What the Patriots' roster will look like by tomorrow at 4

With the mandatory NFL 53 man rosters going into effect by 4 pm tomorrow, the Patriots are forced to cut 27 guys from their current 80 man roster. They got started today cutting 8 players headlined by defensive lineman Darryl Richard and Brown grad WR Buddy Farnham, both practice team members last year and could easily land on the practice squad again if they clear waivers. From the remaining 72 players I am going to pick out the 53 I think will stick going from position to position. The players will be listed in order on my depth chart so the starter will be the first name then his backup...etc.

QB(3)- Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett

- Hoyer beats out Mallett for the backup job based strictly on experience as the rookie had the better arm but still is learning the offense and how to play in the NFL.

RB(4)-Ben Jarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, Shane Vereen, Stevan Ridley

- The tough cut here would be Sammy Morris who is nothing but a professional but especially after suffering a concussion in last night's preseason finale, seems unlikely to take up a roster spot. Expect veteran Kevin Faulk to be placed on PUP until week 7.

WR(6)- Wes Welker, Chad Ochocinco, Randy Moss, Julian Edelman, Taylor Price, Matthew Slater

- Curly's favorite player Brandon Tate is the odd man out here as his kick returner role is less important with the new rules preventing run backs 40% of the time. Slater out performed him as a receiver and is a big special teams player and received praise from Coach Belichick after the game. Oh yeah and that isn't a typo I am predicting Randy Moss to be with the Patriots team by opening day against the Dolphins. It was reported that Moss was playing golf at a local course in Bellingham, MA which borders Foxboro. When asked by fellow players what he was doing here, Moss responded " I'm here on business" . I'll give you a hint...he isn't here to help Bill O'Brien call the plays. In a suprising move, Belichick cuts Branch who has had a weak camp and brings in Moss.

TE(3)- Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Will Yeatman

- No surprises here as Yeatman beat out fifth round pick Lee Smith who could end up on injured reserve

OT(4)- Matt Light, Sebastian Vollmer, Nate Solder, Steve Maneri

- All the suspense here was gone as soon as Mark Levoir was cut

G/C(5)- Dan Koppen, Logan Mankins, Dan Connolly, Ryan Wendell, Andre Gurode

- Another prediction of an outside move as Rich Ohrnberger gets the axe and Gurode is brought in as is being reported. Should make for some interesting practices this year with Gurode's history with our model citizen fat Albert...

Defense

DT(5) - Vince Wilfork, Albert Haynesworth, Gerard Warren, Kyle Love, Myron Pryor

- No suspense here

DE(5)- Andre Carter, Shaun Ellis, Jermaine Cunningham, Mike Wright, Mark Anderson

- Anderson makes the team after showing what the can do in the beginning of the pre season before getting hurt. This leaves Eric Moore on the outside looking in but he certainly will find work elsewhere quickly

LB(6)- Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, Gary Guyton, Dane Fletcher, Rob Ninkovich, Tracey White - White is a big special teams player while Ninkovich and Fletcher provide great depth while also contributing on special teams

CB(5)- Devin McCourty, Leigh Bodden, Kyle Arrington, Ras-I Dowling, Antwuan Molden-

- Claiming Molden on waivers was a nice way of saying that Darius Butler can't play as the fifth corner in this league. Look for him to catch on somewhere else and contribute

S(4)- Pat Chung, Brandon Meriweather, Sergio Brown, James Ihedigbo

- Josh Barrett is the surprise cut here as he may have started to see what he could do with the first team defense and I have to say i was not that impressed.

Special teams(3)-Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, James Dearth

- No surprises here after Matt Katula was cut as I predicted in my first run at this

Pats jump out to early lead, pound Bucs

The Patriots jumped out to a 21-0 lead after one quarter and 28-0 at the half as the starters throttled Tampa Bay and the backups held on for a 31-14 victory over the hosts. Tom Brady looked sharp going 11/19 with 119 yds and 2 TD's. The defense was the story of the night in my eyes as the pass rush was all over Tampa QB Josh Freeman. Andre Carter was in his grill all night and made a huge impact on the game as well as fellow D-lineman Vince Wilfork, Eric Moore, Gerard Warren, and Mark Anderson. The scary part is that Albert Haynesworth and Shaun Ellis(projected startes) didn't play tonight due to various injuries. Another strong performance from the team as fans begin to feel better and better about the team's odds heading into the second half of the pre-season. Now here are the winners and losers from the game tonight

Winners:

Tom Brady- the Pro-Bowler looked sharp in his first action of the pre-season connecting with Chad OchoCinco and Aaron Hernandez on TD passes

Danny Woodhead/Ben Jarvus Green-Eliis - the RB duo was very effective tonight rushing for over 100 yards and 2 TD's in one half of action tonight

Andre Carter- see above as he was a best coming off the edge tonight

Jerod Mayo- Mayo had five tackles and two sacks and was the clear leader of the defense that had a terrific night

Wes Welker- a strong night for Welker as he made some good catches and took some hits

Stevan Ridley- Ridley looked strong again tonight throughout the second half and lookds to contribute to the team in the regular season

Losers

Ryan Mallett- the rookie looked like a rookie floating a pick six. He did some good things as well but on a great night for the team, he falls into the loser category

Brandon Meriweather- considering he is in a fight for his job with Sergio Brown, Meriweather didn't do much besides make a few tackles after giving up significant catches.

First stab at the Patriots 53 man roster

I am a Patriots expert as you all know and heading into the second preseason game I figured it was time to take my first shot the Patriots 53 man roster which will come out in the days following the last pre-season game in early September. ESPN Boston's Mike Reiss and Mike Rodak have given their predictions here. So you can compare the experts opinions with the real expert(myself).

QB(3)- Tom Brady, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett - This is the best depth chart for QB in the league as many teams would love to have Hoyer and Mallett as their backups after their success in the pre-season opener.

RB(5)- Benjarvus Green-Ellis, Danny Woodhead, Stevan Ridley, Shane Vereen, Sammy Morris

- I think Morris is on the bubble but Belichick will keep the veteran to help the two rookies(Ridley and Vereen) along with Kevin Faulk who will most likely begin the year on PUP/inactive list

TE(3)- Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Lee Smith- The top two are locks here while Smith has been getting pushed by undrafted TE Will Yeatman and he could very easily beat him out for that lost spot

WR(7)- Wes Welker, Chad OchoCinco, Deion Branch, Julian Edelman, Taylor Price, Brandon Tate, Matthew Slater - All of these seven had made cases to make the team and have earned a spot that Belichick will give as they all play a different role on the team.

OT(4)- Matt Light, Sebastian Vollmer, Nate Solder, Steve Maneri - The top three are obvious locks while Maneri just edges out Mark Levoir who the Pats try to sneak onto the practice squad after he clears waivers.

G/C(4)-Logan Mankins, Dan Koppen, Dan Connolly, Ryan Wendell -They only keep four here due to the surplus at receiver but keep Rich Ornhberger on the practice squad if he passes through waivers

DT(6) - Vince Wilfork, Albert Haynesworth, Mike Wright, Myron Pryor, Kyle Love, Gerard Warren

DE(5)- Jermaine Cunningham, Shaun Ellis, Andre Carter, Eric Moore, Mark Anderson- I think Anderson was the best pash rusher on the field in the first pre-season game and earned a spot on the team with the speed he showed off the edge

LB(5) Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes,Dane Fletcher, Gary Guyton, Rob Ninkovich - Tracey White is the casualty here as he is a special teams ace but serves little help on defense and will be a tough cut for Belichick

CB(5)- Devin McCourty, Leigh Bodden, Ras-I Dowling, Kyle Arrington, Darius Butler

- Butler only stays if Dowling's health doesn't improve. If he gets healthy and some reps in, then Tracey White stays and Butler gets cut.

S(4)- Brandon Meriweather, Pat Chung, James Sanders, Bret Lockett

- Lockett has had a better camp than Sergio Brown and grabs the last spot with Brown landing on the practice squad

Specialists(2) - Stephen Gostkowski, Zoltan Mesko, long snapper to be named later

- I don't think Matt Katula makes this team after his performance in camp so far. I would not be surprised if Rob Ninkovich or another player on the roster took over the duties from Katula as he is not valuable unless he does the one thing he is paid to do correctly.

Pats rest starters, backups thump Jags

First, I would like to say it is great to have football back and get goosebumps at the game as ozzy screams and the Patriots come out of their giant,inflatable helmet. This is going to be another great season approaching and it appears the genius Bill Belichick was it again making for a less than exciting but very productive pre-season opener for the New England Patriots. QB Tom Brady did not play after only 7 full-pad practices thus far as young QB's lead New England to a 47-12 victory over the visiting Jaguars. The Patriots also rested starters DT Vince Wilfork, Albert Haynesworth, LB Jerod Mayo, CB Devin McCourty, WR's Wes Welker, Deion Branch and Chad OchoCinco. The entire offensive line also sat this one out. You couldn't have asked for a much better performance by Hoyer in the first half as he was efficient and effective against the top Jags defenders. Here is some more insight to some guys who I think helped their cause and hurt themselves during the game.

Winners

Brian Hoyer- 15/21 171 Yards and a TD in one half of work while managing the game nicely is a promising sign for Patriots fans if anything happens to Brady this season.

Ryan Mallet- the third round pick out of Arkansas played like he has been in the league for years in the second half going 12/19 for 164 yards and a TD pass

Stevan Ridley- the third round pick out of LSU took advantage of second round pick Shane Vereen being injured and veterans sitting out as he was very impressive rushing for 2 TD's and catching another after the knock on him was that he couldn't catch the ball out of the backfield.

Taylor Price- Price made a strong case to earn a spot on the team as he was the Pats best receiver and seems destined to be the fifth guy behind Welker, Branch, OchoCinco, and Edelman.

Buddy Farnham- the free agent out of Brown and North Andover made a good impression once again in the reps that he saw as he had a pick defensively while also racking in 3 catches for 34 yards.

Dane Fletcher-the second year LB out of Montana made some big plays in the first half for the defense and seems to have locked up his role on the team.

Losers

Darius Butler- Butler struggled early against rookie Blaine Gabbert and was later re-entered into the game in the fourth which is never a good sign when Buddy Farnham, a WR, was lined up on the other side.

Aaron Hernandez- Hernandez was productive having six catches for 68 yards but also fumbled twice, losing one which wont make Bill too happy.

Tracey White- jumped offside on a punt to give Jacksonville a first down, not the type of mistake you want to make a special teams specialist

It was also announced that LG Logan Mankins' new six year deal is worth 51 million and makes him the highest paid interior lineman in the league. This includes a 20 million dollar signing bonus so if you're short on some cash just give Logan a call, I am sure he can spot you a few bucks.

Pats have busy day in trade market, bring in Haynesworth and Ochocinco

So are Patriots fans still complaining about a lack of a splash in the accelerated free agency period since the new CBA was signed? Yeah, I didn't think so. The Patriots woke everyone up with a bang with the announcement of trading a 2013 5th round pick to the Redskins for DT "Fat" Albert Haynesworth. Haynesworth comes with his share of baggage with quite the "rap sheet" including a trial next month over feeling up a waitress with his credit card. Hey, we've all be there Albert. Fat Albert is a total win/win for the Pats as Washington, who signed him to a seven year 100+million dollar deal two summers ago but only played 20 games in two seasons for the Skins. He clashed with head coach Mike Shanahan and it go to the point where Washington dealt this headache away for a fifth round pick while paying all of the guaranteed money on his contract. I love this move for the Pats. You can listen to Felger and Mazz on 98.5 reading off his offenses since he joined the league. Yeah, yeah he gets angry and doesn't want to pay child support. He is a shitty human being for sure, but thankfully we only have to give a crap about how he performs on the field. Yes he need to stay out of jail but the guy doesn't need to be my best friend for me to root for him on the field. I think the line of Warren-Wilfork-Haynesworth has offensive lines hating their lives and Jerod Mayo and Brandon Spikes licking their chops. Mayo is gonna have 4000 tackles this year and just be lighting people up. The Patriots still need a solid OLB behind Jermaine Cunningham and Rob Ninkovich but it will be alot easier for them with this mammoth line along with DT Mike Wright, DT/DEMyron Pryor and DT/DE Brandon Deadrick coming off the bench.

Then if that moves wasn't enough for you, the Patriots have reportedly traded for WR Chad Ochocinco in exchange for two draft picks going to the Bengals. This is another win/win move as Ochocinco is always in great shape and gives the Patriots a legitimate quick, explosive wide receiver. Ochocinco also has agreed to restructure the three years left on his contract to fit the Patriots cap. This has to have the whole offense smiling from Brady to Wes Welker who can exploit the slot all season with Branch and Ochocinco on the outside. Yeah, yeah the Jets might have two shutdown corners but then you got Welker in the slot and the two young TE's(Gronk and Hernandez) running up the seem against Bart Scott. I like that matchup everyday and twice on Sunday. Now all fans are going to react way too hard and think this seals up the SB while the media will bash both guys for their off-the-field issues. The ideal way to look at it is somewhere inbetween the two. The guys are solid players with potential to be great on this team if they work hard can be special players on a special team. Sure they could be hitting up strip clubs in Providence all year long but usually players who are ringless this late in their career just want to win and will do what it takes. They will buy into the "Patriots way" and prove the critics and their former teams wrong while they are at it. I love these acquisitions now let's play some football!

Pats take care of business in Buffalo...clinch division,bye,home field, #1 seed

The Patriots defense caused seven turnovers by the Buffalo Bills on their way to a 34-3 win in Orchard Park,N.Y. The defense caused 4 fumbles and 3 interceptions by the Bills(4-11). The win was another complete team effort. Tom Brady set an NFL record 309 straight pass attempts without an INT which the broadcast team,lead by Solomon Wilcots, kept talking about once the game was out of hand. It was easy to see why these guys get the Buffalo game week after week. They just kept talking about this record,which is impressive but not something they needed to repeat over and over along with the MVP race. Brady or Vick could win the MVP... we get it. Back to the game though, Brady went 15-27 for 140 yards and 3 TDs(2 to rookie TE Rob Gronkowski). Danny Woodhead rushed for 93 yards(including a 29 yard TD run) and Ben-Jarvus Green-Ellis rushed for 104 more to lead the New England rushing attack which totaled over 200 yards for the first time all season. Jerod Mayo lead the defense with a fumble recovery and numerous big hits causing many incompletions throughout the game. The three picks were by Pat Chung, Jarrod Page, and Dane Fletcher. This was all done with numerous regular contributors sitting out due to injury: Aaron Hernandez(hip), Mike Wright(concussion), Myron Pryor(back), Dan Connolly(concussion), Jermaine Cunningham(calf), and Brandon Deadrick(shoulder,flu).

The win was huge for this team as it locks up the division and the number one overall seed in the AFC East which gives the team a first round bye and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. The bye is huge for a team that has numerous injuries giving them two weeks to get healthy as next week's game at home means nothing against Miami. Look for a normal starting lineup next week as Belichick will want the team to stay fresh and sharp for the playoffs especially with a bye week after next week. The team is also undefeated at home this season and this win forces someone to come in and beat this team at home in order to knock the Patriots out of the playoffs. Here are the winners/losers from this week

Winners:
1. Tom Brady- 15-27, 140 yards and 3 TD's in another solid effort from the unquestionable leader of this team
2. Running game- Woodhead and Green-Ellis lead the rushing attack that does what it needs to do week in and week out for this team
3. Jerod Mayo- leads the defense that continues to get better. Was a difference maker throughout the game making big hit after big hit
4. Pat Chung- this second year safety is quickly becoming the leader of the secondary along with rookie corner Devin McCourty.

Losers:
1. Wes Welker- Never thought I would see the day with Welker in this category but he earned it today with three drops which cannot be afforded in the playoffs.