Thursday Morning Third Down Back

The New England Patriots play Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday January 20th at 6:40 PM. Protecting the ball even as he dives for the pylon. That was some straight up Patriots porn last week.  Definitely should have been TV-MA.  The Patriots came out and blew doors.  Game balls to Julian Edelman and Sony Michel for their efforts in last week's victory over the Chargers.  Nice job! Let's rewind the tape and see how close my predictions were last week: I expect a close, competitive game on Sunday.  Way off!  It was essentially over by halftime. I think the deciding factor will be how much of a game the Patriot's running backs have collectively  Pretty close! Brown Power Rankings: 1) Troy 2) Clancy 3) Millie Bobby 4) W. Earl 5) Sterling K. 6) Charlie 7) Jim 8) Alton 9) Samantha 10) Bobby 11) Foxy Here are three areas of concern for me this Sunday night: 1) The de...

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...

Fear and Loathing in Western New York We were somewhere around Batavia on the edge of the turf farms when the wings began to kick in. And suddenly there was a terrible roar all around us and the sky was full of what looked like huge Bills fans, all swooping and screeching and diving around the car, which was stopped at a rest stop on the Thruway to Western New York. And a voice was screaming: “Holy Jesus! What are these goddamn animals?” Then it was quiet again. My attorney had taken his shirt off and was pouring Molson on his chest.  “Never mind,” I said. “It’s your turn to drive.” I hit the brakes and aimed the family sized cross over utility vehicle toward the shoulder of the highway. No point mentioning those Bills fans, I thought. The poor bastard will see them soon enough.  It was almost noon, and we still had more than 100 miles to go. They would be tough miles if we were going to find a place to watch the game.   We brought our own vegetables. My...

The New England Patriots play The Ben and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday December 16th at 4:25 PM. Plenty of positive takeaways from last week... well, until the last play (Gronk didn’t want to get in the way of a 69 yard touchdown). Gronk shouldn't have been out there on the last play.  There's no way a gimpy Tannehill was going to chuck one 70 yards.  Harrumph. Powers Power Rankings: 1) Boothe 2) Austin 3) Stephanie 4) Vested in me 5) Bleeding  6) (Irish whiskey) Here are three things I'm feeling good about this week: 1) Josh Gordon - Gordon has been better than expected so far.  Can you imagine the numbers Gordon could have put up if he had been here his whole career (and, well, sober)?  Guh. 2) James White - James White rules. 3) Jacob Hollister - I thought this was going to be Hollister's breakout year...  So far, he has 4 catches for the season.  There's still time! Did Rob Gronkowski play last week...

The New England Patriots play either Sam Darnold or Josh McCown and the New York Jets of New Jersey at MetLife Stadium on Sunday November 25th at 1:00 PM. Everybody rested and energized after the bye week?  Great!  Let's go! This is the least good 7 - 3 team I can remember.  They embarrass themselves on the road.  They forget to play defense for long stretches at a time.  The 2018 offense is the Diet Berkley and Jensen Cola version of the Patriots offense... ...and yet they've still got a decent chance at the two seed and a first round bye. Side Dish Power Rankings: 1) mashed potatoes 2) stuffing 3) bread / cornbread / rolls 4) everything else ... 11,997) Butternut GIVE ME ALL THE STARCHES. Here are three things I'm ready to get offensive about this week: 1) Chris Hogan - I thought for sure this was going to be Hogan's breakout year.  And yet he's averaging under 2.5 catches per game.  I'm baffled. 2) Rob Gronkowski - Eit...

The New England Patriots play Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on Sunday November 11th at 1:00 PM. Beauty, eh? Ahhh... finally a 1:00 PM game.  Phew. Flowers Power Rankings: 1) Trey 2) for Algernon 3) in the Attic 4) King of Carrot 5) 1-800 Here are three things I enjoyed from last week's win over the Packers: 1) Flea flicker?  Flea flicker!   If I was an offensive coordinator, I would call five or six of these per game. 2) Edelman pass . Trick plays for everybody! I don't know why everyone doesn't try to convert college quarterbacks to wide receiver... 3) ...then you can have your other WRs play RB. "Having position players play their normal positions on offense?  That's so mainstream"  -- Hipster Patriots Did Rob Gronkowski play last week?  He did not! Recipe of the Week Whoopie Pies There's probably very little nutritional value in these.  Just a giant blob of sugar and cocoa an...

The New England Patriots play Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers at Gillette Stadium on Sunday November 4th at 8:20 PM. Another night time game?  Oh boy.  I'm going to need to take a late afternoon pre-game nap after my early afternoon nap. Our lead running back last week was...  Cordarrelle Patterson?  Is that right? Hat tip to the 2018 World Series Champion Red Sox.  I'm still available for more World Series talk if anyone wants to continue talking about it before we put baseball away for the winter. Rodgers Power Rankings: 1) and Hammerstein 2) Aaron 3) Bill 4) Nile 5) Paul Here are three items to think about about this weekend as you stumble around in a candy induced brain fog: 1) Devin McCourty - McCourty was fast on that interception return.  How fast?  Really fast! 2) Tom Brady - Here's another look at that Brady block vs Lorenzo Alexander   No Tom!  Don't do it!  Life is still worth li...