Pats beat Broncos 41-7

For one night in 2008, it looked like the 2007 Patriots were back.  The Patriots were able to take advantage of five Broncos turnovers and an early injury that limited the effectiveness of Jay Cutler to romp the Broncos at The Razor last night.  Last night’s game was a war of attrition as both teams suffered injuries, Cutler hurt his finger on the first drive, Denver also had cornerbacks Champ Bailey and Dre Bly suffer injuries which allowed Randy Moss to unleash for two touchdowns.  The Pats also suffered injuries, hours after Laurence Maroney was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury, Sammy Morris, who in the first half ran for 138 yards and a score, missed the second half with an undisclosed injury, and Pats safety Rodney Harrison suffered a torn quad, which will have him miss the rest of the season, if not be a career ending injury with Harrison at 35 years of age, he might not want to rehab this injury, as it is his second season ending injury in the last few years.

The Pats will face the red hot St. Louis Rams Sunday afternoon.  The Rams are coming off a dismantling of Dallas on Sunday.

Preview-Monday Night Football vs the Broncos.

The Patriots return home after spending a week and a half in California after having a split beating San Francisco and getting embarassed by the Chargers.  This week the Denver Broncos come to town, a nemesis of the Pats and a team that the Patriots have historically struggled to beat, even with Tom Brady under center.  A lot of people when they talk about the Broncos talk about their explosive offense, centering around young quarterback Jay Cutler and young wideouts Brandon Marshall and rookie Eddie Royal, who might miss this game with an injury.  But what people don’t mention is the Broncos are a bottom 5 defense that has given up almost as many points as they have scored, and can very easily be gashed on the ground or the air.

The Patriots on offense will have to stick with the game plan they established vs the 49ers two weeks ago, which was grind the clock, run the ball, keep the opposing offense off the field and don’t make Matt Cassel have to put the ball up in a comeback mode.  Cassel has shown little in improvement since week one and taking over for the injured Tom Brady, and is not the type of quarterback in which you want to get involved in a shootout with, and with Laurence Maroney and Lamont Jordan listed as doubtful, Sammy Morris will get a bulk of the carries with Kevin Faulk continuing to play his role as a change of pace.

The Pats on defense have been getting torched in the air.  Issac Bruce had a multiple TD game two weeks ago and Vincent Jackson had a career game last week, and the Broncos have an offense that is more high powered than both of these teams, even though they could be without Tony Scheffler, Eddie Royal and Brandon Stokley.  Brandon Marshall provides a match-up nightmare with the Pats’ smaller corners, as Marshall as been compared a lot to Terrell Ownes in the way he can not only attack the ball in the air, but how tough he is to drag down once he has it.  The Broncos run game has been tough to put a finger on since Terrell Davis got hurt earlier this decade.  Micheal Pittman rushed for a 100 yards last week with Selvin Young and Andre Hall out, and now rookie Ryan Torian is back, so maybe not this week but soon Denver might have a four headed running back approach.  While Denver to start the season were putting up huge point numbers, the last few weeks going against tough defenses thay have had some tougher sledding, not scoring more than 20 points since week 3, so they have slowed down.  They key is containing Marshall, something that is easier said than done.

This week is a tough match-up for a team that got gashed last week in the air by the Chargers.  The Pats will have to turn this into a ground and pound type game and not get into a shoot out.  If the Pats can control the clock, they will win, but I don’t think they will, and the Broncos will continue to own the Patriots, as the Pats have no answer to Marshall and the Broncos defense will find a way to stop the Pats offense by forcing Matt Cassel to beat them, something he isn’t capable of doing.  Denver wins big, 31-10.

Bolts fry Pats 30-10

Last night in San Diego, the New England Patriots were beaten by the Chargers 30-10.  The game started off rough as Vincent Jackson opened play by catching a deep ball over Deltha O’Neal which became the story of the night, the Chargers bombing the Pats on both sides of the ball.

While the defense was bad last night, allowing the Chargers to drive the field at will all game long, either through the air or on the ground, the offense was just as lethargic.  No Lamont Jordan or Laurence Maroney last night, and Matt Cassel having to play in catch up mode looked bad, getting pressured while completeing 22 out of 38 passes for a hair over 200 yards, and not scoring a touchdown until the 4th quarter on a one yard plunge by Morris.

It was an awful performance from the Pats, and this could be the start of a long stretch with Denver and the Colts coming up and the Pats defense looking awful against the pass and generating now rush at all.  I shudder to think how Brandon Marshall will be stopped next Monday night if Vincent Jackson had this type of game, with 5 catches for 134 yards.

Preview, Patriots at Chargers

I would like to apologize for the lack of updates, I have had some stuff in real life which has taken away from my writing.

Anyway, this weekend on NBC’s Sunday Night Football, there is a rematch of the last AFC Championship as the Patriots travel to San Diego.  Now some of the luster that might have been in this game before the season might be lost, as each team is dealing with injuries to their star players, the Pats missing Tom Brady and possibly Lamont Jordan, the Chargers look like they will not only be without Shawne Merriman, whois on IR, but Chris Chambers might miss this game along with Antonio Gates and LaDanian Tomlinson not playing up to their standard of play.

The Pats on offense last week looked like the opened up the playbook a little bit more, with Cassel attempting the deep pass and Randy Moss catching a huge bomb which helped jump start the Pats offense at San Francisco last week.  The Chargers will be the toughest defense the Pats have faced to date.  The Chargers have one of the best corner tandems in the league with Cromartie and Jammer, and still have a decent front seven against the run even without Merriman.  The Pats running game will be tested for sure Sunday night.

The Chargers come into the game with a 2-3 record, with two of those losses coming in the last thirty seconds of the game, including the infamous Ed Hoculi blown call week two.  The Chargers started last year 2-3 and still won the AFC West.  The Chargers offense for so long featured Tomlinson and his ability to score from almost anywhere on the field either from a run or a pass.  But Tomlinson is suffering from turf toe and looks like a shell of himself.  Darren Sproles has looked good in spelling Tomlinson.  Philip Rivers continue to mature into a good NFL quarterback, but with two of his targets dinged up, he will be looking a lot towards Vincent Jackson and “Buster” Davis.

These teams have a history the last few years.  The Patriots have eliminted the Chargers the last few years from the playoffs and the Chargers have attacked the Pats in the media many times the last few years after their losses.  While this game is lacking the start power of some of their match-ups the last few years, both teams need this win, San Diego needs it more but they won’t get it, as I think the Pats have enough to win on the road in a squeaker.

Troy Brown retires

If there is one player who was the perfect Patriot during the last 15 years, it was Troy Brown.  Troy Brown did everything on this team.  No, literally, he did everything, he played on return teams, he played on block teams, he was a Pro Bowl wideout, and when the team a few years ago was destroyed by defensive backfield injuries, Brown played defensive back.  I could write a book on the clutch plays Troy Brown has made during his tenure, and I am sure every Patriots fan has memories of number 80 doing something on the field, either catching passes from his back, making a clutch punt return or picking off Drew Bledsoe, or maybe even a play I forgot.

Brown was never as flashy or as newsworthy as others at the position.  He never did fancy dances, or push ups in his driveway or fake mooned a crowd, but week in and week out Brown played with everything he had, and is an example for young players to look up.  Watching Wes Welker now, he reminds me a lot of Troy, the shifty moves, the work ethic, everything.  Even watching welker in Miami before he signed here, watching him play, the first thing I thought of is “He reminds me of Troy.”  I would love to see the Pats offer him a position, either on the coaching staff or even the front office.

Dolphins destroy Pats 38-13.

Today in Foxoborough, the New England Patriots suffered their first regular season loss since 2006.  The Dolphins were led by Ronnie Brown who had 4 rushing touchdowns and a passing TD.  The Pats defense was shellshocked by a formation which had Chad Pennington lining out wide and Ronne Brown in a shotgun position where the QB would line up.  But even if the Pats could stop this formation, it didn’t matter as the Pats were carved all over the field, during one span allowing Pennington to complete 11 straight passes.

The offense wasn’t that much better.  Matt Cassel was awful, once again attempting a dink and dunk offense which led to a 19/31 for a measly 131 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. The running game was stagnant too, as it totaled less than 100 yards.

The Pats now head into their off week next week before heading out to the west coast to play the 49ers week 5.  The Pats have a lot of work to do the next 13 days, as they looked worse than awful and there might have been some weaknesses discovered today which could haunt the Pats for the rest of the season without Tom Brady leading the offense.

Week 3 preview, Miami @ New England

The 2-0 New England Patriots hope to head into next week’s off week with some momentum going against the 0-2 Miami Dolphins.  Joey Porter from Miami has already opened his mouth, virutally predicting victory because “Tom Brady isn’t back there.”  Too bad for Porter, the Miami Dolphins don’t have the firepower on offense or the talent on defense to beat the Patriots this week.

The Patriots offense has to be breathing a colective sigh of relief after seeing Jason Taylor leave via a trade in the preseason, and seeing Zack Thomas leave for Dallas.  Furthermore, the Phins were torched by the Cardinals last week for over 400 yards and 31 points, and while the Pats offense looked stagnant last week in New York, going 1/5 in the Red Zone TD conversions, this will be a nice home start for Cassel with nowhere near the pressure of a hostile road start in New Jersey vs the hated New York Jets.    I can see the Pats moving the ball at will Sunday afternoon.

The Pats on defense will be using the old plans they have used against the Jets for the last few years, as Chad Pennington is now the starting QB for the Dolphins, and he might be benched for Chad Henne sooner rather than later.  They have been trying to establish a double backfield attack with Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown, but neither player can get anything going behind a young rebuilding offensive line.

I see a laugher happening Sunday.  The Dolphins are once again in contention for the #1 pick in the draft, and the Pats have this week and the bye to prepare for back to back west coast games weeks five and six.

Who’s Hot, Who’s Not, Week 2

Another week, another win.  The team looked great yesterday.  Here are the people who looked good, and the people who need some reps last week.

Who’s Hot

Lamont Jordan-Could be this year’s version of Corey Dillon from two years ago, an older vet who can’t carry the load, but will grind clock.  11 carries and 62 yards, all in the second half and all after Maroney missed time with an injury.

Stephen Gostkowski-Usually 4/4 on field goal attempts is reason enough for a mention here, but the five touchbacks yesterday pinning the Jets at their 20 and taking Leon Washington out of the return game might be the more impressive feat.  He made the defense’s job yesterday a lot easier by not having the defense have a short field to defend.

Richard Seymour-Welcome back Big Sey!  Seymour is one of the best defensive lineman in the game, but hasn’t been healthy for a few years, now at 100%, he looks like he is returning to dominating form.  Had a huge sack and 3 tackles all going against Jets off season pick up Alan Faneca.

Adalius Thomas-Made the play of the chasing and sacking Brett Favre while Leon Washington was trying to block him costing the Jets almost 20 yards and letting the Pats ice the game.

Who’s Not

Chris Hanson-From hot to not hot for Hanson.  This week he was needed to pin the Jets deeper inside their territory after the Pats would stall, instead he had a couple of touchbacks.

Red Zone offense-1/5 in converting red zone chances for touchdowns.  This could be Josh McDaniels not wanting to pass the ball with Cassel in, playing conservative instead of aggressive, but the play calling was very predictable and hopefully they have more faith in Cassel in the red zone next week vs Miami.  Usually we see packages with Mike Vrabel in at tight end and direct snaps to the running back, or even the famous Statue of Liberty play vs Jacksonsville in the playoffs last year.  The Pats will need touchdowns, not field goals, so the Pats will need to work on that.

Cassel, Pats beat Lord Favre and the Jets 19-10

The Tom Brady-less New England Patriots all week had to hear the doubters.  The people thinking now it was the Jets time, with them making wholesale changes in the off season and bringing in Brett Favre.  Well today in Matt Cassel’s first start in almost eight years, he walked into enemy territory and picked up his first win as a professional starter.

The Pats took an early lead after the Jay Feely shanked a field goal on the Jets first drive and were not in danger the rest of the game, as the Pats defense held the Jets in check by confusing Brett Favre and limiting the big play.  The Pats also picked off Favre once, which lead to the Pats only touchdown of the game coming on a Sammy Morris dive over the pile.

The Pats defense was stellar all game long.  The line was getting pressure and Favre spent a good amount of the game rolling out from pressure.  And while they gave up a fourth quarter touchdown, it seemed like the Pats were in constant control, even after the Jets scored a fourth quarter touchdown to cut it to a six point game.

Matt Cassel played the role of caretaker very weel, posting 16/23 with 165 yards.  The running game was led by Lamont Jordan, getting playing time for an injured Laurence Maroney getting 11 carries for  62 yards.  Sammy Morris did have a rushing touchdown but zero yards on eight carries.  Kevin Faulk returned to the Pats and had 7 touches for 66 yards.  Wes Welker was the lead reciever, having 7 catches for 72 yards.  Rodney Harrison led the Pats with 8 tackles, with rookie Jerod Mayo having 7 tackles.  The Pats now prepare for a home date against the Miami Dolphins next weekend.

Week 2 Preview, @ New York Jets

Well, the first full week of the Matt Cassel Era is against the one of the Patriots hated rivals, the New York Jets. The Jets were a busy team in the off season, rebuilding their offensive line, getting defensive depth, and trading for Brett Favre.  The Jets are in “win now” mode with coach Eric Mangini on the hot seat after a playoff birth his first year follow by a sub .500 record last season.  Usually these games have lots of bad blood, as it was last year’s game in New Jersey where the Spygate saga broke, not to mention the history with Bill Parcells including Bill Belichick’s day as “HC of the NYJ.”  This game might be more important for the Jets than the Patriots, as the Tom Brady injury now takes a lot of pressure off the Pats, as now the Pats went from thinking of another run at perfection to just another team.  Anywhere, here is a preview of this week’s game.

When the Pats have the ball

With Matt Cassel starting, I expect a lot of the Pats spread em out offense to be reigned in and the Patriots to use the run game along with a shorter, more ball control focused passing attack.  The Jets on defense have plenty of playmakers, a secondary with second year corner Darrelle Revis and safety Kerry Rhodes being future Pro Bowlers, along with a very good front seven led in the middle with nose tackle Kris Jenkins and linebackers Eric Barton and David Harris, along with Calvin Pace bringing a pass rush from the outside and first round pick Vernon Gholston.  Last week, the Pats didn’t expect to have Matt Cassel leading the offense, so now with a week to game plan, I expect a little less predictability out of the offense, as last week they seemed to be predictable and Kansas City took advantage of it by staying close in the game.  I expect the Pats offense to put up some points, but they won’t come easy, because the Jets defense is very underrated and right now, Matt Cassel is and unknown, he could come in and be like Tom Brady was in 2001 and manage the game, not make turnovers and give the team a chance to win, or the preseason Matt Cassel could show up and the offense could stall.

When the Jets have the ball

When facing the Jets the last few years when they had Chad Pennington, you didn’t need to defend the full field. Pennington’s lack of arm stregnth  meant defenders only had to defend the ball 10-15 yards past the line of scrimmage.  Now with Brett Favre at quarterback, you have to defend the whole field.  But you have to keep in mind that Favre is more turnover prone than Pennington, and will force balls into places.  The Jets have a rebuilt offensive line which features offseason signing Alan Faneca and Damien Woody, which as already led to starting running back Thomas Jones matching is 2007 rushing touchdown total after last week’s season opener.  On the outside, the Jets best pass catcher is Jerricho Cotcherry, as Coles is dinged up and not at 100%, and tight end Chris Baker just exetended his contract. The Pats secondary, which had a couple of questionable moments last week will be under fire this week. Cotcherry will be a handful, but I think the Pats will be able to keep everybody else in check.  The Pats defense was solid last week except for one play at the end, and I know with this being a rivalry game and without the gut punch that was Brady getting knocked out early the team will be ready to roll.

My prediction, even without Brady, I think the Patriots are still the class of the AFC East.  The Jets struggled vs Miami last week at full strength, and with a week of preperation for Cassel as starter, I think the Pats will come out with a game plan to make the offense productive while forcing Favre to make plays and hopefully make mistakes.  Pats win 24-14.