Category: Patriots

Browns join ’87 Patriots to start 5 different QBs in a season

When Jeff Driskel starts in Week 18 for the Browns, he will be their fifth different starting QB this season

Jeff Driskel gets the call to start at quarterback on Sunday when the Cleveland Browns play the Cincinnati Bengals.

With the Browns safely locked into the fifth playoff spot, Kevin Stefanski is not going to risk injury to 38-year-old Joe Flacco.

Driskel becomes the fifth different player to start at quarterback for the Browns in the 2023 regular season.

The others are Flacco, PJ Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Deshaun Watson.

Another team that started 5 quarterbacks was the 1987 New England Patriots, possibly the only one.

Those starters were: Steve Grogan, Tom Ramsey, Tony Eason, Bob Bleier, and Doug Flutie.

For those of you who don’t remember Bleier, who split two starts in the strike-disrupted season:

Bob Bleier was one of the most prolific passers in Richmond football history, finishing his career first on the Spiders’ career lists with 1,169 career attempts, 672 completions, 8,057 passing yards and 54 passing touchdowns from 1983-86. Bleier owned three of the top five passing seasons in school history. He was Second Team All-Yankee Conference in 1986 and played in the Blue-Gray Game following that season. Bleier played for the New England Patriots of the National Football League in 1987.

Browns join ’87 Patriots to start 5 different QBs in a season

When Jeff Driskel starts in Week 18 for the Browns, he will be their fifth different starting QB this season

Jeff Driskel gets the call to start at quarterback on Sunday when the Cleveland Browns play the Cincinnati Bengals.

With the Browns safely locked into the fifth playoff spot, Kevin Stefanski is not going to risk injury to 38-year-old Joe Flacco.

Driskel becomes the fifth different player to start at quarterback for the Browns in the 2023 regular season.

The others are Flacco, PJ Walker, Dorian Thompson-Robinson, and Deshaun Watson.

Another team that started 5 quarterbacks was the 1987 New England Patriots, possibly the only one.

Those starters were: Steve Grogan, Tom Ramsey, Tony Eason, Bob Bleier, and Doug Flutie.

For those of you who don’t remember Bleier, who split two starts in the strike-disrupted season:

Bob Bleier was one of the most prolific passers in Richmond football history, finishing his career first on the Spiders’ career lists with 1,169 career attempts, 672 completions, 8,057 passing yards and 54 passing touchdowns from 1983-86. Bleier owned three of the top five passing seasons in school history. He was Second Team All-Yankee Conference in 1986 and played in the Blue-Gray Game following that season. Bleier played for the New England Patriots of the National Football League in 1987.

Jalen Reagor opens game with 98-yard kickoff return TD for Patriots

Jalen Reagor with a kickoff return TD to open the Pats-Bills game for New England

Jalen Reagor got the New England Patriots off to a fast start against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.

As in a lead, 12 seconds into the AFC East game.

Reagor took the opening kickoff and returned it 98 yards for a score.

After the PAT, the Pats led, 7-0.

Chad Ryland drills 56-yard field goal as Patriots spoil Broncos’ rally

Rookie Chad Ryland lifted the Patriots to victory over the Broncos

Chad Ryland had missed a field goal and a PAT attempt. Bill Belichick still sent out his kicker with 7 seconds left Sunday night at Mile High,

The rookie nailed a 56-yard field goal that went through the uprights with 2 seconds left to give the Patriots a 26-23 victory over the Broncos.

Bailey Zappe was pumped after the kick gave the Pats the lead.

The kick ruined a fourth-quarter comeback that saw Denver saw 16 straight points to overcome a 23-7 deficit.

Patriots score 2 touchdowns in 6 seconds against Broncos

The Patriots erupted for 20 points in the third quarter against the Broncos

The New England Patriots scored 26 points total in the third quarters of their first 14 games.

Against the Denver Broncos on Christmas Eve, New England went for 20 in the third quarter.

They reached that number with the help of a pair of touchdowns in 8 seconds.

The first came with 1:34 left when Bailey Zappe connected with Mike Gesicki from 11 yards.

The PAT made it 16-7.

On the next kickoff, Marvin Mims Jr. muffed the catch. He then corraled it only to be separated from the football after being hit.

The ball was recovered by Cody Davis. who wound up in the end zone untouched with 1:28 left in the quarter.

The PAT made it 23-7 heading into the fourth quarter.

Can Jared Goff finally solve his Brian Flores problem?

Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores has been Lions quarterback Jared Goff’s white whale through his career, and the two face off again on Sunday.

When the Detroit Lions travel to U.S. Bank Stadium to meet the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday, Lions quarterback Jared Goff will be dealing with a defense like no other in the NFL, though led by a defensive coordinator in Brian Flores who has had Goff’s number through several different teams and defensive iterations.

The last time Goff faced a defense created by Flores, it was November 1, 2020. Goff was the Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback, and Flores was the Miami Dolphins’ head coach and defensive shot-caller. And in the end, it was an absolute nightmare for Goff. Flores threw all kinds of blitzes and coverages at him, but Miami’s Cover-0 blitzes specifically drove Goff nuts — and into the throes of a 28-17 loss. Goff attempted 61 passes in that game, completing 35 of 61 passes for 355 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, two fumbles (one of which was returned for a touchdown), and a passer rating of 65.9.

The time before that was Super Bowl LIII at the end of the 2018 season. Things were no better for Goff in that game. Then, Flores, the New England Patriots’ defensive coordinator, did a brilliant job of flipping his defenses at the 15-second mark of the play clock, when head coach Sean McVay was no longer allowed to speak to Goff in his helmet headset. Goff completed 19 f 38 passes for 229 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a passer rating of 57.9. The Patriots beat the Rams 10-3, and the Rams tied the Dolphins in Super Bowl VI for the lowest score in any Super Bowl.

Now, Goff has to solve a Flores defense that has planted its schematic identity at the four corners of the earth. This season, the Vikings have by far sent three or fewer rushers at the quarterback more than any other team, and they have by far sent six or more rushers more than any other team. The Vikings have also played the highest rate of Cover-0 in the league (12.1%), and they’ve played the highest rate of Cover-2 in the league (29.0%). Of course, the problem with Flores’ latest defense is that nothing post-snap is what it looked like pre-snap. Flores loves to muddy the picture with blitz looks that turn into drop-8 zone coverage, and he’s just as adept at showing you all-out blitzes that turn into two-high looks… and vice versa.

It’s a tough go for any offense right now, and given Goff’s history against Flores’ mastery, perhaps it’s a bit tougher.

In this week’s “Xs and Os with Greg Cosell and Doug Farrar,” the guys get into how the Lions can set Goff up for better success with the precision and spacing of their passing game in an offense where everybody is an alpha dog, but there’s no one featured player.

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You can watch this week’s “Xs and Os,” featuring all of Week 16’s biggest NFL matchups (including Lions-Vikings of course), right here:

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You can also listen and subscribe to the “Xs and Os” podcast on Spotify…

…and on Apple Podcasts.

Now, let’s review the previous Goff-Flores matchups, and how Goff might be able to finally bag his white whale.

Kicking footballs during Chiefs-Patriots were not inflated properly

How could another deflated football story involve the Patriots of all teams?

The New England Patriots are back in the news with underinflated footballs as part of the story. Don’t blame them this time.

MASSLive.com’s Mark Daniels reported Wednesday that the kicking balls during the Kansas City Chiefs-Patriots game in Week 15 were underinflated by two pounds.

Interestingly, when Harrison Butker of the Chiefs missed an early field goal the game announcers commented on how rare it was.

And pronto, the explanation could have been kicking balls that were set to 11 pounds and not 13.5.

Per the report:

After team complaints, officials took the ‘K-Balls’ into the locker room at halftime where they were discovered to weigh 11 pounds instead of the legal limit of 13.5, per sources.

The underinflated footballs didn’t travel as well in the Foxborough weather on Sunday and sources indicated that’s why Patriots kicker Chad Ryland and Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker missed field goals in the first half. Sources noted that the footballs traveled farther in the second half once inflated to the proper 13.5 PSI.

“They were all sitting around at 11 PSI. The threshold is usually 13.5,” a source told MassLive. “(The Patriots) told the refs they were a little under inflated or they felt that way. At halftime, they confirmed and obviously put air in them.”

Of course, this stirs memories of Deflategate itself.

In the  2014 AFC Championship Game, it was discovered footballs were underinflated during the first half of the Patriots’ win over the Colts. That led to the lengthy NFL investigation, which resulted in Tom Brady being suspended, the team being fined $1 million and the Patriots losing two draft picks.

Matthew Judon may be in for fine mess after tweet

Matthew Judon of the Patriots with an interesting comment on a tweet about Patrick Mahomes

Matthew Judon is out for the New England Patriots due to a torn biceps.

Their defensive stalwart may need to use one arm to reach into his wallet to pay a stiff fine to the NFL after a Sunday tweet.

After the Patriots lost to the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, someone tweeted a photoshopped image of Patrick Mahomes kissing an NFL official.

Judon weighted in with “I see no lies” expressing his belief the quarterback gets more than fair treatment from officials.

Anatomy of a Play: What were the Steelers thinking on fourth-and-2?

What were the Pittsburgh Steelers thinking on that fourth-and-2 play against the New England Patriots? After thorough examination, we’re stumped.

With 2:01 left in their Thursday night matchup with the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers had fourth-and-2 from their own 49-yard line. Down 21-18, they needed to get within field goal range (at worst) to tie the game.

Instead of a high-percentage play, the call was for a backside fade throw from quarterback Mitchell Trubisky to receiver Diontae Johnson. The Steelers had no quick options to the sideline — receiver Allen RObinson and tight end Pat Freiermuth were running stuff over the middle — and given that the two-minute warning was coming up, maybe they get a pass for that one. But you need an easy completion and conversion for your inconsistent quarterback here, not one of the toughest throws in any quarterback’s arsenal. Johnson did get far enough away from cornerback Jonathan Jones to bring the ball in, but again, this is a VERY tough throw to make, and Trubisky couldn’t do it.

“It was,” head coach Mike Tomlin said after the game, when asked if Johnson was the primary read on that play. “We were down there. We play to win. We wanted to be aggressive. We just didn’t get it done.”

Trubisky told a slightly different story.

We had multiple options. The safety [Jabrill Peppers] was favoring GP [George Pickens, to the other side]. I liked the one-on-one with Diontae. I felt like I could throw a better ball.”

Well, Peppers was probably cheating to Pickens because Pickens is by far the team’s best fade and contested catch receiver, but we digress.

Defensive lineman Cameron Heyward was also asked about the decision.

“Go for it. I’m not running from it. You know, he wanted to see his playmaker make a play. Didn’t make it; so be it. As defense I look at like, man, we shouldn’t have been in that situation. You know, 18 points is plenty, and 21 is way too much.”

21 is certainly way too much when you bust on 18.

Bill Belichick imitates Lee Corso with Army-Navy pick on ‘College GameDay’

Bill Belichick with this pick on the Army-Navy game

Amazing what a win on Thursday Night Football will do for one’s sense of humor.

Bill Belichick was the guest picker on “College GameDay” Saturday as the show was based in Foxborough, where the Army-Navy game was going to take place.

Belichick has a huge Navy background so when it came time to make a pick no surprise he went with the Middies.

And he channeled Lee Corso in making his choice.