Tag: new england patriots

Amendola Takes His Talents to South Beach

I’m going to be honest here — I had no idea Amendola was even a free agent? Does that mean I won’t miss Danny Playoffs? Absolutely not.

It’s a gut punch that he’s going to the Dolphins and staying in the AFC East. Will the Patriots be fine? Of course they will. Belichick will pull the ball boy into the receiving corp and the engine will chug along per usual. Does it suck? Absolutely. Amendola, though not producing much in the regular season usually was always clutch when it mattered. Take a look at this year:

dola

Easily the Patriots playoff MVP outside of #12. Can I blame Amendola, a 32 year old slot receiver with a history of injuries, for cashing in? I can’t. Right now it’s reported as a 2 year, 12 million dollar contract which is way more than the Patriots would have offered. The Patriots, per sources, had a chance to match and refused as their crowded receiving corp could not find a spot for ‘Dola. He will be missed and that two point conversion catch during the Falcons was the clincher to go into overtime. His best moment will still go down in Patriots’ history:

 

The Patriots Complete the Comeback En Route to Their 10th Super Bowl

The Jaguars carried a 20-10 lead into the fourth quarter and had a chance to stop the Patriots on a key 3rd and 18 backed up in their own territory.

Let’s rewind real quick.

CBS hit us with a fantastic opener with almost countered the fact that we had to listen to Tony Romo all day

The Patriots opened up with a quick FG on a productive drive to make it look like they weren’t going to have any issues with the Jaguars defense. The Jacksonville offense, however, had other plans.

We saw Marcedes Lewis catch his only pass of the day on an easy, wide-open TD.

And then we saw a Fournette TD to put the Gillette Stadium on edge.

14-3 is not the greatest look against one of the best defenses in the league. The Patriots however did manage to drive down the field and get a TD before half (as they always do well) to go into the locker room at 14-10.  The bad news however, was that they lost Gronk to a brutal hit by Church.

 

It was a lackluster third quarter which saw the Jaguars take a 20-10 lead after two Lambo FGs.

The Patriots looked to be in trouble after a double-pass play from Amendola to Dion Lewis resulted in a fumble caused & recovered by Myles Jack. The Patriots got the ball back and were faced with 3rd and 18 and as all NFL fans know, this went exactly how you thought it would.

 

 

Amendola then capped the drive with a touchdown.

The Patriots then got the ball back and well .. you know how this one goes as well.

The Jags did put up a small drive to end the game but ultimately could not get the pass to Dede Westbrook as Stephon Gilmore (who has barely made a play all year) made the deflection of his career. The Patriots got the ball back and Dion Lewis finishes the job on third down.

Hats off to the Jags — Belichick is never that happy so this game was clearly in danger of being lost. However, in the end it just wasn’t enough to stop the Patriots for going for #6. The Jags will be back but it’s still the Patriots’ time.

 

P.S. Get that trophy the hell away from Bill if it’s not the Lombardi.

 

16 Years Ago Today, Tom Brady Won His First Playoff Game

Snow Bowl. Tuck Rule Game. January 19, 2002. Whatever you want to call it, it was the debut of the greatest quarterback of all time in the playoffs.

The game, of course, was not very high scoring with the Patriots winning on a Vinatieri field goal 16-13 in overtime.

Nobody hated the Patriots back then but this was the game where we learned of the tuck rule where Raiders fans will take to their graves that Brady got away with a fumble.

Image result for tuck rule game

The rest is history — the Patriots went on to upset the Rams in the Super Bowl and start a near 20 year dynasty while the Raiders went on to lose the Super Bowl the following year and fade into irrelevancy.

1/13 Divisional Playoffs Roundup: Patriots Destroy Titans

The Titans scored first and actually gave their fans a glimmer of hope that they’d be competitive and then the Patriots showed up. I’ll give credit where credit is due though — Corey Davis’ first TD of his young career was the first score of this game and was what we were hoping he’d be all here.

After that, well…it was all Patriots per usual. The Pats rode Brady’s 53 pass attempts en route to 35 straight points and an easy road win. James White added two TDs and the Pats allowed a garbage time TD to make the score 35-14, which honestly was not even that close.

Business as usual for the Pats as they’ll host the Jaguars next week at Gillette for a 7th straight appearance in the conference championship.

But at least we got to see Gronk and Amendola’s friendship go to the next level?

Fun stat of the night? Brady is 6-2 in the postseason when throwing 50+ times. In the Super Bowl era, all other QBs combined are 3-28.

The Patriots Open Up As 13.5 Point Favorites Against the Titans

I will admit — nobody really expected the Titans to be gearing up for a trip to Gillette Stadium this weekend. The Chiefs underachieved, sure but to lose to the Titans after being up 21-3? Crazy.

Two touchdowns for a divisional playoff game — and people will still bet on the Patriots. This just goes to show you how their dominance is overlooked at this point. Sure, the Titans don’t really scare anybody but they still went into Arrowhead, which is one of the harder places in the league to win (not in the playoffs though) and came back from an 18 point deficit. That being said, hammer the Patriots line. The Patriots last home game in the playoffs was a 19 point win against the Steelers — combo that with the ESPN headlines and all the negative talk? Patriots win this game by at least 3 TDs.

Also Brady’s last Instagram post?

Final score prediction:

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