A look at Jimmy Garoppolo

Sometimes when there's disaster there is opportunity and right now we're seeing this first hand. Tom Brady's status for the first four games are questionable at best and now with Roger Gooddell making sure he's going to play a huge role in the decision making process it becomes even more of a question mark. So lets take a break from all the deflate gate talk and take a look at Jimmy Garoppolo.

Pros: He's mobile in the pocket. Probably the first thing that jumped out to me was just how mobile he was. One could maybe say he moves around too much in the pocket. However with his mobility he could gives defenders fits (as we see in the game film) Accuracy doesn't seem to be a problem either. On a number of plays he was able to put the ball in tight spaces. He loves playing in the shot gun which is big for our offense. He has a quick release and excuse me for sounding ESPNish  but the dude can make some plays. He keeps the offense at a good pace.

Cons: He needs to be a little more patient in the pocket. His delivery needs work as well, you can see there's sometimes where balls are easily being batted down. This is something that can hopefully be fixed with the right coaching. You hear about QB's improving their throwing motion all the time. Honestly I didn't see a lot I didn't like (there's not much film but from whats out there he looks promising)

How was he in college? He kind of reminds me of a Joe Flacco. A solid player who played at a mediocre program. If Joe Flacco had played at UM instead of Delaware he probably would of received double the hype coming out of college. Jimmy Garopplo tore it up at Eastern Illinois but that's the thing. It's Eastern Illinois. So he's obviously going to have to prove he can step up to NFL level competition.

It will be an interesting first four games folks, stay tuned.

Deflate Gate Was a No Win Situation From Day One

I think I speak for all Patriot fans when I say I'm unhappy about this whole thing. Obviously it's no secret that the media and the league aren't exactly fans of the Patriots but this is something never seen before in this sports world. Not even the New York Yankees, Dallas Cowboys, Notre Dame Fighting Irish have ever endured such a backlash from the media. Lets point this out from the start: I'm not saying all the media outlets hate the Patriots. However the two biggest ones can't stand them and that's ESPN and the New York Media. They have had a field day with this whole thing from day one. Unfortunately it seems the Patriots will be punished without any concrete evidence.


 On the 228th page of the Wells report, this little nugget sums it up.
 "In sum, the data did not provide a basis for us to determine with absolute certainty whether there was or was not tampering as the analysis of such data ultimately is dependent upon assumptions and information that is not certain.”

No concrete evidence and yet this is enough to suspend Tom Brady? Seriously? This is Illogical. If you tried to convince a jury that someone was guilty with that exact argument you would lose the case 99.9% of the time. However this is enough to suspend one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Because of unproven assumptions? This is nonsense and this has been from the start. But why?

Well that's where things get interesting. You see, as I said from the start this was blown up by epic proportions by two main media outlets: ESPN and the New York Sports Media. ESPN has never had a good relationship with the Patriots and New York has obvious reasons to trash anything related to the Pats. So why is this relevant? Because you see the NFL is a business. And a big part of your success in business is  public perception.

The NFL took a beating this last season due to the domestic dispute issues. The last thing they can afford is to have the public pissed off anymore. Why? Because once people start getting pissed, Sponsorships start getting lost. When sponsorships are lost, revenues take a hit. So what do you think the NFL is going to do? Stick their middle finger up to the media and the public and say it's no big deal? Of course not. They're going to give the people what they want. They're going to drop the hammer on the evil Patriots and Roger Gooddell will be the knight in shining armor for doing so.

Add to the fact the NFL demands parity to keep the fans happy and they'll do anything they can to cripple this team.

 It really is a shame that in the last years of a legendary career Tom Brady has to deal with this disrespectful  assault on his character. Here is a guy who has taken pay cut after pay cut, never gotten in trouble or even had a locker room issue. He wasn't drafted in the first round, and being a 6th round pick he had to fight for every inch to earn a spot on this roster. But yet the media wants to tear this guy down?

"To be succesful you need friends,
to be very succesful you need enemies"

Tonight reports have come out that they will indeed suspend Tom Brady for a certain period of time. It's infuriating that arguably the GOAT of all QBs will have a portion of one of his final seasons wasted because the public and certain powerful media outlets want to see it end. 

We'll have to see just how severe they try to come down on the team. I'll try to keep up to date on the blog from here on out. I've been busy this whole year getting situated with new jobs and all that fun stuff. I'll be back to update more and talk about this years draft selections.

Far From Finished

,Exactly as the title says, the 2015 New England Patriots are (hopefully) far from finished this off season.
There's still pieces left in free agency, and the NFL draft of course.
So lets take a look at the biggest moves made so far in Free Agency...

Revis, Browner, Wilfork, Vereen gone
Scott Chandler,Jabaal Sheard,Travaris Cadet added
 Gostkowski, McCourty re-signed/franchised

Obviously it's great to have McCourty back. I'm interested to see what Sheard will do in this defense however I am really concerned with the defensive line at the moment As of right now you have nothing but an often injured draft pick coming off injured reserve that we're depending on at DT. We have depth along the DL but little to no starters. This will hopefully be addressed. At corner you went from top 3 to huge question marks. Do we start Logan Ryan? If so who plays the opposite side? These are key factors in the 2015 campaign. It's a little scary for Pats fans to think about going from Revis and Browner to complete question marks but such is life in NFL Free Agency.

The Patriots recently hosted corner backs  Terence Newman, Tarell Brown, Bradley Fletcher and Robert McClain. Pretty interesting choices, none that particularly excite me but we'll see how it works out.

I'll be keeping you more up to date through out Free Agency

(By the way, it's good to be the champs)

Patriots-Seahawks Keys To victory

It's here. Super Sunday. The Patriots have a short at their 4th Lombardi and they have one hell of an opponent in their way. So what can the Patriots do to attack the Seahawks? Here's what I think...

• As valuable as offense is and yes we need them to do well tonight, defense is where the Patriots will win or lose this game. They must stop Marshawn Lynch tonight. If they can do this it will force Wilson to win the game which is exactly what the Patriots want to happen. If Lynch is running up and down the field it would take a miracle for the Patriots to win this game. It's not going to be easy but if anyone can make it happen it's Bill Belichick. Yes this team has struggled against the run. But when they couldn't stop Baltimore they found a way to shut their running game down in the second half which was a big key to victory in that game. 

• Offensive Line. This is one of their toughest tests of the season. Probably the biggest difference in the Patriots super bowl wins and losses was the play of the offensive line. In 2003 the Patriots neutralized the Carolina Panthers front 7. They won that game. In 07-11 the Patriots were manhandled by the Giants defensive line. They lost those games. Anyone see a pattern here?

•  Middle of the Field. Attacking the Seahawks down field is not smart nor does it play to the Patriots strength. The key is the middle of the field. If they can get Rob Gronkowski going along with Julien Edelman in the short passing game they will have success against Seattle. This will take away Seattle's corners and neutralize their pass rush.

That's about it in my opinion. The Seahawks are a good, but simple team. There's nothing complex going on in their offense. I know people love Russel Wilson and think he's the reason they came back against Green Bay, but people fail to realize Marshawn Lynch was the one who got the offense going against the Packers. If Russel Wilson does not have a running game he cannot do the things he does and that will give the Patriots full control of this game.

Patriots Return To The Scene Of The Crime

So at the time of me writing this it's 1:13 AM (a bit of a night owl, I know) and we're officially 5 days away now from the Superbowl. And I gotta tell ya, I can't ever remember a Superbowl that has the kind of coverage this one has.

If anyone can locate ANY footage of an analyst breaking this match up down for more then 1 hour please show me because I've yet to see it. It's like the talking heads discuss the match up for 10 minutes before getting into all the nonsense. Worse yet, whenever the Patriots are mentioned so is the whole deflation issue. Yet when the Seahawks are mentioned, the media has nothing but great things to say about this team. I've never seen a media such a fan of one team and so obviously venomous towards another. We get it, you hate Belichick because he doesn't give you the fun press conferences but at this point it's simply amazing how much disdain the media has for this organization. If the Patriots win the superbowl will they show the parade or will they go over ways the Patriots cheated?

 When you look at these two teams you see such differences personality wise. The Seahawks come off as loud mouth, arrogant young guns that need to be knocked back down a notch. The Patriots are actually less experienced then the Seahawks are with Superbowl experience on their roster yet the way some of the Seahawks players are acting you'd never know. Don't get me wrong, the Seahawks are a good team. But their downfall will be their arrogance, mark my words. It seems the only players that shut up and play are Russel Wilson and Marshawn Lynch.

Seeing the Patriots get off the plane today  you could not only see it but almost feel it. This team means business. They're pissed that they've been questioned and their here to answer the call. Call me superstitious but I love the fact this team is staying where the Giants stayed before defeating the Patriots in Arizona, and I love the fact they're returning to the scene of the crime.

Before that loss to the Giants the Patriots were on the brink of cementing their legacy. Here they are again, maybe not with an undefeated season to finish but a legacy to cement.

Full Steam Ahead

In an unusual move, Bill Belichick actually called the media in for a press conference today. His goal? To make his point clear, and allow his team to focus on the super bowl.

To sum it up: Belichick made it clear that he did not have any involvement with messing with the ball pressure, throughout the week BB and Patriots teammates have also defended Tom Brady despite media reports trying to paint the picture of Belichick throwing the blame on his quarterback.

I think it's a great move that Belichick broke his silence and went out of his way to declare no wrongdoing. The league and the media has and will continue to make a circus out of this. Grown men like Mark Brunnel(an ESPN analyst) will even try to cry to show you how much it bothers him that he thinks the Patriots cheat,

However, the media can no longer act as if the Patriots are sitting in the corner like a dog who got caught chewing the couch. They have went out of their way to deny these ridiculous, overblown allegations, at this point it's on the NFL and the NFL only to have the final say. 

From here on out, it's full steam ahead. Let the media harp on the nonsense. Let the Seahawks continue to talk trash. The Patriots need to focus, because they've been challenged.

The media has questioned this team's legacy. The Seahawks think they aren't that good. People think they can't win without cheating. 

Good.

Every time the world has questioned this team they don't just step up to the plate, they charge it like a bull. I expect nothing different next Sunday. Lets put this nonsense behind us and focus on the goal..Which is Lombardi #4.

As the title says...from here on out it's full steam ahead.

The Real Cheater

Lately, Richard Sherman has been running his mouth about Tom Brady. Calling him classless, a cheater, etc.

I find it ever so funny that a guy  who has been caught using PED says this.
Oh, you didn't know or you forgot right? Because the media loves Richard Sherman..And they wouldn't possibly call him out on his bullshit for long.

In fact, the very team that the Patriots face this weekend, the Seahawks, have had 7 players caught with PEDs. Yet all the media does it go after Patriots.

On the current Seahawks roster Sherman and Bruce Irvin are big contributors for the Seahawks, yet no one seemed to care that this team uses performance enhancing drugs. I wonder why this is? It's obvious to anyone who's paying attention.

So how about instead of throwing stones while living in glass houses we focus on the game?

Just a quick thought to start your morning......