AFC Champions, Rematch, Revenge Tour

It doesn’t get better than this…wow…what a game…plenty of thoughts on a sick day yesterday, but we’re marinating in Pats porn today enjoying the sh@t out of this…Pats are back in the Super Bowl, unreal…even with this QB/coach combo, I definitely had doubts whether they would ever get back here, and they did…and the Giants wait on the other side…Armageddon…plenty of time to dissect the 1,000 angles of that, let’s enjoy this one for a few first…

AFC Championship

I’m so jacked up for this game, gonna need excessive nervous beers and possibly a defibrillator on Sunday…haven’t been able to put all of my thoughts to paper for this game, part because of time, and also because for every point I make in favor of one team, a counterpoint comes up.  I’ll start by saying it’s a great feeling to be back in this game with a chance to play in the Super Bowl.  I’ve never wanted a sports championship more than I want the Pats to win one post-Spygate…but let’s certainly not get ahead of ourselves, I think winning this game and getting to the Super Bowl is a huge accomplishment, both relative to this season in a vacuum and for the legacy of Belichick/Brady/this organization.

I do get the general sense that people are overreacting to both team’s games last week…the Pats looked like a wagon against a crap Denver team at home and Baltimore looked shaky against a third-string QB at home.  However you slice it, this is going to be the biggest challenge for the Pats on both sides of the ball in 2+ months since they faced Pitt/Giants in back-to-back weeks.  This is going to be a great game, I’m too nervous/fired up to go into a breakdown of this one, we’re so close…let’s FCKIN DO THIS THING!  ROTASHE!

FIRED UP

Well, the time is now.  I feel like Pats fans have been waiting a year for this, the playoffs and another opportunity…and I’m tweaking…so many nervous stews are getting drained tomorrow.

• I don’t think it makes sense to evaluate this game/opportunity within the context of the last 3 playoff losses…every season is different, and with each passing season, the league more and more resembles arena ball and the paradigm has shifted from stout defenses and running the ball to elite passing games and opportunistic/situational defenses…at least I hope that’s the case…

 

• Especially this season…coming out of a lockout, with all of the records being broken, you can’t compare to last year.  Even the best teams are severely flawed in some way, this season is a question of how easily can you overcome/mask your weakness…can the Pats defense morph into the 06 Colts? 

 

• This Pats offense is significantly better than last year’s, and earlier this week Greg Bedard pointed out exactly why in two words: Aaron Hernandez.  If you recall from the Belichick documentary, during one of his meetings he said they had Moss over-the-top and Welker underneath and nothing else…now that we have a legitimate third option, it has totally transformed the potency of this offense and how opposing coaches have to prepare for us.  Hernandez is healthy and has proven that he won’t hit a wall like he did last year.  He had a huge game last time they faced each other, I can’t see them allowing him to beat them again, let’s hope that opens things up for our bread and butter, Gronk-Welks.

 

• Is McCourty the answer at safety?  I say yes, he can be, especially in passing situations…safety in this new NFL requires a totally different skill set than even 5 years ago, and McCourty at least has the coverage fundamentals to do so…doesn’t hurt he’s also a pretty sound tackler.  He might just be the answer in nickel packages and/or against teams that can spread us out though, and this one looks like a James Ihedigbo game.

 

• Tom Curran has alluded to this and I agree: I feel like Belichick’s maniacal week-to-week focus on the details and perfection can sometimes strip guys of the emotion needed come playoff time…I want them to have fun with this, to play with emotion and not play scared.  Outside of the X’s and O’s against the Jets last year, the team just seemed tight and nervous for that game.  The Jets can in emotional, with nothing to lose, and a great game plan.  I hope some of the younger players learned a lesson from that game and now understand how much better you have to be come playoff time, but also hope that Belichick encourages them to play with emotion and have fun with this.  You’re not owed anything as an NFL player, the average career is like just under 3 years I think, enjoy this and play for each other…YEA!  Ok, ra-ra speech over…

 

• Looking back at the last meeting between these teams, my biggest takeaway/concern from that was our heavy reliance on turnovers and how quickly we turned that game into a blowout.  What would that game have looked like without the turnovers…that’s how we need to view tomorrow night’s game.  Can the Pats make enough stops and drive the field without the benefit of turnovers and strong field position, respectively. 

 

• Now if you want to look at the Pats and their last 3 playoff games in a vacuum, my biggest concern would be the o-line.  I’m confident that if the o-line has a strong game, we could score on nearly every possession with the weapons we have.  Mankins’ injury is huge, especially considering Cannon got added to the injury report with an ankle yesterday.  And how much can you really count on Vollmer in this game, even in a rotational capacity?  I don’t think much…one thing I love is the tradeoff of Neal-Vollmer for Waters-Solder…I have a lot more confidence in that duo.

 

• McGahee not finishing last game was also huge…can we keep him in check?  He certainly has a tendency to fumble like he did twice last week, so keep an eye on that.

 

• Chung-Spikes both missed last game, should help against a strong running team…will be interesting to see how much burn Spikes gets.  He is a situational LB in the Ted Johnson mold…sick against the run, liability in passing situations.

 

• I agree with Felger, the Pats’ approach should be to play their standard zone, don’t commit extra players to stopping the run, let them run it if they want and tighten up in the red zone…this flies contradictory to the theory that allowing them to run the ball keeps Brady off the field, but I don’t think the tradeoff of potentially giving up a big play is worth it.

 

• Will be interesting to see how they juggle BJGE-Ridley-Woodhead in this game…Ridley was getting the lion’s share of carries in the final month, but I wonder if they go back to BJGE considering how well he protects the ball.

 

• I’m so damn nervous for this game…not because I don’t think they should win, but the consequences if they lose…Denver has nothing to lose really and it is tough to match up with a team that has nothing to lose…they’ll take more chances, trick plays, etc.  But more importantly, the rotashe is once again going big for this game, and every time we go big they crush us…might have to go complete opposite and do canned chili and Sam Adams mixer packs…too fired up to write any more…Saturday night game, wife out of town, thick crew ready to get loose all day = let’s trash this place…

Oh baby

Well, the time is here…playoffs…feels like we’ve been waiting 12 months for another shot at this, and it’s finally here.  This time around is similar only in that we’ve beaten this team already 4 weeks ago as we did with the Jets last year…but that’s about where the similarities end between the nauseating week of Jets trash we suffered through last year and the Tebow stuff this year.  Full preview to come later this week, just had to get some nervous energy out…

Weekend

What a weekend on tap…work/life preventing thoughts about the Pats, but hopefully I’ll get something going next week for the 4 people who occasionally read this…but how can you not be fired up about this weekend?

• Bruins-Canucks at 1 tomorrow…think the Bruins are ready?  They have scored 15 unanswered goals over the last two games, firing on all cylinders, and most important, they are healthy.  You listen to the radio and fans around here seem to want the Bruins to go out for blood tomorrow, but that seems backwards to me…yes, we hate these guys, but WE won last year!  The damage has been done…if anything, they’ll be the ones looking for revenge on Marchand, but I think they know that approach doesn’t work with this Bruins team…learned that the hard way in game 3 last year. 

 

• This Bruins team is just so damn likable right now…to me, last week’s fight between McQuaid and Torres says it all about this team.  Torres is a rat, we saw that last year in the Finals, elbows Ference, and McQuaid instantly skates across the ice, tosses the gloves and beats him senseless.  He might be the biggest badass on this team right now, more so than Thornton, Chara, Campbell, etc.

 

• Bill O’Brien to Penn State ey?  We have plenty of time to get into the long-term implications here in New England as well as for him out there, but I’m more concerned about whether this is poor form on his part to even be the smallest distraction to the 2011 Pats.  I understand you have to do what is best and the bye week allows him more flexibility than he otherwise would, but I just don’t like the comparisons to Charlie Weis in 2004.  Weis had been some form of a coach in the NFL for 14 years, so he was better equipped to balance the responsibilties of game-planning and recruiting, etc than O’Brien, who has been here since 2007.  I’m not saying he can’t pull this off, I just would hate to see something off-field derail the Pats playoff push.  If today is any indication, it seems like Belichick got in their ear early and often about not saying a word and focusing on the task at hand…here’s hoping he did the same with O’Brien.

 

• Wild Card Weekend rules, especially when your team is sitting at home resting.  Obviously if you’re a Pats fan you’re a huge Cincy fan this weekend, but I just don’t see it happening.  Even with TJ Yates, Houston runs the ball as well as anyone in the league and now that Wade Phillips is back on the sidelines they are loaded with the top-ranked defense in the league against a rookie QB, and of course, Marvin Lewis.  I hope I’m wrong, just don’t see it happening…like Houston to cover.

 

• Saints-Lions…I don’t think anyone in either conference could beat the Saints at home right now, they look flat-out unstoppable in the dome…get them outside on the road and they’re a completely different team, but I don’t see how a playoff-tested QB-Coach combo like Brees & Payton at home will lose this one…Saints to cover.

 

• Falcons-Giants…best game of the weekend in my opinion.  Two very evenly-matched teams, though the Giants are a trendy pick right now.  The matchup between Atlanta’s o-line and that Giants d-line is going to be fun to watch…I just don’t see Atlanta winning this one…Giants defensive line is healthy and battle-tested and I don’t trust the Falcons to stick to the run like they should…like the Giants to cover.

 

• Steelers-Broncos…again, if you’re a Pats fan, you would love for nothing more than for Denver to win this one…but again, I don’t see it happening.  Even without Clark, Mendenhall, and Pouncey, their defense is still filthy and will eat up Tebow…not to mention I think Rapies is playing up his injury a bit.  That being said, if this game is close, I give the nod to Denver…that crowd will be rowdy, and God will be on Denver’s side of course…jk…either a close Denver win or a blowout loss…really going out on a limb there I know, whatever…

 

Shaping up to be a sick day drinking Saturday, have a good weekend and keep it real.