Tag: Bill Belichick (Page 16 of 26)

      NFL Playoff Preview: Sunday games

      January 10, 2010 /

      Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots
      1:00 pm ET
      TV—CBS

      Last season, the Ravens began their playoff journey as a wild card by upsetting the AFC East champion Dolphins, and then upsetting the top seeded Tennessee Titans, before losing to the eventual champion Steelers in the AFC championship game. This season the Ravens went 10-6 and eked into the playoffs in Week 17, but their losses have mostly been close games, including a 27-21 defeat in New England in Week 4. The Ravens’ fifth ranked rushing attack is led by RB Ray Rice, and they will once again use their stout defense (ranked third overall) to try and stop Tom Brady, Randy Moss and company. The Patriots will try to run the ball to control the clock and keep it away from Rice, and also try to use said running game to allow Brady and his receivers to stretch the field. Of course, everyone knows that Wes Welker is out for the season after jamming his knee into the Reliant Stadium turf last Sunday. But did anyone expect rookie WR (and 7th round draft pick) Julian Edelman to catch 10 passes for 103 yards and run up and down the field looking like a Welker clone doing it? Not really. Still, Brady didn’t have guys named Lewis, Suggs and Reed lining up on the other side last week, and those guys in purple jerseys could force him into making a few mistakes. The bottom line, however, is that the Patriots are 8-0 at home this season, and a Bill Belichick coached team is a tough out in the playoffs.
      THE PICK: PATRIOTS 26, RAVENS 17

      Green Bay Packers at Arizona Cardinals
      4:40 pm ET
      TV—FOX

      Amazingly, this game is the third contest of the weekend that is a rematch of a Week 17 game, and like the Philly/Dallas game, this one is also in the same building, at University of Phoenix Stadium in Arizona. Will it be the same outcome though? Last week, the Packers played all of their starters in annihilating the defending NFC champs 33-7, but Cardinals coach Ken Whisenhunt did not use star QB Kurt Warner after the first quarter. Still, how much of that crap about tipping your hand before playing an opponent again do you believe? This is the NFL, and the team that executes their game plan usually wins. Packers’ coach Mike McCarthy believed that letting Aaron Rodgers and his receivers stretch the field against the Cardinals’ 23rd ranked pass defense, as well as mixing in a heavy dose of Ryan Grant and Ahman Green to run the ball and keep it away from Warner and Matt Leinart was an effective strategy. Of course, McCarthy’s Packers boast the #1 rushing defense in the NFL and the #5 passing defense, so they feel like they can stop whoever is trying to move the ball against them anyway, especially if star CB Charles Woodson suits up after aggravating a shoulder injury last week. Remember, though, that the Cardinals are recently playoff tested, and came within a brilliant Santonio Holmes touchdown catch from winning it all less than a year ago.
      THE PICK: PACKERS 33, CARDINALS 30

      NFL

      Are we witnessing the end of the Pats’ dynasty?

      January 7, 2010 /

      It wasn’t supposed to be like this for the New England Patriots. In the preseason, the general consensus was that the Pats were going to put on an offensive show reminiscent of 2007 this season now that Tom Brady was back under center. But while the offense has been outstanding this season (they are third in the NFL in total offense and second in the AFC in points scored behind the Chargers), the Pats have been far from dominant.

      At the root of the issue has been a defense that has been average at best this year. The Pats have the No. 11 overall defense, but the stats don’t paint the full picture. Opponents have been able to move the ball successfully against them this season, mostly notably on the ground where NE is giving up over 110 rushing yards per game.

      Compounding New England’s problems is that they haven’t been as clutch as they have been in previous seasons. Brady has had his issues with turnovers, the defense has struggled coming up with a big stop and regardless of whether or not you agree with Belichick’s decision-making this season, the bottom line is that they haven’t worked. The fourth down gaffe against Indianapolis wasn’t the only time Belichick has rolled the dice this season and came up short.

      The good thing is that the Patriots have been here before. They have loads of postseason experience and have been a different team at home this season than on the road. The problem (outside of everything else that has already been mentioned) is that they face a confident Ravens team that has already proven it can go toe-to-toe with them in Foxboro, and that they’ll be without their most consistent offensive weapon in Wes Welker, who suffered a season-ending knee injury last Sunday in Houston.

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      NFL

      Belichick blames Reliant Stadium for Welker’s injury

      January 5, 2010 /

      Bill Belichick is blaming Wes Welker’s torn MCL and ACL on the poor field conditions at Houston’s Reliant Stadium.

      From Yahoo! Sports:

      Welker, who led the NFL with 123 receptions, suffered a serious left knee injury in a 34-27 loss to the Texans on Sunday on what Belichick called “one of the worst fields I’ve seen.”

      He did not elaborate Tuesday on remarks he made a day earlier during his weekly appearance on WEEI radio. Belichick said the field was inconsistent— spongy in parts and hard in others—causing players to get a different feel with each step.
      Belichick said a lot of non-contact injuries like Welker’s occur on such surfaces.

      Asked several times about the field on Tuesday, Belichick said he is focusing on Sunday’s home playoff game against the Baltimore Ravens.

      Come on Bill, you can do better than that. Just say something clichéd like, “Injuries happen in football,” and move on. Don’t blame it on the field to deflect some of the blame off yourself for having Welker playing in a semi-meaningless game in the first place.


      Photo from fOTOGLIF

      NFL

      NFL Week 16 COY Power Rankings

      January 3, 2010 /

      Upsets galore and crazy outcomes have forced us to look a bit harder at the Coach of the Year rankings, but most of our contenders are hanging tough.

      1. Jim Caldwell, Indianapolis Colts—The poor guy is still dodging proverbial rocks being thrown by Colts’ fans, who wanted their team to continue its pursuit of perfection instead of rolling over against the Jets. Being that the Colts were still in position to go to 15-0 when Caldwell did that, we have to cut him some slack and remember that his team is still the top seed in the AFC and would be in the NFC as well.

      2. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Payton surely did not want to back into the #1 seed in the NFC, but after losing two games in a row, his team did just that when the Vikings’ loss Monday night let the Saints snag the top position. And once again, we have to consider the entire season’s body of work.

      3. Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers—When you consider that Turner’s Chargers always play lousy in September, only to win when it really matters, that’s far better than it being the other way around. It’s time we started to give Turner his due.

      4. Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals—The Bengals are another team not playing well, but they have dealt with two tragedies this season—the death of player Chris Henry, and the passing of the wife of D-coordinator Mike Zimmer. And still, the Bengals are 10-5 with an AFC North title. Raise your hand if you expected that.

      5. Brad Childress, Minnesota Vikings—Yes, the Vikings are floundering and in danger of losing the #2 seed to Philly or Dallas, but I’ll keep mentioning two players who Childress sought in the off-season that made this a championship caliber team—Brett Favre and Percy Harvin.

      Honorable mention: Ken Whisenhunt, Cardinals; Mike McCarthy, Packers; Andy Reid, Eagles; Bill Belichick, Patriots; Rex Ryan, Jets; Wade Phillips, Cowboys; Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos

      NFL

      Should the Patriots still be feared?

      December 27, 2009 /

      For a month and a half, the Patriots have looked average to below average every week. They were smacked by the Saints in late November, lost a tightly contested battle in Miami the following week, and then won back-to-back games against the Panthers and Bills in lackluster fashion.

      But their 35-7 rout of the Jaguars (a playoff contender, mind you) on Sunday begs the question of whether or not the Patriots are still feared. With all due respect to the Steelers, New England has been the team of the decade and is always dangerous in the postseason. They’re also somewhat flying under the radar because they haven’t looked particularly great, but have won three in a row and might be building some confidence again.

      That said, it’s no surprise that the Patriots beat the snot out of the Jaguars today. They’ve beaten Jacksonville the last four times the two teams have played and have outscored the Jags 110-57 in those four games. They just match up well with Jacksonville and they proved it again today.

      My eyes tell me that this isn’t the same Patriots team that has trampled the competition in the past, even with their impressive win today. But with Tom Brady under center and Bill Belichick patrolling the sideline, my gut wonders if this isn’t a team (which has had a ton of success in the postseason) peaking at the right time and that could sneak up on the opposition in the playoffs two weeks from now.

      NFL

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