New England Patriots Pulpit

Final Injury Report: Patriots at Bengals (Week 4)

2007-09-29T20:42:00.000-04:00

Faulk Added to Injury List
9 Listed as 'Questionable'

Running back Kevin Faulk was added to the New England Patriots injury list Friday. In the practice report, he is listed as not participating in practice as the result of a "team decision" and is listed as "probably" for Monday Night's game for the same reason. Seems a bit cryptic, no?

The Patriots report has not other changes.

Cincinnati has a couple changes, including "upgrading" wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh to "probable." He missed practice earlier in the week. Also, starting middle linebacker Ahmad Brooks is listed as "doubtful."

Read the rest of the story at the new Pats Pulpit.

Patriots Vince Wilfork fined $12,500 for Low Hit on Losman

2007-09-27T21:52:00.001-04:00

Wilfork Fined $12,500 for Low Hit
Bills Losman Says Penalty Not Enough

New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork was fined $12,500 by the NFL on Thursday for a low hit on Buffalo Bills quarterback J.P. Losman on the first play from scrimmage of New England's 38-7 win over the Bills on Sunday.

Read the rest of the story at the new Pats Pulpit.

Midweek Injury Report: Patriots at Bengals (Week 4)

2007-09-27T21:49:00.000-04:00

Injury Dings Spread
Bengals RB Johnson Out for Monday

The New England Patriots have a few additions to Thursday's injury report, but none appear serious. Eleven Patriots are listed under "limited participation in practice." The Patriots will play Cincinnati on Monday Night Football.

Read the rest of the story at the new Pats Pulpit.

Follow Me to a Promised Land of Sportsblogging

2006-01-07T07:15:00.000-05:00

Just in time for the playoffs, my flock, we journey to a new land.

Follow this link and updates your favorites and bookmarks.

We go to the Sports Blogs Nation! It's the new www.patspulpit.com!

Note to all my readers:

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for your support and your loyalty. This ends a chapter and starts and exciting new one in our history. SportsBlogsNation is the most highly respected collection of sports blogs in the country, and I am proud to join their growing stable of great writers and sites.

You'll notice some changes in the new place. First, we have a really cool logo designed by SB Nation. As a matter of fact, the whole site is designed by them. It's nice and clean and has a very professional appearance.

I also have a partner. You'll see his posts under "InBradyWeTrust." As a matter of fact, since I'll be at Gillette tomorrow night. ITWT will host the open thread discussion during the game. Make sure you give him a proper PatsPulpit "welcome to the flock."

We're still tweaking things a bit, so expect some minor changes, but the basics are there. The new site also gives us a lot more functionality, as we'll be able to create polls and the like.

All new content will be posted at the new site, so I'll see you on the other side.

Thanks again, and GO PATRIOTS!

-- Tom Masse
shepherd, pastor, journalist, Pats Fan

Season-End Awards: MVP, Comeback Player

2006-01-06T05:37:00.000-05:00

Unfortunately, the powers that be announced their picks for a few season-end awards before I got to "cast my vote."

Here's MVP and Comeback Player awards with others to follow soon.

Let's just start with the big one:

Most Valuable Player
1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots -- I don't know who these nitwits are that vote for these things. Brady is almost solely responsible for New England to be in any position to make a post-season run. The Patriots had only a handful of players play in every game. Brady hasn't missed one since he took over for Drew Bledsoe. Brady was the guy on the sideline and on the field that led the charge against sometimes impossible odds. I could write for hours about Brady's exploits this season, how he almost literally peeled this mediocre team off the floor, slung it over his shoulder and carried it over the top of the hill. But I won't. The only thing I'm going to mention is the game against Tampa Bay. Brady picked clean a defense that was ranked No. 2 scoring, No. 3 in overall defense, No. 4 against the pass. He connected with nine receivers, including Tom Ashworth, one of twelve Patriots to catch a Brady touchdown pass this season. That day, Corey Dillon had less than 50 yards rushing to lead New England. Tampa Bay came to Gillette Stadium with one of the best defenses in the lead on a mission to stop Tom Brady, and he destroyed them. Oh, in case you didn't know, Brady ended up third in the voting.

2. Shaun Alexander, Seattle Seahawks -- The national media's choice, and a valid one. I've been mentioning Alexander for probably two-third of the season as the team and the player to watch in the NFC. No one is more responsible for Seattle's 13-3 record and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs than Alexander. I like Matt Hasselbeck. I think the has the potential to be a "great" quarterback. But let's face it. If Hasselbeck went down, Seattle probably wouldn't have collapsed. If Alexander went down, they wouldn't be the No. 1 seed -- they might not be any seed. The stats: 1,880 yards rushing (9th all time), a record 28 touchdowns (27 rushing, 1 receiving), 11 100-yard games, only 1 fumble lost.

3. Tiki Barber, New York Giants -- Only 20 yards but almost as many touchdowns behind Alexander, Barber is the only reason the Giants are even anywhere near the playoffs. Anyone who says different hasn't seen a Giants game this year. This team was more prone to mistake after mistake, and yet they won a very competitive division. Someone not named Eli had defenses constantly wondering "How do you stop this guy?" You think that happens if Barber degrades to even a 1,500-yard back? I don't. Oh, Barber also had only one fumble (Alexander had five, but lost only one -- Barber had one), and he also had this matter of 530 yards receiving, making him leader in most yards from scrimmage this season. (Note: Only one running back had more receiving yards than Barber: Philly's Brian Westbrook had 616. Westbrook had 617 yards rushing.)

4. Carson Palmer, Cincinnati Bengals -- What this guy did on a team he did it with is nothing short of commendable, but compared to Brady, Alexander and Barber, Palmer is a distant fourth. Among other things, he showed a propensity to win the big games when they counted, and I'm talking about the Pittsburgh games, which sealed the NFC North for the Bengals. Palmer doesn't have the weapons that Brady has. The difference is that Brady makes his own weapons.

Note: Anyone voting for Peyton Manning should have his vote revoked and his head examined. He did nothing out of the ordinary this season, unless you call beating New England with half its players something. He played against some of the softest defenses in the league, including New England's at the time. Indy faced absolutely no adversity until week 16, but they had already lost to San Diego by that time. Kyle Boller might be pretty successful with that offensive line, Edgerrin James and that receiving and tight end corps. Thirteen votes? You guys should be ashamed.

Comeback Player of the Year
1. Tedy Bruschi, New England Patriots -- Once again, I have to take issue with the national media, many of whom don't seem know which end of the pencil to use. Steve Smith, who tied Bruschi for this award, had a great year after coming back from a knee injury. Note to voters: Tedy Bruschi came back from a stroke. It's never been done before, and most people doubted it could even happen. Just his stepping on the field again should have earned him the award, but wait! There's much more. Bruschi came back three-quarters of a year earlier than expected and had a profound impact on the Patriots. Bruschi ended up fourth on the Patriots in total tackles (62) while playing in only 9 games (one more than half of the other players). Prorate his stats and he would have ended up with 110, two more than Pats leader Mike Vrabel. Bruschi also had two sacks. But if you want to know the true impact of Bruschi, look again at that Tampa Bay game. He had 11 tackles, both of his sacks, a forced fumble and a pass defense. At one juncture, Bruschi was in on tackles on 5 of 7 plays that pretty much ended Tampa's final chance of getting in the game at all. Bruschi has been sorely overlooked year after year for the Pro Bowl and to only allow him a tie here is yet another insult to Bruschi and the whole team.

2. Mark Brunell, Washington Redskins -- Raise your hand if you thought this injury prone quarterback was finished at least four or five years ago. Be honest. Yeah, me too. Brunell is the Vinnie Testaverde of a few years ago, but he may have a few more better seasons ahead of him than Vinnie had. This was Brunell's 13th season, unlucky for some. There aren't many quarterbacks, Brunell and Testaverde are rare, that can make comebacks this late in a career. Do you think he'd play pretty good in Indianapolis?

3. Steve Smith, Carolina Panthers -- There's no doubt Smith had a great season. He led the league in receiving and had his career best season. His performance is certainly noteworthy, and he has been key in the Panthers' struggle to live up to prognosticators' preseason predictions. But let's face it, he came back from a knee injury, which is far from uncommon, and it was nearly a full year before he came back. And outside of the injury, he didn't come back from obscurity the way Brunell did, or from a near-death debilitating event like Bruschi. Maybe in another year. Not this one.

Honorable Mention: Gus Frerotte, Miami Dolphins -- Speaking of obscurity, Frerotte is probably on his way back there. For Miami coach Nick Saban, Gus isn't his guy. He ended up 15th on the yards passing list (2,996), just one spot behind Brunell. His passer rating wasn't great, but the Dolphins were probably the Comeback Team of the year, if there were such a thing, and he played a major role. And really, he hasn't had a good season since 1996. That's a comeback.

Patriots 26, Dolphins 28 recap

2006-01-04T09:07:00.000-05:00

If nothing else, it was interesting.

The New England Patriots (10-6) wrapped up the regular season with a 28-26 loss to the Miami Dolphins (9-7) Sunday in a game that had a little of just about everything, including a play that hadn't been run successfully for points in more than 60 years.

New England now faces the Jacksonville Jaguars (12-4) in the Wild Card round on Saturday night at 8:00 p.m. (ABC, Channel 5).

By now, just about everyone has heard about quarterback Doug Flutie's extra-point drop kick that made the score 28-20 late in the fourth quarter. Everyone knows it's the first drop kick in the NFL since December 1941. Everyone has heard the circumstances of Flutie having tried the play in practice, and the coaches rewarding Flutie's behind-the-scene efforts this season by allowing him to try the play. It was fun and interesting and memorable, but I don't think it was the next greatest play in the Flutie playbook after the Hail Mary against Miami (hmmm, there's some coincidence) on Thanksgiving Day in 1984.

Some have gone so far as to call it a mockery of the game, which is even more ridiculous than calling it his second greatest play. Although it tickled even Bill Belichick, I think he would still ultimately say simply that, "It is what it is," which was an extra point that kept New England within striking distance at the end of the game.

The Pats played the game with mostly backups for a great majority of the game and stayed with one of the hottest and most improved teams in the league, although that warm-weather team never has a lot of luck in these parts. Let's just say circumstances conspired to give us what ultimately was an entertaining and, yes, satisfying game to end the season.

No, I'm not happy about the loss, especially since I've been sermonizing about momentum for a week. I don't like the loss, period. Only two teams have won Super Bowls after losing their final home game. (I'm trying to find where I originally found this stat. If anyone else comes across it, give me a shout. One of the teams was San Francisco.)

It looked like our boys had a real shot at the end -- until weekly emergency quarterback Matt Cassel badly floated the final two-point conversion away from any eligible receiver.

I don't think it looked that convincing. I think, when it came down to it, Belichick wanted the No. 4 seed, and with Kansas City beating Cincinnati, and beating them well and easily all day, Belichick sent in the "dive." No chance a running back stumbles through a hole and sends the game to overtime. A nice little throwaway that no one could conceivable catch, and there's your fourth seed. I don't particularly like this Jacksonville matchup, but I'll discuss that in a couple of previews later in the week.

What else did this game have? It has Cassel's sack for a safety. Those are rare. It had Brady throwing for enough yards to secure his status at the league's top passer of the season with 4,110 yards. I'll write more about Brady, his season stats, and more later this week. It had Vinatieri planting a kickoff out of bounds, giving Miami the ball at their own 30 and leading to the game-winning Olindo Mare field goal -- and something I really don't want to see again, ever, much less in the playoffs coming up.

It had Matt Chatham leading the team in tackles for his first time this season. Ellis Hobbs and Hank Poteat were right behind him. It had the Patriots with six players listed with rushing statistics, a dismal 55 yards on 28 carries (1.97 avg.).

It had Randy Cross calling Belichick "Bill Cowher" at least three times.

The Patriots starting offense had a good opening drive until a catchable ball at the Miami 14 turned into an interception. And that's after another catchable ball was nearly intercepted just a minute earlier. That offense went three-and-out on their second drive, before finally scoring on a short field on their third and final drive. That was set up by a 65-yard Andre Davis kickoff return. Let's hope we see more of the latter than the former.

This game brought a number of streaks to an end: New England's 5-0 record in regular season games in January snapped. The Pats' 9-game winning streak against division opponents in Gillette. A 16-game streak with the weather below 35 degrees. Brady is now 20-1 as a starter when the temperature is 40 degrees or below at kickoff. The Pats lost three home games this season after not losing any the last 2 seasons. The Pats lost at home to Miami for the first time since Drew Bledsoe was quarterback -- why are there so many "since Bledsoe" statistics?

Other streaks continued: New England would have swept the division with a win for the first time. Vinatieri finished the season with 100 points, making him only the second kicker (with Jason Elam) to score 100 points or more in each of their first 10 seasons of kicking. The Patriots have five straight winning seasons. Geez, I thought there were more than this.

The Pats won 10 games this season. The only season the Patriots finished with fewer than 10 wins during the Belichick Brady era was 2002. (Note: The Associated Press says the Patriots have won 10 games for five straight seasons.) That's also the only season they didn't win the Super Bowl; in fact, the didn't make the playoffs. Of course, in every year they won the Super Bowl, they had at least 11 wins.

Patriots vs. Dolphins open thread

2006-01-01T12:47:00.000-05:00

I'll be in and out for this game, so we're going to need some comment from the rest of you in Patriots Nation.

If you're listening to the game on radio, like mrbandw last week, log a couple reports for those of us listening to Harlan and Cross.

Let's end the season on a high note.

GO PATRIOTS!

Game Preview: Week 17, Patriots vs. Miami

2006-01-01T08:18:00.000-05:00

The problem you encounter when things are going your way is that you tend to ignore the problems coming your way. So anyone thinking the 8-7 Miami Dolphins are going to be a pushover in Gillette Stadium today should think again.

The Fins have won five straight and are playing their best football of the season following head coach Nick Saban's comments several weeks ago that it didn't matter what the final score was of any game, he was evaluating talent for next year's team. The message came through loud and clear: The Dave Wannstedt era is over; practice hard and play hard or get in the wind. Fortunately, he hadn't made his ultimatum a couple weeks earlier or today's game might be for the division title.

Saban has brought a Bill Belichickian work ethic and team concept to Miami, and he's already reaping results. A team thought to be the doormat of the AFC East has had a late-season surge not unlike those of Belichick's New England Patriots (10-5).

What remains to be seen is whether they can handle another hot team in a cold weather climate. Of their five recent wins, three were at home and the two road games were in the inhospitable weather conditions in Oakland and San Diego. So the Dolphins haven't played a cold-weather game this year. The only good team they've played in that stretch was the Chargers, who they beat by two points. Prior to the streak, they lost six of seven.

OK, so which is it? Are they good, or aren't they?

Fine, they're good, but they're untested. Today's game will be a test for both teams. The Patriots, to show that they're definitely ready for the playoffs and that they can play defense without linebacker Tedy Bruschi. The Dolphins, to show that they're not going to fold in adverse conditions, especially the conditions that would make them fold like an unsuited 2-7 in past years.

New England, of course, is on a streak of their own, and for their part, they have beaten only one decent team in that stretch, but having utterly dismantled each team more and more along the way. And they're at home, where, with few exceptions, they've been unbeatable. And they're playing in the cold, snowy conditions in which they seem to excel as much as other teams flounder.

So with Miami playing for the future, and the Patriots playing possibly to move up to the No. 3 seed, what do you expect for today's game?

The first question you have to answer is whether you think Belichick wants the No. 3 seed, the No. 4 seed, or doesn't care. My bet is that he doesn't care. He'll prepare for whoever ends up next. Kansas City is an unlikely opponent, and he has game plans for Pittsburgh, so he only as to worry about the circumstance they play Jacksonville, who shouldn't pose a monumental challenge.

So forget next week and worry about this week. That's what Belichick does anyway. And this game has a similar recipe to the last few games, which should be the recipe no matter who they face next week: "Stop the run. Pressure the quarterback." Sound familiar?

That task should be made easier by the fact that Dolphin running back Ronnie Brown should be inactive with knee and ankle injuries. That means the Patriots can concentrate on running back Ricky Williams, who, while improving, still isn't the Ricky of 2-3 years ago. He's still the Ricky that Asante Samuel plastered in the game that separated the division winner from the runner up.

With Williams negated, it's tee-off time on Gus Frerotte, who is probably playing his last game in a Miami uniform. He'll want to put in a good show so he can land on his feet with another team. He'll have his work cut out for him with the New England front seven dogging him. The Patriots defense may not be as potent without Bruschi, but Monty Beisel put in some good reps last week, chasing Brooks Bollinger and Vinnie Testaverde around. You may see New England in more 4-3 alignments to make up for the missing Bruschi.

The offense will probably force the running game issue like last week and just "play their game" in a tune-up for next week. A few short alternating passes and runs with a deep ball mixed in. The snow should clear up for the most part by game time, so that probably won't be a factor for either team. Still, as it is in the playoffs, ball control is the name of the game.

Expect the starters to play at least the whole first half, unless it somehow turns into a blowout one way or the other. If there's an unexpected repeat of last year's lackluster performance against San Francisco in the season finale, expect the same treatment. Otherwise, it should be a fairly short day for the first squads.

Saban will probably leave his starters in the whole game, so that should make the result interesting. If the Patriot starters build a lead and the backups give it up, the starters may return. Regardless of seeding, it's still important to post a W. It's not as meaningless as most experts would have you think.

Officiating anachronism Tom White referees today's game. Formerly one of the better officials, his crew has been suspect in recent years. Expect some pretty inefficient officiating and be glad this game doesn't mean more than it does.

Prediction: Patriots, 23-20.

We're stuck with play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan and color analyst Randy Cross again today. They're certainly not the worst. They're not the best. "Cross Talk" is a lame, mis-named feature that implies something it's not. That annoys me. So there. As usual, you can catch a better audio description of the game on WBCN 104.1 FM with Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti.

Happy New Year!

Week 17 Picks

2005-12-31T15:33:00.000-05:00

Updated, Jan. 1 @ 12:45 p.m.
Previously updated, Dec. 31 @ 8:00 p.m.

Well, here we are. Our trek together began in the dog days of Summer: Aug. 3. The Pulpit opened for business, preaching to a lonely choir. Our congregation has grown, but many a heathen still reside in Pittsburgh, and in Cincinnati, and in Indianapolis, and in Denver. Yea, we're still approaching the depths of Winter. And in the Third Millennium, when the flakes are down, there has been the One true Team.

But before we can conduct our pilgrimage to the Promised Land, there remains one last bit of business to attend to, this matter of Week 17, the last in line, the most unpredictable of the predictable. It's unpredictable because there's no telling how teams will approach their games. Teams that have playoff seeds locked may half-step through this last weekend. Teams that are in the Reggie Bush sweeps may or may not put in their best efforts to win. All the teams in the middle that have nothing to play for may play like they have nothing to play for. You just won't know until gametime, and sometimes even then.

Saturday, Dec. 31
Denver (12-3) at San Diego (9-6), 4:30 p.m.
Here's exactly what I'm talking about. Denver has already locked up a first-round bye and cannot gain home field advantage over Indianapolis, so this game doesn't mean much. San Diego has been eliminated from the playoffs, so this game hardly means anything. So will either team risk injury to their key players? Will either team put up a legitimate fight if the other team starts to impose its will? Denver will enter the playoffs on a 4-game winning streak if San Diego folds. Marty Schottenheimer teams usually don't fold until they get in the playoffs. (No, no. That's not right. Put down the flamethrowers, Charger fans.) Actually, I think San Diego plays them tough, and in a close game entering the second half, Denver packs up, content with the No. 2 seed, and Schotties' boys win going away.
Prediction: Chargers, 31-14.

N.Y. Giants (10-5) at Oakland (4-11), 8 p.m.
New York needs a win to secure the NFC East and a first-round home game next week, so this game means something to them. It means nothing except possibly Norv Turner's job to Oakland. The Black and Silver are in shambles. I think you'll see a new coach there next year. I bet Al Davis was wishing Baltimore would fire Brian Billick, and then they'd bring in Terrell Owens. Whatever. I doubt Oakland is going to do Turner any favors, and since they're all getting paid anyway ...
Prediction: Giants, 42-13.

Sunday, Jan. 1
Arizona (5-10) at Indianapolis (13-2), 1 p.m.
Indy's defense is a little banked up. Star wideout Marvin Harrison is going to be wearing some kind of cast on his hand with a fractured bone. The game is meaningless in so many ways. Arizona has no reason even to show up. Marc Bulger is out, so Cade McCown will be calling signals. Indy will probably want to support coach Tony Dungy in the first game after his son's funeral, win this last home game and not enter the playoffs on an 0-3 run.
Prediction: Colts, 35-19.

Baltimore (6-9) at Cleveland (5-10), 1 p.m.
Baltimore has been playing better than Cleveland as of late. Baltimore's owner already said he expects Billick back next season. The Cleveland fans may want this one more than the team. However, I think Romeo Crennel can convince his players that they're auditioning for their jobs, so they might show up to play. The only other thing possibly at stake is draft sequence and maybe a couple players' performance bonuses. No one else really cares.
Prediction: Browns, 10-9.

Buffalo (5-10) at N.Y. Jets (3-12), 1 p.m.
Please, make it stop. New York (the state) ends up with only 1 of 3 winning teams. The green team has a shot at a really good draft pick, and I doubt either of these teams will alter that.
Prediction: Bills, 24-10.

Carolina (10-5) at Atlanta (8-7), 1 p.m.
This one means a lot to Carolina. Win and they're in. It means a lot to Atlanta too. They can play spoiler to a division rival and regain a little pride. They're at home, and the fans will want revenge. Michael Vick is still trying fruitlessly to prove he's a legitimate quarterback. Carolina, a preseason favorite of many a talking head to win the Super Bowl, is in the verge of elimination. Desperation is a wonderful motivating factor.
Prediction: Panthers, 24-21.

Cincinnati (11-4) at Kansas City (9-6), 1 p.m.
This is the game of the week, if only for the fact that both teams have something riding on it. Cincinnati has less riding on it -- the difference between the No. 3 and No. 4 seed in the AFC. Kansas City is still hanging on to thin hopes that they beat Cincy and Pittsburgh loses to lowly Detroit. There are reports that KC coach Dick Vermeil will retire at the end of the season, which could be today. Does Kansas City have the horses to beat Cincy? Yes. Do they have the motivation to win a big one for Vermil? Yes. Can Cincy hold off Larry Johnson? No. Can they win in December in Arrowhead? No. Do they keep the No. 3 seed? No.
Prediction: Chiefs, 33-24.

Detroit (5-10) at Pittsburgh (10-5), 1 p.m.
Does Kansas City make the playoffs? No.
Prediction: Steelers, 41-10.

Miami (8-7) at New England (10-5), 1 p.m.
On NFL Countdown, Steve Young noted that San Diego followed the blueprint laid out by New England how to pressure Peyton Manning and beat Indy -- not that San Diego designed the blueprint. Nice job, Steve.
Prediction: Patriots, 23-20.

New Orleans (3-12) at Tampa Bay (10-5), 1 p.m.
Tampa needs to win and they're at home. New Orleans just wants to go home, finally, wherever that is. It's the end to a horrible, heroic, empathetic season. By the way, Tampa already clinched a playoff spot, but a win earns the division crown and a home playoff game.
Prediction: Buccaneers, 27-14.

Seattle (13-2) at Green Bay (3-12), 1 p.m.
The only reason Seattle has reason to risk anyone is to get Shaun Alexander the touchdown record. Coach Mike Holmgren said the starters will be replaced "liberally," whatever that means. He also said he wants Alexander get the record. Alexander is now less than 50 yards behind Tiki Barber for the season rushing title, after Barber reeled off another 203 yards last night against Oakland. Green Bay is better off staying put in the race for the No. 1 draft pick, but will they actually try to win for some reason? Can they even beat a really good team that's not trying?
Prediction: Seahawks, 17-13.

Houston (2-13) at San Francisco (3-12), 4:05 p.m.
Next to the Cincy-KC matchup, this is probably the most intriguing game of the day because of the draft implications. Can Houston win a game they don't want to on the road? Can San Francisco play bad enough to lose at home to such a miserable team? As Homer would say, "They're the worst sucks of the suckiest sucks that ever sucked." Reminiscent of the New England Patriots vs. Baltimore Colts "Stuper Bowl" of the 1981.
Prediction: 49ers, 2-0.

Tennessee (4-11) at Jacksonville (11-4), 4:05 p.m.
Meaningless game for everyone. Byron Leftwich won't be playing, but David Garrard is 3-1 as a starter in relief. Steve McNair is not playing either. Has Tennessee done enough to save Jeff Fischer's job? Or is he saved by Tennessee's disastrous salary-cap problems?
Prediction: Jaguars, 13-6.

Chicago (11-4) at Minnesota (8-7), 4:15 p.m.
You know what's funny? Minnesota made the playoffs last year with an 8-8 record. If they beat Chicago today in a meaningless game, they could end up 9-7 and miss the playoffs. That's funny, eh, Mike Tice? That would be a fitting end to this ludicrous season. I still say momentum is important, but I have a feeling Chicago, who has a boatload of injuries already, may not even put in an effort, which is why they'll lose their first playoff game and prove that Lovie Smith is not the coach of the year, even though he'll win, much like Dick Jauron did with the Bears a couple years ago.
Prediction: Vikings, 27-10.

Washington (9-6) at Philadelphia (6-9), 4:15 p.m.
Win-and-in Washington should be able to beat a shambles of a team that lost to Arizona last week.
Prediction: Redskins, 28-17.

St. Louis (5-10) at Dallas (9-6), 8:30 p.m.
If Washington and Carolina win, which they should, it should be over for Dallas by the time this game starts. Still, they're playing St. Louis. Dallas could be 10-6 and out of the playoffs. You know, I remember when 8-8 was playoff contending in this conference.
Prediction: Cowboys, 31-27.

Navigating the Dangerous Sportsblog Waters

2005-12-30T10:10:00.000-05:00

When I started this little project and erected the pulpit, I said that one of the things I would comment upon would be sports journalism, and in this faux golden age of technology, there are a lot of false prophets out chasing profits with little or no regard to journalistic integrity and ethics.

Most of these heathens are bloggers, who have no training, but stringent agendas. Some of them are the careless long-timers on the local evening news and have long forgotten their oaths.

Legitimate journalistic blogging is a tough gig. Everyone makes mistakes, and most of us don’t have editors – legitimate editors – to catch the err of our ways. Most bloggers have agendas, most have no journalism backgrounds, most have no clue about journalistic ethics or integrity, a vast majority have never taken the silent vow to uphold those ethics, and most of them don’t really care.

A lot of them will say this or that about their First Amendment rights while not knowing a thing about the First Amendment or what it really says. As long as they air their views and bring you like sheep to the slaughter (not my flock), they mostly want notoriety more than anything.

I’ve struggled with the dilemma of naming or leaving anonymous the perpetrator of what may seem to most a harmless error. We have mainstream meatheads making marvelous mistakes, and it’s almost impossible to call them out on all of them. To point the finger at some guy who does this as a hobby, even if it’s an 8-year hobby, might seem elitist.

On the other hand, this is a serious business. When I was a professional journalist, our reputation based on integrity was everything. Readers come to the blogs (and they come in droves during a time when newspaper after newspaper loses readership) to read a point of view alternative to the mainstream media, or to read the words of the rising star writer who never got his break on the professional circuit. You shouldn’t have to come to the blogs and wonder if the information you’re getting is accurate. And for that reason, I must be the keeper of the Grail. I must act on your behalf.

Musn't I?

I must. But I have decided not to throw the writer under the bus. Not yet, anyway. Said writer was recapping the top 10 Boston sports stories of the year. He was lauding Bill Belichick for the phenomenal coaching job he's done this year. He said the Patriots were 5-5 and are currently on a five-game winning streak.

Which is all great, except that it's not true. The Patriots were 4-4 when they stopped alternating wins and losses. Then they won two in a row to go to 6-4, lost one to 6-5, and won four straight to get to 10-5 -- not five straight ... not yet.

So that's the big freakin' deal, right? Just a tiny little mistake, right? Why do I care?

I'll tell you why I care, because it's wrong. And not only is it wrong, it's not that tough to verify. I'm assuming, the writer being a blogger, that he has access to the Internet. You can start with Patriots.com. Then there's NFL.com, ESPN.go.com, CNNSI.com, CBSSportsLine.com and probably a dozen more (including PatsPulpit).

The information is easily accessible in a matter of seconds. It's not like when New England played Pittsburgh in Week 3, and Belichick said you could throw the history out the window, and he said something about 1947, and I spent a couple hours trying to verify beyond the shadow of a doubt if he was making it up or if he really knew. This is stuff that just happened, and you can't be so nonchalant about it.

You can't survive for real in this business working off memory. It's fallible. You have to check your facts. I do, constantly. Which is why I know you come here. Because I give it to you straight, and I give it to you accurately. You want the real deal, and this is it.

OK, while I'm throwing bombs, I might as well blow up Scott Zolak because of his statements on the 5th Quarter on Monday night following the Pats-Jets game. Zolak said he'd rather the Patriots play Jacksonville in the first round because David Garrard is their quarterback.

By that time, Byron Leftwich had already been cleared to practice and it was fairly common knowledge that he expects to start in the first round of the playoffs, if not this weekend. Bob Neumeier was all over it, but Zolak insisted. Maybe he knows something we don't, but I think he got caught with his pants down.

Argh. Just for the heck of it: John Dennis, Dale Arnold and Butch Stearns -- two guys with two first names and one guy with none -- they stink.

Coach of the Year, MVP, and Other Awards

2005-12-30T09:24:00.000-05:00

Stay tuned, Pats fans. All this and more heads your way next week after the conclusion of Week 17.

There's certainly going to be lots to discuss, because our team is heading back to the playoffs, seeking an unprecedented third straight Super Bowl title -- and every team is going to take their shot to kill the kings!

Buckle in, boys and girls. It's going to be a thrilling ride. It's going to be like Space Mountain, Mission: Space, the Test Track, and Dinosaur all rolled into one!

(I'm not hyping that too much, Am I?)

Bruschi Questionable; Pats-Fins Injury Report

2005-12-29T23:44:00.000-05:00

OK, you got me. There's nothing new here (hint: there really is) that you probably already haven't heard or read elsewhere.

The primary concern of Patriots Nation is Tedy Bruschi's calf injury. I wish I could tell you something new, something different, something positive. I have nothing. My question, which I think I can also answer is: Is it an injury to the calf muscle or is it a bone bruise?

The answer is probably an injury to the calf muscle. A bone bruise probably would have been classified as a "lower leg injury." You know how the Patriots like to be precise without telling you anything. (A lot of people say Bill Belichick never tells you anything, but he often tells a lot if you know what to listen for.)

So, OK, it's a calf muscle injury. What's that mean?

Well, according to sportsinjuryclinic.net, there are two types of calf muscle injuries: Intra-muscular and Inter-muscular.

An intra-muscular calf injury means the muscle has torn within the surrounding protective sheath. This means any bleeding may stop early because of the pressure of the sheath, but that excess fluids cannot naturally drain from the area, possibly inhibiting healing. "The result is considerable loss of function and pain which can take days or weeks to recover." Recovery time is marked as "days or weeks." Observable bruising is not likely.

An inter-muscular calf injury means that the sheath may have torn with the muscle, which allows bleeding longer. However, recovery is often faster because blood and fluids can flow away from the wound through the tear in the sheath. Bruising is likely.

Now, in addition, there are also three grades of injury. Grade 1 being the least severe. The symptoms are that you can walk properly, there is limited swelling, and you should have a full range of motion. Treatment consists of rest, ice, compress and elevate (RICE).

Grade 2 says you cannot walk properly, compression causes pain, swelling exists, you have limited range of movement. Treatment includes RICE and recommended use of crutches for 3 to 5 days.

Grade 3 says inability to walk properly without crutches, bad swelling, compression will cause a bulge in the muscle. Treatment includes RICE (with rest from 3 to 12 weeks), extended use of crutches, etc.

All grades recommend a rehabilitation program.

With this in our information banks, I think we can deduce that Bruschi probably has a Grade 1 injury. He couldn't walk off the field, but with immediate treatment, he was able to leave the facility limping, without crutches and with no visible compression wrap on the calf.

The average person probably could not recover that quickly, but remember that Bruschi is a fantastically conditioned athlete and he has some of the best athletic trainers and sports medicine experts at his disposal. I also don't expect Bruschi, Belichick or anyone else would have had Bruschi limp out to the bus as a show knowing that it would inhibit healing two weeks before the playoffs.

Where else do you get analysis like this?

Draw your own conclusions. I think Bruschi would probably be able to play this week in an emergency. I would expect, like most others, that he will roam the sidelines and prepare for Wild Card Weekend. And I hope someone tells him to sit on the bench, for Pete's sake.

Here's the rest of the uninteresting injury report:

Miami Dolphins
QUESTIONABLE
Ronnie Brown (RB) Ankle

New England Patriots
QUESTIONABLE
Tedy Bruschi (ILB) Calf
PROBABLE
Tom Brady (QB) Shoulder
Corey Dillon (RB) Calf
Heath Evans (FB) Shoulder
Christian Fauria (TE) Foot
Daniel Graham (TE) Shoulder
Jarvis Green (DE) Shoulder
Artrell Hawkins (CB) Thigh
Bethel Johnson (WR) Knee
Nick Kaczur (T) Shoulder
Patrick Pass (FB) Hamstring
Asante Samuel (CB) Head

Pats 31, Jets 21: Week 16 Comment and Analysis

2005-12-29T21:10:00.000-05:00

About two days after I wrote my pregame to the Pats-Jets discussing the importance of momentum heading into the playoffs, Phil Simms wrote on NFL.com how it's not that important, and he used his N.Y. Giants 1991 Super Bowl XXV win over Buffalo on a Scott Norwood missed field goal as proof. Phil, it's a general theory, not an ultimate truth. Of course, there are flukes and "one-offs" -- like if Simms ends up as a 2006 finalist for NFL Hall of Fame election.

Anyway, the New England Patriots (10-5) mounted additional momentum in a 31-21 total dismantling of the hapless New York Jets (3-12). The only words truly appropriate to describe what the Patriots did to the Jets are not appropriate for publishing in this forum. Think Bobby Trippe in "Deliverance."

Thirty-eight yards allowed in the first half? Five offensive drives of 11 plays or more, four of them taking up 6:37 to 9:24 of game clock? Just those four drives took 31 minutes -- more than half the game. I'm hoping you read the other story and saw all the stats, so I don't have to go over all that again.

OK, so it was only the Jets. But we all know that the Patriots have never swept the division (don't we?) and our division rivals almost always plays us tough, especially in their own stadiums, and, you know, the "dynasty is dead." So the fact that New England is a snowy home date away from going 6-0 in the AFC East after destroying a division opponent should tell you something about this team.

For anyone who has seen the last four Patriots games has seen the progression from merely beating the Jets in Gillette to hammering Buffalo in upstate New York to shutting out one of the alleged NFC elite Tampa Bay to Monday's rematch with the Jets. I keep trying to paint a picture to help explain just how profoundly New England battered the Jets.

I mean, for all intent and purpose, the only first-half play that was positive for the Jets was Ty Law's interception for a touchdown. One play in half a game. No first downs. No big gains. No impressive defensive stands. And by the time the Jets did anything offensively -- meaning before they even gained a first down, it was 28-7, and New England was on cruise control.

As a matter of fact, that first down came on another cheesy roughing the quarterback penalty called on Richard Seymour, the second similar call against him. Apparently, Seymour will be unable to legally sack a quarterback unless he tackles him by the ankle.

The bottom line is, outside of the bottom line (the final score), this may have been the most lopsided game the Patriots have played in this 5-year run.

Still, they have yet to play the elusive "Perfect Game." Most people say it's impossible. I say it's out there somewhere, but it wasn't Monday night.

The Patriots still showed a propensity to give up big returns, officially 20.8 yards on four returns, but really 27.7 on three, including a long of 39. Going back to Super Bowl XXXI against Green Bay, the Patriots had a good kicking and punting game, mediocre return game, horrible coverage. The only consistent part of their special teams has been Vinatieri's kicking game.

Over the years, they've done much better on returns (remember a couple touchdowns during the 2001 run?) but that has sunk a little as of late. Punting is as good as ever with John Miller, whom I've previously compared to pro golfers, and he's that good. But coverage is almost as bad as ever, despite a couple decent years and a multiple Pro Bowl selection in Larry Izzo.

Along with the defensive secondary, it one area that demands improvement heading into the playoffs. Field position is up there with turnovers and time of possession as a critical statistic. Keep giving your opponent a short field, and good teams will make you pay.

I've made a lot of the improvement in defense over the last several weeks, and I noted how the outstanding play of the defensive line doesn't translate into statistics for those players. Here's proof with a caveat: Bruschi has 63 tackles in just 9 games, ranking him 4th on the team, just 1 behind Ty Warren and 3 behind Eugene Wilson.

The proof is that a linebacker has 1 less tackle in about half a season than the lineman with the most tackles has in the whole season. The caveat is that the linebacker is Bruschi, who you expect to have excellent numbers. But those numbers are fantastic, especially since another linebacker, Mike Vrabel, has led the team in tackles six times this season.

Of course, if raving pinhead John Dennis of WEEI had his way, that's 63 tackles less qualified players would have had to make, and it's questionable the Patriots would be 10-5 today. Nice call, John.

Now there's Bruschi's injury, allegedly to his calf. I had my money on a bone bruise, which could be the case. You never really know with this team. The good news is that he left the locker room without aid. He was limping, but he had no cast or wrap and wasn't using crutches.

Like most people, I think he'll sit out Miami unless there's an emergency, and losing the game isn't an emergency, even though losing the game would be detrimental to the team's psyche. But, by emergency, I mean that all the other linebackers get hurt, and he has to go in. If that happens, we'll have more than a loss and the team's psyche to worry about.

After that, he may still not be 100 percent. Who the Pats face Wild Card Weekend may dictate whether Bruschi starts or mans the sideline unless necessary. If they reach the Divisional Playoffs, Bruschi will probably be close to 100 percent, and even if not, will play anyway. Obviously, we'll know more as each game approaches.

Postgame, Week 16: Patriots 31, Jets 21

2005-12-28T11:56:00.000-05:00

Updated Dec. 29, 12:01 a.m.

The New England Patriots (10-5) won their fourth straight game, dominating opponent after opponent, this time surgically dismantling the New York Jets (3-12) before their home crowd, 31-21, in ABC's Monday Night Football farewell.

Linebacker Mike Vrabel made two touchdown receptions, giving him six career touchdowns on six career receptions, and the Patriots garnered a time of possession edge of a disgusting 43:21 to 16:39. New England rushed the ball a mind boggling 50 times in what can only be called "forcing the issue" as head coach Bill Belichick said the Patriots would "establish the run" prior to the game.

The final score in no way represented the flow of the game, as New York got 7 points on a Ty Law interception return in the first quarter to tie the game. Otherwise, New England utterly and completely shut down the New York offense, allowing just 38 yards in the first half.

Coupled with Cincinnati's 37-27 loss to Buffalo on Saturday, New England pulled within a game of the third seed in the AFC playoffs, a far cry from their 4-4 record of late October that prompted some talking heads to announce a premature termination of the Patriots dynasty. A Patriot win over Miami this Sunday and a Bengal loss in Kansas City will raise New England to the third seed and drop Cincy to the fourth.

The New England defense forced a three-and-out on the game's opening possession, and handed the ball over to the offense that ran perhaps the most methodical and calculated drive in the NFL this year, perhaps of all time. Starting from their own 33, the Patriots marched downfield in 13 plays, marking off five first downs. With the exception of a Patrick Pass run up the middle for no gain, every play made positive yardage, everything between 2 and 8 yards, except a 20-yard pass from Tom Brady to Deion Branch, and Vrabel's first touchdown catch, a 1-yarder from Brady.

The Pats looked to put it away early, forcing a turnover on the Jets next play from scrimmage as Asante Samuel picked off a Brooks Bollinger pass at the Jets 49 and returned it to the 34. Samuel was injured on the play and did not return, but the Patriots were sitting pretty. But Law intercepted Brady two plays later to give the Jets their single first-half highlight.

While the Patriot defense dominated, the offense was sluggish for the rest of the quarter, going three-and-out twice, the latter time a costly one as linebacker Tedy Bruschi injured his left leg on punt coverage. Bruschi did not return either, and speculation on the extent of his injury has been rampant. However, he left the locker room limping, but under his own power with no cast or crutches.

The offense caught fire in the second quarter, launching two more surgical campaigns of 11 and 13 plays covering a total of 114 yards and leaching 11:19 off the game clock. In the first 41-yard drive, the biggest play (minus a 15-yard face mask penalty on the Jets) was a 9-yard Brady to David Givens pass to start the drive. Except a 1-yard Dillon loss, every other play gained 1 to 8 yards, including the culminating 2-yard pass from Brady to Vrabel.

The second drive, a 73-yard masterpiece that included 6 first downs, included Brady passes of 12 yards to Givens, 13 to Troy Brown and 14 to tight end Ben Watson. Once again, there were no negative yardage plays, and only two incomplete passes. Brady converted a 4th-and-1 with a quarterback sneak, and Dillon capped the drive with a 1-yard dive off the right end. Dillon finished with 77 yards on 26 carries.

The Pats virtually sealed the game with yet another drive executed with military precision, taking the second-half opening kickoff 74 yards in 15 plays, torching 9:24 off the game clock. Like the previous drives, most plays went for less than 10 yards, and all but two gained real estate. On the third play of the drive, a 3rd-and-10, Brady hit Branch for 22 yards with Law in coverage. Dillon also reeled off the longest run for any player, a 10-yard scamper around the left end. The third key play was a 4th-and-3 conversion, Brady connecting with Christian Fauria for 5 yards. Dillon capped the drive with a 1-yard plunge.

The starters remained in the game for a final 12-play, 48-yard drive that chewed up another 6:37 and resulted in an Adam Vinatieri field goal. Brady ended up with 185 yards on 18 of 29 passing with two TDs and a pick. He connected with eight different receivers, Branch and Kevin Faulk with 4 catches each, Branch leading with 69 yards.

With the score 28-7, the starting defense looked a little vulnerable, allowing the Jets to mount a 14-play, 70-yard drive, but since it also tore 6-plus minutes from the clock, it left New York with too little time to do significant damage down the stretch. Vinnie Testaverde replaced Bollinger late in the game to lead a short touchdown drive against mostly second stringers.

Vrabel ended up leading the Pats with 6 tackles (4 solo, 2 assists) and the sack. It's the sixth time Vrabel has lead the team in tackling. Ty Warren has led twice, as has Ellis Hobbs, and Bruschi. Richard Seymour, Rodney Harrison and Monty Beisel each led a week. Vrabel now has more than 100 tackles on the season (103 total, 70 solo), including 4.5 sacks. His solo tackles outnumbers the next best total tackles, Eugene Wilson with 66. Warren (64), Bruschi (63 in just 9 games!) and Rosevelt Colvin (60) round out the top five. Colvin leads the team in sacks with 7. We'll recap at these stats and more next week after the end of the regular season.

It wasn't all good news, even discounting Bruschi's injury. The Patriots allowed an average of 20.8 yards per kickoff return, including a long of 39. One return went for 0 yards, so the other three really averaged 27.7 yards.

New England has now won 18 of their last 19 games starting in December or later. Brady leads the league in passing yardage and has eclipsed the 4,000-yard mark for the first time in his six-year career. He's 291 yards ahead of Carson Palmer heading into the season finale. Brady is likely to play in limited action this week, while Palmer's Bengals are facing Kansas City, who is battling for the last playoff spot in the AFC, which brings us full circle back to the whole seeding discussion.

The Jets host Buffalo (5-10) at 1 p.m. Sunday in a game that only means something if the Jets lose, and that means they could tie for the worst record in the league if 2-13 Houston loses at San Francisco (also 3-12) at 4:05 p.m. New Orleans and Green Bay are also 3-12. The Saints are at Tampa Bay, while Green Bay hosts Seattle. It should be a tremendous anticlimactic battle for the No. 1 draft pick.

New England hosts Miami (8-7) on New Year's Day at 1 p.m. The Patriots beat the Dolphins 23-16 on Nov. 13 in Miami earlier this season. The current forecast calls for snow showers and temps in the high 30s / low 40s with light breezes.

Pats @ Jets open thread: Week 16

2005-12-26T20:30:00.000-05:00

The only thing wrapped up under the Patriots tree yesterday was a very nice playoff berth. They can't advance in the seedings or improve their lot otherwise, but they can build momentum and send shivers down the spines of potential opponents.

That can continue tonight with a sound drubbing of the New York Jets at the alcohol-free New Jersey Meadowlands. Fireman Ed is going to be sober, but no more sane.

Let him hear you Patriot Nation!

GO PATRIOTS!

(Post your comments here throughout the game. Let's get some good discussion going.)

Game Preview: Week 16, Patriots vs. N.Y Jets

2005-12-26T19:12:00.000-05:00

The good news is that most teams that go deep in the playoffs go in with a head of steam, a nice streak of games that they play well and put up W's. Let's have a look at the playoff-bound teams and their recent history.

Let's start with the formerly prohibitive favorite Indianapolis Colts. Well, this is almost exactly how you don't want to do it: a long winning streak followed by an emotional loss on your home field to a good team, followed by a half-hearted effort in a road loss to a good team, followed by mailing it in to a lousy team at home, followed by an off week. Add coach Tony Dungy's personal tragedy of losing his son this past week, and it bodes ominously for the Colts.

Denver is doing it as well as their schedule allows right now. The Broncos are on a three-game winning streak, but only against the likes of Baltimore, Buffalo and Oakland. Before that, they lost a close one to Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium, and before that, they beat Philadelphia, Oakland, the N.Y. Jets and Dallas -- hardly league elites, even if Dallas makes the playoffs. Denver wraps up the regular season next week at San Diego, which may or may not be a legitimate test, now that the Chargers are out. Still, a 4-game streak, if they win, is momentum.

Cincinnati, who hasn't had the most brutal schedule this season, lost this week to Buffalo -- at home -- after beating up Detroit and barely squeaking by Cleveland at home. The Bengals are at Kansas City next week, and the Chiefs still have something to play for, so that will be a good indication where Cincinnati's head might be.

Jacksonville is a wild card (pun not intended until the last split-second) with the injury to Byron Leftwich. Their last game against a tough opponent was three weeks ago, a loss to Indianapolis, 26-18. Before that was a streak of five wins against lousy and marginal teams. Since Indy, they've beaten San Francisco, 10-9, and Houston, 38-20. Next week, they play Tennessee at home. Jaguars.com says Leftwich could be back for the season finale and almost definitely for the playoffs. That makes the Jags an interesting case.

Pittsburgh lost three in a row to Baltimore, Indianapolis and Cincinnati before reeling off three against Chicago (21-9 at home), Minnesota (18-3 in Minn.) and Cleveland (41-0 in Cleveland). They host Detroit next week, an expected win, putting Pittsburgh in that category of "pretty good run at the finish" category. If Pittsburgh beats Detroit, K.C. is out of it, so I'll skip the Chiefs. They've only been playing well against teams in their own division lately anyway.

In the NFC, Seattle becomes your prohibitive favorite by this week beating the previous prohibitive favorite as part of an 11-game winning streak. The Seahawks travel to the recently powerless frozen tundra, so you can expect Shaun Alexander to break the single-season touchdown record that he tied this week. Seattle is a juggernaut I told you to watch out for about six weeks ago. Everyone's listening now.

After snapping an eight-game winning streak with that 21-9 loss at Pittsburgh, Chicago manhandled Atlanta at home and then hung on to stave off Green Bay, 24-17, on the road. They travel to recently eliminated Minnesota next week. If Mike Tice still has a job, he'll be trying to get his team to make sure he keeps it, so the Vikings just may put up a fight. The outcome of that one tells you how much of a real threat the top scoring defense in the league is.

The N.Y. Giants rather embarrassing loss to Washington sends no signal that they're ready for the playoffs. A three-game winning streak home against Dallas, at Philadelphia and home against Kansas City, all pretty close games, weren't particularly compelling. Before that was a loss to Seattle. The Giants are at Oakland late New Year's Eve, not much of a test, should they survive unscathed.

The next four teams are not guaranteed playoff spots yet.

Win-and-in Tampa Bay has looked pretty good, except for a 13-10 home loss to Chicago four weeks ago and a 28-0 trouncing here at New England last week. There were wins at Baton Rouge and at Carolina in between, and this week, the Bucs eliminated Atlanta from the party with a 27-24 home win. Far from impressive, but if they beat New Orleans next week, which they definitely should, of course, that could give them a bit of a nudge of momentum.

Win-and-in Carolina lost their last three games against contenders: Dallas this week, Tampa Bay two weeks earlier and Chicago three weeks before that. They've beaten some patsies in between. They're at Atlanta next week.

Win-and-in Washington is on a four-game winning streak, having last lost to San Diego, a heart-breaking 23-17 at home. Since then, the Redskins have beaten St. Loius, Arizona, Dallas and the Giants. Not particularly impressive, but it's what they've had to do. The Skins can still win the division by winning in Philly this week and the Giants losing to Oakland. Still, Washington is one of the few NFC teams with significant momentum heading into the tourney.

Finally, Dallas needs to win and for any one of the previous three teams to lose for the Cowboys to make the playoffs. Dallas has lost three of their last five, and even if they beat St. Louis this week and either Tampa, Carolina and Washington loses, the Cowboys don't seem to be much of a threat to go deep.

That leaves us with New England, and as I mentioned earlier this week, the Patriots have positioned themselves perfectly after the NFL's mandated eight-game caning to start the season. All the injured who are coming back are back and nearly 100% healthy. New England is on a three-game streak, having pummeled the Jets, Buffalo and Tampa Bay. If New England finishes strong tonight and next week, they will have as much momentum as anyone except Seattle.

And that brings us to tonight's Monday Night Football swan song. The Patriots (9-5) face the Jets (3-11) in the Meadowlands. The Jets are on the cusp of the Reggie Bush sweepstakes. The Patriots are on the cusp of history. The Jets have divisional pride and Herman Edwards' job to play for. The Patriots have Destiny to play for.

New England dominated New York when the Jets visited Gillette Stadium a few weeks ago. The game was not nearly as close as the 16-3 final score indicated. And this week, the only player listed on the Patriots injury list is Tom Brady, who has been on the list all season with an undisclosed shoulder injury. The Jets have a few injuries, none overly significant, and none that should have a real impact on the game.

The Jets lost seven straight before beating Oakland and then losing to Miami. There will be no beer sales at the Meadowlands tonight. It will interesting to see if (A) the Jets show up, and (B) the fans show up. The Jets are the only team not to score at least 200 points this season (189, followed by Cleveland with 212).

There's very little compelling about this game otherwise. New England will start its starters in preparation for the playoffs. The Patriots will work on the running game, kick return coverage and passing defense, the three problems that have plagued them all season. The running game has improved with the health of the major players, most especially Corey Dillon.

The pass defense, likewise, has improved with the return of players from injuries and the peripheral improvement of the run defense and the pass rush. How to improve the kick return squad, well, that's what Belichick does. He studies film and he finds the little issues that magnify themselves during the course of a game. What he does to solve some of them remains a mystery. Let's just hope he maintains his record here.

I really have nothing else to say.

Prediction: Patriots, 38-12.

Al Michaels has your play-by-play on ABCS (Channel 5 locally) and John Madden is your analyst. This the final broadcast of ABC's Monday Night Football. As usual, you can catch a better audio description of the game on WBCN 104.1 FM with Gil Santos and the Patriots No. 2 all-time leading scorer Gino Cappelletti.

Ed Hochuli's crew officiates today's game. Hochuli's crew is probably the best in the game. Not that they're infallible, but they usually make fewer mistakes.

Pulpit Nominated at Red Reporter; Vote Now

2005-12-24T13:12:00.000-05:00

New England Patriots Pulpit has been nominated for Best NFL Blog at RedReporter.com. Thanks to whomever nominated me. There are only seven contenders, and I am thrilled to be among them.

Looks like a few others got an early start though, the Pulpit trails blogs on the Cowboys, Giants and Jets! New Yorkers stuffing the ballot boxes, as usual, right?

If you would like to see the other contenders and cast a vote, go to Red Reporter. Don't forget to tell your friends too.

Thanks again to everyone. Happy Holidays to all, and GO PATRIOTS!

Week 16 Picks

2005-12-24T13:02:00.000-05:00

Updated 11:38 am, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005

Saturday, Dec. 24
Atlanta at Tampa Bay, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Buccaneers, 17-14.

Buffalo at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Bengals, 38-16.

Dallas at Carolina, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Panthers, 24-10.

Detroit at New Orleans in San Antonio, TX, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Saints, 9-6.

Jacksonville at Houston, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Jaguars, 12-6.

N.Y. Giants at Washington, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Giants, 24-21.

Pittsburgh at Cleveland, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Steelers, 26-24.

San Diego at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Chiefs, 32-30.

San Francisco at St. Louis, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Rams, 24-3.

Tennessee at Miami, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Dolphins, 24-10.

Philadelphia at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Eagles, 16-13.

Indianapolis at Seattle, 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Seahawks, 31-17.

Oakland at Denver, 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Broncos, 35-10.

Updated at 11:38 am, Sunday, Dec. 25, 2005
Sunday, Dec. 25
Chicago (10-4) at Green Bay (3-11), 5 p.m.
Chicago can tie up the division with a win of their own or a Minnesota loss later tonight, but there's no better time than the present -- especially since a win also gives Chicago a first-round bye in the playoffs. Chicago manhandled Atlanta last week and Green Bay, who has pretty much mailed it in, got pounded by Baltimore. No reason to expect the result won't be similar. One team has something important to play for. If anything, Green Bay is playing for Brett Favre's legacy, and no one seems that interested.
Prediction: Bears, 28-9.

Minnesota (8-6) at Baltimore (5-9), 8:30 p.m.
Minnesota still has an outside shot at a playoff berth, even if Chicago wins, so they desperately need to beat Baltimore (and then Chicago in Minnesota next week, and hope Washington and Dallas lose next week). Baltimore is playing for coach Brian Billick's job, which they may have saved last week by pummeling Green Bay. Why they'd want to save his job is a mystery, but there it is. Minnesota was humbled last week, 18-3, by Pittsburgh, ending quarterback Doug Johnson's winning streak. Can Johnson redeem himself against a really good defense? Vikings are 3-4 on the road; Baltimore is 5-2 at home, accounting for all their wins. If Baltimore wins, Minnesota is out, and maybe Mike Tice with them; otherwise, it could be Billick looking for a new job (I'd bet on Oakland, if it comes to it). Hey, maybe they'll both get canned.
Prediction: Vikings, 17-13.

Come back tomorrow for a preview of Monday Night's Game (also to be posted separately).
Monday, Dec. 26
New England at N.Y. Jets, 9 p.m.

Week 15 Picks Review

2005-12-24T12:30:00.000-05:00

Saturday, Dec. 17
Tampa Bay (9-4) at New England (8-5), 1:30 p.m.
Prediction: Patriots, 16-10.
Result: Patriots, 28-0.

Kansas City (8-5) at N.Y. Giants (9-4), 5 p.m.
Prediction: Giants, 30-24.
Result: Giants, 27-17.

Denver (10-3) at Buffalo (4-9), 8:30 p.m.
Prediction: Broncos, 38-10.
Result: Broncos, 28-17.

Sunday, Dec. 18
Arizona (4-9) at Houston (1-12), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Cardinals, 17-12.
Result: Texans, 30-19.

Carolina (9-4) at New Orleans (3-10) in Baton Rouge, LA, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Panthers, 27-7.
Result: Panthers, 27-10.

N.Y. Jets (3-10) at Miami (6-7), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Dolphins, 35-13.
Result: Dolphins, 24-20.

Philadelphia (5-8) at St. Louis (5-8), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Rams, 23-17.
Result: Eagles, 17-16.

Pittsburgh (8-5) at Minnesota (8-5), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Steelers, 26-21.
Result: Steelers, 18-3.

San Diego (8-5) at Indianapolis (13-0), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Colts, 31-27.
Result: Chargers, 26-17.

Seattle (11-2) at Tennessee (4-9), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Seahawks, 31-13.
Result: Seahawks, 28-24.

San Francisco (2-11) at Jacksonville (9-4), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Jaguars, 27-9.
Result: Jaguars, 10-9.

Cincinnati (10-3) at Detroit (4-9), 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Bengals, 24-10.
Result: Bengals, 41-17.

Cleveland (4-9) at Oakland, (4-9) 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Raiders, 17-16.
Result: Browns, 9-7.

Dallas (8-5) at Washington (7-6), 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Redskins, 24-23.
Result: Redskins, 35-7.
Note: Pat Kirwin, a columnist on NFL.com, said that if he could give a Christmas gift to a team, one of them would be a pair of veteran offensive linemen, because the Cowboys have given up 16 sacks as they went 1-3 in their last four games.
Don't these people get it yet? The problem isn't the line. The problem is the guy holding onto the ball for 5 seconds behind the line. Thirteen years in the league, and he still hasn't learned. Rock head. As Blake said in Glengarry Glen Ross, "... fire [his] #$%*!#& ass, because a loser is a loser."

Atlanta (8-5) at Chicago (9-4), 8:30 p.m.
Prediction: Bears, 13-10.
Result: Bears, 16-3.

Monday, Dec. 19
Green Bay (3-10) at Baltimore (4-9), 9 p.m.
Prediction: Packers, 14-13.
Result: Ravens, 48-3.
Obviously didn't see that coming. The Ravens barely scored 43 all seaon. (Actually, 171 before this.)

Last week: 13-3.
This week: 11-5.
Season: 145-77 (.653).

Pro Bowl Pats: Seymour's Fourth, Brady's Third

2005-12-23T06:14:00.000-05:00

The NFL released rosters Wednesday for the 2006 Pro Bowl in Honolulu, Hawaii, on Feb. 12. Defensive lineman Richard Seymour earned his fourth straight bid, while Tom Brady joined Vito "Babe" Parilli and Drew "Feet of Stone" Bledsoe as Patriot quarterbacks with three selections.

Despite missing four games with a knee injury, Seymour, 26, becomes the first Patriot with four straight Pro Bowl selections since Ben Coates had five from 1994-1998. Seymour hasn't piled up any great stats, but his impact is probably one of the biggest in the Patriots season turnaround. Since returning to the lineup, the Pats run defense has steadily returned to elite status. Coupled with the manpower opponents have to dedicate to Seymour, that has allowed the pass rush to improve; hence, the overall pass defense as well.

Brady, who also made the Pro Bowl in 2001 and 2004 leads the league with 3,888 yards passing, more than 260 yards more than second-place Peyton Manning, who also earned a selection. Brady is on pace to set multiple personal and team bests.

Patriots fullback Patrick Pass, also having a career year, led his position in fan balloting but was overlooked by players and coaches. Several other Patriots having super years, including linebacker Mike Vrabel, placekicker Adam Vinatieri, punter Josh Miller, three-time Pro Bowl special teamer Larry Izzo, and offensive linemen Stephen Neal, Logan Mankins and Nick Kaczur, were all basically ignored by fan and peer alike.

Vrabel's, Vinatieri's and Miller's statistics speak for themselves. Vinatieri and Miller are always tops in their positions, while Vrabel blossomed in the early absense of Tedy Bruschi and others, and held the defense together for several weeks.

But let's look at these offensive linemen. No, let's look at who these linemen have played against: Dwight Freeney (made the Pro Bowl) and Jason Taylor (made the Pro Bowl). Both of these guys are the elite of the league, Freeney recently broke the Indianapolis Colts franchise record for sacks, and neither one of them got so much as a glimpse of Brady throwing past them, depsite the outcomes of particular games. That's just the beginning of a list of top defensive linemen and linebackers that Mankins and Kaczur have protected Brady -- pretty well -- against all season.

As you would expected, head coach Bill Belichick downplayed the importance of Pro Bowl selections.

''Our goal is about winning and that's what we can have some degree of control over, is our performance," he said. ''Everything else that we don't have any control over, there's only so much you can do about it."

And then, he played the ace he always has up his sleeve.

"It is what it is," he said. Again. And rightfully so. Who cares about individual achievements when you can decorate a fourth finger?

By contrast, the Colts had a league-leading seven players selected and several more named first alternates. But that obviously isn't enough for the egomaniacs. When they were initially told they had eight, only to find out a tabulation error dropped tackle Tarik Glenn, they were up in arms.

“I’m a league guy, but this is a bad, bad situation," head coach Tony Dungy said. "They need to tell the whole story and it’s not good."

According to the Associated Press, the simple mistake "led to a lot of outrage."

Of course, this happened before we learned of the death of Dungy's son, and so this has been horribly placed in perspective all too suddenly.

But you see the difference between a two-time defending champion and a group of underachievers. The Patriots for years now have quietly accepted the constant lack of respect, and go out and prove everyone wrong. Other teams loudly protest how great they are and then cough up chicken bones when push comes to shove. I'm jumping the gun here, but can you imagine if the Patriots have another of their runs, and they send only two players to the Pro Bowl, while Indy sends seven or more?

By the way, the Chicago Bears were next with six player selections, five on defense.

Colts Coach Dungy Endures Tragedy

2005-12-22T23:19:00.000-05:00

The Indianapolis Colts organization was shocked this morning when the 18-year-old son of head coach Tony Dungy was found dead in a Tampa, Fla., area apartment of what is currently being called a suicide.

Dungy's girlfriend found James Dungy on the floor, not breathing, at 1:30 a.m. A sheriff's deputy performed CPR before an ambulance rushed him to University Community Hospital, where was pronounced dead.

Football becomes irrelevant; and rivalry, insignificant, at such times. The Colts had just lost their perfect season, but were still considered by many to be nearly prohibitive favorites in the Super Bowl. Dungy has left the team indefinitely; assistant coach Jim Caldwell will take his place.

Our New England Patriots and the Dallas Cowboys head coaches have both suffered losses this season. Bill Belichick's father Steve and Bill Parcells' brother Don both died earlier this year. But I think we can all see -- and feel -- the difference between a grown man losing his father and a grown man losing a son, especially at what is supposed to be a joyous and peaceful time of year.

I wish to extend my condolences to the Dungy family.

You may post a comment to do the same.

Matt Light on IR; Pats, Jets Injury Report

2005-12-22T22:46:00.000-05:00

The New England Patriots placed offensive tackle Matt Light on injured reserve earlier today, ending his season and speculation that he would be able to return by the playoffs from an ankle injury suffered on Sept. 25 in a game against Pittsburgh. Light becomes the 10th Patriot placed on injured reserve.

Light, 27, was a starting member of the offensive line in all three Patriots Super Bowl wins. He played in 65 games with 63 starts since being drafted by New England in the second round (48th overall) in the 2001 NFL draft.

Before moving on to the injury report, I just want to point out that when Tom Brady took over for Drew Bledsoe, and Brady played so much better, everyone said, "Well, the offensive line just came together to protect Brady" and "Bledsoe constantly had different personnel on his offensive lines" (except for Bruce Armstrong, of course). I'd like those people to point out all the starting offensive linemen on the Patriots who have been starting at their current position for more than 1 year. Yes. Thanks for playing.

The fact is, and it always had been, Tom Brady makes his offensive line better, probably better than they really are. And Bledsoe make his worse. Much, much worse.

Patriots at Jets Injury Report

Do our eyes deceive us? Can it really be so? The only player on the Patriots injury report is Tom Brady? And he's listed as Probable with a shoulder injury? (Matt Light is listed as being moved to IR, but we know that already.)

That means the dozen or so guys hanging around the list for the last 10 weeks are really all "healthy" now?

I'm sure the other 31 teams didn't notice.

New York Jets
QUESTIONABLE
a FS Oliver Celestin (Ankle)
DE Shaun Ellis (Hamstring)
DT Dewayne Robertson (Thigh)

PROBABLE
RB Derrick Blaylock (Ankle)
MLB Mark Brown (Neck)
T Scott Gragg (Back)
WR Harry Williams (Knee)

Nothing dramatic here, except that every injury listed is one more nail in the Jets coffin for 2005.

Merry Christmas, My Flock

2005-12-22T07:07:00.000-05:00

It's the most wonderful time of the year: the NFL Playoffs.

Just two weeks away, the NFL playoffs are the ultimate tournament. But let's digress a little and spend a few words on that other most wonderful time of the year. Yes, it's Christmas, or whatever else you care to recognize and celebrate. Peace on earth. Goodwill toward men. Have a cup of cheer and some razzle-berry dressing. That's what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown. And as long as we don't have Bledsoe, let it snow, let it snow, let it snow.

As a writer, I'm tempted like most other writers to contrive some corny NFL/Christmas crossover. Right now, I think we're all happy that we don't have Ebenezer Ekuban Scrooge -- or worse, the Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come -- lurking in the Pulpit or our favorite team's locker room. Maybe I'll try something after we get through the important stuff.

Do You See What I See?

I see a team that I predicted in the preseason would finished 13-3. Normally, you don't predict injuries. Except after John Elway retired and Denver was riding Terrell Davis like he was the incarnation of their logo. I predicted he'd get hurt and Denver would be finished. Some things like that you can see coming.

And you know the Super Bowl champions are going to sustain injuries. Every team is giving them their best shot, and New England had a really tough schedule right out of the gate. But they sustained so many injuries last year, you thought maybe they'd get through this one.

Alas, that was not the case, but it is the case that this team could conceivably end up 11-5, just two games off what would have been considered a torrid record, especially considering their early schedule.

Let's look back to a few things I wrote just before the season started.

"These guys simply like winning, and they're willing to do whatever is necessary to make that happen."

I made a point to mention that they don't have "attitude" or "swagger" like a lot of the posers. It was true then, and it's true now. They just do their jobs, which they love doing. They love playing, and they love winning. If Tedy Bruschi (sorry, John Dennis) isn't pure evidence of that, I don't know what is.

"The loss of coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel appeared devastating when they were both evident back in January, but ... Like a predatory chameleon, the Patriots will grow back their coordinator arms or simply redistribute duties to other personnel."

Everyone was flipping out, even halfway through the season, especially when the already battered Patriots took another battering. Some people suggested it was because Weis wasn't calling the plays, or that Eric Mangini (sorry, Dale Arnold) wasn't as good a coordinator as Crennel. It wasn't. Which brings us to ...

"... [I]t appears the ninth ranked defense from last year is on par for a similar performance this season."

Well, not quite. The injuries really took a toll, especially on the defensive secondary, where we all know seven -- SEVEN -- players, including Rodney Harrison, ended up on injured reserve.

So New England's defense is ranked 26th (up from 29th just last week) overall. They're 30th against the pass (31st last week) due to that plague of injuries to the D-backs. Nothing Crennel could have done about it or after it any more than Mangini could.

But the rest of the defense lacked in many key positions, and it was the return of Bruschi and Richard Seymour that began to right the ship. Just 8 weeks ago, the Pats running defense was 27th. Last week, they were 11th. Want to guess what they are this week?

Sixth.

That's right. Sixth. Missing Crennel now?

"The offense should be even better than the seventh ranked squad of last season."

Yes, even with the loss of Weis and no offensive coordinator, I thought New England's offense would be better. Why? Brady had another year under his belt and was just getting better, which has been true -- he's having a career year. Dillon had just finished a career year and looked hungrier and happier than ever. Unfortunately, injuries have dampened the running game. But the two biggest developments were the addition of left tackle Logan Mankins and the return of tight end Ben Watson. I'll let the first 11 games speak for themselves.

The result so far?

Well, they're seventh after being fifth the week before, and that's after a stellar 28-0 trashing of the 3rd ranked scoring defense, 2nd overall. The top eight teams have very little space between them. The Patriots, having the Jets and Dolphins in front of them, should move up by season's end.

Missing Charlie Weis now?

"I see them at 4-2 coming off the bye.... If they can get through Indy at 6-2, it's fairly clear sailing down the stretch..."

After several devastating injuries early on, the Patriots came out of the first six games 3-3 and the first eight 4-4. Obviously, preseason-planned home wins over San Diego and Indianapolis didn't pan out. Otherwise, the record, at it were, speaks for itself.

Do You Hear What I Hear?

More appropriately, did you hear what I heard?

The first thing I heard, Saturday, Dec. 17 at about 1:25 p.m. was the roar of the crowd -- an oddly adrenalized crowd -- at Gillette Stadium as the Patriots were introduced. The next thing I heard was this slightly unnerving pounding noise; and then I realized it was the Patriots pounding Tampa Bay, one of the alleged elite teams, into submission.

And then later that night, around 8:20, I was watching NFL Primetime, and just following the Patriots highlights, I heard this low, almost imperceptible ... voice. It sounded like the cumulative voice of every player on every potentially playoff-bound team, saying "Oh, shi ... They're back."

Indeed, for all the Patriots have gone through, for all it appears the league tried to avoid this, the Patriots are back in position to make a late-season run, and now that they're assured of a home game in the playoffs, who wants to play them? The answer is: NO ONE.

Oh, sure the now imperfect Colts probably still think this is year, but they have to be shaken after losing at home to San Diego, making them vulnerable both there and on the road -- they're going to have a really tough time in Seattle this weekend. Pittsburgh probably wants a third shot New England. Cincinnati wants to "be the man," so you know they want to "beat the man." And now the Cincinnati players have recorded a revision of their 1981 Super Bowl battle cry, "Who Dey Think Gonna Beat Dem Bengals?" Pretty bold for a team that hasn't won a damn thing in 20 years.

But you know they were watching those highlights and were just a little nervous.

Think about it. The league has been watching New England struggle all season, and even when they saw the rest of the AFC East, except the semi-surprising Dolphins, are pretty horrible, the Patriots didn't look like a threat -- even after thrashing Buffalo in the Great White North.

But last week ... so much to worry about. Among all the so-many important injuries have been those to the Pats offensive backfield. Dillon's return a few weeks ago was expected, and he's been marginal. But last week, Kevin Faulk and Patrick Pass also played. That means the Pats backfield is back just about fully intact after a season of injuries. Tell me that doesn't scare people.

Do You Know What I Know?

In 2001, the Patriots started 1-3, were 3-3 after six and 4-4 after eight. They ran the table (six games) after losing to eventual Super Bowl opponent St. Louis, finishing the season 11-5. In 2003, they started 2-2 and ran the table from there, part of their phenomenal 21-game winning streak. This year, very similar to 2001 in so many ways, they have the potential to win their last five games heading into the playoffs.

The progress this team has made since emerging from the league's setup schedule and related injuries is well-documented here and elsewhere. Yet, for some reason, the rest of the world is still shocked by what they're seeing: Tom Brady having a career season, suddenly being talked about as a potential MVP candidate; Bill Belichick conceivably performing his best coaching of his career, perhaps of anyone's career; a defense on the brink of collapse whose front line appears possibly stronger than ever -- as though you'd be unable to drive a division of tanks through them.

So here we are, two games away from the playoffs. Two games away from another potential meeting with Destiny. Two games away from a run to cement this team's legacy as "THE DYNASTY".

Listen To What I Say

Anything can happen in the playoffs. Snow storms. Tuck rules. Opportune turnovers. Fortunate bounces. Close calls. You make your own luck, and luck in the NFL is spelled w-o-r-k.

No grand designs. No razzle-dazzle. No heroes.

"If you do what we've told you to do, you'll get what you deserve," Belichick told the 2004 Patriots before taking the field against Carolina in Super Bowl XXXIX. "Do your job, and you'll be champions."

Merry Christmas, my flock, and a potentially very happy New Year.

The Pulpit Has Been Crowned

2005-12-19T00:49:00.000-05:00

In a modern union of majesty and the devine, New England Patriots Pulpit has been named Best of Patriots Blogs by Deadspin.com in Deadspin's Guide to the Web.

This is the Pulpit's first major award, and I'm extremely proud and flattered to be honored.

Thanks to Deadspin and a special thanks to all my loyal readers.

Oh, and GO PATRIOTS!

Pats 28, Bucs 0: Commentary and Analysis

2005-12-18T22:57:00.000-05:00

Just in case the other 31 teams forgot, just a reminder: These are the two-time defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots.

Now, I don't believe, like the rest of the NFL-covering media, that this was a "statement" game. The Patriots don't like making statements. They don't want other teams knowing anything. They don't want you to know they're coming. They want you to think they're crippled, ready for the taking. They want to sneak up on you and hit you with a hammer.

I think Bill Belichick would have been just as pleased to beat Tampa Bay, 3-0.

If they were to send a message, it would be short and sweet, and in this case very much like Tom Brady said to open the pregame show to Super Bowl XXXIV: "We're Baaaaaaack."

For the rest of us, we forget about the statement and just talk about this one game, and what a game it was.

The offense that everyone has been complaining has been kicking too many field goals scored four touchdows against the 3rd best scoring defense in the league. They were four of five in the red zone, three of three from goal-to-go. The put up 336 yards and gave up no turnovers to the No. 2 ranked defense in the NFL. Brady hit nine different receivers, including an offensive tackle coming out of the backfield, as three other receivers did. One actual wide receiver made a career high in yardage.

The one thing lacking on offense was a devastating running game, but Tampa had the fifth-ranked rushing defense. OK, so you can't have everything. Corey Dillon wasn't completely ineffective, either. He picked up nearly 50 yards on the ground, scored on a 3-yard run, and caught a short touchdown pass.

As exciting as it was to watch the offense, it was the defense that put on the real show.

The Patriots totalled the "Cadillac," and it looked like Phil Simms was quarterbacking. Phil Simms today, not Phil Simms from 20 years ago.

I don't want to hear anymore about how great Chris Simms has been improving. How he's so poised under pressure in the late game.

And Carnell "Cadillac" Williams can park his nickname in the garage until he earns it in the NFL. Hand over the keys, young man. And that's enough of these stupid college nicknames being used by the national media and field announcers.

Here's what I said before the game:

"I don't think Tampa will have success if they try to open the game by running against New England. Gruden has a couple very good receivers in Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard and Michael Clayton. Look for the Bucs to open up the passing to set up the running of Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.

To stop this, the Patriots will need to pressure Simms all day. That will prevent (a) Sims from throwing deep against New England terrible secondary, and (b) clogging up Williams' running lanes."

So what does Tampa do? They try to run the ball. And when that doesn't work, they try to have Simms shoulder the load, where he was under pressure all day. Gruden! The Bucs won the only Super Bowl in the last four that the Patriots didn't, and you have to wonder how with a coach like Gruden. Does this guy even watch game film?

The New Four Horseman

Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Vince Wilfork and Jarvis Green were simply outstanding Sunday. Really, if the Apocolypse comes, I wouldn't be surprised to see these four guys riding in front of it. They brought battle to the line of scrimmage, a pestilence of pressure to Simms, a famine of Buccaneer points, and an ultimate conquest of the Tampa offense.

Don't come to me and quote stats. I've told you before that this defense doesn't translate into stats for individuals. The Patriots had seven sacks, not one of them by a defensive lineman, and all four of them had just four tackles each. Those are Dwight Freeney or Jason Taylor stats. Freeney and Taylor only wished that days like these four had Sunday.

Seymour, Wilfork, Warren and Green utterly dominated -- I mean D-O-M-I-N-A-T-E-D -- the Bucs offensive line, allowing the linebackers and an occassional defensive back to wreak havoc in the Tampa Bay backfield. The push at the line was so great, I don't think the Tampa line won a single battle at scrimmage. As a result, Williams never had a gain greater than 3, and Simms looked like a man standing in front of a breaking dam.

The defensive backfield is still a major concern, but the danger is far less when the front seven, and especially that front four, play like they did Sunday. The defense probably also allowed a couple too many third-down conversions (7 of 16 for 44%), but that's a vast improvement over earlier games.

Any questions or comments about the game? Post a comment or email me.

The Final Two Regular Season Games

New England wraps up the season with a post-Christmas Monday Night game in New Jersey a week from tonight and then a visit from our good friends the Miami Dolphins who love coming to Gillette Stadium in winter. That game is set for New Year's Day.

People are already asking, "Should they sit Brady and Dillon and others to make sure they're healthy for the playoffs."

Answer: Hell, no!

You play them until the game is well in hand, or until the opposition shows a willingness to purposely cause injury -- which would be shocking -- and then you can sit them. There are lots of reason for this, but the main one is this: The pieces are just falling into place. You don't have it perfect yet. There are still some combinations to try. There is still a little bit to learn about this team.

Now, there is secondary concern, the matter of playoff seeding. If the Patriots win the final two and Cincinnati somehow loses the final two, they'll both end up 11-5. (Denver could lose both and end up 11-5 as well, but they beat New England head-to-head, so they win that tiebreaker.) I don't know what the other tiebreakers are or who leads them, but it's conceivable the Pats could advance to the No. 3 seed. Unfortunately, the Bengals have Buffalo at home Saturday, so that will probably render the point moot.

Yes, it's great to have the luxury of a bye week; and, yes, you could effectively force one on most of your players by sitting them either this week or next, but that is a distant consideration. Just about everyone except Brady has had time off this season anyway.

Last year, the starters played in the meaningless last game against San Francisco for more than three quarters, having played ineffectively until then. The Patriots just Sunday played their best game. If they can lead 21-0 at halftime over the Jets and Dolphins, then I have no problem sitting the starters for the second half. But you don't sit them the full game.

The Gillette Stadium Experience, Part II

My brother and I spend the whole game behind the West end zone (that's the end with the lighthouse). We were on the opposite side of the scoreboard from the lighthouse about even with the top of it. There are two smaller sections there, one closer to the scoreboard right behind the last row of seats, the other more in the corner behind a row of handicap seating which is perched a little higher above the last row of seating in front of that.

When there are no people in the handicap seating, this is a great place to stand. You can see everything but the very near corner of the field, and the regular seating was so far below that they could stand the whole game and not affect your vision of the field. If there are people in the handicap section, they really impair your view. It's hit or miss. We had a couple people there, but it was easy to move a step to the side and look around.

The crowd was great, too. One of the best I'd experienced at Gillette, from opening snap to the final gun, the crowd was really into it, made a lot of noise, and generally had a great time. I think it's the cold. You have to keep moving to stay warm, and that keeps people mobile and adrenaline pumping. My brother and I had a great time with the small group that congregated around us .

I didn't get to write about our experience at the New Orleans game, so here are a couple notes:

We spent the first half in the same location I just described, except in the area closer to the scoreboard. We never saw anything that happened inside the 20 or 25. We had to watch the scoreboard.

We walked to the other end of the stadium where the banners are hanging. There are lots of good places to stand there, if you get there early enough. Those would be especially good if there's precipitation. The West end zone would be a disaster.

Unfortunately, neither end zone area has easy access to rest rooms or concessions. You have to do a lot of walking, and there's a good chance you're going to miss some of the action.

Leave the Chili, Take the Fries

For the New Orleans game, I had a bowl of fries with chili and cheese. I think it was $5.75. It was a pretty big bowl and there were a lot of fries, and they were good and hot and crispy. The chili and cheese both got squeezed out of plastic bags. The cheese was the typical plasticized orangy substance that tastes very little like cheese that you get everywhere. The chili ... I don't know how to describe it. It was nearly offensive, very chemical-like. You couldn't get rid of the taste, and it stayed with you, if you follow me. I'd probably get the fries again, maybe with the cheese (because it's warm, at least). I'd give them an extra $1 to keep the chili.

Postgame, Week 15: Patriots 28, Tampa Bay 0

2005-12-18T15:33:00.000-05:00

FOXBORO, Mass. - The New England Patriots marched the opening kickoff down the field, scored a touchdown, and secured the AFC East division title and a playoff spot. In probably the team's best overall performance of the season, the Patriots improved to 9-5, while nudging the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers (also 9-5) off the top of the NFC South.

The Patriots played as near a flawless game as they have played all season, committing no turnovers, forcing one, limiting penalties, scoring four touchdowns, and not allowing Tampa Bay inside the Patriot 30 for the entire game.

"It's huge for us. We haven't really played a good game against a good opponent with a good record," tight end Christian Fauria said. "We needed to keep winning and trying to get better in December."

Quarterback Tom Brady led the way, throwing for 258 yards and three touchdowns on 20 of 31 passing. Brady hit nine different receivers, including offensive tackle Tom Ashworth, for one of the touchdowns. It was the first career reception for Ashworth, who lined up at fullback on the play.

Brady also hit running back Corey Dillon on a short touchdown pass, giving Brady touchdown passes to 12 different receivers this season, a franchise record.

New England wasted no time putting points on the board against the No. 3 scoring defense in the league. The Patriots really mixed it up, running out of the shotgun, passing to running backs, running and end around to receiver David Givens.

After throwing incomplete on first down, the next 11 plays gained positive yards. The big play was a 32-yard strike from Brady to Givens on the third play of the game, a third-and-7 from the Pats 27. New England capped the drive with Ashworth's touchdown.

The Patriots defense was impenetrable from the first series. Highly touted Tampa running back Carnell Williams had no where to run and was stuffed time and time again by the New England front seven. Williams finished with a meager 23 yards on 14 carries.

Defenses dominated the next 15 minutes, as neither team came close to paydirt, but then the Buccaneer defense made a fatal mistake.

After crossing midfield, the Patriots killed their own drive with a 5-yard loss on a pass to running back Kevin Faulk and a false-start penalty on Ashworth. Tampa Bay gave New England a breath on third-and-18 when Dewayne White was called offsides, giving 5 yards back. But the real mistake came two plays later on fourth-and-13.

Patriot punter Josh Miller booted a punt into the endzone, which would have given Tampa the ball on their own 20. But linebacker Ryan Nece blasted Miller and was flagged for roughing the kicker, giving New England a fresh set of downs at the Tampa 38.

Brady hit tight end Christian Fauria for 17 yards on a third-and-16, and two plays later hit Tim Dwight for 27 on second-and-16. Another Tampa defensive mistake, a personal foul facemask penalty on the play, put the ball on the 3 yard line. Dillon ran it in from there.

As if in a last gasp, Tampa Bay tried to mount a two-minute drive to get on the board by halftime. The New England defense would have none of it. With the Buccaneers moving following a 22-yard third-down pass, Patriot linebacker Mike Vrabel came on the blind side of Chris Simms and hammered the third-year quarterback, forcing a fumble recoved by linebacker Willie McGinest, who rumbled for 19 yards before trying to lateral the ball, only to be called for an illegal forward pass and a loss of five yards at the end of the play.

The Patriots capitalized, draining the game clock, and Brady hitting Givens for a 16-yard touchdown. The Pats held a 21-0 lead and a nearly 2-to-1 margin in time of possession at the half. Givens finished the game with 6 receptions and a career-high 137 yards. He also had 13 yards on two rushes.

After a scoreless third quarter, New England sealed the game on the 2-yard Brady to Dillon score on the Patriots first drive of the fourth quarter.

Dillon had just 48 yards on 19 carries, and New England had 85 yards on 32 carries as a team.

There were several defensive stars. McGinest continues to play at a high level, receiving credit for two sacks and the fumble recovery. He had 4 solo tackles and 2 assists.

Tedy Brushci had a phenomenal game, leading the team in tackles with 9 solo and 2 assists. He also had 2 sacks, a forced fumble and a pass defensed. Bruschi may have single-handedly stopped Tampa Bay's last best attempt to get back in the game.

The Buccaneers received the second-half opening kickoff. Bruschi was in on five of seven plays, including a sack that forced a fumble, which Tampa recovered, but it set the Bucs back 12 yards, and they ended up punting, and never gained momentum.

Rosevelt Colvin and Artrell Hawkins also had sacks of Simms, who finished 21 of 34 for just 155 yards.

Asante Samuel had 7 solo tackles, and Ellis Hobbs defensed 2 passes.

It was the Patriots first shutout in 36 games (Dec. 27, 2003, 31-0 vs. Buffalo), Eric Mangini's first as defensive coordinator. The Patriots had two other shutouts earlier in 2003, both 12-0 scores over Dallas (Nov. 16) and Miami (Nov. 30).

By the way, the official temperature at kickoff, according to the NFL gamebook, was 38 degrees.

New England travels to the Meadowlands to face the New York Jets next Monday, the night after Christmas. Gane time is 9 p.m. Tampa Bay hosts Alanta at 1 p.m. Saturday (Christmas Eve) in a battle for the top of the NFC South that will probably eliminate one of those teams from the playoffs.

Patriots vs. Buccaneers open thread

2005-12-17T11:59:00.000-05:00

I'm heading to Foxboro to watch the Patriots claim their third straight AFC East crown.

This is your turn to carry the board. Talk it up during the game. Let me know what you think of key plays.

I'll wrap it up tonight while we're all watching Denver kick the heck out of Buffalo.

Let's hear it out there!

GO PATRIOTS!

Week 15 Picks

2005-12-17T11:29:00.000-05:00

Comcast really hosed me this week. It's a long story, but they cost me hours and hours of work and time and nearly ruined my business. Unfortunately, I lost tons of writing time and was virtually incapable of posting. Thus, I apoligize for the sparse literature this week, including a lack of last week's postgame, analysis, and weekly picks review.

Here are my week 15 picks:

Saturday, Dec. 17
Tampa Bay (9-4) at New England (8-5), 1:30 p.m.
Prediction: Patriots, 16-10.

Kansas City (8-5) at N.Y. Giants (9-4), 5 p.m.
Prediction: Giants, 30-24.

Denver (10-3) at Buffalo (4-9), 8:30 p.m.
Prediction: Broncos, 38-10.

Sunday, Dec. 18
Arizona (4-9) at Houston (1-12), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Cardinals, 17-12.

Carolina (9-4) at New Orleans (3-10) in Baton Rouge, LA, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Panthers, 27-7.

N.Y. Jets (3-10) at Miami (6-7), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Dolphins, 35-13.

Philadelphia (5-8) at St. Louis (5-8), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Rams, 23-17.

Pittsburgh (8-5) at Minnesota (8-5), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Steelers, 26-21.

San Diego (8-5) at Indianapolis (13-0), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Colts, 31-27.

Seattle (11-2) at Tennessee (4-9), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Seahawks, 31-13.

San Francisco (2-11) at Jacksonville (9-4), 1 p.m.
Prediction: Jaguars, 27-9.

Cincinnati (10-3) at Detroit (4-9), 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Bengals, 24-10.

Cleveland (4-9) at Oakland, (4-9) 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Raiders, 17-16.

Dallas (8-5) at Washington (7-6), 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Redskins, 24-23.

Atlanta (8-5) at Chicago (9-4), 8:30 p.m.
Prediction: Bears, 13-10.

Monday, Dec. 19
Green Bay (3-10) at Baltimore (4-9), 9 p.m.
Prediction: Packers, 14-13.

Game Preview: Week 15, Patriots vs. Tampa Bay

2005-12-17T06:08:00.000-05:00

If you like statistics -- meaningless ones, Bill Belichick would say -- you're going to love today's matchup between the New England Patriots (8-5) and the visiting Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-4).

Let's start with the weather. It used to be one of the most famous statistics in NFL lore. The Bucs were an awful cold-weather team, 0-19 when the temperature was 41 degrees or lower. Tampa Bay was the antithesis of the other NFL bay: Green Bay, who for many years was unbeatable in the cold weather at Lambeau Field.

The Bucs are still pretty pathetic in the cold: 2-21 with a temperature below 40. The Patriots are the new Packers: 15 straight wins when the temperature at kickoff is 35 degrees or less, and quarterback Tom Brady is 19-0 as a starter when the temperature is below 40.

"That ought to be an afterthought," Tampa Bay head coach Jon Gruden said. "We're 9-4 playing the defending two-time world champions. You ought to play naked if you have to."

That may be the most intelligent thing I've ever heard Gruden quoted as saying. With any luck, however, his hypothesis won't necessitate proof.

The National Weather Service says the temperature at kickoff this afternoon will be 41 degrees with a wind chill factor of 34 degrees, a 10 mph westerly breeze. The wind may die down a bit, but otherwise conditions are expected to stay consistent during the game.

More stats: Tampa is 0-5 against its last five AFC opponents. New England is 18-4 versus the NFC, including Super Bowls, since 2001. The Patriots lead the all-time series 3-2. These teams last met on Sept. 3, 2000, at the old Foxboro Stadium, a day forever remembered as Belichick's regular-season debut with New England. The Bucs sacked Drew Bledsoe six times, and Mike Alstott ran for a pair of touchdowns. Final: Tampa Bay, 21-16.

However, Tom Brady has never played against Tampa, and he's 24-6 when starting against a team for the first time. Tampa Bay quarterback Chris Simms has never faced a Belichick-coached team. Belichick has an incredible record against young quarterbacks in first meetings. (Belichick also has some ungodly record against quarterbacks he faces a second time in a single season, but that doesn't apply here.)

You want more stats? We got 'em. Here's a weird one: Tampa Bay lost its first 10 games against defending Super Bowl champions, but have won the last three.

Several Patriots are working toward personal bests. Brady needs 135 passing yards to surpass his career high of 3,764 (2002). Deion Branch already has a career-high 883 receiving yards; 117 more will make him the first Patriot with 1,000 yards since Troy Brown did it in 2001.

Patriots are 4-2 at home this season. Bucs are 5-2 on the road.

Tampa is 16th in running offense; New England is 11th against (Seven games ago, on Oct. 30 against Buffalo, the Patriots were ranked 25th against the run. Someone still want to dispute the impact the return of Richard Seymour and others has made for New England's run defense?)

For all everyone keeps making of Chris Simms, Tampa is 25th in the league passing. Unfortunately, the Patriots pass defense is 31st. That leaves Tampa Bay with the 24th overall offense, while the Pats D ranks 29th.

On the other side, New England is 22nd rushing against Tampa Bay's 5th-ranked rushing defense. But the Pats are second passing, while the Tampa D ranks 4th against the pass. Overall, the Patriot offense is ranked 5th against the 2nd-ranked Buc defense.

I don't think Tampa will have success if they try to open the game by running against New England. Gruden has a couple very good receivers in Joey Galloway, Ike Hilliard and Michael Clayton. Look for the Bucs to open up the passing to set up the running of Carnell "Cadillac" Williams.

To stop this, the Patriots will need to pressure Sims all day. That will prevent (a) Sims from throwing deep against New England terrible secondary, and (b) clogging up Williams' running lanes.

The Patriots defense has to force more turnovers. Tampa's defense is great in that category. Let's hope New England can make some progress in that area. The Pats also require dramatic improvement in kick coverage.

Here's what it comes down to: The Patriots offense needs to find a way to move the ball and, not just score points, but score touchdowns, against the 3rd most stingy defense in points allowed in the league.

I'd like to see New England come out and run the 2-minute drill with a 5-wide set right from the start. Lots of 4- to 5-yard passes. After a couple first downs, then hand the ball off to Corey Dillon, or whoever's available.

No one knows the true extent of Brady's shin injury. I do not think it's serious, and I'm certain it won't impact him or the game that much. The Patriots need to win a game, or Miami needs to lose one, over the next three games for New England to clinch the AFC East division title. All that said, if Brady is OK, New England will try to wrap things up this weekend, which will allow them to "coast" the last two weeks of the season against the New York Jets and Miami.

If not, expect the Patriots to play it safe with a few of the starters so they can load up next week against the Jets or New Years Day against the Dolphins.

The head referee for today's game is Scott Green. This is Green's first full year leading a crew. He was formerly a back judge on Johnny Grier's crew. Green took over for Grier last year when Grier was injured during a game. Most of that squad remains intact, so expect a pretty decent job.

Prediction: Patriots, 16-10.

The game will be broadcast on Fox 25 at 1:30 p.m. Ex-voice of the Red Sox, Dick Stockton, is your play-by-play announcer, and Daryl Johnston is the analyst. You'll have to draw your own conclusions. I'll say it anyway: As usual, you can catch a better audio description of the game on WBCN 104.1 FM with Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti.

Patriots @ Bills open thread

2005-12-11T13:01:00.000-05:00

It's not going to be easy up there in the Great White North (well, almost).

I think the Pats need to establish a run, control the clock, and pick their spots throwing.

The also have to stop the run, and prevent Buffalo from a quick start like they had in Miami.

Post your comments as we go along.

Here we go ... GO PATS!

Week 14 Picks

2005-12-11T12:55:00.000-05:00

Comcast really screwed me over this week. Well, been far longer than a week, but it came to a head a this week, and it's really set me back on the blog. Maybe I'll write fully about it someday.

For now, here are the Week 14 picks.

Sunday, Dec. 11
Chicago at Pittsburgh, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Pittsburgh, 20-17.

Cleveland at Cincinnati, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Cincinnati, 34-10.

Houston at Tennessee, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Tennessee, 17-3.

Indianapolis at Jacksonville, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Indianapolis, 24-21.

New England at Buffalo, 1 p.m.
Prediction: New England, 27-17.

Oakland at N.Y. Jets, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Oakland, 31-13.

St. Louis at Minnesota, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Minnesota, 24-17

Tampa Bay at Carolina, 1 p.m.
Prediction: Carolina, 20-17.

N.Y. Giants at Philadelphia, 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Giants, 26-9.

San Francisco at Seattle, 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Seahawks, 33-10.

Washington at Arizona, 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Redskins, 17-14.

Baltimore at Denver, 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Denver, 30-6.

Kansas City at Dallas, 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Tough one. I'll give Dallas home-field advantage. 29-26.

Miami at San Diego, 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Chargers, 23-16.

Detroit at Green Bay, 8:30 p.m.
Prediction: Packers, 15-12.

Monday, Dec. 12
New Orleans at Atlanta, 9 p.m.
Prediction: Falcons, 27-9.

Game Preview: Week 14, Patriots @ Buffalo

2005-12-11T00:30:00.000-05:00

If the New England Patriots (7-5) beat the 4-8 Buffalo Bills and 5-7 Miami loses to 8-4 San Diego, the two-time defending Super Bowl champions will have wrapped up the AFC East Division and guarantee themselves a spot in the playoffs.

New England has won three of four, after alternating wins and losses for the first half of the season. Meanwhile, Buffalo is on a five of six slide, that includes the Bills loss in Foxboro, 21-16, after leading that game most of the way.

There have been more indications these teams are heading in opposite directions, and the news is generally good for New England.

The Patriots are coming off a 16-3 win over the New York Jets. While the final score belies the flow of the game, the Patriots have been able to put away poor teams in the last few years as they were unable to do last Sunday. Still, it was an overall dominating performance, one of the best this season.

Buffalo is coming off an embarrassing 24-23 loss at Miami after taking a 21-0 first quarter lead. They allowed a field goal in the second, scored a safety in the third, and then gave up 21 in the fourth. The defense collapsed, the offense was inept, and the team fell into turmoil.

The Patriots have kept the injury report well-stocked, but it's fairly obvious that the injuries are not all in one major unit, and the injuries are far less serious than they were earlier in the season. Every week, some players go on, some come off, but more play ever week.

And, they're playing better. The defensive line has been playing at increasing levels, approaching performances of last season. The linebackers, as a unit, are starting to revert to form, and even the defensive backfield has shown some improvement. Now, don't get too excited, the defensive backfield will not be as good as last year, even in the playoffs, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. Back to today's game.

The offense should be playing better as Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk continue to work their way back. Patrick Pass and Heath Evans have been downgraded from questionable to out for today's game. The receivers are recovering as well, and the tight ends are coming into their own, though Daniel Graham will be out today. The offensive line continues to be banged up, and the Pats are going to need to fill a big hole as Nick Kaczur has been downgraded to out. Hard to believe that that's good news, but there it is.

The Bills, while not suffering any major injuries, have lost one of their biggest weapons for Sunday's game. Wide receiver Eric Moulds was suspended without pay by the Bills for conduct detrimental to the team. Head coach Mike Mularkey confirmed that wide receiver Sam Aiken will start in place of 10-year veteran Moulds.

“I’m not going to elaborate on the reasons why," Mularkey said. "I know it’s an interest to the fans but on behalf of Eric and our team I don’t think it benefits anybody to talk about this thing anymore.”

Buffalo's starting running back Willis McGahee also missed practice with an undisclosed illness, but is expected to play.

A lot has been made of New England's inability to score in the red zone. That has actually improved over the last few games. But Buffalo has had even more frustration.

The Bills have scored touchdowns in just 12 of their 32 red zone trips (37.5%) this season. But over their last four games, Buffalo has managed just two touchdowns and two field goals -- to go with three turnovers -- in 10 red zone efforts.

The Patriots have won nine of the last 10 meetings between the teams, the only loss being the 31-0 in Buffalo debacle to start the 2003 season five days after the Patriots released Lawyer Milloy and Buffalo signed him. Still, upstate New York, like all foreign territory in the AFC East, has posed its challenges to New England. Despite the last few "dynasty" years of routs, the games there are usually very close (12-9 in 2001, 13-10 in 2000, 17-7 loss in 1999, 13-10 loss in 1998).

Also, Buffalo has won four consecutive home games against division opponents, its longest streak since winning 17 in a row from 1988-1992. None of those four were against New England. At this point, Buffalo, which is just barely hanging on to a mathematical possibility of a playoff spot, is looking to next year and finds its best role to be that of spoiler -- specifically for New England.

The Patriots are 3-3 on the road, while the Bills are 4-2 at home.

Both teams have horribly ranked defenses. The Bills, whose defense has been highly ranked the last few years, is dismal: 31st against the run, allowing 140.3 yards per game. They're better against the pass, ranked 12th, allowing just 191.8 ypg. That leaves them 26th overall.

New England is just about the opposite, ranked 31st against the pass (255.4 ypg), and 17th against the run (112.3 ypg), making them 29th overall.

Fortunately, the offensive numbers are more disparate. The Patriots are 3rd passing with 263.2 ypg -- Tom Brady leads all quarterbacks with 3,301 yards -- but just 88.7 ypg (27th) rushing. That latter number should pick up if Dillon remains healthy. The Patriots schedule was loaded with run stoppers early in the season, but far less so in these last few games. Overall, New England is eighth.

The Bills are 18th rushing, (107.7 ypg) and 29th passing (140.8 ypg). They're 29th overall. Bad for them. Good for New England.

The weather calls for temps around 30 and snow showers and a brisk 16 mph wind, wind chills around 20. Passing may be difficult, despite Brady's rifle arm. The Patriots are going to want to take their revamped running game and Buffalo's front seven. Brady has shown a propensity to play well in Buffalo with the wind at his back, so which team has the wind when could be important.

Buffalo's best chance is going to be home-field advantage and turnovers. It's a mystery how second-year quarterback J.P. Losman plays in the Buffalo winds. The Bills third best bet might be biding their time until they have the wind and hoping Losman can take advantage of the endlessly depleted New England secondary.

The Patriots have been ridiculously on the short side of the turnover battle all season. There has been the slightest improvement over the last few games, but that improvement has to increase dramatically if this team is to go anywhere past the end of the regular season. Today would be a good time to show some improvement.

That goes for putting the ball actually in the end zone. New England has been futilely Drew Bledsoe-like all season, driving from 20 to 20 and settling for field goal after field goal. Fortunately, the defense has been holding up its end (except for the turnovers), and now the offense has to show that it's playoff ready.

Prediction: Patriots, 27-17.

Kevin Harlan has your play-by-play on CBS (Channel 4 locally) and Randy Cross is your analyst. There is no scheduled sideline reporter. As usual, you can catch a better audio description of the game on WBCN 104.1 FM with Gil Santos and the Patriots No. 2 all-time leading scorer Gino Cappelletti.

Bill Carollo's crew officiates today's game. This is the crew that allowed the 52-second discrepancy in the fourth quarter of the Patriots-Steelers game in Week 3. New England eventually won that game in the closing seconds on an Adam Vinatieri field goal. The discrepancy had no real effect on the game, but everyone made a big deal about it. Expect Randy Cross to bring it up at least once.

Patriots @ Bills Injury Report

2005-12-08T22:56:00.000-05:00

The good news: Linebacker Willie McGinest (finger) and safety James Sanders (ankle) are off the list. The bad news: Safety Artrell Hawkins (thigh) and rookie offensive left tackle Nick Kaczur (shoulder) are on.

Most of the players on last week's report played in the win over the Jets.

Another reported casualty was Logan Mankins' BA mustache. I hope he hasn't done something detrimental.

Buffalo has no one of note on their report.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (7-5)
DOUBTFUL
Matt Light (T) Ankle
QUESTIONABLE
Tom Ashworth (T) Knee
Corey Dillon (RB) Calf
Heath Evans (FB) Shoulder
Kevin Faulk (RB) Foot
David Givens (WR) Knee
Daniel Graham (TE) Shoulder
Artrell Hawkins (S) Thigh
Bethel Johnson (WR) Pelvis
Nick Kaczur (T) Shoulder
Patrick Pass (FB) Hamstring
Michael Stone (S) Ankle
PROBABLE
Tom Brady (QB) Right Shoulder

BUFFALO BILLS (4-8)
QUESTIONABLE
Mark Campbell (TE) Hamstring
Chris Villarrial (G) Hamstring
Mike Williams (T) Chest

Is Schottenheimer a Belichick-in-Waiting?

2005-12-08T01:30:00.000-05:00

I got an interesting email from Terry F. in Carlsbad, CA.:

What was the media and fans reaction to the hiring of Bill Belichick as head Patriots coach when his record was under or near .500 prior to his coronation as "genius," given his superlative playoff and Super Bowl record. His record with Cleveland should not have awed anyone. I think this is a good question, and was just wondering. I am a Schottenheimer defender in Charger land, and he still has the heat on him for his playoff record. Thanks.

I remember the day Robert Kraft hired Belichick, the local media was in a frenzy, many of them (and probably none that would admit it) saying Belichick was a step down from Pete Carroll. And to give up a first-round pick? To the JETS? The questioned the ability and sanity of the people making decisions, wondering what they could possibly see in a guy who was never successful as a head coach and just rode Bill Parcells' coattails everywhere.

Perspectives have changed, I dare say.

Before we move ahead, let's go back.

On Jan. 4, 2000, one day after Bill Parcells retired for good for the third and not final time and Pete Carroll was fired by the Patriots, Belichick told the representatives of the Hess estate (Jets' owner Leon Hess had died the previous May, leaving the direction of ownership uncertain) that he didn't want to be the head coach of the New York Jets. It was a day the NFL power structure pivoted on a hinge.

It was more than three weeks before the dust finally settled on Jan. 26. In addition to the first-round pick, the Pats ultimately gave the Jets a fourth-rounder in 2001 and a seventh-rounder in 2002. The Patriots got Belichick, a fifth-rounder in 2001 and a seventh-rounder in 2002. It's a little confusing with all the later trades, but New England ended up with Matt Light in 2001 and Daniel Graham in 2002; while the Jets ended up with Shaun Ellis, Jamie Henderson and James Reed.

Opinion varied widely between the local media in Boston and Cleveland and the rest of the civilized world.

"I think that is a small price to pay for the right guy," Dick Vermeil said then as a TV commentator. "I would give up two first-round picks to have Bill Parcells coach my football team."

OK, let's not go overboard, there, Dick.

"To me, there have been a ton of first-round flops," Vermeil said. "There has been a ton of first-round picks that everyone is mad at for the next 10 years and they hang around the league."

"You get the right coach, he will change your organization."

Not that Vermeil was saying Belichick was definitely the right guy.

"I don't know Bill Belichick that well; obviously they think that much of him," Vermeil said. "If they are right, it is a tremendous investment."

The Jets hired Al Groh.

In retrospect, I think the Patriots did OK.

But let's go back even further.

Cleveland hired Belichick, then the New York Giants defensive coordinator, following the Giants' 1990 Super Bowl victory. The Browns were 3-13. In one year, Belichick had them to 6-10, then back-to-back 7-9s. Then, in 1994, Belichick and the Browns had a breakout year. They went 11-5 and made the playoffs. The Browns beat New England 20-13 in the Wildcard (three Bledsoe picks -- worst clutch quarterback, ever) before falling 29-9 to Pittsburgh in the Divisional Playoffs.

Belichick and the Browns started out well in 1995 -- 3-1 -- and then team owner Art Modell announced he was moving the team to Baltimore after the season. Turmoil spread throughout the city and the team, and the Browns went 2-10 the rest of the way.

Schottenheimer also took over the Browns in a dismal state. He took over a 1-7 team in 1984 and led them to a 5-11 finish (4-4 with Marty). That was followed by years at 8-8, 12-4, 10-5 and 10-6 with playoff appearances every year and two appearances in the AFC Championship game, both losses to Denver.

Then he went to Kansas City, taking over another perennial loser and turning them into an annual contender. A year in Washington, and now in his fourth year at San Diego, Schottenheimer has a career record of 185-121-1. Not too shabby. In all those years (19-plus seasons), he's had just two losing seasons. But, he 5-12 in the playoffs.

Back to Terry's question.

As I said earlier, the majority of Boston media was having a field day at the expense of the Kraft family and the disheveled castoff from, of all places, New York. Another owner had warned Robert Kraft sternly against hiring Belichick, playing the tape of an old Cleveland press conference and saying, "Are you sure you want to hire this guy?" The only thing the Boston media liked was that it was sticking it to Parcells, who left New England high and dry, back-door dealing with the Jets during the Patriots 1996 Super Bowl appearance.

Despite what anyone else thought, Robert Kraft was positive he found his man.

I'll have to dig out my old columns to see what I wrote, but I remember it being far more optimistic than the general media. I remember saying that Belichick was a Parcells defensive disciple (we know better now), and that he had the potential to turn things around. I took the "wait-and-see, he can't be worse than Carroll" attitude.

To me, at least, it was apparent Belichick would have marginal success as long as Bledsoe was quarterback. And until that fateful Mo Lewis -- from the Jets (isn't that weird?) -- hit, things weren't looking good. Belichick's reputation had stuck to him like super epoxy. Ron Borges of The Boston Globe called him "Chuckles" for years, even after the first two Super Bowl wins.

After New England upset St. Louis in Super Bowl XXXVI, there were still Doubting Thomases everywhere. Doubts in Belichick. Doubts in Tom Brady. Doubts in the whole organization.

In 2002, the Patriots went 9-7 and missed the playoffs. The doubters -- mostly Bledsoe backers, by the way -- said, "See? We told you so."

That changed again in 2003, but something strange happened then. It wasn't just Belichick, the Genius. It was Belichick, the Genius, Who Surrounded Himself with Great People. People like former coordinators Charlie Weis and Romeo Crennel. People like director or player personnel Scott Pioli.

I still say there's not a lot of dropoff without Weis and Crennel, but I think it cannot be overstated how important the Belichick-Pioli relationship is.

All that being said, I have always like Schottenheimer. I have a lot of respect for him. I think he's one of the league's better coaches, and I think San Diego is lucky to have him.

Maybe he never quite found his Scott Pioli. Schottenheimer teams always seemed a player or two away. I've been picking the football season for about 20 years, and even during KC's dominating years, I don't remember ever picking them to win it all. It wasn't the coach. There was just always someone out there who was better. And for a long time, it was Dallas, San Francisco and Green Bay, no matter who the AFC sent.

Keep defending him, Terry. He's a great coach. But time is running out. Schottenheimer has done nearly 20 years as a head coach. Even guys like Vermeil and Joe Gibbs took extensive breaks before coaching to their current ages. If he's going to win the Big One, he's going to have to do it soon; or, like it or not, he will be relegated to the Also Ran bin forever.

Resources from http://www.allthingsbillbelichick.com and http://www.pro-football-reference.com were used in this story. I didn't necessarily need to attribute these items, but they deserve credit for the assist.

Week 13 Picks Review

2005-12-06T14:15:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Dec. 4
Atlanta (7-4) at Carolina (8-3), 1:00 p.m.
Atlanta actually has a better road record (4-1) than at home (3-3). Either way, they've had a very weak schedule, their four toughest contests: at Seattle (L), vs New England (L), Tampa Bay (L) and Minnesota (W). Everyone else on their schedule has a losing record. Last week, they dominated Detroit, 27-7, on Thanksgiving, allowing them an extra few days to prepare for this game. Carolina lost two of their first three (to New Orleans and Miami, both by 3 points) and since have been on a 7-1 tear, losing only 13-3 to Chicago. Last week, they squeaked by Buffalo, 13-9, on a late touchdown. Atlanta has beaten Carolina three straight and has won 12 of the last 14 between the two. Atlanta has by far the No. 1 rushing attack in the league with 183 ypg. Carolina has the third best rushing defense, allowing only 82 ypg. Otherwise, Atlanta passes for 166 ypg (28th), while Carolina allows 203 (16th). Overall, Atlanta's offense is ranked 10th; Carolina's defense, 5th. On the other side, Carolina rushes for 90 ypg (28th) and throws for 212 (15th), making them 23rd overall. Atlanta allows 115 ypg on the ground (7th) and 202 in the air (15th), making them 16th overall. I think Carolina's defense has enough to contain Michael Vick, and that's all they really need to do. Otherwise, I think Jake Delhomme is going to have a very good game, aided by the rushing of DeShawn Foster and Stephen Davis. These teams play again January 1.
Prediction: Panthers, 31-24.
Result: Panthers, 24-6.

Buffalo (4-7) at Miami (4-7), 1:00 p.m.
You'd think a late season game between 4-7 division foes would be tough to call. This shouldn't be. Buffalo gave Carolina a pretty good run, but they were at home in the chill weather. Miami, who sounded like they'd given up a couple weeks ago, went to the Black Hole and embarrassed Oakland. Evidently, Miami coach Nick Saban got his point across when he said he was evaluating players for next year. That ignited a few fires. Buffalo is about where they were last year with a coach that doesn't really know how to motivate his team. Playing down south in a hostile environment isn't going to help them. Expect Miami to control this one with the running game. By the way, should New England somehow lose to New York, whoever wins this game would be only one game back in the division standings with four to play.
Prediction: Dolphins, 24-13.
Result: Dolphins, 24-23.

Cincinnati (8-3) at Pittsburgh (7-4), 1:00 p.m.
There's been a lot of trash talk by fans in Cincinnati. You know what that counts for. This game counts for almost everything. If Cincy wins, Pittsburgh is on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. If Pittsburgh wins, they have all the momentum, the division tiebreaker, and a "we've been here before" attitude. Cincinnati has shown a lack of ability to win the big game; they've lost all their recent games against winning teams -- that would be all three of their losses over a 4-3 stretch. Both teams run the ball, with Pittsburgh having a slight edge. On the other hand, Carson Palmer is having a great year, and the Cincinnati passing game is head and shoulders above Pittsburgh's, despite Ben Roethlisberger's quarterback rating. But defense wins, especially this late in the season, and that gives Pittsburgh the edge. Pittsburgh is 5th against the run, and that's going to force Palmer to throw. Cincy is only 25th against the run, so that should open things up for Big Ben; and since Cincinnati is also just 17th against the pass, that will provide all the space the home team needs.
Prediction: Steelers, 27-16.
Result: Bengals, 38-31.

Dallas (7-4) at N.Y. Giants (7-4), 1:00 p.m.
Both of these teams have some tough games ahead on their schedules, so this is not the be-all, end-all game it sounds like. Still, Dallas beat New York, 16-13, in a sloppy overtime game earlier this season, so a win gives them the division tiebreaker. New York seems to have gotten every break imaginable, from an extra home game, to every close call. It seems opposing teams run out of challenges by the middle of the second quarter, and further close or outright bad calls just benefit Big Blue. No team Drew Bledsoe has ever played for showed any kind of offensive consistency, and Dallas isn't either. I'm going to boil it down to a simple equation for you. Dallas runs the ball effectively, throws New York's pass rush off balance, gives Bledsoe opportunity, gives Dallas a chance to win. That's about a 20 percent chance. Otherwise, Dallas runs ineffectively, New York's pass rush tees off, and that's your ballgame. There are a few other scenarios, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Prediction: Giants, 30-15. Bledsoe gets sacked.
Result: Giants, 17-10. Bledsoe was sacked four times, fumled twice and threw two interceptions.

Green Bay (2-9) at Chicago (8-3), 1:00 p.m.
Geez, I feel like I've already been run through the wringer a couple times. Finally, a nice easy game to pick. Watch Chicago blow it. After all, Green Bay has beaten Chicago in 21 of their last 25 meetings, including 11 straight in the Windy City. These teams meet again on the Frozen Tundra on Christmas Day, so maybe Chicago doesn't want to blow them out. Another 3-point win is all that ... Heck, Chicago doesn't even need to win this one.
Prediction: Bears, 15-10.
Result: Bears, 19-7.

Houston (1-10) at Baltimore (3-8), 1:00 p.m.
The Baltimore press says their team has been ravaged by injuries. They only wish. That would be the only explanation why they're 3-8. We in New England can tell you what a real injury-ravaged team looks like, and we're still 6-5. There's an outside shot that Ed Reed and/or Ray Lewis will play in this one. I don't think they'll matter that much. Even with all their belly-aching, Baltimore should be able to hold off Houston; but if Houston can beat anybody, it's probably Baltimore. Both coaches should lose their jobs at season's end. Houston has done absolutely nothing to make me believe they're going to do anything in this game.
Prediction: Ravens, 19-13.
Result: Ravens, 16-15.

Jacksonville (8-3) at Cleveland (4-7), 1:00 p.m.
Trap Game Alert! Trap Game Alert! Jacksonville has just lost their star quarterback for at least a month, they sqeaked past an inferior team on the road last week, they have Indianapolis staring them square in the face next week followed by three patsies. And this week's trip to Cleveland, and the Dog Pound looks like a big ol' bear trap. This, folks, is the definition of a trap game. If one thing prevents that it's knowing that with Bryon Leftwich on the bench, you have virtually no chance of beating Indianpolis, so you better win this one. This could be Romeo Crennel's chance to salvage the season for Cleveland. There's maybe only one or two more possible wins on the schedule after this, so better get while the getting is good. I'm almost tempted to give Cleveland the nod in this one. If Reuben Droughs can keep up his pace ...
Prediction: Jaguars, 16-9.
Result: Jaguars, 20-14.

Minnesota (6-5) at Detroit (4-7), 1:00 p.m.
The Fords are idiots. Justice would be the Lions losing the rest of their games and the fans not buying tickets next year. Actually, I wonder how we could make the Super Bowl a bust for them this year?
Prediction: Vikings, 27-19.
Result: Vikings, 21-16.

Tampa Bay (7-4) at New Orleans (3-8) in Baton Rouge, LA, 1:00 p.m.
Tampa needs the game to keep pace with Atlanta and Carolina. New Orleans would like to win for pride. I just don't think that's going to be enough right now. Tampa is at Carolina and at New England the next two weeks, so they better grab W's while they can. They have the league's No. 2 defense, which won't make it any easier for the team leading the league in bad luck.
Prediction: Buccaneers, 34-17.
Result: Buccaneers, 10-3.

Tennessee (3-8) at Indianapolis (11-0), 1:00 p.m.
Remember about 5 years ago when this would have been a great game?
Prediction: Colts, 38-9.
Result: Colts, 35-3.

Arizona (3-8) at San Francisco (2-9), 4:05 p.m.
Will San Francisco really try to win this game? Will Arizona? Will anyone keep score? Arizona is certainly a better team with better stats behind them. San Franciso is at home, where they are 2-4. Arizona beat Frisco, 31-14, in Mexico City on Oct. 2.
Prediction: Cardinals, um, 18-15.
Result: Cardinals, 17-10.

Washington (5-6) at St. Louis (5-6), 4:05 p.m.
Is Ryan Fitzpatrick going to be another of the "Who is this guy?" St. Louis quarterbacks that suddenly takes the world by storm like a Denver running back? St. Louis has the top-rated passing game, but not much of a running game, and their defense is awful. Washington is more or less middle of the pack all the way around, but in the top half overall offensively and defensively. St. Louis is totally dependent on Fitzgerald, and I don't know if he can play like that against someone other than Houston. I'll take the balanced team.
Prediction: Redskins, 28-24.
Result: Redskins, 24-9.

Denver (9-2) at Kansas City (7-4), 4:15 p.m.
Always a good game, whenever to AFC West teams play, wherever they play. Even better when both teams have winning records and there's something on the line. Should KC win this one and San Diego hold off Oakland, all three will be within a game of each other with 4 games to play. If Denver triumphs, KC is all but toast, and San Diego may have it's chance. KC and San Diego face each other Dec. 24., when Denver plays Oakland. Denver and San Diego meet on Dec. 31. As for this one, both of teams can run the ball. Denver is 2nd in the league with 166 ypg. KC is 4th with 138. Meanwhile, Denver is first against the run, and KC is fifth. What may be more important is that Arrowhead is for Jake Plummer what Gillette had been for Peyton Manning. Plummer is 0-4 there, while Denver is 1-12 in their last 13 December visits to Arrowhead, and where KC has won 16 straight in December. On the season, Denver has scored 13 points more and allowed 40 less. Denver jumped out to a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter when these teams met in Denver in September. Denver is the better team of the two, but that Arrowhead advantage can't be ignored.
Prediction: Broncos, 27-26.
Result: Chiefs, 31-27.

N.Y. Jets at New England, 4:15 p.m.
Please read the stand-alone game preview to be posted soon.
Prediction: Patriots, 34-12.
Prediction: Patriots, 16-3.

Oakland (4-7) at San Diego (7-4), 8:30 p.m.
See KC vs. Denver, but for the fact that San Diego is the better team and playing at home. San Diego has scored the most points in this division, and Oakland is the only team to give up more points than they've scored (239-262) -- so much for that great Randy Moss, Joey Porter combo. LaDanian Tomlinson seems to play particularly well against the Black and Silver. San Diego is on a four-game win streak. Oakland is seventh in passing, but they can't run (15th overall offense), and they can't defend either one (27th overall). San Diego is fifth in rushing and ninth passing (sixth overall), while they're second against the run but only 26th against the pass (12th overall).
Prediction: Chargers, 33-16.
Result: Chargers, 34-10.

Monday, Dec. 5
Seattle (9-2) at Philadelphia (5-6), 9:00 p.m.
Seattle is only 3-2 on the road, but Philly is an embarrassing 1-5 at home. Several weeks ago, this was still a marquis matchup. Now, outside of a few Philadelphia diehards, not many are counting on Seattle leaving the City of Brotherly Love without 10 wins. These teams haven't met in almost exactly 3 years. There's nothing you can take from that game. None of Philly's stats seem to matter much with the turmoil they've been through the last month or so. Seattle has allowed only three rushing touchdowns all season. I wouldn't be surprised if Philly puts up a fight, but I just don't seem them posing a real threat.
Prediction: Seahawks, 26-10.
Result: Seahawks, 42-0.

This week: 14-2. That's more like it. And I went against my gut in the two games I picked wrong. I coulda been somebody, Charlie.
Season: 121-69 (.637).

Pats 16, Jets 3: Additional Comment

2005-12-05T22:50:00.000-05:00

I don't understand what everyone was complaining about today, either. Maybe some people were expecting New England to beat the Jets 42-0. Maybe they expected a completely flawless game. Maybe they expected New York to put up no fight at all. I'm not really sure.

I know I expected the offense to get into the end zone a couple more times, but we've seen that happen more than a few times in the last several years. And in those years, the Patriots had all their starters and played far worse teams, and had much better game situations.

Let me explain. Over the last several years, we've seen a lot of games the Patriots should have dominated that they just squeaked by, either because the defense gave up too many points or because the offense didn't score enough. But there are a lot of reasons before and during a game that cause those results.

Sunday, it was field position, and that was mostly the fault of the defense. The defense played well overall. It was that "bend, don't break" style we're all too familiar with. But even in all the games we've see that prior to this year, this year there's still one thing missing that makes the difference: turnovers.

Turnovers create a short field and make it easier for the offense to get their job done. Most field goals -- by any team -- are the result of (a) an opponent's red zone defense, and/or (b) a team having to traverse the length of the field. Yes, some teams can just march down the field, very obviously, most teams don't score at all. They punt, or they turn it over.

So let's look at a couple stats.

The Patriots average field position to start their drives was their own 26. That's not too good. Only a couple teams Sunday had a worse average. The Jets was their own 29. A couple teams were in their own 40s. Only on three drives did the Patriots start at their own 40 or better. The first two ended in field goals. The last followed the defense's only turnover of the game, an interception with 4:04 left in the game. The Patriots lone touchdown capped a drive New England started on their own 15. That was one of five drives started inside the 20. Two drives started at the 1 or the 2.

The only reason things looked as good as they did was that the offense had only two three-and-outs and punted only four times. New England had three drives of 10-plus plays, all scores. New York had just one drive of 10 or more. It was just 10, started on their own 34, and they got their only score of the game out of it.

When you ask coaches what the most important statistics are, they are usually, in order: turnovers, time of possession, and third-down conversion percentage. But prior to the game, they always talk about controlling the clock and winning the field position battle.

Incidentally, New England did dominate time of possession, 38:10 to 21:50. It doesn't necessarily turn into dozens of points, but it turns into wins, and those are what counts. The Pats led time of possession 19:01 to 10:51 in the first half.

Individual Performances

Tom Brady looked great, overall, which is typical of his performances following disasters like last week. He finished 27-of-37 for 271 yards, no touchdowns, no interceptions. Possibly six of his incompletions were receiver drops, at least one in the end zone. Brady also ran four times for 19 yards. Brady hit seven receivers, at least twice each.

Troy Brown was the major beneficiary, catching five balls for 64 yards. Deion Branch and David Given also each had five receptions. Only Ben Watson caught passes for the tight end squad. Once again, he just looked spectacular on his plays. Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk had four catches each coming out of the backfield.

Dillon carried the ball 16 times for 63 yards; Faulk, 10 carries for 43 yards. Mike Cloud even got in there for 5 carries and 27 yards.

The offensive line, in general, was less than impressive. Outside of a few holes they opened for the ground game, Brady was under relentless pressure and got hit a lot more than you want Brady getting hit.

The Jets had only 55 offensive plays, so the defensive stats aren't all that spectacular. Ellis Hobbs, Tedy Bruschi and Ty Warren led the D with 6 tackles each. Hobbs also had the interception at the end of the game.

Mike Vrabel and Rosevelt Colvin had 4 tackles each. Colvin had one of only two sacks of Jets quarterback Brooks Bollinger. Jarvis Green had the other.

The Jets defensive stats were none too impressive, considering the Patriots had 74 offensive plays. They defended just 1 Brady pass and had just two sacks, despite all the pressure. Former Patriot Ty Law had a meager 5 tackles and no other stats.

Another former Patriot, Curtis Martin, had just 29 yards on 15 carries. He needs to average about 67 yards per game to become the first running back in NFL history to reach 1,000 yards in 11 straight seasons, which are also his first 11 seasons. The Patriots certainly did him no favors Sunday.

Martin also had 4 catches for 26 yards. His total of 55 yards from scrimmage was the Jets team-high, followed by Laveranues Coles, who had 4 catches for 35 yards. The Jets had a total of 176 yards.

Otherwise, the Pats were 50 percent on third-down conversions (8 of 16), which is an improvement. The defense held the Jets to 4 of 14 (29 percent). New England was inefficient in the red zone, one of four (25 percent).

Mike Pereira's Worst Nightmare

Referee Jeff Triplette and his crew are an embarrassment to the NFL. As an upper echelon team, fortunately we don't see this idiot too often, except in games like these, where the opponent is futile as well.

Usually, I rip the inane commentary of whatever "analyst" we get stuck with; but, today, Triplette will endure all my wrath.

Let's start with the play on which Brooks Bollinger fumbled, Mike Vrabel recovered, illegally pitched forward to Willie McGinest, who was hauled down by his facemask by Coles. Turns out that Richard Seymour also facemasked "someone" at the line, evidently microseconds before the fumble. First of all, I'm not so sure they got the call correct, but just for fun let's assume they did. Triplette's effort to explain the call was -- well, I don't have a worse word for embarrassing. He stumbled over his words. Had no idea what to call either team. Had no idea what players (usually announced by number) committed the penalties. All he knew is that at the end he was going to say the penalties offset, and they would replay the down. He couldn't even get that out of his mouth without stuttering and laughing.

The officials called several really weak penalties: the clipping penalty on Stephen Neal. Neal barely touched the player, and the guy didn't fall. He even made the tackle. Not to mention I haven't heard clipping called in years. I didn't think it was even still in the books with all the other blocking penalties they've created. Then there was the roughing the passer on McGinest that negated Bollinger's intentional grounding. The neutral zone infraction when one of the Jets defenders jumped, causing Nick Kaczur to jump, but they called it on Kaczur. The dual offensive holding penalties, one on Troy Brown. It's a ridiculous list.

You just have to hope you never meet these guys in an important game somewhere.

Postgame, Week 13: Patriots 16 vs. Jets 3

2005-12-05T21:42:00.000-05:00

The New England Patriots did what they needed to do. The did what they needed to do on offense. They did what they needed to do on defense. They won. They beat the New York Jets, 16-3.

It wasn't spectacular. It wasn't dominating. It wasn't flashy. It was just what they needed to do.

New England is now 7-5, still two games ahead of Miami (5-7), who came back from a 21-0 deficit to beat Buffalo, 24-23. Buffalo falls to 4-8. The Jets are 2-10.

The Patriots found the end zone just once in four red zone attempts, and Adam Vinatieri missed one of his four attempts to keep the scoring low. The Patriots defense also kept the Jets out of the red zone almost completely, but again had no turnovers until the final minutes of the game.

The statistics show a game that was never in contention, and it never really was, despite the 6-3 halftime score. The Patriots marched down the field several times but were unable to find the end zone, attempting three field goals, Vinatieri connecting from 21 yards and 34 yards, but missing from 45.

The teams exchanged the ball fruitlessly through the first quarter. The Patriots still dominated, controlling the clock and even 10 minutes to 5. The Pats finally opened the scoring with 5:36 left in the half, following a 14-play, 8 minute, 9 second drive, their longest of the day. The big play was a 22-yard pass interference call against the Jets on 1st and 20 following a 10-yard offensive holding call against New England. That was an indication of the flow of Sunday's game. Tom Brady also hit Troy Brown for 14 yards and Deion Branch for 13 yards on the drive.

The Jets responded immediately with their longest drive of the game, a 10-play, 4 minute, 34 second drive, keyed by a Brooks Bollinger to Doug Jolley 15-yard pass. The drive also contained the game's most bizarre play, during which there was a turnover and three penalties. Rosevelt Colvin sacked Bollinger and the ball popped backward. Mike Vrabel recovered along the sideline and pitched to Willie McGinest, who was hauled down by his facemask.

The long and short of it is that all the penalties offset, and New York retained possession, leading to their field goal. The officials ruled that Richard Seymour had facemasked someone prior to the fumble, Vrabel's pitch was illegally forward, and the facemask on McGinest offset Seymour's. Had the play stood as a fumble, it could have been a major blow to any momentum the Jets had. The Pats could have exploited the turnover. It could have been a shutout. It could have been a blowout.

Two plays later, Mike Nugent kicked a 38-yard field goal to tie the game at three. Following the ensuing kickoff, which Mike Cloud returned 15 yards to the Patriot 40, New England passed their way down the field in 60 seconds, and Vinatieri hit a 34-yard field goal to give New England a 6-3 lead at halftime.

Following New York's empty first drive of the second half, the Patriots embarked on another 14-play drive, this one consuming 8:39. The drive was the kind of thing you expected from New England, especially against a team like the Jets. The first three plays were Corey Dillon runs. Then it was a mix of passes and runs, both Dillon and Kevin Faulk carrying. The passes went to receivers and running backs, mostly for short yardage. Andre Davis caught a 21-yard pass early in the series to get the Pats moving. Dillon capped the drive with a 1-yard dive over left guard.

The Patriots led 13-3, and that was that.

New England managed a 22-yard Vinatieri field goal on a 10-play drive that spanned the third and fourth quarters to round out the scoring.

Brady ended 27 of 37 for 271 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions. He was sacked twice, and also ran four times for 19 yards. Dillon had 65 yards on 16 carries and 19 yards on 4 receptions. Faulk added 35 yards on 10 carries and 46 yards on 4 receptions. Cloud contributed 27 yards on five carries, giving the Patriots 146 yards on the ground, their highest total of the year.

Brown, Branch and David Givens had five catches each. Brown led with 64 yards.

Ellis Hobbs, Tedy Bruschi and Ty Warren each had a total 6 tackles. Hobbs and Bruschi had 4 solo and 2 assists each. Hobbs also had an interception with 4:04 left in the 4th quarter, the game's only turnover. Jarvis Green also had a sack.

Notes:

Vinatieri's 34-yard field goal with 2 seconds left in the first half made Vinatieri the Patriots all time leading scorer with 1,131 points. He passed Patriot kicking legend Gino Cappelletti, who kicked for his 1,130th point on December 20, 1970, making it just under 35 years his record stood. Cappelletti, who is honored with one of the giant player banners ringing the outside of Gillette Stadium is the in-game color analyst on New England Patriot radio broadcasts on WBCN 104.1 FM.

Brady, who is now 4-0 following games in which he's thrown four interceptions, became the third Patriots quarterback with more than 17,000 career yards. He crossed the milestone on a 25-yard pass to Ben Watson on a 2nd-and-7, 5:01 into the game. (TRIVIA: Who remains ahead of Brady, and who did he recently pass?) Brady was also recently announced at Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year.

Former Patriot linebacker Ted Johnson was honored during halftime for his 10-year career with New England.

New England heads to Buffalo next week for a 1 p.m. Start. After that, they host Tampa Bay on Saturday, Dec. 17 (1:30 p.m.), play at the Jets on Christmas Eve (Saturday at 9 p.m.) and host Miami on New Year's Day (Sunday at 1 p.m.)

The Jets host Oakland next Sunday at 1 p.m. Miami is at San Diego at 4:15.

Trivia Answer
Seasons Attempts Comp. Yards Pct TD Int
Drew Bledsoe 1993-01 4,518 2,544 29,657 56.3 166 138
Steve Grogan 1975-90 3,593 1,879 26,886 52.3 182 208
Tom Brady 2000-05 2,442 1,507 17,226 61.6 115 62
Vito "Babe" Parilli 1961-67 2,412 1,140 16,747 47.3 132 138

Just for fun, let's assume the season is over, and Brady has 5 full seasons. We'll multiply his numbers by 1.6 to give him eight full seasons like Bledsoe. Assume his percentage doesn't change dramatically, as it hasn't. Incidentally, Bledsoe's best percentage as a Patriot was 60.2. Another note: These are all the Patriot QBs with more than 100 TDs as Patriots.

Tom Brady 2000-08 3,907 2,411 27,562 61.6 184 99

Patriots vs. Jets open thread

2005-12-04T16:07:00.001-05:00

OK, this is an important game, certainly a winnable game.
Let Fireman Ed hear it, Patriot nation!

Go P-A-T-S! PATS! PATS! PATS!

Game Preview: Week 13, Patriots vs. New York Jets

2005-12-04T00:03:00.000-05:00

I might not show it enough, but I hate cliches. I try to avoid them, but I have to use one regarding this week's game at Gillette Stadium: It's just what the doctor ordered.

The NFL is headed into the twilight of the season, and, despite New England coach Bill Belichick's desire to take it one game at a time, and despite his denials, even he has long-term goals and plans, and that includes the playoffs. That makes this week's visit by the New York Jets important on several levels.

First, the New England Patriots are 6-5 (only 3-2 at home), and though they lead the AFC East, the grip is tenuous. The Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills are both 4-7, and they're playing each other this week. That means, barring a tie, one of them is going to win, and if by some circumstance the Patriots should lose, that would leave one of those teams only a game back of New England.

Enter the New York Jets. They're 2-9, 0-6 on the road and on a six-game losing streak. The Jets are almost as plagued by injuries as the Patriots have been, and they're certainly the best thing the Patriots could hope for this week. Belichick will probably tell you that the Jets, like a cornered, injured animal, is desperate and dangerous. I disagree.

And that leads to our second level on which the Jets visit is important.

With several Patriots recovering and returning from injuries, the Jets are the perfect team to cut teeth on (Sometimes, cliches just sneak up on me.). Corey Dillon is expected to play, and Kevin Faulk is a game-time decision. Heath Evans, who has helped New England survive the last few weeks, is banged up with a shoulder injury. The Jets ranked 30th in running defense, allowing 136.9 yards per game. Not only should that allow New England running room, a chance to establish a ground game, and open up the passing, but it should help keep the running backs healthy, while giving them opportunity to get in some reps. In a perfect world, the one we lived in last year, that's how it's supposed to work.

The Jets are fourth against the pass, allowing a meager 173.5 ypg in the air. That may be more a function of their lousy run defense than a tribute to their pass rush and defensive backs. Overall defensively, the Jets are ranked 11th. Yet they've given up 248 points. That may look good compared to the Pats 279 points allowed and 31st ranked defense, but a look at strength of opponents explains that away.

Of course, when you look at points allowed, you also want to look at points scored. Yes, New England has allowed 279, but they've scored 243. Not impressive, but we know the Pats got pounded by San Diego and Indianapolis, skewing the numbers a bit. Still, that looks a lot better than the Jets 140 points scored. 140! Finally, a team the Patriots should be able to contain, and gain some defensive confidence.

For the first time in many weeks, there are no defensive linemen on the injury report. Now we should see that team work together as a unit. Against an inferior opponent, it might not mean much, but what we're looking for here is improvement and cohesiveness, something to build on. The linebackers have only Willie McGinest listed on the injury report, and he with just a finger issue. He saw limited action against Kansas City last week, so there's no reason to expect he's sitting against the Jets.

The only place where there are still major problems is in the defensive secondary. For the most part, those problems can't be fixed. There are seven defensive backs on injured reserve (in case you hadn't heard), including Rodney Harrison, and those guys simply aren't coming back. The plan will be to maintain health on the line and in the linebacking corps, and improve the pass rush to the point where the weaknesses in the secondary are less exposed. We should see at least shades of that plan Sunday.

In a normal Pats-Jets matchup, which this most definitely is not, New England would have to worry about Curtis Martin, his running, and the play-action pass. With Brooks Bollinger at quarterback for the Jets, the Patriots have to worry about none of that. The main job will be to stop Martin, or whatever running back is playing. If the Jets run the play-action, they probably won't cause too much damage. So, with the running attack stymied, on obvious passing downs, the Pats can simply tee off on Bollinger, who has just over 700 yards in six games. Even the Patriots secondary should be able to cover Jets receivers when Bollinger is under pressure.

On the other side of the ball, Tom Brady should have a field day. New York only has 18 sacks, and John Abraham has 5.5 of those. (The Pats and Jets are tied for 30th in sacks, but the Jets haven't had the D-line injuries New England has.) Nick Kaczur and Logan Mankins have done an unbelievable job against the other great right D tackles in the league. With some protection -- including some help from whoever keeps letting in the back-side blitzer -- Brady should be able to find open receivers.

The Jets do rank fairly high in interceptions with 13 (tied for 9th), led by old friend Ty Law (his first game against New England). But, as we all know, Brady always comes back with a fantastic game after a horrible game. Brady was awful with a career-tying four picks last week at Kansas City. And, as we've mentioned a bazillion times, Brady has yet to lose back-to-back games, making this an "automatic win." Of course, the last team to hand New England a loss following a previous week's loss was none other than the New York Jets.

The outcome of the game, while obviously important, is nearly a foregone conclusion. The Jets are reeling and can hardly score to save their lives. The Patriots, still banged up but on top of the division, are improving with an injury list that is thankfully getting shorter. Beyond the win/loss column, this game is important for the Patriots for them to regain some of their old form heading down the stretch and into the playoffs.

Prediction: Patriots, 34-12.

As WEEI's Dale Arnold says, "You can see the game right here on CBS 4." I don't know why he says that, because (a) He's on the radio, and (b) WEEI has no relation to Channel 4 that I know of. Anyway, the game is on Channel 4 @ 4:15 pm with play-by-play announcer Kevin Harlan and analyst Randy Cross. No idea who, if anyone, is on the sideline. ... As usual, you can catch a better audio description of the game on WBCN 104.1 FM with Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti.

Week 13 Picks

2005-12-03T09:58:00.000-05:00

Here's where things get really interesting: post-Thanksgiving in the NFL. This is when the playoff picture starts becoming a little clearer, when one game can palpably be the difference between making or breaking a season, when the Pro Bowlers separate themselves from the better-than-averagers, when the MVP emerges; and, for the worse teams, the fight for draft pick, the time when coaches start falling, when rookies and journeymen assume starting roles, when a few small-time teams play big-time spoiler.

There are several huge games on the slate, starting with battles for division leads: Atlanta at Carolina, Cincinnati at Pittsburgh, and Dallas at New York, all 1 p.m. games. Fortunately for us, the Patriots host the Jets at 4:15, so we should be able to flip between the Dallas/NY (Fox 25) and Cincy/Pitt (CBS 4) games. The only other interesting 1 o'clock game of note is Buffalo at Miami in a battle to see who might have a last shot at the division title, should New England falter down the stretch.

At 4, of course, is the New England game. There are only four games total, and the important one is Denver at Kansas City at 4:15. Denver can end KC's playoff hopes and start to solidify the No. 2 seed in the AFC.

The Sunday Night game should be a blast, if you turn down the sound on the TV anyway. Oakland heads to San Diego in what is always one of those great AFC West matchups. Oakland can put a hitch in San Diego's playoff plans.

Monday Night, Seattle is at Philadelphia is important only because Seattle will want to stay ahead of Carolina and Chicago in the hunt for home-field advantage throughout the playoffs.

Here are the predictions:

Sunday, Dec. 4
Atlanta (7-4) at Carolina (8-3), 1:00 p.m.
Atlanta actually has a better road record (4-1) than at home (3-3). Either way, they've had a very weak schedule, their four toughest contests: at Seattle (L), vs New England (L), Tampa Bay (L) and Minnesota (W). Everyone else on their schedule has a losing record. Last week, they dominated Detroit, 27-7, on Thanksgiving, allowing them an extra few days to prepare for this game. Carolina lost two of their first three (to New Orleans and Miami, both by 3 points) and since have been on a 7-1 tear, losing only 13-3 to Chicago. Last week, they squeaked by Buffalo, 13-9, on a late touchdown. Atlanta has beaten Carolina three straight and has won 12 of the last 14 between the two. Atlanta has by far the No. 1 rushing attack in the league with 183 ypg. Carolina has the third best rushing defense, allowing only 82 ypg. Otherwise, Atlanta passes for 166 ypg (28th), while Carolina allows 203 (16th). Overall, Atlanta's offense is ranked 10th; Carolina's defense, 5th. On the other side, Carolina rushes for 90 ypg (28th) and throws for 212 (15th), making them 23rd overall. Atlanta allows 115 ypg on the ground (7th) and 202 in the air (15th), making them 16th overall. I think Carolina's defense has enough to contain Michael Vick, and that's all they really need to do. Otherwise, I think Jake Delhomme is going to have a very good game, aided by the rushing of DeShawn Foster and Stephen Davis. These teams play again January 1.
Prediction: Carolina, 31-24.

Buffalo (4-7) at Miami (4-7), 1:00 p.m.
You'd think a late season game between 4-7 division foes would be tough to call. This shouldn't be. Buffalo gave Carolina a pretty good run, but they were at home in the chill weather. Miami, who sounded like they'd given up a couple weeks ago, went to the Black Hole and embarrassed Oakland. Evidently, Miami coach Nick Saban got his point across when he said he was evaluating players for next year. That ignited a few fires. Buffalo is about where they were last year with a coach that doesn't really know how to motivate his team. Playing down south in a hostile environment isn't going to help them. Expect Miami to control this one with the running game. By the way, should New England somehow lose to New York, whoever wins this game would be only one game back in the division standings with four to play.
Prediction: Dolphins, 24-13.

Cincinnati (8-3) at Pittsburgh (7-4), 1:00 p.m.
There's been a lot of trash talk by fans in Cincinnati. You know what that counts for. This game counts for almost everything. If Cincy wins, Pittsburgh is on the outside of the playoff picture looking in. If Pittsburgh wins, they have all the momentum, the division tiebreaker, and a "we've been here before" attitude. Cincinnati has shown a lack of ability to win the big game; they've lost all their recent games against winning teams -- that would be all three of their losses over a 4-3 stretch. Both teams run the ball, with Pittsburgh having a slight edge. On the other hand, Carson Palmer is having a great year, and the Cincinnati passing game is head and shoulders above Pittsburgh's, despite Ben Roethlisberger's quarterback rating. But defense wins, especially this late in the season, and that gives Pittsburgh the edge. Pittsburgh is 5th against the run, and that's going to force Palmer to throw. Cincy is only 25th against the run, so that should open things up for Big Ben; and since Cincinnati is also just 17th against the pass, that will provide all the space the home team needs.
Prediction: Steelers, 27-16.

Dallas (7-4) at N.Y. Giants (7-4), 1:00 p.m.
Both of these teams have some tough games ahead on their schedules, so this is not the be-all, end-all game it sounds like. Still, Dallas beat New York, 16-13, in a sloppy overtime game earlier this season, so a win gives them the division tiebreaker. New York seems to have gotten every break imaginable, from an extra home game, to every close call. It seems opposing teams run out of challenges by the middle of the second quarter, and further close or outright bad calls just benefit Big Blue. No team Drew Bledsoe has ever played for showed any kind of offensive consistency, and Dallas isn't either. I'm going to boil it down to a simple equation for you. Dallas runs the ball effectively, throws New York's pass rush off balance, gives Bledsoe opportunity, gives Dallas a chance to win. That's about a 20 percent chance. Otherwise, Dallas runs ineffectively, New York's pass rush tees off, and that's your ballgame. There are a few other scenarios, but that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.
Prediction: Giants, 30-15. Bledsoe gets sacked.

Green Bay (2-9) at Chicago (8-3), 1:00 p.m.
Geez, I feel like I've already been run through the wringer a couple times. Finally, a nice easy game to pick. Watch Chicago blow it. After all, Green Bay has beaten Chicago in 21 of their last 25 meetings, including 11 straight in the Windy City. These teams meet again on the Frozen Tundra on Christmas Day, so maybe Chicago doesn't want to blow them out. Another 3-point win is all that ... Heck, Chicago doesn't even need to win this one.
Prediction: Bears, 15-10.

Houston (1-10) at Baltimore (3-8), 1:00 p.m.
The Baltimore press says their team has been ravaged by injuries. They only wish. That would be the only explanation why they're 3-8. We in New England can tell you what a real injury-ravaged team looks like, and we're still 6-5. There's an outside shot that Ed Reed and/or Ray Lewis will play in this one. I don't think they'll matter that much. Even with all their belly-aching, Baltimore should be able to hold off Houston; but if Houston can beat anybody, it's probably Baltimore. Both coaches should lose their jobs at season's end. Houston has done absolutely nothing to make me believe they're going to do anything in this game.
Prediction: Ravens, 19-13.

Jacksonville (8-3) at Cleveland (4-7), 1:00 p.m.
Trap Game Alert! Trap Game Alert! Jacksonville has just lost their star quarterback for at least a month, they sqeaked past an inferior team on the road last week, they have Indianapolis staring them square in the face next week followed by three patsies. And this week's trip to Cleveland, and the Dog Pound looks like a big ol' bear trap. This, folks, is the definition of a trap game. If one thing prevents that it's knowing that with Bryon Leftwich on the bench, you have virtually no chance of beating Indianpolis, so you better win this one. This could be Romeo Crennel's chance to salvage the season for Cleveland. There's maybe only one or two more possible wins on the schedule after this, so better get while the getting is good. I'm almost tempted to give Cleveland the nod in this one. If Reuben Droughs can keep up his pace ...
Prediction: Jaguars, 16-9.

Minnesota (6-5) at Detroit (4-7), 1:00 p.m.
The Fords are idiots. Justice would be the Lions losing the rest of their games and the fans not buying tickets next year. Actually, I wonder how we could make the Super Bowl a bust for them this year?
Prediction: Vikings, 27-19.

Tampa Bay (7-4) at New Orleans (3-8) in Baton Rouge, LA, 1:00 p.m.
Tampa needs the game to keep pace with Atlanta and Carolina. New Orleans would like to win for pride. I just don't think that's going to be enough right now. Tampa is at Carolina and at New England the next two weeks, so they better grab W's while they can. They have the league's No. 2 defense, which won't make it any easier for the team leading the league in bad luck.
Prediction: Buccaneers, 34-17.

Tennessee (3-8) at Indianapolis (11-0), 1:00 p.m.
Remember about 5 years ago when this would have been a great game?
Prediction: Colts, 38-9.

Arizona (3-8) at San Francisco (2-9), 4:05 p.m.
Will San Francisco really try to win this game? Will Arizona? Will anyone keep score? Arizona is certainly a better team with better stats behind them. San Franciso is at home, where they are 2-4. Arizona beat Frisco, 31-14, in Mexico City on Oct. 2.
Prediction: Cardinals, um, 18-15.

Washington (5-6) at St. Louis (5-6), 4:05 p.m.
Is Ryan Fitzpatrick going to be another of the "Who is this guy?" St. Louis quarterbacks that suddenly takes the world by storm like a Denver running back? St. Louis has the top-rated passing game, but not much of a running game, and their defense is awful. Washington is more or less middle of the pack all the way around, but in the top half overall offensively and defensively. St. Louis is totally dependent on Fitzgerald, and I don't know if he can play like that against someone other than Houston. I'll take the balanced team.
Prediction: Redskins, 28-24.

Denver (9-2) at Kansas City (7-4), 4:15 p.m.
Always a good game, whenever to AFC West teams play, wherever they play. Even better when both teams have winning records and there's something on the line. Should KC win this one and San Diego hold off Oakland, all three will be within a game of each other with 4 games to play. If Denver triumphs, KC is all but toast, and San Diego may have it's chance. KC and San Diego face each other Dec. 24., when Denver plays Oakland. Denver and San Diego meet on Dec. 31. As for this one, both of teams can run the ball. Denver is 2nd in the league with 166 ypg. KC is 4th with 138. Meanwhile, Denver is first against the run, and KC is fifth. What may be more important is that Arrowhead is for Jake Plummer what Gillette had been for Peyton Manning. Plummer is 0-4 there, while Denver is 1-12 in their last 13 December visits to Arrowhead, and where KC has won 16 straight in December. On the season, Denver has scored 13 points more and allowed 40 less. Denver jumped out to a 20-0 lead early in the second quarter when these teams met in Denver in September. Denver is the better team of the two, but that Arrowhead advantage can't be ignored.
Prediction: Broncos, 27-26.

N.Y. Jets at New England, 4:15 p.m.
Please read the stand-alone game preview to be posted soon.
Prediction: Patriots, 34-12.

Oakland (4-7) at San Diego (7-4), 8:30 p.m.
See KC vs. Denver, but for the fact that San Diego is the better team and playing at home. San Diego has scored the most points in this division, and Oakland is the only team to give up more points than they've scored (239-262) -- so much for that great Randy Moss, Joey Porter combo. LaDanian Tomlinson seems to play particularly well against the Black and Silver. San Diego is on a four-game win streak. Oakland is seventh in passing, but they can't run (15th overall offense), and they can't defend either one (27th overall). San Diego is fifth in rushing and ninth passing (sixth overall), while they're second against the run but only 26th against the pass (12th overall).
Prediction: Chargers, 33-16.

Monday, Dec. 5
Seattle (9-2) at Philadelphia (5-6), 9:00 p.m.
Seattle is only 3-2 on the road, but Philly is an embarrassing 1-5 at home. Several weeks ago, this was still a marquis matchup. Now, outside of a few Philadelphia diehards, not many are counting on Seattle leaving the City of Brotherly Love without 10 wins. These teams haven't met in almost exactly 3 years. There's nothing you can take from that game. None of Philly's stats seem to matter much with the turmoil they've been through the last month or so. Seattle has allowed only three rushing touchdowns all season. I wouldn't be surprised if Philly puts up a fight, but I just don't seem them posing a real threat.
Prediction: Seahawks, 26-10.

Dear Congress: LEAVE MY SPORTS ALONE!

2005-12-03T02:01:00.000-05:00

I'm not sure, but I think I actually turned green and most of my clothes tore off. One can never really be sure of something like that unless there's some kind of residual evidence. Nonetheless, for a while there, I could hardly contain my anger.

In case you haven't heard, according to the Associated Press, Texas Congressman Joe Barton called the Bowl Championship Series "deeply flawed" and suggested Congress step in for a "comprehensive review" of the BCS and postseason college football.

I am going to try, really, really going to try to be professional about this.

Hey! Nitwit! GOVERNMENT'S JOB IS TO PROVIDE NECESSARY SERVICES TO ITS CONSTITUENCY!

So reads the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States: "We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America."

No where, there or in the Articles that follow, does it say that Congress should regulate the populations' pastimes.

This really kills me. I'm driving home earlier this evening and I'm listening to another nitwit -- JT -- on WEEI (There's a blog for another day), and JT says, "I have to give them credit. The BCS has it right this year."

Talk about two extremes.

First, we have a nitwit Congressmen sticking government's nose where it doesn't belong, as if there's nothing else Congress needs to address. And then we have nitwit number two praising said nose target.

First, JT. Ya, they got it right. There's two undefeated teams in the country, and the BCS has them ranked No. 1 and No. 2. Brilliant. I could get a semi-trained drooling chimp to pull that off. (Uh-oh, here comes PETA! Arrgh! I've never used so many exclamation points in my life!)

Now, Congressman Barton. Fella, don't you have something more important to discuss? Like maybe oil prices? Or battlefields? Or creating jobs? Or maybe redesigning the nation's transportation system? Alternate sources of energy? The alarming decline of dairy farms?

Ya, I know you're on some ridiculous House Energy and Commerce subcommittee that -- for some inane reason -- is tasked with regulating America's sports industry. That in itself is a big problem. Look, you guys have blown it with the steroids, and baseball handed you all your butts when you tried to break the Major League Baseball players' union. It's obvious you can't handle this industry, and IT DOESN'T NEED TO BE GOVERNMENT REGULATED! Too late! You blew it! Go away!

"College football is not just an exhilarating sport, but a billion-dollar business that Congress cannot ignore," Barton said.

Why not? Of course it can! You guys ignore enough legitimate problems.

Look, what I think should be done about deciding a college football champion is irrelevant. If you want my opinion, someone can ask, and I'll write about it. But I, a right-leaning conservative, ex-Marine, supporter of government in most cases, am not going to sit here quietly when said government tries to stick its fingers into pies that aren't even on its own dinner table.

Congress has absolutely no business legislating and regulating our recreation. We don't want you telling us how to play our games, how to decide who wins, where teams can build stadia, whether a pitch six inches off the edge of the plate is a strike. If we let Congress interfere in this, they'll be outlawing the designated hitter, regulating the size of goalie equipment, watching Tiger Woods take a drop, reviewing plays outside the last two minutes of the half.

We the people can take care of this ourselves.

We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect sports nation, state one last time, so even you elected members of Congress can understand: LEAVE OUR SPORTS ALONE!

Week 12 Picks Review

2005-12-01T21:33:00.000-05:00

Pardon the length of the "review" this week. I include the preview so you can see what I expected before the games -- at least the games that I didn't just ramble off-topic. The picks and results are bolded, so that can help you pick your way through if you're not interested in the other stuff.

Any questions?

Sunday, Nov. 27
Baltimore (3-7) at Cincinnati (7-3), 1:00 p.m.
Baltimore stole a game from a floundering Pittsburgh team, and Cincinnati lost to nearly unbeatable Indy. Evidently, Baltimore realized they're only role is that of spoiler, and they got off to a good start there by knocking off Pitt. Can they do the same to Cincy? I doubt it. Running back Jamal Lewis really is a piece of garbage, and he's about to lose his job. He'll probably just go back to running drugs instead of footballs. Quarterback Kyle Boller is nursing a back injury, so you can imagine how ineffective he'll be, considering how ineffective he is as usual. The defense is still missing linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed. Cincinnati is going to be looking to take out last week's frustration on someone, and the home town crowd is going to be there urging them on. As oft is the case in the NFL, last week is not this week.
Prediction: Bengals, 31-9.
Result: Bengals, 42-29.
Cincinnati streaked out to a huge lead before letting Baltimore to score a bunch of meaningless late-game points. I still would have like to see Cincinnati shut them down like a champion would, but maybe they're not ready for that status.

Carolina (7-3) at Buffalo (4-6), 1:00 p.m.
Both teams are coming off humiliating defeats from last week. Carolina lost 13-3, but it was to Chicago, and while the Windy City team has been a surprise this season, that certainly doesn't make Carolina feel better. Buffalo was pummeled by San Diego. But Buffalo is at home, where they play far better (4-1 home, 0-5 road), and they have few injuries to speak of. Carolina is OK on the road (4-1 home, 3-2 road), but this is Buffalo, and it's getting cold. Running backs Deshawn Foster and Stephen Davis are banged up, and that could impact the game plan. Buffalo quarterback J.P. Losman has yet to show the ability to win an important game. Buffalo is 3-0 against Carolina all-time.
Prediction: Panthers, 21-16.
Result: Panthers, 13-9.
Losman still hasn't won an important game. Foster and Davis combined for 99 yards, while the Panthers held Willis McGahee to 53. Pretty straightforward, just like we expected.

Chicago (7-3) at Tampa Bay (7-3), 1:00 p.m.
Both of these teams are 7-3 and in first place in their respective divisions. There must be a conspiracy. Chicago has the best points-against defense in the league with a mind-boggling 110 after 10 games (easy math). They're also 7th against the run and 2nd against the pass, making them first overall in yards allowed, too. Tampa isn't too shabby. They're 3rd overall in yards allowed. Neither team has any significant injuries. Both teams have one home loss and two road losses. Chicago usually scores just enough to win. Tampa has lost big a couple times, keeping them out of the points-allowed race. It comes down to who makes the most mistakes. Tampa gets the edge on home-field advantage.
Prediction: Buccaneers, 16-13.
Result: Bears, 13-10.
Same here, except I have the wrong winner. Chicago again scored just enough to win while keeping the game very low scoring. They also took advantage of Tampa's one big mistake, forcing a Chris Simms fumble at the Bucs 1-yard line, turning it into 7 points. Not a lot of people effervescing about Simms this week. Strange, huh?

Cleveland (4-6) at Minnesota (5-5), 1:00 p.m.
Cleveland is coming of a stunning 22-0 domination over Miami. Minnesota squeezed by Green Bay on Monday Night, leaving them with a short week. Cleveland is 1-4 on the road. Minnesota is 3-1 at home. Quarterback Brad Johnson has gone 3-0 since the demise of Dante Culpepper. If -> IF <- Cleveland plays like they did last week, they have a chance. Reuben Droughns needs to have a huge day. Give the turf advantage to the home team. I don't think I've picked a Minnesota game correctly all season. Prediction: Vikings, 31-17.
Result: Vikings, 24-12.
I finally got a Vikings game right. Brad Johnson is actually 4-0. I don't think that's parity, but I don't know what it is. Turnovers were the story here too. A pair of them led to two of Marcus Robinson's three touchdown receptions. Droughns had 73 yards on 19 carries, but only five of those came in the second half. I don't know why Cleveland abandoned the run so early.

New England at Kansas City, 1:00 p.m.
Read the stand-alone game preview. Thanks.
Prediction: Patriots, 28-27.
Result: Chiefs, 26-16.
We don't need to rehash this either. I half expected this kind of result, but somewhere in the middle of writing the game preview, I convinced myself otherwise.

San Diego (6-4) at Washington (5-5), 1:00 p.m.
San Diego, again, is coming off a pummeling of Buffalo. Washington is floundering again after a home loss to Oakland. Two teams headed in opposite directions. Both teams need a win to keep pace in their respective divisions. One team has a wicked uphill battle after today. Both teams have their share of bruises. Washington is 4-1 at home. San Diego is 3-2 on the road. Can Washington stop a steamrolling San Diego offense?
Prediction: Chargers, 34-27.
Result: Chargers, 23-17 (OT).
Let this show once and for all that you have to give LaDanian Tomlinson only about 2 inches of space and he's going to make you pay. A 32-yard Tomlinson run late in the fourth quarter tied the game, and a 41-yarder in OT sealed the deal. He had 184 yards rushing and 29 receiving. Washington had game in hand, having picked off Drew Brees three times. But that's the difference between a San Diego and a runner up. Washington's third straight blown lead, second straight at home, pretty much nixes their playoff chances. They were looking like they had a shot at the division title for a while.

San Francisco (2-8) at Tennessee (2-8), 1:00 p.m.
San Francisco is 0-4 on the road with 2 wins at home. Tennessee is 1-4 home and away. Meaning, if anyone can lose at home, it's Tennessee. But if anyone can't win on the road, it's Frisco. Really. Who cares? San Fran takes the NFC lead in the Reggie Bush sweepstakes.
Prediction: Titans, 28-19.
Result: Titans, 33-22.
"That is reminiscent of the old Steve [McNair]," Titans coach Jeff Fisher said. "It was good to see." Ya. Too bad it wasn't reminiscent of the old 49ers. Then it might have meant something. For the record, McNair had 343 passing yards and three touchdowns -- in the third quarter. I wonder if Fisher's chair is getting warmer. Can't you see Steve Mariucci in Nashville?

St. Louis (4-6) at Houston (1-9), 1:00 p.m.
Speaking of the Reggie Bush sweepstakes. San Fran could still end up with Bush because Houston doesn't necessarily need a running back. Houston's one win is at home, and St. Louis is 1-4 on the road. Houston is 31th in overall offense, and 30st in defense. The Rams are 29th in defense, BUT they're 5th in offense. There's your difference in this one. I don't know what happened to Houston after a couple years of improvement. Total collapse. Probably won't end today.
Prediction: Rams, 38-12.
Result: Rams, 33-27 (OT).
How about St. Louis? St. Louis is near Nashville. (Near enough.) Houston was pounding the Rams until a late comeback, yada, yada, yada. The fact that Houston was pounding St. Louis means the Rams stink. The fact that Houston let them back in the game means the Texans stink. Can you believe the paid attendance at this game was announced to be 70,010? Neither can I, Billy. Neither can I.

Jacksonville (7-3) at Arizona (3-7), 4:05 p.m.
Arizona doesn't even have a winning record at home (2-3), and Jacksonville has a winning road record (3-2). Don't talk to be about Kurt Warner or Arizona's third-ranked passing offense. They can't run the ball (70.1 ypg, 32nd). Jacksonville has a good, balanced offense and the No. 1 ranked defense against the pass, allowing just 159.9 yards per game, and that's not because they're run defense is horrible (like other teams with good passing defenses).
Prediction: Jaguars, 24-13.
Result: Jaguars, 24-17.
Everything would have gone as planned had not Byron Leftwich broken his ankle on the first play of the game. As it turned out, Jacksonville did great running the ball against a horrid, horrid defense. They better hope that running attack can carry them for at least a month, and that's not likely. Amazing how fortunate Indianapolis is. The Jags were one of the few remaining tests on the Indy schedule (in two weeks). Were.

Miami (3-7) at Oakland (4-6), 4:05 p.m.
Miami linebacker Zack Thomas is out for this game. Oakland defensive tackle Warren Sapp has been placed on injured reserve (career over?). This game is irrelevant in so many ways. Oakland probably thinks they still have a chance, so they'll probably come to play. Miami coach Nick Saban is starting to use the rest of the season to evaluate players for next year, so while he will try to win, he knows his team is out of it, and he's going to do what needs to be done for the future.
Prediction: Raiders, 31-13.
Result: Dolphins, 33-21.
Just when you thought Miami was going to quit on Saban, Oakland quits on Norv Turner. It's what they call the Moss Factor. Miami still has a way outside shot at the AFC East, but that Week 17 game New Year's Day in Foxboro is might daunting. Oakland pretty much put themselves out of it. Oakland's offensive line, formerly the best unit on the team, folded like a deck of cards in front of Jason Taylor and Vonnie Holiday (3 sacks each, one for a safety).

Green Bay (2-8) at Philadelphia (4-6), 4:15 p.m.
This has been a bizarre season for both teams. You can throw out the stats and everything else you know about these two teams. Philly is against the ropes, and both teams are out of the playoffs. (OK, Philly is probably mathematically still in it, but let's dabble in reality for a while.) I don't know how you predict a game like this. You take a sneaker company's advice: Just do it.
Prediction: Packers, 17-14.
Result: Eagles, 19-14.
Oh, Bretty Boy, the pipes, the pipes are calling. They're saying "Retire, Brett. Retire." This was Favre's last chance to make something of the season. Take down the wounded buffalo. Or eagle. Whatever, they're both endangered species. Both teams ran for more yards than Philly quarterback Mike McMahon threw. Green Bay is now assured of its first losing season since Favre became the starter, 13 years ago. Sad, sad.

N.Y. Giants (7-3) at Seattle (8-2), 4:15 p.m.
The 4 o' clock game of the week. New York needed two 4th-quarter touchdowns to barely squeeze by Philadelphia (27-17) in the Meadowlands last week. Seattle gave up 13 late points to edge San Francisco in the Bay City, 27-25. Both teams are great at home, Seattle moreso (5-0). New York is 2-2 on the road. Seattle has the NFC West wrapped up, but they want to ensure home-field advantage for the playoffs. New York is still battling for the NFC East division lead. Eveyone is talking about Eli Manning, but Matt Hasselbeck is no slouch, and I'll take Shawn Alexander over Tiki Barber any day of the week. Seattle still has the best offense in the league, and their defense is pretty darn good too. New York's offense is okay and getting better, and their defense is solid too. The numbers give Seattle an edge, and so does home field.
Prediction: Seahawks, 31-21.
Result: Seahawks, 24-21 (OT).
The officials give and give and give, and New York shows no appreciation whatsoever. You'd think that with the extra home game, and every close call in any given game, the Giants would just be beating up on bad teams and strutting by good teams. Some people saw this game differently, the Seahawks trying to give it away. Seattle has a cakewalk schedule heading into the playoffs, so they will very likely be your No.1 seed. That's going to make a Manning vs. Manning Super Bowl tough this season, but I'm sure Paul Tagliabue has a couple tricks left, yet.

New Orleans (2-8) at N.Y. Jets (2-8), 8:30 p.m.
New Orleans might be the best 2-8 team of all time. They're ranked 16th in total offense and 12th in total defense. Meanwhile, New York is 30th and 13th, respectively. New Orleans should easily win this game, but there continue to be zillions of off-field distractions. I know, I know. You don't really care. This could be one of the lowest rated Sunday Night games ever. I know, I know. You don't really care.
Prediction: Saints, 24-20.
Result: Saints, 21-19.
I've always like Curtis Martin, and I think the Patriots should have kept him instead of Bledsoe, but that would have changed everything, etc., etc., etc. Anyway, it was good to see Martin pass 14,000 career rushing yards. He has a 40-60 chance of catching Emmitt Smith. Obviously, he has to stay healthy. New Orleans now becomes the best 3-8 team in history. At this rate, they end up 8-8. Ok, ok, I have nothing to say about this game.

Monday, Nov. 28
Pittsburgh (7-3) at Indianapolis (10-0), 9:00 p.m.
One streak is ending tonight. Either Pittsburgh is ending Indianapolis' perfect season, or Indy is going to become the only team besides New England to beat Ben Roethlisberger. Indianapolis gets the domed, artificial-turf homefield advantage, and that could be a major factor with Roethlisberger still nursing a sore knee. Both teams traveled last week. Indy (4-0 at home) is coming off a 45-37 win at Cincinnati, while Pitt (4-1 on the road) blew it in overtime, 16-13, at Baltimore. But that was with Tommy Maddox at the offensive helm. The Indianapolis offense is ranked second overall in yards gained (7th rushing, 7th passing). The Pittsburgh defense is 6th overall (3rd rushing, 17th passing). On the other side of the ball, Pittsburgh's offense is 26th overall (3rd rushing, 23rd passing), but the passing could be misleading with Roethlisberger sidlined for so long. Indy's defense is 8th overall (12th rushing, 9th passing), certainly much improved over last season; but, as has been mentioned before, relatively untested. Indy has scored 305 points; Pittsburgh, 236. Indy has allowed 152; Pittsburgh, 161. Coaches Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy are a wash. Both are upper-tier coaches, but both are also liable to make some huge coaching errors. With a win, Indy is three games ahead of Jacksonville in the AFC South (two with a loss). If Pittsburgh wins, they pull into a tie with Cincinnati for the AFC North; otherwise, they fall back two and into a real battle for a wildcard playoff berth. Roethlisberger has a high quarterback rating, but he usually doesn't carry the team himself. Pittsburgh is going to have to run the ball, score points early, and keep Indy off the board. Indy has to force Roethlisberger to throw by stopping the run and play their usual offense. This could be a great game, but I think you'd have to be nuts to pick against Indy.
Prediction: Colts, 38-28.
Result: Colts, 26-7.
Ready? Say it with me now: "Roethlisberger can't win the big game." Big Ben threw two picks. Notice how he's not that great when he plays good teams? The Steelers also allowed Indy to outgain them on the ground (Edgerrin James had 124 yards rushing). Pretty poor Pittsburgh performance. If Pittsburgh wants to make the playoffs, they're going to have to be Cincinnati this week, and they're going to have to play better than they did Monday. Indianapolis has Tennessee (win), at Jacksonville (now a win), San Diego (probable win), at Seattle (50/50) and Arizona (win) left on their regular season schedule. Go Seahawks.

This week: 10-4. Man, forgetting to publish those Thanksgiving scores really stings.
Last week: 10-6. As Dom DeLuise said as Caesar: "Nice. Nice. Not thrilling, but nice."
Season: 107-67 (.615). Evidently, I'll never recover from that horrendous start. I've always been better in the late game anyway.

Patriots vs. Jets Injury Report

2005-12-01T16:03:00.000-05:00

Things are looking up for the New England Patriots on the injury report this week. Only offensive tackle Matt Light is listed as Doubtful, and only 10 (ya, only 10) are listed as Questionable. Of course, three of those listed as questionable are Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk and Patrick Pass. Then again, this is Faulk's best injury rating in many weeks.

Willie McGinest, who has been having yet another amazing year -- before Brady took over, he looked like he was done -- is new to the list with some kind of finger malady. I can't imagine that will keep him down at all.

Wide receivers David Givens and Bethel Johnson are still Questionable, as is tight end Daniel Graham.

Remember, though: This doesn't count the 10 guys out for the season on injured reserve.

Still, all in all, a possible light at the end of the tunnel. If these last bruises continue to heal and no additional catastrophes happen, the Patriots could be in reasonable condition for the playoffs. (I didn't couch that too much, did I?)

New York Jets
OUT
Derrick Blaylock (RB), ankle
Jay Fiedler (QB), shoulder
QUESTIONABLE
Sione Pouha (NT), calf
PROBABLE
David Barrett (CB), eye
Curtis Martin (RB), knee
Rashad Washington (SS), hip

New England Patriots
DOUBTFUL
Matt Light (T), ankle
QUESTIONABLE
Tom Ashworth (T), knee
Corey Dillon (RB), calf
Kevin Faulk (RB), foot
David Givens (WR), knee
Daniel Graham (TE), shoulder
Bethel Johnson (WR), pelvis
Willie McGinest (OLB), finger
Patrick Pass (FB), hamstring
James Sanders (SS), ankle
Michael Stone (SS), ankle
PROBABLE
Tom Brady (QB), shoulder

Thornton Traded: Bruins' "Bledsoe" Is Gone

2005-11-30T22:52:00.000-05:00

The Boston Bruins have unloaded the Drew Bledsoe-like albatross they've had hung around their neck the last seven years. The Bruins traded Joe Thornton to the San Jose Sharks for three players early this evening (Wednesday).

Thornton joins Bledsoe and Nomar Garciaparra as long-time overrated, overpaid players who have weighted down their teams while putting up great individual numbers, never leading to championships. If the Boston Red Sox had not won the World Series in 2004, I would have picked someone like Manny Ramirez instead of Nomar, but the facts speak for themselves. Paul Pierce may be the albatross of the Celtics. Time will tell.

The Bruins get Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau and Brad Stuart in return for Thornton, who in August signed a three-year, $20 million contract. All three now-former Sharks are also former first-round picks. Primeau, 29, was the 17th pick of the 1994 draft by the Buffalo Sabres. This is his ninth season in the NHL. Sturm, 27, was the 26th pick in 1996 by the Sharks. This is his eighth year. Stuart, 26, was the No. 3 overall pick in 1998, also by the Sharks. This is his sixth year in the league.

Thornton, also 26, was the No. 1 pick in the 1997 NHL draft by, of course, the Bruins.

Sturm, a defenseman, has six goals and 10 assists this season, second-highest for the Sharks. He had a career-high 28 goals in the 2002-03 season. Primeau, a center, has five goals and three assists this season. He has 563 career penalty minutes.
Stuart, a left winger, who has two goals and 10 assists, finished second in voting for the Calder Trophy as top rookie following the 1999-00 season, in which he had 10 goals and 26 assists.

Thornton was tied for 11th in the NHL in scoring entering Wednesday's games with nine goals and 24 assists.

Outside of that, I can't really tell you whether this is a fair or an even trade, but I can tell you that it's a good trade. Even if these three guys end up stinking up the Garden, in the long run, it will be worth it. Thornton is a great player. He wasn't a "cancer" like Terrell Owens. But, plain and simple, "he's not the guy."

I've watched Thornton over the years. I remember when the Bruins drafted him, he, like Bledsoe, was going to save the team from the depths of the doldrums and bring home title after title. And, now, after seven years and change (Bledsoe was eight and change -- technically he finished his ninth with the Pats, but you know that story), we have, like Bledsoe, an aging guy who has never lived up to his potential, never brought home a Stanley Cup, never had "that presence."

Of all the times I've watched the Bruins over the last several years, I never had the feeling like I used to with other players, like Terry O'Reilly or Rick Middleton, that when they came out on the ice, you knew something was going to happen, somewhere, someway. Guys who, when they came out on the ice, other players responded. Guys like Tom Brady, like Kevin McHale coming off the bench, like Curt Schilling and David Ortiz and Jason Varitek, like Pedro, like Yaz, like Cam, like Orr, like Russell, like Havlicek, like Bruschi. These are the greats in Boston sports history. They are the greats because they were and are like George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, George Patton. They're leaders. People respond to their mere presence, and then to their actions.

Bledsoe didn't have it. Thornton doesn't have it.

I was fortunate to see Thornton a little more up close a few weeks ago. My brother and I were at the Nov. 10 game .. shellacking .. vs. Ottawa. It was 5-2, remember? Ottawa's Dany Heatley scored 27 seconds into the game and 11 seconds into the 3rd period. There was one thing missing on the ice that night, and it was a leader. No one to rally the troops. No one to fire up anyone else. No one to even give the illusion that he was playing particularly hard himself. He moped around the ice, skated lackluster, hardly checked anyone. He ended up with an assist, and his line was -2. He looked ordinary, and that's giving him some credit. Between shifts, he hardly seemed interested in the action.

Sunday I watched Tom Brady have a horrible game, tie a career worst, and watch his team sink to 6-5. Brady was fired up. Definitely mad at himself. And because of it, he went and played harder. That's what winners do.

If Thornton wants to be that guy, he's going to have to do it in another team's sweater.

Now we can all get ready for WEEI's Dale Arnold lamenting the "loss" of Thornton the way we had to put up with The Boston Globe's Ron Borges incessant whining about the "loss" of Bledsoe until the Patriots won their third Super Bowl. Imagine if San Jose wins a Stanley Cup before Boston? Arnold go like a Chatty Cathy to his grave.

Ex-Cowboy Irvin Caught with Dope Pipe

2005-11-29T21:01:00.000-05:00

I'm sure you don't need me to tell you what's funny, but this is funny: A friend and I were discussing Sunday (tongue-in-cheek, of course) how Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman and Jay Novacek were the only Cowboys from the Dallas Super Bowl teams that didn't have problems with the law.

He said, "What about Michael Irvin?"

I said, "His problems have been well chronicled."

He said, "Yeah, but nothing recently."

Oh, it is to laugh.

And you'd think that would be the funny part -- until you hear about the actual incident and post incidents.

I'm sure you've all heard about the drug pipe (I've heard lots of discrepancies about the drug of choice to say here) found in Irvin's car, so we'll forego rehashing all the details (post a comment if you have any questions about it).

So Irvin is pulled over for speeding (not a good start) and the cops find this pipe, and Irvin tells them, "It's my brother's." Except, later on, he says it's not his literal brother, but his long-time unidentified friend who is "like a brother." Like when you go buy [enter favorite item here: cigarettes, condoms, pregnancy kit] and say "It's for a friend."

OK, OK, that may be jumping the gun. Let's assume for a moment that Irvin is actually telling the truth so far. Irvin also says that this friend showed up at Irvin's house on Thanksgiving. Irvin took the pipe (and a couple baggies that contained drug residue) from the friend and put it all in his own car so he could dispose of it later.

[Throws a red flag] Hold it right there. I'm going to call for a replay on this one. Irvin said he's trying to help this friend of 17 years quit drugs. He does so by taking away drug paraphernalia and putting it in his own car. What?

I've heard plenty of people say, "If he was going to dispose of it, why didn't he do it immediately?" Absolutely, makes sense, 100 percent. But, hang on, I'll give Irvin the benefit of the doubt. Maybe it was an awkward situation and he couldn't just destroy it on the spot. What I want to know is at what point Irvin decided that putting it in his car was a logical conclusion. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. If you're going to hide drugs where they're not going to cause problems (EVER), it's not in your car.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Irvin doesn't live in a split-level ranch, that it's maybe something a little bit bigger. Are you telling me there was no place in the house he could have hidden this stuff so he could dispose of it later? I mean, I can think of dozens of places where I'd hide stuff, and a half-dozen places (in a house) to easily dispose of it. Why in a million years would you put it in your car? And how are you going to dispose of the stuff from your car later?

I think we have enough here, your honor, but let's nail this baby shut, shall we?

Irvin "allowed" himself to be interviewed on the Dan Patrick Show on ESPN radio Monday. Among the ridiculous things he said (or refused to say) was when he danced around the topic of taking a drug test to clear his name outright. That would prove beyond the shadow of a doubt at least that the stuff wasn't his. Irvin kept babbling about lawyers and legalities and all kinds of basically irrelevant stuff guilty people usually say when they're ... well, guilty.

Now, Irvin is an independent contractor, according to his agreement with ESPN, where he appears on much of their NFL programming. That generally means that management can't force him to take a drug test. Irvin knew that for a fact, strangely enough.

Anyway, I've heard enough of Irvin week-to-week on ESPN -- more than enough, if you want to get into it -- to know that he's on there only to push an agenda, that if you call him on it gets you labeled by the PC police no matter how right you are. Most of pre-/post-game shows are to the point where they're almost unwatchable, and it's come to that point with the onslaught of Irvins, Shannon Sharpes and Deion Sanderses, who like yelling about things but really have nothing to say.

Oh, sorry, got roaring from my pulpit there for a minute. Back to Irvin ...

The whole point here was that the Cowboys teams that were collecting Lombardi trophies like they were baseball cards were basically a bunch of rehab center escapees, and probably most of them shouldn't even have been in football, much less winning championships and contemplating Hall of Fame inductions.

Alas, this is the world we have allowed. It's so sad that we need something to make us laugh.

"No, really. It's for a friend."

Whew! Ya. That's a good one.

General NFL open thread

2005-11-29T10:09:00.000-05:00

If there's anything you want to talk about from around the NFL this week, let's hear it.

Note the two other stories about the Lions firing Steve Mariucci and about Michael Irvin (that one's coming a little later today). Post comments to those stories there. Anything else goes here.

You can comment about whether the Colts have a chance to finish undefeated and what "allowed" that to happen. You can comment about Michael Vick and how when he plays like a quarterback he loses. Whatever. As the Black Knight said, "Have at you!"

Lions fire Steve Mariucci

2005-11-29T10:08:00.000-05:00

From NFL.com: The Detroit Lions fired coach Steve Mariucci and promoted defensive coordinator Dick Jauron to succeed him on an interim basis.

Mariucci's record with the Lions was 15-28, including 4-7 this year. His 2003 hiring was hailed by fans and media alike, but he was not able to turn around a team that has won one playoff game since 1957.

Can someone explain this to me? Yes, I agree there were higher expectations for the Lions this season. I picked them to win the North -- then again, you could pick this division with a dart board. And, really, I picked them first in the division with an 8-8 record, tied with Minnesota and Green Bay. It's not like any of them are good teams.

Things unraveled quickly when Jeff Garcia broke his leg on Sept. 2. And it's not like they've had an easy road. Of their seven losses, six have come to Chicago (twice), Tampa Bay, Carolina, Dallas and Atlanta -- teams with a combined 37-18 (.673) record.

OK, so they're in a terrible division, and I predicted an 8-8 finish, meaning "they're not really that good." They've also had a really tough schedule to this point, and they're 4-7 -- basically a game away from being "nearly .500", just about where they should be. Now look at their alleged "talent." There isn't much to brag about. A smattering here and there. Basically enough to be competitive in the NFC North.

Hmmm ... Let's see. Who would be responsible for that?

Oh, right. Matt Millen. Possibly the worst general manager in football. (Well, he's "team president," but he's the GM for all intent and purpose.) Millen did nothing to help Mariucci or his predecessor. I don't know how he convinces the owners that it's all the coaches' fault.

Let's take a quick look at recent Lions history.

Wayne Fontes had one of the oddest head-coaching tenures anywhere ever. He lasted more than eight seasons, finishing 67-71, after always having horrible starts and barely making the playoffs. Bobby Ross, undeniably a good coach, took over in 1997 and lasted about 3 1/2 years, compiling a 27-32 record. He was replaced by Gary Moeller, who finished the 2000 season, leaving with a 4-3 record.

Enter Matt Millen. He hires Marty Mornhinweg, possibly one of the worst head-coaching hires I've ever seen (besides Dave Wannestadt). Mornhinweg, "Millen's Boy", finished 5-27 in two seasons. Millen and Mornhinweg just about ruined Detroit. After that disaster, Millen turned to Mariucci to right the ship. Mariucci was 15-28 (11-21 over his first two seasons), definitely an improvement, when he's fired.

Joey Harrington is a bust, and was before Mariucci got there. Garcia broke his leg. Hardly Mariucci's fault.

If you can point to anything over the last two-plus years the front office has done to give Mariucci a chance, I'll eat my pants.

I'm sure it's too late to bring back Mariucci. Don't expect Dick Jauron to last too long. I can't imagine what the Lions do for coaches from here, but I do have one suggestion.

FIRE MATT MILLEN! (for crying out loud)

Postgame, Week 12: Patriots 16 @ Chiefs 26

2005-11-29T03:06:00.000-05:00

Tom Brady tied a career high with four interceptions, and the New England Patriots defense gave up 420 yards, nearly all in the first three quarters, as New England fell to the Chiefs, 26-16, in Kansas City.

At least two, and possibly a third, of Brady's interceptions were catchable by receivers, but both Brady and his receivers had problems, not the least of which was an absent running game. The Patriots (6-5) were able to maintain a two-game lead in the AFC East, as Buffalo (4-7) lost 13-9 at Carolina. Miami, also 4-7, beat host Oakland, 33-21; and New York (2-9) lost at home to New Orleans.

New England remained in the game until the final few minutes with the defense playing like the 2001 "bend-don't-break" Patriots. Kansas City moved the ball at will, but found the end zone only twice, once in each of the first and third quarters. The Chiefs had to settle for four field goals in the second, and New England blanked KC in the fourth.

Unfortunately, the offense had problems all over the field and had a hard time putting any points on the board. Brady finished 22 0f 40 for 248 yards in a Drew Bledsoe like performance. Most of the completions and yards came later in the game when Kansas City had a comfortable lead. Brady threw one touchdown -- Christian Fauria's first TD reception of the season -- and was sacked three times. Kansas City safety Greg Wesley nabbed three of Brady's picks.

Brady consistently overthrew receivers, as he has done often this season, and had little explanation for it after the game. "You just do the best you can," he said, several times in fact. "You just have to keep trying it. We have to execute better.

"We didn’t run it very well, we didn’t throw it very well. Everyone needs to be better. We did some better things in the second half. It was similar to Denver, you get down so many points and you just have to be perfect. And we certainly weren’t perfect today."

That was an understatement, but the game was indeed similar to the poor performance in Denver, with the exception of the Patriots scoring first (a field goal) in that one. Against Denver, New England found itself down 21-3 after the Broncos scored three unanswered touchdowns in the second quarter. They made it four in the third. Sunday, the Patriots were down 19-3 at the half, and a Chiefs touchdown opened the scoring in the second half. The only difference was that Brady went 24-of-46 for 299 yards, but no interceptions, in that one.

Incidentally, Brady broke the 3,000 yard mark Sunday and is the first quarterback to do so this season, 11 games being the fastest he has reached the mark in a season in his career. That's cold comfort considering the Patriots now have more losses this season than in the last two combined.

Brady also hit nine different receivers Sunday. Tim Dwight and Deion Branch accounted for five receptions apiece and for 76 and 49 yards, respectively. The tight ends combined for 6 catches.

The Patriots also had 5 rushes listed in the gamebook. Tim Dwight was leading the team in rushing with 17 yards on 2 carries until late in the game. When Brady ran up the middle for 15 yards 6 minutes into the third quarter, he was then the teams second leading rusher behind Dwight. Patrick Pass ultimately led with 26 yards on 8 carries (with a touchdown), and the team finished with only 74 yards on 18.

If there's any good news, it's that New England was flagged for just two penalties for 22 yards. Referee Bill Vinovich and crew pretty much kept their flags in their pockets it what ultimately seemed detrimental to the Patriots. Oddly, Kansas City was actually flagged for more penalties (5 for 35 yards).

Once again, the Patriots came up way on the short side on turnovers -- one forced fumble and recovery, no interceptions, for the defense. The defense got molested all day, allowing Chiefs running back Larry Johnson 119 yards and a touchdown. Trent Green threw only 26 passes, connecting on 19, for 323 yards and a score. Only five Chiefs had receptions, and New England apparently couldn't stop any of them.

Kansas City hosts Denver next Sunday at 4:15 p.m. New England comes home to play the New York Jets, also at 4:15 p.m. It will be Week 13 and these teams will be seeing each other for the first time this season. They play each other again three weeks later on Monday Night, the day after Christmas.

Patriots @ Kansas City open thread

2005-11-27T13:08:00.000-05:00

Better late than never. Pats offense not off to a good start.
Let's hear it, Patriot Nation!

Game Preview: Week 12, Patriots @ Kansas City

2005-11-27T12:55:00.000-05:00

In this week's Patriots Game of the Year, New England heads to Kansas City in a matchup of 6-4 teams. The Patriots lead the AFC East. KC is tied for 2nd in the West. A win for New England maintains at least a two-game cushion, while a win for Kansas City keeps them within two games of West-leading Denver. A loss for New England could allow Buffalo to creep within a game of the division lead, should they beat Carolina. A KC loss would probably eliminate the Chiefs from the playoffs.

The big story in New England of course is the passing of Bill Belichick's father Steve the night before last Sunday's win over New Orleans. It's a bigger story this week than last, because Belichick didn't announce his father's passing until after the game, and the Patriots were without their leader for a couple practices during what must have been a solemn holiday week in the Belichick household.

Will the story itself have any impact on the game? Absolutely not. And you have to believe that the well-oiled machine that New England is, the Patriots hardly missed a step in game-planning. Still, it's almost impossible to believe there wasn't a ripple or two in this week's preparation.

While New England's overall injury situation is improving (for once), there are still some big problems. Running back Kevin Faulk and offensive lineman Matt Light are still out. Running back Corey Dillon and receivers Bethel Johnson and David Givens are both out, too. Running back Patrick Pass is still nursing a hamstring, but he's expected to play. Heath Evans will get another start at running back with support from Pass and Mike Cloud.

Kansas City has a short list of various injuries. Standouts include tackle Willie Roaf (hamstring) and cornerback Patrick Surtain (ankle), both questionable.

Arrowhead stadium is one of those places most teams fear to tread. It's loud and a tough place for visiting offenses to play. But New England has had some success there, winning last year on Monday Night, 27-19. So eliminate that as a major story line until it has an obvious impact.

Kansas City has one of those combos the Pats have had trouble with this season: a good tight end, and a good running back (until recently, two good running backs). San Diego embarrassed New England at home with the tandem of tight end Antonio Gates and running back LaDanian Tomlinson. I've heard some people make the argument that Indianapolis was similar with tight end Dallas Clark and running back Edgerrin James, but I think we all know that Indy is a little more than that. New England beat Atlanta on the road, and they have tight end Alge Crumpler and a three-running back attack with Warrick Dunn, TJ Duckett and "quarterback" Michael Vick. So is tight end Tony Gonzalez and running back Larry Johnson enough to beat New England?

Well, there's another side of the ball, and the Patriots defense has been improving week-to-week with some of the injuries healing. The return of Tedy Bruschi and Richard Seymour have been monumental. Yes, monumental. The run defense has improved geometrically, and that has helped the pass defense to a great extent.

Oh, let's not forget the Patriots have an offense that can score points too. As long as Evans can keep the ground game legitimate, Tom Brady can manage the game like none other. He has lots of weapons, and he knows how to use them. Last I checked, New England had a couple decent tight ends too. KC's defense has definitely improved over last year, they have their work cut out for them.

One big key to the game will be field position. The Patriots special teams will be under pressure and need to perform.

Prediction: Patriots, 28-27.

Locally, this week's game will be broadcast on CBS, Channel 4 @ 1 pm with Dick Enberg and , and Armen Keteyian on the sideline. ... You can catch a better audio description of the game on WBCN 104.1 FM with Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti.

Week 12 Picks

2005-11-27T11:13:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone had a happy and safe Thanksgiving and ensuing weekend. It was a strange week for me, and that kept me off my keyboard for a bit, but I'm back on track, and ready to impart my special kind of knowledge -- for what it's worth.

Hey, wouldn't you know it. I was actually posting picks for Thanksgiving Day. I didn't have much time, but there I was, pounding out a couple paragraphs, trying to give you a tidbit to add to your feast ... and I forgot to hit the publish button. And wouldn't you know it? I got both games right. I had Atlanta by 10 and Denver by 1, but, hey, I didn't get them in on time, so they don't count. Woe is me.

Anyway, let's look at the rest of this week's games:

Sunday, Nov. 27
Baltimore (3-7) at Cincinnati (7-3), 1:00 p.m.
Baltimore stole a game from a floundering Pittsburgh team, and Cincinnati lost to nearly unbeatable Indy. Evidently, Baltimore realized they're only role is that of spoiler, and they got off to a good start there by knocking off Pitt. Can they do the same to Cincy? I doubt it. Running back Jamal Lewis really is a piece of garbage, and he's about to lose his job. He'll probably just go back to running drugs instead of footballs. Quarterback Kyle Boller is nursing a back injury, so you can imagine how ineffective he'll be, considering how ineffective he is as usual. The defense is still missing linebacker Ray Lewis and safety Ed Reed. Cincinnati is going to be looking to take out last week's frustration on someone, and the home town crowd is going to be there urging them on. As oft is the case in the NFL, last week is not this week.
Prediction: Bengals, 31-9.

Carolina (7-3) at Buffalo (4-6), 1:00 p.m.
Both teams are coming off humiliating defeats from last week. Carolina lost 13-3, but it was to Chicago, and while the Windy City team has been a surprise this season, that certainly doesn't make Carolina feel better. Buffalo was pummeled by San Diego. But Buffalo is at home, where they play far better (4-1 home, 0-5 road), and they have few injuries to speak of. Carolina is OK on the road (4-1 home, 3-2 road), but this is Buffalo, and it's getting cold. Running backs Deshawn Foster and Stephen Davis are banged up, and that could impact the game plan. Buffalo quarterback J.P. Losman has yet to show the ability to win an important game. Buffalo is 3-0 against Carolina all-time.
Prediction: Panthers, 21-16.

Chicago (7-3) at Tampa Bay (7-3), 1:00 p.m.
Both of these teams are 7-3 and in first place in their respective divisions. There must be a conspiracy. Chicago has the best points-against defense in the league with a mind-boggling 110 after 10 games (easy math). They're also 7th against the run and 2nd against the pass, making them first overall in yards allowed, too. Tampa isn't too shabby. They're 3rd overall in yards allowed. Neither team has any significant injuries. Both teams have one home loss and two road losses. Chicago usually scores just enough to win. Tampa has lost big a couple times, keeping them out of the points-allowed race. It comes down to who makes the most mistakes. Tampa gets the edge on home-field advantage.
Prediction: Buccaneers, 16-13.

Cleveland (4-6) at Minnesota (5-5), 1:00 p.m.
Cleveland is coming of a stunning 22-0 domination over Miami. Minnesota squeezed by Green Bay on Monday Night, leaving them with a short week. Cleveland is 1-4 on the road. Minnesota is 3-1 at home. Quarterback Brad Johnson has gone 3-0 since the demise of Dante Culpepper. If -> IF <- Cleveland plays like they did last week, they have a chance. Reuben Droughns needs to have a huge day. Give the turf advantage to the home team. I don't think I've picked a Minnesota game correctly all season. Prediction: Vikings, 31-17.

New England at Kansas City, 1:00 p.m.
Read the stand-alone game preview. Thanks.
Prediction: Patriots, 28-27.

San Diego (6-4) at Washington (5-5), 1:00 p.m.
San Diego, again, is coming off a pummeling of Buffalo. Washington is floundering again after a home loss to Oakland. Two teams headed in opposite directions. Both teams need a win to keep pace in their respective divisions. One team has a wicked uphill battle after today. Both teams have their share of bruises. Washington is 4-1 at home. San Diego is 3-2 on the road. Can Washington stop a steamrolling San Diego offense?
Prediction: Chargers, 34-27.

San Francisco (2-8) at Tennessee (2-8), 1:00 p.m.
San Francisco is 0-4 on the road with 2 wins at home. Tennessee is 1-4 home and away. Meaning, if anyone can lose at home, it's Tennessee. But if anyone can't win on the road, it's Frisco. Really. Who cares? San Fran takes the NFC lead in the Reggie Brown sweepstakes.
Prediction: Titans, 28-19.

St. Louis (4-6) at Houston (1-9), 1:00 p.m.
Speaking of the Reggie Brown sweepstakes. San Fran could still end up with Brown because Houston doesn't necessarily need a running back. Houston's one win is at home, and St. Louis is 1-4 on the road. Houston is 31th in overall offense, and 30st in defense. The Rams are 29th in defense, BUT they're 5th in offense. There's your difference in this one. I don't know what happened to Houston after a couple years of improvement. Total collapse. Probably won't end today.
Prediction: Rams, 38-12.

Jacksonville (7-3) at Arizona (3-7), 4:05 p.m.
Arizona doesn't even have a winning record at home (2-3), and Jacksonville has a winning road record (3-2). Don't talk to be about Kurt Warner or Arizona's third-ranked passing offense. They can't run the ball (70.1 ypg, 32nd). Jacksonville has a good, balanced offense and the No. 1 ranked defense against the pass, allowing just 159.9 yards per game, and that's not because they're run defense is horrible (like other teams with good passing defenses).
Prediction: Jaguars, 24-13.

Miami (3-7) at Oakland (4-6), 4:05 p.m.
Miami linebacker Zack Thomas is out for this game. Oakland defensive tackle Warren Sapp has been placed on injured reserve (career over?). This game is irrelevant in so many ways. Oakland probably thinks they still have a chance, so they'll probably come to play. Miami coach Nick Saban is starting to use the rest of the season to evaluate players for next year, so while he will try to win, he knows his team is out of it, and he's going to do what needs to be done for the future.
Prediction: Raiders, 31-13.

Green Bay (2-8) at Philadelphia (4-6), 4:15 p.m.
This has been a bizarre season for both teams. You can throw out the stats and everything else you know about these two teams. Philly is against the ropes, and both teams are out of the playoffs. (OK, Philly is probably mathematically still in it, but let's dabble in reality for a while.) I don't know how you predict a game like this. You take a sneaker company's advice: Just do it.
Prediction: Packers, 17-14.

N.Y. Giants (7-3) at Seattle (8-2), 4:15 p.m.
The 4 o' clock game of the week. New York needed two 4th-quarter touchdowns to barely squeeze by Philadelphia (27-17) in the Meadowlands last week. Seattle gave up 13 late points to edge San Francisco in the Bay City, 27-25. Both teams are great at home, Seattle moreso (5-0). New York is 2-2 on the road. Seattle has the NFC West wrapped up, but they want to ensure home-field advantage for the playoffs. New York is still battling for the NFC East division lead. Eveyone is talking about Eli Manning, but Matt Hasselbeck is no slouch, and I'll take Shawn Alexander over Tiki Barber any day of the week. Seattle still has the best offense in the league, and their defense is pretty darn good too. New York's offense is okay and getting better, and their defense is solid too. The numbers give Seattle an edge, and so does home field.
Prediction: Seahawks, 31-21.

New Orleans (2-8) at N.Y. Jets (2-8), 8:30 p.m.
New Orleans might be the best 2-8 team of all time. They're ranked 16th in total offense and 12th in total defense. Meanwhile, New York is 30th and 13th, respectively. New Orleans should easily win this game, but there continue to be zillions of off-field distractions. I know, I know. You don't really care. This could be one of the lowest rated Sunday Night games ever. I know, I know. You don't really care.
Prediction: Saints, 24-20.

Monday, Nov. 28
Pittsburgh (7-3) at Indianapolis (10-0), 9:00 p.m.
One streak is ending tonight. Either Pittsburgh is ending Indianapolis' perfect season, or Indy is going to become the only team besides New England to beat Ben Roethlisberger. Indianapolis gets the domed, artificial-turf homefield advantage, and that could be a major factor with Roethlisberger still nursing a sore knee. Both teams traveled last week. Indy (4-0 at home) is coming off a 45-37 win at Cincinnati, while Pitt (4-1 on the road) blew it in overtime, 16-13, at Baltimore. But that was with Tommy Maddox at the offensive helm. The Indianapolis offense is ranked second overall in yards gained (7th rushing, 7th passing). The Pittsburgh defense is 6th overall (3rd rushing, 17th passing). On the other side of the ball, Pittsburgh's offense is 26th overall (3rd rushing, 23rd passing), but the passing could be misleading with Roethlisberger sidlined for so long. Indy's defense is 8th overall (12th rushing, 9th passing), certainly much improved over last season; but, as has been mentioned before, relatively untested. Indy has scored 305 points; Pittsburgh, 236. Indy has allowed 152; Pittsburgh, 161. Coaches Bill Cowher and Tony Dungy are a wash. Both are upper-tier coaches, but both are also liable to make some huge coaching errors. With a win, Indy is three games ahead of Jacksonville in the AFC South (two with a loss). If Pittsburgh wins, they pull into a tie with Cincinnati for the AFC North; otherwise, they fall back two and into a real battle for a wildcard playoff berth. Roethlisberger has a high quarterback rating, but he usually doesn't carry the team himself. Pittsburgh is going to have to run the ball, score points early, and keep Indy off the board. Indy has to force Roethlisberger to throw by stopping the run and play their usual offense. This could be a great game, but I think you'd have to be nuts to pick against Indy.
Prediction: Colts, 38-28.

Bill Belichick's Father Dies

2005-11-21T03:16:00.000-05:00

Steve Belichick, father of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick and former assistant football coach at the Naval Academy, died Saturday night of heart failure. He was 86.

Belichick served 33 years (1956-89) as an assistant football coach and an associate professor in the Department of Physical Education. He remained closely tied to the Naval Academy and the football program ever since, brining his association with the institution to nearly 50 years.

Following Sunday's Patriots win over New Orleans, Bill Belichick addressed the press.

“Personally, I coached this game with a heavy heart," he said. "My Dad passed away. I found out about it in the middle of last night. Obviously, he had a tremendous influence on my life personally and, particularly in the football aspect, it was great to be able to share the tremendous memories with him and some of our recent successes, as I did when I was a kid when he was successful as a coach of the Naval Academy and that program.

"Yesterday he did what he enjoyed doing. He went and watched Navy play, watched them win. Some of his former players were there. He had dinner and I spoke with him after the game. And like he normally does Saturday night, sitting around watching college football, and his heart just stopped beating. So I'm sure that's the way he would have wanted it to end. He went peacefully, which is unusual for him.”

I'm not going to say much here. I don't know any more about Steve Belichick than you do -- just what I've read in the papers and online and heard on the radio and TV. However, based on those reports and what we know of his son, we get a pretty clear picture of a man who maybe didn't set the world on fire, but he was to what he did the Einstein, the Shakespeare, the George Washington, the Ted Williams. He was a giant among men, and the father of another giant among men. Neither of them professing themselves to be anything but mere mortals.

We (again, that's "me") at Patriots Pulpit wish to extend our condolences to the Belichick family and to Naval Academy on the loss of someone so intrinsic to your lives.

Please feel free to post your own comments. Thank you.

The following is the remainder of the obituary released by the New England Patriots on Patriots.com:

A native of Struthers, Ohio, Belichick was a 1941 graduate of Case Western Reserve where he played football and basketball. A three-year regular at fullback, Belichick led Case Western, a football power back then, to the 1941 Sun Bowl. He was named to the school's Hall of Fame in 1976.

After graduation, Belichick played one year for the Detroit Lions where he played alongside future Supreme Court Justice, Byron “Whizzer” White.

Belichick was drafted into the Navy after Pearl Harbor and became an armed guard officer with an amphibious task force in the Pacific. After the war, Belichick became the head football, basketball and track coach at Hiram College (1946-48) where he met his wife Jeannette.

Belichick's career would take off in 1949 when his former coach at Case Western, Bill Edwards, asked him to join his staff at Vanderbilt. While at Vanderbilt, Belichick and Edwards became such good friends that Steve named his son, Bill, after him. In 1953, Belichick moved on to Chapel Hill where he was an assistant coach at UNC for three seasons before moving on to Annapolis in 1956.

While at Navy, Belichick was known for his meticulous advance scouting of upcoming opponents. He served under seven head coaches in Annapolis, was part of 17 Navy wins over Army, coached two Heisman Trophy winners (Joe Bellino in 1960 and Roger Staubach in 1963) and helped lead Navy to six bowl games, more than any other coach in school history. He also authored a book titled “Football Scouting Methods.”

Steve Belichick is survived by his wife, Jeannette, and son, Bill.

Week 11 Picks

2005-11-20T11:19:00.000-05:00

Sorry, no time for scores even. Just the winners.

Sunday, Nov. 20
Arizona at St. Louis, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Rams

Carolina at Chicago, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Panthers

Detroit at Dallas, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Cowboys

Jacksonville at Tennessee, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Jaguars

Miami at Cleveland, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Dolphins

New Orleans at New England, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Patriots

Oakland at Washington, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Redskins

Philadelphia at N.Y. Giants, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Giants

Pittsburgh at Baltimore, 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Steelers

Tampa Bay at Atlanta. 1:00 p.m.
Prediction: Falcons

Seattle at San Francisco, 4:05 p.m.
Prediction: Seahawks

Buffalo at San Diego, 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Chargers

Indianapolis at Cincinnati, 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Colts

N.Y. Jets at Denver, 4:15 p.m.
Prediction: Broncos

Kansas City at Houston, 8:30 p.m.
Prediction: Chiefs

Monday, Nov. 21
Minnesota at Green Bay, 9:00 p.m.
Prediction: Vikings

Patriots vs. Saints open thread

2005-11-20T11:16:00.000-05:00

Once again, I head to Foxboro to watch our boys in red, white and blue go for two wins in a row.

I'll be exercising my lungs from high above the field. I don't know if they'll be able to hear me. But I'll be making noise.

I hope you will be too. Right here on this blog. I want to see some comments when I get back.

Now talk amongst yourselves, and ...

GO PATRIOTS!

Game Preview: Week 9, Patriots vs. New Orleans

2005-11-20T06:05:00.000-05:00

Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. Loss. Win. ???

I'm going to make this short and sweet this week. The New England Patriots (5-4), despite placing two more players on injured reserve, are attempting to win two games in a row this season for the first time. Fortunately, they have the 2-7 New Orleans Saints coming to town. The Patriots, as we know, are generally pretty solid in Gillette Stadium. This will be the Saints' first trip to the "new place", after losing what was the first of nine straight wins for the New England on their way to their first Super Bowl title in 2001 in the "old place".

The losses of center Dan Koppen and cornerback Randall Gay to injures will certainly have an effect on this team. Koppen now becomes one of several players missing from last years front five. The rest of the offensive line, which has done a pretty admirable job this year, will need to take another step up to maintain the status quo. The loss of Gay is less severe because of the cumulative losses there already. Gay is now the seventh defensive back who started the season with the team.

Old friend Antowain Smith returns to Foxboro to carry the ball for New Orleans. He's averaging an unbelievable 5.9 yards per carry in his last three games. He never did that for New England. Now the Patriots have to stop him. Shouldn't be a major concern. The major concern, of course, is the defensive secondary. Even with Donte Stallworth not at 100 percent, he and Joe Horn make a formidable deep threat, and that could be bad news if Bill Belichick and crew don't find some way to contain it without opening up any other gaping holes in the dike.

Look for Heath Evans take the lead in the offensive backfield again. He'll probably share some time with Patrick Pass. Corey Dillon is still ailing. Watch for problems in the snap between Tom Brady and the center. It will be the first time in 40-odd games Brady takes regular snaps from someone other than Dan Koppen.

Time is short. I gotta go.

Prediction: Patriots, 31-17.

Week 10 Picks Review

2005-11-18T20:34:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Nov. 13
Arizona (2-6) at Detroit (3-5), 1 p.m.
Arizona, with the No. 4 ranked passing game in the league, has three touchdowns in 21 trips to the red zone. Sad. Arizona is 0-3 on the road. Detroit has virtually no offense but has scored 131 points, just 15 less than Arizona. The good news for Detroit is they've allowed only 152, compared to Arizona's 211. Arizona's only win against an NFC team was San Francisco in Mexico City. Detroit's was against Green Bay in Week 1. I've been concentrating on this game for 5 weeks. I hope that supermarket still has Kurt Warner's job available.
Prediction: Lions, 31-10.
Result: Lions, 29-21.
Detroit showed they can have an offense ... at least against a lousy defense. Three Joey Harrington to Roy Williams touchdown passes and two Jason Hanson field goals did the job. Detroit also had 157 yards on the ground. Arizona had 38.

Baltimore (2-6) at Jacksonville (5-3), 1 p.m.
Throw out that 3-point fluke loss to St. Louis, and Jacksonville has had a pretty good run lately. Baltimore has not (3-game losing streak). Both teams are good against the pass, so don't expect any aerial spectacles. Jacksonville has the best chance to grind out some ground yardage. Baltimore remains without Ed Reed and Ray Lewis, but quarterback Kyle Boller returns for the first time since Week 1. You really don't think that's going to matter, do you?
Prediction: Jaguars, 26-9.
Result: Jaguars, 30-3.
Baltimore: 110 yards passing, 53 rushing. End of story. You know what's funny? Baltimore scored first.

Houston (1-7) at Indianapolis (8-0), 1 p.m.
What is understood need not be discussed.
Prediction: Colts, 42-13.
Result: Colts, 31-17.
Nor does it need to be recounted.

Kansas City (5-3) at Buffalo (3-5), 1 p.m.
Even with Priest Holmes out, Kansas City should have a moderately easy time with Buffalo. The Larry Johnson kid is for real, despite his prior run-ins with Dick Vermeil, and the old guy couldn't be happier right now: Buffalo is 31st against the run. If Johnson does his job and holds onto the ball, that will make the passing game that much more effective. KC merely needs to put the brakes on Willis McGahee. Merely.
Prediction: Chiefs, 28-24.
Result: Bills, 14-3.
Larry Johnson is for real. 132 yards. But Trent Green tossed three picks and fumbled one away. Buffalo didn't self-destruct, and J.P. Losman played like a quarterback (2 TD, 0 TO).

Minnesota (3-5) at N.Y. Giants (6-2), 1 p.m.
The weeks you want Minnesota to pull an upset. Minnesota is horrible on the road (0-4). New York is solid at home (4-0). Just about all the key indicators and stats favor New York, so let's pick a score and move on.
Prediction: Giants, 35-10.
Result: Vikings, 24-21.
Ask and you shall receive, they say. Actually, there wasn't a lot of receiving out there. Lots of returning though. A punt, a pick and a kick, all returned for touchdowns. Li'l Eli had a horrible day with 4 interceptions. Besides the return scores (92 yards on the INT, 86 on the kickoff, 71 on the punt; total259), the Vikings had 2 more punt returns for 16 yards, 3 more kickoff returns for 72 yards, and 3 more interception returns for 57 yards; a grand total of 394 return yards; but only 137 yards offense (125 yards passing and 12 rushing).

New England (4-4) at Miami (3-5), 1 p.m.
New England has one of the top passing offenses in the league. Miami has one of the best pass defenses. Miami has one of the best running games. New England has one of the worse run defenses. Adam Vinatieri is not as automatic as before (9 of 13 this season, 0-2 beyond 50 yards). It looks like Richard Seymour is going to play. That will help New England more than I can express. Oh, Tom Brady still hasn't lost back-to-back games in his career.
Prediction: Patriots, 23-17.
Result: Patriots, 23-16.
Tom Brady still hasn't lost back-to-back games in his career. Seymour made a tremendous difference. Vinatieri was 3-for-3. The defense stopped the Dolphins running game dead. Then again, they allowed Frerotte to throw for 360 yards. You know all the rest. I already wrote about it. But how about that score prediction, huh? Huh?

San Francisco (2-6) at Chicago (5-3), 1 p.m.
Chicago has won four straight. There's something I never thought I'd write this season. San Francisco is 32nd in offense and defense. Only Chicago's defense is great (3rd), but their offense is horrible (27th). That's OK. Plenty of defenses score points. Chicago has really turned the dials on the scoreboard a couple times.
Prediction: Bears, 24-10.
Result: Bears, 17-9.
Chicago has won five straight. There's something I didn't think I'd write this season until last week. Might have been interesting if Joe Nedney had hit that field goal and Nathan Vasher never had the chance to run it back for a touchdown. Well, it might have been a different outcome, but it probably wouldn't have been interesting.

Denver (6-2) at Oakland (3-5), 4:05 p.m.
Despite the obvious disparities between these two teams, Oakland always gives Denver a battle in the "black hole of intelligence." Denver is coming off a bye, and Oakland just suffered a bitter last-minute defeat to another division rival. One team has preparation, the other has rage. Both play on the dirty side. Both have great running games. There's a gulf of difference between Jake Plummer and Kerry Collins, neither team is that good against the pass. Both Denver losses are on the road.
Prediction: Broncos, 32-27.
Result: Broncos, 31-17.
Collins out-threw Plummer, but Plummer outplayed Collins. Collins had 3 INTs, and the Raiders only gained 60 yards on the ground. Denver accumulated 121 rushing yards and Plummer was virtually flawless. I think I'd rather face Indy over Denver in the playoffs.

N.Y. Jets (2-6) at Carolina (6-2), 4:05 p.m.
Despite the obvious disparities between these two teams ... oh, wait. Never mind.
Prediction: Panthers, 28-6.
Result: Panthers, 30-3.
Nice prediction. Not the way I pictured it though. Carolina gained only 6 yards more scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Green Bay (1-7) at Atlanta (6-2), 4:15 p.m.
Ditto.
Prediction: Falcons, 38-17.
Result: Packers, 33-25.
Don't say anything bad about Mike Vick's three-fumble performance, because (like a real quarterback) he threw for more than 200 yards. Of course, he got beat by the next to last team in the league with just one win. Hey, Mike: Did you see the guy calling signals for the other team? THAT's a quarterback.

St. Louis (4-4) at Seattle (6-2), 4:15 p.m.
OK, not quite as lopsided, but St. Louis is floundering, and Seattle can all but put away the division with a win. St. Louis is 1-3 on the road. Seattle is 4-0 at home. St. Louis has won 2 in a row; Seattle, 4 in a row. But, wait! St. Louis is second in the league with 5.9 yards per offensive play. Oh, Seattle is first with 6.1. St. Louis' offense is ranked 2nd; Seattle's, first. St. Louis' defense is ranked 30th; Seattle's, 14th.
Prediction: Seahawks, 30-14.
Result: Seahawks, 31-16.
Anyone have Seattle in the Super Bowl? They're looking pretty good. 174 yards (165 for Shawn Alexander) on the ground is impressive, even against a lousy defense. By the way, Seattle's average yards per play, 6.4; St. Louis, 5.5. Another pretty fine prediction.

Washington (5-3) at Tampa Bay (5-3), 4:15 p.m.
Even records. Washington is 1-3 on the road. Tampa is 3-1 at home. But these teams are headed in opposite directions. Tampa has lost 3 of 4, including their home loss last week to Carolina. And Washington picked up their road win in Philly last week too. The recipe for beating Tampa seems easy: Stop "Cadillac". It's been a pretty easy task lately.
Prediction: Redskins, 24-13.
Result: Buccaneers, 36-35.
Mike Alstott outgained the Caddy (21-20), had a better average (2.3-2.0) and more touchdowns (2-0). I think Alstott was stopped short on the 2-point conversion. I didn't see much of the game before the last few minutes, and no one wrote about anything except the last few minutes, so I have nothing else to say, but I think Tampa was more lucky than good.

Cleveland (3-5) at Pittsburgh (6-2), 8:30 p.m.
Despite Ben Roethlisberger riding the pine, Pittsburgh should be OK today. Cleveland simply isn't ready for prime time. Still, Romeo Crennel could pull a rabbit out of a hat against Charlie Batch, who looked less than professional last week against Green Bay.
Prediction: Steelers, 23-10.
Result: Steelers, 34-21.
Bill Cowher pulled out all the stops to get by a 3-5 team. I'm not exactly sure what his point was, unless he was treating it more like a preseason game and evaluating players for future reference. After a good start, Cleveland just didn't have enough to be competitive. But there are definitely signs that the future will be better.

Monday, Nov. 14
Dallas (5-3) at Philadelphia (4-4), 9 p.m.
While the other NFC East teams beat up on each other, the N.Y. Giants with their easy schedule and 9 home games are pulling away. Is Philadelphia still reeling from the Terrell Owens circus? I don't think so. Are they ready for this game? Yeah, probably. Will they finally try to run the ball a little? I would guess so. Have you seen a review elsewhere that has actually talked about the game, instead of a stinking loser who's not even putting on a uniform? Probably not. Dallas pummelled Philadelphia (33-10) earlier this season in Dallas. That was the beginning of a 1-3 slide for Philadelphia and a 3-1 streak for Dallas. If Drew Bledsoe protects the ball( no interceptions, fumbles or sacks that lead to punts), Dallas wins. If Philly loses this game, they can kiss the playoffs goodbye. Bledsoe gets sacked (but will it be deep enough?).
Prediction: Cowboys, 27-26.
Result: Cowboys, 21-20.
There have been many amazing finishes this season. This was perhaps the most improbable. And now that it's said and done, Philly is lucky the Giants lost too. Otherwise, they'd be finished. And with McNabb's injury, they might be finished anyway. Bledsoe got sacked. He had a pretty lousy game until the last scoring drive. Philadelphia dominated the game but couldn't score the knockout. That might ultimately be the difference between staying competitive until the end of the season and spending more time Christmas shopping.

Open date: Cincinnati, New Orleans, San Diego, Tennessee

This Week: 10-4. Good week. Just a couple tough losses from a really nice record. Just a couple slim wins from a mediocre record, too. What have we learned from this?
Season: 87-57. That's 60 percent. I'm usually 5-10 percent better. Going to have to turn it on going down the stretch.

Pats-Saints Injury Report

2005-11-18T08:12:00.000-05:00

The good news is: Nobody on the Patriots is listed as "out"! (Of course, that doesn't account for the nearly dozen players on Injured Reserve.) More good news? Four defensive players (Richard Seymour, Ty Warren, Marquise Hill and Ellis Hobbs) were removed from the list altogether!

The Saints have a few notables on their list, including tight end Ernie Conwell, wide receiver Donte Stallworth and linebacker T.J. Slaughter.

New England Patriots (5-4)
OUT
Nobody!
DOUBTFUL
Kevin Faulk (RB) Foot
Matt Light (T) Ankle
QUESTIONABLE
Tom Ashworth (T) Knee
Monty Beisel (LB) back
Troy Brown (WR) Foot
Corey Dillon (RB) Calf
Tim Dwight (WR) Rib
David Givens (WR) Knee
Daniel Graham (TE) Shoulder
Jarvis Green (DE) Shoulder
Patrick Pass (FB) Hamstring
James Sanders (S) Ankle
PROBABLE
Tom Brady (QB) Right Shoulder

New Orleans Saints (2-7)
QUESTIONABLE
Ernie Conwell (TE) Knee
Courtney Watson (LB) Knee
Dwight Smith (S) Leg
Donte' Stallworth (WR) Shoulder
Kevin Houser (LS) Eye
T.J. Slaughter (LB) Groin

Goodbye to Byes (For Now); Brady Leads League

2005-11-16T16:28:00.000-05:00

All teams have had their bye weeks, and now we can look forward to the rest of the season with 16 games per week.

Now that all teams have played an equal number of games, we can start looking at individual statistics.

New England's Tom Brady leads the league in passing yards with 2,560, just ahead of Philadelphia's Donovan McNabb (2,507), and nearly 200 yards ahead of Oakland's Kerry Collins (2,367).

There are seven teams with 2-7 records. There are five at 7-2, six at 6-3, four at 5-4, five at 4-5, three at 3-6, one at 1-8, and one at 9-0. Looks a little lopsided, but that means there are 11 teams at 7-2 or 6-3, and ten at 3-6 or 2-7. This parity thing is kinda scary sometimes.

No surprise here: Indianapolis is the highest scoring team in the league with 260. The Colts are followed by the Giants (254), San Diego (252) and Carolina (250). The lowest scoring team? Baltimore with 100 even. Followed by the Jets (121), Houston (124) and San Francisco (126).

San Fran tops the list of teams giving up the most points (263), followed by St. Louis (262), Houston (247), New Orleans (242) and Arizona (240). You'll never get this one. The team that has allowed the fewest points ...

... is Chicago(!) with only 107. Second is Indy (115), followed by Cincinnati (134), Jacksonville (142) and Pittsburgh (145).

FYI, our beloved Patriots have scored 203 (11th) and allowed 236 (26th).

Some notes from the last few weeks ....

Priest Holmes: I always liked this guy, especially when I had him on my fantasy team with Stephen Davis a few years ago. Seriously, he always seemed a class act, very Barry Sanders-like. He took the handoff, he ran, he often scored, he went back to the huddle. No dances. No trashtalk. No BS. Just football. Why do running backs and wide receivers seem to be born of such different molds?

Madden Curse: Looks like it hit last year's cover boy Ray Lewis a year late. Otherwise, the evidence has been mounting, culminating Monday Night, that it has a pretty good stranglehold on Donovan McNabb, quite possibly using Terrell Owens as an evil agent.

NFL.com, which generally takes game stories from the Associated Press, reported after the Raiders-Chiefs game (which KC won on a last-second Larry Johnson touchdown) that: "After most of the Raiders left the field following Johnson's game-winning touchdown, Collins took the safety position for the Chiefs' conversion kick." Remember when Randy Moss walked off the field with time left on the clock last year in Minnesota. Looks like Randy Disease is spreading in Oakland.

Mruczkowski, Hawkins added to roster

2005-11-16T00:19:00.000-05:00

From Patriots.com

The New England Patriots signed free agent cornerback Artrell Hawkins and free agent offensive lineman (backup center) Gene Mruczkowski on Tuesday. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.

Hawkins, 28, is in his eighth NFL season and has played in 103 career games with 76 starts for the Cincinnati Bengals (1998-2003) and Carolina Panthers (2004). The 5-foot-10-inch, 190-pound cornerback has recorded 404 career tackles (361 solo), three sacks, 10 interceptions for 166 yards and a touchdown, 67 passes defensed, 11 forced fumbles and six fumble recoveries. He tied for the longest interception return in Bengals history when he returned an interception 102 yards for a touchdown against the Houston Texans in 2002, a season in which he led the Cincinnati secondary with 92 tackles. The University of Cincinnati product was originally drafted by the Bengals in the second round (43rd overall) of the 1998 NFL Draft, and tied for the Bengals team lead with three interceptions in 1998 and 2001. In 2004, Hawkins served as Carolina’s nickel back after signing with the Panthers in the offseason. He was signed by the Washington Redskins as an unrestricted free agent prior to the 2005 season and was released by Washington on Aug. 27, 2005.

Mruczkowski, 25, is joining New England’s active roster for the second time this season and was originally signed by the Patriots as an undrafted free agent on May 16, 2003. The 6-foot-2-inch, 305-pound offensive lineman has played in 10 career games, all with the Patriots in 2004. The Purdue product spent the entire 2004 season on the active roster and served as the backup center and played on special teams protection units for most of the year. He was released by the Patriots on Sept. 3, 2005 and was re-signed on Sept. 28. Mruczkowski was on the roster for the Patriots’ game against San Diego on Oct. 2, 2005 but was listed as a day-of-game inactive and was released again on Oct. 8. Mruczkowski did not play as a rookie for the Patriots in 2003, beginning the season on the reserve/PUP list and ending the year on injured reserve.

Commentary

Regarding Hawkins:
I don't know if we're quite scraping the bottom of the barrel, but the level is certainly getting shallow. Hawkins had a couple good years, but he's bounced around a bit lately, and that may be a sign that he's lost a step. On the other hand, he's been dumped by teams with pretty solid defenses, so maybe he's better than many people realize. We'll hope for the best and find out in a week or two.

Regarding Mruczkowski:
This is not a surprising move at all. Mruczkowski probably would have made the 53-man roster in the beginning of the season if he were more versatile along the offensive line. Given his recent history, and with Koppen out for the season, he's the absolute logical choice. Keep in mind, though, he is not Dan Koppen. Tom Brady has progressively been returning to 2001 form -- two and three step drops and quick throws. This will increasingly become a necessity with the degradations along the offensive line.

Koppen, Gay done for season

2005-11-15T19:00:00.000-05:00

Just when you thought maybe the worst was over, lightning strikes again.

The New England Patriots placed center Dan Koppen and cornerback Randall Gay on injured reserved, ending their 2005 seasons.

Koppen left Sunday's win over Miami late in the third quarter holding his left arm. His shoulder was cited the reason he was placed on injured reserve.

Gay has been battling ankle problems most of the season, and they finally sidelined him. The addition of Gay to the IR list brings the total of defensive backs the Patriots started the season with to seven.

Koppen, 26, was selected in the fifth round (164th overall) of the 2003 NFL draft out of Boston College. He has played in 41 games for New England, including the last 40 consecutive starts. That was the second longest active streak after quarterback Tom Brady (71).

Gay, 23, was signed as an undrafted free agent in April of 2004. He has made 11 starts, including 2 starts in 5 games this season. Gay led the team in tackles with 11 in Super Bowl XXXIX.

Postgame, Week 10: Patriots 23, Dolphins 16

2005-11-13T16:30:00.000-05:00

The "Just Enough"/"Bend, Don't Break" 2001 New England Patriots returned to action Sunday, beating the Dolphins in Miami, 23-16. The win kept the Patriots (5-4) in sole possession of first place of the AFC East and raised their division record to 2-0. Miami fell to 3-6, 0-3 in the division.

No, it wasn't pretty, and the injuries continued to mount, but there was good news too. Several no-names made names for themselves, and a few key players made key plays.

Perhaps most important was the return of Richard Seymour to the defensive line. While he had just one solo tackle, one assist and one pass defended, his presence was certainly felt. The attention Miami paid to Seymour paid off in freeing up other players to pressure Dolphin quarterback Gus Frerotte and stymie the 1-2 running back punch of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. The pair rushed for just 77 yards combined on 25 carries (3.1 yards per carry).

Patriot cornerback Ellis Hobbs had a career game (he's a rookie) and was one of four Patriot defenders with 7 total tackles. Hobbs made 5 solo tackles and a key interception, 4 passes defended (2 on Miami's last drive), and 2 fumble recoveries. Safety Michael Stone also had 5 solo tackles and a pair of assists, plus a special teams tackle. Linebacker Rosevelt Colvin had 4 solos, 3 assists and a forced fumble, and linebacker Mike Vrabel had 1 solo and 6 assists to go with a special teams tackle.

Not all the defensive news was good. Frerotte 360 yards and 2 touchdowns on 25 of 47 passing. Fortunately, the New England defense stiffened in the red zone, a big turnaround from the last few weeks, and continually frustrated Frerotte. Miami left a lot of points on the field.

Asante Samuel gave up another touchdown, this time to Chris Chambers on a 3-yard pass from Frerotte. Ricky Williams paid for it, as Samuel delivered another Rodney Harrison-style hit of the former bowl-over back.

Tom Brady had his typical out-of-quarterback experience in Miami. Overall, he had good game, but he had several bad gaffes and gambles as well. Brady finished 21 of 36 for 275 yards with a pair of touchdowns and a pair of interceptions. He was allegedly sacked twice for one yard, which I'm pretty sure isn't possible.

Brady hit seven different receivers, all at least twice. Deion Branch was the primary beneficiary, catching five passes for 82 yards, but it was Tim Dwight and tight end Ben Watson who will be credited with the big plays. Dwight ripped the ball from Miami cornerback Reggie Howard who got his hands on Brady's deep ball just after Dwight did. Dwight then scrambled downfield for a total pickup of 59 yards. Brady then hit Watson just inches inside the left side of the endzone with 2:19 left in the game for the go ahead score. Miami castoff Heath Evans then successfully converted for two points.

Watson also scored on a 16-yard pass from Brady with 7 seconds left in the first half. That drive started with 5:01 left on the clock. The game-winning drive consisted of just the two plays above.

Brady got pounded all day, having protection from two rookies, two backups and one regular on the offensive line. He made a couple awful throws, but typical to his character, he came right back and make some huge plays.

Evans finished with 84 yards on 17 carries (4.9 avg). Mike Cloud added 8 yards on 7 carries.

Christian Fauria had his first catches of the year, but he also had a key drop near the end of the second quarter.

Punter Josh Miller had another great day. He had six punts for an average of 43.7 yards. He placed three inside the 20, and his first virtually on the Dolphins' goalline on the Patriots first possession, setting up an early game of field posision.
t
Remember, until Sunday, the Patriots had one just once in seven years in Miami. That means they lost there twice in their three Super Bowl seasons. Winning there Sunday, considering all their injuries, borders on Vatican-certified miracle.

Next opponent: New Orleans. they're coming off a bye. How many teams have faced Pats coming off a bye?

* Quotes in this story were taken from the Associated Press

Patriots @ Miami open thread

2005-11-13T12:40:00.000-05:00

Is today the day Tom Brady loses back-to-back games? Is today the day the dynasty wavers? Is today the day we start thinking about next year?

Richard Seymour is ACTIVE. But there's no telling how close to 100 percent he is.

Miami is a good 1300 miles away, so you're going to have to be loud to let them hear it.

GO PATRIOTS!

Game Preview: Week 10, Patriots @ Miami

2005-11-13T10:58:00.000-05:00

Due to the result of last week's game of the year, game of the decade, etc., today, we bring you the game of the year, game of the decade, etc. That's right, the New England Patriots are headed to Miami with momentum and control of the AFC East on the line. The Pats are 4-4 with Miami a full game behind. With all else being equal, the winner of today's game will have the edge when the Dolphins come to Foxboro on New Year's Day in the season finale.

Too much hype? Maybe. Maybe not. If you ask Bill Belichick, and if he gives you an honest answer, this is far from "just a game, like any other." In addition to everything above, it's a division game, and those are always more important than other games.

The Patriots are 1-0 in the division, having faced only the Buffalo Bills so far, and that wasn't pretty. The Dolphins are 0-2, having lost to both the New York Jets and the Bills earlier in the season, before their alleged re-emergence. Setting them two games back and 3 in the division would almost certainly take the pressure off, at least a little.

There's possibly more good news. Richard Seymour has practiced with the team this week. His return would be enormous considering Miami's 1-2 punch of Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams. Brown is contending for rookie of the year, and Williams is starting to look like the pre-insanity-Ricky. Seymour is a tough run blocker, whose mere presence could give the Pats defensive line a boost. He hasn't been announced as a starter or inactive yet, so anything can happen.

There's bad news too. Wide receiver David Givens, running back Patrick Pass and offensive tackle Tom Ashworth are out. That leaves New England with an injured Corey Dillon, and newcomers Mike Cloud and Heath Evans as their only running backs. That also leaves them shorthanded on the O line. Givens is certainly a loss, dependable as he's been, but Tom Brady still will have a lot of targets, especially of the tight ends remain involved as they were last week.

Speaking of which, TE Daniel Graham is nursing a shoulder, so you may see a little more of Christian Fauria today.

Really, it boils down to this. The Patriots have to stop the run. End of story. Yes, they're susceptible deep as they have been all season, but Miami's quarterback is Gus Frerotte, possibly relieved by Sage Rosenfels. It's not Peyton Manning, not even Kelly Holcomb. And if Seymour plays (and if he's close to 100 percent), the extra pass pressure generates should contain the Dolphins' QBs.

If that doesn't work, we're going to have to hope for the best from Corey Dillon, and Tom Brady is going to have to have a game like last week. Adam Vinatieri, who is just 9 of 13 in field goal attempts this year (0-2 over 50 yards), is going to have to return to form.

Dillon should get some help from Cloud, but this pair has been subject to turnovers, so they need to protect the ball. Brady has a million weapons, and he's going to need them all, and they're going to have to make some catches. Brady will probably be under constant pressure, not only from Jason Taylor, but from everywhere on the field. I think Nick Saban will blitz on maybe 60 percent or more of the Patriots pass plays. The Dolphins defensive backfield is also miles ahead of New England's. Usually, you can say Brady is practicing against a defense as good as he sees on Sundays. Not this year.

The usual other stuff will be important. The Pats are now -7 in turnover ratio -- second worst in the AFC. The good news? Miami is -4. The Pats have one of the top passing games; Miami has one of the best pass defenses. Miami has one of the best running games; the Pats have one of the worse run defenses. New England has been horrible defensively in the red zone.

Oh, one more thing. As we all probably remember, the Patriots lost last week, and we all know that the Patriots have a pretty good record following a loss.

Therefore, I think the Pats can and will pull it off. I think Brady will have another great game, though he often struggles against Miami. I think Dillon will do enough. I think the presence of Seymour will make all the difference on defense. I think Rosenfels gives New England a scare late in the game.

Prediction: Patriots, 23-17.

Week 10 Picks

2005-11-13T04:32:00.000-05:00

A Halfway Look at the AFC East

2005-11-13T03:09:00.000-05:00

Before we look at this week's games, let's take a quick look at the first half of the season in the AFC East with a glance toward the second half.

From NFL.com:

AFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA	Home	Road	AFC	NFC	DIV	Streak
New England	4	4	0	.500	180	220	2-2	2-2	3-3	1-1	1-0	Lost 1
Buffalo	3	5	0	.375	128	159	3-1	0-4	3-2	0-3	2-1	Lost 2
Miami	3	5	0	.375	146	151	2-2	1-3	1-3	2-2	0-2	Lost 1
N.Y. Jets	2	6	0	.250	118	170	2-2	0-4	1-5	1-1	1-1	Lost 3

New England (4-4): Until recently (like this week), I made fun of .500 or worse teams leading their divisions.

If you chose any arbitrary team and told someone, "They lost both coordinators in the offseason, half of their 10 defensive backs are on injured reserved, one of their key linebackers retired during the preseason, and they've had several injuries to their best defensive players, they've gone through 4 or 5 running backs, oh, and they've played the toughest first half of a schedule as there has ever been," they'd probably tell you that team is probably in last, no matter what division they're in.

That's the difference between the two-time defending Super Bowl champions and the other 31 teams in the league. Yes, things look rather bleak, but the Patriots are in the driver's seat in the East, and there is light at the end of the tunnel. New England has 5 of their 6 division games remaining on the schedule, and until the recent demise of Priest Holmes in Kansas City, there was only one non-division game that really worried you.

Now, we New Englanders know from experience that no matter what anyone's record is in the East, these games "generally" tend to be rather competitive (except the two Buffalo games in 2003). The Pats have never had an easy time in Miami (Remember the 4:11 collapse last year?), where they're headed this weekend, but New England has learned that it can win there. So, considering the state of the team, none of these are locks, but they're all winnable.

Buffalo (3-5): The Bills, underachievers in the 2005 East, are in second based on division record. Buffalo should be at least 6-2, losing winnable games to Tampa Bay, New Orleans and Oakland, and they perhaps should have beaten New England.

The J.P. Losman experiment went down in a ball of flames, and the Kelly Holcomb experience isn't much better. Last year's Drew Bledsoe debacle was just as bad. The offense can't score. The defense that has held the Bills together for several years is faltering, but still holding opponents to about 20 points (excepting Oakland).

Buffalo is much better at home than on the road. The bad news is that of the four teams coming to town this winter, only Carolina isn't a cold-weather team, too. That could eliminate some of the home-field edge when they play Kansas City (this week), New England and Denver. The road games are going to be tough, too, with San Diego, Miami and Cincinnati on the slate.

Miami (3-5): Nick Saban is the best thing to happen to Dolphins football since Dan Marino. Miami is miles ahead of where they were last year, no thanks to Ricky Williams. Miami's success story is probably as confusing, possibly more, than New England's. After wrecking Denver in week one and then losing to the Jets, the Dolphins edged Carolina and then lost to Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Kansas City. They then won convincingly over New Orleans and hung tough against Atlanta.

Miami seems to be moving in the right direction. Running back Ronnie Brown has proven Saban a "Piolian" judge of talent (so far), Williams is regaining his former status, and despite having nothing more than a questionable quarterback, the Dolphins are no longer an automatic for teams that chalked up the W when their schedules came out -- that would include our very own New England Patriots.

Miami's schedule isn't that foreboding. The Dolphins next eight are sandwiched between a home-and-away pair with the Pats. Traveling to Cleveland and Oakland should prove conceivable wins, and hosting Buffalo shouldn't pose a serious roadblock. A road trip to San Diego should be the most serious threat (at least until their return to Foxboro). All else they have is the Jets and Tennessee. Several of those teams are in the bottom third in run defense, so draw your own conclusions.

N.Y. Jets: The football god of injury prevention certainly hasn't been nice to the Jets either. The loss of Wayne Chrebet might not seem very key to a lot of people, but Chrebet and Curtis Martin are two of the most dependable players the Jets have had for many seasons. His loss will have more of a psychological effect. Regardless, this team is banged up in all the wrong places, and that's going to make it tough for them to do anything down the stretch. (Herman Edwards doesn't help either.)

I think New Yorkers (very predictably) are making a little too much of Brooks Bollinger's fourth-quarter success against San Diego last week. Beating Miami in Week 2 and Tampa Bay in Week 5 is nothing to brag about. Most of their losses have been by 10 points or more.

The Jets start the second half with a double-roadtrip-whammy of Carolina and Denver. Let's see how Bollinger looks after those two games before we retire his number. For any other team, the rest of the schedule after that would be manageable, and it might be for the Jets. Four more division games, including the last two games of the year, both at home. Their other non-division games are Oakland and New Orleans.

The Division, Looking Ahead

I'd like to say my powers of prognostication show a clear picture of the division in Week 17. Needless to say, they're a little out of whack this season. Must not be sleeping enough. Leaving off sentence subjects and such. Anyway.

Things could be much clearer after this week, but this is a murky weekend indeed, starting with New England at Miami. This game can make or break both teams' seasons. The winner will have an edge heading into the New Year's rematch finale -- what a day that will be! (Guess who has tickets.)

Whichever of these two win the division, it will be by a game at most. There's a good chance they'll have identical season records, and it will come down to division or even conference records. Most likely, it's going to come down to the Jan. 1 showdown. Good thing for the Patriots it's at Foxboro.

Buffalo is still in it, but they have the most uphill road and just don't seem to have much direction. The best they can hope for is to play a spoiler role in the final weeks. Mike Mularkey is going to start feeling the heat. The Jets are on the verge of collapse, but an upset in the next two weeks could alter that scenario as well. Barring that, a record of 2-8 would certainly have them on a downward spiral.

Here's how I see it turning out:

AFC East
Team	W	L	T
New England	10	6	0
Miami	9	7	0
Buffalo	6	10	0
N.Y. Jets	4	12	0

Starks on IR, Pats-Dolphins Injury Report

2005-11-11T15:30:00.000-05:00

The New England Patriots placed cornerback Duane Starks on injured reserve with severe burns on over 80 percent of his deep coverages. Starks, who started the season with a thigh injury and recently had shoulder problems that may require surgery, is done for the 2005 season.

The Patriots have yet to fill Starks' spot, leaving 52 players on the active roster.

New England, who started with 10 defensive backs on the roster, have placed five on injured reserve. Starks joins fellow cornerbacks Tyrone Poole and Chad Scott, and safeties Guss Scott and Rodney Harrison.

The defensive backs available are far from impressive. The Patriots worked out Terrell Buckley, Aaron Beasley, Rod Babers and Mario Edwards last month. Chances are, New England will sign one of them.

Sunday's Injury Report

Miami Dolphins
No Injuries Reported

New England Patriots
OUT
Kevin Faulk (RB) Foot
Matt Light (T) Ankle
Duane Starks (CB) Shoulder/Thigh
QUESTIONABLE
Tom Ashworth (T) Knee
Troy Brown (WR) Foot
Corey Dillon (RB) Ankle
Tim Dwight (WR) Rib
Randall Gay (CB) Ankle
David Givens (WR) Knee
Daniel Graham (TE) Shoulder
Jarvis Green (DE) Shoulder
Marquise Hill (DE) Ankle
Ellis Hobbs (CB) Thigh
Patrick Pass (FB) Hamstring
James Sanders (S) Ankle
Richard Seymour (DE) Knee
Ty Warren (DE) Hip
PROBABLE
Tom Brady (QB) Right Shoulder

Week 9 Review

2005-11-09T19:02:00.000-05:00

Sunday, Nov. 6
Atlanta (5-2) at Miami (3-4), 1 p.m.
Boy, is there going to be a LOT of running in this one. I'm really on the fence here, and for some reason, I'm picking ...
Prediction: Falcons, 21-17
Result: Falcons, 17-10
Only 267 total yards rushing? Oh, T.J. Duckett was inactive. And, as we all know from Michael Vick's little post-game diatribe, he's a real quarterback now because he threw for a little over 200 yards. So he told the press -- the press! -- they can't criticize him anymore. Guess he's not familiar with the First Amendment. I used to think Vick just wasn't a quarterback. Now he's a jerk, too. Otherwise, this was a competitive game, probably more than most people expected, and it wasn't decided until a Gus Frerotte (who may or may not be a quarterback) interception on Miami's final drive.

Carolina (5-2) at Tampa Bay (5-2), 1 p.m.
"Cadillac" hasn't been the same since "Chuckie" burned him out and got him injured. Carolina has TWO running backs. (And a quarterback, and a ...)
Prediction: Panthers, 26-13
Result: Panthers, 34-14
I guess I was the only one that saw Carolina winning this one by more than 10. Everyone else seemed so surprised. Caddy had a big 29 yards on 11 carries. Funny thing is, Carolina went nowhere, except on their scoring drives (59 yards, 32, 90, 16 and 77); non-scoring drives: -6 yards, 8, 9, 3, 1 and 15. Tampa lost two fumbles and two interceptions. Carolina turnovers: 0.

Cincinnati (6-2) at Baltimore (2-5), 1 p.m.
Balitmore is one of only four teams that has yet to score 100 points this season -- last with 88. Cincinnati is NOT one of the other three. Hey, I concluded the first two picks with an ellipsis, which is ...
Prediction: Bengals, 17-6
Result: Bengals, 21-9
Turns out that Kyle Boller's legitimacy as a quarterback is not a point for discussion this season. The scary thing is: He probably really was their best player at that position. This game is a microcosm of the different between this year's Ravens without Ray Lewis and past year's. Last year, it would have been 15-9.

Detroit (3-4) at Minnesota (2-5), 1 p.m.
No Moss, no Culpepper. Nothing you could consider a coach. Could it get any worse? Yet, every time I pick against them ...
Prediction: Lions, 24-3
Result: Vikings, 27-14
... they win. If anyone can explain this team, please post. I'm really interested.

Houston (1-6) at Jacksonville (4-3), 1 p.m.
Think Houston can win 2 in a row? I wonder ...
Prediction: Jaguars, 24-10
Result: Jaguars, 21-14
Houston had several chances to either win or send this game to overtime. They gave up touchdowns on Jacksonville's last three possessions. The last one came one play after the Jaguars fumbled the ball away, but the play was nulled because of a defensive holding call on the Texans. Like several other games, the quarterbacks both threw in the low 200s and each teams' running backs combined for less than 100 yards. Starting to look like the NBA.

Oakland (3-4) at Kansas City (4-3), 1 p.m.
Oakland has been playing pretty well, but ...
Prediction: Chiefs, 38-27
Result: Chiefs, 27-23
For a game that should have been loaded with offense, this was pretty disappointing. Kerry Collins, 175 yards passing. Trent Green, 235 yards passing. Oakland, 101 yards rushing. K.C, 114 yards rushing. Remember those days when Dan Fouts and Dan Marino would throw for 400 yards each? And the running backs for each team would close in on 150 or so? Anyway, this one had maybe the best ending of the year, the teams trading touchdowns in the last couple minutes. Pretty much came down to the last team that had possession.

San Diego (4-4) at N.Y. Jets (2-5), 1 p.m.
Please ...
Prediction: Chargers, 34-9
Result: Chargers, 31-26
I couldn't believe San Diego let New York creep back into this one, ultimately needing a last-second defenisve stop to finish them off. San Diego was in charge all game, as they should have been. The stats show a lopsided game, as it should have been. Too bad about Wayne Chrebet. I always liked him. Seems like a Bill Belichick kind of guy.

Tennessee (2-6) at Cleveland (2-5), 1 p.m.
The games are about to start ...
Prediction: Browns, 17-14
Result: Browns, 20-14
Pretty even game, as expected. Lots of offense. A few turnovers. Reuben Droughns came up big, just under a week following his arrest for drunken driving. Not a tremendous victory for Cleveland, but they have come up on the short end of a couple close games. Maybe this is a turning point for Romeo Crennel's crew.

Chicago (4-3) at New Orleans (2-6) in Baton Rouge, LA, 4:05 p.m.
You never know which New Orleans team is going to show up; or, when the good one shows up, if they're going to get screwed. They could as easily be 6-2 as 2-6 (although I predicted they'd be 0-8). Chicago is in first place, which indicates just how bad the NFC North really is. Aaron Brooks is far from a great quarterback, but Kyle Orton? Orton hasn't thrown a pass in his last 62 attempts. He's due. New Orleans needs to get hold of their turnover ratio.
Prediction: Saints, 24-13
Result: Bears, 20-17
Chicago, who I picked to finish last in the worst division in football, now has a better record than New England, who has the worst record of any division leader. I was reading a recap of this game, and I hardly recognized any Chicago player's name. I don't even know what to make of this game at this point with these two teams. The Bears won on a last-second field goal. The combined running games gained more yardage than the combined passing games. It's just bizarre.

N.Y. Giants (5-2) at San Francisco (2-5), 4:05 p.m.
Think SanFran can win two in a row? I guarantee there is absolutely no way New York loses this game. I'll stake my Keurig single-cup coffee brewer on it.
Prediction: Giants, 42-9
Result: Giants, 24-6
I don't know if I just don't have anything to say, or if these games really were this boring. Outside of Raiders/Chiefs and Jets/Chargers, it seemed like a pretty dull Sunday. At least my coffee brewer is safe.

Seattle (5-2) at Arizona (2-5), 4:05 p.m.
Seattle has had two weeks to prepare for this game -- not that they'd need it. Geez, not too many good games this week.
Prediction: Seahawks, 33-13
Result: Seahawks, 33-19
Looks like, for the most part, I'm still predicting these scores pretty close. I guess that can make up for the lousy games themselves. And not that this is anything new, but you don't really get any good analysis during these 5-minute post-game shows. Used to be they actually talked about the games, and weren't so focused on who got "jacked up." It's horrible. As a result, I have nothing to say about this game.

Pittsburgh (5-2) at Green Bay (1-6), 4:15 p.m.
Pittsburgh has a thousand -- no a million -- injuries. Doesn't matter. The only hope Green Bay has is that Vince Lombardi exhumes himself and brings Curley Lambeau with him.
Prediction: Steelers, 36-24
Result: Steelers, 20-10
I actually watched some of this game, so I can say something intelligent about it. It looked like Green Bay really came to play, at first containing Pittsburgh and limiting the Steelers to 6 first-quarter points. And despite having some guy named Sam Gado running the ball for the Pack, Green Bay marched right down the field. Pittsburgh safety Troy Polamalu was the story in this one, though, recovering two fumbles and returning one 77 yards for a touchdown. Good thing Lombardi and Lambeau didn't show. They could have tipped the balance.

Philadelphia (4-3) at Washington (4-3), 8:30 p.m.
I can't say what Terrell Owens deserves to have said about him. If there's something worse than "a cancer", that's a good start. Both teams are 3-0 at home and 1-3 on the road. Both teams have given up four more points than they've scored. You can keep throwing stats at this game all day, and you'll never know what the heck is going on. Possibly the most interesting? Philadelphia has the No. 1 passing offense in the league; Washington has the No. 1 passing defense in the league.
Prediction: Redskins, 23-20
Result: Redskins, 17-10
This was a great game, despite the constant talk about the biggest loser in football. Philly jumped out on top and looked like they would be just fine, but you just can't win running the ball for only 45 yards. Even when the Patriots were said to have no running game, they rushed for 70-90 per game. Meanwhile, after several years of chaos and quarterback controversy, it looks like Joe Gibbs has all the Redskins heading in the same direction. They could be your Cinderella dark horse (Cinderella dark horse?) in the playoffs this year.

Monday, Nov. 7
Indianapolis at New England, 9 p.m.
Prediction: Colts, 34-24
Result: Colts, 40-21
No need to beat a dead horse that has been beaten elsewhere. And no more horses.

Open date: Buffalo, Dallas, Denver, St. Louis

Prediction: Drew Bledsoe does not get sacked this weekend. (Actually, he might, but it won't appear on a stat sheet.)
Result: Bledsoe fell asleep on top of someone, whose brothers tied him up in a big burlap enclosure and dumped him in the Hudson River (see Seinfeld episode 7.18). Thus, he was sacked.

This week: 12-2. Did I really break out this time, or were most of these games jokes?
Season: 77-53. That, at least, looks respectable. I'm going to need several more weeks like this for it to actually be respectable.

Pats-Colts: Additional Comment

2005-11-08T17:33:00.000-05:00

I'm confused and a little shocked that so many people sound so surprised by last night's result. We knew New England had a C-rate secondary, and that the Patriots are soft up the middle against the run. We knew that if they fell behind, they'd have to throw, throw, throw. We knew Indy's defense was better than last year's and that all of our running backs are hurt.

So I don't understand why people are asking "What happened last night?" Disappointment, I understand. Surprise, I don't.

One thing we didn't know until shortly before game time was that Richard Seymour would be inactive again. That's literally huge. Seymour is a big guy and he contributes an enormous presence. The impact of his nonexistence is even greater. Other guys, like Vince Wilfork, have to play longer with less relief in situations which they may not be best suited. And because the defense isn't playing as well as it has in the past, it's on the field for more plays, which makes the players more tired, which makes them play not as well, which keeps them on the field longer. You get the point.

Last year, according to stats stated during The Big Show on WEEI, Wilfork played in about 20 plays per game. In the last few games, he's been on the field for about 60 plays per game.

Heck, a warm body would help. A healthy Seymour can literally change the course of a game. A healthy Seymour might have meant a stronger pass rush on Peyton Manning. A health Seymour might have meant Edgerrin James wouldn't have had free reign in the middle of the field.

I was also surprised to hear so many people complain about Asante Samuel, who I thought had I pretty good game, outside of the two Marvin Harrison touchdowns. As I pointed out last night, Harrison has at least a couple inches on Samuel, and not many people can successfully guard Harrison in single coverage. Samuel almost got that first touchdown away from Harrison, and that might have changed things. Unfortunately, Indy got a lot of the breaks and bounces.

Otherwise, I thought Samuel looked pretty good. He gave out a few solid licks like the one against Denver tight end Jeb Putzier from a couple weeks ago. I think one of them was a tight end (Dallas Clark) this week too. When Rodney Harrison comes back, whether or not he's the same player he was before his injury, I think Samuel is his heir apparent. Better that Harrison comes back fully healthy so he can pass on a few more visual examples to Samuel. Regardless, a few more lessons, I think Samuel is there. He's certainly as good as anyone the Pats have in the secondary now. And he's growing that Harrison edge that we're missing.

Other than that, the secondary is a shambles. Randall Gay put in an acceptable performance for his first game back, but it's like the Swiss is more hole than cheese. Everyone, of course, is pointing at Duane Starks. He's clearly overmatched in just about any single coverage -- never mind, make that every situation. Period.

In a thin defense of Starks, Rodney Harrison was on Dale and Holley on WEEI, and made a couple good points. He immodestly compared Starks to Ty Law (instead of to himself) and said that Law was a Pro Bowl caliber cornerback. Starks, quite simply, is not. Anyone who expected Starks to do what Law used to was fooling himself. That doesn't excuse the result, though. Players still have to make plays. "That's what they're paid to do," Harrison said. Harrison was unable to provide any solutions. There don't seem to be any.

Seems to me the coaches are just going to have to find a way to get help to the players who need it. Easier said than done. This is far tougher than it was last year. At least last year, there was Harrison.

A lot of people were also all over Corey Dillon and running game. It's a bad situation, but you can hardly blame Dillon or any of the other backs. They're all hurt, or didn't you know? As good as Dillon is, he can't carry the team on his back with a bad ankle. The only healthy back is Mike Cloud. He signed only a couple days before the game and clearly wasn't ready the one play the Pats handed him the ball.

The solution here is simply Time. We're just going to have to wait until these guys are healthy, hope someone (Cloud) can hold down the fort, and hope none of the injuries get further aggravated before they heal.

To this point, we've been talking about injuries. Injuries are one of the key reasons many experts, coaches and players say it's so tough to repeat as champions, why no one has "threepeated." That seemed pretty reasonable to me, and it's looking like it may be catching up to New England now.

There was talk before the season about how deep playoff teams play that much more that the players are tired and more susceptible to injury the following season. Moreso for perennial contenders. I didn't believe it. Seems to me that six months is plenty of recovery time. Maybe it isn't.

Exacerbating the problem is that every team on the schedule wants to beat the defending champion. That sometimes means opponents are extra fired up, maybe a little more reckless, maybe a little more likely to inflict injury, intentional or otherwise.

The news isn't all horribly bad.

A lot of people got their wish and saw the tight ends successfully partake in an expanded role in the passing game. Daniel Graham and Ben Watson combined for 8 catches for 77 yards and a touchdown. Looks like they were able to make their blocks before releasing to run their patterns. Two plays, including the touchdown, were screens to Graham. Very odd. Very effective. However, still conspicuous by his statistical absence is Christian Fauria, who has played in all eight games, starting four.

I was going to say something about Mike Vrabel beyond what I said last night about him leading the team in tackles for the fourth game, but I don't remember what it was. Whatever, until Tedy Bruschi is 100 percent, it looks like Vrabel is "the" man. There were a few murmurs about Bruschi last night and today. Give the man some time! It was just his second game against one of the toughest offenses in the league. He'll come around, and the entire defense will be better for it.

The only other bright spot was Tom Brady, who is tied with Carson Palmer for second in the league in passing yards (2,285). Brady remains in the top five in several of the most important quarterbacking statistics (rating, yards per completion, interception percentage, sacks), and top ten in just about all the others. Not many other QBs are that high on all the lists. Now, we all know that Brady would trade all those numbers for the most important statistic: wins. But at least it shows that SOMETHING is going right.

Bill Belichick sounded surprisingly calm during the press conferences and interviews I heard. He wasn't nearly as upset as he has been after some of the previous losses this season. He expressed disappointment, but he wasn't seething, not even under his breath or in the sarcastic sting of his answers. He defended most of the coaching decisions, including the failed onside kick, which Indianapolis recovered when they were ahead 28-14. Belichick said it wasn't too early in the game, which would have signified panic, and where a failed kick would certainly have incapacitated the team. And it wasn't too late that a successful attempt wouldn't have made any difference.

I wish someone would have asked him about the challenge on the Manning to Harrison touchdown with 6:00 left in the game. If someone asked, I missed it. Anyway, like I said before the game, I like last night's head referee, Bernie Kukar, and this was exactly one of those situations made for him.

After reviewing the play, he came onto the field and said, "After reviewing the play, the ruling on the field stands. Time out, New England." No deep explanation. Hardly a pause between words. There was something wrong with the whole challenge, and it sounded like Kukar was in no mood for Belichick's wily ways.

I kinda felt like Jimmy Conway in "Goodfellas" after Spider tells Tommy what to do to himself. Much as Jimmy loved Tommy, he said, "Good for you, Spider. Don't take **** from anyone."

So, good for you, Bernie.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

2005-11-08T16:19:00.000-05:00

We passed 1,000 visits a couple days ago. I say "we" because I just write. You are the ones who visit this page time and time again. Evidently, you like what you see, and that makes me happy. My goal is not to accumulate readers at any expense. I tell it like I see it, and I'm happy that you're interested in my views.

Today, we surpassed 100 visitors in a single day for the first time. That's nearly one tenth our total visitors since the beginning. I am truly humbled.

I want to thank you, especially the first 1,000 of you, who have mostly silently encouraged me to build this site by returning day after day and spreading the word to other Pats fans. I hope I can continue to live up to your expectations.

Here's to 10,000 visits!

Post-Game, Week 8: Patriots 21 vs. Indianapolis 40

2005-11-08T03:08:00.000-05:00

The New England Patriots simply didn't have enough defensive weapons to fend off the Indianapolis Colts' attack, and Indy avenged its 0-7 slide against the Pats with a 40-21 lambasting of the defending Super Bowl champs.

Indianapolis (8-0) scored on the game's opening possession, and New England (4-4) tried to play catchup all night. The defense couldn't stop Peyton Manning, and the Tom Brady-led Patriot offense couldn't keep pace.

Manning completed 27 of 38 passes for 321 yards, 3 touchdowns and an interception. He also ran three times for 24 yards to go with Edgerrin James' 104 yards on 34 carries, and Dominic Rhodes' 4-yard touchdown on his only carry. Asante Samuel, who really had a pretty decent game, simply could not match up with a taller, more experienced Marvin Harrison, who caught 9 passes for 128 yards and 2 touchdowns. Harrison, 6-feet-0 is in his 10th pro season, while Samuel is 5-10 in his third season.

For New England, Brady was 22 of 33 for 265 yards and 3 touchdowns, but a few errant passes and the Patriots inability to establish a running game left the New England defense too long on the field, and the offense too many times without points. (Brady actually edged Manning in QB rating, 121.4 to 117.1).

Manning continuously fed Harrison and Reggie Wayne (9 catches, 124 yards, 1 TD), and the Patriots debilitated defense had no answer.

Indianapolis returned the opening kickoff 37 yards to their own 46. A sign of the bad things to come. New England stopped James for a 3-yard loss on first down, and that was as close as the Pats were the rest of the way. A 48-yard pass to Harrison, a pair of James runs (6, 2) and a 1-yard pass to Harrison put Indy up 7-0. New England scored first in these teams' last six meetings.

For what it's worth, New England struck right back, giving some hope to the local faithful. Brady engineered an 11-play drive marked by a 5-yard David Givens reception on 4th-and-1 from the Colt 21 that kept the drive alive. Two plays later, Brady hit Deion Branch on a 16-yard strike to tie the game at 7.

But Indianapolis converted a 4th-and-1 and three third downs on their second drive, capped by a 2-yard James dive, and that, for all intent and purpose, was that. New England punted, and Manning made his first mistake. Mike Vrabel snagged a pass intended for tight end Dallas Clark and gave the Patriots field position near midfield. But Brady fumbled on the next play, setting the Pats back 18 yards. New England eventually converted on a 35-yard bullet to Givens, but Corey Dillon eventually fumbled the ball away. Indy scored to make it 21-7, and the Patriots never really recovered.

The Colts went up 28-7 in the third quarter before the Patriots made it interesting by closing to 28-14. The entire game, one felt that the Patriots were never completely out of it, but that everything was just out of reach. Several bounces and close calls (all correct) went Indy's way. There was little New England could do but ride it out.

Brady hit six different receivers, all at least three times each. Branch, Troy Brown and Daniel Graham caught 5 passes each, Givens had four, and Dillon and Ben Watson had three. Several pundits got their wish by the tight ends becoming more involved in the passing game. Brady was sacked only once, on the 18-yard fumble. A minor victory over the ESPN pregame crew who predicted Dwight Freeney would sack Brady at least three times. The Patriots did not sack Manning.

New England cut way down on penalties, committing only 4 for 24 yards. The Patriots remained dismal on 3rd down conversions (36 percent offensively, 71 percent defensively). Both teams were 67 percent successful in the red zone, but Indy had twice as many opportunities. New England was crushed in time of possession again (36 minutes to 23, roughly)

Dillon had only 12 carries for 40 yards. Mike Cloud had 1 carry for a loss of 5 yards. Brady lost a yard on one carry. Doug Flutie mopped up with 3 of 7 passing for 20 yards.

Vrabel led the team in tackles for the fourth time this season. He had 10, while Rosevelt Colvin and Tedy Bruschi each had 9. Samuel had 8.

Indianapolis hosts Houston next week. New England travels to Miami. Both games are scheduled for 1 p.m.

Patriots vs. Colts open thread

2005-11-07T17:59:00.000-05:00

Game of the Year. Game of the Decade. Game of the Century. Game of the Third Millennium!

Richard Seymour is out. Corey Dillon and Randall Gay are in. You may even see Troy Brown covering receivers. Anything goes tonight!

So let's get it started.

GO PATS!

Game Preview: Week 9, Patriots vs. Indianapolis

2005-11-07T13:15:00.000-05:00

No one -- well, no one except the New England Patriots -- likes to play in Gillette Stadium. It's notorious for not being particularly loud. It doesn't have a dog pound or a black hole. It doesn't have a pirate ship that fires after touchdowns. Only a few years old, it doesn't have the historical aura of Lambeau Field or Mile High. No, it doesn't have any of that.

So why do the Patriots play so much better here that every team in the league fears flying to Foxboro?

Let's come back to that question and talk about one of those teams that really hates going to Gillette: The Indianapolis Colts.

It's been well documented, and most of us are aware that the Peyton Manning-led Colts are winless in Gillette, winless against Bill Belichick / Tom Brady-led teams. Last season, opening day. The league had imposed rules changes for pass defenders, specifically designed to help Indianapolis beat New England (they can deny it all they want, but the truth seems evident). In the playoffs, a decimated Patriots secondary held the touchdown record setting-Manning to 3 points.

Tonight, a Colt offense that seems to be gaining steam with the re-emergence of running back Edgerrin James is brimming with renewed confidence coming to Foxboro, because this time they have something resembling an NFL defense with them. Again, the Patriots are fielding an injury-plagued defense that has been far less than stellar to this point in the season. And the offense has been inconsistent at best.

New question: How do the Patriots pull out this one?

Hmmm ... We'll come back to that one too.

It's funny. All week, the talking heads have been saying "This time, give the edge to Indianapolis." This time? You've been giving them the edge for the last three or four years. You always give them the edge. None of you gave the Patriots a snowball's chance in the RCA Dome to win. For some reason, despite all your tough words, you just don't sound all that convinced.

Truly, you can expect the Colts to be ready, no matter what I or anyone else says.

Inside The Horrid Numbers

Indy is No. 4 in the league in rushing offense, averaging 134.9 yards per game, while New England's rushing defense is ranked 24th, allowing 128.4. Not a good start. The Colts are averaging 218.9 ypg in the air (16th), while the Pats allow 230.7 (4th). Better. The Patriots are 27th in rushing offense with just 83.9 ypg. The Colts allow 108.6 ypg (14th). Not good. New England is 2nd in the league in passing offense (279.0 ypg), and Indy is 7th defending the pass, allowing only 169.3 ypg. Clearly, these numbers give the Colts an edge.

Then you look at the two teams schedules. New England (4-3) has played Oakland, Carolina, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Atlanta, Denver and Buffalo -- a combined 35-22. Indy (7-0) has beaten Baltimore, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Tennessee, San Francisco, St. Louis and Houston (a combined 19-38), enjoying their bye last week and giving them an extra week and a day to prepare for tonight.

There are some other important numbers. Perhaps most important, as almost anyone will tell you, is turnover ratio. Indianapolis has 12 interceptions and 4 fumble recoveries, while giving up just 5 interceptions and 3 fumbles (+8). New England has just 2 interceptions and 3 fumble recoveries, while giving up 5 INTs and 6 fumbles (-6). That's very unlike recent Patriot teams and does not bode well. Turnovers are usually stats in Colt-Patriot matchups.

Indianapolis is third in the league with 26 sacks. New England is tied for 28th with just 13. The Colts have the fewest penalties in the league (36 for 245 yards), the Pats are middle of the pack (59 for 507). Indy has a 59.3 TD percentage in the Red Zone. New England is a little better with 61.9 (but fewer opportunities). The big difference is the Colts allow just 38.5 percent touchdowns in 13 opportunities, while New England has been allowing 68.2 percent in 22 opportunities.

The Pats are 30-6 during the regular season after Nov. 1, but this hasn't been typical New England weather lately. The forecast for tonight is 41 degrees at kickoff, clear (obviously no precipitation), with a brisk 9 mph breeze out of the west. Conditions aren't expected to vary greatly before midnight.

More Than Just Numbers

Let's get back to that question about why teams don't like coming to Gillette. With the numbers above (minus the schedules), it looks like the Patriots have no chance to even compete in this game. And while all the talking heads are rooting hard against New England, you can hear the hedge in their tone. "They're playing in Gillette. The Patriots rarely lose in Gillette."

Well, let's be frank. One reason the Pats are good at home is the weather. It's New England. We have it all, and we adapt to it in seconds. We expect sometimes hourly changes in conditions, and most other teams can't deal with that. But, as we've already seen, that probably won't be a factor tonight.

What else? The condition of the field. Like the parquet of the Boston Garden, there seems to be spots of all kinds on this playing surface. From that big brown stripe down the middle of the field to all the little divots and other vagaries, the Patriots appear to know what's where. Opponents always complain about the condition of the field. And it's odd, for such a beautiful and relatively new stadium that the surface is so bad. But, it's New England. Edge: Patriots.

"Cut that meat! Cut that meat!"

I say Patriot fans are among the loudest in the league. Gillette doesn't get that loud, but that's because of all the corporate wannabes that sit in their cozy little boxes and don't contribute to the atmosphere. But those that brave the elements make themselves heard. From the "Bruuuu!" when Tedy Bruschi does just about anything, to the "Cut that meat! Cut that meat!" that permeated Gillette during the playoffs last year, to the fan-made snow explosions following a 30-inch Nor'easter dumping, Patriot fans have a connection to this team's players. (I wonder if they'll stick with "Cut that meat!" or switch to "D caf! D caf!"). The loudest? Maybe not. And we don't wear dog masks and spiked shoulder pads. We're creative, and we get the job done.

(One cautionary note: New England has had Manning's number and Gillette has held it's parquet floor mystique, but if the Colts find a way to end those streaks tonight, it will eliminate that as a psychological factor in the future. In a way, there's a lot more than just a win or loss on the line. But not for this year's playoffs. If New England and Indy meet again, it will be in the RCA Dome.)

There's one more reason no one likes coming to Foxboro: Bill Belichick. No one prepares a team better. No one finds the weaknesses in an opponent better. No one designs a gameplan better. No one makes halftime adjustments better. Tony Dungy? He's great when he has a great team that has a cheeseball schedule. But in visits to Foxboro, Dungy has consistently been out-coached by Belichick. While the cards are stacked, and have been by the NFL, Belichick's boys will be prepared. It's whether they execute that remains to be determined.

Winning The Big One

Dynasty teetering on edge. We've been through this every step of the way since Drew Bledsoe took a helmet in the chest. The Patriots won every "important" big game in the last two seasons and in the season two years before. They've done it virtually every way conceivable, from dominating offense, to dominating defense, to hanging on by fingernails and kicking 5 field goals, to ... well, every way conceivable, like I said. How do the Patriots pull out this one?

Last week's return of Bruschi is significant. With only one defensive interception and only four forced fumbles in six games prior, Bruschi's return made two more turnovers possible. That may signal a change in some of the defense's capabilities. The Patriots will certainly need to make their share of big defensive plays, and the Patriots are a different team with Bruschi and without.

Pressuring Manning. New England will need to put pressure on Manning, disrupt his rhythm. With the Pats secondary hurting possibly worse than ever before, making Manning hear footsteps will be key. Hit him when you can, but be careful of the ever-potential "you hit Manning too hard" or "you hit Manning more than 5 microseconds after the ball left his hand" penalties.

Stopping the run. The Patriots have been horrible here all season long. Containing James is going to be a tough task, a task probably dedicated to Bruschi. Like Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams, New England is going to want to make sure James (like Marshall Faulk) takes a thump on every play.

Bumping the receivers. Disrupt their patterns. Slow them down at the line. When they touch a ball, hit them. Hard.

Penalties and turnovers. Plain and simple, you have to cut down on the former and increase the latter.

Hopefully, Richard Seymour will play. I don't expect he will.

Belichick usually has a pretty interesting defensive gameplan. Always something a little different. Never what you expect. I think this week will be something really different: a 3-8 or 2-9. Movement like a kicked over anthill. It will be Bruschi's job to control the chaos, perhaps the one thing he has really been preparing for all that time.

Whatever the gameplan, expect that Belichick spent a lot of time watching film of Week 3's Cleveland at Indy. The Browns held the Colts to 13 points, but could muster only 6 of their own. Regardless, as we all remember, Cleveland's new head coach is Romeo Crennel, the Patriots old defensive coordinator. The film should provide a good starting point on how to slow down Indy. How much Belichick finds useful in Week 9, we'll find out tonight.

Offensively, the Patriots simply need to protect the ball and keep the clock moving. Not something they've done particularly well lately, but something they're certainly capable of. A lot of pundits say the tight ends need to be more involved receiving. I think they need to block and then worry about receiving: i.e. HIT DWIGHT FREENEY, then release. I've also heard a lot about establishing the run, despite the spate of injuries to all the running backs. I say, come out in a five-wide set and hurl the ball everywhere to everyone.

Manning is going to be hucking the ball downfield, trying to exploit the weak secondary. That means their drives may not last long. New England needs to revert back to the 2001 offense: possession passing. Nickel and dime your way down the field 3, 4 yards at a time. Work the clock. Wear down the defense.

Maybe their "idiot kicker" Mike Vanderjagt will give us a hand. Or a foot.

The referee for tonight is Bernie Kukar. I like this guy more often than not. His crew is generally excellent, and they know the rules better than most.

It kills me to do this, but ...

Prediction: Colts, 34-24.

Once again, we won't have to suffer through Phil Simms saying how great Manning and Indianapolis are. The game will be broadcast on Channel 5. Al Michaels is your play-by-play man, and John Madden is the analyst. Michaels and Madden aren't as bad as they have been in the past. Tonight should be an interesting gauge to see whether they blow every little thing out of proportion or call it straight. Michele Tafoya is your useless sideline reporter. ... As usual, you can catch a better audio description of the game on WBCN 104.1 FM with Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti.

Week 9 Picks

2005-11-06T12:34:00.000-05:00

Time is short. I'll give you the Pats score in the game preview later today.
Late game picks coming soon ...

Sunday, Nov. 6
Atlanta (5-2) at Miami (3-4), 1 p.m.
Boy, is there going to be a LOT of running in this one. I'm really on the fence here, and for some reason, I'm picking ...
Prediction: Falcons, 21-17

Carolina (5-2) at Tampa Bay (5-2), 1 p.m.
"Cadillac" hasn't been the same since "Chuckie" burned him out and got him injured. Carolina has TWO running backs. (And a quarterback, and a ...)
Prediction: Panthers, 26-13

Cincinnati (6-2) at Baltimore (2-5), 1 p.m.
Balitmore is one of only four teams that has yet to score 100 points this season -- last with 88. Cincinnati is NOT one of the other three. Hey, I concluded the first two picks with an ellipsis, which is ...
Prediction: Bengals, 17-6

Detroit (3-4) at Minnesota (2-5), 1 p.m.
No Moss, no Culpepper. Nothing you could consider a coach. Could it get any worse? Yet, every time I pick against them ...
Prediction: Lions, 24-3

Houston (1-6) at Jacksonville (4-3), 1 p.m.
Think Houston can win 2 in a row? I wonder ...
Prediction: Jaguars, 24-10

Oakland (3-4) at Kansas City (4-3), 1 p.m.
Oakland has been playing pretty well, but ...
Prediction: Chiefs, 38-27

San Diego (4-4) at N.Y. Jets (2-5), 1 p.m.
Please ...
Prediction: Chargers, 34-9

Tennessee (2-6) at Cleveland (2-5), 1 p.m.
The games are about to start ...
Prediction: Browns, 17-14.

Chicago (4-3) at New Orleans (2-6) in Baton Rouge, LA, 4:05 p.m.
You never know which New Orleans team is going to show up; or, when the good one shows up, if they're going to get screwed. They could as easily be 6-2 as 2-6 (although I predicted they'd be 0-8). Chicago is in first place, which indicates just how bad the NFC North really is. Aaron Brooks is far from a great quarterback, but Kyle Orton? Orton hasn't thrown a pass in his last 62 attempts. He's due. New Orleans needs to get hold of their turnover ratio.
Prediction: Saints, 24-13.

N.Y. Giants (5-2) at San Francisco (2-5), 4:05 p.m.
Think SanFran can win two in a row? I guarantee there is absolutely no way New York loses this game. I'll stake my Keurig single-cup coffee brewer on it.
Prediction: Giants, 42-9

Seattle (5-2) at Arizona (2-5), 4:05 p.m.
Seattle has had two weeks to prepare for this game -- not that they'd need it. Geez, not too many good games this week.
Prediction: Seahawks, 33-13.

Pittsburgh (5-2) at Green Bay (1-6), 4:15 p.m.
Pittsburgh has a thousand -- no a million -- injuries. Doesn't matter. The only hope Green Bay has is that Vince Lombardi exhumes himself and brings Curley Lambeau with him.
Prediction: Steelers, 36-24.

Philadelphia (4-3) at Washington (4-3), 8:30 p.m.
I can't say what Terrell Owens deserves to have said about him. If there's something worse than "a cancer", that's a good start. Both teams are 3-0 at home and 1-3 on the road. Both teams have given up four more points than they've scored. You can keep throwing stats at this game all day, and you'll never know what the heck is going on. Possibly the most interesting? Philadelphia has the No. 1 passing offense in the league; Washington has the No. 1 passing defense in the league.
Prediction: Redskins, 23-20

Monday, Nov. 7
Indianapolis at New England, 9 p.m.
Prediction: (Will be posted after game preview is written later today/tonight).

Open date: Buffalo, Dallas, Denver, St. Louis

Prediction: Drew Bledsoe does not get sacked this weekend. (Actually, he might, but it won't appear on a stat sheet.)

Last week: 8-6. Better than bad. Not as good as great.
Season: 65-51. I repeat: This is not against the spread.

Indy @ Pats Injury Report: Seymour Still "Questionable"

2005-11-02T21:33:00.000-05:00

The following are the injury reports submitted by the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots to the NFL on Wednesday. For New England, cornerback Duane Starks, safety Eugene Wilson, and linebacker/special-teamer Larry Izzo have been removed from the list. Receivers Tim Dwight and David Givens, fullback Patrick Pass, and tight end Ben Watson have been added.

Richard Seymour remains listed as questionable with an unspecified knee injury. He was inactive Sunday against Buffalo, which makes you wonder just how serious that injury is. Same for receiver Troy Brown, cornerback Randall Gay and safety James Sanders.

Indianapolis Colts
DOUBTFUL
OLB Keith O'Neil (Shoulder)
QUESTIONABLE
DT Larry Tripplett (Ankle)
PROBABLE
DT Vincent Burns (Knee)
DE Dwight Freeney (Foot)
SS Joseph Jefferson (Toe)
OLB Cato June (Groin)
DE Robert Mathis (Toe)
FS Bob Sanders (Forearm)
G Jake Scott (Knee)
TE Ben Utecht (Chest)

New England Patriots
OUT
RB Kevin Faulk (Foot)
T Matt Light (Ankle)
QUESTIONABLE
WR Troy Brown (Foot)
RB Corey Dillon (Ankle)
WR Tim Dwight (Rib)
CB Randall Gay (Ankle)
WR David Givens (Knee)
DE Jarvis Green (Shoulder)
DE Marquise Hill (Ankle)
OLB Willie McGinest (Finger)
FB Patrick Pass (Hamstring)
SS James Sanders (Ankle)
DE Richard Seymour (Knee)
DE Ty Warren (Hip)
TE Ben Watson (Knee)
PROBABLE
QB Tom Brady (Shoulder)

Bruschi: AFC Defensive Player of the Week

2005-11-02T16:30:00.000-05:00

From NFL.com:

In his first game of 2005, New England linebacker Tedy Bruschi totaled 10 tackles to help the Patriots seize a 21-16 win against Buffalo. Bruschi became the first player in NFL history to return to the playing field after suffering a mild stroke. Six of his tackles were made within three yards of the line of scrimmage. With the win, New England (4-3) owns sole possession of first place in the AFC East. The 32-year-old linebacker raised his arms early in the game to energize New England's “12th Man” and called signals in the huddle. Often called the “heart and soul” of New England's defense, Bruschi had been working out and attending meetings regularly since the start of training camp.

In his 10th year from Arizona, this is the San Francisco native's fifth career Player of the Week award and his third honor in his past 14 games.

Commentary

Sorry, John Dennis.

Underdogs Again ... Finally

2005-11-01T23:35:00.000-05:00

The best thing that could have happened to the New England Patriots this week, other than a Healer fixing up Rodney Harrison, Kevin Faulk, Richard Seymour and Matt Light (at least), is that the oddsmakers have made the Patriots an early underdog (3 to 3.5 points) -- an underdog at Gillette Stadium!

Yes, if New England ever needed some kind of external, emotional life, perceived or otherwise, it's this week when once again the unbeatable, unstoppable, (and this time) undefeated Indianapolis Colts invade Foxboro to finally destroy the demons that have haunted them and blocked their path to NFL immortality.

As all good fanatics in Patriots Nations know, the Bill Belichick Patriots are 7-1 against Peyton Manning, 6-0 if you count only the Belichick-Brady era. Belichick is 9-3 overall as a head coach against Indianapolis.

Here's some other good news: The Colts are 3-6 following their last nine bye weeks.

Of course, there's been rampant speculation, including in this area of cyberspace, that this is Manning's best chance with most of New England's defensive secondary including Harrison sidelined, with the other various defensive injuries like Seymour that will lessen the pressure on Manning, and with Romeo Crennel on another team's sideline. Then there's Indy's 7-0 record and their point total and yada, yada, yada.

And, really, you have to think that at some point, Belichick and Mangini and everyone else will have come up with everything possible to "confuse" Manning and the Indy offense, and sooner or later Manning is going to catch up.

But over the last several years, there's been one team that thrived, that fed off, that desired that Rodney-Dangerfield-No-Respect persona. Especially at home. "It's us against the world. We are the underdogs. But this is our house. And if you come into our house, we're gonna bite you."

Much more to come on this game. Stay tuned.

Evans In, Zereoue Out

2005-11-01T22:31:00.000-05:00

With the offensive backfield deteriorating to look more like the defensive backfield, the New England Patriots signed fullback Heath Evans today. To make room on the 53-man roster, New England release running back Amos Zereoue. The terms of the Evans deal were not disclosed.

Evans will wear No. 44 for the Patriots.

Evans is 26 and listed at 6 feet, 250 points. He was drafted out of Auburn by Seattle in the third round (82nd overall) of the 2001 draft. Evans played three years in Seattle, before landing in Miami this season where he played in six games, starting two at fullback.

In his pro career, Evans has 34 carries for 108 yards, 16 receptions for 104 yards, 13 kickoff returns for 189 yards, and 15 special teams tackles. Despite his apparent versatility, he is considered primarily a blocking fullback. At Auburn, he was a lead blocking back and occassional tailback.

Zereoue, 28, was signed by the Patriots on Sept. 28 and played in three games, logging 7 rushes for 14 yards and 1 catch for 5 yards. He has previously played with Pittsburgh and Oakland.

Corey Dillon played well on a sore ankle after Patrick Pass went down with a hamstring injury early in the second quarter of New England's 21-16 win over Buffalo on Sunday. Kevin Faulk remains out indefinitely with an injured foot. However, releasing Zereoue and not placing Faulk on injured reserve may signal the Patriots are confident that Faulk will be back before the end of the season.

COMMENT

The Patriots are in dire straits heading into Monday Night's matchup with Indianapolis. This may seem like a fairly insignificant move, considering the state of the defensive backfield. On the other hand, if New England's best chance is to match Indy score-for-score, having an extra back blocking for Tom Brady may be the best move Scott Piolo and Bill Belichick could have made. Colts' defensive end Dwight Freeney already will have an advantage against an inexperienced left side of the Pats offensive line, and the extra blocker will be needed. Don't expect Evans to get many, if any touches. He's there to protect Brady, lead the way for Dillon and maybe free up a tight end.

Patriots-Bills: Analysis and Comment

2005-10-31T23:58:00.000-05:00

Let's get this out of the way so I can talk about some irrelevent stuff: The Patriots have nothing much resembling a professional football defensive secondary, and they're in dire straits heading into Monday Night's matchup against Indianapolis, who -- not by coincidence -- have two weeks to prepare for the game.

"Not a conspiracy!" say those who have it in for New England. Just so happens that New England plays four or five of the toughest teams in the league and has a bunch of injuries while Indy has seven creampuffs and then a bye the week before they play the Patriots.

I'll say this: If New England wins, it's either a sign of the Apocalypse or Bill Belichick is literally a god.

OK, let's get back to last night's miracle.

It's a good thing Buffalo is terrible, except for Willis McGaHee. He had 136 yards on 31 carries, and probably could have had a whole lot more. The openings in New England's defense look like a humongus T -- right up the middle, and everywhere deep. Even with Tedy Bruschi back on the field, the Patriots couldn't stop anything coming up the gut, and couldn't get any forward pressure on Kelly Holcomb.

That's not helping a tremendously depleted and already overmatched defensive secondary. Yes, they're going to have to learn to fend for themselves, but some help up front would be greatly appreciated. Hopefully, this Richard Seymour thing won turn into a repeat of last year's Ty Law thing. It's great that Belichick doesn't tip his hand to other teams, but the fans are dying to know what's going on with "our" players. Be nice if we could disseminate that info to just the proper parties.

Bruschi's Impact

I think there is an obvious difference between when Bruschi is on the field and when he isn't. Ya, I know I said that it didn't change Buffalo's ability from running up the middle, but Bruschi's impact is far more subtle. Despite what John Dennis says, the defense is far more organized and disciplined when Bruschi is on the field. When he's on the field and it isn't organized and disciplined, things get fixed.

As I pointed out in my post-game, maybe he had only 2 solo tackles and 5 assists on the stat sheet, but maybe Buffalo altered their game plans to work around the Big-Play man, or maybe they allocated additional resources (sorry, I went corporate there a second) to neutralize Bruschi, and that allowed other players to finally make a couple big plays. And maybe's Bruschi's direction put those players in the right places to make them.

Ultimately, I don't have the information to state this as fact, but I do have enough circumstantial evidence to support a pretty solid case.

The Running Men

These injuries are really getting out of hand. There's no other explanation other than "The football gods deem it so." The football gods like mini dynasties. They don't like anything lasting more than 5 years, and they never let anyone win three cosecutive Super Bowls. But, really, Patrick Pass was running alone in open field and his hamstring tightened up like a banjo string. Patriot players don't even need contact anymore.

Well, now we're back to Corey Dillon, who was listed as questionable, but looked pretty darn good. Not a bad option, but football heaven help us if anything else goes wrong with him. We might have Dan Klecko carrying the ball. Actually, it's probably more likely that it would be one of the receivers or one of the return men, like Ellis Hobbs; but, like Belichick told the Big Show on Monday, rather than saying who might be next on the list, "Let's just hope it doesn't come to that."

Mularkey Is Full of Baloney

Mike Mularkey really blew it. I'm surprised the Buffalo News said nothing about it. Neither did the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, and they actually gave Bills coaching a "B" grade. Mularkey challenged two Patriot pass completions where it was evident to me, a guy probably 200 yards from the play, that the calls would stand. And then, on the reception that led to New England's winning score, he didn't have a challenge left to even try to overturn a questionable, crucial call.

I don't understand some coaches sometimes. They challenge the most inconsequential plays and then have no leg to stand on when the game is on the line. (That's to say nothing of two-point conversions.) When this game comes down to it, with all the other angles you can talk about, Bill Belichick simply outcoached Mularkey ... again.

Harbinger of Unnatural Acts

The minute I saw referee Ron Winter on the big screen preparing for the coin flip, I knew it would be a poorly officiated game. His crew is not the best, and he looks like the kind of guy those lame beer commericials mock. When you're mocked by a lame beer commercial, you're in trouble.

There were some questionable calls early. There were some questionable calls late. There were some obvious calls completely missed.

This I don't understand. People who know the game can really follow it easily at the stadium. You can see so much more than a TV closeup will ever show you. So despite us standing about 200 yards from most plays, I could see some very obvious penalties to which the officials were obviously blind. Sometimes stuff right at the point of action, too. I don't get it.

Then came that defensive delay of game penalty on the Patriots ... something about "unnatural acts" that had all of us in the stands scratching our heads. Turns out it's something of a neutral zone infraction, but Winter just bungled the whole thing. I guess that was a legitimate call, but when they miss so many other plain-sight penalties, you wonder how they catch something like that.

A Couple of Actual Game Notes

1 - In case you didn't know, it's very unusual for a team to be blasted that badly in time of possession and win. A nearly 2-to-1 ratio is hard enough to believe, and in such cases, you expect the team on the short end to have been trounced. As poorly as the defense played, they certainly did a few things right. Unfortunately, we were so involved in the game, it was hard to keep track of who was making a lot of the key plays.

2 - Linebacker Mike Vrabel was one guy we knew made a few great plays. As a matter of fact, he led the team again in tackles (9 solo, 5 assists, 1 sack and a pass defensed), his third time.

3 - Brady looked pretty sharp with only a couple bad throws, but receivers continue to drop some pretty clean passes. He's also going to need to grow some eyes in the back of his head. The backside pressure was relentless, and the Pats didn't seem to have an answer for it. That's what caused Brady's fumble, incidentally.

4 - Despite a solid group of tight ends with good hands, this group seems to be tethered to the offensive line to help blocking. I think it's the difference between those lightning quick drives that you can't depend on, and those long, grinding, wear-down-the-defense drives the Patriots are capable of when Ben Watson, Christian Fauria and Daniel Graham are catching passes that have been the staple of three championships.

5 - It was good to see New England pound in those two 1-yard touchdowns, especially with the O line getting dominated so often this season. Let's hope that's a turning point.

6 - The rematch is set for 1 p.m. on Dec. 11 in Orchard Park, NY. New England has won 9 of the last 10 meetings, except that 31-0 debacle to open the 2003 season (which, of course, we all remember was avenged in the last game that season, in another game that ended 31-0).

The Gillette Stadium Experience

The traffic on Route 1 wasn't as bad as when we went to see the Chargers on a Sunday afternoon a few weeks ago. We got to the stadium in less than 20 minutes (after hitting Rte. 1) and were strolling the ramps only a few minutes later. There were no lines at the gates, but we went through more than an hour before game time.

We were standing in what I think is the southwest corner of the stadium, to the left of the end zone the Pats defended in the first quarter. We were behind section 204. (Check out the
satellite photo on Google Maps. It shows a stripped Foxboro Stadium and a half-built Gillette. Pretty neat.) We generally had a great view of the field and the scoreboards (when no one in front of us was standing), and we were shielded from the brisk wind.

Unfortunately, it was the one section in the stadium where the people in the last row of the section just in front of the standing-room area felt it necessary to stand, despite the fact that no one in front of them were standing. Just goes to show that you'll meet jerks and idiots no matter where you are. A group of young men standing beside us asked the guys with seats if they'd sit down, and they guys with seats told them (basically) "we want to stand, and we can". I don't understand it. Eventually, they did sit, but it was well into the first half, and people were in bad moods.

The same group of young men beside us complained to one of the stadium employees whose job it is to keep the standing-room people behind a red line painted on the deck about 2-3 feet behind a railing about 2 feet behind the last row of seats. He, of course, said there was nothing he could do. It sounded like, "You paid $60 per person to stand here? Tough luck." As much as the Krafts have done for the Patriots and their fans, this is a little insulting.

We were pretty far from the vending areas, which is probably just as well. Last thing I need is a greasy sausage or bucket of wings. And since we parked at the stadium and didn't walk a couple miles, I wasn't dehydrated enough to splurge several bucks for a beverage.

At least there were speakers in the area. There are lots of standing room areas that you can't hear the stadium announcer. Overall, it was a decent place if you have standing room tickets, but we'll be checking out a few more areas later in the season.

I really wish I could get an explanation of the red line, because it's not just in places behind seating areas.

Post-Game, Week 8: Patriots 21 @ Buffalo 16

2005-10-31T22:44:00.000-05:00

New England Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi returned to the field, and the Patriots survived an inane imbalance in first-half time of possession and scored three touchdowns in the second half to defeat the Buffalo Bills, 21-16, and claim a one-game lead in the AFC East.

Bruschi, less than 9 months removed from a stroke following the Patriots most recent Super Bowl victory, returned to the playing field and played a lot. The man called the "heart and soul of the Patriots defense" recorded 2 solo tackles and 5 assists on 64 of 77 defensive plays. But by far, his contributions were felt much deeper than a few numbers on the stat sheet.

"With Bruschi out there we played with a different intensity and it was good," safety Eugene Wilson said. "As soon as he came back to practice, you could see the difference in the players."

Indeed, a lackluster Patriots defense that has broken past bending the last several weeks still struggled mightily but gave up only 3 points despite Buffalo controlling the clock for 22 of 30 minutes in the first half. Bruschi's presence may have forced Buffalo to recognize his threat, concentrate on him, freeing up other players to do what they have been unable to up to now.

Maybe a recognition of Bruschi's presence contributed to what many have called the play of the game: The Patriots down 16-14 with 6:20 left in the game, linebacker Rosevelt Colvin came on a blind-side blitz to strip-sack Buffalo quarterback Kelly Holcomb. Colvin recovered the fumble himself, and that led to the Patriots' winning score.

"We're in the huddle saying somebody do something," Bruschi said. Â"We needed someone to make a play, and he was the guy tonight."

A lot of guys made plays when they absolutely needed to. But for the most part, it was a frightful affair somewhat reminiscent of last year's Halloween debacle at Pittsburgh: a game of mis-tackles and huge tracts of yardage.

''We didn't play as well defensively as we wanted to," said linebacker Willie McGinest. ''There are some things we can do better. We're going to work it out. If we don't get better, there are going to be some problems."

In addition to Colvin's play, Asante Samuel piHolcomb Holcombe with 6:31 left in the third quarter. It was only the second interception this season for the Patriots and just the first by a defensive back.

Buffalo controlled the majority of the clock in all four quarters, but the first half was virtually unprecedented. The Bills owned the ball for a full 12 minutes in the first quarter and 10:08 more in the second. Even in the second half, Buffalo held a 17:13 to 12:47 clock edge. That's just under a 40- to 20-minute advantage.

Despite the lopsidedness, Buffalo scored just 3 points on a Ryan Lindell chip-shot field goal with 8:41 left to play in the second quarter. Lindell missed a 46-yarder on the Bills previous series, and New England's Adam Vinatieri missed a 44-yarder at the end of the half.

Things changed rapidly in the third quarter. The Patriots took the second-half kickoff and streaked down the field in 2:28, the drive culminating on a 33-yard in-stride pass from Tom Brady to Deion Branch. The lead was short-lived as the Bills struck back in 83 seconds on a 55-yard Holcomb to Eric Moulds hookup.

A couple of early fourth-quarter field goals put Buffalo up 16-7 before New England, backs comfortably against the wall, scored on their next two possessions, both Corey Dillon 1-yard touchdowns with Dan Klecko filling in a fullback. The first score followed a 3:01 drive sparked by a first-play 37 yard loft to Branch that was unsuccessfully challenged by Buffalo. Following Colvin's heroics, the Patriots scored on two plays: a 22-yard bullet from Brady to Branch, and Dillon's dive.

Branch had three receptions (for 92 yards), all of them scores or key plays leading to scores.

Dillon gained 72 yards on 18 carries (4.0 avg) in relief of Patrick Pass who pulled up lame and fumbled on a left-side second-down sweep on the second play of the second quarter. The injury was reported to be a hamstring, and Pass did not return. There is no information on his status.

Brady finished with 199 yards on 14 of 21 passing. In addition to his three completions to Branch, he hit David Givens 7 times for 58 yards and just four other receivers just once each.

Holcomb had 263 yards on 20 of 33 passing with a touchdown and an interception. Moulds had 125 of those yards on 9 receptions, including his touchdown. Willis McGahee had 136 yards on 31 carries (4.4 avg) as the middle of the Patriots defense remained very soft.

New England defensive lineman Richard Seymour, who said he would play in Sunday night's game, did not practice Thursday or Friday and was listed inactive. It was the third consecutive game Seymour missed.

Next week: Buffalo has its bye week. The Bills (3-5) host Kansas City (4-3) the following Sunday at 1 p.m. New England (4-3) hosts Indianapolis (8-0) next Monday Night at 9 p.m.

Quotes in this story were taken from the Boston Herald and The Boston Globe.

Patriots vs. Bills open thread

2005-10-30T17:27:00.000-05:00

Keep focused on this week. Win this one and gain control of the division. The Bills certainly are beatable. You're going to have to make all the noise this week yourselves. I'm heading down to Gillette in a few minutes.

Wherever you are, root, root, root for the home team, and have a Bruschi!

GO PATS!

Game Preview: Week 8, Patriots vs. Buffalo

2005-10-30T16:58:00.000-05:00

The story of the week, to no one's surprise, is Tedy Bruschi (sorry, John Dennis).

At some point tonight, Bruschi will make his return to the field as the New England Patriots play their first division game of the season against the visiting Buffalo Bills. No matter when he actually takes the field, his impact will be felt well before the game starts and will come to a head during team introductions. While the Pats still are introduced as a team, you know that Gillette Stadium will be filled with a low-humming Bruuuuuuuu, and the scoreboard video operator will coincidentally have a live shot of No. 54 for all to see. There will be a red, white and deep blue sea of No. 54 jerseys in the stands.

What happens from there is anyone's guess, whether Bruschi starts, plays significant time, makes significant plays, has significant impact directing and settling (up to now) a chaotic defense. With more than two-thirds of the Patriots top defensive backs out for the season, or at least the game, Bruschi's presence could be the difference.

Buffalo has certainly had trouble of late. After a couple solid performances by Kelly Holcombe, Buffalo got crushed by a questionable Oakland squad, one that before the season should have been chalked up as an automatic. So there is some question -- as there always seems to be in Buffalo -- who is going to start at quarterback.

Adding insult to injury, Buffalo had a chance to take sole possession of the AFC East against the Raiders. They didn't. They actually fell to second, behind the Patriots, who now have their own opportunity to stake a solid claim to the division lead. But this game is certainly important. Buffalo, so far, is 2-0 in the division.

So, what do the Patriots need to do to win? They need to play like the New England Patriots: Solid defense, few penalties, create turnovers, strong in the red zone, protect the ball, control the ball, battle for field position. They haven't done all those things consistently well this season. They haven't done a lot of the former at all this season. But Bruschi has been one of those guys in the past that made a tremendous difference in those categories. While it's very unlikely that he's in 1995-2004 condition, even a slight impact can make a big difference.

All areas of the defense are still suspect. Up front, an ailing Richard Seymour may return after sitting out against Denver and taking advantage of the bye to heal up. However, Jarvis Green may sit out, which should still be an overall improvement, but you'd really like to have the extra bodies, especially against a team that's likely to test the run defense.

The list of defensive backs available for the game is shorter than the list of the injured. Buffalo has only four plays of 20 yards or more this season. Expect Holcombe/J.P. Losman to look for Eric Moulds deep to at least draw a few penalties if not simply burn a cornerback or two.

Red-zone defense will be under the microscope. Buffalo has allowed 14 touchdowns on 21 opponents' red-zone trips. That 66.7 percent failure rate might look bad, especially since it's 31st in the league. Unfortunately, New England is 32nd at 78.9 percent.

And so, the Patriots are going to have to put a fair -- no, a good -- number of points on the board. Corey Dillon could have another great game against the 31st rushing defense in the league. If he plays. He's still nursing an ankle. Amos Zereoue also has a bruised thigh, but Patrick Pass appears to be healthy, and he's shown he can do some serious damage to a stat sheet.

The good news is that New England doesn't have any wide receivers or tight ends on the injury report, and outside of Matt Light, no offensive linemen. Brady, who actually leads the league in passing (sorry, Ron Borges), remains listed with a shoulder injury, but we know by now that it isn't affecting his game. This healthy passing offense is going to need to carry its nearly crippled defensive counterpart for at least another game.

The Bills are ranked third against the pass, actually allowing fewer yards passing (153.6 ypg) than rushing (159.0 ypg). That may be misleading. With teams running roughshod, they've had little incentive to pass. Buffalo's pass defense is certainly good. They have 9 interceptions, led by Troy Vincent with 3.

Overall, Buffalo is plus-8 in turnover ratio. The Pats are -6. Not good. Mike Vrabel still leads New England with 1 pick. One!

Buffalo has done pretty well on special teams. Terrence McGee is averaging more than 34 yards per kickoff return, and New England has struggled defending returns. Bethel Johnson and Ellis Hobbs have nearly identical 24-plus yards per kickoff return. Neither team has returned a kick or punt for a touchdown this season.

Ryan Lindell is 15 of 16 on field goal attempts, but if it comes down to strictly kicking, well, I'll just say: Adam Vinatieri.

The Pats have won their last two games following the bye, beating the Bills in Buffalo during Week 4 last year amidst New England's record winning streak. The last loss following the bye was home against Denver in 2002. The Pats are 7-9 in their history following the bye, and 3-2 under Bill Belichick. Belichick teams are 10-6 following a bye.

Oh, by the way, New England lost their last game, 28-20, to Denver. They haven't lost back-to-back games in a really long time.

Prediction: Patriots, 34-17.

More good news for you viewers watching at home: You don't have to suffer Phil Simms flag waving for virtually any Patriot opponent. The bad news is you're stuck with play-by-play man Mike Patrick and "analysts" Joe Theismann and buffoon Paul Maguire. The game will also be broadcast on Channel 5. Suzy Kolber will provide meaningless reports and ask inane questions on the sideline. ... As usual, you can catch a better audio description of the game on WBCN 104.1 FM with Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti.