Thursday Morning Third Down Back

The Patriots play their fourteenth game of the year at Gillette Stadium against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday December 14th at 1:00 PM. This is it, guys.  The last stretch of games before the playoffs. Also... No more late night games.  Which is good for older fans like me.  Waking up on a Monday morning after a late game is awful .  Oh, how I love you, 1 PM games! Nice Big Boy win on the road last week.  Game balls to Julian Edelman and Jamie Collins.  That dude was everywhere last week. Agent Cooper says good win last week Here are five guys I'm excited to watch this week: 1) Tom Brady - Does anyone ever remember seeing Brady move around in the pocket as much as he has this year?  I'm not saying he's Randall Cunningham or anything like that.  But he's definitely gotten better at moving his feet.  That's not usually a skill you add at 37. 2 - 4) LeGarrette Blount / Jonas Gray / Shane Vereen - My sources tell me the Dolphins...

The Patriots play their thirteenth game of the year at Qualcomm Stadium against the San Diego Chargers on Sunday December 7th at 8:30 PM. Late Game, everyone.  Try to take a nap on Sunday afternoon if you can.  Unless you live on the West Coast.  I assume you people already sleep 12 hours a day. Gronk Richshaw I'm not saying I feel good about it...  There's no such thing as a good loss.  But that loss to Green Bay was at least acceptable .  Non-conference game.  Tough opponent.  On the road. If you told me the defense would hold the Packers to 26 points at home, I'd haven taken that and been happy with it. BUT... It took the offense way too long to get in gear.  Still not sure why we couldn't (or wouldn't) run the ball against Green Bay. Powers Rankings: 1) Austin 2) Boothe 3) Mighty Morphin 4) Super 5) Stefanie Here are five guys I'm hoping can play on Sunday: 1) Dont'a Hightower - Definitely not a bust. ...

The Patriots play their eleventh game of the year at Gillette Stadium against the Detroit Lions on Sunday November 23 at 1:00 PM. Thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Western New York. Mostly because they have to watch the Bills every week.  But also because of the weather. Game ball to Jonas Gray.  Obviously. Thursday plans Pie Power Rankings: 1) Apple Pie 2) Pecan Pie 3) Blueberry Pie 4) Crack Pie 5) Chocolate Cream Pie Honorable mention to the Tollhouse Cookie Pie thing they have at Gregg's in Providence.  I don't know if it's technically pie, but it sure is tasty. Here are five guys I'm looking forward to watching on Sunday: 1) Jonas Gray - I'm guessing we won't see quite as much Jonas Gray this week.  But wow... What a game. 2) Jamie Collins - Collins was all over the place last week. 3) Rob Gronkowski - Is he fun to watch or what?  I'm calling it now.  He's not just the best Patriots Tight End ever... ...

The Patriots play their tenth game of the year at Lucas Oil Stadium against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday November 16 at 8:30 PM. Welcome back!  Everybody rested and ready after the bye week?  All those little nagging injuries healing up?  Great!  Let's jump right into it. I thought they had a chance to beat the Broncos last game... But I never thought it would be a 22 point thrashing.  That was great to watch. Game Ball to Julian Edelman.  He's fast. Darrelle Power Rankings: 1) Revis That was a hell of a catch. Here's five guys on defense I'll be watching this week: 1) Dominique Easley - Easley was in and out of practice all week.  With Chandler Jones still on the shelf, now would be a good time for Easley to step up.  I'm guessing "lingering knee issues" aren't fun when you're 290 pounds... 2) Vince Wilfork - ...and coming back from a torn achilles at 325 ( 350?  360? ) must be even harder.  I'll admit... I was...

The Patriots play their ninth game of the year at Gillette Stadium against the Denver Broncos on Sunday, November 2 at 4:25 PM. Biggest game of the year?  Biggest game of the year. The Patriots have a chance this week.  I really think it comes down to how well the New England secondary plays. The Bears looked lost last week.  Are they really that bad?  Whoa. Lots of Game Balls to go around last week.  Oh... Let's say... LaFell, Gronk and Brady.  (Sure.  Why not?) Halloween Candy Power Rankings: 1) Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups 2) Kit Kat 3) Snickers 4) M&Ms (also... peanut > plain) 5) Twix ... 11,997) Candy Corn 11,998) Charleston Chew Here are five match-ups I'll be watching this week: 1) Peyton Manning vs. The Scoreboard Operator -  The scoreboard operator in Denver was making the crowd get all rowdy while Denver had the ball last week (gasp!) and Peyton was kinda a dick about it. 2) Peyton Manning vs. The...

The Patriots play their eighth game of the year at Gillette Stadium against the Chicago Bears on Sunday, October 26 at 1:00 PM. Well... That game was closer than it should have been.  But at least we didn't lose to the Jets last week.  Those loses really sting. Facts of Life Power Rankings: 5) Natalie 4) Blair 3) Tootie 2) Jo 1) Mrs. Garrett Here are five guys on defense I'll be watching this week: 1) Darrelle Revis - Hopefully he can make it to the game on time. 2) Akeem Ayers / Alan Branch /  Casey Walker / whoever else you want to pull in off the street - We're going to get run on.  It's not going to be pretty.  I've come to accept this. 3) Patrick Chung - Hasn't been a complete disaster this year.  Possibly even an upgrade over Steve Gregory. 4) Kyle Arrington - Somehow still on the team!  $4M a year seems like a lot for a guy who's probably your 4th or 5th corner.  But hey... It's not my money. 5) Vince Wilfork - T...

The Patriots play their seventh game of the year at Gillette Stadium against the New York Jets on Thursday, October 16 at 8:25 PM. Short week for Patriots this week.  Which means I've got to crank out a column on virtually no rest.  Exhausting. Costly win at Buffalo last week.   Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley are both out for the rest of the year. Brady is now 23 - 2 against the Bills for his career.  That is HOLY CRAP amazing. Patriots finally hit on the seemingly elusive DEEP BALL on Sunday.  43 yards to Tyms. Then Brady actually connected on the high five!  Double bonus! Here's five things I'll be watching for this week: 1) Brandon LaFell - Somebody other than Edelman showing up for the receiving corps!  And he has some size!  I like it. 2) Shane Vereen - Vereen will need to pick it up a bit with Ridley out. 3) Dont'a Hightower - It looked like his knee bent the wrong way two weeks back.  That probably hurt.  We need ...

The Patriots play their sixth game of the year at The Ralph against the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, October 12 at 1:00 PM. Whoa... Where was that team in Week 4?  That was the best game they played all year. Sky not falling.  World not ending. I think last week's game was pretty close to what I want this team to be.  Run the ball well.  Throw to the TEs.  Play good defense. We'll see how the next few weeks go. Aww yiss. Cosby Show Kid Power Rankings: 5) Rudy 4) Vanessa 3) Theo 2) Denise 1) Sondra Here's five things I'm looking forward to seeing this week: 1) Stevan Ridley - Ridley was pretty fantastic last week.  I'm just worried he's going to blow out an ACL some day doing his "kick in the door" touchdown celebration. 2) Tim Wright - Major Tim Wright sightings last week... like he was actually part of the game plan.  I'm in favor of this. 3) Rob Gronkowski - Gronk is back, right?  We're all feeling pretty good ...

The Patriots play their fifth game of the year at Gillette Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, October 5 at 8:30 PM. Not good times.  No game balls for anyone this week.  I'm having a hard time thinking of anything positive to say about that game last week. What does this team do well?  What are we good at?  Punting?  They need to find an identity fast. This is an 8 - 8 team at best.  (I should know... I have friends who are Cowboys fans). Sad Tom is sad. Brandon Power Rankings: 1) Walsh 2) Workman 3) Lee 4) LaFell 5) Browner Here's five things I'll be watching for this week: 1) Brandon LaFell - LaFell had a semi-solid game last week.  It would be nice to see them work him into the offense a bit more, just for the sake of variety. 2) Nate Solder - Solder is getting his ass whupped week after week.  This has to get better. 3) Running Backs - Why dress three WRs (well...3.5) last week then throw the b...

The Patriots play their fourth game of the year at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday, September 29 at 8:30 PM. The Patriots barely  beat Oakland last week.  Yes.  Oakland.  I can't remember the last time a win felt that bad.  That was ugly.  Yuck. The defense looks... decent.  Not the great defense we thought it would be going into the season.  But decent.  The offense... Yikes. Game balls to Julian Edelman (again) and Vince Wilfork.  Wilfork might have better hands than Amendola at this point.  Have we tried Vince as a receiver yet? Here's five things I'll be watching for this week: 1) Chandler Jones - It sure is nice to feel like we hit on a first round pick.  We need Jones to keep producing at this level. 2) The O-Line - Still struggling.  The Chiefs get after the quarterback.  Can we PLEASE keep Brady somewhat upright this week?  Can we call backsies on that Mankins trad...

The Patriots play their third game of the year at Gillette Stadium against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, September 21 at 1:00 PM. Better.  Much better.  I saw some signs of actual effort last week.  The idea of starting 0 - 2 was really starting to scare me, you guys. Game balls to Chandler Jones and Stevan Ridley (and an honorable mention to Matt Cassel... who played a huge  part in that win). Have you seen this man? Jimmy Power Rankings: 1) Stewart 2) McNulty 3) Hoffa 4) Garoppolo 5) Jazz Here's five things I really liked about last week: 1) Julian Edelman - Edelman is off to a great start so far.  He's starting to become a big part of the offense.  I just get a little nervous every time I see him get hit hard. 2) Stephen Gostkowski - Gostkowski is really really really good. 3) The Offensive Line - Looks like they went with 6 offensive linemen at times last week.  If that's what it takes, I guess I'm OK with it. 4)...

The Patriots play their second game of the year at TCF Bank Stadium against the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday September 14th at 1:00 PM. Over the Summer, I was out one Friday night playing cards with my buddies ( shout out to Viking Dave ). On the way home, I hit a skunk with the car.  The car smelled bad.  Real bad.  It took weeks to get the stink out. ...and that's pretty much how I feel about that Week 1 performance against the Dolphins.  It's going to take weeks to get the stink of that second half out.  We got debacle'd. Stevan Ridley and Julian Edelman had good games.  They get game balls.  And that's about it. Everyone else?  F Plus. Collins Power Rankings: 1) Tom 2) Harper 3) Bartholomew 4) Jamie 5) Phil Here's five guys I'll be looking for to pick up the slack if the Patriots are going to have a chance against the Vikings this week: 1) Vince Wilfork - Miami ran all over that defense.  Vince did not have...

The Patriots play their first  game of the year at Joe Robbie Stadium Pro Player Park Pro Player Stadium Dolphin Stadium Dolphins Stadium Land Shark Stadium Sun Life Stadium against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday September 7th at 1:00 PM. (Congratulations to the Dolphins for keeping the same stadium name 2 years in a row. Great job!) Smoove. Welcome back. I'm going to be honest with you, Sports Fans... This is it.  We're approaching the end of the era this team as we know it.   The window isn't exactly closed on a certain Handsome Quarterback... But... it's getting tight.  There's this year... and maybe next year.  That's probably it. Anything less than a Super Bowl this year is a disappointment. The offense had a lot of momentum by the second half of last season.  The defense should be MUCH better.   My initial thought going into the preseason was that the defense was going to be SO GOOD that another meeting with Denver in the AF...

The Patriots play their first playoff game of the season at Gillette against the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday January 11th and 8:15 PM. Finally.  Playoffs.  ( Playoffs? ) Guys, I'm sooo excited right now.  I've been wearing my Bill Belichick footed pajamas all week. Let's cut right to it... I think the Patriots should beat the Colts.  Luck to Hilton seems to be the majority of the Colt's offense.  I'm guessing T.Y.'s going to see a whole bunch of double teaming on Saturday. That is one fat Blount. Josh Power Rankings: 1) Baskin 2) McDaniels 3) Holloway 4) Brolin 5) Gordon ..... 11, 987) Beckett 11, 988) Freeman Here's five guys I'll be keeping an eye on come game time: 1) LeGarrette Blount - Game ball to LeGarrette for his Week 17 effort against the Bills.  Finished the season with a strong 334 all purpose yards (189 on the ground, 145 on returns).  May actually go down as one of Belichick's better trades.  Has...