Broncos coach Josh McDaniels celebrates after beating New England in an overtime win. The Patriots were shut out in the second half of the game and blew a ten point lead (which you never see).
Category : Around the League, Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots
Patriots Always Find a Way to Win
It only takes one mistake in a game against the Patriots. One play and it’s over; you give Tom Brady an open window, and he’ll stuff an elephant through it. A couple years back, Tom Brady threw an INT in a playoff game against the Chargers on 4th down, and all that had to happen in order for the Chargers to win was for the defender to get to the ground or even
swat the ball down and not pick it off, but instead a fumble was caused and New England had life again. In the last decade of watching football I have never seen so many meltdowns against this team. For some reason NFL players forget how to play the game; simple plays become rocket science, like last nights kick return fumble. The Pats lined up for what looked like an onside kick, but ended up kicking it deep. One knee in the end zone and a couple first downs and the Bills could have flown home with a win. I found this clip on You Tube, watch for yourself.
Category : Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots, Oakland Raiders, Previews & Forecasts, San Diego Chargers
Buffalo @ New England
To say this game will prove to be a difficult match up for the Bills is putting it mildly. The Patriots are highly motivated this season with the return of Tom Brady, who has proven on the practice field and in preseason that he is ready to go and has shaken off any rust that may have accumulated over his time off. The addition of Fred Taylor to an already plentiful platoon of running backs should keep the Bills defence’s hands full and vulnerable to the passing game. To make things tougher for the Bills, the Patriots have bolstered their much disciplined defence this year with the additions of Derrick Burgess, Shawn Springs, and Leigh Bodden. The Patriots defence may be older, but this is typically not a problem on opening week.
Trent Edwards and the Bills offence are not going to have it easy in this one. The suspension of Marshawn Lynch (weeks 1-3) is sure to hurt the team, even though Fred Jackson and Dominic Rhodes have proven to be adequate backups. Everyone in Buffalo has been itching to ask one question, is your popcorn ready? We all know that T.O. has his kernels popped, but are
Category : Around the League
Merriman Arrested- Chargers fans don’t need this
With only days before the NFL season begins, outside linebacker Shawne Merriman was arrested Sunday. Merriman was accused of choking and restraining his girlfriend, reality TV star Tila Tequila. Police responded to a call around 4 a.m. to Merriman’s house in Poway, north of San Diego, after a woman called to say she was choked and thrown to the ground when she tried to leave. Tequila was taken to a hospital, her condition was not immediately available, while Merriman was released from jail this morning on bail.
Oakland trades away 1st round pick for Pats Seymour
The Patriots received a first-round draft choice in 2011 for the 29 year old Richard Seymour. Seymour is in the final year of the four-year extension he signed in 2006. He was due to make $3.685 million but the Raiders will no doubt try to lock him up long term. The Raiders are looking to get good fast, where the Patriots want to get younger. This season New England has had a bit of a youth movement, trading away Mike Vrabel and Seymour and losing Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi to retirement. Of all the stupid trades the Raiders have made over the years (Randy Moss for a 4th round pick) this deal for Seymour is a smart one and should add instant leadership to the Raiders defense.
Category : Around the League
Rodney Harrison Calls it Quits
The leagues dirtiest player (you heard me), safety Rodney Harrison announced his retirement on Wednesday after a 15-year career for the New England Patriots and San Diego Chargers. This hard hitting safety won two Super Bowls with the Patriots but has missed the last 10 games after tearing a muscle in his right thigh. Harrison has been fined more than $200,000 in his career, including a one-game suspension in 2002 for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Oakland’s Jerry Rice that cost him a game check of $111,764. Not to mention he was voted amongst fellow players as the dirtiest/cheapest player in the game. Let’s just say I’m not about to shed a tear for this announcement.
Category : New England Patriots
New England Patriotism- Daniel Phillips
Only one team in the history of the modern 16 game NFL season has achieved perfection: The New England Patriots. Last year Tom Brady was derailed in the first game of the season, which virtually shattered any hopes of a repeat performance from this unit. With Tom Brady looking fully mended from his knee injury, the Pats seem confident that they will return to being the unstoppable powerhouse from 2 seasons ago. Nobody these days would dare to create a power ranking of the league without putting the Patriots at number 1, but is this team back? Can they roll over the league in shoot out type wins like they did only two seasons ago?
Gridiron Experts believes the Patriots should see a successful 2009 season, however nowhere near as fruitful as 2007; schedule strength, division growth, roster, and the health of Brady and his supporting cast will be the reasons why.
In 2007 the Pats arguably had a difficult schedule, facing many prolific teams of that year, such as: the Cowboys and Colts (13-3), Chargers (11-5), Browns, Steelers and Giants (10-6). Six of the 16 teams they faced that year had at least 10 wins, seven had winning records. This means that the Pats truly were a dominant force, only receiving a well earned break when playing their division. This year again the Pats will face six teams who have earned 10 plus wins the previous season: the Panthers, Dolphins, Falcons, Titans, Colts, and the Ravens, along with two others with winning records. The Patriots will have their journey to the Super Bowl littered with roadblocks and detours, but the only real difference this time will be in their own back yard.
One thing that afforded the Pats perfection in 2007 was the poor play of their division. The Bills, Jets, and Dolphins had combined 12 wins, the next year they had a combined 27. The Jets have lost Brett Favre, but have strengthened many other areas of need. The old gun slinging Favre might have been a blessing in disguise, as his arm had fallen off down the stretch last season. As always it’s tough to predict what one is going to see out of this Bills team, however T.O. vs. Randy Moss should create some interesting battles for being the best. The Dolphins should continue to shock and awe their way into winning more games, adding more pieces to the puzzling Wildcat offence, while continuing to be the underdog on defence in the league ranking 1st in turnover ratio. This division is nowhere close to the level it was playing in 2007, which in turn makes the schedule much more
difficult for New England. We feel the AFC East teams could steal as many as 2 wins away from New England this year.
This is not the same Patriot roster from 2007 either, but may be arguably much deeper. For instance at the RB position: Laurence Maroney, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, and Fred Taylor will all get carries in a massive rotation. Being originally a run first team, look for a stronger running game to drain quarters opposed to having Brady throw all day. The core of wide receivers has only gotten stronger and wiser with the addition of Joey Galloway. The Pats have always had dominant O and D lines, and they will continue to do so this year. As well there are more than a plethora of line-backers; defensive rookie Jerod Mayo will be more confident in his second year, while youth in Pierre Woods will fill in the hole left by Mike
Vrabel. The only thing that really stands out as a big shake-up from the 2007 season is the loss of the starting cornerbacks, Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs. New England has addressed this sufficiently with the addition of Leigh Bodden and Shawn Springs, but only time can tell if this tandem will be as successful as its prior counterparts.
The Pats have incredibly deep roster at most positions, but is it deep where it counts? Tom Brady doesn’t have a magic remedy named Matt Cassel this year. And if Bodden or Springs go down or struggle, the next best option is third year Mike Richardson at corner?
This is still a team to be reckoned with, but there is no way they are repeating a perfect season. It is highly unlikely that we will ever see a perfect season again from any team, but some loyal fans are convinced that these Patriots can do it again. With an arguably weaker team, harder schedule, and recovering knee at quarterback, we don’t see this happening. Many quarterbacks struggle in their first year back from major knee surgery, just look at Daunte Culpepper, Carson Palmer, and Donovan McNabb. Tom Brady did injure himself in week 1 and will have more time to heal, but to think re-injuring his knee isn’t worrying him a little would be a lie. The Patriots are projected to win 12.5 games this season, but we think it’ll be more like 10 or 11.
