Grading the Patriots

Patriots 2019 offseason primer: Breaking down the roster and where the needs are (Updated 3/29)

POSTED: 11:37 AM March 14, 2019

If you walk into the office of any NFL general manager, you will find (sometimes behind closed cabinet doors, or on a video board) a series of three depth charts: a current snapshot,...

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Grading the 2018 Patriots: Offense – Line soared but passing, rushing efficiency dropped

POSTED: 2:10 PM February 28, 2019

Before an NFL team turns the page on the previous season and moves forward to the next, they put the team and players under a microscope to see what worked,...

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Grading the 2018 Patriots: Defensive resurgence led way for more-balanced team

POSTED: 4:23 PM February 21, 2019

Before an NFL team turns the page on the previous season and moves forward to the next, they put the team and their players under a microscope to see what...

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Super Bowl LIII

Bedard’s SB LIII Breakdown: Defense – Tackling some myths on a near-flawless unit

POSTED: 9:00 AM February 8, 2019

Since we addressed the stellar gameplan and playcalls from Bill Belichick and Brian Flores in our analysis immediately following the game, there isn’t anything glaring that has to be covered after...

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Super Bowl LIII

Bedard’s SB LIII Breakdown: Offense – Give the players, not coaches the praise on touchdown drive

POSTED: 10:52 AM February 5, 2019

I just think the oversimplification of the final sequence doesn't give enough credence to two more important things on that drive: miscues by the Rams, and flat-out great plays by...

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Super Bowl LIII

Bedard’s Breakdown: Patriots opponents better match personnel defensively, or they risk getting run over

POSTED: 8:13 PM January 24, 2019

Patriots opponents, and there's only one left in the Rams, better match up better with personnel or they risk getting run over.

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2018 AFC Playoffs

Bedard’s Breakdown: Not much to take from Chargers to Chiefs game except for one shared weakness

POSTED: 6:52 AM January 17, 2019

To be honest, I had a tough time writing this column. Normally in this space, I look for either game-specific wrinkles or, perhaps, a trend that will affect the Patriots...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: As regular season concludes, Tom Brady still not near his MVP level

POSTED: 5:10 PM January 2, 2019

But a dive into coaches' film led me in another direction. While Tom Brady certainly had his moments where he flashed his usual high level of play, there were just...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Brady remains top topic, but Patterson becoming a real force

POSTED: 9:14 AM December 25, 2018

As of this moment — and we'll have to see how he emerges from the left leg injury that knocked him out of the game early in the third quarter...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: For this time of year, Patriots’ plethora of mistakes are mind-boggling

POSTED: 2:02 PM December 19, 2018

Put aside talent, health and all that other stuff you can't quantify: these Patriots have struggled for a large portion of this season because their execution has been nowhere near...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Sunday showed us Patriots’ fortunes are tied to Brady’s tenuous health

POSTED: 11:47 PM December 12, 2018

First off, if Tom Brady is unable to play because of injury for any reason, the 2018 Patriots are finished. We all know this. Up until this season — heck,...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Are the Patriots going old school in their new offensive/defensive approach?

POSTED: 4:09 PM December 5, 2018

Unless you wear Patriots-colored glasses, the following statements are facts: The Patriots have struggled to find consistent offense and big plays on a series-by-series basis in recent weeks; The Patriots...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Give the Patriots’ defense its due – they finally brought the heat

POSTED: 11:43 AM November 28, 2018

We’ll get into all the positional ratings and reviews, gamecharts, 3 up/3 down and nine video breakdowns in a minute, but we need to start by giving some love to...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: One last look back at the Music City Debacle

POSTED: 1:53 PM November 14, 2018

After a lot of thought and more film watching, I don't have a whole lot to add on a macro level about the Music City Debacle than what I posted...

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Bedard: Some initial thoughts – Patriots have only themselves to blame for loss to Titans

POSTED: 1:14 PM November 13, 2018

Off to Felger and Mazz, but will have a full breakdown on the game later Tuesday. I did want to give you sort of the big talking points, 3 up/down,...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Was Patriots’ reliance on ‘deceptive’ plays vs. Packers par for course or cause for concern?

POSTED: 1:45 PM November 8, 2018

Why did the Patriots feel compelled to pull out all the stops against a defense that was ranked 20th by FootballOutsiders.com (21st against the pass) and had allowed 29 points...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: If Bills were any indication, opponents no longer fear Gronkowski

POSTED: 6:05 PM November 2, 2018

There’s been a lot of talk recently about Rob Gronkowski. I praised his all-around skills with his blocking against the Chiefs. The following week against the Bears, he had back...

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Bedard’s Breakdown: Why the Patriots are hard-pressed to have the kind of dominating defense you want

POSTED: 5:54 PM October 20, 2018

But when it comes to one-game situations against a good quarterback — especially of the mobile variety — and offensive talent that is as good or better than what the...

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Best of BSJ Free Preview

Bedard’s Breakdown: Patriots haven’t come close to realizing their best on either side of the ball