This does a good job of breaking down the two teams. http://www.arrowheadpride.com/2016/...s-new-england-patriots-better-worse-2014-game
Ive been looking at the forecast all week Its gonna rain and the footballs will be properly inflated is this also an advantage Chiefs ?? Seems we struggled in those two really wet games we played in , I was at the San Diego game and it wasnt pretty Do U guys feel we have any advantage since they made a point of Brady not liking his balls fully loaded ?
Would love to see the Seahawks, Steelers, and Pats lose.
Edelman graded out at the 3rd highest slot receiver this year behind Baldwin and Fitzgerald. However, Edelman had significantly more yards after the catch than Fitz (5.2 vs 4.3) and Fitz' performance went down in the last 5 games. Baldwin came out of nowhere while Edelman has been doing this for years. He pretty much single-handedly won the Pats the last Super Bowl because Seattle's Legion of Boom couldn't cover him. Before the start of the year, nfl.com had Cobb and E.Sanders ahead of Edelman in their slot rankings. Edelman smoked Cobb (who couldn't get separation from defenders) this year and was better than Sanders as well. He is consistently in the top 3 year after year regardless of who's on the outside for NE so he is the best slot receiver in the NFL. If Baldwin can continue his dominance through the postseason and almost single-handedly win the Seahawks the Super Bowl and continue this high level into Fall 2016, I'll reconsider. Really the only thing Edelman didn't consistently do was run block at a high level and he had a bunch of drops (most likely due to his crooked finger after the Indy game) or he'd definitely be ahead of Fitz. I expect Edelman to dominate Peters in nickel, and would be surprised if Parker can even contain Amendola in the slot in base formations.I don't think Edelman is the best slot corner in the league. I think he is the best receiver the Pats have for what they use him for. Remember last year he was a FA and the only other option he had was the Giants.
Also, I doubt Cannon will be 1 on 1 with Houston a lot. The Pats will chip, move Gronk around, etc. The Chiefs have a stout line, but Denver did, Miami did, the Jets did, etc...
That being said, the problem with NE's offense is just not the players, but the pressure the various formations puts on opposing Defenses and the fact Brady has run the same offense his whole career. It's a lot to prepare for and a lot to recall once that clock starts. That's why it's not surprising to often see Gronkowski running down the field alone.
I'm curious about someone's take on it who has seen a lot of both teams games.
If you think that's bad, Justin Houston graded higher than Vernon at #2 on the year (K.Mack #1 who is a force of nature) for edge defenders. If his knee is ok, Justin Houston should wreak havoc. If they double him then Mike Devito, Dontari Poe, Allen Bailey, Tamba Hali (if his thumb is ok - only played limited snaps vs Texans), Dee Ford or Jaye Howard will eat. DE Olivier Vernon capped a monster second half of the season with a +5.8 effort that featured a sack, two QB hits, and a hurry to go with a +2.7 grade against the run. He beat Fleming for a sack with 5:33 to go in the fourth quarter, thwarting any comeback attempt from the Patriots, and Miamis run defense was clearly better when Vernon was on the edge. After a few plays where backup DE Damontre Moore was bullied by TE Rob Gronkowski, Vernon came back in and had his way with Gronkowski to get in on five run stops. Vernon finishes the season as the No. 3 overall edge defender, and his second half was the very best at the position.
Given them fits? Only 4 teams beat the Pats this year. Clearly, the fits weren't that bad.
Edelman graded out at the 3rd highest slot receiver this year behind Baldwin and Fitzgerald. However, Edelman had significantly more yards after the catch than Fitz (5.2 vs 4.3) and Fitz' performance went down in the last 5 games. Baldwin came out of nowhere while Edelman has been doing this for years. He pretty much single-handedly won the Pats the last Super Bowl because Seattle's Legion of Boom couldn't cover him. Before the start of the year, nfl.com had Cobb and E.Sanders ahead of Edelman in their slot rankings. Edelman smoked Cobb (who couldn't get separation from defenders) this year and was better than Sanders as well. He is consistently in the top 3 year after year regardless of who's on the outside for NE so he is the best slot receiver in the NFL. If Baldwin can continue his dominance through the postseason and almost single-handedly win the Seahawks the Super Bowl and continue this high level into Fall 2016, I'll reconsider. Really the only thing Edelman didn't consistently do was run block at a high level and he had a bunch of drops (most likely due to his crooked finger after the Indy game) or he'd definitely be ahead of Fitz. I expect Edelman to dominate Peters in nickel, and would be surprised if Parker can even contain Amendola in the slot in base formations.
Regarding mismatches, funny that you bring up Denver/Miami/NYJ. Denver sacked Brady 3 times in the snow (which actually favors the offense, not the D) and Miami sacked him twice and knocked him down 8 times with both teams winning. NYJets took out NE in their 2nd game and sacked him twice with 1 pick. You can't just chip a mismatch all game, eventually those mismatches will add up and they WILL get to Brady. Like I said, it's not a matter of if, but when. For example, look at the analysis of what Oliver Vernon did to the Pats to prevent them from getting the #1 seed:
Given them fits? Only 4 teams beat the Pats this year. Clearly, the fits weren't that bad.
Cox didn’t get a sack on Brady, but took him to the ground four times and notched 14 total pressures in the game on 50 pass-rushing snaps. No other defender notched more pressures this week.
Cox and Brandon Graham in particular were a major force against Tom Brady all game long. The pair combined for 24 total pressures, with Vinny Curry and Connor Barwin chipping in with another three sacks and nine additional pressures.
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/01/12/report-chandler-jones-overdosed-on-pills/The reason for a weekend trip to the hospital by Patriots defensive lineman Chandler Jones initially wasn’t known. According to Chris Curtis, producer of WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan Show, it now is.
Curtis reports, citing unnamed police sources, that Jones overdosed on pills on Saturday night. An ambulance transported Jones to Norwood Hospital.
The pills taken by Jones aren’t known. In theory, he could be subject to NFL action if the substance has been banned by the NFL. The medical records generated by the trip to the hospital undoubtedly contained information regarding what Jones ingested.
Automatic suspension would arise only if the compound is a PED. For street drugs, an initial violation would result at worst in placement in the league’s substance-abuse program, along with enhanced testing. Multiple violations typically are required before a suspension occurs.
UPDATE 8:37 p.m. ET: The report from WEEI initially claimed that the overdose happened at teammate Rob Gronkowski’s house. That tweet has been deleted, replaced by a new one that reiterates the overdose report, but that does not say where it occurred.
Rob Gronkowski was again absent from practice Wednesday.
Gronkowski's absence on Tuesday was a mystery, but we now have a pretty good feel of the reason. Patriots RE Chandler Jones was allegedly at Gronkowski's house over the weekend and overdosed on pills, leading to Jones ending up at the Foxboro police department and then the hospital on Sunday.
Source: Erik Frenz on Twitter
Jan 13 - 12:24 PM
Mike Reiss ESPN New England Patriots reporter
Patriots TE Rob Gronkowski, who was not present for Tuesday's full-pads practice, is present at Wednesday's session. He is seen here (87) running with Danny Amendola (80).
Mike Reiss ESPN New England Patriots reporter
Special teams captain Matthew Slater was asked about DE Chandler Jones and said, "We're obviously going to support one another. We have each other's backs. All that stuff is between us."
Some strange shit going on with Chandler Jones. He apparently OD'd on pills at Gronk's house which is why Gronk hasn't been at practice all week:
And all of their losses came to teams with good defensive lines with disruptive playmakers who mangled NE's Oline. Yes, even the Eagles.
That's a helluva lot of pressure, and one of them set up the 99yd INT by Jenkins. However, those losses came against an Edelman-less Pats. He (and Gronk) are the real difference makers, not necessarily Brady because there are many other QBs who can hit an open man. As Aaron Rodgers found out this year without Jordy, it's a lot tougher to win and rack up stats when there's nobody open to throw to. Don't be surprised if Edelman gets 15-20 targets.
Legal issues like the police questioning him, possibly searching the house. And/or he could be at the hospital with Jones.I am missing something...why would him ODing at Gronk's house mean Gronk would miss practice?
Some strange shit going on with Chandler Jones. He apparently OD'd on pills at Gronk's house which is why Gronk hasn't been at practice all week:
http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/01/12/report-chandler-jones-overdosed-on-pills/
and
This is crazy. The Pats would definitely be hurt by Jones' absence as he's a good run defender and pass rusher. What was he thinking? Probably partied too hard with Gronk who has a history of partying hard. Belichick has to be incensed.
Legal issues like the police questioning him, possibly searching the house. And/or he could be at the hospital with Jones.
Brady wasn't the best QB this year, Palmer was by a large margin and there are a handful of other QBs who can make the same throws Brady makes. Give him Edelman for the entire year, and we may be having a different discussion about best QB/MVP. Just like we found out reigning MVP Rodgers isn't as good when a man isn't almost always open. I firmly believe the receivers are the ones who make the QBs good more than the QB makes the receiver good. Look at Flacco, no more deep threat and no more Steve Smith and he's just a below average QB from good. On the flipside, you have Stafford who finished 8th in yards despite having a bad oline and losing a lot but benefiting from a great year out of Megatron and above average year from Tate and a scheme with no rushing attack (similar to Rivers who went off). While a QB can alter the game by changing a play to a higher percentage play against a defensive look, none of that matters if the receivers a) aren't open and b) don't catch the ball if they are open. Brady should have been over 5K yards and 40TDs but the drops killed him, and he would have been the unanimous MVP if he had Edelman all year. Instead, he has an awful Lafell and Martin and backup Chandler catching passes to complement Gronk. He still did very well, don't get me wrong. But players like Edelman and Gronk are extremely rare and turn good QB's into the best providing you can throw a accurate football through a tire at different field depths at will, which most top half NFL QBs can do. In a nutshell, receivers who can get open at will via route running (Antonio Brown, ODBJr, Edelman, Watkins, Jordy, Julio) are rarer than the QBs who can hit said receiver with a pass when they're open. While they may not control as many variables as a QB, they can open up the entire offense and make the QBs job much easier since they can always go to the well in a pinch. They are irreplaceable moreso than the QB position because you can't teach speed/quickness/coordination but you can coach a good QB to be great.You crazy.
Brady wasn't the best QB this year, Palmer was by a large margin and there are a handful of other QBs who can make the same throws Brady makes. Give him Edelman for the entire year, and we may be having a different discussion about best QB/MVP. Just like we found out reigning MVP Rodgers isn't as good when a man isn't almost always open. I firmly believe the receivers are the ones who make the QBs good more than the QB makes the receiver good. Look at Flacco, no more deep threat and no more Steve Smith and he's just a below average QB from good. On the flipside, you have Stafford who finished 8th in yards despite having a bad oline and losing a lot but benefiting from a great year out of Megatron and above average year from Tate and a scheme with no rushing attack (similar to Rivers who went off). While a QB can alter the game by changing a play to a higher percentage play against a defensive look, none of that matters if the receivers a) aren't open and b) don't catch the ball if they are open. Brady should have been over 5K yards and 40TDs but the drops killed him, and he would have been the unanimous MVP if he had Edelman all year. Instead, he has an awful Lafell and Martin and backup Chandler catching passes to complement Gronk. He still did very well, don't get me wrong. But players like Edelman and Gronk are extremely rare and turn good QB's into the best providing you can throw a accurate football through a tire at different field depths at will, which most top half NFL QBs can do. In a nutshell, receivers who can get open at will via route running (Antonio Brown, ODBJr, Edelman, Watkins, Jordy, Julio) are rarer than the QBs who can hit said receiver with a pass when they're open. While they may not control as many variables as a QB, they can open up the entire offense and make the QBs job much easier since they can always go to the well in a pinch. They are irreplaceable moreso than the QB position because you can't teach speed/quickness/coordination but you can coach a good QB to be great.
damnit! (Bengals fan)
Glady:Wait, you think Edelman makes Brady? You're smoking something. Please, give me a list of Brady's 5 best receivers not named Moss.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-england...n-and-rob-gronkowski-makes-all-the-differenceIt's obvious that the Patriots are better with Edelman and Gronkowski, but how much better?
ESPN's Stats & Information breaks out the key numbers of quarterback Tom Brady to answer the question:
Completion percentage
Both players on: 68.5
Either/both off: 60.3
Yards per attempt
Both players on: 8.5
Either/both off: 6.8
Touchdowns/interceptions
Both players on: 17/2
Either/both off: 19/5
Total QBR
Both players on: 78.1
Either/both off: 49.8
In addition, having both Edelman and Gronkowski allows Brady to get rid of the ball quicker, and in turn, he's not facing as much pressure:
Average pass time (from snap to release)
Both players on: 2.14
Either/both off: 2.39
Pressure percentage
Both players on: 20 percent
Either/both off: 32 percent
Wait, you think Edelman makes Brady? You're smoking something. Please, give me a list of Brady's 5 best receivers not named Moss.