Patriots Daily

By Dan Zeigarnik, Patriots Daily Staff

After atrocious road losses to the Saint and Dolphins, the Patriots followed them up with a lackluster home win against the lowly Panthers which left fans grasping for answers. This week, the airwaves were filled with angry callers disgusted with Randy Moss’s supposed lack of effort and apocalyptic rhetoric about the end of the dynasty. However, the season is not over and there is still a chance that we can all look back on this mid-season stumble with a hardy laugh.

As Bill Belichick said this week, “It’s a one game season” and ‘this season’ is against the Bills. This Sunday, look for these matchups:

1. Patriots Running Backs vs. Buffalo front 7

In recent weeks, the Patriots have been giving a concerted effort to mount a balanced attack by establishing the run and staying committed to it throughout the game. There are several reasons for this new found affinity towards the running game. 1) The high powered aerial attack of 2007 has had difficulty getting off the ground; mostly as a result of a lack of a consistent 3rd receiver presence. 2) Maroney is healthy once again and is in the midst of his most productive year. He is running over people, finding holes and dancing less, albeit still to much for many fans’ liking. 3) A running game is an integral component in cold weather playoff games and the kinks need to be ironed well in advance to the playoff run. On top of all that, Buffalo ranks 32nd in run defense letting up 170.5 yards per game and a whopping 5.0 yards per carry. Such a glaring weakness will definitely be exploited.

Bills DE Aaron Schobel with one of his 12 career sacks of Tom Brady

2. Vollmer/Light vs. Aaron Schobel

It is well known that Aaron Schobel has more sacks against Brady then any other individual in the NFL. So he will clearly be a marked man, as the offensive line is still trying to reassert itself after the shellacking they received against the Saints three-man rush. Now with Vollmer back, look for the offensive line to protect an ailing Tom Brady.

3. Patriots Linebackers vs. Fred Jackson and Marshawn Lynch

The Bills have a very formidable running back tandem that can break tackles, catch balls in the flat, and with the speed to bust open big plays. This is the Bills greatest strength and the Patriots will look to mitigate possible damage done by these two running backs. Look for Guyton and Banta-Cain to mirror Jackson and Lynch when they come out in the flat.

4. Patriots Corners vs. Buffalo Receivers

There was some significant turnover in the secondary last week with James Sanders and Shawn Springs returning to the starting line-up. It will be interesting to see if the secondary can handle their assignments now that the ‘dumbed-down’ schemes will be in place for the second straight week.

5. Ryan Fitzpatrick vs. Patriots Blitz

Fitzpatrick is a fleet-footed young quarterback who will look to break out of the pocket and scamper for first downs. The Patriots will try to keep Fitzy in the pocket and blitz from the outside in obvious passing situations.

By Dan Zeigarnik, Patriots Daily Staff

This weeks match-up against the Dolphins is a lose-lose situation for the Patriots, but it will still be an exciting game. If the Patriots lose the game, it was just prove what most fans are already thinking; that the Patriots are a good, but not an elite team, that has a hard time winning road games and will not contend for the Super Bowl this year. If the Pats win, it doesn’t prove anything as the 5-6 Miami is without Ronnie Brown and coming of a bad loss to the Bills. However, it will be an exciting game as Miami needs this win to stay in the playoff hunt. They are also at home, a place that is always difficult for the Pats, regardless of the team’s win-loss record.

The Patriots will clearly have a chip on their shoulder as they are coming off one of the worst losses in the last ten years. They were completely helpless against the Saints deadly offensive strikes and were unable to defend Brady against a three-man rush. So as a result, most people will be looking for the Pats to get their mojo back and to fix some of the glaring problems they had last week. Heck, last year Arizona was able to turn it around after the Pats crushed them in the snow late in December. There is no reason to believe the Patriots can’t do as well. Look for these 5 matchups in this AFC East match-up:

1. Patriots Offensive line vs. Miami Rush

Patriots O-line was decimated last week by a simple three-man rush. Tom Brady had no time to throw the ball as the pocket was constantly collapsing around him. Look for the O-line to get their mean streak back and push around the likes of Joey Porter and Jason Taylor.

2. Moss and Welker vs. Miami Secondary

The Saints double teamed both Randy Moss and Wes Welker, which isn’t anything those two hasn’t seen. However, they were clearly flustered and did not have effective games. Look for these two elite receivers to put that game behind them and effectively find the open spaces in the Miami secondary.

3. Ricky Williams vs. Patriots LBs

Despite the loss of Ronnie Brown, the Miami running game still looks very potent. Ricky Williams is having a great season and is the number one threat for Miami. The Patriot linebackers will be marking him all game, forcing the Dolphins to throw the ball.

4. Laurence Maroney vs. Miami LBs

Laurence is playing well and look for him to continue to lower his shoulder at the end of his explosive runs. After three straight games with a fumble, it’s becoming an issue for him. Look for him to take extra care of the rock. As the weather gets colder, he will become a more integral part of the Patriots offense.

5. Ted Ginn Jr. vs. Pats Special Teams

The Patriots were able to stop Ted Ginn Jr. in their previous meeting, but he is still fourth in the league in average return yards (28.8) and is a threat to break one for 6 at any time.

By Dan Zeigarnik, Patriots Daily Staff

This Monday night game featuring the unbeaten Saints versus the dangerous Pats will surely be a barn-burner. Look for the Patriots to try to get the upper hand in these 5 matchups:

1. Bill Belichick vs. Sean Peyton

Bill Belichick is the proven guru. He comes up with ingenious game plans specifically tailored to each opponent, and he has littered the football world with his staff. Sean Peyton is young and still relatively unproven; will he crumble under the pressure of this win streak? Will he be intimidated into making risky calls, or trying to play a “too perfect a game”? Will he be able to handle the building anxiety inside the locker room? It was clear to everyone who was paying attention to the 2007 Patriots that the winning streak was taking its toll, and if it could affect that veteran group, it will surely impact the Saints.  Interestingly, both coaches were assistants under Bill Parcells prior to their jobs.

2. Patriots Receivers vs. Saint Secondary

Wes Welker is putting up Hall of Fame numbers and seems to be completely unstoppable. Randy is doing his gazelle-like thing, forcing opposing defenses to cover him over the top with a safety. These guys make the rest of the skilled position players better. As a result, Julian Edelman, Ben Watson, and Chris Baker roam freely in the secondary. Meanwhile, the Saints secondary is beat up with Jabari Greer, Tracy Porter, and Randall Gay all possibly out for this contest. Even if they play, their effectiveness comes into question. The Patriots offense has to capitalize on this weakness in order to have a successful outing.

3. Laurence Maroney vs. Saints Defensive Line

The Saints are 19th in rushing defense, giving up 115.7 yards per game. This is an incredible amount considering that they are 10-0 and they rack up so many points that opposing teams have to give up on the run and start airing it out. The Patriots have to take advantage of this. This task lies on the shoulders of the much maligned, Laurence Maroney, who is quietly picking up steam; he seems to be ‘dithering’ less and plowing over people at the end of his runs.

4. Patriots Secondary vs. Saints Receivers

As any fantasy footballer knows, the Saints have a very potent offense, but they like to spread the ball around and on any given Sunday any particular receiver can have a big day. With Lance Moore out, the Saints still have Marquis Colston, Robert Meachem, Devery Henderson and Jeremy Shockey. Needless to say, this will be a big game for the Patriots young secondary and hopefully they can avoid any big gaffes on Monday night.

5. Saints Rushing vs. Patriots Linebackers

Apparently blitzing Drew Brees doesn’t really work; He is too smart and as a result the Saints are the least-blitzed team in the league. This coupled with the fact that the Patriots don’t have any elite pass rushers pretty much eliminates that possibility out of the game plan. So the more likely scenario is that Bill Belichick will try to contain the potent Saints rushing attack.

By Dan Zeigarnik, Patriots Daily Staff

Last week’s loss to the Colts was undeniably bad. The Pleasantville-like, happy-go-lucky days that Patriots fans enjoyed for much of this decade are clearly a thing of the past. Spygate, the Giants Super Bowl loss, and now “fourth and two” are inextricably linked with the Belichick era.

However, I believe that negative events deepen fans relationship with their beloved sports franchises. If Patriots fans are to join the pantheon of sports fandom-hood with the Packers and Eagles, they need bad stories along with the good.

None of that though, has anything to do with the Jets game at hand today. Here’s what we’ll be looking at this afternoon:

1) Patriots win-at-all-costs mentality vs. Last week’s ghosts
All the various discussions (and criticisms) about last week’s Indy game are normal amongst sports pundits and fans, but they cannot cloud the Patriots personnel judgment. They need to maintain that cutthroat mentality and never second-guess their commander. As long as they are focused on the Jets and implementing their game plan, they will be OK.

2) Randy Moss vs. Darrelle Revis
Darrelle Revis got the best of Randy Moss in their much-hyped Week 2 matchup. The story goes, as told by those with an endless need for talking points, that Randy can be taken out of games by elite corners that pop him in the mouth and play aggressively. As a result, Randy gets flustered and starts to take more plays off, and he ends up having a bad game. Randy’s performance against the Jets seemed to prove the Mike Felgers of the world correct, but others say that it’s easy to cover Moss aggressively when you have safety help over the top. It will be interesting to see how this matchup plays out now that the Patriots have Wes Welker back to take some of that safety help away from Moss.

3) Mark Sanchez vs. Patriots defensive schemes
Mark Sanchez is young and has been having an up-and-down rookie year. If the Patriots can confuse Sanchez with all of their various defensive formations, they could force the USC standout into some untimely errors.

4) Jets no-huddle offense vs. Patriots Defense
In Week 2, the Jets came out in the second half with a no-huddle offense and it devastated the Patriots, who were ill-prepared to deal with it. Bill Belichick has surely addressed this issue during practice. If the Jets succeed in marching up the field with their no-huddle, it could be a very long day for Patriots fans.

5) Braylon Edwards vs. Patriots Secondary
Braylon Edwards has always been a talented receiver and will surely be a handful for the young Patriots secondary. Look for over-the-top safety help throughout the game as Dean Pees tries to shut down one of the Jets most potent offensive weapons.

By Dan Zeigarnik, Patriots Daily Staff

The annual mid-season throw-down is upon us once again. This game has big implications for postseason home field advantage and first round byes. Patriot fans are excited to see if this year’s Patriots are for real, but are understandably nervous to go up against the hated (and undefeated) Colts. It should be a fun game, as always. Below are the top 5 matchups for this week’s Sunday night game as I see them.

1. Patriot Safeties vs. Dallas Clark

Dallas Clark is a formidable opponent who is in the midst of a career year.  He can lineup as a wide-out or on the line. More importantly, he has a knack for finding defensive soft spots and has soft hands, sort of like a bigger version of Wes Welker. Yikes! Don’t despair, however,as the Patriots shut down Tony Gonzalez with their safeties earlier this season and if they do it again, it will be a glorious night for Patriots fans.

2. Indy’s Wide Receivers vs. Patriots Corners

It looks like the league is figuring out how to exploit the Patriots defensive weaknesses. Quick short passes to the sidelines. This is exactly what Chad Henne and Kyle Orton were able to do and what Joe Flacco and Matt Ryan didn’t try to. The Patriot corners are talented but young, and seem to prefer to give big cushions rather then concede the long ball. Look for our corners to try to manhandle Austin Collie and Pierre Garcon.

3. Patriots Red Zone Offense vs. Colts Defense

The Patriots are playing their best football to date, but have yet to hit on all cylinders. As evidenced by last weeks 4 field goal attempts 3 of which were from the red zone and 1 just 2 yards outside, the Patriots need to get the ball across the end zone. If they can’t, Manning will make them pay dearly.

4. Pats Slot Receivers and Tight Ends vs. Colts Safeties

Bob Sanders is injured, which certainly makes it easier to roam the middle of the field for Pats skilled position players. If Baker, Watson, and Welker are able to exploit Indy’s depleted secondary, it will open up the running game and set up long clock eating drives that will win the field position battle.

5. Colts Running Game vs. Patriot Linebackers

Everyone knows that a big part of Peyton Manning game is the play action pass. It makes the safeties and linebackers step up and leave the secondary exposed. In order for this to be successful, the Colts need to establish a running game. If Guyton and Mayo are able to plug up the A and B gaps then it will free up the safeties to work on Clark and Wayne.

The Patriots are coming off a bye week to face Miami and their vaunted wildcat offense in what should be an exciting game at Gillette Stadium. Look for these 5 matchups in this AFC East matchup:

1. The Wildcat vs. Patriots Defense

For Patriot fans the thought of the wildcat still lingers like a sip of skunk beer or bitter arugula (for the club seat fans). Last year, fans even had the audacity to boo Bruschi, Seymour, Vrabel and Belichick after the wildcat ran all over the Patriots D in week 3 of last season. Really Pats fans, really? The Patriots rebounded in their second meeting with the Dolphins and were largely able to contain the wildcat. However, the Dolphins have a lot more experience with the formation now as they have been running it all year and teams have not really figured out a way to stop it.

2. Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown vs. Patriots LBs

When the Dolphins are not running their wacky but effective formation, they have a very solid running game. Ricky Williams is having a great season considering his 2 year puff-break and is returning to his old dominant self. Look for Guyton and Mayo to plug the gaps and prevent any large runs.

3. Laurence Maroney and BenJarvus Green-Ellis vs. Miami LBs

The Patriots have their own dreaded running back tandem. Unfortunately it’s their hair that’s ‘dreaded’ and not how opponents feel about them. With Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris out it will be interesting to see how Maroney and the Law Firm will play against a team with an actual defense.

4. Ted Ginn Jr. vs. Pats Special Teams

Miami had no business winning last weeks’ game against the Jets. They scored only 9 of their 30 points on offense. Ted Ginn Jr. deserved all the credit for that win with his 2 100-yard kickoff returns. That should have gotten the Pats attention. Look for them Patriots to stop Ted Ginn Jr. in his tracks.

5. Brandon Tate and Sam Aiken vs. Miami Secondary

Sam Aiken had his best Pro day against the maligned Bucs, while Brandon Tate came off the PUP list just days before playing in London. With Edelman out with an arm injury, look for these two receivers to step up.

by Dan Zeigarnik, Patriots Daily Staff
October 16, 2009

In this week’s dangerous and not to be overlooked game, the Patriots welcome a winless Tennessee Titans team. The Titans were 13-3 last year and were supposed to be a playoff contender again. There is a tendency to overlook hapless teams and assume that they have mailed in their whole season as a result of poor starts. There is no point in playing the role of Goliath. That being said, this is more a disclaimer to fans, as the Patriots rarely take wins for granted. If the Patriots get the upper hand in the five matches listed below, it should make for a fourth straight home win.

1) Tom Brady Vs. Himself

It’s clear that Tom is not the same Tom Terrific of old. Last week against the Broncos, it was he who put on a traditional Kyle Orton performance while the Broncos QB looked like the Tom Brady of old. It takes a while to come back from a major injury; just ask Peyton Manning, who after having knee surgery in 2008 started the next season 3-2 and then lost 2 more before winning 9 straight. Also, keep in mind that comebacks are not smooth, and some days Tom will play better then others. He had an awful game against the Jets, but showed signs of improvement in the Falcons game. What is clearly missing from his game is the long ball, and once Tom figures out how to stop overthrowing Randy Moss, the rest of the pieces will fall into place. Until that happens, they will continue to sputter along with good and bad days mixed in together. Hopefully, this is the week that Tom Brady starts to extend the field vertically.

2) Titans Running Backs Vs. Patriots Linebackers

Chris Johnson and LenDale White are very good backs and the Patriots will focus on preventing them from having great games. Despite getting eviscerated by Fred Jackson in Week 1, the Patriots have been playing decent run defense as of late. Fans are glad to see Jerod Mayo come back, and he will surely figure into more defensive schemes in his second week back. If the Patriots are able to prevent the Titans running game from eating up too much yardage, it will be a long day for Tennessee up in Foxboro.

3) Patriots Pass Rush Vs. Titans O-line

Last week against the Broncos, the Patriots couldn’t create a sustainable rush. Kyle Orton’s ability to quickly adjust to defensive schemes and accurately throw the short route didn’t give the Patriots rushers much of a chance. This was disappointing considering how well they accomplished that against Joe Flacco, who was frazzled throughout much of the day. Look for the Patriots to bring in some new wrinkles to disrupt Kerry Collins rhythm.

4) Sebastian Vollmer Vs. Titans Pass Rush

Matt Light was out of practice on Thursday as a result of his knee injury sustained last week. Sebastian Vollmer, a Logan Mankins-like pick in this year’s draft (that Mel Kiper thought was a significant reach), was a fan favorite this preseason. However, as soon as he came in late in the Broncos game, the Patriots ran the ball several times in a row. Does this signal a lack of confidence in Vollmer’s abilities? It will be intriguing to find out this week against the Titans.

5) Alge Crumpler vs. Patriot Safeties

Brandon Meriweather and Brandon McGowan have been playing surprisingly well this year. Look for them to shutdown yet another top-tier tight end.

by Dan Zeigarnik, Patriots Daily Staff
October 10, 2009

The Patriots take their show on the road this week and face their fifth straight undefeated opponent. Here are the top 5 matchups for this week:

1) Belichick vs. McDaniels

This week’s talk radio conversations about this matchup can be summarized by this immortal “I know that you know that I know” scene from the Princess Bride. As everyone knows, Josh McDaniels was the Patriots offensive guru the last couple of years. However, as Bill Belichick always says, the team that executes the plays on the field and makes those split second adjustments will win the game. The Patriots are better coached by the virtue of being under Belichick’s tutelage for years and therefore are in a better position to make those plays once the whistle blows.

2) Pats O-line vs. the Rush

So far Denver’s defense has been surprisingly good, at least on paper. It’s easy to look impressive when your opponents are the awful Browns and Raiders, a disgruntled and sub-par Cowboys team, and a decent Bengals team that should have won. Despite this, Broncos defensive pressing ability should not be overlooked. Elvis Dumervil will continue to grow his impressive sack totals. However, the Patriots are up to the challenge as Tom Brady is one of the best at moving around in the pocket and it seems like he got his mojo back against a great Ravens team.

3) Patriots Receivers vs. Broncos Secondary

Champ Bailey is widely considered the best corner in the league and will be matched up in man coverage against Randy. Moss will be up to the challenge and play decently, but wont burn the Broncos like he was able to do against the Falcons. The game will hinge on how well the other Pats receivers will adjust to Denver’s rush packages. If guys like Welker and Edelman can change their routes in time to get into open space, it will wreak havoc on Denver’s defensive schemes.

4) Kyle Orton vs. the Patriots Rush

Isn’t Kyle Orton the mediocre backup to a pretty unimpressive Rex Grossman? The law of averages suggests that he will inevitably play back down to his appropriate level. It will be the main goal of the Patriots front seven to make sure that happens sooner rather then later.

5) Broncos Running Backs vs. Patriots Linebackers

Denver has always been a run first team and the trend has continued despite the coaching changeover. With Correll Buckhalter out of the game, Knowshon Moreno will get most of the touches. He had an impressive career at Georgia and seems to be a rich-man’s Laurence Maroney, but it will the Patriots LB corps’ job to make him do the all-too-familiar dance for no gains that Maroney loves so much.