Boston Sports Then and Now

Boston Celtics Step It Up

The Boston Celtics won their sixth straight game Monday night at the Garden against the Charlotte Bobcats by a score of 100-89. This notched the Celtics’ sixth straight win and brought them to a 20-17 overall record.

If you think they have played easy teams during their win streak like the Bobcats who just came off an 18 game losing streak and a struggling Suns team that has a record of 12-25 well guess again. To start this streak they topped the Central Division leading Pacers, a solid Hawks team with a 21-16 record, the streaking Knicks who have been hot all season and sit atop the Atlantic Division, and the Rockets who are first in the league in scoring at 105.4 points per game and are led by one of the top scorers in James Harden.

The C’s have not  looked this good all season. What has changed? Two things: defense and players stepping up and contributing.

The defense has held strong for the Celtics and it has been a big reason for their success the past six games. To start the season they gave up 100 or more points in 13 of their first 30 games including six games just in December. In the past six games they have yet to give up 100 points and have held their opponents to under 85 points on three different occasions. The saying defense wins games holds true for the Celtics. They have plenty of talent on the team to score. If they play defense and stop other teams they will win more games.

The other piece to the puzzle for the success the C’s have had lately is players stepping up on the team. When someone has an off night somebody else has stepped up and filled that void. The Celtics have a lot of talented stars on the team and any one of them can score and play at a high level. They can’t just rely on the Big Three to score a lot and carry the team every game. Players have been stepping up and contributing both on the offensive side and defensive side.

Avery Bradley has been a big asset to the defense harassing opposing guards and causing turnovers. In Monday nights game Kevin Garnett played well and had 10 rebounds, but it was an off night for him scoring wise as he only had seven points. Jason Terry did not score at all last night coming off the bench, but because other guys filled that void in scoring and the team was able to be successful. Avery Bradley had 16 points including four big threes. Rondo led the team with a triple double, Jeff Green chipped in 11 points off the bench and Jared Sullinger contributed 8 points and 5 rebounds off the bench. Courtney Lee also scored 9 points and hit a big three in the fourth quarter to help the Celtics seal the deal.

Against the Phoenix Suns Paul Pierce only scored 7 points and Rondo had 8 points. Jared Sullinger however had a career night off the bench with 12 points and 16 rebounds. Jeff Green led all Celtics in scoring with 14 off the bench and Jason Terry added 13.

This just shows that the Celtics are very versatile and if one or two players have an off game in one particular area then there are several other players that can pick up the slack, and they have successfully done that and that is a big reason why the Celtics are winning lately.

J.J. Watt is one bad man

Stemming from my preview yesterday, BST&N will now take a look at how Tom Brady and his squadron will fair against the dangerous Texan defense. Five weeks ago, J.J. Watt failed to record a sack on Tom Brady in the 42-14 blowout. Although he forced three QB hits and a fumble on Danny Woodhead, the Patriots limited the success of the perennial DPOY in a variety of ways. From running Hernandez out of the backfield to attacking the secondary deep, McDaniels kept Wade Phillips and the Texan defense on their heals in Week 14. Let’s take a deeper dive into the Divisional Round Matchup.

What stood out to me in Week 14 was the active play of safety Glover Quin. Starting all 16 games of 2012, Quin logged 84 tackles and 2 INT. Phillips utilized Quin in the blitz often and he recorded a big TFL on a third down before the game got out of hand. Glover also knocked down one pass on Monday Night Football to go alongside his 7 tackles. While he did get torched on deep balls to Lloyd and Stallworth, you can bet your mortgage that the Texan secondary will keep receivers in front of them on Sunday. Keep in mind, CB Jonathan Joseph just returned to the field against the Patriots in the regular season. He has since brushed off the rust and picked off Andy Dalton last week.

Brady put on a clinic in Week 14, posting the following line:

21/35 – 296 YDS – 4 TD – 0 INT – 125.4 Passer Rating

Bringing back Gronkowski will shift the focus for Texan safeties and linebackers, creating more opportunities for Danny Woodhead and Shane Vereen to cause problems in the pass game. The Patriots ran multiple stretch play actions in Week 14, opening up the middle of the field and causing confusion. New England is known for their intricate screen game, expect a heavy dosage of these cute plays away from J.J. Swatt. His 20.5 sacks and 16 pass deflections are not a fluke, he is a force to be reckoned with for years to come.

New England rushed the ball 30 times for 133 yards in Week 14. Ridley pounded the rock three times in a row on their first possession in hopes of softening the defense. With ball security issues haunting him all year, protecting the pigskin is priority number one on Sunday. That goes for TB12 as well, we all remember how Baltimore stormed into Gillette – scored on their first drive and then stripped Brady on the following possession. If Hernandez does not recover Ridley’s fumble the outcome of this game could have been drastically different.

Read the rest of this entry →

The Patriots’ secondary has struggled this year, giving up 30 points or more twice.

We saw it last year. Defense wins championships. Lack of defense lets championships slip away.

It’s become quite the cliché throughout the history of sports, but there aren’t many of them that are more true. In almost any sport – particularly football – teams need to be sound on both sides of the ball, but it always seems that one with a respectable defense is the one still standing when the other 31 are not.

With a chance to win their first Super Bowl in seven seasons last February, the Patriots found out first-hand just how hard that is without at least a decent defense. Though their offense was, and still continues to be prolific, they could not pull the game out with the defense they were forced to put on the field.

Some of that was, of course, due to injuries, but that’s no excuse. Everyone has injuries – and they’ll be the first ones to tell you that. When it comes down to it and there’s one chance to capture a championship, it’s all hands on deck. And the Patriots don’t seem to have a good enough set of 22 hands on the defensive side of the ball to make every tackle, break up every pass or occasionally bring the quarterback down.

With players like Sergio Brown, James Ihedigbo and Tracy White included in last year’s Super Bowl lineup on D, is it really any surprise that the Patriots lost the game? I mean, Gisele Bundchen may have said it best: her husband can’t do it all.

Fast forward to 2012 and so far, it’s really been a lot of the same. Last year’s Patriots defense finished 31st out of 32 teams in total defense, giving up an atrocious 411.1 yards per game to their opponents. They finished ninth in the league against the run (96.8 ypg), but 31st against the pass (293.9 ypg).

Read the rest of this entry →

It has been an unconventional start to the 2012 NFL season to say the least. The 5-3 Patriots find themselves as the conference’s three seed and if the season ended today the Patriots would be hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers:

After dismantling the Rams (45-7) in the United Kingdom, the Patriots had a much-needed bye in week nine. New England gained ground on the Dolphins and Bills after both suffered losses to the Colts and Texans respectively. Half way through the year, the Patriots are still atop the AFC East despite their inability to finish games. Let’s analyze all three phases and grade New England’s performance to date:

Offense: A-

The Patriots lead the NFL in PPG (32.8) and YPG (440.8) as an offensive unit. Rounding out the top five in passing and rushing, New England averages 291.1 (5^th) and 149.6 (4^th) YPG respectively. Tom Brady has thrown 16 TD and 3 INT through 8 games, putting him on pace for 32 TD and 6 INT in his 2012 campaign. 291.1 YPG also puts TB12 on track for another 4,500-yard season and should not be downplayed. While Gronkowski has hauled in a team high 7 TD, Welker leads the way with 60 receptions and 736 yards. Giving Hernandez an additional week to rest should help solidify his health and prominent role down the stretch, when the Patriots need him most.

Stevan Ridley has gained 716 yards on 150 carries, netting him 5 TD, 89.5 YPG, 4.8 YPC and the 7^th best slot in rushing. These statistics would translate into a 1,432 yard season with 10 TD. Excluding BenJarvis Green-Ellis’ 1,008 yards in 2010, the Patriots have not had a running back crack the elusive milestone since Corey Dillon gained 1,635 yards in 2004. Is it a coincidence that New England won their last Super Bowl that year?

Read the rest of this entry →

Third year safety Patrick Chung will take on a leadership role as the signal caller in the secondary

After two weeks of NFL action and two hard fought victories, we can begin to evaluate the true strengths and weaknesses of the Super Bowl hopeful Patriots.  While it remains clear that the offense is clicking on all cylinders, some have been quick to criticize the team’s defensive play, particularly, the play of the secondary.

When looking at the defensive backs that make up the 2011 Patriots secondary, you’re not going to see All-Pro caliber players that were large contributors to championship winning defensives such as Ty Law, Asante Samuel, and Rodney Harrison.  Rather than the veterans that once made up the Patriots secondary, this year’s unit is led by a younger generation, featuring second year cornerback, Devin McCourty, who was recently named a team captain, and third year safety, Patrick Chung.

With the secondary being so young and unexperienced, it came as a surprise to many when the team opted to cut Pro-Bowl safety, Brandon Meriweather, along with another experienced safety in James Sanders, prior to the start of the regular season.  As Meriweather and Sanders are no longer on the roster, newer faces such as Sergio Brown and Josh Barrett have been forced into action.  Despite a stiff learning curve, Brown and Barrett have held their own thus far.  Brown was a standout in the team’s most recent game against the Chargers as he blanketed All-Pro tight end, Antonio Gates, and managed to intercept a Philip Rivers pass at a crucial moment in the second half of the game.

Along with the new wave of safeties in the Patriots secondary, comes a motley crew of cornerbacks that represent some uncertainty in the eyes of many.  To go along with the aforementioned McCourty, the Pats have used a rotation at the position.  This rotation has featured rookie second round pick, Ras-I Dowling, veteran Leigh Bodden, who spent the entire 2010 season on injured reserve, and the undrafted second year player, Kyle Arrington.  While the defensive backs have helped the team come out on top in the first two games, it is essential that they become more cohesive as unit as the season progresses.  The group of cornerbacks noticeably experienced a rough patch against San Diego as Chargers wide receiver, Vincent Jackson, was able to get open and catch passes downfield at will.  Along with Jackson’s manhandeling of the Patriots secondary, we also saw multiple costly holding penalties charged to Leigh Bodden, as well as injuries to Dowling and Chung.

Luckily for the Patriots, the secondary and defense as a whole have offered just enough support to help boost the team to a 2-0 record to start the season.  It is fair enough to expect some growing pains with this young group of defensive backs early on.  It is important, however, that players such as McCourty and Chung put the secondary on their back and provide the necessary leadership both vocally and through their play.  On a positive note, the talent is there.  This is a good sign as we’ve seen what head coach, Bill Belichick, can do to develop young talent on the defensive side of the ball.  As long as no serious injuries occur, which the team can ill afford, this year’s defensive backs should prove to a reputable bunch that have the ability to contribute to the Patriots success throughout the season.

Lowrie's Defensive Versatility Is a Big Part Of His Value

Jed Lowrie entered the 2011 season coming off a tremendous second half of 2010.  While he was not able to stay healthy for all of 2010 (started the year with mononucleosis and lost all of 2009 to a wrist injury), once healthy he remained that way and was able to get on base as well as hit for power.

The Red Sox obviously saw the value Lowrie can bring, but the part they valued most was his defensive versatility.  Going into the 2011 season, they viewed him as the perfect utility infielder, being able to handle all of the infield positions and give the starters rest while playing 3-4 days a week.

Lowrie has already proven that he can handle the utility man role.  He has already started 7 games at shortstop (9 appearances total), 2 starts at third base (3 total), which also seeing limited action at first base and second base.  While the sample size is not big enough to make too many conclusions, based on the data we have Lowrie is at least average defensively at all four of those infield positions.  Now if we could only teach Lowrie to catch we would be all set.

Already it is looking like Jed will play a much larger role than that.  He has already begun to steal starts at SS and at-bats away from Marco Scutaro, and his offense has picked up right where it left off in 2010.

Read the rest of this entry →