It Looks Like Pats TE Hunter Henry Will Be Sticking Around For A Few More Seasons After All

 

    You are lying to yourself if you claim to know anything about the Patriots in 2024. They have so many gaping holes to fill on a terrible roster with a rookie head coach (Jerod Mayo) and GM (Eliot Wolf). They do have the No. 3 overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft but what they will do that-besides hopefully selecting a quarterback-is anybody's best guess. I sure am bored to death of mock drafts with still a month and half left to go before the actual draft begins which is why it was refreshing to see some real Patriots related news today: they are re-signing tight end Hunter Henry to a three-year deal with a base value of $27 million that can get up to $30 million with performance-based incentives. 

    On paper (and in real life) this is far from the sexiest move possible except that Henry is a solid and dependable veteran on a team that is lacking in guys that can be described with either of those positive characteristics. Sure, he is coming off his worst statistical season out of three in New England-and arguably in his seven-year NFL life-but that is understandable when you remember that he was catching passes from Mac Jones and then Bailey Zappe-arguably the worst QB situation in the league last year. After four nagging injury-filled seasons with the Chargers, Henry actually played in all 17 games in 2021 and 2022 with the Pats before missing three games last season. He has shown a durability and toughness that watching from afar, I did not think that he possessed. 

    Who knows who will be the Patriots' starting quarterback in Week 1 this September but whomever it is, needs to quickly develop some chemistry with Henry who is a legitimate red zone threat on a team that is severely lacking in those. His best season in Foxborough was in 2021 with rookie Mac Jones: 60 catches, 613 receiving yards and a career-high nine touchdown catches. Those numbers dipped the following year with bozo Matt Patricia as the offensive coordinator: 41 catches, 509 receiving yards and two touchdown catches. In 2023, Henry was limited to 42 catches and 419 yards but he did have six touchdown grabs which seems like a miracle for such a pitiful offense that was totally allergic to the end zone. 

    He will never be confused with Ben Coates or Rob Gronkowski-the two best tight ends in team history (and in Gronk's case, maybe NFL history)-but Henry is a professional and worthy of investing in while he is only 29 years old and with (fingers crossed) some productive campaigns still left ahead of him. No matter if the Pats are starting a rookie QB or a stop-gap veteran, either of those guys will desperately need someone that will get open in the middle of the field and not that far away from the line of scrimmage. Enter Henry who has good hands and sneaky athleticism for a white guy from Arkansas. 

    Henry's career-high for catches (60 in 2020 with the Chargers) and receiving yards (652 in 2019 with the Chargers) might be unattainable at this point for a variety of reasons with the Patriots but at least they are something to shoot for. Unless they sign a bunch of good wide receivers in free agency, he is likely to be their best pass catcher for at least the near future. It is also nice for once to see them rightfully pay a guy who has been a good soldier throughout some turbulent years (for the team) here. He has played on a bunch of average to bad NFL teams, therefore Henry is deserving of competing for a winner. When the Patriots will return to being a true contender and playoff team again hopefully is not that far away.

After 24 Seasons As The Patriots' Head Coach, Bill Belichick Is Finally Done & Jerod Mayo Takes Over

 

    It has been quite a whirlwind week for the New England Patriots. After finishing up 4-13-their worst season since 1992 (!)-on Sunday, we waited around until Thursday morning when reports finally surfaced that arguably the greatest head coach in NFL history (Bill Belichick) was out as the Pats head coach. A few hours later that morning, New England owner Robert Kraft and Belichick had a brief but cordial press conference where they took no questions. They "mutually agreed to part ways" and a few hours after that, Kraft returned for a solo press conference where he talked a little more in depth and actually answered a few questions from the media. Fast forward to yesterday morning when linebackers coach Jerod Mayo was hastily named the new head coach of the Patriots. 

    Just like when Tom Brady left the Pats-albeit in much different circumstances-no matter who replaces Belichick has impossible shoes to fill. In case you forgot, under Bill's watch (and Brady's unparrelled success), New England went to nine Super Bowls and won six of them. I am confident that we will never see a run like that with any other NFL team for the rest of our lives, no matter how long that we live. With that said, at 71 years old and with no playoff wins since Brady left, it was clear that the Patriots needed a new voice in charge. There is no question that he can still coach at a high level but he had been an awful GM thus undercutting his ability to win on the field. Furthermore, surrounding himself with his kids, friends, friends' kids and other assistant coaches that had been with him forever, it was obvious that Bill did not have to answer to anybody besides Kraft once in a while which is not a good thing. He made it clear at the final press conference that he still wants to coach-it is not like he has any other hobbies or interests in his life-and depending on where he ends up next, he could certainly do well. Granted, he probably won't win a Super Bowl like Brady in his first season post-Patriots. 

    On the surface, there is plenty to like about Mayo (37) who is now the youngest head coach in the NFL. He is also the first black head coach in franchise history, he won a Super Bowl with the Pats and was a captain for seven of his eight years as a middle linebacker on the Patriots-the only NFL team that he ever played or coached for. The scary parts are that he has never been a head coach at any level, how much does he know or care about offense while he automatically got this promotion written into his contract last season. With huge names like Mike Vrabel, Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh and Nick Saban all surprisingly available, Kraft didn't have any second thoughts of opening up the process a little bit more? Things change quickly in life, why were they so anchored to Mayo? 

    Belichick's greatest gift that he left to the Patriots is the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. Like he said in his final words at Gillette Stadium, the NFL is all about players and as their record indicated, the Patriots currently have a million holes to fill on both sides of the ball. However, if they can draft well and spend money in free agency, there is no reason why the team cannot be a fringe playoff contender as soon as next season if many things go right. Still, Buffalo and Miami are not going anywhere anytime soon and even the lowly Jets finished with three more wins than the Patriots this season so it will be an uphill climb to relevance let alone contention for the once model club in football. 

    This entire miserable season and basically the four years since Brady left has been a daily reminder that as Patriots fans, we had it so good for so long. Tom having success right away with the Bucs-one of the great loser franchises in sports before then-coupled with Belichick running the Pats into the ground had put an end to any question as to who was more important to the dynasty-Brady or Belchick. It has been easy to kick Bill when he has been down these last few crappy seasons but make no mistake, at his peak he was right there with any other head coach in American sports history. He was the perfect leader for Brady and the Patriots for all those years, until he was not anymore and no doubt it was harder and harder to relate to new generations of players that were so much younger than him. Regardless, we must thank Bill for all the wonderful moments in the past 24 years. There will never be another extended period of dominance like that in any of the major professional sports in the U.S. 

Well That Was More Like It: Patriots Win 37-22 at Bills Thanks to 4 TDs from Brady

Since my chosen occupation is sportswriter, I'd like to think that I can always find the right words, phrases or sentences to describe almost anything (within reason wise guys). However, tell me how you can sum up Tom Brady's 23-2 career record vs. Buffalo? For the second week in a row, New England (4-2 overall, 2-2 away) started to look like themselves again and this time they took their show on the road with a 37-22 win this afternoon vs. Bills (3-3 overall, 1-2 home) at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Brady (27 of 37 for 361 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs, 139.6 QB Rating) has quieted the doubters the last few games and he had another stellar performance. This one was vintage TB12: he hit 10 different receivers with passes led by Brandon LaFell (4 catches, 97 yards, 2 TDs), homeboy Rob Gronkowski (7 catches, 94 yards) and Julian Edelman (9 catches, 91 yards). The most promising part of the passing game (alliteration much?) was that Tim Wright (1-yard) and Brian Tyms (43 yards for his 1st career NFL TD) also caught touchdowns.

Without question, the win took a toll on the Pats though (how much we'll find out tomorrow) as Jerod Mayo and Stevan Ridley suffered potentially season-ending knee injuries. Plus it sounds like Dan Connolly picked up another concussion which is really bad news since Brian Stork was inactive, New England's offensive line is still a nightmare.

The pattern is usually that the Bills play the Patriots tight in Buffalo and then get blown out in late December at Gillette Stadium. For a while, Buffalo hung around today but they never led, not even once. New England was up 13-7 at halftime so they outscored the Bills 24-15 in the second half. Kyle Orton (24 of 38 for 299 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) was fine by his low standards but Jamie Collins picked him off and Chandler Jones forced and recovered a fumble. I still don't understand why the Bills benched E.J. Manuel for him but then again, they are the Bills so logic or intelligence rarely applies when talking about them.

Buffalo lost the turnover battle 3-0, capped off by a C.J. Spiller fumble right before halftime that the Pats converted into a 53-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski (3 field goals, 4 PATs). What was Buffalo doing, why didn't they just kneel like every other team in the league would have in a heartbeat?

After a scoreless first quarter, that set the NFL back 20 or 30 years, New England opened the scoring with a 1-yard play action pass from Brady to Wright. It was all set up by a pass interference penalty drawn by Edelman in the end zone.

Sammy Watkins (2 catches, 27 yards) took a one-way trip to Revis Island which left Scott Chandler (6 catches, 105 yards) and Robert Woods (7 catches, 78 yards) to pick up the slack. Woods caught a 7-yard touchdown from Orton which tied it at seven, the only that Buffalo knotted it up. Gostkowski missed a field goal earlier, because of Danny Aiken's garbage low snap, but he made up for it with a 42-yard kick then the bomb at the end of the second quarter.

I don't want to make too much out of it since it's the NFL and almost everyone makes a play at some point in their career (except for Danny Amendola) but Tyms' long post route and grab between two defenders was a revelation (and a replay of what he did multiple times in the forgotten preseason). Brady hasn't benefited from a legitimate deep threat since Randy Moss was traded to Minnesota. We'll need to see Tyms do it more often but at least this was a very positive start in his first game back since his suspension.

UPDATE 10/13: As we suspected, Ridley (ACL, MLCL) and Mayo (knee) are both done for the season due to their injuries. Yuck, those are two big holes for the Patriots to fill right when the team finally looks good.

The Bills didn't fold, well not right away, as Fred Jackson responded with a 1-yard touchdown run to cut it to 20-14 (as close as they would get for the rest of the contest). Gostkowski's 43-yard field goal put New England up two scores (23-14) heading into the fourth quarter. LaFell was the story in crunch time with a beautiful 18-yard catch and run and 56-yard bomb where he broke a tackle sandwiched around Chris "Hollywood" Hogan's 8-yard touchdown catch (and 2-point conversion by Woods).

It wasn't their best performance of the young season but the Patriots' defense did more than enough for a road win against a divisional "rival." Zach Moore (who?) recovering a fumble was neat and Collins' interception showed his game-breaking ability but my favorite part besides Revis blanketing Watkins was that Rob Ninkovich had three sacks among his six tackles (4 for loss). He was a ghost for the first five games so this was something to build on for one of their team leaders.

They are back in sole possession of the AFC East but there is no time to rest for the Patriots since they have the unfortunate honor of hosting the Jets (1-5) on Thursday (8:25, CBS). If you've learned anything this season, the Thursday Night games are a complete trainwreck. Without fail, every week one team has shown up while the other mostly gets their doors blown off. Since it is at Gillette Stadium and the Jets are playing like one of the worst teams in the NFL (not named the Raiders or Jaguars but do they count?), I'd expect the Pats to be a double-digit favorite.

New England could make a few roster moves in the short week too since they figure to need another running back, linebacker and possibly offensive lineman. Get some rest everybody!

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Dolphins Outscore Patriots 23-0 In The Second Half to Take 2014 Season-Opener, 33-20

I don't want to have to resort to using it already in the opener of the 2014 season but how else can you explain the Patriots-Dolphins game other than saying it was a tale of two halves? After allowing a blocked punt and subsequent TD following their opening drive, New England (0-1) recovered to outscore Miami (1-0) 20-3 for the rest of the first half. It was similar to a basketball game in the second half as the Dolphins gained all the momentum and ran away with it by outscoring the Pats 23-0 for a 33-20 win at Sun Life Stadium.

If it feels like a while since New England dropped their first contest of the regular season, it has been. 2003 in Buffalo (right after they released Lawyer Milloy) was the last time it had happened. Apropos of nothing, the Patriots bounced back quickly from that drubbing to go 14-2 and win their second of three Super Bowl titles in three years. Besides the obvious disappointment of a loss to a division rival, who look like their biggest threat, the most frustrating aspect of this for the Patriots had to be how their supposedly improved defense wilted in the swampy Miami weather.

Ryan Tannehill (18 of 32 for 178 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) was OK while Knowshon Moreno (24 carries, 134 yards, 1 TD) tore New England to shreds for the second time in a row (he also did that with Denver last season). Tom Brady (29 of 56, 249 yards, 1 TD) couldn't do it by himself and he wasn't perfect either missing a couple throws that he normally makes in his sleep. The easy way to diagnose the loss was that the Patriots' offensive line was a mess with the Logan Mankins trade looking awful at least for the near future.

A few plays later after the blocked punt set them up in great field position, Miami punched it in the end zone on a four-yard touchdown run by Lamar Miller. You couldn't script a much worst start for the Pats or dream scenario for the Dolphins but it didn't last long as New England scored on their next drive (13 plays, 80 yards, 6:36) thanks to a 2-yard run by Shane Vereen.

Miami started to turn the ball over like it was going out of style, allowing New England to convert on three straight possessions. Miller and Mike Wallace (7 catches, 81 yards) both fumbled while Tannehill was picked off on an errant deep ball by Alfonzo Dennard. Stephen Gostkowski gave the Patriots their first lead at 10-7 with a 47-yard field goal late in the first quarter.

As expected, Rob Gronkowski wasn't on the field for a ton of snaps (4 catches on 11 targets, 40 yards) but he made it count with a 6-yard touchdown catch midway through the second quarter. Miami cut it to 17-10 with 1:59 left in the half on a 38-yard field goal by Caleb Sturgis but New England answered with a 45-yard kick by Gostkowski with six seconds left.

It's not an excuse since they both had to play in it, plus New England has practiced in the heat and humidity for a while, but just stating a fact that they usually struggle in Miami (they fell to 15-35 all-time there). I don't think being there for Week 1 helped them either. The third quarter was all Dolphins as they scored 13 points to take a 23-20 lead. Two Sturgis field goals (24, 22) were sandwiched around a 14-yard touchdown catch by stone hands Wallace.

Back to New England's offensive line, they really struggled since they allowed Brady to get sacked four times (and pressured numerous times) while the running game only produced a paltry 89 total yards. Cameron Wake as usual was a force with two sacks and two forced fumbles (Miami recovered both). Moreno iced it with a four-yard touchdown run with 3:29 left and Strugis' 27-yard field goal closed it out.

It's only one game but still I'm bracing myself for a week of complaining and second-guessing which should at least make for some good talk radio. Julian Edelman (6 catches, 95 yards; 2 carries, 21 yards) was unstoppable in the first half but he got completely bottled up in the second half. Darrelle Revis' much-anticipated Patriots debut wasn't particularly memorable: he was beaten by Wallace for the TD (well sort of) but he deflected two passes away and recovered a fumble. Jerod Mayo (10 tackles, sack, fumble recovery) played well in his return from the pectoral injury from last season.

0-1 is not the end of the world but 0-2 looks more realistic for the Patriots because the Vikings (1-0) drubbed the Rams 34-3 in their opener this afternoon in Minnesota. New England will travel to new TCF Bank Stadium next Sunday (1, CBS) to play Brady's former backup Matt Cassel who at least for now is the Vikings' starting quarterback. Fixing the rushing defense I'm sure will be the main focus this week with Adrian Peterson, still the best running back in the NFL, awaiting New England next weekend.

Miami will try to go to 2-0 on Sunday (1) when they travel to Orchard Park, NY to face the 1-0 Bills. The Dolphins make their annual pilgrimage to Gillette Stadium on December 14 (Week 15) when you know it will be cold and miserable (advantage New England as always). Along with Buffalo's surprising 23-20 overtime win at Chicago, the Jets took care of the Raiders 19-14 meaning that the Patriots are at the bottom of the AFC East for once.

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Meet Your 2014 New England Patriots Captains

It has been a long summer thanks to the miserable Red Sox, so even though the heat has surprisingly returned to start out September, we are thrilled that football season is officially here. New England opens its much-anticipated 2014 campaign on Sunday (1, CBS) in Miami against their AFC East foe (and likely biggest threat in the division). Today, the Pats named their six captains for the club with five holdovers from past seasons and one random new one.

On offense, quarterback Tom Brady and offensive lineman Dan Connolly are the leaders while nose tackle Vince Wilfork, linebacker Jerod Mayo, safety Devin McCourty and special teams star Matthew Slater are also in charge. Brady, Wilfork, Mayo, McCourty and Slater have all been captains for years while Connolly is the lone change. He's been in the NFL for nine years and this will be his seventh in Foxborough after starting out in Jacksonville. It makes sense that the oldest offensive lineman gets the nod since he started every game last season (for the first time) and Logan Mankins was dealt to Tampa Bay.

Captains (if they have them) in baseball or basketball are mostly a useless title (looking at you Rajon Rondo) but in hockey and football, I think it's the complete opposite. Such physically demanding sports require capable leaders that are the most respected members of a given team and also some of their best players. We all think it should be a long, fruitful season for the Pats and judging by these solid guys, they are starting out from a good place.

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Just When You Think The Patriots Can't Suffer Another Devastating Injury, They Do

I can't remember the Patriots ever getting bombarded with so many serious injuries-to key players no less-this early in the regular season. That troubling trend continued tonight as reports surfaced on Twitter that linebacker and defensive captain Jerod Mayo had surgery on a torn pectoral muscle so he's not expected to play for the rest of the season. Ah! It happened last in Sunday's improbable win against the Saints and comes only a few days before they face the Jets (3-3) on Sunday (1, CBS) in New Jersey.

This is absurd, it's fruitless to whine about injuries since every team in the NFL gets them but are you kidding me right now? After only six games, the Patriots have lost Shane Vereen, Danny Amendola (multiple times), Matthew Slater, Vince Wilfork, Tommy Kelly and now Mayo. Oh and Rob Gronkowski has been the most talked about player in the NFL (or so it seems around here) the last few weeks but he has yet to step foot in an actual game. Ugh.

New England (5-1) has been able to survive this raft of injuries so far but at some point, this will all eventually catch up with them. Nobody has the type of depth to withstand losing all these vital players for significant periods of time. Replacing Mayo (55 tackles, 1.5 sacks, 1 pass deflected) with Dont'a Hightower is OK if not ideal. When you start talking about untested rookie Jamie Collins or special teams hero Dane Fletcher stepping in for the two-time Pro Bowl and 2010 All-Pro, well then you have a problem.

If nothing else, this unfortunately will prove to us one way or another if Mayo was overrated or not. Many people maintain that he piles up inflated statistics but never really makes game-changing plays. I'm not firmly in that camp but I will say that if you're looking for a big play linebacker, Mayo isn't necessarily your first or second option in the NFL. Still, I think we can all agree that he's a very effective player and a guy that has fit in with the Pats seamlessly from day one.

PS how miserable must it be to cover the Pats? Anytime there is a big story like this, it is broken by a national outlet (in this case Yahoo). You spend all that time covering the team but you can't build any good sources so in turn you get scooped every time for the most important stuff that people want to know. Yikes. I'll stick to just blogging about the Patriots thank you very much, no wonder why a majority of their beat writers are so beaten down.

UPDATE 10/16: The Pats publically acknowledged Mayo's injury today, putting him on season-ending IR and re-signing defensive tackle Andre Neblett.

UPDATE 10/17: Devin McCourty regained his captaincy with Mayo gone and the Patriots signed cornerback Travis Howard to their practice squad.

UPDATE 10/18: Rob Ninkovich was also named a captain, in place of Vince Wilfork.

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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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All of New England's Problems Come To the Surface In Ugly Loss To Bengals

We all knew that the Patriots' 4-0 start this season was more a product of a favorable schedule than the makings of a powerful team. Still, it was disconcerting to have all those fears realized this afternoon at Cincinnati's (3-2 overall, 3-0 home) Paul Brown Stadium where the Bengals survived for a 13-6 victory over New England (4-1 overall, 2-1 away).

Former Patriot BenJarvus Green-Ellis (67 yards rushing) recorded this slopfest's only touchdown-a 1-yard run up the gut in the fourth quarter-where Vince Wilfork would have been-and New England's struggles on offense, particularly in the Red Zone or tough situations continued. This being the Bengals though, they weren't content to seize the game so instead they kept giving New England second and third chances (dumb penalties, bad clock management), but Tom Brady (18 of 38 for 197 yards, 1 INT) couldn't take advantage as he had one of his worst performances in recent years.. Adam Jones picked him off on a terrible deep ball to end it.

Danny Amendola (4 catches, 55 yards, 9 targets) returned but he was predictably rusty with a couple key drops. With no Stevan Ridley, LaGerrette Blount got the chance to be the top running back but he flopped gaining 51 yards on 12 carries but also losing a fumble (a tribute to Ridley?) that caused him to be briefly benched.

That wasn't even the worst turnover of the game as Andy Dalton (20 of 27 for 212 yards, 1 INT) threw across his body, easily picked off by Brandon Spikes (12 tackles, 7 solo, 2 tackles for loss, 1 pass deflected) in New England's red zone. Cincy also lost a fumble when rookie Giovani Bernard (62 yards rushing) got popped by Devin McCourty and Jerod Mayo (11 tackles, 7 solo, half a sack, 1 pass deflected and 1 quarterback hit) recovered it.

After a scoreless first quarter (when does that ever happen in today's NFL?), the teams traded field goals. Mike Nugent hit from 39 and Stephen Gostkowski received a gift-a 42-yard kick thanks to three straight runs and a punt by the Bengals right before halftime. Nugent's 50-yard field goal in the third were the only points in the frame. By the time Green-Ellis rumbled in from a yard out early in the fourth, I felt like a two-score deficit to overcome given New England's offensive struggles and Cincinnati's excellent defense was too much to ask for.

Gostkowski's 19-yard field goal provided the final points as the Patriots couldn't punch it in and took the points instead. A scary moment for the Pats occurred when Tommy Kelly went down with an apparent knee injury when he was chasing Dalton and nobody touched him. The good news was that he returned to the game shortly thereafter.

New England will have its hands full on Sunday (4:25, Fox) as they play one of the three remaining unbeaten squads in the NFL: Saints (5-0) at Gillette Stadium.

UPDATE 10/8: Yesterday the Pats re-signed Marquice Cole and waived the Kannoris Davis and Ja'Gared Davis. There are two open spots on the practice squad with their names on it.

UPDATE 10/9: The Davis brothers (just kidding, they're not related but they might as well be) were re-signed to the practice squad) and New England signed defensive tackle Andre Neblett to the 53-man roster.

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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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Beating The Bills Doesn't Mean Much, The Patriots Have Plenty of Work To Do

You know that as a fan base we are truly spoiled when we can look at a season-opening win on the road, against a divisional opponent that featured a last-minute drive and think, man the Patriots really played poorly. Such is the world we live in where 23-21 victories over the Bills at Ralph Wilson Stadium fill us with more frustration and anger than joy. Stephen Gostkowski's clutch (for him) 35-yard field goal with five seconds left was the difference.

This is more than us being miserable bastards, after all of New England's recent history of being regular season heroes then losing in the postseason, these games take on a more sterile look and feel. A function of being in the AFC East (one of the worst divisions in pro sports) is that the Pats are basically a lock to win it and/or make the playoffs every season that Tom Brady (29 of 52, 288 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) and Bill Belichick are employed in Foxborough.

It was a sloppy contest with both teams combining for five turnovers and Buffalo getting whistled for 10 penalties (75 yards). New England started off well, leading 10-0 after the first quarter, and ended strongly (outscoring Buffalo 6-0 in the fourth quarter) so it was the second and third quarters that were bizarre even by wacky opening day standards.

I will resist the urge to draw final conclusions off of one game but there were certainly some trends to keep an eye on. Danny Amendola (10 catches, 104 yards) might be made of glass but when he can drag himself onto the field, he has great hands and Brady already seems to have built a connection with him. Conversely, preseason All-Stars Kenbrell Thompkins (4 catches, 42 yards; 14 targets) and Zach Sudfeld (0 catches, 1 target) looked like the undrafted rookies they are rather than the preseason standouts that everyone went overboard praising.

Bills rookie quarterback E.J. Manuel (18 of 27, 150 yards, 2 TDs) was predictably up and down. He showed the ability to run (19-yard carry) and sling it (witness the beautiful 18-yard TD pass to Stevie Johnson) but he also lacked touch on some of his easier throws.

Bigger picture, three of New England's obvious storylines coming into this season only got further muddled: 1) their defense got no pass rush (0 sacks, 4 QB hits); 2) Stevan Ridley (2 fumbles, 1 lost) has a case of fumbilitis that might be fatal; 3) outside of Amendola, who can Brady confidently throw to?

Julian Edelman (7 catches, 79 yards, 2 TDs) and Shane Vereen (101 yards rushing; 58 yards receiving) were the unexpected (but not really) workhorses for the Patriots. New England's defense looked solid (albeit against the Bills and a rookie QB that nobody fears), it's not a leap to say they only really gave up seven points since the Bills got a 74-yard fumble return for a TD by Da'Norris Searcy and a gift interception (off Sudfeld's stone hands) that set them up with a short field for another 18-yard touchdown pass-this time to rookie Robert Woods. Jerod Mayo had 15 tackles (12 solo) and Kyle Arrington forced two fumbles that were recovered by Tommy Kelly and Rob Ninkovich respectively.

To state the obvious: Brady really missed Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez. The good news is that the former should be back in a few weeks when the competition ramps up (sorry Jets and Bucs). Amendola's groin injury is a worry heading into Thursday's (8:25, NFL Network) home opener vs. Jets (1-0). Playing two divisional games on such a short schedule to begin the season seems cruel but I'm not Adrian Gonzalez so I won't complain.

The Jets should be 0-1 but thanks to an all-time bonehead penalty, they were able to kick a last-second field goal of their own for an 18-17 win vs. Buccaneers that they didn't deserve. Oh well, the Pats will face another rookie quarterback-Geno Smith-who started his pro career by going 24 of 38 for 256 yards, one touchdown, one interception and 47 yards rushing. The Patriots and Bills won't cross paths again until Week 17 at Gillette Stadium, you know by then that Buffalo will be playing for nothing but pride and a high draft pick.

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The Patriots Hopefully Will Not Send Seven Guys To The 2013 Pro Bowl

I have made fun of the Pro Bowl more than enough in the past so I don't want to repeat myself ranting about the most useless yearly event in professional sports. As a dedicated blogger, I'm here simply to report that the Patriots had seven players named to the 2013 Pro Bowl in Hawaii on January 27, 2013.

Quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Wes Welker, tight end Rob Gronkowski, guard Logan Mankins, defensive lineman Vince Wilfork, linebacker Jerod Mayo and special teams standout Matthew Slater were all selected by their peers, NFL coaches and fans. New England hopes that history repeats itself since the Patriots didn't have to send anybody to Hawaii in 2012 since they were in the Super Bowl the next Sunday against the Giants.

Gronkowski, Mankins, Wilfork and Mayo are the starters of that group and the Patriots had the third most selections of any team in the NFL. The 49ers (9) and Texans (8)-two teams they saw up close in recent weeks at Gillette Stadium-were the other squads most heavily represented.

This is the eighth time Brady has made it, one shy of John Hannah's team record, and fourth year in a row. Mankins, Welker and Wilfork are going for the fifth time while Gronkowski, Mayo and Slater each were named to the AFC roster for the second time in their careers.

One of the things that makes football so great is that it is the epitome of a team sport. It takes many solid players to get anywhere so while these particular guys all deserved to be singled out for their excellent seasons, I take this more of an indication that it's been a great year for the Patriots.

New England (11-4) hosts Miami (7-8) on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m., CBS) in the final game of the 2012 regular season. The playoff scenarios are pretty simple for the Pats: if they win and either Houston or Denver loses, they get the No. 2 seed in the AFC. If they win and both the Texans and Broncos lose, they get the No. 1 seed. However if both of those teams win, it doesn't matter what the Patriots do because they won't get a bye in the first round.

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Well I Guess We Know Who The Best Team In The AFC Is After Monday Night

It's no wonder that we (Patriots fans) are all honks and lunatics that are despised by the rest of the country. Really though, how are you supposed to act when one team spoils us so many times in one magical decade? What was billed as the AFC game of the year turned out to be no contest as New England (10-3, 5-1 home) blew the doors off Houston (11-2, 6-1 away) 42-14 at Gillette Stadium in Monday Night Football.

This wasn't your garden variety Patriots beating since the Texans are the top team in the AFC and they had been unbeaten on road this season. Somehow the team that called this "the biggest game in their franchise's history" didn't manage to show up for it. New England won their seventh straight game overall and their 20th consecutive home game in December. Thanks to global warming, Houston didn't even get treated to proper weather since it was 59 degrees at kickoff.

Tom Brady (21 of 35, 296 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INT), Brandon Lloyd (7 catches, 89 yards, 2 TDs) and Stevan Ridley (18 carries, 72 yards, TD) were collectively much better than Matt Schaub (19 of 32, 232 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT), Andre Johnson (8 catches, 95 yards) and Arian Foster (15 carries, 46 yards, TD; 4 catches, 39 yards). As we all know, football is a team game and while those numbers were great for New England, what was even more impressive was their fast start and excellent defensive effort.

Vince Wilfork (4 tackles, 3 solo, sack, tackle for loss, pass defensed) and Jerod Mayo (7 tackles, 6 solo, tackle for loss, 2 quarterback hits) were the best defensive players on the field which is saying something since Houston defensive end J.J. Watt (4 tackles, 2 solo, 3 quarterback hits) will likely by the NFL Defensive Player of the Year this season. Houston had no answers for those two or Dont'a Hightower (6 tackles, 5 solo, 2 tackles for loss, 2 quarterback hits), Devon McCourty (5 tackles, 5 solo, tackle for loss, pass defensed, interception) and Rob Ninkovich (5 tackles, 2 solo, .5 sack, 1 quarterback hit) for that matter.

The final outcome was never really in question as the Pats jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, 21-0 advantage in the second quarter and the Texans didn't get on the board until the third quarter when Foster's 1-yard run cut it to 28-7. Ridley fumbled near the goalline on New England's first drive but Aaron Hernandez (8 catches, 58 yards) recovered it and caught a 7-yard touchdown on the next play. Fortune later shone on the Patriots in the fourth quarter when Danny Woodhead fumbled (after Watt punched the ball out) following a nice catch and run but it went to the end zone, right to Lloyd.

Lloyd caught a 37-yard touchdown on a beautiful play action fake by Brady. That made it 14-0 and Hernandez added a 4-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. One of the more ironic parts is that after that score, the Texans defense actually held the Patriots in check for a while. They punted four times in a row (including three 3-and-outs to start) but all was forgiven when Brady hit Donte' Stallworth for 63-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter.

That was Stallworth's first grab of the season and most impressively, it was caught one-handed while the cornerback was all over him in coverage. Ridley's 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter made it 42-7 before Texans backup quarterback T.J. Yates had a 1-yard touchdown run in garbage time.

Houston still has the inside track on the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs but this game had to give New England so much confidence. They destroyed what had been (record wise) the best team in the NFL and made the road to home-field and at least a No. 2 seed very possible. If the Patriots win out and the Texans slip up once more, bingo they are No. 1.

The Niners (9-3-1, 1st NFC West) come to Gillette Stadium on Sunday night (8:20 p.m., NBC) for another primetime matchup with one of the NFL's top teams. After a short week and given that this wasn't even competitive, the law of averages would tell you that game will be much closer. Then again, after tonight's beating, it's impossible to predict how well the Patriots can play/how poorly a legitimate contender performs. The other main point for New England against San Francisco is that the Niners represent the last good team that they will see until January. The Pats could beat the Jaguars and Dolphins in their sleep so they might as well empty the tank (within reason) this week.

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Did That Game Really Just Happen Or Was I In A Food Coma?

I think we all knew the Jets were a mess but that still couldn't have prepared us for what transpired tonight at MetLife Stadium as the Patriots embarrassed the home team 49-19 in a game that wasn't nearly that close. Bill Belichick celebrated his 200th career win (including playoffs) by probably ending the Rex Ryan/Mike Tannenbaum era in New York. Look for major changes to be made there in the offseason.

New England (8-3, 4-2) won its fifth consecutive game thanks to an explosion in the second quarter that included three touchdowns (3!) in 52 seconds. Believe it or not, it was scoreless after one quarter before New York (4-7, 2-4 home) decided to self-destruct to an unbelievable level.

Lighting up the scoreboard in the past four games has been a common occurrence for the Pats. They've put up 190 combined points which is the most in a four-game span since the Rams in 1950 (208 points). Tom Brady (18 of 28, 323 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) was nearly perfect again; he's had 14 TDs and 0 INTs in their last five games. New England's 108 points in the last two blowout victories is the third highest total in NFL history.

For the second week in a row, the Patriots scored touchdowns in all three phases: offense, defense and special teams. Wes Welker's (7 catches, 71 yards) 3-yard TD catch got the feast started in the second quarter. That was followed by Shane Vereen taking a swing pass 83 yards for a score, Steve Gregory (2 fumble recoveries, INT) scooped up a fumble 32 yards and took it to the house while Julian Edelman returned a fumble on a kick return 22 yards for the third touchdown in under a minute.

Speaking of Edelman, for good measure he added a 56-yard touchdown grab which put New England up 35-0 in the second quarter. Their 35-point quarter tied a franchise record. It also gave him four touchdowns in the last two games. The only downside is that he got crushed in the third quarter by LaRon Landry and it looked like he sustained a concussion.

New York couldn't get out of its own way and seeing Mark Sanchez (26 of 36, 301 yards, TD, INT) comically run into the back of his own lineman (in the most Jets play of all-time) and fumble then having Joe McKnight cough it up on the next play was something out of Football Follies. All that was missing was some Benny Hill music.

Credit to Rex Ryan and his team though as they scored 12 straight points to make it interesting. Haha yeah right. Nick Folk's 32-yard field goal with two seconds left in the first half broke the shutout. A chop block in the end zone led to a safety for the Jets and Bilal Powell had a 4-yard TD run in the third quarter.

New England went back to trolling New York as Brady had a 1-yard quarterback sneak and Stevan Ridley (21 carries, 97 yards) was rewarded for a solid night with a 9-yard touchdown run.

For some reason, the Jets dressed Tim Tebow even though after the game he admitted that he has two broken ribs. That meant all the Tebow talk during the broadcast and chants by their miserable fans were pointless, he wasn't coming in no matter what. Third-string quarterback Greg McElroy must feel good about his work situation.

Dustin Keller had a 1-yard touchdown catch with 2:21 left in the fourth quarter for the final margin. New England leads the NFL with 32 takeaways, they improved to 7-1 against the AFC and 4-0 against AFC East foes-they are done with the Bills and Jets. Jerod Mayo had 11 tackles (8 solo), a sack and tackle for loss while Dont'a Hightower had four tackles (3 solo), a sack and tackle for loss.

It was a very physical game and especially considering the short week of preparation, the Patriots were outstanding. Yes, the Jets helped them out with most of their five turnovers but New England also made the plays. Like last season, they are showing the knack for getting turnovers on defense which is a great sign. The No. 3 team in the AFC will get this weekend off and then next week they'll begin work on the Dolphins (4-6, hosting Seattle on Sunday). The Patriots travel to Miami on Sunday, December 2 (1 p.m., CBS) to face a team that started out looking so promising but they have lost their last three.

UPDATE 11/23: Kyle Arrington was fined $23,000 today for his helmet to helmet hit on Colts quarterback Andrew Luck on Sunday. No word yet on any fines from last night's game vs. the Jets. Also, Greg Salas was claimed off waivers by the Eagles.

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Week 11: Patriots-Colts Injury Report

Sunday (4:25 p.m., CBS) should be a fascinating game as rookie quarterback Andrew Luck and the overachieving Colts (6-3) visit the underachieving Patriots (6-3) at Gillette Stadium.

Today the injury report was released and it features 16 Patriots that are questionable and two Colts that are out.

Logan Mankins (ankle/calf) is all banged up, illustrated in the fact that New England pulled out the doubtful label for the first time this season. Ron Brace (elbow), Deion Branch (hamstring), Patrick Chung (shoulder/hamstring), Dan Connolly (back), Steve Gregory (hip), Rob Gronkowski (hip), Aaron Hernandez (ankle), Dont'a Hightower (hamstring), Brandon Lloyd (knee), Nick McDonald (shoulder), Trevor Scott (hamstring), Brandon Spikes (knee), Sebastian Vollmer (back/knee), Wes Welker (ankle), Tracy White (foot) and Malcolm Williams (thigh) are all questionable.

It was reported by multiple sources that Hernandez was going to miss his fourth straight game so it is surprising to see him listed as 50/50. I tend to believe all the clued in reporters (ESPN's Adam Schefter foremost) rather than the Patriots.

For the Colts, rookie tight end Coby Fleener (Luck's teammate at Stanford) is out with a knee injury while former Dolphins cornerback Vontae Davis (reluctant star of Hard Knocks this summer) will miss this key AFC battle due to a shoulder injury.

With the late kickoff on Sunday afternoon, we probably won't know until an hour or two before who else will miss this game. Keep in mind, some names often pop up on Saturday nights so I'll have the latest information when I hear it.

It was a rough day to be a bank account in Foxborough as Spikes ($25,000), Jerod Mayo ($10,000) and Alfonzo Dennard ($7875) were all fined for unnecessary roughness (Spikes) or late hits (Mayo and Dennard) against the Bills last Sunday.

UPDATE 11/17: The Patriots made a flurry of moves today as they released Branch for the second time this season and also wide receiver Jarred Fayson off the practice squad. They activated cornerback Aqib Talib and wide receiver Greg Salas (from the practice squad).

UPDATE 11/18: Hernandez, Mankins, Chung, Connolly, Daniel Fells, Jake Bequette and Justin Francis are all inactive for New England.

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After A Lackluster 1st Half, Patriots Still Manage To Hang 52 On The Bills In An Easy Win

The old sports cliche that says it was a tale of two halves was probably never more appropriate than this afternoon in Orchard Park, NY at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The Patriots (2-2) sleepwalked through much of the first half, en route to trailing the Bills (2-2) 14-7 at halftime. No problem though as New England outscored Buffalo 45-14 in the second half (31-7 in the 4th) for what turned out to be a 52-28 blowout victory.

No surprise that with such an insane offensive output (580 total yards), the Patriots were only the second team in NFL history (Packers, 2008) to have a pair of 100-yard rushers and receivers in the same game. Brandon Bolden (16 carries, 137 yards) scored a touchdown against the Ravens last week but this was the rookie's first real impact performance. Combine him with Stevan Ridley (22 carries, 106 yards) and New England's running game was unstoppable. Ditto for Tom Brady (22 of 36, 340 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INTs) and the passing game, particularly Wes Welker (9 catches, 129 yards) and Buffalo native Rob Gronkowski (5 catches, 104 yards, TD).

Ryan Fitzpatrick (22 of 39, 350 yards, 4 TDs, 4 INTs) is a wonderful story, coming from Harvard and being an NFL starter but he seems destined to be an average quarterback at best for the bulk of his career. He commits way too many turnovers to ever be consistently successful. For the game, Buffalo had six turnovers since C.J. Spiller and Fred Jackson each had a fumble to go with Fitzpatrick's four interceptions.

Looking at the final score and statistics, it is easy to forget about Gronk and Welker's respective fumbles in the first half along with a pair of missed field goals by Stephen Gostkowski, not to mention the fact that the Bills led 21-7 early in the third quarter. It's not out of the realm of possibility that the Pats could have scored in the 60-70 range without those unusual events.

It sounds silly to write this but New England's defense played well, except for their woeful safeties (Patrick Chung and Steve Gregory). Devin McCourty had two interceptions, Jerod Mayo and Tavon Wilson had interceptions, Brandon Spikes caused two fumbles, Wilson recovered one and Vince Wilfork picked up another.

Ridley's six-yard run was the only score in the first quarter. Buffalo had a pair of touchdown catches by tight end Scott Chandler (24, 20) to take a 14-7 lead in the second quarter. They could have been up more but Spikes crushed Spiller on the goal-line right before halftime and Wilfork recovered the football.

Things didn't look so hot when Donald Jones had a 68-yard catch and run on a basic slant early in the third quarter that went the distance. The Bills were up 21-7 but after that, the Pats rattled off a 45-7 burst.

Brady scrambled and found Danny Woodhead for a 17-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive then Brady tied it with a four-yard run. It was 21-21 heading into the fourth quarter so anyone's game, right? Turns out not so much.

Gronk caught a 28-yard touchdown right down the middle on the first play of the final frame. Ridley (2-yard run) and Bolden (7-yard run) capped off their spectacular days. Brad Smith caught a 35-yard touchdown from Fitzpatrick to cut it to 42-21 but Brandon Lloyd topped that with an unreal diving 25-yard catch for his first TD as a Patriot. Gostkowski ended his day 1 for 3 after hitting a 30-yard kick in garbage time.

Losing this game probably wouldn't have been fatal for the Patriots since they are in what has to be the worst division in football. Look around, the Dolphins (1-3) actually played well but lost to the Cardinals in overtime and the Jets (2-2) are a disaster after suffering a humiliating 34-0 loss to the Niners plus a possible serious injury to Santonio Holmes.

Let the hype begin, Papa John's pitchman Peyton Manning (ever hear of him?) and the Denver Broncos (2-2, 2nd in AFC West) come to Gillette Stadium on Sunday (4:25 p.m., CBS) for only the second home game of the season for New England. It's tough to get much of a read on Denver since three of their four games have been at home and today, they shredded the Raiders 37-6 which doesn't mean anything.

Manning doesn't have the same arm strength that he used to but with Demaryious Thomas, Eric Decker and Willis McGahee on offense not to mention Elvis Dumervil, Von Miller and Champ Bailey on defense, the Broncos are a quality team. They appear much more dangerous than the squad led by Tim Tebow that got trounced by the Patriots in the AFC playoffs in January.

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Patriots-Ravens Injury Report Plus 2 Patriots Fined From Last Week's Game Vs. Cardinals

It's only taken three weeks in the 2012 regular season for the Patriots to start to employ their usual tricks on the injury report. Today, they listed 10 players as questionable while also designating Aaron Hernandez (ankle) and defensive tackle Justin Francis (ankle) out for Sunday night's game vs. Baltimore.

The funny part is that the Ravens clearly don't bother pulling the same stunts since they only list one player as doubtful: offensive tackle Jah Reid (calf). Other than that, everyone else is probable which isn't even worth mentioning if you ask me.

For New England, guard Dan Connolly (concussion), defensive end Brandon Deaderick (ankle), cornerback Alfonzo Dennard (hamstring), tight end Daniel Fells (shin), wide receiver Brandon Lloyd (thigh), guard Logan Mankins (hip), offensive lineman Nick McDonald (shoulder), cornerback Sterling Moore (knee), running back Shane Vereen (foot) and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back) are the long list of questionable players.

The most important guys for the Patriots in that group are Connolly, Lloyd, Mankins and Vollmer. Their offensive line is the biggest weakness on the team and those guys are basically all the best players at that position so yikes. Hopefully they can all suit up against Baltimore for what should be a close, great game.

In other Pats news, safety Steve Gregory and linebacker Jerod Mayo were both fined today related to the 20-18 loss to the Cardinals on Sunday. Even though he wasn't penalized on the play, Mayo was fined $21,000 for what the NFL deemed unnecessary roughness on a hard hit of Arizona wide receiver Early Doucet. They thought he hit a defenseless receiver in the head and neck area although when it happened, it just looked like a clean hit. Gregory was fined $7875 for a late hit on tight end Todd Heap. Ironically, he was penalized on the play along with linebacker Brandon Spikes (for roughing the passer). That's what makes it strange that Spikes wasn't fined and Mayo's fine was way higher than Gregory's. Who knows?

Stay tuned tomorrow night and Sunday afternoon as we learn what Patriots will be inactive for the game against the Ravens which is on Sunday Night Football (8:20 p.m., NBC).

UPDATE 9/22: New England declared Deaderick and Dennard both out for tomorrow night. Before kickoff, the Pats will make three additional players inactive.

UPDATE 9/23: Vereen, McDonald and defensive end Jake Bequette are the other inactives for the Patriots. Sergio Kindle, Reid, Asa Jackson, Billy Bajema, DeAngelo Tyson, LaQuan Williams and Bryan Hall are all inactive for the Ravens. I've only heard of the first two guys but no major losses there for Baltimore.

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Your 2012 New England Patriots Captains, Same Exact Group As Last Year

Life is just better with real football games happening all around us so it was a great feeling last night when at long lost, the NFL was back for good thanks to its Giants-Cowboys 2012 season-opener.

The Patriots are getting ready for their game on Sunday against the Titans in Nashville, Tennessee. The injury report should be out tomorrow and today they did some further housekeeping as they announced their 2012 team captains: quarterback Tom Brady, wide receiver Matthew Slater, guard Logan Mankins, defensive tackle Vince Wilfork, linebacker Jerod Mayo and cornerback Devin McCourty.

If the names seem familiar, you have been paying attention lately since it is the same exact group that were captains last season as well. Since New England reached the Super Bowl again, I see nothing wrong with keeping these guys as the appointed leaders. It takes years to build team chemistry (ask the Red Sox) so when you find a comfortable fit, I think it's best to stay with it for as long as things run smoothly.

Not for nothing, but all those guys have been Pro Bowlers. I think every team does this, with probably some variation, but it's nice to have basically every position covered: star and best player, top linemen, defensive playmakers and special teams ace. One of the things that has made the Patriots so great in the last decade is the way (at least on the outside) that every player seems to be treated equally. That might appear obvious but in the NFL, that is often a tougher act than you would expect.

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The Dolphins Prove A 17-Point Halftime Lead Means Nothing At Gillette Stadium

If you claim to have ever seen something like this version of the New England Patriots, I'm going to call bullshit. From series to quarter to half to game, there is no way to mentally prepare for what the Pats give us each week.

Regardless of how ugly it gets, New England (12-3) clinched a first-round bye in the AFC playoffs this season with a come-from-behind 27-24 win against the Miami Dolphins (5-10) this afternoon at Gillette Stadium on Christmas Eve. It was the seventh straight win for the Patriots.

To say that the Patriots played terrible in the first half would be way too generous. They trailed 17-0 at halftime as Tom Brady (27 of 46, 304 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) was either getting sacked or throwing passes at his receiver's feet. Bizarre doesn't begin to describe it.

Still, New England managed to wake up in time to score its first 17-point rally and victory in nine years.

Just when it looked like Dolphins quarterback Matt Moore (17 of 33, 294 yards, 3 TDs, INT), running back Reggie Bush (22 carries, 113 yards rushing; 26 yards receiving) and wide receiver Brandon Marshall (7 catches, 156 yards, TD) would combine for one of the biggest upsets in the NFL this season, Miami reverted back to its usual loser ways.

The Dolphins built up their beefy lead thanks to a 47-yard field goal by Dan Carpenter in the first quarter then a 19-yard touchdown catch by Marshall and a 1-yard touchdown grab by something called Charles Clay.

New England couldn't do anything offensively in the first half as their first six drives ended prematurely with Zoltan Mesko punts then Stephen Gostkowski badly yanked a 51-yard field goal attempt on the second to last play of the half.

Things started to go the Patriots' way to begin the second half as they finally got on the board with a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski. Three plays later, Moore inexplicably fumbled the ball right to Vince Wilfork.

New England went to work as Brady found Deion Branch for a 1-yard touchdown on the ensuing drive to cut it to 17-10. After the Pats defense forced a punt (thanks to two sacks by Brandon Deaderick and Rob Ninkovich), they managed to tie it before the third quarter ended. Brady scored on his first of two 1-yard quarterback sneaks to knot it at 17.

With all the momentum swung over to their side, Moore gave the Pats another absolute gift early in the fourth quarter. His pass intended for Brian Hartline turned into a duck that Devin McCourty (9 tackles, 4 solos, 4 passes defensed, 1 tackle for loss) picked off-his first of the season!

Gostkowski's 42-yard field goal following that second turnover gave New England a lead they would never relinquish. The Pats defense forced a punt and Brady scored his second quarterback sneak for a 10-point lead (27-17) with 2:56 left.

It wouldn't be a Patriots game in 2011 without them failing to close the door on an inferior team so it was entirely predictable that Moore would drive the Dolphins right down the field for a touchdown. He threw a 15-yard strike to Davone Bess with 1:48 remaining on the clock.

Miami elected to kick it deep but they couldn't get a stop. Brady iced it with a six-yard throw to Wes Welker (12 catches, 138 yards) who had a monster performance. He was targeted an absurd 19 times.

Rob Gronkowski was kept out of the end zone for the second straight game but he had seven catches for 78 yards while rookie Stevan Ridley ran hard (season-high and career-high 13 carries, 64 yards).

Jerod Mayo (13 tackles, 4 solo, 2 sacks, 1 tackle for loss) had a solid game while Shaun Ellis notched his first sack of the season (haha he beat a fullback to get to Moore).

Matt Light was a surprise inactive today and things got even worse for New England's makeshift offensive line when Logan Mankins went down with a knee injury and never returned. Marcus Cannon replaced him with Nate Solder shifting over to left tackle. Keep in mind that Sebastian Vollmer was still out.

Also, Patrick Chung and Brandon Spikes missed yet another game. You can't count on everybody to be healthy when the playoffs roll around but the Patriots need at least a few of these guys back by then.

New England closes out the regular season next Sunday at Gillette against the Buffalo Bills (6-9). Before today, I thought the Bills had completely given up but they snapped a seven-game losing streak by blowing out the Denver Tebows 40-14. So I guess they will show up next week.

With a win or losses by the Steelers and Ravens, the Patriots clinch home-field throughout the playoffs. Not that the Pats need additional motivation but Buffalo beat New England 34-31 in Week 3 at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Merry Christmas everybody, thanks for reading!

UPDATE 12/26: Ross Ventrone was released from the 53-man roster today along with Cedric McKinley from the practice squad.

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Source: Patriots Extend Jerod Mayo's Contract For Five More Years

ESPN's Adam Schefter was the first this morning to report that the New England Patriots and linebacker Jerod Mayo have agreed to a five-year contract extension.

This is good news considering that Mayo is still only 25-years-old which means he is likely just coming into the prime of his playing career.

After missing two games in October with a MCL (knee) injury, the former University of Tennessee star still ranks third on the Pats with 68 tackles (44 solo, 24 assists). He's also had three passes defensed and forced a fumble.

The most promising aspect of his game has been his playmaking ability, something New England desperately lacks on defense. In each of the last two games (wins over Indy and Washington), Mayo has stepped up with critical fourth-quarter interceptions (fittingly the first two of his career).

Mayo's best season so far in his four-year career was in 2010. He was an All-Pro after racking up 175 tackles total (114 solo, 61 assists) with three fumble recoveries, two sacks and a forced fumble. He also went to his first Pro Bowl for that fine season.

Moving forward, I think it's obvious that to get the most out of Mayo, the Patriots need to surround him with more talent in the linebacker corps. That means less undrafted bums like Dane Fletcher and Gary Guyton and more guys like Brandon Spikes.

Mayo has been a good player, he was the AP's defensive rookie of the year in 2008 and he's lived up to his lofty draft spot (1st round, 10th overall).

When he has more talent around him, it'll be easier to have him be more aggressive. For now, I think the Patriots deploy him more to clean up others mistakes (which there are always an abundance of).

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Brady-O'Brien Sideline Spat Overshadows Patriots 34-27 Win Over Redskins

It is almost unheard of that drama on the sidelines during a Patriots game (by them) overshadows the actual play on the field but as far as I'm concerned, seeing Tom Brady and offensive coordinator Bill O'Brien yell at each other and have to be separated was much more interesting than New England's (10-3) 34-27 win over the Washington Redskins (4-9) this afternoon at FedEx Field.

New England kept pace with the Steelers, Ravens and Texans, who all won this weekend and remain tied atop the AFC at 10-3. The Pats could have clinched the AFC East today with a Jets loss but Rex Ryan's guys smoked the Chiefs to keep their playoff hopes alive and well.

It sounds insane that I never thought this one was in doubt, especially since Washington was driving for the tying score at the end, but did you really believe Rex Grossman (19 of 32, 252 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT) would beat the Patriots?

For their fifth straight win, New England benefited on a huge break (or bounce as it were) when Grossman's pass went off Santana Moss' (3 catches, 81 yards, TD) hands and was picked off on an outstanding diving play by Jerod Mayo (his second INT in the last two games).

Brady (22 of 37, 357 yards, 3 TDs, INT) got into it following the previous drive as the Patriots could have iced it with another score but his pass into the end zone-intended for Tiquan Underwood (1 catch, 7 yards)-was picked off by Josh Wilson.

TB12 is prone to emotional outbursts when he walks to the sideline and being a prick when he's on the bench. In this case, I think they both had their faults. 1) It wasn't a good pass by Brady so I have no problem with O'Brien calling him on it. 2) That was the best option, really? Forcing it in to the fifth receiver? So I can also understand Brady's frustration. This moment will be the talking point for the next week and I don't blame anyone since it was way more memorable than this completely forgettable game (at least as far as the Pats defense was concerned).

Rob Gronkowski (6 catches, 160 yards, 2 TDs) broke the NFL touchdown record for tight ends (13, held by Antonio Gates and Vernon Davis). Honestly, I think he could put up 20+ now that he has 15 with three games remaining.

Wes Welker (7 catches, 86 yards) and Aaron Hernandez (5 catches, 84 yards) both had solid performances in supporting roles to Gronk. Truthfully, Brady didn't have a great game even though his numbers look good. He missed way more passes than he normally does but what can you do? As usual, O'Brien had no commitment to any semblance of a running game, putting way too much pressure on Brady to carry not only the defense but also a one-dimensional offensive gameplan.

Two ex-Patriots: Jabar Gaffney (6 catches, 92 yards, TD) and Donte' Stallworth (4 catches, 96 yards) torched their former team which dare I say, had its most pathetic defensive performance of the season so far, all things considered. Andre Carter (5 tackles, 2 solo, sack, 3 quarterback hits) had a good game against his former team the Redskins.

Vince Wilfork recovered a Grossman fumble (caused by Carter) in the end zone for a touchdown (the first of his career) and an early 7-0 lead for the Pats, 2:54 into the game. However, other than that, Mayo's interception (the last play) and a couple pass breakups by Devin McCourty, New England's defense was beaten all over the field by Redskins rookie running back Ray Helu (27 carries, 126 yards) and an otherwise awful offensive unit.

Washington went down the field on its next drive but were forced to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Graham Gano.

Gronkowski's first touchdown-from 11 yards out-was trumped by the catch and run he made on the previous play. He went 49 yards, dragging and/or running over multiple Redskins while staying inbounds on the sideline. At 14-3 a little more than midway through the first quarter, New England looked like they might blow out Washington.

Turns out that Gaffney and Co. responded right away. He had a 9-yard touchdown grab (burning McCourty) that cut it to 14-10. I'm not going to pretend he's a great wide receiver but don't you wish the Pats had him over the likes of Underwood and Chad Johnson (1 catch, 15 yards)? Gaffney's a pro; a good route runner that makes plays.

The second quarter started with a play that might only work in Pop Warner, probably not even in Madden. Yet there was returner Brandon Banks taking an end-around and throwing a terrible spiral to Moss (uncovered) for a 49-yard touchdown. Washington led 17-14.

New England's red zone offense stalled and Stephen Gostkowski was forced to kick a 23-yard field goal to tie it at 17. Ditto for the Redskins as Gano hit a 25-yard field goal before the two-minute warning. Gostkowski's 24-yard field goal at the end of the first half knotted it at 20.

The back and forth scoring extended to the third quarter as Gronkowski caught a 37-yard touchdown on New England's first drive of the half. David Anderson tied it with a 6-yard touchdown catch from Grossman before Welker broke loose for a 24-yard TD after Brady bought some time in the pocket.

It was shocking that nobody scored in the fourth quarter, not to mention the fact that the Patriots defense forced two punts and the interception.

I have been waiting for next Sunday's game in Denver basically since the Jets game way back on November 13. The Pats have played one joke team (Kansas City, Philadelphia, Indianapolis, Washington) after the next during this winning streak so it's time to see them face the Broncos (8-5), who lead the AFC West and are riding a six-game winning streak and 7-1 run under the incomparable Tim Tebow.

The only disappointing part is that it won't be on Sunday Night Football so that it truly gets the hype it deserves but I can't argue against Brady vs. Tebow at any time. Denver is likely going to win their division and make the playoffs; they have a nice defense and it is always tough to win in the high altitude of Denver (snow would be cool too).

I speak for all Patriots fans when I say, it's about time they faced someone they could potentially see in the playoffs. Enough with these garbage opponents in games that are almost predetermined before kickoff.

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