Thanks For Everything BenJarvus Green-Ellis, No Really

It is only fair that we salute BenJarvus Green-Ellis, one of the most underrated Patriots of the last four seasons, as he heads out to his new NFL home: the Cincinnati Bengals.

BenJarvus or "StackJarvus" (since he gets stacked up often) as my buddies like to call him has never been known for his long runs or electrifying highlights. However, you could always count on him to get a positive gain and most importantly, never fumble the ball. That's right, between his college career at Mississippi and his four seasons in New England (53 games, 510 carries), he never had a fumble. That's insane.

He made the team as an undrafted rookie in 2008 and over time, he beat out first-round bust Laurence Maroney and a broken-down Fred Taylor. He was a touchdown machine, quiet, dependable and he had no ego whatsoever which is what made him a quintessential Patriot.

His best season was 2010 when he got his first chance to be the feature back. Green-Ellis gained 1008 rushing yards on 229 carries (4.4 yards per carry) with 13 touchdowns. Last season, he had to split time with Danny Woodhead and rookie Stevan Ridley so Green-Ellis had worse numbers (181 carries, 667 rushing yards, 3.7 yards per carry, 11 touchdowns).

With Ridley expected to get more carries, not to mention Shane Vereen (who basically did nothing last season as a rookie) and Woodhead still being around, it makes perfect sense for BenJarvus to head to the Bengals. He gets a three-year deal, something I'm sure the Patriots didn't want to do and with Cedric Benson still a free agent, Green-Ellis will likely be the No. 1 running back on a team that went to the playoffs in 2011.

I hate nicknames for professional athletes but The Law Firm was definitely on my very short list of favorites. He was a good player and seemed like a decent guy that didn't take anything for granted. In other words, all you can ask for from someone on the team you root for. Best of luck in Cincinnati BenJarvus!

I'd love to see the Patriots bring in free agent Michael Bush to replace Green-Ellis. They don't need another rookie running back, that's for sure. Obviously, they'll need another body or two since I'm 99% sure that Kevin Faulk will retire at some point this offseason.

The other player to leave Foxborough today was defensive end Mark Anderson, who cashed in on a nice season in 2011 (10 sacks) to the tune of a four-year deal in Buffalo worth $27 million with $8 million guaranteed. This is a guy who has bounced around, the Bills will be his fourth team in seven years so I'm not surprised at all that he wants to get paid.

Good for him, the Pats basically took a flyer on him and he definitely overachieved for what anybody could have expected in his only season for New England. The only thing that I care about now is that New England either re-signs defensive end Andre Carter, sign somebody else that can get after the quarterback (one of their biggest weaknesses) or draft somebody in the first round that is all about sacks (unlikely since they never go that route).

Veteran cornerback Will Allen, formerly of the Dolphins (2006-11) and Giants (2001-05) was the one player that was added to the Patriots today. He's 33 so he might not make the team but I'm all for bringing in a guy with experience since New England has almost all young guys in one of the most important positions-cornerback.

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The Patriots Can Never Have Enough Third Tight Ends

The New England Patriots continue to make exactly their type of moves in free agency as they agreed to terms with their sixth new player in the past week.

Former Denver Broncos tight end Daniel Fells will come to Foxboro seemingly with a place already locked up as the third tight end on New England's depth chart. The Pats have reportedly given the former UC Davis star a three-year deal worth $2 million per season and up to $7 million if he reaches all his incentives.

This is a no-brainer since the Patriots somehow went long stretches last season with only Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski. Sure, Dan Gronkowski was brought in for a few weeks as a blocking tight end but he had zero impact so he was quickly sent on his way out of town and back to the Gronk bros' estate.

Fells apparently is known more for his hands than his blocking which seems counterproductive to what his role will likely be for Bill Belichick. After getting signed as a rookie free agent by the Atlanta Falcons in 2006, he bounced from there to the Raiders and Tampa Bay's practice squad before finding a home in St. Louis (2008-2010).

He spent last season in Denver with Tebowmania where he was limited to 19 catches for 256 yards and three touchdowns. I don't put much stock on those numbers since we all know that Tebow can't throw a forward pass consistently-a key to football in 2012. In 58 career games, Fells has 88 catches for 1001 yards (11.4 yards per catch) and eight touchdowns.

His best season was 2010 with the Rams and Sam Bradford when he made 41 catches for 391 yards (9.5 yards per catch) and two touchdowns in 16 games.

Fells fits the mold of the other players that New England has signed so far: Jonathan Fanene, Steve Gregory, Trevor Scott, Anthony Gonzalez and Brandon Lloyd. None of them have received more than a three-year contract and they are all depth players that are low-risk, high-reward. Stop me if you've heard that one before. If nothing else, he provides insurance in case Gronkowski or Hernandez go down with an injury next season; both were pretty durable last season despite the fact that they take a ton of hits since they are beasts after the catch.

UPDATE 3/19: The Patriots had a very busy day as they added three other players: defensive back Marquice Cole (a special teams standout from the Jets), offensive lineman Robert Gallery (a former No. 2 overall pick in 2004 for Oakland who's been a complete bust) and wide receiver Donte' Stallworth (who was a Patriot in 2007 but he's only had 41 catches and three touchdowns combined in the last three seasons). Gallery and Stallworth got one-year deals.

UPDATE 3/20: Mike Reiss tweeted that Cole's deal is one-year and worth $615,000. He also said that Cole can become a "core special teamer."

UPDATE 3/21: Lost in all the other moves, the Patriots re-signed center Dan Connolly to a three-year deal while they also released linebacker Christian Cox who spent all last season (his rookie year) on IR.

Also today, New England signed veteran cornerback Will Allen to a one-year deal. Stallworth will get $875,000 including a $25,000 bonus and $25,000 workout bonus. Mark Anderson signed a four-year deal with the Buffalo Bills and some guy named Tim Tebow was traded from the Broncos to the Jets. The AFC East is getting very interesting, although the Miami Dolphins still have done basically nothing besides sign David Gerrard after getting turned down by every other free agent QB.

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From The Department Of Depressing News: Andre Carter Is Done For The Season

Ryan and I both alluded to it in our game recaps from yesterday's Patriots-Broncos game but now, we will write something which I'm sure New England won't confirm until after it has happened (if at all): defensive end Andre Carter is done for the season with a quad injury.

Carter's agent (as good a source as any) was quoted as saying that the left quad injury will require surgery. Then Carter tweeted "Thank you for showing me and my family support this season. It's been a blast. Wouldn't change it for anything."

As I said last night, this is a very serious injury for the Patriots defense which we all know is the worst in the NFL in terms of yardage given up per game. Carter was New England's best free agent pickup this offseason (light years ahead of Albert Haynesworth or Chad Johnson); he had 52 tackles, 10 sacks, two forced fumbles and one pass defensed through the first 13 games and looked poised to make the Pro Bowl and more importantly be a vital member of a playoff team (something he rarely experienced in his stellar career).

With 22 tackles, nine sacks, two forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one pass defensed, Mark Anderson is the player that will be used most to replace Carter's pass rush pressure. In a bigger role yesterday, Anderson delivered with his best game of the season (2 sacks, forced fumble, fumble recovery). The Patriots will need him to provide consistent pressure to keep quarterbacks honest. Otherwise, as usual, quarterbacks will have plenty of time to pick apart the Patriots piss poor secondary.

Rookie Markell Carter has languished all season on the practice squad so it's time to activate him and see if the raw but talented guy from a small school can do anything to help this team in the 2011 NFL playoffs when they will play better quarterbacks and better squads.

UPDATE 12/19: A source says Carter could be moved to IR as soon as Tuesday.

UPDATE 12/20: Carter went on IR today with "a leg injury" and the Pats signed defensive lineman Cedric McKinley to the practice squad. They still have a spot open on the 53-man roster with only five days before their game against Miami on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.

In a somewhat surprising move, defensive end Eric Moore was released today. Another sign that Markell Carter will be added to the roster.

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Another Season, Another AFC East Title (9th in 11 seasons) As Patriots Top Broncos 41-23

The hardest thing to achieve in the NFL is consistency. For that alone, the New England Patriots need to be lauded as they picked up their ninth AFC East title in the last 11 seasons (third in a row, 8th in the last 9 seasons) with a 41-23 win (their sixth straight) over the Broncos this afternoon at Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

New England (11-3) was able to knock off the NFL's flavor of the month, Denver (8-6), who had won six games in a row before today. I'll dare to call it the Pats biggest win of the season thus far, given the hype and the fact that nobody in the NFL besides the Packers was hotter than the Broncos.

It is certainly easy to pick holes in the Patriots terrible defense but in a season like this, where there is no dominant team in the AFC, they have as good a shot as any to reach the Super Bowl based on their superb offense, quarterback and head coach.

Broncos quarterback/messiah/global icon Tim Tebow (11 of 22, 194 yards passing; 12 rushes, 93 yards, 2 TDs) was slowed down when the Patriots figured out the obvious solution to stopping him: building up a big lead, which forces him to throw the ball (not his strong suit).

The fact that John Fox is the Broncos head coach means that they'll never outcoach any other team. Talk about riding Tebow's coattails, Fox is the luckiest guy in the country that he gets to coach him and therefore has kept his job. Other than the one random Super Bowl appearance with the Panthers, what has Fox ever done? He's another bozo in a league full of them.

Also, Denver was careless with the ball, they fumbled three times and the Patriots converted those into 13 points.

After a very shaky start, trailing 16-7 early in the second quarter, New England was able to run off a 34-7 run to close it out and win the division (the Jets also lost although all the Pats had to do was take care of their own business).

The only negative that tempers this win is the fact that defensive end Andre Carter left on the last play of the first quarter with a knee injury and early reports seem to indicate that the Pats defensive MVP (an oxymoron) is done for the season.

If that's true, it's a huge blow to their Super Bowl hopes since he's their only real pass rusher. However, Mark Anderson (3 tackles, 2 sacks) continues to quietly have a nice season and he'll be counted on for much bigger things if Carter is out. Likewise, rookie Markell Carter will probably be activated from the practice squad.

Denver's defensive gameplan was clearly to limit Wes Welker (4 catches, 41 yards) and Rob Gronkowski (4 catches, 53 yards). They were successful at doing that but unfortunately they forgot about Aaron Hernandez (9 catches, 129 yards, TD), who set career-highs in catches and yards.

Demaryius Thomas (7 catches, 116 yards) was Denver's only effective option in the passing game while Patriots rookie running back Stevan Ridley (11 carries, 65 yards) came back out of hiding after not seeing much of the field for months. Strange considering he's been New England's most explosive running back for most of the season.

Besides a highlight reel sack on Brady in garbage time by Elvis Dumervil (2 tackles, 2 QB hits), him and Von Miller (1 tackle for loss) were completely held in check by New England's offensive line.

On a day when some truly wacky things happened around the NFL: Colts win, Packers lose, Reggie Bush ran for over 200 yards, it was fitting that Chad Johnson caught his first touchdown of the season.

Denver marched right down the field on the opening drive with Tebow running it in from nine yards out. That basically caused Twitter, ESPN and the Internet to simultaneously crash. Former Patriot Lonie Paxton's bad snap caused Denver to have no chance on the point after.

Tom Brady (23 of 34, 320 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) went to work and tied it up with a 33-yard strike to Johnson, who was wide open. Stephen Gostkowski's point after made it 7-6 New England.

Lance Ball (11 carries, 64 yards) put the Broncos ahead 13-7 with a 32-yard touchdown run later in the first quarter.

Matt Prater's 26-yard field goal early in the second quarter gave Denver its biggest lead at 16-7 but from there, the Patriots woke up and the Broncos had no answer for anything they did.

Brady found Hernandez for a 1-yard touchdown which cut it to 16-14 Denver. On the next play, Ron Brace (remember that bum?) forced a Ball fumble that Rob Ninkovich recovered. New England's offense was stuffed in the red zone and they settled for a 21-yard field goal by Gostkowski. However, the Pats led 17-16 and they would never trail again.

Three plays later, Anderson forced a fumble by Tebow and recovered it. Brady and Co. were able to take advantage of it as he scored on a quarterback sneak. Brady put the cherry on top with a Gronk spike.

Quan Cosby was in a giving mood, it being the holiday season and all, so he fumbled on a punt deep in Denver's territory. No idea why he fielded it but Dane Fletcher was happy to pounce on it. Gostkowski's 34-yard field goal on the next play gave the Patriots a 27-16 halftime lead that truthfully felt like stealing.

Surprisingly, the Broncos barely showed a pulse in the second half after living off improbable fourth quarter comebacks during their absurd last two months. Danny Woodhead had a pretty 10-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, Tebow added a 2-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter and BenJarvus Green-Ellis closed it out with a 1-yard run.

We will watch Sunday Night Football tonight (Ravens vs. Chargers) and Monday Night Football (Niners vs. Steelers) tomorrow night in hopes that both AFC contenders will fall. The fraud Texans lost earlier today so it looks like a three-team race between the Patriots, Steelers and Ravens for that coveted top seed in the AFC playoffs.

No more road games in the regular season for New England. They host Miami on Christmas Eve then Buffalo on New Year's Day. Two more weeks and then things will really get interesting as the 2011 NFL playoffs roll around.

UPDATE 12/19: The Ravens got blown out last night by the Chargers and ditto for the Steelers tonight against the Niners which means your New England Patriots are in the driver's seat for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They are one game ahead of Houston, Baltimore and Pittsburgh with two games remaining; win out and they lock it all up. Wow.

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Patriots Open Up Two-Game Lead In The AFC East With Easy 34-3 Win Vs. Chiefs On MNF

It's rare that an NFL game follows a script that everybody expects, that's what makes the league the best of the four major American sports and so exciting. It is usually so unpredictable from week to week.

Well once Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Matt Cassel went down with a hand injury last week and it was announced that he'd sit out, with backup Tyler Palko taking his place (for his first career start), the stars began to align for the rare 2011 New England Patriots blowout. That's exactly what happened as the Pats (7-3) took advantage on Monday Night Football with a 34-3 win that didn't even seem that close.

The poor Chiefs (4-6) have seen their season slip away due to major injuries to some key players: tight end Tony Moeaki, safety Eric Berry, running back Jamaal Charles, etc. Yes I know that every team in the NFL has injuries but it's impossible to top that list (Cassel was placed on IR today).

The MNF crew tried to sell the audience on Palko's (25 of 38, 236 yards, 0 TDs, 3 INTs) limited abilities and for a spell, it kind of worked as Kansas City led 3-0 after the first quarter thanks to a 26-yard field goal by Ryan Succop.

It took a while for Tom Brady (15 of 27, 234 yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) to get going but once New England's offense was in gear and Palko started to give the ball away like it was on fire, this one was over quick.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis had his best game in weeks as New England racked up 157 yards rushing as a team. He had 20 carries for 81 yards and added a 25-yard catch.

Rob Gronkowski (4 catches, 96 yards, 2 TDs) woke up his team and the Gillette Stadium crowd from their collective slumber with a 52-yard catch and run touchdown with 4:18 left in the first half. Stephen Gostkowski's PAT made it 7-3 and he added a 21-yard kick with 10 seconds left in the half after Brady and Co. couldn't punch it in.

Things started to get silly in third quarter as Gronk scored a 19-yard touchdown which ended with him hurdling a guy and then falling right on his neck. No worries though, the cyborg was fine. I'd worry about a concussion with him but could you really tell if he had one or not?

Gronk set a record by getting to 20 career touchdowns (in 26 games) faster than any tight end in NFL history. Also, Bill Belichick jumped ahead of former Patriots head coach Bill Parcells for ninth all-time on the NFL win list with 118 career victories.

It was time for nearly every player on the roster to make a contribution as Kyle Arrington picked off two passes (he leads the NFL with 7); along with extensive time on defense in the secondary, Julian Edelman returned a punt 72 yards for a score (his second career punt return TD); Philip Adams had his first career interception while Mark Anderson (1.5 sacks) and Andre Carter (.5 sack) continued to wreak havoc on mediocre quarterbacks (hi Sanchez!).

Gostkowski's 19-yard field goal closed out the third quarter and then even rookie running back Shane Vereen (8 carries, 39 yards) made a cameo appearance in the fourth. Vereen scored his first career touchdown with a four-yard jaunt. Those were the first carries of the regular season for the mysterious 2011 second-round draft pick out of Cal.

It kind of felt like 2008 (old times) as no doubt the national media will be whining about the Patriots running up the score.

New England started off slow tonight but nobody will remember that since they woke up in time to pummel an awful team. With the Jets and Bills tied at 5-5 and meeting next Sunday, the Patriots are sitting pretty with their two-game advantage. In addition, New England is tied with Houston and Pittsburgh for the best record in the AFC.

The Pats will travel to Philadelphia (4-6) on Sunday to meet the desperate Eagles. Philly pretty much has to win out to have a shot at the playoffs and we shall see if Vince Young or Mike Vick gets the start at quarterback for a team which is loaded with talent but has really struggled to find consistency and/or close out wins in the fourth.

Matt Light left late in the game after getting rolled up on by Tamba Hali. Rookie Marcus Cannon got his first snaps as a pro at right tackle. That situation will be something to monitor as this short week goes on.

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Ray Anderson Is the Newest Patriot

A day can't go by anymore without the Patriots kicking the tires on a free agent defensive lineman/outside linebacker in their never ending quest to beef up their front seven.

This morning, New England signed Mark Anderson, a defensive end who was a fifth-round pick of the Chicago Bears in 2006. He played for the Bears until last Oct. 5 when he was released and signed with the Houston Texans the next day. He ended up playing 11 games (2 starts) for Houston.

He's 6-foot-4 and 255 pounds and he went to the University of Alabama. I don't know much about him at all but I'm going to assume he uses his speed to get to the quarterback since he's on the smaller side. Anderson had 12 sacks for Chicago in his rookie year but he hasn't had more than five (2007) since then which tells me he was just a flash in the pan. Last season, he ended up with four sacks.

Anderson has started in 20 of 77 games, totaling 154 total tackles, 25.5 sacks, seven passes defensed, five forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He has also played in three postseason games, including Super Bowl XLI.

At practice this afternoon, he's wearing #95. Don't be surprised if he's cut during the preseason since it appears like he's how you say, not very good. Then again, there's always a player or two that is completely unknown that makes the 53-man roster once the regular season starts.

The team cut defensive lineman Marlon Favorite to make room on the roster for Anderson.

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