January 5, 2010 by
Law Murray |
Arian Foster,
Baltimore Ravens,
BenJarvus Green-Ellis,
Bernard Pollard,
Brian Hoyer,
Fred Taylor,
Houston Texans,
Kris Brown,
Mario Williams,
New England Patriots,
Patriots defense,
Reliant Stadium,
Wes Welker,
Wild Card Weekend
The new decade has already not been kind to the New England Patriots.
On the Patriots' first drive of the game against the Houston Texans, WR Wes Welker made his 123rd catch of the season and ran for a first down (on third down, of course). As he saw Texans SS Bernard Pollard, he tried to juke hard to the left to elude him ... and in the process, he blew his left knee out. Just ugly. I mention Pollard because the irony of his presence is not lost on any Patriots fan; in the 2008 season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, QB Tom Brady ... you know what happened. For the record, I didn't think Pollard should have been blamed for Brady's injury (he was blocked into him), and Welker's injury was non-contact. Welker just took a really bad step on the grass field at Reliant [...]
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January 1, 2010 by
Law Murray |
1SKILLZ Gameplan,
2009 NFL Week 17,
Andre Johnson,
Bernard Pollard,
Bill Belichick,
Gary Kubiak,
Houston Texans,
LaMarr Woodley,
Matt Schaub,
New England Patriots,
NFL playoffs,
Pro Bowl,
Randy Moss,
Reliant Stadium,
Tom Brady,
Wes Welker
The first game in the year 2010 will be the last game of the regular season as the 8-7 Houston Texans host the 10-5 New England Patriots on Sunday, January 3, at Reliant Stadium. While the Patriots have locked up the AFC East already, this happens to be the biggest game in Houston Texans franchise history. The Texans still have a chance to make the AFC playoffs, but they do not control their own destiny. In addition to a win, the Texans need at least two losses from these three teams: the Baltimore Ravens (at Oakland), Denver Broncos (hosting Kansas City), and New York Jets (hosting Cincinnati). I don't like the Texans' chances, but I'm not here to talk about the Texans' playoff hopes, just their matchup with the Patriots. Now, the Patriots also have something to play for, as [...]
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December 28, 2009 by
Law Murray |
AFC East,
Bill Belichick,
David Garrard,
Fred Taylor,
Jacksonville Jaguars,
Maurice Jones-Drew,
New England Patriots,
NFL playoffs,
Randy Moss,
Shawn Springs,
Tom Brady,
Wes Welker
For all of the talk about the New England Patriots' struggles this season, they put together one of their most complete games of the season Sunday, defeating the visiting Jacksonville Jaguars 35-7 to clinch the AFC East division. They will host a playoff game at Gillette Stadium in January, where they went a perfect 8-0 this season.
Less than two years after completing 26 of 28 passes for 262 yards and three TDs against the Jaguars in the 2007 playoffs, Patriots QB Tom Brady completed 23 of 26 passes for 267 yards and 4 TDs! There's just something about the Jaguars secondary that makes Brady want to throw more TDs than incompletions. The Jaguars had no answer for WRs Wes Welker and Randy Moss, who accounted for 69% of Brady's yards. Welker caught 13 passes for 138 yards; [...]
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What a weird season for the New England Patriots. Even a 20-10 win over the Carolina Panthers doesn't quite feel like a victory. That's what happens when Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has to spend time addressing his roster decisions (RE: OLB Adalius Thomas getting benched). That's what happens when we have to wonder if QB Tom Brady made it through a game without a new injury (or baby). That's what happens when the other three AFC East teams also win. And that's what happens when Panthers defensive backs are commenting on the visible difference of effort between Patriots WRs Randy Moss and Wes Welker.
The victory puts the Patriots at 8-5 and they maintain their one game lead on the AFC East with three games remaining, but the seeds of dissension have been planted [...]
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November 24, 2009 by
Law Murray |
Ben Watson,
Devery Henderson,
Donte Stallworth,
Drew Brees,
Jabar Gaffney,
Jeremy Shockey,
Kevin Faulk,
Lance Moore,
Laurence Maroney,
Marques Colston,
Mike Bell,
New England Patriots,
New Orleans Saints,
Pierre Thomas,
Randy Moss,
Reggie Bush,
Robert Meachem,
Tom Brady,
Wes Welker
This is getting crazy. The New England Patriots will play their seventh undefeated opponent of the season when they visit the 10-0 New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football. The Patriots started the season playing the 0-0 Buffalo Bills, 1-0 New York Jets, 2-0 Atlanta Falcons, 3-0 Baltimore Ravens, and 4-0 Denver Broncos. Of course, they played the 8-0 Indianapolis Colts in Week 10 on Sunday Night Football. The 1SKILLZ Gameplan will be released later in the week, but for now I wanted to focus on comparing the Saints' #1 scoring offense this season with that of the 2007 New England Patriots. That Patriots team scored an NFL record 589 points while going 16-0 in the regular season before losing Super Bowl XLII to the New York Giants 17-14.
This year's Saints are averaging 36.9 [...]
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