Thursday Morning Third Down Back

The AFC #1 seed New England Patriots play Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette on Sunday January 22nd at 6:40 PM. That kick return (makes Italian chef kissing fingers gesture). First half of divisional round game against the Texans was ugly.  Sloppy!  Patriots rusty from the bye week?  Were the Texans just playing out of their mind?  Eh.  Maybe a little bit of both. This is a very good Steelers team the Patriots are playing this week.  But it doesn't feel like a very deep Steelers team.  The Patriots defense should be able to take away Pittsburgh's main offensive weapons. Supposedly half the Steelers have the flu.  Genius Bill Belichick strikes again!  Diabolical. Ben Power Rankings: 1) Franklin 2) & Jerry’s 3) Dover 4) edict Cumberbatch 5) Roethlisberger 6) Folds 7) Gazzara 8) icio Del Toro Here's three things I'm looking forward to watching Sunday night: 1) Malcolm Butler - It's...

The AFC #1 seed New England Patriots play Brock Osweiler Tom Savage Brock Osweiler and the Houston Texans at Gillette on Saturday January 14th at 8:15 PM. This could be Vince's last game.  Shout out to the Big Man. Are you excited for this game?  I'm excited for this game. O'Brien Power Rankings 1) Miles 2) Richard 3) Conan 4) Bill 5) Chloe Here's three things I'm looking forward to watching Saturday night: 1) LeGarrette Blount - Feels like a Blount force trauma game.  ( Late editorial note: LeGarrette Blount (Illness) Misses Practice For Second Straight Day.  Yikes.  Scratch that.) 2) Offensive Line - The line had a heck of a good year.  Brady stayed clean.  The running backs had plenty of room.  Shout out to Dante Scarnecchia for coming out of retirement. 3) Dont'a Hightower - I think he's healthy again.  They've been moving him around more lately.  Watch where they have him line up before the play starts...

The AFC East Champion New England Patriots play Ryan Fitzpatrick Bryce Petty* and the New York Jets at Gillette on Saturday December 24th at 1:00 PM. *"Bryce Petty" sounds like a made up movie NASCAR driver name. Tom takes a moment to meet with a fan after the game. I'm probably going to miss the game on Saturday.  We'll be spending the holidays at an undisclosed location.  This upsets me greatly.  I haven't flat out missed a game since 1998.  Balls. Dion Power Rankings: 1) Lewis 2) DiMucci 3) -ysus 4) Phaneuf (married to Elisha Cuthbert!) 5) Celine Here's three things I'd be watching for on Saturday (if I was able to watch the game): 1) Devin McCourty - The McCourty hit on Demaryius Thomas was a thing of beauty.  The defense is coming together nicely over the last few weeks.  Great timing! 2) Chris Hogan - There's a nifty little "top 10 Brady plays of the year" video... And about 1/2 of them are deep balls to ...

The first place New England Patriots play Trevor Siemian(?) and the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Sunday December 18th at 4:25 PM. Do not buy a tree from this man. Bond Power Rankings: 1) savings 2) James 3) covalent 4) Gold 5) friendship Despite Cyrus Jones's efforts to keep the Ravens in the game, that was a pretty solid win last week.  The defense played their best game of the year. Still feeling the sting of last year's AFC Championship game loss in Denver.  I hope they go in and blow doors. Here's three things I'm looking forward to watching on Sunday: 1) Shea McClellin - I find blocked field goals tremendously exciting.  Thanks, Shea McClellin! 2) Chris Hogan - That 4th quarter deep TD to Hogan to put the game away last week was a thing of beauty. 3) LeGarrette Blount - The Patriot offense is much more balanced than this time last year.  But this would be a great week for Blount to step up and take ov...

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 Jared Goff* and the St. Louis Los Angeles Rams at Gillette on Sunday December 4th at 1:00 PM. Chris Long saves the day. *If my last name was Goff, I would have named my son Geoff.  Geoff Goff. Fisher Power Rankings: 1) King 2) Price 3) Cat 4) Carrie 5) Isla 6) & Sons Funeral Home 7) Antwone 8) Stevens .... 11,997) Jeff Here's three guys I'll be keeping an eye on on Sunday afternoon: 1) Chris Long - We haven't really heard from Chris Long a ton this year, but I do enjoy game saving strip sacks.  So we'll take it. 2) LeGarrette Blount - I've really come to appreciate Blount this season.  He's moving better than previous years... despite this. 3) Martellus Bennett - Let's try to keep Bennett on the field.  I don't want to see anyone else getting hurt. FREE AGENT WATCH: Has Malcolm Butler, Jamie Collins or Dont'a Hightower been resigned yet?  Not yet! But... Marcus ...

The first place New England Patriots play Ryan Fitzpatrick and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium on Sunday November 27th at 4:25 PM If they don't resign Butler, I'll be somewhat upset. Captain Power Rankings: 1) Ahab 2) Horatio McCallister (Simpsons Sea Captain) 3) Phasma 4) Crunch 5) Kangaroo 6) & Tennille 7) Caveman 8) Needa 9) Morgan 10) Canada Good win on the road last week, but I still feel like this team isn't quite great .  Too many holes on defense. Here's three things I'll be watching this week as I digest everything I ate this weekend. 1) Malcolm Mitchell - With Gronk and Hogan out with injuries, Malcolm Mitchell had a chance to shine.  And he did!  98 yards and a touchdown.  It sure would be nice if the Patriots could draft and develop a real NFL level WR for a change.  It's been a while. 2) Julian Edelman - Edelman had a very good week last week, but it still feels like he's not quite 100%.  Watch him...