new england patriots

The rain was falling during Patriots' minicamp, and the weather definitely had an impact on the quarterbacks. Well, at least one of the quarterbacks, that is.

The New England Patriots started the Legal Tampering Period of NFL Free Agency very uncharacteristically signing just about every player they could find. The apparent upgrade in talent at many positions has had many fans and insiders proclaiming that the Pats are back as the BEAST of the AFC EAST! Boston Globe Senior NFL Writer Ben Volin thinks there's still work to do for the Patriots to overtake the Buffalo Bills.

The NFL started doing "Salute To Service" in 2011 in an effort to Honor, Empower, and Connect our nation's service members, veterans, and their families. It's one of my favorite things the NFL does. It's easy to forget the real reason the Salute To Service initiative is so important and just focus on the fact that the gear that goes along with it is easily the coolest they offer. A friend of mine helped me to truly focus on the good it can do when she shared the above picture with me because a local soldier was recognized.

The New England Patriots know the value of a place kicker. So when the Pats selected Marshall's Justin Rohrwasser who people here in the Capital Region remember from his days at Catholic Central in Troy, I got pretty excited. Obviously I'm not a Patriots fan but I will have to hope the kicking game returns to excellence as long as Rohrwasser is on the field. The 5th round pick of the 2020 NFL Draft will experience a lot of firsts this year but here's a really cool moment, Justin Rohrwasser is making his debut in the Patriots' online media guide.

There are more than a few instances of the New England Patriots cheating and getting caught. Deflate Gate, Spygate, Luggage Gate and now Spygate part 2. There are reports that a Patriots employee may have been filming the Bengals' coached on the sideline during the Browns - Bengals game.

Unless the New Patriots offense can figure it out, they are certainly no lock to return to the Super Bowl.

I feel like "The boy who cried wolf" asking once again, Is the New England Patriots Dynasty FINALLY over? Look the short answer is the Patriots are still a top team in the NFL so no it's not truly over yet but are they still a lock to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl? I mean let's be honest that's the standard they've set. I've been blessed enough to cove the last five Super Bowls and the Patriots won three and were at four of those. Saying all of that, this year feels different from the years where I hoped it was over.

I learned my lessons over the years, not to overreact when the New England Patriots lose a game

The Patriots will be the Jets Monday night at Metlife Stadium, but might be closer than you think.

The former Patriot will be seen during Sundays again soon

The NFL needs to get it right, before it gets out of hand. Maybe it already has.

Levack and Goz discuss that and more in this week's Monday Mirages