Competitive, but in a PG-13 kind of way

Tom Brady was asked today if he will play on Sunday. His answer was adorably cute and fiercely competitive, all at once:

"My dad said 'Are you guys going to this play this week?' Of course I want to play. I don't want to lose a game. You don't just forfeit these games. Playing Houston, I don't want to see one of them in the offseason and them saying 'Hey, we beat you guys.' Screw that. You have to go out there and play."

Did you see that? Tom Brady said, 'Screw that.' Almost strong words. I do like the idea that he would be bothered about losing on purpose to Houston, that is kind of funny (and you, Peyton Manning, can go suck an egg on this issue).

Pats win! Pats win! AFC East!!!

If everything was coming up Patriots last week, this week we are in full bloom. Great victory over Jacksonville today (35-7), which was marred only by the return of 'Who dropped the ball?' The answer: Maroney. But he was severely benched for it, as in he did not show up for the rest of the game, and this happened on the very first drive.

I liked Sammy Morris's post-game comment:

'“Regardless of stats, regardless of everything, getting the (AFC East championship) hat and T-shirt is what we’re out here for,” running back Sammy Morris said.'

As a runner, I kind of joke sometimes that it's really all about getting hats and t-shirts. Good to know that this is also a priority for professionals.

I'm feeling much better about our chances today

For some reason, I all of a sudden don't feel like we are doomed. A few possible hypotheses as to this sudden optimism:

1) We've been playing injured. (for instance, Tom's rib, shoulder, finger combo). Hopefully there is some time between now and the playoffs to recover.

2) Our record is now a respectable 9-5. So is Cincinnati's. And that seems like a good place to be.

3) While we thought Carolina would be an easy game, they then went and upset the Vikings this week. Now, you could point to the Vikings and say that there were some issues there (such as Favre refusing to be benched...classy), but the point is that they were capable of more than we allowed them.

4) Remaining games for Miami: Houston and Pittsburgh. Remaining games for the Jets: Colts and Cincinnati. I feel good about the possibility that both teams will lose at least one of these games.

Wouldn't it be great if the Colts made it to 15-0 then lost to Buffalo? Can you imagine? Ouch.

Everything comes up Patriots

Life is good as a Pats fan today:

1) We won. On the road. And not one single running back dropped a ball!

2) The Jets lost. Now this makes me happy any week, but particularly now since one more loss and they are out of the playoff race.

3) The Dolphins lost. It was a particularly painful loss, no less, with Henne getting intercepted in OT. Again, that puts them another game away from the playoffs.

4) We only have to win one more game to advance to the playoffs.

5) Randy played a great game. I LOVE YOU RANDY MOSS!

(Tom and Wes...not so much. But don't worry. My love for both of you is unconditional).

Hopefully we don't blow it and some of the major injuries (especially Warren and Wilfork) are back next week.

Richie Incognito kisses some butt

I was at the game yesterday, and let me tell you, Richie Incognito, the most recent acquisition for the Bills, was not shy. He walked out like he owned the place, stomping around not unlike Ogre in Revenge of the Nerds. However, he didn't actually have much of an impact on the game, then went and praised the Patriots like they were the second coming of defensive schemes in the NFL or something.

For instance:

"Some teams try to do a variation of it, but no one does it like the Patriots," he said. "The whole front is fluid, the whole front is moving. With other teams, you might see two or three guys floating, but you won't see a whole floating front. It's definitely tough to protect against."

Someone wants to be a Patriot...

Close, but...

The Saints will not be perfect this year. They just lost to the Dallas Cowboys.

(I'm not sure exactly why, but I don't care for Tony Romo. Just saying).

The final score was 24-17. I do have to say that Dallas brought some good pressure at the end -- mind you, I only saw the last 2ish minutes, so that's all I can really comment on.

And then there was one...I really hope someone can beat the Colts! Although I know logically that it was better for them to beat Jacksonville from a playoff perspective. But still.

Incognito. Richie Incognito.

The Bills signed Richie Incognito today after he was released from the Rams. He had two personal foul penalties during last week's game and then yelled at his coach.

But mostly it's about the name.

Richie Incognito.

He was also voted the seventh most dirty player in the league in that poll that they do annually. Should be interesting!

Who dropped the ball?

I am starting a new feature called 'Who dropped the ball?' It could be part of a song dedicated to the Patriots. All together now:

'Who dropped the ball?
You dropped the ball!
Who dropped the ball?
You dropped the ball!'

Well, or something like that.

Anyway, this feature is not meant to be metaphoric or a profound analysis of the previous game. It's just documenting which running back managed to drop the ball. I hope that by recording this, it will end.

November 15 (Colts): Maroney
November 22 (Jets): Maroney
November 30 (Saints): Maroney*
December 6 (Dolphins): Morris
December 13 (Panthers): Morris

*I know that they got it back right away, but that is not relevant. He still dropped the freaking ball.

UPDATE: It's the week of December 20 and no one dropped the ball this week. Fabulous.

Except Bill. Bill does not go after Moss.

From today's press conference:

"I have a lot of respect for Randy, I think he's one of our best players and I think if you watch other teams defend him and watch other teams play against him, they think the same way -- other than these two guys from Carolina after they lost another game. I guess they don't think that way. They haven't won a lot of games now."

Everyone starts going after Moss

I don't think that this needs to be said, but I love you, Randy Moss. You bring joy and happiness to my Sundays. You can run ahead of almost anyone and catch absolutely unbelievable passes. Your contribution to the Patriots has been nothing short of astounding.

That being said, yesterday was not your day. First, Brady was intercepted when he was throwing to Moss, which most of us interpreted as 'Moss didn't run the route correctly.' Tom's radio interview today provided a different interpretation. I may stick with mine, though. Then, on his one catch of the day for 16 yards, he turned it over. Seriously. Patriots need some freaking remedial 'how to hold the football' drills or something. Even Wes let one drop this week, which is unusual (but he made up for it with 105 yards on 10 catches. You're doing just fine there).

But then Yahoo picked up on this story (as they are wont to do) and turned it into 'Moss about to screw Patriots over and leave weakened, pathetic franchise in his wake (if you don't think he's capable, consider Minnesota and Oakland)'. I am exaggerating, but not by much. Furthermore, apparently Tony Dungy called Moss 'fragile' on SNF last night and said that in all of his years of coaching, he had never once sent a player home for anything under any circumstances at all, no sirree.

Dungy, when you have three Superbowl rings -- or for that matter, three Superbowl appearances -- you can offer advice to Bill Belichick on how to coach. Until then, you don't get to say anything.

Moss may have had a bad day (and he did), but that's okay. Everyone has bad days sometimes. I still love you.

Number crunching: we show up for the second half for once

2009 (ytd)
1st quarter: +49
2nd quarter: +60
3rd quarter: +3
4th quarter: +11
[OT: -3, 1 game]

The good news is that these are (almost) all positive numbers again. Also, we actually showed up and played the second half, even if the first half was a mess.

It wasn't great, but...

It was a win, 20-10. This was especially important since both the Jets and Dolphins won this week as well, meaning that we are still one game up on them.

There were a lot of mistakes and the first half was especially bad (there were 5 dropped balls in the first half alone). Something seemed to click in the second half, though.

We were helped by the fact that Carolina's offense is not very strong; however, I thought that the defense was more encouraging today. Burgess, of all people, came up with a big play at the end with the sack. Looks like someone made the most of his Wednesday off.

Adalius Thomas was a healthy scratch, which was, like, the least surprising news ever.

All Hell starting to Break Loose in Foxborough

You remember last season when the Habs starting choking to a serious degree and I posted that story about how some of our players were linked to organized crime? Then I said something about how the whole thing was falling apart? Well, it isn't quite that bad at Foxborough, but things are not all that great:

1) Moss, Guyton, Burgess, and Thomas all were sent home yesterday because they were late for practice. The weather was bad, so they may have had an excuse, but none of that from Bill. I admire the hardassedness of this decision because I think it's the right one. Hopefully it will turn people around and provide the much-needed kick in the butt that this team requires right now. Or it fails horribly, particularly because...

2) Tom Brady did not practice and was on the injury report today and yesterday. Yesterday was for his finger (which was injured prior to the last game) and -- as always -- right shoulder. Today, they added 'ribs.' Not good. Not good at all. I missed this, but apparently he was taken down pretty hard during last Sunday's game.

Oh, and some woman gave birth to my future stepchild this past week. Congratulations to Tom and whoever that is.

Number cruching: point differential to start December

We are losing some battles here

2009 (ytd)
1st quarter: +56
2nd quarter: +53
3rd quarter: -4
4th quarter: +8
[OT: -3, 1 game]

The numbers speak for themselves. Not a second half team? That's an enormous understatement.

Do you know who I blame? The coaches

If there was any game where our defense should have stood up and made a statement, it was the Miami game this past weekend. Why? Because the D had just been embarrassed by the Saints on Monday night. There was no good to be taken from that game; everything was a mess and on D, there were no bright points.

But what happened instead? The Dolphins -- at several points -- marched down the field with no one stopping them. That is not the statement that should be made. Or maybe it is, and we have to accept that far from being a Superbowl competitor, this team may not even be bound for the playoffs.

The coaches sure aren't helping. If they did devise a game plan to try and contain the Saints on defense, you could have fooled me. But more worrisome is the calls that were made in the Dolphins game. There was essentially no pressure on Henne. Sure, there was one interception, but that was about the only bright spot of the game.

This story, which talks about Mayo and his frustration for not being able to figure out what is wrong with the defense, is in my opinion an indictment of the coaching staff. It's the coach who should be able to dissect what is happening and pinpoint the problem. That did not happen yesterday and instead of making a statement about the strength of this team, they unveiled its myriad of weaknesses.

Also, the play calling on offense, particularly late in the game, was hideous. When the Patriots still had the lead in the fourth, they should have worked to burn the clock and move the chains. Instead, they opined for long passes (none of which worked), which did the opposite: missed passes stopped the clock and stalled the drives. And the last sequence, with an attempted long pass on second down then handing it to Faulk on third and long (6, I believe), was atrocious. Think about it: Maroney (and the team) averages 4.1 yards per carry, or something like that. So if you give the ball to him, he should be able to get a first down with that average -- and when he doesn't, throw a short play to get the necessary yardage. It may not be that every single carry is four yards, but it will average out over all. Maybe this is the issue: our coaching staff does not comprehend the law of averages.

The Patriot Way

I have a lot to say about yesterday's game, although I feel like much of it was subsumed by the lengthy car ride I had afterward (I was actually in attendance, then had to drive back from Miami, which takes about 5 hours). However, I will start here. I'm slightly plagiarizing, because I'm pretty sure I read a column about this last week.

As you likely know, the Patriot Way was a term used to described the work ethic and overall philosophy of the Patriots back in the early winning years (2001-2003). Each person had a job and was committed to it. Everyone knew his place in the organization and worked together to achieve success. It was about the team and not the individual. And clearly, it worked, as 2001, 2003, and 2004 show.

Now whatever I was reading last week pointed out that while the Patriot way may still exist in the upper levels, it could be eroded for most because of all the new players in the organization. I'm starting to think too that while the concept makes sense, the execution isn't there. Just look at our secondary (yes, I am bringing back the 'We need corners' tag, it has come to that). They are consistently missing plays or making costly errors, such as the pass interference penalty yesterday. That is not the Patriot way.

Another thing that I would not characterize as the Patriot way is the number of times stupid errors are committed, such as fumbling the ball. Our running backs have now fumbled in four consecutive games. Seriously. This is not the Patriot way, which requires that everyone do his job. If your job is to hold on to the football, then do that!

I think that there is a larger issue right now with the organization, which I will talk about in another post. But the Patriot way, for now, has proven elusive.

I spoke too soon, clearly

This week's Belichick of the Week needs to be reassigned. From the master's mouth:

“That’s the way it is every week,” Belichick said. “The game is over, it’s over. Move on to the next one. We’ve had big wins. We’ve had tough losses. We haven’t had any ties, but it would be the same on that, too. We move pass that game and move on to the next one, and this is the most important one.”

Number crunching: point differential

Since I went to the trouble of getting this data, I might as well keep it up to date:

2009 (ytd)
1st quarter: +48
2nd quarter: +56 (-17 in one game!)
3rd quarter: -2
4th quarter: +11
[OT: -3, 1 game]

In Bill I Trust (aka, it's all gonna be okay...just maybe not this season)

I got thinking about the embarrassment that was Monday night's game and while this is probably not our year, I suddenly had some insights that made me feel better. As we all know, Belichick is a smart guy, so anything that I'm seeing I would think he is seeing even more acutely. And I was reminded of a trauma moment in Patriots' history (I feel like 'trauma moment' should have its own German word, which would be something like 'Traumaaugenblick'). There have been three Traumaaugenblicken to me in the past three years: 1) We blow a 21-3 lead to the Colts for the AFC Championship in 2006; 2) The FREAKING HELMET CATCH (not to mention Eli dodging the sack) during Superbowl in 2007; 3) Tom Brady takes the helmet to the knee and ends his season in 2008. What is more important, though, is how we handled those moments. Belichick learns, fixes, and tries to improve the problems. For instance, after 2006, with the understanding that maybe we need real receivers, he signs Moss and Welker. There is another important theme in this story that emerges here: Belichick's willingness to take risks (Moss certainly was one), and having a back-up plan in case it doesn't pan out (Welker being the back-up plan in case Moss didn't work). As we all know, that went pretty well, right up until Traumaaugenblick #2. I think that last season we didn't get much of a chance to understand how the team had changed after the 2007 SB because the first couple of months were spent evaluating Cassel. In the end, things turned out okay, and had Brady been our QB, we almost certainly would have been a playoff team.

However, where we got beat last year was on defense (think about the Miami game we lost, the Chargers game, and the Jets game as moments when our defense broke down). So this year, Belichick took another risk and revamped the defense. For the first 10 weeks of the season, that risk seemed to have paid off pretty well; we were 2nd overall in points allowed and even after the past few weeks, we are still 7th. Consider that we have played the leading team for offensive points scored (the Saints), and the third-leading team (the Colts) -- if you're wondering, we're the second-best team for points scored. That's not too shabby considering the changes. And I can't stress enough that the changes needed to happen. I still believe that aside from the aging LBs (Eli dodges the sack, remember?), the other flaw that needed correction was the secondary, which was a freaking mess last season. That appeared to be mostly fixed until this past game, where suddenly there were major gaps. Something tells me that another attempt will be made to fix it this year. One of the qualities I most admire about Belichick is his ability to stop a bad situation from getting worse: he's not too proud (or arrogant) to admit his mistakes in the roster.

One of the key factors in this season which I think is overlooked is the Joey Galloway one (dammit, I need to revive that tag!). He was supposed to be our third receiver and would not have been a shabby one. But that didn't turn out...who knew that he couldn't keep his feet inbounds? So we gambled (by getting rid of Gaffney) and that did not pay off. There isn't anything anyone can do about it now, and it doesn't help that a lot of the other potentials, such as Edelman and Tate, have been injured.

Why am I saying this now? Because I can promise you that no one watched last week's game more acutely than Belichick and he sees those weaknesses. More importantly, he will try to correct them. While it might not be possible this late in the season -- and let's not forget that barring a complete meltdown of Bucc-ish proportions, this team is still going to the playoffs -- he will try to change it for next year. It may not work: consider that our secondary is not where it should be. More continuity in the coaching staff would help, I think, since there has been a lot of turnover during the past few seasons. The situation at running back would benefit from more stability; again, it was a gamble signing Fred Taylor and it appeared to be a good one right up until the point when he got injured (imagine if we had Maroney and Taylor, our running game might be pretty solid). So did this season turn out the way we had hoped? No, it's not 2007, and it never will be again. However, 2007 also ended in one of the most painful Traumaaugenblicken imaginable, so we should be happy it's a new team. It may not be perfect, but it's ours, and as always, in Bill I trust.

Not really Belichick-worthy, but still good

Randy Moss did a postgame interview, which surprises and gladdens me. I thought he looked pretty frustrated during the game and it's nice to see him come out and say the right things. Here is one thing he said that I really liked:

'We're up for a bit, then down for a bit, then up for a bit...things are pretty wavy right now.'

He also pointed out that one of the nice things about football is that by Wednesday, it's a new week. I hope they can keep that feeling as they prepare for the next game (and that they beat the Dolphins because I will be in attendance for that game!).

Maybe Tom gets Belichick of the Week this time around?

Okay, I have heard his answer to the first question and the first question only, but this line jumped out at me:

'The game wasn't as competitive as we would have liked, but that's what happens when you don't play very well.'