An Independent Patriots Blog
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZ1jW5Y
You know I don’t really watch much pregame, and it looks like I missed out in this case because I’ve been saying for a while now that Peyton Manning could never pull off the Tom Brady hair. Here is the proof.
https://www.patspropaganda.com/you-know-i-dont-really-watch-much-pregame-and-it-2/
Any time you pick a top five anything you should probably disclaim what the criteria is for your selections. So in picking my top five Pats games from this past season my criteria is games, or more specifically wins, that were the best for the T.E.A.M. team.
I tried not to be sentimental, and to pick games that really defined who the Patriots have become as they enter the playoffs with the top seed in the AFC.
So without further ado, we count down the best five games of the 2010 regular season.
5. Baltimore Ravens: This one would’ve probably ranked higher on the list if I were being sentimental. Yes it felt good to squeak it out against the team that humiliated us on our home field in 2009, but at the end of the day this was first win of the season over a team that most people seemed to think was the class of the NFL. Not many picked the Pats to win this one, and they barely did. But this game was the first evidence that this Patriots team had special something, a little magic. It was also one of the only good defensive performances in the early part of the season. The Ravens punted THREE times in overtime.
4. Indianapolis Colts: Maybe this is a slightly sentimental since it seemed pretty apparent that the Patriots were the better team and it shouldn’t have been as close as it was, but Peyton Manning had gone 5-1 against the Pats in the last six meetings and you can’t underestimate the psychological impact on the team of winning the annual Colts-Pats war. I have to say, regardless of the lack of talent around him I’d prefer not to see Peyton again. We all know that regardless of who’s hurt or what the records are these games always go down to the wire.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: Nearly every “pundit” out there picked the Steelers to win this game, and what happened? A Pats blowout. Before this game everyone thought the Pats were flawed and the Steelers were the class of the NFL. But afterwards it was clear that this was a Patriots team that had to be taken very seriously as Super Bowl contenders. It was yet another signature 2010 Pats performance, brutally efficient offense and a turnover driven defense.
2. Miami Dolphins (week four): Some people might be a little surprised to see this game as the number two pick but it was one of the defining games of the season. The Pats had lost to the Jets, and barely gotten past the Bills when they stepped on the field in Miami on Monday Night Football. There was lingering discussion if the Pats still had their second half demons from 2009. That question was answered when Brandon Tate took the second half kickoff back for a TD and the Pats never looked back. It was in this game that we really started to see what a ball hawking defense the Patriots had. It was also a breakout game for my personal boo Patchung! I see this game as the catalyst that really kick started the Patriots 2010 season, and was the foundation of their identity, especially for their young defensive players.
1. New York Jets (you know which one): A 45-3 beatdown of the loudmouths from New York that essentially sealed the division title, gave the inside track for homefield advantage, and exposed the Jets as the flawed team that most of us suspected they were once you got past their bark. No question about it, this was the best game of the season.
Any time you pick a top five anything you should probably disclaim what the criteria is for your selections. So in picking my top five Pats games from this past season my criteria is games, or more specifically wins, that were the best for the T.E.A.M. team.
I tried not to be sentimental, and to pick games that really defined who the Patriots have become as they enter the playoffs with the top seed in the AFC.
So without further ado, we count down the best five games of the 2010 regular season.
5. Baltimore Ravens: This one would’ve probably ranked higher on the list if I were being sentimental. Yes it felt good to squeak it out against the team that humiliated us on our home field in 2009, but at the end of the day this was first win of the season over a team that most people seemed to think was the class of the NFL. Not many picked the Pats to win this one, and they barely did. But this game was the first evidence that this Patriots team had special something, a little magic. It was also one of the only good defensive performances in the early part of the season. The Ravens punted THREE times in overtime.
4. Indianapolis Colts: Maybe this is a slightly sentimental since it seemed pretty apparent that the Patriots were the better team and it shouldn’t have been as close as it was, but Peyton Manning had gone 5-1 against the Pats in the last six meetings and you can’t underestimate the psychological impact on the team of winning the annual Colts-Pats war. I have to say, regardless of the lack of talent around him I’d prefer not to see Peyton again. We all know that regardless of who’s hurt or what the records are these games always go down to the wire.
3. Pittsburgh Steelers: Nearly every “pundit” out there picked the Steelers to win this game, and what happened? A Pats blowout. Before this game everyone thought the Pats were flawed and the Steelers were the class of the NFL. But afterwards it was clear that this was a Patriots team that had to be taken very seriously as Super Bowl contenders. It was yet another signature 2010 Pats performance, brutally efficient offense and a turnover driven defense.
2. Miami Dolphins (week four): Some people might be a little surprised to see this game as the number two pick but it was one of the defining games of the season. The Pats had lost to the Jets, and barely gotten past the Bills when they stepped on the field in Miami on Monday Night Football. There was lingering discussion if the Pats still had their second half demons from 2009. That question was answered when Brandon Tate took the second half kickoff back for a TD and the Pats never looked back. It was in this game that we really started to see what a ball hawking defense the Patriots had. It was also a breakout game for my personal boo Patchung! I see this game as the catalyst that really kick started the Patriots 2010 season, and was the foundation of their identity, especially for their young defensive players.
1. New York Jets (you know which one): A 45-3 beatdown of the loudmouths from New York that essentially sealed the division title, gave the inside track for homefield advantage, and exposed the Jets as the flawed team that most of us suspected they were once you got past their bark. No question about it, this was the best game of the season.
I’m posting this link not because I think it’s a definitive conclusion to the great Brady-Manning debate, but because of the stats laid out showing how Brady has faced the toughest slate of defenses in the NFL this year. Check this:
Seven of Brady’s 14 games this year were played against the six stingiest scoring defenses in football (Co-No. 1s Green Bay and Pittsburgh, No. 3 Chicago, No. 4 Baltimore, No. 5 N.Y. Jets (twice) and No. 6 San Diego).
Brady and the Patriots shredded almost all of them. They scored:
• 31 points against Green Bay Sunday night, the most any team has scored this year against the league’s stingiest defense (15.7 PPG)
• 39 against Pittsburgh, the most any team has ever scored in a regular-season game at Heinz Field
• 33 points in the first half alone against Chicago; the Bears have not surrendered more than 26 total points in any other game this year.
• 45 points in their second meeting against the Jets; the team has otherwise not given up more than 31 points in a game in two years under Rex Ryan.
To be honest I don’t really give a crap about the great Manning – Brady debate, as I’ve said many times before. So is this article moot if Manning and the Colts upset Brady at Foxboro this year? Hoodie forbid, of course.
When both their careers are over and all the Super Bowl trophies, MVPs, and stats are tallied then we can have a legitimate debate about who was the better quarterback. Trying to do so now is like trying to pick a winner while the race is still going on.
In the video below you’ll see Kyle Arrington (#27) putting his hand down and rushing Peyton Manning from the defensive end position. It’s pretty rare to see a cornerback, much less a cornerback on the small side, engaging with linemen in the trenches.
In this play Arrington begins to lineup as if he is going to be covering the slot receiver, but given that he had blitzed on previous plays, Manning points him out as a rusher. Once called out Arrington concedes his intentions and puts his hand down to help him get a quicker burst.
In the previous pass rushes he made he tried to beat the tackle wide, dipping his shoulder and trying to get underneath the block, but this time he fakes outside and cuts inside. The combination of this good move and Tully Banta-Cain’s impressive Freney-esque spin move on the other side forced Manning out of the pocket and to make a poor throw on the move.
This was one of the few third downs that the Pats were able to get off the field. This was an interesting wrinkle that Bill Belichick threw at Peyton Manning this time around, and this is one crucial play where it helped the Patriots get off the field.
There were a lot of eerie similarities between this year’s Patriots Colts match up and previous games of the rivalry. Of course lately we know a lot about blown leads. And this one came very close to being a blown lead.
But finally we also saw something ala 2003, a big defensive play to preserve the win at the last moment. Then it was Willie MacGinest’s goal line stop. This time it was James Sanders, a guy who deserves a big play as much as anyone.
Never celebrated, it was Sanders who was credited with galvanizing the 2009 defensive backfield. He’s a quiet leader. Knows his assignments and does his best to get them done. It was good to see Sanders finally come through with a clutch play, his career lacked a notable big one until he made that interception.
Though the defense gave up a whopping 78% of their third downs, they did pick off Peyton Manning three times. That’s three times more than the Colts defense picked off Tom Brady.
So yes, they looked like swiss cheese but they had less holes than the Colts and made more plays. More big plays. That is a big positive going into the final six games.
But it is still a very big question mark if this Patriots defense can shut down three good quarterbacks en route to a Super Bowl.
The good news is that the Patriots are very much vying with the Jets for the first seed in the AFC. This is a race the Pats must win because whoever finishes in second place in the division will be looking at a five seed, even though they’ll probably have the second best record in the conference.
That’s what makes it interesting when you have two teams in one division both atop the conference. I have no clue how the Jets have won the last three games. Three miracles. They’ll be confident when they come to Foxboro, they’re 5-0 on the road.
The Patriots offense is amorphous and as balanced and potent as we’ve seen. The Randy Moss offense was dynamic, but this offense is so versatile they can play with power or finesse with the same personnel grouping.
However, Brady and company did sputter at the one time you can’t sputter…the fourth quarter. All they really needed was one more decent drive to bleed the clock out and they had two chances to get it. Went three and out on both of them. Consistency is something that will be stressed this week.
Unfortunately there really isn’t much time to savor this one. Thanksgiving kickoff against the Detroit Lions is 85 hours away.
