Another Big But

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.