The Result

It was a long offseason and I was glad it was over until Tom Brady hurt his knee in the first quarter when he was hit by Kansas City lineman Bernard Pollard in a play eerily reminiscent of Vince Wilfork’s run in last season with Buffalo QB J.P. Losman.  But in the absence of their true team leader the New England Patriots defense went into it’s patented bend but don’t break mode and escaped with a hard fought 17-10 win over the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on Sunday afternoon.

Matt Cassel came in and on his first drive they almost had a safety against them on the first two plays but on 3rd and 11 from npot quite his own 1 yard line he went 51 yards to Randy Moss and it seemed to give him and the offensive unit confidence.  I think the hardest thing to remember about this guy is that prior to today, in his fourth NFL season, he hasn’t played in real live, meaningful game conditions since high school.  And while Josh McDaniels and Bill Belichick may have “dumbed” down the playbook with Cassel in there it wasn’t that apparent if that were the case especially with the bomb to Moss.

One thing I learned today about Matt Cassel is the guy isn’t as bad as every made him out to be.  Granted he is not Brady but if he has to play for a few weeks they won’t be in bad shape.  The kid is a gamer, he is confident in his ability and it appears that Belichick and the staff have a good feel for him.  Face it if they didn’t think he could do the job he wouldn’t be here.

The offense didn’t play that bad in Brady’s absence, the defense made the plays when they needed to and the special teams executed some nice plays with the kick off return by Ellis Hobbs, some nice punts and punt/kick off coverage.

Hopefully it all gets better from here on out.

Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

• None

2^nd Quarter

• NE – Cassel 10 yard pass to Moss (Gostkowski PAT)
• KC – Novak 40 yard FG

3^rd Quarter

• NE – Morris 5 yard run (Gostkowski PAT)

4^th Quarter

• KC – Huard 5 yard pass to Bowe (Novak PAT)
• NE – Gostkowski 37 yard FG

Offensive Player of the Game

It was a hard choice but I am going with Sammy Morris.  He had 51 yards rushing on 10 carries, caught 5 passes for 34 yards and had a TD.

Defensive Player of the Game

Another tough choice but it’s Ellis Hobbs.  He may not have had the most tackles but he had four tackles, 1 sack and a pick and when you add that to his 51 yard KOR and the fact he played decent coverage all day against a bigger receiver he had a good day.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

It really could have been the Brady injury but the two biggest plays of the day were Cassel’s bomb to Moss and the goal line stand on 1st goal from the five in the final two minutes.

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New England Patriots QB Tom Brady was hit on the left knee throwing a pass in the first quarter and was helped off the field and limped to the locker room.

Patriots report his return as questionable with :21 seconds left in 1st quarter.

Matt Cassel has taken over at quarterback.

Patriots said entering 4th quarter Brady would not return

The New England Patriots 2008 season kicks off in a few hours as they host the Kansas Chiefs.  Finally no more talk about last year, no more talked about a bad preseason, no more spygate, no more Mercury Morris.  As Hank Williams Junior says “Are you ready for some football?” Time to get back to work on adding to the collection. Continue reading →

This Week

The New England Patriots host the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m in the season opener for each team.

Last year the Patriots were 8-0 at the Razor and 12-0 against the AFC and finished the regular season 16-0. The Chiefs, were 2-6 on the road last year and 3-9 against the AFC and finished 4-12 overall.

Here are the rosters for the Chiefs and Patriots.

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 -15.5. The over/under is 44.

My prediction is Patriots 27, Chiefs, 10. Give the points and take the under.  I was 9-7 against the spread last year in the regular season and 0-3 against the spead in the playoffs.  I called the the over/under twelve out of sixteen times in 2007. And was 1 of 3 in the playoffs.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 152nd 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 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.

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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Randy Moss and owner Robert Kraft were all on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” this morning. The football talk was minimal as you would imagine since they were on CNBC.

New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick expects NFL MVP Tom Brady to be ready to play on Sunday in the season opener against Kansas City.

Belichick made his comments during his Wednesday conference call with the media in Kansas City. Brady has been saying all along that regardless of not playing in the preseason he’d be ready to go on Week 1.

Brady’s father, Tom Sr., said in an interview that his son was “chomping at the bit” to play. He also added that he knew nothing of the report that his son had a broken bone in the top of his right foot that was revealed in an August MRI. He said that as far he knew was what Tom had told him and that there was some stress on the foot but he never told him anything different nor did he ask.

The younger Brady sat out all four preseason games with a reported foot injury.

The New England Patriots hosted free agent cornerback Deltha O’Neal earlier this morning and they have now announced they have signed him to a contract. To make room on the 53-man roster, the Patriots released tight end Stephen Spach.

O’Neal has played 8 years in the NFL, playing for the Denver Broncos from 2000-03 and the Cincinnati Bengals from 2004-07. He was released 2 days ago by the Bengals.

The Patriots also announced Jacob Bender and tight end Tyson DeVree have been signed to the practice squad.

 

Former Patriot and current Giants backup offensive lineman Grey Ruegamer has an unusual “hobby”, he castrates lambs with his teeth. Yes you read that correctly.

“You pull them out with your teeth, spit them in a bucket, next one,” he said. “There was other work that had to get done, so we had to hurry with that and move onto the next thing. It’s just a little lamb. It’s not a big animal. I have pictures.”

I would not want to be in the bottom of the pile with this guy that’s for sure. Yeeoooww!!!

On the field after the running play the lineman from both sides are all stacked up and the officials hear a grown man crying out in pain as they try to separate the players. As they pull apart the bodies there’s Giants lineman Grey Ruegamer with an opponents testicles in his mouth and he’s biting down hard.

The referee starts yelling like Ruegamer is the family dog.

“Grey drop it! Drop it! Drop it now Grey!”

We start where we’ve started most of these this season, with head coach Bill Belichick and his weekly visit with “The Big Show” on WEEI in Boston. This week the interview takes place on radio row at the Super Bowl with Glenn Ordway, Pete Sheppard, Steve DeOssie and Fred Smerlas.

The temporary restraining order against Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss has been extended until March 28^th.

The temporary order requires Moss to stay at least 500 feet from Washington. No criminal charge has been brought. Washington, 35, alleged they had been in an “intimate relationship” since 1997.

Moss has denied the accusation.

His accuser Rachelle Washington has a new attorney, Darrell Thompson he replaces David McGill. A spokesperson for Thompson confirmed the change while McGill would not return phone calls seeking comment.

New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady finally addressed his ankle injury on Sunday evening.

“It’s feeling good. I’ll be ready to go,” Brady said

Brady hurt his ankle at some point during the AFC Championship game against San Diego on January 21^st. Brady hasn’t practiced since then although he has been jogging and throwing the ball as well as getting treatment on his ankle. The injury is not serious enough to keep the MVP from playing in Super Bowl XLII against the New York Giants.

“I’m not concerned about how it’s going to affect my play,” he said. “This won’t keep me out.”

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The Patriots have been playing all year with the number 91 on the back of their helmets. That is for teammate Marquise Hill who drowned at Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana last May 27th. Jarvis Green who was a teammate of Hill at LSU has been wearing his shoulder pads all season as a reminder of the late defensive lineman.

“When I pull them over my head, it’s like I’m putting on a little part of Marquise, you know?” Green said. “I mean, I know he’s not here, but I put those pads on to honor him and to keep him and his memory close to me. It’s funny, but with LSU winning [the national championship] again, and us being in the Super Bowl, you feel like Marquise somehow has a hand in this.”

Green also has a pregame ritual that involves Hill. As he waits in the tunnel to take the field he reaches to the back of his helmet and rubs the 91 decal and remembers his fallen teammate.

Hill’s memory has provided players with some additional motivation.

“With this team, and what it has accomplished, you expect to win,” said cornerback Randall Gay, another LSU product, who was Hill’s roommate for road games and was on hand when officials pulled the defensive end’s body from Lake Pontchartrain. “But for the guys who knew Marquise really well, and who were really tight with him … yeah, there’s some extra [motivation] involved, for sure.”

Hill was a 2004 sound round pick from LSU and key piece in LSU’s 2003 National Championship and the top rated defensive lineman out of high school but with the Patriots was underachieving and saw more time on the inactive list than on the field on game day.

“He always had something funny to say,” fellow defensive end Ty Warren said. “He made you smile a lot, and I think that, more than anything else, is what you miss. Marquise was just a good guy, a good person, fun to be around.”

Said tailback Kevin Faulk: “He was just the kind of person who would do anything for you.”

Hill left behind his fiance, Inell Benn and their two year old son, Ma’Shy and the house he bought for them in Bellingham, MA is for sale. Benn now lives in Austin, TX and is working as a nurse’s aid as she pursues a nursing degree.

In the Patriots locker room at Gillette Stadium, Hills jersey and pants hang in his locker, someone placed a “2007 AFC Champions” baseball hat in their last week.

“When you walk past his locker,” strong safety Rodney Harrison told The New York Daily News last week, “it really kind of puts things in perspective. It makes you think a lot.”

It’s a given that the Patriots will be thinking of Marquise Hill on Sunday when they take the field.