New England Patriots

Pittsburgh Vs New England Opening Day Preview

September 3, 2015 by Micheal Savoie

The grind of the preseason is coming to an end and the even longer road of the NFL regular season is on the horizon. Football fans from all over the world are gearing up for what promises to be seventeen weeks of gridiron excitement, with many league stories already unfolding. Here are just a few interesting happenings around the NFL as we get ready for the first game on September 10. That game will feature the Pittsburgh Steelers visiting the New England Patriots.

The game has numerous stories, not the least involving Tom Brady and whether he will play or not. Everyone is aware of the mayhem “DeflateGate” has caused and the most surprising thing about the story is it is still going on! They are endlessly debating Brady’s suspension for his alleged involvement in the controversy and it has not yet been determined if he will lead his team on opening night. There is over a week to figure it out, but I wouldn’t be shocked if this story continues through the beginning of the season.

On the Pittsburgh side, they are dealing with the fallout from their recent acquisition at the back-up quarterback position. Given their history, it would seem unlikely that the Rooneys and Michael Vick would ever come to terms. But come to terms they did and Michael Vick showed up in a Steeler uniform during a recent pre-season game in Buffalo. He did well that day but it is too early to tell if he will be embraced by Steeler Nation. There was quite a reaction from local fans when the announcement was made that he was going to play for the team. There were some demonstrations outside of Heinz Field and the local sports radio talk shows were focusing on it constantly.

There are other things that these two teams need to concern themselves with besides the inevitable distractions. The management, coaches and players should have only one thing in mind; how to get to Super Bowl 50. That should be the goal, because there are thirty other teams striving for the same trophy. This is a landmark year so hopefully the sideline shenanigans will take a back-seat to the more important business of playing the game. If only it was possible to return to the days of Lombardi and Shula, when it was more about the sport and less about the off-field indiscretions.

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Playoff Picture Looks Exciting

November 25, 2014 by Micheal Savoie

With 4 teams vying for first place in the AFC North in Week 13, things are heating up to meltdown conditions even in the icy north…

The Bengals, who tied a game, are 7-3-1 while the Ravens, Steelers and Browns all have a 7-4-0 record with 2 division wins. These 4 teams will duke it out in their respective divisional games for supremacy over the AFC North.

Meanwhile, the New England Patriots (9-2-0) are running away with the AFC East (and the number 1 seed) unless someone can stop them.

A similar situation is developing in the NFC with the Arizona Cardinals (9-2-0) running away with the NFC West and the number 1 seed.

The NFC South is trying really hard to see how low a team’s record can be and still make the playoffs. The Atlanta Falcons (4-7-0) are leading the division with a 4-0 division record, having beaten each of its division rivals at least once (and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers twice).

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The Philadelphia Eagles (8-3-0) and the Dallas Cowboys (8-3-0) are vying for first place in the NFC East. One of these teams will win the division and the other will likely make the playoffs as a wild card. This week’sÂ Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and Eagles will decide who takes the division.

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Another game with playoff implications this Thanksgiving DayÂ is the Seattle Seahawks (7-4-0) trip to San Francisco to take on the 49ers (7-4-0) for sole possession of 2nd place in the NFC West, behind the Cardinals. The winner will be hoping that the Detroit Lions (7-4-0) lose to the Chicago Bears (5-6-0), also on Thanksgiving Day!

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Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers (8-3-0) are looking like the likely winners of the NFC North unless Detroit has something to say about it. But the New England Patriots (9-2-0) will be coming to town this weekend to see if they can knock them down a peg.

AFC Championship Matchups To Watch

January 17, 2014 by Micheal Savoie

Since their week 12 meeting in New England on a bitter cold evening, the Patriots and Broncos have been on a collision course for another meeting in the post season. This time it is in Denver.

In the first matchup, the Denver Broncos defense forced a number of turnovers early in the first half and Denver capitalized on them with touchdowns – ending the first half leading 24 – 0. But the second half showed a different New England Patriots team – their defense forced turnovers and they scored 28 unanswered points before the Broncos came back to tie the game in the 4th quarter. An unfortunate special teams play gave New England the ball in field goal range to give them the victory.

I have a feeling the Denver version of this matchup will be very similar. Denver’s defense is not the same as the defense that dominated the first half of the week 12 matchup… they lost Von Miller and Chris Harris to season ending injuries, so they are not a lock on defense. The Patriots offense is a whole different animal as well, having used the running backs more prolifically than is the norm for New England (43 points came from running touchdowns in the Divisional Championship against the Indianapolis Colts). A punishing ground game could put Denver in a tough spot physically and make Peyton Manning have to abandon the Denver running attack to keep up. Keep an eye on this.

Denver Broncos ride their surprising defense to AFC championship …

http://sports.yahoo.com Mon, 13 Jan 2014 00:53:19 GMT

American Football; Sports & Recreation; Peyton Manning; Chargers; Denver Broncos; AFC championship game; Philip Rivers. (USA Today Sports Images). Click to view comments. View Comments. New England Patriots …