TEAM TALK
- Bill Belichick statement on Ray Perkins.
- Transactions: Patriots sign LB Jack Cichy to the practice squad.
- Mike Dussault’s Unfiltered Notebook 12/12: Veteran leaders mentoring the next generation of Pats defenders.
- Mike Dussault’s Unfiltered Notebook 12/11: Group effort to get offense back on track.
- Mike Dussault examines the five plays and situations that defined the Patriots’ lackluster loss to the Rams: For a team that needs a critical set of factors to pull out victories, the Patriots could not make enough plays and couldn’t avoid the mistakes that prevented them from ever getting on track.
- Patriots This Week: Los Angeles recap. (20 min. video)
- Sights and Sounds: Week 14 vs. LA Rams. (2.04 min. video)
- Conference Calls: Steve Belichick (8.25 min.) - Jerod Mayo (6 min.)
LOCAL LINKS
- Mike Reiss shares some quick-hit weekend thoughts: 1. Sticking with Cam Newton gives Bill Belichick cover for Patriots’ roster deficiencies at TE, WR; More.
- Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Patriots Sunday news, AFC East notes: Time to bury “the path” talk; More.
- Ryan Hannable’s Sunday 7: Reasons why Bill Belichick is sticking with Cam Newton; More.
- Andy Hart identifies 5 Patriots goals – including the obvious – for the final three weeks of 2020.
- Zack Cox hears from RB coach Ivan Fears, who admits 2020 has been ‘extremely hard’. ‘It’s probably the craziest year I’ve ever been around.’
- Evan Lazar’s Advanced Stats Report: Plenty of blame to go around in Thursday’s loss. Cam Newton’s struggles are well documented, but his supporting cast isn’t putting him in a position to succeed either.
- Michael Hurley serves up some still-warm leftover Patriots thoughts: This is how the rest of the NFL has lived for quite some time. Are you enjoying it?
- Jerry Thornton gives us his knee-jerk reactions to Week 14 Pats-Rams: The thing that disappointed me the most was the thing I’ve been feeling best about lately: The play of the rookies on defense. On the opening play of the Rams second drive, Anfernee Jennings came off the edge from the Will linebacker spot and was five steps into the backfield as Akers ran right inside him for 14.
- Zack Cox shares some final Pats-Rams thoughts: The Patriots’ O-Line had its worst performance In years, allowing six sacks for the first time since 2008; More.
- Evan Lazar details how the Patriots’ passing offense has much more than a Cam Newton problem.
- Justin Leger relays Josh McDaniels on how despite Cam Newton’s struggles, he’s been the team’s best option at quarterback all year.
- Luke Ervin (PatsBuzz) Thoughts on the Patriots’ quarterback situation.
- Tom Westerholm highlights Mike Lombardi on how fans should trust Bill Belichick starting Cam Newton over Jarrett Stidham: “I don’t see Stidham practice. You don’t see Stidham practice.”
- Doug Kyed sees the Patriots with a plethora of wide receiver options in free agency this offseason.
- Zack Cox points out two key mistakes that helped doom the Patriots defense in the loss to the Rams.
- Zack Cox reports Damien Harris might have avoided a serious injury Thursday night after exiting the game early with a back injury.
- Darren Hartwell looks at the Week 14 AFC playoff picture to see how Sunday’s results impacted the Pats.
- Sean T. McGuire reports the Bills win over the Steelers officially ends the possibility of the Pats winning the AFC East, and New England’s streak of 11 straight division titles.
- Ryan Hannable points out that for Patriots fans who still believe, Sunday was a good day.
- CBS Boston reports Bill Belichick was re-appointed to the President’s Council On Sports, Fitness and Nutrition.
- Michael Hurley notes Tom Brady reaches the 30 TD mark for first time since 2017 with connection to Rob Gronkowski.
NATIONAL NEWS
- Albert Breer (SI) Monday Morning QB: The Packers have taken over the NFC lead and are only getting more dangerous; Plus, Bruce Arians sees progress in Tampa, Chase Young breaks down his monster day, does Cam Newton have anything left, a QB change in Philly, the coaching carousel; More.
- Gary Gramling (SI) Week 14 Takeaways: Hurts gets it done, a Mahomes turnaround, Cards carried by D; Packers take control of the NFC, Washington wins without offense, Trubisky tops Watson, Daniel Jones struggles, a record-setting day for Haason Reddick, Derrick Henry rolls again, Dan Bailey misses them all, Andy Dalton’s revenge; More.
- Rodger Sherman (The Ringer) The winners and losers of NFL Week 14.
- Mike Florio (ProFootballTalk) Who will the Patriots’ quarterback be in 2021?
- Kyle Hightower (AP) With playoffs unlikely, fading Patriots have questions at quarterback.
- John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL Week 14 grades.
- Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) Steelers lose 2nd straight, and Bills further exposed their broken dink-and-dunk offense.
- Safid Deen (Sun-Sentinel) A barbecue bond: After the Dolphins beat the New England Patriots in the 2019 season finale, Andy Reid sent Brian Flores a care package of some Kansas City barbecue as a thank you.
- Keith J. Kelly (NY Post) Sports reporter Manish Mehta out at Daily News amid bizarre ‘stalking’ scandal.