I am going to open with a quote from the great New England Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss:

“I don’t think there is one person in my face with this microphone that picked us to win,” Moss said to a group of reporters.

“I’m going to end [my interview this way]: The New England Patriots [are] 2-0. We got one in the division, so all you haters keep hating. We’re coming.”

How many times in the last 8 years has this team been counted out by the experts? Well you can add another instance to the list and it obviously is not sitting well with Mr. Moss.

Head coach Bill Belichick made his weekly WEEI Patriots Monday radio appearance in the afternoon while QB Matt Cassel made his appearance in the morning.

If you missed it the Patriots made some roster moves on Monday and don’t forget to check out the game recap from a successful Sunday afternoon in the Meadowlands.

On Saturday afternoon the Patriots will re-induct their 12 team Hall of Famers into the new Hall at Patriot Place. Ben Coates will also be added to the previous 12 to bring the total to 13 Patriots Hall of Fame members.

Want a Jets perspective on Sundays game then just check out Steve Serby’s article in the NY Post in which he says “Bill Belichick . . . devoured Eric Mangini alive yesterday and made Brett Favre look like just another 38-year-old quarterback going on 39.”

Reiss’s Pieces gives us the Bits from Belichick among them he notes that the Jets were rolling a safety onto Moss protecting against a deep route and double covering him.

The Herald’s Steve Buckley asks “Who’s overrated now?”

Former Patriot safety Lawyer Milloy will need an attorney as he was busted for a DUI.

You have to wonder if the Jets hear the Four Tops singing “It’s the same old song” when they play New England.

And I leave you with some comments from one the haters Mr. Moss referred to at the top, ESPN jackass Tom Jackson. We all remember the TJ “they hate their coach” comment when Belichick cut Malloy before the Week 1 blow out loss at Buffalo. Hey TJ how did that season turn out? Jackass.

Don’t forget to look for the game preview of the Week 3 match up with Miami on Friday and until then enjoy the shadenfreude.

The New England Patriots made the following roster moves today:

They released P Tom Malone from the practice squad and TE Stephen Spach was released from the 53-man roster.

The team signed S Mark Dillard to the practice squad and RB Kyle Eckel to the 53-man roster.

Dillard returns after being let go in the last week and Eckel returns after being one of the last cuts to the roster. Both Malone and Spach have been released twice in the last few weeks.

The moves may signify that TE Ben Watson will be ready to play against Miami and that even though Laurence Maroney returned in the 4^th quarter he may miss some time with a shoulder injury.

The Result

The nay sayers have been brushed aside for now as Matt Cassel helped lead the New England Patriots to a 19-10 win over their AFC East Rival New York Jets Sunday at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands. 

All the experts are all over this team with Tom Brady going on IR for the year but one thing people like ESPN’s Tom Jackson need to realize is this team is much more than one man.  I wrote earlier in the week that there are players on this team that live for moments like these.  They look for reasons to be called an underdog.  Most of those players are pro bowl players and won’t allow a set back to upset the teams goal.  If anything it will refocus them.

They played today very focused on both sides of the ball.  They weren’t dominant in any phase yet they were good enough to win and the game was never in doubt.  Cassel and the offense were good when they needed to be and the defense made big stops in big spots including another goal line stand that yielded only points early in the game as well as a game breaking sack in the 4th quarter.

This team won’t set any records like it did last year but it will resemble the Patriots teams of the early and middle part of the decade.  Patient teams that waited for the right time to knock off their opponent.  They did it today and in doing so reminded a region of what Patriots Football looks like.
Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

• NE – Gostkowski 21 yard FG

2^nd Quarter

• NE – Gostkowski 37 yard FG
• NYJ – Feely 21 yard FG

3^rd Quarter

• NE – Morris 1 yard run – PAT good
• NE – Gostkowski 28 yard FG

4^th Quarter

• NYJ – Favre 2 yard pass to Stuckey – PAT goof
• NE – Gostkowski 27 yard FG

Offensive Player of the Game

Quarterback Matt Cassel was 16 of 23 for 165 yards with no TDs and no INTs in his first NFL start. 

Defensive Player of the Game

Rookie linebacker Jerod Mayo had seven solo tackles and once again stood out with his play and his overall hustle.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

The Patriots defense holding the Jets to two field goal attempts in first half and having Jay Feely shank the first one.  The defense on the second one stopped them with first and goal from the 3 yard line only allowing 3 points.

Brandon Meriweather’s pick off Favre turned into points which was big and the Adalius Thomas sack of Favre late in the 4th quarter to kill any chance the Jets had at a comeback.

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With kick off just a few hours away it’s time for a little pregame news for the match up with the AFC East rival New York Jets.  Make sure you check that link for my all the game news including my weekly prediction.  The line is holding steady at Patriots +1.5 with an over/under of 37 this morning.

Yesterday the Patriots added QB Matt Gutierrez to the active 53-man roster from the practice squad.  In order to create roster space the team released first year WR C.J. Jones.  There is now a spot on the practice squad and Jones is a likely candidate but he needs to clear waivers first before he can be re-signed.

Bill Belichick downgraded TE Ben Watson (knee), WR Sam Aiken (knee) and LB eric Alexander (calf) to out.  Eric Mangini listed K MIke Nugent (thigh) and WR David Clowney (shoulder) as out.  The rest of the players who are inactive wil be in the post game report.

With the Tom Brady injury there appears to be much more further reaching financial issues by losing the leagues best player.  Newsweek talks about how the loss of Brady affects the team, NFL and the TV Networks in the pocketbook.

Indianapolis QB and Brady friend Peyton Manning says he is “sick over Tom Brady” and “Brady texted me and said it must not have been in the cards for him to stay healthy this year, and he’s going to fight hard in rehab and be back next year.”

When a prominent former player says this like:

“the offensive line used to come back and say, ‘Hey, there’s something about this kid.’ He always had a swagger every time he stepped under center.  The confidence level’s amazing.”

When a former coach says

“Vivacious — he is just 100 percent go all the time.  He is just on fire, mentally aggressive, physically aggressive.”

You tend to listen.  The player was Doug Flutie, the coach was Bill Coan of Chatsworth High, the player they are talking about is Matt Cassel.  Lots of people had high praise for player many people have never heard of until last Sunday. 

Patriots defensive coordinator Dean Pees has a won-loss grading system for the defense on 1st, 2nd and 3rd down plays. 

• First down: A win is 3 yards or less, setting up second-and-7 or more.  
• Second down: A win is anything that makes it third-and-4 or more.  
• Third down: A win is stopping the offense short of the first down.

Pees was very happy with first down but said there were issues on third down where the Kansas City Chiefs converted on 8 of 16 3rd downs.

“There were a couple situations where we were very competitive on the routes but the guy made the catch, basically [Tony] Gonzalez,” he said. “Regardless of that, we have to do a better job on third down. … We have to a little better job of playing our techniques and doing some things to get off the field. We have to get that number lower.”

Will someone tell ESPN’s Emmit Smith it’s Matt Cassel…not Matt Hassel.  He screwed up his name at least 6 times this morning on Sports Center.

This Week

The New England Patriots visit the New York Jets at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford NJ on Sunday at 4:15  p .m.

The Patriots are 0-0 on the road, 0-0 in the division and 1-0 against the AFC.  The Jets are 0-0 at home, 1-0 in the division and 1-0 against the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Jets.

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 +1.5. The over/under is 37.

My prediction is  Jets 24, Patriots, 20.  Give the points and take the over. I am 0-1 against the spread and 1-0 on calling the over/under in 2008.

Tickets

The Jets are reporting the game as a sell out.

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 in the Meadowlands make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.

Due to construction on a new Meadowlands Stadium, unless you have a PRE-PAID season parking pass there is no parking available at the Meadowlands facilities. You must park in the satellite lots and take the shuttles to the game.

There is NO TAILGATING IN THE SATELLITE LOTS.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, and a Giants 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.

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The New England Patriots have announced that they have have signed their former backup quarterback Matt Gutierrez to the practice squad.

Gutierrez was let go in the final round of cuts during the preseason and has the knowledge of the Patriots offense having spent 2007 and training camp this year with them. He appeared in 5 games last year and was successful in his lone passing attempt.

The signing of Gutierrez provides a little depth at the QB position as it appears for now that the Patriots will go with what they have.

I always knew Pittsburgh Steelers fans were a bunch of fucking asshole douchebags and this just proves it.  Remember you bunch of out of work drunken factory workers your team comes here November 30th.  You better hope and pray they can Ben Toothlisberger upright and on the field because that overrated, neckbearded fuck is about the 12th best QB in the league behind:

1. Brady
2. P. Manning
3. Favre
4. Palmer
5. Rivers
6. Brees
7. Romo
8. E. Manning
9. Andersen
10. McNabb
11. Bulger

I’m buying one of these and sending it to Foxboro care of Rodney Harrison.

That groan you heard around 3 p.m. on Monday afternoon was New England Patriots fans when the team announced that quarterback Tom Brady would have surgery on his injured left knee and miss the entire season.

That being said Matt Cassel is now the Patriots quarterback going forward. I don’t see Bill Belichick signing a veteran and then replacing Cassel with him unless it’s someone like Drew Bledsoe or Vinny Testeverde both who have experience in the system. More likely anyone who is signed will be Cassel’s backup with rookie Kevin O’Connell acting as the third quarterback.

As of Monday afternoon Belichick said contrary to media reports the team had not worked out any quarterbacks on Monday but he wasn’t ruling anything out during the week. He also added that people were contacting him.

In Friday’s Patriots-Jets game preview I have some background information on the man who will be, at least for now, leading the Patriots offense. As I note in the preview that game was supposed to be quite the quarterback match up. New York’s Brett Favre has the longest consecutive starts streak for a NFL QB, Indianapolis’ Peyton Manning is second and Brady was third. It was also suppose to match up two guys who between them have 4 championships, 6 Super Bowl appearances, 4 NFL MVP’s, 13 Pro Bowl appearances and 4 All-Pro nominations. It was suppose to match up two first ballot Hall of Famers. Now it’s a game between a savvy 18 year vet and a fourth year player making his first career start.

If you just can’t get enough info on Cassel (pronounced Castle) Tim Graham’s AFC East Blog has some stuff on him.

Alex Marvez of FOXSports.com claims the team wasn’t prepared to handle an injury to Brady. See that’s why Marvez writes for a website and Belichick and Scott Pioli evaluate NFL talent.

On Monday afternoon Brady and NBCSports.com Tom Curran swapped some email and Brady say’s he still likes the team’s chances.

Here is Belichick’s Monday afternoon press conference.

WEEI.com’s Mike Petraglia offers up the team’s “Band of Brothers” mentality.

Usually we start with this but today we’re going to close with Belichick’s weekly interview on WEEI with the Big Show crew and Matt Cassel’s post game press conference after Sunday’s win.

I will say this in wrapping up. The New England Patriots are much more than Tom Brady. Sure the offense goes through him but now he isn’t here and it will go through Matt Cassel. It doesn’t mean that Randy Moss and Wes Welker forgot how to catch or Laurence Maroney can’t run or Richard Seymour, Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren can’t stuff a run or that Rodney Harrison won’t lay someone out.

This team over the last seven or eight years has been remarkably resilient.  We’ve seen Drew Bledsoe’s injury, Tedy Brischi’s stroke, the knee injuries to Rodney Harrison, the foot injury to Ty Law and Spygate.  It likes, no it loves, to circle the wagons and say screw you to anyone who doesn’t stand with them. Win or lose regardless of record they will do that again.

I expect nothing less.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady had a MRI done on his left knee this morning and the Patriots have announced that he will need surgery and that the reigning NFL MVP was placed on injured reserve, thus ending his season.

Brady was injured just half way into the first quarter of New England’s Week 1 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-14 when he was rolled into by Bernard Pollard as he threw the ball on the Patriots second possesion.  Brady immediately collapsed to the ground and grabbed his knee.  He walked off the field under his own power and did not return to action.

Brady was replaced by backup quarterback Matt Cassel who was 13/18 for 152 yards and a TD pass.  It was Cassel’s first significant playing time in a meaningful game since high school.  Cassel, who attended USC, was the back up in college to Carson Palmer and Matt Leinart.

With the official status of reigning NFL MVP Tom Brady still unknown this morning until the results of a MRI are revealed it’s rumored the Patriots are wasting no time in trying to locate suitable help should they need it.

Always proactive and at least having a semi diagnosis on Brady’s knee, Christopher Gasper of the Boston Globe is reporting that the team will have free agent QB Chris Simms in for a look today.  There are also reports of former 49ers QB Tim Rattay coming in for a work out.

Other options include recently retired Daunte Culpepper, who we all know has a relationship with Randy Moss.  But is Culpepper even 60 or 70% of the player he was in the years with Moss.  While Simms and even Rattay maybe servicable I just don’t see them surpassing Matt Cassel who is in his fourth year of the system.  Cassel has way more time in now than Brady did when he took over for an injured Drew Bledsoe in September of 2001.  That was the year that Bill Belichick and Charlie Weis asked the second year guy to just manage the game and not do anything to kill them.  If it sounds familiar it should because that is what is going to be asked of Cassel, possibly for a few weeks, likely for the year.

A couple other names have been popping up as probables in Foxboro.  Matt Gutierrez is improbable if they thought he was the guy they would have cut Cassel instead of him.  Joey Harrington’s name was bandied about in some circles yesterday and it is possible that Vinny Testeverde who played last season in Carolina could come back.  Another possibility is, wait for it, wait for it.  Bledsoe.  Just one year removed from playing it maybe something he would do.  Belichick holds no grudges, unless you’re Eric Mangini, but would Pats fans welcome him back?  Would Drew, who is 36 and over a year removed from the game, put aside roasting coffee for one last run?

Let’s hear your thoughts.  Sound off in the comments.