This is just too good not to post. Just picturing TB12 and the Pats players driving to the stadium every day as the Steelers are busy talking shit and Facebook Live streaming their coach’s postgame speech.
Thank God Tom Brady just came out with his new science altering PJs last week. Just in time. The whole team is probably sleeping like lambs. Just catching all the z’s before they stomp the Steelers out on Sunday.
So last night the Patriots advanced to their SIXTH straight AFC Championship game (NFL record) after topping the Texans 34-16. It wasn’t exactly the easy street blowout most of us expected, even though the Pats did cover the highest playoff point spread in 20 years. But a win is a win is a win. TB12 was rushed and hit all night (2 sacks, at least 6 hits), with a couple of late hits from JeDeveon Clowney as the Texans D tried to do something, anything to stop the Patriots.
Tom Brady temper tantrum dot gif https://t.co/gUsZfBzaME pic.twitter.com/vSHxS4L429
— SB Nation (@SBNation) January 15, 2017
As they came to learn though, the Patriots are like the goddamn tide on the beach, they cannot be stopped. Any time the Texans D did anything positive to get some momentm, Brock Osweiler immediately reminded everyone why he’s been a huge waste of $70 million.
When Brock Osweiler sees McCourty jump his route for the INT. #Patriots #Texans #NEvsHOU #NFLPlayoffs pic.twitter.com/Howstlz2tm
— The 300s (@The300sBoston) January 15, 2017
Dude threw 3 picks last night to destroy any chance the Texans had of staying in the game. And I would be remiss to not mention Dion Lewis having an absolutely befuddling game, all while dominating. Three touchdowns. Two fumbles. Receiving, rushing and a kickoff returned for a TD. Have a day kid.
I was starting to sweat a little bit down the stretch, not because the game was in doubt, but because Tom Brady, Martellus Bennett and other key players were taking unnecessary shots in a game that was already decided. Not to mention Tom Brady had a relatively mediocre game (47% completion percentage) so expect to come out and tear it up next week. Edelman and Hogan were huge per usual, making a bunch of clutch catches to bail out the Patriots offense. Now its time to watch the Steelers and Chiefs beat the crap out of each other to earn the right to play the role of sacrificial lamb next week. ONE MORE!
ESPN – “Steelers assistant coach Joey Porter is returning to the team a day after his assault charges from an alleged altercation at a Pittsburgh bar Sunday night were dropped. Porter, the Steelers’ outside linebackers coach, spent four days on team-administered leave but will be part of the coaching staff for the divisional playoff game Sunday at Kansas City, the team announced.”
Joey Porter got arrested last week in Pittsburgh after the Steelers won at a downtown bar for allegedly assaulting a bouncer. The charges did ultimately get dropped so he’ll be back on the sidelines this weekend for the Steelers. Every time I hear about a guy assaulting a bouncer my ears perk up. I used to be a bouncer for a few years back in the day and let me tell you, I can probably count on one hand the number of fights door guys started. It’s not because they don’t want to, trust me they want to bash all of your brains in. Its just that its too long of a night with too many drunk assholes mouthing off. If you took it personal and started a fight with everyone you’d be in Road House on a nightly basis.
So yea, innocent until proven guilty, except for the fact that Joey Porter is the definition of a mouthy asshole. In case anyone forgets, he’s the one who, as a coach, walked onto the field last year to start shit with Vontaze Burfict. This is also the same guy who was accused of assaulting a cop in 2010. In both cases the charges were dropped, but is that more of a case of wrongful arrest or more of a case of a rich athlete getting let off light? If a guy talks shit for more than a decade as a player and has multiple arrests for assault, well then I’ll side with the bar employee on this one.
Either way, solid coaching staff up there Tomlin, keep it up.
It’s Wild Card Weekend and, as usual, the Patriots have the weekend off. The Patriots have reached the playoffs 14 times in the Brady Era, and have received a first-round bye 11 times in the Brady Era. Peyton Manning wasn’t able to take this weekend off nearly as often, though.
Peyton Manning reached the playoffs 15 times in the 17 seasons he played, including each of his last 13 seasons. His teams received a first-round byes in eight of those seasons, meaning he made semi-regular appearances on Wild Car Weekend, unlike Brady.
Manning’s teams were 3-4 on Wild Card Weekend, and 3-5 after a first round bye. That adds up to nine one-and-dones, by far the most of any NFL quarterback. That means Manning’s teams only won a game in the playoffs 6 out of the 15 times he took them to the playoffs. His career playoff record stood at 11-13 before last year’s magical run gave him his second Super Bowl ring and a just-barely-over-.500 career postseason record of 14-13.
I must give Manning his due. He did knock down the Patriots more times than I care to remember in the playoffs. The Colts win in the 2006 AFC title game is still in my top five worst Boston sports moments. But I can give Manning his due, and still look back at some of his more memorable playoff losses.
[I’ve omitted the Foxborough Follies from this list for the sake of brevity, and because those are obviously well-remembered by Patriots fans.]
2002 Jets 41 – Colts 0. Not much else needs to be said about this playoff disaster. Manning had a dreadful night in Giants Stadium as the Colts lost to Chad Effing Penington. This loss put Peyton at 0-3 in the playoffs, and really started the “Peyton sucks in the playoffs” conversations in earnest.
2005 Down 3 to the Steelers with 1:20 to go, Peyton Manning took a sack on fourth down at his own 2-yard line. Looking to put the Colts away, Jerome Bettis coughed it up and gave Peyton and the Colts one last shot. Peyton got the Colts into field-goal range, but Mike Vanderjagt couldn’t connect on a 46-yard attempt, and Pittsburgh held on to win this wild one. [As a side note, this was Vanderjagt’s last game as a Colt. That offseason, the Colts went out and got Adam Vinatieri. That’s all I’ve got to say about that.]
2007 Looking to defend their Super Bowl title, the Colts received a first-round bye and hosted the San Diego Chargers in the divisional round. The Colts led 24-21 in the fourth, but the Chargers took the lead late and Peyton Manning had to orchestrate another last-minute comeback. He led the Colts inside the 10, but couldn’t put it in the end zone thanks to pressure from Shawne Merriman (remember him?). The Colts would actually get the ball back one more time, but that drive also stalled out. This was also the last game to be played at the RCA Dome.
2012 New team, same result. Peyton’s first trip to the playoffs with the Broncos ended the same way so many of his previous trips did. Much of this loss can be pinned on the Broncos defense, but this Peyton Manning Playoff Meltdown receives special mention because of how excruciating this loss was. The Ravens trailed the Broncos 35-28 in the final minute. That’s when Joe Flacco connected with Jacoby Jones for a 70-yard touchdown with 31 seconds remaining. The Ravens would go on to win the game in overtime, and defeat the Patriots the next week en route to winning Super Bowl XLVII.
With Andy Dalton and the Bengals sitting the playoffs out this year, no other quarterback playing in the playoffs this year immediately comes to mind when thinking of another quarterback to carry on the legacy of Peyton Manning Playoff Meltdowns. With backup quarterbacks all over the place in the AFC, though, this should still be a fun (and sloppy) Wild Card Weekend to watch.
Deflategate 2? @jayglazer explains that the #Giants alerted the NFL on #Steelers deflated footballs last week. https://t.co/jcebCVMxMN
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 11, 2016
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What a bunch of goddamn hypocrites the NFL is. To quote Brand New, “The Devil and God are raging inside me.” I was listening to WEEI this morning and Kirk Minihane was asking why aren’t Patriots fans more fired up about this bullshit from the league and let me tell you, I’m getting there. But I think people are just beat down. You can’t fight city hall.
All the shit the Patriots went through over the past 2 years, citing process, citing pretense, citing SCIENCE, as for why DeflateGate was much ado about nothing. And it didn’t matter, the NFL crushed us. ESPN crushed us. Mark Brunell was crying on SportsCenter for christ’s sake.
When in reality the appropriate response to what allegedly happened is exactly what we witnessed yesterday. A complaint from a team reported by Jay Glazer, a little rumbling on Twitter and then the NFL promptly stamping it out saying nothing to see here. No misinformation. No leaving the team to twist in the wind while false reports pile up. No ESPN roundtables. So I think people are absolutely pissed, we just could not be less surprised. And I think thats what takes a lot of venom out of people.
But its shit like this that drives me absolutely bananas.
Ben Roethlisberger on under-inflated footballs report: “We used nerf balls” – @RyanHannable https://t.co/qWKjguwfsQ pic.twitter.com/Z4GtPqWzd7
— WEEI (@WEEI) December 12, 2016
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I’m sure this was said tongue in cheek, but thats the exact issue. He’s joking about it and nobody cares. Remember how Brady denied any wrongdoing and he got DESTROYED by everyone. Now Mike Tomlin refuses to comment on it, saying theres nothing to it. And no one bats an eye. And don’t give me the “he’s got no prior incidents” response. Does anybody remember this?
I doubt it. And thats why people aren’t calling up yelling and screaming on the radio. Because the Patriots were screwed and the PSI of balls was never the issue.
Rooney. Mara. Jones. Just wait guys, sooner or later one of these shit storms will blow up on you…and there will be no one left to speak for you. In the meantime, the Patriots will keep rolling on the way to Super Bowl title number 5; one for the thumb.
Success is the best revenge.
The 300s 