Thursday Morning Third Down Back

The first place New England Patriots play the Oakland   Los Angeles   Oakland  Las Vegas Raiders at Gillette on Sunday September 7th at 1:00 PM. Patriot first round pick tackle Will Campbell. Douglas Power Rankings: 1) Adams 2) DeMario 3) Michael  4) The Lincoln–Douglas debates 5) Illeana  After back to back 4 - 13 seasons, you are allowed to feel a little skeptical about this team. What do we, as Patriots fans, have to look forward to in 2025? Returning:  Executive vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf is somehow still here. Last year, the two wide receivers he drafted in 2024 combined for 13 catches. And one of them is no longer with the team. I'm against it. Coach Mike Vrabel. His career record as a coach is 56–48. This was seen as a significant upgrade over what we had in place. Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels. He's back! Again! Not returning: Coach Jerod Mayo. It was both a bad situation AND he didn't do a great job with it. That's ba...

The 1 and 3 New England Patriots play Davis Mills and the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on Sunday October 10th at 1:00 PM. Doink! Davis Mills sounds like a mixed use luxury condo development. I'd like more information, please! Despite my predictions of gloom and doom, the Patriots did not get completely crushed last week. That was nice. But there's no "moral victory" column in the standings. Nelson Power Rankings: 1) Mandela 2) Muntz 3) Vice-Admiral Horatio 4) "Big Head" Bighetti 5) Agholor 6) Craig T. 7) Rockefeller 8) Judd 9) (band) 10) Tim Blake The Patriots said goodbye to Stephon Gilmore this week and traded him to the Panthers for a late pick. I don't feel great about the move... but I get it. You probably don't want to give a 31 year-old corner a long term deal. I can't tell what the timing of this move means. Either Bill is giving up on the season... OR... he really likes the current group of guys. OR... He's just sick of Gilmore...

The New England Patriots play Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field on Sunday September 20th at 8:20 PM. (* Apocalyptic weather permitting.) (** That start time is too late. I'm against it.) The greatest play in football history. Cam Power Rankings 1) Newton 2) dual overhead 3) Neely 4) -alot 5) -eo Three things I'll be watching for on Sunday: 1) Cam Newton - Cam Newton is a Big Dude. Week 1 of the Cam Newton Experience was pleasing. Radically different from the recent Patriots offense. Can he keep up this pace? I'd rather not see him take that many hits. I have concerns. You're 31, Cam! Go easy!  2) Running the ball - The first game flew by with all that rushing. Keep the clock moving. We're going to have a lot of 2 hour 45 minute games this year. More time for dog walkies! 3) JJ Taylor - JJ Taylor is fast! He averaged seven yards a carry last week! This is the kind of thing I would have liked a few preseason games to watch. More JJ! Did N...

The New England Patriots play Philip Rivers and the San Diego  Los Angeles Chargers at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Divisional Playoff round on Sunday January 13th at 1:05 PM. Who's got two index fingers and isn't going anywhere?  That guy! Getting a first round bye nine years in a row is amazing.  Nine years in a row!  I'll be shocked if that ever happens again. I expect a close, competitive game on Sunday. I think the deciding factor will be how much of a game the Patriot's running backs have collectively (both running the ball and catching the ball out of the backfield). Wall Power Rankings: 1) -E 2) Mending 3) -ace Shawn 4) Wonder 5) Another Brick in the 6) John Here are the running backs I'll be keeping a close eye on on Sunday: 1) James White - 87 receptions for James White this season.  Not bad! 2) Rex Burkhead - Burkhead has proven to be force in the running game and the passing game*.    (*when he's healthy) 3...

The New England Patriots play Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Sunday September 23rd at 8:20 PM. Gordon Power Rankings 1) Cole 2) Flash 3) Kim 4) Levitt 5) Sumner 6) (Sesame Street) 7) Lightfoot 8) Shumway 9) Emily v 10) Hayword 11) the Big Engine 12) Jump 13) Josh (Who knew there were so many Gordons!) Here's three things I'm worried about for Sunday evening: 1) The secondary - Eric Rowe isn't making me forget about Malcolm Butler any time soon.  Assuming the Lions have changed their signals by now . Stafford might be able to throw all over the place on them.  Concerns.  I have them.  2) Tom Brady - TB12 got beat up pretty good last week, didn't he?  There was no rhythm (Did I spell that right?  "Rhythm"?  That doesn't look right.) .  I'd like to see some long sustained drives. 3) Sony Michel - With Jeremy Hill out on injured reserve, the Patriots started to work first round pick Sony...

The defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots play Blake Bortles and the Jacksonville Jaguars at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday January 21st at 3:05 PM. Frank Power Rankings: 1) Reynolds 2) -a Potente 3) Rizzo 4) Oz 5) cocktail 6) Thomas 7) -enstein 8) Drebin 9) -lin, Mass. 10) -N-Furter 11) Sinatra 12) -lin Delano Romanowski Live look at Tom Brady's hands. Is Brady's hand OK?  I'm hearing it's just a cut, not a break.  But who the heck knows?  I'm not going to freak out about it.  Nothing we can do about it at this point.  We won't know for sure until halfway through the first quarter anyway. Here's three things I'm excited about for Sunday: 1) Rob Gronkowski - Visual reminder of what a matchup nightmare the Gronk is to cover.  2) Dion Lewis - Easily the team MVP for the second half of the season. 3) Danny Amendola - You forget Amendolas on the team sometimes... and then he h...

The defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots play Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday December 17th at 4:25 PM. Me avoiding spoilers this week (“I am one with the Force and the Force is with me.”) I'm hoping last week was a fluke.  Because that game was no fun to watch. No Thursday Morning Third Down Back Game Balls (TM) for anyone for Monday night's efforts.  Maybe the whole team was so excited for Last Jedi they forgot to practice last week?  Don't know.  Tough to say. Kenny Power Rankings: 1) Loggins 2) Tom 3) Baker 4) McCormick 5) Rogers Here's three things I'll be watching this Sunday afternoon: 1) Kenny Britt - Kenny Britt?  Prisint! (Also, I did not realize he was 6'3''.  I didn't know WRs were allowed to be that tall.) 2) Rob Gronkowski - Gronk back?  Gronk back.  Good.  Now don't go out there and do antything stupid again. 3) Dion Lewis - Dion did...

The defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots play Trevor Siemian Brock Osweiler and the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday November 12th and 8:30 PM. Bennett Power Rankings: 1) Martellus 2) Mags 3) Tony 4) Michael 5) Dickie 1) Martellus Bennett - Marty back?  Marty's back!  Woo hoo!  Wait a minute... Source: Bennett has torn rotator cuff, labrum.   Yikes. 2) James White - Still love me some James White.  He's flying under the radar with 43 receptions already. 3) Trey Flowers - Watch Trey get back onsides before San Diego can snap the ball.  That's great hustle! My prediction: Pats 31, Broncos 21 ***** This week we have Fake Josh McDaniels filling for Fake Bill Belichick. What's up, Brolins and Lady Brolins? WE TRADED JIMMY G?  AND THAT'S ALL WE GOT FOR HIM?! Jimmy G was my future.  Bill and Tom were going to retire then Jimmy and me were going to take over and win the next six Super Bowls together. What am ...

The defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots play Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday September 17th at 1:00 PM. Frank Silva, Harbormaster Not a great start to the season, you guys.  I'm hoping to have more of a read on this team after this week.  Signs point to no Dont'a Hightower or Danny Amendola this week.  BUT... New Orleans was even worse in week 1.  We should still be able to pull this one out.  I'm not panicking yet.  BUT ALSO... let's not lose this week and start the season 0 - 2. Gilmore Power Rankings: 1) Lorelai 2) Artis 3) Rory 4) Stephon Here are three players that play for the Patriots that aren't injured yet as of press time: 1) Malcolm Butler - Butler didn't have a great pre-season, but I thought he looked better than Stephon Gilmore out there week 1. 2) Chris Hogan - One catch for 8 yards isn't going to cut it.  I need to see a Big Hogan week this week (Is "Big ...

The first place New England Patriots play Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette on Monday December 12th at 8:30 PM. LeGarrette looks like he's floating here. This is the first matchup we've had against a playoff caliber opponent in almost a month.  Should be a good measure of where the team is at this point.  Also, I don't particularly care for John Harbaugh. Mitchell Power Rankings: 1) Elizabeth 2) Malcolm 3) Joe Don Baker is ... 4) Joni 5) Mitchell lunar crater Here's three guys I'll be getting defensive about tonight: 1) Logan Ryan / Eric Rowe / Cyrus Jones - Let's be honest here... Right corner has been not great. 2) Alan Branch / Malcom Brown - Both have been solid in the middle.  New England is a top 10 defense against the run this season.  Who knew? 3) Elandon Roberts - Eh.  I don't know if I've seen enough here to warrant trading Jamie Collins.  But that's just me.  I'm not in charge of those decisio...

The first place New England Patriots play Brock Osweiler and the Houston Texans at Gillette on Thursday September 22nd at 8:25 PM (A late game on a school night?!  How am I supposed to watch the game with my sons Mookie and Betts?!) Is that one of those tiny footballs?  Jacoby looks like a *giant* here. OK, Brissett.  Let's see what you got. Garoppolo going down isn't great.  I had a plan for an escalating joke where the current asking price for Garoppolo eventually went up to 17,000 first round picks (not unreasonable!).  But now he's hurt.  Also, maybe we should keep him now?  I'm torn here.  We'll see. But I'm honestly not that worried.  Jacoby had a really good preseason.  We've got the best quarterback ever coming back in 3 weeks.  We'll be fine. Jacoby Power Rankings: 1) Dr. Lawrence 2) Brissett 3) Feed & Seed 4) Captain 5) Max ... 11,997)  Ellsbury Here's three things I'll be getting ...

The Patriots host the AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Gillette against Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs on Saturday January 16th and 4:30 PM A normal sized human tries to cover The Gronk What's wrong with this team right now?  Are they healthy?  Are they smoking something?  Why does the coach have a black eye?  Why so many distractions?  How did this team lose 4 of its last 6 games? I'm not liking it.  Something feels off.  Too many questions. The good news is... At least we're not getting Phil Simms this week! Alan Power Rankings: 1) Rickman 2) Branch 3) Ruck (he's married to Mireille Enos?!) 4) Smithee 5) Alda 6) Alan from Sesame Street 7) Tudyk Here's three things I'm worried about going into this week's game: 1) Chandler Jones - Chandler Jones pulled a Robert Downey Jr. last week.  Why you do this thing, Chandler Jones?  It you're not sure what it is or where it came from, don't smoke it. 2) Rob...

The 7 - 0 New England Patriots play Kirk Cousins and the 3 - 4 Washington Professional Football Team at Gillette on Sunday November 8th at 1:00 PM. Game balls to Tom Brady and Dion Lewis for last week's game against Miami.  Dion Lewis is delightful to watch. Oh my. Here's three things I'll be watching for on Sunday: 1) Stephen Gostkowski - Consistently excellent.  Probably deserves more credit than he gets.  Did you know he's the Patriots' all-time leading scorer?  He is!  The more you know. 2) Bryan Stork - Getting The Stork back this week.  Alright alright. 3) No third thing this week. Did Scott Chandler get flagged for offensive pass interference last week?  No! Did Michael Williams have a catch last week?  No! Dramatic music. My prediction: Pats 35, Washington Professional Football Team 17 ***** This week we have Fake Josh McDaniels's Movie Corner for your reading pleasure. What up, Bros and Lady Br...

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 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 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 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 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 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...

The Patriots play their fourteenth 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 December 15 at 1:00 PM. THAT GUY!  THAT GUY DIDN'T WASH HIS HANDS AFTER USING THE BATHROOM! Bill Power Rankings: 1) Belichick 2) Murray 3) Clinton 4) Cosby 5) Posters 6) S. Preston, Esq 7) Buffalo 8) Gates 9) Parcells 10) -y dee williams 11) the Cat Here are five guys who will need to step up this week if the Patriots are going to be beat the Dolphins: 1) Shane Vereen - Another solid week last week.  Believe it or not, he's the team's third leading receiver for the year.  There might still be time to put a Vereen jersey on your Christmas wishlist. 2) Stephen Gostkowski - HOLY CRAP!  ONSIDE KICK!  (Last time the Pats recovered an onside kick was... 1994.) 3) LeGarrette Blount - Considering we got him for almos...