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Five Things to Watch This Week - Week 4


The Patriots play their fourth regular season game at The Ralph against the Buffalo Bills of Western New York and the Greater Toronto Area on Sunday September 30th at 1:00 PM.

The Patriots are 1 - 2 (don't look now, but I think Devin McCourty just gave up another 30 yard reception) ... And yet I'm not panicking.  They lost two games by a total of 3 points, with each game coming down the last play.  There's still a lot of football left.


"Hey... You guys wanna grab a beer later?"

With the regular refs coming back this week, the NBA reclaims its rightful place as the worst officiated league in all of sports.

Reportedly, when the end of the lockout was announced, Ed Hochuli threw his work shirts in the dryer for 4 hours and banged out 5 more sets of curls.


Jackson Power Rankings:

1) Samuel L.
2) Ms.
3) Andrew
4) 5
5) Cannery
...

11,957) Victoria
11,958) Tom
11,959) -ville
11,960) Chad

Here's five things I'll be watching for this week:

1) Tom Brady - He looks skittish back there.  You can tell he doesn't trust the offensive line yet.  Should we feel good that the offense put up 30 on the road at Baltimore?  Or should we be upset that they couldn't close the game out with a lead in the fourth quarter?  I don't know.  Check back with me this time next week.

2) Wes Welker - Welker vs Julian Edelman has become our own regional version of Jennifer Anniston vs. Angelina Jolie (with... Brady as Brad Pitt?) the last few weeks.  It looks like Edelman will be out this week, so maybe Welker will get the love he deserves.

     My four year-old and me on Sunday:

     "WES Welker."

     "WEST Welker?"

     "No... WES Welker.  No 'T'."

     (pause) 

     "WEST Welker?"


3) Deion Branch  - Welcome back, Mr. Branch.  (I think we all saw this one coming...)

4) Rob Gronkowski - Why do we keep calling so many plays for Woodhead?  Maybe mix in a little more Gronk?  You know... The guy who just had the best season ever by a tight end?

5) Kellen Winslow - Woo hoo!  More Tight Ends!  Is Winslow done?  Probably.  But maybe we'll throw him out there and defenses will forget to cover him.  Update: Released!




This is from an "opposites" kids book about the NFL.  The "sad" picture is of a Bills fan.  That kills me.

"Why so sad, Sad Bills Fan?  Maybe you wouldn't be so sad Sad Bills Fan if you didn't just spend the last two hours putting on all that face paint."


Did Michael Hoomanawanui have a catch last week?

Yes!


My prediction (Game 4): Pats 31, Bills 17

My prediction (Season): 12 - 4

Nut up or move on.


*****


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 second book "My Patriot Years":

Drew Bledsoe was nominated for the Hall of Fame this week.  He's not a Hall of Famer.  But he could have been.

I sat him down in my office at the end of the 2000 season.

He had thrown 17 TDs against 13 INTs for 3,300 yards.  Not terrible numbers.  But certainly not great.  He was definitely on the decline at that point in his career.

"Drew... How are you feeling about the offense?  Everything OK?  I think we've got a really good mix at receiver going forward."

"Yeah, I guess."

"What's wrong?"

"Well..."

"Go ahead."

"I... I miss Ben Coates."

"Understandable.  He was a fantastic tight end and really made the offense go.  We're probably going to draft a tight end or two this year.  That should make things easier for you on third down."

"Well, it's not just that.  We had something really special together, you know?"

"What?  You mean your chemistry with him?"

"No... We had this great... secret handshake.  I miss that.  I don't know if I'll ever have that with another player."

Right then I knew... This wasn't my guy.  We traded him a year later.

True story.

Also... Some of you have asked about last week's game where I made contact with an official at the end of regulation.  I was just trying to get his attention and see if he wanted to chip in toward the gift card we were getting Brady for his baby shower (his wife is pregnant again... But I'm not sure if I'm supposed to mention that).  Honest.  That's all it was.

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