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Five Things to Watch This Week - Week 7

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 him back on the field as soon as possible there with Mayo out.

4) Brian Tyms - Last week I asked for Tyms to "do something".  And he did!  Tyms showed it was possible to have a big impact on a game in just a single play.

5) Brandon Browner - I don't think the passing game is a strength for the Jets, but it would be nice to see Browner on the field this week.


Did Michael Hoomanawanui have a catch last week?

Yes!


Did Stevan Ridley fumble last week?

No!

(Looks like we'll be retiring this bit for the rest of the year.)


Was Aaron Dobson active last week?

Yes!

(And he had a catch!)


Danny Amendola Reception Tracker:

Amendola now has 4 more receptions than I do for the season.


My prediction: Pats 30, Jets 13

*****

This year, we're going to have regular contributions from Fake Bill Belichick for your reading pleasure.

Short week.  Figured I'd do a little extra film study with the defense rather than wear them out.  I popped in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

An up and coming Richard Dreyfuss had just worked with Spielberg on Jaws.  And it's got a young Teri Garr.  What's not to like?

     Me: OK Guys.  What did we just watch?

     Revis: Man finding his place in the universe.  Man longing to make connections

     Chung: A quest for guidance and meaning in our daily lives.

     Wilfork: Spielberg's signature use of focusing on a family to show the impact of major world events.

     Collins: Reconnecting with your youth and the search for spiritual education

     Me:  Good good.  You can make a case for all of those arguments.

     Wilfork: Also... Can we get a big pile of mashed potatoes going?  Those looked good.
   
     Me: Sure thing.  Boston Market for dinner tonight?

     Everybody: YEAH!


I love my defense this year.  These guys get it.

Then I blasted the Close Encounters theme on the stadium speakers for practice the next day.

True story.

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