We're almost there Patriot Nation. Just 19 more days until Training Camp opens and we're on our way for 2008. Here's a good summation ( http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=sando_mike&) on Pats minicamp. Let's hope we see a Junior Seau signing in the next week or so.

Continue reading "19 Days..."

NFL Dynasties:

1960’s: Green Bay Packers

Titles: Five (including first two Super Bowls)

Length of Dynasty: Seven Seasons (1961 – 67)

Coach/QB : Vince Lombardi/Bart  Starr

1970’s: Pittsburgh Steelers

Titles: Four Super Bowls (in six years)

Length of Dynasty: Six Seasons (1974 – 79)

Coach/QB : Chuck Noll/ Terry Bradshaw

1980’s: San Francisco 49ers

Titles: Four Super Bowls

Length of Dynasty:  Nine Seasons (1981 – 89)

Coach/QB: Bill Walsh/Joe Montana

1990’s: Dallas Cowboys

Titles: Three Super Bowls (in four years)

Length of Dynasty: Four Seasons (1992 – 95)

Coach/QB: Jimmy Johnson/ Troy Aikman

2000’s: New England Patriots

Continue reading "NFL Dynasty Killers And You: What Every New England Patriots Fan Needs to Know"

Now that the opening of Patriots Training Camp 2008 is upon us I am shocked at how fast the offseason went. It still seems just yesterday that the Pats beat the Giants to finish 16-0 and my wife and I discovered that we were going to have a baby the morning after. At the time it seemed like the start of the 2008 season/arrival of our first child seemed eons away but here we are, training camp is about to start and I'm about a month away from being a Dad. Time certainly flies.

So, in the interest of getting the ole' Pats blog back up and running at maximum efficiency, here's some links to start off the final week of the off-season.

John Tomase, who we're just starting to forgive for his role in Spygate though we still refuse to visit his blog, has a pretty good article on Jerod Mayo. Not too much new here but the Pats could really use a contribution from the first-rounder this year. I'm not going to weigh in that much on Brett Favre. This article from Cold Hard Football Facts abouts sums up my position in the whole thing. Give Aaron Rogers his day I say.

Continue reading "Return on the Monday Linkage"

I was wondering why I've been in such a good mood the last week or so and I realized that it's probably because the 2008 NFL season is about to start. I'd like to just take a brief moment of silence to appreciate how lucky we Pats fans are to watch such an awesome team.............. okay.

Just had to share this article from Don Banks of SI.com about how the Chargers are making specific personnel moves to counter the Pats. On one hand this is smart and necessary but at the same time if a team becomes too concerned with beating one team they won't be equipped to beat others.

That's all well and good if you've got a great defensive backfield to counter the Pats passing attack. But what happens if you face Jacksonville in the first round of the playoffs? They're a different beast all together. Mobile quarterback, vaunted running game.

Continue reading "T-minus 8 Days Till Camp..."

Matt Cassell – Personally I don’t really care if Cassell sticks with the team, gets cut or signs a huge contract with some other team that overpays him just because he’s had a few years of holding Tom Brady’s jock.

 

I’m sick of the “hasn’t started a game since high school” card and frankly, I’ve never felt very confident that Cassell could keep the ship running smoothly if, Belichick forbid, Brady had to miss any time.

 

Matt Gutierrez, by all accounts, is one of those first-at-practice, last-to-leave, annoying overachiever types that no one likes having breathe down their neck and fourth-round pick Kevin O’Connell looks like some kind of athletic freak who needs time to develop. Neither looks ready to start an NFL game just yet.

Continue reading "5 Patriots Who Need a Good Training Camp"

That's right folks, the final week of the offseason is upon us and I have to say at this point it seems like it flew by. Some thoughts and links for this special day..

Great article from Tom Curran, one of my favorite NFL writers, about the Brett Favre situation. Prior to last season I was firmly planted in the "Favre should retire crowd" but watching him play last year changed my mind. It was fun to see how much fun he was having with the young Packers team. Now, I'm back to just wanted him to go away. I feel bad for Packers fans, this can't be easy and by many accounts it has divided the fan base.

The argument that rings most true to me is that there is no guarantee that Favre is going to come back and have another strong season like he did in 2007. We can't forget that 2005 and 2006 were not years to remember for ole' Brett, and it's not like the won the Super Bowl or even made it to the big game last year. In fact, it was yet another Favre interception that ended the Packers season.

Continue reading "One Week Till Ignition"

Back in May a Pats article that I wrote here and on Bleacher Report was picked up to FoxSports.com and the reponse to the slogan "Embrace the Hate in 2008" seemed to strike a nerve with Pats fans across the country. So now, just in time for training camp,  Embrace the Hate in 2008 t-shirts have arrived. Show your support of the Pats and their NFL domination by picking up a t-shirt today! The stickers go nicely on your game day jersey as well to let opposing fans know that their calls of Cheatriots and Spygate mean nothing to us.

The Monday Linkage:

Mike Reiss breaks down the top 10 storylines of training camp with pretty pictures.

Here's my Top 5 storylines of Camp.

My 5 Players who need to have a good camp.

Shalise Manza Young breaks down how Belichick will get the Pats focused this year.

Continue reading "Patriots "Embrace the Hate in 2008" T-Shirt Monday!"

The day is here, Training Camp 2008 has begun and we can officially put the ONE loss of 2007 behind us. Two significant pieces of news:

1. All draft picks, including 10th-overall selection Jerod Mayo are signed, sealed and delivered. Glad to see the Pats avoided a holdout yet again.

2. There's a bunch of vets on the PUP list, a few surprises: Mike Vrabel, Jarvis Green and Rodney Harrison the biggest three. Wes Welker, Stephen Neal, Mike Wright and Ellis Hobbs all had offseason injury issues so they are less of a surprise. I wouldn't be too concerned, the number of players teams are allowed to have in camp has been reduced to 80 this year. I see the unexpected vets on the PUP list as nothing more than giving them a little extra rest, while allowing the younger and new guys more reps and chances to show what they've got. Good to see Ben Watson and David Thomas aren't on it.

Continue reading "It's Go Time!"

Here's a great one on one interview with Bill Belichick. I am really curious how BB is going to attack this Training Camp. Each year he has a theme and getting the team on track after how last season ended will be quite a task. Too bad we'll probably never know unless someone writes a book. Still waiting on someone to write one about 2007.

Cold Hard Football Facts, the best football analysis site on the internet, has a great look at the best coaches in NFL history. The article also reinforces the fact that Colts-Pats and Brady-Manning are probably the greatest team/quarterback rivalries in NFL History.

Favorite pictures from the morning session:

Continue reading "Some pretty Pats pix and a couple articles..."

Well yesteday was quite joyous to see the Pats back on the field, beginning their quest for Super Bowl 43 in Tampa. Also caught Dark Knight last night and it thoroughly lived up to the hype. I will have to see it again in Imax.

Practice starts a little later today, though we've already had Belichick's press conference. It's pretty clear that two high-round draft picks have a lot expected of them this year: The Chad and Meriweather. There were some reports that Chad wasn't on the same page as Brady yesterday. It's early so don't jump down his throat just yet. Meriweather on the other hand had an interception.

Off-Season award winners are up. No Brady for the first time ever I think, that's cool. Let Tommy get away from it all and come back refreshed. I'm really not too worried about it. Very happy to see Sammy Morris on there. I think he'll remind people why he was outrushing Maroney until he got hurt last year.

Continue reading "Fryday Pats Linkage"

Day three of training camp, and can anyone believe preseason games start next weekend? A few things that have popped out to me in the first couple days:

Tank Williams is getting a lot of work at linebacker. He's about 6'2, 220 pounds, a lot lighter than middle linebackers have been in the past for this 3-4 defense where their job is to take on, and defeat, guards.

I am a bit surprised Mayo and Hobson are running with the second team. But perhaps this is a new wrinkle to make the Pats faster on defense.

We still haven't seen Rodney Harrison practice. When he returns keep an eye out for what happens to Tank (who is quickly becoming one of my favorite additions and not just because his name is Tank).

The Hoodied One is always on the lookout for how the game is evolving and tries to evolve as well.  Those who don't adapt will lose many football games. Ask the Raiders, they're still trying to build a running team when the game is now played pass-first.

Continue reading "Thoughts so far on Pats camps..."

Those who have read this blog in the past know how much I despise Tuesday but I'm actually feeling pretty good today. We've had 9 practices thus far and things are slowly starting to take shape. Here's some quick thoughts from everything that I've seen and read from around the internets...

- I hadn't heard a lot about Brandon Meriweather thus far but Chris Gasper of the Boston Globe said he's been a pleasant surprise with how much more active he's been. With Rodney Harrison, James Sanders, Tank Williams, and Meriweather the Pats are looking good for this season and the future at safety. I'm stilll very curious to see how Tank's role changes once Rodney returns, hopefully we'll find out soon.

- From multiple reports Jerod Mayo is looking like the real deal at linebacker. Praise Belichick! This is just what we needed. He's been okay in pass coverage, against Kevin Faulk no less, delivered a few crushing blows and seems to be a better blitzer than originally advertised. Hopefully he can stay healthy and his development continues along this trajectory.

Continue reading "Quick Hit Thoughts on a Tuesday"

Had to share this article from Pat Kirwan, one of my favorite NFL writers out there. Kirwan doesn't have an agenda, knows the game, and BS-free.

Continue reading "Some quick Kirwan love..."

The first week of Pats training camp is just about in the books and things continue to shake out. They'll be off tomorrow (Friday) so this weekend should be a good time to get a sense of who might be injured and if anyone is due to come off the PUP.

My number one concern right now is the health of Matt Light. He's the veteran anchor of the line and he's missed the last 4-5 days of practice. This is too many missed practices to simply be for the purposes of keeping him fresh. Nick Kaczur did an okay job as a rookie in 2005 when Light was lost for the season against the Steelers but I'd prefer not to see him lining up at the most vital position on the line as a starter in 2008. We already know the Pats achilles heel can often be poor line play and losing Light is not what the Pats need. Cross your fingers he'll be back soon.

Continue reading "July 31st Pats Camp Updates"