Skip to main content

Five Things to Watch This Week - Week 16 (Game 15)

The Patriots play their fifteenth game of the season at Gillette against the Miami Dolphins on Saturday December 24th at 1:00 PM.

Yay!  Saturday football.

Don't look now, but the Pats are on track to have the number one seed in the AFC.

Really.

With that defense.

Really.


Aaron Hernandez makes it rain against the Broncos.

Dear Santa - I want a pass rush for Patriots this year for Christmas in these last few games.  Please?  What's that?  We lost Andre Carter last week?  Oh... OK.

Here's five guys in the secondary I'll be hoping can pick things up a bit in the next few weeks:

1) Patrick Chung - Will Chung be back this week?  Maybe! 

2) Devin McCourty - Is he getting slightly less terrible as the year goes on?  Kinda.  Not a great sophomore year for #32.

3) Kyle Arrington - Also questionable.  I see a lot of "questionables" on the injury report this week.  Outlook not good.

4) James Ihedigbo - I think he got hurt six times last week.  Dude, just stay down.

5) Matthew Slater / Julian Edelman - The converted WRs / Special Teams guys haven't been that bad in the secondary.  Seriously.  But it's really not a good sign that they've been on the field with the defense so much this year.  General Manager Belichick has really let down Coach Belichick with the defensive draft picks the last few years.


Did Chad Ochocinco have a catch last week?

YES.

(And a touchdown, too!)

My prediction: Pats 31, Dolphins 24

Stay hydrated, my friends.


*****

This year, we're going to have regular contributions from Fake Bill Belichick for your reading pleasure.  Here's this week's selection from Fake Bill Belichick's "Tales From a Life in Football":

It's Christmas 1991. It's my first year as a head coach in Cleveland.  The PR department thinks it would be a good idea for me to dress up like Santa Claus and hang out in the stadium parking lot handing out footballs to the local kids.

I reluctantly go along with it.  I put the Santa suit on and head on out.  I'm trying to be a good guy.

I thought they were going to just have me throwing balls to the crowd.  I didn't realize until I was actually out there that they wanted to have kids sitting on my lap.

The first two kids sit on my lap and get their footballs without any problems.  Then I can see the third kid is going to be trouble.

He's maybe 10 or 12.  Kinda thick.  He staggers over to me.  There's a strong smell coming off him.

"Is that beer I smell?" I ask him.  "Kid, it's 10:15 in the morning."

And then he barfs on me.

Then he looks up at me says, "Welcome to Cleveland, dick."

The beer barf goes right through the Santa suit.  I'm soaked.

Ever since that day, I wear the hooded sweatshirt at all times as a protective layer.

Even to bed.

True story.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Three Things to Watch This Week - Week 3

The New England Patriots play Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday September 23rd at 8:20 PM. Gordon Power Rankings 1) Cole 2) Flash 3) Kim 4) Levitt 5) Sumner 6) (Sesame Street) 7) Lightfoot 8) Shumway 9) Emily v 10) Hayword 11) the Big Engine 12) Jump 13) Josh (Who knew there were so many Gordons!) Here's three things I'm worried about for Sunday evening: 1) The secondary - Eric Rowe isn't making me forget about Malcolm Butler any time soon.  Assuming the Lions have changed their signals by now . Stafford might be able to throw all over the place on them.  Concerns.  I have them.  2) Tom Brady - TB12 got beat up pretty good last week, didn't he?  There was no rhythm (Did I spell that right?  "Rhythm"?  That doesn't look right.) .  I'd like to see some long sustained drives. 3) Sony Michel - With Jeremy Hill out on injured reserve, the Patriots started to work first round pick Sony...

Five Things to Watch This Week.

By Patty O'Tool The Patriots play their fourth preseason game at home against the New York Giants on Thursday, September 3rd at 7:30 PM Oh man, do I hate the Giants. I still wake up thinking about how close we were to 19 and 0. I don't think I'll ever get over that. Here's five things I'll be watching for on Thursday: 1) Tom Brady. How well does he hold the clipboard on the sideline? Does he hold it with his left hand or his right hand? Will he be in uniform or street clothes? These are the big questions for #12 tonight. 2) Laurence Maroney . OK, kid. I've been apologizing for you for three years now. Show me something. 3) Joey Galloway. I have no emotional attachment to this guy. I could care less if makes the team. He looks like crap out there so far. 4) Linebackers. Bruschi's gone. We're young and fast now. But are we any good ? 5) BenJarvus Green-Ellis. This might be the last time we see him a Patriots uniform. If he gets cut, som...

Three Things to Watch This Week - Super Bowl LX

A cold New England February morning. The drive up ATM refuses to accept my cash deposit. I park my car and walk inside to see the teller. It is nice and warm inside. The Teller gives me a nod to come forward. Me: I'd like to make a deposit. Also, why are you wearing a Jets jersey? Teller: It's a Sam Darnold Jersey. I'm not a Seahawks fan. But I don't want to see the Patriots win another one. Me: Ahhh. Well, I guess being a Jets fan is its own punishment. (We both laugh. I walk away with my head held high.) Next Customer Who Didn't Hear our Conversation: Why are you wearing a Jets jersey? ***** crock pot teriyaki wings 3 pounds chicken wings 1 large onion, chopped 1 c brown sugar 1 c soy sauce 1/4 c cooking sherry 2 t ginger 2 cloves garlic - rinse and pat dry wings - broil wings 20 minutes on broiler pan (10 minutes per side) - transfer wings to crock pot - combine ingredients, pour over wings - cover and cook 2 - 3 hours on high (or 5 - 6 hours on low) Enjoy!