Boston Sports Then and Now

Is 2013 the year New England adds another ring to the collection?

April is a great time to be a football fan. The draft is only a week away and now we know who the Patriots get to play (and destroy) and what week it will happen. I am not here to talk about the pre-season schedule although it will be interesting to see the game against the new look Eagles and the powerhouse offense in Detroit in the game where starters usually play through the 3rd quarter.

The regular season is all that matters. That is where you pour blood, sweat and tears into the bucket and work to get into the playoffs. I won’t highlight every game on the schedule, but all the games and times are here. I only want to focus on the big games on the schedule, so here we go!

New England Patriots 2013 Regular Season Schedule

Sunday, Sept. 8 – at Bills (1 p.m.)
Thursday, Sept. 12 – vs. Jets (8:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 22 – vs. Buccaneers (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 29 – at Falcons (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 6 – at Bengals (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 13 – vs. Saints (4:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 20 – at Jets (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Oct. 27 – vs. Dolphins (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 3 – vs. Steelers
Sunday, Nov. 10 – BYE
Monday, Nov. 18 – at Panthers (8:40 p.m.)
Sunday, Nov. 24 – vs. Broncos (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 1 – at Texans (4:25 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 8 – vs. Browns (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 15 – at Dolphins (1 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 22 – at Ravens (8:30 p.m.)
Sunday, Dec. 29 – vs. Bills (1 p.m.)

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(PHOTO: IMGUR)

Has Stevie Johnson seen the city of Buffalo?

Oh yeah, why would the North Koreans waste weapons grade plutonium on that cesspool.

Well, I hope the Patriots go “North Korean” on the Bills this season.

Let’s see if they can stop Tom Brady’s ballistic missiles…DOUBT IT.

On the surface, it is easy for any fan to see just how good or bad of a season their team has had. Whether it be wins and losses or total points put up, some stats tell the story, god or bad, of the year of their favorite team.

What most fans fail to sometimes realize, however, is all the stats that go into making an NFL team successful. Here are a bunch you would never even think to remotely consider about the 2012 season of the New England Patriots.

You name it. If it can be statistically tracked in the NFL, it’s probably in this post.

0 – The number of wins the team had when their leading rusher was under 40 yards for the game (0-2).

0 – The Patriots had no two-point conversions on the year. Just kind of odd.

0.5 – Brandon Bolden averaged half a yard more per carry than Stevan Ridley did.

1 – The number of franchises to score 500 points four different times. New England accomplished that this year after 500-point seasons in 2007, 2010 and 2011 as well.

1 – The New England offense ranked first in the NFL in total yards, yards per game, points and points per game in 2012.

1 – Of the four members of the team who finished the year as the starting secondary, only one (Devin McCourty) was on the team last year. Alfonzo Dennard, Aqib Talib, Steve Gregory were the other three.

1 – Vince Wilfork‘s four forced fumbles were tied for first in the NFL.

1 – The number of full games that tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski were both on the field for the whole contest – the season finale against the Dolphins.

1 – The number of NFL quarterbacks to throw at least one touchdown pass in all 16 regular season games for three straight seasons – Tom Brady in 2010-12.

2 – The number of teams to ever win 10-plus games in 10 consecutive seasons – the Patriots became the second to accomplish that this year.

2 – Their two-game losing streak in Weeks 2 and 3 was tied for their longest losing streak since they lost four straight in the 2002 season.

2 – This season was the second time they have gone undefeated against the AFC East, joining the 2007 team.

2 – The number of teams to ever record 400 first downs in a season – the 2012 Pats and the 2011 Saints.

2 – The number of points that Stephen Gostkowski needed to tie the all-time single-season Patriots scoring record set by Gino Cappelletti in 1964.

3 – Pass plays in the NFL this season longer than Shane Vereen‘s 83-yard reception in Week 12.

3 – It had been three years since the Patriots lost four or more games in a season (10-6 in 2009).

3 – The Pats have scored 500-plus points in three consecutive seasons.

The Patriots’ offense has been nearly unstoppable in the three years since drafting this duo.

4 – New England had four different players lead the team in receiving in their 16 games – Brandon Lloyd (3), Wes Welker (9), Gronkowski (3) and Vereen (1).

4 – It was Brady’s fourth career season of throwing 30 or more touchdown passes, good for a tie for the fourth-most all-time.

4 – Welker finished four receptions behind league-leader Calvin Johnson, who had 122 on the year.

4 – The Patriots have made the playoffs in each of the last four seasons.

4 – The team had four different players lead them in rushing in their 16 games – Ridley (13), Bolden (1), Julian Edelman (1) and Danny Woodhead (1).

5 – There have only been five Patriots running backs to rush for 1,200 yards in the team’s history. Ridley became the fifth this year.

5 – Wilfork was elected to the fifth Pro Bowl of his career and will start on the defensive line for the AFC.

5 – The team has held its opponents to 20 points or less in five of six games since Nov. 18 (5-1).

6 – In 16 games, the Patriots only lost six fumbles.

6 – The Pats finished six spots higher in total defense this year compared to last season when they finished 31st in the league.

6 – New England has been a top-10 offense in the NFL for six straight seasons.

7 – The amount of consecutive games that Brady needs to throw a touchdown pass in to break the all-time record of 54.

7 – New England’s longest winning streak of the year from Week 7 through Week 14.

7 – The number of points that Brady’s total QBR trailed Peyton Manning‘s for tops in the league.

7 – McCourty was one of seven NFL players to return a kickoff more than 100 yards on the year.

7 – The team sent seven members to the Pro Bowl in 2012.

New England’s seven Pro Bowlers in 2012 are the third-most in the league.

7 – Last year’s NFL leader in interceptions, Kyle Arrington, had seven fewer interceptions in 2012 than a year ago. He had seven in 2011.

8 – The number of years it had been since the team had a 1,200-yard rusher before this year. Corey Dillon rushed for 1,635 yards in 2004.

8 – Rob Ninkovich led the team with eight sacks on the year.

8 – The Pats had eight return TD’s on the season.

9 – The number of games in which the starting offensive line of Nate Solder, Sebastian Vollmer, Ryan Wendell, Dan Connolly and Logan Mankins were all on the field together.

9 – Brady now ranks ninth on the NFL’s all-time passing list with 44,806 yards. He needs 1,427 yards to pass Vinny Testaverde.

9 – Ridley finished the season as one of just nine non-kickers in the top-40 in the league in scoring.

9 – The team has a nine-game division win streak heading into next season.

10 – The number of consecutive 10-win seasons for the Patriots – the second longest such streak ever (16).

10 – The team scored 30-plus points 10 times in their 16 games in 2012 (8-2).

10 – The number of players who had a rushing attempt for the Pats in 2012 led by Ridley’s 290 carries.

10 – New England had 10 more sacks than it allowed in 2012.

11 – They also had 11 more interceptions than their opponents did.

11 – The combined number of points New England fell by in its four losses against the Cardinals (2), Ravens (1), Seahawks (1) and 49ers (7).

11 – The number of current and former Pro Bowl running backs that Ridley out-rushed in 2012.

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With the regular season coming to its annual close and the Patriots enjoying yet another successful year, it’s time to give out some hardware. Well, not real hardware. But fictional, invisible hardware based on the performances of some of the members of this year’s team.

Players in all phases of the game stepped up this season and made it one worth remembering. It is time to reward the improvements that the team made following their heartbreaking Super Bowl loss nearly 11 months ago.

Special Teams Player of the Year: My first award goes to special teams captain and two-time Pro Bowler Matthew Slater. In 16 games this season, Slater has continued his role as gunner on the punt team as well as seeing a bit of action in the kick return game. A member of all four special teams units, he made 19 tackles while playing in every game for the second straight season. His biggest game of the year came in the loss to Seattle in which he made three special teams tackles on the afternoon. He had the third-highest tackles of any non-regular Patriots defender.

Matthew Slater (18) quietly had another successful year on special teams for the Patriots.

Walter Payton (Patriots) Man of the Year: This award annually rewards the player that best exemplifies the importance of not only being a good player on the field, but a better person off of it. Almost every week since he has arrived in New England in 2010, punter Zoltan Mesko has been spotted doing various projects around the community or just visiting children who might need their days brightened. He has taken the ‘Community Tuesday’ concept to a new level while continuing to be one of the best punters in the league for the third straight season. Some of his efforts over the past year have included visits to Children’s Hospital Boston, an appearance at a youth triathlon and some quality time spent with Hungarian fans.

Zoltan Mesko has gone above and beyond to give back to the community during his time with the Patriots.

Comeback Player of the Year: We all remember the ankle injury suffered by tight end Rob Gronkowski in last year’s AFC Championship game win over the Ravens. He wasn’t the same in the Super Bowl, but after offseason surgery and a rigorous rehab routine, Gronk returned for 2012 and looked like he never went down. The huge tight end caught 55 passes for 790 yards and 11 touchdowns while only playing in 11 games this season because of a broken forearm. He was elected as the AFC’s starting tight end in his second straight Pro Bowl and showed no signs of having ever sustained the injury. In his second return of the season, Gronk caught two passes for 42 yards and a touchdown in the 28-0 win over the Dolphins.

Rob Gronkowski came back after this injury slowed him down in last year’s playoffs only to get hurt again this year, but he still put up huge numbers.

Unsung Hero: Balance on offense is something that every professional football team strives to achieve. With all the passing weapons that this team has, it certainly would have been easy, as it had been it recent years, to only throw the ball and abandon the run. Stevan Ridley made sure that would not happen, however, as he had an incredibly strong sophomore season, leading the team in rush yards with 1,263 and finishing seventh in the league. In his rookie season, he showed signs, but really took his game to the next level this year and the balance that was brought back to the Patriots’ play calling did wonders for them both on the scoreboard and in the win column. Ridley definitely performed above most of the expectations set for him entering the 2012 season. His 12 total touchdowns, including two on Sunday were tied for third in the league.

Stevan Ridley found the endzone 12 timee this season, helping the Patriots return to the playoffs.

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Little big man: Danny Woodhead often leaves some opposing defenders with this look as they try to figure out how a person his size got by them.

When the Patriots need a spark on offense, which believe it or not, they sometimes do, the team often finds themselves turning to the little man with the big heart, Danny Woodhead. The 5-foot-8-inch running back from the slightly undersized town of North Platte, Neb., has given the No. 1 offense in the league in 2012 yet another weapon that opposing defenses need to prepare for.

Though there aren’t many backfields around the league that Danny would head, he got his chance with the Patriots in 2010 after being let go by the Jets and hasn’t disappointed in his time in Foxboro. While playing behind starting backs BenJarvus Green-Ellis and now Stevan Ridley, Woodhead has been used mostly on 3rd down and in the no-huddle offense. Fortunately for him, the no-huddle is something that the Pats run on almost every series and something that his incredible quickness is perfect for.

Particularly in the last two weeks against the 49ers and Jaguars, the play of Woodhead has been crucial for New England. Though they couldn’t quite get the W against San Francisco, Woodhead helped to get them back into the game for sure. His 12 carries for 61 yards and two touchdowns allowed them to have a fighting chance and climb out of the 28-point hole in the 2nd half. He also added five catches for 23 yards, showcasing his versatility on the national Sunday  Night stage and accumulating his highest rushing output of the year to date.

And last week? With the offense struggling again, Tom Brady found Woodhead on a 17-yard pass just before the half to tie the score at 13. Before that, it had been all Jacksonville and after that, the Patriots gained control for the most part. No. 39 finished with three carries for seven yards to go along with two receptions for 38 yards and the one big touchdown. The little man’s getting bigger as the calendar’s getting thinner.

I don’t think his touchdown catch and presence on the final drive of the 1st half should be overlooked at all. Though it likely won’t, the touchdown has the potential to be a season-changing one. It could end up being the difference between a No. 3 seed and no 1st round bye and a No. 1 seed and home field advantage if the Broncos and Texans both somehow lose this weekend. We shall have to wait and see.

While his contributions in the last two weeks have certainly caught the eye of at least one Patriots fan, he has been an offensive presence for the team all season long. In fact, only once this year has he played in a game and not touched the ball – the Week 10 59-24 blowout win over Indianapolis. To be honest, does it look they really needed him that day?

Woodhead continues to get better now in his fourth year in the league out of Division II Chadron St (Chadron, Neb.). Four of his ten career rushing touchdowns have come this season and so have three out of his four career receiving touchdowns. His only two career multi-touchdown games have come this season in Weeks 10 and 15 against the Bills and 49ers.

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2008: The last time the Patriots didn’t win the AFC East was due in large part to their franchise quarterback tearing his ACL on Opening Day.

It’s not how many games you win. It’s when you win them.

While championships are the ultimate goal, they can, and usually are, achieved without perfection. The NFL is the only American sports league in which teams actually have a somewhat legitimate chance to go through an entire season without losing. Losses may be good though.

With that being said, the Patriots can clinch their fourth straight AFC East Title with a win over the 5-6 Dolphins in Miami on Sunday. An undefeated division record has the Pats on top like usual with five games left in the season, three games ahead of the second-place Dolphins with the Jets and Bills pretty much out of contention.

No other team has won the AFC East since Miami in 2008, the year Tom Brady was out of commission, as the Patriots have dominated the division since the turn of the century. New England has won the division nine of the last 11 years including their championship seasons of 2001, 2003 and 2004.

The Jets snuck in with a title following the Patriots’ first Super Bowl title in 2002, but have come up empty every year since. Even the Colts have been AFC East champs more recently than the disappointing Bills, who last won the division in 1995. The Colts captured the title in ’99 before moving to the AFC South.

Recently, however, the AFC East division crown has not spelled out a championship season for the Pats. It’s hard for us Patriots fans to believe, because we are so used to it, but the Patriots haven’t won a Super Bowl in eight years.

They have won three straight division titles though, but have no championships and only one Super Bowl appearance to show for them. Even when they went a perfect 16-0 and won the division in 2007, they lost in the Super Bowl.

They also set an NFL record for the most points scored in a season that year with 589. Through 11 contests this year, they have put up 407 points and are on pace to break the record from five seasons ago. Buffalo is the closest division rival to them in that department, coming into Week 13 with 243 points scored.

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