New England Patriots links 10/23/18 - What to do when the RB crew is down to two

TEAM TALK

• Patriots deliver the highest rating of the 2018 season.
• Erik Scalavino reviews the Pats-Bears film, quarter-by-quarter and offers some thoughts: I found it mystifying the way Chicago elected to employ its best defender, OLB Khalil Mack, from the outset.
• Paul Perillo tells us who won their matchups: Special plays lead to gritty road win.
• John Rooke’s View from Above: There’s no such thing as a bad road win. /Could you say that a little louder for the folks in the back?.
• Press Conference Transcript: Bill Belichick.
• Locker Room Celebration from the win over the Bears. (1.22 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Karen Guregian reports the injury news on Rob Gronowski and Sony Michel is encouraging.
• Evan Lazar’s Advanced Stats Report: Patriots both win and lose the middle of the field.
• Doug Kyed’s Patriots-Bears Film Review: How New England created turnovers in key sequence.
• Matt Dolloff looks at the Pats-Bears film: The Patriots silenced Khalil Mack; Mitch Trubisky missed opportunities against a shaky Pats D.
• Michael Hurley serves up some still-warm leftover thoughts from Sunday’s win: What a weird football game.
• Jerry Thornton (Barstool Sports) Knee jerk reaction to Week 7: Patriots vs. Bears. “What a mess. What a fabulous disaster. That was less a football game than it was a piece of avant garde performance art.”
• Evan Lazar tells us ten things we learned from Sunday’s 38-31 win in Chicago: Offense survives without Rob Gronkowski.
• Mike Dussault (PatsPropaganda) Patriots win a weird one in Chicago: The Bears were better than the Patriots on third down. They were better in the red zone. They had fewer penalties. They had more yards. But what they didn’t have in the end were more points and that’s why the Patriots are now 5-2 as they approach the midway point of the season.
• Tanya Ray Fox (PatriotsWire) Tom Brady is defying the odds again in 2018.
• Mike Reiss talks about how James White’s value to the Patriots continues to grow.
• Zack Cox highlights James White putting together an historic season in the Pats’ backfield.
• Nick O’Malley cautions against overloading James White’s role on offense.
• Mike Reiss suggests the Patriots could be forced into a move at running back, with James White and Kenjon Barner the only healthy RBs on the roster.
• Andrew Callahan is not a fan of trading to cover Sony Michel’s role, unless he’s going to IR.
• Zack Cox reports Bill Belichick has made it clear, ahead of the trade deadline, the Patriots are willing to deal.
• Michael Hurley reminds us to add the Bears to the list of teams that Tom Brady completely owns.
• Nick O’Malley hears from Bill Belichick on how Mitchell Trubisky got loose against the Patriots: ‘Bad coaching, bad tackling, bad playing.’
• Evan Lazar details how the Patriots’ kickoff coverage is struggling with the new rules.
• Jerry Thornton (Barstool Sports) Belichick made his players learn everything about each other to build chemistry and they loved it. /Good read.
• Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) Tenured Patriots can read Bill Belichick’s mind.
• Tanya Ray Fox (PatriotsWire) Patriots’ 2018 season through Week 7 bears striking resemblance to 2014.
• Nick O’Malley issues his Week 7 Report Card: Who got an F for letting Mitchell Trubisky run wild?
• Kevin Duffy pulls out his box of gold stars and his red sharpie for this week’s Patriots Report Card: Mixed reviews on wild win.
• Matt Dolloff looks at whose stock is up and whose is down after Sunday.
• Alex Reimer says that with their losing record, the Eagles look downright silly for their Patriots trash talk. /As long as Lane Johnson is having fun, right?
• Patrick McAvoy posts an adorable video of Jonathan Jones’ daughter cheering him on after his interception.
• Joy Manning (BostonSportsChick) McCourty twins spend their day off tackling Sickle Cell.
• NBC Boston hears from Brad Stevens and Bill Belichick on Red Sox World Series run.

NATIONAL NEWS

• Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) Report: No structural damage to Sony Michel’s knee.
• Cameron Wolfe (ESPN) Unheralded ballers who shined in Week 7. Dwayne Allen included.
• Michael Shapiro (SI) Report: Derek Anderson to start vs. Patriots as Josh Allen nurses injured elbow.
• Harry Lyles Jr. (SB Nation) The New England Patriots won another trade they weren’t even involved in.
• Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The winners and losers From NFL Week 7: Mitchell Trubisky is an elite runner, but not so elite on Hail Mary attempts.
• Danny Kelly (The Ringer) The six plays that changed Week 7: The Patriots had no trouble without Sony Michel or Gronk.
• Mike Tanier (Bleacher Report) Monday Morning Digest: Cam Newton, guts and glory.
• Albert Breer (SI) Monday Afternoon QB: Scouts’ takes on Amari Cooper to the Cowboys, ideal teams for Patrick Peterson; More NFL news.
• Gregg Rosenthal (NFL.com) Debrief: Things we know (and things we don’t) after Week 7.
• Robert Mays (The Ringer) The Starting 11: The Saints are not-so-under-the-radar Super Bowl contenders.
• Colin J. Liotta (TouchdownWire) Mitch Trubisky’s 8-yard touchdown run covered more yards than you think.
• Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Week Seven sets another scoring record, with one game left to play.
• Staff (ESPN) The biggest injuries of NFL Week 7. Patriots: Sony Michel.
• Kevin Clark (The Ringer) Jon Gruden has ushered in a golden age of dumb NFL trades and we cannot thank him enough for it.
• Brad Gagnon (The Comeback) This weekend in NFL stupid: The Titans did dumb things.
• Bill Barnwell (ESPN) Fixing flaws for NFL’s best teams. Patriots: The anchor, Running backs.
• Joe Lucia (Awful Announcing) The crossflex brought CBS its best NFL ratings of the 2018 season, highlighting another strong week for the league.
• Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) 24 London games in 12 seasons, and still no matchups of two winning teams.