12/16/11

Will be v-logging games via YouTube

Now that I can record in HD, I now plan on blogging and v-logging my games via YouTube. I'll update this list as I finish more games and post real-time clips to YouTube. The list of my videos can be found here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=UUx6QNgVavfJx0SBy0ygRUWw&feature=plcp

Week 13: @  - posted!

Week 14:  @ NE - posted!

Week 15: @  - posted!

Week 16: @ NE - posted!

Week 17: @  - posted!

Wildcard Weekend: 
 - BYE
 (10-6) defeat  (10-6) by one point
 (10-6) defeat  (9-7) in overtime
 (11-5) defeat  (10-6) by five points
 (9-7) defeat  (10-6) by five points

2013 Award Winners


Season MVP - Patriots QB Tom Brady
Offensive Player - Patriots QB Tom Brady
Defensive Player - Packers LB Clay Matthews
Offensive Rookie - Bucs QB Dashawn Chapman
Defensive Rookie - Patriots DE Terrence Bynes
Best QB - Patriots QB Tom Brady
Best RB - Browns RB Peyton Hillis
Best WR - Bucs WR Mike Williams
Best OL - Falcons LT Kerrick Pierce
Best DL - Vikings DE Jared Allen
Best LB - Packers LB Clay Matthews
Best DB - Seahawks CB Byron Maxwell
Best K - Broncos K Brendan Dorman
Best Coach - Chargers HC Jerry Ellis

2013 Week 12 - Patriots Lose in OT Thriller to Chargers

New England runs into the buzz-saw that is San Diego. In this Season 2013 OT thriller, after giving up well over a hundred yards rushing to SD RB Ryan Mathews and trailing for most of the game by at least 10 points, Brady rallies his 10 and 1 Patriots squad (who have the NFL's 2012 WR of the year, Wes Welker, and starting RBs Vereen and Woodhead all out with injuries) to tie the game in the fourth; but Phillip Rivers proves his masterful command of the 9 and 2 San Diego offense under new head coach (and leading Coach of the Year vote-getter) Jevron Hill, by coming up clutch in OT with veteran wideout Malcom Floyd (as VJax was out due to injury). Patriots fall to 10 and 2 on the season, and San Diego (who was MIA the past 2 seasons under former HC Norv Turner) rises to the same record, to establish a 2-way tie for the league's best record so far this season.


12/12/11

[Season put on hold while cameras are reworked]

Citing a strange and unusual explanation for why games haven't progressed, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league's cameras are being re-worked to provide greater visual clarity and high definition to the fans.

[12-12-2011 - I am putting the franchise on hold until I get my HD PVR set up to record my games in HD! Should be on Wednesday evening.]

12/9/11

2013 Week 11 Preview - Patriots Season Stats at a Glance


Total Offense - 2nd (Cowboys are 1st)
Passing Offense - 1st
Sacks Allowed (1st being fewest) - tied for 31st
First Downs - 1st (2 ahead of Colts)
3rd Down Conversion Percentage - 4th
Red Zone Offensive Percentage - 12th
Rushing Offense - 31st
Points Per Game - 1st
Total Defense - 32nd
Passing Yards Allowed - 32nd
Rushing Yards Allowed - 7th (!)
Sacks - 1st (!) (1 ahead of Bears)
Fumble Recoveries - tied for 32nd
Interceptions - tied for 5th
Number of Penalties (1st being fewest) - tied for 21st 

2013 Week 10 - Patriots Defeat Browns, But Lose Vereen, Woodhead to injuries

This game wasn't as close as the score suggests (and the score was 48-35!), as the Patriots gave up all 35 points in the third and fourth quarters (having gone into the half up 31-0). The key issue for the Patriots are the losses of their No. 1 & No. 2 RBs, Shane Vereen and Danny Woodhead. In the third quarter, Vereen tore his left quadriceps, which will sideline him for 5 weeks. Woodhead, in the fourth quarter, suffered an abdominal tear that will sideline him for 4 weeks. The injuries could not have been at a worse time, as both RBs were having back-to-back breakout games in rushing yards per carry and touchdowns before suffering the injuries. Once-starting Stevan Ridley will be thrust back into the spotlight from the depths of the bench, and sources close to the team say that they are nearing a one-year deal with free agent RB Tashard Choice. 

[Highlights upcoming]

12/7/11

2013 Week 9 - Patriots blowout Fins, 41-16


After just barely defeating Baltimore, and then enjoying a very relaxing BYE during Week 8, New England hosted Miami in their Week 9, 2013 match-up, and the Patriots got off to a 14-0 start, and didn't look back, and finish with a blowout, 41-16. Brady only ended with 2 TDs, and 1 INT, but excellent running by RBs Shane Vereen (over 5 ypc) and Danny Woodhead (2 rushing TDs), coupled with fantastic special teams play (first TD of the game was WR/PR/KR Wes Welker's return), and a solid defensive effort (6 sacks, INT, FF and recovery for TD) helped propel the Pats. Patriots rise to 7-1.

1st Quarter Real-Time (Raw), In-Game Footage

11/29/11

2013 Week 7 - New England wins by surviving the last few seconds of an intense Baltimore attack

The Patriots' defense were severely outperformed by the Ravens' defense for much of this game (2 INTs, 2 FFs compared to zero turnovers obtained by New England), and Baltimore QB Joe Flacco finished the game with a better passer rating, higher completion percentage, no interceptions, but Flacco couldn't come up clutch when it counted the most. The teams headed into halftime all knotted up at 24, but the Pats' rally and New England's streaky defense shows up clutch at the end of a 4th quarter final seconds thriller, as they prevent Flacco from forcing overtime with 30 seconds left on the clock, and 4 downs to play with, and a mere 5 yards away from paydirt. Patriots win, 41-34. Former Patriots-turned-Ravens TE Aaron Hernandez nearly grabs a win over his old team, but not quite. 

Final half of the 4th quarter of the game (unedited, real-time footage):

11/27/11

2013 Week 6 - 4-1 Colts Crush 5-0 Patriots, Eliminate Unbeaten Streak; Pats fall to 5-1

In this Week 6 match-up, the run of deja vu continues for New England. After beating the team they faced in the AFC Divisional Playoffs last year (Cincinnati), the 86 OVR Patriots hosted the also 86 OVR, 4-1 Colts. But unlike the AFC Championship game last year, when Indy was simply manhandled by New England, this time they turned the tables and held a dominating and seemingly insurmountable lead throughout the game, and rise to 5 and 1 while the Patriots fall to the same record. Indy wins 54 to 35. In the classic battle of the HOF QBs, Peyton Manning was in vintage form, much better than when he struggled mightily in the AFC Championship game last year, this time with a 120.4 QB rating, 499 yards passing, 5 TDs, and 0 INTs. Brady finishes the game with a 101.1 rating, 420 yards passing, 3 TDs, 1 INT. New England's loss here ties them with the 5-1 Colts, Eagles, Bears, and Lions, while the 5-0 San Diego Chargers are now the league's only undefeated team.

2013 Week 5 - Patriots Defense Shines, Both QBs Struggle as Patriots defeat Bengals, 21-13, Move to 5-0

In this re-match of last year's AFC Divisional Playoff game, the Patriots defense continued to impress, this time with 4 INTs of Cincy QB "The Red Rifle" Andy Dalton (2 for CB Devin McCourty, 1 for CB Ras-I Dowling, and 1 for FS Rahim Moore). However, Brady struggled in this game, finishing with a 74.5 passer rating (and 1 TD, 0 INTs). 

11/17/11

2013 Week 4 Recap - Patriots Defense Shows Up, Defeat Steelers, Move to 4-0

Belichick's squad outplays Tomlin's, wins 23-12 in Pittsburgh. New England's defense (for the most part) kept the Steelers' offense largely under wraps, and finished with an unprecedented block of a Steelers' extra point attempt! Brady improves his completion percentage greatly at over 70%, with over 400 yards passing, and 1 TD and 1 INT.

2011 Week 4 Preview - New England at Pittsburgh

Week 4 of the 2013 season features another classic match-up with New England taking on Pittsburgh at Heinz Field. This time around, it is the Steelers who unquestionably have a more talented team (88 OVR), and they face a struggling Patriots group that will absolutely have to step up their game if they hope to have any chance.

2013 Week Free Agent Signing - Patriots ink a deal with UDFA WR Francis Walls


Dissatisfied with the lackluster speed of its receiving corps. after the losses of Aaron Hernandez and Julian Edleman in free agency this past offseason, the Patriots signed UDFA WR Francis Walls (71 OVR, C POT) to the team. Patriots GM E.P. hopes that Walls will add an explosiveness that has been lacking in the Patriots air-attack thus far this season. 

11/15/11

2013 Week 3 - Patriots Narrowily Defeat Falcons, 33-31

Brady's struggles continue from the Week 2 Panthers match-up (in this game, 58% completion, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, 76.8 QB rating, 5 sacks). In this re-match of the exact two teams that faced off in the past two consecutive Super Bowls, Atlanta had a chance to win it if only Matt Bryant's potential FG-winning kick, with zero seconds left on the clock, didn't bounce off the goalpost! The Patriots played so sloppily though despite the win, and so Atlanta's Kory Biermann was named player of the game, with 4 tackles, 3 sacks, and 1 int.

Atlanta's final drive of the game - Click here to skip to where Kicker Matt Bryant chokes


11/14/11

2013 Week 2 - Defense Reigns as Patriots barely escape with a win, 26-20

The Patriots were behind the Panthers for much of a game where both QBs struggled and both defenses shined. Both Tom Brady and Cam Newton had a ~55% completion rate, and multiple INTs (Brady threw 3 picks, while Newton threw 2 (both to Pats' CB Ras-I Dowling)). Brady was sacked 5 times, and also uncharacteristically, Brady ran for an 8-yard rushing TD. But the Patriots' franchise QB proved resilient, rallying his team from a 13-17 deficit heading into the fourth to win the game. 

 With less than a minute left in the fourth and down 16-17, Brady threw read single coverage on WR Laurent Robinson's streak route, and in an uncommon move, decided to air out a lofty (41-yard) bomb to Laurent in the endzone (since I do not user-catch, throwing a lob is even more risky). Laurent caught the ball off the Panthers DB who actually touched the ball first but struggled to secure the INT, and the gamble pays off with greatly for NE with a win. The Patriots move to 2-0 on the season. [Eds. note: the game actually froze here when I went to save the instant replay of the bomb, forcing me to restart (and just sim the game) but since the game felt so unusual and epic, I will treat it as canon.]


2013 Week 2 Preview - Patriots at Panthers

New England's Week 2 match-up features a game of two 86 OVR teams, as the Patriots travel to North Carolina to take on Cam Newton & Co. The Panthers defense has greatly improved after the past couple of seasons, and if anything, their OVR understates how talented they are.

11/13/11

2013 - Bills Lose to Patriots Despite Valiant Effort, 28-17


Patriots hold on to a lead of varing lengths throughout the game, and rally in the fourth.

Although largely relying on his core group, Brady does get acclimated with all of his new receiving targets, and finishes with 110.9 passer rating (after Week 1, second only to Packers QB Aaron Rodgers' 113.5 rating), 4 TDs, 1 INT, 66% completion, and 8.7 yards per pass (Bills QB Ryan Fitzpatrick had the same yards per pass average).

2013 Offseason - Patriots' depth chart


QB - Tom Brady (99); Ryan Mallet (81)
RB - Shane Vereen (82); Danny Woodhead (81); Stevan Ridley (77)
FB - Mitch Richards (2011 UDFA; 85)
WR - Wes Welker (95); Chad Ochocinco (81); Laurent Robinson (68); Jason Whittaker (2011 3rd round pick; 65); Taylor Price (63)
TE - Rob Gronkowski (93); Dean Stephens (2011 UDFA, 74); Ben Watson (2013 free agent signing; 78)
LT - Nate Solder (84)
LG - Marlin Carter (2012 2nd round draft pick; 82)
C - Dan Koppen (81)
RG - Matt Light (80)
RT - Sebastian Vollmer (78)
LE - Terrance Bynes
RE - Marcus Stroud (68)
DT - Vince Wilfork (96); Brent Salom (2013 1st round draft pick; 76)
LOLB - Rob Nikovich (74); Zach Kavofaulus (2013 4th round draft pick; 72)
MLB - Jerod Mayo (94); Brandon Spikes (84); Mason Nixon (2013 2nd round draft pick; 76)
ROLB - Jermaine Cunningham (83)
CB - Devin McCourty (93); Ras-I Dowling (88); Leigh Bodden (74); Terrance Newman (2013 free agent signing; 73); Kyle Arrington (72)
FS - Rahim Moore (85)
SS - Brandon Collins (2011 UDFA, 76); Dejon Gomes (2013 5th round draft pick; 74)
 
Looking at the Patriots 2013 starting lineup, it's hard not to notice the absence of many of the team's former superstars that led them to previous Super Bowls (Aaron Hernandez, Patrick Chung, Julian Edleman, Logan Mankins). But after experiencing a poor draft in 2012 where the UDFAs (Dean Stephens, Mitch Richards, Brandon Collins) made more of an impact than the drafted rookies (save for LG Marlin Carter), the Patriots struck gold with their selections in the 2013 draft (albeit coupled with lackluster 2013 UDFAs). The timing of this good draft couldn't be better, though. After losing so many stars to free agency, the 2013 draft helps the Patriots rebuild while remaining viable, although not as good, in the short-term.

11/1/11

2013 Offseason - Player Roles, Retirements, Re-Signings, Losses to Free Agency


Player roles (vs. last year):

QB Tom Brady - Playoff Performer, Franchise Quarterback (carried over)
TE Rob Gronkowski - Go to Guy (carryover), lost Future Star
CB Devin McCourty  - lost Iron Man, Future Star; gained Playoff Performer, Defensive Playmaker
LT Nate Solder - gained Iron Man
DT Vince Wilfork - Trench Warrior (carryover), gained Pass Rusher
WR Wes Welker - Go to Guy, Offensive Playmaker (carried over)
MLB Jerod Mayo - gained Defensive Playmaker
LT Matt Light - lost Team Mentor
SS Pat Chung - lost Defensive Playmaker

Patriots' Retirements
- DT J. Williams
- LOLB Dan Clark
- LT Nick Kaczur
- WR Deion Branch

Notable NFL retirements:

- Chester Taylor
- Joey Porter
- Chris Chambers
- Will Allen
- TKO Spikes
- LaDanian Tomlinson
- Jeff Backus
- Charles Woodson
- Charlie Batch
- Arnaz Battle
- Antoine Winfield

Patriots Re-Sign
- MLB Jerod Mayo (92 OVR, A POT, 27 y/o)
- DB Rahim Moore (85 OVR, A POT, 23 y/o)
- RT Sebastian Vollmer (78 OVR, A POT, 28 y/o)
- ROLB Rob Ninkovich (74 OVR, B POT, 29 y/o)
- TE Dean Stephens (74 OVR, C POT, 22 y/o) (2011 undrafted free agent)
- WR Taylor Price
- RG Dan Connolly
- P Zoltan Mesko
- K Stephen Gostowksi

Patriots Lose to Free Agency
- TE Aaron Hernandez (92 OVR, A POT, 23 y/o) (to Ravens)
- SS Patrick Chung (81 OVR, A POT, 26 y/o) (to Bears)
- WR Julian Edelman (72 OVR, B POT, 27 y/o) (to Bears)
- DE Mike Wright (84 OVR, B POT, 31 y/o) (to Saints)
- LB Tully Banta-Cain
- SS Ken Hamlin

2012 Awards

2012 Awards:

Super Bowl MVP:

CB Rahim Moore (previously, CB Leigh Bodden)

Regular Season MVP:

QB Tom Brady (incumbent)

Offensive Rookie:

Broncos QB Damon Wallard (5th round pick)

Defensive Rookie:

RE Ray Watts (3rd round selection)

Best RB:

Browns RB Peyton Hillis (previously, Houston RB Arian Foster)

Best WR:

WR Wes Welker (previously, Detroit WR Calvin Johnson)

2012 Super Bowl Recap - 2011 Deja Vu? It's Falcons vs. Patriots (again!), and once again, New England comes out on top

This year's Super Bowl shocked casual fans of the NFL, as it was the exact same two teams that met in Super Bowl 46. In a Super Bowl match-up of once again the strongest regular season teams in the NFL, the Matt Ryan-led 13-3 Falcons squared off against Tom Brady-led 14-2 New England.
The Patriots defense continued to impress after their struggle against Cincy and blowout of the Colts, with a commanding performance against Atlanta. Unlike Super Bowl 46, however, this game was never that close, and despite Brady throwing 2 INTs, the Patriots were in charge throughout the game. And it was another unexpected Patriots defensive back who was the "hero" of the game and Super Bowl MVP, but this time not CB Leigh Bodden, but rather CB Rahim Moore. Patriots' GM E.P., after pressed by reporters, responded that while it is unlikely that the Patriots will be able to re-sign many of the contract-expiring players this offseason, it's important to not get ahead of themselves, and to savor this moment.

Replay of select plays (real-time, 1 of 2)

Replay of select plays (real-time, 2 of 2)

2012 AFC Conference Championship - Patriots demolish Colts, 28-14

In the AFC Conference Championship game, Colts QB Peyton Manning was never able to get into a good rhythm thanks to an extremely solid Patriots defense. After struggling mightily against the Cincinnati Bengals in the divisional round, many had the Patriots losing to the Colts. But, unexpectedly, New England's defense actually showed up in this match-up, and the Patriots win, 28-14, and proceed to their second consecutive Super Bowl.

10/29/11

2012 AFC Divisional Round - 4th Quarter FG to win it! Pats beat Cincy, 41-38

"The Red Rifle," Cincinnati Quarterback Andy Dalton, 2nd-year man out of TCU, nearly gave his team the win over last year's Super Bowl champs in a stunning AFC Divisional playoff performance.

The Patriots didn't face the Ravens or the Steelers in this year's AFC Divisional Playoffs, but instead faced the Cincinnati Bengals. Although NE was able to limit Cedric on the ground to less than 150 yards rushing and less than 6 ypc (a stellar achievement for the well-worn defense), the Red Rifle was having his way with the Patriots' pass defense, hitting Green, Shipley, Gresham all over the place on all kinds of routes. Even former Patriot WR Ben Tate got revenge on his old ballclub, with over 100 yards receiving. By the end of the 3rd quarter, NE came back from a 21-31 halftime deficit to lead 38-30, hoping they could somehow preserve that lead and avoid overtime because unknown sources inside the team confirmed that they dreaded the thought of losing the coin flip and having the defense try to stop Cincy's surprisingly powerful offense. Cincy's defense absolutely shut down New England's running game, keeping them to less than 50 yards rushing for the entire game and giving up only 2.6 yards per attempt, forcing NE to be predictably one-dimensional with a passing attack. NE couldn't preserve the lead. After a few killed drives by both sides, The Red Rifle gets on fire and drives his team down into the redzone, and hits AJ Green in the back right corner of the endzone for Green's 2nd TD reception, and a clutch one because it tied the game in the 4th with only 1:06 left on the clock. Luckily, with good clock management, New England marched down the field from their own 22 with Brady, and by hitting TE Aaron Hernandez (who was cold going into this game and became the starter when "on fire" Offensive Playmaker TE Rob Gronkowski broke his collarbone in the second quarter) made an extremely clutch catch in traffic, catching the ball down the seam for a 20-yard completion to the 16 all the while getting slammed by Cincy's SS. The home crowd roared and went wild, in disbelief that he held on. Cue Patriots Kicker Stephen Gostowski. Bengals' Head Coach Marvin Lewis burned a timeout to try to ice Gostowksi, but it didn't work. He has ice water running through his veins! Clutch kick to win it, 41-38 (with only 16 seconds left on clock, a prevent defense stopped the Red Rifle's two miracle hail mary attempts).

Pats' QB Tom Brady was deemed "player of the game" by the media, but it's important not to forget that K Gostowksi sealed the deal for New England.

10/28/11

2012 Week 17 Recap - Mallett shines in start against Jets in season finale, rallys team for a 4th quarter comeback to win 42-38

As Patriots head coach J.M. decided in an unsual move (but similar to what he did for the final game of the 2011 season) to rest his starters for the Week 17 game where New England had already clinched the division and first round BYE), giving starts to otherwise backups QB Ryan Mallett, RB Stevan Ridley, WRs Julian Edleman, Laurent Robinson, and Taylor Price against the 5-10 Jets. Mallett performed even better than Brady did against the Jets in Week 15. Not only did Mallet throw for 5 TDs and only 1 INT, but he erased a 10 point deficit to New York from the end of the third quarter to stage a forth quarter comeback and snatched victory from the jaws of defeat, and the Patriots won 42-38 and finish the season at 14 and 2. It remains to be seen, however, if Mallett can be consistently clutch, or if this was just a fluke.

Additionally, on the negative side, the Patriots' starting defense continued to perform poorly, this time giving up over 200 yards rushing to Jets RB LaDanian Tomlinson and over 300 yards passing to QB Mark Sanchez. Experts predict that due to New England's continued struggles on defense, despite their first round bye, an early exit is a likely conclusion.

2012 Week 15 Recap - Patriots Defeat Cardinals 47-28, But Skelton lights up Pats defense

Cardinals backup QB John Skelton, starting in place of the injured QB Kevin Kolb, lit up the Patriots defense for over 250 yards passing, but Brady & Co. managed to prevail, 47-28. While it was a victory for New England, it has some questioning whether the defense is too shaky for the Pats to go far in the playoffs against much stronger opponents than Arizona.

Highlights
[TBI]

10/24/11

Week 14 Recap - Patriots Resiliently Defeat Jets, 30-25, rise to 11-2

The Jets visited New England to revisit the intense AFC East division rivalry during Week 14. New York head coach Rex Ryan said his team would employ new schemes and defensive tactics in an effort to defeat the Patriots this time around (Eds. note: I reset the sliders to "out of the box" default All-Madden, but kept my house rules of no user catching, no switching on defense, etc.).

Highlight Reel
[TBI]



Scoring Summary



 Patriots QB Tom Brady outshined Jets QB Mark Sanchez, as Brady threw 4 TDs, 3 INTs, and for over 400 yards, finishing with a 108.4 Passer Rating, compared to Sanchez's commendable yet lesser 91.0 rating, 268 yards, 1 TD and 0 INTs.

However, the player of the game was Patriots #1 WR, Wes Welker...

Further game stats:


After the game, Jets CB Antonio Cromartie, who is used to facing off against New England from his days as a San Diego Charger, and never at a loss for words when it comes to criticizing the Patriots and QB Tom Brady, had this to say after the loss: "I picked him off twice, and Kyle got him once, and we still lose the game? F*** Brady! How the hell he ends up with a better passer rating than Sanchez who threw zero picks, I have no idea. Messed up system. And don't get me started on their cupcake schedule. How do the Super Bowl champs get the NFC West on their schedule?! They should be facing the toughest divisions the following season, not the weakest ones."

10/23/11

2012 Week 13 - San Fran (6-5) loses at New England (9-2)


Despite having over 125 yards rushing, Niners RB Frank Gore couldn't bring his team to victory. "On Fire" 49ers starting QB Colin Kapernick cools off a bit as the Red and Gold lose to the Patriots, 38-15.

Highlights

2012 Week 12 Recap - Patriots Dominate Colts, 35-25, move to 9-2

 Indianapolis QB Peyton Manning kept his ballclub in the game despite having one of his "off" nights, throwing 4 INTs to an exceptionally tenacious Patriot defense.Colts RB Joseph Addai finished with over 100 yards rushing, as did Patriots RB Shane Vereen, who saw more gametime than RB Danny Woodhead, and might be the new starter? The Colts' defense weren't slouches either, forcing a fumble early in the game and returning it for a touchdown. But the effort wasn't enough to net them a "W," and New England wins, 35-25. Colts drop to 8 & 3 while the Pats move up to 9-2.

Highlights

2012 Week 12 Preview - The "Regular Season Super Bowl," 8-2 Colts vs. 8-2 Patriots


 The marquee match-up of Week 12 is the classic Patriots vs. Colts at New England game. Intensifying this red-hot rivalry even further this year is that the fact that the Manning-led Colts have the same regular season record thus far as the Brady-led Patriots, at 8-2. Who will emerge victorious from this battle?