Thursday Morning Third Down Back

The Patriots play their seventh game of the season against the Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday October 30th at 4:15 PM. Impressive win over the Cowboys two weeks ago.  I didn't think they had a chance of pulling that one out. I also listed 5 guys (mmm... Five Guys ... ) who had a chance of picking off Romo in that game.  And the correct answer was... Kyle Arrington.  Nailed it. NEW FEATURE -- Did Chad Ochocinco have a catch last week? NO.   Chad Ochocinco with one of his many, many catches this season. Here's five things I'll be watching for this week: 1) Tom Brady - Brady has traditionally shredded the Pittsburgh defense.  They don't mix things up much.  If you do the same thing over and over again, #12 will kill you. 2) Rob Gronkowski - Even on the bye week, Gronk totally scored .  I've got him on my fantasy football team.  I should get points for that, no? 3) New England Pass Defense - Let's be optimists here and list them as...

The Patriots play their sixth game of the season against the Cowboys at Gillette Stadium on Sunday October 16th at 4:15 PM. First - I would be remiss without mentioning BenJarvus Green-Ellis.  He had a hell of a game last week. What's going on in this picture?  Why is Brady 11 feet tall? Second - Was the defense better last week?  Or were the Jets just lousy?  Either way, I'll take it.  Holding the Jets to 3 for 11 on third down?  Niiiice. Third - These 4:15 games are killing me.  My kid usually naps from 12:30 to 3:00-ish on the weekends.  If it's a 1:00 o'clock game, I can get 2/3rds of that game in without also having to tend to parenting duties.  By 4:15, he's up and wants to watch "Scooby Doo" and "Phineas and Ferb".  "Sorry Buddy... Daddy gets to watch his show right now." Here's five guys I think could pick off Tony Romo this week: 1) Devin McCourty - He's leading the team in tackles.  He looked somewhat bett...

The Patriots play their fifth game of the season against the Jets at Gillette Stadium on Sunday October 9th at 4:15 PM. I don't know how to put this, but...  the defense... is not good.  After all this talk about improved quarterback pressure, revamped defensive lines and 3 - 4 vs. 4 - 3, we still can't get off the field when we have to.  This doesn't have the look of a team that looks like it's built to go deep into the playoffs right now.  I keep reminding myself that it's early.  There's still time.  The only bright spot the last few weeks was the emergence of Stevan Ridley .  Hot damn, he's fast.  I can't ever remember the Pats having a burner like that in the backfield. Moving on to this week - I'm not as worried about the Jets as I was at the beginning of the year.  Sanchez seems to have taken a step back.  (Now watch him throw for 425 yards this week.  Ugh.) Cover up that ball. Let's take a look at the leaders of ...