Randy Moss Cut

Okay, so probably I should rename this blog, 'Very Occasional Thoughts About Randy Moss.'  But yeah.  There's a lot going on right now in my life.

First off, the Pats are 6-1. WHOO HOO!  That would be the best in the whole freaking NFL.  And we are just getting warmed up.  I mean that.  So much good with the new and old combined. 

However, what brings me here today is the fact that Randy Moss was waived by the Vikings.  This breaks my damn heart.  Remember when I said that without the right support, Randy Moss would be little more than a T.O., moving around the league and not finding a true home anywhere?  That's happening now.  And it BREAKS MY DAMN HEART.

I do have to say though, Randy, that the Red Sox hat during your post-game interview last night was a bit over the top (how can I not find a picture of this?).  At least you didn't completely pull a Manny and demand a translator.

Will the Pats take him back?  He needs to clear 31 teams on waivers first, so that's probably not the best question.  I also don't know that the Pats would take him back, as beloved as he is.  We're actually doing okay so far.  Nah, more than okay.  We're 6-1!  Remember?

Randy Moss is a Viking

"Over the course of the past several months, I have spoken with Randy and his representative about Randy's place on our team and his future in football. Consistent with my dealings with Randy from the day we acquired him through our conversation this morning, it has been honest, thoughtful and with great mutual respect.
While I will keep private the details of internal conversations with players and staff, suffice it to say that many things were taken into consideration before making the trade. In this business, there are complex and often difficult decisions, but it is my responsibility to make them based on what I feel is best for our football team, in both the short term and long term. I am grateful for the opportunity to have coached Randy Moss and aside from facing him as an opponent, I wish him the very best for the remainder of his Hall of Fame career." - Bill Belichick

This is difficult for me.  A lot has surfaced since we first started hearing about the Randy Moss trade rumors yesterday.  It would appear that Randy wasn't happy, that Randy wanted out from the start of the season, and that his attitude was spilling over to the locker room.  Randy is by no means perfect and, if these reports are true, then the Patriots is not where he should be playing.  But that doesn't make this any more sad.

Sports are great because they can create great excitement -- as I was reminded last night when I caught bits of the ESPN film on the 2004 Red Sox.  However, there are also the heartbreak moments.  My first was when my childhood hero, Patrick Roy, was traded from the Montreal Canadiens in 1995 after a skirmish with a coach.  There are moments when I have been decimated, such as Superbowl 2007.  There are moments of agony, such as seeing a helmet go straight into Tom Brady's knee.  This one, I'm still not entirely sure.  I always wanted to give Randy the benefit of the doubt, which likely caused me to idealize him to some extent.  Whatever happened today, I am honored to have seen a future Hall of Famer show off some of his best stuff.

I only wish that it didn't end like this.  Best of luck, Randy.  You will be sorely missed.

The week in review

So including this blog, I'm currently keeping up with 3.  That's a lot.  This one may be neglected somewhat as a result.  However, here is a summary of the week:

1) The Pats lost.  Sucks!  But hey, it happens.

2) This:

It was almost worth losing to have this touchdown.  Seriously.  Randy.  LOVE  YOU!!!  And yep, that would be Revis getting completely beat.

3) Lots of work, things to do, etc....  However, we aren't in such bad company.  Looks like the Saints could go 1-1.  It's been a wacky start of the season.  The Bucs are 2-0.  Really?

4) Still love them.  Also there is an awesome ESPN commercial.  I'm hoping to find the link.

Today was a good day

Lots of goodness today.

1) Tony Romo just made one of the most idiotic plays I have ever seen.  Four seconds left in the half, he decides to try a lateral, it doesn't work because the player who catches it fumbles, Washington picks up the ball and scores a touchdown.  Commentators then go out of their way to call him stupid for this play, including a comment that his coach was purportedly 'furious.'  Good stuff.  Looks like we are off to another one of those seasons for the Cowboys.

2) Pats win!  Remember back when we started the season scoring 38 points a lot?  I remember that season, it was 2007.  That's the number of points that we scored today.

3) Randy Moss goes on a rant and tells the media to STFU.  Media response: to make this a far more ridiculous story than it actually was.  Here's what I have to say: pay the man his straight cash, homey.

4) Not only do the Colts lose, they lose because they allow 231 yards on the ground (!).  This is like the 2004 Colts or something.  Going to be a long season if they've regressed on defense.

Patriots win utterly meaningless game, I get super excited

Tonight, the Patriots beat the Saints in the first pre-season game.  It counted for absolutely nothing.  I hadn't even planned to watch it, in fact.

And yet....and yet.....I love those boys so much!

You know who was awesome?  Julian Edelman (who was also awesome in last year's playoff fiasco).  You know who else?  Randy Moss.

It was nice to see the team strong near the end and holding the Saints to a field goal when they were within 1st and goal.  Smooth play calling by the Saints, incidentally -- they almost pulled off a pretty good semi-QB-sneak (I don't know what to call it!).  But their 3rd-string QB evidently went to the Laurence Maroney School of Running Sideways Instead of Forward, which ended in basically naught.  Nothing like when your 3rd-string team can outplay the other 3rd-string team.  Final score was 27-24 for the Pats.

It's official: I am ready for some football!

T.O. cut by Bills

The Bills have announced their intentions of releasing T.O. on March 5 (which is Official Release Day, aka, Don't Let The Door Hit You On The Way Out, Adalius Day). Isn't that amazing? Here we have one of the great wide receivers of his generation who has languished because he never found the right environment to give him the support that he needed.

Change that scenario around slightly, and that could be Randy Moss. He still has 2-3 years before he reaches T.O.'s age, but it is amazing to consider how these extremely talented players have experienced these ups and downs. While I may not like him all that much, I do feel for T.O., to some extent, on this one. Get your popcorn.

Starts with Randy Moss, ends with Rodney Harrison

Randy Moss, playing at a charity game in Jupiter, FL, stated that he doesn't think he'll be a Patriot after 2010. This did not come off as selfish or diva-esque, or anything else. He thinks that his value will be less than they will be willing to pay.

But Randy, what about our love? Our deep-seeded love? I hope that he is proven wrong, although I respect his candor in the matter. Good guy, really.

Incidentally, I have stopped reading 'Extra Points,' the boston.com Patriots blog, because I couldn't deal with the lack of professional proofreading (this is the website of the Boston Globe, so come on people and step it up). Actually, that's a bit of a white lie. I did stop reading for those reasons, but my tipping point was when they ran a story asking who doesn't like Peyton Manning. The answer: me, and about 75% of your readership. I do still read their Red Sox coverage (even when they post somewhat ick pictures of Josh Beckett...see previous post).

Here is a fabulous example, though, of the crapterrific proofreading:

'Former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison hit on the team's absence of a defensive coordinator and dearth of leadership at Heath Evans's charity softball game.'

I had no idea that you needed a defensive coordinator for softball or that there was a dearth of leadership at Heath Evans's game. Dear me. They take their off-season charity softball seriously, I guess.

If you're wondering, Rodney basically feels that Bill is capable of everything and anything, and that it will all be okay. Although he did point to a lack of leadership with the young defense.

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.

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.

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.

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!).

Randy Moss delivers turkeys, good cheer, Belichickisms

Randy Moss went back to his home state of West Virginia to help out with distributing food on Thanksgiving. Notice the use of the Belichickism, 'It is what it is.' I know that Bill didn't coin that one, but it certainly shows up a lot in his press conferences.

And for the 80 billionth time, to all of the haters, maybe this will convince you that the Patriots are not 'classless'? Incidentally, I'm still pretty sure that classless is not a word.

Randy Moss, I love you

The play that basically turned the whole game around.

What a thing of beauty. Beauty!

Play Calling

Okay, we have a new offensive coordinator (of course, because our previous one beat us this afternoon). And I know that at times, we complained and griped about him. Too many fancy-pant plays. Not enough rushing. But he did get us the 18-1 season and kept the team going when we had Matt Cassel step in. I know that I complained too, and I stand by that.

But...

What on earth happened today? Why were we running with the clock tick-tocking away at the end of the 4th quarter? I mean sure, Denver has a good defense and Watson was off the field with an injury, but did we not have one single new play to throw out there that could confuse the Broncos? I mean, they figured out the 'pass to Welker' thing (even though not all of those passes were on). I will be forced to assume that Moss was covered for most of the game because he didn't show up much. But still, we should have tried to run it more in the 3rd, when we wanted to run out the clock, not in the fourth when we needed big plays?

Also, the only way for Moss and Brady to start connecting is practice, practice, practice. You may not remember when the Pats were merely scoring 34 points at the start of the 2007 season, but I do. And what I also remember is that Moss and Brady did not connect on every play. In fact, I'd give them about a 50% chance. Remember the last regular season game against the Giants? Brady passed long down the field, Moss missed. Next play, Brady did it again (it was his 50th TD) of the season on the exact same play and they did it. So let them try on some of those 2nd and whatevers.

Also, was Edelman even on the field in the second half? They didn't seem to throw to him. Try a double Wes Welker, I'll bet McDaniels wouldn't know what hit him.

Incidentally, Kevin Faulk (who has never been my favorite but did pretty well last year so I laid off on him) averaged - ready for it - 2 yards a carry (4 attempts, 8 yards). That is wretched.

Probably the stupidest column I have ever read

Finally, someone has topped the idiocy of the 'good vs. evil = Colts vs. Pats' column from 2007.

Apparently, Randy Moss didn't put any effort into Sunday's game.

Really? Because he looked pretty good to me. Made a few good plays, caught a few necessary balls, at no time put his feet out of the end zone, thus nullifying the play.

I feel like the reporter, Mike Freeman, meant to write 'Joey Galloway,' then erred.

Much, much better

The Pats looked like the Pats again today. Although sadly they carried some traces of the 2008 Pats, in that their red zone conversion was not great. But much was good:

1) If that's Randy Moss with a back injury, then everything is going to be o-k. He played a great game, running for over 100 yards and coming up with the big plays when he needed to.

2) Tom's precision is coming back. Sure, there were some plays where he was off. But overall he kept things together.

3) The running game -- while not spectacular -- was still pretty good. Fred Taylor came through with some key plays, picking up big yards (105 total).

4) Overall, I thought the defense played very well, allowing only 10 points. This was without Wilhite, Mayo, and Wilfork, who went out during the game. Now I would prefer not to have to play the rest of the season without these guys, but considering who was left, I thought that they did a great job. Also, Gonzalez was allowed no big plays and our corners played like corners. Yay!

5) I believe we were penalized twice for 5 yards. Much better than the past two weeks and more in line with what we expect from the Belichick-run Patriots.

There is one player who I still have issues with, but I will save that for a separate post. Followers of this blog can probably take a wild stab as to who that is.

As usual, though, the sky has not fallen and all was not over last week. I wonder too if part of the problem was that last week, we had expected Welker to play and designed routes involving him. This week, his absence was less noticeable. Edelman, while no Wes Welker, came up with a few nice plays, one of which was rather Welkeresque.

I don't want to go into 'panic mode' or anything, but...

Apparently both Welker and Moss are listed as questionable for Sunday's game. Now, don't get me wrong. I'd much rather see them sit now than not have them in a couple of months. But I'd rather have those two playing with Brady than pretty much anyone else in the entire universe!

First preseason Patriots game

Yeah, apparently I have become a person who watches preseason games. Via a medium that doesn't convey football well (the NFL Game Center on nfl.com). But yeah.

Anyway, Tom looked to be back to his dominant self in the first half, marching up and down the field like no one's business. And while he and Randy Moss had some problems co-ordinating, there was a 35-yard pass in there on the last drive. Sweet! The score was 21-6 at halftime. They have now put in Walter as QB to start the second half.

Also good: our red zone defense is holding them back, as in they have yet to score a touchdown at the start of the third quarter. This was an area of considerable weakness last season, so let's hope that we do better this year!

Tip to the Eagles: you're going to find it hard to win when you get 90 yards of penalties in one half.

In other news involving the Eagles, they have signed Michael Vick. He apparently can't play until he is reinstated in Week 6. Interesting. And kind of weird. Is he meant to be the back-up?

Wide receiver paradise

The Patriots have signed Joey Galloway from Tampa Bay. That means that we have, like, the greatest WR combinations ever: Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Greg Lewis, and Joey Galloway. Provided everyone stays healthy, our offense should be utterly and completely ridiculous.

Not to mention that we will have Tom Freaking Brady throwing the ball.

*drooling already*