Tag: New England Patriots (Page 42 of 72)

      NFL Week 7 MVP Power Rankings

      October 25, 2009 /

      There was some shifting in the ranks after Week 6 games, and now we have three Vikings in the Top 5. Here is how we’re seeing things now, subject to change again after this weekend!

      1. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—We can’t let Peyton slide down just because he didn’t play last week. And he’s likely to stay here with the Rams looming on Sunday.

      2. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—After dissecting the Giants’ stingy pass defense on Sunday, it’s safe to say Brees and his Saints are not only for real, but they are legitimately the top dog in the NFC and maybe in all of football.

      3. Brett Favre, Minnesota Vikings—He’s done nothing to let us think he’s not worthy of MVP consideration. 278 yards and 3 more TDs against Ray Lewis, Ed Reed and company is Favre’s latest line.

      4. Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings—He hadn’t rushed for 100 yards since the opener against Cleveland, but Peterson managed to bust through for 166 all-purpose yards against the Ravens and he took over the NFL’s rushing lead from Cedric Benson, who laid an egg against Houston.

      5. Jared Allen, Minnesota Vikings—Check out this year-to-date stat line—27 total tackles, 7.5 sacks, 3 forced fumbles, one fumble return for a TD and one safety. The dude is a one-man wrecking crew on an already stout defense, and this makes three Vikings contending for MVP.

      Honorable Mention–Cedric Benson, Bengals; Elvis Dumervil, Broncos; Andre Johnson, Texans, Steve Smith, Giants, Tom Brady, Patriots

      Bullz-Eye Sports Channel, NFL

      Pick up Sammy Morris!

      October 12, 2009 /

      I did mention this (our Twitter feed — scroll down) last week, but…

      With the news that Fred Taylor is going to undergo surgery, the crowded New England backfield suddenly becomes less crowded. In the first four games, Taylor accounted for 36% of the team’s touches (45 carries/124 total RB touches).

      If there was some question how this work would be divvied up amongst Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk and Laurence Maroney prior to Week 5, there shouldn’t be any further confusion. Against the Broncos, Morris had 19 touches for 107 yards, including two catches for 39 yards. Faulk had seven touches for eight yards, while Maroney had five carries for 21 yards. In the first four games, Faulk averaged 6.8 touches, while Maroney averaged 8.8 touches. (It’s important to note that Maroney had 12 touches in Week 1, a game that Morris missed because of injury. Since then, he has averaged just 7.7 touches per game.)

      For his part, Morris averaged 7.3 touches in Weeks 2-4, working himself back from injury, so in Week 5, he essentially received all of Taylor’s workload. This makes sense, since the two are pretty similar players. Both are hard-nosed runners that thrive between the tackles, though Morris is better at catching the ball out of the backfield. And he has always been a Belichick favorite because he’s willing to do whatever it takes to help the Patriots win. For the foreseeable future, that job will entail being the Patriots’ RB1.

      Is there a chance that the Pats go with the hot hand? Sure, but Faulk is nothing more than a fine third-down back, and probably won’t get the chance to get hot on first and second down. As for Maroney, I realize that he’s just 24, but is there anything in his recent past that would indicate that he’s capable of carrying a big workload for any length of time? It might not be a bad idea to handcuff the two (Morris and Maroney), but if Week 5 is any indication, Sammy Morris is the New England RB to own going forward.

      He has a rough schedule, but it’s not often you can pluck a #1 RB off the waiver wire. If he’s available, grab him.

      Fantasy Football

      Ravens rip officials after loss to Patriots

      October 5, 2009 /

      Following their 27-21 loss to the Patriots in Foxboro on Sunday, several Ravens players ripped the officiating, particularly two roughing the passer calls on Tom Brady.

      “Without totally going off the wall here, it is embarrassing to the game,” linebacker Ray Lewis said. “[Tom] Brady is good enough to make his own plays, let him make the play. When you have two great teams that are going at it, let them go at it. Both of their touchdown drives had personal fouls that kept drives alive. Did that win or lose the game? No, but it got them 14 points.”

      Asked his biggest gripe, Reed said: “It just felt like everything was kind of all over again. You hate to come into a game where you have to play against a team and the officials. Like I said, nothing to take away from their team, nothing to take away from the officials. We have to help each other out in a way to where it’s near as perfect as we can be. Like I said, it’s a game of inches. We have too much going on with this game, from where it’s come to in 2009, 2010, to say we can’t be a little bit more precise with things.”

      Reed was specifically referring to Willis McGahee’s fourth-and-1 run in the fourth quarter in which he was stopped for no gain, and the Patriots’ fake field goal in the fourth quarter.

      “When Willis had his fourth-down try, it probably wouldn’t have been a first [down], but it probably should have been a little closer,” he said. “The [Patriots’] spots, the guy stepped out of bounds. Even though we got the penalty on that fourth down when they faked the field goal, the guy stepped out and he reached the ball. Certain things like that. Like I said, you have to play the game.”

      I hate that this needs to be said because it shouldn’t matter, but for the record I’m not a “Patriots hater.”

      That said, New England has gotten some calls in the last two weeks that have been questionable at best. The two roughing the passer penalties yesterday were cheap and there was a play last week in the Patriots’ win over the Falcons where Atlanta receiver Michael Jenkins and a New England defender were both jostling in coverage and the refs called pass interference on Jenkins, which wiped out a touchdown. Brady was also able to throw a touchdown pass last week to put the game away thanks to one of his offensive lineman bear-hugging John Abraham to avoid a sack.

      It appears that the refs are calling penalties based on Brady’s injury last year, which is ridiculous. Just call the game – don’t throw a flag every time a defender is within a mile of Brady’s knees.

      All of these calls could have gone either way…they’ve just been going the Patriots way so far.

      NFL

      Receivers doom Ravens in loss to Patriots

      October 4, 2009 /

      If Ozzie Newsome doesn’t get Joe Flacco some receivers, he’s going to wind up wasting his young quarterback’s talents.

      Baltimore receivers dropped two passes inside the Patriots’ 20-yard line at the end of New England’s 27-21 win on Sunday, which cost the Ravens an opportunity to stay undefeated.

      Derrick Mason’s drop on 3rd and 4 from the 14-yard line with 35 seconds left was bad, but also forgivable considering the defender bumped him from behind right as the pass hit his chest. But Mark Clayton’s drop on the very next play was inexcusable because Flacco hit him right in the numbers and it served as the death nail for the Ravens.

      But let’s give credit where credit is due – this was an impressive victory by the Patriots, although not so much defensively. Baltimore racked up 363 total yards and moved the ball at will, but Tom Brady found a way to move the ball against a good Ravens defense despite not having a running game.

      One thing New England did do well defensively was confuse Flacco with various blitzes, which often caused him to throw off his back foot and not set his feet. Leigh Bodden produced a big interception in the red zone at the end of the first half because Flacco couldn’t set his feet while rushing to get the ball out of his hands. That’s just a case of Bill Belichick’s front seven getting the job done.

      The Pats still have plenty of flaws, but they’ve beaten two playoff teams in the Falcons and Ravens the past two weeks and face the winless Titans and Bucs in two of their next three games. If they can beat the Broncos in Denver next week and pick up wins over Tennessee and Tampa before their bye, they’ll be 6-1 and filled with confidence heading into the second half of the year.

      NFL

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