Patriots Nation

Moss's Homecoming

2008-12-15T11:49:00.005-05:00

12.15.2008

Moss, Jordan's Homecoming
Ellis Hobbs returns 95-yard kick for TD as Pats rout Raiders 49-26
By: Boston Sports SID

The Patriots run of dominance started against the Raiders seven years ago – come January – with the infamous “Tuck Rule” game, that saw the Pats defeat Oakland 16-13 in overtime to advance to the AFC Championship game. Since that fateful day in January, 2002, these two franchises have gone in polar opposites.

This was the game Randy Moss was waiting for. There is no doubt he wanted to stick in to his former team as he caught two touchdown passes from Matt Cassel in the Patriots 49-26 victory against the Oakland Raiders.

When Moss left the hell hole that has become Oakland, everyone – including most football expects – believed the talented receiver had lost a step or two. But 32 touchdown catches later, Moss proved all the doubters wrong and has been an integral member of the Pats offense since losing Tom Brady at the beginning of the year. The Patriots and Head Coach Bill Belichick even named Moss a team captain before the year began and has done nothing but confirm he deserves the title. Against his former team, Moss caught five passes for 67 yards including his two touchdowns.

You know who has also quieted the critics? Matt Cassel and he did it yet again. Cassel, who was drafted by Oakland A’s General Manger, Billy Beane, in the 2004 MLB Draft, was coming off one of the more emotional week he has ever had in his football career. After losing his father, Greg Cassel, last Monday, and joining the team in San Jose on Friday, Cassel honored his late father by completing 18 of 30 passes for 218 yards including four touchdowns.

At the start of the game, Oakland won the toss and elected to receive but a brief hesitation by Justin Miller ended with him being wrapped up by Kelley Washington and downed inside his own 10. Not even two minutes into the game, the Patriots found themselves with the ball at Oakland’s 40 after a weak punt by Shane Lechler. With short field position to start their first possession of the game, Cassel and Old Reliable (Kevin Faulk) drove the Pats 60 yards downfield for the first seven points of the game.

The Raiders were the little brother who wanted to always play with the big boys but when they let him join, he always went crying back to the house. Oakland’s first, first down in the game came nearly 13 minutes into the contest – after the Patriots had all ready put up 14 point points. The game was essentially over when Lechler’s second punt of the game, came from his own 17-yard-line and landed out of bounds 12-yards a head of him and the Patriots knew it.

Once up by 21 following Sammy Morris’s 29-yard touchdown run, it was obvious New England started to grow complacent. They let Russell drive the Raiders 66-yards down the field before dumping off a four-yard pass to Johnnie Lee Higgins that ended up going for 25 yards and the touchdown. After Cassel got those seven points back with a 13-yard pass to Wes Welker, Justin Miller made the Pats special team unit look like a high school team running back a kick-return for 91-yards.

One member of the Patriots who does not like to be upstaged is Ellis Hobbs. Unknown to many, Hobbs is, by far, one of the more cocky Patriots. When he saw Miller running into the endzone for the score on the last possession, one had to wonder what was going through his head while standing at his own 15-yard line waiting for Sebastian Janikowski. After catching the ball, the cornerback, who doubles on kick-returns, darted up field, dancing and evading would-be tacklers. Once he reached mid-field there was only one person standing between him and the vast, wide-open endzone – the kicker.

Hobbs had already been taken down once by a kicker this year against the Jets and was mocked and harassed by teammates. He was not going to let that happen for the second time in a season. With a last-ditch effort, Janikowski attempted to knock Hobbs out along the far sideline but the 5’10” defensive back tap-danced down the Patriots sideline en-route to a 95-yard run-back. Hobbs ran back three returns for 126 total yards, averaging 42-yards. Nobody upstages Michael Holley’s boy and gets away with it.

The Patriots 14th game of the year saw the return of defensive end, Ty Warren and nose tackle, Vince Wilfork. While Warren sat out last week’s game against the Seahawks with an injured groin, Wilfork left the game after injuring his shoulder in the first half. Apparently the shoulder injury was not too serious as Wilfork was back on the field this week and recorded two tackles and one assist. But Warren was not that fortunate as he split time with defensive end Mike Wright, who strip-sacked Russell for a 16-yard loss.

Wright’s sack was not the only player to drop Russell in the game. Veteran linebacker, Mike Vrabel came off the end, early in the contest, knocked the ball out of the Raiders quarterback’s hand, for an eight-yard loss. In both situations, the Raiders recovered the fumbled but ended up having to punt the ball back to the Patriots.

Cassel was able to put the traumatic events of the past week behind him for a few hours on Sunday afternoon to keep the Pats in the hunt for the playoffs after the Jets and Dolphins won earlier in the day. He will hop on a plane and fly down to the Los Angeles suburb of Northridge to attend the funeral with his mother, brothers, Jack and Justin and sister, Amanda before rejoining the team on Wednesday.

Notes: Rookie linebacker out of Tennessee, Jerod Mayo, continues his campaign for the NFL’s Defensive Rookie of the Year with a team high eight tackles and three assists against Oakland. Mayo leads the team this season with 91 solo tackles and 114 total tackles (23 assists). Kevin Faulk caught six passes from Cassel for 66 yards while rushed for 45 yards on six carries, a total of 111 yards. Sammy Morris led the team in rushing yards with 117 on 14 attempts, nearly a first down a carry (8.4 yards) while LaMont Jordan was just behind him with 97 yards on 12 attempts, 8.1 yards a carry.

-- BOSTON SPORTS SID

Ugly Win, Ugly Game

2008-12-07T21:33:00.002-05:00

12.7.2008 9:35PM

Win Feels Like a Loss
Patriots squeak by Seahawks, 24-21; lose Bruschi in process
By: Boston Sports SID

Come Tuesday morning there will be a big present in Brandon Meriweather’s locker with a “Thank you” card signed by cornerback Jonathan Wilhite. Meriweather’s strip sack of Seattle Seahawk’s quarterback Seneca Wallace with less than two minutes to play in the game, gave the Patriots the 24-21 victory in Seattle. Matched with a New York Jets 24-14 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, the three point win keeps the Pats in the playoff hunt for one more week.

New England had not led in Sunday’s game against the Seahawks, until Matt Cassel connected with Wes Welker for the two-point conversion following Sammy Morris’s one-yard touchdown run to give the Pats the 24-21 lead. The Patriots looked as if they were going to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat but if there is still time on the clock then no lead is safe for the 2008 Patriots defense. On second and 10, it appeared as the Pats had Wallace trapped in the backfield but the Seattle QB was able to scramble out of the pocket for a 15-yard gain. Once again Wilhite as at fault.

As the Seahawks QB scrambled away from Patriot defenders, Wallace ran right past a the Pats version of Donnie Fletcher before being tackled by safety Lewis Sanders. But coming back from the two-minute warning, Meriweather made up for the blown tackle by sprinting un-abated into back-field and sacked Wallace leading to a fumble. Defensive end, Richard Seymour recovered the fumble and that was all she wrote for the Seahawks.

The game might have been a win in the left-hand column of the standings but it was far from a win. With Rodney Harrison and Adalius Thomas out for the season and Ty Warren day-to-day, the Pats had to resort to two old faces. They brought Rosevelt Colvin, whom they had cut in training camp, then the team lured Junior Seau out of semi-retirement. A move reminiscent to when the Yankees brought Roger Clemens out retirement in 2007.

To add insult to injury, early in the first half, linebacker and captain of the defense, Tedy Bruschi, appeared to injure his left knee making a tackle on Seahawk running back Maurice Morris early in the first half. Although was able to get up and limp off the field, Bruschi walked down the tunnel to the Patriots locker room and did not return to the game.

Later on the same drive, the other longtime Patriots linebacker, Mike Vrabel, was slow to get up from the Qwest Field turf. Vrabel spent a few minutes laying on his back but popped up and walked off the field under his own power. After being examined by the training staff on the sideline, the 33-year-old linebacker was jumping around on the sideline anxious to get back out onto the field. It appeared as if Vrabel got hit on the helmet while making a tackle on Seattle’s Morris. Also it should be noted that Vince Wilfork left the game with a reported shoulder injury and was replaced by LeKevin Smith.

As the season continues, the defense is dropping like flies. The Patriots are right now at the “no news is good new” time of the season. Very similar to the predicament the Red Sox faced in 2006. It seemed to be whenever a press release came out it was just to tell you the name of the next player to be put on the disabled list. Come to think of it, the 2008 Patriots are following a similar path of the 2006 Sox.

Not too many fans are thrilled to see this edition of the defense but one person who was happy was old friend Deion Branch. The former Super Bowl MVP, caught two touchdown passes and accumulated 88 yards on four catches against his former team including faking out Grandpa (Seau) for a 63-yard play on first and 20 in the third.

After Stephen Gostkowski could not cradle a Josh Wilson fumble on the kick-off following a 42-yard field goal by the Patriots kicker, Will Herring recovered the ball at the Seattle 38-yard line. With good field position, the Seahawks were poised to go back on the offensive attack. But a 10-yard holding penalty brought Seattle back to their own 28. The Patriots flushed Wallace out of the pocket and looked as if they were going drop the quarterback for another 10-yard loss but Branch came back and Wallace as able to complete a 10-yard pass. Branch skipped, jumped, weaved and danced out of the way of the defense before being brought down by Sanders inside the 10-yard line.

It was an ugly win. An ugly game all together. Nothing good can be taken from this win. If they want to be one of the six teams playing in January, they will have to play a whole lot better than what they showed on Sunday. And they have not done anything to make people believe they can step up their game against real playoff contenders. Let’s hope I am wrong here.

-- Boston Sports SID

Not Going Anywhere

2008-11-27T01:24:00.011-05:00

11.27.2008 1:37AM

To Trade Brady, or Not To Trade Brady
Hall of Fame QB Warren Moon, ESPN commentators think Pats should trade Brady
Written by: Boston Sports SID

Before reading this blog please take a minute to partake in brief game of Jeopardy. Please answer in the form of a question: (The answer will be at the end of the post.)
The single, stupid, idiotic, dumbest idea ever proposed by a national media conglomerate.

Bill Belichick has made bold moves in the past, such as trading Drew Bledsoe, releasing Lawyer Milloy as well as letting Ty Law, Adam Vinatieri and Asante Samuel walk when they reached their free agent years. But there is one thing that Belichick does not do. He does not make moves based on whim. Every decision the Patriots make is carefully calculated and bounced off other members of the Patriots staff to assure himself it is what is best for the football team. So to think Belichick would even consider the option of trading Tom Brady, as a big time media conglomerate brought up, is ridiculous.

Many national football commentators and fans outside New England will point to Bledsoe’s week two injury against the Jets in 2001 is what led to the emergence of Brady. Now after Brady went down with his ACL tear in week one, this might be the emergence of Matt Cassel?

Well here is the flaw in their argument. How did the Patriots do with Bledsoe at quarterback? They made it to the Super Bowl in 1996-97 against the Green Bay Packers and lost. With the Brady, the Pats became the first dynasty of the new millennium winning three championships in four years and were minutes away from winning their fourth last year. Plus Bledsoe was at the tail end of his career whereas Brady is still in the prime of his and at least five years left in his career.

To think that Belichick is going change his M.O. just so he can sooth his ego, as some commentators think, is absolutely absurd. Belichick is a CEO and like any CEO of a highly successful multi-national, million dollar corporation, he is going to do what is best for the company. Does he think he can win without Brady? Probably but does that mean he is going to drop the guy who brought him three championship rings and has potential for more?

Yes Brady is coming off a nasty ACL injury but people are making it sound like he contracted gangrene and had his left leg amputated. As of today, there has been a recent report from the quarterback himself telling Boston’s ABC affiliate on Tuesday, he is doing well in his recovery from surgery as well as a staph infection. The television station also noted that Brady appeared to be walking without a limp. This is all fans and media have to go because we know the Patriots treat injuries like state secrets. (Maybe the CIA should hire Belichick for their covert operations?)

What is getting the fans and commentators worked up, is the uncertainty of the future and the question of where is Brady going to be in eight months. But you know what? Brady does not have report to training camp until the end of July. It is not like July is going to come tomorrow. It is eight months away. Eight months is a long time in the sporting world. Eight months is two months short of many internships. Eight months is a baseball season that includes both Spring Training and the post-season. Many things can and will happen between now and the time Brady reports to camp. The future is always uncertain. When it is certain, people tend to call it the past.

Things always have a way of working out. Remember back to Spring Training 2006? The Red Sox had seven starters on their roster heading into Spring Training and they figured seven was too much so they traded Bronson Arroyo to Cincinnati for what they thought was young power hitter in Wily Mo Pena. Well as the season progressed and Matt Clement landed on the disabled list, Josh Beckett was having a hard time adjusting to the American League and David Wells was David Wells. They ended up finishing the season in third place behind the Yankees and Blue Jays with four-A guys making the starts in August and September. The Sox could have definitely used Arroyo at the tail end of 2006. But they learned that you can never have enough pitching because even if you have 20 starting pitchers in spring training, things always have a way of working out.

It is no different than what the Patriots are going through right now. What we need right now is a Rosevelt Colvin “calm down.” The Pats will have bigger questions in the off-season, mainly improving the secondary by stacking the deck with the defensive backs as well as re-signing nose tackle Vince Wilfork. The quarterback comes in third when it comes to the needs of the team.

Eight months is along way away and things have ways of working themselves out.

-- BOSTON SPORTS SID

ANSWER TO THE JEOPARDY QUESTION is:
Should the Patriots trade star quarterback Tom Brady?

Contenders v. Pretenders

2008-11-23T22:23:00.009-05:00

11.23.2008 10:50:30pm

"Well Done Is Better Than Well Said"
Pats show they are contenders, exploit pretenders
Written By: Boston Sports SID

In a must-win game for both teams to keep their playoff hopes alive, the Patriots proved they are the contenders and the Miami Dolphins are the pretenders in a 48-28 victory Sunday afternoon. Hats off to the Dolphins, after finishing the season last year at 1-15, they had a marvelous 2008 season but are no where near the caliber of the Pats or Jets.

Joey Porter just does not know when to shut his yap. He got away with calling out the Patriots, then, inexperienced quarterback in Week Three so he thought he would run his mouth again before Week 12’s re-match in Miami. Unfortunately, Porter was not so lucky this time.

Late in the fourth quarter when the game was almost sign, sealed and delivered, Porter committed a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. Matched with another Miami penalty on the play, it culminated with a BenJarvus Green-Ellis two-yard touchdown run to put the Pats up by 20 and really seal the deal. Thanks to Porter’s actions, the Patriots returned the favor of spanking the Dolphins at home in southeast Florida.

Not to long before that play after Stephen Gostkowski put the Pats up two scores with a 30-yard field goal, Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder went after offensive lineman Matt Light. After Light got in a few punches of his own, both he and Crowder were ejected and will be heavily fined or, worst case scenario, suspended.

This game just goes to show you that even though Miami has improved from last year, they are a young and undisciplined team. When they play teams such as the Patriots, Colts, Jets or any team who is rigorously disciplined, their fatal flaws are going to show. Or maybe it can be deduced that Porter is a cancer to any team he is on.

The guy is still running his mouth about how the Steelers should have been the dynasty of the 21^st Century because the Patriots cheated. Sounds like the sour grapes talking. Now this the reason the media relations staff likes to give players and coaches a 10 minute “cool down” time post-game, to prevent stuff like this. Hey Porter: It was seven years ago. Get over it. The day Joey Porter retires is the day the NFL will be better.

But you know who will not be retiring soon, Cassel. No longer an inexperienced quarterback, Cassel continues to impress and is sure to command a high price tag come free agency. You know that $50 million for four year price tag, Scott Boras is commanding for Jason Varitek? Well Cassel deserves that money more than the former Sox catcher catcher.

As devastating as last week’s loss to the Jets was, remember it Cassel who, in Brady-like fashion, drove the Patriots down-field and threw to Randy Moss, who made an extraordinary catch, to send the game to OT. Against the Jets, Cassel had his best game of the year, completing 30 of his 51 passing attempts for 400-yards including three touchdowns. It was hard to imagine that he could top last week’s performance this week. But it is exactly what he did.

The one time back up quarterback can but something on his resume that the legendary Tom Brady can not. For the second consecutive game, Cassel threw for over 400-yards including throwing three touchdowns one of his favorite targets, Randy Moss. Completing 30 of his 43 attempts, Cassel averaged nearly a first down every time (9.7) while finishing with 415 passing yards overall and a 114.0 passer rating. On the receiving end, Moss also had his best game of the season. He caught eight balls for 125 yards with his longest being a 29-yard reception for one of his three touchdowns in the second quarter.

Through all the trash-talking thrown the Patriots way this past week, the Pats showed once again that they do all their talking on the field because “well done is better than well said.” They could care less what you say in the week leading up to the game. All that matters is how the team plays for 60 minutes on Sunday.

-- BOSTON SPORTS SID

Never judge a book by its cover

2008-11-13T11:03:00.011-05:00

11.13.08 11:10PM

Things are never as they appear to be
Unnamed Jets player cowardly calls out Pats defense

A member of the New York Jets offensive unit told New York Post columnist Mark Cannizzaro, in today’s newspaper, the Patriots defense was “vulnerable.” In addition to saying they were vulnerable, he added the Pats were “slow and old.” The player did not want to go on the record because he was afraid of giving New England bulletin board material.

Now I will agree the Patriots are vulnerable in the defensive secondary but some of the other things I have been hearing about the Patriots defense is malarkey and this takes the cake. Once I heard the nonsense the same nonsense, referred to by the national commentators about the Pats defense, come out of a Jets player’s mouth, I knew I had to comment.

First off, this is stupid on the Jets player's part. Just because you did not put a name to the comment does not mean it is not going be going on the Patriots locker room bulletin board? Where is that logic? The Pats will use any verbal threat against them no matter who said. All you did Mr. Anonymous Jet was throw your entire team under the bus because the Patriots will just go for the jugular and step on the throats of the entire Jets team than go after one play like they did to Anthony Smith of Pittsburgh last year.

And secondly, the myth of the Patriots defense is old is nothing more than a fallacy. Many national commentators and fans like to believe this myth because for the last five years, the five corps members of the Patriot defense have played together for the last five straight years. But in reality does that make the defense older? Like Jamie Hyneman, from the TV show Mythbusters, I was set out to dispel the notion New England was an aging defense and succeeded.

Much like the Red Sox have been doing recently of incorporating the younger guys with the veterans, the Patriots patented the trend. They started on the defensive line because every defense starts with the front line. If there are holes, the size a tractor trailer can pass through in the front line, then the opposition’s artillery will easily run right through. In 2001 Bill Belichick drafted a young 22-year old defensive end out of a Georgia, Richard Seymour and inserted him into a line of veterans. Two years later, Belichick did the same with 2003 first round pick, Ty Warren and the next year with Vince Wilfork. Now here we are five years later, with the same front three still all under the age of 30.

Sure Tedy Bruschi and Mike Vrabel are getting up there in age but this past off-season Belichick made it a point to get young on defense. With the 10^th overall pick in this year’s draft, Patriots selected the 22-year-old out of Tennessee, Jerod Mayo, who is currently leading the team in tackles through nine games. In one sense the Patriots are slow; they are slowly incorporating youth with the veterans. It is the only way to re-build their franchise without looking like they are re-building

It is the M.O. of a championship team. They are constantly rebuilding their system like at the college level. Did the Red Sox look old this past year? Yes. They had an aging and diminishing catcher, third baseman and designated hitter that are the face of the franchise. But after incorporating Jonathan Papelbon, Jon Lester, Dustin Pedroia, Jacoby Ellsbury, Justin Masterson and Jed Lowrie with the good group of veterans each of the last four years, they have two World Championships to show for it. Belichick is no different.

When it comes to football, Belichick’s heartless. He knows there is no room for loyalties when winning is at stake. It is a cruel "what have you done for me lately" business. He released Lawyer Milloy, a player who Belichick liked so much, back before the season in 2003 when he thought the safety no longer could help the team. He let Ty Law, now with the hated Jets, and Willie McGinnest walk when their skills were diminishing. And every time he let a player go, either on defense, offense or special teams, more times than not, Belichick has made the right move.

It may appear to the casual football fan the Patriots are getting older on the defensive side of the ball but you have too look a little closer and go deep into the endzone to see the truth. The average age of the Patriots defense, at 27.6 years of age, is not just younger than the offense (28.1) but they are younger than the Jets defense (27.7) on the other side of the field. So I sign off once again digging through the memory bank to the days of elementary school to “never judge a book by its cover” because on the inside things are not always as they appear to be on the outside.

Bill has Bills number

2008-11-09T23:15:00.009-05:00

11.9.08 11:30PM

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Pats win another case against Bills
Patriots return to action on short week Thursday night v. Jets
BRIEF: Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker and rookie running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis were on top of their games as the Pats defeated AFC East Division foe the Buffalo Bills 20-10 for 10^th time since 2003 to put New England in a tie for first with the Jets in the division.

It was a game of firsts.

Wes Welker became the first wide receiver to catch at least six passes in his team’s first nine games of the season. The Pats wide out caught 10 of Matt Cassel’s 23 completions – including stealing a 21-yard completion in the first half – for 107 total yards.

Welker has become Cassel’s go-to-guy. When the Pats quarterback starts to feel the pressure, he always looks for the scrappy wide out who typically can be found running across the middle confusing defenders twice his size. If he was on the Red Sox, fans would refer to him as a Dirt Dog. But Welker was not the only Patriot that helped guide the team to their sixth win of the season.

After injuries to Sammy Morris, LaMont Jordan and Laurence Maroney forcing them to into the spectator role, the undrafted free agent out of OleMiss, BenJarvus Green-Ellis was thrown into the starting role. From the second he stepped on the field he has impressed Patriot coaches as well as the fans. Green-Ellis’s running style as a down hill back is an up-grade over the injury-prone, dancing Maroney.

Since making his debut against the Denver Broncos on Monday night, Green-Ellis has improved immensely. With his mother in the Gillette Stadium stands, the 23-year-old reached the century mark for the first time in his career. On 26 carries, Green-Ellis, also known as “The Law Firm,” accumulated 105 yards including one fourth quarter touchdown to seal the deal for the Patriots.

Along with Welker and Green-Ellis, Cassel also added to his short NFL resume with his first touchdown run of his career in the first quarter. On the Patriots first possession of the game, Cassel drove the team down field from their own 29-yard line to set up the game’s first score. With the ball on the 13-yard line, on second and six, the Pats QB could not find an open receiver so he tucked the ball and ran for the first down. Except there was one more thing, Cassel did not stop once he reached the three, he kept running before diving into the endzone to put the Patriots up 6-0. Stephen Gostkowski added the extra point to give the Pats the seven to nothing advantage.

The score may look close but it never really was in doubt. The Patriots had the game early on thanks to Homeland Defense and new Defense Secretary Jerod Mayo, who recorded four tackles in the game to increase his team lead in tackles to 59. The former Tennessee Volunteer is making an excellent bid at becoming the 2008 Defensive Rookie of the Year. The defense gets top billing for today’s game as Ty Warren sacked Bills quarterback Trent Edwards for a loss of five yards. It was Warren’s first sack of the season while fellow defensive lineman Richard Seymour recorded his fourth sack of the year early in the game for a loss of six yards.

Early in the season, Buffalo was on fire but it appears as if they have already peaked. Between the Bills and Patriots, we witnessed two teams heading in opposite directions.

It will be a short week for the Pats as they welcome their AFC East Division rivals, the New York Jets, to Gillette Stadium Thursday night. The Jets are coming off a 44-point win against the hapless St. Louis Rams on Sunday.

Pats Mental Errors leads to third loss

2008-11-03T00:33:00.014-05:00

11.3.08 12:55AM

Christmas Came Early for the Colts

Pats defeated from the brink of victory

Entering the game the Colts had the edge because their season was on the line with a 3-4 record. If they lost this game, their chances of making the playoffs would fall further from slim to none. Coming into the game, the Patriots were leading the AFC East at 5-2 thanks to the Bills loss to the Jets earlier. Nothing was on the line for the Pats and it showed. The The Patriots had the game in the bag but gave the Colts an early Christmas present with mental errors leading to stupid penalties. Thus giving the Colts new life and bolstering their confidence for a strong second half push.

After last week’s 23-16 come-from-behind victory against the St. Louis Rams on the back of Matt Cassel, Cassel once again put the team on his back in Indianapolis.

After Adam Vinatieri put the Colts on top 18-15 with a 52-yard field, his longest in six years, Cassel drove the Patriots down field from their own 19 and into Colts territory. The Pats were rolling. Cassel was converting every third down the team was in and it looked as if the Patriots were going to get a touchdown on the 49-yard drive. There was no way the Colts were going to stop the Pats.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis rushed up the middle on second and two for a one yard gain but after the play, tight end, David Thomas, joined the likes of Grady Little and Terry Francona. Thomas made the stupidest play a player can make under Bill Belichick as he was flagged for unnecessary roughness after he charged into a Colts safety after the play had been whistled dead. Just as Little and Francona cost the Red Sox the game by leaving Pedro Martinez and Josh Beckett, respectively, in the game two long, Thomas’s brain fart cost the Patriots the chance to steal a win away from the enemy. There is no doubt that he will be in Belichick’s dog house tomorrow afternoon.

But Thomas will not be alone in Belichick’s dog house this week. Belichick might as well put himself in his dog house as he contributed to the Patriots’ three point loss. In unconventional fashion, the Patriots head coach made two key mistakes in the second half that ended up costing the Pats the win.

Early into the second half, on second and 10, Cassel tried to catch Indianapolis with two many men on the field but the 12^th Colt was able to get off before the Pats QB snapped the ball. Whoever gave Belichick the idea that the 12^th man did not get off the field fast enough and to challenge the play, probably does not have a job anymore this week.

The Patriots lost the challenge therefore also losing a crucial time-out. Later during the same drive, Cassel had to take the Patriots second time out as he could not get the play off before the play clock dripped down to zero. Even though the Patriots found the endzone on the drive, it cost them another two times, which would have come in real handy 30 minutes later. Well that is the benefit of 20-20 hind-sight.

At the tail-end of the third quarter Peyton Manning put the Colts back in the lead with a nine yard pass to Anthony Gonzalez plus a converting a two-point conversion. But Cassel, who in Tom Brady’s absence, really has improved as a quarterback and proved he can put a team on his back and lead them to victory. He was doing it again after Indianapolis took the three point lead. Once again it looked as if the Pats were going to get into the endzone but when Wes Welker came up one-yard shy on third down and the offense was still on the field, Belichick decided upon calling his last time out in favor of bringing out Stephen Gostkowski to tie the score at 15 all. Brain fart number two.

A team that prides itself on composure both on the field and on the sidelines certainly was not the team that took the field against the Colts on Sunday night, in front of a national audience. The rest of the country probably loved seeing Belichick shit his pants in front of the world but many Patriots fans threw up in their mouths when they saw the man who is worshipped as God in New England turn into Grady Little.

Now it is not fair to put the blame solely on Thomas and Belichick because there were a plethora of other mistakes made. Rookie cornerback Jonathan Wilhite got burned by opposing wide receivers for the second week in a row. After Peyton Manning completed a third and long to Reggie Wayne early in the first quarter, it became painfully obvious Manning was going to go to Wilhite’s side. Manning can make a veteran corner look silly but a first-year was way to easy for the former league MVP. It was Wilhite who was responsible for Gonzalez in the first quarter where the Colts wide-out walked uncontested into the endzone a caught the12-yard pass for an easy six points.

Matt Cassel did everything in his power to win the game for the Patriots. He threw for 204 yards completing 25 of 34 attempts (73.5) – better than Manning’s 21 for 29 (72.4). Even though he did throw one pick, the interception was because of Thomas’s egregious penalty that pushed the Pats well out of field goal range. Every week that goes by, Cassel has improved and is “leaps and bounds” above where he was even four weeks ago. He is no Brady but he has done a tremendous job filling in for some big shoes and you must tip your cap to him. If Cassel plays like he has in the past games and keeps improving, the Patriots will be in the playoff hunt in December.

This may sound like the bitterness talking here but the Colts did not the win the game. It was the Patriots beating themselves with the stupid mental mistakes and some bad coaching at critical times.

We all talked at the beginning of the season about Cassel looking like he regressed during his time in the pros but last night it was Belichick who regressed to his days with the Browns. So this is what the man who has a 15-4 post-season record was like in Cleveland?

Been There, Done That, Bought the Tee-Shirt

2008-10-24T11:03:00.007-04:00

10.24.2008

Been There, Done That, Bought the Tee-Shirt
Brady Recovering Nicely from Antibiotics; rehab not compromised

Remember in Spring Training when it was discovered Curt Schilling had a degenerative right shoulder condition and his doctor told the All-Star pitcher that surgery was his best option? If Schilling had the surgery, his season would have been over but the Red Sox team and their doctors decided on a different approach. Instead of having their star pitcher undergo surgery and be lost for the season, the Sox thought rest and rehab would be best. The situation exploded into a front-line war between Schilling and the Red Sox management. In the end Schilling abided by the Sox wishes and ended up having the surgery anyway a month into the season, thus ending his season.

So New England fans, we have seen this before. For Tom Brady, it is a no win situation. He went to the surgeon his family wanted him to go to and wound up with an infection. We like to think things would be different he went with the Patriots doctors but, fans, we have seen this play out just eight months ago. Say he went to doctors the Pats wanted him to have the surgery and still got an infection, we would all be saying the same thing.

Brady going to a different physician does not change the fact he contracted an infection in his left knee. I’m not a doctor nor do I pretend to be one but I do know that infections from surgery are not all that rare. Because it happened like this, you ask the question would it have been any different if Brady stayed in Boston and had the surgery here? It might have but infections are always possibly when it comes to going under the knife.

Like in the Schilling situation, there is no use crying over spilled milk. What is done is done. It is what it is. Now Brady and the Patriots have to move forward instead of dwelling on the past. Brady should fly back to Boston to let team doctors have a look at his knee to decide the next course of action. The Patriots have invested a lot of money into this guy and they want to know what they are up against and which direction they need to turn to.

One doctor out of Cincinnati, Dr. Tim Kremcheck, told WEEI’s Dale and Holley yesterday “that’s not good” upon hearing the reports of Brady’s staph infection in his knee following surgery. He went on to say next season is questionable for the Pats franchise player and possibly, worst case scenario, the start quarterback’s career might be in jeopardy.

“What will probably have to happen is that they will have to go in, remove everything–including the screws, everything—because everything has to be sterile and clean for (the repair) to take,” Kremchek, whose specialized ranges from arthroscopic shoulder scopes to total knee joint reconstructions and replacements, told WEEI.

It may sound grim but the famous orthopedic surgeon, Dr. James Andrews of was consulting on the case with Brady’s surgeon Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Andrews confirmed what Kremchek told WEEI yesterday that saving the ligament graft from the infection was the most important piece of the puzzle. The renowned Alabama doctor told the Los Angeles Times that from what he heard from ElAttrache, Brady was “winning the battle” and responding nicely to antibiotics and should not compromise his recovery from the injury that occurred in Week One of the NFL season.

Hopefully rehab will go well and he will be back for the 2009 season but if there is a slight blip in the recovery process you know the Patriots and their fans will re-hash the fact Brady went outside the organization for his surgery; thus, will re-create the “Schilling Controversy” all over again. So for right now Pats fans sit back let Brady continue on his road to recovery and root for Matt Cassel to lead the Patriots this season

On Any Given Sunday

2008-09-23T14:55:00.002-04:00

Miami just has New England’s number. The last time the Pats lost a regular season game was against the Dolphins back on December 10, 2006 at Dolphins Stadium. I vividly remember sitting in the Buffalo Wild Wings off Route 140 in Westminster, Maryland watching the Dolphins dismantle the Patriots in a 21-0 shutout.

Although the majority of people were picking the Pats to walk away the easy victory today, it was not surprising. Miami has always played the Patriots tough and they did it yet again on Sunday but there is one thing as a Pats fan you can not do. You can not blame Matt Cassel.

“[The Dolphins] did everything a lot better than we did,” Bill Belichick said in his post game press conference. “They out played us. The out coached us.”

Cassel was not the reason New England lost. Sure his 61 completion percentage did not help the Pats, the real reason they lost was the same reason they won last week. It was their defense. Here is my mea culpa for the day, I did not watch the entire game. But I had a very good reason. I was up in South Hadley, Massachusetts watching the McDaniel Green Terror women’s golf team shoot their lowest round of the season on the second day of Mt. Holyoke’s two-day invitational.

When I popped my head into the clubhouse to check on the score of the game, an all too familiar grin was on Belichick’s face. It was the same face that I saw on McDaniel’s coach Mike Diehl’s face, riding around watching the Lady Terror for 18 holes. (Congrats to Elyse Massa, Amy Glock, Val Saucier, Nicole Cristy and Jennie Weiner for the lowest McDaniel single day total of 349 since Spring 2005 in Kutztown.) For both the Green Terror and the Patriots there were many highlights but there were far too many lowlights.

One of those highlights came on special teams where Ellis Hobbs averaged accumulated 237 yards on six returns for an average of 39.5 yards a carry, setting a new Patriots record. Now here is the lowlight, those were on kick-off returns. It is a pretty safe bet that any time a team has six returns off kick-offs, they probably are not going to win.

The best coaches are the “Yes, but coaches.” These types of active-positive coaches do not just acknowledge where their team faltered but also where their team succeeded in the form of a “yes but” statement. Belichick did this in his post game press conference regarding the Patriots dominance on special teams behind one of Hobbs returns for 81 yards.

“Certainly dominated on offense and defense I thought,” Belichick said. “We were competitive in the kicking game but that was about it not on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball.”

As a team when you only get the ball for 28 minutes of the game, it makes a cold, hard statement about your defense. The Pats can not expect to win if there defense is not at the top of their game. They will have a week to sit on this game as they head into their bye week before coming out on Sunday October 5 to face the San Francisco 49ers in the Bay Area.

“Try to be better for San Francisco,” Belichick said in his Monday afternoon press conference. “Correct mistakes on this one and put it to rest.” Because “on any given Sunday.”

Don't they ever learn?

2008-09-18T22:03:00.004-04:00

What’s this? More material for the Patriots to put on their locker room bulletin board?

Miami Dolphins linebacker and representative loudmouth, Joey Porter finds himself on the Pats bulletin board once again. It seems as if we can not go one year without Porter opening up his big mouth. The Pats are all too familiar with the linebacker’s antics while with the Steelers in the playoffs and after last year’s asterisk’s comment regarding SpyGate. Doesn’t this guy ever learn?

Four days before the Pats host the last-place Dolphins at Gillette, Porter took some time out of practice to take a few cheap shots at quarterback Matt Cassel. He told ESPN blogger Tim Graham, “I just know he’s not Tom Brady. So if it’s not Tom Brady, it shouldn’t be that hard.”

Where to begin? That is the ultimate question. First, where is the logic in Porter’s statement? Secondly, thanks Joey I did not know Cassel was not Brady. Thank you very much for clearing that up for me. I would be lost without you. (Note the hint of sarcasm.)

And third, tell that to the Jets. New York fans were salivating at the idea of facing the sans-Brady Patriots would be a walk in the park and it would be their shot at redemption from last year, but they were harshly snapped back to reality by Adalius Thomas and the defense. If Porter thinks this Sunday’s game is going to be a cake walk, let me remind him that his Dolphins lost to the same Jets in their first game of the year.

According to Porter, the Dolphins are going to “treat [Cassel] like you treat a back-up.” This is their first mistake: thinking of Cassel as a back-up instead of a starter. Bill Belichick did not become a successful head coach treating opposing teams different. In the eyes of Belichick, every team is the Colts, every quarterback is Peyton Manning. Why? Because, it is cliché, “on any given Sunday” anybody can beat anybody.

Miami’s second mistake: letting Porter open his mouth to an ESPN reporter.

The Pats are the best team at playing the “Us vs. Them” card and using these one-liners as motivation. When the entire league accused them of cheating last year, the Pats only became the first undefeated team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins and were one win away from eternal glorification. Now, with Brady lost for the rest of the year, the national media called the Jets the team to beat in the AFC East, thus putting the chip was right back on the beast shoulder.

For the second consecutive year, Belichick does not have to re-create a “Disrespect” straw man like he has done in past years. Already feeling slighted why would a player from a winless team, come out and hurl more insults towards a team that handles it by doing all their talking on the field on Sunday? It makes no sense. So I end this blog with a Brady quote: “Well done is better than well said.”

Pats defense stifles Favre and Jets offense, Cassel gets his first win as a starter

2008-09-15T13:31:00.011-04:00

Yesterday’s Patriots-Jets game was a nice metaphor for the 2008 Presidential election. While the Jets trotted out the football equivalent of John McCain, in Brett Favre, Matt Cassel was making his first start since being a high school senior in Southern California. The long-time back-up quarterback has taught the nation that “inexperienced” is not a synonym for not ready.

Cassel proved all the doubters and football experts wrong as he executed the Patriots offense to a 19-10 victory over the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets.

“It’s never about the doubters. It’s always about the belief in yourself,” he told reporters from the podium we are used to seeing Brady standing before at the end of a game.

He did what was asked of him, he managed the game, played smart and minimized mistakes. One way of keeping the Jets from scoring is to keep the ball out of Favre’s hands by controlling the clock. The Patriots offense kept the Jets offense off the field for over half the game. Cassel connected with wide out Wes Welker seven times for a total of 72 yards – 165 overall.

On this day, he was better than his more experienced counterpart. While Favre might have thrown one more touchdown pass, Cassel was able to minimize the damage. He did not take any unnecessary risks and took three sacks instead of, possibly, air mailing a ball into the hands of a Jets defender, like his compliment in gang-green.

“A lot of people didn’t expect [us] to do much today,” head coach Bill Belichick said in his post-game press conference. “These guys came in with a lot of determination.”

The Pats defense, specifically the front seven, were the biggest reason why New England won the game. Knowing they did not have Brady to bail them out, the defense attacked Favre and the Jets running backs like a pack of feral dogs searching for food. Rodney Harrison described the defense the best.

“Until last year we weren’t an offense that came in and scored 38 points a game,” he told reporters in the locker room. “So we know how to win close games. We know how to fight and claw.”

But by far, the play of the day came in the fourth quarter, with New York on their own 23-yard-line. Adalius Thomas not only sacked Favre but also brought down his running back Leon Washington for a 20-yard loss.

Looking like something from the opening credits of “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air,” Thomas burst into the Jets backfield on second and 10, grabbed the nine time Pro-Bowler’s jersey and began to spin him down. But Favre was not going down without a fight. Washington tried to help his quarterback but apparently forgot the consequences of when the little guy tries to tackle the big guy. Thomas brought down both Favre and Washington but not before New York lost an additional 10 yards. At the end of the day we learn, the Patriots are still the school-yard bullies.

Timeline Adalius Thomas's Sack of Brett Favre (and Leon Washington)

1. Adalius Thomas enters the backfield. Leon Washington attempts to block Thomas.

2. May I have this dance? Washington is not going to stop Thomas.....

3. .....so he spins both of them down for a 20-yard loss.

(Photos are from the AP)

My Two Cents: The Lose of Tom Brady

2008-09-11T22:51:00.000-04:00

Losing the face of the franchise barely seven minutes into the start of the 2008 season is a tough and bitter pill to swallow. But I am reminded of a saying “that which does not kill us, only makes us stronger.” Life as a New England Patriot just got a bit harder with Brady’s absence but it does not mean the season’s over. Take a look at the three top things to expect with Matt Cassel under center.

Do not expect Matt Cassel to be Tom Brady

Matt Cassel is Matt Cassel. He is not Tom Brady. Red Sox left fielder Jason Bay put it best after he was traded from the Pittsburgh Pirates to the Red Sox in the Manny Ramirez deal. “They’re not asking me to step in and play above and beyond everyone’s expectations. They’re asking me to be me.” So Pats fans don’t put added pressure on the 26-year-old QB.

Belichick and Veterans Need to Step It Up

To supplement the loss of Brady, the Pats defensive front seven need to step up their game. Cassel is not a bail bondsman, he can not bail the team out like Brady did last year at against the Ravens and it starts with Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour, Mike Vrabel, Adalius Thomas, Tedy Bruschi and the young Jerod Mayo.

During his seven years in Minnesota, Randy Moss made quarterback Daunte Culpepper look like one of the elite QB’s in the league. So in this time of crisis, Moss must become a leader on this Patriots team. Just as he did in the first week of the season, Cassel can throw the ball up in Moss’s direction and because of the wide out’s height and athleticism, Moss will come down with the ball the majority percent of the time.

But it is not just limited to the players. How can you expect the players to step up their own game if the coach does not do the same? Bill Belichick has to let the players know they are going to “stay the course.”

The “Fatal Flaw”

With the biggest flaw on this team now being the quarter back position, many teams such as the Colts, Steelers and Chargers will try to take the ball out of Laurence Maroney’s hands and put them in Cassel’s. They will want to make Cassel beat them.

After watching Boston College Eagles in their first two games of the season, I have come to the conclusion that the Patriots 2008 campaign is going to be similar. Although Cassel played very well against the Kansas City Chiefs, they are the professional equivalent of Kent State. Unlike Georgia Tech last week in the Eagles home opener, Kent State was unable to exploit the fatal flaws in the Eagles game.

If Cassel is able to “minimize the damage” and with one of the easier schedules in the NFL, I could possibly see the Patriots going 10-6, maybe 11-5.

Sox Spring Training

2008-02-22T18:41:00.002-05:00

Since Sox Spring Training started. I will be writing very sparingly in the PatriotsNation blog only because the Sox season is starting up and I'm doing some things over there. Over the next couple of days I will be commenting on Randy Moss not being franchised and what the Patriots need to do get back to the Super Bowl next year (i.e. get a Corner because Asante Samuel is gone).

Although I'm thinking the Pats should go after Jamie Silva from Boston College ;)

RED SOX NATION
http://sawxblog.blogspot.com

A few things to consider when watching the game tomorrow....

2008-02-02T19:21:00.000-05:00

Multi-Sport Athletes

Exercise and Sport Science major Stephen Gostkowski was not just the place-kicker for the Memphis Tigers he was also a pitcher for the Tigers baseball team…Patriots special teams player Kelley Washington was drafted by the Florida Marlins in 1997. While with the Marlins single A affiliate, the Kane Country Cougars, his teammate was Sox pitcher Josh Beckett…Quarterback Tom Brady was drafted in the 1995 MLB Draft in the 18^th round with the 507 pick overall by the Montreal Expos. The Expos picked Brady 55 picks ahead of the 2007 World Series MVP Mike Lowell, who was taken in the 20^th round 562 overall by the New York Yankees…In high school, wide receiver Randy Moss was named “West Virginia’s High School Basketball Player of the Year” and his teammate was Miami Heat point guard Jason Williams

The Nerds

At Iowa State, cornerback Ellis Hobbs, III was an Art and Visual Communications major and says he would be a Walt Disney Company animator if it were not for football…While at The Ohio State, linebacker Mike Vrabel was a Pre-Med major…Kyle Brady is a Civil War history buff even visiting the famous battle sites of Gettysburg and Antietam.

All in the Family

Back up quarterback Matt Cassel’s is not the only professional athlete in the Cassel family. Matt is the middle child of three with older brother Jack and younger brother Justin. Jack is a pitcher for Major League Baseball’s Houston Astros while Justin is a pitcher for the Chicago White Sox’s single A affiliate Winston-Salem Warthogs…The father of Jabar Gaffney, Derrick, played eight seasons with the New York Jets from 1978-1987. Also Jabar’s cousin is Philadelphia cornerback, Lito Shepard…Wide Receiver Randy Moss’s older brother, Eric Moss, had a brief stint as an offensive lineman for the Minnesota Vikings in 1997.

Family Feud

Good thing Patriots linebacker, Adalius Thomas, and Giants defensive end, Justin Tuck, will not be on the field at the same time. The two defensive players are cousins.

Big Foot and the Heartbreakers

Patriots defensive end, Richard Seymour, does not just have the biggest foot on the team wearing a size 17 shoe but also plays the trombone. Seymour could start a small band with fellow defensive player, Tedy Bruschi, and third string tight end, Stephen Spach. Bruschi is an accomplished saxophone player while Spach has credentials on the guitar and bass guitar.

Thank you, Asante

Cornerback Asante Samuel’s first name means “Thank-you” in Swahili and his high school team was thankful to have him before the last game of his senior season. Ten minutes before Samuel’s last high school football game, the starting quarterback was injured, Samuel stepped in the role and threw two touchdown passes.

The Cowboy

Pats left guard Logan Mankins spent his childhood on a 10,000-acre cattle ranch where he and his father were a prize-winning cattle roping team.

What number is it Teddy? Eight!

Pats receiver Donte Stallworth (#18) is part owner of the Miami restaurant “O” with former Celtic Antoine Walker, who wore #8 while with the Celtics.

The Boston College Connection

Patriots center, Dan Koppen and Giants right guard Chris Snee were both members of the 2002 Boston College Eagles offensive line.

Giants Head Coach, Tom Coughlin, was at the Heights from 1981-1983 as BC’s quarterbacks coach before leaving to be the wide receivers coach in Philadelphia, Green Bay and New York. Coughlin would return to Chestnut Hill to become the Eagles Head Coach from 1991-1993.

Originially from Cambridge, Giants assistant offensive line coach Dave DeGuglielmo was an assistant of Coughlin’s at BC when Coughlin was the Head Coach in 1991-1992.

New York’s strength and conditioning coach Jerry Palmieri was the Eagles Director of Strength and Conditioning during the 1993-1994 season.

The President and Chief Executive Officer of the New York Giants, John Mara, is a Boston College alum (1976) with a Bachelor’s of Science degree in marketing.

(Quick facts courtesy of the New England Patriots Media Relations department.)

In words of Curt Schilling "Stupid, idiotic comment to make"

2008-01-31T13:38:00.000-05:00

I was not going to comment on Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke’s article a few days ago when he said Tom Brady was no Johnny Unitas. The writer’s entitled to his opinion even if he is wrong but I was going to give him the benefit.

I am also going to be complete honest and say that I did not read the full article. I read the first couple of “paragraphs” and skimmed the rest before I thought it held no water. Until hearing John Dennis and Gerry Callahan commenting on the article this morning and Dale Arnold and Michael Holley later in the day, I had no intention on commenting on the subject. Even now I still do not feel the need to comment because in the words of Curt Schilling “stupid, idiotic comment[s] to make.”

What did Brady do to Plaschke to warrant this hatred? Did Brady run over his dog? In an article entitled “Brady is just Johnny come lately,” Plaschke attributes the success of the Pats quarterback to the new generation of the National Football League. Comparing the football greats to the baseball greats, he then goes onto say “Tom Brady is football's, well, um, Alex Rodriguez.”

Brady is the best quarterback today with game is on the line (see his three Super Bowl championships and 14-2 playoff record). Rodriguez is excellent during the 162-game season but when the post-season rolls around he goes into hiding. In fact, Patriots punter, Chris Hanson, has been seen more this season than A-Rod was in the ALDS against Cleveland. There is no connection between Brady and A-Rod. They are simply two athletes at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Plaschke does not want to hurt the feelings of the previous great quarterbacks so he makes the outrageous comparison of Brady and A-Rod. No one is taking anything away from Johnny Unitas, Bart Starr or Joe Montana by saying Brady is one of the best quarterbacks to ever play the game. Unitas, Starr and Montana were unbelievable quarterbacks who went on to have marvelous careers and paved the way for Tom Brady, Brett Favre and Peyton Manning.

Times have changed. The game has challenged and the quarterbacks have changed. Players are bigger and better than they were when Unitas and Starr played. Plaschke even admits the game has become more of science then in past years. Since the game started to require more intelligence and the ability to read defenses from quarterbacks, shouldn’t that alone make Brady one of the best to play the position?

When the Patriots defeat the Giants to win their fourth Super Bowl in seven years do not expect to find Bill Plaschke at the Patriots Super Bowl Party.

(Link to story: Los Angeles Times - Bill Plaschke)

Super Bowl XLII Match-Up: Patriots-Giants

2008-01-30T20:52:00.000-05:00

SUPER BOWL XLII

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS v. NEW YORK GIANTS
University of Phoenix Stadium; Glendale, Arizona
Sunday, February 3, 2008
6:17pm

Patriots		Giants	Edge
Tom Brady	Quarterback	Eli Manning	PATRIOTS
Laurence Maroney Kevin Faulk Heath Evans Kyle Eckel	Running Back	Brandon Jacobs Ahmad Bradshaw Reuben Droughns Madison Hedgecock
Randy Moss Wes Welker Donte Stallworth Jabar Gaffney Kelley Washington Chad Jackson Troy Brown	Wide Receivers	Plaxico Burress Amani Toomer Dominic Hixon David Tyree Sinorice Moss Steve Smith	PATRIOTS
Benjamin Watson Kyle Brady Stephen Spach	Tight Ends	Michael Matthews Kevin Boss	PATRIOTS
Matt Light, LT Logan Mankins, LG Dan Koppen, C Stephen Neal, RG Nick Kaczur, RT	Offensive Line	David Diehl, LT Rich Seubert, LG Shaun O’Hara, C Chris Snee, RG Kareem McKenzie, RT	EVEN
Ty Warren Vince Wilfork, NT Richard Seymour	Defensive Line	Michael Strahan, LDE Barry Cofield, LDT Fred Robbins, RDT Osi Umenyiora, RDE	EVEN
Mike Vrabel Junior Seau Tedy Bruschi Adalius Thomas	Linebackers	Reggie Torbor Antonio Pierce Kawika Mitchell	PATRIOTS
Asante Samuel, CB Rodney Harrision, SS James Sanders, FS Ellis Hobbs, CB	Secondary	Sam Madison, CB James Madison, SS Gibril Wilson, FS Aaron Ross, CB	EVEN
Stephen Gostkowski, K Chris Hanson, P Ellis Hobbs, KR Wes Welker, PR Lonie Paxton, LS	Special Teams	Lawrence Tynes, K Jeff Feagles, P Ahmad Bradshaw, KR R.W. McQuarters, PR Zak DeOssie, LS	PATRIOTS

Quarterbacks:

Super Bowl XLII is a chess match between the Patriots and Giants. Whichever team can get to the quarterback, disrupt his game plan, force turnovers and act upon them will be crowned champions of the National Football League. Currently the New England Patriots are the best at getting to the opposing King before they can get to Tom Brady. Brady has a great presence in the pocket which allows him to wait the extra second to find the open receiver. He is willing to take the hit in order to make a completion down field. With Brady’s ability to move around in the pocket and take a hit the last second, it transformed the 199^th pick of the 2000 draft into a league MVP and two-time Super Bowl MVP.

On the other side of the ball, Eli Manning was seen as a first round bust until last December. In the 2007 post-season the Giants feel they know have what they traded for in 2004. Going into Sunday, Manning has not thrown an interception in his three playoffs and silenced the critics in games against the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers. As good as Eli has been in the last three games, he is no Peyton. Brady is still the better quarterback. Looking at history, in games were Brady is coming off one of his worst games of his career, he typically has one of his best games of his career. And you can not forget the last time he came off a bye week, he threw for 26-for-28 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. EDGE: PATRIOTS

Running Backs:

As of late, Laurence Maroney has become the back Pats fans thought they were getting when they drafted him 21^st in the 2006 NFL Draft. In the last two games, Maroney ran for 244 yards on 47 attempts, averaging slightly more than five yards a carry. That is about a yard more than he averaged in the entire regular season. While Maroney was accumulating the yards on the ground, Faulk was becoming the go-to guy on third-downs. When the Patriots needed a first down to keep the Chargers off the field in the AFC Championship Game, Faulk caught a five yard dump pass and rolled for the first. Wasn’t it just a few weeks prior that national commentators were saying the Pats were one dimensional? They do not look one dimensional any more.

As good as the Giants have been in the running game this post-season, the Patriots have been slightly better in the post-season. Neither of the Giants feature backs ran for a hundred yards in the post-season. The 1,000-yard rusher, Brandon Jacobs, combined for only 155-yards in three games while his teammate Ahmad Bradshaw accumulated 163-yards in three games. The Giants are good running team but the Patriots take the edge in this category. EDGE: PATRIOTS

Wide Receivers:

There is no doubt the Patriots have the better receiving corps. During the season Randy Moss, led the team with 23 receiving touchdowns and 1,493 total yards but has been relatively invisible in the playoffs. Even though Moss has caught the ball only two times in the last two games, he has still been a major factor for the Patriots in the 2007 playoffs. Moss makes defenders worry about the deep threat, allowing Wes Welker or Kevin Faulk to get open underneath. In the post-season, Welker and Faulk came up big with 110 yards on 16 catches and 118 yards on 13 catches, respectively. Moss has also become a good blocker for the running game, opening up lanes for Maroney to run.

Plaxico Burress has become Manning’s go to guy and he is sure to get a lot of balls thrown his way on Sunday. Combined with Dominic Hixon and Amani Toomer, the Giants have a good receiving corps. But the Manning-Burress connection is key with this team. The Pats have more receiving weapons than the Giants and is the reason New England will be favored in this category. EDGE: PATRIOTS

Offensive Line:

For the Patriots, these men were the guys keeping Brady vertical all year and three of them were rewarded for it. Center Dan Koppen, left guard Matt Light and right guard Logan Mankins are going to their first Pro-Bowls while Kyle Brady has reverted to old form and became the blocking tight end that he was earlier in his career. Brady along with Benjamin Watson create holes for Maroney and other Patriots backs. Maroney’s renaissance partially has to be attributed to the excellent job of the offensive line. They will face a difficult task in the Super Bowl, of protecting Brady from one of the better defensives lines in the game.

Like the Patriots, the Giants have a former Boston College product, right guard, Chris Snee. The Giants offensive line – consisting of Snee, Kareem McKenzie, Shaun O’Hara, Rich Seubert, David Diehl and tight ends Kevin Boss and Michael Matthews – will face the daunting task of protecting Manning from the Patriots defensive line. In the playoffs, New York’s offensive line has done a good job at keeping Manning upright long enough to find either Boss or Plaxico Burress. They have to keep the Patriots out of the back field and away from Manning to have a chance. EDGE: EVEN

Defensive Line:

The Giants base defense is the 4-3 defense with Pro-Bowlers, Michael Strahan and Osi Umenyiora as well as Barry Cofield and Fred Robbins on the defensive line. This group of linemen have combined for 28.5 sacks on opposing quarterbacks with six forced fumbles. These guys are good. But the front seven of the Patriots defense are not too shabby either.

Starting in the first six games of the season for an injured Richard Seymour, Jarvis Green led the Patriots D-line with 6.5 sacks while fellow lineman Ty Warren was 2.5 sacks behind him with 4.0. Warren led the Patriots defensive line with 15 of the 38 quarterback hits – one shy of linebacker, Mike Vrabel’s 16 quarterback hits. In the playoffs, the D-line has combined to hit opposing quarterbacks five times (Warren 3, Wilfork 1 and Green 1). EDGE: EVEN

Linebackers:

Combined the Giants starting linebackers had 218 tackles, two forced fumbles, 5.5 sacks and two interceptions. They are a relatively young group of guys compared to that of the Patriots. The average age of the Patriots starting linebackers is 33.5 years but they are like a fine wine, they get better with age. The grandfather of the group – Junior Seau – recorded 4.5 sacks for 39.0 yards lost in the regular season and post-season while first time Pro-Bowler, Mike Vrabel led the team with 12.5 sacks during the regular season. Vrabel also led the Pats with four forced fumbles during the season and one fumble recovery in the playoffs. Newcomer Adalius Thomas was one of the 21 players that scored a touchdown in the 2007 with his interception of Philip Rivers in game two of season and 65 yard return. Patriots veteran Tedy Bruschi rounds out the Patriots linebackers with 2.0 sacks and five quarterback hits. EDGE: PATRIOTS

Secondary:

Asante Samuel led the Patriots with six interceptions in the 2007 regular season with one interception during the playoffs. Usually regarded as the lesser cornerback, compared to Samuel, Ellis Hobbs has come into his own as of late. In the last game of the regular season, Hobbs had a huge pick of Eli Manning which led to the Patriots final touchdown of the game. Secondary veteran Rodney Harrison made the top tight ends in the league (Indianapolis’s Dallas Clark, San Diego’s Antonio Gates, Pittsburgh’s Heath Miller and Dallas’s Jason Witten) virtually invisible during the 2007 season. There is no doubt that he will be able to contain the Giants tight end Kevin Boss. Not only can Harrison cover exceptional tight ends but he can be involved in blitz packages (recording 2.0 sacks on the season).

Cornerback R.W. McQuarters had an interception in each of the Giants post-season games including a pick in overtime against the Green Bay Packers that led to kicker Lawrence Tynes’s game-winning field goal. The Giants corners have come up big in the playoffs with Corey Webster collecting two interceptions to go along with McQuarters’s three. But against the Patriots receivers, the Giants secondary will be tested, thus giving an ever so slight edge to the Patriots. EDGE: PATRIOTS

Special Teams:

Many people regard special teams as not important but for the Patriots, Special Teams has come up big in 2007. First with Ellis Hobbs’s record tying 108-yard kick return for a touchdown in the first game of the season against the New York Jets and then again with Kelley Washington’s blocked punt against the Jets in week 15. Washington came up big in the playoffs, downing a Chris Hanson punt against the Jacksonville Jaguars at the three yard line. In the kicking game, second year kicker Stephen Gostkowski broke Miami’s Uwe von Shamann’s 23-year old PAT record with 74 PATs. Gostkowski was 21-for-24 in field goals and finished the season with 137 points, 18 more points than Giants kicker Lawrence Tynes.

During the regular season, Tynes converted 40-of-42 PATs and 23-of-27 field goals. Against the Packers Tynes made a 47-yard field goal in overtime to win the NFC Championship Game for the Giants. But before that kick, Tynes missed a 43-yarder halfway through the fourth quarter and a 36-yarder with four seconds left that would have won the game for the Giants in regulation.

Like the Patriots, the Giants have their own version of Hobbs. Dominic Hixon, ran back a kickoff for touchdown in the last meeting of these two teams. He is a prolific kick returner the Patriots will have to keep an eye out for. The Pats must make tackles on him and not let him break loose because if Hixon’s does break free he will be running for a long time. Neither Hixon nor Hobbs are Devin Hester but they need to be treated as good kick returners and not be overlooked. EDGE: EVEN

Coaching:

It was said earlier this year, “the only coach who can stop the Patriots’s offense is coaching the Patriots’s offense.” Bill Belichick took a lot of heat this year from “Camera-Gate” in week one. The media and fans, outside New England, do not like the guy because of his short, unemotional press conferences as well as his tough coaching style but the guy wins. And winning is what it is all about. Belichick is the master at taking away the thing you do best. Against San Diego, he took Michael Turner out of the game. He made Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew irrelevant against Jacksonville. Giants head coach Tom Coughlin is a good coach. He was good while he was at the collegiate ranks at Syracuse and Boston College and then again when he worked with Belichick in the Giants organization but he is no Bill Belichick. Belichick is 15-3 in playoffs with three Super Bowl victories as a head coach and two Coach of the Year awards (2003 and 2007). He is on another level than the rest of the NFL’s 31 head coaches. Belichick is “playing chess while the others are playing checkers.” EDGE: PATRIOTS

Sun Devil Going for Tom's ankle???

2008-01-28T17:52:00.000-05:00

Even the Arizona State Sun Devils hate the Patriots. Their mascot is trying to

With Tom Brady back practicing with the rest of the team. As Brady is going through some of the early drills, the Associated Press could not help but snap a picture of #12 at the Sun Devils Complex and the results were humorous.

Now here you see the Sun Devil mascot going directly for Brady's right foot!

I really hope reporters and photographers did not wait until Brady ran by the painted mascot on the wall of stadium just to take this photo because that would be sad.

NOTE: This picture is a real photo from AP Photos and was not Photoshopped!

Boston v. New York Part II: A Hammer and Nail can not have a Rivalry

2008-01-23T23:22:00.000-05:00

The world of professional sports would be nowhere without Boston and New York. The two rival cities combine to own 72 championships that are won each year.

Throughout most of the 20^th Century New York owned Boston in the Boston-New York Rivalry. The rivalry was so lopsided at one time a fan noted to a friend that “New York and Boston do not have a rivalry. A hammer and nail can not have a rivalry.”*

As we entered a new millennium sports turned around in Boston, starting with the Patriots in 2001, that rekindled the long time rivalry. Since the 2001 Patriots, the Red Sox and Yankees added fuel to the fire in 2003 with Aaron Boone’s homerun in Game seven of the ALCS and then again a year later in 2004 with Jason Varitek and Alex Rodriguez. Come playoff time, with the Sox down 3-0 to the hated rivals from New York and surely looking to go four and out in the ninth inning, Kevin Millar sparked a rally in the ninth against Mariano Rivera to give David Ortiz the chance to be a hero. The Sox would go on to win the next three games and become the first team to come back from a 3-0 deficit. It was at this time the power-balanced shifted from New York to Boston.

What accounts for this shift in power? In the last eight years, Boston has edged out New York, 5-1, in championships by the four major sports teams. It is particularly shocking because The Big Apple has three more professional sports franchises than Boston.

Also we have hit a point in time when all of the Boston teams are at their peak while the top New York teams are struggling. For one rival to sky-rocket while the other treads water is quite an anomaly.

The Yankees are in the process of rebuilding their less than fertile farm system with talented, young pitching which will take, at least, a few more years. They have some promising young prospects, such as Philip Hughes and Ian Kennedy but the Red Sox already have their youngsters, Clay Buchholz and Jacoby Ellsbury, gaining valuable major league experience. It looks as if the Red Sox are going to be on top of the American League East for years to come and 2007 was not an abberation.

While the Boston Celtics struggled to win just 24 games last year and even losing 19 straight games at one time during the season, the 2007-2008 Celtics boast the best record in the NBA, at 33-8. After a draft day trade, in June of 2007, to acquire former Seattle Supersonic Ray Allen, the Celtics then sent a package of their young players to Minnesota for the Timberwolves big man Kevin Garnett. Allen and Garnett have complimented Celtics captain and shooting guard Paul Pierce well and are starting to remind fans of another Big Three that wore Celtic green (Bird, McHale and Parrish). Meanwhile the Knicks are the laughing stock of the NBA. Knick players have lost the respect of their head coach with his off-the-court legal battles and are struggling at the bottom of the Atlantic standings at 13-28.

After a slow start to the beginning of the season the New York Giants are red-hot, winning their last 10 road games, including three consecutive playoff wins – on the road. Talk about the road-field advantage! They should not and will not be taken for granted in the Super Bowl. Since Jeremy Shockey went down, Eli Manning has had quite a turn-around, going from a first-round bust to a quarterback making his first appearance in the Super Bowl. Head coach Tom Coughlin went from a man whose job was in jeopardy at the beginninf of the season to a man who is probably going to be staying in New York for a while. I do not know how you can not appreciate a guy like Tom Coughlin. (Plus he was a BC guy. I have some loyalties there.)

But the other team who plays in the same stadium has failed to live up to the expectations that were set on them at the beginning of season. After reaching the post-season the year before in Head Coach Eric Mangini’s first season, the J-E-T-S JETS, JETS, JETS failed to reach .500 this season. They finished their season at 4-12 and are part of the reason why the Patriots are undefeated. You do not want to wake a sleeping giant.

Spy-Gate did just that. It woke up a team who was already projected to be in Super Bowl and what does that lead to? It leads to every other team in the National Football League being embarrassed by the New England Patriots. Earlier in the year the Patriots outsmarted the San Francisco 49ers, the Oakland Raiders and the Miami Dolphins. They currently have the seventh pick in the NFL draft from San Francisco (so much for the NFL’s punishment), acquired Randy Moss from Oakland for a fourth round pick and Wes Welker from the Dolphins. The Pats humilated the majority of the teams earlier in the year and played like a championship team in latter half of the year to get to where they are right now - 18-0. The question must be asked, how high will the hatred of the Patriots rise when the Pats go 19-0, win their fourth Lombardi Trophy in seven years and have the seventh pick in the 2008 NFL Draft? I just have one response to all the Patriot haters out there: it is not New England’s fault your franchise can not manage their organization properly.

Now it can be said that “Boston and New York do not have a rivalry; a hammer and nail can not have a rivalry.”

(* A friend of McDaniel College's history professor, Dr. Bryn Upton, told this to Upton.)

More Bulletin Board Material.....

2008-01-23T20:10:00.000-05:00

Wow more bulletin board material for the Pats care of the New York media.

The New York Post called Tom Brady a “Posy Patsie” the day after Brady was seen walking into his girlfriend, Gisele Bundchen’s, New York apartment with a boot on his foot. Who would have ever thought New Yorkers would stoop this low? But then again it took three journalists to write a 300-word article, who also called the Patriots quarterback “cocky.” Nice way of showing objectivity. Last time I checked, most journalists can crank out 300 words in less than an hour.

THE “IT” FACTOR!! What is this? A new NBC reality TV show? Some secret weapon, like “The Annexation of Puerto Rico?” No, the “It” factor is “destiny, perseverance and camaraderie.” Three things the Patriots also have themselves. So how do these three things make it an “It” Factor for the Giants if the Patriots too have them? I fail to see the logic. And unlike the Buccaneers, Cowboys and Packers, the Patriots do not provide the opposing team with bulletin board material. They wait until Sunday and do all their talking on the field. Also I do not thing Bill Belichick is sitting in his office in Foxboro, contemplating the “It” Factor.

Since the power has been shifted, every sports fan outside of New England has a hatred for Boston. In Johnette (yes Johnette) Howard’s column for Newsday, she claims “Boston must be stopped” as she claims there is reason behind her illogical rants but all it really is, is jealously. She even goes as far as saying “Three championships hoarded by one city in the same year?.... But it cannot happen to any place that goes by the nickname "Beantown" or trots out a football coach maligned as Belicheat.” Sorry Johnette but locals do not call Beantown that is how we Bostonians identify out-of-towners. Also Johnette, green is definitely not your color.

Boston v. New York Part I

2008-01-22T15:46:00.000-05:00

With the Patriots heading to Super Bowl XLII, after their 21-12 victory over the San Diego Chargers, to face the New York football Giants it gives us the chance to look into that Boston-New York rivalry, again.

In Boston v. New York Part I we compare the two cities with trivial information. (i.e. Who has the better nickname, mayor, etc.?)

BOSTON		NEW YORK
Tom Menino	Mayor	Michael Bloomberg	At least Bloomberg doesn’t stumble over words… NEW YORK
“The Hub of the Universe,” “The City on a Hill,” “The Athens of America”	Nickname	“The Capital of the World,” “The Big Apple,” “The City that never sleeps”	BOSTON…always one up on the competition from “world” to “universe”
Boston College Northeastern University Harvard University Boston University MIT	Higher Education	New York University Columbia University Fordham University Juillard School of The Visual Arts	New York schools are good but Boston has Harvard…BOSTON takes this one
Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market	Main Attraction	Statue of Liberty/Ellis Island	DRAW…New Yorkers don’t go to the Ellis Island like Bostonians don’t go to Faneuil Hall
James “Whitey” Bulger	Famous Criminal	Son of Sam	Not a bright spot on Boston but as heinous as David Berkowitz was he is not listed behind Osama bin Laden on the FBI’s Most Wanted List….BOSTON
First Night	New Year’s Eve	Times Square	As great as being in New York might sound when the ball drops, Boston’s First Night celebration is much better… BOSTON
Boston Accent	Accent	New York Dialect	At least New Yorker don’t get made fun of when they leave New York….NEW YORK
Denis Leary, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Eliza Dushku, Casey Affleck, Ellen Pompeo	Actors/Actresses	Billy Crystal, Adam Sandler, Denzel Washington, Jennifer Lopez, Julia Louis-Dreyfus	Too many good actors and actresses… DRAW
Dane Cook	Comedians	Jerry Seinfeld	Even draw…with the young crowd it would go to BOSTON but the older crowd would go with NEW YORK
James Taylor, Aerosmith, New Kids on the Block, Dropkick Murphys, Staind	Musicians	50 cent, Alicia Keyes, Luther Vandross, LL Cool J, Christina Aguilera	Hip-Hop/Rap versus alternative and folk rock…take your pick…DRAW
Boston Legal, Boston, Public, Cheers	TV Shows	Seinfeld, Friends	How did a show about nothing catch on across the nation like it did? NEW YORK
The Departed, Mystic River, Good Will Hunting, The Perfect Storm, The Boondock Saints	Movies	Armageddon, Independence Day, Godzilla, Big Daddy, Little Nicky	Any movie with Adam Sandler loses credibility in my mind….BOSTON
John Adams, John Quincy Adams, John F. Kennedy, Robert F. Kennedy	Politicians	Rudy Giuliani, Theodore Roosevelt, Franklin D. Roosevelt	JFK and FDR were both top presidents when they were in the Oval Office…Teddy Roosevelt is the reason we have environmental protection….DRAW

Tom Brady and his Bunch

2008-01-18T21:35:00.000-05:00

Belichick's BB PB&J

2008-01-16T20:26:00.000-05:00

He now spends his days making humble pie but earlier in his coaching career, Bill Belichick made his special BB's PB&Js. Here is the clip via YouTube.

Talk about the pot calling the kettle black....

2008-01-16T01:07:00.000-05:00

Note to LaDainian: People who live in glass houses should not throw stones!

To call anyone classless first you actually have to have class and the Chargers running back does not have it. Classy people would meet their opponents at mid-field to congratulate them on the win and not storm off angry. Classy people would not call out the head coach of another team. And most importantly classy people would have respect for the teams they are playing next.

As hated as the New England Patriots are, they are still the model franchise for the rest of the National Football League. You would never, in a million years, call Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Junior Seau, Troy Brown, Richard Seymour or Rodney Harrison classless. Sure these guys can be nasty competitors between the hash-marks but at the end of the game they will stand up and applaud the other team – win or lose. I do not think I have ever heard one negative comment about another team come out of Brady’s mouth (or Bill Belichick’s mouth) in a press conference. The Patriots handle things the same way no matter what the final score may be.

Compare that to the San Diego Chargers, a team who thinks they are the greatest thing since sliced bread when, in fact, they have basically been a one-and-done team the previous years. Philip Rivers takes the cake on this one. He is one of the cockiest athletes in professional today.

Did you see the San Diego-Indianapolis game on Sunday? As Rivers is walking off the field the with the Chargers trainer back to the locker room he is seen yelling at Colts fans and mouthing “I’ll be back.” But he never was back. It was back-up Billy Volek who dove into the end zone for the game winning touchdown, while Rivers was looking on from the sideline. The way he was standing it did not look like he was itching to come back into the game and neither did Tomlinson.

I know both Rivers and Tomlinson left with injuries but with the score so close and during this time of the season, it is “all hands on deck.” Curt Schilling returned to the mound for Game 6 of the ALCS against the Yankees after having his ankle sutured less than 48-hours prior. Dustin Pedroia played the last two months of the 2007 season (including the playoffs) with a broken bone in his hand. Michael Jordan played in the NBA finals with a 100-degree fever and the flu. Dodgers first baseman Kirk Gibson, pinch-hitting for Alejandro Pena, hobbling up to the plate with two bad knees to face the game’s best closer, Dennis Eckersley. Gibson looked horrible on his first two swings but on his third swing knocked the Eckersley fastball over the right field fence at Dodger Stadium. And who can forget what Brady in the AFC Championship game against the Steelers in 2004. The previous night he was in his hotel room getting IV treatments for a 103-degree fever. Winners do whatever it takes to win. They do not pull themselves out of games.

Philip Rivers is no better than Peyton Manning or Alex Rodriguez. When the game is on the line he chokes like Mama Cass on ham sandwich. Rivers is so eager to open his big mouth before big games but can not back it up when his is on the field.

In fact, the rest of the Chargers are no bed of roses either. When asked about New England, San Diego defensive lineman Igor Olshansky responded with “Who? The Patriots? Oh, trust me they know what’s up, they are more worried than us.”

Who is this Igor guy? Last time I checked Igor was the guy who lived at the top of the Notre Dame bell-tower. You know the hump-back? Doesn’t this guy know the more crap like this that spews out of your mouth the angrier the Patriots get? If Olshanksy wants to know what happens when you wake a sleeping giant, then he should give Pittsburgh rookie safety Anthony Smith a call. Smith has first hand experience with this.

The Patriots will let you trash talk all you want but be prepared to get it thrown back in your face on the field come Sunday. They let their actions on the field speak for themselves. When the Pats do come out as winners they let it all out. That is what they were doing last year in San Diego. They heard all the trash talking from the Chargers before the game and then after the game when the Pats were victorious they let it all out. All the trash talk they heard was thrown back in the San Diego’s faces. Also if you recall, when the Patriots played the Steelers in the 2001 AFC Championship game, most of the Steelers already made Super Bowl reservations but the Pats ended up winning the game to move on to Super Bowl XXXVI. Then, Patriots linebacker Willie McGinnest was seen on the sideline yelling “cancel those reservations, cancel all those reservations!”

The Pats do all their talking on the field because as Brady said “well done is better than well said.” Because that is what classy people do.

Pats Defeat Jags 31-20 behind defense in the second; Move on to the AFC Championship game

2008-01-13T00:00:00.000-05:00

During the game it looked as if the Patriots were having a difficult time stopping the Jaguars but when you looked at the half-time and post-game statistics it was the opposite. (What can I say I’m a stats geek!)

All last week people were saying Fred Taylor and Maurice Jones-Drew were going to run for 100 yards on the Pats defense; but by halftime tonight they had combined for only 60 yards. The game ended with Taylor and Jones-Drew recording only 47 and 19 yards, respectively. It is a true testament to how well the defense played in the second half.

The one thing I did not like to see during the game was all the flags being thrown against the Patriots. I do not think I have seen unnecessary roughness called more than in tonight’s game. Some of the calls were legit but others were ticky-tack and good have stood alone – i.e. Asante Samuel’s penalty in the fourth quarter. The play was not egregious enough to throw a flag on.

Dancing with the Stars Running Back, Laurence Maroney played exceptional. Maroney ran for 122 yards on 22 carries for an average of 5.5 yards. He broke a couple of tackles which led to huge gains and eventually scores as well as scoring the Patriots’ second touchdown of the game in the beginning of the second quarter.

The Patriots will return to action on the January 20 at Gillette Stadium to compete for the AFC Championship against either the San Diego Chargers or the Indianapolis Colts.

NOTES:

Donte Stallworth came up big for the Pats when they needed him. Brady connected with Stallworth on 3^rd and three in the fourth quarter for a first down to essential seal the deal for the Pats. Stallworth finished the game with three receptions for 68 yards – the most on the team…Wes Welker was Brady’s go to guy during the game, collecting 54 yards on nine receptions as well as rushing for 13 yards on a reverse end-around.

Why the Pats will beat the Jags in Saturday’s Match-Up

2008-01-10T13:17:00.000-05:00

Although Jeremy Green said in his column for ESPN, Jacksonville can control the clock by running the ball; the Patriots have come out victorious in the five games time of possession was not on their side – Dolphins (twice), Colts, Ravens and Steelers.

Green states “teams that can run the ball don’t get blown out.” Hey Green tell that to the Steelers! In the Steelers-Patriots game, Pittsburgh dominated time of possession (Steelers 34:43, Patriots 25:17) but still lost in a blowout, 34-13.

Time of Possession figures in those five games:

October 21 @ Miami

DOLPHINS – 35:05
PATRIOTS – 24:55

November 4 @ Indianapolis

COLTS – 30:16
PATRIOTS – 29:44

December 3 @ Baltimore

RAVENS – 32:54
PATRIOTS – 27:06

December 9 Pittsburgh

STEELERS – 34:43
PATRIOTS – 25:17

December 23 Miami

DOLPHINS – 31:44
PATRIOTS – 28:16

The Bend but don’t Break Defense: The Patriots defense is not overrated. Yes it is true they have given up more than 100 yards to Joseph Addai and Willis McGahee but did they give up more points than Patriots offense? No. The Pats would rather give up the four or five yard run plays than get beat on the big 40-50 yard pass play. If you noticed this year, the Patriots rarely got beat on the big plays.

The Patriots will come out with a five-wide, two-minute style offense in the beginning of the game. And who is better at the two-minute offense than Tom Brady? In the third quarter of the Wild Card game, when Ben Roethlisberger came out five-wide, he picked apart the weakest part of the Jacksonville defense. The Jaguars poor secondary against the Patriots wide receiver corps that scored over 500 points this season. The Pats receivers have a huge edge here.

Getting out to big lead first. The Jaguars are not a come-from-behind team. If the Patriots come out in the two-minute offense and five wide, they WILL score on their first drive of the day. The five-wide formation will confuse the Jacksonville defense because they have to watch-out for not only Randy Moss but Wes Welker as well. If the Jaguars choose to double-team Moss it will leave Welker or Kevin Faulk open over the middle for an easy completion plus additional yards. If the Jaguars chose to go with single cover on Moss with additional help in the back, then they are taking a big risk because Moss can still beat the corners and the safeties.

Ellis Hobbs will come up big. Hobbs has always been regarded as the weaker of the two cornerbacks. But is he really weak or do we just think so because Asante Samuel is so good? David Garrard is not going to throw, when he does throw, in the direction of Samuel. He is going to throw towards Hobbs. This will give Hobbs the chance to make some key plays. I have a feeling we are going to see either a key strip or interception out of Hobbs that will lead to a Patriots touchdown.

The Pats front seven is better than the Jaguars front seven. The Patriots go with a 3-4 style defense while Jacksonville goes with the usual 4-3. For a big guy, nose tackle Vince Wilfork (who’s wallet is slightly lighter these days) has the speed and quickness to get to Garrard and make him throw under duress with greater chances of a turnover. Even though the linebackers are aging, Junior Seau and Tedy Bruschi are playing like they did when they were 25. Seau looks to have a new life in him and Bruschi is still the captain of the defense.

The Patriots don’t wear those stupid captains’ patches on their jerseys. If you look closely none of the Patriots captains wear them. You do not see one of Bruschi, Brady, Faulk, Warren, Harrison, Izzo or any other Patriots captain. Those patches mean nothing except for singling out the players which is not in the Patriots’ M.O.

You heard it here: the Patriots will beat the Jaguars by at least 10-points.

Hoodie of the Year

2008-01-03T21:23:00.000-05:00

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS HEAD COACH BILL BELICHICK IS YOUR 2007 COACH OF THE YEAR!!!!

After leading the Pats to the first undefeated season since the Miami Dolphins in 1972 Bill Belichick was voted by the Associated Press the 2007 Coach of the Year.

Belichick won the award back in 2003 when the Patriots went on to win their second championship but 2007 is much better. He really deserves it this year after putting up with a lot of harrasment from the national media and fans from other teams due to Spy-Gate. Cheers to you Coach Belichick!

Boston Personalities Character

2008-01-01T20:44:00.000-05:00

Boston Sports Personalities Character

In his book “The Presidential Character,” author James David Barber evaluates the presidencies of 41 of the 43 American presidents. Barber explains a president’s presidency by three categories: the institution (how power changes over time), who has the power and presidential personality (which is divided into three sub categories: style, world view and character). For the purpose of these daily looks into the Boston sports personalities we will be focusing more in depth on the third and how it affects their work in Boston.

Barber divides a person’s character into four categories: the active-positive, the active-negative, the passive-positive and the passive-negative. The first half (active/passive) defines the activity level of the person and how much they put into doing their job while the latter half (positive/negative) defines their affect.

Four Different Types of Character described by Barbers:

The Active-Positive is a highly active person who is proactive instead of re-active. If their plan failed they will acknowledge it failed and move on from it. Some examples of active-positives are FDR, JFK and Harry Truman.

Unlike the Active-Positive, the Active-Negative is a highly active person who, rather than being proactive, is reactive. They will react to things that come across their desks rather than go out after them. Also unlike the Active-Positive, Active-Negatives have a harder time acknowledging when their plans are failing, therefore, intern, have a harder time changing them. Some examples of active-negatives are Richard Nixon, Woodrow Wilson and Lyndon B. Johnson.

The Passive-Positive is similar to a people pleaser and are more prone to act on emotion unlike the Active-Positive or the Active-Negative and it shows in their effort. They are looking more to be liked and loved therefore making decisions accordingly.

The Passive-Negative character believes it is their duty to be in the position they are in.

Using Barber’s characteristics I will choose a Boston sports personality once a day to evaluate what type of character personality they are.

Here is who is on the list for the upcoming week:

1/2/08 – Bill Belichick

1/3/08 – Theo Epstein

1/4/08 – Terry Francona

1/5/08 – Scott Pioli

1/6/08 – Doc Rivers

1/7/08 – Danny Ainge

January 8 – 10 will be the majority owners of the four major sports franchises in Boston, John W. Henry, Bob Kraft, Wyc Grousbeck and Jeremy Jacobs, respectively.

2007: A Year in Review

2007-12-31T18:20:00.001-05:00

2007 for sports in America can be simplified down to: the good, the bad and the ugly. Read below for an overview of the year.

Major League Baseball

THE GOOD: The Boston Red Sox winning their second World Series Championship in four years and becoming the first and only team to win it twice in the 21^st Century. As well as Sox pitcher Jon Lester coming back from a cancer diagnosis in late 2006 to win the clinching game of the World Series.

THE BAD: The Mitchell Report by Senator George J. Mitchell being released in mid-December, naming 86 current and former MLB players including former Red Sox Roger Clemens and Mo Vaughn. It really gives baseball a black-eye.

THE UGLY: Roger Clemens’s denial of steroid usage and Jose Canseco’s coming out with a new book in the Spring of 2008.

National Football League

THE GOOD: The New England Patriots becoming the first team to finish the regular season 16-0 and have the best chance of going 19-0 and winning their fourth Lombardi Trophy. As well as Tom Brady breaking Peyton Manning’s touchdown record and Randy Moss breaking Jerry Rice’s touchdown reception record.

THE BAD: Former Atlanta Falcons’s Quarterback Michael Vick being charged and arrested for dog fighting in April. Upon the guilty verdict, Vick now is spending 23 months in a Virginia penitentiary.

THE UGLY: New York Jets Head Coach Eric Mangini blowing the whistle on his former mentor Bill Belichick after the Patritos-Jets game at Giants Stadium at the beginning of September. It resulted with the Patriots being stripped of their first round draft pick and getting in the wallets of Belichick and the Patriots franchise for a combined $750,000.

Also the Miami Dolphins winning their first game of the season against the Baltimore Ravens in December and ended the season with a 1-15 record.

National Basketball Association

THE GOOD: After winning only 24 games all of last year and losing 19 games in a row at one point, the Boston Celtics are the hottest team in the NBA right now. Trading their fifth overall pick to the Seattle Supersonics for Ray Allen then making a blockbuster deal to acquire Kevin Garnett in July, the Celtics find themselves a top the league at 26-3.

THE BAD: The gambling scandal of NBA official Tim Donaghy for betting on basketball games that he officiated during the previous two seasons. Donaghy pleaded guilty to federal felony conspiracy charges.

THE UGLY: The Miami Heat being 8-23 so far this season when only a couple years ago they were World Champions. Also you have to take into account Minnesota without Kevin Garnett – and with half of ex-Boston players (Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes, Theo Ratliff, Gerald Green, Antoine Walker, Randy Foye and former BC Eagle Craig Smith) sits at 4-25.

College Football:

THE GOOD: Appalachian State beating Michigan in the first week of the college football season as well as Boston College as one of the surprise teams of the year, ending the season with an 11-3 record and 6-2 in the ACC.

THE BAD: The fact that we have two teams with two losses in the season playing for the National Championship. What about West Virginia or Hawaii?

THE UGLY: The historic powerhouse the Notre Dame Fighting Irish getting their second win of the season against Duke on November 17. They finished the season with a 3-9 record and many wondering if this will be Charlie Weis’s last year.

If you noticed that “the good” all have ties to Boston, well this was Boston’s year in the sporting world. And it looks like, with the direction the Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics, Revolution and even Bruins are heading, it won’t be their last year on top.

Here are some high and low points of the past year in sports:

January 12 – McDaniel College Head Basketball Coach Bob Flynn passing away at the age of 49 after a sudden, massive heart attack.
February 4 – Peyton Manning finally gets his ring when the Indianapolis Colts defeat the Chicago Bears two weeks after coming back from a 21-6 deficit against the Patriots.
The Florida Gators defeating the Ohio State Buckeyes for both the NCAA Division I-A Football Championship and the NCAA Division I Basketball Championship.
Barry Bonds breaks Hank Aaron’s homerun record in August then is indicted by the federal grand jury months later.
Red Sox outfielder J.D. Drew becoming the only major league player to be a part of two back-to-back-to-back-to-back homeruns, when the Sox Manny Ramirez, Drew, Mike Lowell and Jason Varitek all went deep against New York Yankees starter Chase Wright on April 20. (Drew was a part of one as a Dodger the previous year.)
The American League winning another All-Star game.
The first player to get a hit off of Daisuke Matsuzaka was college outfielder and punter, Johnny Ayers.
Patriots offensive line man Marquise Hill dying in a jet-ski accident in Louisiana in July.
Bills tight end Kevin Everett being temporarily paralyzed after trying to make a tackle on, then, Broncos kick returner Dominik Hixon. Thanks to the knowledge of the Buffalo medical staff, Everett is able to stand and walk on his own four months after being injured.
Redskins safety Sean Taylor dying from a gunshot wound to the leg after catching someone trying break into his house.
Broncos defensive back Darrent Williams being shot and killed less than 24 hours after the Broncos’s season ended on Denver streets at 2 o’clock in the morning on New Year’s Day 2007.
Zach Johnson winning his first Masters Championship on April 8.
Don Imus’s racial comments about the Rutgers women’s basketball team in April.
The Virginia Tech Hokies winning the ACC Championship after the a single gunman took the lives of 32 students and faculty.
San Antonio Spurs sweep the Cleveland Cavaliers in the NBA Finals.
Roger Federer wins his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title.
Tiger Woods wins his 13^th major winning the PGA Championship.
Phil Mickelson wins the 2007 AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am for the third time and his second in three years.
Mickelson injures left wrist while playing in a practice round at the U.S. Open at Oakmont due to the heavy rough.
Angel Cabrera becomes the fourth consecutive non-U.S. born golfer to win the U.S. Open. (Retief Goosen, South Africa, 2004; Michael Campbell, New Zealand, 2005; Geoff Ogilvy, Australia, 2006)
Irish golfer Padraig Harrington wins the 2007 Open Championship (British Open) at Carnoustie Golf Links.

They Did It Again!

2007-12-30T00:23:00.000-05:00

On a day when both the Patriots and Celtics were playing, both teams stormed back from eight point deficits in the fourth quarter to come out with the win.

Entering the fourth quarter the Patriots were down 28-23 to the New York Giants, Tom Brady found Randy Moss for a 65-yard touchdown a play after Moss dropped an easy 50-yard pass. Laurence Maroney ran in the 2-point conversion to give the Patriots a 31-28 lead – a lead they would not give up for the rest of the game.

As much as Pats fans wanted to see Brady and Moss break the touchdown record last week at home it was actually better this week. In the last game of the season against Peyton Manning’s little brother, Brady tosses a bomb to Moss to break two records not one. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Contrary to the belief the touchdown was not the turning point of the game. The turning point of the game was when Ellis Hobbs intercepted an Eli Manning pass to the outside that surely looked like it was going out of bounds. But Hobbs skillfully kept his feet inbounds and halled in the I-N-T. The Patriots would go on to score the record breaking TD and break the hearts of the Giants.

After Hobbs's interception the Patriots had all the momentum it did not look promising for the Giants. If it was not for Rodney Harrison’s stupid Bart Scott impersonation the Giants were not going to score for the remainder of the game. Because of Harrison’s antics – giving New York new life with four minutes left – Bill Belichick yanked him out of the game without a flinch of an eye. Walking over to the bench you could see Harrison with his head firmly looking in the opposite direction of Belichick. He knew he screwed up and Belichick was giving him the death look.

But the Patriots pulled out the win like they always did this season. Eli Manning played well for the first half but just like his big brother, when he needed to step up at the end of the game he crumbled.

Gostkowski kicked three field goals for a total of 12 points while Moss and Maroney had all the touchdowns in the game. Maroney finished the game with 46 yards on 19 carries and two touchdown runs while Moss had six catches for a total of 100 yards 22 yards shy of Wes Welker's 122 yards on 11 catches. But Brady was the star of the game.

When the offensive line had a bad night Brady did not cave under the pressure the Giants defense was giving him. But when has Brady ever succumbed to pressure? He completed 32 of 42 passes for 356 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. That means he finishes the season with single digit interceptions for the first time in his eight year career.

Now onto lighter things. Who gets the ball? Doug Mientkiewicz? Well after the game in Moss’s post-game press conference he addressed the issue. He said Brady and him discussed it with Moss telling Brady to keep it. Is this the same Randy Moss that was in Oakland and Minnesota? I do not recognize this man. I say give the ball to Jonathan Papelbon’s dog, it would bring 2007 to a complete end (pun intended).

Patriots' Pursuit of Perfection

2007-12-26T12:17:00.000-05:00

Shouldn’t the Patriots chase for history be seen by all? I can understand if the Patriots were 14-1 or 13-2 this game would mean nothing but the Pats are chasing history. All football fans should be allowed to see it even if they do not have the NFL Network.

Pats fans who are not in the Greater Boston area and who do not have the DirectTV package will not be able to watch the Pats break numerous NFL records. Fans around the league, who want to see the Patriots fail, will not be able to.

The NFL is doing more harm than good for themselves. What they could do this week is make a network deal with CBS or Fox to broadcast the game so that more than just a select few can see the game. As much as fans outside New England abhor the Patriots, the league should love the Patriots. Not only could the Pats break records on the field, they have broken television ratings records:

The Monday Night Game against the Baltimore Ravens drew in 1.6 million more viewers than the previous high Monday Night Game – Cowboys/Giants October, 2006. The game surpassed “Law and Order: Criminal Intent” (4), “Monk” (7), Disney’s “Hannah Montana” (10) and Nickelodeon’s “SpongeBob SquarePants (9) as well as becoming the highest viewed television program for 2007 – topping Disney’s High School Musical 2.

CBS encountered a spike in ratings because of the Patriots - 30.3 million viewers who tuned in to see the highly touted Patriots-Steelers game on December 9.

Before the Patriots-Steelers game, the Pats-Colts game recorded a 22.5 rating and the Patriots-Cowboys record a rating of 18.

Football fans want to see the Patriots. This is tough for a Boston fan to say, but the Pats are the Yankees of the NFL. The Yankees run the show in baseball the Patriots run the show in football. Face it football fans, the league would be in total turmoil if not for the Pats. The NFL needs the Patriots more than the Patriots need the NFL.

Only Jack Nicholson’s character from A Few Good Men can put the 2007 football season into context: “[Belichick’s] existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves [the NFL]...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want him on that wall. You need him on that wall.”

Without the Patriots there has not been much to talk about. The Colts have struggled since losing Marvin Harrison and Dwight Freeney. Do you really believe the Cowboys are a story this year? Tony Romo threw five interceptions against the Bills in a game earlier this year. The other Manning, Eli Manning, and the Giants struggled against the Bills last week. The Vikings have come alive as of late but in the junior league (NFC). Can they really match up against teams like the Patriots, Colts or Steelers? I don’t think so. I will give you Adrian Peterson but that is all he is a sure fire to win offensive Rookie of the Year. There is nothing left to talk about if the Pats were not chasing history.

To all those conspiracy theorists out there: maybe Bill Belichick purposely defied NFL rules to give commentators and fans something to talk about. Just trying to stir up those conspiracy theorists out there. (Oh by the way, Belichick was the Umbrella Man on the Grassy Knoll, November 22, 1963.)

60-Minutes.....Tick...Tick...Tick...

2007-12-22T19:55:00.000-05:00

With the Patriots, and Colts for that matter, playing meaningless games for the remainder of the season, it brings about the question of the two top teams in the AFC resting their starters.

The 2007 Pats and the 2007 Colts are two franchises looking in opposite directions. Indianapolis might be looking to rest guys, like Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne and Bob Sanders, because of the injury-plagued season they had this year. But the Pats on the other hand are trying to make history and become the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go undefeated.

It has never been Bill Belichick’s way to ease up on opponents, especially this year. Tom Brady, Randy Moss and Asante Samuel are going to play all four quarters of Sunday’s game. Unless the Pats are up 45-0 at half-time then it might be different. But then again, last time they face the Dolphins, the Pats were up 42-7 at the half and Brady came out for the third.

After stripping the Patriots of their first round draft pick and making Belichick the league bully, the Pats have retaliated and punishing the NFL as payback. In the process, Brady and Moss have compiled gaudy numbers and are on pace to break the single-season records for touchdown passes and receptions.

Belichick is a football guy. He loves the game and he loves the history of the game. If one of his players can break a record he is going to let the player go after it. Look at Doug Flutie and the dropkick or Vinny Testaverde throwing a garbage time touchdown a few years ago on the last day of the season. When history can be made, Belichick knows it and will go for it.

If the Patriots are ahead 45-13 in the fourth quarter and Brady needs one touchdown to break Manning’s record, there is no doubt that Brady will still be in the game. Belichick wants to see him break the record. Records were meant to be broken.

Do not let any of the national football commentators fool you the Patriots are out to kill the remaining teams on their schedule. The Pats have a lot to play for. Belichick and Brady want that fourth Super Bowl ring. Moss wants his first. They are out to play and not sit on the bench. The Pats have come this far playing 60 minutes of smash-mouth football and they will continue to play for 60 minutes. There are no stopping these boys.

PATRIOTS 45
Dolphins 13

Brady ties Manning’s record and breaks it next week as well as Randy Moss breaking Jerry Rice’s receiving yards.

(I am currently working on a Patriots PowerPoint of statistics so write-ups might be slow the next couple of days but I promise you I will post as soon as I get the opportunity.)

Ugly Day = Ugly Win

2007-12-16T21:16:00.000-05:00

When games are publicized so much throughout the week, the real thing never will live up to all the hype.

It is exactly what happened during Sunday’s 20-10 win against the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets. Fans and media expecting the Patriots to slaughter New York by at least 21 had to settle for a 10-point margin of victory. But a win is a win. There are no pictures in the standings, just another number added to the left hand column of the standings for the Pats.

Tom Brady was a non-factor in Sunday’s game, only completing 14 of 27 passes for 140 yards, one pick and zero touchdowns. It was Laurence Maroney’s time to shine but he did not shine so brightly. In the first quarter of the game, Maroney had two key mistakes that led to the Patriots have to punt in the first drive of the game.

(AP Photo)

Chris Hanson nicely punted the ball deep in Jets territory and downing it at the three yard line. On third down with pressure from Richard Seymour, Kellen Clemens threw the ball in the direction of safety Eugene Wilson who ran into the endzone for the first points of the game. After the hit by Seymour, Clemens was shaken up and taken out of the game and replaced by Chad Pennington.

(AP Photo)

After picking off Kellen Clemens, Eugene Wilson runs into the end zone for the first score of the game. The pick was Wilson's first pick of the season. (AP Photo)

There were two rare events that happened in Sunday’s game, one of which probably will not happen again for a long time. The first was the Patriots going with the running, but this is not the even that will not happen again. (They will be running the ball more in the playoffs.) But the second strange event was witnessing TWO blocked punts in the same game. It is pretty odd to see even ONE blocked punt but two in the same game is just uncanny.

The first blocked punt was a punt attempt by Hanson which was run back 26-yards by David Bowens for the six point score, plus Mike Nugent’s PAT. But on the next Jets possession, after going three-and-out, Ben Graham was back to attempt a punt only to have it blocked by Kelley Washington. Maroney went on to give the Pats a 17-7 lead with his second touchdown run of the season. The Pats never turned back and went on to score three more points on a 34-yard field goal by Gostkowski.

Next week the Patriots welcome the 1-13 Dolphins to Foxboro. The Dolphins have finally got the monkey of their back and recorded their first victory of the season after beating the Ravens 22-16.

The To-Do List

2007-12-16T21:01:00.001-05:00

Well we can cross one more thing off the Patriots To Do List for the 2007 NFL season.

- ~~Win the AFC East Division~~
- ~~Clinch a first round bye in the playoffs~~
- ~~Clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs~~
- Win AFC Division Game
- Win AFC Championship Game
- Win their fourth Super Bowl in seven years

How the Post-Season looks in the AFC after Week 15:

PATRIOTS 14-0 (East Division Champion)
Indianapolis 12-2 (South Division Champion)
San Diego 9-5 (West Division Champion)
Pittsburgh 9-5 (1st in the North)
Jacksonville 10-4
Cleveland 9-5

How the Post-Season looks in the NFC after Week 15:

Dallas 12-2 (East Division Champion)
Green Bay 12-2 (North Division Champion)
Tampa Bay 9-5 (South Division Champion)
Seattle 9-5 (West Division Champion)
New York 9-4
Minnesota 7-6

In the Hunt: New Orleans (7-7) and Washington (6-7)

"Look, there's Jesus, go tell the Romans."

2007-12-15T20:37:00.000-05:00

(Sorry I have not been updating as frequently. I have been working on some new layouts and testing some new layouts. I am looking at moving the blog to another location but you will be informed of the move. Nothing is set in stone yet. I still have some kinks to work out. But stay tuned for more updates on new layouts.)

Last year he was referred to as Man-Genius. This year the names are not so congenial. After calling out his mentor, Bill Belichick, the best words to describe the guy have been: rat, snitch, outlaw, Brutus. Feel free to add more words as you deem fit.

Even with snow and wind in the forecast the Pats have an over abundance of motivation to go out and annihilate the J-E-T-S Jets, Jets, Jets, in their second go around of the season. There should be a disclaimer on this game because it is going to be ugly.

The broadcast you are about to watch is pretty graphic. If you are squeamish or suffer from high-anxiety at the sight of pain, anguish and suffering then I have to inform you to look away. The upcoming show is going to be full of one-sided torture.

Even though the Jets are still a professional, NFL franchise and capable of beating the Pats, I do not see that happening. New York is just not as talented as the Patriots. They do not have the secondary that can cover the likes of Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker.

Tom Brady is going to pick apart the Jets defense and find his go-to guys. I would not be surprised to see the Pats put up 42 points even with the weather conditions, but I do think that Laurence Maroney is going to be running on these guys all day. It will be good for Maroney and bad for the Jets. The game will give Maroney the confidence he needs that he can rack up the big yards like the rest of the running backs in the league.

On defense the Pats will still need to step up. They played good defense against the Steelers by not letting Willie Parker break out any big runs. They will need to do this again tomorrow with Thomas Jones in the backfield. Stop Jones and put the ball in Kellen Clemens’s hands. Clemens might be better than Chad Pennington but he ranks up there with Kyle Boller and Joey Harrington. (On the bright side, fans at Gillette will have a field day with his name. Any relation to Roger? His name does begin with a “K.”)

With snow and wind in the weather forecast, I foresee Maroney running for one touchdown, Brady to Moss for three, Brady to Welker for one and Brady runs in one for his second of the year. Brady ties Manning’s touchdown record at 49 with a 39-point victory over the hapless Jets.

PATRIOTS 42

Jets 3

"The Mariano Rivera Welcome"

2007-12-09T23:08:00.000-05:00

NOTE TO THE 60,000-PLUS OCCUPYING GILLETTE NEXT SUNDAY:
Give Eric Mangini “The Mariano Rivera Welcome!”

The talk this week on Sportscenter and sports talk shows will be about how many points the Pats will score on the New York Jets and how badly Mangini will be booed. I say do the opposite.

On Opening Day at Fenway Park in 2005, the Red Sox were playing the New York Yankees. When Public Address announcer, Carl Beam, announced Yankee closer Mariano Rivera the Fenway Faithful broke into cheers. This is the treatment fans at Gillette should give to Mangini.

The national media will be expecting Mangini to be booed and it will show the creativity of Boston sports fans. After all, he did provide the ultimate motivation for the Pats going 19-0. The Patriots are winners; the Jets are whiners! And they are still doing a lot of whining today.

New York Daily News columnist Gary Myers is still whining about how the Patriots got off “easy” and should have been punished more harshly. Myers brings up the Pats first round pick obtained from San Francisco in last year’s draft day trade. He believes Roger Goodell should have taken away the better of the two draft picks. Myers also made a point to address his belief that Bill Belichick should have been suspended for the re-match next week.

It is the sour grapes talking. Myers is just bitter he is covering a poor 3-10 team with no plan for the future. There is no way Goodell could have known the 49ers were going to be so bad and it is not Belichick’s fault San Francisco traded their first rounder in April. You can not penalize the guy for making a trade last year.

But it would be nice the Patriots possibly winning the Super Bowl and having a chance to get Arkansas running back Darren McFadden. Or trading down to accumulate later picks. That would really put a dagger in the NFL and add another reason for people outside New England to hate the Patriots.

And regarding Myers stupid and idiotic comments about Belichick should have been suspended for next week’s game, he is desperately trying to get a Jets win and it shows. Myers, green is not your color.

I have more news for you Myers: the Patriots could beat the Jets without Belichick. I will go as far as saying, the Pats could start Matt Cassel and still pull out a victory. Matt Ryan drive down to spot start and beat New York. Okay I went too far but you get the picture. The Jets are just not good. If it was not for the Dolphins, New York would be the bottom feeders of the AFC East.

The To Do List...

2007-12-09T22:02:00.000-05:00

Well we can cross one more thing off the Patriots To Do List for the 2007 NFL season.

- ~~Win the AFC East Division~~
- ~~Clinch a first round bye in the playoffs~~
- Clinch home field advantage throughout the playoffs
- Win AFC Division Game
- Win AFC Championship Game
- Win their fourth Super Bowl in seven years

AFC Playoff Picture

PATRIOTS 13-0
Indianapolis 11-2
Pittsburgh 9-4
San Diego Chargers 8-4

Jacksonville Jaguars 9-4
Cleveland Browns 8-5

In the Hunt: Tennessee Titans and Buffalo Bills (7-6)

The Sleeping Giant Has Awoke and It's Not Happy

2007-12-06T10:41:00.000-05:00

If the game this week was not hyped up enough for the New England Patriots, Pittsburgh Steelers’ DB Anthony Smith gave the Pats added motivation to beat the Steelers.

A second year free safety, Smith told reporters that “People keep asking me if we're ready for the Patriots. They should be asking if they're ready for us,” guaranteeing a Steelers upset. He, then, went on to say “[Steelers teammates] will back me up. Everyone has the same attitude anyway, so it's not like it's a big thing.”

Even if the rest of the Steelers felt the same way, they would not be stupid enough to tell the national media. Speaking to the media only adds fuel to fire as ex-Eagle Freddie Mitchell learned before Super Bowl XXXIX.

I can hear the banging of Bill Belichick’s hammer on the doors to the Patriots locker room in Gillette Stadium. As if Rodney Harrison, Tedy Bruschi and Richard Seymour, did not have enough incentive to beat the Steelers, they now have ample ammunition to beat Pittsburgh.

When will teams learn that these kinds of childish acts only further motivate the Patriots to destroy you on the field? One would have thought that the rest of the league would have learned from Mitchell or ex-Colts kicker Mike Vanderjagt when he commented “[the Pats] were ripe for the picking,” before the 2004 AFC Championship game. Teams have not learned you should not make these comments because the Patriots will just throw them back in your face at game-time.

It is even more apparent this year with “Spy-Gate” giving the Pats motivation to crush and humiliate the rest of the league. Evidently Eric Mangini learned nothing during his days as a Patriots employee when he blew the whistle on Belichick that sparked the universal hatred of New England.

Smith also made the comment that Cincinnati had the best receiving corps in the game with Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chris Henry. “[The Pats] got Walker and Moss, but they're not like Cincinnati,” Smith said. Not knowing Wes Welker’s name is the ultimate slap in the face and resembles Mitchell’s comments about the New England’s DBs in 2005.

Looking at the statistics between the receiving corps of the Pats compared to that of the Bengals the Patriots have the slight edge. Combined Welker, Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth and Jabar Gaffney have given the Pats 142 first downs, 2,893 yards and 30 touchdowns. Compare that to the 127 first downs, 2,293 yards and 18 touchdowns by the top three receivers of the Bengals. Granted, I listed one extra Pats player it serves the point that Tom Brady has more weapons to use and does not have to rely upon either Moss or Stallworth.

So kids the moral of the story today is “Don’t awake the Sleeping Giant!”

The Toughest Game of the Year

2007-12-05T11:41:00.000-05:00

If you thought last week against the Ravens was a tight ballgame you have not seen anything yet. If there is one team out there that can stop the New England Patriots it is the Pittsburgh Steelers this Sunday.

The Steelers have the necessary tools to stop the Patriots prolific offense, even though lately that offense has been far less than prolific. Pittsburgh has a good quarterback, albeit not as good as Tom Brady or Peyton Manning, in Ben Roethlisberger who is built more like a Tight End than a quarterback. They have a defense that can pressure quarterbacks and make them throw under duress better than the Ravens or Eagles.

There is a glaring weakness on defense for the Pats that the Steelers, out of all teams, have the best chance to expose. As good as Brian Westbrook and Willis McGahee are, Willie Parker and Hines Ward are far more dangerous. Parker has accumulated 1,093 rushing yards over the 2007 season on 285 rushing attempts averaging out to 3.8 yards per gain. Ward has become one of Roethlisberger’s favorite targets in the open field when under pressure and like Donte Stallworth, Ward can break a few tackles for a long gain.

But those times that Roethlisberger is under pressure are few and far between because the fine work of the Pittsburgh offensive line. Sean Mahan, Alan Faneca, Marvel Smith, Kendall Simmons and Willie Colon have been doing an excellent job of keeping Roethlisberger in the vertical position, only allowing him to be sacked 35 times and 16 times in the last four games. (That is how many times Brady has been sacked all season by opposing defenses; although it seems that those 16 times have come all in the past two games.)

The Pats defense will have their hands full with the Steelers offense but the Steelers offense is not the only thing that New England will have to worry about. There is also that little thing called defense where the Steelers are ranked 1^st in the league.

Troy Polamalu is still a safety for the Steelers who, I am pretty positive, wants a piece of the Patriots after the Pats defeated Pittsburgh twice in AFC Conference games. Along with Polamalu on defense are inside linebackers James Harrison and James Farrior. Combined these two have 148 tackles and 14.5 sacks. Brady has to keep an eye out for these two coming up the middle or he will have an unwanted, face-to-face meeting with either one of them.

The Patriots offensive line has to step up and do a better job at protecting the Pats crowned jewel. No Pats fan wants to see Brady go down. The Steelers will probably play Randy Moss on man coverage (probably Ike Taylor) with additional help from the safeties and from time-to-time double team him. Double teaming Moss will open up Wes Welker over the middle, as in the Eagles game, and Welker can run for additional yards after the catch. But they have to be very careful of an interception by Deshea Townsend or Bryant McFadden.

This game will be a full-out, 60-minute, grinder. Which ever team can play for 60-minutes will come out on top. We all know that Bill Belichick has prepped his players all season to play 60 minutes of football each week (we should know because there were those soccer moms complaining about the Pats running up the score earlier in the year), so the Pats will come out to play for the entire game. I have not seen much or read too much about the Steelers in this case so I can not comment on this part of the game but knowing Belichick, he will have his team ready to play 60-minutes of hard, pounding football come Sunday at 4:15.

The Steelers had stripped away the Patriots 21 game winning streak back in 2003-2004 with a 34-20 victory in Heinz Field. With another streak on the line it is a safe bet the Steelers are looking to do the same again.

If the Patriots were not playing at home on Sunday would also factor into the game but this season Pittsburgh has not faired to well on the road. They have won just two out of five games they have played on the road. Those two wins coming against Cleveland and Cincinnati, two teams the Patriots have beaten – one of which was on the road (Cincinnati). Remember this is the team that also lost to the New York Jets and the Arizona Cardinals but come Sunday, the Steelers will be focused on the Patriots and intent on giving the Patriots their first loss of the season.

It is just I do not see that happening but I have been wrong before.

Patriots 35
Steelers 32

Game ball goes to: Wes Welker.

Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger throws a pass against the Cincinnati Bengals last week. (AP Photo)

New book....

2007-12-04T15:39:00.000-05:00

A spin off of the Harry Potter series......

"Bill Belichick and the rest of the National Football League"
Release Date was: 9/14/2007

Pats Snatch Another Victory from the Jaws of Defeat.

2007-12-04T00:06:00.001-05:00

Apparently the Patriots do not want me to ever sleep again. Since when did the Patriots turn into the 1967 Red Sox aka the Cardiac Kids?

This game was the Ravens Super Bowl. This was the game Baltimore was waiting for. The Ravens were 4-7 coming into the game, they were not going to make playoffs so this was their biggest game of the year and they played like it. They controlled the clock for over half of the game and were able to pressure Tom Brady for 3 sacks for, a combined 21-yard loss.

Baltimore running back Willis McGahee looked unstoppable against the Patriots defense, running for 138 yards on 30 attempts. On the positive side, the Pats defense did stop the run when they needed.

Brady had one of his worst games of the year completing only 18 passes on 38 attempts for a 47.4 completion percentage but did get throw the winning 8-yard touchdown to Jabar Gaffney. Moss caught only four passes for 34 yards including one touchdown. Laurence Maroney became a integral part in the Patriots offense not only running for 44 yards on 13 attempts but catching two passes for 79 yards.

The Pats certainly squeaked out a game that they surely should have lost and now must face the daunting task of playing the physical Pittsburgh Steelers , on short rest, next Sunday. But good teams find a way to win and bad teams find a way to lose. That is what the Patriots and Ravens did tonight, respectively.

If tonight's game was any indication of how the rest of the Patriots season is going to go, it is going to be hard to see them losing. They are grinders and grind it out until the very end. Just like Geoff Oglivy came back to win the 2006 U.S. Open Championship (with some luck) after being down by 1 stroke. Never feeling that they are out of a game.

Patriots Blowout could mean end for Brian Billick

2007-12-03T13:10:00.000-05:00

Today's Boston Herald featured Baltimore Ravens beat writer and columnist Mike Preston's article about Ravens coach Brian Billick. In Boston, Preston's closest analogy is former-Globe Patriots writer Ron Borges. During Billick's time in Baltimore, Preston has always called for Billick's removal as Ravens coach so his article in today's Herald's "Behind Enemy Lines" section is not news, but he did make good points.

Preston wrote today that "[the Ravens] would only fire Billick if the team continues to be embarrassed, like they were against the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Diego Chargers this season." Not good if you are Brian Billick and you are getting ready to face the 11-0 Patriots on the first Monday night in December.

If the Patriots are able to attack the historically good Ravens defense like they have other defenses all year, it will not be good for the Ravens and their fans. Baltimore has always been built on defense but this year their defense has given up 211 points and failed to match or pass that number on offense. With this being said I have to say, this game could be the game that decides whether or not Billick returns to Baltimore next year or the two sides part ways.

I have to agree with Preston if the Ravens fail to keep this game close and the Pats get out to 21-0 lead and end up winning the game 42-7 (like the Herald predicted) you will see the end of Billick in Baltimore. (oh and Mike Preston is a really cool guy!)

If Feeley can be a pro Quarterback so can Matt Ryan..

2007-11-26T10:50:00.000-05:00

Completing 64.3% of his passes, A.J. Feeley kept Philadelphia in the game, even giving the Eagles a 28-21 lead a one point. But the Patriots offense was too good for the Philadelphia defense mostly because of Field General Tom Brady and Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick in the bunkers.

There were many times during the game where I saw both sides of BC Eagles Quarterback and Heisman hopeful Matt Ryan in Feeley. For the majority of the game, Feeley was Ryan in the last two minutes of the Virginia Tech game but when it really counted, with the Eagles down by three with three minutes left to play, Feeley turned into Ryan of the first 58 minutes of the VT game.

After seeing Feeley play last night I look forward to seeing Matt Ryan playing for an NFL team next year. There is one thing that Ryan has over Feeley, that is when the game needs to be won, Ryan can do that and Feeley can not. He does everything an NFL team looks for in a Quarterback. He can step up in the pocket and take a hit to complete a pass. He can scramble to avoid a hit and he can, most importantly, win the game when it needs to be won. What NFL team does not want a player like that?

I said it last night while watching the game, the Patriots game plan was to make Feeley beat them. The Pats stopped game-changing Running Back, Brian Westbrooke from running away with the game and put the ball in Feeley's hand to be the hero. He came close but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades (and maybe golf if you don't have to putt a six inch putt). There are a lot of college quarterbacks better than Feeley and Feeley's keeping the NFL dreams of each and every one of those quarterbacks alive. Including the dreams of BC and Heisman hopeful Matt Ryan.

Comparisons between Ryan and Feeley

In 2007 alone, Ryan completed 333 passes out of 555 attempts for a percentage of 60.0. He threw for 3953 yards with a rating of 130.72.

Over Feeley's career, as predominately a back-up, spot-starter, he completed 353 passes out of 623 attempts for a percentage of 56.7, throwing for 3850 yards with a 72.2 rating.

If the Philadelphia Eagles take Ryan, they will be saying good-bye to Feeley because Ryan is and will be a better back-up than Feeley has been or will ever be.

Pats have a lot to be Thankful for....

2007-11-21T23:20:00.000-05:00

Before you settle down for your Thanksgiving feasts. I would like to give you all an extra serving of potatoes with a whole lot of gravy. Let us look back and appreciate what the National Football League has given us this year. This is for you NFL. Thank you!

First off we should all say thank you to the New York Jets. Without Eric Mangini's whistle-blowing trick, the Patriots are the heavy favorites to win Super Bowl XLII.

We can not forget to show gratitude our brothers in Little Havana (Miami). Don Shula's asterisk comments have given the Pats extra motivation to go 19-0 and to become the first team since the '72 Dolphins to go undefeated.

I want to express great thanks to Peyton Manning. If it were not for Manning leading the Colts to come-from-behind victory in the AFC Championship game, then we would not have Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Donte Stallworth and Adalius Thomas. Good things come in unusual ways.

Other thank yous from the Patriots across the NFL:

To football commentators for questioning the Pats past three championships, they would not be able to be 10-0 without your words to motivate the Patriots.
Tony Dungi and his comparisons of Bill Belichick to Barry Bonds. That only increased the Pats motivation to beat the Colts two weeks ago.
Wade Phillips for saying the Patriots Dynasty is "tainted." Taint this, Wade: 10-0!!!
Dennis & Callahan for adding words of inspiration by saying the Pats are running up the score. Then being slapped down in the face by Tom Brady. (Brady was waiting to say that to someone.)
The Philadelphia Eagles, who came out and said in week 2 "they had to have been stealing our signs, they knew all the screen plays we had." Those words will only add fuel to the fire this coming Sunday.
LaDainian Tomlinson for "being classy" saying that "if we played [the Patriots] 10 times, we'd win nine times." Thank you for those inspiring words, LaDainian. Oh and by the way, the Chargers have lost the last two games against the Pats therefore nullifying your comments.

And last but not least we must express our sincere appreciation toward Roger Goodell and the National Football League. As much as the Patriots hate to lose a first round draft pick, but we will thank you when we are picking fourth in the draft over all.

Happy Thanksgiving and GO FALCONS! (Even though the Colts will probably win but one could hope.)

Just sit back and enjoy this..

2007-11-19T11:20:00.000-05:00

I'm going out on a limb here and say I do not see the Patriots losing a game for the rest of year. In a previous post I said Pittsburgh would be a tough game, I'm having a change of heart. After the Steelers lost to the Jets (one of the worst teams in football) the Steelers don't scare me anymore.

Before I comment on the Pats here's my mea culpa*. I must confess that I was too quick to put Ben Roethlisberger in the same category as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady, after Roethlisberger's come from behind victory against the Browns. In the words of Ted Sarandis, "I misspoke. I'm a human being and I misspoke!" I'm not commenting further on it. It is what it is.
Back to the Patriots. What the Patriots did on Sunday night was nothing short of spectacular. On every possession except for their last possession, the Pats ran into the endzone. And finally Laurence Maroney entered the touchdown party with his first score of the season, on the Patriots opening drive of the game.

The Patriot haters out there are going to whine and complain that the Pats were running up the score and embarrass Bills Coach Dick Jauron. On contrary, when the Patriots went for the score on 4th and goal, they were giving the Bills a chance to stop them. There is a greater chance to stop a pass attempt on 4th down than there is to block a field goal. It is the defense's job to stop the offense. It is not Brady's fault that the defense left Randy Moss wide open on the sideline for two easy scores. Everytime the offense is out there, they are out there to score not to take a knee - as some people want Brady to do.

Speaking of Moss, if you were in coma for the last few years, you would never think that he was a trouble-maker from what he has given the Patriots this year. He has molded himself to the Patriot Way. Even to the point that Brady AND Bill Belichick were giving him compliments. That fourth round draft pick better be good for the Raiders because this deal was a steal. But in the past Belichick has turned previous "Me-Guys" into "Team-Guys." Look no further than Corey Dillon who was instrumental in the Patriots winning their third championship in 2004. Rodney Harrison was regarded as a dirty player during his time in San Diego, is now a Captain for the Patriots and a role model for the younger players, such as Brandon Meriweather.

To put it simply, Sunday's game proved the New England Patriots are at a totally different level than the rest of the National Football League. This is what you can do with Quarterback who can throw the ball, receivers who can catch it and a defense who can defend.

*Special thanks to Dr. Herb Smith, at McDaniel College, for teaching the students in API, fall of 2004, a little Latin.

Not much of a rematch....

2007-11-17T23:45:00.000-05:00

New England Patriots (9-0) v. Buffalo Bills (5-4)

@ Ralph Wilson Stadium Orchard Park, NY

9-0-0

1st, AFC East	Standing	2nd, AFC East
428.7 ypg (1st)	Offense	268.3 ypg (31st)
296.3 ypg (2nd)	Passing	163.8 ypg (28th)
132.3 ypg (7th)	Rushing	104.6 ypg (17th)
275.2 ypg (4th)	Defense	359.7 ypg (28th)
Won 9	Streaks	Won 4

5-4-0

Last Time They Met: September 23, 2007 Pats Won 38-7

The Patriots jumped out to 3-0 on a 24-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. But after a late hit by Vince Wilfork on Bills quarterback J.P. Losman, the Bills responded with a Marshawn Lynch 8-yard touchdown run. The Bills had the lead for the first quarter of the game but during their second possession of the second quarter, the Bills had their backs pinned against their own end zone. The Pats defense forced the Bills to punt from their own 1 yard line, giving the Patriots good field position at Buffalo’s 47. Six plays later Tom Brady found Tight End Benjamin Watson alone in the end zone for an eight yard score and the Patriots never turned back. Brady threw to Randy Moss for two scores, including a 45-yard touchdown pass that had Bills cornerback Jabari Greer commenting “I got Mossed,” after the game. Moss finished the game with 115 yards with five catches while Laurence Maroney rushed for 103 yards on 19 attempts, averaging 5.4 yards per attempt.

On defense, the Bills sacked Brady only once while Asante Samuel intercepted Losman’s replacement Trent Edwards for 42 yards. Defensive lineman Jarvis Green and Cornerback Ellis Hobbs both had 1.0 sack for losses of 9 yards each.

This week’s game:

When they met the last time, they looked like two teams heading in two different directions. The Bills lost two games to the Broncos and Steelers while the Patriots were coming of two victories against the Jets and Chargers, and highly motivated. As we sit here in November, the Bills are 5-4, in second place in the AFC East and have a four-game win streak on the line. If it was not for Buffalo, the Patriots could have clinched the AFC East before Thanksgiving. The Bills are a different team than they were in September. They are upbeat and have momentum coming off four wins in four games. But the Patriots are still bigger and more physical on the line so it is likely the Bills are not going to be giving the Pats their first loss of the season. In addition the Bills Defensive Backs got burned by Brady and Moss in the first game, it probably will happen again tomorrow. Bills DBs will be overmatched by the Pats receiving corps, mainly Moss but also Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth.

Match-Ups

Quarterbacks

Patriots: Tom Brady

Bills: J.P. Losman

EDGE: Patriots

Brady is leading the league in touchdowns (33), completion percentage(73.2%) and QB rating (131.8). The closest Quarterback to Brady in QB rating is Ben Roethlisberger at 110.2, 21.6 less than Brady. Between Brady and Losman it’s not even a choice.

Running Backs

Patriots: Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk

Bills: Marshawn Lynch and Anthony Thomas

EDGE: Bills

Wide Receivers

Patriots: Randy Moss, Donte Stallworth, Wes Welker, Jabar Gaffney and Kelley Washington

Bills: Lee Evans, Josh Reed, Roscoe Parrish, Justin Jenkins and Sam Aiken

EDGE: Patriots

Do you really see Jabari Greer or Terrance McGee or both defending Randy Moss? They could barely do it last time what makes this time any better? Greer has two interceptions this season (Chad Pennington and Tony Romo), that’s two more than he had in his career coming into the season. Patriots receivers get all the credit here.

Offensive Linemen

Patriots: Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Dan Koppen, Stephen Neal and Nick Kaczur

Bills: Jason Peters, Derrick Dockery, Melvin Fouler, Brad Butler and Langston Walker

EDGE: Patriots

Defensive Linemen

Patriots: Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour and Jarvis Green

Bills: Chris Kelsay, Aaron Schobel, Larry Triplett, Kyle Williams, Ryan Denney, Copeland Bryan, John McCargo and Jason Jefferson

EDGE: Patriots

With Wilfork at Nose Tackle and Seymour on the End, the Pats are bigger than Buffalo’s offensive line.

Linebackers:

Patriots: Mike Vrabel, Adalius Thomas, Tedy Bruschi, Rosevelt Colvin and Junior Seau

Bills: Angelo Crowell, John DiGiorgio, Keith Ellison, Mario Haggan, Coy Wire

EDGE: Patriots

At the Linebacker position the Patriots starters all have five plus years of experience that alone gives them a one up on the Bills starting linebackers. Crowell is the only one who has more than two years in the league.

Defensive Backs:

Patriots: Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, Randall Gay, Brandon Meriweather, Rodney Harrison, James Sanders, Eugene Wilson and Willie Andrews

Bills: Terrance McGee, Jabari Greer, Donte Whitner, George Wilson, Kiwaukee Thomas, Aston Youboty, John Wendling and Jim Leonhard

EDGE: Patriots
See Wide Receivers.

Special Teams:

Patriots: Stephen Gostkowski (K), Chris Hanson (P), Ellis Hobbs (KR), Wes Welker (PR), Larry Izzo and Lonie Paxton (LS).

Bills: Rian Lindell (K), Brian Moorman (P), Terrance McGee (KR), Roscoe Parrish (PR) and Ryan Neill (LS)

EDGE: Even

Bills Punt Return Parrish is averaging 19.4 yards on his punt returns. But Gostkowski is 11-for-12 in field goals. The only miss was a botched hold by back up Quarterback Matt Cassel. On the season Gostkowski has 79 points on the season with 46 extra point attempts, all made.

FINAL SCORE:
PATRIOTS 33
BILLS 10

It's not about the Talent....

2007-11-16T15:45:00.000-05:00

It has long been said that if Tom Brady had the same receivers as Peyton Manning, Brady would be just as good, if not better, than Manning. This season Brady has the receivers and is proving that he just as good as Manning to the national media. But as I watched the Colts game last Sunday, it came to me that Brady is better than Manning.

Brady won three Lombardi Trophies with Troy Brown, David Patten, Deion Branch, David Givens, Donald Hayes, Bethel Johnson, J.J. Stokes, Dedric Ward as well as tight ends Jermaine Wiggins, Christian Fauria, Daniel Graham and Ben Watson as his receivers. In the past years Manning was priviledged to throw to the likes of Marvin Harrison, Reggie Wayne, Dallas Clark as well as former Colt Brandon Stokely.

Last Sunday, Manning's receiving corps consisted of Wayne, Ben Utecht, Aaron Moorehead, Bryan Fletcher and Craphonso Thorpe. I am not saying Manning's not a top Quarterback any more, I am saying that he is not #1 any more. We saw, in Sunday's game, what Manning is like when he does not have Harrison and Clark to go along with Wayne. Against the Chargers, you could see Manning trying to set the offense, telling them where to be; something he never had to do with Harrison, Wayne or Clark.

Yes it could be that Harrison, Wayne and Clark are familiar with Manning but the Quarterback that he is should be able to overcome those losses. Brady was able to overcome the loss of Branch. He was not able to throw the ball as he would have liked because he did not have the talent around him but Brady made the most of the talent he did have and worked with that.

A #1 Quarterback in the National Football League does not have to have the most talented receivers but only make the most out of what they do have. Create plays and schemes that match the talent of the players that are on the field.

This year Brady can do more on offense. He can throw deep because he has Randy Moss. He can throw to Moss in double coverage because he knows Moss will go up and get the ball. He can throw over the middle for Kevin Faulk or Wes Welker.

Judging how good a Quarterback is not about what type of talent he has on the field but how he operates with the talent he does have on field. Therefore Brady it can be said that Brady is the #1 Quarterback in the NFL.

Bye Week

2007-11-12T00:44:00.000-05:00

With the Patriots inactive this week, we look forward to the remaining seven games on the Pats schedule. After beating the Colts last week there are only two teams on the Pats schedule, from here on, that are in the way of the Pats going undefeated: the Steelers and the Giants.

While New England and Indianapolis are far ahead of the rest of the league, the Pittsburgh Steelers kept up with the two juggernauts with a 31-28 victory against the Cleveland Browns. Early in the game the Steelers looked horrible, defensively and offensively. Cleveland scored 21 points on the Steelers defense and the Browns defense held the Steeler offense to just three field goals.

The second half was a different story. The Steeler defense came alive and not only did they not allow a Browns offensive touchdown, they forced the Browns to go three and out on every offensive drive in the half. On offense, Steelers Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger did his best Tom Brady impersonation leading with a 13-point second half comeback. But does this comeback put Roethlisberger in the same category as Brady and Peyton Manning?

No I don't think so. Roethlisberger is a bit too agressive on the field. Unlike Manning and Brady, Roethlisberger takes too many chances. In my opinion, he'll run for a first down (which is fine Brady and Manning do that too) but he goes in head first rather then entering the slide. He should enter the slide more because the more he dives AFTER attaining a first down the more risk for injury. If Roethlisberger goes down the Steelers have no shot. He needs to protect himself and the Steelers and slide and not try to be a Tight End. I'm not taking away Roethlisberger's 30-yard touchdown run because he had a CLEAR path to the endzone but other plays probably have Steelers fans on edge. But I have a feeling that we'll be talking about Brady, Manning and Roethlisberger as the Top Three Quarterbacks in the league one day.

As for when the Pats play the Steelers on December 9, the game will be close all the way down to the end. Both teams have exceptional defenses and exceptional offenses. Willy Parker has a similar running style to Laurence Maroney, looking for the holes but he can cut like Joseph Addai. If the Patriots play 60 minutes of football like they have been all year, they have a good chance of coming out with a victory. If the the Steelers play the way they did today, against the Browns, on December 9, then they will find themselves down 21-24 points. I see a close game with the Pats coming out on top 34-31 in the last seconds of the game.

Patriots Schedule for the rest of the season:

11/18 @ Buffalo Bills (5-4) Second in the AFC East
The Bills have been playing better as of late and that's what will make it a closer game
then the last game, but the Patriots will pull out a victory.
11/25 Philadelphia Eagles (4-5) 4th in the NFC East
Weren't they picked to go to the Super Bowl XLII this year for a Super Bowl XXXIX rematch? The Eagles are a complete disaster this year and have failed to live up to their 2007 potential. Pats win easily.
12/3 @ Baltimore Ravens (4-5) 3rd in the AFC North
After watching the Steelers roll over the Ravens. The Ravens do not scare me that much anymore. Steve McNair is done and Kyle Boller is not the answer in Baltimore. Pats Win.
12/9 Pittsburgh Steelers (7-2) 1st in the AFC North
Correction: the only tough game left on the Pats schedule this year. See above for an explanation. But Pats will win in a close game.
12/16 New York Jets (1-8) 3rd in the AFC East
You want to talk about running up the score? I think by the end of this game the Pats might be the first team to score 100 points in a game. Belichick's going to be relentless and show no mercy.
12/23 Miami Dolphins (0-9) 4th in the AFC East
Don Shula's asterisk comments has led me to believe the Dolphins will be in for a similar fate as the Jets, the second time they play. It's not going to be pretty for the Dolphins or their fans. Wouldn't it be ironic if during the season the Pats go undefeated, the previous team that went undefeated, goes 0-16? That would be sweet.
12-29 @ New York Giants (6-3) 2nd in the NFC East
The Patriots might choose to rest their starters since they will have already clinched a playoff spot, and possibly, home field advantage throughout the playoffs. But if they are undefeated they might want to go for the record. Either way it will be good game because the Giants will be competing for a playoff spot. I see the Pats pulling it out, even with most of their back ups.

Next: Commenting on the Indianapolis Colts and their loss to the San Diego Chargers

"High School Never Ends..."

2007-11-08T13:16:00.000-05:00

The Patriots are the new bully that used to take your lunch money, stuff you in lockers then like the snap of a finger become the victim.

After the Pats put a beating on the Jets in the opening game of the season, the Jets played the role of the geeky, four-eyed, loner and tattled on the big, bad bully to the authorities. In a whiny voice you can almost hear Eric Mangini saying "He was cheating!"

With the national media and commentators questioning their three Super Bowl championships, the Pats quickly turned from bully to victim. Turning from bully to victim is an art form. Not everyone can do it and if you are one of the people who can not then you will quickly be caught, cause you'll look foolish. Bill Belichick can motivate his players to see themselves as the victim even though the rest of the league sees them as big bullies.

They dismantled the overly cocky jocks (San Diego).
Rolled over the nerds (Trent Edwards and the Buffalo Bills).
Shut up the class clown (Cincinnati).
Beat up the J.V. squad during the annual Varsity-Junior Varsity scrimmage (Dallas).
Smacked and demolished the defenseless (Cleveland, Miami and Washington).
The old bully of the school returns and goes down late (Indianapolis).

The Pats return to school on November 18 to school the nerds on Life in the NFL. Even in Buffalo I don't see the Bills beating the Patriots. "When the little guy trys to take on the big guy, the little guy usually ends up head first in the garbage." (SLoZaC)

With seven games left in the regular season and 10 left before the Big Game on February 3, 2008, the Pats will see more nerds and geeks again. Especially those whiny, tattle-tailers that drove them to this position in the first place.

After being branded with the NFL bulls-eye, having corrupt officials officiating their games and everyone doubting their past achievements, the Pats turned themselves from being the perpetrator to a victim. They WILL go 19-0 and win their Lombardi Trophy in six years in Glendale, Arizona on February 3, 2008 (seven years exactly after their Super Bowl XXXVI championship).

Eric Mangini looks like the idiot now. Now knowing what happened, if you could go back in time, Mangini, would you still blow the whistle on Belichick?

"...And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives..."

2007-11-01T21:09:00.000-04:00

After Sunday, one team will walk away undefeated while the other with their first loss of the season. That is right folks the game that all Patriots fans circled on their calender as a rematch of the of the AFC Championship game from last year, has finally arrived. The Patriots will travel to Indianapolis as five point favorites (as it stands today and could be subject to change in the upcoming days).

The game has taken on a life of its own in the media. With some media outlets calling it Super Bowl 41.5 while others simple refer to it as "Good v. Evil." There is a lot at stake between the Pats and Colts on Sunday. Possible home field advantage during the playoffs. We all know how well Peyton does in Foxboro in January. With a lot at stak here, it is giving the Patriots the edge.

The Patriots will have the edge in almost every game they play in from now until the end of the season. They have a bulls-eye on their back, have been branded as cheaters and even had their three Super Bowl victories questioned. Most normal NFL franchises would fold under these negative views. But let's face it folks, the Patriots are not normal.

Here's how the Pats and Colts stack up.

Offense:
Both teams have high powered offenses led by the two best quarterbacks in the league today: Tom Brady and Peyton Manning. Patriots have Kevin Faulk and brought in Wes Welker who can go over the middle and collect the short throws from Brady, along with feature RB Laurence Maroney. But Manning also has those guys too, ever hear of RB Joseph Addai and TE Dallas Clark? Last year the Pats lacked a deep threat down field so they went out and traded for Donte Stallworth and Randy Moss and signed TE Kyle Brady, in addition to TE Benjamin Watson and WR Jabar Gaffney. But don't forget Manning also has these same weapons, WR Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, TE Ben Utecht and drafted young TE Anthony Gonzalez (not the BC alum Anthony Gonzalez). Also both Quarterbacks have offensive linemen who give them plenty of time to throw the football. EDGE: Even.

DEFENSE:
The Patriots in the off season went out and boistered their defense by signing LB Adalius Thomas and drafting DB Brandon Merriweather out of Miami, to go along with their strong defensive line of Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour. Seymour has only played one game this year but in his absence, Jarvis Green filled in admirably. CB Asante Samuel leds the defense with 4 Interceptions followed by LB Junior Seau with 3 and CB Randall Gay with 2. Combined the three of them have as many interceptions as the whole Indianapolis defense. Second year safety Antoine Bethea leads the Colts with 2 Interceptions. Judging by the defensive statistics, the Colts defense have a difficult time getting to the Quarterback with only DE Dwight Freeney recording 3.5 sacks on the season. Compared to Pats LB Mike Vrabel's 7.5 sacks. The Colts are going against an offensive line that does not let defenses even sniff Brady this Sunday and it could mean trouble for for Indianapolis. EDGE: Patriots

SPECIAL TEAMS:
There appears to be no sophomore slump for second year kick Stephen Gostkowski. In 11 Field Goal attempts he's made 10 with the one miss being a 47-yard kick due to holder Matt Cassel's inability to control the football. For the Colts, Adam Vinatieri has made 14 of 15 with his longest only 39, compared to Gostkowski's 49. Both kickers did make all their extra point attempts. Since Pats kick returner Ellis Hobbs's record-tying 108-yard return against the New York Jets in the opening game of the season, Hobbs has compiled 525 yards on 18 returns for an average of 29.2 yards. Punt returner Wes Welker has 172 yards on 17 tries. Colts returner T.J. Rushing has a combined 489 yards on 25 carries for kick and punt returns. EDGE: Patriots

COACHING:
Let's face it when it's game time who do you want on the sideline? Tony Dungy or Bill Belichick? Belichick is probably only person that can make a 45 point win sound like a 45 point loss, as he did in his press conference after the Redskins game. And better yet he doesn't care what reporters, commentators or anyone else says about him or his team. You really have to envy a person like that, especially in today's world when we are all swayed by our peers' criticism. EDGE: Patriots

Camera-Gate, Bill Belichick, Jets and New York Media

2007-09-19T12:15:00.000-04:00

It has been over a week since New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick was caught and punished for video taping defensive signals during the Patriots week 1 dismantling of the New York Jets, but talk has not quited down - especially in the New York media.

Apparently, the New York media has such disdain for Belichick and the Patriots that they have sunken to a new low when publishing the standings in a New York newspaper. The New York Post published the NFL standings with a new look, on Tuesday, placing an asterisk next to New England, with a note at the bottom saying "caught cheating."

Now the only human reaction is "an eye for an eye" as Boston Herald columnist John Tomase proposed but Boston (and New England as a whole) should be the bigger people and not stoop down to this low, elementary school-yard trick. It would feel so good and humorous to put an asterisk nexts to the Jets in the standings in the Boston Herald with "caught whining" noted at the bottom, as Tomase used as a proposition, but Bostonians are bigger than that.

The Patriots have been awakened and it looks like New England is even more motivated than before to get back to the big dance and take home their fourth Lombardi Trophy. Thanks Eric Mangini.

In addition to camera-gate, I have a couple of issues I want to address:
1. What Belichick Did
I have no issue with Bill Belichick stealing signs, it is just the way he did it. Clearly in violation of the rules and regulations of the NFL but not egregious enough to warrant any type of suspension. The majority of the teams in the NFL try to steal the other teams signs. It happens not just in football but in baseball and in other sports.

2. New England fans defending their coach
Other teams fans say if this had been any other team, New England fans would be all over it. But they do not understand that Bill Belichick turned the Patriots franchise around, leading the team to three Super Bowl victories and giving the fans something to cheer for. He may not be the nicest and friendliest man during press conferences but his years in New England gave die-hard Pats fans what they have always dreamed of. So when Belichick was facing major disciplinary actions the fans stepped in to back the coach that gave them three Super Bowl teams to cheer for.

It is quite similar to a friend or a family member doing something that you know is wrong but you still come to their defense anyway because you love them. You don't care about what they did you just care about them.

3. The Belichick - Nixon comparisons
I have been hearing lately some comparisons of Bill Belichick and Richard Nixon. You can only compare the things they did. Nixon spying on the Democratic National Convention at The Watergate. And Belichick using technology to try to steal signs during a football game. But that is about as far as you can go. Nixon's not hated because he spied on the DNC. Nixon did not resign because impeachment was a possible punishment for bugging DNC Headquarters. He resigned because he perjured himself. Belichick, to our knowledge, has not said "I did not tape that defensive coordinator."

If Nixon had just been honest about the "plumbers" at The Watergate then the whole story would have blown over in a couple of months and there would be no Deep Throat, no Woodward and no Bernstein. It was not the act that was the issue for Nixon it was the cover up following teh act.

We don't hate Bill Clinton for Whitewater or having an affair with an intern, it is just we do not like the fact that he lied about when questioned.

Belichick was honest and remorseful, or believably remorseful, about what had happened. And to our knowledge has not lied during any time of teh investigation. That is what should make him different than Nixon and Clinton.

Pats Stats

2007-01-01T00:00:00.017-05:00

2008 Pats Stats

Total Yards (through Week 12)

RED = Rushing Yards
BLUE = Passing Yards

Rushing Average
(through Week 12)

Quarterback Completion Percentage
(through Week 12)

AFC EAST STANDINGS

2007-01-01T00:00:00.016-05:00

W-L

Pct.

8-3

.727

323

234

7-4

.636

267

222

6-5

.545

237

245

6-5

.545

273

249

Matt Cassel

2007-01-01T00:00:00.008-05:00

16
MATT CASSEL

FULL NAME: Matthew Brennan Cassel
DOB: May 17, 1982
BIRTHPLACE: Northridge, CA
HEIGHT: 6’4” WEIGHT: 230lbs
HIGH SCHOOL: Chatsworth (CA) ’00
COLLEGE: Southern California

PROFESSIONAL DEBUT: 2005 New England Patriots
ACQUIRED: 2005 NFL Draft, Round 7, Pick 230

PERSONAL INFORMATION:
Cassel grew up in the Los Angeles suburb of Northridge with his two brothers, Jack and Justin where his Little League Team made the 1994 Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. All three brothers are currently professional athletes. Older brother, Jack, is a Major League pitcher with the Houston Astros while younger brother, Justin is pitching in the Chicago White Sox organization. Cassel’s mother is a set decorator for the television show “My Own Worst Enemy” and in 2007 she won an Emmy for the 2006 mini-series “Tony Bennent: An American Classic.” HIGH SCHOOL: During his career at Chatsworth High, Matt was a two sport all-star in baseball and football. As a senior for the Chancellors, Cassel excelled on the grid-iron something Justin, who was a freshman, had to live up to. Matt completed 137 of 261 pass attempts (52.5) while accumulating 2,020 yards through the air with 14 touchdowns and five interceptions. Cassel also ran for 252 yards, on 115 carries (2.2 avg), and punched it into the endzone himself 11 times. In one game, he threw for 324 yards including five touchdowns. COLLEGE: After high school, Matt went on to attend the University of Southern California hoping to inherit the starting position from Carson Palmer in two years. He spent two years playing the under-study role to Palmer until the Bengals made the former Heisman Trophy winner the first overall pick of the 2003 NFL Draft. But the Trojans brought in high school stand-out Matt Leinart, who was going to compete with Cassel for the starting position. When Leinart won the job and proved he should be the starter, Cassel once again was relegated to back-up but he did not give up. No one would have faulted him if he wanted to transfer but he stayed at USC to get his degree. Cassel did get on the football field during his collegiate career as a tight end as well as made the Trojans baseball team in the spring, where he played with Yankees top pitching prospect Ian Kennedy and Mariners top catching prospect Jeff Clement. Off the field he was an outstanding student who graduated with a degree in Communications and a 3.37 GPA (B+).