Thursday Morning Third Down Back

The Patriots play their fourth regular season game at The Ralph against the Buffalo Bills of Western New York and the Greater Toronto Area on Sunday September 30th at 1:00 PM. The Patriots are 1 - 2 (don't look now, but I think Devin McCourty just gave up another 30 yard reception) ... And yet I'm not panicking.  They lost two games by a total of 3 points, with each game coming down the last play.  There's still a lot of football left. "Hey... You guys wanna grab a beer later?" With the regular refs coming back this week, the NBA reclaims its rightful place as the worst officiated league in all of sports. Reportedly, when the end of the lockout was announced, Ed Hochuli threw his work shirts in the dryer for 4 hours and banged out 5 more sets of curls. Jackson Power Rankings: 1) Samuel L. 2) Ms. 3) Andrew 4) 5 5) Cannery ... 11,957) Victoria 11,958) Tom 11,959) -ville 11,960) Chad Here's five things I'll be watching for this ...

The Patriots play their second regular season game at Gillette Stadium against the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday September 16th at 1:00 PM. (It's just one game... It's just one game... It's just one game...) Holy crap, we have a defense again! (It's just one game... It's just one game... It's just one game...) And a running game!  Hot damn! (It's just one game... It's just one game... It's just one game...) OK... Deep breaths... Calming back down.  It may just be one game , but it's definitely a good sign of things to come. The offensive line was better than advertised (minus Nate Solder).  Gronk and Hernandez are cementing their status as the best 1-2 TE combo ever. Also... Ridley! Brady can be a "B" level quarterback and we still win games. Negatives - It was against Jake Locker and the Tennessee Titans.  Also, if I'm being honest, the secondary looked a little lost at times. But guess what?  We've got the...

The Patriots play their first regular season game at LP Field against the Tennessee Titans on Sunday September 9th at 1:00 PM. So... Um... Yeah.  Let's not get too hung up on how last season ended... It's a new year.  Like Coach Belichick says... We're focusing on next week.  We're moving on. It's also an election year.  Republican or Democrat...  Liberal or Conservative...  Let's not lose sight of the one thing that unites us all...  That the Jets are horrible. Gronk seems to be enjoying the benefits of being famous. Let's dive right in! The Patriots signed both Gronkowski AND Hernandez to long term deals ( ed. note - phew ) in the off-season.   They also added extra Tight Ends Jake Ballard, Daniel Fells, Michael Hoomanawanui and Visanthe Shiancoe. At this rate, we'll soon be fielding the NFL's first ALL TIGHT END OFFENSE!  (It's the logical next step in the evolution of the game...) Josh McDaniels - Welcome back!  You...

At the NY State Fair last week, I saw 2 different people in "Cowboys Stadium" t-shirts. Not COWBOYS t-shirts. Cowboys Stadium . Why do they inspire this bizarre loyalty from idiots all across the country?

"So Tom... We need to ask if you're OK with something a little unusual for this photo shoot.." "I'll do it!" "Don't you want to wait to hear what it is?" "Whatever it is, I'll do it!"

Draft Day - 2005.  I'm rocking out to a pre-release copy of the new White Stripes album ( ed. note - "Get Behind Me Satan" ).  It's no Bon Jovi... but it's still pretty good, I guess. Theo Epstein from the Red Sox is sitting in with us in our Draft Room.  We've got the 32nd pick in the first round (again), so there's a lot of sitting around waiting for the Buffaloes and Jacksonvilles and Minnesotas of the world to get their heads out of their asses. I mention to Theo that I'm thinking tight end with the first pick. Anyway, the Steelers take Heath Miller off the board at #30 and Theo starts chirping. "Wait... I thought Heath Miller was your guy ." "Yeah.  He's going to be good.  And I love drafting tight ends." "And the Steelers just took him." "Yeah.  So?" "They're your rivals!  Your mortal enemies!" "Pretty much." "Why aren't you flipping out over this?  Why aren't you t...

The Patriots play their second playoff game of the season at Gillette against the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday January 22nd at 3:00 PM. So much for not having won a playoff game in 4 years. If I may be allowed to turn into Tawmmy from Quinzee for a moment...     HOLY CRAP BRADY IS FACKIN' AWESOME. Are the Patriots really as good as they looked last week?  Or was Denver just that bad?   Gronk is ripped!   I'm a little worried about Baltimore.  Joe Flacco is not so good.  Ray Rice still scares the crap out of me.  But I'm mostly concerned about how well our offensive line holds up against their defense. Here's five guys I'll be counting on to keep Brady upright this week: 1 - 5) Matt Light, Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly, Brian Waters, Nate Solder - Brady will only be as good as these guys play upfront.  When they can give him time, he's deadly.  That's pretty much it. Did Chad Ochocinco have a catch last week? NO....