New England Patriots links 1/08/17 - Patriots on to Tennessee

TEAM TALK

• Andy Hart reports New England will host Tennessee in Divisional round on Saturday night in Foxborough.
• #NotDone: Postseason is here. (1.44 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Karen Guregian breaks down the Patriots-Titans playoff game.
• Ryan Hannable tells us everything we need to know about the Titans.
• Michael Hurley offers a quick look at the key players on the Titans who will try to upset the top-seeded Patriots this weekend.
• Phil Perry offers a few quick-hitting takes on the underwhelming Tennessee Titans.
• Doug Kyed calls the Titans an ideal matchup for the Patriots on their ‘cakewalk to the AFC Championship game.’
• Mike Reiss presents some reasons to be excited about the Pats-Titans matchup, and some reasons to be concerned.
• Michael Hurley lists the “many, many ... many, many, many reasons” to believe the Patriots will wipe the floor with the Titans. ...and mentions the one reason to believe the Titans can win.
• Rachel Bowers takes a quick look at the Titans ahead of the divisional round.
• Ian Glendon (FullPressCoverage) Patriots set to clash with the Titans.
• Zack Cox notes Titans’ CB Logan Ryan is fired up to face his old friends in the playoffs.
• Ryan Hannable relays Titans coach Mike Mularkey on facing the Patriots: “When you get into the playoffs, anything can happen.”
• John Morgan (PatsFans) NFL Division Playoffs: Patriots favored by 13.5 vs Tennessee.
• Rich Garven talks about one of the keys to the Patriots’ success: Getting new players plugged in. “Of the 46 players that suited up [in Week 17 vs. the Jets], a whopping nine (19.6 percent) weren’t with the team for training camp.” /Crazy.
• Hayden Bird shares 10 standout stats from the Patriots’ regular season.
• Kevin Duffy introduces us to Patriots engineer Sean Harrington, a behind-the-scenes ‘genius’ who invented a football software at Tufts and turned down Google for a job with the Pats. /Interesting.
• Karen Guregian Patriots Notebook: Titans coach Mike Mularkey is safe, focused on Patriots.
• Karen Guregian Sunday Notebook: Patriots’ succession plans for Bill Belichick, Tom Brady unlikely to succeed; More.
• Nick O’Malley examines Ty Law’s credentials, and the arguments that can be made for and against him going to Canton.
• Tom E. Curran says Matt Patricia will enter a whole new world as a head coach. “I have no idea what his true voice is. He probably doesn’t either.”
• Mike Giardi notes Patriots LB coach, Brian Flores is considered the odds-on-favorite to ascend to the role of defensive coordinator should Matt Patricia leave.
• Nicole Yang passes along reports that speculate Bill Belichick makes $12.5M per year.
• Mike Dussault (PatsPropaganda) Pats Posits: Off-field noise will dominate Titans week.
• Ryan Hannable Sunday 7: Tom Brady responding to ESPN story spoke volumes.
• Mark Farinella “I’m just there several days a week for eight months of the year, and I know what I’ve seen.” offers a rational perspective on the ESPN report.
• Karen Guregian says the reality TV-like, soap-opera storyline among Bill Belichick, Tom Brady and Robert Kraft shouldn’t have escalated into what amounts to an ESPN tell-all.
• Rob Bradford questions whether the Patriots could win a playoff game with Brian Hoyer.
• Robert Alvarez (PatsFans) Rob Gronkowski featured in new movie trailer starring Liam Neeson. (1 min. video)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Mike Reiss and Cameron Wolfe (ESPN) Time for Patriots to get familiar with Titans’ ‘exotic smashmouth’ scheme.
• Arnie Stapleton (AP Pro32) The Patriots are rested, recharged and rankled.
• Peter King (SI) Monday Morning QB: Wild-card wows by Drew Brees, Saints set up NFL divisional playoff matchup for the ages. “Coming off their in-season bye, New England, in its next four games, allowed 16, 8, 17 and 3 points.”
• Don Banks (Patriots.com) Snap Judgments: Musings, observations and the occasional insight as we re-cap the mostly entertaining Wild Card Weekend.
• Will Brinson (CBS Sports) Sorting the NFL Playoff Pile: Handing out awards from a fun Wild Card Weekend.
• Conor Orr (SI) Morning Huddle: NFL Wild Card weekend: What we learned.
• Around the NFL (NFL.com) Twelve things we learned from Wild Card Weekend.
• Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The winners and losers from NFL Wild-Card weekend.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) NFL officiating not up to playoff standards, and other wild-card thoughts.
• Danny Heifetz (The Ringer) A huge hit on Cam Newton put the NFL’s concussion protocol under scrutiny again.
• Kevin Seifert (ESPN) Updated NFL playoff bracket: Divisional-round matchups, analysis, more.
• Dan Graziano (ESPN) The big question for every remaining NFL playoff team. Patriots: Is everybody all right in Foxborough? /yeah, keep pushing that theme, ESPN.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) Tom Brady directly responds to report that friction is building in New England.
• Brent Sobleski (Bleacher Report) Deal or No Deal: Negotiating every team’s priciest contract decision. Patriots: OT Nate Solder.
• Sean Tomlinson (Bleacher Report) The unheralded building block for every NFL team’s future. Patriots: Duron Harmon.
• Gary Davenport (Bleacher Report) Fuel Gauge: How much do notable NFL vets have left in the tank? Patriots: James Harrison “keeps coming back as a surprisingly effective pass-rusher who can be a game-changer in spots.”
• Mike Lupica (NY Daily News) In light of Jon Gruden’s monstrous contract, what would Bill Belichick make on the open market?
• Jordan Raanan (ESPN) Pros and cons of all known Giants coaching candidates. McDaniels, Patricia included.
• Cameron Wolfe (ESPN) What the Titans face in Patriots’ diverse, matchup-based scheme.
• NFL Game Day (NFL.com) Tennessee Titans vs. Kansas City Chiefs. Recap, stats, video.