Thursday Morning Third Down Back

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 trade? 3) Vince Wilfork - Wilfork is playing a little better eac

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) Devin McCourty -

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 a good game in the

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 AFC Champion