UG - LY

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...

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

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....

"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

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

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

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

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

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

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!