Welcome to first and 10, a roundup of all the (mostly) Patriots-related news you need to start your Tuesday. Grab your coffee and let’s get to it.
To a man on Monday, the Patriots all said pretty much what we expected when it came to moving on after Sunday's loss. We want you to tell us how they will respond this weekend in Pittsburgh. Hit us with your opinion -- if you want, add a score prediction in the comments below.
[democracy id="24"]
--Jim Nantz and Tony Romo will be on the mic this weekend for CBS. Good news -- since the start of the 2017 season, the Patriots are 10-1 with them on the call.
--Greg has his weekly appearance with Felger & Mazz from 2-4 p.m. Listen live here.
Tuesday’s Schedule
11 a.m.: Conference Call with Bill Belichick
11:15 a.m.: Conference Call with Josh McDaniels
11:25 a.m.: Conference Call with Brian Flores
Now, on with the links...
1. Before I got on the plane back to New England, I had five leftover thoughts on what happened to the Patriots on Sunday.
2. This also has to be mentioned -- before the wild finish, Rob Gronkowski was having a very good day.
3. The Overreaction Monday Q&A was epic. It ran the gamut, from Milton Berle to "The Program" to the Patriots' collapse and the story of someone's DVR going out right before the end of the game. (There were also a disturbingly high number of people who have forgotten just how miserable the 2009 team really was.) But all in all, it was a blast.
4. Here's the transcript of Belichick's Monday conference call. Asked if -- in hindsight -- he should have subbed in Devin McCourty for Gronkowski as the deep safety at the end, Belichick replied: "I think there's a lot of things that could've been better on that play. I think there were a lot of things that could've been better in the entire game. I think the game was about a lot more than that play, but certainly that play wasn't a good one for us."
5. Tom Brady says the bad loss to the Dolphins won't crush the Patriots. (He also had his weekly Q&A with Jim Gray.)
6. For the rest of the roster, on Monday, it was "On To Pittsburgh." "We've got a lot we can do better. We got a big challenge coming up this week, so that's what our focus is on," David Andrews said on Monday. "We can't do anything to change what happened yesterday, so we've got to move on."
7. Pro Football Focus takes a last look back at Patriots-Dolphins. "Bad kicking and bad game management saw the Patriots blow a game they really should have won," writes PFF. "This feels more like a wake-up call than something to alarm, but you simply can’t make the volume of mistakes New England made and be surprised when you lose a game."
8. In Pittsburgh, people are upset -- the Tribune-Review says this Steelers team stinks, reminding people they've only beaten one team with a winning record.
9. Following their loss in Oakland, the Steelers now say they'll see what their team is made of.
10. There's no early line on Patriots-Steelers because of the uncertainty surrounding Ben Roethlisberger's health.
Extra Point:
I knew yesterday’s Dolphins-Patriots game felt like a fun back-and-forth affair, but I didn’t realize it was THIS wild: Nine lead changes rank as the second most of any game in NFL history.
Only game with more occurred in 2011 (Week 17, Lions-Packers).
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) December 10, 2018