The Patriot Way: New England Patriots News, 7/27
By Cyrus Geller
Hello, and welcome to another edition of ‘The Patriot Way’, your number one source to New England Patriots news and analysis from around the web.
Quick hits: Malcom Brown’s draft-day slide sparks memories of Vince Wilfork in 2004
"To suggest that Patriots first-round draft choice Malcom Brown will fill the sizable void created by Vince Wilfork’s free-agent departure is optimistic at this point, but I do think there’s another strong connection between the two. In 2004, the Patriots were legitimately surprised that Wilfork was still available to them with the 21st pick of the first round. He was supposed to be long gone at that point. In 2015, the same was true of the 6-foot-2, 320-pound Brown at pick No. 32. The wheel-and-deal Patriots had a few trade offers to consider at No. 32, but ultimately felt the value of those deals didn’t trump the quality of player in Brown, who surprisingly slid down the board like Wilfork did in 2004. Could lightning have struck twice for the Patriots at such an important position?"
DeflateGate: NFL Shows Colors, Reacts to Negative Reports on Football Protocol
"On Monday, July 20th, the referee website Football Zebras noted that officials had not been made aware of any changes to the football protocols. The news was understandably met with outrage. The obvious implication was that the league didn’t understand that they were at fault for their mishandling of the footballs and their measurements. If everyone could agree on one aspect of the DeflateGate nonsense, it’s that the officials didn’t do their job."
Best of the Belichick Era: Number 2 — Vince Wilfork
"Of the four Lombardis the Patriots won, the one from this past February may have been the most important. In New England, people may not have needed any convincing; nationally, the Patriots win over the Seahawks – the whole season – in a way validated their run of excellence. Qualifiers about the Patriots having not won since SpyGate, being unable to close in Super Bowls 42 and 46, all of it was muzzled with the win over the defending champion Seahawks. Of course, the vanquished cobbled together a couple of other gripes after losing which will serve as fuel but that’s beside the point. The point as it relates to Vince Wilfork being where he is on this list is that had Wilfork was pivotal in helping the Patriots bookend their first three Super Bowls. To come back and play 75 percent of the plays at age 33 after blowing an Achilles in 2013 was remarkable. So was Vince’s level of play from 2007 through 2012."