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.

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.

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.

Running backs about to go all Voltron

Here is Reiss to explain:

'Maroney compares running backs to “Voltron” cartoon. Drawing a large media crowd at his locker, running back Laurence Maroney talked about the team’s running back corps returning to full health. He compared the situation to Voltron, the cartoon character in which five pieces connect together to form one large robot. Sammy Morris went through a full week of practice for the first time since injuring his knee Oct. 18, and Fred Taylor is apparently making progress in his recovery from ankle surgery on Oct. 8.'

Things actually look relatively promising from the injury standpoint. TBC was seen back today (he was taken out in the Colts' game with a rib/groin injury) and apparently, we may have some running back(s) this week. Here's hoping.

It's like some weird game

One goes out, one comes in, etc....

Fred Taylor underwent surgery today for his ankle, which he injured in Sunday's game. This is unfortunate because he is currently our leading RB and has played quite well. This means that BenJarvus Ellis-Green now gets to play. So yeah, apparently we needed those 84 running backs.

In Bill We Trust: all the pieces are coming together

So yeah, in less than a week, we have put more of the puzzle back together:

1) Today the Pats acquired Greg Lewis from the Eagles for draft picks. He's a wide receiver and presumably our Gaffney replacement (except that he can hopefully hold on to the ball better). He's had a few good games against the Patriots, which seems ironical.

2) It looks like we will get Shawn Springs from the Redskins. He's a corner! Okay, an older corner, but when healthy, a good corner. So that is another piece of the puzzle I hope.

3) They re-signed Chris Hanson, our awesome kicker who played excellently in the super windy Buffalo game last year.

Oh, and LaMont Jordan is now with the Denver Broncos. So that is one less running back.

Whoa! Vrabel traded, yet another RB signed, bye-bye to Gaffney

Okay, that was unexpected. Vrabel was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. Wow. Speculation runs rampant by Reiss on this one, but I think that the main train of thought remains, 'Huh?' Most comments range from, 'That was unexpected' to 'Wow, that was really unexpected.' My gut says that this is bad, but as others are also pointing out, we don't know what we got in return yet. So I shall save judgment until that time (unless it is another running back).

Speaking of which, the Patriots signed running back Fred Taylor, formerly of the Jacksonville Jaguars (remember when everyone thought they were going to tear up our D during the 2007 playoffs? One of those guys). This means that we now have, like, 87 running backs. Okay, I exaggerate, but not by a whole lot: LaMont Jordan, Lawrence Maroney, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Fred Taylor, Sammy Morris, and Kevin Faulk. This begs the question of who is going to leave from our side, because I don't know that you need 6 RBs. However, considering how quickly we seem to go through them, maybe you do.

Finally, Jabar Gaffney has gone to the Denver Broncos. Okay, he was the third WR, and he did do his job....but not always.....*coughing* COLTS GAME. So perhaps it is his time to go.

And all of this took place in 1 DAY of free agency. Fun!