PatsBlog: A Patriots Blog

The face value for tickets is $100 for the game on Thanksgiving weekend in the Patriots vs. Bears game. However, I’ve heard people are offering up to $400 or $500. November 26th will be a true test for the Patriots, playing the currently undefeated Chicago Bears, matching up for what could be the best game of the entire NFL season.  Over 50% of fans on NFL.com believe that Patriots will be the team to overrun Chicago’s road of dominance.  Only time will tell if the fans of New England are paying the right price for what should be the most important game in the Patriots superbowl run.

 –posted by Ross–

Is it just me, or does the Patriots injury report just keep getting longer and longer?  I noticed that both Ty Warren and Richard Seymour are on it, which could present a problem considering we are facing the NFL’s second leading rusher in Chester Taylor.  Brady is on the report as usual with his nagging right arm injury.  The Vikings on the other hand have quite a short injury list, but what’s funny is that alomst every player on the list is a wide receiver, including our old friend Bethel Johnson.

Sorry for the late game report, but I’ve been really busy.  Here is the AP summary for the game:

ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (Oct. 22, 2006) — Tom Brady and the New England Patriots have become so accustomed to winning — and particularly against Buffalo — that even lopsided victories are no longer satisfying.

Take Brady, the perfectionist, for example: The Patriots had just routed the Bills 28-6, a game in which Brady methodically engineered four scoring drives. And yet the quarterback was kicking himself for a pass that he insists he shouldn’t have thrown.

“Stupidity by me,” Brady said.

He wasn’t referring to an interception or incompletion. Rather, Brady was discussing a 5-yard pass on the run that found Doug Gabriel open in the end zone with the game already out of reach in the fourth quarter.

“Lucky,” Brady said.

The Patriots (5-1) remain atop the AFC East after Corey Dillon scored two touchdowns rushing, Brady added two TD passes, and a stingy defense did the rest to get New England off to its second-best start since 1997.

And the Patriots continued their domination of Buffalo, winning their seventh straight and 12th in their last 13 meetings against the AFC East rivals. The Bills (2-5) continue to unravel, having lost three straight headed into their bye week.

“Our performance out there was embarrassing,” linebacker London Fletcher-Baker said. “It’s just not good football. … It’s the same mistakes over and over again.”

New England has won three straight since a 17-7 loss to Denver, and five straight on the road, a stretch in which the Patriots have outscored their opponents 156-64.

“I feel pretty good right now just because we won the game,” said linebacker Rosevelt Colvin. “But I do feel we can get better.”

It’s hard to imagine how, considering the Patriots, refreshed from a bye week off, had the game in hand by the end of the first quarter when Dillon scored his second touchdown on a 12-yard run to put New England ahead 14-3.

The defense then did its part, forcing three turnovers and limited the Bills to 256 yards offense and 13 first downs — and only four in the second half.

Brady, who finished a modest 18 of 27 for 195 yards passing and no turnovers, sealed the win with two scoring drives in the second half, including a 35-yard TD pass to Chad Jackson.

The Bills defense couldn’t get the Patriots off the field, allowing their opponents to convert 8 of 15 third-down attempts. And then there were the penalties.

The most undisciplined came when Buffalo defensive end Chris Kelsay was penalized for unnecessary roughness for delivering a late hit on Brady, who had given himself up by falling to the turf on third down at the Bills 24. The Patriots capitalized on the next play when Dillon scored his second touchdown.

Buffalo’s offense wasn’t much better.

J.P. Losman went 16 of 25 for 193 yards passing, but committed three turnovers, two fumbles and an interception. The second-year starter has now committed eight turnovers, including five interceptions, in his past three games.

“We have to grow up,” said guard Chris Villarrial. “I’m frustrated and the team is frustrated.”

“It was a long day,” added coach Dick Jauron. “We continued to make foolish errors that really don’t give us much of a chance to win the game.”

So much for how well the Bills competed in a 19-17 loss at New England to start the season.

Then again, this followed the pattern of how the annual two-game series has gone over the previous three years: Buffalo competing with New England in the first meeting and then getting blown out in the second.

The Bills are 1-3 in the first game over that stretch, outscoring New England 81-71. The Patriots have responded to win each of the four rematches, outscoring the Bills by a combined 150-36, including a 35-7 win last year.

“This is certainly what we expected to see this week,” Patriots safety Rodney Harrison said. “Coming off a bye week, a lot of times you can have disappointment. Our emphasis this week was the start fast.”

Here are some notes (from me):

-With his 75 yard kick return, Laurence Maroney recorded the Patriots longest kick return since 2004 on the way to winning AFC Special Teamer of the week.

-Troy Brown stands just 4 catches away from breaking the all-time record

-Richard Seymour had an elbow injury in the 2nd, and did not return

-Ty Warren manhandled the Bills offensive line once again

-Chad Jackson recorded his fifth catch and second touchdown of the season

-Corey Dillon scored not 1, but two impressive touchdowns

-Tom Brady was picking apart the Buffalo defense all night, recording a season high completion percentage

Runningbacks: If you have Laurence Maroney and Corey Dillion on ur team. I sudjest starting Maroney this week. And next week against the vikings.  Start Dillon as a number two in most leagues, where Maroney isn’t present.

Quarterbacks: Start, start, start Tom Brady if he’s on your squad.  His TD:INT ratio is the best of his carreer at 8:3, and should be started despite his receiver problem.

Patriots Defense: The players on the Pat’s defensive line are monsters: Vince Wilfork, Ty Warren and Richard Seymour.  The fast and quick linebacking corps has been destroying opposing defenses: Tedy Bruschi, Rosevelt Colvin, Junior Seau, and Mike Vrabel have been getting it done and will continue to do so.  The defensive backfield, despite injuries, has also been playing great, shutting down most of the opposing passing games.  START THE PATRIOTS DEFENSE AGAINST THE BILLS, VIKINGS, PACKERS, obviously the TEXANS, AND FOR THE REST OF THE SEASON (maybe not against Peyton Manning and the Colts though!!!)

Well, this should be the easiest win of the season for the Patriots.  The Buffalo Bills are definately not the worst team on our schedule, but they have absolutely no momentum (lost to the winless Lions), while we have a 2-game winning streak.  The Patriots have to get the running game going, and force it if we have to.  Unlike last week, we should give the ball to the runningback giving us more bang for a buck, unless we develop and three score lead where we should then revert to Maroney to keep Dillon fresh.  We need to watch out for Willis McGahee who is having a good season for the Bills, and we have to keep J.P. Losman in the pocket because he is developing into a major threat when he moves outside of it.  Of all NFL franchises, we have beaten the Bills the most, and I see no reason why we shouldn’t extend that lead.

Keys To Victory - Patriots

1. Apply pass rush, while at the same time keeping JP Losman in the pocket

2. Take the load off of Brady’s shoulders, get the running game going no matter what

3.  Stick to the Bill’s 4 top receivers: Lee Evans, Josh Reed, Roscoe Parish, Peerless Price

4. Look deep to Gabriel and Jackson, they’re ready to make some big plays

5. Wrap and tackle defense, if our linebackers are arm-tackling, there’s no way we can stop a back as good as McGahee

Key Players - Patriots

 1. Clock Killin’ Corey Dillon

2. Laurence Maroney

3. Richard Seymour

4. Ryan O’Callaghan

5. Troy Brown — 6 catches to go

Players To Watch - Buffalo Bills

1. JP Losman

2. Willis McGahee

3. London Fletcher

4. Roscoe Parish

5. Lee Evans

PATRIOTS NOTES

Tribute to Troy — Troy Brown now stands only 6 catches away from breaking Stanley Morgans all-time Patriots record for carreer receptions

Mr. Reliable (On Defense) — Believe it or not, Ty Warren has never missed a game in his 61 game carreer, since being drafted in the first round of the 2003 draft.  This includes 41 straight starts.

Not as Precise — Tom Brady is completing a carreer low 54% of his passes this year, however, he has a carreer best TD:INT ratio at 8:3

Dillon Maroney — Ha, like a first and last name, it works.  Maroney is on pace for over 1000 yards while Corey only needs six more yards a game to make the cut.

GREG’S PREDICTION: 34-10 Patriots win

The trade deadline passed at 4:00pm ET yesterday, and the Patriots did not trade for Randy Moss or Jerry Porter.  This comes to the dissapointment of many fans :(   ………  In fact, the only trade was the Bucs sent DT Anthony McFarland to the Indianapolis Colts for a second round pick.  Don’t know why the Buccaneers did that, plus its really going to help the Colts.

As you have probably seen, the condition of the grass in Gillette Stadium is in total disarray.  So… Robert Kraft decided we replaced the sod with fresh new, artificial turf.  Don’t like artificial, but with Gostkowski splipping and flipping, its just better off this way.

Update: According to NFL rules, the Patriots aren’t allowed to change the type of field during the middle of a season(ex. grass to artificial turf), so the Patriots are only going to replace some of the sod (hopefully inbetween the hashes)

Who thinks Gostkowski will be better than Vinatieri by the way?  I might just be saying this because Vinatieri is a traitor, reminds me of Johnny Damon, but I think Gostkowski could end up being a better kicker in the long run.  No one can dispute he has a stronger leg and good accuracy, and only time can tell how he is under pressure.

This year marks the 10 year anniversary of the Superbowl XXXI Patriots team.  I want to share the memories of our team though a series of featurettes.  The following will be the schedule:

Oct. 18 –> Roster

Oct. 30 –> Where are they now?

Nov. 10 –> season recap

Nov. 25 –> playoff recap

Dec. 10 –> Tedy Bruschi, Troy Brown: The Last Ones

Dec. 31 –> The Top 10 Moments From 1996

If you want to write articles, post rumors, do anything you want, email me at thebusnamedgak@aol.com  You can write however many articles you want, whenever you want, no pressure whatsoever.  All you need to do is search rumors, reports, news, etc, and enter what you find into the website.

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The trade deadline is now only a half hour away.  Here are some of my final thoughts on the whole Randy Moss Trade to the Patriots scenario:

-Belichick seems open to it

-Teammates seem open to it

-we need a downfield threat

-Randy Moss wants out of Oakland

Randy Moss may be beginning to mature.  I think he is coming into realization that he is going to have to win a championship, and he knows he isn’t going to get it with Oakland.

Quotes:

“I wouldn’t say we’re actively trying to do anything, but if the opportunity was there, we would definately look into it.  Every day, all 365 of them, if we have an oppurtunity to improve this team, we’ll take it.” Bill Belichick

“I think he would be a fit in this offense, or anything.  I’ve said it a million times, if Randy was here, every other receiver would want to pick up their games 110 percent. When he came out there [to Oakland], he made me step my game up.” Doug Gabriel

**Patriots might also show interest in last year’s first round pick of the Detroit Lions, Mike Williams.  Problem is, he will count six million against the cap so I doubt we’ll see any deal come through.

**Don’t forget Porter.  If Belichick thinks Porter can help this team out, we may be able to snatch him and his decent salary cap hit before the deadline.  Its fairly obvious that he isn’t going to play any more games in silver and black.  However, remember that Bill Belichick chose Doug Gabriel over Jerry Porter back at the end of August.