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):

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). 

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. 

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

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.

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.

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.