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I Don’t Think So

November 10, 2009 by Jay

Now I got the email around 10:30 or so yesterday morning telling me the Chiefs had released Larry Johnson. My first thought, as it usually is, was “how would this guy look as a Patriot?”. Those dreams were dashed pretty quickly when I got home and found this report by NBC:

A league source predicted to Profootballtalk.com that the Patriots will not pursue Larry Johnson once he clears waivers.

Many observers have compared a potential L.J.-New England match to the Pats’ 2004 acquisition of Corey Dillon, but Dillon was running with more power and speed at the time than L.J. has left. Johnson can only get what’s blocked, is poor in pass protection, and would be a much bigger threat to locker room “chemistry” than Dillon was. He’ll struggle to play before 2010.

Then it was apparently confirmed by Coach Belichick when he called into WEEI (who?):

Bill Belichick said on WEEI radio Monday that the Patriots are unlikely to pursue waived RB Larry Johnson.
Profootballtalk.com has reported as much, but Belichick basically confirmed that L.J. won’t be a Patriot. “I would doubt it,” he said when asked about the possibility. Houston and Washington are more probable landing spots, but we’re still betting against L.J. making an impact anywhere this year.

He’ll be 30 in a couple weeks. His yards per game have steadily declined as the team around him declined in Kansas City. He had an impressive 4.5 yards a carry last season in spite of his bad team but this year has managed only 2.7 yards a carry. In his defense his team has been playing from behind a whole lot this season.

Now Corey Dillon was also 30 when he came to this team but the Patriots roster doesn’t have the room right now for another running back. By not putting Fred Taylor on IR and Sammy Morris also injured they can’t carry a sixth running back.

Would I welcome him in? Sure, the Patriots really have that locker room that checks the egos at the door. They’re able to have guys like Dillon and Moss who were viewed as “trouble guys” because they’re all about the team. Everyone on the team has their job or assignment and if they do what they’re supposed to, the team wins. Bringing in a guy like Larry Johnson, who I think still has something in the tank, I think would be a good move to not only get something from him, but light a spark on Maroney’s ass at the same time. But like I said, something would have to be done with Morris or Taylor.

So I believe Belichick when he says that they’re not interested. Johnson will probably end up in Chicago. For now we concentrate on the Colts and Sunday.

Posted in NFL, Patriots | Tagged , | 1 Comment »

Pats Win Again

November 9, 2009 by Jay

But the thing is, if you’re a gambling man, they lost again. Well, if you bet the Pats. They were a ten and a half point favorite so even the Stephen Gostkowski field goal late in the fourth only made it a ten point lead. The Pats held onto that lead but it wasn’t enough. Pats win 27-17.

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All they had to do was punch it in the end zone one last time. But Belichick with the lead and the ball decided to grind out the fourth quarter by having Maroney rush the ball. Didn’t happen and the Pats were forced to punt twice. The only reason they got that field goal late in the fourth was because of a failed fourth down attempt by Miami deep in their own zone. Another failed attempt at a first down and a costly fourth and one false start left the Patriots to settle for a field goal instead of the possible touchdown that would have covered the spread.

I’m sure we’re going to hear nothing but praise for Maroney today. How he’s shaken the Sandy Vagititus finally and has proven that he’s the #1 back. Those people should be shot. Maroney proved once again yesterday that he’s a decent back when he still has energy. Come the fourth quarter when Clock Killin Corey Dillon used to shine, Maroney just looked like a turd.

Friday Bill Simmons wrote the following, when he picked Miami to win:

When’s the last time the Pats played a real team? A month ago? Expect a little rust from my boys. Also, this has all the makings of a classic Belichick “we have some big games coming up, I don’t want to give too much away in this one, let’s grind out an ugly home win” game. I hate those. Not good for my nervous system.

He was exactly right. Sure Brady tried the dagger early and was picked off but it turned into a grind it out football game. They had a six point lead heading into the half and then lost it in the third quarter. Battled back to regain the lead on a beautiful Moss 71 yard score and converted for the two points, but it took till that point in the game for the Patriots to really regain any kind of momentum.

Next week they’ll be in Indy on Sunday night (I HATE Sunday night games almost as much as Monday night games) to face the undefeated Colts. I know the Colts secondary is banged up, but I really do not have a great feeling about this game. More on that on Friday. Till then, I suppose we savor our team in first place in the division. They’re a #3 seed as of today, hopefully some Bronco, Bengal and Colt losses help the Pats move up that chart.

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Fearing The Wildcat

November 6, 2009 by Jay

Well, that had a whole bunch of highlights from the first time the Pats faced off against Miami. Thing is, a lot of people forget that that was the first time the two teams squared off and that they played a game after that.

Now that the Wildcat had been used and there was some film, Belichick could now draw up a defense for the Miami offense. The result of that game, a 48-28 drubbing of the Dolphins.

Now those games had Chad Pennington at the helm for the Dolphins, the team has taken a step backwards with Chad Henne at the helm. He’s not bad in the time he’s played, just not as efficient as Pennington. He bounced back following a poor performance against New Orleans with a win last week against the Jets. Thing is, the ground game and special teams carried the Dolphins, not Henne.

Last week Ted Gynn Jr had two kickoff return for touchdowns. You can bet that Belichick spent a little extra time with the special team guys this week making sure that they contain Gynn and make sure he’s not running anything back on the Pats.

On the defensive side of the ball, the Dolphins have a decent front seven. However their secondary likes to give up a ton of yards. They’re ranked 3rd against the run but 29th against the pass. Tom Brady should be licking his chops for this game the same way he licked them against the Titans and Bucs.

I see this game playing out with a lot of razzle dazzle being attempted by the Dolphins and a very stingy Patriots defense that will shut it down. When almost every time you line up in the Wildcat you run, I’ll take my chances on one on one coverage with the wideout and bring the house on the running backs. I look for a breakout game for whichever end lines up opposite Ty Warren be it Burgess or Tully Banta-Cain. Mayo and Guyton should also have very good games. Once the Dolphins go down early, they’ll need to start airing it out and then the secondary will get their shots at turnovers. I see, easily, two picks in the game if not more.

Pats are a 10.5 point favorite with a 46.5 over/under. I’m taking the home team and the over. Pats roll 45-13. Back Monday with a recap.

Posted in NFL, Patriots | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Getting What You Pay For (Finally)

November 5, 2009 by Jay

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All we can say is that they shouldn’t brag. The Yankees fans should be complacent. After a drought of eight years they finally did what they were expected to do; win a championship. But for shits and giggles, let’s run down the list of high priced free agent acquisitions that didn’t win them a World Championship.

Mike Mussina:
The prize of their 2001 free agent class, “Moose” was brought in to help the Yankees rotation. Many believed this was going to be like when they brought in Clemens. Another Cy Young winner from within the division, but he never delivered a championship. 2 World Series trips (2001 & 2003) no rings.

Jason Giambi:
Fresh off a steroid fueled MVP season in 2001 he was brought in to replace Tino Martinez in 2002. A move hated by many Yankees fans who loved Tino. Giambi had a great 2002 but then his steroid abuse finally caught up with his body and he was deteriorating on a yearly basis. He recorded the final hit at old Yankee Stadium. 1 World Series appearance, no rings.

Jose Contreras:
The Cuban star was fawned over by the Red Sox and the Yankees. The Yankees ultimately ended up with the prize free agent. Turns out that the “prize” wasn’t so. He was traded mid season in 2004 for…

Esteban Loaiza:
After paying through the nose for Contreras they traded him for Loaiza who was pretty bad. He was sent to the bullpen where he gave up the winning run in game 5 of the ALCS to the Red Sox. The next season he was gone.

Jeff Weaver:
Weaver was acquired by the Yankees in 2002. He sucked in 2003 and was traded away to the Dodgers for…

Kevin Brown:
You may remember him as the one time highest pitcher in baseball when he signed with the Dodgers. Well, the Yankees traded for him and he was the starting pitcher in game seven of the 2004 ALCS. He lasted less than two innings giving up five runs. He followed that up with a 4-7 2005 highlighted with a 6.50 ERA. He retired from baseball after that season.

This list could go on and on for a while with all these high priced guys (Gary Sheffield, Javier Vazquez, Kevin Brown, Jon Lieber, Tom Gordon, Kenny Lofton, Randy Johnson, Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright) but we’ll stop. The team that spent the most money ($80 million more than the Red Sox) won the World Series. You did what you were expected to do. So no gloating, just contentment.

All that Sox fans can hope is that the brass in the front office gets very upset by this and they acquire some decent help for the team this off-season. Enough John Smoltz and Brad Penny scrap heap guys. Make a trade for a King Felix from Seattle, a Hanley Ramirez from Florida, even an Alex Gonzalez from San Diego. You may not be able to outspend the Yankees but you have a farm system that’s got a lot of chips (that includes Papelbon for reference sake) that could be used in a trade. Get it done.

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Quietly Making Noise

November 4, 2009 by Jay

Celtics 76ers Basketball

Let’s see, the Red Sox were ousted from the playoffs, the Patriots were on a bye week, oh and the Bruins continue to play .500 hockey (now 1 game under after back-to-back shutouts). We were looking for something to distract us from the possibility of a 27th Yankees World Series Championship.

We got the Celtics.

I know it’s very early in the season but let’s see what they’ve managed to do so far.

Opening night they beat Lebron and the Cavs at Cleveland. They followed that up by beating up the Bobcats (as expected) and the Raptors last week. Then Sunday they rolled over New Orleans 97-87. At 4-0 they went to Philadelphia last night to take on the 76ers. This game was hyped by the talking heads in the media as a challenge for the Celtics as the Sixers are a young and running team that would frustrate the C’s.

That just didn’t happen. This year’s NBA Sixth Man Award winner (predicting it now) Rasheed Wallace drained six three pointers as part of his 20 point effort off the bench. The only man with more was the Captain, Paul Pierce who threw down 21. Everyone on the bench got into this game as it was a joke late in the contest. The Celtics win by 31, 105-74.

My only issue with ‘Sheed (and I hope that Garnett is on him) is the technical. Just keep your mouth shut. Sure the call didn’t go your way, just be a professional and bite your tongue. Especially at that point in the game. Your team is up by 14 with a quarter to go. Let it go.

The Celtics won their 5th straight and are averaging a 21.6 margain of victory in that span. Third best in the NBA, all time. Looking at the schedule they may not lose a game till December 3rd when they travel to San Antonio. Sure they have Orlando on the 20th, but the C’s will have Garnett and Wallace to combat Dwight Howard. Time to enjoy the ride with this team. Hopefully straight on till the playoffs.

Posted in Celtics, NBA | Tagged , , , | Leave a Comment »

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