The Pats upset the Chargers today 27-24 to even their record at 4-4. There are always thing that could have been done better. The defense came up big.
It's easy to point out mistakes. I'm not a fan of the writers who analyze the players and have a list of the "ups and down".
One play can be all they remember you by, but it's not always fair.
There is too much emphasis on putting up numbers.
UMass dropped their record to 1-7 with a 62-17 loss to Liberty. They controlled the ball for over 36 minutes, but it wasn't reflected in the final score.
They ran 10 more plays than Liberty, but were only 7/19 on third down. They gave up another 604 yards of offense, with 409 passing and 195 on the ground. Liberty scored at will
UMass continues to be dominated by their opponents with four games left with Rhode Island, Maine, Army and New Mexico State.
Las Vegas set their total wins at 1.5 which is a very low bar. Can they impact the gambling line?
Former Pats punter Zoltan Mesko made the social media news cycle when he recounted a story of being told by Coach Belichick to try and swat Tom Brady's passes away with a tennis racket during practice.
He was playing the role of JJ Watt who was notorious for slapping passes with his long arms. Apparently, the whole process aggravated Brady because he was having trouble hitting receivers.
Mesko played with them for three seasons after they drafted him in 2010 during the 5th round. He lost his job to Ryan Allen at the end of the 2013 training camp.
His accomplishments as a college punter at Michigan rank him as one of the all-time great college punters.
The Packers beat the Cardinals 24-21 on Thursday Night Football. The game went to the very last series of the Cardinals who were inside the 10 and going for the win before Kyler Murray threw an interception in the end zone
The Cardinals lost their first game to become 7-1. The final score beat the under of 51. A TD would have gone over.
The Packers turned the ball over on fourth down before the Cardinal's last stand. They had a TD reversed by the replay official which impacted the over and under.
It was quite a game.
Names get tossed around all the time for various coaching positions in the NFL and college. Some of it ends up being a rumor, but information gets out.
Former NFL and USC QB Carson Palmer provided some input to a group involved in hiring a new football coach for the school.
Mike Tomlin of the Steelers found himself being asked about it. He was agitated about the question and ended his press conference.
There are too many unfounded stories, but he was really upset. His comments should put an end to further speculation.
When Bucs WR Mike Evans caught Tom Brady's 600th career TD pass, he unknowingly gave it to a fan in the stands. It set off a series of negotiations to get it back.
The fan really made out, but people are discussing it on social media on whether he should have asked for more.
He ended up with two signed jerseys and a helmet from Brady, one signed Mike Evans shirt and his game cleats, $1,000 gift card to the Bucs team store, two seasons tickets for the 2021 and 2022 and one Bitcoin from Brady.
Although he made out big, he should consult a tax advisor as he will have some tax implications.
Peyton & Eli Manning do a great job with their alternative MNF broadcast on ESPN2. It has good ratings because they are entertaining. Their guests always add a lot.
Tom Brady spent the second quarter with them. He offered some interesting insights without tipping to any opponents.
The show is very unique and is made for Peyton's domineering personality. He has great chemistry with Eli who offers great analysis.
The news had a story earlier today of the huge rainstorm in Northern California that has flooded some places.
Tonight's game between the Colts and 49er's is being played in the heavy rain which has inundated the Bay area.
The game is going on regardless. It's difficult for the players, fans, coaches, camera people, security and anyone else there tonight.
The most important thing is player safety in these situations.
Big time college football programs don't put up with losing seasons or not going to bowl games. Coaches with winning records get fired after a losing season.
LSU Coach Ed Orgeron has agreed to part ways with the school after going undefeated in 2019 and winning a National Championship. A record of 4-3 record this season and 49-17 record under his tenure wasn't enough to keep it going.
The school will pay the remainder of the $16.9 million owed to him through 2025 for the extension he signed in 2019.
The 1-5 UMass Minutemen will be on the road to play 2-4 Florida State. They are probably getting a good amount of money for taking on another loss.
These types of games help fund the UMass program at the expense of having a good winning record.
UMass in getting 35.5 points, with an over/under of 60. Florida State is looking for a win to get to the magic number of seven wins to get a bowl bid.
Some of the Boston sports talk show people tried to make a big deal out of a comment from Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels when asked about who calls fourth down plays. They turned out to be big in the team's loss to the Cowboys.
He said that Coach Belichick has the final say. It makes sense. I'm sure they discuss their options. Belichick has lived and died with some of his decisions, but you can't argue his success.
NFL players and have benefited by the new rules for using Injured Reserve designations. The three weeks minimum allows teams to treat the player without calling it a season ending injury.
The Pats just used it for LB Chase Winovich who injured his hamstring in the team's loss to the Cowboys. He will miss games against the Jets, Chargers and Panthers. Will he return after that?
The problem for some players is that someone is taking their place. The key for any player is get get healthy and back on the roster.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said that the team has reached out to Cam Newton in light of Russell Wilson missing several games because of a finger injury.
Cam recently announced that he is vaccinated. That opened at least one door in Seattle.
I'm sure he wants to see if he gets interest from other teams. The Seahawks won't wait forever.
The Pats dropped their record to 2-4 after losing to the Cowboys by a score of 35-29 in overtime.
They gave up 445 yards of passing and had trouble again converting on third down.
If 9-8 can get them into the playoffs, they would need to finish the rest of the way at 7-3.
The news is reporting that Cam Newton got a Covid vaccine shot. Will this get him back to the NFL or even a tryout?
This might be his best chance for an opportunity. It seems like time is running out on him. Nobody is beating a path to his door.
When the Pats play at 1pm, they are getting some of the second and third broadcast teams of the respective network. It will change Sunday when they have a 4:25pm game against the Dallas Cowboys in Foxborough.
Coach Belichick's team will be getting 3.5 points with an over/under of 50.5
Both numbers look good, but you never know how it will end up.
After five games, we are looking at the achievers and those who could get into a precarious situation.
At 2-3, the Pats are on the bubble. If they lost last week, they would be looking at 1-4 and a slim chance of making the playoffs.
The Jaguars and the Lions are both 0-5 and basically out of it unless they have a drastic turnaround.
As we go into Week 6, quarterbacks have been injured around the league. There are jobs available at some level, but we never hear anything about Cam Newton.
Will he end up sitting out the season? If he wants be be a starter, the interest might not be there from teams.
Injuries happen in games. Some are worse than others. They can end a season, career or impact the player later on in life.
We saw two great examples of that yesterday in the Giants loss to the Cowboys. QB Daniel Graham suffered a concussion on a violent collision that spun his head in an awkward way. He stumbled as he tried to get up and was in no shape to continue.
RB Shaquon Barkley rolled his ankle in a very grotesque way. The pictures of it were awful. It's amazing that he didn't suffer a fracture. He will miss a few games.
These types of injuries happen too frequently. They get magnified by the attention they get in this day and age of social media and 24/7 news coverage.
This isn't anything new. It's the ugly part of the game.
The Pats were able to squeeze out a 25-22 win over the Texans with a last second field goal to increase their record to 2-3. Next Sunday's game against the Cowboys will be very critical to get them on a winning track.
A columnist wrote an interesting analysis of the game, but also wanted to lay blame on Damien Harris, Steve Belichick and Josh McDaniels.
I don't think it's ever productive to point fingers, but writers need to do that. They are finding the Coach's son to be a punching bag when things go wrong on defense.
UMass got a win today when they beat 0-7 UConn, 27-13. The Minutemen are now 1-5 going into their bye week.
They finally had a game where they dominated another team in all the statistical categories starting with total offensive yards 407 vs 291, passing 160 vs 128, rushing 247 vs 163, time of possession 39 minutes vs 21 and first downs 22 vs 14. They also won the critical turnover battle 0-3.
Things will get tougher in their next two games when they travel to play Florida State and Liberty.
UMass will host UConn tomorrow. It will be a pair of winless teams with five and six losses respectively.
The Minutemen will be getting five points with an over/under of 57. Their defense has been terrible all season. They give up too many yards, especially on big plays. Third down is another issue.
The offense has its bright moments, but it's never enough.
Seahawks QB Geno Smith saw his first meaningful action since 2017 in the Seahawks loss to the Chargers on Thursday Night Football.
He lead them to a score in the fourth quarter after Russell Wilson injured his finger when he got hit, but a late interception ended any chances for the Seahawks.
The former second round pick for the Jets in 2013 has lasted this far in the NFL with four different teams. He is still young enough to be a good back-up for a team that needs one.
It was only a matter of time before the Pats released CB Stephon Gilmore. The former Defensive Player of the Year and the team could not agree on a long term contract. They wanted to see his level of play once he came off the PUP list. That's the story the media is going with.
Someone will sign him, but at what price? He wanted a substantial raise from his current pay of $7 million. The team wasn't willing to take a risk on a 31 year old injured player when they need to sign JC Jackson to a new deal.
They only pay so much for anyone. It remains to be seen whether they can do it with Jackson, who at age 25, will command top dollar on the free agent market.
It's sounding like the Pats will be signing LB Jamie Collins to a free agent contract. Nothing is official until they announce it.
The Lions were not happy with his play. They tried to trade him, but couldn't get what they wanted.
This would be his third time here. His play could give him an opportunity for another payday on the free agent market.
It didn't take long for social media to comment on the brief meeting between Coach Belichick and Tom Brady after the Bucs defeated the Pats last night by a score of 17-16.
With cameras and microphones in their faces, they embraced for a few seconds before walking away. The comments started right after that.
Getting no attention was the 20 minutes that Belichick spent talking to Brady later on in the Bucs locker room.
The Pats and Bucs game tonight has been hyped to death to the point where it's getting very boring. How much more can they say about Belichick and Brady?
The recent book excerpts released this past week only add more to the fire. Coach Belichick has already said that he never would've had the success he had with out Brady. What more can he say?
UMass fell to 0-5 today with a 45-7 loss at home to Toledo. The game was never close.
The Minutemen could only get 134 yards in the air and 23 on the ground, while Toledo had a balanced offense of 232 passing and 223 running.
First downs is always a critical stat and UMass lost that one 23-8. Toledo ate up chunks of yardage every time they touched the ball with an average gain of 6.2 yards compared to 2.6 for UMass. It was a recipe to extend their losing streak to 16 games.
Next Saturday will be quite a game at home with 0-5 UConn. Somebody will win and be 1-5.
NFL teams have a heavy concentration of players from certain schools. It's the reality of big-time college programs.
Last week on active rosters, Alabama had 54 formers players, followed by Ohio State (50), LSU (47), and Georgia and Notre Dame each with 36.
The list of the top 10 schools is always interesting,
