Tom Brady and the New England Patriots were chasing another ring and history, this time in Atlanta against the formidable LA Rams.  But this time wasn't like all the others--or any other Super Bowl that's been played in NFL history.  The Pats defense rose up in hisotric fashion, besting the high flying Rams and holding them to a historically low scoring total under their average, frustrating a group that had scored at will throughout the season.  

How did Bill Belichick and his defensive staff, including departing playcaller Brian Flores, accomplish such a monumental task?  And how did Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski continue their march through the post-season?  And how did the Pats running game keep clicking at such productive levels in this so-called passing league?  

Huge show as we wrap up the 2018 NFL season.  Let's dive in...

Tom Brady answered the bell.  Rob Gronkowski answered the bell.  Julian Edelman answered the bell.  The big-time players for New England came up big-time in the AFC Championship game.  But in winning in the hostile environment that is Arrowhead, it took an absolute total team effort.  

On this week's show, we turn the focus to players across the roster who are unsung, who often get overlooked, who don't come up as frequently in talking about the stars of this team--but that balled out in a big spot at the time they were needed most.  

We'll look at both sides of the ball, concentrating on a few guys from offense, and a few guys from defense that stepped up in a big way to help the Patriots advance to the Super Bowl to face the Los Angeles Rams in Atlanta.

So it turns out the 2018 Patriots aren't near the end of anything...they just might be getting started.  Looking refreshed, renewed, and downright dominant against an LA Chargers team that won earlier this season in Kansas City, America got a big ol' glass of woke juice...quickly remembering all the reasons they need to start worrying about & hating the team from Foxboro. 

Tom Brady looked sharp--in other words, he played just like Tom Brady.  The running game was subperb, but can they repeat that kind of ground performance in KC to keep the pressure off Tom and the passing game? The defense put another notch in their belt against a top NFL quarterback, but young Patrick Mahomes is this season's best and looms as a tremendous challenge in the AFC Championship. What's the plan against him going to be?  Can they get him to keep turning the ball over as he did against them earlier this season, and as he has in moments of weakness during his first campaign?  It doesn't happen often, but when it rains with Mahomes, it tends to pour.  

And finally, the Colts blocked a punt against Kansas City...thrusting special teams opportunity right back to the forefront.  Might just be a big Cordarrelle Patterson week too...

We cover all this and more in this week's REAL THING Patrtiots podcast.  Enjoy and GO PATS!

The Patriots' opponent for the divisional round of the playoffs is now clear, so on this week's show, Matt Chatham goes deep on all the strengths, weaknesses, and tendencies of the LA Chargers, using their recent games and a review of last year's contest as context.  He also takes a broad, canvas look at the Patriots current roster, how the roles & strongest groupings for New England have come into greater focus in the last month, putting the Pats in position to put their best foot forward against a talented AFC opponent.  

Sure, there's going to be plenty of Tom Brady and Philip Rivers talk this week, and we cover some of that here.  But in this show, Chatham also goes all around the support players & studs that the Chargers lean on outside the QB position.  

Going to be quite the battle to decide who goes to this year's AFC Championship, let's dive in...

Josh Gordon was a rare talent for the Patriots.  He was their most productive wide receiver--mainly becasue Julian Edelman missed four games--but still.  The offense clearly will have to adjust in the final two weeks, particularly as they look to bounce back from a disappointing week in Pittsburgh.  So we look to the game tape to sort through the common perceptions of what Josh was doing in the Patriots offense that will need to be either replaced or reconfigured. 

Was he actually regularly receiving extra coverage attention?  Were defenses playing him as a "deep threat"? Are the coverages and approaches to playing the Pats likely to change with Gordon gone?  Will Brady's progressions fundamentally change without #10 out there running routes?  Was Gordon actually drawing attention away from other players?  And who can fill the production void at the WR postion...or is that how it will work at all?  

This show is dedicated to separating perception from tape reality on all these subjects and more.  Let's dig in...

The Patriots set off to South Beach to clinch the AFC East and come away with an oft-elusive win down in South Florida.  Instead...they came away with one of the most frustrating end of game collapses in recent memory.  Tom Brady put up great numbers and the offense produced over 30 points...but the situaitonal execution was suprisingly poor.  The defense reverted to their occasional 2018 habit of atrocious run defense, and that opened the floodgates, as any listerner to this show knows. 

Gronk played great.  Edelman was productive, per usual.  Gordon flashed.  And the specials teams units turned the rare trick of TWO blocked punts in one game.  Yet, the story of the game will forever be the ridiculous failed defense of the final lateral play from 69 yards out that flipped the outcome as the clock expired.  

How did this all happen?  How could it have all been avoided?  Where does this leave the Pats going forward?  And what were the positives that shouldn't get lost in the emotion.  

Matt Chatham breaks it all down for you in as thorough a manner as you'll find in the Patriots universe.  This one was educational, but it might hurt a little.  Let's dive in...

When the Vikings came to Foxboro in Week 13 of the 2018 seaosn, the Patriots faced one of the better defenses in the the league, with one of the better 1-2 wide receiver punches in Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen...and neither or those two things ended up being much of a problem.

On this show, Matt Chatham walks through all the details & problems highlighted in an impressively mundane (is that a thing) victory for the Pats against another NFC North foe.  The running game had another highly productive day, Brady got his 1000 yards rushing thingy, and the defense played one of its most complete performances of the season.  Looks like this team is rounding into playoff form..

The Patriots nabbed a 2-score division victory on the road in the division after Thanksgiving--that's what it's all about in this league.  We detail how they pulled it off, the good & the bad, including highlights of unheralded performers vs the Jets. 

The Pats running game came roaring back behind the return of Sony Michel, Rob Gronkowski, and Shaq Mason.  The defense played a solid, complementary game, fixing some of the issues that plagued them against the Titans a week ago.  And overall, the team overcame some road adversity to play sharp down the stretch when they needed to most.  This was the kind of performance Patriots Nation was looking forward to New England to come back with after the bye.  Let's dive into the details...

After a 6 game Patriots win streak, the Titans walked over New England for a comfortable win & reminder that nothing is guaranteed in the NFL.  On this show, we detail all the issues from that day, and what we learned about how this team must play to win going forward...

Old friend and new Tennessee head coach Mike Vrabel led his group to a resounding performance that was dominant in all three phases, making big plays in special teams, offense, and defense--while preventing the other side from doing the same.  It was an uncharacteristic day for Tom Brady and the New England offense, underscoring how important it is for this team (like all NFL teams) to have a running game to lean on to open up other parts of the offense.  Conversely, the defense struggled to stop the run early, and gave up big plays in the passing game to the Titans lone consistent threat, Corey Davis--a big surprise considering stud Patriots cornerback was on the losing end of many of those battles.  

As the Patriots head now into the bye week and home stretch of their 2018 season, we outline all the elements that have shown their ugly head in early season losses, and talk through how to prevent their absence in the most important late season games.  And we go through the misperception that the Pats need to have a certain record or home field in the playoffs to accomplish what they want--something easily disproven by the history of many NFL champions during the Belichick era.  

Take a deep breath and enjoy the show...

It wasn't just a quarterback showdown...shocker, I know.  The Patriots put together a solid, full-team effort and controlled the Packers down the stretch...here's a full game review of the most things to come from this prime-time game.  

Big nights by Josh Gordon, Cordarrelle Patterson, Adrrian Clayborn, Trey Flowers, and James White kept the Patriots on the winning side of things once again, avoiding an upset by Aaron Rodgers and Green Bay on SNF.  We run through all the highlights (and lowlights) of this game in this week's show, paying special attention to the little details that weren't necessarilyexpanded upon in the game broadcast.  Very solid effort by the Patriots with a lot of moving parts, ton to cover...let's dive in!