Thursday Morning Third Down Back

The Patriots play their eighth game of the year at Gillette against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday October 27th at 1:00 PM. Bad, bad loss last week.  Not good times, you guys. I know this sounds absurd to say about a 5 - 2 team, but... I think this team is just... average.  They have a chance to move up to "good" by the end of the season, but they're not there yet.  The offense has to get better.  And they can't afford to lose any more bodies on defense. To put it mildly, the offense has had problems.  It's not entirely on Brady... But yes... A large chunk of it is on Brady.  Yes, he's got an almost entirely new cast of characters around him.  But he's definitely been less good-ish this year.  Is he on the decline?  Is this the beginning of the end?  Is he just off to bad start?  Insufficient data.  Ask again later. Brady vs. the Jets last week:      22 of 46 for 228 yards.  4 sacks.  0 TDs. ...

The Patriots play their seventh game of the year at Giants Stadium MetLife Stadium against the New York Jets on Sunday October 20th at 1:00 PM. Here's what I wrote last week:       The Patriots are going to get killed on Sunday.  It's going to be ugly. I'm happy to say I was wrong.  Oh so wrong. That was a pretty good catch. Rob Ryan... How'd you feel about the way that game ended? Sad howl at moon. Unfortunately, the injuries continue to pile up.   Danny Amendola, Tommy Kelly, Leon Washington and Aqib Talib all appear to be out this week (Amendola still doesn't know where he is after that hit).  Jerod Mayo is done for the year.  This is not a good trend. Has Brady been bitching at his receivers too much this season?  Edelman is clearly sick of his crap. Here are five guys who will have to pick up the slack this week against the surprisingly not horrible Jets: 1) Kenbrell Thompkins - Thompkins, you get the nod...

The Patriots play their sixth game of the year at Gillette against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday October 13th at 4:25 PM. The Patriots are going to get killed on Sunday.  It's going to be ugly. Here's five things to do instead of watching football this week: 1) Go see a movie.  I hear Gravity is pretty good. 2) Go read a book. 3) Go outside.  Maybe run or go for a bike ride.  Check out some foliage. 4) Go to the Scottish Festival in Connecticut. 5) Bake a pie.  I like apple pie.  And pecan. Did Michael Hoomanawanui have a catch last week? Yes! My prediction: Pats 10, Saints 38 My prediction (Season): 10 - 6

The Patriots play their fifth game of the year at Paul Brown Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday October 6th at 1:00 PM. Did we just put up 30 points last week? Are we really 4 - 0? How are we 4 - 0? /pinches self Apparently cornerbacks are allowed to knock the ball away from opposing players.   It's been years since the Patriots have tried that. Now we're facing a Bengals team that I don't know what to make of.  They beat the Packers one week, then lose to the Browns the next week.  Are these guys any good? The Patriots brought in former colts receiver Austin Collie this week.  Collie had... wait for it... 1 catch for 6 yards in all of 2012.  In addition to his concussion issues, Collie also apparently has 1 good knee.  Awesome.  Way to surround Brady with weapons.  Once again... let's keep our expectations low. Also... Moment of silence for Vince Wilfork who was just placed on season ending injured reserve (torn...