Thursday Morning Third Down Back

The Patriots play their third game of the season on the road at The Ralph on Sunday September 25th at 1:00 PM First up - It's the 10 year anniversary Mo Lewis taking out Drew Bledsoe.    *pauses for moment of silence*   Just think about how differently things might have gone if Brady never made it on the field that season.  Scary.  Don't get me wrong... I love Drew.  And I appreciate that without Parcells, Bledsoe and Kraft coming along when they did, the team was probably gone.  But we definitely don't go on that run with Drew under center.  And I think maybe twice in the last ten years I've yelled "GET RID OF THE BALL!" at the TV with Number 12 out there.  With Drew it was 3 - 4 times per quarter. Pats vs. Chargers.  It's probably for the best that Vince didn't make it to the end zone off the interception last week.  I probably would have broken my hand on the ceiling after jumping off the couch. Go, Vince, go!...

The Patriots play their first home game of the season at Gillette Stadium on Sunday September 18th at 4:15 PM. HOMEWORK CHECK:  Did everyone watch "Bill Belichick: A Football Life" last night?  Good.  Don't forget to watch part 2 next week. It's a little early, but let's take a look at the 2011 draft picks.  Here's five things I'll be watching for this week: 1) Nate Solder - I thought he played great on Monday night.  Beast-like, even.  I assumed this was going to be a "draft him now and play him later" kinda thing with this guy, but it looks like he's ready now.  2) Ras-I Dowling - I recently suggested "Ras-I" to my wife a possible baby name.  And surprisingly, she was against it. 3) Marcus Cannon - Don't expect to see him this year, but he should be great when he comes back from... *checks medical report* ... non-Hodgkin lymphoma.  Yikes.  Look for this guy NEXT year.  (These are the kinds of things you can do when ...

The Patriots play their first regular season game at Joe Robbie Stadium Pro Player Park Pro Player Stadium   Dolphins Stadium Land Shark Stadium Sun Life Stadium against the Miami Dolphins on Monday, September 12th at 7:00 PM. Just a reminder... The Dolphins could have had Drew Brees and chose Daunte Culpepper instead. *** long pause *** Bwah ha ha ha ha ha! That story kills me. I love 7:00 PM Monday Night Football.  All Monday night games should start this early (Suck it, West Coasties!). (Albert approves of the earlier Monday night start time) There's a whole bunch of new faces this year.  Let's start with the new guys.  Here's five things I'll be watching for this week: 1) Chad Ochocinco - I'll be honest with you... I'm not feeling great about what I've seen in the preseason so far.  He looked lost at times.  Could he end up thriving in this offense?  Maybe.  But I'm afraid this could be another Joey Gaolloway situation....

Welcome back! After a full off-season of "When is my team going to make a big move?", Adam Schefter tweets: "Filed to ESPN: Washington traded DT Albert Haynesworth to the New England Patriots for a fifth-round pick in 2013. " My first reaction was... WHA?! Not a great guy, sure. But here's the thing though... What if this actually works out?  What if he shows up and plays? A fifth round pick in 2013 isn't much to give up.  And d-line is already a source of strength for the Patriots.  So if he acts up, he's gone. I'm sure conditioning is going to be a problem.  I can't imagine he kept himself in great shape during the lockout. Belichick is totally in the "Eff you, I'm Keith Hernandez" zone. Plus this trade gives me the excuse to run this video all season:

The Patriots play their first playoff game against the Jets at Gillette on Sunday, January 16th at 4:30 PM. I'm so ready for this game.  This is the playoffs, people ( PLAYOFFS?! ).  Let's all act like we've been here before. Did anyone actually watch the Jets - Colts game last week?  The Jets may have won, but Mark Sanchez looked GAWD AWFUL.  How deep can you really go in the playoffs with a guy like that? But you know what does scare me just a little?  The Jets running game.  We are thin thin thin along the defensive line.  If I was Rex Ryan... I would be into feet.  But I would also steal the Week 15 game plan from the Green Bay Packers and run the ball 120 times.  They came into Foxboro and ran the ball all over us. The other item from this week that everyone is flipping out about is Antonio Cromartie is blasting Tom Brady.  Really?  This is news?  This is the same guy that can't remember all his kids' names (unles...

The Patriots play their fifteenth regular season game on the road at The Ralph on Sunday December 26th at 1:00 PM and their final regular season game at home on Sunday January 2nd at 1:00 PM. Another great week of Patriots football... Just like I called it! Actually, the Packers played a really good game and exploited our weaknesses.  We were short on d-line help, and they went after that.  That was one of the better coaching jobs we've faced all year. But let's stay positive.  We're moving on.  We did just put up 31 points on the "best scoring defense" in football.  So there's that. 1) Devin McCourty  - McCourty for defensive rookie of the year.  He's a big part of the reason why the defense has been as good as it is.  And he should be even better next year. 2) Dan Connolly - Can we make him the permanent kick-off return guy ?  That was awesome.  3) Jerod Mayo - 181 tackles so far?  He's a beast. 4) Wes Welker - 83 ...

The Patriots play their fourteenth regular season game against the Packers at Gillette on Sunday, December 19th at 8:20 PM. I apologize.  I was waaay off last week.  I predicted the Pats would win 20 to 14 .  I really thought the elements would be more of a factor.  I thought the Bears would, you know, show up.  I'm very happy to report that I was wrong on all accounts. Six weeks ago I was talking with my buddy KC Masterpiece trying to figure out what was wrong with Brady (mechanics?  head not in the game?  bad haircut?).  The Pats had just got theyselves blowed out at Cleveland.    Things have turned out OK since then, huh?.  They've beaten the absolute iron of the NFL.  And they're not just winning.  They're CRUSHING teams.  How will the Patriots ever score with Randy Moss?!  Yeah, that one somehow worked out OK, too. You know what?  I'm calling my shot right now.  I don't think t...