I'm posting this later than I intended, but wish I wasn't posting this at all. As all Pats fans know by now, Rodney Harrison tore a quadriceps muscle last Monday night in the win over Denver. He is out for the season, and I hate to say it, probably for his career. I really hope I'm wrong about that, but if I'm not I want to say this:
Thank You. For being the ultimate badass for six great years with the Pats, with one bad mistake that led to a suspension. The Wikipedia summary of his Patriots career is really good so I'll use it. You wanted someone to give an opposing receiver a good pop, Rodney was your man. Later in his career, to play half safety, half linebacker, Rodney was your man. Big plays, leadership, fire? That's Rodney. His team play, dedication, and ferocious hitting will always be remembered fondly by us who follow the Pats.
Post your favorite memories of Rodney Harrison's time with the Pats. Hopefully there will be more memories. But if not, you've had a hell of a run, 37.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
Awesome First Half!
Not just Sammy Morris, contributions from all sorts of folks. Mike Wright, Pierre Woods, LeKevin Smith, all the underheralded guys getting in on the act. 20-0 at the half. The only concern, 5 sacks of Cassel. But the fifth was one of those deals where you're in the shotgun, big lead, good field position, if you can get a 25 yard gain and get into FG range, awesome, if not, eating the ball isn't a bad thing.
Pats get the ball to start the second half. I will never count a Mike Shanahan team out. I am, however, shutting down the blog for the night so I can get some rest.
Pats get the ball to start the second half. I will never count a Mike Shanahan team out. I am, however, shutting down the blog for the night so I can get some rest.
Kornheiser actually makes a good point
I haven't liked his work since that first game in New Orleans after Katrina. But Kornheiser actually made a good point about all these sacks the Pats have given up. 22 already this year, Brady was sacked 21 times all of last year. Kornheiser says it's a big part of the ripple effect. I agree to a point. Brady would have gotten rid of the ball on a few of the sacks, sure. But I don't remember the pocket collapsing this quick, this often, all of last year either. I also don't remember as many missed blitz pickups by running backs either. It's not all Cassel folks, the overall blocking was a lot better last year.
Denver might as well be down to one RB
Andre Hall fumbles again! Pats recover and get an opposing personal foul to start at Denver's 23. The Broncos are running the ball very well otherwise so I'm a bit concerned about that. Champ Bailey cuts off a quite-well-thrown ball to Gaffney, FG makes it 6-0.
Speaking of RBs, Maroney's on injured reserve with his shoulder injury. Done. For. Season. I may have to take back the crack on him for dancing out of bounds two weeks ago, even though I was very irritated at the time.
Speaking of RBs, Maroney's on injured reserve with his shoulder injury. Done. For. Season. I may have to take back the crack on him for dancing out of bounds two weeks ago, even though I was very irritated at the time.
Early Pats-Broncos blogging
Both teams are really hurting for running back depth! Pats have no Maroney and Jordan, their opponents only have 2 RBs on the roster, one of who was kind enough to fumble us the ball on th first drive. Thanks!
30 plus yard swing out pass to Ben Watson! That's the Ben Watson we like to see. Okay, it was only 29 yards. 3-0 Pats, another field goal by Gostkowski. Sack that Forced the Pats into 3rd and long was a line breakdown, not on Cassel at all. Yates and LeVoir will fix that as they play together more, Heath Evans didn't pick up his guy either.
Incase I actually got readers from the Murphy's Patriots II site link, I'm blogging a bit differently tonight since I'm trying to keep a cold from settling in and getting worse, and sadly may not be able to watch the whole game as a result. I'll suck it up as best as I can. It may be a quicker than usual game since Jay Cutler smashed up his finger on the first play and may be very limted throwing as a result. Transation: more running and faster game.
30 plus yard swing out pass to Ben Watson! That's the Ben Watson we like to see. Okay, it was only 29 yards. 3-0 Pats, another field goal by Gostkowski. Sack that Forced the Pats into 3rd and long was a line breakdown, not on Cassel at all. Yates and LeVoir will fix that as they play together more, Heath Evans didn't pick up his guy either.
Incase I actually got readers from the Murphy's Patriots II site link, I'm blogging a bit differently tonight since I'm trying to keep a cold from settling in and getting worse, and sadly may not be able to watch the whole game as a result. I'll suck it up as best as I can. It may be a quicker than usual game since Jay Cutler smashed up his finger on the first play and may be very limted throwing as a result. Transation: more running and faster game.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
At least the Chargers couldn't score the FU touchdown
I wasn't expecting a Pats win tonight, but that was very damn ugly. First quarter, Deltha O'Neal gets burnt like popcorn after someone hits 21:00 instead of 2:10 in the microwave but doesn't realize it. Twice. Or was it three times? Three players go out with injuries (Jarvis Green, Ellis Hobbs, Nick Kaczur). Meriweather leaves in the second quarter. Rest of game, it got worse. Bad throws, drops, Cassel has a nice drive to start the second half but gets no points after a first and goal at the two. Deltha O'Neal gets burned again. Does anyone have Ty Law's phone number?
Cassel makes more bad passes as the game goes on. Defense continues to struggle. Deltha O'Neal screws up again. Defense still can't get a sack. Quentin Jammer did do a nice job shutting down Moss, I'll give him that. On the field, the only available solace was that the Chargers never got to really take the opportunity for the Bill Simmons made famous FU Touchdown. You know, the one with :45 left to make it 37-10. In all fairness, had the Chargers tried to do that in the 4th, I can't say I blame them.
I'm just glad it's over, and hope Green can come back soon. The MVP of the game is the new right tackle, Mark LeVoir. Fumble recovery, solid blocking, a huge improvement over the Ontario Oxycontin Turnstile, I mean Kaczur. Warren played a solid game as well, and Morris and Faulk had some good runs. But this was not a good night, at least it was a fairly quick game. Next up, the Broncos on Monday Night Football (remember when MNF was actually good?). It can't get much worse for the Pats than tonight. Talk to you next week.
But before I do, one fantastic thing tonight: the appetizer spread Murphy's Pub gave to us Pats fans, I cannot thank them enough for this. I had to mention that.
Cassel makes more bad passes as the game goes on. Defense continues to struggle. Deltha O'Neal screws up again. Defense still can't get a sack. Quentin Jammer did do a nice job shutting down Moss, I'll give him that. On the field, the only available solace was that the Chargers never got to really take the opportunity for the Bill Simmons made famous FU Touchdown. You know, the one with :45 left to make it 37-10. In all fairness, had the Chargers tried to do that in the 4th, I can't say I blame them.
I'm just glad it's over, and hope Green can come back soon. The MVP of the game is the new right tackle, Mark LeVoir. Fumble recovery, solid blocking, a huge improvement over the Ontario Oxycontin Turnstile, I mean Kaczur. Warren played a solid game as well, and Morris and Faulk had some good runs. But this was not a good night, at least it was a fairly quick game. Next up, the Broncos on Monday Night Football (remember when MNF was actually good?). It can't get much worse for the Pats than tonight. Talk to you next week.
But before I do, one fantastic thing tonight: the appetizer spread Murphy's Pub gave to us Pats fans, I cannot thank them enough for this. I had to mention that.
Sunday, October 5, 2008
I Left Laurence Maroney In San Francisco
Well, not really. But I wasn't the only one who wanted him chained to the very end of the bench after dancing out of bounds instead of lowering his shoulder to get the extra yard on the first drive of the second half. Stop freaking dancing around the holes the line opens up for you and run through them, for bleep's sake! Hip Shakin Santa is cool for about 39 seconds at Christmas time, Hip Shakin, Dancing or whatever Maroney is not cool at all. Dude, use the gifts you have or I will start calling for Kyle Eckel to be activated. At least he'll run hard all the time, I'm not sure that you do.
But I'm not going to complain anymore, since the Pats won their first game ever in San Francisco today, 30-21. A solid all-around effort with some issues, but a solid win against an occasionally decent team on the road, I'll take it. After a shaky start, the Pats controlled the ball for nearly 40 minutes and were never in any real danger of losing. 3-1! 1/2 game out of first place!
What I liked: Matt Casell. Bounced back big time from a couple early picks and a fumbled snap. The very next play after he recovered that fumbled snap, he stayed calm, didn't let the rush get to him, boom! 66 yard bomb to Moss, who had totally burned the 2 DBs that tried to cover him. That may go down as a landmark play this season that really got Cassell in gear with the offense. The INT on the first series, he was hit as he threw the ball, causing the trajectory to go to SF's Takeo Spikes instead of the Pats target down field. But coming right back with the long play to Moss was a huge bounce back in so many ways. And the jumping up in the air to mimic a high snap on the direct snap to Kevin Faulk (2 rushing TDs for the first time in his career) was pure football brilliance.
Also liked Faulk's 2 record touchdowns, Moss was a real part of the offense again, Brandon Meriweather was solid through. Adalius Thomas was big time in the second half too. But today may have been Matt Cassel's coming out party, sort of speak. He was sacked five times, but I don't recall him making a reckless throw to avoid a sack. He seemed to know when to just take the sack and move one. Stephen Gostkowski is establishing himself as a Pro Bowl caliber kicker too. Clutch field goals and great kickoffs again. Props to the Pats braintrust for drafting him when they did.
Needs Improvement: O-Line. I don't know if they miss Stephen Neal more than anyone realizes, but the Niners were able to put far more pressure on Cassel than they should have been able to. I would have liked to have seen the pass rush finish the job more often when pressuring SF, but you can't have everything. After all, they did force a lot of throwaways. And with Maroney's performance he should be left in San Francisco for a week on the bench.
But the important part is the win. Go Pats!
But I'm not going to complain anymore, since the Pats won their first game ever in San Francisco today, 30-21. A solid all-around effort with some issues, but a solid win against an occasionally decent team on the road, I'll take it. After a shaky start, the Pats controlled the ball for nearly 40 minutes and were never in any real danger of losing. 3-1! 1/2 game out of first place!
What I liked: Matt Casell. Bounced back big time from a couple early picks and a fumbled snap. The very next play after he recovered that fumbled snap, he stayed calm, didn't let the rush get to him, boom! 66 yard bomb to Moss, who had totally burned the 2 DBs that tried to cover him. That may go down as a landmark play this season that really got Cassell in gear with the offense. The INT on the first series, he was hit as he threw the ball, causing the trajectory to go to SF's Takeo Spikes instead of the Pats target down field. But coming right back with the long play to Moss was a huge bounce back in so many ways. And the jumping up in the air to mimic a high snap on the direct snap to Kevin Faulk (2 rushing TDs for the first time in his career) was pure football brilliance.
Also liked Faulk's 2 record touchdowns, Moss was a real part of the offense again, Brandon Meriweather was solid through. Adalius Thomas was big time in the second half too. But today may have been Matt Cassel's coming out party, sort of speak. He was sacked five times, but I don't recall him making a reckless throw to avoid a sack. He seemed to know when to just take the sack and move one. Stephen Gostkowski is establishing himself as a Pro Bowl caliber kicker too. Clutch field goals and great kickoffs again. Props to the Pats braintrust for drafting him when they did.
Needs Improvement: O-Line. I don't know if they miss Stephen Neal more than anyone realizes, but the Niners were able to put far more pressure on Cassel than they should have been able to. I would have liked to have seen the pass rush finish the job more often when pressuring SF, but you can't have everything. After all, they did force a lot of throwaways. And with Maroney's performance he should be left in San Francisco for a week on the bench.
But the important part is the win. Go Pats!
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Troy Brown - one of the greatest Patriots ever
I've been ridiculously busy lately so I have not had the chance to post my personal tribute to Troy Brown. One of the greatest Patriots of all time retired last week. Troy Brown came to the Patriots in 1993 as an eighth round draft pick from Marshall when they were a 1-AA (I'm not calling it by its other name since it doesn't make sense) school. The eighth round does not exist in the NFL Draft today. Cut at least once at the beginning of his career, he kept coming back, never gave up the dream, and turned into one of the most versatile, classy players the NFL has seen in a long time. Not to mention one of my favorite Patriots ever.
In an attempt to get any traffic at all to this blog, what are your favorite Troy Brown Memories? Being part of the blocked field goal return for a TD in the 2001-02 AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh? Not giving a fake away when casually jogging off the field on a field goal attempt in St. Louis in 2004 when the Pats totally caught the Rams sleeping and catching the easiest TD pass of his career on the fake? 101 catches in 2001? 97 the following year? The 82 yard pass from Brady for a game winning touchdown in Miami in 03, the first time the Pats ever won in Miami before November 1? Breaking all those punt returns? Stripping Marlon McCree of the ball after the interception in the 2006-7 divisional playoff in San Diego? Ah there are so many.
Thank you and then some, Troy Brown. One of the greatest ever. I need to pick up this in honor of one of the best Pats ever.
In an attempt to get any traffic at all to this blog, what are your favorite Troy Brown Memories? Being part of the blocked field goal return for a TD in the 2001-02 AFC Championship game in Pittsburgh? Not giving a fake away when casually jogging off the field on a field goal attempt in St. Louis in 2004 when the Pats totally caught the Rams sleeping and catching the easiest TD pass of his career on the fake? 101 catches in 2001? 97 the following year? The 82 yard pass from Brady for a game winning touchdown in Miami in 03, the first time the Pats ever won in Miami before November 1? Breaking all those punt returns? Stripping Marlon McCree of the ball after the interception in the 2006-7 divisional playoff in San Diego? Ah there are so many.
Thank you and then some, Troy Brown. One of the greatest ever. I need to pick up this in honor of one of the best Pats ever.
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