Throwing Around NFL Fines

New England Patriots receiver Randy Moss got some good news Tuesday. The offensive star had received a $20,000 fine from the NFL after criticizing the officiating in the November 2 game against the Indianapolis Colts, but upon further review the NFL changed its mind and decided to withdraw the fine. Moss was fined for making a statement after the Colts defeated the Patriots 18-15 to the effect of, “There were some real iffy calls out there, and it’s just some of the things that you wished wouldn’t have happened. Good calls and bad calls are part of the game, so you got to live and die with them.”

Moss was slapped with a whopping $20,000 for that statement, yet he wasn’t the only one given a fine that week. Patriots tight end David Thomas also walked away from Indianapolis with a fine from the league, this one a $7,500 fee for unnecessary roughness, as he was penalized for a late hit in the game against the Colts. While Thomas’ infraction was more minor, Moss’ mishap with criticism was a close call, and the receiver is sure to watch what he says when the cameras are rolling in the future.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on November 12, 2008 - Post a comment

Little-Knowns Lead Patriots Past Bills

Rookie running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis and quarterback Matt Cassel would not have been in their positions in yesterday’s match-up against the Buffalo Bills had injuries previously in the season not incurred. Green-Ellis, an undrafted rookie from Mississippi, has seen play time this season thanks to injuries from top runners Laurence Maroney, Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan, and QB Cassel is now seeing play time due to Tom Brady’s knee injury. These two previously little-known players sent a message thundering through the ranks of the NFL yesterday, however, as Green-Ellis rushed for 105 yards and scored a touchdown for the fourth straight game since he’s seen playtime.

Cassel, on the other hand, has steadily been improving in the absence of Brady, this week even going over the top with a 13-yard touchdown run in the first quarter of yesterday’s game against the Bills. Cassel kept his performance upwardly consistent, going 23-of-34 with 234 yards while New England kept the lead in the AFC East, shutting out Buffalo 20-10. The Patriots are now 6-3 on the season and face another division rival the New York Jets next week at Gillette Stadium, thereafter traveling to Miami for yet another AFC match-up in a Week 12 game against the Dolphins.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on November 10, 2008 - Post a comment

Patriots-Bills Preview

With the AFC East in a three-way tie for first place, two division teams meet this Sunday to battle it out for the top. The New England Patriots face the Buffalo Bills at their home field of Gillette Stadium, and this Week 10 game could be a complete tossup or a complete blowout – who knows, with the way this NFL season is going.

The Bills and the Pats both are tied at 5-3 on the season so far, but judging from history the Patriots have a slight advantage over the Buffalo team. For starters, Buffalo hasn’t won a game against New England since 2000. On top of that, the Bills are coming off two big losses from Miami and New York, and their momentum has been slowed to a near-screeching halt. Buffalo can’t seem to beat out division rivals, and New England is the next (and last) AFC East team they face. The Patriots will also be playing on their home turf this Sunday in the teams’ matchup, and Foxboro is always a magical place for the Pats to play and, often, a curse for all other teams. Add Matt Cassel’s vast improvement on top of this all, and New England could very well come out on top of the dog pile of the AFC East.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on November 7, 2008 - Post a comment

Cassel Improving as Season Continues

26 is the magic number for Matt Cassel, even though he wears jersey no. 16. 26, the number of times Cassel has gotten sacked this season, is high for a quarterback of his stature, yet the New England QB kept that number from rising last week in the Patriots’ game against the Indianapolis Colts. The Patriots lost the game in an 18-15 heartbreaker, but when it came down to comparisons between the seasoned Peyton Manning and the inexperienced Matt Cassel, there wasn’t a huge difference as some fans expected. In fact, Cassel didn’t get sacked at all in Sunday’s matchup, marking his first game at zero sacks. Compare that to his six sacks in New England’s game against the Denver Broncos and we’re seeing an all-new and improved quarterback for the Patriots.

Cassel’s comfort on the field and in the pocket is growing immensely, and his stats are showing a great improvement from his first few games as New England’s head quarterback, when he went 13-for-18 with 152 yards against Kansas City, 16-for-23 with 165 yards against the Jets, 19-for-31 with 131 yards against Miami and so on. Cassel has gained more than 200 yards in both of his last two games, going 25-for-34 with 204 yards against Indianapolis and 21-for-33 with 267 yards against St. Louis, and the season is just halfway over, so look for big things to come from this newfound talent.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on November 6, 2008 - Post a comment

Patriots Sign CB Jason Webster

After suffering several injuries throughout the season that have resulted in a mass scrambling of players in and out of positions and games like a jigsaw puzzle, the New England Patriots have been trying to rebuild their lineup for a more cushiony secondary. This week, after rookie linebacker Shawn Crable was placed on the injured reserve list with a shin injury, the Patriots have signed eight-year veteran cornerback Jason Webster back onto their roster.

Webster, a 31-year-old veteran in the NFL, most recently played with the Buffalo Bills, whom the Patriots will take on this Sunday in Week 10. The 5-foot-9, 187-pound Webster signed with New England this year in the off season but was cut after the team’s training camp. Originally out of Texas A&M, Webster was drafted by San Francisco in 2000 and played for the 49ers until the end of the ’03 season, thereafter becoming an Atlanta Falcon from 2004-06. Webster was traded to the Bills in 2007, and will now wear the number 23 jersey for the New England Patriots. The cornerback brings to New England 11 career interceptions, and the Patriots hope he’ll add depth to the team, as well.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on November 5, 2008 - Post a comment

Fine but No Suspension for Wilfork

After meeting with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell last week concerning dirty play, Patriots defensive tackle Vince Wilfork has been fined $35,000 but was not suspended from the league for a hit to the helmet of Denver Broncos quarterback Jay Cutler in the teams’ matchup on October 20. The decision to fine Wilfork but not suspended him was announced late last week, and the verdict is partly due to a DVD from the Patriots’ video department that showed the entire disputed act.

In the DVD that Wilfork’s wife Bianca handed Goodell at their meeting, video shows Goodell’s elbow on Cutler from all different angles, proving that Wilfork may not have hit Cutler in the head after all. Undisputable is the fact that after Wilfork tackled Cutler, Cutler picked himself up and patted Wilfork on the helmet after the play. What seemed like foul play was soon debatable, and for this reason Goodell has chosen not to suspend Wilfork from the NFL.

Wilfork and his wife wrote a thank you letter to Goodell following the decision to fine him but not suspend him from the league. Last year, the Patriots tackle was fined a combined $35,000 for hits on various players.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on November 4, 2008 - Post a comment

Despite Loss, Patriots Still Have Hope

The New England Patriots traveled to Indianapolis for yesterday’s Pats-Colts matchup and the Sunday Night Football game of the week, but the persevering New England team came out losing a heartbreaker in an 18-15 Indianapolis victory. Colts’ heavyweights Bob Sanders and Joseph Addai were back on their feet after being out with injuries for the last few weeks, and that combination plus a fully-recovered Marvin Harrison and red-hot Adam Vinatieri led the Colts to slide by the Patriots in the fourth quarter. In such a close back-and-forth game, three crucial mistakes may have cost New England the game last night.

First, there was the Patriots’ failed two-point conversion attempt in the third quarter. After rookie BenJarvus Green-Ellis scored the team’s only touchdown, coach Bill Belichick went for the two-point conversion to get past the Colts when they were down by one (7-6). Kevin Faulk’s rush to the right came up just short, however, and the Colts’ successful two-point conversion later in the game ultimately let the Colts come out on top. Aside from this judgment call, wide receiver Jabar Gaffney also chalked up a big mistake when he dropped a pass from Matt Cassel at the Indy five-yard line, destroying hopes of a touchdown. The other mistake that cost the Patriots in yesterday’s game was tight end David Thomas’ penalty, which he received for hitting a Colts defender after the play was dead. Aside from these mistakes (two of which that could be disputed on ref calls,) the Patriots continue to hold atop the AFC East with a 5-3 record while the Colts struggle to stay in the playoffs race while standing at 4-4.

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Permalink - Posted in Uncategorized on November 3, 2008 - Post a comment


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