TEAM TALK
- Game Preview: Patriots at Steelers. Broadcast info, series history, tale of the tape; More.
- Paul Perillo’s Patriots Postseason Tracker.
- Erik Scalavino tackles this week’s Ask PFW Mailbag: Venting over Miami loss.
- Conference Call transcripts: Bill Belichick - Josh McDaniels - Brian Flores.
- Andy Hart breaks down the AFC playoff picture. (4.04 min. video)
- Sights and Sounds: Week 14 vs. Dolphins. (5 min. video)
- Memorable Moments: Gronk’s big 2010 game in Pittsburgh. (1 min. video)
- Make A Wish with Julian Edelman. (1.53 min. video)
LOCAL LINKS
- Zack Cox scouts the Steelers, with six things to know before Sunday: 1. Big Ben’s banged up but should play.
- Evan Lazar sees Tom Brady’s performance vs. Dolphins as a sign of good things to come for the Patriots offense.
- Henry McKenna (PatriotsWire) In recent weeks, Sony Michel and Patriots RBs have been jarringly inefficient.
- Karen Guregian wants to see ‘the defense wake up, clog the gaping holes in the middle of the line and do a much better job tackling on Sunday’. What she doesn’t want to see is another former Patriot (in this case Stevan Ridley) revenge game.
- Zack Cox notes Brian Flores knows he has to fix the run defense after a historically bad showing in Miami.
- Doug Kyed takes a look at who should start at cornerback vs. the Steelers’ challenging receivers.
- Karen Guregian notes Josh McDaniels lauds Rob Gronkowski’s toughness to keep taking hits.
- Tom E. Curran has tracked the reality of how Rob Gronkowski takes an outlandish amount of punishment in the form of high-speed collisions where he has little time to brace himself. Maybe more than anybody else in the league.
- Mike Dussault (PatsPropaganda) Patriots Film Review: Defense edition.
- Nick O’Malley notes Brian Flores takes the blame for the Miami meltdown: ‘That’s on us as a coaching staff’.
- Isaiah Houde (PatriotsWire) Tom Brady relays Bill Belichick’s message to Patriots after tough loss in Miami.
- Karen Guregian Patriots Notebook: Teams will continue to run until defense finds way to stop it.
- Michael Hurley says it’s time to take a sober look at reasons to believe things are going to be fine in Patriots Land, as well as reasons to prepare for an earlier-than-usual end to the season.
- Mike Reiss reports the red cleats Tom Brady wore vs. the Vikings as part of the NFL’s “My Cleats, My Cause” initiative currently have the top auction bid among all players.
- Darren Hartwell suggests Tom Brady seems irritated by talk of the Patriots’ season being “over”.
- Nick O’Malley takes a look at where Tom Brady’s former backups are now.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Josh Alper (ProFootballTalk) James Conner return against the Patriots is “possible”.
- Staff (ESPN) Ben vs. Brady: Playoff implications add urgency to lopsided rivalry.
- Tyler Dunne (Bleacher Report) Does Tom Brady still have it? B/R asks NFL experts and legends. /Didn’t read yet, but answer is ‘yes’.
- Robert Mays (The Ringer) What are the 2018 Pittsburgh Steelers, and where do they go from here?
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Chargers have a realistic path to the No. 1 seed.
- Danny Heifetz (The Ringer) Chaos Theory: The most absurd NFL playoff scenarios still possible.
- Tadd Haislop (Sporting News) NFL playoff picture: Scenarios in play for Cowboys, Seahawks, Texans, others to clinch in Week 15.
- Gregg Rosenthal (NFL.com) The Debrief: Race for NFC’s No. 6 seed could go to 8-win team.
- Robert Mays (The Ringer) The Starting 11: The Bears and Ravens proved that defense isn’t dead yet.
- Mike Freeman (Bleacher Report) 10-Point Stance: Rumors of Seahawks’ demise greatly exaggerated.
- Conor Orr (SI) Morning Huddle: Coaches we wish owners would consider for NFL jobs.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Monday Night Football ratings are the lowest for Week 14 since 2011.
- Michael David Smith (ProFootballTalk) Salary cap will be around $190 million in 2019.
- Bob Glauber (Newsday) NFL likely will continue doing own investigations into improper activities, source says.