Wilfork Fined for Losman Hit

ESPN.com’s Len Pasquarelli is reporting that New England Patriots nose tackle Vince Wilfork $12,500 for his late hit on Bills quarterback J.P. Losman on the first play of last Sunday.  Losman’s knee was injured on a low hit that Wilfork is adamant was not intentional.  Upon further review of the replay, it seems clear that Wilfork was blocked into Losman, though Bills fans continue to cry foul.  The hit was penalized 15  yards as an illegal late hit, and Losman left the game shortly afterward.  Losman is not expected to start this week.

Though Losman’s knee will thankfully not require surgery and is only sprained, that has not stopped the media from piling on Wilfork and calling him a dirty player, especially in Buffalo.  While you can understand the frustration of losing your starting QB for any amount of time during the season, berating a player in the media as a dirty player when he has never shown any propensity for dirty play in the past is just unnecessary and mean.   The play in question doesn’t look like the type of play where a tackle is looking to injure a QB, so everyone should just lay off Wilfork already.

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Patriots Still Number 1

According to ESPN.com’s NFL Power Rankings, the Patriots are still the best team in the NFL.  The Pats have won all three of their games so far in extremely convincing fashion, and they have Cincinnati’s porous defense in their sights for this weekend. Those of us with Patriots on our fantasy football teams are smiling ear to ear this week, I can tell you that much.  Why do I get the funny feeling that I’ll be seeing the Patriots at the top of the Power Rankings for at least one more week?  It could be Tom Brady.  It could be Randy Moss.  It could be a defense that has yet to even let another team come remotely close to contending for a win.  Take your pick.

Would it really shock anyone if the Patriots ran the table at this point?  If they just went wire to wire unbeaten like they’re some sort of college football team, running up the score on lesser opponents just to garner more votes, would it really be that surprising?  Bill Bellichick is basically on a mission to show everyone he can win without cheating.  If he wins his fourth Super Bowl ring he’ll be tied with Chuck Knoll for most ever by a head coach.  No one can know yet just how far these Patriots can go.  One thing, however, is certain.  This is going to be a really fun season for Pats fans.

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Understanding Bill Belichick

ESPN.com senior writer Greg Garber has written an amazing article attempting to explain the enigma that is Bill Belichick.  The article is a great response to the TMQ slop piece I linked you to yesterday.  It details Belichick’s obsession with game tape, from the tender age of 7 years, watching his father break down tape as a coach at Navy.  Belichick’s obsession with game tape can be painted in an even more intriguing light now that this whole Patriot-Gate scandal has come and gone, with the tapes now destroyed.  The article discusses the way Belichick uses his time breaking down game film almost as a sanctuary from all the other rigors of coaching life.

I read this article in full last night, and then again this morning.  It’s that good.  If you even remotely care to know more about the misunderstood genius of Bill Belichick, it’s an absolute must-read.  The sometimes smug, sometimes haughty, always extremely private Belichick is known as many things, but rarely do you hear his name coupled with words that have any sort of positive connotation, especially with the recent scandal giving members of the media who have always secretly loathed Belichick a chance to pile on.  This article, at the very least, attempts to paint Belichick in an objective light.  As a Belichick fan, I enjoyed getting a new and refreshing perspective on the man.

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Gregg Easterbrook Obsessed with Patriot-Gate

The man with absolutely too much free time, Gregg Easterbrook, has devoted the first part of his consistently schizophrenic Tuesday Morning Quarterback column to the destruction of the Patriots “spy tapes.”  Now you may be saying to yourself, “isn’t that a story from early last week?” and you’d be right.  This story is over, cooked and burnt to a crisp.  It’s obvious the Patriots don’t need to cheat, never needed to cheat, and won’t need to cheat in the future.  While everyone else has moved on to stories of injuries, teams who can’t win, and the horrific play of Rex Grossman, Easterbrook is still hung up on this crap.

His focus is on the destruction of the tapes by the NFL, and in addition to that, the fact that he cannot get anyone to tell him anything about what was on the destroyed tapes.  Easterbrook’s insane conjecture about all the reasons why this may be happening to him makes him look like the type of person who believes in government conspiracies to cover up UFO landings.  The idea that the NFL would cover the hides of any team is preposterous, especially given the current commissioner’s track record.  The tapes were destroyed to put this matter to bed.  The NFL won’t discuss the matter because they want it to go away.  End of story.  That means you too, Mr. Easterbrook.

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Ho-Hum, Pats Win Again

It’s Monday, which means that it’s time for the weekly recap of the Pats’ Sunday domination, also known as a football game.  This week the Patriots victimized the Buffalo Bills, making them look absolutely silly, decimating the team from upstate New York by a score of 38-7.  Tom Brady had another huge game for my fantasy team, going for nearly 400 yards through the air and throwing another 4 touchdown passes.  Randy Moss was his favorite target on the day, catching two of those TD passes and once again making the Patriots look like the smartest organization in football for swindling him away from the Raiders for only a fourth round draft pick.

The Patriots will spend the rest of the week getting geared up for their next dominating performance.  They have yet to be involved in a game that was even remotely competitive so far this year, and many people are predicting that they could very easily run their record up to double-digit wins before they lose their first game.  Some pundits are even calling for an undefeated season.  While that is still somewhat far-fetched, the fact remains that while the Bears have no offense, the Chargers have no direction, and the Colts look extremely vulnerable, the Patriots look completely  unbeatable.  They are the favorites to win the Super Bowl running away.

You can get all your New England Patriots tickets at www.stubhub.com.

Patriot-Gate Put to Rest

According to an ESPN.com piece, the NFL has released a statement claiming that all materials turned over by the Patriots in relation to the sideline-spying scandal have been destroyed. No further punishment is expected from the league. This puts to rest a nearly two week debacle for the Patriots, and for everyone in the media who blew this story out of proportion. One media member, who will remain nameless, actually went so far as to proclaim that Bill Bellichick would be forced to resign as the coach of New England after being called out for the cheater he was.

This was not the case. The Pats lost a draft pick. Bellichick lost a chunk of change. Can we all move on now, please? The Pats are 2-0 and laughing off the possibility of a 16-0 season, all the while looking like the most dominant team we’ve seen in football since the Colts won their first 14 games a few years ago. While the Patriots will more than likely not go undefeated, they are the odds-on favorite to run over the rest of the league on their way to their next Super Bowl title. Now that they have put this Camera-Gate nonsense to rest, I can only imagine that they will become more focused moving forward.

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Harrison Received HGH

ESPN.com is reporting that New England safety Rodney Harrison ordered a shipment of HGH during the 2004 playoffs.  For those who don’t recall, Harrison had a breakout run during the 2004 postseason.  This new allegation casts a long shadow on Harrison’s performance during the Patriots’ playoff run, which ended that year with the Patriots defeating the Carolina Panthers in the Super Bowl.  Harrison has been extremely forthright with all the information about his involvement with the Albany pharmacy in question, and the HGH he received.  He is, at present, serving a four game suspension for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.

This is the last thing the Patriots need, at first glance.  Yet another scandal casting doubt and shame on their dynastic Super Bowl victories will only serve to fuel the media fire surrounding the Pats.  However, upon second glance, and taking into account how the Patriots responded to the allegations of cheating against their coach last week versus the Chargers, I would say the Buffalo Bills should probably be shaking in their cleats.  This team is already one of the best in the league.  They don’t require constant questions and allegations to inspire them to prove all their doubters wrong.  However, for as long as people keep giving them bulletin board material, I’m sure they’ll continue to respond by kicking the butts of whomever they play.

You can get all your New England Patriots tickets at www.stubhub.com.

NFL Investigating Leaked Patriot Tape

ESPN.com is reporting that the NFL is now conducting a full internal investigation in an effort to discern exactly how the now infamous Patriots spy tape was leaked to the Fox network for use on their NFL pregrame show on Sunday.  The NFL was quick to quell the rumors that multiple copies of the tape were made and distributed to various high ranking members of the NFL staff.  While no one knows as yet how Fox happened to come by the tapes, one can be certain that the next batch of tapes Bellichick turns over will be kept under lock and key and watched 24/7.  You can also pretty much bet the farm that someone is getting fired over this little leak.

It’s almost comical, the whole Patriot-Gate story, at this point.   The Patriots have moved on.  I’m pretty sure the Jets have moved on.  The general public, from what I can tell by talking to my friends and family, seems to have put the story behind them, all the way in last week.  It seems funny to me that the media is still somewhat obsessed with this story.  The NFL has some employee who made a copy of the tape and gave it to Fox, most likely.  That person will be fired by the NFL, and they’ll probably get a job at Fox.  End of story.  Have a nice day.  In actual football news, the Patriots play Buffalo next week, and have Tom Brady, Wes Welker, and Donte Stallworth on my fantasy team.  Go Pats!

You can get all your New England Patriots tickets at www.stubhub.com.

Patriots Remain Number One in Power Rankings

ESPN.com has once again released their weekly power rankings, and the New England Patriots are number 1 yet again this week.  The Patriots remain in the top slot thanks to yet another big time beating they laid on a formidable opponent.  This time it was the San Diego Chargers who felt the wrath of the Pats.  The Patriots basically destroyed the Chargers in a statement game that let everyone know these guys are 100% for real.  The Chargers were one of the sexy picks to represent the AFC In the Super Bowl this year, and the Patriots made them look like easy pickings.

The Patriots are the scariest team in the NFL right now.  All of their offseason moves seem to be working out very nicely (with the exception of Stallworth, but give him time).  Moss is catching deep touchdown passes.  Welker is constantly open in the flat and has explosive speed.  And Adelius Thomas is being put to great use as the all-purpose linebacker, recording sacks and interceptions in an almost Urlacher-ian performance against the explosive SuperChargers.  Even with all the scandal, the Pats are the very best team in football right now, no doubt about it.

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Patriots Send Another Message

The New England Patriots sent a message Sunday night against the Chargers.  What was that message?  If you ask the Chargers, they would tell you the message is that the Patriots are very very good and will not be beaten  without a perfect effort from another very good team.  The Chargers didn’t give a perfect effort on Sunday, and they were beaten to a bloody pulp.  ESPN.com’s Len Pasquarelli has written a detailed article about the beat-down New England administered on the San Diego SuperChargers.  Tom Brady lit up the Chargers secondary for more than 250 yards and three touchdowns.

The Patriots played like a team possessed.  It was obvious they had made their coach’s trials and tribulations during the week their rallying point.  Indeed, the words and manhugs shared on the sidelines as the clock was winding down at the end of the game seemed more the actions of a team after a playoff win than a week 2 victory.  However, the Patriots felt they had something to prove.  They played to prove they could dominate a team many consider the premiere Super Bowl contender out west - and convincingly - without the aid of video.  They played for their coach’s legacy, and they won.  Make no mistake, this team is for real.  They may only lose a couple of games all year.

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