Yes, your New England Patriots are heading to the Super Bowl after a dominating victory over the Indianapolis Colts this past Sunday. Of course after a dominating Patriots victory, someone has to start some sort of drama (much like the ineligible receiver debacle after the Patriots defeated the Ravens a week earlier).
The 'Deflate Gate' is in full swing this week at Gillette Stadium bringing in media from all over the country to get their stories on this issue. Bill Belichick and Tom Brady addressed the media head on Thursday morning for their view on the deflated footballs. You can view Belichick and Tom's press conferences here, addressing the issue.
Did we forget that the Patriots are AFC Champions and are heading to the Super Bowl? Did we all forget about Vince Wilfork's late night heroics Sunday night? There are plenty of other topics to discuss. On that note, we are on to Seattle.
Thursday was where most of the media action took place as we heard from multiple players in the locker room, this time about the Super Bowl.
Duron Harmon - Enjoyed talking about the whole process of advancing to the the Super Bowl, including who gets the extra tickets.* "It's a blessing. Some people go their whole careers without even playing a playoff game, but me, in my second year, I'm fortunate enough to be a part of a franchise like this to play in the Super Bowl."*
Joe Vellano - Discussed his road from the practice squad earlier this season to the active roster preparing for the Super Bowl."Yeah, that's kind of the business of the NFL – you don't know where you're going to end up. I'm very glad I stayed here and had an opportunity to just work in practice and be part of this organization."
Matthew Slater – Emphasized the importance of dealing with and eliminating distractions from this week. "Certainly that's something that we have addressed and will continue to address. I think it's easier to get caught up in the hoopla and your families are really excited. This is not a vacation for us. This is not a celebration. We have a job to do, and I think at the end of the day that's what it comes down to and that's where our focus needs to be. As a team, to the man, we have to make sure we have our minds in the right place, our focus in the right place, and that's playing football and that's all that matters at the end of the day."
Check out photos from practice and media access as Patriots prepare to take on the seahawks during the Super Bowl bye week.
Brandon LaFell – Enjoyed answering questions about ‘trash talking’ Richard Sherman. *"I'm not a trash talker, so I'm not going to get into that with him, but he's one of the best corners in this league. He plays sound football – got size, got speed; never catch him out of place. He's a real good guy." *
Late morning on Friday, from the podium, we heard from Vince Wilfork, where we quoted him saying the following about the Super Bowl: *"I think this is one of the most exciting times of the year, especially if you have a team that's in it. We can't let anything take our excitement away. We worked hard to get here and everybody in that locker room is excited to play this game, and we need to be, we should be. You're not going to take that away from us. You can't take our joy away from us. Our job is to be able to prepare well, and hopefully that's good enough to win this ballgame." *
Following Vince, was Devin McCourty and Dan Connolly wrapping up the press conferences for the day. We immediatley headed into the locker room where we heard from a bunch of players including Rob Gronkowski, Akeem Ayers, and Darrelle Revis. You can watch the interviews here, including an always smiling Rob Gronkowski.
Below is a full breakdown of our coverage from this week:
ARTICLES & BLOGS
- Get Jack'd - Ask Jackie Brittain your Patriots Super Bowl questions!
- Patriots - Seahawks Injury Report
- Stork returns to practice; Jan. 22 notes
- From The Hall: On to Seattle
- Patriots Quotes 1/22: Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and more
- Seahawks Quotes 1/22: Kevin Williams, Bobby Wagner
- News Blitz 1/22 - Gearing up for Seahawks
- Cheerleader Audition Workshop on January 24 cancelled due to weather
- Mayor Walsh to host Patriots Super Bowl send-off rally at City Hall Plaza
- The NFL: From Low-Tech to Go Tech (1985-2015)
- Seahawks have love and hate for Brady
- The Hall at Patriot Place to display the 2014 AFC Championship Trophy
- News Blitz 1/21: Deflating feeling
- Seahawks Quotes 1/21: Russell Wilson, Richard Sherman
- Game Preview: Super Bowl XLIX - Patriots vs. Seahawks
- Belichick sees Hall of Fame comparison in Seahawks Russell Wilson
- Ask PFW: Explaining football sizes and specifications
- Take Two-sday: Fleming's reflexes flex special teams' muscles
- Nitpicks & Nitwits: Inflated numbers inevitably lead to deflated feelings
- Bill Belichick Transcript - 1/20/2015
- News Blitz 1/20: Super Bowl prep underway
- Patriots Charitable Foundation to raffle off a trip to the Super Bowl
- Belichick and Carroll - friends and foes
- Vince Wilfork pulls woman from overturned vehicle
- Matchup Winners: Blount carries the load
- Patriots Quotes 1/19: Bill Belichick, McDaniels, Patricia and more
- Bridgestone Performance Review: Colts-Patriots
VIDEO
- PFW TV 1/22: Patriots-Colts recap; SB 49 preview
- Thank You For Doing Your Job During The Playoffs!
- Brady 1/22: 'We'll rally around each other'
- Players discuss deflated footballs
- Belichick 1/22: We have cooperated fully with NFL
- The return of Bryan Stork
- On To Super Bowl XLIX
- Press Pass: Brandon LaFell
- Press Pass: Rob Ninkovich
- Press Pass: Joe Vellano
- Press Pass: Devin McCourty
- Press Pass: LeGarrette Blount
- Press Pass: Alan Branch
- Press Pass: Duron Harmon
- Press Pass: Ryan Allen
- Throwback Thursday: Sammy Morris surprises brother
- 'Inside the NFL': How will Patriots attack Seahawks?
- X-factors for Super Bowl XLIX
- NFL NOW: Top 5 most important players in Super Bowl XLIX
- How will the New England Patriots exploit the Seattle Seahawks defense?
- Meeting of the masterminds
- AFC Championship Trophy Ceremony
- Patriots Radio: Bill Belichick
- Super Bowl XLIX matchup breakdown
- Tale of the Tape: Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch vs. Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount
- Inside the locker room on Monday
- Vince Wilfork speaks about pulling woman from car
- Do under-inflated footballs make a difference?
- Tilted Cheerleaders: Meet Brittany B.
- EXCLUSIVE: Inside the locker room after the win
- Press Pass: Julian Edelman
- Press Pass: Brian Tyms
- Press Pass: Matthew Slater
AUDIO
- Fantasy Football Champs 1/22: Super Bowl 49
- Patriots Playbook 1/22: Super Bowl storylines
- PFW In Progress 1/22: Looking at Seattle
- Bob Socci Show 1/21: Championship recap; SB XLIX
- Patriots Playbook 1/21: Deflate-Gate media frenzy
- PFW In Progress 1/21: What to make of Deflate-Gate
- Fantasy Football Champs 1/20: 2014 Awards
- Patriots Playbook 1/20: Nitpick Tuesday
- PFW in Progress 1/20: On to the Super Bowl
- Belichick 1/20: Seahawks make you earn everything
- Wilfork on WEEI 1/19: 'My job was to help her'
- Edelman 1/19: 'We executed at a high level'
- Jones on WEEI 1/19: 'Ninkovich played phenomenal'
- Belichick on WEEI 1/19: 'LeGarrette was great'
- Brady on WEEI 1/19: 'It was a great performance'
- Belichick 1/19: 'Wilfork has alot of integrity'
- McDaniels 1/19: 'Seattle's defense is aggressive'
- Patricia 1/19: 'Wilson is a very dangerous player'
PHOTOS
LIFESTYLE
- Road Trip Travel Guide: Super Bowl XLIX Edition
- For Devin McCourty, giving back is all in the family
- Superhero bets for Super Bowl XLIX
- Stars come out to play for AFC Championship game
- Katy Perry reveals plans for 'larger-than-life' Super Bowl halftime show
- For Patriots players, AFC Championship is a family affair
- Win your way to sold out Super Bowl XLIX
- Katy Perry: 'I'm so incredibly grateful for this reality'