TEST

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.