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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It’s time to clean out the house, time to shuffle the faces and time for the 2012 New England Patriots to start looking toward 2013 after they failed to show up in the second half of their embarrassing defeat at the hands of the Ravens in Sunday’s AFC Championship game.

As is the case every year, the team has a host of free agents that they need to make decisions on. Eighteen of their 20 free agents heading into the offseason are unrestricted and if the team doesn’t do anything to lock them up, they could be gone like that.

If the front office is having any trouble, they can just ask me. I’d be glad to help. Here’s my first offseason addition of will they or won’t they. (Hint: Both Wes Welker and Aqib Talib need to be back).

A veteran in the secondary would be good to have, but I don’t see Will Allen making a comeback for the Pats in 2013.

Will Allen: The former first-round pick has had a decent career and certainly could have been able to help in the Patriots secondary this season, but he has played in just 21 games since 2009, missing entire campaigns in both 2010 and 2012. Of course, as he was drafted almost 12 years ago now, age is going to be a question. Would he be able to keep up with the fast and physical tight ends around the league like, oh, I don’t know, Dennis Pitta for instance as a 34-year-old coming off of whatever injury he had. I’m just not sure it would work out like that. I’d cut Allen loose.

Kyle Arrington: Assuming the team does bring Talib back for his first full season, Arrington’s role would be that of a third corner in nickel situations or when injuries occur, like in Sunday’s game when Talib went down. In that game, particularly in the second half, Joe Flacco was pretty much throwing the ball at will with Arrington and Marquice Cole in the secondary. In 2011, Arrington led the league with seven interceptions. In 2012, however, he had zero. If he is okay with his role as a third corner, then I wouldn’t hate to see him brought back in 2013, but for less than the $1.85M he made this year.

Josh Barrett: In the five years since getting drafted out of Arizona St., Barrett has barely touched the turf during the regular season. Though he has shown signs of strong play and intelligence, his consistent ability to get injured has done neither him nor the team any good. Though he should be ready for the 2013 season after a calf injury has held him out for more than a year, he just might be playing it with another team. I’d let this one go too.

Deion Branch: Branch only returned to the team in 2012 following the injury to Aaron Hernandez in Week 1 of the season. He was cut by the team in the preseason. At 33 years old, he isn’t getting any younger. While Tom Brady still trusts him as much as anyone else, Branch had just 29 targets on the season, an indication that even if the team may want him back, he might not be willing. I predict that one way or another, Branch will not be a Patriot for the 2013 regular season. That is, until someone gets hurt.

Patrick Chung: Chung’s play and presence on the field has declined in each of the last two seasons, culminating with him losing his starting safety job to Steve Gregory in 2012 and seeing most of his playing time come on special teams. With both Gregory and Devin McCourty expected back next season, Chung may be the odd man out at safety. He could always be used as a backup and a spot defender, but I think it’s fairly safe to say that he could be a starting safety on a lot of other teams in the league. I wouldn’t be shocked if Chung has played his last game as a Patriot.

Marquice Cole: Aside from being a pretty decent gunner, Cole doesn’t bring much to the table in terms of secondary play. Only used as a defensive back when there were six or seven of them on the field or, like Arrington, when there were injuries, Cole is the kind of player who makes his money on special teams. His speed, particularly utilized at the gunner position, can also be helpful on the coverage teams. If he wants to come back, I’d have no problem seeing No. 23 in blue again next season.

Julian Edelman has been solid, but unfortunately may have played his last game in a Patriots uniform.

Julian Edelman: When Edelman went down with a broken leg on Dec. 2 against the Dolphins, there was talk about that potentially being his last game as a member of the Patriots. Assuming the team does decide to re-sign Welker, Edelman may not be needed or wanted. His real value to the team is in the punt return game and not as a play-making wide receiver. If Welker is lost, which I don’t see happening, then Edelman would appear more likely to return to the team in 2013. I guess it kind of depends on what happens with Wes, but it is very possible that Edelman does not return to the team next season.

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Patriots fans were deeply saddened by the news that former linebacker Junior Seau took his own life last May. Speculations swirled whether the suicide was caused by the countless blows to the head Seau endured during his 20 year career with the Patriots, Dolphins & hometown San Diego Chargers.

ESPN has just reported that Junior Seau did indeed suffer from neurodegenerative disease due to concussions.

Seau’s ex-wife, Gina, and his oldest son Tyler, 23, told ABC News and ESPN in an exclusive interview they were informed last week that Seau’s brain had tested positive for Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a neurodegenerative disease that can lead to dementia, memory loss and depression.

 ”I think it’s important for everyone to know that Junior did indeed suffer from CTE,” Gina Seau said. “It’s important that we take steps to help these players. We certainly don’t want to see anything like this happen again to any of our athletes.”

She said the family was told that Seau’s disease resulted from “a lot of head-to-head collisions over the course of 20 years of playing in the NFL. And that it gradually, you know, developed the deterioration of his brain and his ability to think logically.”

Just another sad development to this HORRIFICALLY sad tragedy.

Another NFL player dies tragically due to the physical bludgeoning of his brain playing the game he loves.

Junior died because he played with reckless abandone in a game of organized CHAOS & VIOLENCE. Hopefully the NFL will learn from this (and countless other tragedies) and develop better technology to protect their “employees”. Or perhaps change the game all together.

We will miss you “Buddy”…..

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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Three weeks ago it seemed improbable that the Patriots would get a 1st round bye, but thanks to the Indianapolis Colts beating the Houston Texans on Sunday, and the patriots winning, they get to kick back and relax next week. Shortly after the Colts defeated the Texans, the Patriots started their rout of the Miami Dolphins.

The Patriots did everything they were supposed to do and beat the Dolphins 28-0. The offense did its job. The Defensive did its job. To put it clearly it was a solid win.

Here are 3 keys from the game:

1.)    The Patriots Running Game Showed up. It seems like it’s been awhile since the Patriots had a game in which the Running Backs were dominant against an opponent. In total the Patriots rushed for a total of 167 yards, as Stevan Ridley led the way with 74 yards on 20 carries, and had two touchdowns. Shane Vereen who hasn’t made much of an impact lately came up big, rushing for 38 yards, and Brandon Bolden also contributed 26 yards, 24 of which came on a single rush attempt. Although it was nice to see the Patriots running game again, it’s important to note this was only against the Dolphins, and they put up similar numbers against them just 3 weeks ago.

2.)    The Patriots Defense Had its Best Performance of the Year. For the first time all season, the Patriots threw a shutout. Prior to not allowing Miami to score all game, the least amount of points given up by the Patriots was 7 against the St. Louis Rams in London in week 8.  When the Patriots played in Miami earlier this month, they defense gave up 16 points, and although Dolphins Quarterback, Ryan Tannehill, had more yards on Sunday than he did in week 13 against the Patriots, he wasn’t able to find the end zone.

The Patriots defense was also able to get the Dolphins Quarterback fairly easily as they sacked Tannehill 7 times for a total loss of 26 yards. Defensive End, Justin Francis, had 3 sacks of his own. In 9 prior games Francis played in this season, he hadn’t recorded a single sack. The Patriots weren’t just stopping the air game but also the run game. The defense only allowed 20 yards rushing in the first 3 quarters of the game, and in total only ended up giving 47 yards on the ground.

3.)    Not Turning the Ball over always Works out Well. It looked as though the Dolphins would get on the scoreboard after what appeared to be a Wes Welker fumble and Dolphins recovery which was run back into the end zone. After the official reviewed the play it was called an incomplete pass by the Brady. That was the closest the Patriots came to turning the ball over all game. On the other side of the ball, the Patriots had 2 takeaways, one was a Steve Gregory interception of Tannehill, and the second was a fumble recovery by Dont’a Hightower at the Patriots 1 yard line as Miami was trying to punch in a touchdown. The Patriots now finish the season with the best turnover differential in the NFL with +20. When they lost to the 49ers a few weeks ago, the Patriots gave up 2 more turnovers than the 9ers, and lost by 1 score. Whenever you can force more turnovers than give up, you are always in better shape, and if the Patriots can keep generating their opponents turnovers in the playoffs, winning should come easy.

The Patriots first playoff game is scheduled for Sunday January 13^th at 4:30pm at home and they will either be playing the Texans, Ravens, or Colts, depending on what happens next week on Wild Card weekend. By earning the coveted first round bye, the Patriots road to the Super Bowl has just gotten a bit easier.

Gronk Should Play In The Season Finale.

Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski is on the cusp of returning from a broken forearm that he suffered against the Colts. He has been out of action for almost 6 weeks and is listed as questionable for the season finale versus the Dolphins. Most seasons a game on the last weekend was meaningless, but not this year.

Gronk needs to play and here are FIVE reasons why he should:

1. There is SOMETHING on the line. With a Texans loss versus the Colts or however unlikely a Broncos loss against Kansas City, New England would get a FIRST ROUND BYE with a victory.
2. Gronk needs to get in game shape. He has not played a snap in six weeks and any primer for the playoffs could be nothing but beneficial.
3. The Patriots offense needs to get their GROOVE back. New England’s offense has only been dominant only twice since his injury when they put up 42 on Houston and had a night of divine intervention with 49 points versus the lowly Jets. Since then they put up 23 versus both AFC Florida based teams and 31 against a Niners team playing prevent defense in the second half.
4. Get the dynamic tight end duo back on the field together. Aaron Hernandez and Gronk are like the NFL’s version of Clark Kent and Superman, they seem to NEVER be at the same place at the same time. This game will give offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels the opportunity to tweak and tinker with his game plan before the post-season.
5. Damn this kid is just a spark plug. NO ONE has more fun and brings more ENERGY to the football field than GRONK.

So Bill UNLEASH Rob Gronkowski tomorrow and play to WIN.

You know he will be all HOPPED up on Gronk Flakes and energy drinks!