Friday, the NFL released the findings of its investigation, noting that there had been no foul play by the visiting Steelers:
From @NFLfootballinfo: “All footballs were in compliance w/ NFL rules following the pregame inspection process + all proper procedures were followed. In the third quarter, a football that was found to be defective was removed from play + will be sent back to Wilson for review.”
OH! Of course, it’s fucking Wilson’s fault!!! YUP! Has to be it! Case closed!
Unbelievable. The NFL finished their “investigation” into the deflated football that was used in last night’s preseason game between the Steelers and Eagles quicker than Chris Christie destroys a box of Krispy Kremes.
Seriously??!! Who looked into that shit? Did someone leave a message for the Rooneys and call it a night? How in the hell can you conduct an investigation and close the case less than 12 hours after the game even ended?
Look, I get it. Why in the world would the Steelers care enough to deflate a football in Game 1 of the preseason which literally means nothing? Also, there’s no proof that the Steelers are the culprit here, and it very well could have been a fluke ball. Fine.
But can you at least make it seem as though there was a little more concern surrounding the situation considering Brady was almost burned at the stake and put under the microscope for A YEAR AND A HALF?
I know there were text messages and other (subjective) pieces of evidence the NFL had to go off of, and I know that supposedly 11 of the 12 balls the officials looked at from the 2015 AFC Championship were said to be under-inflated. Brady most likely did order the balls to be doctored up a bit. I’m not disputing that.
But, just like with Spygate, you’re a complete sheep if you think the rest of the NFL wasn’t doing the same thing. In fact, Aaron Rodgers openly admitted (h/t Pro Football Talk) that he likes to mess with the footballs he uses – albeit by over-inflating them – just a few days after Brady was dinged for it, and nobody even gave it a second thought.
But if the Pats do it? OH GOD! STOP THE PRESSES! LET’S EVEN GET THE FRIGGIN’ U.S. JUDICIAL SYSTEM INVOLVED!
Unfair prejudice against the Patriots is a real thing, and you’re just ignorant or completely stubborn if you say there isn’t.
Sorry we’ve won five titles in the past 16 years. Sorry Brady and Belichick have made you all look like fools over that time.
It’s obvious you just hate us because we’re beautiful. So actually, sorry not sorry.
Two score and one year ago, the world was gifted with a child – born in San Mateo, California – who would eventually go on to become a living legend responsible for providing constant joy, multiple championships, and pure, captivating handsomeness to New England and the rest of Pats Nation for over one and a half decades (and counting).
That man is none other than Tom Brady, and The 300s would be remiss if we didn’t give the G.O.A.T. a well-deserved (and probably all too emotional) birthday shout-out.
No other athlete in modern NFL history is as prolific and accomplished as TB12. (Sorry, Brady haters, but you literally cannot even begin to argue against this one anymore.)
Besides Charles Haley – who, while indeed a Hall of Fame defensive end, just so happened to be on some pretty loaded San Francisco 49ers and Dallas Cowboys teams – no other player has ever won five Super Bowls.
“Oh yeah, Mattes??!! How about the fact that Joe Montana NEVER lost a Super Bowl, and Brady’s lost THREE??!!”
Brady’s still been to eight of them in total, double the amount of times Montana even got there, and since 2001, when Brady took over as the starter, the Pats have won 14 division titles and have appeared in the AFC Championship 12 times.
TFB is also just south of 500 touchdowns passes for his career (488 right now), and is likely to pass Brett Favre (who finished with 508) at some point this season for second place all-time.
The guy’s also got over 45,000 passing yards for his career and three MVP awards to his name, one of which came last year at the age of 40. (Oh, by the way, only ONE other guy in the four major professional sports has ever won an MVP award at age 40 or older. That guy was Barry Bonds in 2004, and that was because he was juiced up more than a freakin’ grapefruit.)
“OH REALLY, MATTES??!! WHAT ABOUT SPYGATE??!! AND THE DEFLATED FOOTBALLS??!! THE GUY’S CHEATED HIS WAY THROUGHOUT HIS WHOLE CAREER!!!”
If you’re one of those people who still puts any merit into that argument, you are a complete assclown that knows absolutely nothing about football. While I’m not absolving Brady and others in the organization of any and all blame, let’s not act as though the rest of the league doesn’t pull anything a little shady from time to time. But if you think any of it has helped him put up those kind of numbers and get that many wins, you’re probably one of those “the world is definitely flat” or “vaccinations cause autism” people, too.
Brady’s also the only ever back-to-back No. 1-ranked player on NFL Network’s annual “Top 100 Players” list – which is voted on by actual NFL players and nobody else; I’m pretty sure if Brady was such a cheat, opposing players wouldn’t be so quick to label him the greatest.
Anyway, I think we all get the picture that Brady is an absolute god amongst men who will forever burn as the brightest flame in the hearts of Pats fans everywhere, no matter how long he plays.
So happy birthday once again, Tom. Shine on, you crazy diamond.
(Here’s a little extra Tom Brady/Patriots porn for your Friday afternoon viewing pleasure:)
After playing grab ass for the past few months with reported interest from Decker on signing with New England and with the team officially working him out this week, it all came to ahead when Jordan Matthews blew a hammy and the Pats cut him. The Patriots were looking pretty damn barren at receiver with Edelman out for the first month of the season. They would have been relying on Chris Hogan, Philip Dorsett, Cordarrelle Patterson, Kenny Britt, and whoever else winds up actually making the roster. Can’t have that. Can’t pretend its 2006 again and give Brady a bunch of scrubs and expect him to carry the entire team.
So I love the move, I’ve always been a big Eric Decker guy. Only had 1 TD last year, but he caught 54 balls for 563 yards. Not bad with a mobile QB in Marcus Mariota throwing you the ball. Cut out 2016 when he was limited to just 3 games because of injury and Decker had 4 straight years of 74+ catches.
Not to mention Josh McDaniels drafted him in Denver and knows Decker’s strengths inside and out so I would expect him to be a great fit. He’s always been solid, he’s got good hands, he’s handsome AF and his wife is an absolute must follow on twitter.
I’m a thug wife livin my life poppin babies out & holding a mic I’m chill about the weather. I got big dick decker to hold me tight #poetrypic.twitter.com/Rj9JUoxdWo
Jessie James Decker is a true ride or die that you don’t see the likes of these days and I for one am psyched to have the Deckers in my life once again.
I say once again because I have watched multiple, multiple episodes of Eric and Jessie while hungover on the coach and it is an excellent show. I suggest you all catch up so you know what we’re dealing with here.
Plus it would be an added bonus to take a guy the Jets couldn’t get much out of and make him a stud again as the Patriots tend to do.
Last week, we kicked things off with a look at what is likely to be a committee approach at running back for the Pats this season – a group which, come to find out, might actually have a pretty cool nickname – even with shiny new toy Sony Michel in town.
Now a full week into training camp, most people are focusing on exactly whom is going to replace the production of both Brandin Cooks – who was responsible for 1,082 receiving yards and seven touchdowns last season – and Julian Edelman – who may not have played last year but was expected to be Brady’s main target once again in 2018 and now won’t be available for the team’s first four games.
To be entirely honest, while guys like Jacob Hollister and Phillip Dorsett are getting quite a bit of love from local-area beat guys over the past week, I still feel like it’s just way too early to speculate on anything on that front.
We’ll get there, but this time around let’s focus on who’s going to protect Brady’s ass (literally) this season. I’m talking, of course, about the battle at left tackle.
It all really comes down to two guys: rookie Isaiah Wynn and fourth-year man Trent Brown, the latter I have decided to give the nickname “Juggernaut” (for all my X-Men fans out there).
Just in case you’re wondering, he’s listed at 6’8″, 380 pounds, per the team’s website. Good Lord.
(Also, here’s a picture of Juggernaut for those who aren’t a nerd like me):
After Nate Solder departed via free agency this offseason, as expected, one of the team’s top offseason priorities was finding someone to protect Brady’s blindside. All in all, Solder was a pretty solid left tackle who, except for an injury-plagued 2015 campaign, kept TB12 pretty clean for the past seven seasons.
Still, he wasn’t worth the nearly $16 million a year the New York Giants decided to give him, and the Pats instead chose to select Wynn out of Georgia with the first of their two first-round selections in the draft this past May. While Michel might be getting most of the attention, Wynn was actually the top BULLdog (GET IT??!!) in the war room that night.
Horrible pun aside, I actually liked the pick. Even though I definitely thought we could have addressed other positions of need first, after doing a bit of research on Wynn it was hard not to get excited.
First and foremost, he’s extremely versatile, as he played both tackle and guard in college – and we all know Belichick loves versatility. Most experts projected Wynn to strictly be a guard at the NFL level due to his “smaller” size (6’2″, 310 pounds), but the guy was a Second Team All-American as a tackle last year and absolutely DOMINATED Alabama in the national championship. Even though his Bulldogs lost the game, Wynn looked flawless and didn’t allow one sack against one of the very best defenses in the country, which featured two 2018 first-round picks as well as another fourth-rounder.
Seriously, check out how good he looked (he’s No. 77):
If that didn’t do it for ya, I’mma just leave this right here:
1,104 pass blocking snaps by Isaiah Wynn (at guard and tackle) since 2014.
Before even selecting Wynn with the 23rd pick in the draft, Belichick traded the 95th overall pick to San Francisco at the end of April in exchange for the 25-year-old and a fifth-rounder (which ended up becoming Ja’Whaun Bentley, a linebacker out of Purdue).
After being selected by the 49ers in the seventh round of the draft in 2015, Brown didn’t play very much until the end of his rookie season. However, he took over the right tackle spot completely in Year 2, starting all 16 games at the position in 2016 and continuing to do so last season until he was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder issue in December.
As if going from seventh-rounder to starter in less than a year wasn’t impressive enough, how about this quote from Von freakin’ Miller (h/t San Francisco Gate):
“He’s the best right tackle in the National Football League. And he may even be a top-five tackle, period, in the National Football League. There’s not another tackle who’s that tall, that big and can move the way he moves.”
That’s some pretty insane praise from a guy who many consider to be one the very best defenders in the league, if not THE best.
As of right now, it looks like the big(ger) fella is in the lead. Even though he has been a right tackle throughout his career, it seems like the team is confident that Brown’s beautiful synergy of size, strength, and mobility make him a perfect fit for the left side.
So where does that leave Wynn? If he loses out to Brown for the left tackle spot, is he going to replace Joe Thuney or Shaq Mason at guard – two really good lineman in their own right who were both ranked as top-15 players at their position last season, according to Pro Football Focus? Probably not. He’s also not going to replace David Andrews at center or Marcus Cannon at the other tackle spot.
So then what the hell? Would the Pats really spend such a high pick on a reserve offensive lineman? I certainly hope not, but here are a few different ways I can see this playing out:
Maybe the Pats decide to move Thuney or Mason via trade this summer. Though Mason is definitely the better of the two, he is also in the final year of his current deal; since we all know Belichick won’t break the bank for offensive lineman, maybe he’ll try to get something for him now.
Wynn really does serve as the team’s top reserve/swing lineman in 2018, and he simply takes over one of the guard spots next season after Mason walks.
Besides that, I really don’t see any other logical explanation for the embarrassment of riches the Pats currently have up front.
Either way, it’s a good “problem” to have, and it’s nice to know our elder statesman at quarterback will have some good protection in front of him once again in 2018.
Be sure to check in with The 300s next week for Part 3 of the series before the Pats kick off the preseason schedule against Washington next Thursday night!
Everyone has been freaking out the Patriots traded Jimmy G back in October. Who is gonna take over when Tom Brady retires? Whats the plan of succession? How are we going to compete in the future with studs like Jimmy leaving town? We are all doomed. Well, I got my first look at Patriots rookie QB Danny Etling today…..and I think we’re gonna be alright.
If I know anything about playing quarterback in the NFL, and I think I do, being handsome is like 80% of it. Brady, Russell Wilson, Cam Newton, Drew Brees, Marcus Marriota, Garoppolo. All. Handsome.
So I just want to get ahead of the crowd and invite Danny Etling into the Handsome Men’s Club.
Show of handsome? All in favor?
Its only the first day of practice in his first year as a pro, but I think the Patriots may have struck gold with this 7th Round handsome son of a bitch.
*Insert over-used “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” reference here.* (Go ahead and even sing it in your head, if you want.)
FOOTBALL IS BACK, BABY!
The Patriots officially kicked off training camp in Foxborough today, and per usual there are plenty of storylines to get to.
But this year feels a little bit different. Instead of focusing on positional battles or guessing which player you’ll invest a high fantasy draft pick on only to see Belichick bury them on the bottom of the depth chart before the first leaves even change color (see: Dobson, Aaron; Gillislee, Mike; Ochocinco, Chad; Ridley, Stevan; Taylor, Fred), people seem to be much more concerned with how much “fun” the team is having, how “mean” Belichick really is, or why Tom Brady doesn’t eat tomatoes (no, but really, he doesn’t).
This entire offseason has felt like an episode of General Hospital, and I’m honestly done with all the soap opera bullshit. I’m just ready to watch some good action on the gridiron.
Here’s the first of a weekly series from The 300s focusing on actual football-related issues pertaining to Brady & Co. before Christmas finally arrives on Sunday, September 9:
Sexy Rexy vs. the New Kid: Who Ya Got?
The Pats surprised a lot of people in May when they selected former Georgia stud running back Sony Michel with the 31st pick in this year’s NFL draft.
Sure, Dion Lewis – who totaled over 1,100 yards from scrimmage and 10 touchdowns last season – had signed with the Titans two months before, but the team still had Rex Burkhead, James White, and Mike Gillislee, the last of whom people thought maybe (JUST MAYBE) could have a bounce-back season after the Pats signed him to a two-year, $6.4 million deal last summer. (OK, I know most people forgot Gillislee was even on the team, but let’s not forget that this was a guy who averaged just under six yards a carry and scored 12 total touchdowns from 2015-2016 as a backup to LeSean McCoy in Buffalo. He also had 98 carries for the Pats through the first eight weeks of last season before being banished to the bench for the rest of the year, save for six carries in Week 16 against Buffalo. He’s most likely going to be cut unless he has a monster camp, but he’s really not a bad player and should re-emerge somewhere throughout the league this season.)
Nevertheless, Belichick and McDaniels saw something in the 23-year-old Michel, who finally signed his rookie deal on Monday and looks primed for a feature role in the offense.
But wait a minute, Mattes, what about Burkhead – who had eight touchdowns in 10 games last season – and White – the loveable, reliable pass-catching specialist who got robbed of a Super Bowl MVP award against the Falcons two years ago? (Sorry, Tom, but White was absolutely the MVP of that Super Bowl. Period.)
First and foremost, White’s role is locked in, and regardless of whether or not the Pats took Michel this past spring, not much is set to change for him. He’s still going to get the bulk of the targets out of the backfield, finish with 50-70 catches, and serve as the emergency ball-carrier in the event Burkhead and/or Michel go down.
But what about Burkhead?
After signing with the team as a free agent last summer, Burkhead played in just 12.3% and 10.5% of the team’s offensive snaps, respectively, through the first two games of the season before sitting out the next four games due to injury. However, after returning against the Falcons in Week 7, Burkhead played in about a third of the team’s offensive snaps the rest of the way, ultimately becoming the team’s main goal-line back and secondary pass-catcher out of the backfield – before missing the team’s final two games of the season, again due to injury.
So while durability issues may be a bit of concern for Burkhead, there is no doubt that he is a true all-around threat at the running back position. And after re-signing with the team yet again this offseason, the coaching staff obviously plans to use him.
Sooooo where does that leave Michel?
Well, no team in their right mind is going to use a first-round pick on a running back only to have him ride the pine for the majority of his rookie season. We may see this happen with quarterbacks, even more so in recent years, but first-round picks are not spent on running backs unless the team believes they can handle the rock right away. Michel is going to get his.
Even with Burkhead in the fold last year, Lewis still received the lion’s share of the playing time in the backfield, averaging exactly 15 carries per game over the team’s final 10 contests. He also hauled in 25 catches over that same stretch.
There were also five instances last season where both Burkhead and Lewis each surpassed 50 total yards in the same game, demonstrating that the Pats, much like the vast majority of the NFL, are furthering the belief that the days of a bell-cow back are truly coming to an end. (OK, sorry, I see you Le’Veon Bell. You’re a freakin’ machine. OK??)
Also, while there is no doubt that Michel was an absolute FORCE to be reckoned with at the college level – 1,227 rushing yards, 17 total touchdowns, and an out-of-this-world 7.9 yards per carry average (WHAT??!!) last season – he was never truly a bell-cow back himself. Michel only exceeded 156 carries in a season one time in four seasons, and he actually shared a feature role in Georgia’s backfield for the past few years with fellow NFL rookie and Cleveland Browns second-round pick Nick Chubb. He also averaged just 16 receptions per year as a Bulldog, so he is no threat to White’s status either.
Now, I’m not trying to make it seem as though I’m not absolutely amped to see this kid play. (Again, he averaged SEVEN-POINT-EFFING-NINE YARDS PER CARRY last year against the toughest conference in the country.) I’m just saying that people need to temper expectations if they expect him to be the next Zeke Elliott or Leonard Fournette.
Editor’s note: AJ Green begs to differ:
It should also be noted that since 2004, only three guys – BenJarvus Green-Ellis (2010), Stevan Ridley (2012), and LeGarrette Blount (2016) – have toted the rock more than 200 times in a season for the Pats, and there’s no reason to expect that trend to change this season.
While it’s often an exercise in futility to try and predict exactly what Belichick and McDaniels are going to do in any scenario, I am still going to provide you with my completely meaningless 2018 stat prediction for the Pats three-headed monster at running back:
Rex Burkhead:141 carries; 544 yards; 42 catches; 382 yards; 10 total touchdowns
Sony Michel:192 carries; 839 yards; 11 catches; 45 yards; 7 total touchdowns
James White: 55 carries; 205 yards; 61 catches; 510 yards; 4 total touchdowns
All I know is, Belichick knows how to use running backs of all shapes, sizes, creeds, and colors; he’s proven it throughout his career. Not since the days of Clock Killin’ Corey Dillon has Bill invested his entire stock into one running back, and he both understands and appreciates the value of having multiple guys who can carry the load.
So no matter what happens, it’s nice to know the Pats shouldn’t be in dire straits without Lewis this season, and it’ll be fun to watch how it all shakes out.
Be sure to check in with The 300s next week for Part 2 of the series!
I recently signed up for Amazon Prime and started binge watching Entourage from the beginning again. That’s the way to go with Entourage. It’s not Seinfeld, you can’t drop in for one random episode here or there thanks to some of the drawn out story lines. That makes it perfect to stream, but also one of the reasons why it was such a disaster in syndication.
The show hasn’t aged particularly well, either. The Contest Seinfeld episode from 1992 feels less dated than a lot of the Entourage episodes from the last decade. But that doesn’t mean Entourage was totally devoid of enlightened knowledge. I stumbled across some fitness advice from one of Vince’s girlfriends in season one that sounds awfully familiar…
Yoga? No weights? A mean stretch?
“Bulk is so 90s Johnny. It’s all about flexibility.”
Plant-based protein? The only word of the TB12 Method that Vince’s time traveling girlfriend didn’t use was “pliability.” But she came pretty damn close.
So I think now we know how Brady spent his offseasons in the mid-2000s. Watching Entourage every week just like the rest of us. When he wasn’t playing golf with the gang, that is.
Another photo of Tom Brady’s vacation on the island from LOST went viral yesterday and for all the wrong reasons. TB12 was pictured in a stunning emerald green bathing suit, but rather than compliment his sense of style, everyone on the interwebs pointed to the fact that Tom didn’t have a 6-pack.
The TB12 Method never claimed to get you shredded, it claimed to make you the best at what you do through pliability as well as impervious to sunburns. Simple stuff. Guys, its Tom Brady. When was Tom Brady ever a walking GI Joe?
Its summer vacation, we’re all imbibing one too many craft beers and an extra one or 12 hot dogs at the family BBQ. I get it. Now Tom may be indulging more on avocado ice cream, chia seeds, and maybe even a couple of strawberries, but the point remains.
So to all those who body shamed my guy Tom yesterday; for shame. If people were saying this shit about Giselle they’d have to shut down the internet for a day. I think Tom looks stunning, glowing even, as he squeezes out the last few days of summer vaca before getting back to the grind of winning another Super Bowl.
NBCSports – Somebody needs to tug on Tom Brady’s sleeve and let him know that fun’s fun, but he’s drifting into Brett Favre territory now. Forty-eight hours hadn’t passed since the Oprah Orchard Interview in which Brady said his retirement was coming “sooner rather than later” and there he was on Instagram Tuesday afternoon insinuating in Spanish that he’s back to playing until he’s 45. Given that he’s 40 right now and his contract expires at the end of the 2019 season, 45 seems like later not sooner. That’s standard fare this offseason.
Tom E. Curran wrote an article yesterday about Tom Brady’s back and forth retirement timeline plans thats definitely worth the read. Curran is as tied into the Brady family as anyone so when he writes about Brady I pay attention.
It’s definitely frustrating to not know when exactly Brady will ultimately play until, but thats the cross you bear for having a 40-year-old quarterback, who just won the MVP by the way, leading your team. I’m sure 99% of the NFL would swap places with Patriots fans right now.
The waffling and the mind games are what will drive people up a wall though. Saying ad nauseum that he’s playing until his mid-forties or beyond, only to tell Oprah that he’s going to hang em up “sooner rather than later” only to then cryptically comment “45” in Spanish on an ESPN post on Instagram.
The Brett Favre comparisons will only grow louder unless Brady makes a definitive public statement declaring his intentions one way or the other, but why would he? It’s frustrating, but I get it. If my job asked me to commit to 3-4 more years I would give them a big shrug emoji.
Did Brady likely bitch and moan to the owner to get his heir apparent in Jimmy Garoppolo shipped out of town? All signs point to yes, but its not Tom’s job to make sure the Patriots are set up for 2024. That’s on Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick.
Listen, if Brady up and retires tomorrow it is a massive dick move and is a complete about face from everything he’s preached for the last few years. That would be unforgivable after he basically forced Kraft to ship Jimmy G out of town….but fans would forgive him sooner rather than later. Sure, Bill may never talk to him again outside of Hall of Fame inductions and such, but its become pretty clear over the past several months that these guys aren’t exactly ripping it up together on the VII Rings in Nantucket.
Back to Curran’s larger point here though. Brady joked after the Super Bowl when asked about retirement “Why does everyone want me to retire?” Thats just it. Everyone, outside of New England at least, does want him to retire. The rest of the league has just been counting down the seconds on the imaginary doomsday clock thats been ticking, and ticking, and ticking since the day the Pats drafted Garoppolo and we all became aware of “Tom’s age and contract situation.” So yea no kidding everyone wants to know when Brady is retiring. So they can start planning to maybe possibly be competitive or even potentially win an AFC East title for the first time in nearly 20 years.
“does he not get that his and the Patriots stranglehold on the NFL isn’t like Jordan’s on the NBA. It’s closer to Godzilla’s on Japan, and that every other NFL team and fanbase is counting the seconds until he walks.
That’s why every throat-clearing, every pause, every social media “like” is scrutinized for clues as to which way he’s ultimately leaning.”
The end is coming. I don’t know when, but we’re not quite there yet. They may have announced last call at the bar, but they haven’t turned the lights on just yet. So until then lets just enjoy the ride.
Its only the first day of practice in his first year as a pro, but I think the Patriots may have struck gold with this 7th Round handsome son of a bitch.
The 300s 