Patriot Games Media

Potential Late Round Sleepers To Keep An Eye On

admin — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Draft sleepers are generally considered to be players who aren’t receiving much media attention but could outperform their draft slot. For example, a fifth round player starting during his rookie season. Here are some possible sleeper picks in the upcoming draft.

Carl Johnson is an offensive lineman from the University of Florida. He’s massive at 6’5″ and 360 pounds. Johnson will probably be limited to run-based schemes prioritizing size and strength. He does have some character concerns.

Jeron Johnson is a safety from Boise. Although he runs a 4.53 in the 40, Johnson is more of a box safety. He’d be most successful in a scheme that allows him to blitz and contribute to run support.

Martin Parker is a defensive tackle from the University of Richmond. He earned MVP honors at the East-West Shrine game and could be an athletic under tackle.

Nathan Enderle is a quarterback from Idaho. He has great size at 6’5″ and 240 pounds. He ran a pro-style scheme. But he’ll need developmental time and he does take some sacks for hanging onto the ball too long.

Not all of these players will be stars. But in the right system, they could be very successful.

New England’s Targets In This Year’s Draft

admin — Mon, 30 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

It’s not every year that you can say that a 14-2 team had a disappointing season, but when you talk about the 2010 Patriots, that’s exactly what your dealing with. For the second consecutive season, the Patriots lost their first playoff game, which means that it’s been six seasons in Foxboro without a champsionship, which is a big deficit when you have arguably the best team on paper year in and year out. The Patriots have been known as great drafters, and the 2011 draft should be no different. With two picks in the first, second, third, fourth and sixth round, it’s going to be a busy draft day for Belichick and Co.

Most draft experts agree that the first need that the Patriots are going to meet is their depth at running back. If Mark Ingram falls to the Patriots in the first round, expect the Patriots not to pass on him. Though Wes Welker and Deion Branch are considered among the best recivers in the league, expect the Patriots to spend some of their draft picks on getting some younger options of the future. In addition, look for the Pats to pick up players on the offensive line, defensive line and outside linebackers

Five Preseason Position Battles To Watch

admin — Sun, 08 May 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Let’s pretend that the current NFL lockout finishes in the next couple of weeks and the draft goes off as scheduled, as do all of the different free agents signings. If all goes according to plan then there will be NFL Exhibition games starting on August 8th. Here are five games to take an eye out for:

Cincinnati Bengals vs. Dallas Cowboys in Canton, Ohio.
While it’s big because it’s the first exhibition game of the season, it’s also interesting to see whether Carson Palmer will still be a Bengal and whether Tony Romo will be back in top form.

Buffalo Bills at Washington Redskins
Sure, they don’t have the number one pick in the draft, but the first quarterback of the draft will probably be picked by the Buffalo Bills. The questions is whether you will see Ryan Mallett or Cam Newton for the first time in a Bills uniform. Also, will McNabb still be a Redskin?

Cleveland Browns at Green Bay Packers
The first time the Packers will hit the field since they won it all last season.

Saints at Patriots and Patriot at New York Giants
The Patriots play two quality opponents as they start another season looking like the best in the AFC, and hope that they can make it back to the Super Bowl.

Patriot rivalries

www.patriotgamesmedia.com — Tue, 28 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The Patriots are famed for being at the center of not one, but two, famed rivalries in the NFL. The first notable rivalry for the Patriots is with the Indianapolis Colts. The teams were rivals in the AFC East from 1970 through 2001, but when the Colts were transferred to the AFC South during the NFL realignment, the competition reached a new level. The match-up is exemplified by the competition between quarterbacks Peyton Manning and Tom Brady.There have been some interesting connections between the teams over the years. Roy Meyer coached the Patriots from 1982 through October 1984, then coached the Colts from December 1986 to October 1991. Kicker Adam Vinatieri was responsible for the winning field goal against the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI and played with the Patriots at three other Bowls as well. After 2005, however, Vinatieri became a free agent and joined the Colts in 2006. Sprint, majority owner of the clear wireless internet company, referenced this rivalry in an ad concerning their NFL update service for their phones.The other rivalry is between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets and dates back to 1960 (when the Patriots still had a “Boston” in front of their name and the Jets were known as the “Titans of New York”). The sparks flew in the teams’ very first meeting on September 17, 1960, when the Patriots rallied from an impressive Titans 3^rd-quarter lead (24-7) and won 28-24. The Titans accused of linebacker Jack Rudolph kicking the ball after a fumble by Rick Sapienza, but the referees allowed the play.In 1966, the Patriots tied the Jets 24-24 at Fenway Park, then lost each rivalry game until October 10, 1971, when they defeated the Jets 20-0 at Schaefer Stadium. Over the course of the rivalry, there have been a number of defining moments, including the controversial transfer of Bill Parcells from the Patriots to the Jets as a consultant in 1997 and the “poison pill” contract offered to Patriots running back Curtis Martin in 1998. However, the most-televised aspect of the rivalry is still the videotaping controversy of 2007, when Belichick was accused of taping the Jets’ defensive signals from on-field.

The Snowplow Game: a Patriots’ winter legend

www.patriotgamesmedia.com — Wed, 06 Oct 2010 10:40:58 +0000

For most people, a heavy snowstorm is a sign to stay indoors, brew up a cup of hot cocoa, and watch I Love Lucy re-runs until they fall asleep. Or is that just me? Anyway, Massachusetts football fans aren’t most people, and they weren’t going to cancel a game over a little flurry. Little did they know that what began as a friendly competition would become a tale of intrigue and accusations.The date in question was December 12, 1982, and the New England Patriots were matched up against the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots had started out with a 2-3 losing season, and knew a win was their only hope for remaining playoff contenders. However, circumstances combined to keep the game tied at 0-0 for three full quarters and most of the fourth. With less than five minutes left in the game, Patriots coach Ron Meyer called a time-out and put in Mark Smith, hoping that he would be able to manage a field goal. The sight of Smith trying to dig a clear-enough spot to kick from was a pitiful sightand one which gave Meyer an idea.Meyer approached Mark Henderson, a convicted burglar on work-release who was snowplowing the yard lines during the game. Henderson knew what he had to do. Nonchalantly clearing off the 20 yard line, Henderson made a hard turn at Meyer’s signal and cleared off a space for Smith to kick from. When Smith made the goal, Henderson and his snowplow took center-stage on the stadium’s screens.While Dolphins coach Don Shula harshly (and angrily) criticized the goal, there were no explicit rules against it, and the Patriots ended up with the win. Henderson was honored with a game ball, and was brought back ceremonially during a 2001 Pats-Dolphins game at the same stadium. As for the snowplow, it hangs proudly in Gillette Stadiuma sly reminder of the day the Patriots plowed their way to victory.

Meet Pat Patriot

www.patriotgamesmedia.com — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 13:40:42 +0000

When the New England Patriots come out to play, they’re joined by a legendary figure who looks like he stepped right out of dinner with Thomas Jefferson. The gentleman’s name is Pat Patriot, and he’s the kind of man you want to have on your side. Pat wears a traditional three-cornered hat and a proudly American Continental Army uniform. Is he smirking, or just really excited for the game? We don’t know, but we admire his consistency. Pat was created by illustrator Phil Bissell, who was cartooning for the Boston Globe when he created the character in a rushed daily assignment.There’s not much to go on when it comes to how Pat Patriot put down his musket and picked up a football, but we like to imagine a thrilling adventure full of romance, loss, revenge, and more. All we know is that even when the Patriots’ insignia was replaced with the “Flying Elvis,” Pat lived on as the true personification of the team. You can still see him on the field, as well as on people’s bumper stickers, flags, and even tattooed onto their arms. Now that’s patriotism.

Bill Belichick holds record for longest coach with the Patriots

www.patriotgamesmedia.com — Sat, 02 Oct 2010 06:35:01 +0000

Born in Tennessee and raised in Annapolis, Bill Belichick first lived in Massachusetts during a postgraduate year at Andover’s Phillips Academy in the early 1970s. Bill’s dad played for the Detroit Lions during the 1941 season and coached at the Annapolis Naval Academy, and Belichick played for Wesleyan University during his time there. After graduating, though, he stepped off the field as a player and was hired as an assistant to Colts coach Ted Marchibroda.It wouldn’t be until 1996 that Belichick would return to Massachusetts, when he served as an assistant head coach for the Pats with Bill Parcells. After a brief two-year period with the Parcells and the New York Jets, Belichick chose to leave the city and return to Boston, becoming head coach in 2000. He’s held that position ever sincethe longest any coach has stayed with the team.In hindsight, it seems like Belichick made the right decision. Under his coaching, the team has attended four Super Bowls, winning three of them, as well as finishing with an undefeated season in 2007. Belichick was also responsible for an infamous bit of Pats history, similar to the 1982 Snowplow Game, which the media called “Spygate.” The incident involved illegal taping of the Jets’ defensive signals, which was even more divisive considering Belichick’s history with both teams. When the Jets protested, Belichick was fined 500,000 and the Patriots were charged 250,000.Belichick’s coaching hasn’t always made him friends, but it’s gotten results, and many Patriots fans undoubtedly wish him another prosperous ten years with the team.

Aaron Hernandez nominated for Pepsi award

www.patriotgamesmedia.com — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 21:14:30 +0000

Tight end Aaron Hernandez was one of five players nominated for Pepsi’s Rookie of the Week award, based on his performance during the weekend of September 26-27. The young player made a decisive showing during the Patriots’ Sunday win against Buffalo. He was present for 52 of the 68 plays that game, the highest yet in his first three weeks.Hernandez was drafted from the Florida Gators, where he won the John Mackey Award his junior year. The annual award honors the best tight end in college sports, and is named after the Baltimore Colts tight end.Other finalists for the Pepsi award include Sam Bradford (St. Louis), Tony Moeaki (Kansas City), C.J. Spiller (Buffalo), and Earl Thomas (Seattle). The winner will be announced Friday. If he doesn’t get it this week, hopefully Hernandez doesn’t take it too hard. He’s proving himself to be a valuable part of the Pats’ offense, and he’s got plenty of time to shine in the rest of the season. Plus, there’s always the Pepsi Rookie of the Year award.