Wednesday, September 26, 2007

Bills re-cap, Observations, Stats, Top Ten

I cannot for the life of me figure out why Belichick didn't kick that field goal in the fourth quarter, instead electing to run on 4th and 7 and turn the ball over on downs. Would have made one blogger look pretty smart had he just kicked the ball. I can live with a 38-7 win and relegating myself to have to start picking the Pats to score 38 points. Other than that, the Pats put on another show this weekend. Yes, they came out flat and it was nerve racking for one Bills drive (backup QB and all) in the first quarter. But the Pats did what great teams do, win when they aren't focused for the entire 60 minutes.

Of course, it helped that Wilfork esentially knocked Losman out of the game on Buffalo's first series. It was the most controversial play of the game. Losman thought it was a deliberate cheap shot. Wilfork swears he would never intentionally do something like that. To me, the video evidence is overwhelmingly in favor of Losman's argument. Wilfork was on his way down and just before he hit the ground, he throws his elbow out toward Losman, striking his left knee. Hard to argue with the video evidence. I'm quite sure Wilfork will be fined and with Goodell's record so far it wouldn't surprise me if he was even suspended for a game or two.

Getting on to the good news or maybe great news, the Pats have just been better than anyone could have imagined so far this year. I don't EVER remember them having the #1 offense and defense in the league. In addition, they are outscoring opponents 114-35, the biggest margin in the NFL by FAR. Their avg points scored per game is higher than the total points they've given up! They've only punted 4 times. The offense averages 441 yds/game and the defense is only giving up 207 per game. Brady's QB rating of 141.8 is twenty points higher than anyone in the league. His ten TD passes also leads the NFL. One wonders about Cincinnati in the upcoming Monday nighter: if the Browns put 51 points on the board against them what will the Pats put up? (38 again?)


Tom's Top Ten Teams:

1- Pats
The plethora of evidence is documented above.

2- Colts
They haven't been pretty, but they're winning and very dangerous.

3- Steelers
Winning almost as decisively as te Pats, though they've played no one that can play run defense.

4- Packers
Brett's playing like he's 28 and the D is equally impressive.

5- Cowboys
I'm still not sold on Defense and I think Romo will eventually be exposed as a streaky QB.

6- Texans
Can't fault them too much for losing a close one to Indy without having Andre Johnson.

7- Tampa Bay
My surprise team at the beginning of the season has even surprised me, I thought they'd start 0-4!

8- Titans
I know, this is probably too high for them but I love Vince Young's leadership. He's a winner and the
team believes it can win because of him.

9- Broncos
Still a scary team and a threat to win the AFC.

10- Chargers
Sooner or later they'll put it together?

3 comments:

Krager said...

Tom,

I gotta disagree on that Wilfork call. If you watch the video back you can see the center blocking Wilfork from behind. Aren't those illegal? If anybody should be fined, it should be that center. If he didn't grab Vince like that, he wouldn't have fallen and Losman just would have received a good hard sack, not a game threatening injury. Personally I think he did Buffalo a favor, but whatever.

Also, You mean to tell me that if you weighed one billion pounds and had all that momentum going forward, and somebody grabs your legs from behind, there's NO chance that your arms could be tied and you need to reach out to try and catch yourself?

If you don't believe that, you also must not believe that sheer determination with the added block from behind applied to Vince, caused Losman to just be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

A lot of limbs end up in the wrong place at the wrong time when you're in the middle of line. I don't fault Vince at all. The next time you have some 300lbs dudes trying to block you and you go to ground, be sure to keep your arms in so they don't hit anybody.

Tom said...

This is the exact reason why it's such a controversial play. Two people saw the same play, but did not see the same thing.

Krager said...

I can't believe he got fined $12K!!!

Goodell is out to get us and he is just gaining popularity with the rest of the league/country by slamming down on the Pats. I understood why he came down hard on BB, but this is getting ridiculous. Slamming down on the Pats is becoming as regular as seeing Satan Manning commercials.

I know $12K is a drop in the bucket for him, but it's the principal of the thing.