New England Patriots links 12/09/21 – Turnovers, health, identity, help Pats flip entire script

Daily news and links for Thursday

TEAM TALK

• Patriots enter bye week at 9-4.
• Mike Dussault finds Mac Jones focused on staying consistent to the finish.
• Erik Scalavino’s Read and React: Despite dyslexia, Guy perseveres.
• Press Conference transcript: Mac Jones.
• From the NFL: A look at the various NFL playoff scenarios heading into NFL Week 14.
• Press Conferences: Mac Jones – Davon Godchaux – Matthew Slater – Lawrence Guy.
• Sights and Sounds: Week 13 vs Buffalo Bills. (4.17 min. video)
• Belichick Breakdown: Defense against the Buffalo Bills. (4.53 min video)
• Community: Children’s holiday party. (1.10 min. video)

LOCAL LINKS

• Mike Reiss expands on how the Patriots’ win in Buffalo is the latest example of Bill Belichick’s bold approach.
• Andy Hart offers his Pats stats analysis: Damien Harris is rushing up the NFL ranks.
• Mark Morse (PatsFans) Leftovers from the Monday Night Patriots win. Branden Bolden had a good snippet in his post-game press conference. He said practicing against the Patriots’ defense every day in practice is “iron sharpening iron”.
• Karen Guregian wonders what to make of Mac Jones being cast aside Monday night, in spite of Bill Belichick playing to the conditions, playing to win and allowing the Bills to inevitably mess up.
• CBS Boston takes a look at where Mac Jones ranks among the five first-round quarterbacks in all relevant passing statistics through Week 13.
• Mike D’Abate (PatriotMaven) Mac Jones pays homage to his offensive line: “Appreciate what those guys do.”
• Tom E. Curran makes the case for Matt Judon as a serious DPOY candidate. ‘On Monday night, the biggest play in the Patriots’ biggest game of the season was delivered by their most valuable player.’
• Steve Hewitt spotlights NT Davon Godchaux cherishing his ‘special’ performance, posting a career high 10 tackles in the win over the Bills.
• Dakota Randall highlights Kyle Van Noy identifying the two-point conversion as a ‘big key’ to the win in Buffalo.
• Steve Balestrieri (PatsFans) Patriots Week 13 report card: Physical Patriots beat Bills 14-10.
• Steve Atkinson (NutsAndBoltsSports) Patriots in complete control of the entire AFC again.
• Ryan Hannable says the Patriots success at forcing opponents to self-destruct could lead to late January games in New England.
• Dave D’Onofrio suggests that if this Pats season were summed up in a meme, how it’s going is a far prettier picture than how it began.
• Andrew Callahan picks out four key areas to explain how the Patriots went from 2-4 to the AFC’s top seed in seven short weeks. 1. Winning the turnover battle.
• Eric Wilbur gives permission to Pats fans that it’s now okay to start thinking big. /insert eye-roll emoji here.
• Chad Finn talks about how with his team on a 7-game win streak, Bill Belichick has changed the narrative and won over some skeptics.
• Nick Goss highlights Rob Ninkovich blasting Bills coach Sean McDermott after Bills’ Week 13 loss.
• Steve Hewitt tells us how Mac Jones and the Patriots are approaching the bye week.
• Sean T. McGuire notes Mac Jones says he’s looking forward to some rest and film study on the bye week.
• Ryan Hananble passes along an ESPN report that New England executives Dave Ziegler and Eliot Wolf could be considered for GM jobs across the league this offseason.
• Ian Glendon (FullPressCoverage) Randy Moss lobbied Tom Brady to join Patriots in 2006.
• Hayden Bird shares 9 things we learned from Episode 4 of the Tom Brady documentary, ‘Man in the Arena.’
• Michael Hurley makes his Week 14 picks: The football gods are being awfully cruel to the Buffalo Bills.
• Next Pats podcast: Phil Perry talks with Dante Scarnecchia about the Patriots dominant run performance against the Bills and gives his opinion on the job the Patriots have done developing Mac Jones. (20 min.)

NATIONAL NEWS

• Albert Breer (SI) Mailbag: What do NFL evaluators think of Heisman favorite Bryce Young? Plus, Coach of the Year candidates, what makes Bill Belichick great and more.
• Joel Corry (CBS Sports) Agent’s Take: Cowboys’ Dak Prescott headlines list of NFL’s top 10 highest-paid players in 2021.
• Doug Farrar (TouchdownWire) Bill Belichick’s Monday night game plan further proves, reveals his rare genius.
• Mike Tannenbaum (ESPN) NFL quarterback rankings 2021: How all 32 teams’ QBs stack up and weekly big takeaways. Mac Jones 13th.
• Gregg Rosenthal (NFL.com) NFL QB Index, Week 14. Mac Jones 13th.
• David Purdum (ESPN) Patriots’ Bill Belichick now betting favorite to win coach of year.
• Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) NFL Playoff Projection: The Cardinals’ hold on the No. 1 seed might depend on beating Rams.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) 2021 Playoff Picture: Patriots, Cardinals headline 14 teams projected to make playoffs.
• Seth Walder (ESPN) Patriots-Buccaneers rematch in the Super Bowl? Why the NFL’s best defense vs. best offense is now most likely.
• Jason La Canfora (CBS Sports) Seven NFL teams that could see a coaching change soon.
• Frank Schwab (Yahoo! Sports) ‘Man in the Arena’ is Tom Brady’s 10-hour celebration of Brady and not much else.
• John Breech (CBS Sports) NFL Week 14 picks: Bills shock Buccaneers in Tampa Bay, Cardinals roll past Rams in NFC West showdown.
• Pete Prisco (CBS Sports) Week 14 NFL picks: Browns run past Ravens, WFT upsets Cowboys to further tighten division races.