The Franchise

Let's get one thing straight. Tom Brady is going to the Hall of Fame. He is one of the five greatest quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. And once he is healthy, he will once again be the starter for the New England Patriots. Unfortunately, no one knows when that will be. And until then, Matt Cassel will be behind center for potentially the entire 2009 season. In order for this to happen, the Patriots need to franchise him and keep him from becoming a free agent. They have from February 5th to the 19th to do so. Of course, this means he will be paid the average of the five highest QB salaries (roughly $14.4 million).

He is worth it.

"You're going to pay me how much?"

For one year anyway.

Just consider how far he's come from a guy some people thought would be cut after the preseason, to a dude who finished with an 89.4 rating, good for tenth in the league. He didn't throw a ton of touchdowns and he sometimes stayed in the pocket too long, but a "rookie" season of 11-5 is pretty damn good. Especially considering all the injuries that the team had to deal with.
And just briefly getting back to the "staying in the pocket" issue, dude was sacked 47 times, the most of any QB in the entire NFL. I don't care if you're Drew Bledsoe circa 2009, the O-line has to claim some responsibility. 47 TIMES!?! Plus, he finished 8th in passing yards, only threw 11 picks and led the team to four straight wins to end the year.

We all saw how bringing in some random dude (or douche in the Jets' situation) to jump in without having the slightest clue about how to run the team's offense works. Yeah, it sucks that Brady will most likely miss more time, but it's in the team's best interest to have Cassel stick around for another year. If Brady does make it back at any point in the 2009 campaign, the Patriots can certainly trade Cassel. But both players deserve the respect of keeping them both aboard by the front office/fans/media in an effort to avenge an 11-5 season without making the playoffs. (Although, the Chargers did win their first round game, so...)

And yes, I picked that picture on purpose. His brother Justin is in the White Sox farm system.

Sunday Musings

As you probably didn't notice, we didn't get a picks column up today. Blame it on Thanksgiving. Blame it on us being a couple of lazy assholes. Or, if you're like me and Milli, you could blame it on the rain. I would have thrown up a half-assed column (again) but I was busy watching Ben ROFLsberger and the Steelers capitalize on big-ass mistakes by the Patriots today. It's one thing to watch your team choke in a statement game at home. It's another thing to sit through 3 hours of 35 degree driving rain while watching it. Just ask the icy, blunt objects that I used to refer to as "my feet"... that blew.
Around the league, an unbelievable 10 out of 12 road teams won today. I'm sure that made a lot of bookies smile big grill-filled smiles. At least you can still count on Cincinnati, Cleveland, and St. Louis to lose in this mixed up NFL of ours. Buffalo continues their giant nose-dive. Has anybody else noticed this all started after 1) they gave Jauron a contract extension because they went 5-1 and 2) Their QB got knocked in the head? Meanwhile, everything you know about the Broncos and Jets is apparently wrong. But of course, my day was mainly based around this:

You may not have known about Matt Slater, rookie DB/WR/special teams "specialist" who's the son of Hall of Famer Jackie Slater, before today. But if you care even vaguely about the Patriots, Steelers, or AFC playoff picture in general, you're probably familiar with him now. One epic doink off Slater's hands helped set a tightly contested 13-10 game on it's course towards a frustrating 33-10 laugher. With games coming up against the Seahawks and Raiders, plus games against the slumping Cardinals and Bills, the Patriots season is by no means over. But today was just more proof that this is not the efficient, mistake-free Patriots team that you're used to.

I know it will be easy for people to look at Cassel's 2 INTs and 2 fumbles and assume he's to blame for this one. But with Randy Moss dropping 2 wide-open passes (one in the endzone), both fumbles coming on blindside hits after Matt Light got horribly beat, and one of those picks being in desperation garbage time... watching the game it was clear there were others far more to blame for this one.

Just a side note: I feel the need to point out the impressive amount of mediocrity I've managed to achieve in fantasy football this season. Going into this week, in my four fantasy football leagues, ALL four teams came in with a gag-inducing 5-7 record. They all got there different ways, they all had a unique path to ineptitude, but my fantasy teams are united in that beautiful mark that is eerily similar to Dustin Pedroia's height. The one bright spot: the team I'm the most invested in just locked up it's 4th straight win to pull to 6-7, and I actually have a shot at a playoff spot in that league. Hooray for small victories!

WTF, Mercury Morris?

So if you haven't heard, Mercury Morris couldn't stand that his fifteen minutes of post-NFL fame were over from last season. A couple days ago, the guy who was about the 6th or 7th most impressive 1972 Dolphin (seriously, he's not even their best running back. Guess which back from the 72 Fins is in the Hall of Fame? I'll give you a hint, it's Larry Csonka and not Mercury Morris) saw another opportunity to come out and have people listen to him, and said he likes the 2008 Tennessee Titans.

Now, ok, don't get me wrong. If the Titans went undefeated, that's great for them. I'd be disappointed the Colts didn't win it all, but you can't argue a perfect season. However, Mercury Morris is the same guy who was on ESPN literally every 20 minutes last year to talk about how he didn't want the Patriots to go 19-0. I didn't want them to go 19-0 either, but I can at least appreciate that what the Patriots did was far more impressive than what the Titans have accomplished thus far.

I've said it before, and this isn't just a bitter Colts fan talking now (if I'm arguing FOR the Patriots, you can't in good conscience call me biased), but the Titans aren't as good as their record shows. They don't have the capability to go 19-0, or even 16-0 for that matter. I can guarantee it won't happen. If we adjusted the records to show where teams should actually be had referees not made game changing blown calls, the Titans would have lost back in week 5 to the Ravens. You remember that false start on the Titans where the referees "blew" the whistle (funny how no one really gives up on the play despite it having been blown dead) and then Terrell Suggs gets called for contact to Kerry Collins' helmet? Except instead of hitting Collins' helmet, Suggs had a clean swipe at his arm as he threw and didn't touch his helmet at all? That play? And that call wiped out the 3rd down stop the Ravens made, allowing the Titans to go downfield and score? Yeah, that.

Anyway, you could make at least 10 of those arguments this season and change the entire shape of the playoffs. The point is, the Patriots were about 100 times the team the Titans are. I can understand how Morris is rooting for the team who no one believes in. But the reason no one believes in them is because they're not even the best team in the NFL. As long as they stay perfect, they'll be on top of the power rankings, but once they lose, expect teams like the Giants and Panthers to take their spot. If the Jets beat them this Sunday, they could also move past Tennessee.

What the Patriots did was ridiculous. Absolutely ridiculous. No one embarrassed so many quarterbacks, so many defenses, so many coaches, or so many fans as the 2007 Patriots. When the Patriots came out, except for maybe three games during the regular season, they completely dominated the other team for 60 minutes. They hardly had to fight for a win. When have the Titans ever been accused of running up the score? The Titans are +113 in point differential so far, which is not too shabby. I won't argue that. The Patriots in week 6 were +138. By week 11, they were +254.

I love this quote from Mercury. "The Patriots, you people were crowning them after the second game and the season was a formality. I kept trying to tell you". I think they were made the favorite after the second game, but they certainly weren't handed the Lombardi Trophy. By the way Mercury, if the season was as long in 2007 as it was in 1972, the Patriots would have won the Super Bowl + 1.

I can see why Morris is rooting for the underdogs, although it's kind of strange to call the Titans underdogs. However, I just don't see how if you were part of the only undefeated team in history, you would rather a team that's barely squeaked out a good portion of their wins and benefitted greatly from others' mistakes join you in history than the most talented, most dominant group of guys ever put onto a football field.

So how much talk did Larry Csonka do during the season? Well, he said he didn't wish the Patriots any luck, but would congratulate them if they went 19-0. That was it.

Mercury, for the love of Peyton Manning, just go away. I'm really really hoping the Jets quiet him for another few months on Sunday.

Would Tom Brady make a difference at this point?

I know it's kind of a silly question, but after putting up a 30-51 400 yard, 3 TD no INT performance (with 60 rushing yards just because) on a really good defense, what else can Matt Cassel do at this point? The team still lost on Thursday and wouldn't even make the playoffs if the season ended today. In an earlier post I mentioned how the injuries were once again piling up for New England. Combine that with a defense that is almost last in passing TDs given up and the amount of quality teams in the AFC, the Pats, even with a 6-4 record might be headed for a disappointing end to their season. Miami squeaking out a crappy win against Oakland on Sunday didn't help matters either. Speaking of the Dolphins, they host the Patriots this Sunday. It's been a while since a late November Miami/New England matchup actually meant something. Here's a helpful tip to Belichick and the boys: if Miami is lined up in the wild cat, RONNIE BROWN IS GOING TO RUN THE BALL. You're welcome. (How they failed to adjust to that at halftime is just crazy.)

The rest of New England's schedule has the Steelers and the Cardinals at Gillette and road games in Seattle, Oakland and Buffalo. They need to win at least four of those and the playoffs still aren't guaranteed. Meanwhile, the current leaders of the AFC East are the damn Jets who just so happed to be in Tennessee this week. Collins vs. Favre, catch it! Old bastards...

Stupid panda jerk. Making me look like an idiot!

Whenever I start Cotchery, Favre NEVER throws him the ball. In the two games I didn't start him? 14 catches 187 yards and 1 TD. Anyway, after the Titans, New York still has to travel to San Francisco and Seattle. They have home games against Denver, Buffalo and Miami. We could be getting into crazy tie break territory when all is said and done. Buffalo has really dropped of the face of the earth and that loss last night might have sealed their fate.

Switching topics now to the NBA. Every team has played at least ten games and now and looking at the standings, there are very few surprises so far. The Knicks (vomit) are currently 6-4 and Mike D'Antoni has expertly swept all the drama under the rug and has his team playing halfway decent basketball. I love how he just isn't playing Marbury, the type of dude who exemplifies the NBA thug stereotype. He's also the type of dude that will seriously just sit on the bench all year and collect his TWENTY ONE MILLION DOLLARS. What a joke. New York does play Boston tonight however. Just ask Atlanta what happens to your momentum when you play the Celtics. (quick note: Garnett has been suspended for tonight's game. Leon starting anyone?)

How about Dwight Howard's 30 point 19 rebound 10 block performance last week? Can you imagine if he could hit his free throws? The Shaq parallels eerily continue... Oh and I like how he's already talking about the dunk contest.

The rookies have been playing some good ball too. Rose, Beasley and Mayo are all putting up some big numbers with guys like Jason Thompson, Luc Mbah a Moute and Marc Gasol all seriously contributing to their respective teams.

And if having your team start 3-7 isn't bad enough, how about charges of insider trading? I like Mark Cuban more often than not (especially how he constantly brings up how poor the officiating is) but what is a billionaire doing worrying about losing $750,000? Sure I would take several hundred Jack Bauer kicks to the balls for that kind of cake but c'mon Mark. Guess you won't be buying those Cubs now huh?

Oh and congrats to little Dusty P for winning the AL MVP Award. Laser show indeed.

The Walking Wounded

By October 20th, the New England Patriots had their starting quarterback, starting running back and starting safety all injured and out for the rest of the season. Today it is being reported that starting LB and all around ass kicker Adelius Thomas has a broken forearm and will join Brady, Maroney and Harrison on the IR. And this is in addition to Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordon missing significant time. Maybe I don't follow every team's injuries as closely as I do New England's, but it seems EVERY damn year that multiple key players miss huge chunks of the season. I know football is a grueling sport but yikes. Thanks to the emergence of "The Lawfirm" BenJarvus Jeremy Green-Ellis, the Pats still somehow have a semblance of a running game. Cassel is settling in nicely and they are tied for the division lead with a 6-3 record.

New England has a HUUUUGE game this Thursday against the Jets at Gillette. And just for S's and G's, New York has just signed old friend Ty Law and will trot him against his former team. This division is damn close but I think in a different way than people expected when Brady went down. I personally thought it was going to be a battle of mediocrity but all four teams are still very much in the running with every team have an above .500 record (see James' AFC post). One thing is for sure (besides my undying hatred for Brett Favre and the fact that Jerricho Cotchery caught 1 friggin pass in a game where his team scored 47 points), the Patriots cannot afford anymore huge injuries if they want to make the playoffs. Belichick is good, but he can only do so much with backups and backups to backups.

In an unrelated note, I wanted to quickly touch on the likely trade of Matt Holliday to the Oakland A's. He'll only be there for possibly less than one year but his huge OBP will fit right in with Billy Beane's team concept. Leaving Colorado will negatively impact his offensive stats, but not by leaps and bounds. Oakland's offense has really been terrible these past couple of seasons so it will be nice for their fans to have a legit star on the team. This is the first big move of the offseason and will only get baseball fans salivating for more deals and more signings. And does this move put more pressure on the Angels to lock up Teixeira?

All's I got to say is...

Ok, maybe that's a cheap shot. Last season, when I was cursing every single Patriots fan in the world, Adam was the only fan I had respect for. He's there, win or lose, good or bad, and he typifies the fan that any team could ever want. Tonight's game could have been won by either team. It lived up to the expectations, and it happened to go in Indy's favor.

Being realistic, the Patriots are still tied for first, the Colts still are fighting for a playoff spot, but this gives us credibility. We can beat the best (yes, even without Brady, the Pats are still one of the best), we can stop teams when we need to, and we can play disciplined football.

Next game, I'm hoping to see Rhodes much much much more than Addai. I hope to see Kelvin Hayden back so I don't poop myself every time someone throws to their 1 or 2 wide receivers. Also, I hope we don't play a team that can pound the ball with the running backs or throw the ball and be equally effective, like the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Oh. Crap.