson, Gregg Doyel, Bob Kravitz, Troy Aikman, Don Shula, Marshall Faulk, Rob Parker, Shannon Sharpe, Chris Carter, Max Kellerman, Mark Brunell, Ron Borges, Tom Jackson…

If you pray for rain, you have to deal with the mud, too.-Robert McCall (Denzel Washington), The Equalizer

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New England Patriots Gameplan: Week 5 at Cleveland Browns

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65Dze6WLS4s

Yup, Tom Brady’s back and the 2016 season can officially start this Sunday in Cleveland. Seriously, for all the time we wasted debating Jimmy Garoppolo’s future and toughness or the gameplan for one-thumbed Jacoby Brissett, it all matters about as much as the preseason did now.

So yes Patriots fans are giddy, the rest of the NFL is worried and the Browns are preparing for worse damage than Florida right now.

But how easily the “Brady’s back” angle has made us all forget that the last two times the Patriots have faced the Browns it hasn’t quite gone as we all thought it would. There was the brutal 34-14 loss in Cleveland in 2010 and then the miraculous comeback by the Patriots in Foxboro in 2013, which also saw Rob Gronkowski’s knee blown out.

The Pats needed an onside kick recovery to escape Cleveland in that one.

The Browns have been anything but an easy out for the Patriots, no matter how the matchup looked on paper going in. But these Browns are far younger and even less talented than what the Patriots dealt with in 2010 and 2013.

Couple that with the Patriots coming off an embarrassing loss and we might just finally get the Browns blowout we’ve been waiting six years for.

Here’s the gameplan to get the season off to a new start under our favorite quarterback.

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Coffin Corner: An Open Letter to Art Modell from Patriots fans

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much-fodell

October 6, 2016

Dear Mr. Modell,

Sir, we know that you have since passed, but we wanted to take a moment to thank you for your contributions to the New England Patriots as they embark on a game against the expansion franchise that replaced your own in Cleveland.

Your announcement on November 6th, 1995 in which you told the country of your decision to move your football team, the Cleveland Browns, to Baltimore is one of the unsung days in Patriots history. The fact that it was made the day before the city of Cleveland voted to capitulate to your revenue funding only furthers Patriots fans’ appreciation. This decision gave the six states that comprise New England, arguably, the greatest historical run in modern sports.

We want to thank you for your “business savvy” when you refused to share the revenue generated by suites at Cleveland Municipal Stadium with the Cleveland Indians, despite the Indians generating a majority of the income. That decision prompted the Indians to find public funding for their own stadium, which saw your company’s steep decline in revenue. Your business decision to not divvy up the shared revenue with your local baseball team, without which, the people of New England would never have been able to bear witness to four Lombardi trophies.

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A Closer Look at Patriots’ Advanced Defensive Stats

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rob ninkovichStats are for losers, right? Far be it from me to disagree with BB, but stats can give us a bigger picture. I always wait until four gams into the season before I jump into the stats. Anything before that is just simply too small a sample size.

As most of you know, the Patriots defense has been my long term pet project here on the blog. When you line up the 2016 stats and compare them to recent years it becomes even more clear that while the Patriots defense is good at preventing points, they’ve been pretty terrible at everything else.

I know there are plenty out there banging the “points allowed are all that matter,” but I disagree. Football is a complimentary game. Points allowed is certainly an important stat and the one at the bottom line, but the rest of the stats paint the picture of a defense that isn’t forcing turnovers, isn’t getting off the field and allowing far too long opponent possessions. That isn’t holding up their end of the bargain with the offense and special teams.

That said, it’s four games in. With Tom Brady back we can expect far more out of the offense going forward. That should help the defense. But still, every time in the first four games the Patriots have needed the defense to step up, they have failed to do so.

Let’s hope that changes in the coming weeks.

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Week 5 Scouting Report: Cleveland Browns

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There is not a GIF or youtube link out there that would do justice to my excitement of seeing Tom Brady back behind center. It’s probably the most “Browns Thing” ever for them to get Brady on his first game back from suspension. Sorry Cleveland. At least you have LeBron.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Browns, aka “The Unlucky Punching Bags of Tom Brady”

Week 5: vs. Cleveland Browns (Tickets)

Sunday, October 9th

1pm EST, CBS

Partly Cloudy, 60’s

[table id=7 /]

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MUST READ! ESPN: An Oral History of Bill Belichick

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Call Bill Belichick what you want, but these accounts of his uncompromising life — from prodigy to professional ballbuster — reveal why history might one day call him the greatest.

Source: New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is the greatest enigma in sports

Every once and a while an amazing piece on Bill Belichick comes along and today might be one of the all time bests of those days. This oral history is fascinating and is a direct companion to David Halberstam’s Education of a Coach.

This is the real Belichick. Not the caricature the media creates because he doesn’t give them much to work with unless they ask him hard core football questions. That he’ll scoff at stupid or probing questions.

Us fans get a kick out of that, because most of the time those stories the media feels like they “have to ask”, no one really cares about. And many times the reporters themselves are just trying to gain some recognition for themselves by trying to prod Belichick “in the name of journalism.”

This is the Belichick that fascinates us Hoodie Heads. It boils down to his “Be Here Now”-esque mantra and focus on total preparation.  And let’s face it, the guy was basically incubated as a football coach from the moment he was born.

Such a great read, one to hold on to for a long time. Favorite quote from Heath Evans:

“I never had greater admiration for a man besides my father than I had for Bill after the Super Bowl XLII loss. To the 53 men in that locker room and the coaching staff, he delivered a heartfelt apology. He felt like he had really let us down. Despite 18-1 being the most bitter pill I think you can swallow in sports, when I walked out of that Super Bowl locker room that night I still left with kind of a shining moment in my mind about Bill Belichick, how a man that everybody swears is so arrogant and so self-centered is really the exact opposite.”

Patriots Special Teams Report – Week 4 vs. Buffalo Bills

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What a disappointing effort by the Patriots Sunday. While it is hard to find silver linings in a shutout beatdown at home by a division rival, I chose to look at the fact the Pats managed to go 3-1 without the greatest quarterback of all time. And hey, special teams played pretty well yesterday, save for a few small plays, so lets get into it.

First, I’d like to give a nod to the tremendous work Matthew Slater and Jonathan Jones have done as gunners on the punt team thus far in the season. The pair shone in a game lacking much of anything positive, continuing their trend of incredibly strong play. While we all know just how good the five-time Pro Bowler Slater is, it is also important to recognize the undrafted rookie Jones, who has yet to receive any snaps at corner, but has had a standout start to his career on special teams. Slater and Jones both beat their men down the field on the first punt, with Slater making an excellent tackle for no gain off Ryan Allen’s 47-yard punt.

In addition, twice Allen’s punts resulted in fair catches by Tate, and both times Tate had Slater and Jones converging on him, allowing no room to run. Tate returned Allen’s third punt for 10 yards, with Slater bringing him down, but Jones was illegally knocked out of bounds on the play, resulting in a 10 yard penalty on Stephen Gilmore that set Buffalo back to its own 10 yard line. The duo has been incredible thus far, consistently beating opponents on the way down the field and not allowing positive returns off punts.

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