The New Big Guy

With Vince Wilfork hurting his ankle against the Falcons, the Pats went out and signed another big guy. Terdell Sands was cut at the end of training camp by the Oakland Raiders was a free agent.

The eight year veteran can play all positions on the line, but is best suited as a nose tackle. He has a commanding presence at 6'7" and 335 pounds. He was a 7th round pick in the 2001 draft by the Kansas City Chiefs. He spent time on their practice squad before a similar situation with Green Bay. He spent his last four seasons with the Raiders. He has 12 starts in 76 career games.

The Circle Game

First, Scott Pioli leaves the Pats to become the GM of the Kansas City Chiefs. He trades for QB Matt Cassell. The Chiefs already had two QB's in Brodie Coyle and Tyler Thigpen.

Last season, Thigpen was 1-10 as a starter. This year he loses the back-up job and is third on the depth chart.

Meanwhile, in Miami, Chad Pennington injured his shoulder last Sunday and was lost for the season. He will need his third surgery, putting his career in jeopardy. Pennington was drafted in 2000, one of several QB's who were picked before Tom Brady.

Former Pats Coach, Bill Parcells is the head of football operations for the Dolphins. He needs another QB. He trades with the Chiefs for Thigpen. It's interesting to note that Pioli is married to the daughter of Parcells.

I guess you can't say "no" to your father-in-law.

Playing With Passion

Talk radio has been buzzing about the antics of Tom Brady on the sideline during the Pats-Falcons game. After WR Sam Aiken seem to slow down on a route, Brady was yelling and screaming at him as they left the field. He continued his rant on the sideline.

Some callers were critical of him and even referred to him as diva. Are they afraid that it might effect the children who watch the game? I think this is misdirected. This is not youth football. This is the real thing. Tom Brady gets paid a ton of money to throw a football. I would expect hm to play the game with passion. As far as yelling and screaming, the game is very emotional. You don't last long in the NFL if you don't play with passion and fire. The day he stops playing like that is the day we need to look for a new QB.

Pat & Falcons Wrap

I thought the biggest play of the Falcons game was when the Pats were 4th and inches on their own 25 yard line and Coach Belichick decided to go for it. It kept the drive alive, although it stalled and the Pats got another of their 4 field goals. Six trips to the Red Zone, but only 2 TD's today. They were inside the 10 and couldn't punch the ball in.

Fred Taylor ran for one and Chris Baker caught a 36 yarder from Tom Brady who had great protection by the offensive line. The team got the running and passing game going with Brady throwing to 8 different receivers lead by Randy Moss with 10 receptions for 116 yards. Fred Taylor cracked 105 yards carrying the ball.

The Falcons committed a couple of costly penalties and were hampered by the Pats winning the battle of possession by 40-20 minutes.

Vince Wilfork was injured from having Mike Wright roll on his ankle. We will never know the extent of the injury no matter what is is.

Joey Galloway continues to drop balls. Tom Brady was seen yelling on the sideline after stalled drives. Timing still appears to be an issue with some of his receivers.

The Pats used a double and triple tight end formation on a number of plays. This certainly facilitated getting the running game going.

Annointed by Belichick

Coach Bill Belichick always praises the next opponents. They are always good in all three phases of the game: offense, defense and special teams. They always have many skilled players. Such is the case with the Atlanta Falcons.

Belichick went to great length to sing the praises of FB Ovie Mughelli. On the surface, his numbers are very plain. Drafted in the 4th round in 2003, Mughelli signed with the Falcons as a free-agent in 2007. In his career he has 23 carries for 73 yards and 40 receptions for 310 yards. He called Mughelli one of the greatest full-backs he has ever seen, comparing him to Jim Braxton of the 1970's Buffalo Bills. Braxton was the lead blocker for O.J. Simpson.

He cited Mughelli for "always finishing the play" and being a vital aspect of the Falcons offense.These are interesting comments from Belichick, considering his years in the league and all of the great players he has seen.

Stopping Gonzelez

One of the keys to Sunday's game against the Atlanta Falcons will be stopping the tight end. In this case it will be Tony Gonzelez. Since losing Rodney Harrison to a season ending injury last year, the Pats have done a dismal job in stopping the opposing teams tight ends. The trend has continued into this season.

The responsibility in Sunday's game will fall on one of the hybrids: Brandon McGowan. Harrsion excelled in tight end coverage. To shut down Gonzalez will be a monumental task. The former first round pick and 13 year veteran is the NFL career leader for receptions by a tight end (928), yards, (11,084) and TD's ( 78).

He was traded in the off-season to the Falcons from the Kansas City Chiefs where he spent his previous 12 seasons. Gonzalez requested a trade after missing out on the playoffs for many seasons. Coach Belichick denied any trade talks about acquiring Gonzalez prior to this season.

Although GM Scott Pioli accommodated Gonzalez's request, the Pats were not in the mix. Coach Belichick cited the salary cap impact of Gonzalez.

A Fateful Day

On this day in 2001, the Pats were playing the Jets in the 2nd game of the season. It was a very emotional time as it was the first game after the attacks on 9/11. Starting QB Drew Bledsoe was already into his 9th season with the team and was piling up all sorts of team passing records. Tom Brady was a 2nd year player who had worked himself into being Drew's back-up after being 4th on the depth chart the previous year.

Early in the game, Bledose was trying to run out of bounds when he was suddenly hit by LB Moe Lewis. The hit knocked Bledsoe out of the game and nearly killed him. He spent several days in the hospital after suffering a sheared blood vessel in his chest. He lost a considerable amount of blood.

Brady took over and the team lost 10-3. The Pats would be 1-3 before turning it around and finishing 11-5. Bledsoe would not return until Brady hurt his ankle in the AFC Championship game. Coach Belichick went with Brady for the Super Bowl which they eventually won over the St Louis Rams.

On April 21, 2002, the team traded Bledsoe to the Buffalo Bills for their 1st round draft pick in 2003. That pick ended up being Ty Warren. Bledsoe would spend three seasons in Buffalo before being reunited with Bill Parcells in Dallas.

On that fateful day on September 23, 2001, two players had their lives changed forever. Brady would evolve to the superstar that he is today and Bledsoe would be discarded like old furniture in spite of what he did to revive the franchise when he first came to the team in 1993.

One play, one moment changed them forever .

Oh Captain

It appears that Jets coach Rex Ryan was trying to tweak the Pats during the pre-game coin toss when he sent his game captains out on the field. Teams either have captains for the season or select them on a game by game basis. Ryan has chosen the latter.

It seemed rather odd that he chose three former Pats to represent the Jets: Damion Woody, Larry Izzo and Kevin O'Connell. The inclusion of a 3rd string quaterback was certainly noticed by many. Would Ryan have chosen O'Connell if they were playing another team?

Third string quarterbacks usually carry a clipboard during the game and are not involved in the coin toss. It seems like one more effort by Ryan to make a subtle statement.

What Does He Mean?

During yesterday's press conference ,Coach Belichick was asked about the defensive communication on the field. This involves the communication device inside LB Gary Guyton's helmet. The coach indicated that there was vast room for improvement, but it was much better than last year. He was critical of last year's communication process saying that the bar had been set very low and at times was not as good as it should be.

Was this a snipe at former Pats LB Mike Vrabel who wore the device last year? Vrabel was contacted by reporters and replied that they would have to ask Coach Belichick. He didn't understand the coach's comments whether it was a problem with the device or the calling of the defensive play and the subsequent communication to Vrabel.

Coach Belichick gave a very vague answer which left many wondering what he actually meant by his comments.

Keys to a Loss

The jets 16-9 win over the Pats was not a shocker to some, especially Jets fans. The Pats caused their own demise.The inability of the Pats to covert on third down was apparent throughout the game. The Jets were able to convert with their chance and keep drives alive.

The Pats were in the Red Zone three times and only came out with three field goals. This was a deficient area last season.

They hurt themselves big-time with penalties involving illegal formations, holding and delay of game. They killed one of their drives with back to back delay of game calls.

The Jets came after Brady right from the start. Although they didn't sack him, the stats showed he was "knocked down" 5 times and"hurried" 15. I'm not sure what hurried means as they beat Brady up on all 20 of those plays.

The Pats were outplayed because of those factors. Brady didn't look "good", but the pass rush of the Jets dictated the tempo of the game. Joey Galloway was thrown to many times, but he and the ball were never in the same place.

Rhetoric of Rex

Coach Rex Ryan has fanned the flames of the Pats and Jets rivalry with his rhetoric about today's game. Several of his players have gone on record as saying they plan to hit QB Tom Brady as much as possible and get into this face. There has been a considerable amount of trash talking from the NY side.

There is no doubt that the Jets are a greatly improved team and will be bringing a ferocious pass rush against Brady. The Pats offensive line must come up with a huge game.

The Pats defense is looked at being very questionable due to the number of new faces. If the Jets don't win, it will be another example of providing "bulletin board" material to the opposition and having things blow up in their face.

A Tale of Two Linebackers

Jerod Mayo and Gary Guyton are both in their second season with the Pats. They were among the 34 linebackers invited to the 2008 NFL Scouting Combine. Of the 34 LB's, there were 30 drafted. Mayo was drafted in the first round, the third LB taken. Guyton was passed over, in spite of having the faster 40yard dash at the Combine.

The Pats drafted two other linebackers: Shawn Crabel in the 3rd round who is on IR for the 2nd straight year. Bo Rudd who was drafted in the 6th round and spent last year on IR before being waived last April.

Guyton was interviewed by Coach Belichick shortly after the draft and signed as an undrafted free agent. Mayo got the big-time first round money. They both saw considerable amount of playing time last season.

With the injury to Mayo, Guyton will be calling the defensive signals against the Jets. Coach Belichick has stated that it was a mistake to draft Bo Rudd instead of Guyton. He had no reason why Guyon went undrafted, but it doesn't really matter now. The draft is a very inexact science.

Light as a Tight End

During the Bill's game, LT Matt Light lined up as a tight end in plays involving a triple TE formation. Although the team has three TE's in Ben Watson, Chris Baker and recently acquired Matthew Mitchell, the coaching staff felt more comfortable with Light as a 3rd TE. It turns out that Light played the position in high school and now wants the ball thrown to him according to a smiling Coach Belichick.

When the Pats lined up in the triple formation, rookie Sebastian Vollmer took Light's place. Vollmer is considered very versatile and able to play guard and tackle on both sides of the ball. The Pats drafted him in the 2nd round.

Pats Recycled

Former Pats OL Billy Yates and WR Ray Ventrone were signed by the Cleveland Browns as free agents. Both players were released in the final roster cut. They had served as backups for starters and on Special Teams.

The signings are almost a no-brainer for the Browns as Coach Eric Mangini is familiar with both players from his time with the Pats as defensive coordinator. It's interesting to note that Ventrone has evolved from a safety to receiver.

Mayo out 6-8 Weeks

After being anointed the captain of the defense, LB Jerod Mayo sprained a ligament in his knee against the Bills and will miss 6-8 weeks. He will remain on the 53 man roster during that time. His loss will be felt big-time as he was seen as one of the keys to the defense. He also called the defensive signals. LB Gary Guyton will most likely fill that role. If the team looks for another linebacker, it will come at the expense of another position. It's a long time to tie up a roster spot, but the team is willing to wait for a player of Mayo's caliber to recover. If it were someone else, their season may have ended on IR.

It's a good reason to see why Coach Belichick is comfortable with having only two QB's on the roster. I think this will cause the team to go with Brian Hoyer as the only back-up for the foreseeable future. It's a risk the team needs to take. If Brady gets hurt again, the season changes for the worse.

Bad Decision

I was shocked to see the Bills run the ball back from the end zone with a little over two minutes left to play in the game. Leodis McKelvin made the decision rather than take a knee and get the ball out to the 20 yard line.

If the Bills could have run off a couple of plays and gotten a first down, the Pats would have burned up their time outs and the game would have been out of their hands. It was very critical for the Bills to get a first down and keep possession.

Instead,the untimely fumble allowed Brady to hit Ben Watson with a 16 yard pass with 1:06 left in the game. The Bills should have won this game. They should have gotten the ball on the 20 yard line by virtue of the touchback. Instead, McKelvin made a decision which ended up costing the Bills the game.

In a news report heard tonight, angry Bills fans went to McKelvin's home after the game and painted the score on his lawn in white paint and laced it with a few obscenities. I can understand their disappointment, but that was a bit over the top.

It's Not About Seymour

While listening to Sports Hub Radio today, I heard some additional detail about the Richard Seymour trade. The Raiders were initially offered Vince Wilfork, but owner Al Davis wanted Seymour. Davis dealt directly with Coach Belichick who said he needed to check with owner Robert Kraft. The Pats were adamant on the 2011 first round draft pick.

I think Wilfork will either be slapped with the franchise tag or he will be traded. The team isn't going to follow the league trend and overpay for skilled players.

A New Opportunity.

It sounds like Richard Seymour will be reporting to the Raiders after tending to family matters. He has a wife and four young children. They will be moving back home to South Carolina. Seymour will probably be away from his family for extended periods. He recently gained custody of a 15 year old nephew, the son of his deceased sister. Seymour stated that his delay in reporting has been due to pressing family matters.

Nothing has gone right with this trade. Seymour reported that he received a phone call from Coach Belichick informing him that "his rights had been traded". There was no face to face meeting. It was a cold transaction, typical of life in the NFL.

The trade opens a great opportunity for Jarvis Green, an eight year veteran and 4th round draft pick from 2002. Green has filled in for Seymour for long stretches during injury periods. He has shown that he is more than capable of being a starter, particularly during 2007 when he started 10 in Seymour's absence. He has played at all spots along the defensive line. The team has shown its high regard for him by paying as a starter.

Trades Don't Always Work

The recent trade of Richard Seymour to Oakland for a 2011 first round draft pick has hit a bump in the road. Seymour has not reported to the Oakland Raiders. He may be trying to use leverage to get a contract extension. The Raiders want to void the trade if he doesn't show up.

Trades don't always work. In 1971, the Pats traded RB Carl Garrett to the Dallas Cowboys for RB Duane Thomas. Garrett beat out O.J. Simpson for Offensive Rookie of the year in 1968a and remains 7th on the Pat's all-time rushing list with 2,251 yards.

Dunae Thomas was a free spirited player who immediately got into an argument with Coach John Mazur when he arrived to the Pats training camp.Thomas was a gifted runner, having led the league with 13 TD's in 1970. He was also the Cowboy's leading rusher. The situation became much worse and the Pats asked the league to void the trade.

Both players returned to their teams. Thomas would be traded again and ended his career in 1974 as a disappointment. Garrett ended up playing 9 seasons in the NFL, retiring in 1977. He left the Pats in 1973 when the team drafted Sam Cunningham in the first round.

More Roster Talk

The Pats continue to tweak their roster. Several present and former players were on the transaction wire the last few days. Former 2nd round pick Chad Jackson was cut by the Broncos. Recently cut OL Ryan O'Callahan was picked up by Scott Pioli and the Chiefs.

After trading a 5th round pick for Greg Lewis, the Pats cut him on Monday. The Pats also traded another 5th round pick for Alex Smith who they cut. He has been picked up by the Eagles.

The team signed Isiah Stanback, a receiver cut by the Cowboys, to the practice squad. Stanback played QB at the University of Washington before being converted to a WR by Dallas.

Former LB Junior Seau has indicated that he is willing to play up to six games for the Pats if needed. Too bad he's 40 years old.

Roster Moves

In my previous posting, I discussed my thoughts on the final 53 man roster. As events played out today, it shows that the roster is on-going.

I was surprised with the trade of Richard Seymour to the Raiders. He is a free agent after this year. I didn't think the Pats were going to resign him. By letting him go a year early, the Pats get a first round draft pick, although it won't be for two seasons.

They traded TE Dave Thomas to the Saints for a 7th round pick. They traded with the Giants for TE Michael Smith who is known for his size; 6'4", 270 , blocking skills and lack of receptions. By cutting TE Alex Smith, it appears the Pats will go with three tights ends: Ben Watson, Chris Baker and Smith.

The team can now sign players to their practice squad. Terrence Nunn was their first. The WR from Nebraska was pushing for playing time in camp, but got caught up in a numbers game.

It's hard to imagine the Pats going with Brian Hoyer as a Tom Brady's back-up. Damon Huard is still out there. I think he has a chance of hooking on with the team.

Former QB Kevin O'Connell who was picked up by the Detroit Lions was released and claimed by the New York Jets. Will Coach Rex Ryan attempt to pry secrets from him about the Pats offense?

Roster Cuts

All NFL teams need to be down to 53 players on the roster by 6pm. Yesterday, the team released six players: QB Andrew Walter, OL Billy Yates, LB Vinny Ciurciu, WR Robert Ortiz, DB Roderick Rogers and DL Stephen Williams.

That still leave 13 players who need to be released. Here are my thoughts on who will be released. It's hard to predict as players get released and resgned, but 13 need to go:

DT Titus Adams, LB Eric Alexander, T Wesely Britt, DB Herana-Daze Jones, DB Jamar love,
S Brandon McGowan, RB Sammy Morris, LB Rob Ninkovich, WR Matthew Slater ( could be IR ), TE Alex Smith, RB Chris Taylor, G Ryan Wendell, and CB Jonathan Wilhite.

Former RB Killed in Car Crash

John Stephens, who played five seasons with the Pats from 1988- 1992 was killed in a single car crash in Louisiana. Police said Stephens was speeding and not wearing a seat belt when his car veered off the road and he was ejected.


Stephens was a first round draft choice ( 17th overall ) in 1988 and won offensive Rookie of the Year honors as well as trip to the Pro Bowl after rushing for 1,168 yards. He was 6th all-time on the Pats rushing list with 891 carries for 3,249 yards.

He was cut during the first training camp of Coach Bill Parcells in 1993. He finished out the season playing for Green Bay, Atlanta and Kansas City.

Trouble followed Stephens in recent years. This blog featured a story on him on June 3, 2009 which discussed his recent arrest for raping a 51 year old woman while he was looking at a vacant apartment.

Damon Huard Again?

The "experts" are saying that QB A.J. Feeley of the Eagles will be cut and end up with the Pats. That might not be a bad choice, but Damon Huard has been released by the 49er's. The 13 year veteran played the last five seasons with Kansas City and saw considerable starting action. He just couldn't nail down the starting job.

Prior to that, he spent the 2001-03 seasons with the Pats where he served as Tom Brady's back-up. He left the team after the 2003 season because he had a chance at the big money and a starting job with the Chiefs. He also has served as Dan Marino's backup in Miami.

In Huard, the Pats would have a QB who is familiar with their system and a proven NFL veteran. I wouldn't be surprised if he had a visit to Gillette in the near future.

Thoughts on Kevin O'Connell

The sports talk shows were buzzing yesterday with the signing of Kevin O'Connell by the Detroit Lions. "Experts" were saying that the Pats wasted a 3rd round pick on O'Connell by drafting him that high and then giving up on him so early. Given his game day status last season, he was not eligible for the practice squad this season.

Coach Belichick and his staff have seen something that the rest of us have not. Matt Cassell had a bad camp last year and was almost run out of town. He turned out to play well in the absence of Tom Brady. They saw something in Andrew Walter and Brian Hoyer that made them release O'Connell.

Maybe O'Connell will resurrect the Lions and play 14 seasons. Perhaps he will be released in the final roster cut. Evaluating talent is difficult using training camp and pre-season games. Just ask Tom Brady, a 6th round draft pick in 2000.