Until Further Notice, The AFC East Continues to Run Through Foxborough, MA

If the Bills are the biggest threat in the AFC East to the Patriots in 2015, it should be another cakewalk to a meaningless division title. Poor Buffalo (1-1 overall, 1-1 home) was all geared up for the annual Rex Ryan (who is now 4-10 against the Patriots in his career as a head coach) Week 2 Super Bowl vs. New England (2-0 overall, 1-0 away). In fact, the Bills looked the part of a true contender for the opening drive of the game and then in the fourth quarter which was mostly garbage time until they made it interesting in an eventual 40-32 loss at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Tom Brady (38 of 59, 466 yards, 3 TDs), Julian Edelman (11 catches, 97 yards, 2 TDs), Rob Gronkowski (7 catches, 113 yards, 1 TD) and Dion Lewis (98 yards receiving, 40 yards rushing, 1 TD) shredded what is supposedly one of the top defenses in the NFL. Other than Rex Ryan's crazy lack of discipline (14 penalties, 140 yards) and attention to detail, the biggest tangible question surrounding the Bills is whether Tyrod Taylor (23 of 30, 242 yards, 3 TDs, 3 INTs; 43 yards rushing) can be a starting quarterback on a playoff contender. Throwing mostly short yardage passes might work in the regular season against garbage defenses (hi Indy) but that's not how you get to the postseason.

Buffalo received the opening drive and went 80 yards in 10 plays: rookie Karlos Williams capped off the 5-minute drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. New England bounced back with an 8-yard touchdown catch by Edelman. The Pats then took advantage of two very short fields to go ahead 21-7 on Lewis' 6-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and Gronk's 2-yard touchdown catch early in the second quarter. Former Dolphin Charles Clay's 9-yard touchdown catch cut it to 21-13 but Dan Carpenter missed the extra point. Those were Buffalo's last points until the fourth quarter when the Patriots had expanded their lead to 37-13.

New England's defense combined for eight sacks (their most since 2003) and three interceptions (by Duron Harmon, Logan Ryan and Malcolm Butler). The Bills have much higher paid defensive players like Marcell Dareus and Mario Williams but there was no question that Chandler Jones (6 tackles, 3 sacks) and Jamie Collins (11 tackles, 2.5 sacks) were the most dangerous guys on that side of the ball at least on Sunday. Stephen Gostkowski's 46-yard field goal made it 24-13 heading into halftime for the visitors. LeSean McCoy (89 yards rushing, 27 yards receiving) doesn't seem to be Rex's favored type of physical running back despite his superior talent.

Gostkowski opened the scoring in the third quarter with a 21-yard field goal followed by a 22-yard touchdown catch by Edelman and a 50-yard field goal. After getting blanked in the third, the Bills showed some fight in the fourth on Robert Woods' 32-yard touchdown catch (that went right over Butler's hands). New England outsmarted themselves trying to run up the score when they just could have burned the clock and gotten out of Buffalo smoothly. Instead, they turned it over on downs and the Bills inched closer on Taylor's 7-yard touchdown run then truly made things interesting on a 24-yard touchdown catch by Sammy Watkins (who had burned Bradley Fletcher) following a fumble by Brady.

New England drove 72 yards in seven plays (3:01) and made it 40-32 on Gostkowski's 25-yard field goal with 1:15 remaining. Ryan iced it with his game-ending interception on an overthrow by Taylor. In the first two games this season, Lewis has been a revelation that looks like he'll be a very useful weapon if he can just hang onto the ball (he fumbled for the second week in a row). Today, the pleasant surprise was provided by Aaron Dobson (7 catches, 87 yards) who actually looked like an NFL player. New England only dressed three wide receivers and while Edelman can come close (tying his career-high with 19 targets), they need other guys to turn to once in a while. Danny Amendola had his customary one catch but at least it was a great one: a sweet diving 29-yard grab on the final drive.

So much changes from week to week in the NFL that is really silly to draw any type of conclusions from results between other teams, particularly this early in the season. With that said, the fact that Miami struggled so much in their Week 1 victory at Washington then followed that up with a 23-20 loss at Jacksonville (1-1) this afternoon shows that they seem to be their usual mediocre selves. How is Joe Philbin still employed there? If the Jets (1-0) lose tomorrow night in Indy (0-1) as expected, the Patriots will be up one game already on the rest of the soft AFC East.

New England's Week 3 meeting with the Jaguars next Sunday (1, CBS) has all the makings of a trap game: they are going into a bye week after that and they know that they can sleepwalk and still beat lowly (but improving!) Jacksonville. That's why I can picture the Pats looking terrible but still beating the Jags by a few scores. They always have a game like this, especially early in the regular season when they are getting the kinks out and some useless team (think Oakland last season) comes to Gillette for their beating. Prepare to be frustrated since I know that the Patriots will be double-digit favorites at home.

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Patriots Get Run Over In Kansas City, Suffer Second Worst Loss Ever Under Belichick (41-14)

There is not much to say when you watch one of your favorite teams get absolutely embarrassed on national television. New England (2-2) went into Arrowhead Stadium tonight for Monday Night Football and just laid down in a soul-crushing 41-14 loss to Kansas City (2-2). It was the second worst loss (by margin of defeat) under Bill Belichick, trumped only by the 31-0 loss at Buffalo in the 2003 season opener.

It was never remotely competitive after the first quarter as the Chiefs led 17-0 at halftime (and it should have been more) then 27-7 after three quarters. Alex Smith (20 of 26 for 248 yards, 3 TDs) had a nearly perfect quarterback rating of 144.4 while Jamaal Charles (92 yards rushing, TD; 2 TD catches) looked like the best all-around running back in the NFL. His backup Knile Davis (107 yards rushing) and tight end Travis Kelce (8 catches, 93 yards, TD) were also unstoppable.

Things got so bad that Tom Brady (14 of 24 for 159 yards, TD, 2 INTs) was benched in the fourth quarter (to make sure he wasn't maimed). Rookie Jimmy Garoppolo made his NFL debut and threw a meaningless 13-yard touchdown to Rob Gronkowski which is sure to set off reactionary idiots across New England for the next week ("he should start!").

The scary part is that Kansas City by all indications before tonight is nothing more than an average to fringe playoff team in the AFC. What happens when New England plays legitimate contenders like say Cincinnati (3-0) which just happens to be their next game on Sunday night (8:30, NBC) at Gillette Stadium?

I can't ever remember the Pats having so many critical deficiencies at one time: their offensive line is maybe the worst in the NFL, Brady isn't himself (understandably), they can't run the ball consistently and outside of Julian Edelman and the ghost of Gronk, who can he throw to? Aaron Dobson and Kenbrell Thompkins were inactive again tonight which makes zero sense unless there was some internal punishment that we'll never know about.

The defense seemed promising through the first three games but then this evening they imploded in spectacular fashion: missing millions of tackles, slipping constantly and above all, looking slow and lethargic.

Other than Matthew Slater on special teams (seriously, he's a beast), there was only one other guy on the Patriots that showed some signs of life: Brandon LaFell. He had six catches for a game-high 119 yards including a 44-yard catch and run for a score. After four catches last week vs. Oakland, he appears to be getting on the same page with Brady. My advice to Josh McDaniels: keep feeding him the ball, what's the worst that can happen?

The AFC East is still the worst division in football and you know at some point, New England will get better. However, nobody expected a catastrophic loss like this. The Patriots used to hand out beatings in similar fashion, not absorb them in front of the entire world. This will be the most critical week (in terms of negativity) surrounding the team since Belichick took over (minus Spygate of course).

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AFC Championship Game Injury Report: Patriots at Broncos

You might not know this but the 2014 AFC Championship Game is on Sunday (3, CBS) and it involves the Patriots taking on the Broncos. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get to the very brief injury report.

Denver lists everyone as probable so we won't bother with those jokers. New England has three players that are questionable: wide receivers Aaron Dobson (foot) and Kenbrell Thompkins (hip) along with punter Ryan Allen (shoulder).

So Tom Brady can have someone other than Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola to throw to, he needs one of the rookies to play. Thompkins played last week vs. Indianapolis but he suffered a concussion, his hip injury is from earlier in the season. Dobson didn't play but he's practiced the last few days, giving us hope that the Pats could have their only viable deep threat. As for Allen, he famously got hurt vs. the Colts forcing Stephen Gostkowski into punting duty (something he'd never done before in the NFL). New England didn't bring in another punter this week so you have to think that Allen will tough it out (an oxymoron for punters).

I'll update this on Sunday-if I feel like it-with the inactives for the Broncos and Patriots. To quote the great Bart Scott, "can't wait!"

UPDATE 1/19: Patriots inactives are Steve Beauharnais, Isaac Sopoaga, Justin Green, Chris Barker, D.J. Williams, Jake Bequette and Thompkins. That means that Dobson is active. For the Broncos: QB Zac Dysert, RB Ronnie Hillman, CB Marquice Cole, OT Vinston Painter, G Chris Kuper, TE Joel Dreesen and DT Sione Fua.

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Injury Report: Divisional Round-Patriots vs. Colts

It is about that time folks. Tomorrow night (8:15, CBS) the Patriots host the Colts at Gillette Stadium with a trip to the AFC Championship Game on the line. Today the injury reports came out and unlike the regular season, they weren't cluttered with fake injuries and jokes.

For New England, wide receiver Aaron Dobson (foot) is out. For Indianapolis, wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey (hamstring) is also out. The only guys that are questionable for either team are Patriots wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins (hip) and cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (knee/shoulder).

Dobson's injury certainly hurts the Pats but it's not something that should prevent them from beating the Colts. He missed four games during the regular season so having him out isn't a complete shock plus given that and the fact that he's a rookie, he never really seemed completely comfortable. Sigh, hopefully his sophomore campaign is much better in terms of health and production. They need someone with big play ability that can stretch the field, is he that player?

As for Heyward-Bey, he was Indy's fifth receiver so that's not a big loss. The ghost of Deion Branch should be a suitable replacement for that bum that can't catch anything, R.I.P. Al Davis!

UPDATE 1/11: Patriots inactives are Chris Barker, Dobson, D.J. Williams, Jake Bequette, Isaac Sopoaga, Justin Green and Steve Beauharnais. Colts inactives are Josh Lenz, Sheldon Price, Daniel Adongo, Khaled Holmes, Joe Reitz, Heyward-Bey and Branch.

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Week 14 Injury Report: Patriots vs. Browns

Aside from the fact that Bill Belichick was head coach of the Browns roughly 50 years ago, I can't think of a much more boring NFL team than Cleveland (4-8). It would have been fun if Brian Hoyer-New England's (9-3) former backup quarterback-was starting for the Browns on Sunday (1, CBS) but his season ended early with a torn ACL.

Today the injury reports for this sure to be instant classic were released. Right tackle Marcus Cannon (ankle) and wide receiver Aaron Dobson (foot) were both ruled out for the Patriots while quarterback Brandon Weeden (concussion) is out for the Browns hence why journeyman Jason Campbell was named the starter.

10 Patriots are questionable: Kyle Arrington (groin), Marquice Cole (shin), Alfonzo Dennard (knee), Steve Gregory (finger), Rob Gronkowski (back/forearm/hamstring), Michael Hoomanawanui (knee), Brandon Spikes (knee), Will Svitek (ankle), Aqib Talib (hip) and Kenbrell Thompkins (hip).

Three Browns are questionable: linebacker Tank Carder (shoulder), tight end MarQueis Gray (hamstring) and linebacker Craig Robertson (knee).

After so many close games this season, it would be nice if New England had a good old-fashioned season's beating to hand to the hapless Browns. We know Cleveland isn't going to win at Gillette Stadium with Campbell so there is no need to waste any of our time.

Check back here on Sunday for the rest of the inactives.

UPDATE 12/8: Patriots inactives are Steve Beauharnais, Jake Bequette, Brandon Bolden, Cannon, Dobson, Hoomanawanui and Thompkins. The Browns inactives are WR Josh Cooper, OL Reid Fragel, OL Garrett Gilkey, TE Keavon Milton, QB Alex Tanney, OL Martin Wallace and Weeden.

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Week 13 Injury Report: Patriots at Texans

Coming off primetime matchups and possible playoff previews the last two weeks against the Panthers and Broncos respectively, this week's Patriots-Texans game has about the same amount of appeal as the fourth preseason game. Houston (2-9) has lost nine games in a row so even though lazy writers and announcers will be calling it a trap game for New England (8-3), come on get real folks.

Anywho, today the injury report for this sure to be forgettable game was released. New England has already declared three guys out for Sunday (1, CBS): Marcus Cannon (ankle), Aaron Dobson (foot) and Michael Hoomanawanui (knee). Seven Patriots are questionable: Marquice Cole (shin), Rob Gronkowski (back), Alfonzo Dennard (knee), Aqib Talib (hip), Kyle Arrington (groin), Steve Gregory (thumb) and Chris White (back).

Things are much simpler for the Texans. They only have one guy that is out so far: safety Jawanza Starling (hamstring). Two players are questionable for the home team: cornerback Kareem Jackson (ribs) and cornerback Brice McCain (hamstring).

Not that you care but I will update this on Sunday before the opening kickoff at Reliant Stadium.

UPDATE 11/30: Dennard is out. I have no idea why the Patriots rushed him back so quickly last week vs. Denver coming off knee surgery.

UPDATE 12/1: The inactives for the Patriots: Steve Beauharnais, Dennard, Jake Bequette, Dobson, Stevan Ridley, Hoomanawanui and Cannon. For the Texans: T Andrew Gardner, DE Tim Jamison, G Alex Kupper, OLB Ricky Sapp, Starling, G Cody White and QB T.J. Yates.

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Patriots Come Up With an Old-Fashioned Ass Whooping of the Steelers

Blowout wins like today for the Patriots have been few and far between the last few seasons which reminds us how good we had it for the better part of a decade. New England (7-2 overall, 5-0 home) went into their bye week in style with a 55-31 win over Pittsburgh (2-6 overall, 1-4 away) at Gillette Stadium. The 55 points were the most allowed by the Steelers in franchise history, can you say dumpster fire?

The Patriots' defense has carried the team most of this season so it was nice to see the offense return the favor in this game. Tom Brady (23 of 33 for 432 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs) had a vintage performance as Rob Gronkowski (9 catches, 143 yards, 1 TD), Aaron Dobson (5 catches, 130 yards, 2 TDs) and Danny Amendola (4 catches, 122 yards, 1 TD) became only the six trio of teammates to all go over 100+ receiving yards in one game. KenBrell Thompkins was a surprise inactive but that didn't matter by the time this was over.

Stevan Ridley (26 carries, 115 yards, 2 TDs) had an early fumble, mostly a great play by Troy Polamalu to knock it loose, but instead of stapling him to the bench Bill Belichick tried to build his confidence by sticking with him. What a concept! New England's most talented running back responded with a great game which hopefully will propel him into a much better second half.

You won't see any sympathy here for scummy Ben Roethlisberger (28 of 48 for 400 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs) or his hapless squad. Pittsburgh is a proud franchise that's almost always solid so it is surprising to see them fall so low this fast. With so many injuries and a lack of gamebreakers/young talent, they could be in trouble for a while (relatively speaking).

The funny thing about this offensive explosion is that nobody could have seen it coming after the Pats only led 7-0 following Amendola's 34-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Gronk caught a 19-yard touchdown (he's starting to look like himself again) for a 14-0 lead in the second quarter before Shaun Suisham kicked a 30-yard field goal. Stephen Gostkowski's 20-yard field goal restored New England's two touchdown lead (17-3). Antonio Brown's 24-yard touchdown cut it to 17-10 late first half but Ridley's 1-yard touchdown run with 10 seconds left in the second quarter was huge.

Jericho Cotchery (7 catches, 96 yards) played like it was 2009 with the Jets in the third quarter with a pair of touchdown catches (20 and 8) that tied it up. Luckily for New England, they still managed to forge ahead on Gostkowski's 27-yard field goal with 2:39 left in the third quarter setting the stage for a beatdown in the fourth (28-7).

Dobson started it off with a pretty 17-yard back shoulder touchdown catch. Ridley's five-yard touchdown run made it 41-24 before Cotchery had one more touchdown grab, from five yards out. Steelers defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau weeped while Dobson caught an 81-yard bomb for a score then LeGarrette Blount closed it out with a 5-yard touchdown run.

Plenty of people will take too much out of what turned out to be a lopsided win for the Pats. I simply look at it as them putting it together against one of the worst teams in the NFL. Look at their upcoming schedule, there is no automatic win like Pittsburgh on the horizon. New England will use their break wisely as they return for two consecutive primetime games against playoff contenders: at Carolina for a Monday Night game (11/18) then hosting Denver on the following Sunday Night (11/24). How the Patriots fare in those difficult matchups should tell us much more about them than this. Still, they are pointed in the right direction especially if Aqib Talib ever returns this season.

UPDATE 11/5: The Patriots had some moves before they go into the bye week for real: they released Austin Collie and signed WR LaQuan Williams to take his place on the 53-man roster. Additionally, they signed RB Cierre Wood to the practice squad while Steve Gregory has a broken thumb and he could miss a few weeks. Stay tuned on that injury although truthfully, it doesn't mean much since he's a bum.

UPDATE 11/8: Logan Mankins was fined $10,000 for clipping vs. Pittsburgh.

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Patriots Sleepwalk Through 1st Half, Kick Dolphins' Ass In The 2nd Half For 27-17 Win

Normally I try to leave the crappy clichés to television reporters and bad writers (not saying I'm taking home any Pulitzers these days) but what else can you say about the Patriots-Dolphins game this afternoon at Gillette Stadium then it was a tale of two halves? Miami (3-4 overall, 2-2 away) rolled out to a 17-3 halftime lead but New England (6-2 overall, 4-0 home) outscored them 24-0 in the second half on their way to a 27-17 victory.

This was a nice win for the Pats given the way they started plus the Bills and Jets also lost so they gained a game on all three AFC East "rivals." The bad news and this keeps happening way too much this season is that it looked like Sebastian Vollmer suffered a serious leg injury so he'll be out for the rest of the season.

Something is clearly wrong with Tom Brady's hand (not to make an excuse), you could see it was puffed up which explains why he's looked so average for most of this season but particularly the last few weeks. Today he went 13 of 22 for 116 yards, 1 touchdown and 1 interception. It was a day for role players as Aaron Dobson (4 catches, 60 yards), Brandon Bolden and Steven Ridley (14 carries, 78 yards) had the touchdowns for the Patriots.

The Patriots defense forced three turnovers, granted one was in garbage time on an interception by rookie Duron Harmon, but Marquice Cole had a pretty interception after Devin McCourty tipped it inbounds to him and Rob Ninkovich recovered a fumble. Also, Chandler Jones (1 sack) blocked a field goal and Chris Jones (7 tackles, 3 solo, 1 sacks, 2 tackles for loss) continued to play very well in the middle of the defensive line-he looks like a great undrafted rookie free agent signing (they got him on September 11).

The Dolphins played like a team that has now lost four games in a row after a 3-0 start and now laughable talks of challenging the Patriots for the AFC East crown. Ryan Tannehill is ok (22 of 42 for 192 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions) but they don't use his athleticism and mobility enough. He's not a great passer which makes sense since he played wide receiver for most of his time at Texas A&M. They also lack playmakers on offense, throwing money at Mike Wallace (3 catches, 41 yards) predictably has backfired although Lamar Miller (89 yards rushing, 23 yards receiving) seems like a keeper at running back.

Miami's basic offense of rolling Tannehill out worked in the beginning as Brandon Gibson caught a 4-yard touchdown in the first quarter (before he left with a knee injury) then Daniel Thomas caught a 5-yard touchdown pass in the second quarter. Stephen Gostkowski finally gave the Patriots some points with a 34-yard field goal but the Dolphins had all the momentum after Caleb Sturgis' 52-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the first half.

Dobson caught a 14-yard touchdown from Brady after a great move then Logan Ryan (5 tackles, 2 sacks, pass deflected) forced the fumble recovered by Ninkovich at Miami's 13. Three plays later, Bolden ran for a 2-yard touchdown and New England never looked back from there. Gostkowski's 48-yard field goal with eight seconds left in the third quarter handed them their first lead at 20-17 and then Ridley's 7-yard touchdown run in the fourth put it out of reach for the Dolphins.

Nothing is a given for the Patriots this season with all their injuries and obvious struggles but they get a gift by hosting the Steelers (2-5, 4th in AFC North) next Sunday (4:25, CBS). Pittsburgh is so bad that they lost at Oakland this afternoon (21-18) and their season is going nowhere fast.

UPDATE 10/28: Vollmer has reportedly had surgery today on his broken leg, his timetable to return is unknown.

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Patriots Stun Saints, 30-27 on Brady's Last-Second TD to Thompkins

For many reasons, tonight was a throwback to better days (yes I know we're very spoiled) for the Patriots as they beat the Saints 30-27 at Gillette Stadium. Tom Brady (25 of 43 for 269 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Kenbrell Thompkins (3 catches, 45 yards) with five seconds left as New England (5-1 overall, 3-0 home) completely stole a win from New Orleans (5-1 overall, 2-1 away) 30-27.

With no Rob Gronkowski plus injuries to Danny Amendola, Jerod Mayo, Aqib Talib and Dan Connolly, this looked like a game the Pats would lose because they simply ran out of healthy bodies and decent players. Oh and the Saints played well on the road for about 58+ minutes and they should have won but they couldn't close it out.

New Orleans went ahead 24-23 on Drew Brees' (17 of 36 for 236 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) 34-yard touchdown pass to rookie Kenny Stills with 3:29 left in regulation. After New England turned it over on downs, the Saints added a 39-yard field goal for 27-23 lead. Keenan Lewis intercepted Brady on New England's next play so by then, it had to be over. Except it wasn't. The Patriots forced the Saints to punt after a 3-and-out and Brady had one last chance starting at his own 30 with 1:13 left.

It only took seven plays to get the clutch score; the big plays were a 23-yard catch by Julian Edelman (5 catches, 57 yards) plus a 15-yard catch and 9-yard catch by Austin Collie (his first two receptions as a Patriot). Brady's touchdown to Thompkins was vintage stuff, the likes of which we haven't really seen for years. The Patriots picked up a clutch win against a formidable opponent facing long odds and many key injuries. Sound familiar?

New England actually built a 17-7 halftime lead thanks to two touchdown runs by Stevan Ridley (20 carries, 96 yards rushing; 14-yard catch) and the first of three Stephen Gostkowski field goals (35, 54, 23). New Orleans predictably tied it up in the third with a 28-yard field goal by Garrett Hartley and 3-yard touchdown run by Khiry Robinson. Gostkowski's last two kicks put the Pats up 23-17 midway through the fourth.

Eight Patriots caught passes today and nine were targeted. It will take that type of approach if they are going to survive another long absence from Amendola who appeared to get knocked out on a vicious hit in the second half. Aaron Dobson (6 catches, 63 yards) had a good performance and even Michael Hoomanawanui (4 catches, 57 yards) played like an NFL tight end for one game.

Kyle Arrington also had a gift interception after Brees tried to call timeout, didn't get it then was forced to chuck it up for grabs. Before he left with a hip flexor, Talib held Jimmy Graham (the NFL's best tight end, sorry Gronk) without a catch. His teammates picked up the slack too as Graham (who also was hobbled late in the contrest) had zero catches.

After playing marquee games against quality teams, it'll be tough to re-adjust to the slop of the AFC East. New England goes to the Jets (3-3 overall) on Sunday (1, CBS). New York lost 16-9 at home this afternoon to the previously winless Steelers (1-4).

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Injury-Prone White Wide Receivers? The Patriots Can't Get Enough of Them

Common sense be damned, the Patriots love a good deal. Apparently, they're also inclined to sign injury-prone white wide receivers in hopes of finding the next Wes Welker which is impossible. Today at practice, the media spotted former Colt Austin Collie who has signed a deal with New England. This comes on the heels of Danny Amendola (groin) and Rob Gronkowski (back/forearm) continuing to practice although the former only played Week 1 and Gronk has yet to appear in a game this season.

Honestly, I don't know what quack doctor (the Red Sox medical staff?) would clear Collie since he ruptured his patellar tendon last season but more importantly, he's dealt with numerous concussions over his short NFL career (4+ years). That's why he only played nine games in 2010 and just one last season in Indianapolis before he was released. San Francisco signed him but he was one of their final cuts in training camp this summer.

He showed plenty of promise with the Colts and Peyton Manning, hence why teams are still willing to take serious risks by signing him. In his rookie year (2009), he played all 16 games and hauled in 60 catches for 676 yards and seven touchdowns. He was poised for a monster season the next year as he piled up 58 catches for 649 yards and eight touchdowns but concussions curtailed his breakout season. In a full 2011 (16 games), he was limited to 54 catches for 514 yards and one touchdown.

I don't even expect Collie to be on the field Sunday (1, CBS) in Cincinnati, I feel like this is just to give Kenbrell Thompkins (shoulder) and Aaron Dobson (neck) some rest this week to heal their minor injuries. Plus, it allows the Pats the chance to get something out of a guy that is probably looking at his last NFL opportunity.

UPDATE 10/3: Vince Wilfork was placed on IR while tight end Zach Sudfeld was released. Don't be surprised if the undrafted rookie ends up on the practice squad where he can get better up to speed. It's clear in the first four games that we was over his head in the NFL.

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Thanks To A Cake Schedule, Patriots Are 3-0 For 1st Time Since 2007

Pundits will rightfully poke holes in it but the Patriots (3-0 overall, 2-0 home) don't have to apologize for their 2013 early season schedule, they didn't create it. New England played far from a perfect game but it was their most complete performance of the first three weeks as they shut down the dumpster fire Buccaneers (0-3 overall, 0-2 away) 23-3 this afternoon at Gillette Stadium.

We had heard from afar how much Tampa Bay was struggling but to see it up close was another matter. Formerly promising young quarterback Josh Freeman (19 of 41 for 236 yards, 1 INT, sacked 3 times) has become a headcase incapable of consistently hitting quality receivers like Vincent Jackson (3 catches, 34 yards) or Mike Williams (5 catches, 65 yards). You can't say the Bucs don't have talent since they also employ Doug Martin (88 yards rushing; 20 yards receiving) and Darrelle Revis (5 tackles, 4 assists).

Predictably after they had a few extra days of practice, Patriots rookie receivers Kenbrell Thompkins (3 catches, 41 yards, 2 TDS) and Aaron Dobson (7 catches, 51 yards) looked way more comfortable with Tom Brady (25 of 36 for 225 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) who spread it around to six different players including Julian Edelman (7 catches, 44 yards) and Brandon Bolden (49 yards receiving; 51 yards receiving). Facing the Bills, Jets and Bucs in the first three games allowed the Pats to survive without Danny Amendola (the past two weeks) and Rob Gronkowski. It'll be a different story as the competition really ramps up starting next week.

Thompkins' first two NFL touchdowns were sweet but the story of this victory was New England's defense which held Tampa Bay to 323 total yards including 0 for 4 on fourth downs. Aqib Talib picked up his third interception in the past two games, against his old team no less, while the Patriots recorded three sacks as a team. Jerod Mayo (9 tackles, 5 assists, tackle for loss, quarterback hit) and Chandler Jones (sack, 2 quarterback hits) helped make Freeman's life miserable.

Ironically, the Buccaneers scored the first points on Rian Lindell's 30-yard field goal late in the first quarter. Little did head coach Greg Schiano know that would be their final points of the contest. Midway through the second quarter, Brady found Thompkins for a 16-yard catch and run TD. With 47 seconds left in the first half, Thompkins added a five-yard TD catch as Tampa Bay somehow lost him in the back of the end zone. Who else were they worried about, Zach Sudfeld?

You knew it wasn't the Buccaneers' day when Freeman threw the lazy sideline interception to Talib with 11 seconds left in the second quarter. New England gained eight yards in two plays, setting up Stephen Gostkowski with a 53-yard field goal that he boomed right down the middle as time expired.

You are excused if you fell asleep during the second half since little happened other than a 46-yard field goal by Gostkowski in the third quarter and he wrapped it up with a 31-yard kick in the fourth quarter.

I kind of look at the first three games as the preseason (in this case) while the next five weeks should be way more interesting: New England travels to Atlanta (1-2, 2nd in NFC South) on Sunday night (8:30, NBC). That's followed by a game at Cincinnati, home date with New Orleans then back-to-back divisional games at Jets and home vs. Miami. The Falcons lost 27-23 at Miami this afternoon so they'll be desperate to get a win. They have something these previous three teams definitely lacked: a competent quarterback in Matt Ryan along with numerous weapons like Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez and Roddy White.

On the surface, we couldn't have asked for a better start (record wise) for the Pats but most would argue that we won't know anything about them until they start playing elite teams. Next week is a good beginning point to see what they're really made of in a primetime game on the road against a team that is a legitimate Super Bowl contender after losing a heartbreaker in the NFC Championship game last season.

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No Seriously, What the Hell Did We Just Watch?

I have seen plenty of ugly football in my life, I used to cover high school football in Massachusetts after all, but tonight's Patriots-Jets debacle at Gillette Stadium was a new low. The Patriots (2-0) beat the Jets (1-1) 13-10 in their 2013 home opener that set the game of football back at least 20 years and made me want to huff ether.

How wretched did New England play against one of the worst teams in the NFL? Well I'm happy you asked. They had nine first downs, went 4 for 18 on third down conversions and only gained 232 total yards. Just like on Sunday when the Pats were lucky enough to be lining up against the hapless Bills, once again this evening they were rewarded by the NFL schedulemakers since there are only a handful of teams that would have lost to the Patriots with the level they played at.

New York lost because they had four turnovers (3 interceptions by rookie quarterback Geno Smith and a fumble by wide receiver Stephen Hill). Tom Brady (19 of 39, 185 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) had one of the most mediocre games of his legendary career and it's easy to see why: Julian Edelman (career-high 13 catches, 78 yards on 18 targets) was his main weapon in the passing game. A confluence of factors contributed to this being such a stinkbomb: short week, no Danny Amendola or Rob Gronkowski, poor execution and lack of chemistry. That about covers it, no?

Rookie Aaron Dobson was left wide open and as a result of New York's boneheaded blitz call, his first NFL catch was a 39-yard touchdown. After Aqib Talib forced a fumble on Stephen Hill's (4 catches, 87 yards) 33-yard catch and recovered by Devin McCourty. He returned it 44 yards to the New York 8-yard line but the Pats had to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. Foreshadowing!

Nick Folk got the Jets on the board with a 37-yard field goal later in the first quarter and Gostkowski's 30-yard kick in the second quarter turned out to be New England's final points. That's right, the team that won this pig orgy didn't score for the final 34:55. New York made it somewhat competitive as Bilal Powell had a 3-yard touchdown run in the third quarter which cut it to 13-10. As you can see, neither squad scored in the listless fourth quarter. I feel bad for the poor saps that paid all that money to go to this awful game, get stuck in traffic for hours then sat through that complete with buckets of rain. Fun times!

Obviously the Patriots' defense was the key to the win: they had four sacks (2 for Chandler Jones and 1 for Tommy Kelly and Michael Buchanan), three interceptions (2 for Talib and 1 for Alfonzo Dennard) and they took advantage of the fact that they were playing a rookie quarterback for the second week in a row.

Smith did his part to piss the game away by tossing all three of his picks in the fourth quarter that some people call winning time. Dobson (3 catches, 56 yards on 10 targets) and KenBrell Thompkins (2 catches, 47 yards on 7 targets) were never on the same page with Brady. That's not to say that every throw was perfect to them but they each had numerous passes clank off their hands. There are reports of Amendola being out until Week 6 which is a scary proposition. I don't know who the Pats could get at this point but they need a dependable veteran that knows their system and can jump right in (Brandon Lloyd?) to help out the rookies-Josh Boyce didn't even get a snap for some reason.

With a very rainy night and nobody to throw to besides Edelman on like 5-yard catches, you figured that Stevan Ridley (16 carries, 40 yards) would get plenty of yards assuming (big if) he didn't fumble. There was no Shane Vereen so this was mostly Ridley in the running game but for the second straight contest he was held to under 50 rushing yards (granted Sunday he would have surpassed that if he hadn't gone to the doghouse).

Knock on wood, it seemed like the Pats made it through this game relatively unscathed despite the short week and quick recovery time. The best thing I can say for them is that now they get a couple extra days off before they host the Buccaneers (0-1) on Sunday, September 22 (1, Fox). For what it's worth, Tampa Bay lost to the Jets in Week 1 (on the luckiest sequence) which is good news for the Patriots. They need as much time as they can get to try and improve this sorry offensive unit.

UPDATE 9/14: It was a quiet day in Foxborough after last night's nailbiter vs. the Jets. The Patriots re-signed rookie guard Josh Kline to the practice squad and released offensive tackle R.J. Dill.

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Happy Trails To Michael Jenkins, We Hardly Knew Ya

Odds are that nobody thought Michael Jenkins was going to make the Patriots 53-man roster (which will be decided on August 31) heading into the 2013 NFL regular season or at least he wouldn't have much of an impact if he did. New England took any intrigue (haha yeah right) out of the equation by releasing the 10-year veteran wide receiver this afternoon.

If they are healthy, I feel like the five receivers (assuming they carry that many on their active roster) heading into the September 8 opener at Buffalo will be Danny Amendola, Aaron Dobson, Julian Edelman, Josh Boyce and KenBrell Thompkins. Of course, they could always pick up another veteran that gets cut by another team before Week 1. In fact, I hope they do that since looking at that aforementioned list, you have to wonder how they'll do when the games get real.

In other Pats news, after giving heart attacks to Pats fans around the world yesterday afternoon, Tom Brady appears to be fine (albeit with a new brace on his left knee) at their walk-through for tomorrow's second preseason game (vs. Tampa Bay). Exhale.

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"Who Needs Experienced Receivers?"-The New England Patriots

We are less than a week away from the 2013 training camp starting for the New England Patriots and at the moment, their top three wide receivers are Danny Amendola, Julian Edelman and Michael Jenkins. Um, holy shit! The news that they released receiver Donald Jones today without ever taking a snap in preseason or regular season wasn't particularly noteworthy on the surface except when you consider all the issues surrounding their passing game. Aaron Hernandez is in jail (bet you didn't know that), Rob Gronkowski had more surgeries than that poor bastard in Operation while Wes Welker is now playing in Denver and Brandon Lloyd is a free agent. It makes you wonder what Tom Brady thinks about all these developments (hint: it can't be good).

This heaps more undue pressure on rookie wide receivers Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce, who I can't say I know much about either way. The best we can hope is that New England changes its identity to more of a running the ball to set up the pass (something which basically doesn't exist in today's NFL) offense coupled with a good defense. Yikes. Thankfully for the Pats, they still compete in the worst division in the NFL and sports so no matter how bad things look in the preseason, they should still find a way to go at worst 4-2 against the miserable Dolphins, Jets and Bills thus winning their millionth AFC East title (woo!) in a row.

It's hard to remember a time in the past decade (since it never occurred) during their amazing run of consistent success when the Patriots faced this many issues heading into the season. Not what you're looking for when you're coming off the AFC Championship Game and a few steps away from their first title in eight long years.

UPDATE 7/23: The players won't take the field until Friday but today it was announced that Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman will start on the active/PUP list. Rookie defensive lineman Armond Armstead was placed on the non-football illness list. Players on the active/PUP list can be activated any time, whereas if they're on the reserve/PUP list then they miss at least the first six weeks in the regular season.

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