March 2012 - New England Patriots Wiretap

Patriots Blowout Rams 45-7 In London (+21.6 TC, +6 TRC)

Jul 28, 2014 4:17 AM

The New England Patriots improved to 5-3 with a 45-7 win over the St. Louis Rams in London.

The Patriots had a +21.6 advantage in The Trench Counter, averaging 8.4 yards per pass, 5.4 yards per rush while recording 12 additional first downs and posting a +2 in the takeaway battle. New England had a +6 edge in  Total Rushes/Completions.

Tom Brady went 23-for-35 for 304 yards and four touchdowns, connecting twice with both Rob Gronkowski and Brandon Lloyd.

Stevan Ridley rushed 15 times for 127 yards and a touchdown, while Shane Vereen also had a goalline score.

The Rams took an early lead on a Chris Givens touchdown from Sam Bradford, who went 22-for-30 for 205 yards. But the Patriots then scored the next 45 points of the game.

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Los Angeles Rams, New England Patriots, Game Recap

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Patriots Improve Pass Protection For Brady

Jun 2, 2014 7:36 PM

The New England Patriots are doing a better job of protecting Tom Brady over the past two games.

Josh McDaniels has made the adjustment of keeping more blockers in on passing downs, including Rob Gronkowski. 

The Rams are tied for fifth in the NFL with 21 sacks.

James Walker/ESPN

Tags: New England Patriots, IQ

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Belichick Not Seeing Increased In Trade Talks With Extended Deadline

Oct 22, 2014 5:25 PM

Bill Belichick hasn't noticed an increase in trade talk this season as the deadline has been pushed back.

“I haven’t, no. And this week has really been – it’s a normal week for us but a short week for us. We’ve moved our preparations up so we’ve really at it trying to get ready for this week. We haven’t talked about it."

NFL teams rarely make significant in-season trades.

Greg A. Bedard/Boston Globe

Tags: New England Patriots, Misc Rumor, Trade Rumor

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Aaron Hernandez Out For Week 8 In London

Oct 31, 2014 2:59 PM

Aaron Hernandez didn't travel with the New England Patriots to London for their Week 8 game against the Rams.

Hernandez played the last two weeks with a high ankle sprain, but didn't appear 100 percent healthy.

The Patriots have a bye following their trip to London.

Gregg Rosenthal/NFL.com

Tags: New England Patriots, Fantasy, Injury

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Jets Find Formula To Slow Patriots' Offense

Jun 2, 2014 7:36 PM

The New York Jets were successful in slowing the explosive New England Patriots' offense in their overtime loss.

“Rex (Ryan) historically has played Tom Brady and that offense well," said Eric Mangini. "There’s a formula to do it. Look at what happened yesterday: They locked up the outside receivers, and they clogged up the middle of the field and they played a post safety. That’s why New England couldn’t run. And unless guys like Brandon Lloyd can make plays, which he had opportunities to do yesterday, that’s the formula that’s going to keep going. That’s why they need that outside receiver to be able to do something to take the defense out of the middle of the field. That’s the way you do it.”

Lloyd was targeted seven times, but made just one catch.

ESPN

Tags: New York Jets, New England Patriots, IQ

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Patriots Comeback On Jets, Win 29-26 (+4.1 TC, -4 TRC)

Sep 25, 2014 2:49 PM

The New England Patriots defeated the New York Jets 29-26 in overtime, needing a Stephen Gostkowski field goal as time expired to even extend the game.

The Patriots had a +4.1 advantage in The Trench Counter, with the primary separation coming in having 20 fewer penalty yards and one fewer turnover. The Jets had a +4 edge in Total Rushes/Completions.

Tom Brady went 26-for-42 for 259 yards and two touchdowns, connecting with Rob Gronkowski on both.

Stevan Ridley rushed six times for 78 yards.

Mark Sanchez went 28-for-41 for 328 yards, one touchdown, one interception and a lost fumble. Jeremy Kerley caught seven of Sanchez's passes for 120 yards.

Shonn Greene rushed 16 times for 54 yards and a touchdown.

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: New England Patriots, New York Jets, Game Recap

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Belichick Becomes Verbose About 'Game-Plan' Offenses

Oct 31, 2014 6:35 AM

Bill Belichick became verbose in his press conference when asked about how the New England Patriots have a "game-plan" offense, which changes each week depending on the opponent.

"I guess I’ve always had that philosophy. You try to do what you think works best against that particular opponent certainly within the framework of what you’re comfortable doing, whether that’s offense, defense or special teams, it’s all the same. [Former Head Coach] Wayne Hardin at Navy maybe, if you want to go back a ways; Detroit, the Giants. I don’t know ... 

"I’ll just give you this example. When I was in high school at Annapolis, I played for Al Laramore, who was Maryland Coach of the Year, a Hall of Fame high school coach in Delaware and all that. So, he’s a pretty good coach. We won a lot of games, we won a ton of games and we ran four plays. We ran four plays: '22 Power', '24 Quick Trap', '28 Counter' and 'Sprint Right' and that was it. When we ran them to the other side, we just flipped formation. The whole line flipped and the play went the other way: '22 Power', '24 Quick Trap', '28 Counter' and 'Sprint Left.' That was the offense, that was the entire offense and we won a lot of games. 

"Then the next year when I went to Andover and played for Coach [Steve] Sorota there, who again was a great player, great coach, played with [Vince] Lombardi at Fordham and was one of the most renowned coaches I’d say ever in New England prep school football or maybe high school football period for that matter. The quarterback called his own plays. They didn’t send them in; they didn’t tell him what to call. They got in the huddle and he may have asked for a suggestion from me or Ernie [Adams] or somebody, but he called whatever he wanted to call and that was the offense. So, that was about as opposite as you could get it from one year to the next year. 

"We won just as many games. It was totally different, but both were very successful. So what’s the right way to do it? What’s the wrong way to do it? I don’t know. Whatever works, whatever you believe in. But then it all has to line up that way. 

"I got to Baltimore with Coach [Ted] Marchibroda, Bert Jones. Bert called all the plays. I want to say it was his second year in the league. He called all the plays. Call timeout, come over to the sideline, fourth-and-one, Bert would say, ‘What do you want me to call?’ Ted would say, ‘We have 24 Hunch, we have 36 Bob, we have Play Pass 37 Y Flag, whatever you feel good about.’ ‘Alright.’ Other players and coaches would come up and say, ‘What are we going to run?’ ‘I don’t know, it depends what Bert calls.’ 

"There are other teams, Coach [Ray] Perkins, Coach [Bill] Parcells, those guys, called every play. Not that we wouldn’t audible to a play or something but he called every play. So, what’s right and what’s wrong? I don’t know. It can all work. If you do it right and you have the other things – if you do it one way, you have to have other things that are in place to do that. There’s a reason for doing it. There are also some drawbacks to doing it that way. When that happens, you have to have some way to counter it. That’s the same way on defense. 

"When I was with the Broncos and Joe Collier, there were game-plans where we had 60 different fronts. Fronts! It’s hard to imagine 60 different fronts in a 3-4 defense really, but that what it was. It was 60 different alignments, which would include a linebacker that was blitzing so any one of the four linebackers were blitzing so that was part of it. 

"I got to the Giants when Bill [Parcells] came in, we put in a 3-4 there. We played one front with one adjustment. We reduced the end on the weak side from a four-technique to a three-technique and that’s it. Then I’d say 95 percent of the snaps that we played from ’81 to ’90 that weren’t nickel snaps; over 90 percent of them had to be either base or reduced front, maybe 95 percent. It might have been higher than that. 

"Two good defenses -- the Orange Crush, the Broncos defense, that was a great defense. The Giants defense, that was a great defense. The same 3-4, two totally different philosophies. So what’s the right way to do it? Both work." 

Mike Reiss/ESPN

Tags: New England Patriots, IQ

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Jets Capable Of Exploiting Patriots' Vulnerability To Long Pass

Jul 28, 2014 8:26 PM

Mark Sanchez has struggled this season, but he has fared well in throwing the deep pass.

The New England Patriots, meanwhile, have allowed an NFL-high 16 passes of 20 yards or more and five touchdowns of at least 20 yards, second-most in the league. 

The Jets enter this week's game as big underdogs, but the deep pass may be one area where they can find an advantage.

James Walker/ESPN

Tags: New York Jets, New England Patriots, IQ

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Wilson, Seahawks Comeback To Beat Patriots 24-23 (+7.6 TC, -20 TRC)

Oct 29, 2014 1:24 AM

The Seattle Seahawks again beat a possible Super Bowl contender in dramatic fashion late, defeating the New England Patriots 24-23 after scoring 14 unanswered points in the final 7:30 of the game.

The Seahawks had a +7.6 advantage in The Trench Counter, averaging 10.5 yards per pass and matching the Patriots in the rushing game. New England, however, had a +20 edge in Total Rushes/Completions.

Russell Wilson attempted 21 fewer passes than Tom Brady, but threw for three touchdowns without an interception. Wilson connected with Braylon Edwards from 10 yards with 7:21 remaining in the fourth and Sidney Rice for 46 yards with a 1:18 left in the game.

Marshawn Lynch rushed 15 times for 41 yards.

Brady was 36-for-58 for two touchdowns and two interceptions, connecting for one score with Wes Welker and the returning Aaron Hernandez for another.

The Patriots' running game, so strong in previous weeks, was held to just 3.3 yards per carry.

RealGM Staff Report

Tags: Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, Game Recap

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Carroll Used Learning Experiences From Patriots To Current System

Jun 30, 2014 11:20 AM

Pete Carroll struggled in his first NFL stop with the New England Patriots, but learned a lot from the experience that he brought for USC and Seattle Seahawks.

“Everything that now is the philosophy, the approach, the mentality, the language, everything came out of that experience,” Carroll said. “It is classically one of those deals where you get kicked in the tail and come back better. I hate to learn the hard way. I like the other guys to learn the hard way. It did give me an opportunity to put something in motion that I’m really, really proud of.”

Danny O'Neil/Seattle Times

Tags: Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots, IQ

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Welker: Nice To Stick It In Belichick's Face Once In A While
Wes Welker caught 13 balls for 105 yards in the Patriots' win over the Broncos in Week 5.

Peter King/Sports Illustrated

Brady, Patriots Defeat Manning, Broncos 31-21 (+7.3 TC, +26 TRC)
The Patriots had a +7.3 advantage in The Trench Counter, recording 13 more first downs and two fewer turnovers.

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Chandler Jones Not Satisfied Despite Winning Defensive Rookie Award
Chandler Jones credited his fellow defensive linemen and defense as a unit for his three sacks and two forced fumbles.

Field Yates/ESPN

Aaron Hernandez Returns To Practice For First Time Since Injury
Aaron Hernandez returned to Patriots' practice for the first time on Thursday since injuring his ankle in Weke 2.

Phil Perry/Comcast

Patriots Sign Bobby Carpenter
Bobby Carpenter was released by the Patriots when finalizing its 53-man roster.

Field Yates/ESPN

Belichick Articulates What He Seeks From Running Back
Stevan Ridley and Brandon Bolden gained 106 yards with two touchdowns and 137 yards with one touchdown respectively.

Karen Guregian/Boston Herald

Belichick 'Not Excited About Having To Face' Peyton Manning
Peyton Manning will face the Patriots on Sunday for the first time as a member of the Broncos.

Michael Vega/Boston Globe

Patriots Using Sub Defense 60.8 Percent Of Time
The Patriots use a 4-3 as their base and play five or more defensive backs in their sub packages.

Mike Reiss/ESPN