Crisis of Confidence

Did you hear that Bill Belichick went for it on 4^th and 2 against the Colts during Week 10? No, you say? Then you really should call the Guinness Book of World Records; you’re living underneath the world’s largest rock. It doesn’t matter if you’re watching coverage of the Rams-Cardinals game six weeks later, sportscasters will bring it up somehow. It’s the most controversial decision of the year, and unless the Patriots beat the Colts in the playoffs, it could be remembered for long after this season.

The biggest conversation point that has come out of that is about Belichick’s lack of faith in his defense. But as of right now, my faith in the defense is waning as well. They’re ranked 20^th in the NFL. The Saints not only made them look bad, but they made the D look stupid as well, as Drew Brees tricked them into blowing simple coverages. Tully Banta-Cain has been hyped as the main pass-rusher, and let’s be honest here, that’s not good news, because that means TULLY BANTA-CAIN is our main pass-rusher. The Pats are tied for 19^th in the league with 28 sacks. But 10 of those sacks have come against the Buffalo Bills, including 5 of Banta-Cain’s 8.5. Since they're getting practically no pressure, the defense is falling flat.

After Week 13, in which the Patriots lost to the Dolphins and the Giants beat the Cowboys, ESPN had a poll asking whether New England or Dallas was in more trouble to get to the playoffs. Only two states in the nation picked the Patriots as being in deeper trouble than the Cowboys: Massachusetts and Hawaii. And we all remember from grade school that Hawaii doesn’t count for anything. So essentially the entire country believed that the Cowboys were in for it, and the one state that is supposed have faith in the Patriots has suddenly become “glass half-empty” as this season has progressed. Even though we were leading the AFC East when the poll was taken, and have since won the division.

And to be honest, the Patriots defense has done little to give us faith. They haven’t had a “defining play.” They’ve been burned by big play after big play. You can’t help but wonder what effect Richard Seymour’s departure had on this young unit. Thankfully, it is a young unit, and has a lot of chance to grow in the future. The defense could be great again with more experience for Jerod Mayo, Brandon Merriweather, and Vince Wilfork, if he’s re-signed.

There are a handful of spots for this team to have some real confidence. Wes Welker leads the league in receptions. The way he’s played the last couple seasons, that sounds like no surprise to Patriots fans. But don’t forget that he was out injured the first two weeks of the season, so he’s outperformed every receiver in the league that had a two game head start on him. And he’s not going anywhere anytime soon.

Sebastian Vollmer ended up being a monster at offensive tackle in his rookie season. He came in for an injured Matt Light and manhandled top defensive ends like Kyle Vanden Bosch and Dwight Freeney. He’s now moved over to right tackle, and our offensive line might be even stronger than it was in the perfect season. It’s something easily overlooked, but an improvement like that could mean more time for Brady to throw in the playoffs.

Randy Moss “bouncing back” was encouraging. He never bounced back in Minnesota. He never bounced in the first place for Oakland. Is it being blown completely out of proportion? Yes, it absolutely is. He had one bad game against Carolina, where the losing team was questioning his effort. In the weeks prior to that, he’d caught a 58 yard touchdown pass against the Dolphins, came down with 5 catches and a score against the red-hot Darelle Revis, and had 179 yards receiving with two trips to the end zone against the Colts. The only time in there he’d really done nothing was against the Saints, but none of the Patriots showed up that day anyways. Perhaps the thing to be happy with isn’t that Randy “bounced back,” but just can still play at the top of his game, and didn’t let Carolina’s head games get to him.

Beyond just issues with confidence from the people surrounding them, this is undoubtedly a team with an identity crisis. At the start of the decade, this was the defense that won championships. In 2007, the Tom Brady led one of the most unbelievable offenses in history. Last season was supposed to be the quirky year with Cassel leading the offense, yet this season has really been one lacking definition. We’re not a premiere defense anymore. The passing offense is good, but not perfect enough to rest the game solely on Brady’s sore shoulders. Every time the rushing game starts to make strides, either someone gets injured, or Maroney fumbles the ball on the goal line. Mostly the latter.

The Patriots are going to the playoffs, and they still have Bill Belichick and Tom Brady. There was once a day that meant they were the favorites for it all. But now people are questioning Belichick’s decisions for the first time, and a once-infallible Brady has come down to earth in many people’s eyes. The Patriots can win the Super Bowl. I just can’t tell you exactly how they would do it. And I don’t think they could tell you either.

Annual BC Football Post

Well, I'm clearly still lagging behind in life, but in case you want to know what I do with my free time, here's a letter I wrote to the Athletic Director of Boston College regarding the state of the football program. He should be getting this any day now.

November 14^th, 2009

Mr. Defilippo-

As an avid fan of Boston College Football, I wanted to write to you expressing a concern I have for the program. I held season tickets while attending BC, and have held them since graduating, and intend to remain a season ticket holder for as long as I live in New England. While my friends and I are adamant about attendance, excitement for the team the last two years has been tough to come by. I appreciated receiving two free tickets to opening day, but seeing constant sales and giveaways on half of the schedule is concerning. Most recently at the Central Michigan game, I counted only eleven people sitting in my section by the beginning of the fourth quarter. After the game, I went to visit a tailgate that has been ongoing for more than 20 seasons. I found that they decided for once that they would not bother, and watched the game from home. Some alumni I stay in touch with will watch on TV to avoid the cold weather when the matchup does not excite them, and this season, the home schedule has offered little excitement.

I understand that every major program in college football pads their schedule with teams like Northeastern. But relying on regular matchups with ACC rivals and a Notre Dame game (if we’re lucky) has not excited the Eagles fan base enough. The undefeated record at home is great to brag about, but considering the game play of Florida State and Wake Forest this year, there is little to truly be proud of. Having heard the talk that Notre Dame does not want to play us anymore, BC will need an exciting matchup to get fans off the couch and into the seats.

I know we can’t change the state of college football, “cupcake” games are inevitable, even if fans have little interest in them. I ask that you take a risk with the 2011 schedule, and consider adding the Boise State Broncos to our home schedule. I have read that their athletic director is searching desperately to travel to a major program’s home turf. The media coverage would be fantastic, and it would be a great way to spark added interest in season tickets. After Boise State’s miraculous win over Oklahoma to cap their undefeated season, I took great pride in bragging that Boston College had been the last team to beat the Broncos. And if for some reason we decided to play again, travelling to the blue turf could generate excitement if we can’t get caravans of RV’s to South Bend, Indiana anymore.

Please know that I do not write this to criticize. I’ll buy my season ticket either way, and I will show up whether it’s Boise State or Kent State. But I know that many others will not. Several years ago, a longtime season ticket holder once expressed to me his frustration over changes that required more money from him, and he told me; “BC needs to figure out that it’s not the only game in town.” That attitude is tough for me to hear, but is sadly well known. In this economic climate, if you only have a few hundred dollars to spend on sports games, some would rather spend it all on one Patriots game than a season of “cupcake” BC football games. We know this to be a problem, that BC is often the redheaded stepchild in Boston sports. Please take a risk in the schedules for the coming years, Mr. Defilippo. Thank you for your time, and Go Eagles!

Sincerely,

Sean Harris

Playing Catch-Up

It’s funny how being in a foreign country for two Sundays, and at Gillette for another two Sundays results in you not watching much football on TV since week one. I don’t think the woman at the front desk of my hotel in Peru was terribly amused when asked if we could pay extra for them to somehow order the Patriots-Jets game. So I went to the pool and took in the sun instead. I was probably the only smiling Patriots fan that day.

And probably best I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the Atlanta game. Having had season tickets to BC football for the last six seasons, my heart would have been a little torn watching Matty Ice come home to get beat down. I’ll never forget that I got to graduate with that man. I’ll also never forget that the day after we graduated, he signed a $63 million contract while I searched Monster.com for a job with a monster hangover. That sort of thing really puts your life in perspective.

On that note: Never mind. I feel no remorse for beating those losers.

Putting Baltimore to the side for a moment, what is our hump with Denver? Tom Brady is 1-5 against the Broncos, and they are the only franchise he has a losing record to in the regular season. To compare, Drew Bledsoe also faced Denver 6 times as a Patriot. He had 4 straight losses before winning out his last 2 against the Broncos. But his losses were to all to John Elway. Brady hasn’t faced Elway. He’s been beaten up multiple times by the likes of Brian Griese and Jake Plummer, with Kyle Orton just getting his punches in the other week. Oh, but Tom beat Denver quarterback Danny Kanell. Man we showed…that……guy?

And Tennessee? What can you really say? When Pats tickets went on sale, I bought that game thinking, “That’ll be a close one.” Shows what I know. But, seeing history as Tom shattered the record for most touchdowns in a quarter was very worth it. Even if I still can’t feel my feet from the cold.

Now, I understand wanting to spread football throughout the world. The rest of the world is lacking a major part of modern life. Forget the Christian Children’s Fund and their 7 cents a day, we need to get football to those poor bastards around the world that think soccer is a real sport. (Look, I downloaded the demo for the soccer video game on Xbox Live. I got a penalty for tackling an Italian dude. I deleted it immediately.) But how does the NFL choose to do bring joy and happiness to Europe?

Roger Goodell: “We need to send a premiere team to London, so I say we get the Patriots over there. Now which team on their schedule should travel well?”

Some genius: “Well I think the British really love those pirate movies. But the Raiders players might stay over there to avoid their contracts with Al Davis if we ship them to London, so let’s send Tampa Bay!”

And hence, we spread goodwill by having New England beat the crap out of the Succanneers in Old England. Not quite the way to make people excited about the NFL. Glad to see we went opened the season playing nothing but unbeaten teams, to turn around immediately and play two awful winless teams. But I would safely say Tom looks like he’s warming back up.

Now I set Baltimore aside so I can have extra room to rant. Just to be clear, I have got nothing but respect for the talents Ray Lewis and Ed Reed have. Without those two, that famed Baltimore defense that has dominated for the better part of this last decade would be nothing. I also have to make sure I state my respect for Ray Lewis upfront, because he killed two people and got away with it, and I don’t want to die next. So…you’re the man, Lewis!

But what Ray has to learn is that the NFL refs don’t let you get away with as much as the U.S. justice system. He complained after the game about two roughing-the-passer penalties the Ravens received, implying that the officials screwed over Baltimore and cost them the game. Well Ray, those were just two of the nine accepted penalties on the Ravens, totaling 85 yards over the game. And it’s not exactly unheard of to have a highly-penalized Ravens team. They blew it against Cincinnati thanks to penalties. And I’m sure the Ravens haven’t forgotten that defensive holding called on 4^th down that kept the 2007 win streak alive for the Pats.

Do I like the roughing-the-passer calls the league has thrown down this year? Of course not. It nearly cost us the Bills game. The difference between the Patriots and the Ravens? We won in spite of two of those calls with two fantastic drives by Tom Brady, and Mark Clayton dropped an easy catch on 4^th down that would have given them 1^st and goal. You have to accept that this is how the league is now, be smart about hitting quarterbacks, and suck it up when you make the mistakes.

Just as frustrating in the situation, though, is the lack of a sack by the NFL by not fining any of the Ravens for their comments. If you’re going to change the rules, stick to your guns, fine players who complain that they were bad calls.

But Ray Lewis can keep playing Ravens football, make dumb penalties, and complain about the calls after the game. Meanwhile, the Patriots will enjoy our wins. Your choice, Ray.

KICKOFF

The last time Tom Brady lost a regular season game was December 10th, 2006. That means, as of the night of the game against the Bills, it’s been 2 years, 9 months, and 4 days. A lot of Tuesday Morning Quarterbacks have said that Tom Brady looked “rusty,” “jittery,” “off-balance,” and acting like he's forgotten how to be Tom Brady. From what I saw, if Tom Brady forgot ANYTHING, he forgot how to lose. Since Tom’s last loss:

1.) Michael Vick was accused of, convicted, and served his sentence for dog fighting.

2.) Brett Favre retired and unretired. Twice.

3.) Tom Brady impregnated two gorgeous women.

4.) And the iPhone debuted, was reinvented, and then re-reinvented.

Monday night wasn’t the perfection of 2007, which is our most recent memory. But that last regular season game he lost was a 21-0 blowout by the Miami Dolphins. And the quarterback that outplayed Tom? Name him. Really, go ahead.

Can’t remember?

Joey Harrington. Admit it, you barely remember Joey Harrington even PLAYED for the Dolphins. So yes, Tom isn’t perfect. Let’s get over it, people. He still won the game, and if you can’t even remember the last quarterback who beat Tom Brady, who will remember two average quarters from a game he won?

The Budweiser 4th Down Rants of the Week

Here’s everything you need to know about this week without wasting much time on any point, officially sponsored by Budweiser. ***

- Jon Gruden’s announcing job on Monday proved he deserved to get fired by the Bucs. “Todd Light” apparently played several series on Monday. THERE IS A LIST OF NAMES RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU. Get the two-time Pro Bowler’s name right.

- Richard Seymour was missed in the run defense as Fred Jackson performed better than a 2nd string running back should. Pass rush got more penetration than a U-Mass sorority during Senior Week, so we could be in good shape. Of course, this could just be proof that the Bills O-Line is as bad as everyone said it would be.

- On that note of pass rush, apparently the “Tom Brady rule” is turning the NFL into a game of Two-Hand-Touch, as we saw on with that questionable call on Thomas and absurd call on Wilfork. Let’s strap some skirts on the quarterbacks while we’re at it.

- Pray to God Jerod Mayo is okay in less than 8 weeks. Short of some miracle trade, we may have to grab Derrick Brooks, who is example number two as to why Jon Gruden is an idiot, giving up on a Pro Bowl linebacker.

- Thank you for having a sack, Leodis McKelvin, taking that ball out of the end zone with basically no one to block for you. Classy fans in Buffalo are glad you have more of a sack than J.P. Losman by publishing your address. Buffalo teenagers returned the favor by spray painting a picture of said sack on his front lawn, along with the score of the game. I'm sure it was a compliment. Also, reason number three to illustrate Jon Gruden is an idiot, as he seemed to think there was no choice but for the Patriots to do an onside kick. Monday nights are going to be painful.

***Note: Not so much "officially sponsored by" Budweiser, as "creative assistance provided by."

So Long, and Thanks For All the Picks

The retirement of a player like Tedy Bruschi is the most significant emotional loss that most teams experience. On the field, we’ll move on, as Jerod Mayo is ready to bear the load of this defense. But this is entirely different from losing your best player. Tom Brady is our superstar, our headline news, our future Hall of Famer. Bruschi was the guts of this team. Not the heart, because that’s some Lifetime TV movie BS. Yeah, the guy knew how to love life and always had a smile. But he had his biggest smiles after crushing the hopes and dreams of every fan for the opposing team. That’s not heart, that’s the damned guts of a team.

New England football didn’t know the meaning of the word “good” before he set foot in Foxboro. Most fans know he’s been in 5 of the Patriots’ 6 Super Bowls. When speaking to Patriots fans with more selective memories, they’ll tell you he was in every Patriots Super Bowl that is worth your breath. But what is easy to take for granted is that of the 13 seasons Tedy graced that uniform, 11 were years with winning records. To offer up a contrast, of the 7 seasons prior to his arrival, 6 were losing years. That included a 1 win season and a 2 win season. Tedy was an integral part to the play of the defense, as well as the mentality of the team over those 13 seasons.

Tedy Bruschi is the consummate Patriot. He was the representative of that mantra “the team comes first.” Why? Because Bruschi was a PLAYER. He didn’t aim to be a superstar with the stats and the ego. His goal, every down, was to make that defense better. And he deserves “Comeback Player of the Decade” for coming back from his 2005 stroke and not only playing, but playing at the top of his game ever since, recording 10 tackles in his first game back.

The fact that Tedy spent his entire career on one team is something truly special in this day and age. It speaks to how much he cared about the team. You won’t see him retire one week, only to come back in another uniform next month with whatever team will take him. Just to give you an idea of how long those 13 years really have been, here are just SOME of the players who have left us since Tedy became a Patriot:

Drew Bledsoe, Curtis Martin, Troy Brown, Terry Glenn, Ben Coates, Willie McGinest, Ted Johnson, Ty Law, Lawyer Milloy, Sam Gash, Tebucky Jones, Damien Woody, Antowain Smith, Roman Phifer, Mike Vrabel, Deion Branch, David Givens, David Patten, Christian Fauria, Daniel Graham, Asante Samuel, Eugene Wilson, Rodney Harrison, Roosevelt Colvin, Corey Dillon, Matt Cassel, Larry Izzo, Heath Evans, Jabar Gaffney, Ellis Hobbs, Donte Stallworth, Lamont Jordan, Junior Seau, Adam Vinatieri.

These are just the notable people who have left in the 13 seasons that Bruschi stuck with the Pats. All were his teammates, and Tedy was the last one standing.

Oh, and Tedy also outlived Bill Parcells and Pete Carroll to boot. Not just their stints, but even their influence. He was the final man left on the roster that had been drafted or signed by Parcells, and the only other player left on the team that played under Pete Carroll is Kevin Faulk.

He participated in 22 playoff games, more than any Patriot. Adam Vinatieri is the only active player in the NFL who has been in more playoff games. He has played more games than any other linebacker in Patriots history. With Bruschi on the field, the Patriots are 144-67. In those 211 games, he recorded 1,134 tackles, 30 ½ sacks, 12 interceptions, 18 forced fumbles, and 6 fumble recoveries. But those are just numbers, and none of us will remember those statistics off the top of our heads by tomorrow.

The Fact is, Tedy Bruschi is one of the reasons I love football. Were it not for memories of his fire and fantastic play, I may not have become so obsessive about the Patriots as a whole. And you can’t retire memories. Perhaps no Patriot of the last two decades will be as memorable as him, besides just Tom Brady and maybe Troy Brown. Boston fans reward loyalty with loyalty (tough luck Adam Vinatieri and Johnny Damon), and Bruschi will be no exception to this rule, especially since he is one of the few faces we will associate with all three Super Bowl victories.

Thank you, Tedy. We will never forget that you truly went out on top.

Obligatory Brett Favre Post

The Patriot Fact has little to say about Brett Favre's continued lack of knowledge of what the word "retirement" means. Since the only possible way it affects the Patriots is if both teams end up in the Super Bowl, so we can exact revenge for Super Bowl XXXI, little comment is needed. I was stuck in a chair for an hour and a half that infamous day, and the only topic on all three channels of ESPN the whole time was Favre. So for 24/7 coverage of Brett's career statistics, memorable games, workouts, contract signings, sleeping habits, and love life, refer to them.

The only thing I can offer you that they won’t is three reasons why you shouldn't let Brett Favre into your survival party when the zombie attack comes:

1.) You can't trust Brett Favre as far as he can throw a ball at the end of the season. Which is shorter than you can throw him. So when he says, "Go run through the zombie pit to save that helpless child. Don’t worry, I’ll cover you,” do so at your own risk.

2.) On that note, holding the league record for interceptions gives me little faith in his aim. When bullets are limited, I don't want the Brett Favre style of shooting to dictate how ammo is used.

3.) If he turns into a zombie, he WILL BE that one zombie that just won't die.

While I'm sorry for just wasting 60 seconds of your life, but there is literally NOTHING I can say that won’t be repeating some news organization, as apparently every sport goes on hiatus when Brett Favre makes decisions. But at least now you know: zombies show up and Brett Favre needs a posse? Steal his Wrangler jeans for their durability, and send him on his way.

Bill Belichick – HO!

Going into the 2009-2010 season, now's the time to look back at what's happened since the Super Bowl. The Patriots made some key veteran signings, had a few interesting trades, the retirement of Rodney Harrison, and so on. All of these are certainly important and will have major effects on the franchise in the months to come. But there's this one aspect of the offseason, I just can't get it out of my head. It really has been nagging me since the draft, like a toothache, but worse. I'm aware that this was already common knowledge, but this offseason really showed that Al Davis, owner of the Oakland Raiders, is ****ing crazy. And Bill Belichick is on a mission to prove it, not just to everyone else, but also to Al himself.

We'll return to Bill's involvement in this shortly. But first, just as a friendly reminder, Al Davis used the 7th overall pick of the draft to take Darrius Heyward-Bay, wide receiver out of Maryland. To be nice, we'll call this one a "head-scratcher" of a pick, since he skipped two highly regarded picks in Michael Crabtree and Jeremy Maclin, and instead of trading down to get more value from his position, simply took the man with the fastest 40 time with a high pick. He was still projected to go in the second round, maybe low first at best, so we can say, "OK Al, you got your patented crazy move of the year, let's keep this draft moving."

Well after some trading around with picks, the next choice the Raiders made was Mike Mitchell, safety out of Ohio. Now, I'm not saying that guys like Mel Kiper and Todd McShay know more about drafting than some of these General Managers, because they don't. But when ESPN hasn't even gone to the trouble of collecting footage of a player, because Mel and Todd didn't think he was even draftable, either Davis has some amazing scouts, or he's lost it. Typically, I'm a big proponent of franchises not listening to the commentators, but in this rare instance, the Raiders probably would have been better off just taking the next best player on Mel's Big Board (also known as "The Detroit Lions Approach to Drafting.")

Al's always been a little "hands-on" for an owner, and I can understand why he thinks he can be. He's been a true staple in football for almost half a century. But Al, you're 80. You've successfully scared off good coaches like Mike Shanahan and Jon Gruden, plus, I somehow doubt Lane Kiffen was any worse than Tom Cable. You overpaid Javon Walker, an injury prone wide out who walked around Oakland with too much bling on, and got the hell beat out of him, because someone failed to tell Javon that downtown Oakland isn't quite like downtown Green Bay or Denver. Whoops.

What do Al Davis' frequent missteps have to do with Belichick? Bill is on an honest-to-God mission to show Al just how bad a job he is doing. For the last few years, he has just loved picking up Oakland players that Davis had given up on, and trying to prove that they can play well. The Randy Moss trade speaks for itself. But in case it doesn't you've been in a coma for the last two years: Al Davis traded 1st and 7th round picks, as well as linebacker Napoleon Harris to the Vikings for Moss in 2005. Two subpar seasons later, Davis thought he was dumping an over-the-hill receiver off on the Patriots for a 4th round draft pick. Randy scored 23 TD's that following season with New England (more than twice the combined total he had over two seasons with the Raiders) and racked up just under 1,500 yards (he had just 553 the season prior). That's the most obvious example of Bill using a former Raider to make Al look bad.

In 2008, the Raiders released Lamont Jordan, who, again, Davis thought was useless. In New England's committee backfield last season, he averaged 4.5 yards per carry, and got 4 touchdowns on just 80 touches. Not feature-back worthy, but certainly useful. We traded to get receiver Doug Gabriel, and while it didn't work out too well (no help to there being no other capable wide receivers that year), Bill's penchant for Raiders has not diminished. Derrick Burgess and Andrew Walter are the newest additions, and while filling a major need at outside linebacker, Burgess has the potential to really show Davis that he needs to get his act together. Burgess had 35 sacks between 2005-2007, and, despite being on one of the league's worst teams, made the Pro Bowl twice. But Burgess wanted out of the Al Davis system, and the Pats got him on a discount. And should Walter ever be needed, Belichick is surely working on just how to make Davis realize that he and Randy Moss were more than capable of scoring touchdowns when both were wearing black and silver.

Add to this the trade made with the Raiders for straight draft picks, as we grabbed back-to-back picks to take defensive tackle Ron Brace and corner back Darius Butler. With that trade down, the Raiders took the safety Mitchell. Since we had the pick IMMEDIATELY after the Raiders would-be selection, the Patriots showed pretty significant interest in beating the Raiders to their next pick. I wonder if Davis will look back on Mitchell's career of having good 40's but sloppy tackles, and compare that with Brace's seasons of eating people whole, and wonder if he was right to trade down.

We've heard many times that Belichick is a rabid fan of football history, hence why he gave Doug Flutie the chance to make that now-famous (though completely inconsequential) drop-kick. As a student of the game, Belichick is more than aware of the contributions Davis has made to the NFL. And that would explain why he wants to make Davis look bad, so Al hangs it up before embarrassing himself even more.

And yes, he has done a lot for this game, though that's easy to forget lately. Al Davis was the first Raiders coach to have a winning season in 1963, his rookie campaign. Since transitioning to being owner/general manager in 1967, the Raiders have won their division 13 times, won 3 Super Bowls and 1 AFL Championship, as well as made them one of two teams to be in a Super Bowl in 4 different decades. Davis hired the first Latino coach (Tom Flores) in 1979, the second African American coach (Art Shell) in 1989, and made Amy Trask president of the Raiders, the highest position a woman had ever held in the NFL.

Al Davis should be remembered as a major part of this league. But for the better part of this decade, Al Davis has been a joke, impatiently firing coaches, overpaying players, and annoying the hell out of said players and coaches with his constant meddling. Instead of being remembered for his contributions and making the Raiders a team to beat, he's becoming a villain to his own fans by turning the Raiders into a joke. This is how I will remember Davis:

As Mumm-Ra from the Thundercats. A spell-casting villain, able to extend his own lifetime, yet unable to beat a bunch of kitties. That sounds, and looks, like Al Davis to me. Davis is adamant that he will not retire until the Raiders win two more Super Bowls, or he dies. Well Oakland, at least you can look forward to more draft picks like speedy Darrius Heyward-Bay and fatty JaMarcus Russell for the next 50 years. Just pray that Bill Belichick, the man you all despise for the so-called “Snow Job,” can be your Lion-O and convince Al Davis to hang it up before Oakland becomes the second team to go 0-16.

THE PATRIOT FACT BEGINS

This is probably the first blog to officially begin with its 13th post, but as Batman Begins showed, sometimes its best to simply start all over. I started writing pointless commentary on football with a Patriotic perspective last year for Gang Green TV. Turns out what began as what I thought would be a "Oh yeah, man, sounds cool, I'll totally do that...until I get bored and lazy 2 weeks in" sort of commitment, ended up being pretty fun.

So while I'll continue my affiliation with the guys at Gang Green, I'll keep a handy record of my belligerence here. Also, "Pinheads or Patriots" was a working title name that stuck, so here I am in Season 2 with "The Patriot Fact."

This is the point where a blogger tells you what to expect, how often the updates will come, basically why you should ever look at this again. I promise nothing.

Except that I love football, and often have something pretty ignorant to say about it. So below, you can find all my posts from last year. Above will be my attempt at two years of commitment.

One month to the regular season. And I hear some guy named Tom Brady is playing for the Patriots this season. He's supposed to be pretty okay.

Seriously this time, are we Pinheads?

Pinheads or Patriots?

(Originally posted March 10, 2009)

Bill Belichick is the sort of head coach that is so smart, he has you scratching your head all the time, but you’re smiling with the end result. There are times when Patriots fans have wondered if he's making a bad decision. When he committed to Tom Brady in the Super Bowl over a fully recovered Drew Bledsoe, some questioned. When the likes of Lawyer Milloy and Ty Law were allowed to leave because of salary issues, most doubted. The fact that Matt Cassel was even still on the roster after this last preseason was too much for some. But our head-scratching is always put to rest.

Then came the trade of the 34th overall pick in the 2009 draft for Cassel and Mike Vrabel. That’s quite the going-away present for Scott Pioli. Normally, I would trust the Belichick way, knowing we somehow got the better end of the deal, but that new Chiefs GM knows what he’s doing too. A lot of nasty rumors are out there about Belichick keeping promises to Pioli, but let’s get over playground politics and talk some actual football, people.

There are obvious downsides to this deal. The hottest free agent this year went for essentially half of a second round draft choice. We lost a strong leader on our defense, a direct blow to an oft-injured linebacking corps. Perhaps the biggest blow came when reports leaked that we could have had the Bronco’s first round pick, so long as Tampa Bay traded them for Jay Cutler. That’s obviously pretty conditional on the Bucs, but even if something wasn’t worked out, the Patriots could have milked the situation just a little more to see if they could get that first rounder.

What could have been going through Bill’s mind? Football talks a lot about that “clock inside your head” that counts down for a quarterback. That was what was going on for the Patriots brass, only this clock was about the salary cap. As of the day before free agency started, the Patriots had the second least amount of cap room to work with, just $3.2 million. It was estimated that New England would need about $10 million to sign their free agents and Draft picks, and we had some serious holes to fill. Here’s some of the notable contracts that ran up: FB Heath Evans, WR Jabar Gaffney, S Rodney Harrison, LB Junior Seau, P Chris Hanson, RB LaMont Jordan.

When you talk about aspects of the Patriots dynasty that have resulted in success, what comes to mind first? Tom Brady? Bill Belichick? Perhaps defense? The most overlooked aspect, but one of the most valuable parts, is how we manage Robert Kraft’s checkbook year-to-year, and part of that has to do with foresight. Want to know who the free agents will be in 2010? Mike Vrabel, Vince Wilfork, Richard Seymour, Kevin Faulk, Logan Mankins, Stephen Gostkowski and Tedy Bruschi. Wilfork is going to take precedence over the rest, and will come with a big price tag. Seymour, Mankins and Gostkowski are serious keepers, and also hold a high price tag. But next year, would we have gone to the same lengths to keep Vrabel, Bruschi and Faulk as the rest of them? No. Pinning a “C” a player’s uniform doesn’t always mean they’re worth the big bucks…sorry ‘Tek.

With his clock ticking, Belichick knew he needed cap room fast to make room for guys like RB Fred Taylor, WR Greg Lewis, CB Shawn Springs. In case you hadn’t notice, we needed a good running back, a solid third wideout, and THANK YOU LORD WE ACTUALLY WENT AFTER A CORNBERBACK. Not to mention re-signing safety James Sanders and punter Chris Hanson. All of which are official, just a week into free agency, unlike the snails-pace of last year. If we let Cassel sit too long, Pioli could have ended up playing hardball and claim he’d wait until the draft for a franchise quarterback. And Tampa could have chickened out on the deal, leaving us stuck for too long with a toxic asset.

Does this help me sleep at night? No. Not at all. I haven’t slept in days. I toss and turn each night, with nightmares, hearing over and over, “And with the 13^th pick of the 2009 NFL Draft, the New England Patriots pick…Cap’N Crunch, University of Iowa.” Or some other terrible out of shape cartoon character. Maybe I have issues. Either way, It still infuriates me, because this is typical boring Belichick. He’s all brains and no fun. First round picks are fun.

I will console you with one rationale, though. Keep in mind that we would have been trading within the AFC. Which team would you rather share a conference with; a Cassel-led Kansas City Chiefs, or a Cassel-led/McDaniels-coached Denver Broncos?

If the Broncos were able to end our playoff run with Jake “The Snake” Plummer, I’d rather we would stick Matt on a team whose best player is their Tight End. Because believe me, that’s never a good sign.

One Great Game

Pinheads or Patriots?

(Originally posted February 5, 2009)

Super Bowl XLIII was best explained not by the commentators, the post-game interviews, or Monday Morning Quarterbacks around the country. Football as a whole was summed up by a great modern mind where we least expected one to emerge. We saw his philosophy when Kurt Warner, stumbling all over himself, somehow tossed up a perfect touchdown pass to Ben Patrick. We saw it when James Harrison stepped in front of a pass before anyone could even see where the ball was going. This principle was well seen when Larry Fitzgerald leapt into the air and pulled down what would be an impossible touchdown catch for just about anyone else, or when everyone knew he was going in the end zone when he caught ball with 63 more yards to run. And Santonio Holmes summed it up when he won the game with what will (hopefully, to Patriots fans) be the best remembered catch in Super Bowl history.

Yes, the ultimate statement explaining football was made last night by the Miller High Life man: All you need is just one second.

That's all it takes to turn a game around, defensively, offensively, or specially. And Super Bowl XLIII was played for every second it was worth. With the lone exception of probably Hines Ward, every player in that game lived up to what was hyped about them. And in the case of Santonio Holmes stepping up, it was the un-hyped factor that caught the game by surprise to win it all. Warner, Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin, Edgerrin James, and Darnell Dockett certainly lived up to hype. But the Steeler defense showed up for the game changing 100 yard interception return, as defensive MVP's sometimes can do. This was a game of memorable moments, without a doubt. Easily the best Patriots-Free Super Bowl in over a decade.

We can go through every play that went the Steeler's way to say why they won, and vice versa as to why the Cardinals lost, but football won this year. The Cardinals played a game worth watching when many wrote them off as the joke they so often have been. The Steelers put on a performance that could keep that headset on Mike Tomlin's head for a great long time to come. Hats off to both teams, but moreso, thanks. Thanks for a great game, and especially thanks for getting people to already begin to stop talking about that nightmare last year. It only takes one second to make history, but it takes a great deal of Miller High Life to forget history.

Tampa Bound

Blog X

(Originally posted January 20, 2009)

The Super Bowl XLIII matchup is a bit of a surprise. The Arizona Cardinals are resembling Michael Myers, they just keep getting back up even when they should die. Many counted them out of the playoffs from the start, since, well, they're the Arizona Cardinals. This is a franchise famous for only two things: being featured in "Jerry Maguire," and blowing a 20-point lead in 2006 to the Chicago Bears (who, apparently, were who the Cardinals thought they were.) Yet, many people forget that they were in "Jerry Maguire." That is a true testament to the fame of the Arizona Cardinals.

The Steelers are not so surprising, but they did fly low on the radar under the Titans and the Colts. They have the best defense in the league, and that can apparently win you a game or two. Ben Roethlisberger is an impressive athlete, who I will always remember as being the only person with broad enough shoulders to actually fit a name like "Roethlisberger" on the back of his jersey (Houshmandzadeh does not fit nearly as suavely, no offense T.J.) But the thing that truly makes the Steelers not so surprising is their overall record as a historical franchise. They're currently tied with the 49ers and Cowboys for most Super Bowl wins at 5 apiece. The Cardinals have never even reached an NFC Championship game before this season. But sports have evolved in the last 43 years since the Super Bowl got going, underdogs can now be something to be feared.

We live in a world where Appalachian State beat Michigan, Boise State beat Oklahoma, 14-point underdog New England beat the St. Louis Rams, the Red Sox came back from a 3 game deficit to beat the New York Yankees and go to the World Series, George Mason made the NCAA Final Four over some of the greatest college basketball programs in the country, and Jesse "The Body" Ventura won a contest that did not have a fixed outcome to become a legitimate United States Governor. Things are different. Underdog wins may still be few and far between, but are not a total rarity.

Almost more importantly to mention than underdogs, terrible franchises can win. To date, only 18 of the 32 NFL franchises have Super Bowl Trophies. In the last 11 Super Bowls, 5 teams won their franchises' first Super Bowl : Denver Broncos, St. Louis Rams, Baltimore Ravens, New England Patriots, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (6 have won, if you count the Indianapolis Colts, as I'm sure few Indy fans really care that the Baltimore Colts won Super Bowl V, 13 years before coming to their city). The old school favorites are struggling. Of those three teams tied for most Super Bowl victories, only Pittsburgh has a trophy (let alone an APPEARANCE) out of the last dozen Super Bowls. Consider the number of franchises that are considered jokes at the beginning of a season. Then consider the franchises that are perennially considered jokes at the beginning of each season. The Arizona Cardinals are certainly among those. While the Patriots are now considered one of the best teams, we were a joke before 2001. The Buccaneers were the joke of countless seasons.

The Buccaneers are an interesting franchise to bring up in this same breath as the Cardinals. Their lone Super Bowl victory came when Jon Gruden swashbuckled his coaching allegiances from the Raiders to the Buccaneers, and the two teams met in the Super Bowl in his first season as Tampa Bay's head coach. He picked apart Raiders quarterback Rich Ganon, as the Buccaneers pillaged and plundered Oakland for all it was worth, while Al Davis started listing the various ways he could sink his franchise down to Davy Jones' Locker without anyone's help. Simply, they did not stand a chance with Gruden on the other side of the field, as he knew the Oakland offense inside and out, as some members of that Raiders squad have since stated.

The coach of the Cardinals, Ken Whisenhunt, was a pretty successful offensive coordinator for three years before taking his current job. In his first season, he helped lead a rookie quarterback to winning all 13 of the games he started, and being the first AFC team to win 15 games in a season. In his second season as offensive coordinator, he won the Super Bowl. Not too shabby. He was coordinator for some team named the Pittsburgh Steelers. Maybe you've heard somebody mention them recently? Whisenhunt will break out every single old note he has on Roethlisberger, Willie Parker, Hines Ward, and the entire offensive line to win this game.

No win is certain after last year's Super Bowl. People who are acting like the Steelers winning is guaranteed are delusional. I thought I could guarantee the Cardinals wouldn't get through the first, second, and third games of the playoffs. Apparently, I was delusional. Ken Whisenhunt helped mold Big Ben into the quarterback he is today, and he's not so far removed from the system that we can rule out him pulling a Jon Gruden. The one thing that is certain: The Cardinals are NOT who we thought they were. The only uncertainty: Will the Steelers let them off the hook?

One Round Left

Pinheads or Patriots? Episode 9

(Originally posted January 17th, 2009)

I would make a rather poor psychic. My Super Bowl picks of Indianapolis and Carolina both lost their first games of the postseason. To the thousands of you who placed bets based upon my expert analysis, I apologize. But many of these games had bright sides for New England fans.

Eli Manning is going home. Peyton already choked on his fruit salad. Bill Parcells got to buy the groceries this year, but he's not invited to dinner. Yet, Patriots Nation held it breath until Sunday night, as one team we could not stand to win remained. And whose fault is it they were still standing?

Sorry. My bad. Six weeks ago, I made some lame crack in this column about how Philip Rivers had cursed the Patriots, yet had no control over his own team that could finish 8-8 at best. Well, I blew it. I committed the dreaded Inadvertent Reverse-Jinx, as the Chargers then won out the rest of their season. I was pretty terrified they might make it to the championship. But in my favor was the losing streak of high-seeded teams over the last 5 years. How did this hurt the low-seeded Chargers?

Pittsburgh had the 2 seed, which apparently hurts them. But the Chargers already had my Inadvertent Reverse-Jinx. Science class taught us with fun magnets that two positives repel, thus, these two supernatural reasons to win cancelled each other out, dooming the Chargers.
Don't believe me?

Good. Because the truth is, you don't need hocus pocus to explain that game, the Chargers were just a bad team. You know the old saying, "What happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?" In that sentence, the Steelers were both the unstoppable force and the immovable object, while the Chargers were the innocent bystander that gets rolled over without a chance. They were lucky that their first opponent in the playoffs have choked more than any team in the last decade.

As for the other games, the Ravens looked very impressive on the road against the Titans. But possibly lacking Terrell Suggs and Samari Rolle, that dominant defense might let up a few big plays.

The Eagles are making a case, despite an unspectacular performance by Brian Westbrook. It doesn't hurt that Asante Samuel is one of the most dominant postseason defensive backs in history.

I am still in shock that Arizona developed a defense. If this isn't a 2 week fluke, the Cardinals might reach their first Super Bowl. The curse of the Pottsville Pennsylvanians, one of the last great sports curses, may be shattered.

But I put my faith in Pottsville. It took 86 years to break the curse of one man, the curse by an entire city should last a few hundred, minimum. Morseso, I base my assumption on the smack-down Philly gave to the Giants, I think they can figure out the sudden resurgent Arizona defense.

My new Super Bowl pick is the Steelers vs. the Eagles. Do I care who goes? Nah. There's no particular bad blood left over with the four remaining teams and the Patriots. I'm just looking for a good game now. But based upon my picks, if you're a smart gambler, maybe you should just place your bets on a Baltimore-Arizona Super Bowl.

For Boston, For Boston, We Sink Our Season Down the Drain

Pinheads or Patriots? College Special
(Originally posted January 9, 2009)

Tell a Boston College fan that their athletic program will have a headline on the ESPN web page. Tell them. Really, give it a whirl. Someone that goes to BC games drunk and barely pays attention will probably say, "You're damn right! BC RULES!" Someone who actually enjoys BC athletics and follows actual sports is probably smart enough to say, "Nah. You're full of it...Wait, really? And it's not hockey finals season?"

This is not to diminish the accomplishments of Boston College at all. I love BC athletics. I've had football season tickets for five straight years, and Coach Jerry York once invited me into the locker room to meet the players for my support of the hockey team. But those experiences gave me perspective on how all of the city feels about the major college program in the area. BC has a weak and disloyal fan-base that cares more for the Red Sox, Celtics and Patriots. The week leading up to the Gaylords Hotel Music City Bowl (yeah, I know, I know), WBZ News highlighted the three big stories in Boston sports at the time : the Patriots season ending, the Celtics winning, and that Red Sox spring training was just 43 days away.

Yet this week, I opened the ESPN homepage to find not one, but TWO headlines featuring BC on the main page. Eagles basketball defeated #1 ranked North Carolina, and football head coach Jeff Jagodzinski was coveting thy neighbor's head coaching job. A rather bittersweet combination.

I'm sure most of the nation has heard more than they care to listen about this situation with Coach Jags interviewing for the New York Jets vacancy, resulting in his job being threatened, and then terminated. If you'd like the position of an Eagle's fan, I can give you two. One is that of the aforementioned tailgating drunkard, who will spit on Coach Jags' name and curse the day they ever tried to pronounce his name. (Reasonable fans are, understandably, upset as well.) My position?

Athletic Director Gene DeFilippo needs help. Not just coaching help, but psychological help. He lost a great college coach in Tom O'Brien just two years ago. Coach Jags came in and gave BC football its best season in history with O'Brien's leftovers, got the team ranked #2 in the country for a couple weeks, then made quarterback Matt Ryan into a Heisman candidate and the first quarterback picked in the draft. And Gene gets jealous that Jags is making googly eyes across the street? He's lucky to be able to say that Boston College can get GREAT coaches. New England should be bull that BC gave Giants coach Tom Coughlin his start.

Jagodzinski had his own reputation to look out for. If you never saw the man, imagine a basket-full of puppies riding a rainbow all the way to Disney World. He's happier than that. He undoubtedly was optimistic about his first head coaching job, ready to make BC even better than it already was. And he did. But then he started recruiting.

BC is a great football school. It gets very good athletes, and makes many of them better. But it does not get great athletes to start with. No matter how great a coach may be, names of an institution carry much more weight. Those pearly whites Jeff flashed would never lure a good running back away from USC, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, or just about any other top 20 team.

Quarterback Chris Crane, who was hated at the start of the season by fans, but sorely missed after he went down with a broken collarbone, is graduating. Freshman QB Dominique Davis successfully ended BC's bowl game win streak, which had been the longest in the nation. The Eagles defense was one of the top rated in the country, but the majority of the players were seniors, with Mark Herzlich and B.J. Raji expected to go in the first round of the NFL Draft. Though he had two heralded years, Jags knew the honeymoon was over, and he was going to get crushed with his poor recruiting classes. He was going to lose next season. A lot. His coaching reputation would be sullied, and there was nothing he could do about it. BC's name just couldn't pull in the players he needed.

I'm not happy he's gone. But loyalty means little in today's job market. I've heard a lot of people say "Well, this is how sports are, coaches jump ship all the time," and that's no defense. The fact is, ALL JOBS are like that these days, not just coaching. Dennis and Callahan can rip Jags a new one on WEEI for leaving, but the fact is that if ESPN came looking for a couple new hosts for SportsCenter, I doubt they'd turn down the interview because of their contracts to an AM radio station in Boston. I may have a good relationship with my boss, but if there's a job with more prestige, more money, and my current job will hurt my reputation if I keep it, I'd take a risk too. Coach a college program that's looking like it will go under, or take the shot at an NFL Head Coaching job that actually had a winning record? As an American living in a capitalist world, can you blame Jagodzinski? Hell, it's a win-win for him too, because BC still has to pay him.

DeFilippo should have realized that only a handful of good candidates would jump at this job. BC does not have the financial support to buy out a contract, while still picking up a good coach. I'll call it now that Frank Spaziani, current defensive coordinator will get the job. Because he'll be cheap, loyal, and probably deserved the job in the first place. But if Gene DeFilippo thinks firing the head coach in the middle of recruiting season made him look more like a man, then fit the man for his bigger jock strap. But how do you feel now Gene? How do you feel? Right. Now. Like an idiot? Like an already screwed program just shot itself in the foot? Is a newly appointed, former defensive coordinator, going to be able to convince a high school quarterback that BC can develop him into a star? Jags could say that, touting Matty Ice in his resume, and it didn't hurt he led Brett Favre as an offensive coordinator. But unless you pick a washed-up former success like Denny Green that's completely desperate for a job, nobody will do better. You should have just trusted that he wouldn't get the job, and continue on with the season. But alas, Frank Spaziani should end up with a promotion.

If I could sum up why this was a bad idea by BC, it would be one sentiment: When a recruit can't pronounce a head coach's name, Jeff Jags sounds like a much cooler nickname than Franky Spaz.

Joker's Wild

Pinheads or Patriots? Episode 7
(Originally posted January 9, 2009)

Wild card weekend lived up to it's name. If one theme went through the weekend it was one phrase that stuck with me the whole time: "You've gotta be kidding me."

Two wild card teams beat divisional champs. But it was 11-5 Miami and 10-6 Minnesota, the two divisional champs with the best records this weekend, who lost. The high-seeded wild cards lost. Chad Pennington threw 7 interceptions all season, yet Baltimore picked him off 4 times in this weekend (Somewhere, Brett Favre was laughing about that last one.) All the while, I just kept repeating, "You've gotta be kidding me."

8-8 San Diego beat the 12-4 Indianapolis Colts, who had been many people's pick for the Super Bowl. The Chargers won even though Ladainian Tomlinson had only 5 rushes. Even though Peyton Manning outpassed Philip Rivers by almost 100 yards. Even though Indianapolis had no turnovers, but San Diego coughed it up twice. Who was the biggest joke of this whole game?
The Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI, that's who. That awful team somehow allowed Peyton Manning to win a Super Bowl ring. He's 7-8 in the playoffs, which is pretty tough to do, since you can win up to 4 times per postseason, but they only let you lose once. If it weren't for them, Manning would be doing 10 more Mastercard commercials a year just to pay for his psychiatric bills. "Airfare to New England: $647. Cushy massage before your play-off game: $214. A lifetime of ass-whoopings, courtesy of Tom Brady: Priceless."

One person was not joking in that game. Punter Mike Scifres was dead serious, and may have won that game. When that man's golden foot guided the pigskin, the Colts had to start their drives from the 10, 19, 3, 7, and 9 yard lines, in that order. No touchbacks, no easy drives for the Colts to start. Not even an MVP quarterback can be expected to lead drives of more than 80 and 90 yards each try. And if Darren Sproles didn't return punts and kick-offs (which racked up his total yardage ridiculously) Scifres would have been named game MVP. Once again, a punter gets screwed by a returner.

Who's been joking with us? Arizona's defense has. They ranked 16th in run defense all season, allowing 110 yards per game. They held Michael Turner, probably the most dominant back in the league this year, to 42 yards, putting all the pressure on rookie quarterback Matt Ryan. In the middle of the season, did Ken Whisenhunt call a meeting they say "Hey, we've got the play-offs locked up. You know what would be funny? If we pretended to suck." I can see Tim Hightower stand up and say, "Yeah, and I'll pretend to be a good running back so you can bench Edgerrin James, yet I'll never produce! Then he can tear up good defenses that over-prepared for Kurt Warner! It'll be hilarious!" They danced, they sang, and, oh, did the Cardinals laugh.

The Minnesota Vikings were a joke to start. Not even going there.

Looking ahead in the play-offs: Don't expect field position to help the Chargers as much against the Steelers. Both Sproles and Scifres had the games of their lives last week. The thing about those "games of your lives," is you're only allowed one.

Baltimore looked great last weekend. Ed Reed is a playmaker. Kerry Collins is not. Look out for a possible upset.

New York and Philly will be fun, but for once, can Fox elect not to announce for NFC East games? If anyone is a bigger joke than the Bears, it's Joe Buck.

And Panthers vs. Cardinals? Carolina are my NFC favorite for the Super Bowl, but those jokers in Arizona just may have an ace up their sleeve.

Let's Talk About Commitment. No, Not The Lame Budweiser Commercial Kind.

Pinheads or Patriots? Episode Six
(Originally posted January 2, 2009)

Oh, the plethora of topics to discuss after the regular season ends. Play-offs. Teams who deserve to make it, teams who don't. Will Brett Favre retire? Who's going to win the Super Bowl? Will Brett Favre un-retire, even though he's completely overrated? All fantastic topics of conversation this time of year. Which is exactly why you should listen to an active conversation, and not just my opinion. For that, watch the Football Special by Gang Green and myself. Patriots off-season has begun, and the Patriots have their own questions to answer, having nothing to do with play-offs or Brett Favre. A certain you-know-who went down early in the season, and the team managed to do pretty well without him. Who will be lining up behind that offensive line in 2009 for the Patriots?

Yes, I'm talking about Laurence Maroney.

Patriots fans are not known for their extensive attention spans, as some seem to think that trading away Tom Brady (one year removed from one of the greatest seasons of all time) is a good idea. "What have you done for me lately" is an understatement, as many would rather pull out their calendars and count the days until Red Sox spring training starts than stretch their minds back to what players have done before. Problem is, Maroney hasn't done much of anything to endear himself with fans.

Only 3 of the last 10 seasons have had a Patriots rusher over 1000 yards: Corey Dillon in 2004 with 1635, Antowain Smith in 2001 with 1157, and Robert Edwards in 1998 with 1115. Two of those years, the Pats won the Super Bowl, so it doesn't seem to hurt to be able to run the ball. Maroney has had flashes of greatness, especially when he and Corey Dillon split carries in 2006. But injuries have plagued the short career of the 23-year-old, begging the question of how much room in the salary cap he's worth.

This year, 6 of the top 7 rushing offenses in the league made the play-offs. The lone team that didn't make it was the Patriots. But the fact the Patriots rank that highly is a testament to the fact that Maroney is replaceable, especially since an undrafted rookie off the practice squad was starter at one point. We have also learned that drafting running backs in the first round results in little success for the Patriots (Edwards was also a first rounder, but nearly had his leg amputated after a devastating knee injury in a flag football game, never touching the field for the Pats again after his rookie season).

Looking at the top rushing offenses this year shows an interesting way to address the problem. Every season, teams hope to have that one special back that can tear up offenses every week. But this year showed that running back by committee can have real success. Many years, analysts would point out how using two running backs hinders development and doesn't allow a runner to get into rhythm, but many teams succeeded this year. The number one rushing offense in the league, the New York Giants, featured a One-Two-Three punch system, pounding defenses into the ground with Brandon Jacobs, softening them up for Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw.

Carolina had tried the committee system with DeAngelo Williams before, mixing him up with DeShaun Foster. But using Jonathan Stewart instead this year changed the pace, lighting a fire underneath Williams for a 1515 yard season, and the two backs creating the third best rushing offense in the league.

Baltimore showed a truly unique rush offense that ended up having the fullback Le'Ron McClain as the leading rusher with 902 yards. Add a dash of Willis McGahee and Ray Rice at 671 and 454 yards respectively, and the fourth best rushing offense found a recipe that needed no 1,000 yard rushers.

The Titans and Dolphins ran their way to the play-offs with fearsome duos in their backfields as well, while the Patriots hit a strong stride at the end of the season with Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordan. The only truly dominant rushers that didn't much need help were Michael Turner in Atlanta, Adrian Peterson in Minnesota, and Clinton Portis in Washington. But what sort of longevity does a running back face these days without taking some reps off?

Look back at the last few years of stand-out rushers. Shaun Alexander went from 1,880 yards and 27 TD's in 2005 to 896 yards and 7 TD's the next. Let's not even talk bout where he is now, Seattle fans still cry themselves to sleep at night over it. The Bucs drove Cadillac Williams until the tires blew out, rims burnt down, and then continued running until the axel smashed in half. Fred Taylor, Joseph Addai, Larry Johnson, Edgerrin James, and most obviously this season, Ladainian Tomlinson, all have had anemic performances as of late. If you consider running backs as investments, which they truly are, taking care of them just makes sense, and in today's NFL, we are seeing a shift towards successful split-back systems.

Patriots fans would love to go back to the Curtis Martin years, with three straight seasons of more than 1000 yards, but we need to worry more about winning games than having a single threat in the backfield. Maroney was supposed to be that answer. Belichick ran with Sammy Morris and Lamont Jordan extremely well, not because he originally schemed that, but because he had to with his starter going down. It's 2009 now, and it's time to start looking at a new offense. It should be a multi-back offense from the start, it's clearly working around the league. Design plays for different dynamic backs. Get a younger version of Kevin Faulk late in the draft, and consider saving some cap room by hitting the eject button on Maroney.

Times are tough, Laurence. If you want a paycheck signed by Robert Kraft next season, your New Years Resolution should be to stay healthy. And lose a couple pounds while you're at it. We wouldn't want all that time spent on the couch to show, now would we?