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Patriots Tuesday 10 Pack: AFCCG Edition

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After reflecting upon this year’s AFC Championship game — the matchups, the history, etc — I can’t help but feel like it’s a throwback game to the early 2000’s playoffs. That both intrigues and frightens me. During those 2003 and 2004 playoff runs you knew the Pats would have to play their best games and somehow they always did.

It’s also somewhat reminiscent of the 2011 and 2012 AFC Championships against the Ravens. You knew those would be wars and both games lived up to the hype. I can’t help but feel like this game is going to be the same way. Back and forth the entire game, coming right down to the very end where whoever makes the last play will win.

So yeah, exciting, but terrifying.

Here’s a bunch of thoughts on all things Pats as I get back into the flow of the week…

1.  First, congrats to Joe Thuney on being selected to the All-PFWA Rookie team. Thuney’s had his struggles at times this year, but he’s the most promising guard to come in and start as a rookie since Logan Mankins. Add in Shaq Mason‘s ascendance at the right guard spot and David Andrews locking down the center position and the re-build needed after the guard turnover of 2013-2014 (Mankins traded, Dan Connolly retired, Ryan Wendell left) is just about complete. The offensive line is locked in for the foreseeable future, including Marcus Cannon‘s extension this season.

2. The Patriots have the edge with their offense and special teams, while the x-factors are LeVeon Bell and Antonio Brown. Special Teams is really where the Pats could do some damage, even if not in the return game, just in the hidden yardage that they pick up with Gostkowski’s kickoffs that drop in at 1/2 yard line and Allen’s situation punting. Houston’s defense was a good test for the Patriots offensive line and that should prepare them for the Steelers’ front.

3. On the Antonio Brown Facebook Live thing, I’m always up for a distraction for the other team and that’s what this is turning into. Tomlin’s comments on Tuesday even further cemented that he wasn’t happy about it. It’s just one more thing for them to use their energy towards rather than preparing for the Patriots. Everything Belichick does is designed to avoid stuff like this, yet even with the monumental Deflategate distraction heading into Super Bowl 49 they were still able to overcome it. We’ll see how much the talk about it continues into later this week.

4. Defensively, the first game this season against the Steelers was one of the worst of the year and it embodied everything that was wrong with them early in the year. That was of course that they simply weren’t playing well. They weren’t getting off blocks. They weren’t making plays. This doesn’t fit the mainstream media narratives where you either are good or stink, because good teams just not playing well isn’t that exciting or click-bait-y. But the good news here is that combined with how the team played against Houston and the tape that they’ll surely watch this week of the first Steeler matchup, Belichick will have them feeling like they have a lot to prove this week. I so prefer that than say the 2014 AFCCG where it was more of a “just don’t blow it” feel, kinda like last week was.

5. Greg Bedard suggested the Pats might flow Logan Ryan over to Antonio Brown this time around as they’ve been doing recently while putting Malcolm Butler on the number two. He just might be right and if he is it signifies that Butler truly is a number one corner now because the Pats will trust him without consistent safety help. Butler plays with such an edge, he’s my favorite Patriots corner to watch since Ty Law, and that includes the one year o’ Revis. Personally I’d still prefer to put Butler on Brown.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKK8p5DUmtI

6. In some ways (and I’m sure this would change if the Patriots win) I feel like this game really is the Super Bowl. Not that the Pats would in any way easily win against the Falcons or Packers, but just to make a seventh Super Bowl for Belichick and Brady, especially one without the Deflategate cloud over it, and giving the Patriots a team-record nine Super Bowl appearances, would just be another feather in their caps even if they lost. Again, I’ll be all about winning number five if we get through the Steelers and there will be no talk of a loss no mattering, but right now it’s hard to even fathom the Patriots making another Super Bowl much less winning another one.

7. You know if the Patriots were to win this Super Bowl Brady would pretty much instantly turn the page to winning three out of four twice in his career. He’d probably start thinking about it on the flight from Houston back to Boston. His favorite ring is “the next one” right?

8. Way too early for that talk though, especially with two explosive teams in the NFC. The Patriots are going to need 120 minutes of great football no matter who they could play in Houston.

9. Brady’s performances in the AFC Championships, at least since the last time he saw the Steelers have been a point of criticism and something I’ll dive into later this week. 2007 vs. Chargers, 2011/2012 vs. Ravens, 2013/2015 vs. Broncos were never his best games. Luckily they barely needed him in 2014. Of course this is usually when he goes up the best defense that is often pretty familiar with him, so that plays into. A vintage Brady game like he had in the 2004 AFCCG would be a great bookend and they’re going to need it to put the Steelers away. Finishing strong is such a huge key this week.

10. Let’s hope this throwback game produces a throwback victory. The Pats have all the pieces to get the job done, but there’s just that small amount of uncertainty about the defense still. That they just haven’t seen a high-functioning offense with a quarterback like Ben Roethlisberger. But as I’ve said all year, what I do know is that they’re tough, tackle well and are unflappable over the course of any game against any opponent. They’ll fight the entire game. And if they hold the Steelers under twenty points, the critics will have no choice but acknowledge that this Patriots defense stacks up with the best around the league.