Patriots Win, However.....

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.

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)

TOP TEN; Odds and Ends

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.

Catching Up, TOP TEN

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.

Notes, The Bengals game

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.