PatsPropaganda

An Independent Patriots Blog

baltimore ravens

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I was taught, by Bill Belichick, at a very early age that scouting begins on Sunday. You need to know your football team. The only way you get to know your football team is you’ve got to be able to watch them at practice, I watch the practice tape, so that’s why I do that.

Ozzie Newsome

https://www.patspropaganda.com/i-was-taught-by-bill-belichick-at-a-very-early/

Inside the NFL asks if the Patriots are invincible?

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I don’t know what’s more annoying, those who were declaring the Patriots dead after 2009, or those now debating if anyone can beat the Patriots as the Inside the NFL guys do in this clip.

But I think most of the responses here are pretty reasonable and for once in my life I have to say I agree with Cris Cross Collinsworth. There are more than a couple key Patriots that have never experienced playoff football. I expect them to perform just like they have in the big, national games all year long. However you can never rule out jitters when dealing with so many young guys.

Even crazier for me to admit is that I agreed with what Michael Felger had to say last night on CSN’s Patriots roundtable with regards to the Ravens. He said the biggest threat to the Pats are teams that can throw and in case you haven’t noticed the Ravens can’t throw. 

Now is it possible that the same Patriots run defense that showed up in Cleveland shows up against the Baltimore and gets abused? Of course. Hopefully not likely, but really that’s the only way Baltimore has a chance. To get the same Patriots that took the field against the Browns. Not too likely.

The Patriots aren’t invincible, but if they continue to play like they did down after the Browns loss they’ll be pretty close to it.

Let’s regroup on potential Patriots playoff opponents

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Now that the pairings are finally set we can say for sure the Pats will play the winner of the Ravens at Chiefs game unless the Jets upset the Colts.

I’m going to stick with what I’ve believed the last two weeks and that is that the Patriots will host the Ravens on Sunday January 16th. Obviously once the matchup is set in stone we’ll analyze the bejeezus out of it. 

For now let’s talk about the upcoming two games and what our Patriots-skewed perspective is.

Jets @ Indy

The good thing is that we’ll know Sunday morning if the Pats are playing the Jets or if it will indeed be the winner of the Ravens – Chiefs games. If the games were flipped there would still some doubt.

The Jets are of course already talking a lot, about how they owe the Colts for last year, and how the Colts are beatable this year, and how the Jets have all these new pieces for the Colts to deal with.

I still like the Colts. For the Jets to go to Super Bowl they’re going to have to beat Indy, the Pats and then the last remaining team out of Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Kansas City, and they’d have to do it entirely on the road. No way. No how.

Nothing the Jets have done this season points to them being able to go on an unstoppable three game tear against three elite teams. I think it ends for the Jets in round one. Peyton Manning will pick the middle part of their defense apart, and the Colts defense will take advantage of the suspect Jets offensive line.

Ravens @ Chiefs

This is an interesting match up, and I’m happy to see the Ravens have to play a team they’re not too familiar with in a tough road environment. It will really come down to whether or not Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles are able to run the ball on the Ravens. If they can, the rest of the KC offense will be opened up. If they can’t the game will be put entirely on Matt Cassel.

I just think the Ravens are a little more talented and a little more experienced and should be able to squeak it out.

Crafting the New England Patriots perfect playoff plate

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I have to admit it, I’m overlooking the Bills. I hope the Patriots aren’t, but I’ve got my sights set on the playoffs. Imagining certain matchups, which of the AFC contenders I think we can beat again, and what road would be the most competitive and most entertaining.

Assuming no meltdowns the AFC seeding is going to probably look like this:

  1. Patriots
  2. Steelers
  3. Chiefs
  4. Colts
  5. Ravens
  6. Jets

So they Patriots would be looking at the winner of Ravens @ Colts, unless the Jets upset the Chiefs which I don’t think they would.

We’ve see the Patriots-Colts playoff match up three times so far and to be honest I’m kind of over the Brady-Manning storyline. Plus I don’t really want to give Peyton Manning another crack at our secondary.

So that leaves both my head and my heart to hope that the Baltimore Ravens will be first in our musket’s firing line. A lot of people still think the Ravens are the best team in the AFC, and a lot of Patriots fans want to avoid them.

But I say if you want to win a championship you have to go through the best teams and prove how good you are when it matters most. We all know the Patriots would have extra motivation going into a playoff re-match with the Ravens. Terrell Suggs is still talking about us. If the Patriots want to win the Super Bowl they should first have to end the season of the team who last ended theirs.

For the AFC Championship I am left to choose between the Chiefs and the Steelers. We’ve already beaten Pittsburgh twice in AFC Championships. Borrrr-ing.

Imagine the storylines that would exist for a Patriots – Chiefs AFC Championship. Matt Cassel, Scott Pioli, Mike Vrabel, Romeo & Charlie. Even I would watch the pregame for that.

It also helps that I think the Chiefs just couldn’t slow down the Patriots offense and BB would own Cassel but even the nostalgic part of me would love to see this game.

That would lead us to the Super Bowl, which on the NFC’s side of things seems like it will be a crap shoot. Whoever’s defense and offense start to click and make plays will be on their way to Dallas.

So if I had to pick one team from the NFC field that would be the most poetic, the choice is obvious. The New York Football Giants. 

Ranking the Patriots Potential Playoff Opponents

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Of the potential playoff contenders in the AFC, here’s there the order from team I think the Pats matchup best with all the way down to the team I least want to see.

  1. Jaguars – Brady might not have an incompletion if the Jaguars end up traveling to Foxboro. They’ve had a good season but there’s no way I can see David Garrard taking us down.
  2. Jets – We all saw what happened last time the Pats played the Jets. When you know a team as closely as BB knows the Jets it’s a lot easier to prepare for them. And we know the Pats would have no trouble getting uber motivated to crush the Jets again. I like this match-up and would feel really confident that Mark Sanchez would have another craptastic day.
  3. Chiefs – what an interesting match-up this would be! Cassel, Vrabel, Pioli, Crennel and Weis all return to New England to face BB and the Pats? The Chiefs are talented but away from home they’re a different team. Just for nostalgia factor alone I’m rooting for this game to happen. Also because I don’t think the Pats lose to the Chiefs in Foxboro.
  4. Steelers – It’s strange that every playoff game the Pats have played against the Steelers in the last decade have been in Pittsburgh. But I stick with the notion that the Patriots just know how to beat the Steelers when it counts most. It will just come down to execution.
  5. Colts – Peyton Manning always scares me. He makes defenses look stupid and Patriots fans everywhere were probably at least 90% sure we were headed to overtime before James Sanders got that interception. The Colts have holes but they know how to play the Patriots and would surely give us a run for the money. Ultimately it would come down to whose defense got that critical stop just like it did in November.
  6. Ravens – I’m not sure Joe Flacco has that “it” factor just yet. In the game against the Pats he went cold when they needed him most, and anyone who saw last night’s game against the Texans knows their defense is not the shutdown elite one it once was. But if the Ravens can peak they’ll be dangerous, and their three veteran wide receivers could be match up problems. Top to bottom probably the most talented team in the AFC, they just don’t have the qb… yet.
  7. Chargers – number one offense and number one defense. Yes the Patriots beat them once but that was without Vincent Jackson and it came down to the final play. The Pats would definitely have a big advantage in the cold outdoors of Foxboro. The crazy part is that if the playoffs started today they wouldn’t even be in. 

Ranking the Patriots Potential Playoff Opponents

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Of the potential playoff contenders in the AFC, here’s there the order from team I think the Pats matchup best with all the way down to the team I least want to see.

  1. Jaguars – Brady might not have an incompletion if the Jaguars end up traveling to Foxboro. They’ve had a good season but there’s no way I can see David Garrard taking us down.
  2. Jets – We all saw what happened last time the Pats played the Jets. When you know a team as closely as BB knows the Jets it’s a lot easier to prepare for them. And we know the Pats would have no trouble getting uber motivated to crush the Jets again. I like this match-up and would feel really confident that Mark Sanchez would have another craptastic day.
  3. Chiefs – what an interesting match-up this would be! Cassel, Vrabel, Pioli, Crennel and Weis all return to New England to face BB and the Pats? The Chiefs are talented but away from home they’re a different team. Just for nostalgia factor alone I’m rooting for this game to happen. Also because I don’t think the Pats lose to the Chiefs in Foxboro.
  4. Steelers – It’s strange that every playoff game the Pats have played against the Steelers in the last decade have been in Pittsburgh. But I stick with the notion that the Patriots just know how to beat the Steelers when it counts most. It will just come down to execution.
  5. Colts – Peyton Manning always scares me. He makes defenses look stupid and Patriots fans everywhere were probably at least 90% sure we were headed to overtime before James Sanders got that interception. The Colts have holes but they know how to play the Patriots and would surely give us a run for the money. Ultimately it would come down to whose defense got that critical stop just like it did in November.
  6. Ravens – I’m not sure Joe Flacco has that “it” factor just yet. In the game against the Pats he went cold when they needed him most, and anyone who saw last night’s game against the Texans knows their defense is not the shutdown elite one it once was. But if the Ravens can peak they’ll be dangerous, and their three veteran wide receivers could be match up problems. Top to bottom probably the most talented team in the AFC, they just don’t have the qb… yet.
  7. Chargers – number one offense and number one defense. Yes the Patriots beat them once but that was without Vincent Jackson and it came down to the final play. The Pats would definitely have a big advantage in the cold outdoors of Foxboro. The crazy part is that if the playoffs started today they wouldn’t even be in.