Patriots Football Weekly Blog

Kirsch Words: Super Bowl XLVI – Patriots vs. Giants

Patriots Football Weekly’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Fred Kirsch will offer his Kirsch Words blog which features in-game commentary during Patriots Super Bowl XLVI game against the New York Giants on Sunday, February 5. Kirsch Words begins at 6:15pm ET.

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From the Hart: PFW’s Week 9 Power Rankings!

Patriots Football Weekly has created a weekly Power Ranking based on the proprietary Wilson-Hart Power Index. The system uses the most important statistics in the game — those most closely associated to win winning and losing — to rank all 32 NFL teams based on their performance to date this season.

There is an interesting change atop this week’s PFW Power Rankings as the Lions take over the top spot, leap-frogging the Packers and 49ers despite the fact that all three teams were victorious over the weekend.

After Sunday’s loss to the Steelers in Pittsburgh, New England fell three spots to No. 10. Three teams – the Bills, Giants and Bengals – all moved up within the top 10.

The Titans and Eagles were two of the bigger risers of the week, moving up five and nine slots, respectively. Going in the other direction, the Cowboys dropped seven spots to No. 20.

There’s some stability in the basement of the Rankings, as the Dolphins and Colts remain the two worst teams in football.

Interesting that after falling to the now No. 13-ranked Steelers, the Patriots return home for a challenge against the 5-2 and No. 7-ranked Giants.

What do you think of the changes in the rankings? Do the top three teams in the NFL really all reside in the NFC? Let us now with a comment below!

Kirsch Words: Patriots at Buccaneers

Patriots Football Weekly’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Fred Kirsch offers his “Kirsch Words” blog which features in-game commentary during the Patriots preseason game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

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Kirsch Words: Patriots vs. Jaguars

Patriots Football Weekly’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Fred Kirsch offers his “Kirsch Words” blog which features in-game commentary during the Patriots game against the Jaguars beginning at 7:15pm ET. Read his commentary and notes as he blogs before, during and after the game.

Brady takes top spot on NFL Network’s “Top 100 Players of 2011″

NFL Network’s marathon counting down the league’s top 100 players finally came to an end on Sunday and, not surprisingly, the reigning unanimous MVP Tom Brady took home the top spot.

Brady was presented by a pair of the best defensive players in the game: Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis and Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis. Both had some glowing praise for one of their fiercest rivals.

“He’s not the biggest, he was never the strongest, he was never the fastest. He was overlooked; he went in the sixth round. So with that being said, all the intangibles a quarterback is supposed to have, they overlooked with him, because it was burning from the inside of him,” Lewis said.

“A play that always sticks out in my mind, they’re playing Carolina in the Super Bowl. Big third down. Of course, Carolina is playing that two-deep coverage. And you would think, OK, Tom Brady has to make this incredible throw, where is he going to go with the ball?

“But the weakness of cover-2, if you understand it, from Tom Brady’s perspective, is if a linebacker is 1 on 1 with a back, that’s your best bet. He drops back and he simply drops the ball off to Kevin Faulk. Could he have tried to force it into a cover-2? Could he have tried to go to his tight end down the middle of the seam in a cover-2? Yeah. But that’s what makes great players, great players. The unselfish players. When I saw that play, I said ‘Wow. That’s how simple he makes the game. The game ain’t hard to him.’ It’ like a matrix where it slows down.’It’s poetry when you see it from that angle.”

Revis was equally effusive in his praise.

“I think players voted him No. 1 because he’s a winner. He has a big heart. He doesn’t like to lose. I see it twice a year, I always see it in his eyes. He’s a warrior,” Revis began.

“The crazy thing about it is his accuracy. His accuracy of where he throws the ball, where as a defender you can’t get it sometimes. You’re here in position but then he’s throwing it right there and Wes [Welker] is catching it an inch from the ground.

“He’s pointing here, he’s pointing there. To me, I think it’s genius how he controls the offense.”

Brady joined the program via telephone after the network announced him as the winner and he predictably downplayed any talk of individual achievement.

It’s very flattering. I think I’ve been really fortunate over the years to play with an incredible organization and an incredible group of players,” Brady said. “This year was really a great year for our team in the regular season. We accomplished some great things. The things that I love about football, that I’ve always loved, that I think draws each player in the NFL to this game, is that it’s a team sport. The great teammates that I’ve ever had, the teammates I had this year, nobody would really accomplish anything without the help of every single guy on that team and every coach. It’s very flattering, like I said, but ultimately I give all the thanks to teammates past and present. They’re what really make this game special for me.”

Team PFW Spotted Again

PFW’s Andy Hart and Erik Scalavino are seen listening to Dr. Margot Putukian, who was speaking about the new return-to-play guidelines and new concussion assessment tool for the NFL during the NFL football scouting combine in Indianapolis, Friday, Feb. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings)

Kirsch Words: Patriots vs. Jets

Patriots Football Weekly’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Fred Kirsch offers his “Kirsch Words” blog which features in-game commentary during the Patriots Divisional Playoff game against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium beginning at 3:30pm ET on Sunday, January 16, 2011. Read his commentary and notes as he blogs before, during and after the game.

Kirsch Words: Patriots at Bears

Patriots Football Weekly’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Fred Kirsch offers his “Kirsch Words” blog which features in-game commentary during the Patriots game against the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field beginning at 3:15pm ET on Sunday, December 12th. Read his commentary and notes as he blogs before, during and after the game.

Kirsch Words: Patriots vs. Jets

Patriots Football Weekly’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Fred Kirsch offers his “Kirsch Words” blog which features in-game commentary during the Patriots game against the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium beginning at 7:30pm ET on Monday, December 6th. Read his commentary and notes as he blogs before, during and after the game.

Kirsch Words: Patriots vs. Vikings

Patriots Football Weekly’s Publisher and Editor-in-Chief, Fred Kirsch offers his “Kirsch Words” blog which features in-game commentary during the Patriots game against the Minnesota Viking at Gillette Stadium beginning at 3:00pm ET on Sunday, October 24th. Read his commentary and notes as he blogs before, during and after the game.