New England Patriots links 1/02/18 - Patriots on to the bye week

TEAM TALK

• Erik Scalavino gives us a quarter-by-quarter film review of the Patriots 26-6 win over the Jets. "I liked New England's aggressive approach to the start of this game."
• PFW Staff: NFL playoff schedule announced.
• Andy Hart passes along reports that Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia and Brian Flores are drawing HC interview interest.
• Conference Calls transcripts: Bill Belichick - Josh McDaniels - Matt Patricia.

LOCAL LINKS

• Jeff Howe gives us a look at the Patriots' three potential playoff opponents as they begin their preliminary preparations for their playoff opener on Jan. 13.
• Kevin Duffy profiles potential playoff opponents and says the Chiefs are by far the toughest matchup in the divisional round.
• Ian Logue (PatsFans) 2017 Playoffs: Predicting the Patriots opponents.
• Mark Farinella says believe it or not, these past few games have been more challenging than they might have otherwise seemed.
• Michael Hurley serves up some still-warm leftover Patriots thoughts: Dion Lewis is superhuman.
• Kevin Dillon tells us ten things we learned from Sunday's win. 3. James Harrison can still play.
• Chad Finn shares twenty-six thoughts on the Patriots’ win over the Jets. 1. That's what you call taking care of business. 2. Brady was just adequate.
• Hayden Bird relays five notable facts from a frigid season finale. 1. It was the coldest regular season home game in Patriots history, breaking a record that dated back to 1977.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) 5 takeaways from Patriots' top-seed-clinching win over Jets. 1. U-G-L-Y.
• Mike Dussault (PatsPropaganda) Pats Posits: The season starts now.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) Patriots enter playoff bye week, which should help enormously for Super Bowl aspirations.
• Mike Reiss explains why the Patriots chose to take the ball instead of deferring yesterday, and it had to do with weather conditions... in the fourth quarter.
• Zack Cox sees Dion Lewis hitting his stride at the perfect time.
• Mark Daniels writes Rob Gronkowski was slowed by New England’s game plan, not by the Jets.
• Mike Reiss notes Josh McDaniels still isn't saying whether or not Malcolm Mitchell will be activated off IR.
• Zack Cox says the Patriots can afford to be patient with Malcolm Mitchell.
• Tyler Sullivan (247 Sports) 2017 offensive stats for Patriots players.
• Ryan Hannable believes the Patriots offense needs work heading into the postseason no matter what the stats say.
• Mark Daniels calls attention to the play of Marquis Flowers, who over the last two games has filled up the stat sheet with 14 tackles and 3½ sacks.
• Ben Volin analyzes how the Patriots used James Harrison, who 'had a smashing debut' (with back-to-back sacks) in the regular-season finale.
• Steve Buckley notes James Harrison gained a lot of traction with Patriots fans with his 'Monday is legs' quote following his first game in Foxborough.
• Kevin Duffy believes LB James Harrison will be a factor in the playoffs.
• Kristen Parker (PatriotsWire) James Harrison explains why he stood alone for national anthem.
• Mark Farinella Patriots Notebook: Harrison makes big first impression.
• Ron Borges issues his Week 17 Report Card with a bit of a frowny face: "This was not a performance that makes you feel the Patriots are peaking going into the playoffs."
• Tom E. Curran says while there is plenty of opportunity for both Josh McDaniels and Matt Patricia, they will need to exercise caution if they choose to leave Foxboro.
• Mike D’Abate (FullPressCoverage) Patriots coaching staff once again in high demand.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) If Josh McDaniels doesn't leave Patriots this offseason, he may never.
• Mike Reiss mentions how the Patriots have experience balancing the postseason and coaches' interviews.
• Adam Kurkjian Patriots Notebook: Josh McDaniels, Matt Patricia back on foes’ wish list.
• Brent Schwartz (PatriotsWire) Bill Belichick's 5 funniest moments from 2017.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The winners and losers from NFL Week 17.
• Don Banks (Patriots.com) Week 17 Snap Judgments: This is an AFC field that sets up even better to produce a New England-Pittsburgh rematch in the AFC Championship game in three weeks.
• Mike Tanier (Bleacher Report) Monday Morning Digest: Playoff preview and season wrap-up extravaganza.
• Robert Mays (The Ringer) NFL Week 17 Recap: The playoff field is set, and the chaos has just begun.
• Andrew Bucholtz (Awful Announcing) Where to watch the NFL’s wild card weekend playoff games, and what to expect in each.
• Brad Gagnon (Bleacher Report) Every NFL playoff team's biggest cause for concern. Patriots: Tom Brady faded down the stretch.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Playoffs will feature eight new teams.
• Gary Davenport (Bleacher Report) Final NFL regular-season team grades. Patriots: A.
• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Cardinals request interview with Patriots LB coach Brian Flores.
• Curtis Crabtree (ProFootballTalk) Report: Texans interested in Brian Gaine, Nick Caserio for G.M. job.
• Judy Battista (NFL.com) Assessing the QB situation at each open NFL head-coaching job.
• Damon Amendolara (D.A. Show) D.A. melts down over the Patriots getting breaks against the Steelers. (4.52 min. video) /Just found this epic rant. Many lols.
• Highlights (NFL.com) Every NFL team's best play from the 2017 season. (8.02 min. video) Patriots: Duron Harmon's interception vs. Pittsburgh.
• Highlights (NFL.com) 2017 Season in 60 Seconds. (1 min. video)
• Matt Yoder (Awful Announcing) The year in sports media: ESPN faces its most challenging year in 2017.