Things that will be covered:
Patriots get the Victory!:
The Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, to improve to an AFC and league best 7-2 record. They are tied atop the NFL with the Falcons and Jets for the best records. Everybody buckle up and get prepared because in 4 weeks, the Jets visit the Patriots for Monday Night Football! Anyway, to stay in the present, the ex-rival Peyton Manning and the Colts come to Foxborough where the Patriots will try to improve to 8-2.
Recap and Scoring Plays:
Chris Collingsworth, the NBC booth alanlys for NBC was commenting on Tom Brady’s form and how relaxed he is in the pocket. Well, I can see why because as Adam Schefter said on Sports Center, “You know a Quarterback has good fundamentals when his throwing arm follows through right to his left thigh. It’s as if he had a pocket there that he wanted to reach into to get some change”. As the game went on, I tried to pay attention to Brady’s mechanics, and oh were they perfect! Every single throw, even if he was on the run his hand tried to dig into his left thigh. NBC announced a stat that I thought was amazing. The stat was that the Patriots are 22-2 after losing a game since 2003. This means that since 2003 the Pats have only lost 24 total games. That is very impressive from my understanding because it really shows the dominance of Brady and Bellicheck together.
Last night, Brady threw for his 31st career 300plus yard game and he started reaching to 300 yards when Gronkowski caught a 19-yard TD pass on the Patriots first possession. Gronkowski after having a rough outing last week, seemed to make up for it. Not only did he just make up for it with that catch he made up for it because of his career-day. He set a record for the most TD catches in a season by a Patriots WR/TE. His statline was this: 5 catches for 72 yards, 3TD’s , and he was targeted 5 times and caught all five passes. This is one of the things that you need out of a WR to win a game. Anyway, as we go on in the game, Shayne Graham knocked in his first field goal as a Patriot, which gave the offense even more of a cushion. At that point it was the end of the first quarter, or so people thought. Then, Hines Ward caught a pass but Bellicheck decided to challenge it. It turned out to be a smart challenge because the pass was ruled incomplete. Because of the completion, the time in the first quarter ran out. NBC went to a commercial break and everyone thought it was the end of the quarter. Well, no it wasn’t. The play was overturned and 10 seconds were put back on the clock. IT WAS LIKE WE WERE GOING BACK IN TIME! :)
Steelers total first quarter yards: 14 yards on three possessions (Avg. 4.6 yards/possession)
Patriots total first quarter yards: 116 yards on two possessions (Avg. 58 yards/possession)
As you can see from the stats, the Patriots defense and offense completely dominated the field of play in the first quarter. Edge goes to the Patriots so far...
Patriots total second quarter yards: 70 yards on three possessions (Avg. 23.3. yards/possession)
The stats here, show that the Steelers should be winning considering the amount of yards in the second quarter in comparison to the amount of yards the Patriots had. They almost doubled the Pats. Although the score is 10-3 Patriots, I think the game has been evenly played. Edge goes to the Patriots still because of their dominant play on defense and offense. Note that the Steelers had twice as many yards as the Patriots in the second quarter, but still only have three points!
- The Patriots 39-26 win over the Steelers
- The connection between Brady and Gronkowski against the Steelers (Against the Steelers and against the Browns)
- The Cowboys’ 33-20 victory over the Giants (Their first win under new interim head coach Jason Garret)
- The Jets overtime victory over the Browns (What this means for the Browns playoff wise and how important the win was for the Jets)
- AFC East standings update
- NFL playoff predictions, including my bold Super Bowl Champion!
Patriots get the Victory!:
The Patriots beat the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, to improve to an AFC and league best 7-2 record. They are tied atop the NFL with the Falcons and Jets for the best records. Everybody buckle up and get prepared because in 4 weeks, the Jets visit the Patriots for Monday Night Football! Anyway, to stay in the present, the ex-rival Peyton Manning and the Colts come to Foxborough where the Patriots will try to improve to 8-2.
Recap and Scoring Plays:
Chris Collingsworth, the NBC booth alanlys for NBC was commenting on Tom Brady’s form and how relaxed he is in the pocket. Well, I can see why because as Adam Schefter said on Sports Center, “You know a Quarterback has good fundamentals when his throwing arm follows through right to his left thigh. It’s as if he had a pocket there that he wanted to reach into to get some change”. As the game went on, I tried to pay attention to Brady’s mechanics, and oh were they perfect! Every single throw, even if he was on the run his hand tried to dig into his left thigh. NBC announced a stat that I thought was amazing. The stat was that the Patriots are 22-2 after losing a game since 2003. This means that since 2003 the Pats have only lost 24 total games. That is very impressive from my understanding because it really shows the dominance of Brady and Bellicheck together.
Last night, Brady threw for his 31st career 300plus yard game and he started reaching to 300 yards when Gronkowski caught a 19-yard TD pass on the Patriots first possession. Gronkowski after having a rough outing last week, seemed to make up for it. Not only did he just make up for it with that catch he made up for it because of his career-day. He set a record for the most TD catches in a season by a Patriots WR/TE. His statline was this: 5 catches for 72 yards, 3TD’s , and he was targeted 5 times and caught all five passes. This is one of the things that you need out of a WR to win a game. Anyway, as we go on in the game, Shayne Graham knocked in his first field goal as a Patriot, which gave the offense even more of a cushion. At that point it was the end of the first quarter, or so people thought. Then, Hines Ward caught a pass but Bellicheck decided to challenge it. It turned out to be a smart challenge because the pass was ruled incomplete. Because of the completion, the time in the first quarter ran out. NBC went to a commercial break and everyone thought it was the end of the quarter. Well, no it wasn’t. The play was overturned and 10 seconds were put back on the clock. IT WAS LIKE WE WERE GOING BACK IN TIME! :)
Steelers total first quarter yards: 14 yards on three possessions (Avg. 4.6 yards/possession)
Patriots total first quarter yards: 116 yards on two possessions (Avg. 58 yards/possession)
As you can see from the stats, the Patriots defense and offense completely dominated the field of play in the first quarter. Edge goes to the Patriots so far...
Now it was officially the second quarter, and the Steelers were determined to get on the board. It took them a while to do so, but they did mid-way through the second quarter with a field goal from Josh Reed which made the score 10-3. The score stayed that way until the half as both offenses couldn’t generate points. The Pats D was shutting down the Steelers.
Steelers total second quarter yards: 138 yards on four possessions (Avg. 34.5 yards/possession) Patriots total second quarter yards: 70 yards on three possessions (Avg. 23.3. yards/possession)
The stats here, show that the Steelers should be winning considering the amount of yards in the second quarter in comparison to the amount of yards the Patriots had. They almost doubled the Pats. Although the score is 10-3 Patriots, I think the game has been evenly played. Edge goes to the Patriots still because of their dominant play on defense and offense. Note that the Steelers had twice as many yards as the Patriots in the second quarter, but still only have three points!
Now we move onto the third quarter, where Rob Gronkowski was determined to keep redeeming himself after his terrible outing at the Browns. He did so, by catching his second TD of the night on a 9-yard pass from Brady. The defense was determine to keep the Steelers in check after letting up 34 points the the Browns last week. They did so by keeping the Steelers scoreless through the third quarter. In the final seconds of the third, Tom Brady pushed his way in from 3-yards out for his third TD of the game. This made the score 23-3 because the extra point was missed by Shayne Graham. This was Grahams 2nd miss out of 283 total extra point tries.
Steelers third quarter total yards: 119 yards on three possessions (Avg. 39.6 yards/possession)
Patriots third quarter total yards: 120 yards on three possessions (Avg. 40 yards/possession)
This quarter's edge goes to the Steelers because of their offensive turn-around. They matched the Patriots with just one less yard than them. Maybe it was the Pats defense? Who knows, only the defense and Bellicheck does.
Steelers third quarter total yards: 119 yards on three possessions (Avg. 39.6 yards/possession)
Patriots third quarter total yards: 120 yards on three possessions (Avg. 40 yards/possession)
This quarter's edge goes to the Steelers because of their offensive turn-around. They matched the Patriots with just one less yard than them. Maybe it was the Pats defense? Who knows, only the defense and Bellicheck does.
Steelers total third quarter total yards: The fourth quarter began with Roethlisberger and the Steelers streaming out of the gate and within 3 minutes, Big Ben connected with the rookie Emanuel Sanders for a 6-yard score. This touchdown cut the deficit to 10 points. Many Patriots fans were thinking, how are the Steelers going to catch up with the way Brady is playing? Well, the Pats went 3-and out on their next possession, but someone said, “you know what? if the offense isn’t gonna score, then we are.” Well, that is exactly what James Sanders did as he intercepted Big Ben’s pass and took it to the endzone for a Pick six and a 27-10 lead after the extra point was good this time. Now, it seemed as if the game was out of reach, but the Steelers didn’t think so as they tried to creep back in with Big Ben throwing two more TD’s in the fourth. But, Gronkowski felt as if he needed to be a trian that couldn’t be stopped, and so did Brady. He and Brady then connected again!, for Brady’s fourth TD of the game. This would finally stop the Brady rampage of touchdowns, but he still passed the Patriots into Pittsburgh territory for a final field goal that sealed the deal for the Pats.
Steelers fourth quarter total yards: 312 yards on five possessions (Avg. 62.5 yards/possession)
Patriots fourth quarter total yards: 74 yards on three possessions (Avg. 24.6 yards/possession)
This quarter edge definately goes to then Steelers because of their offensive surge. Because of this surge, they were able to get close to the Patriots in point totals, but the Pats prevailed to win 39-26.
Brady and Gronkowski connection:
Well, there ins't a connection except for the fact that they both had HUGE bounce back weeks. Last week Brady didn't contribute at all to the offense, and Gronkowski had a costly fumble and dropped many passes. I think these two will carry the team farther this year.
Cowboys defeat the Giants and Jets prevail v.s. Browns in OT
The Cowboys won, and sadly so did the Jets. The Cowboys had timely plays, and great defensive stops to win and improve to 2-7 and the Jets improved to 7-2 to tie the Patriots. This win was big for the Jets because of the Patriots win. If they Jets had lost, they would have fallen out of the first place tie and the share the AFC East division lead. However, for my beloved Cowboys they are in a different situation. Here is the situation: The Cowboys got a new coach after they fired Wade Phillips who led them to a 1-7 start. Also, in order for the Cowboys to make the playoffs they will have to win out, or hope that the Giants and Redskins fail down the stretch of the season. Charlie Greenwood said in a video-chat yesterday "The Cowboys win was really lucky." As Sam Denomme said, "Nobody give a crap about the Cowboys." Well, someone cares. Jason Garret does and he wants to prove he can be a successful coach in the NFL. GO COWBOYS! YOU STINK JETS!!(not really)
AFC East Standings:
Jets (7-2-0)
Super Bowl Champion= New England Patriots by a field goal!
Steelers fourth quarter total yards: 312 yards on five possessions (Avg. 62.5 yards/possession)
Patriots fourth quarter total yards: 74 yards on three possessions (Avg. 24.6 yards/possession)
This quarter edge definately goes to then Steelers because of their offensive surge. Because of this surge, they were able to get close to the Patriots in point totals, but the Pats prevailed to win 39-26.
Brady and Gronkowski connection:
Well, there ins't a connection except for the fact that they both had HUGE bounce back weeks. Last week Brady didn't contribute at all to the offense, and Gronkowski had a costly fumble and dropped many passes. I think these two will carry the team farther this year.
Cowboys defeat the Giants and Jets prevail v.s. Browns in OT
The Cowboys won, and sadly so did the Jets. The Cowboys had timely plays, and great defensive stops to win and improve to 2-7 and the Jets improved to 7-2 to tie the Patriots. This win was big for the Jets because of the Patriots win. If they Jets had lost, they would have fallen out of the first place tie and the share the AFC East division lead. However, for my beloved Cowboys they are in a different situation. Here is the situation: The Cowboys got a new coach after they fired Wade Phillips who led them to a 1-7 start. Also, in order for the Cowboys to make the playoffs they will have to win out, or hope that the Giants and Redskins fail down the stretch of the season. Charlie Greenwood said in a video-chat yesterday "The Cowboys win was really lucky." As Sam Denomme said, "Nobody give a crap about the Cowboys." Well, someone cares. Jason Garret does and he wants to prove he can be a successful coach in the NFL. GO COWBOYS! YOU STINK JETS!!(not really)
AFC East Standings:
Jets (7-2-0)
Patriots (7-2-0) Pats and Jets are tied with game records, but the Jets won the first game between the teams, so they are ahead of the Patriots technically.
Dolphins (5-4-0)
Bills (1-8-0)
**If the Jets and Patriots win their next couple games, they will be tied when they face each other on Monday Night Football!
My NFL Playoff Predictions
| 5 | Jets | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Colts | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Cheifs | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Patriots | |||||||||||||||||
| AFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Patriots | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Jets | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Colts | AFC Championship | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Steelers | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Ravens | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Jets | |||||||||||||||||
| Wild Card Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| Divisional Playoffs | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Patriots | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Packers | |||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Giants | SuperBowl | ||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Giants | |||||||||||||||||
| 4 | Seahawks | |||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Falcons | |||||||||||||||||
| NFC | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | Falcons | |||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Packers | |||||||||||||||||
| 3 | Eagles | NFC Championship | ||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Packers | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Saints | |||||||||||||||||
| 6 | Saints | |||||||||||||||||
Notice how I didn't put the Cowboys in, and I think the Pats defense and offense will take them to glory. Although, I think the Super Bowl will be a very low-scoring game.
Teams that just missed the playoffs in my opinion:
AFC - Raiders, Chargers, Titans, Browns
NFC - Bears, Buccaneers, Rams
Patriots in other years they won the Super Bowl (3)
The Patriots have only won the Super Bowl three times (2002, 2004, 2005).
2002 - 9-7 record
2004 - 14-2 record. They could have this same record this year if they win out!
2005 - 10-6 record.
It looks pretty positive with their past records when they have won the Super Bowl. I think this is why they could be very successful in the super bowl.
Brady and Bellicheck Super Bowl record: 3 - 1. (2008 loss to the Giants)
No comments:
Post a Comment