Awesome to know that the Refs were planning on calling an intentional grounding in a Superbowl before it even happened.
I still have never seen this called over the middle in a football game . .. . At any level. Ever.
Fuck this guy.
https://patriotswire.usatoday.com/2019/06/25/former-nfl-official-john-parry-calls-himself-the-belichick-of-officiating/
I still have never seen this called over the middle in a football game . .. . At any level. Ever.
Fuck this guy.
https://patriotswire.usatoday.com/2019/06/25/former-nfl-official-john-parry-calls-himself-the-belichick-of-officiating/
I always knew there was something up with that call. Fuck that guy indeed. Never called before never called since.
Josten's makes the Patriots rings. I've seen them at one of my work conferences.
The actual interview is here, it's long-form and I found it interesting. First off, that call was made by the rest of his crew, and they'd prepared for and seen that particular play. So I don't know if it's quite "fuck this guy" since he didn't even make the call.
Then again, there's this bit:
I bet she does, John. I bet she does.
I’ve read that answer like 5 times and I have a suspicion Jones didn’t capture it well. What plays did they review? How was there grounding on like 15-20 percent of plays they reviewed? How do they anticipate a grounding call pre snap?
Like, what?
Like, what?
Good stuff. I mean, that Benoit Paire dude is a dolt, but otherwise, that's a good link.
The passer rating stat is remarkable. I mean, I know that Montana and Young are Hall of Famers for a reason, but for them to put up a combined 95 passer rating in that era is mind blowing.
In SB 36, the Patriots played the Rams. At the time, here were the rankings:
(14-2) Rams' offense: #1 points, #1 yards (31.4 ppg)
(11-5) Pats' defense: #6 points, #24 yards (17.0 ppg)
In the Super Bowl, the Pats had a huge interception and held the Rams to just 17 points, 14.4 below their average.
In SB 53, the Patriots played the Rams. At the time, here were the rankings:
(13-3) Rams' offense: #2 points, #2 yards (32.9 ppg)
(11-5) Pats' defense: #7 points, #21 yards (20.3 ppg)
In the Super Bowl, the Pats had a huge interception and held the Rams to just 3 points, 29.9 below their average.
Just thought this was pretty interesting. In both cases, a good - but not elite - Patriots defense did a great job slowing and stopping a juggernaut Rams' offense, holding them to an average of 22.2 points below their average.
Meanwhile, the Patriots offense scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, in those games (of course the Pats' D got a TD in SB 36 on Law's pick six). If you had gone into either game saying that the Pats' offense would score 14 and 13 points, I don't think too many people would have thought they'd win BOTH games. Pretty amazing.
(14-2) Rams' offense: #1 points, #1 yards (31.4 ppg)
(11-5) Pats' defense: #6 points, #24 yards (17.0 ppg)
In the Super Bowl, the Pats had a huge interception and held the Rams to just 17 points, 14.4 below their average.
In SB 53, the Patriots played the Rams. At the time, here were the rankings:
(13-3) Rams' offense: #2 points, #2 yards (32.9 ppg)
(11-5) Pats' defense: #7 points, #21 yards (20.3 ppg)
In the Super Bowl, the Pats had a huge interception and held the Rams to just 3 points, 29.9 below their average.
Just thought this was pretty interesting. In both cases, a good - but not elite - Patriots defense did a great job slowing and stopping a juggernaut Rams' offense, holding them to an average of 22.2 points below their average.
Meanwhile, the Patriots offense scored 14 and 13 points, respectively, in those games (of course the Pats' D got a TD in SB 36 on Law's pick six). If you had gone into either game saying that the Pats' offense would score 14 and 13 points, I don't think too many people would have thought they'd win BOTH games. Pretty amazing.
Here's a good NFL Memes Twitter, with this choice bit:
And another one I got confused by when looking for a good link for that:
https://twitter.com/NFL_Memes/status/1137860441881792512
https://twitter.com/memesofnfl/status/1144664407047364610
https://twitter.com/memesofnfl/status/1123666429713235969
https://twitter.com/memesofnfl/status/1094311753775808512
(personal fav)
https://twitter.com/memesofnfl/status/1128368221055275008
And another one I got confused by when looking for a good link for that:
https://twitter.com/NFL_Memes/status/1137860441881792512
https://twitter.com/memesofnfl/status/1144664407047364610
https://twitter.com/memesofnfl/status/1123666429713235969
https://twitter.com/memesofnfl/status/1094311753775808512
(personal fav)
https://twitter.com/memesofnfl/status/1128368221055275008
This is going back a ways, but you know who doesn’t get enough love from Patriots Nation and certainly deserves some celebrating? JR Effing Redmond. He had an absolute shit ton of huge plays and effort plays during the kick off year of the Dynasty, esp the snow game and that Rams drive. He’ll never make any HOF, including the Patriots Hall (brought to you by Raytheon), but man alive he should never buy a drink or a kool kone or a greasy lunch bag of fried clams (WITH bellies, I’m not a savage) anywhere within spitting distance of New England.
Sorry. I’m down a YouTube rabbit hole and felt I had to share.
Sorry. I’m down a YouTube rabbit hole and felt I had to share.
Did somebody say JR Redmond?
https://youtu.be/UkSi2JK98pM?t=5260
I keep on finding new nuggets every time I re-watch that 4Q+OT. e.g.:
https://youtu.be/UkSi2JK98pM?t=5260
I keep on finding new nuggets every time I re-watch that 4Q+OT. e.g.:
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Redmond getting out of bounds on that 2nd down play on the final Rams drive was one of the biggest plays of the game. Brady has said before that if JR does not get out of bounds there, the Pats were going to kneel and run out the clock.
Might have also squeezed in "lose a key starter for the first four games of the season".
I was watching this game at a bar in Costa Rica, until the power went down while they were reviewing the tuck rule play. Went to bed assuming they lost, didn't find out for a day or two what ended up happening. I don't think I'd ever watched the rest of the game, so thanks for sharing that, great to finally see it.
Has any stadium in the history of sports had a more momentous last game of its life than Foxboro? Both in terms of the historical meaning of the outcome (Tom Brady's first playoff win, essentially the beginning of the dynasty), and the drama of the events of the game itself (tuck rule, Vinatieri's two field goals, overtime win)?
NBA game 7 a few weeks ago comes as close as any i can think of. Maybe as the end of an era rather than the beginning?
It wasn't quite coterminous, but the 3 final years of Ebbets Field's use by the Brooklyn Dodgers featured a game 7 WS win, a game 7 WS loss, and a 3rd-place 84-70 season as the team played a few games in Jersey City as leverage to try and get their new stadium site in Brooklyn (which ultimately failed).
The 2008 MFYs, playing the last of 85 seasons in Yankee Stadium II (built 1923), finished by missing the playoffs for the only time between 1995 and 2012. I'd call that pretty glorious, though Yankees fans might disagree.
The 2008 MFYs, playing the last of 85 seasons in Yankee Stadium II (built 1923), finished by missing the playoffs for the only time between 1995 and 2012. I'd call that pretty glorious, though Yankees fans might disagree.
From Reiss today:
Since 2001, the Patriots have had the fewest weeks during a regular season with a record under .500 -- just 12. The Steelers are next (56).
Since 2001, the Patriots have had the fewest weeks during a regular season with a record under .500 -- just 12. The Steelers are next (56).
6 of the 12 were in 2001: 0-1, 0-2, 1-2, 1-3, 2-3, 3-4.
So since 2002 the number is 6. The 2001 Steelers were under .500 for 1 game (0-1). So 6 vs 55.
Well now I'm curious...
2002 3-4
2003 0-1
2012 1-2
2014 0-1
2017 0-1
2018 1-2
I must be missing one... It's crazy that they weren't under .500 for over a decade.
added 2012. That wretched replacement ref Ravens game put them under .500.
2002 3-4
2003 0-1
2012 1-2
2014 0-1
2017 0-1
2018 1-2
added 2012. That wretched replacement ref Ravens game put them under .500.
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I still think it's just incredible that the last time the Patriots played a game where they were out of contention was back in December of 2000. Since then, every single game they've played has either been a playoff game or a regular season game where they were either in the playoffs or still alive for the playoffs (obviously they've only missed the playoffs twice - 2002 and 2008, both after the last games of the season, on third level tiebreakers.
That was my favorite fact of this run until recently. The last time that the Pats played a game out of contention, Bill Clinton was president.
I think that has been replaced with Brady being statistically more likely to take his team to a Super Bowl than not.
The Robert Kraft era for the Patriots, so far: 1994-2018. 25 years.
In the five years prior to Kraft taking over the Patriots, they went:
5-11
1-15
6-10
2-14
5-11
(19-61, .238)
Over those 25 years, the Patriots have:
- been to the playoffs 20 times
- been to 10 Super Bowls
- won 6 Super Bowls
- have gone 10-4 in AFCCGs (so have been to the AFCCG 56% of the time)
- have won the AFC East 18 times
- have won 12+ games 12 times
- have only had two losing seasons (1995, 2000)
- have gone 279-121 (.698) in the regular season
I mean, when he bought the team, I cannot imagine he ever DREAMED of this kind of success.
In the five years prior to Kraft taking over the Patriots, they went:
5-11
1-15
6-10
2-14
5-11
(19-61, .238)
Over those 25 years, the Patriots have:
- been to the playoffs 20 times
- been to 10 Super Bowls
- won 6 Super Bowls
- have gone 10-4 in AFCCGs (so have been to the AFCCG 56% of the time)
- have won the AFC East 18 times
- have won 12+ games 12 times
- have only had two losing seasons (1995, 2000)
- have gone 279-121 (.698) in the regular season
I mean, when he bought the team, I cannot imagine he ever DREAMED of this kind of success.
Yes, and their thesis in buying the team was that in the new salary cap era, an ownership group with hard analytical minds who understood how to optimize value would have an advantage. They sought to hire coaches and GMs who had an intuitive and nuanced understanding of that value.
Two years into that salary cap era, as Parcells was on his way out the door, Belichick made a (Semi-famous?) offhand remark to Kraft:
Two years into that salary cap era, as Parcells was on his way out the door, Belichick made a (Semi-famous?) offhand remark to Kraft:
Little did he know he was speaking Kraft's language, and that that remark would still be top of mind 3 1/2 years later during their next coach search.
What is amazing to me, and that I have not seen mentioned here, is that the Patriots have become the first old AFL team to amass 500 regular season wins. Considering where they were 25 years ago, wow.
Field Yates tweeted this....
Most consecutive trips to the playoffs:
1. Patriots: 10
2. Chiefs: 4
3. Eagles/Rams/Saints: 2
Let that sink in for a moment. Only two teams in the NFL have made the playoffs 3 or more straight seasons: KC and NE. And KC has done it *four* years in a row.
The Patriots? TEN STRAIGHT YEARS.
I know, AFC "Least", blah blah blah. But what the Patriots are doing is NOT supposed to happen, regardless. There's supposed to be QB and coaching turnover. Head coaches, even under the best of circumstances, are not supposed to stay with one team as long as BB has with NE. QBs are not supposed to play at an elite level into their 40s - and definitely not all with the same team. Teams that draft consistently late in each round are not supposed to continue to find and develop talent that allows them to stay on top.
Most consecutive trips to the playoffs:
1. Patriots: 10
2. Chiefs: 4
3. Eagles/Rams/Saints: 2
Let that sink in for a moment. Only two teams in the NFL have made the playoffs 3 or more straight seasons: KC and NE. And KC has done it *four* years in a row.
The Patriots? TEN STRAIGHT YEARS.
I know, AFC "Least", blah blah blah. But what the Patriots are doing is NOT supposed to happen, regardless. There's supposed to be QB and coaching turnover. Head coaches, even under the best of circumstances, are not supposed to stay with one team as long as BB has with NE. QBs are not supposed to play at an elite level into their 40s - and definitely not all with the same team. Teams that draft consistently late in each round are not supposed to continue to find and develop talent that allows them to stay on top.
And 9 of those they got the Bye. So 9 straight years as a top 2 AFC team. In the last couple decades Brady has also been one and done only twice which is amazing.
Saw this on Reddit earlier today and it kind of blew my mind. Speaks to how amazing this run of dominance has been.
The first SB winning Patriots season of 2001-'02 is closer in time to the 1985-'86 SB loss against the Bears than it is to our most recent SB win in 2018-'19.
The first SB winning Patriots season of 2001-'02 is closer in time to the 1985-'86 SB loss against the Bears than it is to our most recent SB win in 2018-'19.
I’m not sure how I never knew this but it was almost assured that Peyton Manning was going to be an NYJ in the 1997 draft. The jets had the number one pick but manning decided to return to UT for his senior season. Not really sure what thread to drop it in but this seemed worthy of a “reason to celebrate”. That fan base has so much to be pissed off about. Love it.