Week 3 NFL Picks

Tweet Sorry for the lack of an NFL 'big picture' post this week, but I left town to visit my sister on Thursday and had just enough time to post a pick for the Thursday night game. Luckily for me (and my pick) Eli, Tom Coughlin and the Giants came through in a game that no one expected them to win... wait! Did I say luckily? I meant totally expectedly. Bill Belichick and Brady passed that torch to Tom Coughlin and Eli a long time ago and I don't think they will be giving it up any time soon. I have to give credit where credit is due: the Giants are the current model franchise of the NFL. That Thursday night game could have easily been a write-off, yet the smart draft-choices they made (Bill Barnwell of Grantland mentioned an interesting point: since the Eli Manning trade, the Giants have always had their top four picks in each subsequent draft) came into the game and fired on all cylinders. Anyways, lets move on to the rest of the games.

Buffalo (-3) At Cleveland

Ugh. What a terrible game. The Bills got curb-stomped in their opening game, then proceeded to embarrass the Kansas City Chiefs at home. Is Buffalo just going to be good at home? This game will tell us a lot. As for the Browns and their poor fans, this could be one of the only games that they can actually win this year...yay?

The pick: Buffalo

Cincinnati (+3) At Washington

Okay, rising star RG3 took about 50 cheap-shots last week against the rams, and the incompetent replacement officials (their new name) ignored every single one of them. The commissioner will make sure to 'remind' the refs of who the league's stars are and RG3 will draw flags if a defender so much as looks at him this week. Wait a second, this is not the NBA and this is not David Stern pulling the strings. If this were the NBA, I would pick the Redskins in a heart-beat, but its not, so I am going with the Bengals.

The pick: Bengals

Detroit (-4) At Tennessee

I think that this Titans team really sucks and the artist formerly known as Chris Johnson is among the primary reasons why. I think a corpse would gain more yards than he has this season. Take the Lions and the money.

The pick: Detroit

Jacksonville (+3) At Indianapolis

Andrew Luck really showed something at the end of last weeks game against the Vikings. He set up Vinateri (he's still got it) for a game-winning kick in less than 18 seconds! Once the Colts win this game, look for a slew of: "Here come the Colts" stories. Will they really be 2-1?

The pick: Colts

Kansas City (+9) At New Orleans

Both teams are 0-2, both teams desperately need a win to avoid a nightmare-ish 0-3 start, (I can't think of many teams that overcame such starts to make the playoffs, but I am pretty sure the numbers are not good), and both teams might not even be that good. Also working against the saints is D-block reminding me that football teams with major off-the field issues never do well. Kansas might lose, but they can cover the spread.

The pick: Kansas City

New York Jets (-1) At Miami

I think that this is a pretty good Jets team that simply got overwhelmed by a much better Pittsburgh squad last week. This is their chance to prove that point (and make me look really smart).

The pick: Jets

San Francisco At Minnesota

Once again, as I am a fan of the 49ers, I will not be picking their game.

St. Louis (+7) At Chicago

Not since LaDanian Tomlinson was in his heyday with the Chargers has a player (in this case two players) eaten so much crow when talking pre-game. Cutler and Marshal submitted comically bad performances against the Packers of Green Bay in their last outing. Luckily for them, the schedule gives them the Rams this week.

The pick: Chicago

Tampa Bay (+8) At Dallas

Tampa really blew it last week. They had a chance to go 2-0 and send the Giants into a potential tailspin, but instead they are 1-1 and now face the second of their NFC East test. This line is just a little bit too high for my liking.

The pick: Tampa Bay

Atlanta (+3) At San Diego

I know, I am just as baffled as you are that the Chargers are favoured in this game.

The pick: Atlanta

Philadelphia (-3) At Arizona

Okay Arizona, you managed to upset the Patriots in one of the most poorly played last minutes of a game I have ever seen. The Patriots and Cardinals were trying to out-do each other to see who could blow the game in a worse way with the Patriots coming out on top (but not by much). Now you are coming up against a team that I have no idea what to expect from. The Eagles could win by 50 or lose by 50 and I don't think that I would bat an eyelash. Tragically, Vegas took the odds of "Andy Reid screwing up a clock-management situation" props off of the board after they almost went bankrupt last week.

The pick: Eagles

Houston (-1.5) At Denver

Here you go Houston, you know that attention will be paid to this game, this is your chance to send the rest of the AFC (and the league) a message that you are for real.

The pick: Houston

Sunday Night Football/Game of the Week: New England (+2) At Baltimore

The Ravens make their second straight appearance in my gimmicky "game of the week" feature, and what a game this could be! Both teams are coming off losses in games that they feel should have been wins. Both teams do not like each other, and both teams will bring it. It is hard to fathom that one of these two teams will be 1-2 after this game (unless they tie... don't bet on it). Also last week I received a rather annoying post on my Facebook wall about Ray Lewis' performance in week one, so I will return the favour here by posting his stellar week 2 stat-line: 5 whole tackles. That is all. As for the betting aspect of this game, this is one of those that you stay-the-hell away from at all costs and just enjoy what should be a spectacular duel between two AFC contenders.

The pick (since I have to): Ravens

Green Bay (-3.5) At Seattle

I do not fear Qwest Field.

The pick: Packers (and the over)

The results so far
Thursday night games: 2-0
All other games: 7-7
Overall: 9-7

Enjoy your football everyone!

The Patriots Report: Week 12

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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

Philadelphia Eagles: Week 11 Recap/Week 12 Preview

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Fuck this team. They somehow have me caring again. Just two weeks ago I wrote a very critical post about the Eagles and their frustrating loss against the Bears. I also said that we couldn't possibly lose to the Cardinals and we somehow did (To fucking John Skelton. I feel as if this should be the tiebreaker for the playoffs. You lose to Skelton, you don't make it). After last week's loss I somewhat gave up on this season. I mean what's the point of cheering for a bunch of under-achievers who don't really seem to care that we're losing (other than Vick) and a coaching staff led by a guy to whom the words time and management have no correlation whatsoever. On Sunday night I had no expectations. How could we win against a Giants team at home who was not likely to lose two in a row? Especially with Vick and Maclin out and Vince Young in at center, it wasn't looking too good. I even tweeted about it (shameless plug @Luka_M91). Despite all of this I turned the game on just in time for the opening kickoff. I don't know if it's because I felt obligated to watch or because I had a psych paper due that I didn't feel like starting. Whatever it might have been, I began to watch.

The Patriots Report: Week 11

Tweet Was this game a sign of things to come?  Have the Patriots finally figured out their defense and are starting to peak at the right time?  Is Gronkowski the best Tight End in the NFL?  I can safely answer 'yes' to only one of those three questions and if you are struggling to figure out which one, go watch a tape of the game against Kansas City.  The main thought for me following the game is one that will probably be echoed by many experts: was this result the work of the Patriots defense or Kansas's inept offence?  The answer is probably a little bit of both, as the Patriots defense got some key red-zone stops and rookie QB Palko threw some awful picks.  Regardless, this is what the Patriots have to continue doing, now they are in a 4-way tie for the first seed in the AFC and also hold a commanding 2 game lead in their division.  They have to keep improving on the defensive side of the ball while racking up the W's if they want to succeed in the post-season. I realize that I have beaten that point more than Chris Brown has beaten Rihanna (too soon?) but damn it its true!

It also is really refreshing to see Bill Belichick using a guy on special teams, offense and defense again (shades of Troy Brown in 04').  His guy? Julian Edelman, who had a spectacular punt return for a touchdown that broke the game open.  At this point anything that reminds you of the Patriots Super Bowl winning teams is a good thing, and Edelman's contributions can not be overlooked.  This is the first time in a long time that the Patriots 'mystique' reappeared.  There really is not much more to say so I will keep it short and sweet this week.  Next week the Patriots travel to Lincoln Financial Field to play the Eagles who basically are playing must-win games until the last day of the season (assuming they can keep the winning streak going).  Although a loss would not be the worst thing to happen to New England (they have the tie-breaker over the Jets and a much easier schedule then the Bills) it will be interesting to see if they can put a desperate team away.  Look for Luka and I to do a joint recap of that game next week, until then cheers.

The Patriots Report: Week 10

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Do not let the score fool you, this Jets-Patriots game was a lot closer then the final result indicates.  The Jets dropped 3 potential picks, choked on a 20-yard field goal in their opening drive, and somehow muffed a punt that allowed New England to put points on the board.  Mark Sanchez also left Tom Brady too much time at the end of the first half allowing Brady and the Patriots to score a much needed touchdown.  Coach Ryan was so mad at this decision that he called what Sanchez did "the stupidest play of all time" I think he needs to settle down a bit on that one.  Up to this point, I did not write a single thing the Patriots did well, the Jets basically handed them the game with all of the mistakes I just mentioned.  I am not trying to take anything away from New England, they seized control of the AFC East (they have basically a 2-game lead because they swept the Jets) and showed flashes of what made them so great in the past.  What I am trying to do is caution people that this win means nothing in the grand scheme of things, the Patriots are average at best right now and are no where near contender status.  One thing that may or may not benefit them is their schedule.  They have by far the easiest schedule of anyone in their last seven games and could easily polish off the season at 13-3.

The Patriots Report: Week 9

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I was debating when to write this, I figured doing it in about two days when the NFL picture has settled from this week would be a good time.  Then I saw the highlights and some sport casters screaming out 'shades of David Tyree!' on Ballard's catch that brought the Giants to the Patriots 30, and I couldn't take it any more.  Firstly, full credit to the Giants, they came into Foxborough and abused the Patriots offensive line and had complete control of the game for the most part.  Eli made the throws he had to as well, and overall Belichick got completely outclassed by Coughlin...again.  Now that that is out of the way it is time for people to throw some water on themselves.  The Tyree catch is one of the luckiest plays not just in NFL history, but in sports history. Bringing it up on a moderately difficult catch does not do it justice.  Second of all, to say that the Giants actually beat the Patriots is not enough without mentioning that the Patriots beat themselves just as much.  I will break down exactly how they managed this in a little bit.  Before I get to that however, I feel that as the designated 'Patriots writer' this season I should post the following police report that came out a short while after the game.

MISSING


Name: Chad 'Ochocinco'
Responds to: Chad, Mr. Ochocinco, Number 85, or any variation of saying eighty-five
Last seen: Reporting to Patriots training camp
He usually can be found dropping open passes and looking sad on the sidelines of National Football League games.  The New England Patriots have asked the Boston Police department to look into allegations that Ochocinco is an impostor, because they can't believe that a former all-pro could be this terrible. Any information would be appreciated, if found please contact the Patriots immediately.


Reports that the Patriots secondary also ran away with Ochocinco have not yet been confirmed.

The Patriots Report: Week 8

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After praising the Patriots defense and hailing the BYE week as a point where Bill Belichick would finally patch things up and turn the Patriots into a Juggernaut, the Pittsburgh Steelers came and shoved everything I said into the same vortex that Donovan Mcnabb's career went to.  Seriously, it was painful watching 'Ben' pick apart the Patriots secondary like he was Joe Montana in his prime.  You would think that after the fourth straight catch by Heath Miller someone on the Patriots sideline would suggest they stop blitzing and allowing a zillion passing lanes.  I cannot stress how abysmal the Patriots were on Sunday, even their offence was sluggish, managing a meager 17 points for the game.  Before I continue it should be acknowledged that the Steelers played a hell of a game and literally kicked the Patriots ass, they handled their business like a contender should (and after the smack-down they laid, I have them and the Ravens as the primary AFC contenders).

So what the hell is wrong with the Patriots defense?  They are missing three starters, but this is no excuse because they used to thrive in situations like this, remember the days Troy Brown would cover the opposing teams best receiver?  Back then it didn't matter who played defense they were great for some reason, not so much anymore.  Poor drafting? A very big factor, their only decent draft pick in recent years has been Patrick Chung, Belichick has to accept some of the blame here, there is no excuse for picking so poorly in four consecutive drafts.  Lastly, some of the blame has to go on the players.  If you are playing a professional sport that you love, you should hold yourself accountable and do whatever it takes to be better.  So far this season, the Patriots defenders have not improved and if they don't the L's will pile up faster than everyone thinks.  At this rate, the Patriots will qualify for the playoffs as a wild-card and get demolished by Pittsburgh or Baltimore whenever they got to them.  The really sad thing about this is that the Patriots are still probably the third best team in the AFC, they picked an absolutely terrible year to suck defensively, if they were even decent I would have them penciled in to the Super Bowl.

Since there really isn't much more to say about the Patriots, a few quick hits from other parts of the NFL:

49ers: Do you realize that they still play the NFC west five times?!  They could easily finish the season 13-3 and get a first round Bye and a guaranteed home game in the playoffs.  Whether or not they can do anything with Alex Smith at Quarterback remains to be seen.

Ravens:  This season they have played some inspiring defense, they were setting some incredible records until they allowed Arizona to score 27 points against them.  Just throwing it out there, I don't think they will allow that much for the rest of the year.

Eagles: Finally played like the team everyone expected them to be, and even sweeter for them is that they are one (you read that correctly) game out of the playoffs.  An 11-5 finish isn't out of the question if they play every game like they did against the Cowboys.  

Titans: Chris Johnson has disappeared off the face of the earth

Giants: Playing the Patriots next week for the first time sense the '18-1' game, if Belichick doesn't throw his best and most secret game plan at them to try and humiliate them then I think his pulse should be checked.

The Patriots Report: Week 6

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What a day of football!  First we were treated to a Lions 49ers game (who would ever have thought that this would be the marquee match-up of the day?  The teams were a combined 9-1 with the one loss in OT) that featured a Montana-esque throw from Alex Smith to win the game.  Following that, we saw two coaches (well really only one, the media says they had to be separated but it looks like Harbaugh is just trying to get away from the lunacy of Jim Schwartz) get into a post game argument with team officials having to step in, how great would a playoff game be between these teams?  Also to coach Schwartz, you've been trash talking, yelling, and intimidating teams sense the season started you can't tell me that you're getting upset about what you love doing kind of sucks when it happens to you doesn't it?  Schwartz was just bitter that his team lost, and over-reacted to a harmless pat/slap on the back.  At that point Harbaugh could have said "nice game coach" and I still think Schwartz would have snapped.  The real shame here is that the confrontation will overshadow the 49ers performance.  They held Megatron to no touchdowns, extended their streak of not allowing rushing touchdowns or 100 yard rushers and themselves ran for 200+ yards.  In the process Alex Smith threw a pass that if Manning or Brady threw you would have to clean the post-game rooms following the analyst's reaction (I will let you figure out what would need to be cleaned) this team is legitimate!

Enough about San Francisco though, this is called the Patriots Report and was the second game of FOX's double header and it might have been better than the one preceding it.  The Patriots and Cowboys came in knowing that Buffalo lost to the Giants so a win for the Patriots would give them the sole lead in their division, and the Cowboys needed to keep up with the Giants (and maybe the Eagles).  The general consensus was that this would be some sort of 41-38 affair with defense taking a back seat.  It is really funny how the consensus can be so wrong sometimes.  The Patriots easily played the best defensive game of the season while their offense put out its worst performance of the year.  I think that they will be happy with the result because they now know that if their offence fails them they can hang around with their defense.  Furthermore, the Patriots now head into a BYE week riding a 3 game winning streak.  This gives coach Belichick 2 weeks to patch things up on the defensive side of the ball and if they manage to do that, they will have earned 'contender' status.  I wont hit you with boring stats anymore, I will just offer thoughts from now on (unless the stat in question is a major one).  The only thought worth mentioning this week is the brilliance of Tom Brady.  Did anyone else have trouble remembering Brady just destroying a team with execution in a 2 minute drill?  This is part of that mystique that the Patriots lost and this is another indication that they may be regaining it, this felt like the early 2000's Patriots: keep it close with defense, let Brady win it for us at the end,  Considering that this won them 3 Superbowl's Patriots fans should be happy to see it again.  There is still a very long way to go for New England, but today they took steps in the right direction, even if it meant doing things the old way.

Some information: Luka is MIA due to being swamped with exams, expect articles about the Eagles from him when he finishes them all (or attacks a helpless TA).


-Daki

The Patriots Report: Week 5

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Just another step towards contention.

While the 30-21 point win over their arch rival (and the team that eliminated them last year) must have been sweet for both the Patriots and Patriot fans, the real story was how they went about it.  The Patriots went back to the ground game and were rewarded with a decisive win that put the Jets in an early season hole.  The game really reminded me of the 20-3 playoff win over the colts where Corey Dillon rushed for 144 yards.  I did not realize this, but when doing some research for this weeks report, I got this gem from ESPN:

"When the offense totals 25 rushes or more under coach Bill Belichick, the Patriots are 107-19"


107 and 19! That statistic almost feels made up.  The fact that coach Bill Belichick was unafraid to go to the ground (when he has one of the most potent air attacks in NFL history at his disposal) shows that he can still out-think his opponents in any given game.  This is a huge positive as most Patriots fans would probably agree, especially considering that the 'Patriots Mystique' has faded over the years and this could be the first step in getting it back.

I hate having to constantly bring it up every week, but the Patriots need to play better defense.  This was a game they easily could have won 40-3 but allowing the 'Sanchize' to post a 105.6 Quarterback rating and letting Greene get 4.0 yards per rush will not cut it.  While letting teams get 21 points in the regular season is fine, in the playoffs its a recipe for disaster.  There really is no point in talking about the offence, we know they are good and we know that Welker and Branch should send half their paycheck to Brady (especially Branch, people forgot he existed when he went to Seattle).  We know that their offensive line is arguably the best in the league and we know that their young tight ends are a luxury to such a great offense.  The most important thing we know however, is that offense will not win you a championship, you don't even have to look far for proof (18-1 sound familiar anyone?).  The reason I say that this game was a step towards contention is because that is just how things stand right now, the Patriots are not at the level of being called a contender in my opinion.

Back in the day just having the Brady and Belichick tandem was enough but teams have caught up to them and the Patriots lost three important things that defined their Superbowl runs.  They lost the ability to completely stun teams with their game plan (although today was an exception, I really miss seeing Vrabel catch Touchdown passes), they lost the once great defense, and maybe most importantly, they lost their 'underdog/no one believed we could win' status.  The Patriots used to thrive off of sneaking up on teams and winning games they had no business of winning.  Now they are favored to win almost every game and we have all seen how it turns out for them: watching the Superbowl at home.  With all of that said I still believe that New England can improve and develop into a legitimate contender before the season is done, at this point, with 11 games to go it isn't an issue, lets see how they look in week 15.

I will be following the Patriots progress throughout the season and writing weekly reports, not simply recaps but some additional insight.  Thank you for reading.  For more my twitter feed is Daki_4

The Patriots Report: Week 4

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This past week I heard many people saying that Oakland was going to beat the Patriots outright and that New England would be exposed.  Whatever.

Tom Brady shook off one of the worst games of his career and had a relatively quiet game throwing for two touchdowns and more importantly, having no turnovers.  The Patriots have played three out of their first four games away from Foxborough and are sitting at a record of 3-1, I think most coaches in the NFL would love to be in their position right now.  The Buffalo Bills loss coupled with (at the time of this writing) the Jets losing to the Ravens, means that New England will be atop their division once again (tied with the Bills).  With seven home games left, it's hard to see this team finishing with less than 10 wins overall.  Wes Welker once again dominated proceedings, did you know he already has 40 catches this year?  This game he had 9 of them to go with 158 yards, considering that only 16 passes were completed by Brady, this is huge!  He was responsible for more than half of the Patriots offence (by air), I feel safe in saying that if Welker gets injured and has to sit out more than 2 games that this team would be in some serious trouble.  Chad Ochocinco continues his relatively quiet season; today he had 2 catches (although he was targeted only 2 times) for 26 yards.  Cabrock speculated in his last article that this could be a result of him not understanding New England's offence yet. if this is the case then Chad has 13 weeks to figure it out if he wants to contribute to this team.  In the playoffs (assuming the Patriots make it) New England can not rely only on Welker as a primary wide receiver if they want to contend.

Defensively, the Patriots finally held a team to under 20 points, this is a good sign after being torched by Buffalo last week.  Vince Wilfork had another pick (his only 2 career interceptions have come this year) and continued to be a beast on the defensive line, continually drawing double teams.  Patrick Chung also came up with an interception and showed that he is a valuable player to this team (he missed the game against Buffalo).  For some reason, (and I do not know enough about the technical aspects of football to explain this) Safeties seem to be really important to defenses (more so than other positions) and teams that had great safeties tend to have great defenses (Ed Reed, Bob Sanders, Troy Polamalu, Lawyer Miloy etc.).  This is an open invitation to Cabrock Jones to try and explain this in writing, it is something I've been wondering for a long time, so Cabrock: Why do defenses in the NFL rely so much on safeties?  and why do defenses under-perform when starting safeties are out?  Anyways, today it was business as usual for the Patriots who now host the New York Jets next week.  If the Ravens keep kicking their ass this game could put the Jets in jeopardy of missing the playoffs, should make for a very good game.  Two quick notes:  Tom Brady passed his idol Joe Montana (while playing where he grew up no less) on the all time Touchdowns list.  Just another achievement to put on the hall of fame plaque reserved for him.  Second thing, Brady cut his hair, Think what you will about this; my guess is that Belichick told him he's tired of his pretty-boy shit and that he wants him to take this season seriously.  The only true contenders that have emerged so far are all in the NFC (Saints, Lions, Packers).  Belichick senses that the AFC is weak and that this could be the Patriots year.  Stay tuned.

The Patriots Report: Week 3

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Frustrating.

That is the word I would use to describe the Patriots' loss to the Bills.  Tom Brady inevitably regressed towards the mean after throwing only one pick in four-hundred and forty five throws (read that again) he threw four against the Bills.  His short streak of 400+ yard games also ended.  If I told you that this would happen before the game, then asked you to predict the scoreline, what would you have said?  20-0 Buffalo? 30-0?  Nope, a 3 point loss coming on a last-second field-goal from the Patriots' 5 after a very uncharacteristic mistake from Bill Belichick.  The general reactions I have seen so far over twitter and facebook ranged from ridiculous (bashing or hating on Brady) to insane (Bills=Superbowl bound), with a few sane ones (the Bills might be a good team) thrown in.  Lets just get the excuses out of the way first.  Out of Brady's 4 picks, only one was a truly bad throw, one was the result of Ochocinco getting lazy in his route-running, one hit the receiver in both hands before popping up, and one took a wicked deflection off of a line-mans helmet.  Channeling the wise words of Golden State coach Mark Jackson, I say this to Brady: "Tom YOU'RE BETTER THAN THAT".  Brady still tossed 4 Touchdowns and got excellent contributions from Wes Welker and TE Gronkowski (at one point, these 3 lead all fantasy score boards in this order).  Despite playing one of the worst games of his career, and letting Fred Jackson torch them with the run the Patriots should feel pretty good about losing by only 3, I think if they played 9 times out of 10 the Patriots would have hung 50 on them and won all the games, today was the 1.  If we know anything about the Patriots and Tom Brady, they will bounce back.

It started off very promising with the Patriots defense forcing early turnovers and the Patriots capitalizing on all of them to jump out to a 21 point lead.  But the second half of this game was a disaster by all accounts.  Fitzpatrick looked like Joe Montana, constantly tearing the Patriots secondary apart (they need to figure out their corner-back situation quickly).  Fred Jackson showed why he was the best running back through 2 weeks of NFL action and the Bills defense did something rarely seen; they rattled the Patriot offense.  Add a little bit of luck (Jackson ruled down at the one with 1:45 remaining instead of being given the touchdown, allowing the Bills to get the 'last shot' essentially) and there you go.  It really felt like a Madden game gone so wrong you wanted to whip your controller at the TV.  We even saw Bill Belichick legitimately fuck up (on twitter I said he did his best Andy Reid impression) by calling a seemingly useless time-out that ensured that Tom Brady would not be on the field for a desperation drive to win it.  It is safe to say that there is a lot of room for improvement for this patriots team.  Not to be forgotten is Buffalo, all credit must go to the Bills who seem to have finally turned things around and as of me writing this, the Jets are down 14 to the raiders meaning that Buffalo will lead the AFC east after today.  The Bills are now going to be noticed and could be 4-0 (they play the Bengals next week) playing host to the Eagles in week 5.

As for the Patriots there really isn't much more to say.  Their defense clearly has room to improve and now fans should start getting concerned.  There has not been one team that's stood out over the first 3 weeks, and it remains to be seen whether an elite defensive team can emerge to be taken seriously as a contender because picking the 'best' team right now seems impossible.  The Patriots better figure something out soon however, check out their next few games: at Oakland, home to the Cowboys and Jets, BYE week, at Pittsburgh, Giants, at Jets.  This stretch of games should tell us whether this is just an explosive offensive team that puts up big numbers, or an explosive offensive team that is capable of contending for the Superbowl.  Anything over 5-1 in their next 6 weeks will point to the latter.

The Patriots Report: Week 2

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With the Buffalo Bills completing a spectacular comeback against Oakland and the New York Jets dismantling the hapless Jaguars, the AFC East suddenly had two 2-0 teams; neither of which was the Patriots.  This looks like it will be a very tough division to come out of this year so it was important for New England to win today and keep up with its division rivals.  Needless to say, the Patriots played some excellent football for a second straight week and took care of business against the Chargers of San Diego by a margin of 35-21.  This was the tenth straight regular season win for the Patriots, making Bill Belichick only the second coach ever (behind Don Schula) to have three separate streaks of ten or more wins over his career.  The defense answered the call against the Chargers by forcing four turnovers and (for the second straight week) having a four-down goal-line stand.  If last week's performance on D was a C+ this week is easily a B+.  Twenty-one points is still a lot to give up to a team (this number has to be less by the time the Patriots reach the playoffs) even if that team is the explosive Chargers.  The forced turnovers were a big positive and it was a much better overall performance.  It will be interesting to see if the Defense can keep improving week to week, if they do watch out!

On the offensive side of the ball it was more of the same.  Tom Brady is looking to start a new streak of accuracy and got off to a quick start (3 Touchdowns 0 Picks, 31/40 passing) for good measure he also threw for over 400 yards again.  I know it is a little too early to talk about MVP awards, but if Brady can keep having games like this he should win it unanimously.  Another bright spot for the offense (and trust me there are a lot) was the emergence of Ochocinco.  Now, he did not have a spectacular game by any means but he did make catches which had an impact on the game (including a 30 yarder).  I said this last week: If he is your worst player on offence you are golden and it applies again, once he gels with Brady more expect more catches and Touchdowns.  His partner in crime Deion Branch once again showed his excellence, easily destroying the Chargers secondary for 8 catches and 129 yards.  The Patriots two tight-ends (Gronkowski and Hernandez) caught all the touchdown passes that Brady threw this game and are emerging as a very potent duo.  If they can keep playing at such a high level I really can not see how any team can stop New England, giving Brady five legitimate receivers is like playing Madden against a baby.  Also, if New England can keep going on mammoth 99-yard drives immediately following a goal-line stand, it will make things much easier on their defense.  One last note on the offense: They can run the ball too.  BJGE (yes, I am too lazy to type out his full name) gutted out a solid game with an excellent 4.1yds/carry including the game-icing touchdown run.  The key for the patriots going forward will be how they fare against their division rivals.  They can not afford to fall back as it is shaping up to be a very tough race for home field advantage.

Next week we will get to see if the Bills are for real when the Patriots visit them in a big early season game.  If the Bills win they will announce their arrival, if the Patriots win; they will be 3-0 with 2 division wins and 2 road games out of the way.  It's not a must-win by any means necessary, but if I'm coach Bill Belichik, I would want to keep this momentum going.

I will be covering New England throughout the season, for more of My work follow me on Twitter @ Daki_4, and follow the other writers as well

Kicking Off the NFL Season

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As I have previously written, we here at the Millennium blog will spend a lot of our sports coverage on the NFL.  Our writers have each chosen their favorite teams to write about (with a small exception) and throughout the year we will be 'covering' our chosen teams, as well as writing about the league in general.  Now, initially I was going to write about the 49ers (my team) but when I brought it up with my friends the conversation went something like this:

Me: "So Im gonna do the 49ers then"


Friend: "What?! Why?"


Me: "Well, they are my fav-"


Friend: "That's not the point, we want people to be interested in the blog, write about the patriots, no one cares about San Francisco.  It will be much more interesting this way"

Well then.

So as it stands the following teams will get highlighted by us: Patriots, Saints, Eagles, Cowboys.  Look for weekly or bi-weekly features on those teams as well as a 'picks/gambling' column Saturdays and articles covering other interesting story lines which are sure to develop.  Without further ado I present you the most polarizing team in the NFL... the Patriots!

Love them or hate them you have to show this team respect.  There is literally no player who is above the team as we have seen over the years with guys such as Randy Moss, Richard Seymour, Lawyer Milloy, Ty Law, and most recently Ty Warren being cut, traded, or released.  All of those players were very good at the time of being cut, but so far only Seymour has managed to continue his career effectively; the rest of the players never re-captured the magic and faded to obscurity.  I respect sports teams that stick to the age old cliche of 'there is no I in team' and the Patriots swear by it.  A second reason this team should have your respect is because of the way they approach everything.  To them it is about the hard work and sacrifices, not luck and talent.  Say what you will about spy-gate, but this teams record is better following spy-gate then it was before and that is counting an entire missed season from Tom Brady.  Lastly, two words: Bill Belichick.  Would you WANT to play for any other coach?  I never get tired of him finding new ways to mess with opponents and use players out of position to great effect.  There truly is not a better coach in the league at this point.

Over the last few years the New England Patriots have not had the playoff success that they would have liked.  There are big questions surrounding the team and their ability to contend for what seems like the millionth year in a row.  The Patriots tried answering all of those questions by having a very good free-agent and draft stock-up.  In fact, the only reason people do not talk about this is because the Eagles made all the headlines.  The biggest addition in my opinion will be Albert Haynesworth.  The Patriots have not had a true play maker on defense sinse Seymour left and poor Vince Wilfork has had to shoulder the defensive line load by himself.  With Haynesworth this changes, look for the Patriots to have a fierce pass-rush and be a top defense once again.  People will have their doubts about players clashing with the coaching staff, but Bill Belichick usually turns the biggest cancers into model team-mates.  Offensively there really should not be much concern as the Patriots have a top 3 QB (Brees, Manning, Brady in some order) in Tom Brady, Wes Welker returns one year healthier and that offensive line never seems to fail.  Look for the Patriots to be one of the higher scoring teams once again with Brady sure to draw some MVP votes his way.

Patriots Report Card:

Offence: A
Defense: B
Special Teams: A-
Coaching: A+
Prediction: A 12-4 finish and a trip to the AFC Championship game, Ochocinco with 10 Touchdowns.

You will get the rest of the  NFL's major points of interest from Luka, but I do feel obligated to give a Super Bowl pick, so I will do that with some other predictions:

MVP: Tom Brady
Most Improved team: Lions
Most disappointing team: Ravens
Best potential match-up: Any combination in the Eagles, Packers, Saints NFC trio, I can't wait.
Superbowl match up: Eagles and Patriots

Like the article?  Leave a comment or follow me on Twitter at Daki_4.  Look for much more NFL content to come as the season starts up.