You had to know that round two of the Patriots-Jets would be an immensely bigger game than when they first met in Week Two. Both teams had new quarterbacks and were still in a state of figuring out what they had. But now both are hitting on all cylinders making this Thursday's clash all the more intriguing.

This game will go a long way toward defining the 2008 versions of both teams. If the Pats win it will be another huge nail in Fredo Mangini’s coffin as the Jets head coach. If the Jets win it will look like all their bold moves of the off-season will have paid off and put them one step closer to the AFC East title. Either way, it’s sure to be a classic battle between two good teams. The Keyz for the Pats…

1. Gotta Get to Favre: Losing Adalius Thomas was a huge blow this week, even bigger than the loss of Rodney Harrison, and the lack of his pass rush presence could be a huge factor on Thursday. The Pats will have to get pressure on Favre somehow. Whether it’s Richard Seymour bowling over D’Brickshaw Ferguson, or Mike Vrabel looking like 2007 Mike Vrabel, putting the heat on Favre is key to forcing him into his signature ill advised throws. If Favre has time he will burn the Pats secondary.

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MD - Alright Angel, both our teams took care of business on Sunday, setting up a battle on Thursday night that will go a long way toward determining who wins the AFC East. 

But first, I have to say I am pretty disappointed in your Jets for running up the score on the hapless Rams. Why couldn't you guys just let them stay close like we did? If the Pats learned anything from 2007, it's that it's really classless to run up the score—and karma comes back to bite you. So I hope you're happy with yourself for doing that to the poor Rams.

Continue reading "Patriots-Jets Emailing with the Enemy Part Deux"

 A week from right now we’ll know a whole lot about who exactly the 2008 Patriots are. With two division games in five days it's time for the Patriots to show what they’ve got.

They came within a dropped pass and a penalty from beating a desperate Colts team on their home turf. Many pundits still have the Pats ranked over the Colts in their Power Rankings despite the loss.

It's pretty clear that the Patriots have been playing solid football the last three weeks. They may not be the explosive team of 2007 but they have looked far better than their performance in San Diego led us to believe.

The Bills started off the season on fire but have slowly fallen back to earth by losing three of their last four. They’ve also been hit again hard by the injury bug losing top safety Donte Whitner and pass rush nightmare Aaron Schobel. But this is still a dangerous team and who are faced with falling to 0-3 in the division. They will play desperate.

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CR - Matt has done a good job of "driving the bus", in Brady's absence. He seems to be getting more comfortable with the offense, and I do think that he is a starting caliber NFL quarterback. However, I'm not comfortable with his ability to bring his team back from behind. He seems to get easily flustered, and throws errant passes that don't come near their targets. When Matt is under less pressure, his throws look good... but when the game is on the line, his arm stops working. This is something that could change as he continues to get comfortable, but I wouldn't bet the bank on it.

Continue reading "New England Patriots 2008 Mid-Point Roundtable Discussion"

Matt: The Bills have been playing terrible ball.  The team is going through some injuries (DE Aaron Schobel, CB Terrence McGee who was BURNED all game against freaking Ted Ginn, and now starting saftey Donte Whitner who is a leader on that defense just to name a few) but they are playing awful no matter who is in there.  The offensive line has been terrible and Trent Edwards has come back down to earth.  The rookie that has meant the most to the Bills has been Derek Fine who saw his first real action this week (WR James Hardy and CB Leodis McKelvin haven't even touched the field much and when they do they don't make an impact).  I dunno who was picking the Bills to make the Super Bowl but after starting off 4-0, they are now in a 1-3 stretch and need to turn things around.  

Continue reading "New England Patriots vs Buffalo Bills Emailing with the Enemy"

Sure, I'm disappointed in Jabar Gaffney for dropping what would've been the go-ahead touchdown, and I'm mad that Dave Thomas's penalty basically lost the game for them, and of course this wasn't Belichick's finest coaching game but overall...I'm doing okay today.

In the past, a loss to the Colts stung and gnawed at me for the entire week (unless it was 2006 when in ate at me for six months), my disdain for Peyton Manning growing with each Sportscenter lowlight of his mongoloid forehead.

But this time home field advantage in the playoffs wasn't on the line. Another chapter of the Manning vs. Brady legacy was not written. And both Patriots and Colts fans know that New England could've, and probably should've won that game, with Matt Cassel behind center, an undrafted rookie running the ball, and no Rodney Harrison or Laurence Maroney, while the Colts had every one of their stars.

Continue reading "Patriots-Colts Notes on a Win for the LOSers"

This will be the first significant gathering for a Pats game this season as it's first weekend game I have actually been home for.  The new plasma screen should be a brilliant addition. Now I'm still just debating what to cook - Jambalaya or Pulled Pork Sandwiches. Hopefully Lil' TD fits into his Patriots onesie that his Grandma Nan got him, he needs to start showing support, he's almost 2 months old.

So on to some links from around the interwebs. I have found in my web travels today that there's a about a 66% rate of the Colts being picked to win, which I actually find kind of low. Here's ESPN's Intel Report about the game. Surprisingly the EA Madden simulation has the Pats winning.

Continue reading "Fridays Final Thoughts Before Patriots - Colts Rivalry Renewal"

I’m not going to sugar coat it, my Pats fan bretheren; the Colts should win this one. They need it more, they’re (supposedly) getting Bob Sanders and Joseph Addai back and they’re facing a severely depleted Patriots team that has struggled with giving up the big pass play. The Colts season is basically on the line this weekend so it’s hard to bet against Peyton Manning under these circumstances, even for a die hard Pats fan such as myself.

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I mean realistically, with the way things have gone in the NFL this year, the Pats very well could’ve gone 5-2 WITH Brady. So if you’re a Patriots fan and you’re still complaining about something it’s time to find a new team to root for.

What did we learn from the Rams game? Matt Cassel looks like he’s improving; between the game winning TD toss to Kevin Faulk and the shoulda-been-a-TD drop by Randy Moss we saw some Brady-esque accuracy out of the Cassel this week. I don’t think anyone can argue now that this guy is, at the very least, a solid NFL backup, and could get a shot to start somewhere else in 2009 if the Pats don’t resign him.

Continue reading "Pats Back On Top of the AFC East and All is Right With the World"

For years we've heard Bill Belichick preach this mantra, that it's the National Football League and on any given Sunday any team can beat any team. Though I don't think any of us Patriots fans ever really believed it when we had Brady under center. But that was then and this is 2008.

In this year's demento season anyone can actually beat anyone (unless you're the Bengals or Lions), and though the Pats have beaten up on some of the bottom feeders, the fact remains they are 5-2 and tied for the lead in the AFC East.

Sunday's game against the Rams was a tight battle, the kind that Tom Brady always used to pull out at the end.

Well, yesterday Matt Cassel took a page out of Brady's book and sealed his first ever fourth quarter comeback with a pinpoint pass to Kevin Faulk with just under three minutes left. Dare I say it was a Brady-esque performance by Cassel (minus the two picks of course, though they weren't really his fault: Wes Welker: fall down, Randy Moss: off his hands).

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