Patriots Report

Congratulations to the NY Giants....

2008-02-03T22:09:00.000-05:00

...the best team in the NFL.
They played harder. They wanted it more. They hit harder. They played with more heart. The Defense let ELI throw for 125 yds and 2TD's in the 4th quarter alone. The Giants absolutely deserved this win. The Pats didn't, plain and simple.

This game has to be enough evidence that Joshy needs to be fired. 14 points. The highest scoring Offense in the league got 14 points. Great job Joshy. As long as Joshy is on the staff of the New England Patriots I can't be a fan. You are only as strong as your weakest link and today Joshy finally cost them a game. THE game.

That's it for now....if Joshy's back then I'm not. It's been real!

SUPER BOWL XLII.....FINALLY!

2008-02-01T12:16:00.001-05:00

And so you finally hear from me. I figured you'd probably
been getting sick of the hype and didn't need to hear it from
yet another source (me). I really hate this two week break,
though it probably favors the Pats. Sunday just can't get
here fast enough!

First let me say that the Patriots are not playing well right now.
If you're comfortable with the offense putting up only 21 points
while Brady throws 3 picks in the AFC Championship, then you're
quite the optomist. There is NO DOUBT in my mind that if San Diego
was healthy they would have won that game. Three red zone trips
would not have resulted in three field goals if San Diego had a
healthy Tomlinson and a healthy Gates. Sorry Pats fans, that's
truth. No one finds the end zone more than Tomlinson. I just
hope that the Pats defense doesn't get cocky after holding a
battered Chargers team to 12 points. Rivers had Knee surgery 5
days before the game!!!!

Other Notes...

If you're the praying type, give one up for Joe Andruzzi. The
former Patriots O- lineman, winner of 3 super bowls with the
Pats is fighting for his life. He's got an extremely aggressive
form of Cancer and he may not make it.

On a lighter note, I'm starting to believe the latest Patriots
conspiracy theory. Tom Brady's boot was a hoax. Did anyone
see Tom limp at all during the SD game? Not during nor after
did he limp. The media would have see it when he came out for
his post game press conference or while he was on the stage at
midfield accepting the AFC Championship Trophy. Still there was
not one mention of it. Then all of the sudden he shows up in
NYC with a boot and a severe limp. That same night he's out at
a night club in cowboy boots not limping. Then he's missing the
media portions of practice last week. On Monday he practices
with the ankle very heavily taped and moves gingerly. Tuesday
he shows up to media day without the limp. He pracitces with
no tape on the ankle, no sign of a limp or injury on Wed. The
injury report comes out and he's Probable for a shoulder for the
100th time in a row or however many years he's been probable for
a shoulder injury. What better way to draw attention from Randy
Moss and any other spygate story than to create the biggest
diversion of all? I'm just saying.

I love Brady's response to the Buress prediction. "We're only
going to score 17 points?! Is Plax going to play defense too?"
While I was watching Brady's response the bottom line is scrolling
that the Pats have scored more tha 17 points for 24 straight
games. Good one Plax.

Not everyone is picking the Pats. More 'experts' are starting to
pick the Giants to win. But they've got the lamest excuses for
their picks.
Noted Pats hater Chadiha (Giants 24-23) says,"If the Giants can
shut down Moss and harass Brady, the game won't even be close."
My favorite is ESPN.Com NFL Editor Sheldon Spencer (Giants 27-23)
who says,"A Patriots' rally falls short inside the Giants'
10-yard-line in the final minute." That sounds just like Brady.

Now on to the Super Bowl.

Based on the play of the Pats lately, I'm not feeling overly
confident about SB XLII. Eli knows he can pass against the Pats
secondary. The D line knows it can get to Brady. The Giants
have nothing to lose. The Pats have everything to lose. Face
it, the Pats go down in history as the greatest team ever or the
biggest choke team ever. It's not fair, but it's the perception.
Even Brady feels that pressure. Did you hear him say it's the
biggest game of all of their lives? One that they will never
forget for better or worse. THAT is pressure.

All that being said, there are some things that make you feel
pretty good about this game as a Patriots fan.

-Yes the first meeting was pretty close BUT the Pats played
wihtout the right side of their starting O-line, they literally
dressed no tight ends, more than likely they're not going to give
up another kick return TD and more than likely Manning isn't
going to throw 4 TDs and only 1 Int.
-Belichick is a rediculous 17-2 when facing a QB for the second
time in the same season.
-Brady always bounces back from a crappy performance with a monster
game.
-Eli is WAY over due to start throwing picks. He's only gone two
games in a row with out a pick ONCE IN HIS CAREER. Now he's gone
three without a pick and you can't expect him to make it FOUR.
He'll be good for at least 2 interceptions.
-Weather will be a positive factor. When was the last time the Pats
played a meaningful game in decent weather? Looking back at the
schedule, it has to be @ Indy's dome. Bad weather against the Bills,
Eagles, Ravens, Steelers, Jets, maybe Miami at home was decent,
Giants, Jags and San Diego. All lousy weather. Now your putting them
in an environment where they scored 38,38,34,34,48,49 and 52 points.
-Maroney should be able to run on the Giants. First of all, the Pats
ran for a meager 1.7 yds per carry in the first meeting. Do you
think the Giants players are concerned about the Pats running game?
I already touched on the fact that nearly half the Oline was out and
they had no TE's to block. If the Giants are forced to play with an
extra defensive back (nickel) to double Moss, the Pats will be able
to run all day against 6 defenders in the box.

HOW I SEE IT....

I think the Giants have to throw everything they've got at the Pats
early and often. That means going for it on 4th down, taking shots
at deep balls, and using every play in their playbook - reverses,
halfback passes, flea flicker, you name it. That means blizing
anyone and everyone from anywhere and hitting Brady a lot - even
if they have to take a late hit penalty. They may even get an
early lead, but eventually they just won't be able to keep up.
The Pats will have long, sustained drives. They'll mix in power
running with screens, draws and the occassional attempt deep. But
I think the meat and potatoes of the O will be Brady getting rid of
the ball underneath to Welker, Faulk, Stallworth, Watson before a
pass rush can get to him. On defense, the Pats will be weary of the
deep ball, and will probably sit in their soft zone and try to stop
the run. Eli will drive them up and down the field like every team
does. The Pats will find a way to stop more drives than the Giants
D will stop.

The Pats score on 7 of 9 or 8 of 10 possesions. The Giants just
can't score that much. Still, the Pats always find a way to make
their games too close for comfort.

Patriots 41
Giants 35

*please see my new prediction in the comment field.

Championship Sunday

2008-01-18T21:14:00.000-05:00

The Pats are still a 14 point favorite to beat the already banged up Chargers on Sunday afternoon. It's going to be very cold and windy. The Foxborough crowd will be sitting on it's collective hands. My dad scored himself a ticket to the game. Thanks for not grabbing one for me too, Pop.

When the Chargers have the ball.
I think the Chargers know that they can't run up the middle on the Pats D. Look for the running game to try to use it's speed to get to the outside on sweeps and runs off-tackle. It will be imperative for the Patriots outside "contain" guys to get up field so the running backs have to cut back to the middle where the older, slower LB's can make plays. On pass plays, I think you'll see two things from the Chargers. First, swing passes and screens to the fast running backs, making the linebackers have to run them down and tackle them in space. The key for the Pats there is for the cornerbacks to come up and make tackles. Second, I think you'll see the Chargers take a few shots deep. They'll use play action and throw to their tall WR's downfield at the very least hoping to get some sort of pass interference penalty, and to keep the Pats Safeties back so they can't creep up to the line in run support. The smarts and experience of Rodney should help the Pats limit the big plays, but once the ball is in the air, anything can happen.

Look for Volek at QB, Rivers isjust too banged up. But the Pats should not let down just because it's Volek. In my opinion, Rivers is just slightly better than Volek, who put up back to back 400 yd games as a starter in Tennessee. You'll probably also see the Chargers going outside left then outside right then back left again via run or pass, utilizing the likes of Sproles and Turner to tire down the old slow Patriot linebackers by making them run sideline to sideline repeatedly.

When the Patriots have the ball.
Supposedly, the safeties are the weakest link in San Diego's defense. The Patriots typically exploit under qualified safeties with good play action deep passes. See the Pittsburgh game and how they picked on what's his mouth. Other than the "fear" of Cromartie and the pass rush, I don't think the Pats offense has much to worry about from the charger's. They live and die by the takeaway. They have forced 48 takeaways (30 INT's 18 fumbles). If the Pats don't turn it over, they win no matter what else happens. That's where Cromartie and the pass rush enter the equation. The Pats have only turned it over 15 times. Most of those are on Brady. He's been strip sacked 6 times and intercepted 8 times. Phillips and Merriman are quite capable of getting to Brady, so he may have to eat the ball once or twice and take a sack rather than try to make a play and fumble. Brady also can't try to force it. San Diego picked off the league's second best QB EIGHT times in two games this year. Cromartie leads the bunch with 10 picks, but Brady will need to be accurate on all his throws.

On special teams, the Bolts have a big advantage with a Punter who can really boom the ball and a small advantage with Sproles and Turner returning kicks and punts. The big advantage for the pats lies with Gostkowski. He's 9-10 in his layoff career, while Kaeding is at just about 50% in his playoff career.

The way I see it.
I see this one being a lot closer than people think. Yes, the Chargers are banged up, but they still managed a win in Indy when no one gave them a chance in hell. I see them blitzing furiously, trying to disrupt the Pats offense and cause mistakes. The Pats are going to score if they sit in a soft zone, just ask Jacksonville. So you'll see the Chargers blitz the kitchen sink on Sunday. The Pats defense is going to give up points and it's going to be more frustrating than ever because they're going to allow back-ups to drive up and down the field on them all afternoon.

When it comes down to it, Tom Brady is too good to be denied and the defense will make a play in the 4th quarter to seal the victory (again) after showing no signs of being able to slow the Chargers all day.

Patriots 37
Chargers 31

Get ready to bite your nails.

As far as the NFC goes.....flip a coin. The Pack looked good against a crappy Seattle team that gave up. The G-men are what, 9-0 on the road? Something's got to give. Personally I'd like to see Favre in the superbowl, then the Pats can say they beat EVERY good team in the league on the way to 19-0. And there's the little revenge factor on Favre for the Pats superbowl loss in '96.

Patriots Win, However.....

2008-01-14T07:47:00.000-05:00

I've been carrying his banner all year long, telling you to pay close atention because he is the best of all time. And Tom Brady didn't let us down. Brady had the best game any quarterback has ever had in the playoffs, completing 92.9% of his passes, 26 completeions on 28 attempts. Two drops. Brady should have, could have been perfect on the night. I can see Watson's drop being called for a penalty since the defender grabbed him at the line of scrimmage and never let him go. Welker's drop was inexplicable. Brady was poised, accurate, smart and he improvised well. He showed the world once again why he is the best to ever play.

I know you never thought you'd hear this from me, but Joshy actually had a solid game. The much maligned with good reason offensive coordinator had only one pathetic play call. A 3rd and two shotgun draw to Faulk for a loss of 3 yards. Other than that, he mixed the run and pass well and called screens at appropriate times, mostly. Of course it's got to be hard to screw up when you've got Brady executing (and fixing) your play calls. For instance, in the 4th quarter, when the Pats were only up by 8, (one possession) they faced a second and nine after Maroney gained only one yard on first down. Joshy's play call was a screen pass to the left. The Jags were all over it and blew it up before it could evolve. Bad call, best of all time executing. Without any panic and with unblocked defenders coming at him (as is necessar for a screen pass to work), Brady rolled to the backside of the play wher he knew he would have Stallworth in single coverage. The threat of the screen had drawn the cornerback slightly away from Stallworth. Brady made a great throw under pressure and on the run to Stallworth, who for his part made a very good catch. The drive eventually stalled when Welker dropped a Brady pass that would have hit him in the face and the Pats settled for their final points of the night on Gostkowski's field goal.

Offensively, the entire team gets a big A+ for this game, but I'd like to single out a few players:

Have I sung Brady's praise enough, or do I need to go on?

Stephen Neal is the main reason why Maroney had room to run. Losing him for 8 games this season hurt more than anyone realized. Here's Michael Felger's summary in the Herald: "As usual, Neal’s best work came pulling to his left, such as on the 5-yard gain by Maroney on the first drive of the second half in which Neal found linebacker Daryl Smith and carved out some space for the runner. Three plays later, Neal had an even better one, pulling around the left edge, hooking linebacker Justin Durant and clearing the way for a 22-yard Maroney run. The next series, Neal pulled left, found Smith and corralled him on a Maroney run that went for 29 yards. The next play, he sealed tackle Rob Meier to his own side, allowing Maroney to find the edge on an 11-yard gain. Great stuff all around by Neal, who reasserted himself as the team’s best run blocker."

Randy Moss was the ultimate team player. Many thought he might be outraged to have only one catch. Instead, he kept working, he kept running and more importantly he kept BLOCKING. How many times did you see Maroney run by him while he was blocking his guy? I saw at least 5 or 6 good blocks by Moss. After the game, he was spouting the company line about 11 guys on offense and a win.

Donte Stallworth. He's lost a lot of playing time to Gaffney during the last half of the season. He probably knows he's going to be cut this off-season or at the very least asked to re-negotiate to a lower salary. He wasn't thrown to all night. Yet on a play that he wasn't even supposed to be an afterthought, he went all out. And as it turned out, Brady hit him on the busted screen play. Had he quit or put his head down the Pats don't gain 53 yds. And don't forget, with time running out in the fourth and facing a 3rd and 7 it was his outstanding, individual effort that gained 8 yds diving for a first down on a simple wide receiver screen. I hope he'll be back next year, he is truly unique in his explosiveness.

Laurence Maroney, or the guy they're dressing in his uniform. Where the hell has this guy been all year? He's running hard, he's decisive in his cuts and he's exploding through the hole. He only danced in the hole one time that I saw. Great performance. Must have had something to do with the diapers his teammates left in his locker in about week ten that woke him up.

And now the other side of the coin, the swiss cheese er... I mean, the defense. Just bad. As a football player you are taught the proper technique for tackling every day of practice from 1st grade right through high school and even at some college programs. I am shocked that Bill Belichick's team is the least technically sound tackler's in the NFL. Bill always prides himself as first things first, before we scheme, we're going to make sure you know the fundamentals. It just baffles me that no one on the defense ever wraps up or hits a ball carrier around the legs. Instead they just run into ball carriers and hope they fall down. What the hell is that? I hope you noticed how the Jags tackled on Saturday night. They were text book. The Pats caught a ball underneath and were hit, wrapped and driven back for little to no gain after the catch. The Packer's do it, the Giants do it, the Charger's do it, Indy did it, the Steeler's did it. You get the point.

In addition to poor tackling, they are the most frustrating defense in the league to watch when they try to defend the pass. You'll notice that there are two schools to pass defense around the NFL. You blitz, or you cover. That is, the coverage can and should be loose and conservative if you go after the quarterback. Conversely, if you send only 3 or 4 after the QB, giving him time to throw, they you have to cover well or you'll get burned. You'd think that, with 7 or 8 defenders in coverage you could cover the 3 to 4 or even 5 receivers sent out on a given play. Why then, can the Patriots Defense do neither? There's never a pass rush, and my god did you see how wide open Jacksonville's receivers were? No wonder why Garrard had the best game of his career staistically, as did Eli, as did Feeley, as did Boller. It just blows my mind that the Patriots keep getting away with it. You just can't help but feel that, sooner or later the defense is just flat out going to lose a game for them. Yet somehow, they seem to make a play to win it in the end. Jacksonville put up only 6 second half points. Of course they were helped by a couple of drops by Jags receivers but drops happen, just ask Wes Welker and Ben Watson. If David Garrard and Eli and Feeley and Boller can put up those kind of numbers, what's Peyton Manning... nevermind.

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA, I LOVE IT!!!!! I LOVE THE LOOK ON PEYTON"S FACE WHEN HE WALKS OFF A LOSER!!!

The Patriots are already installed as 15 point favorites over the Chargers.

This Weekend's Winners

2008-01-11T12:27:00.001-05:00

I can't imagine that there's ever been a divisional playoff round in which all the Home teams were favored by at least 7 points. So much for parity in the NFL. Historically, teams coming off the bye week in this round have gone 53-15 since the current playoff format started. Still, it seems like every year a #1 and or a #2 seed loses. Only once since 1998 have all #1's and #2's advanced. So, regardless of how much the favorites are favored by this year, it's a definite that one of them is going to lose this weekend. The question then becomes, which one?

The ESPN polls have the Patriots winning (68% of votes) the Cowboys winning (61%), the Packers winning (65%) and of course the Colts winning (65%). All the favorites, all the Home teams coming off a bye week.

The Jaguars are no longer the experts pick for an upset, their performance against Pittsburgh was just weak. So the hot game to pick for an upset has become the Giants over the Cowboys. As Lee Corso likes to say, "Not so fast my friend!"

Giants 20
Cowboys 24

The Cowboys defense, especially a home and healthy will be too much for Eli to handle. The Giants played well against the Pats AT HOME and beat an average TB team that hadn't played in a game in 3 weeks (resting their starters the final 2 weeks of the season).

Seahawks 31
Packers 27

This is your upset special. The magic runs out for the Pack. Seattle is hungry and playing well, especially defensively. The weather looks to be good enough to throw in, and that's what Seattle does best. Holmgren will have a great gameplan and Favre will throw a couple of interceptions.

Colts 38
Chargers 27

Yes, the Chargers have beaten the Colts this year and last year AT INDY. However, Indy is getting healthy, Manning will have his weapons and Rivers won't. Without his weapons, Manning threw SIX interceptions against the Chargers this year and still only lost by 2 points because Vinatieri missed a FG in the closing seconds. Indy's fast D will limit LT and force Rivers to throw to win. Without a healthy Gates, Rivers has no chance.

And now for the low down on the Patriots over the Jaguars. I've given my 7 keys to a Pats victory in the last post, here's how they'll accomplish them.

1) the weather is going to be in the high 30's just a little win and no rain or snow. Bradys physically going to be able to throw accurately in those conditions.

2) Getting an early lead for the Pats will be a matter of scoring TD's on the first couple of possessions, even if it means going for it on 4th down. Watch for the Pats to come out in 4 or 5 wide, spread the field and Brady to start 11-12 or 15-16 with 2 TD's or something close to those numbers. He's the best quarterback to ever play the game and the Jaguars will know that too after Saturday night.

3) Defensively the Pats will put at least 8 in the box and stop the run. Look for Rodney to be hanging out around the line of scrimmage with the linebackers early in this game. They are going to dare the jags to throw.

4) Containing Jones-Drew. Easier said than done. I think the Pats special teams are up to the task, they have always done very well against teams with a good returner. When he carries the ball they Pats know they have to gang tackle him. It's when he's catching it out of the backfield that he presents the most problems. The Pats have no linebacker that can run with him. Rodney's probably too slow also. If the Pats get the Jags in passing situations, you may see Merriweather or Gay covering him. On early downs, with the base defense in, you will see the linebackers looking to hit Drew as he goes out for his route. Smother him at the line of scrimmage before he can get into the open field and out run you.

5) There's nothing they can do about the size of the Jags WR's. But the WR's dont run great patterns and aren't the fastest group in the league. If the secondary just covers, they should be fine. The Jags were also near the top of the league in dropped passes this year.

6) Don't let Garrard run. In passing situations the Pats will control their pass rush, staying in their zones and not creating large lanes for Garrard to run through. Keeping him in the pocket and making him throw will be the plan.

7) We all know that if the game is tied halfway through the 4th quarter the Pats won't be the team to fold under the pressure. Does anyone know how Jacksonville will respond?

Patriots 42
Jaguars 24

The Bye Week is OVER, Bring on Jacksonville!

2008-01-09T12:44:00.000-05:00

The Patriots will host the Jacksonville Jaguars this Saturday in the AFC Divisional Round of the Playoffs. Finally! It was so hard to watch football all last weekend without a Patriots game, but it was great that they had the bye. I watched the Jaguars play the Steelers last week and I just couldn't help but be under whelmed. The Jags tried to give the game away. They had a big second half lead and through bad play calling and bad play the Jags allowed the Steelers back in the game. Which leads me to believe that if it's a remotely close game this weekend, the Pats will have a tremendous upper hand. The Pats know how to win ball games and the Jags are still trying to figure that out.

That being said, a lot of people are comparing this years Jaguars to the Patriots of 01-02. The easy comparison is that there are no superstars, no pro-bowlers, a tough defense and an offense that just manages the game. They are also similar in that they are so unimpressive when they win that you wonder if they should have won or how the heck they win games. You need to look no further than the Pittsburgh game to wonder how the Jags win. Garrard was only 9-21 for 140 with 1TD and 2 Int's. Jones Drew and Taylor COMBINED for 77 yds rushing. They're leading receiver had 2 catches for 39 yds. How the hell did they win. I watched the game and I can't tell you. Remember how eery team the Pats beat in 01-02 said the same thing? They had no idea how the Pats beat them and the better team didn't win that day. It's the same thing with the Jags. That's where the similarities end though. Don't tell me that Garrard is anything like Brady was/is. And don't tell me that Del Rio is in the same class as Belichick, Weis and Crennel were that season.

Here are the Jaguars regular season stats:

7th in total Offense
2nd in rushing
17th passing
6th in points scored

12th in total D
11th vs. the run
15th vs. the pass
10th in points allowed

Besides running the football, it doesn't appear that the Jaguars do anything well. But they also don't have a glaring weakness. So how do the Pats emerge victorious?

Seven Keys to a Patriots Victory:

1- The weather. If it's terrible weather and the Pats are physically unable to pass they could be in trouble. Matching their running game against the Jags running game is a formula for disaster. Fortunately, the forecast for Saturday night is partly cloudy and about 40 degrees at game time.

2- Get a Lead Early. The Jags have won 12 games so far this season. Only once did they win when trailing after one quarter. ONCE! Not only will the Jags lose confidence if the Pats take a lead, but it will also take the Jags out of their running game.

3- Stop the Jags' Running Game. If the Offense gets a lead early this will be taken care of. If not, the D will have to be stout on first and second down so the Jags will be in 3rd and 5, 6 or 7. Obvious passing situations bode well for the Pats. However, if the Jags are in 3rd and 2, 3rd and 3 all game, it will be a long night for the Pats. It also goes without saying that the D cannot allow a long run.

4- Contain MoJO. The Patriots must try to limit Maurice Jones-Drew. The guy does everything and he's VERY fast. Not only is he a great short yardage runner, he can break a run for a TD on any play. He's also their version of Faulk, with 40 catches for 10 yds a catch. The Pats can't cover him with a linebacker, he's too fast. They must also limit what he does in the return game. The return he had against Pittsburgh in the first quarter changed the entire game.

5- WR Size advantage. The Pats should be aware of the Jaguars trying to exploit the huge size difference between their WR's and the Pats CB's. Don't be surprised if the Jags start the game the way the Giants did, with a play action pass deep to a big WR on Hobbs. Most of their WR's are at least 6'4, Hobbs is 5'9 in his cleats. It has the potential to be a mismatch.

6- Don't let Garrard Run. The Pats have to be disciplined on their pass rush and not allow running lanes. He could keep some drives alive by running for 5 or 6 yds here or there on 3rd downs. Garrad's 4th and 2 run last week won the game. Don't think the Pats will be fooled by that play this week.

7- Patriot's Poise. No one has been better when the game is on the line over the last 5 seasons than the Patriots. Not only Tom Brady, but everyone. The coaches make the right moves, the players know when to get out of bounds and the D tends to come up with a play when they need it. They never panic. I know that cannot be said about Jacksonville.

A note about emotions here. When the Pats have been in tight games it was because they didn't bring the same emotion to the game that the opposition did. It must have been hard for them to be excited about playing on the road against a 4 win Baltimore team. For Baltimore, it was their super bowl and their emotion almost carried them to victory. But don't think for a minute that the Pats aren't going to be all fired up for this game. It's the playoffs, it's a home game, 16-0 is on the line and the Jag's are the experts sexy pick for the playoffs.

If that's not enough to motivate them, there's always the asterisk that appears next to the Pats 16-0 record on the Jaguars official web site. The asterisk that says the Patriots cheated.

I'll have more on Friday including my pick's for this weekend's games.

Giants Wrap Up, etc

2008-01-02T15:49:00.001-05:00

It is true in my humble opinion that the 16-0 record doesn't mean that much unless they go 19-0. As good as the regular season record was, would you be happy if they finished the year 16-1? The thing that bothers me most abut this years team is that they are the complete opposite of what previous versions were. The Pats superbowl runs in 2003 and 2004 were marked by a great defense and a ball control, run first offense that was built to win in Foxborough in January. Remember when they beat the Colts 17-3 in the playoffs? Do you think that will be the score in this years playoff rematch with Peyton? It'll be more like 38-35 and that's pretty scary. The other calling card of past teams is that they got better as the year went on, often playing their best football in December. It's very safe to say that the Pats played way better in September and October than they did in both November and December this season. I'm supposed to be recapping the Giants game, right?

The Giants game proved two things that we already knew. First, Tom Brady is the best Qb that ever lived. All night long he was under constant pressure, often getting hit right after he threw. Yet despite the barrage, he completed 32 of 42,(76%) for 356 yards and two touchdowns. In addition to the bomb that Moss dropped, Ben Watson had 2 drops, that would have put Brady well over 80% passing. The second thing the Giants game proved is that the Pats defense is an area of great concern heading into the playoffs. Part of the reason why the Pats D looks great statistically is that the offense is so good. When the O has taken a big lead, the D knows their going to see a lot of passing. The O also holds the ball forever and (when they do have to punt) usually leave the other team in bad field position. In the games that were close this year, the defense did come up big when they needed to. But don't you just wonder, if Eli can throw for 4 TD's, how many will Peyton throw for? Maybe it was playing down to the opponent, maybe it was hard to "get up" for all the games. Maybe it was how they were uncharacteristically run on all season. But the Defense hasn't given us reason to believe that they can win a playoff game if the game is put in their hands.

Other Giant's Game Notes:

- I already touched on the porous defense.
- Joshy actually did OK.
- Ben Watson can't catch and when he does, he's got to be the easiest TE in the NFL to tackle.
- Maroney is starting to look better.
- Brady is the best QB that ever lived.
- Faulk was BIG in that game, 8 catches for 64 yds.
- Welker quietly broke the Pats single season reception record (112 catches).
- What the hell happened to the Pats kick off coverage? It seemed like Eli started every drive on the 40!

2008 Patriots Opponents:

Home games
Bills
Broncos
Cardinals
Chiefs
Dolphins
Jets
Rams
Steelers

Road games
Bills
Chargers
Colts
Dolphins
49ers
Jets
Raiders
Seahawks

YUP, the Pats get to play on the west coast FOUR times.
YUP, the Pats get to play AT Indy - AGAIN

I was wrong, the Patriots will actually pick 7th in the NFL Draft..

TEST

2007-12-31T12:15:00.000-05:00

Hello Patriots Report readers! The Patriots have gone 16-0 with another nail-biter that came down to the last minute. I'm going to give in depth analysis of the game as usual on Wednesday. Since this is a slow day for me and I was playing legos with my kids, I decided to diagram out the key play of the game. The record breaking, lead-taking 65 yard TD, Brady's 50th of the year and Moss' 23rd. Yeah, you guessed it, with legos. I've labeled the title of this post TEST, and I may just decide to delete this post altogether depending on your feedback. If you guys can get past the legos and you like the feature, I'll try to do it more. SO LET ME KNOW!!!!

Giants Defense in BLUE

Pats Offense is WHITE

Key Players hi-lighted YELLOW

Down and distance chains ORANGE

The Giants Defense waits for the Pats to break the huddle.

Brady comes to the line and identifies the Giants Defense as a Nickel because they have 5 defensive backs.

The other clue that the Giants are playing Nickel is they only have 2 linebackers on the field.

You always see Brady point to one of the linebackers before he goes into his snap count. He is pointing out the "Mike" or middle linebacker because once the O line knows who the "Mike" is they can identify their blocking assignments. The "other" linebacker on this particular play blitzed and Faulk picked him up. (not pictured in this sequence)

The Patriots line up with 4 wide, with Faulk in the backfield to Brady's right.

Moss is the wide receiver split to the right.

Welker is in the "slot" to the right.

As both Brady and Moss referenced after the game, the play was designed for Moss to run a "go" route, drawing both the CB assigned to him and the safety up the field.....

...so Welker would be left in single coverage to run a 10 or 11 yd out, enough to get the first down.

The Giants were on to the play and the cornerback assigned to Moss was to fake that he was going to follow Moss deep, then jump the Welker route.

That left the Safety in single coverage against Moss.

When the ball was snapped you see the cornerback assigned to Moss start to run downfield with Moss.....

...which gives the appearance that Welker is indeed single covered and will have no problem picking up a first down. Moss and Brady both called this play a "Trap", where the defense baits Brady to throw to Welker, then jumps the route, trying for an interception.

Brady read the cornerback as he jumped the Welker route and then hit Moss for the touchdown as he easliy streaked by the Safety.

That's the really simple version of it.

I haven't gone back to review the film, so I'm not positive the Giants were in nickel nor that the Pats were in 4 wide. But I think you get the idea of how Moss got so wide open and how unbelievable Tom Brady is.

Let me know what you think of the breakdown. If you enjoy it, I'll try it again. If it's stupid looking, let me know that too!

(I'm trying to fix the spacing, it got all messed up somehow!)

Giants Game, Notes

2007-12-28T11:35:00.000-05:00

It is difficult to assume that both the Patriots and Giants will play their starters for the entire game Saturday night.

If I'm Giants coach Tom Coughlin, I sit my major players. The Giants are playing a wild card game at Tampa Bay next weekend regardless of what happens this week. With guys like Jacobs and Buress banged up and Shockey already lost for the season, I would rest them. Use this week as the bye week in preparation for the more important playoff game. Playing a QB like Manning without his weapons may only ruin his confidence going into the playoffs. However, Coughlin is making it appear as if he's going to play his starters and try to win.

If I'm Belichick, I play Brady and Co long enough to secure the 16-0 regardless of records. I don't doubt though, that Belichick would love to see Brady break Manning's TD record.

That being said, it might not be a bad idea to at least get Brady out of the game early. He's the one player the Pats cannot win without. The Giants just happen to lead the league in sacks with 52 and they possess the 8th best Defense against the pass. Getting Brady out of the game healthy is MORE important than going 16-0. Could you imagine if Brady wins the game, breaks the TD record and gets hurt in the 4th quarter? Two weeks to prepare Matt Cassell and the running game for a playoff game....yikes. Let's get Brady safely to the bench Bill!

I think Brady and the starters play through the 3rd quarter (unless they've got a huge halftime lead) and break the scoring record (4 points to break), the TD pass record (2 to break) and the TD catch record (2 to break). I don't think the Giants starters will play more than the 1st quarter if at all, but Coughlin can't come out and say that he's going to roll over and let the Pats win.

Patriots 42
Giants 10

Must-See TV

In an unprecidented move, the NFL agreed to simulcasts of this weeks Pats game. For those of us in the Pats local market without NFL network, we can see the game on WCVB channel 5. In addition, the NFL announced that the game will also be simulaneously broadcast on CBS and NBC. Why? Because the Patriots have been the biggest draw in all of television this season. The top 5 shows in 2007 according to Nielson ratings were Patriots, Patriots, Patriots, Patriots and CSI season premiere took the 5th spot. In addition, the Pats Ravens game on ESPN was the most watched cable show in the history of cable TV.

San Fran's Pick

It's pretty much a given that San Francisco and therefore the Patriots will have the 8th overall pick in the 2008 draft. SF has 5 wins and is playing a depserate Browns team fighting for its playoff life. The 3 teams with 4 losses are in the same boat: Oakland plays SD, Baltimore plays Pitt. Pitt and SD are vying for the 3rd seed in the playoffs. KC is playing at the Jets, with both teams having nothing to play for and Larry Johnson shut down for the year. It's safe to assume that we'll have the 8th pick.

Which brings us to James Laurinaitis, Inside Linebacker from Ohio State. NFL Draft Countdown has him slated to go to the Pats with the 8th overall pick. He's a smart player with great intangables. He's 6'3" 244lbs and runs a 4.6 in the 40. As a sophomore he won the Nagusrski award as the nations best defensive player. He's finishing his Junior year and it is assumed that he's turning pro. In 25 starts for OSU he's got 218 tackles, 17 tackles for a loss, 9 sacks and 7 Int's. For those of you that follow Pro Wrestling, his dad is Joe Laurinaitis, aka "the Animal" from the legion of doom. Personally, I like the OSU students that wear T-shirts that read, "I've got a case of Laurinaitis". If you're curious, you can watch OSU v LSU in the national championship game on Monday Jan 7th at 8pm. My two cents is that it just makes too much sense to bring him to New England, I'd love to see him here!

Parcells Follow Up

It looks like Sott Pioli may not be on the Tuna's radar for player personnel director or GM or whatever title you want to give him. Parcells will most likely go after Jeff Ireland of the Cowboys. Ireland's contract is up at the end of the season and he and Parcells worked side by side to build the current Cowboys roster. Now if we could only get him to hire Joshy....

Here's to 16-0 and a Great 2008 for all of us!

Miami Game; Top Ten

2007-12-26T12:09:00.001-05:00

I'd like to start by thanking Johnathon Birs of Capital City Financial for hosting me in his luxury box for the Miami game. Johnathon's generosity is second only to his skill in the Financial World.

What are we to make of our star quarterback being in love with his favorite receiver? We've gone over it before that Brady has become Moss happy and it's ugly when he forces the issue. I guess we can take some solace in the fact that, when the games have been close, Brady has played like Brady is supposed to. It is only when the outcome has been determined that Brady starts to force the issue. Still, this team preached 60 minutes of football all year and that shouldn't change just because they are nearing some records.

The Patriots put on a show in the first half on offense, defense and special teams. They were completely dominant. Brady was 14 0f 18 for 163 yds and 3 TD's. Maroney made the most of the 4 carries he got by turning in long runs of 51 and 59 yds and one TD. The Defense held Miami to only 103 yds to go along with 3 three and outs. So what the heck happened in the second half?

As for the offense in the second half it was the Brady Moss love fest. Brady was just 4 of 15 for 52 yds, got picked twice trying to force it to Moss and fumble once while waiting for Moss to clear a deep route. There were guys open on just about every force to Moss. The advantage of being at the game is you don't have to watch what the networks show you. I repeatedly watched Gaffney and Welker get open and to a lesser extent Stallworth. But the ball went to Moss. I think it's hard to get on the rest of the team for letting up a little against Miami. I mean, there was no way in the world Miami was going to put up 28 points in that game. The Pats new that too and they let up a little. The Defense gave up long drives, but as usual, for the most part didn't give up the score.

Game observations:

It seems like Gaffney has become Brady's go to guy on 3rd downs. He had three catches on 3rd down in the first half, all of which went for first downs.

It was nice to see the Pats making big hits, both in the secondary and on special teams.

I felt badly for Troy Brown when he muffed that punt. The place was electric when they introduced him pre game and he got a standing O every time he took the field. We were all hoping he'd get a TD catch to break the "most players on one team to score a TD in one season" record. The Pats have 21 players that have scored a TD.

Granted Miami stinks against the run but Maroney had 156 yds on 14 carries, 5 of which came with 3 minutes left in the game to kill the clock. Most importantly, Maroney found holes and ran hard.

Which gets me to Joshy. I had the whole luxury box screaming at him by the middle of the 3rd quarter. (Great fun for me!)
It started on the Pats second posession of the game. Incomplete pass, run Faulk around the right side for 7 yds then sprint to the line and run Faulk on the exact same play on 3rd and 3. The result was a loss of 2 and a punt. Good job Joshy. Then there was the 3rd quarter possession that started on their own 6 inch line. Joshy comes out with 5 wide empty backfield. Do you think Miami knew what the Pats were going to do? I'm happy with a pass from your own end zone, especially with Brady throwing it. But you've got to do it off play action. There HAS to be some THREAT of a run. Go 4 wide with one back, play action and throw or just throw, but at least there's a chance you MIGHT run if there's a RB in the backfield. Not Joshy. 5 wide incomplete, 5 wide incomplete and 5 wide incomplete - Punt. Maroney had 5 meaningful 2nd half carries with the Pats up by 28 points. Is it the passing game that needs work going into the playoffs or the running game? It's not like they weren't able to run the ball against Miami. It's not like they couldn't run it all the way down field and then throw it to Moss for his TD. Please Mr. Parcells, PLEASE hire Josh McDaniels and take him away from us!

TOP TEN

1 Pats

2 Colts

3 Cowboys

4 Chargers

5 Jaguars

6 Packers

7 Steelers

8 Seahawks

9 Titans

10 Browns

Miami: the Game and the new VP

2007-12-21T12:02:00.001-05:00

Let's drink the Belichick cool aid for a moment.

Don't let the spread fool you. Don't let Miami's record fool you either. Don't think Miami will be a tough opponent? A closer look at the last time these two teams played back in October might be a little eye opening. The Pats won 49-28 in good weather. Take away the two freak-like catches Moss made on the Brady long balls and the score is 35-28. Take away the Willie Andrews kick return TD and you've got a tie game. They gave up 28 points to the Dolphins, who lost Ronnie Brown to injury during the game. Despite the loss of Brown, Miami ran for 6 yds per carry including 10 yds per carry by backup Jesse Chatman while gaining 180 rushing yards. CLEO LEMON was 24 of 37 passing for 236 yds. That's a 65% completion percentage.

Now factor in the the Pats are a passing team that will be playing in high winds and possible rain on Sunday. Miami is the 4th BEST defense in the league against the pass. Miami is last against the run, but in the last game the Sammy Morris-less Pats ran for a grand total of 84 yds, 3.8 yds per carry. And that was playing with the lead the entire game.

The Reality

The reality is that the Pats are motivated as hell to go undefeated, especially against the Dolphins. The Dophins won their game last week and have nothing to play for at all this week except to avoid injury and get to the golf course. The Pats will win this one in the first quarter. The only question will be how long Belichick let's Brady and Moss play and how close they can come to the passing TD records.

Dolphin Friendly Tuna

Bill Parcells has officially joined the fins as the VP in charge of all football operations. That will have no effect on this game whatsoever. Miami probably won't be 'good' again next year either, more like 2009 or 2010. Parcells might become a factor vs the Pats when he starts hiring though. Think he doesn't know all about Dante Scarnechia or Pepper Johnson or (hopefully) Josh McDaniels? What about his son-in -law Scott Pioli? Parcells always goes with who he knows, so Dallas and the Pats should both be on Tuna alert. He'll be raiding coaching staffs and players alike.

The Pick

Patriots 35
Dolphins 0

Brady gets the record early in the 3rd Quarter then rides the bench the rest of the way. The 35 point total would also break the record of most points scored in a single season in NFL history.

The Jets Game, Notes, Top Ten

2007-12-19T15:37:00.001-05:00

JETS GAME

Well the Jets game was certainly ugly and not strictly because of the weather. I kept telling anyone that would listen to take the Jets and the points this week, I hope they listened. The worst thing that could happen to the Patriots happened when Seymour money knocked Clemens out of the game early in the first quarter. It seems that everyone knows Pennington is a better QB than Clemens except Mangina and jets fans. Pennington MUST be better than Clemens since he totally outplayed Brady on Sunday.

Let's hope Brady's performance was just an aberration. Given his track record, he'll be unbelievable this week against Miami. It's just discomforting to see him force the ball to Moss when he's got 2 or 3 guys open underneath. You know it's obvious when even the network picks up on it and shows replays of it. Brady was 14 -27 52%, for 140 yds, NO TD's and one interception. (Pennington finished 25-38 66% for 186.) Don't get me wrong, I'd never want Pennington over Brady, I'm merely illustrating my point that Brady is a much better QB when he's not forcing the issue. He threw to Moss on 13 of his 27 passes and only completed 5 (including that miraculous 46 yd catch late in the fourth) and one got picked off.
I'll just caution you to watch Brady this week. If he's still forcing it and continues to force it to Moss the Pats will be one and done in the playoffs. Good thing they have a running game.

Or do they? Maroney ran 26 times for 104yds against a Jets team ranked 30th against the run. In addition, the Jets were mostly playing Nickel and Dime defenses with only 2 or 3 D-Linemen. Still, Maroney only managed a long run of 11 yds. I'm very skeptical of this team being able to win at home in January.

NOTES

While were on the subject of the Pats running game, Mike Reiss of The Boston Globe posted some statistics on his Blog. As it turns out, my doubts about the Pats running game are unfounded. Here's how Reiss breaks it down, the Patriots are:

-averaging 4 yds per carry (they have only averaged 4 yds per carry once in the last 20 yrs-2004)

-gaining 4 yds or more on 47.5% of running plays, highest in the league this year.

-have had a 100 yds rusher 4 times this year (as opposed to only 3 last season)

Congratulations to the Pats 8 Pro Bowl Players:
Tom Brady, Dan Koppen, Matt Light, Logan Mankins,
Randy Moss, Asante Samuel, Mike Vrabel and Vince Wilfork.

I'm not sure I'd put Light on the list and I would have liked to have seen Welker and Warren go.

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS

1 - Patriots I would have put them 2nd, but the Colts nearly lost to Oakland.

2 - Colts Close to being overtaken by Jax, but they beat Jax twice.

3 - Jaguars - evidently they are the team no one wants to play in the postseason.

4 - Cowboys - Stumbling into the playoffs, GREAT!

5 - Packers - Another nice win this week, watch out for the Pack.

6 - Vikings - I had to put them above the 9-5 teams 'cuz they are a hot team right now.

7-10 Chargers, Browns, Buccaneers and Pittsburgh, all in a tie.
I can't make heads or tails of any of them.

Tell your friends you heard it here: JASON TAYLOR WILL BE A PATRIOT NEXT SEASON.

Jets Game

2007-12-14T14:55:00.001-05:00

All indications are that the Pats are going to win this one by a large margin. Many have given us previews that include the worst blowouts of all time in the NFL. All the experts expect the Pats to pile on this week as a result of Videogate. This will be Belichick's chance to put it back in the collective face of the Jets franchise.

On paper, it looks like the Pats should have an easy time this weekend. The Jets Defense is pathetic, 28th overall in the league. They are 30th against the run and 11th against the pass and have given up the 25th most points this season. Don't read too much into the jets 11th ranked pass defense. When teams get a lead they run the ball, you know the routine. The Jets Offense hasn't exactly thrived under Kellen Clemens. They are 26th in total offense, 19th running and 23rd passing and 24th in points scored. The experts will tell you that this will be a blowout.

I'm going to tell you that the Pats will win, but it won't be anywhere near historical in terms of margin of victory. First and foremost, the weather might throw a wrench into everything. It could be a 3-0 nothing game if the weather is bad enough. Weather aside, let's assume it's going to be 60 degrees and sunny with no wind. I still think the game will be closer than most anticipate.

It's not going to be 56-10, I know that much for sure and here's why. Pride. Let's imagine for one moment that you are a professional athelete. Take it one step further, that you play for the Jets. All week long and probably some of last week too, all you've heard is how the Pats are going to blow you out. Everyone's telling you that you can't compete against them, that you don't even belong on the field against them. The only debate is how badly that Pats are going to beat you. Are you going to roll over and play dead? Not show up? No, you're going to give all you've got, this is your PRIDE on the line. I sincerely believe that playing for your personal pride is a bigger motivation than getting revenge for your coach. That doesn't mean I think the Jets wil win, but they'll keep it pretty respectable.

Patriots 31
Jets 16

Tom's Top Ten Teams....and a bonus

2007-12-12T21:53:00.000-05:00

I didn't have a chance to research this for the earlier posting today.

1. Pats good to see them play like they're capable

2. Colts going to be scary in January

3. Cowboys destiny's team?

4. Packers Favre's got a serious running game

5. Steelers can't drop'em too far for losing to the Pats

6. Jaguars Good D and nobody better to put here

7. Chargers Aweful win at Tennessee

8. Bucs I told you so!

9. Seahawks Win streak vs very bad teams

10. Browns Go Romeo

Here is a Brady comercial I've never seen before and it's rather appropriate for this week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fY4UwcokerE&feature=related

(Don't forget to watch the Brady f-bomb video on the "related videos" menu. THe Belichick one's not so bad either!)

Steelers Game

2007-12-12T11:49:00.001-05:00

What a difference a half makes. The Pats looked shakey on Offense and beatable on Defense. In the first half it looked as though the Steelers would win this one. They had long scoring drives, held the Pats to 3 and outs and were even getting some breaks. How many times did you see Vrable come around the corner and almost get to Rothloesberger while being TACKLED by the O line? I saw one series of 5 in a row.

Take away the bomb to Moss and the Pats scored 7 first half points. Brady was pressured into hurried throws that became incompletions, they went 3 and out twice and failed to score when Pttsburgh muffed the punt. The Steelers had scoring drives of 59,77 and 36 yds in the first half. In the second half, Brady had time to throw and the Pats had scoring drives of 89,50 and 89 yds. All of those drives would have been TD's except that Moss dropped a Brady laser in the back of the end zone. (Brady later said that he was glad Moss dropped it, because he threw it as hard as he could and it was nice to know he's still got it.)

On Defense the half started with two punts. Then, as the Pats D usually does, it was bend but don't break. It was also very encouraging to see the Pats make some stops in the red zone, though they are still last in the league in red zone D, at least they're trending the right way. The Steelers drove for 56 and 57 yds twice, before being stopped on 4th down plays. It shows the difference in coaching. The Pats saw what blitzes Pittsburgh was using and adjusted the protection accordingly. Brady was hit only once and was not sacked. the Steelers, on the other hand, kept doing the same things on D and never adjusted. They could run the ball almost at will (see 32 rushes for 182 yds) yet at the goal line they call a shovel pass, a fade pass and a reverse to Ward. STUPID. JUST STUPID. Credit to Rodney for his text book coverage on the fade and then making the stop on Ward at the goal line, but those were just STUPID play calls. Maybe Joshy isn't the only incompetent offensive coordinator in the league.

So much for drafting McFadden with the first round pick. The Pats just don't need to run the ball. They called pass plays 37 straight times to take command of the game. The best example came on the drive that started at their own one yard line. They hit Welker 4 straight times to move into Steeler territory and there was no one getting anywhere near Brady.

Speaking of passing...has anyone seen Donte Stallworth? Looked to me like Gaffney was out there more than Stallworth in 3 wide receiver sets, not to mention Gaffney's production (7 catches 122 yds and a TD). Moss had 7 catches for 135 yds and 2 TDs, while Welker had 9 catches for 78 yds and a TD.

I think...

Stallworth is definitley OUT next season

Watson is the easiest tight end in the league to tackle

Rodney is back to the Rodney of old (HGH?)

Brady is the best QB to EVER play the game

The Pats will trade out of their high first round pick and draft a slew of Defensive players

Fans have no idea what they're doing when they vote for the Pro Bowl.
Eugene Wilson is 4th in votes at free safety
Bruschi is 1st in votes at ILB
Jarvis Green is 2nd in votes for DE
Chris Hansen is 1st in votes for Punters (he's the Patriot's punter by the way)

Moss has dropped way too many passes in the last 3 weeks (my unofficial count is 7)

The Pats won't beat the Jets by as much as people think. (see Nor'Easter)

Pittsburgh

2007-12-07T12:59:00.001-05:00

If the Pats are going to lose during the regular season, it's going to be this week. If/when they get by the Steelers they won't lose at home to the Jets or Dolphins nor at the Giants on Dec. 29th. The problem seems to be that things are stacked against them this week and they've got a good chance to lose, at least that's what 'people' say.

What exactly is 'stacked' against the Pats this week? Well, an ESPN article gives 33 reasons why the Pats will lose to the Steelers. 33. Peter King of SI picks the Steelers 27-20 and gives 5 reasons of his own. There is another article on SI explaining why the Steelers will win. This is the NFL and the Pats are certainly not going to make excuses. However, it is difficult for a team to play a tough Sunday nighter and win the following week. It is hard enough to play a tough Monday nighter and win the following week. How about a team (the Pats) that plays Sunday night, Sunday night and Monday night in a row? I don't think there are statistics for that, because I don't think that has ever happened before and it certainly doesn't help the Pats any. But you won't hear that from the Pats likeyou would if this was the Colts.

Fear not though, loyal Pats fans. This is the kind of game that the Pats have usually won under the Belichick Brady regime. The game where things were stacked against them and they hadn't been playing well and 'people' expected them to lose. In the second game of the 2003 season after losing the Lawyer Milloy game at Buffalo 31-0, going into defending NFC champ Philly and losing Rosie Colvin for the year on the second snap of the game. The result was a 31-10 Pats win. In the 9th game of 2004 after the loss at Pittsburgh that broke the 21 game win streak, playing at St Louis' greatest show on turf. The result was a Pats 40-22 win and a subsequent 6 game win streak. In the 10th game of 2005 after a Monday Night loss to Indy dropped the Pats to 4-4, playing at Miami (then 5-4 and pretty good). The result was a 23-16 Pats win, IN Miami.

So let Pittsburgh run it's collecive mouth all week. Let all the experts explain to you why the Pats are going to lose this week. And Let everyone tell you that Pittsburgh's D is #1 overall and #1 against the run and #1 against the Pass and #1 in points allowed.

I'll tell you that Pittsburgh's secondary is not as good as Philly's nor Baltimore's and that the Brady will eat them alive on Sunday. How about a reason why the Steelers D is over-rated at #1? They've played games against offenses ranked 24th, 28th, 29th, 31st and 32nd. I'll also tell you that Pittsburgh stinks on the road. They lost @ Arizona, @ the Jets @ a weak Denver team. Pittsburgh only beat Miami 3-0 last week, how good can they be? Experts will tell you that Pittsburgh beat Baltimore 38-7 and the Pats struggled against Baltimore. Pittsburgh was at home. Baltimore fumbled the ball 3 times leading to scoring drives of 20 yds and a TD, 36 yds and a TD, 44 yds and a TD. Pitt's longest scoring drive of the day was 50 yds. Boller also through an INT for a Pitt TD. Do you think the Pats would have scored 38 on Baltimore under those circumstances?

So that's it. I don't want to hear any more doubt from anyone about this week's game. The Patriots are going to win and they are going to win big. No mercy, just running up the score.

Patriots 41
Steelers 16

My Return

2007-12-05T15:55:00.001-05:00

Long time no post. I was out of the country last week for the Philly game, so I didn't get a good look at that one, but I did read up on it. Fortunately, (or unfortunately) I was back to witness the same thing this week against the lowly Ravens.

So what's up with this Pats team over the last two games anyway?

First, it's been a tough stretch since the bye week. A Sunday nighter in Buffalo, a physical battle against Philly again on Sunday night, then a Monday night war with Baltimore. Belichick admitted that his team is tired.

Second, two 'average at best' QB's played over their heads against the Pats.

Third, Two very physical teams with complicated blitz packages and very good secondary's gave their best games.

Fourth, my friend Joshy. In the last two games, the Pats have passed 92 times and run it only 30 times. Good balance Joshy. Worst of all, on most of those throws, there was never even the threat of a run (no RB or no play action). Haven't YOU been able to tell when they're going to run and when they're going to pass? Yet the Monday night guys are raving about how he's going to be a head coach someday because he's so good.

Fifth, poor play by the Pat's secondary. Bad angles on run plays, bad coverage, poor ball skills.

Ravens game

Were the Pats fortunate to escape with a win? Absolutely.
Were they given the game by the refs? Absolutely NOT.

So how can both the Pats AND the Ravens be upset about the officiating?
The simple fact is that the manhandling of the Pats by the Ravens was accomplished in part because the Ravens were breaking the rules. They were holding the Pats defenders and mugging Pat's receivers all game. That's why the Pats were so pissed off. The Ravens were steamed because the refs finally started throwing the flags. They had gotten away with it all game, why are they throwing flags at the end of the game?
It's the old adage that the refs can't call holding on EVERY play, so they let teams (in this case the Ravens) get away with it until the game is on the line. The shoe used to be on the other foot, remember the Pats manhandling Peyton's WR's in '03 and '04?

The Ravens game was the type of game we've grown accustomed to watching the Pats win. The fact of the matter is (AND YOU SHOULD APPRECIATE EVERY MINUTE THAT YOU WATCH HIM PLAY!) that Tom Brady is the best player in the history of football. Did he once show signs of panic or nervousness or confusion? No. He was poised, smart, and accurate no matter what was happening during the game. Kyle Boller threw a bad pick in the fourth, Brady drove the team for a win. Belichick made adjustments, Billick was busy blowing kisses to Rodney while his assistants were calling bad timeouts. It always adds up to a Pats win. As much as it looked like the Pats were going to lose from the very beginning of this game, you couldn't help but know that the Pats would find a way to win. It just that this time, it took a little luck too.

Colvin's Impact

Losing Colvin for the season is really going to hurt the Pats and it was painfully obvious on Monday. With Adalius outside replacing Colvin, Bruschi and Seau were the middle linebackers and that's where the Pats got gashed for huge yards. What's the difference? When a team runs the ball, the O lineman try to get to the linebackers by breaking through the D line. The D line, especially in the 3-4 and somewhat in the 4-3 are just supposed to get in the way of the Oline and let the LB's make the tackle. The LB's job is to take on that Olineman that breaks through and not let him break through, rather they must meet him at the line of scrimmage, thereby plugging the hole, giving the RB no place to run. Bruschi and Seau were unable to do that for most of Monday night's game. Instead the Raven's linemen were meeting them one to two yards deep, giving McGahee space to run through the hole and then make a cut behind the lineman's block of Seau or Bruschi. If you've got the game Tivo'd or DVR'd or taped, go back and watch Baltimore run, you'll see what I mean.

I don't know what the Pats are going to do to fix it. They tried the 4-3 early in the game and got torched by the run, then mixed the 3-4 in and still got torched. It wasn't until they called run blitzes with Rodney and or Sanders in th fourth quarter that they made stops and caused 3 and outs. The problem this week is that Rothlesberger and his WR's are too good to call run blitzes against. It will be interesting to see what the Pats do to fix their leaky D. Maybe the answer is to put Adalius back inside anyway, shifting either Brushi or Seau outside. Maybe the answer is in the 4-3, I don't know. Hopefully Belichick knows.

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS

1 Dallas
2 Indy
3 Pats
4 Pitt
5 GB
6 TB
7 SD
8 Jax
9 Seattle
10 Browns

You can't tell me the Pats would have beat Indy or Dallas last weekend. You can't tell me that the Pats would beat Indy or Dallas this weekend. I'm not even sure they're going to beat Pittsburgh. Are you?

San Fran's Pick

I'm not sure how the tie breaker's would work, but if the draft were this weekend, the Pats would be picking 3rd, 4th or 5th. With games against Minn, Cincy, TB and Cleveland, San Fran's probably not going to win again this season. More than' likely only Miami and or St Louis will be picking ahead of the Pats come April.

FIFTY SIX to TEN?!?!?!?!

2007-11-21T15:24:00.000-05:00

The Patriots beat the Bills 56 - 10 on Sunday night. The Bills, a team that was 5-4 and had won 4 straight games playing at home on national TV. The game was over at the end of the first quarter. The Pats could have scored 80. When it mattered the Pats had 7 drives that went as follows: 2 plays 13 yds TD, 6 plays 63 yds TD, 8 plays 72 yds TD, 10 plays 84 tyds TD, 12 plays 72 yds TD, 12 plays 73 yds TD, 10 plays 75 yds TD, 1 play 35 yds TD. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes I woudn't have believed it.

Not much to say about that one. Brady was awesome, Moss was unstoppable, the O-line was impenetrable, Adalius was dominating, Sanders had a great game at Safety. OK, Maroney's still dancing and got benched for it, but with the Offense scoring at will this team could win the superbowl with Kyle Eckel. The convincing margins they've posted in their wins have caused many to say that this might be the greatest football team EVER assembled.

Some of those calling the Pats the best ever include Madden, Banks, Felger, Collinsworth, King etc etc. Of course it goes without saying that the Pats have to win out and take the superbowl in February, but these guys don'y see anyone in the Pats way. Here's the numbers: The 85 bears are widely considered the best team in the modern football era. That year, going 15-1 they beat teams by an average of 16 points per game. The greatest show on turf, Superbowl champion 1999 Rams won by an average of 17.7 pts/game. So far this season the Pats have won by an average of 25.4 points per game. That's more than 26 teams in the league score per game! That's the largest avg margin of victory since the 1942 Bears wond by 34 points/game. Again I say, ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

The 5-5 Eagles are coming to town this Sunday. The Pats are favored by 23.5 points, the biggest regular season spread (not including expansion teams) since the early 70's. I say that spread is not enough. The Pats will tell you it's not enough.

Bob Kraft told Madden and Michaels that in order to clear their name of videogate, the Pats will have to win every game this season convincingly. Tom Brady told Dennis and Callaghan that they're not trying to beat teams 42-28, they're trying to kill teams, trying to blow them out. Don't think the Pats will "kill" the Eagles? One of Philly's WR's at the time of videogate was quoted as saying that maybe the NFL should give them superbowl rings since the Pats cheated to win. Enough said.

Have a great Tanksgiving!!!

Tell your family and friends you heard it here!!

The Buffalo Game

2007-11-16T10:38:00.001-05:00

The 5-4 Buffalo Bills will host the Pats this weekend in a game that NBC has picked for their prime time, 8pm game. What were they thinking? Many feel this will be a blowout and NBC won't do so well in the ratings. NBC is betting that the Pats pursuit of a perfect season will draw a large audience. It also doesn't hurt that the Bills have won 4 in a row and are two field goals from being 7-2, with the additonal wins coming against Denver and Dallas. Maybe NBC knows what they're doing afterall. Did you see the battle the Bills gave Dallas on a Monday night in Buffalo? It was a great game. I'm not buying any of it though, this should be a blow out. The Bills top threat on an anemic offense, Marshawn Lynch, is probably not going to play.

The only thing that could make this game interesting would be revenge. Losman will be back in as the starting QB. You'll recall Wilfork's hit in the first meeting that got him a fine and knocked Losman out of the game. Losman has downplayed the story all seek saying that Wilfork probably didn't mean to hurt him and football is football. But Losman doesn't play defense. As a Pats fan you just have to hope that no one takes out his revenge on Brady. That's pretty much the storyline for this game.

Statistically this game should be a blowout. Here are the numbers:

Bills Pats
Total Offense 31st 1st
Rushing O 17th 7th
Passing O 28th 2nd
Pts/game 27th (15.9) 1st (39.4)

Total Defense 28th 4th
Rushing D 20th 7th
Passing D 28th 2nd
Pts allowed/game 9th 5th

My take is an easy win. The Pats will come out and make a statement with a couple of TD's right off the bat. Hopefully the Pats can try to establish their running game and try to get Maroney on track. I'd like to see him get the ball 20-25 times.

Patriots 41
Bills 10

TOP TEN; Odds and Ends

2007-11-14T13:09:00.001-05:00

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS

1 Patriots
2 Steelers
3 Cowboys
4 Packers
5 Colts
6 Chargers
7 Jaguars
8 Giants
9 Lions
10 Titans

Yes, it's true. The Steelers are the #2 team and will probably be the #2 seed in the AFC. They are the toughest test remaining on the Pats schedule. Pittsburgh's Defense is #1 overall, #1 against the Pass, #1 against the Run, #1 in points allowed. The offense is #5 overall, #1 running and #5 in points scored. We all know that Defense and the ability to run the ball wins championships. Don't forget that Roethlesberger is having a career year. The rest of the way the Steelers opponents have a combined record of 24 wins and 39 losses. Take away the 9-0 Patriots and Pitts opponents the rest of the way are 15-39. I can see them finishing at 13-3.

The Colts on the other hand, are in survival mode. The loss of Freeney for possibly the entire season is a huge blow to this team. Injuries have decimated them, but that's their own fault. If you want to pay your 4 best players nearly half of your salary cap space and you want to have a small, quick defense then people are going to get hurt and you're not going to have the depth to win. Deal with it. What did the Pats have, something like 41 different starters when they won the superbowl in 2004? Did anyone notice Manning was trying too hard to win on Sunday night's loss. Last year was Manning's worst statistically, because he managed games, threw the ball away, made dump offs. Now he's playing like he has to win the game himself and he's forcing the ball where it shouldn't be thrown. That formula has never won for him and it's only going to get worse while his supporting cast is hurt. The remaining opponents have a record of 29-34. I can also see them losing at least one more game and finishing at BEST 13-3. The tie braker currently belongs to Pittsburgh, who has the better AFC record. That puts the Colts in the playoffs as a 3rd seed. A scenario of their playoffs goes something like this: host a physical Jacksonville team in the wild card game, travel to Pittsburgh who's just had a bye week playing in the cold on grass against another very physical team and the best defense and if they win that one come to New England. Doesn't look good for Manning and Co. does it?

PAT'S MOVES

Watch for Chad Jackson to start to get some playing time at WR. They have also activated Eddie Jackson, CB and special teams whiz. This will severely limit Kelley Washington's time. But why would they use 2 roster spots for Jackson ( a WR who can't play special teams and Jackson ( a CB who only plays special teams) when you've got Washington who does both? The asnwer is easy, the Pats need to determine how good Jackson might be next season so they can make up their minds on Donte Stallworth's mammoth contract.
The clock is also ticking on Troy Brown, who must be activated or placed on IR or released by Nov 21st.

SAN FRAN'S PICK:

If the draft were tomorrow, the Pats would hold SF's pick, the #4 overall pick in the draft. WOW. More than likely the Pats would trade out of that high spot for something lower and another first rounder next season, but let me run with this for a minute. Some available players include Glenn Dorsey of LSU - a next defensive line stud and future replacement for Seymour Money; Kenny Phillips of Miami - a playmaking hard hitting safety who has been compared to Ed Reed and Sean Taylor (drafting the Safety allows Merriweather to play corner when Samuel leaves next year); Darren McFadden from Arkansas - if you don't know who McFadden is I feel sorry for you, let's just say he's Adrian Peterson all over again.

Watch for Friday's preview of the Bills game. Until then here's a stat for you to boast about:
The Pats have scored 46 TD's this year.
The Bills have scored 14 TD's this year.
The Bills are second in the division in TD's.

KARMA aka HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!

2007-11-12T13:02:00.000-05:00

Boy I just LOVE it when Peyton Manning loses. Before I get into any of that though, you must read this ESPN page 2 article by Bill Simmons. He pretty much sums up the way most of Patriot Nation does after last week's win at the Colts.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/071109&sportCat=nfl

Now for the Karma. No, I did NOT get to watch the entire Chargers Colts game, but I saw enough. I was having a wonderful evening seeing a couple of the Manning intercepetions. It got better when the officials actually respotted a ball after a replay investigation of a favorable Colts spot. That made it 4th down. The Colts lined up to go for it and performed an illegal shift, false start with 3 guys moving at once. Then Mr. Clutch Vinatieri comes in and misses the game winner from only 29 yards. This is Karma heaven for a Pats fan! Two missed FG's for overpaid Adam on the night. The cherry on top came watching Manning throw his 6th interception to end the game. How wonderful!

It only got bad when ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth spent literally 20 minutes making excuses for the Colts. It was an emotional game against the Pats last week, injuries played a big role, the weather didn't help, the officiating was bad. BOO HOO. The fact of remains that the Colts would have more depth if they didn't pay top dollar for Manning Harrison Freeney Wayne, etc etc, etc.

Yup, I'm going to savor this one for quite a few days.

Fallout from Indy, Awards, Top Ten

2007-11-09T13:44:00.001-05:00

They can say whatever they want. People have known for years that dome teams mic up the crowd and play it back through the Public Address system. You know the Pats would do the same thing if they were playing in a pansy dome.

I for one am happy that Belichick had a cold handshake waiting for Dungy. Dungy only compared Belichick to Barry Bonds.

Now the media are giving the Colts a good chance to beat the Pats in the rematch because Indy ran the ball well and they had injuries. Ummm NO. The Pats didn't play that great and chose to play the pass instead of the run with 6 men in the box. Not to mention the penalties - again. Mike Perriera, the NFL head of officials said the pass interference on HObbs was a good call. Like I said, I'm not surprised. My friend Tom Curran at NBCSports.com laid out 10 plays he noticed the refs screw up in favor of the Colts.

MID SEASON PATRIOT AWARDS:

MVP - Tom Brady It all begins and ends with Brady

Offensive Player - Randy Moss

Best Overall Player - Wes Welker

Best Defender - Vrabel 47 tackles and 8.5 sacks

Biggest Disappointment - Loss of Sammy Morris to IR

Biggest Waste of Money - Seymour Money

Worst Offensive Coordinator in the History of Football - Joshy

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS:

1 - Patriots
2 - Colts
3 - Steelers
4 - Cowboys
5 - Packers
6 - Titans
7 - Giants
8 - Lions
9 - Browns
10- San Diego

9-0

2007-11-05T08:53:00.000-05:00

The game of the century lived up to the hype - for once. Who would have thought it? Certainly not I. I knew the Colts D was good, but I never imagined they were THAT good. After the game, most experts were crowning the Pats as superbowl champion, giving the Colts no chance to win in Foxborough in January. They are dead wrong. What wins games in January? Good defense and a good running game. It's pretty obvious that the Colts possess both and pretty obvious that the rematch not only will happen, but also that it will be another close game. As good as the Colts were running it and playing D, let's face it the Pats weren't on their game and were still able to pull it out against it all.

I already know what the league will do about rookie referree John Parry and his officiating crew. Nothing. The league needed this to be a close game. That's why the Pats got a franchise record 146 penalty yards to a mere 25 for the Colts. I'm not a math whiz, but that's about 121 free yards for the Colts. Add that to the 329 yds the Colts 'earned' and you get a total of 450 yds. Yet, somehow the Pats D was fantastic and quite simply they won this game by overcoming Manning and the officials and keeping the Pats in the game long enough for the offense to mount it's comeback.

How good was the Pats defense? Take away the bullshit pass interference calls and a flukey 73 dump off to Addai before the half and the Colts would have a total of 7 points. Yup, a 24-7 blowout of the mighty Colts AT Indy. Not only did they hang tough early, but they closed the game out in the fourth. When the Pats pulled within three, the D forced a punt. When the Pats went ahead leaving Manning 3+ minutes to score the winning TD, the D stepped it up and made Manning turn it over. Ballgame.

The difference Rodney Harrison makes can not be overlooked. He held Dallas Clark to 2 catches, picked off a pass and finished with 6 tackles.

Oh and don't forget that the Pats D had one other obsticle to overcome, perhaps the biggest of all. One Josh McDaniels. I've had no reason to get on Joshy yet this season, but that's just because the talent on O has been enough to win games so far. In a game where they needed some offensive strategy, the offense was feable for 51 minutes. That's a direct result of an inept offensive coordinator, my friend Joshy. Where do I begin? Moss catching balls inside of 5 yds while sending Stallworth deep for a jump ball. Not getting the ball to Welker until the fourth. If you want to or have to throw quick passes to the WR throw them to Stallworth and Welker, not Moss. How about Maroney running for nearly 5 yds/carry in the first half and then getting one touch in the second half - a 3rd and one that they refused to account for and block Bob Sanders. Good job Joshy. Did anybody know coming into this game that Dwight Freeney is a great pass rusher? Maybe we all should have told Joshy about Freeney. How many times was he in Brady's face, forcing an early throw or an incompletion or nailing Brady right after he threw it. Joshy, Matt Light needs help with Freeney before he kills Brady. Here's a suggestion for you. Line up Kyle Brady next to Light and let them beat down Freeney the entire first half. How about lining Rodney up in the slot and having him run down the line and smash Freeney a few times. Beat his ass into submission and THEN single him up with Light. A realistic way to slow the pass rush is to use the screen pass. Joshy used the screen pass once. ONCE! Take notice Joshy, I'm not letting you off the hook for the rest of the season.

The fact is, that this game was won in the offseason. When it came down to it Brady hit Moss, Moss Moss, Stallworth, Moss, Welker, Moss and Welker. How about the one handed grab that Moss made? I've never seen a catch that good. Moss had his second TD of the game taken away on another bullshit call, offensive pass interference on Moss who never even touched the defender. Moss was unstoppable, but it was Welker that made the difference in the game. His returns in the fourth set up the TD drives. And he made an incredibly smart play on his last catch. The Pats were facing 3rd and 7, if they didn't convert Manning was gettng the ball back. Welker runs a great route, makes the catch and then drops like he got shot before rinning out of bounds. If he runs out, the Pats need to make another first down. Instead, he flops, stays in bounds and the Pats take a knee the rest of the way. Genius.

In the postgame Manning said they need to get healthy. The fact is, in the fourth quarter with the game on the line and the Pats closing in, Manning had two chances to end the game. He choked. First posession 5 plays and a punt. Second posession 5 plays and a Manning 'fumble' into the hands of Colvin. Two drives that took a total of 4:50. Better get your team healthy Peyton. Good excuse but typical of Manning - blame everybody else.

But these Colts are very good and they'll be back, on January 21st as a matter of fact, in the AFC Championship game in Foxborough. Peyton's already got his excuse, it's gonna be cold.

And The Winner Is

2007-11-02T15:56:00.001-04:00

Just in case you haven't heard, seen or read enough about Sunday's clash of the undefeateds, (and you probably haven't or you wouldn't be reading this) I'll give you my take. As I touched on in my last post, things seem to have inverted themselves in this rivalry. This week it will be Indy trying to have long drives to keep the Pats off the field. Does it feel weird to read that, because it was weird to type it. The thing that makes gives me doubts about this game is that, for once, Indy has a good defense.

Indy's D is 4th in total yards and 1st against the pass. That's not a type-o. The Colts have given up the fewest yds per game in the air than any team in the NFL. I know, the Titans, Jags, and Panthers don't exactly qualify as teams with legit passing games, but the Saints (8th) Texanas (4th) and Denver (13th) certainly do. Here's what Indy did to them. Brees had 192 yds and 2 INTs, Schaub had 236 yds and 2 INTs and Cutler had 131 yds and an INT. Don't forget that I've already called Bob Sanders the best defensive player in football. The Indy D may be susceptible to the run, however. They're 13th in the league, giving up 107 yds/game. And you've got to figure the Colts have been ahead in most games so teams would be passing more than running.

Nothing has to be said about the Patriots offense that will face this Indy D. The fact remains that this is one of the all time great ofenses and Indy's D has never seen the likes of an O this good.

As far as Indy's Offense goes, they could be in match-up hell. Rookie left tackle Tony Ugoh is banged up and gets to face a healthy Seymour money. (Big C 93 had better dominate this week.) Marvin Harrison probably won't play and if he does he'll be a fracton of himself and easily covered by Hobbs. Dallas Clark won't have Eric Alexander to pick on. Instead he gets a guy in Adalius Thomas that's bigger, faster and smarter than he is. Reggie Wayne will get Asante Samuel with safety help from Sanders and or Harrison and co. Wayne is good, but not if he's the only weapon.

Three keys to the game

First, the aforementioned matchup between Clark and Thomas. If Thomas slows Clark to 4-5 catches and no TD's the Pats are in good shape.

Second, can the Pats front 7 contain Joseph Addai. The Colts have had a lot of success running the ball this year and have run nearly 50% of the time, a feat rarely accomplished in the Manning era.

Third, special teams for field position. The Pats are 3rd in the NFL in kick returns while the Colts kick off team is 21st and has given up 5 TD's on kick returns since the start of last season. Here's why field position is important. So far this season, the Patriots have scored a TD 79% of the time when they've had to go 80 or more yards. The Colts have scored a TD only 12% of the time when having to go 80 or more yards.

Here's what I see

I see videogate, three losses in a row to the Colts, a loss in the AFC cahmpionship game, Tony Dungy comparing Belichick to Barry Bonds, "tarnished" superbowls, and an off season spent collecting talent to match up against the Colts. The Pats are on a mission not only to send a message to the league, but also to remind the Colts who the best team of the decade is. The Pats are going to come out firing on all cylinders for four quarters like we've never seen them before. All you're going to be able to say at the end of this one is "Wow."

Patriots 48
Colts 27

A Complete Reversal

2007-11-01T16:45:00.000-04:00

We've all watched the epic battles before, nine of them to be exact. Tom Brady vs. Peyton Manning. The Pats always had their way with the Colts and it seems like that's not the only thing that's changed over the years.

The Pats always USED to beat the Colts.
The Colts have won the last three meetings.

The Colts USED to get all the attention for setting records and possibly going undefeated (remember 13-0?) while the Pats flew under the radar.
The Pats are shattering records and all anyone's talking about is them going undefeated, while the Colts have quietly gone about their business - undefeated.

USED to be that only Tom Brady wins big games.
Manning won his superbowl.

Tom Brady never USED to have the weapons to match Manning's.
Moss, Stallworth, Welker, Watson, Maroney, Faulk, Morris, Gaffney.

Manning never USED to have a good defense.
Indy's 4th ranked D is giving up the fewest yds/game through the air and Bob Sanders is the best defensive player in the NFL (in my opinion).

Perception USED to be the Pats did things the right way with good guys.
Sunday's game has been billed as good vs. evil and the Pats aren't the ones with halo's painted over their heads.

Used to be only the Colts had all big money players.
Brady, Seymour, Thomas, Colvin, Stallworth, Samuel.

I used to hate Peyton Manning, Bill Polian and the whiney Colts.
I still do. SOME things will never change.

Running it up. Top Ten

2007-11-01T08:40:00.000-04:00

The Patriots have scored 48, 49 and 52 points in their last three games for a point total that hasn't been achieved in the NFL since the early 1960's. Clearly they are running it up. Clearly they are sending a message to the league. Clearly Belichick's players are just fine with his ruthless demand to go out and keep scoring. They were humiliated by videogate and their superbowls have been questioned. Now they are out to humiliate the rest of the league where it counts the most, on the field. Last week's version of a Patriots bludgeoning was on the Washington Redskins.

There is no doubt that Brady was left in too long. No doubt that Belichick was pissed off when Washington scored a meaningless touchdown. The evidence that the players are all for the blowout? Just watch how mad Brady got at his O-Line when they jumped off-side in the red zone, in the fourth quarter, up by a score of 38-0.

I think the amazing thing about this team is that the two players that effected the outcome most barely showed up on the stat sheet. First, Adalius Thomas. His acquisition has allowed Vrabel to move back outside. Vrabel might be the best Outside linebacker in the league. He dominated on Sunday, recording 3 sacks, 3 forced fumbles and 11 solo tackles. There is no way he does all that without Thomas in the middle.

Second, Randy Moss, who only showed up on the stat sheet with 3 catches for 47 yards and one TD. His presence on the field and the constant double and sometimes triple teams led to Welker's 9 cathces for 89 yds and a TD and Faulk's 7 catches for 57 yds, not to mention the space for Brady to run for his two TD's.

Overall it was a difficult game for me to watch. I mean, is Washington that bad or are the Pats that good? At one point int he fourth quarter I felt bad for Robert Kraft. The FOX broadcast was happy to show an uncomfortable Kraft when the Pats scored their 45th point and again when they put the 52 on the board. Yeah, it was nice to see the Pats score at will, but it did get a little uncomfortable for me when it became obvious that the Pats weren't going to stop scoring. Don't get me wrong, I'm in line with those that have said it's the other teams job to stop the Pats if they don't like the score. It's just that, I think 38 or 41 points would have been enough for me.

So now it's on to the team we'd all love to see the Patriots humiliate, the Colts. The problem is, we're not really sure if the Pats can even beat the Colts, nevermind doing so by a wide margin.

I'll have plenty more to post on this game later in the day today, (Thursday) and another post with my prediction on Friday.

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS:

1- Pats
2- Colts
3- Packers
4- Chargers
5- Cowboys
6- Steelers
7- Titans
8- Jaguars
9- Giants
10- Detroit

The Redskins are Coming

2007-10-26T15:10:00.001-04:00

One of my two sleeper picks at the beginning of the season, the Washington Redskins, visit the Patriots this weekend. True to form, the Skins are 4-2 and are playing solid defense and "don't lose the game" offense. The Skins are the only team Tom Brady has not beaten, he's 0-1 against them. It'll be interesting to see if the little war of words between Gibbs and Brady has any effect on the game.

I believe this defense is the best one the Pats have faced thusfar this season and they'll be good preperation for next week's Indy game. They've got a very good linebacking corps and a pair of hard hitting, ball hawking safeties, not to mention 2 veteran cover corners. Rookie LaRon Landry is third on the team in tackles and his partner at safety, Shawn Taylor leads the league with 5 picks.

On Offense you'll see the skins play conservative, running to set up the pass with an occassional reverse to leading receiver Antoine Randle El. Jason Campbell, the starting QB, is in his first year as a starter out of Auburn and he's the son of a high school football coach. He knows the game, but he's not going to win games for this team. He's a "don't cost us the game" QB with 5TD's and 5 Int's. The Skins coaches have only allowed him to pass 168 times this season. To contrast that, Brady has COMPLETED 169 passes.

Here's how it breaks down:

The Pats are the #1 offense, 7th in rushing and 1st in passing.
The Skins are #25 on offense*, 16th in rushing and 25th in passing.

The Pats D is #4 overall, 9th in rushing and 4th in passing.
The Skins D is #5 overall, 5th in rushing and 8th in passing.

The biggest battle, however, should occur on third down.
Washingtons D #2 on third down, allowing opponents to convert only 32% of the time.
Conversely, the Pats O is 4th at converting on third down, at a rate of 48% .

Also, pay close attention to the special teams in this game. If Washington is going to hang around it's going to take a special teams score or two. Rock Cartwright is one of the leading kickoff returners in the game, averaging 30 yards per return and has returned one for a TD. Also th kicker, Suisham, is a perfect 13-13 FGs.

Here's how I see it:

The Pats will score on their opening drive like they always do. Washington's going to answer with a field goal. The Pats will have a couple of drives in a row stall, a result of a combination of good defense and the Pats looking ahead to Indy. Sometime in the second quarter the Pats score a couple of TDs and the Skins get one too. Watch for the Pats to lull everyone to sleep in the second half as they steadily pull away.

Patriots 31
Redskins 13

*NOTE If the Pats D gives up more than 13 or 14 points to THIS offense, they're going to get killed by Indy next week.

Catching Up, TOP TEN

2007-10-24T10:16:00.001-04:00

Thanks for waiting patiently for me to return from my business trip to Chicago, the reason why I was unable to post last week. Looks like there wasn't much I could have said leading into the Dolphins game anyway, right?

There still isn't much to say about the Miami game. Miami is terrible. The Pats looked like they were playing against a high school team. After showing off receivers Stallworth and Welker for TD's, the Pats reminded the league not to forget about Randy Moss. His two TD catches were just unbelievable, especially the second one which he caught with the inside of his elbow because the defender grabbed his hands. Did you see the one he caught out of bounds on the fake spike play before the half? OMFG! (Can I say that in a blog?) The guys hands are like superglue.

The defense on the other hand, looks like crap. The Dolphins happless, Cleo Lemon led offense put up 21 points and averaged 6 yds per carry without Ronnie Brown for the majority of the game. Maybe it's too easy to let up when your offense is so dominanat. For me, it's two weeks in a row that the defense has been bad. If Cleo Lemon can put up three TD's, Manning & Co might put up six. But let's not get ahead of ourselves.

Tom Curran pointed out that, when Manning set the TD record in 2004, he threw 49 TD's and only 10 picks. Brady is on pace for 64 TD's and 5 picks. Frightening.

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS:

1 Patriots They may have the best offense ever.

2 Colts Winning with Defense (sound familiar?)

3 Cowboys I was very impressed with them against the Pats

4 Giants Purveyors of a 5 game winning streak with a great D.

5 Redskins That's right, the #5 team in the league will be a great test this Sunday.

6 Steelers Looked utterly average against Denver

7 Titans Winning with Kerry Collins says something about this team

8 Packers Need to find a running game. Gado is available....

9 Jaguars Too bad they lost Garrard against the Colts

10 San Diego I suspect they'll be climbing this list quickly.

Two divisions have 3 teams in the top ten. Obviously the best divisions in football are the NFC East (whom the pats play this season) and the AFC South.

The Cowboys Game

2007-10-12T14:24:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure I can remember a more overhyped regular season game than the one between the Patriots and Cowboys this Sunday. It's been labeled a superbowl preview, TO vs Moss, Brady vs Romo, etc, etc. If it's going to be such a great game, why have ALL the experts picked the Pats to win? A better game might actually be the Redskins at Green Bay. At least the experts are about 50/50 on that one.

On paper the Pats and Cowboys look almost the same. The #1 and #2 offenses, the #2 and #8 defenses, great QB play, a dominating receiver, both undefeated and both have yet to play anyone. The Dallas opponenets have a combined record of 6-19 and have been outscored by 213 points. The Pats opponents are 7-17 and have been outscored by a total of 152 points. Two teams that look pretty similar on paper that are being hyped to death, yet no one's picking Dallas to win (except for "analysts" Emmit Smith and Michael Irvin). What gives?

This is what gives. Tom Brady is superperb and is very careful with the ball. Tony Romo slings it all over the place, see the Bills game. Randy Moss is a lot better than TO. Belichick is a better coach than Wade Phillips. That's what the 'experts' see. Here's the way I see it:

Yes, the Cowboys will put up some points, maybe 24 to 30 points. The fact is that the Cowboys defense, most notably the secondary just doesn't match up to the talent level on the Patriots offense. In addition, Cowboys starting cornerback Anthony Henry and his 4 interceptions is probably not playing this week. His replacement is Jacques Reeves. Statistically he's the most picked on corner in the league right now. He's been thrown at 57 times for 34 catches, 4 TD's and has no interceptions. Mr. Reeves, this is Mr Moss and Mr Stallworth and Mr Welker. Have fun. The Pats should also have a notable edge in field position as the Cowboys are near the bottom of the league in kick returns while the Pats are near the top.

Watch for the Pats to start the game in a spread formation, forcing Dallas to play nickel and dime with 3rd and 4th stringers then exploiting the D with a balance of passes and runs from the spread formation. This is the kind of game they've been saving Maroney for.

Watch for Dallas to try to turn this into a shootout. The Pats will get ahead early and the Cowboys will abandon the run with Romo slinging it wildly. No one has scored more second half points than the Cowyboys so don't count them out (but the Pats are #2 in second half scoring). Dallas knows it can't cover the Pats receivers, so they will probably blitz early and often with the hope that they'll force some turnovers.

The Cowboys score one late to make it close, but the score won't be indicative of the Pats dominance.

Patriots 37
Cowboys 29

Cleveland Game, Top Ten

2007-10-10T14:41:00.001-04:00

It's hard to decide if the Patriots performance on Sunday was good or bad. Was it good because they didn't play very well and were stil able to win by 17? (Take away the turnovers and the Browns would have been very close.) Was it bad because Cleveland is not a good team and the Pats got away with one. I'll give the Browns credit for coming in and playing with heart and also for having a good gameplan. It was tough watching Brady struggle just because Moss was double teamed on literally every play. You'd have to assume that's what teams will do, double Moss until Brady shows he's comfortable beating them with other receivers.

Obviously Brady did enough to win even if it was ugly. Morris was very good running the ball and Watson and Stallworth showed that they can win ball games despite Moss' production or lack thereof. Is it too early bring in a new punter?

On cleveland's side, I'd have to say I like Anderson's moxie Joe Thomas is a stud and Bralon Edwards is a star waiting to happen. However, I was thoroughly unimpressed by Winslow.

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS

1. Patriots
They'll have a chance to prove themselves at Dallas next week.

2. Colts
They could play me at RB and still win, their O-Line is that good.

3. Steelers
Total domination of one of the better NFC teams.

4. Cowboys
I've been trying to tell you that Romo's not as good as the hype. He
is good though.

5. Packers
Winning and LOSING on the arm of Favre.

6. Jaguars
A dominating D and a ball control O. Garrard has thrown ZERO int's.

7. Titans
A dominating D and a winner at QB.

8. Redskins
Have you heard this before? Dominating D, ball control O.

9. Seahawks
Will the real Seahawks please stand?

10. Bucaneers
I can't kick them out of the top 10 for losing at Indy.

San Fran's pick watch:
If the season ended today, the 49ers first round pick would be as high as #10. The Pats might be able to draft a replacement for Asante with a pick that high. Might.

Browns Game, Notes

2007-10-05T13:38:00.001-04:00

What a great week it's been. The weather's great, the Pats are undefeated, the SOX are up in the Divisional Series and the Yankees are down. Who could ask for anything more? How about some Patriots notes....

Tom Brady has won the AFC player of the month for September.

Rodney is back and should be in the lineup come Sunday.

David Thomas was placed on IR for the second straight season.
In his place they signed Marcellus Rivers to a two year deal.

I haven't even noticed that Seymour Money isn't playing. It doesn't appear that there is much of a difference between he and Jarvis Green. Green has been doing a great job filling in, he is 7th on the team in tackles with 14 and second in sacks with 3.

The Pats are scoring an avg. of 37 points a game while giving up only 12.

The Pats are also #1 in the league on 3rd down conversions - offesively AND defensively.
The O is converting 51% of 3rd downs.
The D is holding opponents to only 30% conversions on 3rd down.

Adalius Thomas is serving "Humble Pie" to his teammates to remind them not to get too big headed. T-shirts were printed that say "I eat" on the front and "Humble Pie" on the back. Players have been wearing them in practice. Word is that a special hoodie was also printed for Belichick that says "Humble Pie" on the back, while the front reads "I serve".

Keep yourself glued to the tube this week if you're a football fan. There are a TON of great games
starting with the college games on Saturday.

Oklahoma v. Texas
Georgia v. Tennessee
Virginia Tech v. Clemson
Ohio State v. Purdue
AND THE BEST OF ALL #9 FLorida at #1 LSU - DON'T MISS IT!!!!

On Sunday the good match ups include:

Chicago v. GB
TB v. Indy
Seattle v. Pitt
Detroit v. Wash
Ny v. NY
Jags v. KC
Balt v. SF

Here's what you need to know for The Patriots hosting The Browns on Sunday:

The Browns have a pretty good offense, ranked 11th in the NFL, but the D is pretty poor, at 31st overall.

On Offense you'll see an average QB in Derek Anderson. He's completing 52% of his passes for 9TD's but has thrown 5 interceptions. Kellen Winslow is the main target at TE He's got 20 catches and a TD but a whopping average of 19 yards per catch. Then there's Braylon Edwards. He's got 18 catches and 4 TDs and another big average of 21 yards per catch. The featured back is 'chip on his shoulder' Jamal Lewis who's rushing for nearly 5 yds per carry.

The X factor in this game is special teams. The Pats will have to bring it on Sunday. Brown's returner Josh Cribbs has already brought one to the house and is averaging 34 yds per return. If he scores on Sunday it could give the Browns some momentum and some much needed points. (see the 17 point spread)

I expect to see a Patriots gameplan similar to last week. Soft zones on defense to prevent the big play. It's the same old frustrating bend but don't break defense. It worked tremendously against Cincy last week and we should see the same thing this week. On offense, the Pats will run and then run and then run some more. The Browns give up an average of 160yds rushing a game. Ball control, long drives leading to scores - all day. Hopefully Maroney will be healthy and will be able to contribute to the running attack, but either way the Pats have enough runners to gash the Browns.

I think that Belichick won't try to run it up too much on old friend Romeo,
but I don't see the Browns getting in the end zone.

Pats 31
Browns 6

Cincy ReCap, Notes, Top Ten

2007-10-03T12:16:00.001-04:00

I don't know what other superlatives I can bestow on the Patriots. They are simply awesome. They are superior. They are smarter, more disciplined, more talented, better coached. They are head and shoulders above anyone else in the NFL. Not that Cincy was a good team, but the Pats just cruised to victory. Once again, it didn't feel like the Pats were playing that great, but there was just a sense that the game was never in doubt. And in the end the result was the same, a Pats blow out. Great performances by Brady, Moss, Morris, the O line and the entire defense. The D held Cincy's high octane offense to an unheard of 0 for 7 on 3rd down conversions. Wow. It was also nice to see Stallworth get some production. I don't think any more can be said.

Brady is on pace for 4,472 yds, 52 TD's and 8 int's.
Moss is on pace for 2,020 yds, 28 TD's

The Pats have the league's #1 Defense.
The Pats have the leagues #2 Offense.

Can you call it Karma?
The NFL has punished the Pats by taking away their first round pick in next years draft, a pick that will probably the last pick in the round anyway. The Patriots still have possession of San Francisco's first round pick. A pick that may have just become a top ten pick with the injury to starting QB Alex Smith. Reports out of SF are saying that MRI results on Smith's shoulder are worst than expected. Smith is seeking a second opinion. As it stands this moment, Smith is expected to miss at least the next 2 games and depending on the second opinion, maybe the entire season. While we don't wish any harm to Alex Smith, it would be pretty exciting to have a high first rounder.

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS

1 - Pats
Great D, Great O, solid special teams, superior coaching and superior talent.

2 - Colts
Watch for a Colts loss in the next 2 weeks, they are really banged up right now.

3 - Packers
Still doing it with D, but maybe they are relying too much on the Passing game.

4 - Cowboys
Beaten 4 teams with a combined 3 wins. Trap game this week for them in Buffalo.

5 - Steelers
I told you they'd lose when they played a team that can stop the run.

6 - Seattle
Looking strong on O, but even better on D.

7 - Tampa Bay
Another win, another great performance by the D. Too bad they lost Cadillac.

8 - Tennessee
Tenneseean is Tennebelieving. Watch Vince Young if you get the chance.

9 - Detroit
I don't know if I ever remember Detroit being 3-1.

10 - Carolina
Because I had to put someone 10th.

I'll be back again on Friday with your preview of Sunday's game against the surprising Browns. Until then, tell your friends you read it here!

Notes, The Bengals game

2007-09-28T11:47:00.001-04:00

Let me start by finishing something here. With the videogate thing now behind us, I found a terrific article written about Belichick by Greg Garber, who covered him for years. It has great insight and brings up some terrific points:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=garber_greg&id=3034890

Looks like the league felt like there was some intent to Wilfork's hit to Losman. Small fine, $12,500 and no suspension. That essentially slaps him on the wrist and tells him not to do it again. To Wilfork's credit, he not only apologized on the field, but also personally called the Bills this week to check on Losman. Wilfork's a class act, and hopefully he won't get labelled as a dirty player.

Stallworth addressed the media this week to assure them he's happy. I was curious about him as it was and now I have my doubts that he really is happy. Let's face it, his contract is cut-able after this season and he's got a total of 4 catches. If he doesn't start being more productive, there is no way the Pats keep him on the payroll for next year. According to Miguel's unofficial Pats Salary page, "For the Patriots to retain Stallworth for the 2008 season, they must pay him an option bonus of $6 million by Feb. 25, 2008. There is a subsequent roster bonus of $2 million due on March 1, a second roster bonus of $1.6 million based on playing time, a base salary of $1 million and a $400,000 workout bonus. That totals an exorbitant $11 million for 2008." I think maybe we shouldn't get used to seeing him around unless he wants to renegotiate to stay here.

Monday Night Football.

This one has been billed Moss vs. Johnson. WHY?

Anyway, the Pats will be at Cincy on Monday night. The Bengals should be a dangerous team because they are really up against it. At 1-2, they are in danger of falling a full three games behind Pittsburgh in their division this week. It's almost a must win for Cincy and a team with it's back up against the wall is a dangerous team.

That being said, Cincy also has some injuries to deal with. Their best O lineman, LT Willie Anderson has not practiced this week and neither has TJ Who'syourmamma. In addition, starting RB Rudy Johnson is OUT.

What I see is a weak Cincinnati offensive line that will be dominated by the Pats front 7. Cincy will have no threat of a run game so the Pats will/should be able to generate a steady pass rush without sending too many guys. In the secondary expect soft, deep zones with the intention of making Palmer be patient and throw underneath for 5, 8, 12 yards at a time. The key will be just that, don't give up the big play.

On offense, I think the Pats should be able to do whatever they want. Cincy is 27th against the run (176 ypg) and 27th against the pass (258 ypg). It's just a matter of how the Pats want to score this week. I would expect the Pats to stay balanced, 50% run, 50% pass until they get the big lead then you'll see them run the ball to burn the clock.

It's hard not to pick the Pats for 38 points, so:

Pats 38
Bengals 16.

Bills re-cap, Observations, Stats, Top Ten

2007-09-26T13:04:00.001-04:00

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?

As If You Didn't Know

2007-09-21T13:06:00.001-04:00

This week will be one of the easiest weeks all year to pick the Patriots. As if you didn't know, I'm going with the Pats this week. But at least let me throw some reasons out there for you.

First, Offense.
Second, Defense.

The Bills Offense is 32nd in passing, 17th in rushing and 31st overall.
The Pats Offense is 4th in passing, 8th in rushing and 2nd overall.

The Bills Defense against the pass is 27th, the run 30th and 31st overall.
The Pats Defense against the pass is 5th, the run 1st and 1st overall.

Game over.

The Patriots Keys to Victory:

1- avoid a let down
2- block Schobel, he's the only playmaker on Buffalo's D.
3- don't let Buffalo hang around, they'll gain confidence as the game goes on if they're hanging around in the second half.

A victory on Sunday will give the Pats a near insurmountable lead of 3 games over the Bills and either the Jets or Dolphins who play each other this week. Three weeks in, 2 divisional opponents will be virtually illiminated from contention.

The easy pick here is:
Pats 41
Bills 7

JP Losman throws a bomb to Roscoe Parrish who beats Asante for the lone Bills TD and Matt Cassell (I hope) plays the entire 4th quarter.

Videogate:
It appears that videogate is finally over. The Pats gave the league it's cheating materials and the league burned them. Hopefully I won't have to write about it anymore. I did find a great article by SI's Peter King regarding videogate.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/peter_king/09/19/mob.mentality0924/index.html
Although my respect for King has diminished since I found out some "stuff" about him and the Colts, this is a good article with good sources.

Tell your friends you heard it here!

A New Segment

2007-09-19T23:26:00.000-04:00

I usually have a problem with the various rankings of NFL teams whether it be from ESPN, SI, Yahoo or USA Today. So I have decided to start doing my own top ten rankings once a week. If I had to come up with all 32 teams it would probably come out something like this:
1a Pats
1b Colts
32 the rest in a tie.

Let's face it, at this point in the season there are only two true contenders, but I said I'd do a top ten so here goes.

TOM'S TOP TEN TEAMS

1 - Patriots Looking like world champs, but I won't go so far as to say that they'll go undefeated

2 - Colts They'll stay here for as long as that young defense holds up

3 - Steelers Their opponents were not impressive, but they are a complete team that can win with O and with D.

4 - Chargers They are just aweful right now, but I wouldn't want to play them come January when they've adjusted to the new coaches.

5 - Texans I like their point differential better than the other undefeated teams in the league

6 - Broncos Bad wins against bad teams, but wins are wins.

7 - Packers For now Favre looks young. They are playing good Defense, giving up only 26 points this season, 2 fewer than the Pats.

8 - Cowboys Bad wins against bad teams but have given up 55 points

9 - Lions This might be the last week on the list for the Lions. Wins against Oakland shouldn't count.

10 - 49ers I would have put the Cardinals here because I think the Cards are better, but how can I when SF just beat them?

One quick note here. Don't get suckered into taking Green Bay this week. The Pack are at home getting 7 points from San Diego. Take the Chargers, the AFC is that much better than the NFC.

Dominating the Chargers.

2007-09-19T13:29:00.001-04:00

The Patriots showed the world the caliber of team they are on Sunday night when they dismantled the San Diego Chargers. Where do you begin with the suprelatives? The O-line was fantastic, Brady was very good (he's competing a whopping 80% of his passes), the running game was very good, the receivers were awesome. The D-line was dominating, the linebackers won the game, and the secondary was good especially in run support. The Pats coaches were playing chess and San Diego's coaches were playing checkers. That was the bigest mismatch of the night. The first drive of the game the Pats were in 4 and 5 WR sets. The Bolts stayed in a base 3-4 defense and never substituted extra DB's. HELLO? Even I know it's a mismatch to cover Moss and Welker with a line backer.

Speaking of line backers, how FAST is Adalius Thomas!?!!?

Moss watch:
Randy had 8 catches for 105 yds and 2 TD's. That brings his total to 17 catches, 288 yds and 3 TDs. He is on pace to break LEAGUE RECORD's in catches with 136, yds with 2300 and TD's with 24. Of course that's getting a little caried away, but you get the point. Sooner or later someone's going to try to cover him and that's when he'll have a huge impact. Did you see the first TD on Sunday, the one to Watson all by himself? Watch the replay. Moss was the outside receiver on that side and he ran an "in" route along the goal line. The CB, LB and Safety all followed Moss accross the middle while Watson slipped into the right side of end zone for the TD. IMPACT.

Short Bus:
It would be nice if the special teams were better. Gostkowski missed again and was inconstent with his kickoffs. I also saw a few missed tackles on kickoff coverage. Then there was the Hobbs fumble. There seems to be a lot of room for improvement on special teams. Personallly I'd rather not see Hobbs return kicks, secondary depth is a concern as it is.

Speaking of secondary, anyone seen Asante Samuel?

The Pats seem poised to be undefeated going into Indy on November 4th. Circle your calendars, it should be two 8-0 teams and it could be for homefield throughout the playoffs. What do you think, Pats 100 Colts 77?

And the Winner is....

2007-09-15T08:40:00.000-04:00

There is a LOT to consider this week in order to pick a winner in the Chargers at New England game. I hope to be as accurate as I was last week, but as long as the Pats win I don't care. I'd love to see them beat the snot out of Mighty Mouth, I mean Tomlinson. He's still running his mouth, but he gets away with it in the media because he giggles when he says the Pats aren't trying if they're not cheating. That's bulletin board material for sure.

The Motivation.

For the Charger's it's revenge. Mighty Mouth was furious when the Pats were dancing on the field after beating the Bolts in the playoffs last year. While he seems to have backed down from his postgame comments, don't think he won't lead the charge to dance on the Pats emblem should he win on Sunday.

For the Pats it has to be to prove to the sportsworld that they can win without cheating. But I think that motivation could go either way. Think about it. If you've been a Pats player for the last 4-5 years and suddenly people are saying that your superbowls aren't legit after the thousands of hours in the weight room and hundreds of hours on the practice field and the film room and all the times you played hurt and couldn't get out of bed on Monday morning. Now you're labeled a cheater and told your championships are tarnished because of your coaches actions. Who are you going to be mad at? I don't think it's too much of a stretch for these players to be pissed at Belichick and tune him out. Then the cheating would have backfired on Belichick. I don't think that will happen here, not with this team. I really think they'll feed off the mantra of trying to prove they can win without cheating. I'm just not convinced that will be enough this week.

The Concern.

The concern I have this week is speed. Speed kills. The Pats D is BIG, but it is not fast. The Bears had success against Tomlinson last week because of their team speed on D, they could catch him. I'm not sure the Pats can. LT has run for an average of 135 yds and 2 TDs in his previous 3 games against the Pats.

Speed is also a concern in pass protection. The Jets D looks like the Slowski's compared with the Chargers D. Their pass rushers will get to Brady a lot faster than the Jets D could and they'll be relentless. They live by rushing the passer.

The Pats will win if...

...Adalius Thomas can stop Antonio Gates. I think he is the logical choice to match up and cover Gates because of his size and speed.

...The Pats can set the edge and keep LT from getting outside. This task will fall mostly on Vrabel and Colvin. On run plays, they've got to get up field and set the edge, making LT have to cut his runs inside where the Warrens and Bruschis and Thomas's of the world can tackle him. If LT consistently gets outside it will be a LONG night for the Pats

...The wide receivers are on the same page as Brady. SD will blitz and Brady will make the right read and find the open guy, he always does. But the wideout has to make the right read too. If the WR goes left and he's supposed to go right, then they're looking at turnovers, or at the very least, incompletions and punts.

What I See

I see a motivated Pats team that's going to be fired up for it's home opener on national TV. I see the Pats O slowing up the Bolts D by using a lot of draws and screens and employing a power running game. Once they've slowed the pass rush, they'll execute on a couple of deep passes that will be the difference in the game.

The Pats D hasn't primarily concerened itself with shutting down LT in the past. I think they realize that he's going to get his yards. The key will be keeping him out of the end zone - running or passing. The focus will be to confuse Rivers and contain Gates.

I see the Chargers speed keeping them in this one for most of the game with the Pats pulling away in the 4th quarter.

Patriots 30
Chargers 20

The Punishment

2007-09-14T20:34:00.001-04:00

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell handed down his punishment for the Patriots involvement in videogate: 500K fine to Belichick, 250K fine to the Pats and the loss of their first round draft pick. Now, if you want to punish the Patriots franchise, this is a good move. Losing the #1 pick might effect the Pats for the next 10-12 years. Losing a #1 is like losing a guy that was a first round pick, such as Seymour, Warren, Wolfork, Mankins, Maroney or Watson. That's a long term punishment for the franchise. It will probably still be effecting the Pats long after Belichick has gone. The Commish should have penalized Belichick. Suspend him a game or two or four for all I care. That would have been torture for Belichick - and the franchise could keep their next franchise player - next year's first round pick.

There are a lot of looney's out there calling for the loss of the pick and a suspension. Some even called for the Pats First round pick to be given to the Jets! Give me a break. I agree that the fines don't make a dent in their perspective wallets, but the fines in conjunction with the pick are plenty of punishment. Don't be thinking that giving up their #1 is not enough just because they were wise enough to trade for the 49er's first round pick next year.

Then there is the conspiracy theory.

The theory exists that Belichick wanted to get caught. He wanted to make sure that his players didn't believe the hype about them. He wanted to insure that they'd continue to work hard even though many have anointed them superbowl champs. Why else would he be so blatently obvious about filming the Jets signals? Why else would he be so obvious against Manjuvenille, who must know that it's something Bill does/did in the past. Now the players have to prove they're for real by going out and winning a "clean" superbowl. It's not my theory, but take it for what it's worth.

Raiders East

2007-09-12T23:01:00.000-04:00

Just Win Baby.

That was the mantra of the Oakland/LA Raiders of the 70's and 80's. Lie, cheat and steal, but just win. Take steroids (Lyle Alzado et al) but just win. Pay off the officials (see Sugar Bear Hamilton's phantom roughing the passer call in the 1976 playoffs) but just win baby.

Don't ask whether or not the Patriot's image will be tarnished. It's gone beyond tarnished to rusted with holes in it. Let's just examine this year alone. Golden boy Brady always speaks of his strong family values, but has a baby out of wedlock. Harrison, the leader of the team on and off the field, a born again Christian, uses banned substances to "get back on the field". And now blatent cheating during a game with the use of video cameras.

For those of you that have been on another planet, I'll explain. One of the Pats video assistants was on the Jets sideline video taping the Jets defensive coaches signaling plays to the huddle. It is absolutely illegal to video anything on the field at any portion of the game. Manjuvenille, probably accutely aware that Belichick does this, tipped off NFL security in the first quarter and they seized the camera and film. It is this film that commissioner Goodell viewed to determine that the Patriots are guilty.

Touchdown.org supplied visual evidence today with this picture:

How blatently obvious is THAT?!?!?! How STUPID?!?!?
I think it's indefensible, but Belichick's statement included a line about how he presented his, "interpretation of the rule" to the commissioner. As far as I know Johnny Cochrane is dead and the glove fits, Bill.

Innocent or guilty, this videogate has been hard to swallow as a fan. The problem with being a fan is that "fan" is short for fanatic. It's hard not to be fanatical about your team, hard not to be emotional about them. How many times when your team has won a game have you said, "WE won the game." Right or wrong, you attach yourself to them, you identify yourself with them. That's why it makes us feel ashamed when the Pats get caught trying to "just win baby". The only experience I have had in my life that made me feel like this is when the Priests were getting busted with little boys. (I'M NOT IMPLYING THAT IT IS AS BAD OR DEMEANING THE VICTIMS HERE!) However there are a lot of similarities for me.
I'm catholic.
I was an alter boy.
I grew up around the church.
I identify myself with my church.
I had absolute respect for all the priests I knew, they could do no wrong.

I'm a New Englander.
I played peewee football.
I grew up playing sports.
I identify myself with my favorite team.
I had absolute repsect for all the players and coaches, they could do no wrong.

In both cases I don't know that I can ever look at them the same way. In the back of my mind I'll always have doubts about them. They ARE tainted.

I got offended today because a Dolphin fan kept calling out to me, "CHEATERS......CHEATERS......CHEATERS...." I felt ashamed. Then I thought, WHY? I didn't cheat. I didn't take HGH. As far as I know I didn't have a child out of wedlock. What does it have to do with me? Nothing. This incident gives us a chance to seperate ourselves from our sports heros and that's probably a good thing.

So now, knowing that what they do is NOT a reflection on you, you must ask yourself if you can still morally accept this team and support them no matter what. As for me, I was hurt, but this is just a football team, not my life.

So I say, "Just Win Baby!"

Off to a Good Start

2007-09-09T19:05:00.000-04:00

The Pats looked sharp and only had a couple of blunders on their way to dismantling the Jets. There were a couple of mistakes made and timeouts wasted because plays were not given to Brady in a timely manner, but that is to be expected in week one. All in all it was a great day in Patriots Nation.

First let's look at what went right:

The Randy Moss I told you about in training camp has officially arrived in the regular season. I was shocked to find out that his 183 yds is the most in one game in his career.

The O-line was FANTASTIC protecting Brady. If he gets that kind of time all year the Pats will go undefeated.

The D was stout against the run and did a pretty good job on the Pass rush.

Besides his drop, Welker showed his value.

Sammy Morris looked good running the ball and on special teams.

Dumb play by Hobbs to carry the kickoff out from 8 yds deep but it all worked out for him.

Was there any bad to speak of in this game?

Chad Pennington had his way with the Pats secondary, going 16 of 21 for 167 and 2 TD's. Thats 10 yds/completion and a whopping 76% completions. The Pats better improve that before the likes of Palmer and Manning come calling.

Some of the guys I watched the game with commented on something we saw last year that was evident again today. It weemed like the O-line didn't block well for Maroney, but when Morris got carries there were gaping holes. The same seemed true to us last season with Dillon getting holes. Regardless, Maroney was thoroughly unimpressive and I hope it ws a matter of the Jets gameplainning to stop him. He was not explosive, decisive nor impactful. I wonder if he's still a little hurt. Not much else was wrong with the Pats game today.

Let's not get carried away, it's one game and like I mentioned in my season preview, the Jets aren't that good. It was a good start, something to build on, something for the Bolts to think about for next Sunday.

One last tangent if I may.

Look, I'm the biggest opponent of Pennington when he's playing against us, but I've got to give the guy credit. He makes very accurate passes to make up for his lack of arm strength. He plays with heart and determination and today he even played hurt. The Jets fans are a bunch of Jackasses for cheering when Pennington got hurt and struggled to get to the sidelines under his own power. Then they cheered even louder when Kellen Clemens, his backup, took the field. That was absolutely classless of the Jets fans. Nobody wants to win more than Pennington and that's what he gets for it. Was it Pennington's fault the Pats put 38 on the board against Manjuvenille? Typical New Yorkers.

The Jet Set

2007-09-08T09:20:00.000-04:00

Am I the only one tired of hearing about the games played between Belichick and his nemesis Manjuvenille leading up to this game? Enough already. The game can't get here quick enough as far as I'm concerned. No more speculation, no more what ifs, no more cut Pats arriving in NY for meetings, no more 'will they shake hands after the game?'. Just take the field and play football.

When the Jets had success against the Pats it was the November game when the Jets D walked around the line of scrimmage at random positions and the Pats didn't know who was doing what. To combat that in the playoff game, the Pats rushed to the line of scrimmage, snapped the ball quick and just plowed over the Jets on their way to an easy victory. It'd be hard to imagine Manjuvenille will try that tactic again.

Here's what I think will happen on Sunday:

The one thing that the Pats haven't done on O against Manjuvenille is the no huddle, 4wr spread sets. The one you saw against Minnesota last season. Undoubtably the Jets will be trying to stop the run because the Pats ran all day against them in the playoff win. Therefore, the Pats surprise the league by unleashing all the new toys on O. Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass, Pass, Draw, Pass, TD!

Defensively, the key to the game is stopping Coles and Cotchery. It is yet to be seen how healthy Thomas Jones is and I think the Jets will have trouble running the ball. Coles and Cotchery will get their catches, but the Pats DB's have to tackle them for little to no gain once they make the catch. Do you remember the damge they did after the catch last year? I do and I'm sure the Pats do.

I expect the Jets to take a step back this season becasue they played over their heads last year. This game should be a pretty easy one for the Pats.

PATRIOTS 31
JETS 13

Here Goes Nothing

2007-09-03T13:38:00.001-04:00

Welcome to this year's version of futility, when I make my predictions for the upcoming NFL season. Just to refresh your memories, last year I had the Pats going 13-3, beating the Broncos to get to the superbowl to beat the Drew Bledsoe led Cowboys. My sleeper team was the Arizona Cardinals. I had Indy losing in the first round of the playoffs for lack of a running game. I was pretty close, huh?

This year will be different though. (Sure it will.) I've done extensive research on rosters and strength of schedule and factored in the teams with new head coaches. Low and behold, just like I thought last year, I think the Patriots will win the superbowl. I think that this year, you think the same thing.

Without further babbling, here are the 2007 Predictions.

AFC EAST

Pats 14-2 I really think it's more like 15-1, but I wouldn't want to be accused of being a homer.

Jets 8-8 Manjuvenille got them to play over their heads last year, they come back to earth in '07

Miami 7-9 Trent Green eventually catches on and while old, the D is still very good.

Bills 6-10 I really wanted to pick them as sleepers. I think Losman's going to boarder on great this season, but they have no defense.

AFC NORTH

Ravens 10-6 Overhyped team with a great D and an over-the-hill, has been QB.

Steelers 9-7 Too much talent to have another crappy year. Heath Miller's break out season.

Bengals 8-8 A lot of O and a little D. The players will get tired of losing and tune out coach Lewis.

Browns 3-13 They have a lot of young talent, but can't overcome a mediocre D and a bad Offensive line.

AFC SOUTH

Colts 12-4 I was leaning toward 11-5, but their division sucks and they get 6 wins there alone.

Titans 6-10 No wide receivers and no Defense. I feel bad for Vince Young this season.

Jags 6-10 Del Rio is on the hot seat will be a lame duck by midseason. Oh and David Garrard.

Texans 6-10 They will improve some this year, but they're not ready to win - yet!

AFC WEST

Broncos 11-5 Restocked and Reloaded. Maybe the best Defense in the NFL this year.

Chargers 10-6 A slow start hurts them while they adjust to an entirely new offense and an entirely new defense. They'll be a hot team come playoff time.

Chiefs 4-12 That's great, but who are the Chefs?

Raiders 3-13 A good defense, but a putrid offense.

AFC PLAYOFFS

wild card - Broncos over Steelers and Chargers over Ravens

divisional - Pats over Chargers and Colts over Broncos

championship - Pats over Colts

NFC EAST

Eagles 11-5 McNabb is back and has something to prove.

Redskins 10-6 ONE of my sleeper picks in the NFC.

Dallas 9-7 Too much scheme change to overcome and I'm not sold on Romo.

Giants 6-10 No secondary and a lame duck coach.

NFC NORTH

Bears 11-5 They win this division by default.

Lions 7-9 An awesome offense will win some games, but they badly need some D.

Pack 6-10 Favre should have retired 2 years ago, too many young players around him.

Vikings 4-12 Two words, Tavaris Jackson.

NFC SOUTH

Saints 12-4 Reggie Bush becomes the best back in the league.

Tampa Bay 10-6 My SECOND surprise team in the NFC.

Carolina 8-8 Delhomme isn't that good, no 2nd receiver, the John Fox show is getting old.

Atlanta 4-12 Slightly better on D, but they can't win with Harrington. Maybe they'll have a better record if TB cuts Simms and they anoint him their starter over Harrington. I will be cheering for them because I feel for new caoch Bobby Petrino.

NFC WEST

Seattle 10-6 Not great, but the best team in the west.

Rams 9-7 The 'experts' favorite pick to win this division. I'm no expert.

49er's 7-9 The experts favorite for a sleeper team. Next year.

Cardinals 6-10 I won't pick them as a sleeper again. Larry Fiztgerald becomes a GREAT.

NFC PLAYOFFS

wildcard - Eagles over TB and Seattle over Washington

divisional - Saints over Seattle and Eagles over Bears

championship - Saints over Eagles

SUPERBOWL XLII

The Patriots over The Saints.
The Pats find a way to stop Reggie Bush on one or two series and win the highest scoring superbowl ever, 48-44. (I picked the same two teams as everyone else, so I had to come up with a different score, right?)

Last year's prediction Post was the one that generated the most response. Bring it on!

Here Comes the Roster, et al

2007-09-03T08:29:00.001-04:00

The roster has been trimmed to 55 guys. Though NFL teams are supposed to be at 53, the Pats can temporarily hold 55 because Rodney will not count until after week 4 and they still have a time to 'activate' Asante. I think the only real surprise with the roster moves is that they indeed kept 6 wide receivers - for now. It also appears that Tory James will only be around for another day or two until Asante is activated. David Thomas was removed from the P.U.P. list (it says here that he's the BEST tight end on the team) but it remains to be seen how healthy he is and how many games he might still miss. The Pats have also cut Reche Caldwell.

Oh, and there is the little matter of Richard Seymour being placed on P.U.P. He will not be eligible to play until the 7th game of the season - IF he's healthy by then. I'm not even sure what's wrong with him (Maybe he pulled a muscle trying to carry his money around). Fortunately, (or maybe intentionally) the Pats have lots of depth in Jarvis Green and with the emergence of LaKevin Smith, who held his own this preseason. We probably won't even notice Seymour's absence. I know I won't.

The players that were cut and cleared waivers that have been signed to the practice squad are Bam Childress, CJ Jones, Corey Mays, Clint Oldenburg and Santonio Thomas. Players that were cut and claimed by other teams include Garrett Mills by Minnesota and Justin Rogers by Dallas.

And now Rodney...

Let me just say that you should NOT be surprised that he was using HGH. I'm fairly certain that they've all used it to some degree. Human beings are not just born that big and fast. HGH cannot be tested for and that's why the feds are starting to go after the places that sell the stuff. Rodney happened to purchase his from the latest company to be busted. So he was forced to admit that he bought it and used it. I can't say I blame him. He was at the end of his career, had suffered 2 seasons of injury and desperately wanted to get back on the field. At least that's his story and I believe him.

It is interesting to speculate just when the Pats found out that Rodney was going to be suspended. I think it's obvious that they knew going into last Thursday's game because Meriweather played the entire game at Safety after playing 95% of his practice reps at corner in training camp. It also makes me wonder if they 'caved' in to Asante when they got word of Harrison's suspension. Why else would they suddenly agree to remove the franchise tag for next season and bring him in when they did? If they knew they were going to cave, why wouldn't they have done it early in camp so he'd be ready for week 1? As I posted previously I was upset with the Pats for giving in, but maybe they didn't have a choice when given the news of Rodney's suspension.

I'm looking to post my predictions for the 2007 season later today!

The Bubble

2007-08-29T13:28:00.000-04:00

There's really not much to watch for in the last preseason game on Thursday. Anyone who's important will probably play very little if at all. There are some interesting position battles that have yet to work themselves out. The following players will be on the bubble and fighting for a roster spot against the Giants.

QB's

Obviously Brady and Cassell are on the roster. If Guttierez has a decent night, and I think he's looked pretty good so far, the Pats may be unwilling to demote him to the practice squad. He's played well enough to get attention from elsewhere. That would mean Vinnie gets 'cut' and hangs around the team until a position becomes available.

(THE PRACTICE SQUAD. A player has to be waived by the team and if no one claims him in 24 hours he can be re-signed to your practice squad. However, any team can claim any practice squad player from any other team as long as he spends 5 weeks on the new team's active gameday roster.)

WR's

With Brown and Jackson officially placed on the P.U.P. today, there is theoretically only one WR spot open. Gaffney, Stallworth, Moss and Welker make the cut. That leaves last year's leading receiver, Reche Caldwell on the bubble with Kelley Washington. The argument for Washington is that he's big and he plays well on special teams, however he's not as familiar with the Offense as Caldwell. The argument for Caldwell is that he's got the rapport with Brady and knows the O, however he doesn't play special teams and he's an expensive 5th receiver at 1.5 mill. If they keep Caldwell and Washington it would be at the expense of a DB, possibly Mel Mitchell.

TE's

The best tight end on this team is David Thomas, but unfortunately he will be starting the year on the P.U.P. recovering from a broken foot. So Watson makes the team and Brady will most likely make the team now that he's practicing again. Marcellus Rivers looked better than Watson on Friday night and he's a good blocker, but he'll be on the bubble with second year man Garrett Mills. Mills has looked lost at times this year and he's not a great blocker, so look for Mills to be cut.

DB's

There may be a surprise at this position depending on how many DB's they keep and where they play, if they consider Merriweather a safety now that Asante is back. At Safety they have Rodney, Wilson, Sanders, Willie Andrews and Mel Mitchell. At CB they have Asante, Hobbs, Gay, James and Merriweather. The bubble players would be Andrews, Mitchell and possibly James. Andrews has played both corner and safety, returned punts and been effective on special teams, I think he sticks. Because Mitchel is considered another Izzo on special teams he will probably stick too. If the Pats are happy with Asante's condition and Merriweather's performance to date, then Tory James will be the man to go.

On a bit of a side note, I'm pretty upset with the Pats for giving in to Asante. The Pats have given up their right to franchise him again next season as long as he plays 75% of the time and the Pats acheive a certain # of wins. Perhaps the thinking is that he won't be worth the 9+ million they'll have to pay him if they franchise him next season. My concern is that he'll take too many risks in trying to increase his interception #'s for a big payday and give up big plays instead. Thanks for allowing me to vent, now back to the roster bubbles.

The rest of the roster seems pretty much set, with a couple of O Lineman (rookies Oldenberg and Elgin) going to the practice squad. So watch to see how the Bubble players perform, there won't be much else to see. Don't be surprised to see the Pats try to trade one or two of these bubble guys for a draft pick rather than just cutting them.

I'm nearly finished with my research to make some predictions, so watch for the next post when I'll tell you what the Pats record will be and who they'll beat in the superbowl.

They were good, BUT

2007-08-29T09:52:00.000-04:00

I have had a lot of people approach me since Friday's game and tell me how great the Patriots played. Yes they were good, BUT there are some things that still bother me.

Stephen Gostkowski bothers me. OK, maybe he just makes me nervous. Did you know he's only 3 of 6 in preseason play? He hasn't made a kick over 32 yds! I am SHOCKED that Bill hasn't brought in another kicker to challenge Gost or at least make him concentrate a little harder. It was a rare occasion when Vinatieri was the lone kicker in camp. He used to bring in an extra kicker all the time to press Vinatieri, suddenly Bill os OK with a second year guy? I know it's pre-season and the guy was 8-8 in the playoffs, but right now I have no confidence that he'll make the game winner. Do you?

The passing game still bothers me. I don't think Brady is on the same page with enough of the wide receivers. Yes he's completed 67% of his passes, but too many of them are dump offs to the RB's. As evidenced by his only getting 7.2 yds per pass. In addition, the leading receivers are Faulk (9 catches) and Evans (7 catches) both running backs. Next is Welker and Washington with 5 catches each. If you take away the 37 yard duck that Brady threw to Stallworth, then he's got only 3 catches for 23 yds. Moss hasn't played a down and he hasn't even practiced since August 1st. Hopefully Moss will come back soon and the game planning (when they actually start game planning) will increase the effectiveness of the wideouts.

The Pass defense also bothers me. In Friday's game, Delhomme and Carr completed 65% of their passes. There was also the little matter of the long TD against the starting defense to end the first half. Maybe the return of Asante helps, but that remains to be seen.

I'm not trying to be a pessimist here. There were many positives to build on in Friday's game. I think that my job as your blogger this year will be to keep everyone level headed and realistic about this team. I'm sure every one of us expects the Pats to win the superbowl and anything short of that will shock us. This is a team that has yet to play a meaningful down and has a lot of work to do to become a playoff contender, nevermind a superbowl winner. So don't get down on me for pointing out 'negatives', I've merely pointed out some stats today that are bothersome. And will continue to do so until they win their 4th title!

Keep on reading and tell your friends you heard it here!

Making Excuses?

2007-08-16T10:56:00.001-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posting this week. Unfortunately, I simply haven't had time to do much research this week. We are leaving for our anual San Diego trip and things have been quite hectic. I'll try to have some new stuff for you upon my return next week.

Thanks for checking in!

What To Watch For

2007-08-08T11:21:00.000-04:00

OK, I know it's just the preseason, but MAN will it be great to see the Pats take the field again this Friday night in Tampa Bay. The starters probably won't log much time and some of the nicked up stars might not play at all (Moss, Maroney). There are some interesting storylines that have developed through the course of camp that bear watching during the preseason games.

The first happens to be the one that I'm most excited about, Zone Blocking. It has been perfected in Denver, where they've had something like 6 different RB's rush for over 1000 yds in the last 8 seasons. Zone blocking is executed by the O-Line on run plays. What it boils down to is that they block the guy in front of them in the direction they want to run. So if the defensive tackle is to Matt Light's right, he blocks him right. If he's on Light's left, he blocks him left. Then they essentially call the play "run left", hand the ball to Maroney who works his way down the line watching for a hole. When the hole opens, he makes one cut, bursts through it and takes off downfield. This is how Maroney's offense at Minnesota worked, so it's what he's used to and what he excells at. It is different from a traditional running play in which the play would be designed for Maroney to run specifically between Light and Mankins for instance. In that case Light and Mankins would have to move a diffender out of that space so Maroney could run through. Now it's just putting a body on a defender and letting Maroney pick the hole. It should result in some big runs this season especially since teams will have to play only 6 or 7 men in the box out of respect for the new deep passing threat's Moss and Stallworth.

Speaking of the O-line, the second storyline to watch is who will emerge as the starting right Tackle. Nick Kaczur and Ryan O'Callaghan have split practice time with the first team almost 50/50. Recently Billy Yates has also gotten some reps with the first team. The O-Line should be a strength this year and the competition at right tackle will only help.

Another Battle that has started to emerge is who will replace Samuel. At the beginning of camp, Chad Scott got the nod until he was injured. Then Randall Gay got most snaps with the first team. More recently the coaches have been giving more snaps to veteran CB Tory James and rookie Brandon Merriweather. Some scribes are writing that James as a starter is not a good thing, as he was torched on a few occassions last year with Cincy. I think that, unless you had intimate knowledge of Cincy's D last year, you can't tell how much blame to put on James. By the way, people are starting to RAVE about Merriweather saying he will get significant time on the field and have a big impact this season.

The other camp battle that emerged is the battle of Punters. I, like most, assumed that Josh Miller would be the punter now that he's healthy again. As Lee Corso would say, "Not so fast my friend." NFL Europe punter Danny Baugher has been booming the ball thusfar. He has had by far the strongest leg with the most hangtime and distance. What might save Miller is that the Pats know he can do it in live games and in bad weather not to mention that he's been great downing punts inside the ten. Baugher hasn't shown as much skill in the area downing punts.

Returning punts and kicks is another big question mark. Last year Maroney was 5th in the league in kick return average. You CAN'T use him this year because you don't have Dillon any more so you can't afford to lose Maroney to an injury in the kicking game. Ellis Hobbs averaged 38 yds a return and even scored a TD, but I don't need to tell you how important he is at CB this year. So it will be interesting to see who emerges as the returners this year. Faulk is reliable and experienced at catching kicks, as is Troy Brown if he can get on the field. Wes Welker should emerge as the primary punt returner. Others returning kicks are Bam Childress and Kelvin Kight, but both are long shots to make this team.

Lastly, it will be interesting to see the wide receivers in action. How do they look and how well are they clicking with Brady? As it Currently stands the only guys that are locks to make the team are Welker, Moss and Gaffney. Stallworth, Caldwell, Washington and Brown would be the next group that probably have a job. Stallworth is just now starting to practice after missing 10 days, Caldwell and Washington have been unremarkable though Caldwell's been better lately, and Brown hasn't even practiced yet. The rest are just camp fodder, though I'd expect Childress and Kight to possible make the practice squad. As of today, expect Welker, Moss, Gaffney, Stallworth, Caldwell and Washington on the roster, with Brown and Chad Jackson on PUP and Childress and Kight on the practice squad. Don't be surprised to see Childress get picked up by another team - he will make some plays in preseason games.

Enjoy the game and tell your friends you heard it here!

Notes from Training Camp

2007-07-30T17:51:00.001-04:00

I realize that I probably say this every year, but I'm going to say it again. If you get an opportunity to go to training camp you need to go. It is just a fantastic event. There's stuff for the kids to do, there's autographs to be had, and of course you get a glimpse of the team as it comes together.

I got there a little bit early (practice was to start at 230 and I arrived at the field by 2pm) and already the bleachers were nearly full. I sat on the hill in the grass which is about the best view you can get of both practice fields. It just to happens that I was near the press tent. Since it was early, I went over to chat with Mike Reiss, from the Boston Globe. He was the first media guy to arrive and was sitting by himself. He's a real nice guy, fun to chat with, maybe I'll invite him to golf as well. (My buddy called me a media whore.)

There were a lot of oohs and aahs from the fans as the players began to trickle onto the practice fields. A lot of "Look- there's Adalius" and "Look- there's Moss" and so on. Tom Brady was last to come out and he nearly got a standing ovation - the place went crazy.

Practice was held in full pads and there was certainly a LOT of hitting going on. There was a lot of first O versus first D, there was blitz pickup drills, there was some special teams work.

Adalius Thomas was once again working as the strong side middle line backer. This is a change of position from Baltimore where he played outside and was highly effective. To his credit his has held the company line saying that he'll play wherever they want him to. As far as the linebackers go, this could be a special year -IF they all stay healthy. Bruschi looks like the Bruschi of old, Vrabel is back on the outside where he belongs and Rosie looks good. Add in Junior Seau to back them all up and you've got quite a corps. Second year LB Pierre Woods also made some nice plays which is important to the depth of the LB's.

With Maroney in a non-contact RED jersey, Kevin Faulk and Sammy Morris got lots of action. While Morris looked pretty decent, he got beat by blitzers more often than you'd like to see. Kevin Faulk was just outstanding. He broke at least 3 runs, never missed a blitz pickup and was involved in the play of the day. Faulk motioned out of the backfield to a WR position and was followed by Bruschi in coverage. On the snap he ran a go route down the sideline followed very closely by Tedy, with Hobbs providing over the top help. Brady launched the ball into the tight coverage and it looked like he shouldn't have even thrown the ball. The ball came down right into Faulks hands, he tucked it and was pushed out by Hobbs. Bruschi was only a half step away, Hobbs was a half step away, yet Brady snuck the ball in perfectly. The place erupted.

On another play - one that I hope we'll see many more times- Brady hit Randy Moss deep. It was real subtle how Moss got open and may not have even been noticed by most bystanders. It appeared to be a play that wasn't designed to go to Moss, but Brady couldn't find anyone else open. Moss was barely coasting and was 40 or so yds downfield when Brady finally made the throw. Moss picked up on it and went into a sprint. I couldn't tell who was in coverage from my angle, but he was stride for stride with Moss - who eventually had to almost stop and wait for the ball to come down some 60 yds downfield. Moss looked up for the ball while "incidentally" bumping the safety and knocking him slightly off balance just as Moss jumped up to snare the ball. Brady has acknowledged that he hasn't been overly accurate when throwing to Moss. It almost seemed like he's trying too hard to make a perfect pass to him. In a lot of drills, when Brady wasn't putting where he wanted you could hear him give out an "AAAAGGHH" before the ball even got to Moss. It happened probably 5-6 times and only when throwing to Moss. One ball almost skipped to him, but Moss was able to reach down and pull it off the blades of grass.

Kelley Washington participated in practice and looked pretty good. The other WR that stood out was Jabar Gaffney. It's easy to see why many of the local writers are saying he'll start opposite Moss on opening day. What was really cool was the way they employed the 3 WR sets. The first Offense had Moss, Gaffney and Welker. One would assume that Moss and Gaffney would be the wide guys with Welker in the slot. Most of the time however, Welker would line up wide right with Moss wide left and Gaffney on Moss' side in the slot and it was an imposing sight to see them break the huddle and line up on the same side. Looking at the various formations, it was hard not to imagine what the hell an opposing defense will do to TRY to stop this team.

While Welker didn't really stand out on Offense, he had a good day returning punts. He will make a big difference for this team in the battle for field position. Another guy that really stood out on special teams was rookie free agent CB Larry Anam from BC. He's big and pretty fast, but he was relentless in his pursuit of the ball. He's a very long shot, but Belichick puts a premium on special teams, so maybe he's got a chance.

Overall it was a good, fast paced, hard hiting practice. Now I can't wait to see how it all comes together on game day!

Thoughts going into camp....THIS FRIDAY!!!!

2007-07-25T10:51:00.000-04:00

I almost can't take it anyore, the last few days before camp are killer!

I don't know if anyone heard the UNTRUE, STUPID rumor going around yesterday that Tedy Bruschi died. I don't know where it came from (I had 3 different people ask me about it) but I am glad to report that the rumor is NOT TRUE. Some people need to get a life.

The PUP list came out and it includes the following Patriots:
WR Troy Brown;RB Justise Hairston; WR Chad Jackson; CB Eddie Jackson; S Mel Mitchell; DL Richard Seymour; TE David Thomas; WR Kelley Washington

Being put on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list means that you cannot take part in training camp until you are taken off the list. You cannot be on the regular season PUP unless you are on the pre-season PUP. The PUP designation may be removed at any point prior to the start of the regular seasn, but if you beging the regular season on th PUP, you are not eligable to begin praciting until after week 6. The most likely to remain on the PUP for the regular season are Chad Jackson (torn ACL v. Indy) and Eddie Jackson (special teams standout signed from the dolphins who also has an ACL injury)

Patriots camp this year promises to be filled great competition unlike last year, when there was not a lot of depth behind the starters. What makes this year especially interesting is that it's not just inter-positional battles for roster spots. While there are 12 WR's fighting for possibly 6 roster spots, we will be seeing battles between full backs and tight ends for roster spots. We may also see some of the 'bubble' WR's battling DB's for roster spots. It all depends on who's going to play special teams well.

Did I harp on Seymour money yet? I guess I was right about him, he was the highest paid player in the NFL last season, raking in nearly 25 MILLION Dollars. Let's see....doing some math....24 solo tackles...that's a million per tackle.....4 sacks.....that's 6 million per sack....That almost gets him into the JD Drew league of unproductive contracts. Oh but i guess he's worth it 'cuz he's got a fan hotline. You DID see his name on the PUP, right?

I'm very happy to hear the news that Tarik Glen, Indy's starting left Tackle for the past 11 seasons, is retiring! Now they'll either have a journeyman or a rookie protecting Peyton's backside. Mr Manning, this is Mr Thomas and Mr Vrabel and Mr Colvin and Mr Harrison.

Here's one that really pisses me off. Now I'm not a proponent of drug use in any way shape or form (not even prescription), but I have to take issue with the NFL over it's drug policies. Ricky Williams has absolutely NO CHANCE of getting back into the league because he smokes weed. Explain to me how that gives him an edge over the competition. The guy gets pounded 20 or 30 times a game and is sore and beat up, he smokes some weed to make some of the pain go away. Then they tell him he can't ever play in the league again. On the other hand, Shawn Merriman gets busted on STEROIDS, completely enhancing his game - changing the outcome of games, and he gets a little 4 game suspension. OH, and a trip to the probowl! Shouldn't it be the opposite punishment for these two guys? Don't get me wrong, I'm not naive enough to thing that no one's doing roids in the NFL. They're probably all on some type of enhancers, but if you get caught you need to be severely punished. Do you think a 4 game slap on the wrist stopped Merriman from cycling again this of season?

Yes it is dispicable what Mike Vick "supposedly" did. I think that it's more disgusting that the public outcry about it is greater than the outcry against Pacman Jones. Vick brutalized some animals. There's a young guy with a wife and little children to support who was paralyzed because of the actions of Pacman Jones. Where is the outcry? When did the life of an animal become more important than that of a human being in this country? Can we blame Bush for that too?

Rumor has it the Falcons called the Texans and offered two first found picks to get Matt Schaub back. I feel for Bobby Petrino, he was a great college coach who just got his hands tied before he starts his first NFL season.

Can anybody think of a good NFC team? I really can't come up with one that has a legit shot at winning the superbowl this year. Really. And I've looked extensively.

I'll be in attendance at Pats camp next Monday and hopefully posting shortly after. Don't forget to go to the official Pats website each evening during camp to see the storylines and video high lights from the day's practices.

Thanks for the Comments

2007-07-20T11:19:00.001-04:00

Here's a reply to your comments asking about specific topics:

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT OUT OF TEDY BRUSCHI THIS YEAR? (and the LB's in general.)

I think we've seen the best out of Tedy Bruschi and those days are behind him. This year should be pretty similar to what we saw last year, that is, a solid player but one that just isn't quite capable of making the game changing plays that he used to. That's OK though because Bruschi will get lots of help from A.T. (easier to type than Adalius Thomas) Brushi won't have to be the run stuffing MLB on every down anymore and that should lead to more production. The problem is that you're almost wasting A.T. if he has to play the run stuffer.

Belichick will do plenty of mixing and matching (and mismatching!) with the highly flexible group of LB's. Assuming that they all stay healthy, they should all be productive because they will all get some downs off and they will all be put in positions in which they will have the best chance to succeed.

While the top 5 LB's are excellent, this team will need some big time development from the likes of Pierre Woods and Eric Alexander in order to have real depth.

CAN MARONEY CARRY THE ROCK?

Laurence Maroney hasn't ever had to be a featured back, even in college he was splitting the carries. It will be interesting to see how he holds up. He hasn't really participated in the off-season stuff because of a shoulder surgery. Don't be surprised if he plays very little in pre-season games either. I've seen conflicting reports from the experts about Maroney. Some say he'll benefit greatly from a passing game that may force defenses to only play 6 men in the box. Others maintain that he isn't tough enough to have 300+ carries and lack of depth at RB will become an issue for the Pats. I would think that the Pats will try to pick up a veteran RB before the season starts but it's too hard to tell with Scott and Bill. Only time will tell if Maroney will hold up, but there will be enough one sided games for the Pats to let the likes of Morris and Evans run out the clock.

WHO WILL BE THE #1 CB IF ASANTE HOLDS OUT OR COMES BACK DOWN TO EARTH?

The same guy that was the best corner on the team last year - Ellis Hobbs. Why do you think Asante had so many picks and Hobbs so few? Teams weren't throwing at Hobbs as much as they threw at Asante because Hobbs is a better cover man. Regardless, there are numerous CB's looking to step in to the rotation as either starter or nickel corner. Leading candidates are Chad Scott, Tory James and old friend Randall Gay. In an interview with Gay that I read he said that he's 100% healthy and no one is more excited about camp than he is. Scott and James are Savvy vet's that should be able to hold coverage until Vrabel, Colvin and or A.T. can get to the QB. Don't rule out first round pick Brandon Merriweather either. Sources in the know said that he was by far the best CB at the U for the last couple of seasons, but he was so fast and atheletic they played him at Safety so he could impact the entire field. At the very least he should see significant time in Nickel and Dime packages.

The Rich Get Richer

2007-07-20T11:03:00.000-04:00

Training camp is now just ONE week away and I'm so anxious I had to get blogging again. This week's post will cover the off-season acquisitions. Not only who's been signed, but also what impact they should have on this year's team. Let's get started.

ADALIUS THOMAS -LB- We're told that this guy has it all and can do it all. He's BIG (6'2 270) and Fast. He can play virtually any defensive position. He's very smart. The big question here is how Belichick will use his new toy. Most thought Thomas would play his natural outside linebacker position. However in Pats mini camps he's been mostly been playing inside linebacker. I'd guess that Belichick will use him at Inside and Outside LB, but in passing situations he may play pass rushing end. Evidently in some packages he lines up at OLB behind Seymour and rushes the passer. He was a the guy that made the big play for the Ravens the last couple of years, like Bruschi USED to do here. Hopefully Thomas will continue making plays for his new boss.

RANDY MOSS -WR- The biggest steal of the draft whether or not he pans out. The general concensus (and my opinion too) is that Moss will be just fine - this year. He will be a good boy and drink the coolaid even if he isn't the leading receiver on the team, even if he catches no balls in some games. Winning is too important to him at this stage in his career. If they go on to win it all he may become selfish again. Look for him to start as the #1 receiver, the "Z". According to Troy Brown, Moss didn't drop one ball in mincamp.

DONTE STALLWORTH -WR- Perhaps he'll have the biggest impact of any newcomer to this offense. According to sources he's gobbled up this offense and he's busted his tail on the field. He'll be the deep threat, but if he indeed has learned this O, then he'll be in the right place all the time and will become Brady's 'go to' guy.

WES WELKER -WR- I don't care how productive this guy is, I believe the Pats overpaid for him. They gave the Dolohins second and seventh round picks and then shelled out nearly 7 million dollars to sign him. Don't get me wrong, he will be very good in the slot and he'll probably be a difference maker on kick returns, I just think it was a steep price to pay especially when you only gave up a 4th rounder for Moss.

KELLEY WASHINGTON -WR- My initial impression when I heard that the Pats signed him was "WHY?" and he hasn't done much to change my opinion. From what I've read, he's struggled to pick up this offense and he may be the odd man out at an overcrowded WR position. It's too bad because he's got good size.

KYLE BRADY -TE- A very good signing that I think went under the radar because of all the other weapons signed on the offense. At the VERY least Brady is a MOUNTAIN (6'6 280) and will be a devastating blocker. Put him on the same side as the Dwight Freeneys and Jason Taylors of the world and TOM will not have to worry about a pass rush. I personally feel that he's going to be an integral part of the passing game for two reasons. First, David Thomas' broken foot prevented him from participating in the offseason mini-camps, so Brady got a lot of reps with Brady. Second, he came from a Jacksonville offense that isn't designed to throw to the TE. His # of catches have been very low the past few seasons. Teams aren't going to gameplan to stop Brady because of that (and the other weapons the Pats have) so I think he'll be a BIG part of the red zone offense. I fully expect 8-10 TD's.

TORY JAMES -CB- I like this signing more than most of the experts, who seem to have been written him off for some reason. Maybe he has lost a step - I can't say that I've seen him run. But there's something to be said about a guy that has started nearly every game for the last 12 seasons. He'll be in the right place at the right time and his veteran savvy will help to make up for a little less speed. He's had 17 INT's over the last 3 seasons and I think he'll contribute when/if Samuel holds out.

SAMMY MORRIS -RB- I don't really know how much impact he'll have on the Offense. Although, he was great catching the ball out of the backfield in the offseason camps and Welker (Morris' teammate in Miami the last couple of years) is convinced that Morris could carry the load at RB if given the opportunity. He'll be in there to give Maroney a blow and might even get some 3rd down action when Faulk isn't in. Don't be surprised to see Morris play some fullback. His real impact will be on special teams.

Those are the major additions and it's way too early to mention the rookies. I'm off to work on some of your requests!

Golfing with Tom Curran

2007-07-18T10:25:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I invited Tom Curran to play golf. You may know Tom from his days as the Patriots beat writer from The ProJo, or his numerous appearances on FSN New England and WEEI. These days Tom writes for NBCsports.com. Anyway, he happily took me up on my offer to play some golf and yesterday we went out and hit the links.

Tom is a great guy, down to earth, family man, funny and informative. I got to pick his brain quite a bit about the Pats and other teams around the NFL and I'll share with you some of Tom's thoughts. By the way, we got our assess handed to us in the golf match by a couple of old geezers even though I had the best round of my life to date.

I had to start with the Asante Samuel situation. (Those of you that see me on a regular basis can ask me about Asante, because I don't want to "publish" any of it on my BLOG). Tom essentially agrees with what most of us think, that Asante had one good year (bolstered by three picks from Rex Grossman) and Asante's crazy to think that he should get big time cash. Curran thinks that he'll probably sign his franchise tag at some point during training camp. (a sentiment also echoed by Reiss' pieces yesterday). Tom thinks the Pats probably have enough depth at CB to get by without Asante. He likes Scott, Gay and James, but he really thinks that Merriweather will be used more as a Corner than a safety and will have an impact on this team as at least the nickel corner.

I asked Tom if he got to go to the mini camps and passing camps. As for the WR's, he was most impressed with Stallworth because he was working his butt off. He also agreed with Mike Felger about Randy Moss looking like he was 'dogging' it during the workouts, but didn't seem too concerned about Randy's production this year. His sentiment overall is that the Pats won't cut any receiver, rather whoever isn't going to make the team will be trade bait.

The player that stood out the most in Tom's eyes was 6th round draft pick RB Justice Hairston. For those that don't know him, he started his college career at Rutger's and was a productive back there. However, Rutger's recruited the #1 back in the state of NJ and Hairston transferred to Central Connecticut rather than split carries at Rutgers. His #'s last year were impressive,
277 carries 1847 yds 6.7avg 20TD's. That being said, don't expect Hairston to get many carries THIS season, he's too raw, especially given the complex nature of this offense. So one area that does concern Tom is the depth ar RB. IF Maroney goes down for only 2-3 games then the offense can get by with 4 and 5 WR sets throwing the ball all over the field and still win. But if Maroney goes down for an extended period of time (perhaps for the playoffs) then this team will be in trouble because the guys they have can lug it 20 -25 times a game. So watch for the Pats to pick up a veteran RB prior to the start of the season.

As for the restof the NFL, Tom and I agree that realistically there are 3 teams head and shoulders above the rest: the Pats, Colts and Bolts, with the Pats as the best team. He feels that way becasue the Colts D is way too porous this year given their offseason losses. He is also convinced that the Bolts will have a hard go of it based on the coaching turnover and learning a new offense and new defense. One team he thinks will improve (and I disagree) is the Jets. This is because he likes the additions of Revis at CB and Thomas Jones at RB. The rest of the team is pretty much the same guys as last season so he anticipates the Jets contending for the playoffs. I think they played over their ability last season and will come back down to earth this year.

That pretty much sums it up for now. I'm still working on the individual assessments of the Pats new face and will postit when it's complete.

Here We Go Again...Finally!

2007-07-03T09:27:00.000-04:00

Hope everyone has had a great summer so far, welcome back to the new look Patriots Report! It's been an exciting off-season filled with great anticipation and finally, training camp is only 23 days away! It seemed like the Patriots were in the headlines with a new acquisition every week, which just led to more and more excitement over the potential of this team.

However the so called "experts" still think this is a team with a lot of questions going into the season - too many to win the superbowl. Here's a quick list of Patriots issues:

The Asante Samuel contract

Randy Moss' behavior

The age and lack of depth at linebacker

The health and age of Rodney Harrison

The ability of Maroney to be the lead back for a full season

The lack of a #1 corner (given the Samuel situtaion)

Brady's baby destraction

Of course I could sit here and dispute most of these issues, but you've got to admit that each of them could turn into a problem during the course of the season. My contention is that this list for the Pats is not as great as some of the concerns for the other major AFC contenders.

The Colts lost 3/4 of their starting secondary, a staring linebacker, a starting defensive tackle and the guy that, for all intents and purposes WAS the superbowl MVP in Dominic Rhodes. They are hoping that untested draft picks will fill those holes. Good luck.

The Chargers turned over their entire coaching staff. We saw what it was like for a few years in a row here when coordinators left and there was a noticeable difference - even thought they continued to run the same schemes. Now the Bolts must learn a new D, a new O, and what each new coach expects of them. Oh yeah, can you name 2 WR's on this team? Eric Parker and Vincent Jackson are 1 and 2 on their depth chart.

The point is that EVERY team in the league has major question marks going into any NFL season.

Next week's blog will post on Wednesday and will focus on the off-season personell moves. I am open to questions or suggestions for topics to cover in the three posts prior to the open of training camp on Friday July 27th.

And So It Begins....

2007-03-02T08:59:00.000-05:00

Free agency officially began at midnight, but don't expect to hear of any Patriots signings for about a week to ten days. They typically do not set the market, rather they prefer to wait for the big name, big ticket free agents to sign, then go after their typical second tier free agent. With the start of free agency, a lot of players under contract are due their roster bonuses, so many veterans have been cut in the last two days (Drew Bledsoe for instance.) Here are some of the players that were cut that the Pats may be interested in (at least they intrigue me).

CB Fred Smoot
TE Jermaine Wiggins
TE Ernie Conwell
WR Joe Horn
LB Joey Porter
LB Brian Simmons
TE Christian Fauria
RB Jamal Lewis
WR Keenan McCardell

Randall Gay was offered a second round tender offer of 1.3 mil. Because he's a restriced free agent, if another team signs him they would have to give the Pats their 2nd round pick.

Daniel Graham is scheduled to meet with the Broncos today and then most likely Seattle, but do not expect him back in New England next season.

O NO

2007-02-23T15:31:00.000-05:00

Or rather, no O.

What will become of next year's offense?

First, we hear that Chad Jackson has torn his ACL. That's about a 10 month re-hab, so the kid will miss another entire off season and training camp, so don't expect him to play at all next year. Add that to the fact that Troy Brown is a free agent and that leaves Jabar Gaffeny, Reche Caldwell, Bam Childress and Kelvin Kight as your WR's. Then we find out that Dillon wants out, "to retire". I can't be the only one disappointed with the way Maroney was running at the end of the season. In addition to Maroney, Kevin Faulk is the only other back under contract for next season. Daniel Graham and the Pats aren't even on the same page with their negotiations and it is a very good possibility they lose him to free agency. Compounding it all is the unknown reaction of Brady to fatherhood. The kid should be born sometime in the middle of training camp. Where do you think Brady's focus will be? He may be just fine, or he may not be as focused as he's always been. There IS that rumor out there that the Raiders may be willing to trade Randy Moss for a second round pick.....

I posted previously about some other WR's I think would be a good fit, so I did a little research on free agent RB's. I was looking for some thunder to go with Maroney and I found Chris Brown from Tennessee, Ledel Betts from Washington, Stephen Davis of the Rams and Anthony Thomas of the Bills. None of which would cost big bucks, but they would probably all be pretty effective as the change of pace back getting 5-6 carries a game.

As for the Defense, things might just round into shape. First, Samuel will probably be back for at least next season so that's a start. Second, Belichick was buddy buddy with Adelius Thomas at the pro bowl and Baltimore did not franchise him so he's free to go where he wants. Third, most mock drafts have the best available MLB in the draft, Patrick Willis, falling to the Pats at #28. Look for another update after the combine. If you have NFL network, you can watch most of the combine's physical tests, it's great fun!

"I'm fixing a hole...."

2007-02-02T11:03:00.000-05:00

...only it's more like "now I know how many holes it takesTo fill the Albert Hall."

Enough about the Beatles, I'm really trying to fix the holes for the Patriots. First, our own free agents, in order of likelyhood of return:

Daniel Graham - most likely will get done without the franchise tag (90% chance)

Larry Izzo - as the special teams captian you have to imagine he's back (80%)

Troy Brown - I think he's here if he wants to be (75%)

Banta-Cain - Didn't do enough to impress other teams when he became a starter (75%)
- Wouldn't surprise me if Indy makes a play for him

Heath Evans - I think they let Patrick Pass go, and he's been a great blocker(75%)

Don Davis - flexible veteran special teams performer, just what Belichick likes (70%)

Seau - if he doesn't retire he'll have a home in NE (70%)

Asante Samuel - sources close to the Pats say they won't let him walk away for nothing. If they are unable to sign him to a deal, they will franchise him and if he won't play under a franchise tag next season, they'll trade him - just like they did with branch. Although, they may be able to get a 1st round pick as well as a 3rd or 4th. As much as I'd like to see him back, I don't think the Pats are willing to pay 10 million per for him (6yrs 36million and 24 million signing bonus)and someone else will be. (25%)

None of these guys really fills the glaring needs on this team. There are a ton of free agents out there and I've got my favorites. I'll list them for you, but keep in mind the Pats rarely set the market for free agents and are only active AFTER other teams have started signing players for a couple of weeks. The lone exception is Colvin, so I guess it's possible they will go get a big free agent or two. They are supposedly around 30 million under next years cap, so there's no excuse not to improve this off-season. And they'd better improve dramatically if they intend to do better than 8-8 against their brutal schedule next season.

LINEBACKER
The consensus is that the Pats must get younger and faster at LB. Given the Pats history with LB acquisitions, (they hit with Vrabel, Colvin and Seau but missed terribly with Brown and Beisel) this will be the most interesting position to watch this off-season. Here's the best of who's out there:

Lance Briggs - (Bears) Young, fast and atheletic playmaker. Bringing him in will cost the Pats a ton of money, especially given his comments about being reluctant to play in a 3-4. His acquisition would also mean that Vrabel gets moved inside fulltime.

Adelius Thomas* - (Ravens) At 29, he's not young, but he would certainly make the Pats younger. He has experience on the inside and the outsied and has even played as a DE in passing situations. Given his flexibility and experience this is probably the guy the Pats will/should target. *He's the guy I'd like to see them acquire.

Kawika Mitchell - (Chiefs) Leading tackler on an average defense, but has 4 years of experience as an inside LB. Plus he's only 27 and decent in pass coverage. The Pats may elect against him because he may be too small for their liking (6'1 253). He'd come cheaper than the Briggs and Thomas of the world.

London Fletcher-Baker - (Bills) A little on the old side at 31, but again, he would make the Pats younger at LB. You can't argue with his 9 years as an inside LB and his production (146 tackles and 4 INT's last season). He's intriging because he's productive as hell, but his age may limit the amount of competition to sign him. The Pats may not like his size either (5'10 245).

Rob Morris -(Indy) I don't think the Pats would really go after him, but the whole Indy-NE thing makes him interesting. It was after indy inserted him into the starting line-up that they started to stop the run. He is older at 32, but he's only ben in the league 7 years (he's a mormon and had to do missionary service for 3 yrs). He also played mostly outside and could transition to the inside. I could see Indy signing Banta Cain and the Pats retaliating by signing him or vice versa.

SAFETY
We've got to find an heir to Harrison. Hawkins is a nice player, but he's no Rodney. Neither is James Sanders and I'm not counting on Wilson suddenly returning to old form at safety. There are a couple of very good, 1st round, impact Safeties in the draft, but I'll do more onthe draft later. Here's the 4 best free agent safeties (and I like them all!)

Gibril Wilson* - (Giants) 25 yrs old, 103 tackles 3FF and 2 INT's last season, 114 tackles 2 FF and 2 INT's 2 yrs ago - his first as a starter. Young and productive. *Although I like all the safeties I'll mention here, Wilson's the guy I'd like to see in a Pats uniform.

Ken Hamlin - (Seattle) 26 years old, big hitter put up 96 tackles and 3 INT's last year. The knock on him is that he can be beat in coverage.

Deon Grant - (Carolina) Has already been mentioned around NE as a possible target. This is the guy that Colvin consulted afterhis hip injury. Grant had the same injury, the same surgery 2 yrs prior to Colvin and still has the same metal implant in his hip. I don't see the production here (only 60 tackles) but he's only 27 and would probably be a target because he'd come cheap.

Michael Lewis - (Philly) Another guy that's been mentioned as a possible Pats target. I'm very interested in his situation, to see if he gets short money or goes big time. The Eagles don'thave a lot of cap space and tried to sign him early last season with very short money. When he balked, the Eagles severly limited his playing time. Two years ago he had 107 tackles 1 FF and 2 INT's, last year in limited duty he had 58 tackles 1FF and 2 INT's. The Pats may be able to get him at a reasonable price, given the other free agent safeties out there.

There is really no one to speak of at CB, which makes signing Asante all that more necessary. The other Cornerback is Nate Clemets from Buffalo who is about the same player as Samuel. The other option for the Pats may be to sign one or two of these Safeties (or draft one) and move Eugene Wilson back to Corner.

Then there is the Dwight Freeney situation. I cannot verify that he is a free agent. Some sites say he is, some say he isn't. This is what I found: Dwight Freeney’s number comes up after the 2006 season — he signed a seven-year deal which voided to five based on reaching minimal incentives after being drafted 11th overall in 2002. Now, it would be great to see him leave Indy. In order to bring him to NE he'd have to switch to an Outside LB rather than DE. I think that's a pipe dream, but one never knows. Keep an eye on his situation.

WIDE RECEIVER
There are no #1 wide receivers available via free agency. You may be able to acquire Owens or Moss via trade, but I think that's highly doubtful. The Pats should focus on having 4 #2 receivers. Gaffney and Caldwell are ligit #2's and hopefully Jackson can progress to that for next year. Signing another #2 would give them a pretty decent corps of recievers.

Donte Stallworth - He's very fast, but will already be on his 3rd team in 5 years. I think he made a name for himself that his production doesn't live up to (38 catches 5 TD's last year and 70 catches 7 TD's 2 years ago). I sincerely hope the Pats don't sign him.

Patrick Crayton - I like his heart, you can watch him and tell that he'll do waht it takes to win. Plus he was burried behind Glenn and Owens. I think he's a great fit in NE. 36 catches and 4 TD's doesnt tell the story. How about the one game he started last season - 5 catches 104 yds and a TD. He won't be very expensive either.

DJ Hackett* - (Seattle) - This is a guy I believe is about to enter his prime and be very productive. He's been burried behind (and learning from) Bobby Engram, Darrel Jackson, Nate Burleson and Deion Branch. How was he supposed to be productive? *This is the receiver to get.

Drew Bennett - (Titans) - Rumor has it he wants to go to a place with a chance to win right away and doesn't want to build with Tennessee. Had a great season one year with Billy Volek as his QB. He's still only 28 and his size (6'5 206) makes him a nice target in the red zone.

That's it. Bring in a fresh LB, S, resign Asante and shore up the receivers. The draft is stocked with atheletic, impact players. The Pats current administration has nailed it's #1's in the past (Seymour, Graham, Warren, Wilfork, Mankins), so hopefully they'll continue that trend this year too.

Oh yeah, somebody told me there's a game on this weekend. Who cares. I might just watch the Family Guy marathon instead.

Go Bears.

2007-01-21T22:24:00.000-05:00

I hope they beat the crap out of Indy.

Key play of the game:
3rd and 10, 4 minutes to go in the half. Brady throws for a first down inside the 25 yd line and the Colts are deflated. BUT WAIT, Troy Brown, easily within 5 yds of the line of scrimmage bumps a defender. 10 yd penalty, 3rd and 20. Now tell me, the way the game was going, another TD to make it 28 - 3 or at worst 24 - 3 at the half doesn't make a HUGE difference. Anyway, the NFL got what it's wanted all along, Peyton in the superbowl. And just think, not only will we all be so happy to see him play, we'll get to see him in the commercials too!!

I put the game squarely on the defense. 32 points in the second half won't cut it against anyone, they just sucked.

I hope the rumor is true about Joshy getting an offer to be the head coach of the Raiders. PLEASE Joshy, GO AWAY. Pats first offensive play of the second half is a miscomunication and Brady throws it away. He had literally a freakin hour to call a play and didn't. And how aboout the bright coaching move, when we were up by 3 with 330 to go in the game and they can't even get players in the damn huddle. That five yards may have cost them the game.

I'm too pissed, maybe I'll be able to write more about it tomorrow, I don't know.

Greetings from the golf course.

2007-01-13T21:17:00.000-05:00

Since I will be in Orlando on a business trip, I won't be able to post until at least Thursday. Feel free to post your comments on the game.

Best Shot

2007-01-12T11:06:00.000-05:00

Well here it is anxious blog-readers, my best shot at trying to figure this game out. I've read everything I can get my hands on and it's amazing how conflicted the 'experts' are about this game. Most of the SI guys pick the Pats. Most of the ESPN guys pick the Bolts. Some tell you the Pats won't be able to run at all and others tell you they will. Some tell you Rivers will be shaken and others say no. Everyone seems to agree that Belichick will have a few wrinkles in the gameplan and everyone would rather have Brady than Rivers. No kidding on those last two.

The 3 keys for this week's game are in no particular order. I think that all 3 keys are a necessity for the Pats to win and I don't think 2 out of 3 will cut it this week.

First
The Chargers blitz on 50% of their defensive snaps. Brady has compared it to playing the Steelers. They also had practice against the Jets, who blitzed almost 50% last week. I think we can all agree that Brady is superb at picking it up and making the proper adjustments. I think the key then, is not as much Brady recognizing the blitz, but being able to communicate it to all against the crowd noise and have everyone be on the same page. It will also have to be done within the limits of the play clock and while 5 yds doesn't kill you, it revs the crown up even further.

Second
The Pats will need some kind of big play early to shake the Bolts confidence and quiet the crowd. A kick return for a TD, a quick score on O, or a Bolts turnover early would go along way to accomplish those goals. While I don't think Rivers will melt under the pressure, I have to think that he'll be a little tight early and that's when the Pats will have their opportunity.

Third
The Pats D. They will have to attack the Bolts playmakers, similar to the first SB win vs. the Rams. Hit LT on every play. Knock him on his ass when he doesn't get the ball and pile on when he does. That includes Gates, who absolutely, positively MUST get hit at the line of scrimmage. It is also imperative for the front 7 to stay in their run lanes to prevent LT's cutbacks. The minute someone overpursues, LT has gone through his lane and gotten good yardage. That's why the Pats got torched by LT last year. Beisel and Brown (our starting MLB's that day) never stayed disciplined in their lanes. I like Bruschi and Vrabel to do a much better job of it.

Those are the keys, but what will the game plan be?

On offense the best thing they can do is keep the Bolts D on the field and off balance. I don't care whic formation they use, but they need to defy tendencies. For example run out of the spread offense and pass out of the 2 TE, 2 RB sets. (Run when they think pass and pass when they think run.) They'll probably play a lot of 2 TE sets to help protect Brady, so they've got to be able to pass out of that 'running' formation. Because the Bolts blitz so much, the Pats should be able to screen them to death. You should see screens to Graham, Watson, Faulk, Maroney and Dillon. Screen to both sides, make the D run from sideline to sideline all day. A no huddle approach will probably aslo be in use, though not necessarily hurry-up, just to limit substitutions while their D is running all over the field covering screens and short passes. I do believe the Pats will be able to run, most teams have. The problem has been that the Bolts get a big lead and teams have to abandon the run. Teams have passed against SD twice as much as they've run.

I think on Defense, you'll see the Pats play a very basic 3-4 D with few, if any, blitzes. It is more important for the D to stay in those run lanes than it is to blitz and get caught out of position and give up a big play. I think that's been the plan all year and they'll stick to it: Make the opponent use 10-12 plays to score instead of 3 or 4. They are more likely to screw themselves up on a 12 play drive than a 4 play drive. Again, it will be important to smack LT everydown and not allow Gates to run off the line of scrimmage cleanly. The Base 3-4 keeps the D in position to do just that.

Some other things I think I think about the game...

...The Bolts are listening to everyone tell them how great they are and may start the game overconfident.

...The game will come down to whoever gets the ball last.

...Pats fans will be impressed by Rivers.

...Marty won't have as much to do with the outcome as 'they' say.

The Pats win a close one, based on the performance of Tom Brady, PATS 31 Bolts 27.

Because I'm such a guru (sarcasm intended) I'll give you my picks for the entire weekend:

Ravens over the Colts - not just because I can't stand Manning. The Ravens D is too good and the Colts are lousy on te road.

Saints over Eagles. I think the home crowd will overwhelm the Eagles and Sean Payton will have an excellent gameplan.

Seahawks over Bears. I am throughly unimpressed with the Bears and I like the Seahawks D against Grossman more than I like the Bears D against Hasselback, Aexander and company. Besides, if destiny is for anyone in these playoffs, wouldn't you say it's with Seattle?

No Sir, I Don't Like It.

2007-01-10T11:19:00.000-05:00

I'm going to take some extra time to analyze this week's game, because quite frankly I'm having a very hard time coming up with 2 or 3 keys for the Pats to win the game. Yeah, I know, contain Tomlinson and make Rivers beat you. What else, the generic "don't turn the ball over"? I'd like to think I can give a little bit more insight than that. However, scour as I might, I've yet to find much info to pass on that's worth anything.

I couldn't help but worry about The Pats as a strong, smart Ohio State team had it's ass handed to it by a faster, more atheletic Florida team. Any of those adjectives apply to this weeks game? Strong, smart Pats; Fast, atheletic Chargers? I look at it in a positive light, if the Pats get beat because San Diego is so much quicker at every position, then Belichick and Pioli will set to work getting faster - especially on Defense. No Pats LB can run with Gates, nevermind Tomlinson. Are you confident that Hawkins could tackle Gates or LT after watching Cothery zoom right past him last week?

Not to sound all doom and gloom, the Pats do have some things working for them. It's just a matter of how much do these advantages really mean when it's time to take the field. In no particular order because I've yet to figure it all out, here are some advantages for the Pats:

Rivers inexperience and play down the stretch. Was the 18-53 with 2TD's and 2picks combined in weeks 15 and 16 the Rivers we can expect to see on Sunday? Or will we see the QB that has led massive come from behind 4th quarter victories?

Shottenheimer (however you spell it) Marty. His miserable playoff record speaks for itself. 5 wins, 12 losses. He's 1-3 in the 4 games in which he was the #1 seed. However, his notoriously conservative playoff approach may be lessened because he's letting the offensive coordinator call the plays this year.

The underdog role. Not many are giving the Pats a chance in this one. The Pats always thrive when nobody says they can do it.

Belichick. Obviously and advantage. He is 4-0 in the playoffs against the #1 seed.

Brady. No doubt the most clutch QB of our time. You've got to wonder if he still feels ill will towards Marty after the little war of words the last time the Bolts beat the injured Pats, not that he needs extra motivation.

A chemistry set. (not really) If they could devise a test for HGH (human growth hormone) maybe they could test Merriman this week and have him suspended for the game. There is currently no test that detects HGH. Then again, if there was, half the NFL or more would be suspended.

So it is back to the drawing board for me and a longer wait for those of you so anxiously awaiting my astute analysis.

On a side note, I think it's BS that you cannot buy a ticket for the game unless your billing address is in southern California. The Chargers are only selling to SoCal residents. If you want to go to the game, you'r gonna have to pay a scalping agency. Not that I was going to go, just that I think it's BS. "We want to maximize our home field advantage", was the Statement released by the Bolts.

Jetting on to San Diego

2007-01-08T10:28:00.000-05:00

It was a great game yesterday, though it was very close for longer than I would have liked. In today's post, I'll review the best and worst of the playoff victory over the Jets and see how I did with my three keys to the game.

The Best
Balance on Offense. The Pats ran the ball 38 times and threw it 34 times. In a great little spurt, the Pats ran to the line and ran the same running play (mostly with Faulk) four times in a row for about 8 yds a pop. Joshy mostly did a pretty good job. He had a balanced attack, went deep a few times and exploited an injured CB relentlessly.

Picking up the blitz. Unlike the previous meeting where the Pats sent out 4 and 5 pass catchers, they expected a blitz on every down and had many more routes with 2 and 3 receiving options and 6,7 and 8 blockers. It was a fitting end to the game when the Jets blitzed and Brady burned them with a TD pass to Faulk.

Jabar Gaffney. 8 catches for 100 yds. Yes he dropped a TD pass and he ran backwards to be brought down short of the first down on a third and eight play, but who would have ever expected him to have more than 2 or 3 catches, nevermind be the leading receiver on the team.

Stephen Gostkowski. 3-3 FG's and 4-4 extra points. It was great to see the Rookie get some playoff experience and do it successfully.

Vince Wilfork. A stout force against the run all day, got some pressures on Pennington and made the game changing play picking up the Pennington lateral.

I'm not going to talk about #22 anymore, not after his attempt to be selfish and unPatriotlike in a Globe article the day of the start of the playoffs.

The Worst

One bad play on Defense. The Cotchery TD catch and run where he was untouched. Antonio Gates makes his living running that very play - better learn to stop it quickly.

Richard Seymour. A few noticeable missed tackles, he was not even a factor in the game until his garbage time sack. Good thing we gave him the money.

Not much else, the Pats maybe should have done better than they did in the red zone, they settle for far too many FG's. The red zone was the worst part of Joshy's day by far.

Now how did the Pats do with my 3 keys to the game?

1 - 3rd down conversions. The Pats kicked ass. They were 11-16 and held the Jets to a meager 3-11.

2 - Special teams. The Pats held Miller to an average at best day including stopping him cold on the 10 yd line. Sauerbrun was solid and Gostkowski excelled.

3 - Big Plays. Other than the one Cotchery play, the Pats eliminated the big play.

Look for many more posts this week as we look forward to San Diego!

A Look Forward

2007-01-03T14:24:00.000-05:00

(Part 2 focusing on the Pats V. the Jets.)

So now you know what has happened in this series so far this season. Knowing what we know about the earlier matchups and the outcomes, I thought it would be easy to determine what will happen on Sunday. Then I looked at the spread and I had to look again, opening line on Monday was Pats by nine and today it still stands at nine. Hmmm. The previous two meetings were decided by a total of 10 points, but the Pats are favored by nine. What do the oddsmakers know? It is a line that will make even the most die hard Pats fan consider taking the Jets with the points. Because most of the betting will be on the Jets getting nine, the odds makers must think the Pats will win by ten or more. If there are any bettor's out there, please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm just trying to use common sense here.

So let's say Pats by ten, 20-10. How could that happen?

Three keys to a Pats victory over the Jets on Sunday (and I don't mean by ten).

1. 3rd down.
The Jets O finished 4th overall in 3rd down conversions. They convert an astounding 43.8% of the time on 3rd down. The Pats D on the other hand has a 35.9 % success rate against it, good for 8th in the league. Conversely, the Pats O is right behind the Jets at 42.9%, 5th in the league, while the Jets D is at 36.5%, 10th in the league. Something's got to give. Don't get too upset or too excited if you see 2nd and 12 or 3rd and 8, hold your breath and watch what will happen on third down.

2. Special teams.
Obviously the Pats coverage teams stunk out the joint last Sunday against Pacman Jones. The Jets only pro-bowler is Justin Miller, their kick returner. The Pats need to do a great job covering this kid and it will be interesting to see if Belichick shows enough faith in his special teamers to kick to this kid. It's very possible they don't kick to him at all.
Another point to note is that Jets kicker Nugent has made 18 straight FG's. Gostkowski, well, no one really knows, but at least he'll have solid footing on the field turf.

3. Big Plays.
The only reason why the Jets were in the first game was the two big pass plays. The weather eliminated any chance of big plays in game 2, but the weather man is promising a sunny, 50 degree day for round 3. Since Pennington doesn't have the arm to go deep, the big play will be avoided if the Pats secondary just makes tackles on the Jets short passing game.
The Pats may need to show the ability to go deep for big plays early in this game, as Jets Safety Kerry Rhodes dominated the two early meetings with 20 tackles, a sack, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.

I sincerely hope that I don't need to mention turnovers here.

I know that I'm just a humble blogger, but looking at the earlier games there is a pretty logical game plan for both sides for Sunday's game.

For the Jets on O it is simply to try to mix enough runs in to not have to pass on every third down. They will do their typical short passing game and be very efficient on third down. There is little chance of the Jets running successfully, but watch for them to ustilize the speed and quickness of Leon Washington with screens and draws. He can do the same thing that Jones-Drew did last week if the Pats are not careful.

For the Pats D to stop the Jets, they need to use the 4-3 just as they did in game 1. Stuff the run and generate a pass rush with the front four. There are 2 rookie O-lineman starting for the Jets as well as a relatively inexperienced journeyman. All four D-lineman are healthy and the fifth, Mike Wright, has played very well of late. This is where the game will be won. The key will be to try to make 3rd down difficult for the Jets by leaving them in 3rd and 8 or 3rd and 10 or longer as much as possible. It is also imperative that the Pats limit the yards after catch by Coles and co.

For the Jets D to be successful, they've got to do what they and others have done to stop the Pats in the Pats losses this season. Eight men in the box to stop the run and leave it up to the Pats WR's to make the big play.

For Josh McDaniels to keep his job, the Pats O should come out with the spread Offense. At least 4 wide and one RB or empty backfield. (I don not mean all WR's, it can be 2 WR a TE and Faulk for all I care, just spread'em wide.) The Jets can't put 8 men in the box and cover 4 or 5 receivers. The Jets can't blitz and cover 4 or 5 receivers. That tkaes them right out of their game plan. Andre Dyson, starting CB for the Jets is OUT for Sunday. That means the Jets depth chart at corner is: one starter (David Barrett), then rookie kick returner Miller and Hank Poteat. You've got to like the idea of having Brown against Miller or Gaffney vs Poteat. Spread'em, make the fast Jets LB's cover the field from sideline to sideline to wear'em down. Brady said he's got a good handle on what the Jets did in game 2. Not only does the spread offense limit the blitzing, it also allows #12 to do what he does best. The Pats can line up Dillon and company in the second half to kill the clock once they've established a good lead.

Because I think the Jets Wideouts are a bad match-up for the Pats DB's, I think the Jets will score a little, but I don't think the Pats will have any trouble scoring agianst the Jets. I'm with the odds makers on this one:
PATS 27 - JETS 13

A Look Back

2007-01-03T09:24:00.000-05:00

(Part 1 of 2 focusing on the Jets v. New England)

Yesterday I re-watched both Pats/Jets regular season meetings and it was a tale of 2 totally different games. Game one in NY was balmy and on field turf and game two was on slop at NE. That is hardly where the games differed though. Here is a look at the major factors affecting the outcomes of the two regular season games.

GAME 1

The Pats played the majority of D snaps in a 4-3 alignment.
From the 4-3 the Pats were able to neutralize the Jets running game as well as pressure Pennington with just the front 4.

The Jets brought little pressure.
The Jets D hardly blitzed in game 1. When they did it was on the left side, Brady's blindside, and it wasn't very effective.

The Pats got the ball downfield.
The Pats were able to throw over the top of the Jets secondary with ease because they established a very effective running game early. Chad Jackson was a big factor, getting behind the D three seperate times, one sure TD was dropped if you recall.

The Jets were anemic on Offense.
If not for the 2 big pass plays, this game was a blowout. The Cothcery fluke play where he got nailed but his knee never touched and he ran for a TD sparked the crowd and the Jets. The other was a great play by Coles made possible by poor tackling. The Pats tackled poorly all day, lead by one Eugene Wilson, who missed twice on the Coles TD. He is a perfect example of addition by subtraction.

GAME 2

The Pats played the game in the 3-4 alignment.
The Pats were forced to play the 3-4 because this is the game that Ty Warren missed. Seymour played on Warrens side and Green played where Seymour usually does. In the slop, the 3-4 was ineffective in stopping the run and generating a pass rush. Not to mention that our best defender this year has been Ty Warren.

The Jets blitzed a ton.
The Jets blitzed 28 times in game 2. Rather than blitz Brady's blindside, they blitzed to his right, where they found a weakness. After the game the Jets were bragging about confusing Tom Brady and that is just not true. The truth is, RG Stephen Neal was out and RT OCallaghan missed his first game. The right side of the line consisted of Billy Yates and Nick Kaczur in his first start at RT. Where would YOU bring pressure? On top of that, the blitzes were outmanning the Pats on the right. (If 3 blockers, 4 rushers, if 2 blockers 3 rushers, etc.) It's a miracle Brady was only sacked 4 times.

The Pats never got the ball downfield.
They simply didn't have time. The Jets kept 8 men in the box, limited the run and pressured on passing downs. The evidence: Game 1, 14.7 yds/catch Game 2, 10.2 yds/catch. Brady was 25 of 37, so he found open guys, justnot downfield.

The Jets were still an anemic offense.
They only managed 168 yds passing and 117 on the ground as opposed to the Pats who went for 255 in the air and 143 on the ground. The Jets managed 2 impressive drives, one of 16 plays and 81 yds and 15 plays and 62 for their TDs. That's pretty much it for their offense. They had four possessions of 3 and out.

Both games ended close on the scoreboard and perhaps the Pats should have won the 2nd game, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how the experts are coming up with the Pats as NINE POINT FAVORITES in this weeks game.

Look for part 2 today, examining the upcoming playoff match-up.

WOOHOO!!!

2007-01-01T08:28:00.000-05:00

Evidently Vince Young is not that good. I think he will be in a couple of years though and let's face it, if anyone has a worse receiving corps than the Pats, it's Tennessee.

This was quite a game with so much happening. Thankfully, Ed Hoculee and his team were the officials. It took the best crew the league has to keep this game from getting out of control. Kudos to them for calling every stupid little thing to start the second half - even if it meant a free TD for the Titans. Much better to giveup some points than to get anyone else hurt or even suspended for losing their temper. Belichick commented after the game that the officials did a good job and that he wished Hoculee and his team could do every Pats game. Also, no one does a better job explaining his rulings on replay challenges than Hoculee.

Then there was the milestones. Corey Dillon passed OJ for 14th on the all time rushing list. The Pats D gave up fewer points than any other Pats D in the teams history, previously held by the superbowl team of 2003. Vinny Interceptaverde threw his TD to make him the only person to throw a TD in 20 seasons. I think that Jeff Fisher is OK with that and doesn't feel like Belichick was running up the score. Personally, if I was Titan, it would have pissed me off.

The good:
Brady to Caldwell deep! - TWICE!!
The O-line - good job in protection, great run blocking.
The O - Tennessee is a very good D and the Pats put up 40.
Chad Jackson - if he returns punts so well, why haven't they used him all year?

The bad:
Punt Coverage - Pac man is good, but not THAT good.
Gostkowski - missing an XP and a FG is not the way to gain confidence heading to the Playoffs.
Bruschi - I don't know what it is, but he just doesn't seem to be Bruschi anymore.

The ugly:
The chop block on Rodney Harrison - looks like he'll be OK though.
The field at LP Stadium - easily worse than Gillette used to be.

The ripped:
Ed Hoculee is in better shape than some of the players.

WOO HOO!!!
The playoffs may have just fallen perfectly for the Pats. I couldn't be happier to see Denver eliminated, thanks San Fran! Even better is that the Chefs....er, Chiefs will be playing Indy. I can't think of a worse match-up for Indy. Even IF Indy manages a win, the Chiefs will have pounded the hell out of 'em. And then there was the Jets. J.E.T.S. - Just End Their Season.
It is a terrific scenario for KC to beat Indy, Pats to beat the Jets, then KC goes to SD and we get to go to Baltimore.
I think the Pats would much rather go to Baltimore than SD because Belichick has shut down McNair in the past, it's an EAST coast short trip, their O is less of a threat and KC has a ligit shot at beating SD (they're in the same division and KC beat SD once already this year) setting up a possible AFC championship at NE!!!!

Definitely watch for more posts about this week's matchup between the Jets and Pats. NOT including any of the bullshit between Belichick and Manjerky.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
I hope that 2007 is your best year ever.
Now go take care of that hangover....

As Homer Simpson Once Said...

2006-12-26T14:01:00.000-05:00

Awe....the Denver Broncos!

As it currently stands, the Pats will host the Denver Broncos in the wild card round of the playoffs. More about that to come, but first, let's talk about the big win on Sunday.

I felt like the team did a great job in 2 phases of the game and as they say, two out of three ain't bad. First, the offense did a pretty good job. Obviously the gameplan was to spread out the Jags big defense and utilize the short passing game. Of Brady's 39 pass attempts, only TWO were for more than 15 yds. He once again proved what a winner he is. Brady was NOT at his best Sunday, he missed a number of throws, but he got the job done and won the game even though it meant running a little bit. (Speaking of, I'm shocked that Clint Ingram didn't get a spearing penalty for his hit on Brady. Yes, Brady dove instead of sliding. Yes the guy was coming full speed. YES he left his feet AND lead with the crown of his helmet right into Brady's spine. I sincerely hope the league takes a look at the hit and sends the kid a fine. All he had to do was touch Brady and he would have been OK if he just fell on top of him. The league needs to send this rookie a lesson for his OWN safety. If he continues to tackle with his head, he will paralyze himself at some point.) The offensive line did a great job protecting Brady considering he dropped back 43 times and got sacked only once. Moreover, Brady had a nice pocket and good throwing lanes. David Thomas showed why he was Vince Young's favorite target at Texas and makes the potential loss of Graham to free agency a little easier to take. I'll suck it up on this one and not that I was entirely happy with the game plan, but Joshy had a pretty good game too.

Second, the defense did a great job except for two plays. Hey, it happens. Obviously the first bad play was the fluke run by Jones-Drew. (I knew I should have started him on my fantasy team!) What shocked me the most was that, even seeing him rolling on the ground, not one official blew a whistle! There is NO WAY that all officials noticed that no Patriot touched him, so why wasn't there a whistle? I don't blame Tully at all on that play, nor the rest of the D. Take away that fluke play and Drew ran for 57 yds on 18 carries, that's pretty good D. The other horrid play was the Matt Jones TD. Where was the defense? I didn't get to see who missed the tackle, and I was told it was Asante, but NO safety help? NO deep zone coverage? One DB on the entire side of the field? Somebody screwed up badly on that one, it's hard to believe that up by ten points at that point in the game they'd play strictly man coverage.
ALSO, Rodney looks better now than he did at the beginning of the season, it was GREAT to have him back. Kudos to the D for stepping up and ending the game when it had to.

Special teams was the weak link. I don't blame Gostkowski for missing a 50 yarder, that happens to everyone. I think he'll be fine heading into the playoffs. While kick coverage was decent, kick returns were bad -especially the Maroney return. I was most disappointed in Todd "Ken Walter" Sauerbrun. Field position will make a BIG difference in the playoffs, so let's hope he was just rusty.

Now there seems to be the debate over what the Pats should do next week. As I wrote last week, I believe Belichick should rest everyone and use this week as a bye. Get Cassel some snaps, get Testeverde some work - don't get Brady speared. Rest everyone that is remotely hurt. They cannot get the #3 seed unless Indy loses again. Even then, they won't know until all the games are over who the opponent will be, unlike last year, when they knew they'd get the Jags if they lost to Miami. If you are interested in who is still in the playoff hunt and how they get in, visit ESPN at http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2668613

As it stands now, SD and Baltimore have the bye week, Indy is 3rd, Pats 4, Denver 5 and Jets 6th.
That means Jets at Indy and Denver at NE.
I'm not so sure I want to face Denver. I think the match-ups work better for the Pats the other way. Denver has a running game far superior to the Jets and would have a better chance of beating Indy. The Pats against Jets would be WW3 and there is no way in hell Belichick let's Manjerky beat him at home AGAIN.

Getting back to current reality, the Jets have been hot and Indy not so hot and it is quite concievable that the Jets win that game and go to SD. Meaning a Pats win brings them to Baltimore. Jet and Pats victories in those games would mean the Pats hosting the Jets for the AFC Championship. It doesn't get any better than that!

Hopefully I'll be able to post 2-3 times a week for the rest of the season, so check back early and often and tell your friends to do the same!

Another Big But

2006-12-20T15:07:00.000-05:00

It was great to see the Pats perform well in all three phases of Sunday's game BUT it is hard to get too excited about it because it was the Texans afterall. David Carr stunk, Andre Johnson didn't come to play and they kept feeding the Pats the ball on turnovers. When was the last time the Pats won a game in the first quarter? See what happens when you actually use the screen play? That game is over and, like the Pats are doing, we should look forward.

First, good riddance to Ken Walter who was place on IR. It looks like they've signed a rookie punter to the practice squad to compete for the job with the current practice squad punter. How's that for best job around sports? Practice squad punter. The minimum salary for a practice squad guy is $79,900. Not bad. No running, no tackling, just show up and make a few kicks for 5 months, where do I sign up? I mean, I can almost kick it as far as Walter could.

A glance at the playoff picture shows a bleak outlook.

If the playoffs started this week, the Pats would host Denver and Cincy would go to Baltimore with SD and Indy as the 1 and 2 seeds. IF all the seedings hold true, the Pats would have to beat Denver at home, win AT san diego then win AT indy. Good luck with that road to the superbowl. Sounds more like road to one and done to me. On a more positive note, a Doc that I work with that is a huge cowboys fan was saying that the Pats will go to the superbowl. I told him he's nuts, but here are his reasons:
-Brady and Belichick are winners and give the Pats a chance in any game.
-They consistantly stop the run and have a good D in general
-They have a 'shutdown' corner in Samuel (I refuted that one)
-They have the ability to run the ball.

I suppose one could argue for or against any of those reasons. I'm still a bit pessimistic about their chances this year.

The Pro Bowl balloting is a big farce. No one that has watched any football can possibly say that Seymour money is having a better year than Ty Warren. I'm sure the Pats thought they should have had more than one representative in Honalulu. They feel like they've been disrespected and that has only worked to their advantage in the past. Let's hope it can carry them into February.

As for NEXT season...(is that looking too far ahead?)...it's not pretty.

Their divisional rotation puts them up against the AFC North and the NFC East.
So every team in their division plays the entire AFC Northe and NFC East.

Their standings matchups are against the AFC West and the AFC South. So if the Pats finish first, which they will, they'll play #1 from each of those divisions, INDY and SD.

Not to mention home and away vs Miami Buffalo Jets.

Here's what it's projected to be: (remember you heard it here first)

HOME: Cleveland, Pitt, Philly, Wash, SD, Jets, Miami, Bills

AWAY: Baltimore, Cincy, Dallas, Giants, Indy, Jets, Miami, Bills

I see about 5 games that they'll definitely win and quite possibly an 8-8 season.

On the other hand, the Pats will be 30 million under the cap and have 2 first-round picks, so they SHOULD be able to improve their team dramatically. Here are some suggestions to Mr Pioli and Mr Belichick from your humble blogger.

-re-sign Graham and Izzo
-let Asante go for his 10 mill.

Go after and SIGN:
-CB Nate Clements from Buffalo,
-LB Lance Briggs from Chicago or LB/DE Adelius Thomas from Baltimore
-WR Wes Welker to return kicks and take over as the slot receiver
-S Ken Hamlin from Seattle.
Now you are a younger, faster defense with 4 Playmakers added to the team.

Use the two first round picks on:
-WR Johnnie Lee Higgins, UTEP
In 11 games this season he only had 82 catches and 1300+ yds and 13 TDs. Did I mention he runs a 4.3 in the 40, has terrific hands and plays with his heart on his sleeve?

-Marcus McCauley, Freson St. 6'1 205; 4.35 in the 40.
A "system" fit from Fresno, can play zone or man and is great in run support.

I'd be pretty excited about THAT teams chances against the '07 schedule. But what do I know?

Let's hope that the Pats take care of business in Jacksonville and clinch the division THIS week. Doing so would allow Belichick to rest anyone that's banged up in the last game against the Titans, essentially creating their own bye week. Then hosting what will most likely be the JETS in the first round of the playoffs. I don't want our playoff chances to rest on having to beat Vince Young and the Titans @Tennessee, as the Pats have historically struggled against mobile QB's. Believe me, the Pats have no one on D that can run with Young. Let's wory about that bridge when/if we get there.

Where Do We Go From Here?

2006-12-13T14:18:00.000-05:00

Thanks for cathcing the Radiohead referrence.

Where DO the Pats go from here? I mean, releasing Doug Gabriel is not the answer. I really hope he talks because I'd love to know what the hell happened there. Is it too early to start looking at next season? I don't think this team can win the superbowl, do you? That being said, there isn't a team out there that you'd say the Pats couldn't possibly beat. While San Diego is probably the best team right now, the Pats have done well against the run this season and Bellichick has a knack for confusing young QB's. So where do we go from here? Let's start with the Miami game.

The two biggest reasons I saw that cost the Pats the game were (surprise surprise) Josh McDaniels and Murphy's Law.
Do I really need to keep telling you what's wrong with Joshy? The Dolphins D did exactly what the world expected them to, press coverage on the corners and rush the passer. The running game seemed to me that it was working. That is until, once again, it was completely abandoned by Joshy. Hey, have you guys ever heard of this Jason Taylor guy? Evidently Joshy has no idea who he is. Come on Joshy, the guy is pounding Brady into the turf on every pass play and you keep trying to block him one on one? As I've said many times before, stop the pass rush with screens and draws. This weeks total? 1 screen, 0 draws. I will give him credit for the horribly executed double pass for a TD.
Anything that could go wrong did go wrong, Murphy's Law. Three punts downed inside the 10, rediculous phantom calls agains the Pats, a fluke TD pass that went through Hawkins hands and on and on.
Of honorable mention for costing the Pats the game is Ken Walter. You CAN NOT tell me that there is no one out there that can kick more than 30 yards.

Looking the rest of the way the Pats have 3 games they should win, but it wouldn't surprise me if they lose two more games. Here's how to look at it now. Thanks to a Jets loss, they've pretty much locked up the division and the #4 seed. It's nearly impossible for them to move up or down from there. Therefore, how this team comes together and executes the rest of the was is more impotant than actaul wins. So what if Vince Young pulls out another miracle come back and beats the Pats, did they do some good things? The last three games are more of a dress rehearsal to work on fixing the holes as best they can before the playoffs begin.

The Playoff Picture
1) SD 2) Indy 3) Balt 4) NE 5) Cincy 6) Jax (Jets, KC and Denver are one game out)

You're right Krager, I dont want to go to this week's game either. And I wouldn't except that I have been fortunate enough to have an invitation to watch the game from a luxury box. I'll be sure to tell all next week!

As soon as I figure out how to set it up, I'll have the "sign up to receive notification of Posts" thingy posted. Can you tell I'm not tech savy?

Playoff Picture and MORE!

2006-12-08T10:15:00.000-05:00

With four games to go in the regular season, this weekends games will have a huge impact on the playoff race and seedings. There are more key match-ups this week than in the last three, so by Monday we'll have a good idea of where the Pats will end up. If the season were to end today, the Pats would host the Bengals on wild card weekend. The other game would be The Jets at Ravens. Indy is still the #1 and SD is 2nd seed. Here are the key games this weekend:

Indy @ Jax. Two straight losses for Indy is highly unlikely and it probably won't make much of a difference to the Pats anyway unless Indy ends up with 4 losses (they have 2 now) . ndy has the head to head as well as conference record tie breakers over the Pats, but who wouldn't want to see Peyton lose again?

Baltimore @ KC Go Herm Edwards. A win for KC would be HUGE for the Pats. Baltimore would have 3 losses and be tied with NE for the 3rd playoff seed. They don't play head to head, and they would both be 6-3 in the conference. I think the next tie breaker is record vs common opponents. I haven't looked THAT far - yet.

Denver @ SD A must win for Denver, tough SD is now vying for the #1 seed with Indy. The Bolts have 2 more 'losable' games after this one and it will take 2 losses for the Pats to be leapfrog them for the #2 seed. This is the biggest game for the Pats this week besides their own.

Speaking of ther own game at Miami, I really like their chances of winning in this game for two reasons. First, a lot of the local media are picking Miami in this game and that ALWAYS motivates the Pats. They just have that knack for winning games that you just don't think they'll win and this game is a prime example. Second, they really sucked last week and it is very rare that this team goes aout and lays an egg two weeks in a row. We'll see how they gameplan for this one knowing that Maroney will likely play sparingly if at all.

The Pats have had success on the road this season and it's because they've gotten out to early leads. With the possibility of Maroney being out, it might be a wise choice for the Pats to come out with the 2 minute offense to start the game. You know, the one that scored on 3 of 4 posessions last week? That would have scored on 4 of 4 if not for the Watson fumble? Spread'em out and pass, run some draws to Faulk to keep the D honest and get an early lead. Miami probably has to rely on the passing game anyway because Ronnie Brown will be out with a broken hand. Harrington will turn it over in this game, especially if they fall behind early and have to pass 80% of the time.

Did you hear me Joshy? 2 minute offense to start the game! Get the lead and then worry about running.

Pats 31 'Fins 10

Loose ends:

I realize that I have not stuck to my plan of a Wednesday posting and have been erratic with the posting schedule. IF I used one of those "notify you when I post" things would that be helpful to you guys or would you not even bother to sign up for it?

Note to Krager, you got your wish. For some reason I forgot that the Browns were playing the Steelers on Thursday night, how could THAT have happened? So I missed the deadline for our pick'em league. You're not welcome.

That's Just Not Going to Cut it.

2006-12-04T13:17:00.000-05:00

Garbage. That's what the Patriots played like yesterday. You do NOT 'just show up' and expect to win in the NFL, even against a team as bad as Detroit. Actually, I think Ohio State would probably beat the Lions. They might even be more deserving of the chance than FLorida, but I digress.

One has to wonder what Belichick will do to the team this week. Evidently he had them in full pads and hitting all last week as well as (according to Brady) giving them their toughtest mental day of the year so far on Wednesday. So what does Bill have up his sleeve for this week? Swimming with sharks? Competing in a triathlon? Listening to more Bon Jovi? Whatever it is I have NO sympathy for this team, I hope he beats the piss out of 'em, they deserve it. On with my questions...

Who's the best player in the NFL?
Once again, Tom Brady showed why he is the best player in the NFL. 14-15 passing in the 4th quarter for 15 points. It should have been three scores, but Watson fumbled again while the Pats were about to take another one in. (I heard a radio guy call Watson the new Faulk because everytime he touches it you say JUST HOLD ON TO IT. Good point.)

What was with the gameplan anyway?
Did it seem like the whole game was predicated on Maroney? Because once he went out the Offense had that, "now what do we do" look to it. It took my best friend Joshy until the fourth quarter and trailing by 8 points to adjust to the loss of Maroney. By the way, it only took FOX until the fourth quarter to mention that Maroney wasn't in the game.

Did you crap yourself (too) when Vrabel went down?

How nice was it to FINALLY see Gabriel have a catch?

Who is the most over-rated player on the Pats?
Asante Samuel. They raved about his INT before they pointed out that it was just a great defensive call and that any DB could make that play. But they said NOTHING about the poor coverage he had in the end zone on Detriot's only TD.

Does anyone really miss Deion Branch?
It is obvious that Caldwell has established himself as a guy that Brady has a ton of confidence in. Seattle paid $7 mill per for Deion's 38 catches and 4 TD's, not to mention the #1 pick. Caldwell has 46 and 3TD's and will make $585,000 this season. A team could buy 6 Caldwells for the price of a Branch. Let's see where the seahawks are in 2 seasons.

If you are curious to see what all the Pats make I would refer you to Miguels page: http://www.patscap.com/

Back with more on the playoff Picture on Wednesday.....

Playoff Picture: Who do We Want to Win This Week?

2006-11-29T21:48:00.000-05:00

The playoff picture is getting more and more into focus as the season winds down. I can't believe there are only FIVE games left! Where did the season go? By now you guys all know the importance of the first round bye and as of this moment, the Pats are still the 4th seed and would host KC in a playoff game. No one's been hotter than KC lately, but I think they are peaking at the wrong time. Indy, Baltimore and SD are 1,2 and 3 while KC is 5 and Denver is 6th (soon to be out). With that being said let's try to figure out who Patriots Nation wants to see lose this week:

Baltimore at Cincy Thursday night on NFL network baby!
Once upon a daytime fieldy, while they plundered weak and dreary
Bird or beast shall win the contest but should the Ravens pass the test?
Nevermore!
-Tommy Allan Poe

San Diego at Buffalo.
Stranger things have happened, but we've got to pull for the Bills in this one. May the legend of OJ come back and ....nevermind. We're looking for the Bolts to get their 3rd loss. This may be a trap game for SD after a tough win last week against Oak and a big game vs Denver next week. It's gonna snow this weekend in Buffalo, right?

Jets at Green Bay.
Not that it really matters, but the Jets are still in contention. I'd like to see them lose every game for the rest of the year. REMEMBER when I tell you that the damn loss to the NYJ's is going to come back to haunt us when it comes time to determine playoff seeds.

Jags at Miami.
Hmmm. Tough call. On one hand you always want the 'phins to lose, this year in particular so they have nothing to play for when the Pats go down there next week. On the other hand, a Miami win would almost assure the the Jags are out of the playoff picture. I'm declaring that we become Jaguar fans on Sunday.

Seattle at Denver.
Sheesh, this just doesn't get any easier does it? We want Denver out of it because we NEVER want to have to play that team again. HOWEVER there is the little matter of the Pats owning the rights to Seattle's first round pick in the up coming draft. Based on the number of tough games coming up for Denver, I think we're looking for a better draft pick here. As they said on south park, "Lets go Broncos." I never thought I'd say that.

There you have it, the best possible scenarios for the Pats as far as I can tell. Of course it goes without saying that we have to hope the Pats can find a way to beat the Lions. Have you heard how Belichick described them? You'd think they were 9-2, not 2-9. Whatever works.

Pats 35 Lions 3.

p.s. Thanks for the love!

p.s.s. Anybody got room for one more on Sunday?

Try as they might...

2006-11-27T15:53:00.000-05:00

The Patriots tried as hard as they could to give the game to the Chicago Bears on Sunday afternoon, it's just that Rex Grossman didn't want it either. I've broken this week down into categories for your reading pleasure.

TOM BRADY
Yes, he threw a bad interception, but that play aside he looked like a champion. The difference between the Bears and Patriots is the QB and Brady made it obvious this week. The series after the bears scored because of the 45 yd penalty was crucial to the outcome and Brady was at his best. The 3rd down play where he scrambled and found Watson was one of the best plays I've ever seen him make. If you saw the replay, Watson stopped running when Brady scrambled. But Brady knew he was in single coverage and gave Watson the chance to make a play. Superb. Of course that play wasn't as entertaining as the 11 yd scramble on 3rd in nine in which Brady toasted Urlacher. Tom Terrific then capped off his genious when he audibled to the QB sneak on 3rd and 3. BRILLIANT!

Best play of the Game
Brady finding Watson on the scramble.

Worst play of the Game
Josh McDaniels call of a double reverse for a loss of 8

Second worst play of the Game
Watson fumbles, Caldwel recovers and looks like he's going in for the touchdown....but then he fumbles and Chicago recovers.

Best thing Fox Sports did all night
The Benny Hill theme music over the hi-lights.

Second best thing Fox Sports did
I LOVE how they put the down and distance graphic right on the field. I sincerely hope that CBS steals that.

Player of the Game
Asante Samuel

Oooooo
Junior Seau's broken arm was the grossest thing I've seen since Joe Thiesman's leg.

That Sucks
The Pats are REALLY going to miss Seau. Notice how well Chicago was able to run the ball as soon as he left the game?

Almost crapped my pants when
Bruschi stayed down shortly after Seau left the game.

Under-rated
Kevin Faulk's 262nd reception puts him #1 all time in receptions by a Patriots running back.

Worst call in the history of pass interference
I don't think I have to tell you.

You know it's a bad call when
A former QB turned broadcaster (Aikman) says it's a bad call and that it should be a reviewable play.

OOPS
Lovie Smith calls timeout as Gostkowski misses his field goal just so he can re-kick and make it!

Unaffordable
I've been telling people for weeks now that Asante Samuel will not return to the Pats next year. The cap is going way up and someone will give him 8 or 9 million per season and you know the Pats aren't going there with him. They already tried to sign he and Graham, but they both want to test the unrestricted market. Asante can "thank" himself for assuring a HUGE payday with yesterday's nationally televised performance. (let's see if anyone picks up on that)

Krager
Pro Pick'em is pure luck. BUT, I'm not going to 'let' anyone catch up.

Does anybody remember
Who picked the Pats and the Cowboys to go to the super bowl? Looks like "them Cowboys" might have an easier time getting there than the Pats.

Tell your friends you heard it here and remember, the best complement you can give a blogger is to comment so he knows that someone is reading.

Happy Thanksgiving to You and Your Families

2006-11-22T14:12:00.000-05:00

As Thanksgiving approaches we take time to reflect on the blessings in our lives that we should be thankful for. I for one thank God that I'm not a Green Bay fan. They are a pathetic football team. They make me feel appreciative of our Patriots. There isn't a team out there that you'd say the Pats have no chance of beating. How many teams in the league can say that, six?
I'm not going to say much about last week's game because of that. GB simply stinks, the Pats took care of business instead of being sucked into a trap game. I'll give them credit for that. Let me ask you some questions about the game:

Where was Doug Gabriel? I saw him for one or two running plays, that's it. I certainly hope that one fumble against the Jets doesn't doghouse him for the year. It seems like he's tried real hard to be productive for this team and I hope he gets a chance.

How nice was it to see Stephen Neil return to the O Line?

How bad has Brett Favre gotten? Man, I love Brady, but I hope that we'll all know when to say goodbye to him.

Didn't your jaw drop when Maroney faked Barnett out of his jock strap on the way to a TD?

Where was this Offense against the @#%&ing Jets?

Thanks for YOUR response to those crucial life and death questions. I'd like to have a little speculation fun before moving on to Da Bears game.

If the playoffs started today, The Pats would be the fourth seed. Here's how it would shake out and then my idiotic try at picking the SB based on that.

BYE WEEK:
1 Indy
2 Ravens (tied with SD, but beat SD head to head)

Wild Card:
#6 Jaguars at #3 SD
#5 Broncos at #4 Pats

*I THINK the Jags get #6 over KC by virtue of a better AFC record.

Pats over Broncos
SD over Jags

SD over Indy
Pats over Ravens

Pats over SD

Piece of cake right?

Doing a bit more research based on strength of schedule, I think the Pats will swap with the Ravens by seasons end so it will go Indy, Pats, SD, Ravens, then either Broncos Jags or KC for the last two spots. At any rate, in this order, when SD beats Indy, the AFC championship would be SD AT NE in 2 degrees and snow.
Thanks for humoring me.

AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON WHY THE PATS WILL BEAT DA BEARS.....

Teams playing on the road for a third time in a row only win 34% of the time. I haven't found it, but if you include the fact that the bears won the first two, the odds of winning 3 in a row on the road have got to be VERY slim.

The number two reason why the pats SHOULD beat Da Bears....

(Please forward this Josh "Cletus" McDaniels)
The Bears are susceptible to the RUN. RUN the ball Joshy. Run. Run. Run. Then Run some more. Here's what the Bears run defense has done since their week 7 bye:

week 8 - Frank Gore 111 yds
" 9 - Ronnie Brown 157 yds
" 10 - Tiki Barber 141 yds
" 11 - Jets 3 backs 108 yds

Here are the Bears stats vs the pass this season:
#1 giving up a mere 152 yds through the air
#2 in INT's with 15
A total of 25 sacks.

IF Joshy lets the Pats run, they win.

Chicago wins if:
They return a kick for a TD. The Pats special teamers will be tested this week.

PATS 16 Da Bears 6

10 things I think I think (thanks Peter King at SI):

1 - I'll route for San Francisco to make it back to the playoffs. They are one game out at 5-5 so it's a real possibility.

2 - The AFC representative will win the Super Bowl

3 - It was great to see Peyton Manning lose this week.

4 - The Pats shouldn't have given up on Terry Glenn. She was instumental in the Dallas victory this week.

5 - Seattle will lose 6 or 7 games this year. (better Pats pick)

6 - Brett Favre should have retired 2 years ago

7 - Denver has problems. How do they always beat the Pats?

8 - The Pats toughest remaining game is AT Miami.

9 - I want to kiss Suzy Kolber too! (but I don't think I'm her type)

10 - Michigan had their chance and does NOT deserve a re-match with Ohio State.
- Jim Tressel will be one of the best NFL coaches within the next 3 years - if he wants to.

I.J.T.P.T.P.O.T.P.E.F.A.F.T.

2006-11-12T23:29:00.000-05:00

(I'm just too pissed to post on this pathetic excuse for a football team.)

Who do they think they are, the Bruins? the Celtics?

Belichick was in over his head against Mangini today. He had NO ANSWER for the Jets offense. Did you ever think you'd say that? All you need to know is the Jets had one drive of 15 plays and another of 16 plays. The Jets? And what was with the DB's playing off the Jet receivers? Pennington throws the ball about as hard as I can with my LEFT hand. They should have pressed coverage and gone after his "balloon" passes. How many times did you see him float one all the way accross the field to a wide open receiver who was then able to turn and run before the DB could even get near him?

IF MCDANIELS ISN'T FIRED TOMORROW, THEN BELICHICK HAS NO INTENTION OF WINNING ANOTHER GAME.

I've got a new cheer for Pats fans when playing the Jets. J. O. S. H. SUCKS SUCKS SUCKS.

Hmmm let's see...the Jets successfully blitz on every pass play beating the snot out of Brady and Dillon is running for like 12 yds a carry...what sorts of plays should we run on offense?
McDaniels (also insert Cletus from the Simpsons): run Maroney and throw deep!!!!!
Anyone with half a brain:Dillon hard up the gut and SCREENS AND DRAWS!!!!!!!SCREENS AND DRAWS!!!!!!!!!!
McDaniels: not one screen or draw ALL DAY!
Run the ball down to the goal line then pass pass pass. AND on top of that, line up in a formation where there is not even the THREAT of the run on the goal line. Hello? If you have to pass on the goal line, play action always works. Ask Mike Vrabel.
How about the 2 minute warning before half, we come back from commercial and Brady has to call a timeout because he doesn't have a play! Good job Cletus!

Here's my favorite one though. Last week against Indy, Bob Sanders safety blitz in running situations came through untouched how many times? 5? 6?more? What does Mangini do? Running situation, safety blitz with Eric Coleman. How many times did you see HIM come through untouched?4?5? I'll tell you for a fact that he was second on the team with 8 tackles today. Did McDaniels learn anything from last week's game?
Who is the Green Bay Safety....Marquand Manuel. If he gets into the backfield next week, you need no further evidence that McDaniels SUCKS. You can't blame GB for trying the same thing that worked for two teams in a row, right? Will 'Cletus' McDaniels have an answer?

And PLEASE don't get me started on my friend seymour money...
I've got to stop before I have a stroke. But feel free to continue......

Let's Get To It

2006-11-08T11:37:00.000-05:00

We've got a LOT to cover today, so let's get to it.

FIRST, THE INDY GAME.

Indy was very impressive to me on Sunday night. Manning was fantastic, Harrison was un-human, and the defense really brought it. I think you'd expect their offense to be impressive, it always is. However, their defense really impressed me in this game. I'm not talking just the 5 turnovers. They out physicalled the Pats in this game. The hit hard and often, gang tackled and tried to create those turnovers. That's the way the Pats D used to treat the Colts offense in days of old when they'd beat the Colts. (both on the scoreboard and physically). The Pats never really hit anyone, they just tackled or watched the Colt players run out of bounds. They played soft. If ever Indy looked like they could win a Superbowl it is this year.

This post will be a return to the "get rid of McDaniels" campaign. I got a little soft on him when the Pats won a couple of games in a row but let's face it, the play calling against the Colts was just aweful. Once again, you might say they played soft. In the first half you saw 22 power running plays,to out physical and wear down Indy's D. However, they would run successfully to a point then give up and throw. Prime example is the first series of the game: After the cheap offensive pass interference call and it was 2nd and 21 Dillon runs for 10yds, Brady completes 2 in a row to Watson and Jackson. Then Maroney runs for 12, Maroney for 6 Dillon for 7, Dillon for 4 yds to the Indy 34. Then deep pass to triple coverage, ill advised pass intercepted. WHY PASS? On that series they were keeping Manning on the bench, and running for 39yds at 7.8yds per carry. Stick with it, it's working! If you think it was a good idea to try to go over the top, I'll give you that, but then the blame is squarely on Brady for a terrible throw. In the first half the Pats ran 22 times for 98 yds at 4.4 yds per carry. 22 more runs might have produce over 200 yds total for the game, right? "Yeah, but who wants that, let's get cute." That's what I imagine McDaniels saying at half time. Second half included a mere 11 more runs. ONLY 4 to Maroney, only THREE to Dillon. 4 of those rushes were draw plays to Faulk. WHAT THE FAULK!!!! Where was the POWER running game? No, get cute and try to use double fake reverse passes instead. The run was clearly effective, Brady clearly was not sharp, the recievers were obviously having a hard time getting open. What more evidence do you need to run the ball? Instead the Pats played scared because they thought Peyton would score a lot more and they felt inclined to abandon the run to try to win the game in a shootout. The only thing they shot was themselves in the foot. I'll be keeping a close eye on little Joshy.

SECOND, RODNEY

I don't think I have to tell you that the Pats will be in trouble without Rodney for the next 7-8 weeks. Let's not forget to route hardily against Seattle so we can get a high draft pick for Branch and maybe get a safety to eventually replace Rodney. That being said, I personally don't have faith in Pioli's ability to draft a safety. Who have they drafted?
Guss Scott, Dexter Reid and James Sanders, seen any of THOSE guys lately? This year they drafted Willie Andrews and he's been so good they turned him into a WR. Don't forget that Eugene Wilson was drafted as a corner and turned into a safety as a necessity. His play has steadily declined. Maybe they can get a new safety via free agency this off-season, Harrison worked out pretty well wouldn't you say?

THIRD, WHATS HAPPENED TO THIS TEAM AGAINST QUALITY OPPONENTS?

Remember when they could beat anyone? Do you still have that feeling, because I don't. In their last 16 games against teams over .500 the Pats are 8-8. EIGHT and freakin' EIGHT!
In their last 5 games against the Colts and Broncos the Pats are 0-5, been outscored 139-81, and have 12 turnovers. We'll all get back on the bandwagon when they Pats go 7-1 or 8-0 in the second half of the season, but until they actually win another 'Big' game they've got something to prove.

LASTLY, A MORE OPTOMISTIC, HAPPY BLOGGER

Things can only get better in the second half of the season. Not that 6-2 to start is bad, but we all know they could have played much better in every game, with the exception of Minnesota. This is what can go right the rest of the way:

1. Brady and the receivers will only get better. As the weeks go by they can work on getting on 'the same page' whatever that means.

2. Maroney and Jackson. It's becoming obvious that Maroney is the man in the backfield and it is a disgrace that he only got the ball 4 times in the second half vs Indy. He and Jackson will emerge as big time threats in this offense as the playoffs approach.

3. A rediculously easy schedule makes 8-0 the rest of the way a real possibility and 7-1 a probablility. I think 6-2 would be disappointing.

4. Belichick's history. Since 2000 the Pats are 27-21 in the first half of the season and 46-13 in the second half, including the 10-1 playoff record. It's hard to argue with those results.

I'll be looking to post my own midseason grades in the next day or two.

Don't forget to check out our friends at TheBruinsReport.blogspot.com for all your Bruins news and info, now with a podcast!

Enough Already

2006-11-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

This feud between the Pats and Indy is just getting stupid at this point. I mean, we're talking about grown men, not high school kids, so what's with these antics and what else will they do to each other before Sunday's game?

First, Polian (the Colts) complains about the Pats field and it gets torn up.
Then Belichick (or someone in with the Pats) requests extra security for Sundays game to protect their employees from Polian.
After that, because the Colts like to complain about opponents not being truthful with their injury reports, Belichicks injury report comes out with 17 guys listed as questionable (Brady again is probable) so the Colts can't complain that the Pats are hiding any injuries.
Not to be outdone, moments later the Colts injury report comes out with - 17 players all questionable.
Now the Pats have added 3 more to the questionable list.

Enough already. Grown men. National Football League. Get over yourselves. As they said in star wars, "This bickering is pointless." I wish the game was tonight, just to end the silliness.

What's next, Belichick fined for 'egging' Polians house on Halloween?

Here are five reasons why the Pats win Sunday night:
-Indy's hurt, Pats are healthy.
-Colts are last in the league in rushing yards allowed, Pats have the 2 headed monster and are 8th in rushing even without trying to run last week.
-If the Colts try to 'stuff' the run, Brady's going to burn the backup safeties.
-Dwight Freeney is always slower on grass
-Belichick has done a damn good job slowing the Colts offense when he has healthy players on D (and he does this time around).

I was reading a Colts blog www.stampedeblue.com and they're bitching and moaning about the lack of respect the media has for the Colts. They think that Tom Brady is the darling of the national media. Perception is everything. Seriously, it's a good site, so check it out.

It's Never Too Early...

2006-11-01T14:27:00.000-05:00

Hindsight is always 20/20. I feel like an idiot because I didn't see it coming. The leagues #1 rush defense vs the Pats 2 headed rushing attack, right? It's so obvious now, attack through the air instead of banging your head against a wall. Dee Dee Dee, as Carlos Mencia would say. Great gameplan, terrific execution, but I still can't help but wonder if Minnesota was over-hyped. I mean, the only team they beat was Seattle without Hasselback and Alexander. Either way, Bellichick showed his mastery as he completely out-coached Brad Childress. It was another win and it puts the Pats in the drivers seat for playoff positioning. It's never too early to talk playoffs around here, right?

As the most casual pigskin fans know, the odds of reaching the superbowl quadruple as a #1 or 2 seed vs. a 3, 4, 5 or 6 seed. Last year being the exception of course. So the goal is always get to the playoffs, but if you can lock up a 1 or 2 you're in serious contention. With the win this week the Pats are now 6-1 and in that coveted #2 spot. Defeating Indy this week would make them #1 in the AFC, with home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Unfortunately, the playoffs don't start after the Indy game. While it would be great to have the #1 seed entering the playoffs, I simply don't see it happening - whether or not they beat the Colts this weekend. That being said, if the Colts beat the Pats this week, the Pats have NO chance at #1. Let's take a look at who's contending for the top 2 spots and their "losable" games the rest of the way:

INDY 7-0 home v. Cincy and Philly, @NE, @Dallas.

PATS 6-1 home v. Indy and Chicago

DENVER 5-2 SD twice, home to Seattle Cincy then @KC and Pitt

SAN DIEGO 5-2 Denver twice, KC at home then @Cincy and Seattle

RAVENS 5-2 Cincy and Pitt twice home v. Atlanta and @ KC

So MAYBE Indy loses 2 games the rest of the way, more than likely it'll be one.

The Pats would have to win every game the rest of the way, in which case they'd be 15-1, and the #1 seed by virtue of winning the head to head game with INDY. Sorry, it's too much to ask.
Pats will be 14 and 2, or at worst 13-3. AND therefore, the #2 seed.

The rest have virtually no shot at the #2 seed.

While Denver has the head t head tie breaker with the Pats, they already have one more loss than NE. With 2 to play with SD, @ a surging KC as well as CINCY and SEATTLE both of which will be fighing for their playoff lives. Should the Pats go 13-3 Denver has an outside chance to become the #2. But I can't see Denver only losing one more time.

San Diego is in a bit of turmoil with their star player suspended for 4 games. Their remaining schedule is almost identical to Denver's. Same scenario, they're going to lose more than one more game.

I give an outside chance to Baltimore even though I think their offense stinks. However, they'd have to sweep both games with Pitt and both games with Cincy. That doesn't usually happen in that division.

The conclusion is that, even losing to Indy and Chicago this month, the Pats will probably still earn the #2 seed as long as the win their "easy" games. That being said, even if the beat Indy this week, it's hard to see Indy losing a second time and the Pats would probably still get the #2 seed. I like the Pats chances at INDY for a superbowl berth. Who's better than Brady's 10-0 in domes?

Offensive stat of the week: Pats are #1 in the NFL in redzone TD % at 64.3%.
Defensive stat of the week: Pats are now 3rd in the NFL in points allowed behind Chicago and Denver.

So what about Indy this week?
If I couldn't see the answer last week, what makes you think I'll figure out this week's gameplan? Here's the semi-educated guess:

The Pats will be able to run (Indy's last in the league agianst the run). It just so happens that Indy's starting safeties are injured and probably won't play. Once the run is established, the Pats will control the game with play action. The untested, backup safeties will bite on the run and you'll see Ben Watson and Doug Gabriel and Chad Jackson over the top for big gains. Indys D will have no answer and the Pats will put up 35-40 points this week. Clock killin' Corey Dillon will come in and pound Indy in the fourth, eat up the clock and not give Indy the ball with 1:30 left like denver did.

The big question is how will the Pats D contain Indy? Belichick won't tell us, so we're going to have to wait and see. I do think the Pats will hold them to under 30 points even though the Pats D hasn't been tested like this before. I don't think this game will be a 'whoever has the ball last wins' type. The Pats win this one "running" away, same score as Indy beat them last year.
New England 40, Indy 21. The Patriots franchise just has that kind of karma.

Call me a homer, but tell your friends you heard it hear!

Great Win, But...

2006-10-25T15:09:00.000-04:00

Those of you that made the bus trip, I'm jealous, it was probably a great time to attend. Hopefully I'll get to go with you next season. It was a great win on Sunday, but should we take it with a grain of salt because the Bills aren't very good? The humble blog author says NO!

A division win is a division win. Did you know that the Pats are 29-7 in their division in the Brady era? Yes I know, the Pats have beaten the Bills by an average of 28 points when playing for the second time in a season. And yes I know that the Bills don't pose much of an offensive threat. (Maybe they can re-acquire Bledsoe now that he's been benched in big D.) However, the Pats showed some offense against a good Buffalo Defense which, I think is ranked 14th overall.

The Good.
-Maroney's kick return. He won AFC special teams player of the week.
-The secondary: Asante goes without saying, but solid perforamces were turned in by all.
-Vince Wilfork. Let me expand on this for a moment. Do you remember the play early in third quarter, when Seau burst through the line and tackled McGahee for a 3 yard loss? If you taped the game, watch Wilfork on that play. Wilfork was blocked by the center, and the weakside guard was pulling to block the linebacker (Seau) in the hole McGahee was designed to run in. Wilfork saw the gaurd pull, got leverage on the center and moved close enough to the gap that the pulling gaurd had no choice but to double team Wilfork. Seau, now unblocked runs through the gap and looks like a hero.
-It was great to see Jackson get so open on his TD
-How about Gabriel's TD catch on a ball that should never have been thrown?
-Watson's 6 catches for 50 yards. (But it always seems like he either breaks every tackle or goes right down on first contact.)

The Bad
-The offensive tackles were aweful. Brady was getting hammered out there.
-While they finally scored a TD on a first posession, I thought the play calling was horrendous until miday through the 3rd Quarter. If the Pass rush is that fierce and Brady is getting hurried on every pass play, why not slow down the pass rush? Any NFL, college or high school coach will tell you that the best way to slow a pass rush is with screens and draws. I can remember one screen pass, and it was to Ben Watson. It turned out to be a decent game of play calling thanks to the 3rd quarter, but I'm still VERY weary of McDaniels.
-Hey, that's all I can complain about!

The Ugly
Roseanne Barr naked.

Here's where the Pats rank thusfar this season:

RushingYards per game -- 6th (131.5)Yards allowed per game -- 6th (83.8)
TurnoversDifferential -- tied-9th (plus-3 -- 9 takeaways; 6 giveaways)
PointsScored -- 10th (22.6)Allowed -- 4th (13.3)
Third down efficiencyConverted -- 8th (41.9 percent)Allowed -- 16th (37.8 percent)
Red zone efficiencyTDs scored -- 2nd (63.6 percent)TDs allowed -- 10th (42.9 percent)
Pretty amazing stats.

As Peter King would write, "10 things I think I think."

1. the Pats may be a dangerous offensive team come playoff time if Gabriel and Jackson continue to progress.
2. the Defense is good, but I'm not convinced that they are superbowl calliber.
3. the D can really prove itself next Sunday night against the league, I mean, Peyton Manning.
4. Stephen Neal is a very under-rated gaurd.
5. Maroney's gonna light it up back in Minnesota
6. the divorce rate would go down significantly if they took women out of the workplace (just a theory)
7. the Pats will win the superbowl as long as someone else knocks out Denver.
8. Rodney Harrison should be a first ballot hall of famer.
9. Rodney Harrison will not be inducted to the hall of fame.
FACT: Rodney Harrison is the ONLY PLAYER IN NFL HISTORY to record at least 30 INT's (31)and 25 sacks (28).
10. I think you should tell your friends to read this blog. (not that I'm counting)

Did you hear the latest on the Pats/Indy feud?

First the background: Indy's GM/president is Bill Polian. He hates the Pats. He built the current Indy team, starting with drafting Marvin Harrison right up to now. He's also a hot-head. When Indy played at the Jets on Oct. 1, Polian accused the Jets of turning up the stadium speakers when Peyton had the ball. He was so pissed, he threw a Jets employee into a wall.

Second, the action: Polian has heard rumors of the Pats shitty field. Well, he put in a formal complaint with the league, siting the Gillette Stadium turf being below NFL standards. The league then sent officials out to see the field and are making them tear up the field and re-sod BEFORE next Sundays home game against Indy. Did I tell you the league loves Peyton? (Look, I agree that the field sucks, but other teams have had to play on it so far this year, why should it HAVE to change now, right before Indy arrives?)

Last, revenge the Belichick way: Belichick put a request in to the NFL to provide extra security for the Indy game to protect the Patriot's employees! Slap in the face to Polian and I for one love it!

I'm having trouble figuring out the Minnesota match-ups, but I have a feeling that the Pats are going to win this one going away.

Just Bitchin' don't know why I'm in a bad mood....

2006-10-11T08:51:00.000-04:00

First, I hope you guys aren't reading this blog as one big complaint about the Pats. There were many positives covered in the last post. You can't tell me though, that any of you are satisfied with the way the offense has been playing. If it weren't for the turnovers, they would have lost 10-3.

And somebody explain to me how Miami is a "quality opponent". They lost to a bad, Rothlesberger-less Steelers team, lost to Buffalo at home, barely squeaked by the Titans at home, lost to Houston and they have no QB. Additionally, I can't find a power ranking with the Dolphins ranked higher than 24th. My apologies to the previous commenter, I just don's agree with what you said.

While I'm bitchin, what the hell is wrong with the field at Gillette? They've got million dollar drainage and heating systems under that thing, but they can't grow grass because thesoccer team plays there once a week? If any of you have been to Gillette to watch practice, the 2 practice fields (the ones they practice on and 'tear up' every day) are in pristine condition. I mean they look like fairways! There is no reason why, if they wanted to, they couldn't have perfect grass - we all know they have the money to re-sod that thing every week if they had to. Speaking of, have you seen the new dome stadium they built in Arizona? It's natural grass. In the dome. After the game, they entire grass surface gets slid out the side of the dome for sunshine and watering. On Sunday morning they roll it back inside. How cool is that?

I'm out of here. Going to Florida next week, feel free to tear me up while I'm gone.

UG - LY

2006-10-09T14:56:00.000-04:00

Per Barry's request, a Monday Post:

Ugly. The only way to describe yesterdays 20-10 victory over the 'phins. Granted, a win is a win - just ask Indy.

3 Key Plays:
Harrison forcing the Ronnie Brown fumble
Samuel's first INT
Mike Wright's blocked fieldgoal.

My favorite play:
Watson's catch of the game in which he caught the ball on thrd down at the line of scrimmage, threw jason Taylor to the ground, sidestepped a defender and ran over the cornerback for a first down.

Offensive player of the game:
Troy (3rd down) Brown. 5 catches, 60 yds, a TD and 4 first downs.

Defensive player of the game:
Asante Samuel. While one of his picks was pure luck, in my book 2 INT's will win player of the game any week.

Looking good:
The 'bend but don't Break' Defense is starting to resemble the SB defenses of years past. I'm still furious at their lack of pass rush though.

Looking bad:
The anemic offense. If Watson's so good, why can't he get open? Does anyone else play WR besides Brown? What's up with Brady's inconsistancy (one play he's pinpoint accurate, the next he's throwing at the receiver's feet)? I'm not so happy with Doogy Houser, I mean Josh McDaniels' play calling. It seemed like the entire second half the Pats ran straight up the middle, then threw on 2nd and 3rd downs. They only played Maroney and they insited on running him up the gut. Get him outside in space where he can make people miss. (see New Orleans and Reggie Bush) Anyway, the play calling was WAY too predictable. One shot downfield and Brady's longest completion was only 15 yds.

Here's the drive summary for 4 straight pats drives beginning in the 3rd quarter just to prove my play calling point:

Drive 1
1st-Maroney 2yd run
2nd-inc pass
3rd- pass Watson for 1st down

1st-Maroney 1yd run
2nd-inc pass
3rd inc pass
PUNT

Drive 2
1st-Dillon 2yd run
2nd-4yd pass Watson
3rd-15yd completion to Brown for 1st down
PASS 15yds Faulk
PASS14yds Brown
PASS Watson 2 yds
PASS inc
PASS inc
PUNT

Drive 3
1st-Maroney 2yds
2nd-inc pass
3rd-inc pass
PUNT

Drive 4
1st Maroney 2yds
PENALTY MIAMI- 1st down
1st Maroneyno gain
2nd inc pass
3rd Pass Thomas 11yds - 1st down.
then they ran the clock:
1st Maroney 1 yd
2nd Marone 4yds
3rd Maroney 2 yds.

AARRGGGHHH!!!!!!!!Do you see a trend here or is it just me? When's the last time you saw a screen pass? Did they even bother to play action yesterday?

In breaking news, the Pats have signed 5th year receiver Jabar Gaffney. I don't know why he is a street free agent, but he had 55 catches last year for Houston. They also released Johnathan Sullivan and Hank (little) Poteat.

Comments?

Kool Aid...

2006-10-04T15:36:00.000-04:00

Don't you just love watching Laurence Maroney run the football? Nothing against Dillon, but I personally haven't been this excited about a running back since Curtis Martin's rookie year. I have a lot to say in this post, but not all in a particular category, so I'm just going to list them out, point by point.

Barry, I know you'd like to see a post on Monday...I'm not sure I could do it, but if I did what do you want? I'm not giving a game summary. How about key plays, best player and observations? I could also just post 'blank' game blogs and let all of YOU post your monday morning thoughts.

It's really amazing what one game can do to the confidence of patriots fans and the media. For 3 weeks we heard that Brady's not Brady and after the Denver loss we heard that the team was in trouble. As it turns out, the Denver fiasco was just one game. Denver really does have something on the pats and from the teams I've seen, they have to be the superbowl favorite hands down.

Kudos to the patchwork secondary. With Hobbs and Wilson out no one gave them a chance to cover Johnson and Whosyourmamma, but somehow they did. Maybe Poteat and Scott and Hawkins should have been the starters all along!

A+ to the coaches for the gameplan. I'm not as much of an X's and O's guy as I'd like to be, and the camera angles we get on TV don't allow us to see the 'exotic' coverages, but whatever they did in the scheme seemed to work very well. This was also the first game that I liked the Offensive play calling. I loved the direct snap to Faulk reverse to Jackson, that was a nice wrinkle on a play we've seen numerous times.

I hope the Pats got wind of the Carson Palmer post game comments. He was disappointed that his team didn't play well against a team they should beat and will beat when they play again. How'd that turf taste Carson?

The least glamorous guys - the ones in the trenches are playing great on both sides of the ball. Green had a monster game (3 sacks, forced fumble and fumble recovery) and Warren was right behind him (2 sacks forced fumble, fumble recovery). But let's not forget the O-Line in this game. 236 rushing yards, a 5.8 yd avg and no sacks and only 5 hurries on 26 pass attempts. This with the likes of Wesley Britt (WHO??) starting at right tackle. Britt played at Alabama and was drafted in the fifth round in 2005 by the Chargers. He was released in January and the Pats signed him to their practice squad. Roll Tide!

Through one-fourth of the season the Pats are in the top ten in the following statistical categories as noted on Mike Reis' Blog:

* Punt coverage -- 1st in the NFL Opponents averaging just 1.5 yards per return
* First downs -- 2ndWith 91, only the Colts (96) have more
* Rushing yards per game -- 3rdWith Laurence Maroney (60 carries) and Corey Dillon (58 carries) essentially splitting duties 50-50, the team is averaging 154 rushing yards per outing (only the Falcons and Chargers are better)
* Net punting -- 3rdJosh Miller makes an early statement among AFC punters for Pro Bowl consideration with an impressive 41.4 net
* Sacks allowed per pass play -- 4thTom Brady has dropped back to pass 137 times and only been sacked four times
* Punt return average -- 4thKevin Faulk's career average is 8.3 yards, but he's at 13.4 at this point
* Points allowed -- tied-7thThe most important stat of all: the Patriots are holding foes to 16 points per game
* Third-down offense -- tied-9thTeam has converted 23 of 56 third downs, for a 41.1 percent success rate

Looking ahead to Miami, the Pats should beat this team with the same 38-13 score as last week, however, the Dolphins are a division opponent and they are a desperate team. They really need to win or their season may be over. Expect them to come out with everything they've got, a desperate team is a dangerous team. Watch for the same gameplan that Denver employed, loading the box with 8-9 guys to stop the run and force Brady to find his chemistry with the receivers or lose the game.
Pats 17-13.

The State of the Patriots

2006-09-27T14:26:00.000-04:00

It's one game.

As a matter of fact, is anyone really surprised that the Pats lost to Denver? That's 3 in a row and 5 of the last 6. Denver is the team that has the Pats #. And as bad as it was to watch, had Gostkowski made his field goal, the Pats would have been driving to tie the game at the end. I almost wish my Tom freakin' Brady article was this week the way the media has been going on about his sulking, hanging his head, looking uncomfortable, making bad throws, throwing the ball away, lack of leadership, etc. As long as they continue to improve week by week they'll be fine. Isn't it better to play great in December than September? Let's look at some bright spots fromt his game shall we?

Who was the guy wearing #26 this week? He looked nothing like the guy who wore #26 the first 2 weeks of the season. He was awesome, making 13 tackles. He had one in particular with the fullback trying to block him, in which he ducked under the block and made a sure tackle on Tatum Bell.

How about the play of Ty Warren, AGAIN! Another solid performance leading the D-Line in tackles.

Wasn't it nice to see Doug Gabriel get some catches? I think he led the team with 6 receptions for 66 yards and a nice TD catch. (Caldwell wasn't great, but he is still showing signs of improvement.)

Did you see the perfect throw Brady made to Brown on the flea flicker? Brown's got to come up with that, Brady put it right in his hands- great throw!

I think that Maroney will learn from this game, though I don't think he was that bad. Many reports talk about him dancing instead of running. Where the F@&% was he supposed to run? Everytime he got the ball he was met in the backfield. He had the play of the game for the pats on that little dump pass when he bounced off the linebacker and ran for 30 yards.

There. I hope that helps everyone get back on the bandwagon. Yes, they'll probably get beat this week too, but let's hope for steady improvement. And PLEASE, don't blame Brady. What would Manning do with out Harrison and Wayne? What would Palmer do without Johnson and Whoseyourmomma? Give it time to develop, the offense will click by December, when they need it to. In the meantime, when you go to the games remind the powers that be that they are 10 million under the cap and that 30 year old McDaniels play calling sucks and that the O-Line has been over-rated by the local media. Cheer for Tom, he's the best player the Patriots have ever had.

I'm Tom freakin' Brady....

2006-09-20T15:01:00.000-04:00

"I'm Tom freakin' Brady..." It was suggested by a sports radio caller that Brady should open his press conferences with that statement. It is in response to the media and those fans who have been critical of his performance in the first 2 games. People who, evidently have forgotten that Tom Brady is indeed human and in their own minds Tom Brady has a perfect QB rating and 4 TD's a game without missing one throw. Wrong. Tom Brady IS human. One of the post game TV shows actually ran a poll asking the fans to grade Brady's performance for the first two games and the 'experts' were giving him low grades! I refer you to the blog I posted on August 2nd where I asked you to give Brady some slack. For the reasons mentioned in that post, we need to give him a break. Yes he had 2 average performances, but the Pats ARE undefeated. Who can blame Brady for being noticeably upset by the departure of his favorite receiver and best friend on the team? To his credit though, he hasn't complained, rather he's gone to work with his new receivers-even when he really didn't want to.

A story was published after Sunday's game about how NFL players are creatures of habit, especially on game day where they go through the same routine almost to the minute. During Brady's pre game routine he was in the locker room when approached by Jackson who asked him to go out on the field and throw him some balls. Brady declined, but the reporter later noticed Brady out on the field throwing balls to Jackson. It speaks volumes for Brady, as if we'd ever doubt his work ethic. Some of the media actually get that.

Take Peter King for example in his review of the week 2 games:
The new Brady Bunch. This was just before 8 p.m. on Sunday
night, and Brady sounded like the man who'd just lost a game to the Jets, not won. "This was a long day,'' he told me, winding down after New England's survivalist 24-17 win over the Jets. "I'm very tired.'' New England almost blew a 24-0 lead, enduring a late blocked field goal by Jonathan Vilma and a frenzied Jets rally to hang on.
Brady is the guy who has to make everything right on the field after all of the Patriots' free-agency losses and contract-related crap, and it's an exhausting job. But you know what? He just does it. No wonder the Patriots' management and coaching staff thinks they'll always be OK with Brady behind center. He bails them out continuously. Look at what happened in the fourth quarter of this one. With 9:20 to go, New England was grimly trying to hold on to a 24-17 lead and took the ball at its 30. Bleed the clock. That was Brady's job. With 7:51 left, on third-and-five, he hit Reche Caldwell for six. With 6:00 left, from the shotgun, on third-and-five again, he dumped it to Kevin Faulk for six. Tick, tick, tick. With 4:08 left, from the shotgun again on third-and-seven, he threw to Troy Brown, who burrowed for eight.
Notice the pattern? They need five, they get six. They need seven, they get eight. They converted another first down, bled the clock some more, then got into position for the clinching field goal. It was blocked, but Brady had done his job. He'd taken new England 63 yards downfield, but more importantly, he'd taken eight minutes and 15 seconds off the clock ... and he'd done it, amazingly, with the Jets burning all three timeouts and the two-minute warning stopping the clock another time.
The numbers say Brady had a pedestrian game (15 of 29, 220 yards, one touchdown, one pick), but he led his team to a 24-0 lead on the road,
then helped the Pats survive with that drive. "We're a long way from being where we need to be,'' he said. "A long way. There're times we don't look so good. We've got to be able to put the nail in the coffin. But that's what happens with a new team.'' That's what this group feels like, a new team.

Remember when Brady was "just a game manager"? Remember how excited we would have been 3 years ago if Brady did what he did last Sunday? They beat the Jets on the road, they are 2-0 and more imprtantly 2-0 IN THE DIVISION. This week he gets his chance for revenge. You don't think he's forgotten about the one and only playoff loss of his career do you? No matter if he throws 3 picks or 3 TD's this weekend, you can bet that Tom Brady will find a way to win this one. He is, afterall, Tom freakin' Brady.

Rich Bitch

2006-09-13T08:02:00.000-04:00

The Deion Branch saga has finally come to a close, he is the rich bitch. But don't blame the Pats for this, blame the NFL system. When Branch was drafted, the NFL rules allowd 2nd round picks to sign deals as long as 5 years and that's what BOTH parties agreed to. In today's NFL a 2nd rounder can only sign up to 4 yrs but that doesn't matter in this case. What does matter is that the rich bitch was under contract, the one that has HIS signature on it and he should be starting for the Pats this Sunday. It sets a bad precident for the likes of Ben Watson who has a 6 year rookie deal. He must be thinking that if he has a good season this year he won't come to camp, the Pats will trade him and he'll be a rich bitch too!

I personally do not think Bill and Scott would have traded Branch so quickly unless they know what they've got will work. That means Gabriel and Jackson must be doing something right in practice. Neither of them will catch 78 balls for 900+ yards, but it is quite conceivable that one of them will have more than 4 TD's isn't it.

The Pats will tell you that, on paper, they got great value. A 65th pick overall that they got four years of good production from and helped them win superbowls has translated into a 1st rounder, no worse than 32nd overall. That's twice the value on draft day, I don't think any team would trade any first round pick for the 65th pick.

As far as the trade's impact on this team, I expect a loss this week. A bad loss. The comments coming out of the locker room are all supportive of Branch. The wind is out of their sails. Do you remember a guy named Lawyer Milloy? Of course you do and you remember how badly this team got beaten by Buffalo the next game. I completely expect that to happen this week at the hands of the Jets.

I for one am happy that this is over, one way or the other, but we shouldn't be to quck to judge this trade. Let's wait to see what happens this season, in the playoffs and superbowl before we judge this. Or maybe we should wait even longer, until we see who the Pats select with the number one pick and how he performs over the first 3 or 4 years of his career. In the meantime say good bye, rich bitch.

Ever the Optomist

2006-09-01T10:13:00.000-04:00

Since I will be unable to post next week, I'm doing two this week including looking into the crystal ball.....

Call me an optomist or call me a homer, I don't care. My prediction is that the Patriots will win the super bowl this year. What kind of fan would I be if I didn't truly believe the Pats will win it all? After my in-depth look at the schedules, it's safe to say that you don't even have to watch football this season - it's a foregone conclusion. (please note the sarcasm) So here goes:

IN THE AFC

The Pats Win the AFC East with a 13-3 record. One loss each to the Bengals and Dolphins for sure, and one loss to a team to be determined but not Denver or Indy.

Indy wins the AFC South with a 13-3 record. Because the Pats win the regular season meeting, the Pats will have home field for the playoffs.

Pitt wins the AFC North via tie-breaker with Cincy. Both finish with 11-5 records.

The meager AFC West is won handily by Denver at 12-4.

The wild card teams are the Bengals and Dolphins at 11-5.

Pats and Indy have a bye week for the first week in the playoffs.
Denver at home beats Miami
Bengals upset Pitt in Pitt

Pats home winners over Cincy
Denver wins at Indy, lack of a running game undoes Manning.

Pats get playoff revenge on Denver and win handily at home.

IN THE NFC

In the NFC East the Cowboys survive and win the division on tie breakers at 9-7.

In the NFC South Carolina edges out Atlanta for division with an 11-5 record.

The NFC North is a tie, with the Bears and Lions at 10-6, Bears get the division on coin toss.

Seattle once again easily wins the AFC West at 13-3.

Wildcards are Detriot and Atlanta.

Seattle and Carolina have first week playoff byes
Cowboys upset Bears in Chicago
Atlanta wins easily at Detroit

Seattle at home dismantles Atlanta
Cowboys' use Parcells magic and upset Carolina on the road.

Bledsoe to T.O. in the final seconds lifts the 'Boys over Seattle to win the NFC Title.

Thus begins the most over-hyped superbowl ever:

Pats v. 'Boys
Brady v. Bledsoe
Bill v. Bill
Harrison v. T.O. again

The Cowboys keep it interesting in the first half, but Super bowl MVP Laurence Maroney dominates the second half and the Pats win easily, 41-20.

Need for Speed

2006-08-30T15:01:00.000-04:00

The season is fast approaching Pats fans and we still have no answer at wide receiver. There has been much debate in the media in the past week or so over whether or not the Pats can win without a true #1 receiver. Those that went to school for communications and never played in the NFL seem to think the Pats can't win. Those that have played in the NFL (DeOssie is leading the cause) seem to think the Pats can win the superbowl without a legit #1 guy. I don't necessarily know that they need Deion Branch or any #1 receiver per se, but they do need speed on the outside.

The Pats receiving corps as currently constituted does not pose a threat to defenses. Opposing D Coordinators will single cover Brown, Caldwell and or Chidress with corners. Then they can double team Watson with a LB underneath and a Safety over the top. That leaves a lot of dump passes to the RB's. That also means that opposing defenses will also be able to play 8 or 9 men in the box, taking away the running game that we've all been so high on this pre-season. That is where the speed comes in.

The Pats need AT LEAST the threat of the long passing game: deep outs, go patterns, deep slants that split the safeties, etc. Wide receivers with the ability to do that open up the running game and the middle for the Ben Watsons of the world. Brown can't do it anymore, Caldwell hasn't shown he ability to do it and neither has Childress. Oh, and don't forget the Pats have converted 7th round pick and former safety Willie Andrews to WR, not much chance that he'll get behind defenses either.

So where does the speed threat come from? I'm pretty sure they're not going to 'give in' to the ludicrous demands of Branch (I've seen reports that the Pats offered as much as 4yrs, over 6.15 million per with 12 million garuanteed). Hopefuly though, he'll come to his senses when he gets no other offers, fires his agent and get back with the team with a reasonable contract. I could go on and on about how insane he is for not taking the Pats offer, but this is not about my opinion of NFL contracts - maybe some other time. Word is that Chad Jackson will finally start practicing in preparation for week one, but that doesn't mean he'll start or even play. Jackson would provide the long threat and teams will have to account for him on every play, he's that physically gifted. It is disheartening to see someone like Donte Stallworth traded for nearly nothing. The Pats probably could have gotten him for Monte Beisel and a 4th round pick. Stallworth had better numbers than Branch last season, is younger, bigger and just as quick. I am still standing by my theory that David Patten will be cut by the Skins and will return to the Pats, not that I think he's the answer, but he's probably just as good or better than Caldwell.

Best case scenario, Branch reports and Jackson finally practices, the Pats have 2 speedy deep threats and an unstoppable offense. Worst case, they grind it out with neither of them and try to find someone off the scrap heap. I believe the team with SPEED (Jackson or Branch) wins 13 or 14 games and a team without can win 11 or 12 games. The difference being home field advantage throughout the playoffs or having to go on the road to get to the superbowl. How did that work out for them last year?

San Diego on my Mind

2006-08-25T17:41:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay, I know I said this would get posted on Wednesdays, however I was in San Diego for a seminar. What a great tie-in for this weeks topic, Junior Seau.

I believe that it is easy to UNDER estimate the value of his signing. Most of us will agree, Pats fans or not, that Seau's best days are behind him and that we shouldn't be looking for him to come in here and be a Pro-Bowler again. That being said, if he can just do an admirable job until Bruschi can come back the Pats will be in good shape. From then on he can play situationally, in the vicinity of 20-30 snaps and be effective in the middle next to Bruschi. Pundits will argue that this signing is much like last years signing of Chad Brown but I disagree. Chad Brown was a rush specialist his whole career who was thrust into the run stuffing Middle LB spot. Seau has played every LB position and has experience under a similar 3-4 system under Nick Saban. Back to where I began, Seau won't be a pro-bowler, but his value will be greater off the field and that's where the under estimation comes in.

This is a guy who is hungry for his first Super Bowl Ring. No one in that locker room is going to bring as much energy and determination to this team with that specific purpose. I believe he will not be afraid to speak up to guys who are not doing the right things. He will be an inspirational leader not only in his words and actions, but also in a "win one for the gipper" kind of way. Remember Ray Bourque going to the Avs for his Stanley Cup? How about when Rodney Harrison signed and they won the super bowl for Rodney and the following year when it was win one for Corey Dillon.

If Seau's game is only average but he brings these intangibles to the locker room, he will be worth every penny that he gets and the underestimated San Diegan will have his Super Bowl ring.

Tell your friends you read it here!

THE CHANGE

2006-08-18T12:01:00.000-04:00

As you may have noticed, it's been a LONG time since I've been able to BLOG. Unfortunately, I have to put my time and energy elsewhere these days. So this BLOG will change from "Paraphrased New England Patriots news and opinions all in one place for those who just don't have the time to find it all themselves", to a weekly column revolving around everything Patriots. Watch for the "column" to appear on Wednesdays around lunch time. For those of you looking for Pats news here, I would gladly refer you to Mike Reis' Blog at Boston.com.

Thanks for continuing to read, I hope to spark some discussions and create some different thoughts on the Pats.

Issues to Resolve in Training Camp

2006-08-02T10:48:00.000-04:00

Way too much has been made of the Branch holdout. Everything has been written about it, and nothing is getting done. The fact is, unless he wants to skip the entire season or be handed a franchise tag at the end of season, Deion Branch will be on the field for the first game of the season. From here on out, I'll be Belichickian and just say that I'm here to Blog about the players that are in camp.

*Tedy Bruschi has injured his wrist and will be re-evaluated after a week in a cast.

On with the issues.....

Assuming that employee #83 will be on the field, who will emerge as the #2 wide receiver? Early indications are that it will be Reche Caldwell. He is head and shoulders above the other receiver in practice, but that is not saying much. Other than Troy Brown there are no WR's in camp with any real NFL experience. While Caldwell has looked fantastic, he does come with a significant injury history. I don't feel that Brown is a legit #2 guy at this stage in his career, but he was always better as the 'slot' (#3) receiver anyway. It's hard to imagine that they haven't brought in more (any) veterans for camp, but I'd be surprised if they didn't sign 1 or 2 vets by the end of preseason. Ricky Proehl anyone? And I still believe old friend David Patten will be cut by the skins and join the Pats once again.

Is Beisel the answer as the 'will' MLB next to Bruschi? He'd better be or you may be looking at a starting lineup that includes Bruschi and Larry Izzo or Don Davis - yikes! Beisel has put on a few pounds in the off-season and in a good way. All indications are that he's 'doing better' than he was last training camp. Rod Gardner hasn't looked bad when he's been in, but other than that, there have been no reports about the younger MLB's doing anything at all in camp.

Who needs Ty Law when you've got Eugene Wilson? Seriously, Wilson has been starting at corner with the first team in almost every practice. Wilson and Hobbs at Corner and Artrell Hawkins and either Sanders or Tebucky or Scott at the other safety. Evidently the Pats liked what they saw in Hawkins ability as a Safety last year to make this transition with Wilson. Don't forget, sooner or later you'll be adding Harrison to the mix.

Who takes over for Vinatieri? Neither kicker has done a lot to hurt their cause. Gramatica has been Automatica and Gostkowski has been very consistent as well. The difference being that Gramatica kicks lower and not as far while Gostkowski kicks high and long. The pre-season games will be interesting just to see these two kick.

Lastly, I'd like to address an issue that hasn't yet surfaced as an issue as far as I know. Tom Brady. Yes I know, he's Mr. Everybodysallamericangoodboy, but do you think the Pats might be asking a little too much of him this year? I'm just throwing this out there because it's something I've been wondering about for a few weeks. What are they asking of Mr Perfect (I mean that in a good way)? 1) go to the line of scrimmage with 4-5 plays, read the D and call the appropriate play. 2) Run the offense perhaps without Branch, and when he returns no real #2 reciever. 3) Throw predominantly to the TE's even though that's never been the focus of the Offense. 4) Drive down the field for a game winning TD instead of FG because we're not sure the rookie will make a 40 yarder to win it. 5) Sit in the meetings and be the co-offensive coordinator (unofficially of course). 6) We have NO depth at LB or DB so you might have to go out and win games 50-49 if we get one or two "Rodney Harrison" type injuries. (see Tedy Bruschi's wrist) Did I miss anything? Oh Yeah, smile and be happy - you are the team's unquestioned leader and the face of the franchise and don't forget that the fans expect another superbowl victory this year.

OK, if anyone can do it, it might be Brady but don't be too harsh on him if he waivers a little.

Another post shortly on my visit to camp!

Jones-ing

2006-07-12T18:44:00.000-04:00

We have reached the NFL's annual 4 week hibernation period where nothing happens. Everyone is on vacation, getting in the final rest before the dawn of the 06-07 season. I'll try not to put you into hibernation too.

The Pats have signed their 7th round pick, CB Willie Andrews. Who? Supposedly the kid set records at Baylor for kick returns and punt returns, so maybe he'll have an impact this season. We all know that the Pats are in dire need of a return game, especially those of you that read this blog faithfully last season. Yawn.

I feel compelled to respond on behalf of fellow Pats fans to the NFL 'experts' that have picked the Miami Dolphins as their pre-season favorites to win the AFC East. The fins have become the fashonable pick and I cannot understand why. How did Daunte Culpepper go from 6TD and 12 INT's and tearing 3 ligaments in his knee to the savior at QB for Miami? Thomas and Taylor are another year older and slower. Can you name one starting defensive back in the Miami secondary? Has Ronnie Brown ever had to carry the load for a full season? (not even in college).
So I say SORRY 'experts' you are wrong. The Fins are only good for a MAXIMUM of 10 wins and that won't even be close to a Patriots team with an easy schedule and a MINIMUM of 12 wins.

Ty Law. Don't hold your breath. The Pats are 15 million under the cap. 5 mill to sign the rooks, 4 mill to sign Branch, 1 mill for midseason acquisition. That leaves 5 mill for Ty Law and unless no none in the league has 5.1 million for him he won't be here.

Why haven't the Pats cut fat load Johnathan Sullivan for his arrest? Could it mean that Belichick is actually considering a switch back to the 4-3 D that I've been screaming for for 2 years now? Unless a major roster addition is made, Monty Beisel is starting next to Brushi in the middle. Yikes!

That's all I've got, unless the Pats draft someone in the supplemental entry draft tomorrow.

MAN AM I JONES-ING FOR FOOTBALL!!!!

Tell your friends you heard it here!

Mini Camp

2006-06-16T10:30:00.000-04:00

There were quite a few happenings at this weeks minicamp, but before I delve into that I'd like to cover a topic I missed on my last post. The trade of Bethel Johnson for Johnathatn Sullivan. Once again, the Pats have made a brilliant move. By all indications, Johnson probably would have been cut this year anyway. In return for nothing then, they got former #6 overall pick Sullivan who played at Georgia and was a teammate of Seymours. While all he's done is EAT since he was drafted (he hasn't produced much at all on the field and has no work ethic) he has the size and ability to be very good in the Pats' system. In this week's minicamp Sullivan actually showed pretty good effort and the team was able to put together D-line with FOUR first round picks. (Seymour #6pick Sullivan #6 pick Warren #13pick Wilfork #21pick) I'm not saying that Sullivan is the next coming of Seymour, but the trend in the NFL is to play a nickel package (4 Dline, 2 LB and 5 DB's) and putting those four on the line is formiddable. Not to mention the likes of Jarvis Green and Marquise Hill. Even if Sullivan can just be a back up to Wilfork, enabling Wilfork to get off the field for 12 or 15 plays, he will be worth it because Wilfork will be that much more effective.

On to the minicamp and the events that occurred:

-As predicted by ALL, Branch was an "unexcused absence".

-Brady was the unquestioned leader on the field, demanding 100% from everyone at all times.

-Ellis Hobbs started taking on some leadership in the secondary which lacked Harrison AND Wilson. At one point Hobbs told veteran Eric Warfield to, "make the @#$%ing play or get the #&%@ off my field" Good for him.

-Gostkowski demonstrated a powerful and accurate leg. His biggest play was when Belichick lined him up for a 40 yarder and told the whole team practice is over if the kid makes the kick. He did and the team went nuts.

-Corey Dillon has actually taken Maroney under his wing and shoewn him the ropes. While he's not ready to acceed the position to Maroney, it is a good sign that he's got the right attitude - so far.

-The 'star' of minicamp was Ben Watson. Evidently he's going to get a lot of catches this season, as he was te primary receiver on many offensive plays. He lined up at TE, WR and H Back, ran great routes and dropped NONE.

-Not much was said about 2nd rounder Chad Jackson, but there was a quiet excitement in the way he was spoken about. He's like a BIG Deion Branch as far as cuts and hands, AND he is faster down the field than Branch. I'm trying not to get too carried away about him.

-When you see Reche Caldwell, you're going to think he's David Givens. Same size, build, NUMBER, and skin tone. Let's hope he produces like Givens.

Hope I didn't miss anything....

Next on the Pats' list should be adding some veteran depth, hopefully in the form of Ty Law and another Linebacker.

On a side note, my 'friend' of a friend on the inside has revealed to me that Belichick and Pioli are more excited about this year's draft class than any of the previous 6 they've had together. Watch the rookies!!!

Passing Fancy

2006-06-07T11:31:00.000-04:00

The Patriots are having there annual, non-mandatory passing camp this week leading up to this weekends' mandatory training camp. Although the passing camp is strictly voluntary, just about every Pat is there with one notable excepion - Deion Branch. Should I call him Seymour Jr? Branch, who as far as I know willingly signed his rookie contract without a gun to his head, is unhappy with his contract - ala Seymour last season. Boo Hoo. In the meantime, Brady gets to throw more balls to newcomers Jackson and Caldwell. The rumors are starting that Branch is prepared to skip the madatory camp this weekend as well, hoping that it will motivate the Pats to do a new contract before this season. Good luck with that one.

Speaking of rumors, Ty Law supposedly has narrowed his search to the Pats or Cardinals. As I've stated before, he's nuts not to sign with the Pats even if it's a one year deal. Another rumor connected with the Pats that might effect Branch is that old friend David Patten is going to be cut by Washington because of his high price and average performance. If Branch wants to sit out, the return of Patten could help to soften the blow, but I am by no means implying that Patten is as good as Branch.

Tom Brady played in a foursome with George Bush the Senior and Bill Clinton - not sure who the fourth was, but I would have been willing to spend my life savings to have been that guy. If any of you doubted my premise a year ago that Brady has political aspirations, there's some hard evidence for you. I just hope he stays in MA to be OUR Senator rather than CA's.

As for this week's passing camp, I'm not sure that the media - or anyone has had any access to it. I've been searching high and low for something, anything on how the new guys are doing. Hopefully we'll hear more on this weekend's camp.

Pass it on....tell your friends you heard it here!

Thanks for the Support....

2006-05-17T11:21:00.000-04:00

This blog has been 'picked up' by Fox Sports, Scouts Inc and MSN to be on their Patriots Insider website. I don't think it will effect you, except that (hopefully) there will be more comments on my posts. There also may be a small change in the format, but I'm still working on that. Thanks for reading, I'll continue to give you all of got!

On Rookie Camp and Maroney...

2006-05-14T14:47:00.000-04:00

Saturday observations from Mike Reiss of the Globe:

* Receiver Chad Jackson made a positive first impression, catching everything thrown his way and making a few difficult grabs on high-thrown balls and one over the middle. Forced to pick one player who stood out from this practice, the answer would be Jackson.
* Players wore shorts, jerseys (no pads) and helmets for the indoor practice.
* There was a lot of work on pass-catching and running back Laurence Maroney and tight end David Thomas were consistent in hauling in throws from Corey Bramlet (the only QB in camp). Thomas made one very nice grab on a long crossing route, and Maroney outran outside linebacker Jeremy Mincey to snare a long touchdown toss.
* Tight end Garrett Mills wasn’t as consistent, with a few tough passes bouncing off his hands.
* Kicker Steve Gostkowski showed solid leg strength while booting kickoffs. He consistently was kicking the ball from one end zone to the other end zone in the 80-yard practice bubble.
* It was difficult to gauge the speed of all the players, but Maroney, Jackson and Thomas all gained separation when needed, and looked the part. Maroney looks fast.

AND Reiss' Sunday observations:

* Head coach Bill Belichick spent some early time with the outside linebackers -- Jeremy Mincey and Pierre Woods -- giving them one-on-one instruction as the team was broken into drills specific by position.
* Players wore shorts, jerseys and helmets (no pads).
* With heavy rains in the area, the workout was held inside at the Dana Farber Fieldhouse.
* Laurence Maroney, Chad Jackson and David Thomas, the team’s top three draft picks, continue to snare most every catchable ball thrown their way. Jackson, specifically, seems to catch balls away from his body with fine form.
* Defensive back Vernell Brown (free agent) intercepted a pass thrown late and behind Chad Jackson in passing drills. Cornerback Willie Andrews (7th round) had a nice pass breakup on Jackson along the sideline, closing fast as the ball was thrown a bit late.
* Tight ends David Thomas and Garrett Mills worked on long snapping in a punt drill. Thomas seemed a bit more polished with the skill. Mills had a nice catch across the middle in passing drills later in the practice, as the ball arrived as he cut.
* Dan Stevenson, the sixth-round pick who primarily played right guard at Notre Dame, got some work in at center.
* Corey Bramlet remains the lone quarterback in camp.
* Rookie free agent receiver Matt Shelton had a few drops in positional work. Fellow rookie free agent Erik Davis had one drop, but also made some nice catches.

The Felger article is the one that excites me the most:
http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=139214

And lastly, Laurence Maroney who is wearing #39. I was told to check him out on a website called youtube, some guy put together a Maroney video.
Watch it. If you can't spend the entire 4 minutes, make sure you at least fast forward to 1:25 and watch that play but most iportantly, watch the play at 2:20. Speed, Vision, WOW!!! (The guy that put it together set it to some movie music, and it gives you goose bumps when you watch the 2:20 highlite because the music all kicks in - nice!)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwBbBY0tf6E&search=new%20england%20patriots

Tell your friends you heard it here!

2006 Draft - Day Two (finally)

2006-05-14T14:18:00.000-04:00

As you know, I try to do my best not to let my emotions get the best of me and when I write this blog, I try to be as objective as possible. However, the more I read about the players the Pats have collected from this years' draft, I can't help but get excited about them.

Round 4 Garrett Mills, TE from Tulsa
Why in the world would the Pats take yet another TE after selecting a TE in round 3 when they really don't need a TE? Here's all you need to know to understand why: http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/sportsNews/view.bg?articleid=129061

Round 4 Stephen Gostkowski K, Memphis
The numbers on Gostkowski are impressive. 22-25 field goals including all 10 attempted from over 40 yds. 35 for 35 on extra points in his career and his kickoffs consistantly go for touchbacks. Reading about him kicking this weekend at Pats Rookie Camp, he is still consistantly kicking for touchbacks, and on a number of occassions his kickoffs are bouncing off the ceiling of the indoor practice facility. The only question will be how he does under pressure.

Round 5 Ryan O'Callaghan T, California
A beast of a man at 6'7 344, he slipped this far due to injury concerns. He might turn out to be the next Patriots 5th round steal at O-Line (Dan Koppen). Here's what you need to know: Career Notes: Started 35 games...Despite four surgical procedures on his shoulders, two concussions and two hand fractures, Ryan has missed only one game due to injuries during his career.

Round 6 Jeremy Mincey DE, Florida
The Florida connection with Urban Meyer continues with Mincey, who projects to an outside line backer in the Patriots' scheme. 2005 SEASON: All-Southeastern Conference second-team choice by the league's coaches and Associated Press...Served as team captain and was a member of the Florida Leadership Committee in 2005...Started all year at weak-side defensive end...Ranked fourth on the team with 62 tackles.

Round 6 Dan Stevenson G, Notre Dame
Charlie Weis calls this guy the next Joe Andruzzi. That's not a bad thing to say about a 6th round pick.

Round 6 LeKevin Smith NT, Nebraska
If you run into him, don't call him LeKevin, it's La-Kee-vin. Maybe Mr Smith would be more appropriate. CAREER NOTES: Recorded 36 tackles behind the line of scrimmage, the seventh-best career total in school history. Selected all Big 12 Academic Honor roll.

Round 7 Willie Andrews S, Baylor
Was a kick/punt returner in college. Has an outside shot to make the team, and only if he produces big time in the kicking game.

The scoop on the 15 undrafted rookies that are in camp this weekend:
- Corey Mays, a 6-foot-1, 234-pound linebacker, and Matt Shelton, a 6-foot, 172-pound wide receiver - played under former Patriots offensive coordinator Charlie Weiss at Notre Dame.
Also signed were:
Remi Ayodele, 6-2, 300-pound nose tackle, Oklahoma;
Brian Barthelmes, 6-6, 288-pound center, Virginia;
Corey Bramlet, 6-4, 219-pound quarterback, Wyoming;
Vernell Brown, 5-8, 165-pound cornerback, Florida;
Erik Davis, 6-2, 192-pound wide receiver, Vanderbilt;
Kader Drame, 6-5, 290-pound defensive end, Syracuse;
Randy Hand, 6-6, 305-pound tackle, Florida;
Jarvia Herring, 5-11, 205-pound safety, Florida;
Keon Jackson, 5-11, 206-pound safety, Toledo;
Freddie Roach, 6-2, 248-pound linebacker, Alabama;
Sam Smith, 6-0, 200-pound safety, Delaware State;
Gemara Williams, 5-8, 180-pound cornerback, Buffalo;
Pierre Woods, 6-5, 249-pound linebacker, Michigan

I watch a LOT of Michigan games and I'm NOT excited abou Pierre Woods.
I DO like Freddie Roach a whole lot. He was extremely productive in college with one of the best Defenses in the country. Here's the article:
http://patriots.bostonherald.com/patriots/view.bg?articleid=139228

Day 1 of the 2006 NFL Draft

2006-04-29T22:10:00.000-04:00

What?
Wow!
Why?

That pretty much sums up the first round for me. If I had told you yesterday that the Pats were going to draft a RB, WR and TE in the first 3 rounds of the draft you'd have thought I was on drugs. Well, that's exactly what they did and I am SHOCKED. You'd have thought that the need for Linebackers and Cornerbacks would have some impact on how they drafted. Not Bill and Scott. Value, Value and more Value. Here are the picks:

Laurence Moroney (what?)
Running back from The Minnesota Golden Gofers.
600+ carries over 3 seasons, only 4 fumbles - no turnovers. Here's what you need to know: http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/rb/laurencemaroney.html

Chad Jackson (Wow!)
Wide Receiver from The Florida Gators
2005 stats: 88 catches 900 yds and 9TD's
HE RUNS A 4.32 40 yd DASH! (That's nearly olympic speed)
The low down: http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/wr/chadjackson.html

David Thomas (why?)
Thight End from The Texas Longnorns
No doubt this kid is a football player, 10 catches from Vince Young in the Rose Bowl victory, but why do the Pats need another TE? NFL Network explained that teams realize that Graham is the blocker and Watson is the reciever, so they rotate coverage to Watson. Thomas is yet another receiving threat that should leave Watson more open. Ummm, OK.
http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/scoutingreports/te/davidthomas.html

More to come, for vidoe highlights visit:

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5470428

Seymour, Four More

2006-04-13T12:40:00.000-04:00

By now we've all heard that Seymour got a four year deal in the vicinity of $32 million dollars with as much as $20 million gauranteed. Yippee.
Seymour money will be around for a while and as far as I'm concerned he has a LOT to live up to over the next four years. I don't want to hear any more bitching and moaning about what he's making, no more holdouts, and no more knee "injuries" keeping him off the practice fields. He is and should now act like the unquestioned leader of the Defense, the counterpart to Tom Brady. Maybe he should start hanging out with Brady so he can learn some leadership. Willie Mac is gone and the throne is #93's for the taking. I don't think it's asking too much for him to start saying and doing the right things the way Brady does. Only it's sad that they had to give him a fortune to make him do it. I hope he's happy and I hope he lives up to the contract because I for one will not let him off the hook if he slacks off.

It's ironic, because if you asked most Pats fans a year ago who would be most likely to leave the Pats, Vinatieri, MacGinest or Seymour? The majority would have said Seymour. Funny how times change in the NFL.