There are plenty of things going on at Gillette Stadium, so let’s take a gander at this week’s 20 thoughts.
1. For what it’s worth, when asked about resting starters, Bill Belichick has taken a different tune this week than he did in Week 17 of 2009. There were some different circumstances, with the Pats jockeying between the third and fourth seeds last season and having the No. 1 seed and a bye completely locked up this week. Last season, he said he “wouldn’t anticipate” resting the starters, and “Everybody needs to be ready to go all the time.” This week, Belichick deferred to doing “what is best for the football team, both individually and collectively,” and the long of the answer made it sound like he’d closely weigh the injury situations.
2. Belichick’s track record indicates he won’t rest Tom Brady and the starters this week, but I get the feeling that he’s leaning toward keeping some of them out of the lineup, or at the very least, he’s going to greatly restrict their playing time against the Dolphins.
3. Many teams honor their captains by placing a patch on their jerseys, but the Patriots haven’t followed that trend and Belichick actually scoffed at it Wednesday. I’m guessing it’s for one of two reasons: Either Belichick prefers the old-school way and thinks the patches are corny, or he doesn’t want to set anyone apart on the field, similar to the way the Patriots come out onto the field as a team and not individually.
4. Speaking of captains, tight end Alge Crumpler has five receptions this season, which is one less than Kevin Faulk, so Crumpler’s teammates were ecstatic to see him get some time in the sun with his first touchdown as a Patriot on Sunday. Crumpler’s blocking ability stacks up with any tight end in the league, and he doesn’t get any first-hand credit in the statistical department for that.
5. Crumpler hooked up the team with a big order of Dinosaur Bar-B-Que wings for Monday’s flight home from upstate New York. After his touchdown grab, shouldn’t they have bought for him?
6. Patriots kicker Shayne Graham has nailed all 11 of his field goals this season, which gives him the most makes without a miss in the league.
7. However, Graham is one of only seven full-time kickers who has missed an extra point this season, and he is one of three who lead the league with two missed extra points.
8. Patriots linebacker Tracy White didn’t earn his first trip to the Pro Bowl as a special teamer, which has been one of his goals for awhile. Here’s a good quote from White that couldn’t make it into last week’s story. “[Opposing special teams players] say our coach told us you’re the guy we have to take care of, block, take out of the game, blocking-wise, or to keep from making plays,” White said. “That’s a confidence booster, and you know that you’re doing something that catches the coaches’ eyes and the other players’ eyes, like, ‘Yeah, that’s the guy we’ve got to stop right there.'”
9. White mentioned his dip in tackles, and I asked him how much of that had to do with playing alongside some talented coverage guys like Matthew Slater, Kyle Arrington and Devin McCourty. “It’s exciting playing with those fast guys,” White said. “I’ve never played with guys with that type of speed on special teams before, so it helps out a lot.” White, as many have in the past, said Slater is the fastest player on the Patriots.
10. The Patriots have received the second-half kickoff 10 times this season, but Sunday was the first time they went three-and-out with that possession. Of those 10 instances, they’ve scored five touchdowns, including two kickoff returns, punted four times and thrown one interception (Week 6 against Baltimore, which is also Brady’s last non-Hail Mary pick this season).
11. The Pats have gone cold with the second-half kickoff recently, though. They’ve punted it away in four of the last five instances, including three in a row (against the Colts, Lions and Bills). Of those three possessions, the Patriots have gained 38 yards on 12 plays (3.2 yards per play) and gained just two first downs.
12. The Patriots forced seven turnovers Sunday, and they scored touchdowns after the first three. However, the next four resulted in two punts, one turnover on downs and one possession that killed the game clock, which I consider a productive possession. For the season, the Patriots have forced 36 turnovers and scored after 22 of them, including five defensive touchdowns, and they’ve amassed 134 points in those instances. Heading into the Bills game, the Patriots only had four unproductive possessions after turnovers this season, but that number jumped to seven with three poor second-half possessions against the Bills.
13. It looks like the Raiders’ 2011 first-round pick, which is owned by the Patriots, will be in the 12-19 range, depending on what happens this weekend. Since the Raiders and Dolphins have the same record, it would actually be beneficial for the Patriots to lose to Miami in their regular-season finale, at least as far as the draft is concerned.
14. The Pats — who have the 33rd pick in April’s draft, thanks to Carolina — won’t know their own draft position until they’re done with the playoffs. Since they’re guaranteed to be one of the final eight teams, though, and they’re going to have one of the two best records in the NFL, they won’t pick any higher than 27th, but they will drop to No. 32 if they win the Super Bowl. In case you’re wondering, the first tiebreaker for the draft is strength of schedule.
15. Forgot to mention this in last week’s Two-Minute Drill, but Patriots owner Robert Kraft said safety Brandon Meriweather approached him at some point after New England’s victory against the Ravens. Meriweather, who earned a $50,000 fine for a helmet shot on Ravens tight end Todd Heap, told Kraft he “did the wrong thing.”
16. Wide receivers Deion Branch and Wes Welker got on Brady last week for his fiery competitiveness, noting that Brady can’t stand to lose when he plays anything, even ping-pong. Welker had the best quote of the week on that topic. “We’ll play a game for 100 bucks, and I don’t think he’s worried about the 100 bucks,” Welker said. “Well, obviously he’s not worried about the 100 bucks. He’s definitely throwing anything we’re playing. We were playing backgammon or whatever that game is. I thought he was about to toss it out the plane.”
17. Running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis has 928 rushing yards and needs 72 yards in the season finale to reach 1,000. For that to happen, he’d need to surpass his season average of 61.9 yards per game. Green-Ellis does have 79 receiving yards, though, so he is the only member of the Patriots with 1,000 yards from scrimmage in 2010.
18. The two biggest goals for the Patriots this week have to be making sure they come out on point to keep their focus and energy peaking, and then, obviously, to avoid any injuries. After that, getting Green-Ellis to 1,000 yards has to be at the top of the list. “It makes me happy for Benny,” Pats left guard Logan Mankins said. “He deserves it. He’s worked hard since he’s been here, and he ran hard. He’s one of those guys that you truly appreciate, and you like to block for, so that would be great for him to get that.”
19. Something surfaced this week about Green-Ellis never fumbling in his football career, but it’s impossible to find his true statistics prior to college, so I had to ask him. He was absolutely convinced he’s fumbled once at some point — whether it was in high school, or in another league, or all-star game, or whatever — but he couldn’t remember when, where or he played for at the time. It’s something he must have just blocked from his memory.
20. In his two seasons at Indiana, two seasons at Ole Miss and three seasons in New England, Green-Ellis has handled the ball 1,284 times from scrimmage without a fumble. While 1,000 yards would be a nice benchmark, this streak without a fumble is far more impressive.
