This Week

The New England Patriots visit the Indianapolis Colts at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis IN on Sunday at 8:15 p .m.

The Patriots (5-2), who are tied for 1st in the AFC East, are 2-1 on the road and 3-2 against the AFC. The Colts (3-4), who are in a three way tie for second place in the AFC South, are 1-2 at home and 2-2 in the conference.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Colts.

Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots +6. The over/under is 43.5.

My prediction is Patriots 24, Colts, 20. Take the points (Patriots) and take the over. I am 1-5-1 against the spread and 4 for 7 on calling the over/under in 2008.

Tickets

The Colts have listed the game as a sell out.

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Colts ticket reseller, Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here. 

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game at the Oil Drum make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.  Weather should not be a factor as the stadium has a retractable roof.

Click for stadium directions, parking information and area map and a Lucas Oil Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

NBC is televising the game to a national audience, look for your local affiliate.  Al Michaels will call the play-by-play while John Madden will provide the analysis and Andrea Kramer will have the sideline reports.

There is no Direct TV feed of the game.

For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.

Patriots All-Access airs tonight at 7 p.m. on WCVB TV 5 in Boston. It will also be simulcast on the team website at the same time. Make sure you check out the Patriots Football Network for information on when you can see Patriots All-Access in your market.

Radio

The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.

It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 5 p.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Rock Radio Network call is available on Sirius Channel 126, the Colts Radio Network has Bob Lamey calling the game while former Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda and former NFL QB Mark Herrmann provide the game analysis. Their call is available on Sirius Channel 127.

Since the satellite merger XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games and in most cases has just the radio call of the home team.  This game can be heard on XM Channel 106, 107 and 108.

This week’s game will be broadcast to a national audience by Westwood One.   Dave Sims has the play-by-play and former NFL head coach Jim Fassel provides the analysis.  

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It was a really nice win on Sunday afternoon in the sunlight at Foxboro.  It seems like forever since the Patriots had played in the afternoon and after having enjoyed a 1 p.m. start against St. Louis we go back to a primetime 8:15 p.m. start this Sunday night against the Indianapolis Colts.

As I said it was a nice win, and that was because the team made offensive adjustments after they had to scrap their original plan of running the ball down the Rams throat.

We start where we always do with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick’s Patriots Monday chat on with the Big Show on WEEI.

I’ll also give you defensive end Richard Seymour’s Patriots Monday interview with Dale and Holley.  Big Sey was an absolute stud on Sunday and looked like a one man wrecking crew.

Were you like me and stunned that the Patriots didn’t ring up John Lynch?  Maybe it finally is the end for the hard hitting safety.  reports are many teams feel he just can’t run any longer.

Hopefully come Sunday we will see at least LaMont Jordan back in uniform and working out of the backfield, because right now the go-to guy is Kevin Faulk and at this rate they’re gonna burn him out.

Reiss’ Pieces has the “Bits from Belichick” after a Week 8 win over a NFC opponent. 

The Herald has some observations from a gritty Week 8 win from “The Joker”.  

The ProJo’s Daniel Barbarisi has Belichick saying the onside kick by St. Louis was a great play.

The AP’s Howard Uhlman says the head coach can see the progress in Matt Cassel.

Don’t forget to look for the official Sox & Dawgs Patriots vs. Colts Week 9 Preview available on Friday morning at your local computer.

After a great start by the Buffalo Bills the Patriots find themselves now tied for first in the AFC East heading into Week 9.

• 1 (tie). New England 5-2
• 1 (tie). Buffalo 5-2
• 3. New York 4-3
• 4. Miami 3-4

AFC East Week 9 games are:

• Patriots visit the Colts
• Bills host the Jets 
• Dolphins are in Denver to face the Broncos

This comes from NFL.com’s Adam Shefter through Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media Watch:

Based on the hard-line stance the league is taking on cheap shot and Vince Wilfork’s prior record of controversial hits, the New England defensive tackle is staring straight at the possibility of being suspended for next Sunday night’s game at Indianapolis for a hit he delivered Monday night vs. Denver. During the first quarter of Monday night’s win over the Broncos, Wilfork threw a blatant elbow at Jay Cutler after Patriots S Rodney Harrison knocked down the Denver quarterback. As Cutler attempted to get up, Wilfork drilled the quarterback in the head with an elbow that caught the attention of the Broncos and the NFL. Ironically, the only penalty called on the play came against Broncos OT Ryan Harris – who defended Cutler, knocked down Harrison and drew a 15-yard penalty for unnecessary roughness. ESPN cameras failed to capture Wilfork’s hit. But the coaches’ tape caught it and the league noticed it. Disciplinary action against Wilfork could come as early as this week for a player who has another controversial hit on his resume. Last September, the NFL fined Wilfork $12,500 for landing his right elbow on Bills QB J.P. Losman’s left knee. The elbow drew a penalty and knocked Losman out of the lineup, paving the way for Bills QB Trent Edwards to take over and the league to be monitoring Wilfork. This time Wilfork could be facing a fine and or a suspension.

&

The Result

When watching this team is anyone thinking about how similar they are to the 2001 squad?  They lost their starting QB and the young guy, while no Tom Brady, is doing an adequate job keeping them in games and performing to the best of his abilities.  He seems to get better each week and makes better decisions.  The offense while it has way more weapons than the ’01 Pats is doing what it needs to win as they’re back to using more of the Charlie Weis bubble screens to the receivers.  And the defense has that bend but don’t break mentality and steps it up when the opposition gets deep in their own zone.

This whole retro look gave New England a hard fought, very evenly played 23-16 win over the St. Louis Rams. They improved to 5-2 on the year and coupled with a Buffalo loss Sunday afternoon in Miami have now moved into a tie for first in the AFC East.

Matt Cassel looked cool and calm and seemed to do a better job reading coverages as he was 21 of 33 for 267 yards a TD and 2 INTS.  More importantly they cut down on the sacks.  The Rams only had three sacks and one was credited when Cassel ran out of bounds for a loss.  He also got his first 4th quarter comeback win of his career, doing something Patriots fans are accustomed to seeing in the last 7 seasons but from a  different guy.

Wes Welker and Randy Moss each had 7 catches a piece and Kevin Faulk, who caught the game winning TD was a difference maker with over 100 all-pupose yards (60 yards rushing on 13 carries and 47 yards receiving on 4 catches).  Special teams kicked in as Ellis Hobbs had a 50 yard kick off return and Welker had a 26 yard punt return both giving New England good field position that they could do nothing with.

The defense with the exception of the long pass was pretty good today, Marc Bulger was constantly under pressure and they contained the run fairly well but that big pass play continues to haunt the secondary and it will as they get thinner in depth by the week.

The secondary best step it up a notch though next week against Peyton Manning because regardless of how Indianapolis is playing as a whole Manning will kill them deep if given the chance.

Scoring Plays

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1^st Quarter

• STL – Brown 20 yard FG
• NE – Green-Ellis 2 yard run – Gostkowski PAT

2^nd Quarter

• STL – Bulger 69 yard pass to Avery – Brown PAT
• NE – Gostkowski 30 yard FG
• NE – Gostkowski 27 yard FG

3^rd Quarter

• STL – Brown 44 yard FG

4^th Quarter

• STL – Brown 25 yard FG
• NE – Gostkowski 41 yard FG
• NE – Cassel 15 yard pass to Faulk – Gostkowski PAT

Offensive Player of the Game

A difficult choice but I’m going with Randy Moss as his 23 yard reception late in the game on 2nd and 18 set up the game winning TD.  Moss had 7 catches for 102 yards with a long of 30 in the first half that also set up a Stephen Gostkowski field goal.

Defensive Player of the Game

New England DE Richard Seymour was a beast today.  He had 7 tackles and a sack and everytime he got a chance he brutalized Bulger making the St. Louis QB gun shy.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The Patriots defensive stand in the 4th quarter that forced St. Louis to punt leading to the drive that was capped by the Cassel TD pass to Faulk for the game winning score.

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There are some big names out in today’s St. Louis Rams and New England Patriots game.  The Pats will be without running backs Sammy Morris and LaMont Jordan as well as OL Nick Kaczur.

Meanwhile, the Rams will be without their top play maker RB Steven Jackson who has a quad injury and DL Adam Carricker.

Here is the complete list of today’s inactives for the game:

• Inactives for the Rams: RB Steven Jackson (injured – quad), DL Adam Carricker (injured – ankle), WR Drew Bennett (injured – foot), S Todd Johnson (injury – kidney), CB Tye Hill (injured – knee), G Roy Schuening, T John Greco and QB Brock Berlin (3rd QB).
• Inactives for the Patriots: RB LaMont Jordan (injured – calf),  RB Sammy Morris (injured – knee), OLB Shawn Crable (injured – shin ), Lewis Sanders (injured – hamstring),  DL Jarvis Green (injured – ankle),  RT Nick Kaczur (injured – ankle), LB Eric Alexander (injured – hamstring), and WR Matthew Slater (injured – ankle).
• Note: The third quarterback can still enter the game at any time, but if he does so in the first, second or third quarters, the team can no longer use its top two quarterbacks the rest of the game.

There were plenty of celebrations on Monday night against Denver like this one between LeKevin Smith and Tedy Bruschi after Smith caused a fumble in the first quarter that started the ball rolling toward a dominating 41-7 win in front of a National TV audience and a dude dressed as a Viking**. 

After two primetime games and before yet another next week we finally get our team back on a Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. when football is meant to be played. So as we sit just a short time before kick off let’s take a look at some of the tidbits for the game. 

In case you missed it don’t forget to check out the official Sox & Dawgs Rams-Patriots Week 8 game preview. It has all the game information you need including odds, rosters for both teams, series history and news and notes on the teams. It even has food ideas and drink recipes for whether you’re tailgating at the game or at home in the den.

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels spoke to media this week and he was asked about Tom Brady’s progress. He also checked in with some notes on the offense.

The Brady saga continues but with the team telling ESPN to get the story right.

Albert Breer of Sporting News has Bill Belichick reiterating the teams support for Brady as he recovers.

Brady wasn’t the only high profile QB who suffered an infection after knee surgery.

A few minutes getting to know…Patriots WR and special teamer Kelley Washington.

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This Week

The New England Patriots entertain the St. Louis Rams at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday at 1 p .m.

The Patriots are 2-1 at home, 1-0 against the NFC.  The Rams are 1-2 on the road, 0-1 against the AFC. 

Here are the rosters for the Rams and the Patriots.

Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Wednesday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots -7. The over/under is 43.5 .

My prediction is Patriots 28, Rams, 17.  Give the points and take the over. I am 1-5 against the spread and 4 for 6 on calling the over/under in 2008.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 155th consecutive sellout dating back to the 1994 season opener. The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game at the Razor make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

FOX is televising the game regionally, you can look for your local affiliate and check to see if you are getting the game.  Chris Rose will call the play-by-play while J.C. Pearson will provide the analysis and Nischelle Turner will have the sideline reports. 

The channel for Direct TV Feed of the game is 711.

For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.

Patriots All-Access airs tonight at 7 p.m. on WCVB TV 5 in Boston. It will also be simulcast on the team website at the same time. Make sure you check out the Patriots Football Network for information on when you can see Patriots All-Access in your market.

Radio

The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.

It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Rock Radio Network call is available on Channel 121, the Rams Radio Network has Steve Savard calling the game while former NFL head coach Jim Hanifan provides the game analysis and Malcom Briggs reports from the sideline. Their call is available on Channel 146.

This week’s game will be broadcast to a national audience by Sports USA Radio. Larry Kahn and Dan Fouts will call the game and Pat Sperduto will report from the sidelines.

Continue reading →

Earlier today starting in the morning Sports Center with Hannah Storm (Ed. Note: MILF) and Josh Elliott a report was ran with ESPN reporter Wendi Nix that the New England Patriots were upset with Tom Brady and his family for not following their wishes and having his ACL surgery done in Boston instead of in California. Nix supposedly got this information from speaking withe Patriots. And the story contains this information:
 

The Patriots, as an organization, are upset with the situation because they were clear that they wanted Brady’s surgery done under the direction of doctors of their choosing in Boston, sources told ESPN.

Instead, Brady opted to have the surgery in California by a doctor his family preferred, and now there are major problems. Brady was supposed to be back in New England by now, but a timeline for his return remains unclear.

Well now the organization is firing back, once again at ESPN, for shoddy reporting and issued the following statement:

“Today, ESPN cited an unnamed source who supposedly expressed the feelings of the Patriots ‘organization.’ This unsubstantiated report does not represent the team’s views whatsoever. We have supported Tom Brady one hundred percent from day one of this process and will continue to do so. We issued a statement last Saturday expressing our complete organizational support for Tom. That support includes all aspects of the process. Unfortunately, our statement was not mentioned or referenced in ESPN’s report. Today, we reiterate our total support for Tom as he recovers from his injury.”

In the early evening edition of Sports Center, it appears that ESPN and Nix have toned down their original statements.

It’s just another part of the ongoing discourse between tWWL and the Patriots organization.  It goes back to Tom Jackson’s “they hate their coach” comment in 2003, the unfair reporting of the “SpyGate” controversy and the fact that ESPN ran with the discredited Boston Herald walk through story when they themselves had been unable to confirm it.

I like when organizations hand it back to ESPN and call them out.  They think they can do no wrong when in fact it’s just another case of shoddy reporting.

According to the Boston Herald’s Karen Guregian New England Patriots QB and reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady has had two additional procedures on his surgically repaired knee to combat the infection that set in after his October 6^th surgery to reconstruct his torn ACL and MCL.

According to a source on the West Coast who is close to Brady, the quarterback had a second surgery last Wednesday, which Brady confirmed on his website, then has had the two additional procedures since then.

Guregian writes, “According to the source, the fear is the patellar tendon graft used to replace Brady’s anterior cruciate ligament is in danger of becoming compromised. Should that occur, the entire ACL reconstruction would have to be removed and redone from scratch.”

If that were the case it would push the All-Pro’s rehab schedule back further. Brady is reportedly on an IV antibiotic for the next six weeks.

According to Dr. Arun Ramappa, chief of sports medicine at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, “In all likelihood, they’ll be able to eradicate the infection, and be able to maintain the original surgery. What it sounds like, is they’re doing everything they can to try to preserve his knee, preserve the graft, so they don’t have to do another surgery. If he’s had three surgeries, they must be quite concerned about there being an infection.”

“The less knee surgery you have, the better, but he’s a tremendous athlete,” Ramappa said. “As long as the graft is OK and the infection is gone, he should be able to come back just fine. This will just be a blip on the screen.”

Patriots QB Matt Cassel reacts after throwing a 4th quarter TD pass to Wes Welker in New England's 41-7 win over Denver. Getty Photo.

The NFL announced today that New England Patriots QB Matt Cassel was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 7 with his 18 for 26 performance for 185 yards and 3 TD tosses against Denver on Monday night.  The outing earned him a game rating of 136.3 the 10th highest single game rating in Patriots history.

Four Patriots QB have earned the weekly honor in the past, Cassel joins Drew Bledsoe, Tom Brady, Tony Eason and Scott Zolak as winners of the award. New England QB Doug Flutie was also recognized as the Special Teams Player of the Week in 2005 for his memorable drop kick extra point in the season finale.

In other news the team made some more roster moves today placing S Rodney Harrison officially on the IR and they signed S Antwan Spann off the practice roster to take his place on the 53-man roster.  For the time being this effectively squeezes out free agent S John Lynch but you can never say never, especially when Bill Belichick is involved.

The signing of Spann also leaves them with two open spots on the 8-man practice squad as those were taken by recently released C/G Dan Connolly and S Mark Dillard.