Okay first things first, this movie looks incredible, but it is such a bummer because it takes all of the suspense out of Avengers: Endgame. We all know what’s going to happen, but at least let us pretend to think differently. Having the actors for Black Panther, Spider-Man and others already signed on to do multiple sequels and then dropping the trailers for those movies while they’re still technically dead is a lame duck move. Kinda takes the venom (see what I did there?) out of this scene too.
But aside from all that, this movie looks awesome and Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio?
Can Marvel do what Sony failed to do over and over again? Build a universe around the Sinister Six? I don’t know, but this is a hell of a start from the small sample size we’ve seen.
We also get some always welcomed Nick Fury in this movie, which I was not expecting.
Clearly this movie is going to have a much larger impact on the MCU as a whole, which makes sense since some key Avengers are definitely going to die in Endgame. We might be looking at Spidey taking on the mantle as one of the leaders of the Avengers moving forward and Nick Fury will help launch us into that next Phase of movies.
This spring and summer is going to be an adrenaline shot to the chest if you’re a fan of the MUC with Captain Marvel coming out on March 8th, then Avengers: Endgame on April 26th, and then followed up shortly thereafter with Spider-Man: Far From Home on July 5th. Buckle up.
Tom Brady and I must have a mental connection because on Saturday night I went deep down the rabbit hole of 2000’s rap and got into a debate (at a 30th birthday party because I’m washed) about how Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is one of the best rap albums of all time. So what does Tom bump for his celebratory Monday workout? Many Men from Get Rich or Die Tryin’ of course. It’s been 15 years, but this album still goes hard and *nothing* beats the over the top style of early 2000’s music videos.
Boston Globe – The high-water mark of Boston’s unsuccessful bid to land Amazon’s second headquarters came on a brisk Monday in early March, beginning with coffee in the Eagle Room at Boston City Hall and ending with oysters and steak at More Than Words, a nonprofit bookstore and job-training center in the South End.
Press play before reading for the full blog experience.
The city of Boston was a finalist for Amazon HQ2, which as we know was unsuccessful, but some new details came out the other day on just what was in the pitch. Not exactly a Don Draper level presentation to be honest. Welcome to this hell hole of congestion where the traffic never ends, there’s always construction, and it’s impossible to get across the city in less than an hour during rush hour.
Without further ado, the pitch:
In their pitch, state and local officials worked together closely, promoted the region’s universities and educated workforce, and — unlike most other cities involved in the chase — offered no tax breaks beyond what is available to any large employer expanding here.
We have smart people for you to choose from, buttt you’ll pay through the nose to be here just like everyone else. Great start, really get the prospect interested from the get go. Always Be Closing guys, thats just Sales 101.
Then there were basic logistics to sort out, like what to feed the visitors from Seattle and how to show them as much of Boston as was practical in a short amount of time, without getting bogged down in traffic.
“I’m really nervous about Tuesday,” one City Hall staffer wrote at 1:50 a.m. the Friday before the visit, laying out the challenges of getting from Amazon’s downtown hotel — not named in the documents — to Dudley Square to meet with school officials, and then to the roof of the Bolling Municipal Building to see development sites. “Nice view — not enough time,” the staffer wrote.
HAHAH good luck showing anyone around Boston without getting bogged down in traffic. True story: my sister in law was running the Boston Marathon and a ton of family came up to watch her run, watching from various points throughout the course. The plan was to get from Newton to the finish line in real time to watch her finish, which with the traffic and the parking in this city is impossible. So I bombed down Storrow Drive with a car load of people, got as deep as possible into Back Bay and then just fell on my sword and told everyone to get out and walk the last couple of blocks while I went to find a parking garage by myself.
Long story short: traffic always has been and always will be a massive inconvenience in this city and I’m sure Amazon is smart enough to realize that.
Boston’s team tried to keep Amazon off tour buses. “We wanted them walking. We wanted them on the T,” Barros recalled Monday. “We wanted them to experience getting around the way people who live here do.”
“We wanted them on the T.” We should have just started and stopped the blog with that line right there. As soon as someone said this sentence out loud they should have known this pitch was doomed We really wanted Amazon to feel the inner rage that all of our residents feel on a daily basis.
Can’t believe they didn’t just write up a contract on a cocktail napkin after getting to experience the joys of riding the T. It was probably on time and everything.
Next, they hiked across Fort Point Channel to the penthouse of a Seaport apartment building to hear about buildings there.
The Seaport is dope, but it’s already running out of free space and will probably be underwater in 50 years.
The next day, after breakfast in Dudley Square and a visit to Assembly Row, Amazon’s contingent headed out of town.
I work near Assembly Row and it’s a cool little spot for some outlet shopping, but it’s not exactly where I’d take a trillion dollar company to try and sell them on my city. You may have nearly gotten out of your car in traffic to stab someone getting here, but hey the PUMA outlet store has some really sweet deals!
While having a company like Amazon in Boston would have been cool, it also would have been a logistical nightmare like oh I don’t know HOSTING THE OLYMPICS. Except this would bring 50,000 people to Boston for a lot longer than 2 weeks. I ‘m already in pre-road rage because the city is planning a massive overhaul on Storrow Drive (we have such great history with highway projects) to go along with the guaranteed traffic from the upcoming opening of the Encore casino in Everett. If this city added a goddamn Amazon headquarters I’d literally have to buy a jet ski and bomb down the Charles for my morning commute. So maybe we dodged a bullet here guys.
The Dolphins beating the Patriots with a Miami Miracle in Week 14 was a dead cat bounce. The Steelers beating the Patriots 17-10 in Week 15 was a dead cat bounce. The Vikings beating the Lions in Detroit in Week 16 was a dead cat bounce. That was not what we witnessed in Foxboro yesterday afternoon.
Of all that was said, written and Tweeted about the Patriots in the last 24 hours, this might be the most ridiculous.
What we witnessed in Foxboro yesterday was the systematic dismantling of a very good football team. The Patriots absolutely manhandled the Chargers. Tom Brady completed 34 of 44 pass attempts for 343 yards. Sony Michel rushed the ball 24 times for 129 yards and three touchdowns. Julian Edelman looked the best he’s looked all season and caught nine balls for 151 yards. James White caught 15 balls for 97 yards.
The Patriots defense held Philip Rivers to 25 of 51 on pass attempts. He did throw for 331 yards and three touchdowns, but much of that damage was done late in the fourth quarter when the game was already out of reach.
This is not to say that the Patriots will beat Kansas City on Sunday. It will be a very tough game on the road against a team that has already demonstrated that it can handle playoff pressure in the elements. But don’t tell me that the Chiefs are going to run the Patriots out of the building. That’s not going to happen. This will not be a repeat of September 29, 2014.
The Patriots may be underdogs on Sunday, but they’ve got a chip and a chair. Time and again, they’ve shown us that’s all they need.
NBA.com – The Oklahoma City Thunder announced today that the team will retire Nick Collison’s No. 4 on Wednesday, March 20 when the Thunder hosts the Toronto Raptors at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Six points, five rebounds, one block. If you use round numbers, those are Nick Collison’s career averages. And on the back of that historic, never before seen stat-line, the Thunder are going to retire his number.
In terms of publicity stunts and good will gestures, this has to be one of the more absurd things I’ve heard of a franchise doing. I mean, this is technically the same franchise that Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp played for. But Nick Collison’s number is going to hang from the rafters? Oooook.
And I get he played that he played his whole, fifteen year career there. I get he probably did stuff like “gave back to the community” and was most likely “a consummate pro”. But do you see the Celtics retiring Leon Powe’s jersey? No you do not. And no Powe did not play for the Celtics for 15 years but he arguably contributed more to, ya know, their actual success than Collison did for the Thunder.
The only reason this is blogable is because of the question of “where is the bar?” Much like the Colts putting up a banner every time they win a game outside of the calendar year that the season began in, are NBA teams just going to start retiring number for no discernible reason? It kind of takes the wind out of the sales of these kinds of things when it is done for players who, ya know, actually deserve it.
Last thing, you know when this news went out, this conversation was had:
Brian Scalabrine: Hey you think maybe…
Mike Gorman: No.
Once one of the most dominant pass-catchers the game has ever seen, it appears as though Rob Gronkowski is quickly nearing the end of the line.
Not only has this been apparent from just the eyeball test alone, but rumors that he is once again considering retirement resurfaced yesterday as well – even though Gronk tried to downplay everything after the team’s victory over L.A.
Even the numbers don’t lie, though; since his misleading eight-catch, 107-yard performance against Miami in Week 14, here’s how it’s gone for Gronk ever since:
Week 17 (vs. New York Jets): 81% of snaps played; 2 targets; 2 catches; 24 yards
AFC Divisional Round (vs. Los Angeles Chargers): 93% snaps played; 1 target; 1 catch; 25 yards
OH, and he’s also scored a total of zero touchdowns since the game down in Vice City as well.
There’s much more to take away from those numbers, though, besides simply saying that “Gronk looks cooked.” As a consistent, big-play, receiving target? Yeah, maybe he is cooked in that regard. But Gronk’s still played over three-quarters of the snaps – or more – for the past month, and Bill obviously isn’t going to keep him in there if he’s not providing something for the offense.
And that “something” that he provides has been excellent blocking up front. He’s basically been acting as a sixth offensive lineman for much of his time on the field lately, and it’s working.
This is not to say Gronk hasn’t been used as a blocker before; he’s actually been one of the game’s premier blockers at the tight end position throughout his whole career. However, the rate at which he’s been used as a blocker as opposed to a receiver has increased significantly. In 13 games last year, Gronk ran a passing route on 90.3 percent of his snaps, receiving 105 total targets; in 13 games this year, he’s been asked to go out for a pass on just 77.8 percent of his plays and has seen just 72 targets.
This guy has been getting it done on the line for years.
The numbers. don’t. lie.
It should also be noted that the Pats’ rushing offense, which finished 10th in the league last season, jumped all the way up to fifth in 2018. Some may try to point out that we didn’t have Sony Michel last year, but we did have a guy named Dion Lewis, who averaged a pretty damn solid 5.0 yards per carry in 2017. So, no, it’s not all because of Sony Michel. (Yes, new addition Trent Brown and the rest of the O-line has played exceptionally well this year, too, so it’s not all Gronk. But still.)
Even Brady himself couldn’t stop from gushing about the big fella after yesterday’s game (h/t 247 Sports):
“Yeah, he’s a great blocker,” quarterback Tom Brady said after the win. “I think that’s something that goes maybe a little under the radar with his skill set, but he’s one of the most dominant blocking tight ends in the league. Again, he’s a threat when he catches it. Just did such a great job there to start the third quarter. He’s a threat any time he’s out there.”
It might be hard to get a great view of No. 87’s stone-walling at first, but watch the bottom center-to-left corner of the screen, and you’ll eventually see the Chargers’ Kyle Emmanuel (No. 51) looking like an overpowered otter trying to swim upstream in the rapids. He had NO CHANCE of touching Sony on that play, and it was all because of Gronk.
He then did it again, to the same poor soul, on Rex Burkhead’s touchdown run just three plays later:
Of course, the Patriots are better with a healthy Gronk as the All-Pro tight end he used to be, but they certainly aren’t as desperate as some make it out to be without him. The team has averaged over 407 yards of offense (!) over the past four contests; the sky ain’t falling, folks. Relax.
In a season during which it’s been easy to hop all over Gronk for his “poor” play, I had to give the man the shine he deserves when doing the little things we don’t always catch during the flurry of action on the field.
You’re still a huge part of this team, Gronk. And if the team is going to be hoisting up that sixth banner next season, it certainly won’t happen without you on the field.
Finally, an actual target I can mark down in my calendar unlike the last time Thrones was trending for a “premiere date” when it was revealed GoT would return in April….which is a month and not an actual date. So this was welcome news this AM.
The new trailer actually dropped last night, which I missed, ironically enough, because I am currently in the midst of a Thrones rewatch. And just like I said I wouldn’t do, I am woefully behind. Ned Stark is Protector of the Realm right now for christ’s sake. Currently I have 3 episodes remaining in Season 1 along with all of Seasons 2-7 so there are 66 episodes still left on my plate. With the April 14th premiere date, that means there are 91 days left until we hear that sweet, sweet opening music. (If I had to bet, I would say they go with a cold opening so we probably won’t hear the music to start, but thats besides the point)
So for anyone that has yet to get on the Game of Thrones bandwagon or for anyone that wants to start a rewatch, we are rapidly approaching an episode per day territory. April 14th cannot come soon enough. Gods be good.
Like clockwork, the Pats are heading back to the AFC Championship – for the EIGHTH. STRAIGHT. YEAR. (It’s also the THIRTEENTH time that Tom Brady is playing in the penultimate game of the season; that’s six more than the guy with the second-most championship game appearances all-time, Joe Montana, who has seven.)
So maybe I was entirely wrong about the whole “this is gonna be a close one” thing. But if you thought the Pats were going to hang over 40 points today, or beat the Chargers by almost two scores, you’re either a psychic or just outright lying.
Besides scoring some garbage-time second-half points, the Chargers were absolutely dominated in this one from start to finish, on both sides of the ball. They couldn’t stop the Patriots from doing anything they wanted to on offense, and the Pats D was in Philip Rivers’s face ALL DAY, sacking him twice and pressuring him on what seemed like almost every dropback.
And once Rivers gets flustered, it’s usually all downhill from there. While the guy is tough as nails and has put up some pretty impressive numbers in his career, he can easily fly off the handle. (Seriously, though, I’m surprised he didn’t actually take flight with how much he was flapping his arms around on Sunday.)
This man has always been a bit of a hot-head.
The fact that the Pats also won the time of possession battle by over sixteen minutes (!) also demonstrates just how much they controlled the whole game. (That means they literally held the ball on offense for more than an entire quarter more than Los Angeles did.) They were able to do so behind an excellent performance from Sony Michel on the ground (129 yards, 3 TDs) – if you may recall, I said earlier this week that Michel would be this game’s X-factor – along with the tried-and-true short-passing offense, which was highlighted by a 15-catch effort from James White.
Also, Julian Edelman was phenomenal. His nine catches and 151 yards helped the Pats move the ball even further down the field, and he is now second all-time in postseason catches, only behind the legendary Jerry Rice.
Old Faithful showed up to play again on Sunday.
Phillip Dorsett and Chris Hogan contributed as well, with seven combined grabs, but this game was about four guys: Brady, Edelman, White, and Michel. Period.
Stephon Gilmore and Jason McCourty held it down in pass coverage. Trey Flowers, Adam Butler, and Adrian Clayborn all dominated up front as well, not only constantly getting in Rivers’s face but also by holding the Chargers’ running game to just 19 measly yards. (Yes, much of this had to do with game script, as L.A. only ran the ball a total of 10 times. But still, they were able to stonewall Melvin Gordon, who averaged a pathetic 1.7 yards per tote on nine attempts.)
Unlike in years past, however, the Pats are not going to be playing the AFC Championship at home. Instead, they’ll be heading out to Kansas City to take on the Chiefs. That game will kick off at 6:40 p.m. next Sunday night. And that one will not be as easy. You can take that to the bank.
But, before we turn our attention to next weekend’s showdown at Arrowhead, here’s a few more quick notes from today’s victory:
People will be quick to point out that Rob Gronkowski was pretty much non-existent in this one. He wasn’t even targeted until late in the second quarter, and he finished with just one catch. BUT that run he had after that one catch resulted in 25 yards and a few steamrolled Chargers defenders. Even more importantly, he was still a vital part of the offense due to his excellent blocking; he laid a huge block at the line of scrimmage on Michel’s big 40-yard run in the second quarter. So, while he may not be as much of a threat in the passing game anymore, the man is still an absolute beast in short spurts.
You may not be what you once were, but I know how important you still are to us, big guy.
Speaking of blocking, hats off all around to the offensive line. As I pointed out in my preview on Friday, this was a potentially life-changing game for impending free agent Trent Brown, who was tasked with taking on Melvin Ingram for much of the game. You know, the Melvin Ingram who is supposed to be one of the league’s top pass-rushers and the man who looked like Lawrence Taylor last week against Baltimore? Or how about Joey Bosa, who’s supposed to be the Chargers’ superstar up front but finished with one tackle and literally NOTHING else on the day? I honestly cannot believe how well the Pats were able to COMPLETELY scheme those two out of the game on Sunday. But they sure did. Boy, did they ever.
After being touted as one of the Pats’ biggest offseason acquisitions, Adrian Clayborn has been a major disappointment all season, finishing the year with just 2.5 sacks and 11 total tackles. He sure showed up to play today, though, with three QB hurries and a sack. Especially in a game where the team was without Deatrich Wise, who is dealing with an ankle issue, Clayborn stepped up big time.
For as much as Rivers made it look like the refs weren’t calling anything all day, the Pats were actually called for an alarming nine penalties, resulting in 75 yards. As has been pointed out before, this has been a really bad habit that the team has gotten itself into lately, and it’s just really surprising from a Bill-Belichick-coached team. It didn’t end up hurting them too much this afternoon, but they can’t do that again next week in Kansas City.
Feel good about this one, Pats Nation, but do not let this taint your view of what lies ahead. The Chiefs killed a red-hot Colts team on Saturday, and it is not going to be easy next Sunday night. (No, but I really mean it this time.)
Be sure to stay tuned to The 300s all week for all the coverage you need leading up to the big game!
First half of the Patriots Chargers game in one gif:
It took less than 30 minutes for the Patriots to completely break the will of the Chargers and it is glorious. The boys all had the Pats winning, but everyone had the game within a touchdown.
The week off has done the Patriots good as they came out of the gates flying. I was a little concerned the Pats may be overthinking it after they opted to receive rather than defer like they normally do. But, they came out with a 14 play drive that took up more than 7 minutes and punched it in with Sony Michel to get the early lead.
After Stephon Gilmore got his lunch money stolen by Keenan Allen on the following drive to tie the game 7-7, the Pats settled down. Then they started putting the screws to the Chargers.
Philip Rivers has been non stop bitching to the refs living up to his cry baby reputation that I honestly had almost forgotten about.
The Chargers put themselves in a hole that would take a legendary comeback to dig themselves out after FUMBLING a punt, allowing the Pats to score yet again.
Many football fans will tell you that AFC/NFC Championship weekend is the best football weekend of the year, but the Divisional Round weekend is nothing to sneeze at. The best eight teams remain and there are four great games on the slate this weekend. And boy do I love professional football games on Saturday afternoons. The only way this weekend could be any better is if I were in Rhode Island. [I could’ve paid my rent betting against the Irish two weeks ago.]
With that said, here are The 300s staff picks for this weekend.
Papa Giorgio:Â I bet money line, so my picks are straight up.
Colts +165 The Chiefs haven’t won a home playoff game since January 8th, 1994. Enough said. Cowboys +240 No LA team has home field advantage. Maybe the Raiders if they didn’t blow that whole scenario. Pats -180 Never bet against the Pats, ever. A trick I learned over the years being the only anti-Pats staffer of The 300s is you bet the Pats. This way, if they win, you make money and if they lose, well, at least they’re out. Eagles +270 Nick Foles the playoff legend.
Joey Ballgame: We have two action packed games per night over the course of the next 48 hours.
For the first time in a long time the AFC is an absolute crap shoot. Since 2001, save a year here or there, the AFC title game has been played by that year’s contender against the Patriots. This year it’s an honest to God four-team race. Possibly the most intriguing team out of the four is the Colts, who started out sluggish and now just seem to forget how to lose.
In the NFC, it for me really comes to the Saints and Philly. I think New Orleans has enough on both sides of the ball to negate the late cancellation of Nick Foles’ vacation two years in a row.
Mattes:
Indy +4.5 / Over 54
Dallas +7 / Over 49
LA Chargers +4 / Under 48
New Orleans -8 / Under 52
Red:
Indy vs KCÂ Its going to be a cold night with the possibility of more snow coming down so who does that benefit more? I know the Colts have developed a strong running game behind Marlon Mack over the latter part of the year, but I just don’t have a lot of faith in a dome team going out and winning in a cold, sloppy Kansas City. The Chiefs have been a high powered passing game in particular, which is the kind of offense that doesn’t typically do well in poor weather. However KC has been more of a big play offense rather than a timing based offense and are the No. 1 seed coming off a bye so I have to go with the Chiefs winning and covering the 5 point spread on Saturday.
DAL vs LAR The Rams are the No. 2 seed in the NFC and got off to a blazing 8-0 start before finishing 13-3, including 2 losses in December. The 3 losses they had this year? Philadelphia, Chicago, and New Orleans; all playoff teams. I think we see a high scoring game, but the Cowboys will lean on Ezekiel Elliot (1,434 rushing yards and another 567 receiving yards on the season) to take advantage of the Rams’ porous run defense, which allowed 5.1 yards per carry during the regular season. The Cowboys will kick the trend of playoff flameouts over the past 20 years and give us the biggest upset of the NFL playoffs thus far.
NE vs LAC We discussed this at length on The 300s Podcast the other day, but I have the Patriots winning by a FG and continuing the trend of Philip Rivers unable to top Tom Brady. Patriots won’t cover, but they’ll advance to their EIGHTH straight AFC Championship game.Â
PHI vs NOÂ The Saints have been one of the consistently best teams in the NFL this year and as impressive as the defending champs have been with their backup QB, I think this is where the legend of Nick Foles finally dies. Philadelphia won’t be able to keep up with a well rested Saints team playing at home in the dome. (-8) is a big spread though so I have the Eagles covering with the Saints winning by a TD.
Big Z:
Indy +4.5 / Over 54 This Indy team looks like it’s a team on a run with a healthy Andrew Luck. KC is a good team but with a young QB they still might be a year or two away.
Dallas +7 / Under 49 I like the ‘boys and Zeke in a grind-it-out win.
LA Chargers +4 / Under 48 As I said on the podcast I think the Pats win but it’s a tight one. Call me crazy, but I have feeling Gostkowski misses bunny tomorrow too.
Philly +8 / Over 52Â I have a hard time seeing a good team getting blow out at this time of year. Saints win but it’s not a laugher. Also, gotta like the over indoors.
The 300s 