Skip to main content

Five Things to Watch This Week - Week 11

The Patriots play their tenth game of the year at Bank of America Stadium against the Carolina Panthers on Monday, November 18 at 8:40 PM.

Welcome back.  It feels like forever since we've last seen a Patriots game.

How'd the Patriots look against the Steelers?  Pretty good!

Shane Vereen may play again this week.  Looking forward to seeing him back out there.


COACH GOING TO YELL AT THE BEN.  TOTALLY NOT THE BEN'S FAULT!


Andre Power Rankings

1) the Giant

2) 3000

3) Carter

4) that seal movie

5) Dawson


Here's five guys I'll be staying up late to watch Monday night:

1) Tom Brady - Brady had  432 yards and 4 TDs last week (252 yards in the first half) against Pittsburgh.  Plus he looked the most comfortable I've seen him all season.

2) Aaron Dobson - It feels like Dobson is finally breaking away from the other rookie WRs.

3) Stevan Ridley - Ridley has been looking strong.

4) Chandler Jones - 8.5 sacks already this year.  That's a lot of sack.

5) Danny Amendola - I suppose I should say something nice about Amendola here.  Ummm... He had a good game... I guess?  (I'd still rather have Welker back...)


Did Michael Hoomanawanui have a catch last week?

YEAH!


My prediction: Pats 27, Panthers 21

My prediction (Season): 12 - 4*

ADJUSTED!

*I've been sticking with 10 - 6 all season up to this point.  But it's probably pretty unlikely they're going to go 3 - 4 over the last seven games.

*****

This year, we're going to have regular contributions from Fake Bill Belichick for your reading pleasure.  Here's this week's selection from Fake Bill Belichick's third book "My Life Away From Football":

Last offseason.  Still looking to see if there was something I could do other than football.

Actually thought about retiring for a bit.  Went to see my old mentor Bill Parcells and see how he was doing in retirement.

"You want a beer?"

"No thanks.  It's 9:45 in the morning."

"Bourbon then?"

"Uh, no."

"Fine.  More for me then."

"Congratulations on your Hall of Fame induction, Coach."

"Thanks!  I'm thinking of skipping the ceremony."

"Seriously?"

"Nah, not really!  I'm just messing with you.  Got you good, didn't I?"

"Yeah.  I guess so."

"So what brings you down here today, Billy Boy?"

"Thinking about maybe leaving coaching.  I'm wondering if I've lost my passion for it."

"WHAT?  I'd go back in a second if I could.  Never walk away."

"OK."

"Remember the time we made Charlie Weis do the truffle shuffle?"

"Yes."

"That was awesome."

"Yeah.  I guess it was kinda awesome."

"What other line of work are you going to make memories like that?  Did I tell you about the silk panties on gameday thing?"

"Yeah, I'm not doing that."

"Besides... What else are you going to do with yourself?  It's not like you're going to get an analyst job and go on TV or anything.  You hate those people."

He was right.  He may be completely crazy.  But he was right.

I had to get back to coaching.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Three Things to Watch This Week - Week 1

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...

2025 Three Things to Watch This Week - Week 2

The last place New England Patriots play the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday September 14th at 1:00 PM. They should have kept Jakobi. Joy Power Rankings 1) Anya Taylor 2) Formidable 3) of Cooking 4) Division 5) to the World I don't know what I was expecting for the first game under the new regime, but that wasn't it. Was there anything to feel good about last week? Here's what I've got off the top of my head. 1) Kayshon Boutte had a solid six catches for 103. That's nice! 2) Free agent signing Harold Landry had two and a half sacks in his Patriots debut. 3) Maybe we'll have a top five pick again next year. Also... lots of 1:00 PM games this season. Nice early bed times for everyone. Did the Patriots score 20 points? They did not! Days since the Patriots last score 30 points in a game: 1,063 days (I kid you not.) My prediction: Pats 9, Dolphins 37 *** Thursday Morning Third Down Back is pleased to welcome back special guest columnist Pinhead to shar...

Five Things to Watch This Week - Week 5

The Patriots play their fifth regular season game at Gillette against the Denver Broncos on Sunday October 7th at 4:25 PM. He's gonna get his name in the paper. Oh you know... Just two of the five best QBs of all time playing this weekend.  NBD. I'm no scout... but Peyton has no arm strength left.  Watch how many times he throws the ball more than 15 yards.  I think he's done . I'm huge on the Patriots this week.  Especially if we can keep running the ball like we have been. Sterling Power Rankings: 1) Archer 2) Roger 3) Hayden 4) Moore 5) Ice Cream Bar ... 11,957) John Here's five things I'll be watching for this week: 1) Stevan Ridley - 106 yards and two touch downs last week.  I enjoyed the BenJarvus Green-Ellis era in New England, but I can't remember too many runs he ever had of more than five yards.  Ridley is a little more explosive. 2) Brandon Bolden - 137 yards and a touch down last week.  Welcome to the par...