Pats are AFC East Champions Again but the Real Story is How Badly They Kicked Baltimore's Ass

So it turns out that nobody circles the wagons like the 2013 Patriots. Just when everyone (myself included) was starting to seriously doubt them this season, they turned in a vintage performance worthy of their past Super Bowl winners: they blew out Baltimore (8-7 overall, 6-2 home) 41-7 tonight at M&T Bank Stadium.

The Patriots (11-4 overall, 4-4 away) added two garbage time defensive TDs (fumble recovery by Chandler Jones and 74-yard interception return by Tavon Wilson) to help capture their 10th AFC East title in the last 11 years. It is the fifth straight year that they've won their sorry division but this means the No. 2 seed is still theirs to lose, they just have to beat Buffalo (6-9) in the regular season finale next Sunday (4:25, CBS) at Gillette Stadium.

We'll have to wait and see if this was a sign of bigger things to come or just a crazy set of circumstances, facing Baltimore's terrible offense and a hobbled Joe Flacco (sacked 4 times, threw 2 interceptions to Logan Ryan). The best part of this for the Pats is that their defense showed signs of life after being MIA for months. Of course, they had to suffer another serious injury (concussion to Devin McCourty).

This was such a big game for both teams that you kept waiting for the Ravens to make it competitive but they could never do it. LeGarrette Blount (16 carries, 76 yards) had a 1-yard TD run on New England's second drive and they cashed in on Flacco's first interception with a 4-yard TD pass from Brady (172 yards) to Shane Vereen, who later exited with a groin injury.

The Patriots led 17-0 at halftime after the lone points of the second quarter came on Stephen Gostkowski's 45-yard field goal. He added a 42-yard kick in the third quarter for a 20-0 advantage. Meanwhile, Baltimore got stuffed at the goal-line and continued to falter including a missed field goal by Justin Tucker (snapping a streak of 33 made in a row).

The Ravens avoided the shutout with Flacco's 1-yard TD run early in the fourth quarter but Blount's 7-yard TD run was more than enough to clinch it. Julian Edelman had another very solid game with seven catches for 77 yards.

Denver won 37-13 at Houston although that is somewhat misleading because the Texans hung around for a while. Still, it's hard to see anything but a Broncos-Patriots AFC Championship Game in around a month or so. Obviously anything can happen, the two best teams in the AFC can lose their first game but it's hard to see it happening. This win proved to Patriots fans that the next few weeks at the very least will be more interesting than we thought.

UPDATE 12/26: Marquice Cole was released for the second time this season. Keep in mind, the other time was when he was injured and then he got re-signed. I expect the same thing to happen this late in the campaign.

UPDATE 12/27: Austin Collie was released too, leaving New England with two open spots on the active roster. Sounds like two practice squad heroes will get the promotion for Sunday's game.

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On Second Thought, Maybe We Shouldn't Have Been So Worried About The Rams

In hindsight, we can all chuckle now that we were scared that the Patriots might actually lose to the Rams this afternoon at Wembley Stadium in London. All week, we created this false hype in our minds since New England (5-3, 3-2 away) has played painfully uneven football so far in 2012.

That all changed today as they punished St. Louis (3-5, 3-2 home) 45-7 in a game that didn't even feel that close. For whatever reason, the Pats enjoy their trips to the UK: this victory made them 2-0 there and they've outscored opponents (Tampa Bay in 2009) 80-14. Even better, in Bill Belichick's last two games against Jeff Fisher (formerly of the Titans), he has beat him to the tune of 104-7. Haha wow.

Week 1 seems like so long ago and that was a blowout of the Titans while New England also took out Buffalo in convincing fashion (52-28 in Week 4) but for all intents and purposes, today was the first time they put all three phases together: offense, defense and special teams. The crazy part is that they spotted the Rams a 7-0 lead as St. Louis went down the field on its first drive and when Sam Bradford (22 of 30, 205 yards, TD, INT) hit Chris Givens for a 50-yard TD, we all wanted to punch a hole in the nearest TV or wall.

No worries as the Pats proceeded to score touchdowns on their next five drives and end the game with 45 unanswered points. Tom Brady (23 of 35, 304 yards, 4 TDs, 0 INTs) had his best performance of the season and ditto for Rob Gronkowski (8 catches, 146 yards, 2 TDs) who more than covered for Aaron Hernandez's absence. Stevan Ridley ran for 127 yards and a touchdown on only 15 carries while Brandon Lloyd caught a pair of touchdowns.

The combination of a banged up/horrible offensive line and an injured/awful wide receiver core made the Rams the perfect combination as the Patriots' defense built up some confidence. Blitzing Bradford and pressuring him also help immensely. Rookie Alfonzo Dennard had his second interception in two weeks while fellow rookie Tavon Wilson intercepted former Jet Kellen Clemens in garbage time.

It got so bad, that I pleaded on Twitter for running time and the blind hope that Belichick would sit some of his starters lest they run the risk of a needless injury. You can exhale in that case since it looks like Wes Welker's (6 catches, 48 yards) ankle will be OK. I've never been so happy to see Ryan Mallett than I was in the fourth quarter today.

Lloyd's 19-yard touchdown catch tied it at seven midway through the first quarter. Shane Vereen scored on 4th and Goal from the 1-yard line early in the second quarter. Gronk's 7-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter was followed by his best celebration (imitating a Buckingham Palace guard) before his signature spike. A flurry of penalties by the Rams gifted Ridley a 1-yard score with 10 seconds left in the second quarter. At that point, down 28-7, St. Louis might as well have packed their bags for the long flight home.



Think of the second half as extended garbage time since New England finally learned how to step on a team's throat and put them out of their misery-something they couldn't against Baltimore, Seattle or the Jets. Lloyd caught a 9-yard touchdown pass on the Patriots' opening drive and later Stephen Gostkowski got some work with a 26-yard field goal. Gronk had one more highlight for his new legion of fans: a 14-yard touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

I wouldn't take too much out of this one game-the eternal lesson of the Any Given Sunday NFL-but it felt nice to see the Patriots look like their old selves again for however long. They improved to 1-2 against the NFC West this season. After some delayed travel due to Hurricane Sandy, New England will come home tomorrow and then they get a week off.

UPDATE 10/30: The Patriots released linebacker Bobby Carpenter, who had played in four games on special teams since being re-signed on October 2.

As my friend Jim Nantz said during the telecast, the bye week couldn't come at a better time. They have played eight games (half a season), they have a week off then they play eight more. Thanks Roger Goddell! When we next see the Pats, Sandy will be long gone, ditto for Halloween and the presidential election. Buffalo travels to Gillette on Sunday, November 11 (CBS, 1 p.m.).

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Chandler Jones Named NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month (September)

So how do you like the Patriots' 2012 draft class? The early returns on their choices, particularly the first-round picks defensive end Chandler Jones and linebacker Dont'a Hightower along with second-round pick safety Tavon Wilson look excellent. Today, Jones-the former Syracuse standout-was named the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Month for September.

New England was an uneven 2-2 in September but if their record mirrored Jones' impact and output, they would be one of the NFL's few unbeaten squads left. He has been on the field on virtually every defensive play no matter what the formation or scenario they face. He has put up 17 tackles (9 solo, 8 assists) along with three sacks and two forced fumbles (one which Hightower returned for a TD against the Titans).

The loss to the Ravens was the one game where Jones looked like a rookie (2 assists). In the other three contests, he produced identical lines of five tackles (3 solo, 2 assists), a sack and run stuff. The other forced fumble was in Week 2 against Arizona.

I hate getting ahead of myself but you have to admit that the sky appears to be the limit for Jones. As he grows and develops more pass rushing moves, there is little doubt that he could become one of the premiere defensive players in the AFC. This award validates that and shows how much unlimited potential he possesses. For Patriots fans, when's the last time we had someone like that on the team?

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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 Roll 34-13 Over Titans For NFL-Best 9th Straight Opening Win

There is nothing better than an NFL Sunday, especially when its Week 1. The weather is still nice out but one of the best feelings in the world is watching games all day on the incomparable NFL Redzone, your team's game and then Sunday Night Football. Lather, rinse and repeat.

The Patriots kept their impressive streak going as they won 34-13 this afternoon against the Titans at LP Field. That was New England's ninth-straight opening win, currently the best mark in the league.

The most interesting aspects of the rather routine victory were two-fold: Stevan Ridley's 1st career 100-yard rushing game (21 carries, 125 yards, 1 TD) and a stout defensive effort led by rookies Dont'a Hightower (5 tackles, 4 solo, tackle for loss, fumble recovery for TD), Chandler Jones (5 tackles, 3 solo, sack, caused fumble) and Tavon Wilson (4 tackles, 3 solo, 2 passes deflected, interception).

We expect certain things from the Patriots: Tom Brady's brilliance (23 of 31, 236 passing yards, 2 TDs, 0 INTs) as he spreads it around to a variety of receivers like Rob Gronkowski (6 catches, 60 yards, TD), Aaron Hernandez (6 catches, 59 yards, TD) and Brandon Lloyd (5 catches, 69 yards). The only surprise there is that Ridley (2 catches, 27 yards) had more receiving yards than Wes Welker (3 catches, 14 yards), let's hope that's not a sign of things to come.

Since New England made the Super Bowl last season, you'd think that they were a well-oiled machine but as true fans know, they were lucky to make it that far thanks to facing a host of bad teams, awful quarterbacks and riding a wave of luck until they ran into the Giants. Again. The easiest thing to do is freak out over one game but I'm not falling into that trap. Still, if Ridley can run that hard and not fumble while their defense flies around, well look out AFC.

Jake Locker (23 of 32, 229 yards, TD, INT) actually played much better than I expected but he wasn't helped by Chris Johnson (11 carries, career-low 4 yards; 6 catches, 47 yards) who is a shell of his former 2000-yard self. To make matters worse, Locker left with a shoulder injury after he tried to tackle Patrick Chung following what was initially ruled a fumble (later overturned on replay).

Tennessee had one lead (3-0) in the entire game, as Rob Bironas hit a 28-yard field goal in the first quarter. New England answered later in the frame with a 23-yard touchdown pass from Brady to Hernandez.

Jones and Hightower combined on what I would deem the play of the game early in the second quarter. Jones strip-sacked Locker and Hightower scooped it up then powered his way six yards into the end zone. Brady and Gronkowski connected on a beautiful 2-yard touchdown pass with two minutes left in the 1st half, 21-3 Patriots.

The Titans forced the Pats to punt on their first two possessions of the second half and made it interesting for a second as Locker hit Nate Washington for a 29-yard score but then Ridley scored from a yard out and New England led 28-10 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter was extended garbage time as Bironas (24-yard) and Stephen Gostkowski (25-yard and 31-yard) traded field goals and New England basically ran out the clock while Tennessee was petrified to take risks. Two other Patriots defensive players stood out: Jerod Mayo had 13 tackles (9 solo, 1 pass deflected) and Devin McCourty had seven tackles (5 solo, 2 pass deflections) as he performed much better than his twin brother Jason on the Titans (2 tackles, 2 solo, tackle for loss).

The only two kickoffs returned by New England were by McCourty (28 yards) and Matthew Slater (19 yards). So it looks like that will remain an area of concern going forward. Julian Edelman returned four punts for 27 yards, including a 14-yard return. It was a great day for the Pats special teams though as punter Zoltan Mesko pinned the Titans inside the 20 with three punts and also boomed a 51-yard punt. Haha I think that's the first time I've ever mentioned him.

Another cupcake comes the Patriots (1-0) way as they host the Cardinals (1-0) next Sunday (1 p.m., Fox) at Gillette Stadium for New England's home opener. Arizona beat Seattle 20-16 this afternoon but I can't take any team seriously that had a tight quarterback battle between John Skelton and Kevin Kolb. Skelton was the starter but he hurt his ankle so Kolb saved the day. Regardless of which one of those bums starts, the Pats should blow them out. Sorry Larry Fitzgerald.

UPDATE 9/12: Tight end/former defensive end Alex Silvestro was released from the practice squad today and the Pats signed safety Cyhl (pronounced Kyle) Quarles to take his place.

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Patriots Sign Their 1st Two Rookies From Draft Class Of 2012

It sure doesn't feel like football season (mostly because that's months away) but the truth is that the New England Patriots have already begun preparations for the 2012 season as they try and defend their AFC championship from last season.

After the first rookie minicamp last weekend in Foxborough, the Patriots signed their first rookies from the 2012 draft class: wide receiver Jeremy Ebert and defensive back Tavon Wilson.

Wilson, the 2nd round pick (No. 48 overall) out of Illinois, inked a four-year deal worth $4.2 million with a $1.5 million signing bonus. Ebert, the 7th round selection (235th overall) signed a four-year deal with a maximum value of $2.148 million.

Of these two guys, clearly Wilson has a much better shot of seeing significant playing time in his rookie season since New England's secondary has been a mess for years. Ebert is a much longer shot since the wide receiving corps is so deep, filled with much bigger names and resumes. If anything, he appears to be a slightly better Julian Edelman or maybe just Wes Welker insurance. Whatever the case, he better be ready to play special teams if he wants to make this squad.

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Patriots Draft 2 Players I've Never Heard Of, At Least They're On Defense

For somebody that lives in Massachusetts and went to a college (Providence) that doesn't even have a football program, I think I watch more college football than can be reasonably expected. I'm no Mel Kiper or Todd McShay though, I have my limits so I can't pretend that I'd heard of either of the Patriots' picks tonight in the second and third round.

New England chose Illinois safety Tavon Wilson at No. 48 (second round). All I know is what other more informed media members said on Twitter or during the broadcast on ESPN; apparently, he's a project that wasn't expected to be selected nearly that high. He wasn't even invited to the combine. I guess Bill Belichick knows something about him we don't.

After trading down, the Pats other selection was Jake Bequette, a defensive end from Arkansas at No. 90 (late third round). Again, I'd never heard of this guy either although I saw a couple Razorbacks games the last few seasons. He sounds like a guy that can play multiple positions on the defensive line and get after the quarterback from time to time.

The overarching point is that New England has focused its first four picks in the 2012 Draft on defensive players which is fantastic. Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower were far more sexy picks yesterday but grabbing a safety and defensive end directly addresses two of the team's biggest weaknesses. The talent really starts to drop off in the third round and if you listened to Felger and Mazz this afternoon, they rattled off all the third-round picks the Patriots have drafted the last few seasons. All bums. That's why I can't get too excited about these Day 2 players. Maybe one of them will pan out but odds are at least one will be gone in a few years, having never made an impact (Tyrone McKenzie, Shawn Crable, etc.) in an actual game.

The 2012 NFL Draft concludes tomorrow with Rounds 4-7 (starting at 12:00 p.m. on ESPN). Don't expect too many moves out of Foxborough since they only have one remaining pick (5th round, 158 overall); if they only use one choice, it will be their smallest draft class in franchise history. Something to pay attention to.

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