A Season To Remember

Posted by Adam Hart December 29, 2008 at 1:19 am

A devastating injury in Week 1 of the NFL season — every football fan in New England would have told you that the Patriots stood no chance of making the playoffs. But did anyone listen? No. Read more

Running Blog: Pats v Black Hole

Posted by Adam Hart December 14, 2008 at 4:55 pm

Hopefully this makes up for last week’s absence. With a fully healed foot, we can commence running. Immediately. Read more

Taking It Like Men

Posted by Adam Hart December 1, 2008 at 12:04 am

Randy Moss may surprise you. Matt Cassel, not so much. But these gentlemen are handling the disappointing loss to the Steelers like… gentlemen — each putting the blame on his own shoulders. Read more

So, About Cassel…

Posted by Adam Hart November 24, 2008 at 5:35 pm

Anybody else remember the preseason? A time when Tom Brady took zero snaps and Matt Cassel made the talk radio lines burn up with anger. Oh, oh! And then remember when nobody wanted him to make the team. Yeah, we were wrong. Read more

Get Your Freak On (And No, That’s Not Dirty!)

Posted by Mike Giardi November 23, 2008 at 6:18 pm

If you’ve spent any time watching me on “Sports Late Night,” you know one of my main points about the Pats has been - regardless of who’s the quarterback - that they need to get the ball to their two premier play-makers more. It has been easier to do with Wes Welker than Randy Moss, largely because Wes does his best work out of the slot, usually against inferior third cornerbacks or - heaven forbid, for them - safeties.

But getting Moss the rock has been a huge challenge. There are all sorts of reasons for that, mostly because a) the opposition has been bracketing Moss and refusing to let him beat them down the field and, b) ”The Freak’s” propensity to…how shall we say…sometimes be a reluctant participant. That usually happens when he doesn’t see the ball as frequently as he would like, or because he’s been getting smacked in the mouth. Who likes that?

This afternoon, in the warm sun of South Beach, the Miami Dolphins decided to do something that very few teams have done all season. They tried to cover Moss man versus man. There isn’t a defensive back that can do that on the planet. So what would possess the Fins to think they could get away with it? Sheer stupidity, I guess. Moss ended up catching three touchdown passes, and afterward, had a message for Miami coach Tony Sparano.

The Pats coaching staff gets all sorts of credit here as well, for letting Matt Cassel operate out of the spread from the get-go. I’ve been begging for it, and they now seem to fully trust this kid to run the offense. In doing that, they spaced out the Fins defense, and were able to work favorable matchups against a porous secondary that came into the game ranked 22nd in the National Football League. Also, let’s give a tip of the hat to the offensive line. Earlier this season, they weren’t as bad as the sack stats suggested. Now, they are playing their best football. It couldn’t come at a more opportune time.

Running Blog: Patriots v Wildcat

Posted by Adam Hart November 23, 2008 at 2:40 pm

You know what it is. It’s a running blog, baby! Won’t you join us? And by us, I mean me. Read more

Where Is Mercury Morris?

Posted by Adam Hart November 22, 2008 at 9:08 am

Troy Brown uses ESPN’s ColdPizzaFirstTake monstrocity to share his feelings on the differences between the 2007 Patriots (18-1) and the 2008 Titans (10-0 and growing). Read more

Pats v Jets: A Retrospective

Posted by Adam Hart November 16, 2008 at 10:51 am

Looking back at the best game of the season, one painfully sarcastic comment at a time. Only because there is no game this Sunday and we need some New England football in our day. Read more

Is This Good, or Bad?

Posted by Adam Hart November 14, 2008 at 8:02 am

I know it’s not ugly. (Get it, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly? It’s a movie.) But Brett Favre — the gunslinger, the cowboy, the Wrangler man — has nothing but praise for Matt Cassel’s performance on Thursday night. Like I said, is this good or bad? Read more

Are Pats Terrific Without Tom?

Posted by Mike Giardi September 7, 2008 at 10:41 pm

A huge blow to the Patriots title hopes today with news that Tom Brady has suffered a severe injury to his left knee. Several outlets reporting that Tom Terrific has torn his ACL, which means his season is - barring a miracle - over.

As I was driving home from the game, still not sure what the news would be regarding Brady, I was thinking how lucky we’ve been to witness his rise from 6th rounder with an outside shot of making the team to a 3-time Super Bowl-winning QB and reigning NFL MVP. I can’t think of any athlete that I’ve covered that I have enjoyed watching more. He makes good teams great, and great teams special. There are few you can say that about.

His absence was noticeable today, as you would expect, and I’m saying that while acknowledging that Matt Cassel wasn’t all that bad. But I tell you where I notice the biggest difference: accuracy. Brady puts the ball in the right spot consistently; Cassel, despite hitting 13-of-18, doesn’t.

After that 98-yard drive for a score, the Pats had two poor offensive possessions and Cassel takes a lion’s share of the blame. He missed David Thomas on a crossing route on the first of these series, instead choosing to go deep down the sidelines to Randy Moss. Two problems with that. One, Moss was doubled. Two, he threw the ball toward the middle of the field, helping bring the safety that much more into play.

On the following set, Cassel should have been picked off by Patrick Surtain. The 4th year signal caller had locked on to his receiver (memory fails me on who it was) and Surtain just baited him, pretending to play off before jumping the route. It clanged off his hands, which was a lucky break but one that will get scrutinized in films. Finally, in the second half, Cassel could have hooked up with Wes Welker on a touchdown, but instead of throwing the ball toward the sidelines, he threw the ball back to the inside. That negated the step Welker had in single coverage. In fact, the closest to catching that ball was the DB, not Wes. Obviously, Cassel will have to make better throws, or the Pats highly skilled outside threats will be negated by his inability to get them the ball. Just another reason to miss Number 12.

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