It’s the day during Super Bowl week in which the players are thrown into the media masses and get asked anything and everything for an about an hour.

I was lucky enough to be able to enjoy it all from the comfort of my couch. Here are some of the highlights.

ROB GRONKOWSKI IS BOOTLESS

The tight end was seen without a boot as he sat on podium fielding questions from everyone about his status. I lost count on how many times Gronk said “day by day”, “day to day” and any other variation of that phrase. In true Patriot Way, Gronk didn’t reveal much other than he wasn’t wearing a compression wrap either. Who knows if he will be 100% by Sunday but to see him without a boot on Tuesday is comforting.

WES WELKER WANTS TO GET PAID AND THINKS THAT BB IS A TERRIBLE DRESSER

Wes Welker was all sorts of playful today. NFL Network’s Deion Sanders brought up salary talk as Welker’s contract is up after the 2011-2012 season. Sanders asked, “When the big game is over, are they gonna pay the man?!”

Welker smiled and said, “They better.” 

If Gronkowski is less than 100% for the big game, Welker’s worth to the offense drastically increases. I’d say he’s worth it. Here’s to seeing Welker in a Patriots uniform for many years to come.

Welker was also asked to talk about BB and Tom Brady, while he said nothing but great things about Brady and his dedication to the sport, he really has a problem with the way BB dresses.

Welker said, “One day he had on a Team Bassmasters sweatshirt…there’s something wrong with that.”

I wonder if looked anything like this sweatshirt, if so, that’s AWESOME.

CHAD OCHOCINCO JUST WANTS TO WIN/PLAY/CATCH A BALL

“He did it for a reason.” When Chad Ochocinco was asked if he ever wondered why “God would put him in that situation.” Ochocinco is not the guy we all expected him to be and was the first to admit that the whole experience was rather humbling.

I don’t think this is how Chad Ochocinco envisioned things to be when he made it to the Super Bowl but then again, this was his only chance to be in Indy for the weekend.

Somehow I think that if Chad catches a TD in the Super Bowl, it’ll make his less than productive season forgivable.

BB IS THE CHEF – AND EVERYONE ELSE JUST DOES THE DISHES

Bill O’Brien, the newly dubbed Penn State head coach and current Patriots offensive coordinator will be leaving the New England Patriots on pretty high note if they come home with the Lombardi Trophy.

He made comment that seemed quite fitting for all those who know BB and the New England Patriots team.

“When you work for Bill Belichick, there’s only one cook in the kitchen. And we’re all just dishwashers.” 

That’s is for now. The Giants Media Day is about to start…

Here’s a kicka$$ video for you to get your Gronk on with.

The game last week really sucked and it was one of the most bizarre and surprising meltdown I’ve seen in awhile (well, except for the Red Sox…too soon?)

This is the first thing that came up when I Google’d “Red Sox Meltdown“. I gotta say, the picture says it all.

Thanks Terry Francona for your time with the Red Sox.

So let’ get back to the Patriots.

They”ve got the top performing quarterback but also have a defense that’s allowed 377 passing yards per game.  There just seems to be no balance with this team and I think that is the biggest concern as we enter a match up against a team that has a killer running game. (Trust me, I’d know. Darren McFadden is pwning everyone in my fantasy leagues.)

There’s also another major problem: INJURIES.

Here’s how ESPNBoston’s Mike Reiss listed it out:

Out
TE Aaron Hernandez (knee)
OT Sebastian Vollmer (back)
DL Mike Wright (concussion)

Questionable
CB Kyle Arrington (chest)
CB Leigh Bodden (groin)
S Patrick Chung (hand)
CB Ras-I Dowling (hip)
DL Shaun Ellis (knee)
LB Gary Guyton (hamstring)
DT Albert Haynesworth (back)
WR Taylor Price (hamstring)
OL Ryan Wendell (calf)

Probable
S Josh Barrett (thumb)
LB Dane Fletcher (thumb)

Yeaaaaaaaah, that’s a lot of people right?

That’s a lot of defensive backs to NOT have on your definitely starting list.

I don’t have any answers for this defense, I don’t think the man-to-man defense the Patriots have chosen to stick with is not as effective as we all would like for it to be. I’ll admit that I liked the change…but I know that it’ll take some growing in to.

But how much longer will these growing pains last?

We got the manpower right? We picked up Albert Haynesworth…but he’s not doing us any good with a back injury.

I don’t want to keep asking about this but, where the heck is the pass rush?!

Seriously?!

GAH! Ok, I’ve vented and now I leave you with a video from one of the funniest women I know, Grace Helbig.

Enjoy some Daily Grace.

I usually have my thoughts and ideas all mapped out on a list. You know, what I liked, what I didn’t like, what blew my mind..etc.

This past Sunday’s New England Patriots and Buffalo Bills game as a whole, blew my mind.

Not because of the fact that both the Bills and Patriots were both UNDEFEATED going into the game but just how straight up ugly the game got.

Look, I’m as big of a Patriots fan as anyone but I’l be the first to admit that our defense sucks. And the fact that Tom Brady has less than a stellar showing exposed it rather quickly.

Brady was 30 for 45 passes for 387 yards. Impressive. Four touchdowns? Also impressive. Four interceptions?! Not so impressive. Brady through the same amount of interceptions in one game as he did in the entirety of the 2010-2011 season.

Not only did Brady look “squirrely” as my good friend @MellyHocking called it, but the defense looked so lost. Other than Kyle Arrington’s two picks, everything else seemed blah.

Second year corner back Devin McCourty seems to be going through the sophomore slump. He looked sluggish and what he considered “coverage” was giving receivers about 10 yards to play around with.

Let’s play, “Where’s the coverage?” -_-

Devin McCourty, a cornerback mind you, is leading the teams in tackles. He’s ranked above Jerod Mayo. Does that seem right to you? Vince Wilfork has more interceptions than McCouty. You see what I’m getting at here?

I’m not trying to take away from how the Bills played. I’m a massive Fred Jackson fan and I think he is going to have one hell of a season with the Bills. But he has something that I’ve yet to see from the Patriots this season: An explosive rushing attack.

The most exciting run I’ve seen this season has  been from the rookie running back Stevan Ridley.  The Patriots have 102.7 total yards in the first three games. I love me some Law Firm and Woody (hehee) but c’mom man! Let’s focus on getting the run established before we have Danny Woodhead playing wide receiver (an overthrown pass caused one of Brady’s INT).

And here I’ll say it, Chad Ochocinco is irrelevant. Dropping catches and misreading routes is not acceptable. The guy is barely getting any passes thrown to him and the ones that matter and the ones that do go his way, he can’t seem to hold on to.

I’m done with him.

I don’t think it’s fair to expect the Patriots offense to be flawless but the have the defense be nothing more than 32nd in the league. (Thanks @ErikFrenz for that little tidbit).

It’s a new week and the Patriots are facing the Raiders. I’ve voiced my concerns and I know many people share them..so here’s to a better week in Oakland.

To help you get through the week, I present to you: Panda Dogs!

I was in pajamas, just finished some United BBQ and had my laptop open and ready to blog my little heart out about part 2 of A Football Life: Bill Belichick. 

..and then I check my DVR realized that it didn’t record. I think Family Guy, Always Sunny in Philadelphia and The Office took up 95% of the space. Needless to say, I was pretty bummed.

Marc Sessler of NFL.com did a a great job of highlighting the best of the second part. Check out his article here.

I really wanted to spend my Friday evening raving about it but I guess it’ll have to wait until my DVR clears up. Sorry!

Ok so here are some questions that I’ve been pondering leading up to Sunday’s match up against the randomly awesome Buffalo Bills (Come on, don’t act like you aren’t surprised that they’re 2-0)

#1 Is Ryan Fitzpatrick for real?
From the sounds of it, he seems to be. Given that the two games he won were against subpar teams..but it was the come from behind win against the Raiders. At one point, they were down 20-3.The final score? 38-25.

#2 Is this no huddle offense for real?
Mike Reiss pointed out an interesting response from Bill Belichick about the no-huddle.

“I think we all see, the way the game is now, there are different breaks in the game at all points in time. You can have the momentum, and positive things going in your favor, and we stop and review a play, review a score, or a play gets challenged, or a player gets injured, a beach ball rolls on to the field. It could be a dog runs out there. It could be anything. Streakers, you could have that.”

He makes a good point. With all these new changes to the rules of the game, something like a no-huddle (when done well) could be just as dangerous as having Tom Brady as your quarterback. In the case for the Patriots, they have Tom Brady AND a blossoming no-huddle.

Not to say that Brady is a pro at the no huddle just yet but it has been something else that defenses have had to deal with.

So the simple answer to this question? Yes, it’s getting pretty real.

#3 Who will be the “Other” tight end?
It seems like the family reunion is over for the brothers Gronkowski. The Patriots announced today that Dan Gronkowski has been released.

An awesome photo of all the Gronkowski brothers (from www.thenflchick)

I guess that’s the end of Zoom for the Patriots.

Here’s the big question, with Aaron Hernandez questionable with a knee injury, who’s left?!

Rob Gronkowski…and um, yeah. Just Rob.

So those are the questions of the weekend. Hope everyone else has a lovely weekend.

Here’s something that put a smile on your face.

Hell, Vince Wilfork got his first ever interception AND ran it back for 20 some yards…How could you not be wicked psyched?! Here’s the video of the interception

Gotta thank @PatriotsHaven for the video!

I was actually at Ryan’s parents’ house for a Sunday dinner during the game..but the ever-so-dedicated blogger in me decided to type out my thoughts of the game on my Blackberry AND THEN email it to myself.

So here it goes, The Rough Cut: Patriots vs Charger 9|18|11

- Tom Brady looks crisp and relaxed behind the line and even outside the pocket

- Chad Ochocinco finally finding his niche: the deep middle passes. this wasn’t a major option for Brady since the prime days of Moss..

- Antonio Gates has been less than relevant. Hasn’t been targeted nearly as much as everyone expected. I’d give the credit to Pat Chung for doing an excellent job on coverage and blocking.

- A questionable call made on DE Andre Carter with a strong hit on Philip Rivers. Looked clean but the fact that he held on for an extra second made it a personal foul.

- Vince Wilfork gets his first career interception AND ran it back. Great form and ball protection. (This might have been my favorite play of the entire game) Did anyone else notice Vince’s impeccable ball protection technique? Cradled it and all. 

- A close hit on Brady gives me the chills and flashbacks of Brady’s knee injury. Yeah, let’s not do that again.

- Leigh Bodden gets called twice for holding. This brings light to an area where the Patriots may have some issues: Unneeded penalties. Clean it up.

- Considering that Steven Jackson of was the only offensive weapon for Rivers, it still says something that they were able to cut the Patriots’ to a single touchdown at one point of the game says that there is still some improvement for the Patriots’ Defense. I’m not saying it’s terrible because they did cause FOUR turnovers.

- Patriots running game contuinues to be stable and explosive when necessary. Nothing fancy but effective. We also got a Stevan Ridley appearance..even if it was just 2 carries for 9 yards.

- Brady is the first player in NFL history to follow a 500+ yard game with a 400+ yard game.

- I also can’t end this wrap without mentioning that awesomeness of our two tight ends: Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Other than a blown block by Gronk, the rest of the game for these two guys were pretty much highlight reel material.

The final score of the game 35-21 Patriots. 

My prediction was 27-21 Patriots. Eh, I was only off by a touchdown..not too shabby.

An ankle injury with a full recovery time that could take 6-10 weeks. What this really means is that Tom Brady will have to make a new friend in the center position.

Koppen, who was drafted by the Patriots in 2003 from Boston College. Koppen has been with the Patriots his entire career and he’s really been with Brady from the beginning. Brady recently stated,

“On losing Dan Koppen:

“That’s tough. He’s the best and there’s no one like him. I think he and I have a great chemistry between the two of us. We always have and he’s one of my great friends. Hopefully he’s back at some point. We’re certainly going to miss him but at the same time other guys have to step in and do the job. I think that’s part of what this game’s all about, other guys stepping in when they’re called upon and executing just as if he was in there. Hopefully we get him back at some point.”

We are best fwends

You’re going to see an immediate impact with Koppen’s absence and it’s going to take some adjusting and players like Dan Connolly have no choice but to step up to make sure that the offense we saw against the Dolphins can be there for the rest of the season.

I recently read an article by Cindy Boren of the Washington Post about the amount of injuries in week one of the season (Dan Koppen joins a lengthy NFL Week 1 injury list that includes Willie Colon, Luis Castillo and 4 Denver Broncos). It’s staggering not only the amount of injuries but also the extent of those injuries. Luis Castillo of the Chargers suffered a broken tibia and the Steelers’ Willie Colon is recovering from torn triceps.

Those are not just ankle sprains or sore muscles, those are serious injuries. As Boren states, “The MVP so far in the NFL? The MRI machine.”

Regardless of the unfortunate injury of Koppen, it’s still tough to really count out this Patriots offensive line. Brady managed 500+ yards and he made it look easy. Brady also managed to tire out the entire Dolphins so much that they went into desperate mode early…like before halftime. It as sad to see actually, to see this defense have no answer for the Patriots except a full on blitz every single time.
It’s seriously like when I play Madden…pretty sure I’d use Smoke Blitz, which by the way is also a spell in the game RuneScape. Awesome, I know.

I’m interested to see how long the Patriots can keep up this offensive rhythm and when the defensive will finally be at the same level. Bring on the Chargers!

Random tidbit:

You need to check out the new Star Wars website. It’s completely redesigned and they even link to sites like Wookiepedia to source some of the character bios. There’s old videos, previews and awesome sound effects from all the films. One of my favorite things? The soundboard with each character and their notable phrases…

Can you guess which is my favorite soundboard? Check it out!

Yup, this happened.

 

Last night’s event hosted by Comcast Sportsnet was one of those events.

I was invited to a pretty stellar event last night presented by Comcast Sportsnet called New England Football Night and it was their announcement party that Patriots legends Troy Brown and Ty Law will be joining Comcast Sportsnet as Expert Patriots Analysts.

Before I go on, I want to give Joe Gill of Boston Sports Then & Now for putting my name on the list with some of the best people in Patriots news in New England. I was honored and humbled to be around people who have made my job as a blogger so much easier with their extensive Patriots coverage.

Not to mention, it’s always a blast to catch up with some of my favorite tweeps:

@ErikFrenz | @NoontimeSports | @MellyHocking  | @JoeyMurr | @Russ_Goldman  | @InBostonSports  | @Andy_Deossa

Please give all of these guys a follow, they’ll provide you with some of the best Patriots insight and analysis..plus they’re all rather entertaining.

With some killer beer options and tasty snacks, Waxy O’Connors was a great spot to hold the event and the food was also rather tasty. One of the more interesting dishes served? Chicken Parm Egg Roll (Satisfied my love for Italian food AND egg rolls. ) Look at the rest of their menu…all of it sounds delicious.

There were some laughs and great questions that bloggers and fans alike asked to Mayo and Brown. Moderators Tom E. Curran and Gary Tanguay did a fantastic job keeping the Q&A fluid.

The best thing about these types of events is that fans, like myself, get a glimpse of how these players are and their true personalities. It also shows the type of relationship they have with the guys at Comcast Sportsnet. It really felt like they were just friends catching up and we were lucky enough to listen in.

I’ll be working on an extensive piece for Patriots Insider about the event some of the things that Mayo and Brown discussed about the upcoming season…I’ll post it when it’s up!

For now, here is a lovely slideshow of the awesome pictures I took at the event.

(For FLASH users, sowwies. Here is the link to the album)

I’m also pretty psyched about spending the majority of this three day weekend watching Star Wars (Great call, Spike TV). The Star Wars Complete Saga is coming out in Blu-Ray…it could be THE reason I shell out some bucks for a Blu-Ray player.

In the spirit of Star Wars, Ryan showed me this awesome thing called Troops and it’s pretty hilarious.

As you all know, the Patriots are now Brandon Meriweather-less. It wasn;t surprising that team like the Chicago Bears were quick to pick him up. Let’s be realistic, any player that the Patriots cut does not mean that the player is not talented or valuable, it just means that at the time, that player is not what the Patriots wanted or needed.

I wish all the luck to Meriweather in Chicago, I hope that the fans embrace his awesomeness as much as we did in New England. I also want to say good luck to Brandon Tate who was recently signed by the Cincinnati Bengals.

The concern that has recently come to light is the fact that the Patriots only have two tight ends (albeit, hella good tight ends) but still only two. No real back ups, you know since that Yeatman kid was picked up by the Miami Dolphins.

Here’s a crazy idea, the first rounder Nate Solder was a former tight end…perhaps he could flex his versatility and pull a Mike Vrabel and become a randomly eligible receiver?

Come on, you know you’d love to see that again…

So here’s what the topic of the day will be: Chad Ochocinco

I know, I haven’t said much about Chad Ochocino as a New England Patriot. To be honest, I’ve pretty much ignored that fact. Don’t ask me for a reason why, perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I’m one of those Patriots fans that like the no-namers making something of themselves because the Patriots were the only team that really gave them a shot. You know, the Wes Welkers, Danny Woodheads and even Dane Fletchers.

Those are my kind of guys.

Not the flashy, in your face, epic endzone celebrations that later get banned kind of player…although I did love his celebrations..

But I will admit, Chad Johnson was one of my guilty pleasures as a football fan. I LOVED his personality and made the already awesome striped Bengals jerseys even awesome-er.

Did I think that Chad Johnson would change his name to something Spanish? No. Did I EVER think that Chad would be in a Patriots jersey? Hell no. Is it nice to finally have someone on the team that’s kinda flashy and charismatic? I’ll admit, yes it is.

I feel for the guy, I really do. I know it must suck to have a football career when people are more familiar with your tweets than your stats…especially if you want  to be an all-star receiver. Ochocinco wants to change and he’s already claimed that he has no problem adapting to the “Patriot Way”.

In an interview he did with Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe (and one of my personal favorite Patriots beat writers) Ochocinco explained,

“I’m just nowhere near where I want to be. I’m my biggest critic anyway…”

It seems like he understands that in the two months that he’s officially been a Patriot he hasn’t been memorable. Like only two catches in two games kind of memorable. But his positivtity truly is admirable. I’ve already read plenty of people assuming he’ll be cut sooner than later and I really don’t think that’s the case.

The man works hard. And he’ll work even harder when he’s on a team that isn’t about themselves but each other…a team that is about doing their job. It’s plain and simple and tha’s really the foundation of the Patriot Way.

So what does Ochocinco need to do to not necessarily silence his critics but merely give nothing to complain about? It’s simple. Learn the playbook.
Trust me, it took years of Madden and watching games for me to even fully understand a sport of football. I can’t even imagine having only a month to understand an offense built by one of the best coaches in NFL history that is run by one of the best quarterbacks that have ever played the game.

If Chad’s fans are afraid that the Patriot Way will silence his vibrancy, fear not! I strongly believe that once his comfort level increase both on and off the field, then his personality will flourish once more.

So tweet, blog and Xbox 360 away, Chad. I have faith that even if you don’t become the standout wide out that you think you should be, playing like an Anquan Boldin circa 2010 will be just fine. The Patriots have so much talent that the pressure isn’t really there for Chad to be the number one, which I think, could be the defining factor.

That’s the Ochocinco bit.

Now for the awesome video that I promised. How could you say no to 80’s boy bands random dancing in the rain?

The Patriots and Lions game. Yeah, that game.

I was there for their first preseason game against the Jaguars and it was impressive. Like, walking out of Gillette Stadium fist pumping and high-fiving anyone who was willing to high-five. How could you not?

The final score was 47-12. It was the most points ever scored against the Jaguars in the preseason since 1977.

BOTH of our back up quarterbacks looked immaculate. Most impressive was rookie Ryan Mallett, who I specifically said in a pre-draft article that the Patriots WOULD NOT draft (dumb, I know but does anyone remember Zac Robinson? Exactly.)

It was just so beautiful to see them play, to see that the majority of our draft picks (and some undrafted ones) were pretty darn good.

And then they kicked the Buccaneers butts in Tampa pretty efficiently as well.

Honestly, the Bucs game was a little more impressive since Tampa’s quarterback Josh Freeman was starting AND was damn impressive last year. He was #1 on everyone’s “Really? THAT GUY is doing well?” and “Holy crap, I wonder if my auto draft picked him..” lists.

…And then the Patriots ventured off to Detroit to not only escape the terrors of Hurricane Irene (which I survived, thanks for asking.) but to supposedly show off a bit against the up-and-coming Lions. I say up-and-coming because it seems like every time this team got a break, something terrible would happen. And for awhile, the Detroit Lions were that team that everyone just loved to pick on…well them and the Bills. I’d say the Bucs too but they have a sweet Pirate ship in their endzone. You can’t hate on a pirate ship.

The game itself was a hot mess. Tom Brady was playing like a n00b. The offensive line was a solid as pudding and the best person on the team was Zoltan Mesko – the punter and Julian Edelman as a returner (I still think this kid’s nickname should be All Purpose Edelman). It was the Special Teams that held up..for the most part.

As for the final score? 34-10 and the Patriots were left with a lot of questions of answer.

Silly, Lions don’t hike the ball…

The roster is only going to get smaller and I know for a fact that players like Brandon Tate and Brandon Spikes are pretty much on the outs.

Cuts are going to be made and some of these bubble player will have a final shot at the game against the Giants at Gillette this coming Thursday as the Patriots host their final preseason game.

Don’t blow it kids. I’d love to keep you all but someone’s gotta go.

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By the way, do you follow me on twitter?