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New England Patriots Links 1/10/12 - Burden not just on Brady vs. Broncos

By Marima

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<em>If Wilfork has any say about it, the defense will do its job so Brady and the offense can do theirs</em>.
If Wilfork has any say about it, the defense will do its job so Brady and the offense can do theirs.

Vince Wilfork on the 2011 Patriots.

"No matter what the outcome may be, this team will play their butts off for a full game, and that’s all you can ask at the end of the day. The passion for the game, we have it. The love for the game, we have it. We have guys that love to play football and [we] have guys that love to be here. When you have those [qualities] you can win with guys like that. So, we have a bunch of guys in that locker room like that, so I’m very excited about this postseason. I can’t wait to get started."

BIll Belichick talks about whether the team is caught up to speed on the Broncos after playing them only a few weeks ago.

There’s a level of familiarity with them from our previous game a few weeks ago but we’ve also had a lot come through since then with our last couple of regular season games that we prepared very hard for and then last week in practice, the things that we worked on. I think it really starts all over again.

It’s kind of like playing at team in your division the second time. You know them, they know you but you really need to go back and look at a lot of little details, the keys and see the adjustments that we need to make for the things specifically that they do that are different from what other teams do or things that we worked on before but we’ll just have to react to a little quicker this time around because again they’ve seen us and I’m sure they’ll take advantage of some of things that we do better this time just like hopefully we’ll be able to do against them.

Our preparation starts all over again. We need to be very detailed and get a good handle on everything and carry that execution over onto the practice field and into the game on Saturday.

Matt Patricia is asked about what the trouble was from the first quarter of the Broncos game that led to the 'scheme change' from the Patriots.

I think it’s just really a matter of execution. They came out and executed very well, as they do in all their games. We needed to do a better job of just executing what it is that we were trying to do. I think the biggest thing for us is just everybody to go out and do their job and execute to their fullest.

I just think the game of football in general is about adjustments. There are going to be some adjustments in every game. The bottom line is that everybody goes out and does their job to the best of their ability, no matter what that job is. I think it’s all part of the game.

TEAM TALK

LOCAL LINKS

  • Karen Guregian focuses on the burden of carrying the team that Tom Brady has had to bear all season. If he's off, even a bit, the team will probably lose.
  • Christopher Price gets one scout's take on Denver at NE: Patriots have to exploit individual matchups to beat Broncos.
  • Greg A. Bedard tells us what has changed about Denver since the Patriots beat them less than a month ago.
  • Gerry Callahan believes Denver doesn't have a prayer - this is Patriots territory.
  • Ron Borges tells the Broncos that the best way to beat Tom Brady is with 'blunt-force trauma'.
  • Amalie Benjamin reports the added workload doesn't slow tireless Vince Wilfork.
  • Mike Reiss reports Jim Nantz and Phil Simms will be the broadcast duo for Saturday's playoff game between the Patriots and Broncos on CBS.
  • Kirk Minihane states the Patriots are going to the Super Bowl.
  • CSNNE reports the Rams let Josh McDaniels go to the Patriots because it was simply a cheaper option than firing him.
  • Karen Guregian writes about the Denver media reaction to Josh McDaniels being hired by the Patriots.
  • Tom E. Curran charges that the criticism facing the Patriots over McDaniels stems from being - in the eyes of the media - the NFL's Godzilla.
  • Christopher Price points out the Denver Broncos aren't worried about McDaniels joining the Patriots.
  • Mike Reiss serves up some soundbites from Monday's media conference calls with Bill Belichcik, Nick Caserio and Matt Patricia.
  • Christopher Price posts his positional playoff preview: Linebackers.
  • Mike Reiss answers his weekly reader mailbag: Bring on the Broncos, and more.
  • Karen Guregian Patriots Notebook: Defense won't rest in rematch, especially against a much-improved Tim Tebow; It's unclear whether Devin McCourty will stay at safety or move back to corner; Nick Caserio will stay with the Patriots because he has a great job and he loves New England.
  • Shalise Manza Young Patriots Notebook: Team happy to have Josh McDaniels back; McD's role isn't settled yet, but will be by game time; Matt Patricia side-stepped the question of what position Devin McCourty will play; Broncos' WR Erik Decker is day-to-day with a knee sprain.
  • Rob Gronkowski has his own fathead. Behold!
  • Ricky Doyle mentions Wes Welker is growing out his playoff mustache, since now it's all about "catching passes and growing 'staches."
  • WEEI highlights Tom Brady's Monday morning call-in to the Dennis & Callahan show.
  • Tedy Bruschi recaps his online chat from Monday.

NATIONAL NEWS

VIEW FROM DENVER

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