PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

Pats Posits: Year of the GOAT

by

The Patriots are headed to their NFL-record ninth Super Bowl after capturing their seventh AFC Championship by handily defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 36-17. It was a signature Tom Brady win, as he set the franchise playoff yardage record (384 yards, three TDs, 0 INTs) in his NFL-record 24th playoff victory.

Chris Hogan had the game of his life with nine catches for 180 yards and two touchdowns while battling through a thigh injury. Julian Edelman was reliable as ever with eight catches for 118 yards, keeping the chains moving at critical moments like he always does.

After I spent all week pumping the Pats’ diversity and depth on offense, they instead put on a surgical dissection of the Steelers’ defense leaning heavily on just Hogan and Edelman.

The running game that had been a consistent staple all season was largely missing until the very end. They had just 57 yards rushing. But it was all they needed as Brady picked apart the Steelers’ secondary like we’ve become used to seeing.

The turning point in the game came on the second play when Le’Veon Bell tweaked his groin and was done for the day. The Steelers lost the catalyst of their playoff run and once they fell behind on then scoreboard it was an impossible uphill climb.

The Patriots defense, facing questions about their level of competition all season, stepped up with a gem. Shutting down the run (54 yards allowed) was the first key. Stopping Antonio Brown was the second (seven catches, 77 yards). Two crucial goal-line defensive stands and two takeaways showed how good the underrated Pats’ defense really is.

All in all this was their best performance of the season, especially given the stage. And now, they’re on to Super Bowl 51 to face a Falcons team that is on fire. It’s hard to believe it sometimes, but the Patriots’ dynasty is still very much alive and well, and almost old enough for a driver’s license.

More on the Steelers, Falcons and legacy in the Posits…

— This was just a good old-fashioned aerial smoke show of the Steelers. It’s amazing that in the last decade-plus, Pittsburgh has never figured out how to stop it. It’s staggering to think about the opportunity Brady has when he steps on the field in Houston in two weeks. There will be plenty of time to dissect all that. But for now, Tom Brady is once again on top of the football world, and unlike 2014 there isn’t another gross cloud hanging over it…at least not yet…

— I was surprised to see the quiet games by the running backs, but it’s hard to argue with the results. They only needed to run the ball in the fourth quarter, and when they needed to close it out with Blount, they did. Mostly I was surprised that Lewis never really got going. White’s high snap total just indicated they were really focused on exploiting passing game matchups and not even threatening to run.

— Overall, it was an excellent complimentary game, with the second half being maybe the best of the entire season.

  • Second Half Offensive Pos.: FG, TD, TD, Punt, FG, Kneel.
  • Second Half Defensive Pos.: Punt, Punt, Fumble Rec., Downs, INT, and a garbage time TD.

This was where the game was won as the Patriots pulled away while the defense slowly strangled the life out of the Steeler offense.

— I can already hear the “Pats got lucky because Bell got hurt” chatter for the upcoming week, but I felt all along they’d make him earn every yard. Even if Bell stayed in the whole game I don’t think the result would’ve been much different. Still, I couldn’t help but flash back to the 2007 AFCCG with Ladainian Tomlinson sitting on the bench in a jacket with his helmet on. Injuries are everything.

–So impressed with the play of the secondary, all six of them made key plays at some point. Butler and Ryan (team-leading nine tackles) were so solid all night, while Rowe chipped in when he had to. Chung (second with six tackles) was the huge factor we expected.  McCourty and Harmon kept it all in front of them. They never gave up a critical big play. No question these six are the strength of the defense.

— The defense held the Steelers to 1-3 in the red zone, a huge difference in the game. The red zone defense started off terrible this year as Bill Belichick pointed out in his post-game press conference. The Steelers thought they had a touchdown just before halftime before replay put the ball at the one. Two run stops and an incompletion later the Steelers were settling for just three points. That was such a key sequence and a four point turn.


— The four down goal-line stand was another thing of beauty, with another two run stops inside the five and then two incompletions. Those are the championship plays.

— The Patriots defense is so sound, they made the Steelers earn every single first down the got. They might give up plays here or there, but they tackle incredibly well. They had zero sacks and just one QB hit, but gave up just 17 points, only nine of which really meant anything. It shows the power of experienced team defense. Isn’t flashy, but it’s effective, especially when the offense is putting points on the board.

— The overall health, and especially the toughness displayed by the guys fighting through stuff, is such a hallmark of this team. To lose only Gronk this season was a minor miracle. These two weeks off will be really good for guys like Hogan, Bennett and Amendola.

— Hard to tell what’s up with Dont’a Hightower taking some snaps off here and there. Is it an injury management situation or are the pulling him in obvious passing situations? Either way it isn’t great for Hightower’s contract negotiation. He’s either not durable or not viewed as a three-down linebacker. He’s the biggest piece of the offseason, but we can worry about that in a couple weeks.

— Liked the rookies Vincent Valentine and Jonathan Jones showing up with some big plays. Valentine’s goal-line tackle-for-loss was one of the biggest plays of the game.

— Who ever thought Chris Hogan would be the deep threat we’ve been dreaming about since Randy Moss? I mean, that was a 2007 Moss-esque performance from Hogan. And for it to come in the AFC Championship? Brady and Moss didn’t have any of these games left by January 2008, now Brady and Hogan are just finding their stride.  No player has had this kind of downfield chemistry with Brady since Moss, and it’s effect on the offense is breathtaking.

— Belichick stuck with the 2016 Blue Hoodie uncut, per our recommendation, moving to 3-0 in it. There’s little question he should stick with it in Houston. I like that it’s only be worn for the Denver win and the two playoff games. In some ways, those three games feel like the entire season.

— The Pats won the toss and elected to receive for the first time since last year’s AFC Championship in Denver. The wanted to get the Steelers in a hole as quickly as possible.

— What a season by Belichick. Trading away Jamie Collins, who will soon be the top-paid linebacker in the NFL. He pushed all the right buttons this year. Never before can I remember such a methodical progression to a team’s improvement over the course of a season. Each week the 2016 Patriots just keep getting better. I can’t wait to see what they show us in Houston.

— I was going to be shocked if we got a second sloppy game out of the Patriots in this one. After seeing how locked in Brady seemed this week, it was almost inevitable they’d come out and have zero turnovers and just two penalties for 10 yards. If they can turn in another clean game like that in Houston they could be raising Lombardi number five.

Super Bow 51, Patriots vs. Falcons. I like seeing that in print. It’s just starting to really sink in.

My first thought goes to the matchups on defense — Butler on Julio Jones? What about Rowe’s size? And those running backs? The Falcons present a ton of problems. The Patriots defense is going to face the toughest test in the NFL on the biggest stage. If they can limit this attack they’ll have nothing left to prove. In fact, they might just cement their place as one of the best Patriots’ defense of all time.

Offensively, what else is there to say? We have Tom Brady and all his weaponry should be pretty healthy and good to go in two weeks. The Falcons defense will also get their toughest challenge yet.

Patriots Super Bowl games have all gone down to the wire and I’ve just about had a heart attack every single time. Not sure I’m ready for another one, but Super Bowl 51 has all the makings for a shootout classic.

It will be a fun two weeks! Especially if I can find a couple tix to the game!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Seems to be universally accepted that Roethlsiberger is a sure fire first ballot hall QB. You saw the level that Tom Brady is at and it isn’t even close. Is there another league the Patriots can graduate too? No matter what happens in 2 weeks next year you have the entire offense coming back except maybe Bennett. Hogan and Mitchell will be in year 2 in the system, Lewis further removed from the knee injury, and I almost forgot, the biggest offensive weapon in the NFL is coming back. Crazy. What would they look like with a Fournette level talent at RB to complement D-Lew?

    • Things sure seem well set up on the offensive side of the ball. Plenty of questions on the defensive side, where it feels like they’ll have some new faces next year playing significant roles. But they’ll do what they always do, find guys they like and develop them. No reason to think there’ll be any drop off even if there’s turnover.