It seems like some of the most influential conversation-makers in town would rather talk about how Josh Boyer is ruining the cornerbacks, or worrying about several Patriot players going to the Clippers game last night and ending up hanging out with Justin Bieber or drooling over the prospect of Bill Belichick being called to testify in the Aaron Hernandez trial and being forced to answer questions. ‘It is what it is’ isn’t going to cut it in cross-examination, haha!
I even heard the incredibly tired and cliche Did the Packers find the blueprint on how to beat the Patriots???

Anything, it seems, other than what was one of the best regular-season games the Patriots have been involved in for a while. The game had everything – except of course a win by New England.

Since I’m a day late on most of this, you’ve probably seen many of these, but here are some stories I enjoyed.

Patriots-Packers: What We Learned – Matt Chatham looks at some of the big plays and some gripes Patriots fans likely had.

An issue some people had with the game was the amount of time Aaron Rodgers had in the pocket. I really liked this answer from Tedy Bruschi to that question in his chat yesterday:

bruschi

While some are talking about this as a “moral victory” another former Patriot, Dan Koppen doesn’t think it is being viewed that way inside the locker room. – Can Patriots view loss as a moral victory?

Tom Brady on D&C, still frustrated by Sunday’s loss: ‘I felt like we should have won’ – It doesn’t sound like the Patriots QB believes in moral victories either.

Would television fee dispute ever affect a Patriots game? – Chad Finn’s media column yesterday looked at the blackout of FOX on FiOS which caused viewers to miss the Cowboys/Eagles game on Thanksgiving and notes that DISH subscribers, already without CSNNE, could lose Patriots games on CBS in the near future too.

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This could be an interesting week for the Red Sox as well:

Red Sox continue quest for arms – The team is waiting for Jon Lester’s decision, but is also busy exploring the trade market, according to Gordon Edes.

Jon Lester taking his time as he weighs his decision – Nick Cafardo looks at the Lester landscape.

Past as prelude? Pedro Martinez, Jon Lester and a potentially rocky Red Sox rotation remake – Alex Speier looks at Pedro Martinez’s free agency a a decade ago gives us any insight into Lester’s.

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Now we’re on to the section of the post known as “Articles that I will never click on.”

I’ll let Jerry Thornton address this, since he’s apparently one of Dan’s targets this morning.

benz

Nice strawman, Benz. Who is saying this? (Besides Felger and cronies?) I saw my buddy Wilbur mention it, but are actual Patriots fans saying this? Or is Benz just clickbait trolling?

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

51 thoughts on “Patriots/Packers Still Worthy Of Discussion, But…”

  1. Amazingly, yes, some actual fans are saying it, stupid as it is. Which of course doesn’t mean the mediots aren’t clickbait trolling as well.

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      1. If I was a trust fund baby. I be happy and fun loving. But these trust fund baby’s who are on the radio are the leaders of the miserable brigade. I don’t think it’s an act. I think they are annoyed they were born into money lol

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        1. They’re not annoyed by being born rich. They’re just rich brats who wanted some kind of fame because having all that kind of money and working for daddy’s law firm was boring. They would rather be on the radio and talk down to the unwashed masses and tell them what they should think because they’re rich and went to private schools so they’re smarter then the rest of us shlubs.

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        2. Agreed. Maybe these guys are they way they are is because they settled down and had kids way to early. Takes the fun out of having lots of money. They would’ve been much happier if they had stayed single and banged everything that moved. Unlike the very stressful way they have to sneak around now for some different tail.

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  2. Far too often I read posts from fans on blogs and forums saying yesterday they thought the Patriots ‘held something back’. I listened to zero sports radio yesterday. One fan said cowherd was making the argument for it as well. I didn’t hear it but doubt it was a lie. While I get the need to create false controversy. This attempt to create a controversy was just so far fetched and so laughable that it doesn’t even deserve a response.

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  3. I love when the knights of the keyboard sit around and say stuff like “Matt Patricia is holding this team back” only to have a guy like Bruschi come out and say that what he did was actually correct and smart given the situation.

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  4. DISH subscribers, already without CSNNE

    Man, I can’t even fathom the pain those folks must be in not being able to view Buddy Holly’s nightly #HOTSPORTZTAKEZ.

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      1. Yeah the pic is superior because cable is compressed to fit all those hundreds of useless channels.

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    1. Wonder if he did that “lets find the one idiot fan with an absurd take/view and straw man it to the entire fan base” in Pittsburgh? Maybe that works there.

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  6. When I saw a link to that Benz article on Twitter, I just sighed. No ideas for a column, so he decides to write about an idiot who suggested that nonsense. The biggest takeaway from that game, IMO, is that the Patriots wanted it BAD. They weren’t “holding back” and everyone who is sane knows that. Benz is using the idiot-class that call his station as column fodder. Weak sauce.

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  8. I don’t get people complaining about missing games due to the FiOS issue. Is the over the air (OTA) signal that weak outside Boston that people can’t use an antenna? Other than NFL Network and ESPN all of the other games are broadcast OTA.

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    1. Depending on the A/V setup (in terms of both what your equipment is, where it’s located, and how it’s mounted) in your house it’s not necessarily easy to plumb in an OTA signal. Also, OTA’s not an option for anyone with a pre-digital TV.

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    2. obviously all dependent on how close you are. I’m in east providence and my $10 rca antenna sitting on my window sill pulls in all Boston stations. Just wait till I mount one outside on my house. Wish my house still had one of those old school antennas from Radio Shack on the roof.

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  9. Looks like Ray Rice and his wife and her family are making the tv circuit thru the today show. To bad Barbara Walters isn’t on any more it would have a stronger effect for him to fast track to the pats.

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      1. Ok if you say so. I read the article. It states that he doubts that he will play in the nfl again. Absolutes are never good in life. Every thing has shades of gray to it. I’m not a fan of rice. I just don’t like all the self righteous bicthes out there all pounding there chests out there. Slamming the door on their lives with out a benefit of hearing and seeing there remorse about what happened in their life’s. That bad night that involved allot of booze and most likely drugs. . I believe in second chances and if a person desires better for him self with true change. That’s why I hope the pats give this three down back a chance

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        1. Tony,

          I understand your desire to give him a second chance especially if he seems remorseful, has taken steps to repair his relationship with his wife and served his suspension. The problem Rice has is not that he hit his wife, nor is it that the NFL and the Ravens conspired to reduce his penalty and make the situation go away…no his problem is that there is a 15 second video available to anyone and everyone who wants to use it where he cold cocks his defenseless wife inside an elevator with a closed fist. So whatever team signs him will have to endure the PR hit when the local media covering the team, in self righteous indignation runs the clip over and over and over while asking why their team condones his behavior.

          Rice is no longer an elite back. As such his value to a team is situational. I do not see how any team would want to weather the PR storm for a marginal player. It certainly will not be the Patriots. If it is anyone I would look at Oakland, Dallas (although I think Dallas is where AP goes) or even Seattle. Some place far away and off the beaten path.

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          1. Mr late
            Your right. I over looked the most obvious thing that would happen if he is signed by any one. The rerun over and over again of the video.

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          2. Tony…several things.

            1) Mr. Late is my father. Please just call me Late but don’t call me Late to Dinner :-).

            2) I admire your resolve to wish the Rice’s well and hope they are able to move beyond all this. I wish I was as optimistic as you are. It really is an admirable trait.

            3) What I hope is that my gut reaction is wrong. I find it difficult to believe that incident was the first time Ray Rice either hit Janay or some other women. The casualness with which he dealt with knocking her out was sociopathic. If patterns hold true, when the spot light wears off and the money starts to evaporate, we will read a small story tucked away in the corner of a blog that says Ray Rice and Janay Rice, citing irreconcilable differences have separated and are getting a divorce. A few months after that announcement Janay Rice will do Oprah and the circuit and explain how terrified she was of Rice. How he had been so romantic when they first met, how he had seduced her with his wealth and fame, and then became more controlling. It took more than the AC incident for her to wake up because he was also the father of her children. Finally, she will say she got the strength to leave when she thought Rice was going to hit one of her kids.

            I hope to god I am wrong…but the track record of professional athletes and domestic abuse points to a definitive pattern.

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          4. ^bingo. Guy is a scumbag. For once i hope the owners collude and keep this loser out. Of course, until we take our money elsewhere, that’s a very long shot. Who wasn’t glued to their TV last week Thursday and Sunday?

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    2. Yeah, not happening for all the obvious reasons. But from a football perspective, the Pats don’t need him. He averaged 3.1 YPC last year in 15 games and they guy who replaced him this year, Justin Forsett, averages 5.6 and already has 1000 yards. Rice is clearly in decline after 7 seasons of heavy workloads. I guess he could still be a little helpful in the passing game but is much less explosive than Vereen. And he doesn’t know the offense like Blount did as a late-season acquisition. Now that would be a decision by GM Belichick that would deserve legitimate criticism.

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  10. You know what the blueprint is? Have Aaron Rodgers as your QB. Looking at the last four games I think we can sleep easy at night. I absolutely HATE that question. Maybe in other sports, where you play the same team 10 times (or, 145 in baseball) a season or a series in the playoffs you could ask that question. But even then asking such a stupid question is literally assuming the Patriots can’t or won’t make adjustments to whatever the Packers exploited.

    if Rodgers can do it just think what Geno Smith can do the 2nd time around!! Or Ryan Tannehill!! *gasp*

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    1. I was thinking the same thing. The blueprint is to have the best QB in the NFL playing a near-perfect game. (He really is the best IMO–no one else combines the ability to diagnose plays, throw, run, and throw on the run like that guy). They can pretty much handle every other team in the league–even Seattle, which isn’t as dominant defensively this season. If they see GB again, that would be a good thing, since it will be in the Super Bowl. Hopefully they offense will be able to control the ball better and keep Rodgers on the sideline more often.

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  11. So, this Lester/Cubs rumor, which @IAmJamesStewart apparently helped bolden, started with Incarcerated Bob? And, there are “media members”, who consider themselves credible, r/ting him? Says all you need to know about credibility < being first on Twitter.

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    1. Jake Wesley, who was able to get himself onto Felger and Mazz a week or two ago has seen his credibility (which seems like he was always faking anyway) take a big hit over this, having tweeted earlier today that Lester had signed with the Cubs over one of those Incarcerated Bob tweets.

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      1. Yup, he’s the WWE fanboy that doesn’t have the slightest clue about anything that has to do with non-fake ‘sporting events’, but think he’s a genius contrarian after being emboldened by Felger and YARM.

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  12. Mr. Adam 12 is back at it, this time calling out fans for their “hot takes”. Oh the irony… (see my post about him ripping on BB for being so “smug” last week).

    “Guy w/6 followers has “no use for guards that can’t shoot or defend.” The takes: they’re hot today, gents. HOTTAKES”

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    1. OK, there’s no doubt about it now. He’s either trying to get his foot in the door at 98.5 or he already has some kind of backdoor deal.

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    2. Measuring one’s worth by their number of twitter followers, i.e. the hallmark of a pathetic human turd. Also a logical fallacy. And this fallacious turd was/is a professor of something at NU, in other words, people pay (go into debt) thousands upon thousands of dollars for access to his lack of knowledge.

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      1. He actually teaches communications courses with foci on social media usage. Tells you how important such things are to him.

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  14. Let me put it this way. As soon as baseball tough guy and Benz the dullest voice in town is gone from the air waves. Static is better than those two

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  15. I would like to know who coined the dumbest phrase I have ever heard of.
    ….. The home team discount……. Why would any player give up money to stay on the same team. .. Shouldn’t they get a Loyalty Reward Contract $$$$$$ …lol. . Are you hearing me Ortiz… spring training.. you need a bump in your contract say 5 mil loyalty reward contract

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    1. best line about “home team discount” came from former Patriot Richard Seymour, > “Home team discount? I’m from South Carolina”

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    2. Thank you for passing on a good article. I’m just a little curious what would the lodge members think about ex jocks having better writing skills than most in print media. Even Brady Quinn is using his ND education to good use.
      What’s next more ex jocks taking over drive time radio.. .. mazz don’t take a day off

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    3. Chatham’s already up there as one of the top Pats writers in the area, good for him. Another strong article from him.

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  17. The Thorton/CHB feud was a topic on Bruce’s page and it’s been talked about quite a bit. I thought Ordway had some interesting insight on how sensitive CHB is and how he won’t look at writers/other media members if they call him out. Usual disclaimer: if you don’t like him, Graig, Alex or the show, don’t listen.

    http://bit.ly/1CIMoyU (Go to 14:00)

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  18. Can’t take it any longer and need to vent. Guys, I just can’t take Mazz any longer. First, as a human, I want to make sure he’s OK. He can’t get through a sentence without running out of breath, so I hope it’s just lack of exercise and poor diet. He sounds like a 13-year-old girl – that thing they do when it’s half talking-half whining. Here’s an example of EVERY single point he makes: “Mike, look, Mike, like, look, it sucks, Mike. Like, how can Team X, like, think this is the way to build a team??!!” Just can’t take it. His voice, inflection and Felger kisssassery is the deciding factor in what for me had been an even race between the Hub and WEEI – WEEI wins by default. (like the Revs…boom!)

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    1. I’m with you 100 percent. I can’t take hearing bitch boy tin voice. If I listen more than three min at a time it’s a miracle.

      What I don’t understand is sponsors using his voice in their spots. I would think that likability matters to them. Even though Mike comes across as a db at times. I can still have a beer and a laugh with him with Mazz I rather spit in his beer. Mazz don’t take a day off.

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