Happy New Year everyone! Where to start this week. For starters, I hate watching the Patriots lose. Despite losing to the Bills in a meaningless finale on Sunday, I slept well that night knowing our top guys were going into the post season healthy. However, Belichick gave us all a scare delaying his post game press conference for a trip to the trainers. This was for his own health reasons. He did reassure us that everything was fine.
It was different week here at Gillette stadium with much of the media focusing solely on the Patriots themselves rather than their opponents (who are TBD this weekend). After hearing from both Brady and Belichick, that was just the case. There is alot of things to improve before they take a look at their potential opponents.
Wednesday, the Patriots had a very competitive practice held inside Gillette Stadium where they participated in an intra-squad scrimmage. Seemed to be alot of trash talking, but Brady told us, 'It was alot of fun. There was alot of situations we covered and just a great, competitive spirit out there.' Later in the day after practice, the locker room was rather rowdy as the players got ready for afternoon meetings, just before New Years Eve.
Interesting, Bill Belichick cancelled meetings later Wednesday and instead, brought the guys over to Patriot Place to check out 'American Sniper'. Of course Bill has great taste in movies, and the players enjoyed the experience noting that this was focusing on team chemistry, much like the movie.
This isnt a random occurance, as Bill did the same last year. His movie of choice, 'Lone Survivor'. I am sensing a theme here, and it gets me pumped for the upcoming playoffs. Lets hope it does the same for the Patriots.
Game Preview
As we all know, the Patriots have the week off, but you can still catch NFL action. Saturday we have the Carolina Panthers take on the Arizona Cardinals at 4:20pm EST. Saturday night we get a look at a potential Patriot oppnent where the Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Baltimore Ravens at 8:15pm EST.
Sunday at 1:05pm EST, the Indianapolis Colts take on the Cincinatti Bengals to wrap the AFC Wildcard, followed by th Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions at 4:40pm EST.
Below is a full breakdown of our coverage from this week:
ARTICLES & BLOGS
- Patriots' new year off to restful, relaxing start
- Tackling Tech: The Connected Cars - Wireless at Work
- Scrimmage intensifies last Patriots practice of 2014
- Patriots Quotes 12/31: Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and more
- News Blitz 12/31: Prepping for playoffs
- Ask PFW: Worried about injuries affecting Patriots in playoffs?
- Work begins on playoff bye week; Dec. 30 notes
- Limited number of Patriots AFC Divisional Playoff Game tickets to go on sale to general public
- Take Two-sday: Rare Revis misstep sets stage for Bills
- Patriots OC McDaniels could be interview target
- New Blitz 12/30: McDaniels getting attention
- Nitpicks & Nitwits: When the Game isn't a Game, all the same
- Patriots Quotes 12/30: Dont'a Hightower and LeGarrette Blount
- Get Jack'd - Ask Jackie Brittain your Patriots Playoff questions!
- NFL Playoffs Schedule
- Patriots sign LB Eric Martin to the practice squad
- Patriots 2015 opponents finalized
- Bridgestone Performance Review: Bills-Patriots
- Patriots to open playoffs Jan. 10
- Matchup Winners: Bills at Patriots - Backups can't quite get job done
- Final PFW Power Rankings of 2014
- The Hall’s Playoff Huddle with Scar, Zo and Reiss
- Bill Belichick, Matt Patricia and Josh McDaniels Transcripts - 12/29/2014
- News Blitz 12/29: Wrapping up the finale
- 68,000 Patriots fans sing 'Happy Birthday' to Pete Frates
- Patriots recognized as top NFL team for designated driver program
VIDEO
- Get Jack'd: C'mon playoffs!
- PFW TV 1/1: Regular season recap; Ayers 1-on-1
- Throwback Thursday: Opposites Attract
- Patriots focus on improving during bye
- Matthew Slater and Tim Wright on playoffs
- Press Pass: Tim Wright
- Press Pass: Matthew Slater
- The brotherhood of the Linebackers
- Darrelle Revis and others focus on postseason
- Brady 12/31: 'You have to believe in each other'
- Belichick 12/31: 'Ready for the playoffs'
- "Best of" Bill Belichick Press Conference
- Press Pass: Brandon Browner
- Press Pass: Brandon Browner
- "Best of" Tom Brady Press Conference
- Locker room chatter from Blount, Hightower & more
- Player Spotlight: Jimmy Garoppolo
- Brandon LaFell absent from practice
- Totally Patriots: Best of 'How'd They Do That'
- Press Pass: LeGarrette Blount
- Press Pass: Dont'a Hightower
- Best Plays of 2014 from Totally Patriots
- Press Pass: Darius Fleming
- Best of 'Tilted'
- "Best Of" Pats Chat from Totally Patriots
- Josh Kline on Totally Patriots
- Patriots Radio: Bill Belichick
- REPORT: Tom Brady restructures contract
- How They Got Here: New England Patriots
- Patriots Radio: Akeem Ayers
- Patriots Radio: Chandler Jones
AUDIO
- PFW In Progress 12/31: 2014 Wrap Up
- Fantasy Football Champs 12/30: Wildcard Picks
- Patriots Playbook 12/30: Nitpick Tuesday
- PFW In Progress 12/30: Playoff Picture
- Belichick on WEEI 12/29: 'Passing inconsistently'
- Ayers on WEEI 12/29: 'The fans here are great'
- Wilfork on WEEI 12/29: 'One game season now'
- Jones on WEEI 12/29: 'Focused on being better'
- Patricia 12/29: 'Trying to improve every play'
- Belichick 12/29: 'There is a lot to improve on'
- McDaniels 12/29: 'Garoppolo is a smart player'
- Brady 12/29: 'Excited for this time of year'
PHOTOS
