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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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
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12/24/2016 6:00:13 PM
By DAVE BROWN
For the Monitor
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Flying home from Denver after last week’s victory, the New England Patriots had a productive brainstorming session that generated the following idea: Keep winning.
“We won that game and we got on an airplane and we said, ‘Look, we’re finishing strong,’” Patriots...
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12/24/2016 1:01:45 PM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — The ritual shaming of Michael Floyd consisted mostly of a single question spinning through a week’s worth of news cycles.
After the Patriots claimed the former first-round wide receiver — cut by the Cardinals on Dec. 14 following an arrest for drunk driving — Boston media spent a good, hard week peppering various members of the Pa...
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12/18/2016 10:36:29 PM
DENVER — Standing here in the wake of the New England Patriots disappointing 20-18 loss in last year’s AFC Championship game, you could look at a roster boasting Chandler Jones, Jamie Collins and Rob Gronkowski and feel like you knew what the 2016 Patriots were going to be.
The team that showed up in Denver on Sunday had none of those men. At various times since...
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12/13/2016 1:45:25 AM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Like a child, yearning to find out how a hammer interacts with a flat-screen television, Cyrus Jones edged a bit closer to chaos with each ensuing punt and kickoff the Baltimore Ravens sent in his direction.
Finally, in the third quarter, as a legion of grownups pled with him to put the hammer down, Jones instead delivered a crushing blow, smashing...
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12/12/2016 8:18:58 PM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Several centuries ago, the National Football League experienced a soul-quaking episode when it learned that certain footballs had less than the right amount of air inside of them.
As the internal air pressure of footballs is the single-most-important factor in maintaining competitive balance, the league locked down the facility of its Foxborough fr...
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12/4/2016 8:13:17 PM
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(Dave Brown Photo) The cleats Martellus Bennett wore for the NFL's My Cause, My Cleats promotion.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Martellus Bennett never set out to fill anyone’s shoes but his own. The NFL has made that a surprisingly difficult chore.
When the P...
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11/26/2016 3:26:05 PM
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As of Saurday, the Patriots have played on FieldTurf for 10 years. This week Tom Brady said he'd like to see the team play on a natural surface again.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — In the f...
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11/22/2016 7:29:16 PM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Footballs bounce. They bounce wildly and unpredictably. They sometimes bounce to people they aren’t supposed to.
And yet, through the last 15 quarters, not one football has bounced into the hands of the New England Patriots defense. The Pats have not forced a turnover since Malcolm Butler picked off Steelers backup Landry Jones in the first q...
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11/14/2016 1:37:33 AM
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Desperately needing a ratings boost for its broadcast partners, the NFL cued up one of its greatest hits on Sunday night, with a twist.
In the never-ending saga of goal-line strategies between Pete Carroll and Bill Belichick, it was Carroll’s team that won with a defensive stand inside its own 2-yard line as the Seahawks seized on a questiona...
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11/13/2016 8:35:16 PM
Can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding.
— They Might Be Giants, Your Racist Friend
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Famous people are routinely admonished to stay in their respective corners. Stick to acting. Stick to sports. Stick to sports talk radio. Stick to taking photographs of yourself in a mirror and posting them on Inst...
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