About 5 minutes into this game I started writing a rough draft of this weeks report. The words 'awful secondary' and 'brutal defense' appeared about 60 times. The start of the game was so bad for the Patriots that Cabrock Jones (our excellent Saints analyst) texted me the following: "The Patriots should sign Helen Keller and Stephen Hawking to play defensive back". Admittedly I laughed, it was pretty funny. At the end of the game I was laughing for a completely different reason. No disrespect to Luka (who has done an admirable job covering the Philadelphia Heat..err Eagles) but I think this was the last nail in the coffin of what used to be their season. They still are not out of it, but at this point the amount of things that they need to go right for them is too much to overcome. I will allow Luka to write about this because its not my place, but I will say that I genuinely am sad that the Eagles are basically done. On the other hand, how about them Patriots?
They are still in position to seize home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. They showed that they have a top-notch offense that only the Saints and Packers can compete with. Most importantly perhaps, they showed that their defense is not completely useless. After the first 5 minutes they shut down Philly completely (don't let that useless touchdown at the end of the game fool you). This is now 3 straight weeks that their defense has looked slightly above average. At this point its a big elephant in the room for me. On one hand I want to praise their defense for finally showing up; on the other hand I am afraid that it is just a result of playing bad teams. It only gets easier from here, their remaining games are: Colts, Skins, Broncos, Dolphins, Bills. It is not inconceivable for this team to roll to a 13-3 record and with Houston calling upon Jake Delhomme that #1 seed is all but theirs. Of course the Patriots will not be thinking about that, coach Belichick will not allow them to. For all of the supposed mistakes he has made this year (at least the ones I've called him out on in earlier reports) and in the past few drafts you have to hand it to him. The coaching job he has done this year should finally be given some praise, but unless it translates into the playoffs it wont matter. Again, I wont bore you with stats but I will mention some players that really stood out for me. Firstly Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez are incredible, they could both make the case of being top-10 tight-ends in the league. Deion Branch has an incredible understanding with Brady that is really fin to watch. The way they improvised a route and turned it into a big gain with Brady flushed out of the pocket was a thing of beauty. Wes Welker continued to show why he is one of the best slot-receivers in recent memory, and BJGE even showed up. The only thing New England's offence is missing is a deep threat (Chad please wake up). Defensively, Rob Ninkovich has actually morphed himself into a decent line-backer, if New England can get 2 more guys to improve on defense before the playoffs we can go back to talking Superbowl.
Quick sidetrack (warning: 49ers content to come). As you know Cabrock discouraged me from covering my favorite team as a result of their long odds to make the playoffs at the start of the year. Right now they will clinch a playoff berth by Thursday if the Sea hawks cooperate and lose to the Eagles. I have been a San Francisco fan ever since I became a fan of football and for them to finally have a good team is amazing. Despite getting their ass kicked by the Ravens (the 3rd down defense in the 4th quarter was a disgrace) I still have high hopes for this team. They are a throwback, early 2000's team that plays defense and runs the ball well. Can they win the Superbowl? My mind says no, my heart wants it to be yes, stranger things have happened after all. From now on I may or may not include some mini-49ers rants with these reports, it will make up for the Eagles demise (I hope). Until next week, cheers.
Editors note: Due to Exam season looming the amount of work on this site will be greatly lessened for a short period of time. However, we are coming all out for the NBA season and will make up for our absence. Should be a lot of fun, I can't wait (for exams to be over that is). Aldo, we officially have a Twitter account, follow us @MilenniumSandE
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