3rd down conversions vs. Pittsburgh

This statistic needs to be shared: we were 1/13 on third down conversions.

7%.

Mostly a frustrating day

Said Reiss before the game: "It is cold and wet here at Gillette Stadium. With that in mind, ball security will be something to watch." Wow. Was it ever.

I could talk about interceptions. I could talk about fumbles. I could talk about plays that really, hugely, gigantically cost us. I could talk about how Randy Moss couldn't hold onto the ball.

My main concern overriding most others though is that I hope Wes Welker is okay. Guess we will find that out later this week. Because if not, ARGH!

(I mean, it's already pretty much an ARGH all round, don't get me wrong, but that would be rubbing salt straight into that ARGH).

The knowledge that the Jets lost isn't even cheering me up at this point. To Denver. I guess I need to mention that they lost to Denver. So I guess I've got that going for me.

As you probably expected, Indy pulled off a 10-6 victory against Cleveland with their only score coming from an interception. ARGH! ARGH! ARGH!

Dare I dream?

Cleveland is ahead by 1 FG at the half: 6-3.

Okay, this is not much. But Peyton fumbled the ball on the penultimate drive from the 7 yard line when the Colts started with a full set of downs. They came away with no points. He was then intercepted on one of those 'throw it 'way down the field' passes to Dallas Clark.

Derek Anderson, the replacement QB for the Browns, is currently 7/8 with no interceptions and 40 yards passing. Naturally 40 yards passing is not much, but that's okay.

I have a terrible feeling that this game will end with the Colts pulling off some ridiculous play (see: their past few weeks) and winning. But for now I dare to dream.

More on the wild card situation

Indianapolis's next three games are against Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Detroit. Combined, these teams have 5 wins and 1 tie. This schedule clearly favors the Colts to get a wild card spot even though they played really badly in the first part of the season and barely squeaked by Houston and San Diego the past two weeks. I think that there should be a moral 'No you don't get to have a wild card' clause in this situation. Of these three teams, I suppose it is conceivable that Cleveland might step up; they have had some strange wins (they beat the Giants?) this season. However, their QB went on injury reserve this week, so great. I would laugh for days, *days*, if Indy lost to Detroit. *Days*

The Pats need to just win win win win win. Some of those we should be able to do (Buffalo, Seattle, and Oakland). I feel better about us being able to beat Arizona after Philly beat Arizona this week. After all, the Cards are in a relatively weak division and have had some lousy games this season. Unfortunately for us, teams tend to bring it when they play NE, but hey. That's just the reputation we've earned.

Tomorrow we need to win. I am hoping that we've started on some kind of crazy late-season run that will culminate in a good playoff season. Fingers crossed.

If you're curious, yes I am having fun using the 'Winless Detroit Lions?' label.

It's a lousy job, but someone has to do it

I feel sorry for the announcers for the Titans vs. Lions. First, they have to work on Thanksgiving, which kind of sucks. But then they also need to pretend like this might be some kind of interesting football game.

On the opening drive, the Lions fumbled almost immediately. It's 14:02 in the 1st and Titans ball (second snap of the game). Long day for Detroit I suspect.

Yep, touchdown on the same drive, 13:30 in the first quarter.

Lots of thanks for Pats fans

1) Matt Light, who was involved in an altercation (hockey-style) last week, was not suspended. Yay. That would have been a big blow before the Pittsburgh game.

2) Matt Cassel was the AFC Player of the Week.

3) Tom Brady helped out in Roxbury serving Thanksgiving dinners.

(I'm less grateful for the fact that Gisele was with him...)

Not to be outdone

"When 11 people are doing a good job on that you're probably going to have good offensive production. When you don't have 11 people doing a good job on that or it's poorly coached then you're probably not going to have a lot of production on that." Straight from the horse's mouth as to why Matt Cassel alone should not be getting the credit for two 400+ yard weeks in a row.

Matt Cassel's offensive production

With two 400+ yard games in a row, Matt Cassel has now joined the following quarterbacks in achieving that feat: Dan Fouts, Dan Marino, Phil Simms and Billy Volek. Not bad.

Remember when people were demanding that the Patriots get an unsigned QB in to replace Cassel? Like Culpepper? His QB rating was 37.7 yesterday (Cassel's was 114) and he got pulled in the third quarter. In Bill We Trust.

Belichick of the Week

The Belichick of the Week is the quote that most sounds like it should have been said by Belichick:

“At times we sputtered. We’ve got a little work to do.” - Randy Moss

End of the 3rd quarter, SD and Indy

Bob Sanders is out this game because of inflammation in his knee.

His replacement is named Bullitt. Melvin Bullitt.

How on earth would you ever take out a guy named Bullitt?

More theories

So after watching Detroit today blow a 17-point lead in the first *quarter* (they lost 38-20 to Tampa Bay), my new theory is that the Lions actually do not want to win a game this season.

One Thanksgiving match-up is Tennessee vs. Detroit. Set your TiVos....

Superbowls that have no good answer for me

These are all Superbowl match-ups that look possible at this point in the season:

Manningbowl: New York Giants vs. Indianapolis Colts. And just think of the disturbing amount of ads that could be generated from this confrontation.

New York Bowl: New York Giants vs. New York Jets. First, there is no good answer here. Second, since I live in Tampa (host of this year's Superbowl), the town would be overrun by obnoxious Jets/Giants fans. One was in the bar today and I swear to God was doing his best imitation of Turtle from Entourage, which I'm pretty sure no one should aspire to as a look. Where were you last year, Jets fans? You were a lot quieter than you were today....

[How is Atlanta up by 17 in the first half against Carolina?]

Pats 48, Miami 28

Ahhhhhhh, much better. This is a relief on many levels:

1) We didn't get destroyed by the wildcat play. *golf claps*

2) We won against a division rival whose schedule is relatively easy for the remainder of the season.

3) We got over 500 yards again (two weeks running), but this time won the game.

4) Randy Moss got three touchdowns. *loud up and down cheering*

However, in Also Important News, the Jets soundly beat the Titans, 34-13, lending credence to my new theory that Mangini has sold his soul to the Devil. So the Jets are now 8-3, we are 7-4, Miami is 6-5, and Buffalo (after destroying Kansas City) is 6-5. As Bill will undoubtedly remind us in this week's press conference, there are still many games to go and we need to just take them one game at a time and etc, etc, etc. You could actually make a good Mad Lib out of it:

"Well, today we played against a ______ (adj.) team. There were some ________ (adj.) moments and there are certainly many areas where we can _________ (verb). Next week, we'll be playing another _________ (adj.) team that is playing as ______ (adj.) as any other team in the league. We will just take it _____ (number) game at a time, because it ____ (verb, cong. 3rd person sing.) what it _______ (verb, cong. 3rd person sing.)."

I'm curious to see which SD will show up tonight (and for that matter, which Indy team). Peyton threw 12 interceptions against SD in two games last year. Twelve. To put that into perspective, and choosing a quarterback at random, Tom Brady threw for eight total during the regular season of 16 games. Eight.

Observation: Brandon Meriweather was consistently 3-5 seconds behind all plays for most of the game. However, during the fourth quarter, Bill was seen on the sidelines talking to him. Next drive Merriweather comes out and gets an interception. Bill, KEEP TALKING TO HIM!

Important game for the Pats

Actually, no matter which way you look at it, it is an important game. The Pats and Miami are tied right now at 6-4, so whoever wins will be in a better position for the wild card spot. Miami has the better schedule between the two, so the Pats need to step it up today and win.

USA Today headline that no one would have expected last year: 'Dolphins expect to see improved Patriots.'

For reasons I cannot understand, the game is not being broadcast here. In fact, there is no CBS 1pm game. What is with that? I would much rather prefer to stay in today and watch from home. Ah well.

In college news, Texas Tech (2) got thoroughly destroyed by Oklahoma (5), 65-21 (another game I had to miss due to wedding-related events...the same wedding as the dueling piano bar bachelorette party. This one I am not so bummed out about).

Wildcat Week

The Pats are playing the Miami Dolphins this Sunday and that has led to no shortage of speculation about how to stop the Wildcat play (direct snap to Brown). It was precisely this play by which the Patriots were schooled in their first match-up. I would say that if we can't stop it this time around, and Miami can beat us, then our playoff hopes start to look dimmer -- what a strange situation to be in after the past 5 years.

On the bright side, the Jets are playing the Titans this week. From having seen Tennessee play, they appear to be the stronger of the two. Now this is not just Mangini rancor, I really haven't seen the Jets play all that many strong games. Sure, they did beat the Pats last week but it wasn't exactly a powerhouse team that showed up and played.

Probably one of the best Photoshops I've ever seen

Much love.

Things that happened today

1) Coco Crisp was traded to the Kansas City Royals. We got a right-handed pitcher in return.

2) Adam 'Pacman' Jones was reinstated and can play again.

3) I went to Sarasota, which took up most my day, thus minimizing my time to blog. More info soon.

Congratulations to Dustin Pedroia!

Every Red Sox fan's favorite little kid just won the American League MVP. Whoo! And well deserved. He had a great season (only his second) and I hope many more to come!

Wide right and other spondees

After the Bills went wide right last night on their attempted field goal, it got me thinking about how poetic feet apply to legendary moments in sports. Not that last night's 'wide right' was a legendary moment, but of course any Bills fan would be familiar with the more famous incident that ended Superbowl XXV. 'Wide right' is also a spondee, which is to say two equally stressed syllables. Turns out that several other legendary moments/events are spondees:

Game 5 (which for Red Sox fans this year will be legendary)
Drop Kick (yay Doug Flutie!)

Another favorite is the cretic, which is long-short-long (or stress-unstress-stress):

Bloody sock
Helmet catch
Curse reversed
Fenway Park

In a category all by himself, the antibacchius is rare, so rare that it does not, in fact, have its own Wikipedia page (stress-stress-unstress):

Bill Buckner

Incidentally, the Bills lost, which for a Pats fan is good news, divisionally.

If you would all just listen to me, we wouldn't be in this mess

Dan Pees on the Jets game and secondary coverage

'Well, there were a couple of times that they really shouldn’t have been a problem, particularly the third and 15 at the end of the game. We actually blew coverage and it really shouldn’t have been as big a problem - it wasn’t so much them presenting the problem as us presenting the problem to ourselves. So that was the case with a couple of them. I think we just didn’t play good enough technique on one of them that I can remember particularly and then on the last one we just didn’t do a very good job on the coverage; we blew the coverage. That’s our fault. I give their tight ends credit. He does a nice job and [Dustin] Keller [#81] is a good tight end, but we’ve got to do a better job.'

Exactly.

'It wasn't so much them presenting the problem as us presenting the problem to ourselves' pretty much sums up that entire game, I think.

Looks like Bill has been watching some tape

Here is Bill's lengthy analysis of the Wildcat by the Miami Dolphins and why it has been working for them. With intricate detail. In Bill We Trust.

Now just please don't get fooled by it ever again! Ever!

How are we doing?

We're entering the last six games of the season (for most) and I wanted to take a look at The Situation. Naturally, my look is only at The Situation in the AFC. Stuff is happening in the NFC, whatever, Giants winning a lot, Arizona comeback QB, Green Bay not dead with Aaron Rogers, Carolina tearing it up, blah blah blah.

Right now, first place by division:

AFC East: New York Jets (7-3)
AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers (7-3)
AFC South: Tennessee Titans (10-0)
AFC West: Denver Broncos (6-4)

Divisions that cease to hold my interest awfully quickly:

AFC West: The Broncos will, in all likelihood, win this division. However, they have not exactly proven themselves to be a powerhouse this year. Other teams are all below .500.

Divisions where I think the team currently in first has a lock:

AFC South: I seriously doubt that Tennessee will go 0-6 for the last six games. There could (and likely will be) a loss or two, possibly to the Jets (although ???) or, I think more likely, Indy. Just to mess with them.

Divisions that got wicked exciting when no one was looking

AFC East: Right now, the Jets are 7-3, the Pats and Dolphins are 6-4, and the Bills are 5-4, which means that it is technically still anyone's division.

Divisions where I feel confident they shall overcome

AFC North: Pittsburgh Steelers. They have not been as strong as of late (and almost lost to San Diego yesterday), but I have confidence that they will pull it off.

Possible wild card teams (in the order that I feel they most deserve):

[As much as I hate to do this] Miami Dolphins: they are on a roll and have a really easy schedule remaining other than their two division games. I feel like New England can probably beat them (if they aren't caught off-guard by the same play 5 times again) and likely the Jets will too. However, other weeks include Kansas City, San Francisco, St. Louis, and Buffalo.

New England Patriots: they need to improve in the red zone and make up for losses to injury on the defense and if they play the Jets again, stop #81. That being said, they are a pretty competitive team and two of their four losses were very close (and against the Jets and Indy. And we really should have had that damned Jets game even though we played like poo in the first half). However, there are still some tough games remaining, including Arizona and Pittsburgh. Everyone take a moment and reflect back to 2001 with the 6-game win streak to end the season. You may now resume whatever you were doing.

Baltimore Ravens: unfortunately, they still have a pretty difficult schedule remaining against NFC East teams. Which is sad, because I think that they are currently fielding a better team than, say, the Broncos.

Indianapolis Colts: I was almost willing to give them a little slack after they beat New England and Pittsburgh in close games. Then they went and barely squeaked by the Houston Texans. That is no good. Still not sure on this one. They still have to play Tennessee (and I know I said above that this might be a Tennessee loss but it depends which Colts team shows up) and Jacksonville. Now, admittedly Jacksonville has mostly sucked this year, but they are divisional rivals and they did field a good effort against the Titans yesterday.

Buffalo Bills: they have been declining after their strong start. Considering that they are in a competitive division (and who would have guessed after last year), this is a bad move.

Positive outcomes from the USF game

You might think that I am going to mention the nice 3rd quarter TD that Grothe just threw to Johnson.

No, although that was a positive.

The best thing I've seen all day, though, is the fact that Grothe shaved off that wretched Rayhawk (or Mohawk or whatever it was....it was ugly).

USF Bulls at the half

It's not looking good. The score is currently Rutgers 21 - Bulls 10. And although I have been cleaning and not watching the game exclusively, from what I've seen, it's not been great football from our side.

Jim Levitt, our coach, took a timeout with 7 seconds remaining which was not actually credited until 4 seconds. He then spent the timeout yelling at the linesman whose fault it was. Maybe not the best use of a timeout...there is nothing you can really do about what the referees do or do not do, apart from making them angry.

They can come back (they did against Kansas earlier this year) but I'm starting to wonder if maybe this is not going to be their year. The Big East is getting more competitive with Cincinnati seeming strong. Ah well. It's college. Anything, anything, can happen.

Oh, I just learned that there is a player on USF named Ron McClain, which if you are Canadian and just listening to the game is freaking hilarious.

How many yards???

Reiss breaks it down really nicely:

The Patriots got 511 (!) net yards.

Matt Cassel threw for 400 of those. He ran for 62 of those. He also had 30 completions.

Wes Welker caught 7 for 108 yards. Watson had 88. Keller, that infamous #81 on the Jets, had 87.

Mayo ruled the field with 20 tackles, although we probably all noticed that.

Gostkowski set a personal record for most field goals in a season (24). If he gets to 32, he'll beat the club record. In a way, I want to see him do this. In a way, I really don't because I want to see more touchdowns.

Thoughts post-Jets vs. Pats

Thought #1: Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Thought #2: We should have been able to hold them at 3rd and 15, particularly considering that they threw up the middle to 81. It would seem that Favre now has exactly three plays: short throw to the right, short throw to the left, and medium throw up the middle to 81. Great time to choose man over zone.

Thought #3: Two words: special teams. In fact, if the game had continued in the second half as it did in the first, my post was going to be, 'Two words: SPECIAL TEAMS.'

Thought #4: Do you think Mangenius/Manjudas (thanks Sarah!) would feel better with a teddy bear on the sideline? He looks very unhappy.

Thought #5: What I most remember from this game is that for much of the first half we looked cruddy, then for much of the third quarter we committed irritating errors like fumbles and missed balls and snaps that were just not quite there and "holding" calls. Plus we held the Jets to, like, 34 yards. Yet at the end of regular play, we were tied.

Thought #6: Matt Cassel was pretty awesome. Nay, extremely awesome. That last drive was excellent. Nay, superbly, supremely, sublimely excellent.

Concluding thoughts: good happened in this game. Lots of good things. Unfortunately, the bad things offset many of these good things. If we can continue to build on the good things, we're in a good position for the rest of the season (after all 6-4 is not bad in this division or actually overall). Probably we will have another loss or two though, which is a concern (maybe Pittsburgh and/or Arizona?).

Thoughts that will cause me concern during the week: red zone percentage is still far too low. As pretty much all of us noted, the Pats are currently something hideous like 10% in red zone touchdowns. But think this over: if they were at just 50%, we would be an extremely difficult opponent. So that is, in this humble fan's opinion, what needs to happen.

Thoughts on Belichick: I think that he's having more fun this season because he actually gets to coach, like draw diagrams and stuff. Last year, I think maybe everything started getting too routine.

Thoughts on officiating: Vrabel was not holding anyone on that called play. Hopefully I won't be fined by the NFL for that comment.

Schadenfreudlichen Thoughts: Who was covering Moss on that last second touchdown? Well, I'll be. It was rusty old man Ty Law.

I can't really state it any better myself

One of the front page stories on nfl.com:

'George: No give-up in these Pats

Loaded with legitimate excuses, the Patriots could have taken a "what-else-would-you-expect" mentality had they fallen off the map. Instead, they're back in a familiar spot.'

Thomas George goes on to say that after losing the first-round pick (okay, but we did still have a first-round pick), almost going 19-0 (but falling short), having the greatest quarterback in the history of the game get injured (that characterization is, admittedly, mine and not his, but he does state a similar notion), and the laundry list of other injuries, the Patriots have earned the opportunity to go, say, 3-6 and still be able to look in the mirror in the morning.

Or maybe they could even be, oh, I dunno, 5-4 and wouldn't have their star quarterback calling the fans 'spoiled' to the press. I'm trying to find a citation to back me up on this. It happened. Traces of it are to be found on the internet.

(Now, okay, we were called spoiled fans, at least by Ellis Hobbs, for booing at the team at the Miami game earlier this year. However, as an extremely loyal viewer for the past five years, that was one undeniably painful game).

I dunno, I don't think I want a teammate saying this about me

From an nfl.com story on the fact that Ty Law is rusty and feels like an old man:

'After seeing what Brett Favre has done with the Jets, Law was convinced he needed to be back on the field.

"He was part of my motivation," Law said. "I use guys like Brett and guys like Bernard Hopkins. I'm sitting there like, 'If these guys can go out there at 43 years old and knock out a 26-year-old guy, and Brett can still sling that thing at 45 or whatever he is -- 50 -- I know I can still go out there and cover somebody.' I always believe in myself, no matter what anybody else believes."'

I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure that Favre is not pushing 50.

It's a great story really. He states that Mangini had a better idea of where he would play and the he will actually get the chance to play with the Jets, which was not clear with the Patriots (how many years did he play with them again? Surely he knows how the system works, it's not any one player). Additionally, he states that while he feels rusty and old, he is confident that he will be back in form relatively soon. Apparently, he was offered more from the Patriots and turned them down because he felt he would fit into Mangini's system better.

Dude, it's November. You're rusty, you have not played with the team, you're just now learning the team defense. And it's Mangini, famous for over-complicating the team defense?

Now I don't want him to crash and burn because I am not that kind of person (with the notable exception of one Colts kicker). In this case, though, I'm not sure why any of this information needed to be shared with the press except maybe to say, 'I'm thrilled to be back in uniform and Coach called me spry.'

No, you don't get to call yourself this any more

From a discussion about whether the Red Sox should re-sign pitcher Derek Lowe:

'One reason the Red Sox failed to get into the WS this year was clearly TOO MANY MEN LEFT ON BASE. They need a run producer in the middle of the lineup; Theo should go all out for Mark Teixeira; getting another pitcher would be icing on the cake. They could go for another reliever and put Masterson or even Papelbon in the rotation.

They really need to let Varitek go; he's been great, but they just cannot afford such a week hitting bottom of the order. We don't know if Big Papi and Mike Lowell will ever be the same.

HITTING FIRST, then pitching if any money left over! Theo, are you listening? R.J.Tata, a long suffering fan of 60 years!!'

No, you were long-suffering before 2004. Not now.

Also, can we officially start distinguishing between 'resign' (quitting the game) and 're-sign' (signing again with a team)? Otherwise it can get very confusing.

Youk ties the knot

Sad that I learned this from a Yankee blog, I know...however, as this blog is founded on the premise that I spend far too much time surfing the Net, this is a testament to that.

I love the idea of a bunch of fans standing around chanting, 'Yooooooouk.' Priceless.

Also, I love random Jets fan who has to talk smack. Yet another reason I hope we can win tonight.

Madden likes us for the Win

Apparently Madden has chosen us to edge the Jets tomorrow in what he thinks will be a 'heck of a game.'

I've been thinking this one over and unless we get schooled, I think that whatever the outcome it will be good. If the Pats lose, then they will see what their weaknesses are and hopefully fix them. This information could come in handy during playoffs if the situation is similar to how it is now. And as I mentioned in a previous post, at least we are not getting beat the same way every time, so there does seem to be adjustment happening (even if sometimes it is not during the game....like against Miami....).

On the other hand, I really hate it when we lose to the Jets.

Really?

From Charles Robinson, over at Yahoo (who decided that last week's big winner was Belichick): 'The team has allowed a combined 51 points in its last four games...'

By 'the team,' of course, he is talking about the Patriots. I couldn't make that clear without creating a grammatical faux pas.

Really?

Okay, that would be impressive for any team. But let's think that over for a second:

1) Last week we played the Colts, who have apparently decided it is worth showing up to play. The Colts beat the Steelers (who have a pretty darned good defense) with 24 points. We held them to 15, and it would have been less if it hadn't been for that Vinatieri guy.

2) The week before, we played the Rams and held them, plus (despite some earlier questions) stopped the long ball. Okay, sure, we needed two members of our defense to run into each other first, but at least they only did that once.

3) The week before that, we played the Broncos, who were blowing teams out at the start of the season.

4) As we've gone along, we've seen more and more injuries, including Harrison and now it looks like Thomas is out. But we're still holding teams to an average of 12.75 points over the last four games.

5) Remember when we played San Diego and it got all ugly with the long ball and we were all, like, 'Dude, our season is TOTALLY over,' and we all started thinking about who we should draft for next year and whether that knee thing was really going to be fixed by the fall and we all wondered why, why, WHY is this happening to us? I would say an average of 12.75 points shows a pretty good mastery over not letting teams take advantage of the long ball. Which is great.

Season isn't over yet. Now I just hope that there is a really really good game plan for Thursday. I would love to see the Jets held to 12.75 points (actually I would love even more to see them held to less than that, but we shall see).

This is a good week, Patriots-wise

1) I met Mark Evan Bonds. If you don't know who that is, go back and re-read The Education of a Coach, paying particular attention to when Belichick was in prep school.

2) I saw Sarah Adams. If you don't know who her brother is, re-read the same sections. Also, any week that I see Sarah Adams is a good week.

3) I sent a question to Mike Reiss which he acknowledged AND he is apparently going to try to learn the answer for (in re: NFL fines).

[4) Tom Brady decided that while he was convalescing, he should get caught up on music history, and signed himself up for my spring semester courses] -- okay, that one didn't happen.

Monday thoughts

Randy Moss's fine was rescinded because he did not actually say anything bad about the refereeing in the Indianapolis game, but hinted that he might have had bad things to say. Which I think the NFL might want to take as a sign that they are getting far too wrapped up in all of this.

My new question is, are the Colts here to stay? They pulled it off yesterday against Pittsburgh (in a close one). So perhaps they will be competitors, even though it will take a lot for them to get back on top. Also, I feel in a way that this makes the Patriots look even better considering that the Steelers (who I consider to be pretty dominant this year) didn't beat the Colts. We did hold them to fewer points, though, which I know in some ways is utterly irrelevant but still makes me happy.

I feel like every time I watch the Giants play this year, they really shouldn't quite win. Then they do. Last night only heightened that feeling.

I'm sure there will be much excitement leading up to the Jets game this week. I haven't seen them play this season (the first game against the Pats I was at the Bucs game), so no clue how they actually look. I really do hate losing to the Jets though.

Sunday afternoon observations

Detroit's remaining games are: Carolina, Tampa Bay, Tennessee, Minnesota, Indianapolis, New Orleans, and Green Bay. I'm pretty sure that the vast majority of these teams are currently .500 or higher. Which means that I think it is very possible they could be the first team to go without a win since the 1977 Buccaneers. They put in Culpepper today, so maybe he will improve. But that is a tough, icky schedule.

New England played a good game against Buffalo, although even I will admit that the calls went our way perhaps more often than not. The Jets had a decisive victory against St. Louis. Highlights showed some pretty ugly plays from the Rams.

I hereby declare that the situation in the AFC East has officially become exciting. Buffalo certainly seems to be waning, while the Jets have (as much as I hate to admit it) been quite effective as of late. Thursday night is the Pats vs. the Jets, so that should shed some light on the current divisional balance of power. I'm not sure if Miami can be as consistent as they need to be this season. They are having good games, but if indeed the Pats and Jets have become a force, that will be trickier for them.

Dave Thomas, as a follow-up, is appealing the fine. Randy Moss was also fined last week to the tune of $20 000 for criticizing the refereeing in last week's game. What exactly does the league do with this money? I'll leave that research for another day.

The Dave Thomas Penalty

First, I love that the guy is named Dave Thomas, which is an exceedingly Canadian name. Even though the Dave Thomas in question is actually from Texas.

Last week against Indy, there was the infamous Dave Thomas penalty for a hit after the play that cost the Patriots 15 yards, putting them out of field goal range. Most from the Patriots organization seem to feel that this was an unintentional mishap (and these things happen) that we should just let go. Thomas claims that he did not hear the whistle. Additionally, it wasn't a particularly cruel or unusual hit, just a pretty generic tackle that was late. I don't think anyone has questioned the lateness of it, or that the penalty occurred (in fact, Belichick came out and said that he felt the call was justified). And yeah, I would have much preferred for him to not get the penalty, but then again, I also really wanted Gaffney to catch the ball, aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.

[As an aside, the Gaffney drop still pains me, much like the Grothe lob to the back of the end zone in the Cincinnati game with no one standing there]

So as a follow-up, Thomas was fined $7500 by the NFL for the late hit. This seems gratuitous and in fact unnecessary. The team was punished, he was punished in the game, and it was not a rancorous play. Irksome.

Maybe we should take up a collection to give him back that money...

More Pats vs. Colts aftermath

I was just perusing the Patriot forums at Football's Future and ran across an interesting thread entitled, 'Mr. Kraft, Please Fire Josh McDaniels.' While I don't know that I am in the 'fire him' boat, I have had a few complaints and the Indy game didn't fix it. Most of the game was called very well. However, we choked in the clutch. Sound familiar? Same kind of thing happened in Superbowl last year, when I wasn't all that impressed with McDaniels' play calling either.

So here are the main issues I have with his play calling:

1) Getting too fancy. Why did we snap the ball to Faulk twice last game? It got us nowhere. Sure, sometimes some of his show-off plays pay off (remember that Brady - Moss - Brady - Stallworth in the end zone one last year against Pittsburgh? Because that was freaking cool). But more often than not, they seem flashy for no reason at all.

2) The quick throw across. Other teams figured this one out ca. 2004, back when Brady introduced it. We need to do less of it.

3) What on earth was that last play of last week's game to Faulk? Anyone? Anyone? 4th and long and you have him run for it? Why not try it downfield again because all we needed was one score to win the game! The worst thing that happens is another interception and we lose anyway!

I like that he has clearly imbibed the Kool-Aid and wears the hoodie, though...only a slightly classier version of it. Louise, who I guess is now best described as my dad's fiancée, has nicknamed him Baby Belichick.

Should I Stay or Should I Go? Free agency for the Red Sox

I'm watching election coverage and thought I would also give readers the option to exercise their points of view on Red Sox free agency for this year. So should they stay or should they go?

Decision 2009:

Jason Varitek
Go: He had a very weak season hitting, could this be a sign that he's done?
Stay: Defensively, he certainly stepped up, particularly during the playoffs. Sometimes in the clutch he can still pull it out. Finally, he's V-Tek. Come on.

My call: I have to go with stay. It's Varitek. Call me sentimental.

Sean Casey
Go/Stay: I'm pretty neutral on this one.

Curt Schilling
Go: Had obligations to get into shape and be back on the team. Also injuries.
Stay: Bloody sock...however, that was four years ago.

My call: It's time. Go.

Bartolo Colon
Go: I thought he already went?

Alex Cora
Stay: Decent batting, not great. Decent fielding.
Go: Screw it! Get Nomar back!

My call: Never quite got over the Nomar thing. Bring him back.

Mark Kotsay
Stay: Depends on what we need to do with the Lowell/Youkilis situation.
Go: He might want to get back to his original role as outfielder.

My call: I want to know what's happening at third base. Then we can take it from there.

[How is a CNN commentator comparing Obama to Reagan?]

Paul Byrd
Stay: If he wants to be a bullpen pitcher that comes in during middle innings, then we could use that.
Go: If he wants to be a starter, it looks like the Sox have already set the rotation, Beckett-dependent.

My call: Do we have a place for him? Does he want to play that position? Also, did he gel with the team in the short time he was there?

Mike Timlin
Stay: No.
Go: Yes please.

My call: Thanks for the memories.

They have exercised the option on Wakefield, so he's a stay...even with those unpredictable games.

As for the Ellsbury/Crisp controversy, you could probably get a good trade for one or the other. Probably an even better trade for Ellsbury. However, it's worth thinking about whether Drew will be back and in good health next year before making any such moves.

Bias, Genius, and Plagiarism

As I mentioned in my summary of the Pats vs. Colts, I was pretty sure that some would have questions for Belichick and some of his decisions. In fact, that is addressed in a Boston Globe article by Dan Shaughnessy that provides a rehashing of the game. Shaughnessy concludes that the game plan was inspired: keep the drives long, don't give Peyton the ball, and work in increments rather than leaps. Which was precisely what the Patriots did. However, as Shaughnessy also points out, the execution left something to be desired. There was the obvious Gaffney drop that really shouldn't have happened. The Patriots got to the red zone twice in the first half and had to settle for field goals instead of touchdowns. I'm not sure what our red zone completion percentage is this season, but I suspect it is pretty low. We are ranked 25th in touchdowns, tying us with Seattle. Shaughnessy also points out that there were some Belichick calls that armchair fans may be questioning this week, such as the use of timeouts and disputing the too many men on the field call. At least, that is what I read from the article.

A featured story this morning on Yahoo (and what a way to wake up at 6am) featured the headline, 'Belichick a genius no more?' It purportedly summarizes Shaughnessy's article, but certainly seems to add a liberal amount of artistic license in getting that headline. Now, I can certainly understand why the term 'Mangenius' may have fallen out of use, but I would have to say that Belichick is doing relatively well on the genius stage (that is, if we insist on continuing to use the term 'genius,' which is a historical construct and possibly a questionable one at that). What seems particularly biased, however, is that at no point did Shaughnessy suggest that Belichick had lost it. Also, as a side note, Belichick was not sporting his grey hoodie during this game, unlike what the photo might lead one to believe.

What irks me even further is that the Yahoo article has sections that are by its writer, then has others which are taken directly from Shaughnessy -- in academia, we would term that 'plagiarism.' I would assume that those parts should be quoted. However, what really grinds my gears is the whole set-up. Certainly it is to get readers to click and as we all know, there is no lack of Patriot detractors. But come on Yahoo. At least present Shaughnessy's views accurately.

Considering what the Pats are doing without Tom Brady (see other situations where the starter is out, such as Dallas), I think a case could be made that Belichick may not be a genius, but he is awfully good at what he does.

Daunte Culpepper joins the Detroit Lions

From the story:

“As a result of doing some research on different places to play, the Detroit Lions seemed to be the best fit for me,” Culpepper told The Associated Press in an e-mail. “I am encouraged by the commitment of ownership, the vision of management and the great potential of the talent that is on the team."

.....that and they actually called.......

This is nothing against the guy, that quote just cracks me up.

Colts vs. Pats aftermath

Ugh.

I think that the good news is we can still be competitive against a very competitive team (where on earth did those Colts come from? Not the same team that played Tennessee last week!). What's irritating is that we had the opportunities and didn't capitalize. So ugh.

More good news: Matt Cassel continues to look better and better. This week the only interceptions came late, when we were reminded that yes, this is still Matt Cassel and not Tom Brady (not that Brady is infallible either...2006 AFC Championship is all I need to say there). Also, the defense was really quite good. No sacks, but they did a great job containing the run and there were not as many ugly deep plays as there could have been. Not to mention that they held the Colts to 18 points.

Jabar Gaffney........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That really should have been a touchdown. It was an extremely well thrown ball. So again, Cassel is getting better and now it's time for everyone else to pick it up as well.

Now, I am not one to criticize Bill Belichick all that much. In fact, I'll let him off on some moves that I'm pretty sure other Pats fans were not very impressed with, such as challenging the too many men on the field call (and at any rate, that wasn't Belichick's fault, it was whoever was upstairs telling him to throw the flag). Sure, I wish he hadn't called the time out before the 4th down that would have worked. Something tells me that he wishes he hadn't done that either.

In hindsight, as irritating as this game was, it showed that the Patriots can step it up when necessary. In the end, it didn't go our way. When I think about all the games that did wind up going our way in previous seasons, we're probably due.

Week 9: Part 1

Buffalo loses to the Jets, which means that if the Pats lose tonight we are all tied at 5-3. Weird! Buffalo did not seem to have it together today...like a 91-yard turn-over not have it together. Have they started a decline? I can't possibly bring myself to say that the Jets have started an ascent, even if they have. Which they haven't.

Tennessee came awfully close to suffering its first loss and man, I wish I had seen that game (no AFC games were shown here at 1pm, not a one). I did watch the overtime via nfl.com, but that is not exactly the same. In related news, Cincinnati is no longer winless. Nfl.com tried to convey the weirdness of the last Jax play, but it didn't quite make it.

I really thought that the Lions were not going to be winless after today, but I guess that is not meant to be this week. Orton goes out for the Bears, but they manage to pull it together enough to beat the Lions. Let's face facts: if you don't pull it together to beat the Lions, it will be a long week.

Tampa Bay barely pulls it off last second. Kansas City fans, I am sorry. That was a lousy ending.

As I am writing this, Miami leads Denver (which surprises me less than it might have two weeks ago); Atlanta is destroying Oakland; Seattle is up by one TD over Philly (battle of the Teams No One Thought Would Be This Cruddy); and the Cowboys are trying to score their starting points in the red zone with the Giants up 14-0. Eli had some kind of delay of game, followed by a fumble (Manning being Manning).

Pats vs. Colts

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, it's that time of year again: the New England Patriots meeting the Indianapolis Colts. Last year I thought that this was the game that would end the win streak. However, the Pats prevailed.

Now we are in a very different situation than pretty much any of the recent match-ups between these teams. The Pats are 5-2, and coping with some pretty significant injuries -- it's worth noting that those losses came to Miami (mandatory in even-numbered years: see 2004, 2006) and San Diego. Okay, the Miami thing is not so worth noting, even though they did beat Buffalo last week, which tells us that they can be a threat even to a top team. I would say the San Diego loss is more crucial here. San Diego is in a weirdly parallel situation to the Colts: they are under .500 to start and their decline is not due to any obvious reason. If the Colts lose tonight, they will both be 3-5. They have their starting QB. They have most of their players. And yet they are not the dominant team that they have been over the past couple of years. In short, both San Diego and Indy should have been contenders, and it's becoming increasingly obvious that this season they are not.

Yet the Chargers destroyed the Pats 30-10 in what was a particularly painful game: we were beat on the long ball and Cassel was sacked four times. The Chargers played the Patriots in the past four seasons even though they are in a different division and I have to think that having pretty thorough reports on the team must have helped. So one school of thought might claim that the Pats could be in trouble this week because formerly strong teams that know them well can target their weaknesses accurately.

After seeing Indy collapse in their game last week, though, I feel like the Patriots may have the upper hand in this one. Faced with a strong defense (and Tennessee has allowed the fewest points on average this season), Peyton really fell apart as the game went on. I think that the Pats can bring enough pressure for the whole game to seriously inhibit him -- provided we don't get beat on the long ball like last week.

And if we do have to get beat on the long ball, can we please not have two of our secondary players running into each other because that was just embarrassing.

I missed Texas vs. Texas Tech last night because I was at a bar watching dueling pianos. No further comment.