Joshua McInnis
FRANKLIN, MA (@J_Money_426) The NFL Trade Deadline is approaching quite rapidly and has already been quite active in recent weeks. the deadline is only a few hours away but expected to be very active. The Patriots have a huge chance of getting some amazing talent for relatively cheap to help them on their way to a possible 6th Super Bowl title. The Patriots currently sit at 6-2 and took on the division rival Buffalo Bills on Monday Night Football defeating Buffalo 25-6. The Patriots started off the season cold but have heated up in recent weeks with the emergence of rookie running back Sony Michel from Georgia, the recent trade acquisition of Josh Gordon and the return of Julian Edelman, but still have some major holes. The Patriots defense has been very mediocre this year and have had trouble stopping a nosebleed. Defense is something New England wants to address at the deadline if they really want a shot at a 6th Super Bowl this year with teams like the Los Angeles Rams who have very good offense and defense. The positions that need to be filled are linebacker, defensive line and the secondary. The Patriots offense has been quite good this year but with limited depth on offense, it would be very smart for New England to address this. They should try and get some new toys for Tom Brady to torture opposing defenses with. Wide receiver would be the first thing to take care of with Edelman, Gordon, Hogan, Dorsett and Patterson. especially with recent reports of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick wanting to trade high draft picks for a premium star wide receiver to help out Brady. Edelman and Gordon have been the only solid options TB12 has been able to trust outside Gronk and James White. Demaryius Thomas – Denver Broncos: Demaryius would give the Patriots true number 1 WR they have needed for a very long time since Randy Moss. He will help open up the field for Tom Brady by taking pressure of Edelman, Gronk, Gordon and the rest of the WR’s. Odell Beckham Jr – New York Giants: First off, I know Odell is a longshot for Patriots to acquire but this is the type of player they need. He is someone who plays with a great deal of passion and swagger that is very visible on field. Beckham will give the Patriots a new dynamic on offense they have never had. Odell’s elite speed, elusiveness and homerun threat he offers on every play that will help TB12 tremendously by giving him a true number 1 wide out. Beckham is the type of WR Belichick has been recently wanting to try and acquire. Golden Tate – Detroit Lions: Tate been connected with New England in recent weeks and would fit very nicely in the Patriots offense. He would provide Brady another target to help take coverage off others to open the field. Golden Tate has ability to work on deep, intermediate and short routes with his great hands. Jared Cook – Oakland Raiders: As Jon Gruden and the Oakland Raiders are having a fire sale by clearing house of anyone not in Gruden’s plan for the future. Cook would be a great option for New England to get as some security to Gronkowski and probably get him relatively cheap. Cook would provide Gronk someone to take pressure off him to create more space for him to do his thing. Jared would also help Patriots with depth in case of injury. Chris Harris Jr – Denver Broncos: Chris Harris Jr would a great option for Bill to try and go get him to help solidify the secondary. Chris would supply excellent coverage skills and ability to work from the slot and on the outside. He would help Stephon Gilmore by taking off some burden in coverage and making it more difficult to throw on Patriots secondary. Gareon Conley – Oakland Raiders: Conley is a young upcoming corner who has great potential and could thrive with change of scenery with Gruden making it clear he really isn’t in the sights of Oakland’s future. Patriots should capitalize on this opportunity to get a young and very talented corner who can contribute now but be a player to build upon for the future. Janoris Jenkins – New York Giants: As of recently the Giants have gone from going all in to rebuilding and want to move on from players to start rebuilding. Patriots need to jump on this chance to get a premium player in Janoris Jenkins that can help right away and give them a star corner that will help force turnovers that the New England desperately needs if they want to win a 6th Super Bowl. Deon Bucannon – Arizona Cardinals: This year Arizona is in clear rebuild stage with rookie QB and some good veteran players that teams want. Patriots would be wise to attempt at getting Deone Bucannon who can play in a hybrid role as a safety/linebacker both positions of need for the Patriots. He is very versatile and could thrive with a change of scenery. Haason Reddick – Arizona Cardinals: Reddick would be a great pickup to help solidify the linebacker core with all the injuries have dealt with and lack of depth at the position. Haason was drafted in 2017 but hasn’t fully shown what he is capable of a change of teams could help him out a great deal in reaching his full potential. Patriots should try and snag Reddick, a young player who has ability to be a star in NFL. He shouldn’t cost much to get but with immense upside it should be hard to pass on the opportunity of acquiring young talent. Shane Ray – Denver Broncos: Shane Ray is an option New England shouldn’t overlook with him coming into NFL as one of the top linebackers in the nation but has yet to really shine his full potential. Ray would be a great lottery pick to take a shot on a could payoff greatly for the Patriots. Jamie Collins – Cleveland Browns: Jamie Collins would be a very solid pickup and reunite him with Bill after being traded away a few years back. He can come in and pick up playbook quicker with his experience in his previous stint with Patriots. He will provide a well-rounded game with good pass defense, run stopping and pass rush help the Patriots are in desperate need of if they want a shot at a 6th ring.
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Benjamin Kruse
FRANKLIN, MA (@benkruse144) On a beautiful Sunday afternoon at Gillette Stadium, the undefeated Miami Dolphins traveled to Foxborough, Massachusetts to take on the struggling 1-2 Patriots. Many New England Patriots fans were very concerned to see their team go down to 1-2. Fans were asking, is the dynasty over?. Is Tom Brady’s last season this year?. After reading this game recap, Patriots fans will feel a lot better after reading the result of Sunday's game. The Patriots coming into this game were struggling picking up first downs on offense and their problems on defense was being able to limit long drives. The Patriots got great news on one of their new receivers before the game started. Josh Gordon was activated for the game and was going to make his debut. The Patriots were able to dominate the running game with running backs Sony Michel and James White. The Miami Dolphins offense who came into Foxborough hot, had nothing going. The Patriots got two main players back in Patrick Chung and Trey Flowers. Those two gave the Patriots defense a huge boost. Miami quarterback Ryan Tannehill had a hard time staying in the pocket and he only threw for a total of 100 yards. Their duo running backs Kenyon Drake and Frank Gore combined, got nothing going in the ground game. The Patriots caught a break when they found out one of their top receivers Devante Parker was ruled out. Cordarrelle Patterson and Phillip Dorsett made key contributions for New England with a touchdown catch each in the first half. Sony Michel and James White really ignited the offense which definitely needed a spark. White ran and caught a touchdown, as well as Michel got his first touchdown run of the season, and his career. The Patriots played their best half of football so far, this season and after they took a 24-0 lead to halftime. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady has really had a hard time getting acclimated with his new receivers and he could not just rely on his tight end Rob Gronkowski to make all the plays. Patriots receiver Chris Hogan played in the slot where he’s typically better on the outside. Good news for the Patriots is they get their best receiver back in Julian Edelman back against the Colts. The Patriots did have three players who got hurt on Sunday. All three players were very important to the win. However, tight end Rob Gronkowski who left the game early with an ankle injury, is questionable to play this Thursday. The good news is that the injury is not serious and that’s a sign of relief for New England. Defensive players Elandon Roberts and Adam Butler got hurt as well. Butler reportedly will be at full strength soon, and might even suit up for the game against the Colts. Roberts limped after the game was over but hopefully it’s not a long-term concern. The Patriots seem to not have long term type injuries which is good news after a dominating win. With the Patriots now at 2-2, fans should not be too worried. It also will help that their next two games will be at home this Thursday against the Colts, and the following week against the Chiefs. Brendan Howe
FRANKLIN, MA (@Brendan__Howe) Ah, yes. That's more like it. Remember last week when I published an article telling all of Pats Nation to just r-e-l-a-x? Yeah, you're welcome. All week, the Patriots heard the criticism from fans and media alike. But, as they've done for so many years, the kings of blocking out the noise, did it again. And it resulted in a resounding blowout win over the Dolphins, and a message sent to the rest of the NFL. Tom Brady rebounded from a poor showing in Detroit a week prior, by throwing for 274 yards and 3 touchdowns. The rest of the offense woke up too. James White and Phillip Dorsett each caught a TD from Brady, and even newcomer Josh Gordon hauled in a couple passes for 32 yards. The ground game was also dominant for New England on Sunday, something that isn't very common with Josh McDaniels doing the playcalling. Rookie Sony Michel left his fingerprints all over the football, averaging 4.5 YPC while rushing for 112 yards and his first NFL touchdown. Granted, it came in garbage time with the Patriots already firmly in the drivers seat, but, it still counts all the same. However, the aspect of the Patriots gameplan that was even further under the microscope on Sunday was the defense, and it did not disappoint. New England's defense held Miami to just 172 yards of total offense, and made Ryan Tannehill run for his life almost all afternoon. DT Adam Butler and newly acquired DE John Simon each busted through the Dolphins o-line to record sacks, and J.C Jackson also came away with his first career interception. Key pieces returning to the Patriots defense also helped immensely, as Patrick Chung and Trey Flowers both came off the inactive list after suffering concussions and missing the Pats week three matchup in Detroit. New England made a much needed change to their defensive scheme, instead of playing zone and double-high safety, they instead switched to press coverage with linebacker help over the middle. They made life tough for Dolphin receivers to get off the line, which in turn, allowed the New England pass rush to get to Tannehill and force him out of the pocket. The Patriots never let the Dolphins settle in on offense, and it led to much needed success. Bottom line, the Patriots aren't going anywhere. So, for all those Patriot haters out there that are hoping and praying for the dynasty to end? You may have to wait just a little bit longer. Especially if the defense continues to throw new looks at each opposing offense week in and week out. The offense will fix itself, now the defense needs to hold up their end of the bargain. Spearheaded by Brady, the Patriots improved to 2-2 on Sunday and will have a quick turnaround this week when they play host to Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday Night Football. |