There's never a dull moment for Patriots fans and the past few days have been no exception. Most teams cut their roster down to 52 players at the deadline and that's it, they're ready to go for the season.

But not that Pats. They got their roster down to 53 (Kevin Faulk not counting because of his one week suspension) on Saturday, but continued to make a number of moves over the long weekend. 

While most teams are solely focused on their week one game, the Patriots are still working on making their roster as strong as it can possibly be from their best player all the way down to their practice squad players. This is why the Patriots win as much as they do. 

Just look at the flurry of activity done after the roster had supposedly already been set:

Chad Jackson cut. John Lynch cut. Signed CB Deltha O'Neal. Steven Spach cut. Claimed a tackle and a tight end off waivers from other teams. Placed waiver claims on at least three offensive lineman (who ended up going to other teams).

Continue reading "Patriots Roster Catch-Up"

The Patriots continued to get important players back today as Brandon Meriweather returned to practice. This, coupled with Russ Hochstein and Wes Welker's return on Monday, means that Pats are getting close to having just about everyone back. So for everyone who was concerned about injuries in the preseason it looks like they escaped with just Tank Williams being the only casualty. If Stephen Neal is able to come off the PUP list after week six the Pats will be looking good.

More rumors are floating out there about Brady now having a broken bone is his foot. I am mildly concerned, not that Brady won't play, I'm sure he will. No, my concern is that it's going to affect how he throws the deep ball. If he can no longer hit Randy Moss 65 yards down field on a frozen rope the Pats offense will be limited in a way that it wasn't last year. Stand by this weekend to see if it has any affect on him. By all accounts it hasn't affected how he looks in practice at all.

Continue reading "Meriweather Back at Practice, Brady Foot Injury Update"

Today marked the first time in years that Tom "Uno Dos" Brady wasn't listed on the Patriots injury report. That's right, while his foot injury was getting worse by the day according to many media outlets, going from a bruise, to a bone bruise, to a broken foot, it's now all better according to the Pats. As for the mysterious shoulder injury that has made Brady 'Probable' for every game since 2002, that's allegedly all better now as well.

The Patriots have long been fans of injury report shenanigans and today's report might signify the end of them. Regardless, it's good to know that Brady is fully healthy. Of course, he was supposed to be fully healthy for the Super Bowl as well but it didn't quite look like it during the game.

Here's another interesting tidbit courtest of Pro Football Weekly:

Continue reading "Change in Brady's Injury Status, Rumors Why Fernando Bryant Was Cut..."

Continue reading "As always, no one says it better than Fitzy...."

I'm still sick over seeing Tom Brady limp off the field on Sunday early on in the Pats 17-10 win over the Chiefs. Though you'd never hear a Pats fan say it, an injury to Brady has always been the unspoken ultimate fear. Even more so after watching Matt Cassel's lackluster turd of a preaseason.

Well, the unthinkable has happened. We don't know how bad it is but it's probably safe to assume we won't be seeing Uno Dos until October at the earliest. And that's probably the best case scenario.

The worst? Tom Brady being done for 2008 after just one quarter. But let's not call this season a complete bust just yet.

Brady will get an MRI Monday, they'll give it a day for the swelling go down and then we should know more. If there's a Daunte Culpepper or Joey Harrington signing in the next couple days it will probably be safe to assume Brady will miss significant time. And that's assuming they don't put him on IR which would end his season.

Continue reading "Worst... Patriots Win... Ever"

I know it hurts. You liked the view from the top of the mountain. You loved being picked by the pundits to win the Super Bowl. You loved being #1 in everyone’s power rankings. You wondered if Brady and Moss would outdo their 2007 performance. You saw the schedule and could see another16-0 season in the making. You thought San Diego and Indy were the only real threats. You enjoyed crushing your enemies, seeing them driven before you and hearing the lamentations of their women.

Well, those days are gone. For now.

We’re no longer the hated favorite. No one is picking us to win the Super Bowl. Peter King’s got us at #6 in his Fine Fifteen, and that’s probably generous. Moss will be lucky to get half the touchdown catches he had last year. We’re probably going to lose a game or five. Get over it.  We’re underdogs again.

Continue reading "A Patriots Fan’s Guide to Life Without Tom Brady"

Not since week two of 2007 against the Chargers has a win felt this good.

Yet again the Patrios overcame a significant loss/controversy and won a game that many had written them off for. I don't know why it's so easy for people to forget that this is the signature of this Patriots dynasty, that started with their introduction at Super Bowl 36.

Of course you don't just replace Tom Brady and no one is saying the road to Tampa in February goes thru Foxboro just yet, but Sunday's 19-10 win over the Jets was a reminder to everyone that no matter who is playing the Patriots are a solid, well coached football team.

This isn't last year's explosive team, but this one looks like it has a better defense and efficient enough on offense to get the job done when they needed to. In two games the D has come up with critical stops inside the 5-yard line.

Continue reading "Pats Show Yet Again Why They Are a Dynasty, Defeat Favre's Jets"

When the 2008 Patriots schedule came out I was somewhat bummed that there weren't many regular season games that got me excited. Part of what made 2007 so much fun was that there were so many games against good teams. 

But now that we have Matt Cassel behind center it's somewhat of a relief to see the 0-2 Dolphins coming to Foxboro this Sunday. Were Brady playing we'd be wondering if the Pats would put up 60 on them. Now we just want to get the win.

Some things to monitor this week are that both Lamont Jordan and Laurence Maroney were missing from practice on Wednesday and Thursday. As much as I can't believe I'm admitting it, I'd rather see Jordan back than Maroney. Based on how they ran last week it was clear that Jordan is a destructive bowling ball out there while Maroney still dances behind the line while waiting for a hole to open. 

Continue reading "Keys to Victory: Week 3 - Pats vs. Dolphins"

It's hard to know who to blame more for the embarrassment that took place on the previously unconquered field turf of Gilette Stadium Sunday.

Matt Cassel was lackluster to say the least, losing a fumble and throwing what should've been two interceptions had the Dolphins' Channing Crowder not driven him into the ground, drawing a penalty that negated a second pick. 

The scoring drives that the Pats did manage to put together were aided by timely penalty calls,  excellent special teams  play (see Ellis Hobbs) and lucky catches (see Wes Welker). Not once did the the offense show any kind of rhythm or confidence.

On Sunday, Cassel was who we thought he was. He completed 19 of 31 passes but nearly all of them were for short gains, leaving the Pats Offense with 15 third downs. They only converted 4 of them. 

Continue reading "Dolphins Pound Pats: Welcome to 2008"

If you’re a fan of Boston sports then you probably weren’t surprised when a chorus of boos rained down upon the Patriots at halftime of Sunday’s loss to the Dolphins. Yes, the Pats had put forth a poor performance but were still far from embarrassed at that point, yet that did not stop the “fans” at Gillette from making themselves heard like a bunch of Cardinals fans who haven’t seen a playoff game since the 90’s.

Yes, it was an embarrassing and demoralizing loss and New England fans are not used to losing, especially in such a convincing fashion, but as a Patriots fan I was embarrassed for those malcontents representing Patriots Nation so poorly.

On Monday, Ellis Hobbs was asked what he thought of the boos and he rightly took the fans to task, calling them spoiled. Hobbs and Stephen Gostkowski were the only bright spots on Sunday, and he was right to voice his displeasure with Patriots fans.

Continue reading "Shooting Down the Boo-Birds of Patriots Nation"

Just because the Pats aren't playing this weekend doesn't mean they're taking this week off, so neither are we. 

It's already been a long week and if you're like me, you've avoided ESPN, NESN and pretty much every other news outlet that might be tempted to show any one of Ronnie Brown's gleeful dashes to the end zone. 

So far so good, as my gaze slowly shifts focus toward a shot at redemption by beating down a somewhat upstart 49ers team in two weeks.

The slight glimmer of excitement for the game in San Diego, which yours truly will be attending, has crept into the back of my mind, but for now I must ignore it.

The bye week is a time to look at how you've performed, correct the mistakes and prepare for the long grind that will hopefully end, at the very earliest, in the first round of the playoffs.

Continue reading "Keys to the Patriots Bye Week"

A very special message from me to my fallen brohan, Tom B.

Continue reading "I Won't Forget You Brady"