Unconventional Preview: This Patriots-Giants matchup will not be like the others
Tom Brady as he leaves the field after Super Bowl XLVI.
COMMENTARY
Welcome to Season 4, Episode 9 of the Unconventional Preview, a serious-but-lighthearted, occasionally nostalgia-tinted look at the Patriots’ weekly matchup that runs right here every weekend.
The Patriots put their 8-0 record on the line when they visit the 5-4 Giants on Sunday. As you may recall, and certainly have been reminded of relentlessly this week, the Giants once halted a previous Patriots’ bid for an unbeaten season. The circumstances are different now, of course, and while some of the names are familiar — Eli Manning is still the Giants’ quarterback and still has twice as many championship rings as his celebrated big brother, both coming at the Patriots’ expense — much has changed since the Giants and Patriots last met in February 2012. We’ve got plenty to get to in this edition, so kick if off, Gostkowski, and let’s get this thing started …
THREE PLAYERS I’LL BE WATCHING NOT NAMED TOM BRADY
Shane Vereen: I’m not sure where Vereen would rank among the admirable and effective mix of third-down/change-of-pace backs the Patriots’ offense has so effectively deployed in the Brady era. He’s behind all-timer Kevin Faulk for sure, and maybe Danny Woodhead too. Woodhead was a bigger part of the Patriots’ offense when he and Vereen were teammates. Dion Lewis? He hasn’t been here long, and right now he’s unfortunately on injury hiatus, but no one, including Vereen, was as dazzling with the ball in his hands and a sliver of space ahead. Vereen was better than J.R. Redmond. Though it is the short-timer Redmond with whom he has the most in common — or, at least, the most important feat in common. Both played crucial roles in helping the Patriots win a Super Bowl, Redmond with his clutch catches at the beginning of the winning drive in Super Bowl XXXVI and Vereen throughout Super Bowl XLIX in the victory over the Seahawks. I suppose the bottom line is that Vereen was a valuable player when healthy, and ultimately played his best when the team needed him the most. He deserves the security the Giants gave him, and to be remembered well around here.
Odell Beckham Jr.: Save for the occasional genuine, heartfelt moment, the ESPYs are stupid. We know that. But even by the stupid standards of the stupid ESPYs, the awarding of 2015 Best Play of the Year to Beckham, the Giants’ exceptional young receiver who made a phenomenal one-handed catch in a regular-season loss to Dallas, over Malcolm Butler’s Super Bowl-saving interception — arguably the best play in the history of American team sports given the circumstances and the athleticism, preparation, poise and wits required to pull it off — was especially stupid. I hope Butler holds Beckham without a catch on Sunday for that reason alone. Though that would probably make Beckham a shoo-in to win the 2016 ESPY for Best Performance by A Receiver Who Didn’t Make a Catch In That Particular Game. Stupid ESPYs. They’re stupid, you know.
Rob Gronkowski: Is Gronk in a mini-slump? C’mon, you know better. This is Gronk, the football equivalent of a Chuck Norris joke. This is Gronk, who can slam a revolving door! This is Gronk, who can chew a jawbreaker! This is Gronk, who once roundhouse kicked a horse in the chin, creating the giraffe! So what if he has had three games among his last five with 67 receiving yards or fewer. He also had two 100-yard games in that span, including a career-best 11-reception game against the Dolphins in Week 8. Besides, we all know why he’s mixed in games of relatively limited production, at least by his standards, recently: He’s helping out the decimated offensive line by staying in to block even on the occasional pass play. The question is whether that remains the case this week. The Patriots’ line remains in rough shape, and it certainly looks like Cameron Fleming — a practice-squadder to start the season — will be the left tackle come Sunday, which isn’t the most encouraging sign. Then again, the Giants’ defensive line is mediocre at best — Chandler Jones has more sacks (9.5) than their entire defense (9) — and their squad has been especially abysmal at covering tight ends, allowing a league-high 59 receptions. I still have a hunch that it’s unsung Patriots receivers who will have a big day, perhaps Brandon LaFell or Danny Amendola, with Gronk supplying his services in aid of the offensive line again. But it also appears likely that he can do damage, like he did to that poor horse/giraffe, every time he’s sent out on a route.
BILL BELICHICK PRESS CONFERENCES ARE THE BEST
Well, no, I don’t mean all of them. And if you’re asking about an injury or something like that, his answer is liable to be three words and two snorts. But this notion that Belichick is a lousy interview or a bore or whatever? Well, that’s just wrong. It probably stems from the petty frustrations of national writers who are accustomed to being accommodated by other coaches in other markets (See: Rex). But the beat writers know what they’re getting, and most — especially the ones who put in the work, and Belichick is paying attention — are able to forge a decent, informative relationship with him. Brevity is usually his thing, but if you know what to ask, or hit him with a topic he’s interested in on a day he’s in the mood to crack open his mental encyclopedia of knowledge — questions about great players from the past often bring thorough and thoughtful answers on every given Friday — the result can be a verbal gold mine.
Precisely that happened Friday morning, with a fairly innocuous question sending Belichick off on a welcome here’s-how-it-was football soliloquy.
The question: Is Gronk a good blocker?
The answer: A fascinating 372-word anecdotal lesson on why Mark Bavaro remains so revered. Take it away, Professor Belichick:
“Yeah, he’s one of the best blockers. I mean, I’ll put him there with [Mark] Bavaro in terms of the guys I’ve coached. I mean, it’d be hard for me to put anybody past Bavaro just because of the number of times he blocked Reggie White with no help. We ran those 38-Boss and all that and they were in that over front and Reggie was the six-technique and Bavaro blocked him. There was no double team. He just blocked him. Now that was a good battle. Reggie got him a few times, too. I’ve seen Bavaro block [Lawrence] Taylor before, blocked [Carl] Banks. I mean those were as competitive matchups and practices I’ve ever seen. I mean it was awesome to watch players of that level compete the way they competed. All three of those guys were just tremendous football players. So, I have a lot of accolades for Rob and his blocking. I’m just saying it’s hard for me to put anybody past Bavaro based on Reggie White, Banks and Taylor. Those guys are pretty good. I mean, I can’t tell you how many times coaching Taylor he got blocked – I mean, not very many. He didn’t get blocked very often. They might have run away from him, they might have got in his way, but when he actually blocked-blocked, Banks, you can probably count those – it’d be in the single digits for me. But we didn’t play against Bavaro, but we played against him in practice, and we played against him in training camp where there was one-on-ones and nine-on-sevens and running drills. There was no, ‘Is this is a pass, do I have to re-route the guy?’ No, it wasn’t any of that. It was, ‘I know he’s blocking me, he knows he’s blocking me, let’s have at it.’ And that was awesome. That was awesome. But yeah, Rob does a good job. And he takes pride in it, too. There are a lot of plays Rob comes to the sideline and he’s more excited about a block he made on the series than a catch he made, which a lot of tight ends I’ve coached I wouldn’t put in that category. He really takes pride in it.’’
Now, I believe Gronk is the greatest tight end the NFL has ever seen, already, not even six full seasons into his career. He already has 61 touchdowns — 22 more than Bavaro compiled in nine seasons. But Bavaro is the player to whom Gronk is most often compared, mostly because it usually takes an army of free safeties and outside linebackers to stop in him the open field. Bavaro didn’t break tackles. He annihilated them. Belichick’s — well, the right word, again, is reverence — for Bavaro sent me scouring for clips of his best performances during his heyday. I couldn’t find anything showing him blocking Reggie White. But this clip below is fantastic, not only because of some classic Bill Parcells quotes (“I tell ya, he’s a stone face, that Bavaro. You never know what the hell he’s thinking. I’d hate to have to fight that son of a gun’’), but because you really can see the similarities to Gronk, especially right around the 5:35 mark when he takes Hall of Fame safety Ronnie Lott and half of the Niners defense for a piggyback ride.
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We are so damn fortunate to have Belichick here to talk about football history in his inimitable way, and it’s cool to be able to dig up video to accompany his master class/refresher course on a player like Bavaro. There’s also a clue within the clip of why Belichick enjoys sharing his knowledge of the games great’s from time to time, especially the ones with whom he was associated. The clue, however, comes not from Belichick, but Parcells, who offers the final words in the segment on Bavaro:
“Any coach would love to have a player like that. You never forget them. They’re always a part of you, forever.’’
Kind of makes you look forward to the insight Belichick will share with us about Gronk someday, doesn’t it?
GRIEVENCE OF THE WEEK
I suppose my grievance this week is about media members who complain about Bill Belichick press conferences, right? I believe I made my point. Sub-grievance this week: People who mention David Tyree more than once this week. You’re on the clock, Nantz. You get one.
PREDICTION, OR THIS ISN’T SUPER BOWL XLII OR XLVI, IT’S WEEK X:
Discussing what happened in the two Patriots-Giants Super Bowl matchups is an irresistible narrative this week. That is understood. You’ve got to deal with it. Hey, it is intriguing that the Giants have somehow beaten the Patriots three straight times, and that Tom Coughlin has a winning record against Bill Belichick. Mentioning all of that is fine. Necessary, even. But it also must be acknowledged that the reasons for the previous Giants’ victories — namely, a ferocious pass rush and ridiculous good fortune at the right moments — are almost certain not to be factors Sunday. Especially the first one. Michael Strahan is not leaving the couch next to Kelly. Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora are not in possession of a time machine. Jason Pierre-Paul has not acquired a bionic index finger since last Sunday (that we know of). The Patriots have the best offense in football, again. The Giants have a horrible defense, for once. The narrative of the Giants owning the Patriots ends Sunday. Patriots 45, Giants 23.
Chad Finn can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeChadFinn.
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