So It Turns Out That Anthony Gonzalez Was Even More Washed Up Than We Thought

In a few months, we probably won't even remember that wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez was ever technically a part of the New England Patriots in 2012.

Today, the news broke that the Pats had released him well before training camp and preseason had even started.

It's easy to sit here and make fun of the guy for being injury prone but this is just sad. I'm not sure how bad he has to be to get dumped this quickly but it might be time for him to think about retiring and moving on with the next phase of his life. Playing pro football doesn't seem to be his thing anymore.

I never thought he'd have much of an impact on the team nor necessarily find himself on the 53-man roster in September but this is pretty pathetic. With slot receivers Wes Welker, Julian Edelman and rookie Jeremy Ebert all signed for next season, apparently there was no room for Gonzalez's lifeless body.

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Brandon Lloyd, Trevor Scott & Anthony Gonzalez: Your Newest New England Patriots

If there's one thing you can count on as a New England Patriots fan, it's that they'll never "win" the first few days of free agency.

Thankfully, the teams that usually make the biggest moves (Washington, Dallas, Philadelphia last season) rarely achieve any success on the field. Still, it takes patience to sit and wonder what the Pats will do. Today, we were rewarded as they picked up free agent receiver Brandon Lloyd, along with wide receiver Anthony Gonzalez and defensive end/outside linebacker Trevor Scott.

Lloyd has been rumored to be coming to New England for weeks so it's nice to see it finally happen, particularly since the pool of free agent wide receivers has completely dried up (Mario Manningham signed with the 49ers tonight).

This will be Lloyd's sixth NFL team in only 10 seasons. He was drafted by San Francisco in 2003 in the fourth round. He bounced around from there to Washington, Chicago, Denver, St. Louis and now New England. He is known mostly for 2010 when he led the NFL in receiving yards (1448 yards on 77 catches and 11 touchdowns).

Last season, he was traded after four games with the Broncos (19 catches, 283 yards) to the Rams where he put up good numbers (51 catches, 683 yards, 5 touchdowns) on an awful team that was going nowhere. Other than being a diva like all good wideouts, Lloyd is a deep threat (career average 15.4 yards per catch) that also moves the chains (224 first downs on 311 catches).

The hope is that with New England's receiver corps in flux (Deion Branch and Chad Johnson could both be gone), Lloyd will provide another viable option to team with Wes Welker, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. I'll caution against getting too excited since we all freshly remember what a bust Johnson turned out to be but it seems like Lloyd could be a good fit. Josh McDaniels was Denver's head coach in 2010 when he had that great season. Now, McDaniels is back as the offensive coordinator for the Patriots so maybe he can get the most out of his former star wide receiver.

Gonzalez and Scott are classic Patriots low-risk, potentially high-reward moves. Coming out of Ohio State in 2007, Gonzalez was projected to be a great slot receiver for the Colts and he had two decent seasons (2007, 2008) before injuries completely ruined his career. He's played in only 11 games the past three seasons and he has just five catches since 2008. So yeah, I expect him to get hurt in training camp and not make the team.

Scott looks like Mark Anderson's replacement, if they don't bring him back. He's shown some pass rushing ability in Oakland (5 sacks in 2008, 7 sacks in 2009) so I'm sure New England thinks they can squeeze a bit more out of him. Plus, and this is what sets their loins on fire, he can play special teams. Woo! Did I mention that he went to the University of Buffalo and he was a sixth-round draft pick? Oh yeah, classic Patriot.

All I ask now is that the Patriots continue to accumulate talent, not just bargains, through free agency and the draft. Oh and I want them to use their picks this year, forget trading down like always. I want young guys that can play on both sides of the ball right away.

UPDATE 3/18: Lloyd's deal is a very friendly three years for $18 million. What a steal if he plays well.

UPDATE 3/19: Gonzalez's deal is only one-year for $701,000 which cannot be much more than the league minimum for a veteran.

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Mental mistakes by players and coaches cost Patriots a win

With the Indianapolis Colts fighting for their playoff lives (in Week 9), the New England Patriots let them off the hook and let Indy walk away with an 18-15 win last night at Lucas Oil Field.

Down by three (18-15) and driving late in the fourth quarter, the Pats (5-3) made a costly mistake. Tight end David Thomas committed a stupid personal foul penalty which moved his team back 15 yards (and out of field goal range). After failing to make any headway on third down, New England made a curious move by going for it on fourth-and-16. The Colts (4-4) blitzed, hit quarterback Matt Cassel (25 of 34, 204 yards; 20 yards rushing), who threw up a duck that was intercepted.

The Patriots got the ball back with 20 seconds left but with no timeouts and deep in their own territory, the win was virtually impossible. The fact that the Pats didn't have any timeouts remaining was another fatal error. In the third quarter, Bill Belichick had challenged that the Colts had 12 men on defense. It failed and the Pats lost a key timeout.

While we're on the subject of plays that would have changed the game in New England's favor, receiver Jabar Gaffney was wide open and would have had a sure touchdown in the third quarter but he dropped the ball.

It was that kind of night for New England. This is the type of game that we've grown accustomed to seeing them win over the last seven years but not anymore. Not with so many injuries to our running backs (LaMont Jordan and Sammy Morris were both out again) and our secondary.

Peyton Manning (21 of 29, 254 yards, 2 touchdowns) wasn't as great as his numbers would make you believe. Maybe, I'm just jealous because I know anybody could tear apart the Patriots' cornerbacks.

Anthony Gonzalez (4 catches, 55 yards) began the scoring with a 12-yard TD catch in the first quarter.

Two Stephen Gostowski field goals (29 yards and 35 yards) in the second quarter cut the Colts' lead to 7-6. Clearly, the Patriots wanted to play keepaway from the Colts offense. This made for a fast-moving game, that was dominated by long drives for both sides.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis (15 carries, 57 yards; 1 catch, 8 yards) scored from six yards out, to put New England up 12-7 in the third. Kevin Faulk (10 carries for 60 yards; 5 catches, 38 yards) tried to run the two-point conversion in but he was stuffed right before crossing the goalline.

Gonzalez caught the other TD pass from Manning, this one from nine yards away to put Indy up 13-12. The Colts went for two and were successful as Reggie Wayne (5 catches, 65 yards) caught the ball between two defenders and held on despite a big hit by Pats cornerback/safety Brandon Meriweather.

Gostowski added another 25-yard kick to tie it at 15 early in the fourth but the Pats could have had more. They had fourth-and-short inside the Colts 10-yard line when Cassel snuck for the first down. Unfortunately, Belichick had called timeout before the play started.

In a game so influenced by kickers, good ol' Adam Vinatieri somehow hit a kick from 52-yards to give the Colts the lead for good. Mr. Clutch has never been known for his big leg but it figures that he would step as usual.

Randy Moss had six catches for 65 yards and Wes Welker had seven catches for 37 yards.

The Patriots will have to turn the page quickly as they have three supremely important AFC East games coming up in a row. If New England could have pulled out a win last night, they would have held a one-game lead on the Bills (5-3) and Jets (5-3). As it stands now, the Patriots, Jets and Bills are in a three-way tie. The Bills come to Gillette Stadium next Sunday afternoon (in a game I will be attending) and then the Jets come to town on the following Thursday night.

The division is much improved as even the Dolphins (4-4) are playing consistent ball. It would have been beautiful to put Peyton and the Colts out of the playoffs last night but failure to execute killed the Patriots.