Mike Dussault's New England Patriots fan blog

Seems to me like many Patriots fans out there aren't quite as depressed by last night's debacle as they were after the loss to the Colts. Around this time every year you start to really know how good your team is, or isn't. The Saints are good. Really good. The Patriots are not.

It has been easy to coast off of the success the Pats have had earlier this decade. Beating them meant a lot to the Saints, but New Orleans would be wise to not get too high off this win. This is not the 2007 Patriots that they beat.

But I am no longer concerned with the Saints. Let's talk about the Pats. We've all seen games over the years where Brady isn't getting any time in the pocket and the Pats end up losing. See vs. the Jets in 2006, the Super Bowl in 2007, even the first Jets game this year. Matt Light and Stephen Neal were being worked back in after having missed some time, and they were clearly not quite ready to handle a challenge like the Saints at the Superdome just yet. The O-Line is the least of my worries though. We've seen these games before, and they are fixable.

Continue reading "Picking Up the Patriots Pieces"

This week we've got a new feature we're calling "Donning the Hoodie", where yours truly will step into the role of Bill Belichick and lay out a game plan of how the Patriots might game plan against their opponent.

The Patriots are a versatile team, capable of adapting each week to attack their opponents biggest weakness. This week's opponent, the Miami Dolphins, present a number of challenges, the most obvious of which is their Wildcat offense. Miami also bears the hallmark of any Bill Parcells team, they are big and physical. So how will the Patriots attack and defend the Dolphins, our thoughts, Hoodie style below.

DEFENSIVE GAMEPLAN

As always, it all starts with defense. Even without Jarvis Green the Patriots have a number of versatile defensive lineman. We all know the number one threat is the Dolphins running game, out of the Wildcat or a regular formation, so our number one goal is to shut down Ronnie Brown and Rickey Williams and make Chad Henne beat us through the air.

Continue reading "Donning the Hoodie: Patriots Defense vs. Dolphins Offense"

Earlier this week I placed the over/under on when Joey Porter would open his big fat mouth and talk some smack to the Patriots at Thursday 12:01am and was confident in playing the under. I was right. Wednesday 3:30pm EST was when Porter fired his first, and unlikely last, salvo.

Here's a little nuggest from Ian Rapoport from the Boston Herald via Twitter: "Joey Porter says he's hated the Patriots since Steelers title games. 'Then I come to find out why we lost. You know what I'm talking about.'"

So yes he went to the uninformed well of Spygate to explain why he hates the Patriots. The trials and tribulations of the media witch hunt was well documented here on the blog. Yes we are biased because we worship at the alter of the Hoodie, but we also are firm believers in things called 'common sense' and 'logic'.

Continue reading "Of Course Joey Porter Had to Bring Up Spygate This Week"

Jonathan Wilhite has missed the last two practices due to a reported illness, but for some reason Shawn Springs was wearing Wilhite's number 24 at today's session. Springs was #24 in Washington, so perhaps he's a superstitious guy and hoping the number will bring back his mojo. We haven't seen much of the veteran corner/safety since he was toasted more than once against the Denver Broncos.

Continue reading "Shawn Springs Wearing Wilhite's #24 at Practice"

It's Wednesday, and that means that Sunday's AFC East clash between the Dolphins and Patriots is quickly approaching. Finally we're back to games that count for something. With a win the Pats can really put themselves in great position to retake the AFC East and restore order to the galaxy.

Today's injury report should provide some insight as to what's up with Adalius Thomas. Thomas was healthy for last Thursday's bye week practice but was missing yesterday for unknown reasons. I only say unknown because there was no injury report yesterday. Hopefully things will be clarified today by either Thomas' presence at practice or the injury report that will be released at 4pm EST.

While AD has been in Belichick's doghouse the Patriots could really use him on Sunday to help defend against Miami's run game. As I wrote yesterday Derrick Burgess looks like he's ahead of Thomas even on the 3-4 OLB depth chart, but dealing with the Wildcat as an OLB is an entire different set of skills.

Continue reading "More Drama for Adalius Thomas?"

Over the past few games Derrick Burgess role with the Patriots has been gradually increasing. Originally brought in as what was thought to be strictly a hand-down pass rusher, Burgess has been seen playing stand-up outside linebacker as the Patriots have employed of their usual 3-4 defense.

No one needs to be reminded of the Dolphins Wildcat offense, nor how hard it is to defend, and with Adalius Thomas already falling down the depth chart before missing practice on Tuesday, Burgess will likely be thrust into the fire of stopping Ronnie Brown and company.

For an outside linebacker in the 3-4 decisions must be made in an instant. Should he drop into coverage? Should attack the passer or set the edge for a run coming in his direction?

For someone like Burgess who has limited experience doing anything other than pinning back his ears and attacking the quarterback this week could pose quite a challenge.

Continue reading "Patriots' Burgess Will Play a Key Role Vs. Dolphins"

Monday is almost over and we still haven't heard a peep from Joey Porter. Is he losing his touch? Is he just less angry coming off a win over the only team that talks more trash than he does? Hard to know at this point. But surely he'll be spouting off about the Patriots sometime this week.

Last year Porter predicted the winless Dolphins would beat the Brady-less Patriots, to the shock and chagrin of Patriot fans and common sense alike. But alas they busted out the Wildcat and ran all over the unprepared Pats D, prompting a chorus of boos from the Gillette "faithful".

People tend to forget that the Patriots hung 48 points on the Phins in the rematch and shut down the Wildcat. I'm sure you can count Joey Porter amongst those who would like you to forget that part of the story.

Continue reading "Patriots Patiently Waiting for Joey Porter to Open His Big Mouth"

It's November and as you might've noticed from yesterday's NFL game action, teams are starting to play their best football. The Patriots bye came at a great time, as they now face five games that will determine the 2009 season.

Tom Brady has had three months of football without missing so much as a practice. While he showed some signs of rust in September, he also flashed the icy cold composure that won him three Super Bowls. The fact is that the Patriots, at 5-2, are under the radar, and their best players are just starting to get healthy and play their best.

The defense is young and still unproven in big games, and the injuries on offense have left them thin at running back and wide receiver. Hopefully they will get Matt Light back sooner than later, they will need him with the top-flight pass rushers that the Pats are about to face like Joey Porter, Dwight Freeney and Calvin Pace.

Continue reading "The Real Season is About to Start for the New England Patriots"

I'm not going to pretend I saw the writing on the wall before Richard Seymour was sent to Oakland just before the regular season began. But the apparent fact is that the New England Patriots are a different team than the one that won three out of four Super Bowls in the first half of the decade, or even the ones that came within a half of playing the Bears in Super Bowl 41, or went 16-0 only to lose in the final moments of Super Bowl 43.

But when you look at the big picture, what did Patriots fans think would happen?

Tom Brady would come back after a devastating knee injury and immediately return to 2007 form? Even when Randy Moss and Benjamin Watson were the only receivers with whom he had any familiarity?

That the defense would lose five starters, including the core heart-and-soul pieces like Bruschi, Vrabel and Harrison, yet immediately right the problems that had plagued them for the last three seasons?

Continue reading "What Did New England Patriots Fans Expect?"

If you thought Mike Vrabel was upset when he was shipped to the rebuilding project known as the Kansas City Chiefs, you can only imagine how Richard Seymour felt this morning when he was told he had been traded to Oakland.

The Raiders have become the NFL's favorite punch line and it's no coincidence that the Patriots have frequently taken advantage of their ineptitude.  It's no secret how many free agents the Patriots will have in the 2010 offseason, and with two new rookie defensive lineman who both looked solid in the preseason (Ron Brace/Myron Pryor) the move to youth, speed and the inexperience that comes along with those is in full swing in New England.

2009 will forever be remembered in Patriots history as the year that the major defensive names of past glories said good bye. While Mike Vrabel, Tedy Bruschi and Rodney Harrison were in decline, Seymour still has at least a few high level years left in the tank. But with labor uncertainty on the horizon, a first round pick was too good to pass up. Especially when it belongs to the Raiders.

Continue reading "Richard Seymour: Shipped to the Black Hole"