For those of you (both of you) that simply can't get enough Patriots report, my apologies. Things have been hectic with the holidays and they are cracking down on internet use at work, so I haven't had much of an opportunity to post.
As bad as Tom Brady was in Kansas City, they were in contention and had one or two plays gone differently they could have won. Of course, that's what most Patriots opponents have been saying over the last two years, so that's not a good sign. What's also not a good sign is the fact the the Pats are 2-5 vs teams with a winning record. And what of the play calling vs the Chiefs! Charlie, this is my official apology to you for the last few years of hating your play calling as well as calling you Fat Weis. The Patriots elementary, conservative and predictable play calling was in full display last week. Here's how it goes: Besides during two minute offense, 85% of the time if they ran on 1st down they passed on 2nd down and if they passed on 1st down they ran on 2nd down. Genius. In addition to having no running game, Brady had 4 picks but his worst throws weren't even the interceptions. Do you remember a wide open Ben Watson in the endzone being overthrown by 10 yards? I'd still take him over any QB in the league and the Jets are forewarned. Brady's career best games have come following his 3 and 4 INT games. If you've got Tom on your fantasy team be sure to start him this week, unless you're playing against me.
Should we stop using the injuries as an excuse for this team? Wasn't the Patriots mantra during the 'dynasty' run of superbowls that they played right through injuries?
In '03 they started 42 different guys, went 14-2 and won the SB.
In '04 they started 40 different guys, went 14-2 and won the SB.
In '05 they've started 43 different players and are 6-5.
It has been suggested that poor coaching and poor play on the players part are the cause of the mediocre record. Undoubtably, Belichick misses Weis and Crennel. It's not that he couldn't run the O or the D, but it's just too much to ask for him to do BOTH. I don't think he has time to sleep. Another HUGE reason for the poor record is the horrible off-season of Pioli. We've been over this and I'm not going down that road again. Even though the number of starters is similar to '02 & '04, I think that it's which players they have lost to injury that are important. Light, Dillon, Faulk, Graham, Watson, Koppen, Brown, Givens on O. The whole damn secondary on D, Seymour, Green, Bruschi, and the Johnson retirement which they don't count in games lost to injury.
Speaking of injuries:
Brady - probable
Ashworth, Dillon, Faulk, Givens, Graham, Johnson, McGinest, Pass, Sanders, Stone all QUESTIONABLE.
Light - doubtful. There are rumors that he is done for the year.
The fact that Mike Cloud was released leads me to believe that Dillon and or Faulk will be playing this week v. the Jets.
In this weeks ESPN power rankings the Pats have slipped to 15. How bad is that? The Vikings are 16.
If you feel the way I do about Tom Brady, you may go to NFL.com and vote for him to make the pro-bowl. Even though he leads the league in several categories, he is 4th in AFC voting behind Manning, Palmer and Roethlesberger. Roethlesberger! Are you F*@#ing kidding me, 14 freakin passes a game! I could see if Brady was battling Brees, but this is rediculous.
My best efforts will be made to try to post as often as I can, so check back soon.
p.s. Good riddance to Joe Thornton, the Drew Bledsoe of the Bruins.
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3 comments:
I think one of the biggest issues with the injuries, like you pointed out, is *who* is injured. When Ty Law was out, Rodney was still back there making sure the secondary was together, and was calling out adjustments on the field. Obviously, that's not the case this season, and I think that alone is a *huge* reason why other QBs salivate at the thought of the Pats secondary.
I will dress Brady as I do every week :-)
And yes, good riddance to Joe, he was a nice guy but he was a floater, plain and simple. But you can read all about that over at my Bruins Blog, can't you?
I think Cloud was re-signed again this morning.
This blog entry was so good, they had to post it twice! :)
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