Pats have "biggest win in a long time" edging Ravens in OT

The Patriots' young defense stood up when it needed to and the offense overcame some inconsistency to do enough to win the game against a strong Baltimore team. Deion Branch played like he never left with 98 yards receiving and a TD. Branch looked like he didn't lose a step in his chemistry with Tom Brady. Aaron Hernandez also had some big plays but had two costly drops that almost cost the team the game in OT. The Patriots trailed 20-10 entering the fourth quarter but quickly scored on a 4 yard throw from Brady to Moss I mean Branch. The defense made some great plays after the young corners were picked on by the veteran receiving corps of Baltimore. After the game Vince Wilfork said "this was the best win for this team in a long time". This is a huge win for this team to vault them to 4-1 and into a first place tie with the Jets who beat Denver today also. Here are the winners and losers from today's game
Winners:
Deion Branch- 98 yards receiving, TD

Zoltan Mesko- Mesko had a huge 67 yard punt to swing the field position late in the game and had perfect holds in all three of the field goals including the game winner.

Danny Woodhead- had over 110 total yards in the game and is quickly stepping up to be the team's change of pace back.

Pat Chung, Jerod Mayo- defensive leaders kept the unit together all day and made some big plays to keep the offense in the game in the 4th Q and OT.

Losers:
Aaron Hernandez- had two costly drops that could have won the game much earlier into the OT

Secondary- McCourty, Meriweather and Arrington all down points throughout the day with penalties and getting beat on routes. They hung in their though to give the team the win in the end of the day.

Branch returning to Pats...BU moves up into #10 of the rankings

The Patriots have reacquired WR Deion Branch from the Seattle Seahawks for a 2011 fourth round draft pick. The move was highly anticipated after Branch was given the day off for "personal reasons" Monday. The move was rumored for close to a week once the Randy Moss trade was completed last Tuesday. The move gives the Patriots more depth at receiver and another veteran option at receive along with Wes Welker. Branch was originally traded from New England to Seattle for a first round draft choice in 2006 after a contract dispute with the Patriots. Branch spent four injury plagued seasons in Seattle but it was becoming apparent that he was expendable in recent weeks with the signing of veteran Brandon Stokley to bring the team to five starter-caliber receivers on the team. The move loses one of the Pats' eight draft picks in the first four rounds but a move they surely will take to gain a receiver who has a history with Brady and knows how to win championships.

In other news, our BU Terriers moved up four spots in the USCHO polls from #14 to #10 due to their pair of wins over #13 Wisconsin and #17 Notred Dame to win the IceBreaker Invitational. This moves the Terriers right behind HE foes UNH(#9) and Maine(#8). The choir boys remain number one in the rankings but look for that to possible change with a pair of games at #6 Denver next weekend.

Moss had an 'outburst' Monday Night...leads to trade

More details are coming in this Randy Moss trade as everyone in the world bashes the hooded one for getting so little for Moss. According to player sources, Moss had a heated outburst at QB coach and offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien at halftime of the Dolphins game this Monday. Today the Patriots officially traded Moss for a third round draft pick in the 2011 draft. Many fans are in outrage as the Pats traded away their only deep threat in Moss with team's top corners moving down to cover Wes Welker every down now. As both former Patriots Tedy Bruschi and Troy Brown said, this is better for the team. Moss was a cancer in the lockeroom. From talking about his contract after a win to this outburst he was not being a good leader on a young team. There is a reason he was not named captain this season as he was in the past. This move causes guys to step up and come together as a receiving corps and a team. The team should follow the mold of the 2001,2003,2004 teams that won superbowls. Think about the teams that won those titles and the receivers on those teams: Troy Brown, Deion Branch, David Givens, David Patten, Jermaine Wiggins and so on. There was no Larry Fitzgerald or Jerry Rice guys there. The Pats best chance for success is to win the game as a team in all three phases of the game. As on Monday night, that leads to success through a complete team effort. Yes, the defense will struggle but you are not going to win the SuperBowl in shootouts with everyone. This trade will make the offense less dynamic but I don't think that is a bad thing. Brady forced the ball to Moss sometimes. Now Brady will only go deep when it is actually open. Moss being a cancer just made this move happen. No one wants to trade away a HOF in Moss but this is a young team who needs to come together after this trade and play like a team. The cancers from last year's team are now gone (Adalius Thomas and Moss). The Patriots now have 8 picks in the first four rounds this year. They will not draft with all those spots but they have value now.
I wish Moss all the best in Minnesota with Wrangler Jean hick Brett Favre. He will be the primary target there like he wants to be. He comes back to Foxboro on Halloween which should be quite a game for the media to play up. The Patriots will benefit in the long run from this trade and come together closer as a team. So hopefully this sells you to drink the Kool-Aid with me. Trading Moss was a good move. I want teams to put their best receivers on Welker. Then Woodhead, Edelman,Tate, Hernandez, Gronkowski, and Price will be wide open running up the seam. Moss' deep threat will be missed but his personality and him as a distraction will not.

No disrespect to fellow blogger Tiger just bringing out another perspective to this trade from a Pats fan view.

Patriots release RB Javarris James! ...oh yeah and Moss is going back to the Vikes

.vs

Who is the bigger story?
The Patriots released RB Javarris James today from the practice squad! Ok end of blog entry. That is it. Oh wait...

Every fucking media outlet in the world is reporting Randy is getting traded to Minnesota if he works out an extension with the Vikes.This story has been getting major publicity on the national circuit all day long. It is a major move for a team coming off a 41-14 win on the road against a division opponent. Sadly, it makes too much sense from what we have seen from The Coach in the hood in the past. Days before 2003 opening day, releases Lawyer Milloy...Trades Deion Branch after he talks about his contract too much(2006)...Trades Richard Seymour entering the final year of his deal(2009). Belichick loves to deal veterans with expiring contracts which he deems to be getting good value. The Pats got first round picks for both player and expect the compensation to be the same if Moss is dealt.
It would be sad to see Randy go but it is time. It is either now or at the end of the year. He thinks the media hates him. He seems like a stoner out on the field sometimes. He was nothing more than a decoy Monday night dropping the only pass thrown at him. Moss has openly complained about his deal and has not done much on the field this season. He has three touchdowns but only 9 catches in four games which is not what the Patriots need out of him. I love Randy and his crazy man attitude but he has slowly become not much more than a decoy in this offense and I would deal him for a first round pick right now too. The timing is right. Going into a bye week in which you just got a special teams coach fired after scoring 21 points off of special teams and defense. Belichick will have explaining to do though. Moss may have been a decoy on most plays but teams respected that deep threat. Someone is going to need to pick up the slack there. Welker will miss Moss' prescence on the field if this deal goes through. So will Danny Woodhead, BJGE(Green-Ellis), Hernandez, and others. Brandon Tate or someone needs to step up as a deep threat for Tom Brady to stretch the field with and make defense respect it. Moss will be missed if he goes not only by the fans but the team and local weed dealers. Stay updated in the coming days to see if the deal goes through.

Surprise,Surprise Pats' defense and special teams win a game

Who would have thought that Tom Brady would have 153 yards passing and the rushing game would have 118 yards and the Pats would win 41-14? That is what happened tonight down in Miami. The special teams had two blocks by safety Pat Chung(one fg for a TD and one punt setting up another TD). The defense also had a interception returned for a touchdown by Chung with Rob Ninkovich adding two more picks. Brandon Tate began the second half with a bang with kickoff returned for a TD(for the second time this year). The defense that was attacked all week and predicted to get lit up by Brandon Marshall held its own for sure. The defense came up with a way to stop teams... Takeaways. The team had four picks and two blocked kicks wrecking havoc for Miami. Randy Moss had zero catches for the first time since '06(which killed my fantasy team) which is good and bad. Bad that Moss wasn't active in the game but good that this team is confident it can find ways to win going into the bye week. The offense was centered around Ben-Jarvus Green Ellis, Wes Welker, and Danny Woodhead. Yes that is correct. Jerod Mayo lead the team with 16 tackles per usual and Belichick actually smiled at the end of the game as the team showed the joy of proving everyone wrong and winning a road game. In his press conference, Brady was asked if the team had a chip on their shoulder and his response "yeah, we have lots of chips" basically confirmed that Belichick has this team right where he wants mentally. A motivated team now with two weeks off spells bad news for Baltimore who comes into Foxboro in a couple weeks. They also ended the Patriots' season last year so that should be a high energy game all around. Here are my winners and one loser from the game this week.

Winners:
Pat Chung- Two blocked kicks and a pick 6 is a pretty good week I would say
Rob Ninkovich- Two picks and a sack for the outside linebacker out of Purdue was a standout game for the second year Pat
Danny Woodhead/Ben-Jarvus Green Ellis- Both made plays all game long and provided a good majority of the offense tonight
Brandon Tate- kickoff return for a TD along with a couple nice catches for the second year man out of UNC as he continues to be a difference maker
Tom Brady- lead the team to a big road win and showed the fire you desire from your QB when he came out of the game with forty second left.

Losers:
Jake Ingram- the long snapper had a couple of shaky snaps to holder Zoltan Mesko on field goal attempts. It is his job to be a long snapper. Do your fucking job. OK that is it for my negativity.
Walt Coleman- the ref tried to blow the game in the first half with a holding call on Matt Light for a guy falling down and an awful pass interference call on McCourty.

Pats win in shootout with Buffalo

The Patriots' defense looked awful at times but the team found a way to win 38-30 over Buffalo at home today. QB Tom Brady threw for 252 yards and three TDs(two to Moss). Randy Moss lead the receving corps with two touchdowns while the two young tight ends also contributed. Aaron Hernandez had six catches for 65 yards while Rob Gronkowski had three catches for 43 yards and a TD. Benjarvus Green-Ellis lead the rushing attack with 98 yards on 16 carries. The team ran the ball for 200 yards which is a good sign of things to come for the offense.

The defense was a different story as they gave up 30 points to an awful Buffalo offense that had only put up 17 points in the first two weeks combined. The team made Ryan Fitzpatrick look like Peyton Manning out there today. He threw for 247 yards 2 TDs. He also threw two second-half picks to the Patriots safeties(Chung and Meriweather) that sealed the game for the Pats. Jerod Mayo had another solid game for the team. The secondary looked awful all around as the poor Buffalo offense had their way with them throughout the game.

Here are some winners/losers from today's game.
Winners:
1. Tom Brady-21/27 252 yards 3TDS. Brady was as sharp as he has been all season.
2. Aaron Hernandez- 6 catches for 65 yards and one rush for 12 yards made it seem like Hernadez will be the man to replace Kevin Faulk's production in the offense.
3. Randy Moss- two catches and two scores made it an extremely productive day for Moss who likes to score as many touchdowns as possible with doing as little work as possible.
4. Benjarvus Green-Ellis- 16 carries for 98 yards was extremely productive for the second year back out of Ole' Miss.

Losers
1.Zoltan Mesko- 37.7 YYP is not what the Pats are looking for out of the rookie punter.
2. Cornerbacks- Butler, Arrington, and McCourty were all exposed at different points in the game in coverage. Look for the Pats to continue to need to blitz and bring pressure to hide the young corners.
3. Kickoff coverage- You simply cannot give up touchdowns on special teams. Unacceptable.

The Pats play at Miami next Monday night which will be a true test where they stand within the division before the bye week.

Pats lose first division game after poor second half

The Patriots lead 14-10 at halftime today against the Jets and the lead should have been more as kicker Stephen Gostkowski missed his third field goal of the season after he originally made the kick before a delay of game penalty. Nothing went right for the Pats after Randy Moss' one-handed grab at the end of the first half to take the lead. The offense had under 80 yards of total net offense and the defense could not do much right at all. Darius Butler was picked on all afternoon and responded by being in position only to not make the play or commit a penalty. Brady got outplayed by dirty Sanchez and the second half was just ugly for the Pats. Here are some winners/losers from the game today.

Winners:
1. Aaron Hernandez- the former Gator had over 100 yards receiving with multiple big plays to give the offense a spark
2. The pass rush- this was a area of concern but the unit had three sacks(two by Gerard Warren)

Losers:
1. Darius Butler- picked on all day long in the secondary as explained above
2. Tom Brady- should be suicidal after being outplayed by a Mexican
3. Stephen Gostkowski- kicker is now 1/4 on the young season not exactly building up the confidence for clutch games.
4. Randy Moss- Brady was forcing him the ball all day and besides the fantastic touchdown grab he did nothing.

Pats win opener in impressive fashion

The Patriots look like a well oiled machine today against the Cincinnati Bengals jumping out to a 24-0 lead and never looking back to cruise to a 38-24 win. The Patriots defense looked very good throughout the first half. They seemed to lighten up on the intensity in the second half allowing the Bengals to pick up yards and points but to take up time at the same time. The team scored points in all three phases of the game as linebacker Gary Guyton returned his first career interception 59 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. The second half also began with a bang as second year wide receiver Brandon Tate returned the kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. The team looked good throughout the game and the young secondary seems to be up to the challenge as they kept T.O. and OchoCinco in check throughout the first three quarters.

Here are my winners/losers for this Week 1 win(The Patriots seventh straight)

Winners:
1. Tom Brady- 25/35 258 yds 3 TDS Great day for Brady and the first offense
2. Wes Welker- 8 rec 64 yards 2 TDS
3. Young Secondary- Butler and McCourty kept T.O. and Ochocinco in check all day while Pat Chung lead the team in tackles with 16.
4. Jerod Mayo- Clearly was the leader of the defense and had 8 solo tackles

Losers:
1. Stephen Goskowski- Missed two field goals but both were 45+ yards so it is no reason to worry yet

Pats fill out practice sqaud,prepare for opener

The Pats have filled out their 8 man practice squad in the last couple days. They signed back linebacker Tyrone McKenzie and cornerbacks Tony Carter and Prince Miller while releasing tight end Jerod Maneri. This leaves the practice squad with no QB and only two out of the 61 players signed by the team.

The team also is close to signing franchise QB Tommy Brady to a four year extension according to ESPN insider Adam Schefter. The deal is supposedly worth four years and 72 to 80 million. Brady also hit on a number of subjects during his weekly call into WEEI
- He knows Randy Moss better than anyone and he will go out and do his job. He just understands that this game is a business.
- Brady will not watch Hard Knocks and hates how the Jets come across to the public. aka Brady is going to light them up in Week 2.

Also Chad Ochocinco had a conference call with the New England media and was very low key. He expressed his respect for Coach Belichick and refered to him as a close friend.

Also here are my predictions for the coming season as it starts tomorrow night with the Saints and Vikings in a repeat of last season's NFC Championship game.
*-indicates playoff teams
AFC East
1.* New England 11-5
2. *NY Jets 11-5
3.Miami Dolphins 9-7
4. Buffalo Bills 5-11

AFC North
1. *Baltimore Ravens 12-4
2. Cincinnati Bengals 9-7
3. Pittsburgh Steelers 7-9
4. Cleveland Browns 6-10

AFC South
1. *Indianapolis Colts 14-2
2. *Tenessee Titans 9-7
3. Houston Texans 8-8
4. Jacksonville Jaguars 6-10

AFC West(Garbage)
1. *San Diego Chargers 10-6
2. Denver Broncos 9-7
3. Kansas City Chiefs 8-8
4. Oakland Raiders 6-10

NFC East
1. *Dallas Cowboys 11-5
2. NY Giants 10-6
3. Philly Eagles 10-6
4. Washington Redskins 8-8

NFC North
1. *Green Bay Packers 13-3
2. *Minnesota Vikings 11-5
3. Chicago Bears 6-10
4. Detroit Lions 5-11

NFC South
1. *Atlanta Falcons 11-5
2. *New Orleans Saints 11-5
3. Carolina Panthers 8-8
4. Tampa Bay Bucs 6-10

NFC West(also garbage)
1. *San Francisco 49ers 11-5
2. Arizona Cardinals 7-9
3. Seattle Seahwaks 6-10
4. Saint Louis Rams 6-10

Game #3 Recap (Delayed)

Sorry for the delay as moving back into school this weekend put a delay on this recap.

This was by far the worse the Pats have played. They got outplayed by the worse team in the NFL last year in all three phases of the game. There were few bright spots on this night as the coach was clearly disappointed with his teams' play. Here a few positives to take from the game though

1. Rob Gronkowski- Gronk showed why the team made his the 42nd overall pick with one touchdown and numerous athletic plays

2. Brady to Moss- The connection was still there as the duo connected on a 68 yard touchdown in the third quarter

3. Wes Welker- Continues to make strides coming back from a very serious knee injury

4. Brandon Tate- 97 yd kickoff return to start the game seals his spot on this team.

5. Alge Crumpler- Made a great catch in the second quarter and has become a leader on this team that lacked it last season.


Here is a few of the negatives(there are too many to count)

1. Roughing the passer penalties on TBC(Tully Banta-Cain) and Brandon Spikes- Both penalties kept drives alive for the Rams and are dumb penalties on a team that prides themselves on being smart.

2. Running backs- The running game did not exist as Sammy Morris lead the attack with 5 rushes for 12 yards. Not what you are looking for.

There is much more to hit on negative department but I will try to stay positive with this team as the look to bounce back against the Giants Thursday in New York in their final pre season game.

Look for a special teams special(part 3) and a 53 man roster prediction in the coming days....