What we learned this week

A lot!

1) Buffalo and Cleveland fought to a 6-3 conclusion in favor of the Browns. Both of these teams are officially disaster zones.

2) Brady needs to throw to people apart from only Welker (actually I was not happy with the second half game-calling at all, but I may save that for another post).

3) The Cowboys ain't what they used to be. Or what they should be. They almost lost to the winless Kansas City Chiefs. Kudos to the Chiefs, Cowboys....really?

4) Jacksonville may be the most unpredictable team out there. Last week they destroyed the Titans. This week they were smunched (yes, I invented a word) 41-0 by Seattle. This is not exactly a powerhouse team. Now, I understand when the Raiders get smunched 44-7 by the Giants, even though inwardly it may make me confused (Eli? Was he kidnapped and replaced with a clone who doesn't make stupid plays and throw interceptions?). But not Seattle destroying you. That's just wrong.

5) Matt Schaub has apparently still not learned that the way to win football games is to not (repeat, not) throw interceptions right near the end.

6) Josh McDaniels can look really evil when he's mad at special teams.

7) The Ravens are a team that gets penalized a lot, and not only when they play the Pats.

8) The Patriot tuques are the best (something else I just learned: if you Google 'Patriot tuque,' this blog is the second hit).

I think it's over

Mind you, if you had a nickel for every time I thought it was over....okay, you wouldn't have that much, but you would have more than a nickel.

I think the Red Sox are done. They are down by 2 games in a best-of-5, they are not looking great and they have hit 1 run in two games. Mind you, they are coming back to Fenway now, which could help. But their effort to date has been pretty lackluster, as it was for a lot of September. I said it before: the problem is that they are streaky. The hitters have been drastically up and down all season and it seems like everyone follows the trend. Baseball is a fascinating game since the season is so long and people will not play the same way throughout. However, I think that the last couple weeks of the season did not bode well - as many Red Sox fans feared - and now we are in a pinch.

I was watching the game on Gameday, but thought Beckett did well. And really, we should be able to generate more offense than 1 run for him. He may have 'unraveled' in the 7th, but allowing 4 runs is not exactly a complete meltdown.

Also, I don't think TBS wants us to win since they have that dramatic Adenhart commercial for the Angels and we have nothing (not that it wouldn't be great for the Angels to win in dedication to him. Or at least beat the Yankees should it come to that). But Joba Chamberlain has one, the Cardinals have one, the Angels have one...what about us? How about 'The Saga of J.D. Drew'? Or Alex Gonzalez seeks to make himself seem worthy? Or Francona recovers from food poisoning? Surely these are also compelling narratives.

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.

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy

Red Sox are going to have to pick it up if they want a chance in this series. There have been some sloppy defensive plays so far. I certainly feel that the SS and 3rd baseman should be able to throw to 1st without incident.

5-0 at the end of 7. They are definitely going to need to play better.

What is with the umpires?

I feel like the 1st base umpire must be a Ravens fan or something. That is two plays now where the Red Sox made the out but the runner was safe (also the same runner, Kendrick). Maybe baseball does need an instant replay?

I would have thrown the red flag on that one.

Stupid Yankees

The Yankees made the Twins wish that they had just lost on Tuesday night (crazy game!) by kicking their butts yesterday. The final score was something like 7-1, I am too lazy to look it up.

Philly and the Dodgers also won.

As someone who is cheering against the Yankees and Phillies, it was maybe not my day. But something deep inside me also wants the Yankees to win round one so that we can play them in round two....although the Yankees this year are a ridiculous powerhouse, so maybe that is a bad idea.

Red Sox play tonight. I fear I won't make it through the whole game because I have to be up too early tomorrow. Boo.

Wes Welker doing better

We can all sigh with relief that Wes Welker is doing better. Let's hope he doesn't have any problems (Moss wasn't at practice yesterday, but that was apparently not an injury scratch).

This was my favorite part from the Welker interview (if you didn't see it, Josh McDaniels was sporting the Belichick last weekend during the Denver game):

'How does Denver coach (and former Patriots offensive coordinator) Josh McDaniels look in a hoodie compared to Patriots coach Bill Belichick?: "I don't know -- once there's an original, you can't stray from that. Me, personally, I kinda like to set the trend."

Asked if that's what he did Sunday when he was spotted with a plaid scally cap: "Exactly, a little edgy hat. Some people wouldn't be comfortable enough with themselves to do that."'