Ninkovich ends improbable career on his terms
7/30/2017 3:04:54 PM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Underestimated by professional, college and high school coaches — not to mention his own mother — Patriots defensive end Rob Ninkovich willed his way to an improbable 11-year NFL career. Nearly derailed many times by non-believers, he ended that career on his own terms Sunday, announcing his retirement at Gillette Stadium on the fourth day of training camp....
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The Patriots will never escape the obsession with perfection
7/26/2017 9:40:16 PM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — History has not let the New England Patriots outrun the perturbing, unfinished business of 2007.
Even with three AFC titles and two rings since Bill Belichick’s Irish Goodbye at the end of Super Bowl XLII, there still looms an obsessive-compulsive fixation on the one thing Belichick and Tom Brady have not done: Finish a season with a...
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SBLI: These Patriots surmounted countless obstacles and never figured out how to quit
2/5/2017 10:53:37 PM
HOUSTON — On the second day of training camp, Bill Belichick rolled his eyes toward the Heavens and appealed to a higher power.
“Jesus Christ,” he said. And it was good.
Blessed or not, the 2016 Patriots played like a team under divine protection. Beset on all sides by the inequities of NFL disciplin...
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Ryan's MVP award has 24-hour shelf life
2/5/2017 1:08:41 AM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Matt Ryan just won an MVP Award that has a 24-hour shelf life.
The Falcons quarterback beat out runner-up Tom Brady for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award on Sa...
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A Walk with the Only Homeless Man In Houston
2/4/2017 6:47:29 PM
HOUSTON — This is the third-largest city in America. Its busiest neighborhood has two professional sports facilities, a world-class convention center, a dozen major hotels and seven fast burger joints, including two McDonald’s, a Whataburger and a Wimpy’s. Three days before Super Bowl LI, it has only one homeless person.
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SBLI: Falcons will need Beasley and help to get pressure on Brady
2/4/2017 5:32:42 PM
HOUSTON — Blueprints are far less useful in football than they are in architecture. Ten-year-old blueprints will almost certainly build you a stable home today, but as time moves on, designs become less structurally sound in the NFL.
That said, there is one enduring schematic for defenses that oppose Tom Brady: Your chances of winning are better if you make him throw ...
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SB LI: Why Belichick was right about Julio Jones
2/3/2017 11:59:55 AM
HOUSTON — You should always start with the premise that Bill Belichick knows what he’s doing.
The greatest football coach of all time is quietly the greatest general manager in NFL history. The Patriots have sustained excellence during his tenure not only because of cutting-edge football tactics, but also because Belichick mastered the art of team building in th...
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Patriots defense passes big test, but injury to Bell will keep critics in doubt
1/22/2017 11:38:25 PM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The season-long question hanging over the Patriots defense asked how they would contain an elite quarterback in the postseason. New England answered that question on Sunday with two key red zone stops, two turnovers and the franchise’s ninth AFC Championship against Ben Roethlisberger.
And yet…
That performance can...
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How Martellus Bennett enhanced the user experience and found happiness in New England
1/22/2017 8:15:24 AM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Martellus Bennett had a branding problem.
The versatile tight end fielded a consistently great product for three seasons, but Chicago wasn’t buying in. The Bears ...
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The New England Patriots and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Playoff Victory
1/15/2017 2:08:46 AM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The New England Patriots woke up and found themselves in an AFC Championship game for a record sixth consecutive year. They could tell it was going to be a very long week.
Much to their surprise, the Patriots had soundly beaten the Houston Texans in a Divisional Round playoff game on par with the series of ugly blowouts comprising this year’s...
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Were Belichick's bold moves strokes of genius? Playoffs will decide
1/13/2017 10:56:54 PM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Bill Belichick’s canvas is a 1.3-acre rectangle of FieldTurf, which he paints with a carefully curated roster of talent.
In 17 seasons with the New England Patriots, he has produced four classic masterworks (2001, 2003, 2004 , 2014), two pieces of high distinction (2007, 2011) and four more worthy of honorable mention (2006, 2012, 2013, 2015)...
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Bennett: Cowboys wanted to keep me, offered me more money than Giants
1/5/2017 12:37:23 PM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — When the Patriots got a bargain on tight end Martellus Bennett during the offseason, many concluded that the bacon-loving black unicorn had continued a READ MORE >>