Thursday Morning Third Down Back

By Patty O'Tool The Patriots play their seventh regular season game on the road against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday October 25th at 1:00 PM. I think the game is in England or something. I can't really find any information to confirm . I will celebrate this tidbit by watching the game with a Guinness. (and at some point I'll get around to making my own fish and chips. But that just seems like a ton of work and is likely to make the house smell for a whole week. (Wanna sound British next time you're at a party? Just put "innit?" at the end of every sentence. Works every time.)) Tom Brady - My god, he looked good last week. Can he keep that up? No, of course not. But I'd expect to see at least 3 TDs this week. Adalius Thomas - Mr. Thomas, last week was your wakeup call. Want to be a Patriot next year? Start showing us something. The Field - The turf at Wembley Stadium should get a work out this week. Soccer players usually weigh 120 pounds...

By Patty O'Tool Downs Ummm... Nobody, really. Who is going to complain after a 59 - 0 ass whupin'? OK, fine then... Adalius Thomas. Ups Tom Brady - Brady to Moss was workin'. That flea flicker was downright orgasmic. Offensive Line - Brady looked pretty clean all day. Plenty of time back there. Plus Sebastian Vollmer looked good. Matt Light might be done after this year. Defense - Maybe younger and faster is a good thing. Kerry Collins looked JaMarcus Russell-esque out there going 2 of 14 for -7 yards. Ouch. Overall Record: 4 - 2. Uniform Record: Pat Patriot 2 - 1. Flying Elvis 2 - 1.

By Patty O'Tool The Patriots play their sixth regular season game at home against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday October 18th at 4:15 PM. 1) Tom Brady - I sense a little redemption coming this week. Plus he looks much more comfortable at home lately. 2) Junior Seau - We'll probably actually see him on the field this week. I set the over/under at 15 snaps, with a 2 late hit penalty teaser. 3) Randy Moss - He's due for a big week. I'll mark him down for 2 TDs. Did you see his INT at the end of the first half last week? The Moss is made of awesomeness. 4) Third WR - Oh, won't someone please emerge as the third option after Moss and Welker? Is Donte' Stallworth free? No? He isn't? Oh well. 5) Sammy Morris - He's as good a third WR as we've got right now. He should be on the field quite a bit on Sunday. My prediction: Pats 38, Titans 10.

Downs Tom Brady - Brady kinda stunk. 5 for 14 in the 2nd half. Ugh. If we just play our "B" game, we win that game. Instead, we turned in a "C minus" game. Pass Rush - Orton did a good job of getting rid of the ball quickly, but his uniform stayed pretty clean all day. Ups Benjamin Watson - Catches his 3rd TD. He already has more more than all of last season! Linebackers - Mayo returns and forces a fumble. Rob Ninkovich and TBC made some nice plays. Good stuff. Defense - It took 4 and 1/2 quarters for the defense to finally give up 20 points. Our defense has suddenly become a strength. I like it. Again... a little bit more of a pass rush would be nice though. Losing always hurts. But relax... We're still in first place. We've got two 0 and 5 teams coming up the next two weeks. We'll be fine. Overall Record: 3 - 2. Uniform Record: Pat Patriot 1 - 1. Flying Elvis 2 - 1.

Drew Brees - WR? http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/gallery/featured/GAL1161258/2/12/index.htm

By Patty O'Tool The Patriots play their fifth regular season game on the road against the Denver Broncos on Sunday October 11th at 4:15 PM. I'm still buzzed from last week's game. Good stuff. But when I broke down the tape of me watching the game, I feel like I could have made a few improvements (what? You don't film yourself watching the game?). I was watching the game on Tivo, so I didn't haven't to sit through the injuries and challenges. That was good. But I was a little slow on the draw in fast forwarding through the commercials. I promise to do better this week. 1) The Broncos Defense - Are they for real? Or is it just smoke and mirrors? They're 4 and 0, and they've only given up 26 points to date. But they've also done it against such offensive juggernauts as the Browns and the Raiders. The Patriots' offense is slightly better than that. And after us, Denver plays San Diego, Baltimore and Pittsburgh. Yikes. Good luck with all ...

by Patty O'Tool Downs Laurence Maroney - Seven rushes for 6 yards? Ouch. Joey Galloway - I think I'll start calling him Joseph Galloway. That has more gravitas. Ray Lewis - Made about as many plays as Joseph Galloway. Ups Tom Brady - Has he been shaking off the rust? Or was that the suck of Joey Galloway rubbing off on him? The Secondary - Brandon Meriweather is starting to look like a stud. These might be the best corners we've had in years. And McGowan is my new binky. (Plus there was some kind of double safety blitz that resulted in a Flacco sandwich. Awesome.) D-Line - Anyone miss still Seymour? I told ya. I like seeing Mike Wright and Jarvis Green out there. What a great game that was. I like it. Overall Record: 3 - 1. Uniform Record: Pat Patriot 1 - 0. Flying Elvis 2 - 1.