Special Teams, Special Win

I've seen a lot of MNF games in my life, and a lot of Patriots MNF games. I've seen great defenses, better offenses, and pretty good special teams. But I have never seen anything like what happened on Monday night.

The Patriots set an NFL record for scoring a touchdown 5 different ways:

1. Brandon Tate kickoff returned for a touchdown (start of the second half)
2. Patrick Chung blocks a punt with 13:32 remaining in the 3rd quarter, which leads to a BenJarvis Green-Ellis rushing touchdown with 12:50 to play in the 3rd.
3. Tom Brady threw to Danny Woodhead for 11 yards and a touchdown with 4:09 left in the 3rd.
4. Patrick Chung blocks a field goal attempt and Kyle Arrington picks the ball up and scores with 14:16 left in the game
5. Brandon Marshall doesn't commit to his route which leads to Chad Henne throwing the ball right to Patrick Chung who promptly runs the ball 35 yards for a pick-6 touchdown.

Actually, that's pretty much the only ways you can score a touchdown, the only one missing was a punt return.

By the way, Rob Ninkovich is the honorary Yeti of The Week for stopping two Miami drives with his first and second interceptions of his career. Chad Henne will be seeing number 50 in his sleep this week.

Also, kudos to Randy Moss. He didn't see a lot of action this week, but his presence on the field opened things up for the running game, the tight ends and the slot receivers. (PS...please don't trade him!)

Tom Brady also won his 100th game of his career, 7 games faster than any other quarterback, the next quickest being Dan Marino at 138 games, in the Superbowl Era (yes, that includes Peyton Manning, it took him 154 games). In fact, only two coach-quarterback combinations have more wins together than Brady and Belichick, and if they stay together for the next two years, they will easily surpass that number.

But the offense was not really the story on Monday. It seems the thing missing last year was Rodney Harrison. Not necisarily him, personally, but his ability to get the team feeling like they were being disrespected, overlooked, and underappreciated by everyone else. For the first time in a while, that team looked around the locker room and knew that all they had was each other. If you don't think that's a powerful thing, you haven't seen the difference between a team gelling on defense and a team not gelling on defense.

It's night and day.

This time the lack of respect was brought up by the Hood Man himself. In the Patriots weekly newspaper, they post the "expert" picks from around the NFL. None of the experts picked New England, and most of them were down on the young defense, calling them the worst pass defense in the league. Bill Belichik thought it appropriate to share that with his team, and most of them did not appreciate the lack of faith from the leagues "experts".

Yes, the defense needs work, but its hardly the worst in the league. The defense is young, and with that youth comes the propensity to make mistakes. Without veteran leadership from guys like Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi, who are, admittedly, the one-in-a-million type guys who lead without trying, some of the young guys fall apart when they make mistakes instead of fighting back.

This Patriots defense fought back, and fought back hard.

The first half wasn't pretty. In fact, Miami would have scored another two touchdowns if it weren't for Rob Ninkovich. But Ninkovich was prepared, he knew the routes Miami was running, and it paid off. So despite the fact that they gave up 400 yards, they only gave up 14 points. And I'll take that any day. When they needed stops, they got them, and as such looked much, much better then they had the previous two weeks.

Which is good, because you can't give up thirty points to Buffalo and have people take you seriously as a defense. But I was really impressed at how everyone stepped up their game this week. Mayo seemed to be all over the field, making tackles left and right, Banta-Cain got some good pressure in Henne, Patrick Chung made some outstanding plays and so did Rob Ninkovich.

The most important improvement from the defense this week was confidence. When the game was close, they held it together. They shut down the Dolphins and kept them down. And confidence can be built on. Now they know they have this sort of game in them, now they have a huge chip on their shoulder by being doubted so completely, now they are playing as a team.

Bill Belichick needs to take a page out of Doc River's book and have his defense working on Ubuntu. It means "I am what I am because of who we all are". It is the Celtics mantra, and what helps them remember that individuals do not win games, teams do.

So I am heading into the bye week with hope. Hope for the Patriots, and hope for that young defense.

And since the Red Sox are officially out, I'm going with my hometown boy Mike Cuddyer and saying "GO TWINS!". This could also stem from a hatred of the Rays, dislike of the Texans, and a burning, intense hatred for the Skankees.

Crysal Ball: A Look at the 2009 NFL Season

The 2009 season of NFL football looks to be an interesting one. 11 head-coaching changes (many of them new to the job), the Cutler Diva Drama, hold outs, the return of Tom Terrific, and the possible returns of Vick and Favre.

With all of these variables, and with roster cuts far in the future, predictions right now are a little premature. But its fun, and if I happen to be right at the end of the season I can look back and say "wow, I called that in June!"

We'll start with the NFC

NFC West

This is a difficult division to call, because there are 3 new head coaches in the division (well, Singletary was interim last year, but...) Here go my picks:

1. Arizona. I'm giving the division to the Cards because, despite the Superbowl hang-over, they are (right now) the most-stable team with the least likelihood of some kind of roster shake-up.
2. Seattle. Experience and maturity keeps them in the mix in this soft division, but that maturity could bring them down if the injury bug bites.
3. San Francisco. They could possibly take the division or they could lose every game. The 9ers are in a state of flux, because they don't have their starting QB named, and they're still looking at getting him offensive weapons. If it was August, this would be a problem, good thing for them its June.
4. St. Louis. After a dismal season, the Rams have made a coaching change and some cuts and trades. I wouldn't look for them to be Superbowl champs this year, but I would call this year a "rebuilding" one. They look like they're making all the right steps, so it should be an interesting year for the Rams.


1. NFC South

1. Atlanta Falcons. I like the Falcons because I feel like they have a lot of young talent, good coaching, and went through a post-Vick karmic rebirth last season. They are not the Falcons they were under Vick, and even though its a tough division, I think the Falcons come out on top.
2. New Orleans. If they can get the defense to match that high-powered offense, and no one gets arrested or anything, the Saints should be a force to be reckoned with.
3. Carolina. The Panthers are coming off a decent NFL season, but they have to find balance in their offense. Great running offense, okay passing, but the defense will be the key here. Peppers is unhappy, which causes distractions, and may end up causing a trade, which would be very bad for Carolina.
4. Tampa Bay. I do not have an irrational hatred for all things Tampa Bay, I promise. (I still hate the Rays and their cowbells, but I'm neutral on the Bucs) The reason Tampa Bay is down here? One, its a tough division, the teams are pretty equal in talent, and two, coaching change.


NFC North

I'm not even going to try ranking these teams. A Chicago Bears with Cutler could take the division, a Minnesota Vikings with Vick in the Wildcat and Jackson under center could take the division, a Vikings with Favre under center could take the division, and the Green Bay Packers with Rodgers are still a force to be reckoned with and they could take the division.

The only thing I feel comfortable picking for the NFC North is this: the Detroit Lions will not win the division.


NFC East

1. Philadelphia. They made some good off-season moves, they didn't loose anyone too big, they picked up a great WR in the draft in Maclin, and they picked up a coordinator who worked with the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator last year. That is bound to help. I like the addition of another ex-Patriot in Hobbs, he's inconsistent, but the Eagles secondary is good enough that they won't notice.
2. (3 or 4) Dallas. The loss of TO is big. They needed him as that deep threat and to draw the double-team. There's also a lot of pressure on them this year to preform, they've been so good and projected to be NFC favorites, and win the Superbowl, but they can't win in the post-season. They are like the NFL version of the Chicago Cubs, only without the championship drought. (For those of you who don't know, the Cubs ha ve now lost 9 straight post-season games. That's three years of being out in the first round.)
3. (2 or 4) New York. (Or Jersey...) The Giants are still a good team. They have that big distraction named Buruss still hanging around, and they lost their defensive genius to a head coaching job, but they'll make some noise in this division.
4. (2 or 3) Washington. The Redskins need confidence. They need their QB to have it, their coaches to have it, and their fans to have it. The reason I have put the Cowboys, Giants, and Redskins with the possibility of moving up or down the rankings is because all three teams have the talent and the ability to win games, maybe even win the division. The question is, will they reach their potential?


Now onto the AFC

AFC West

1. San Diego. They should again be a playoff team. They have the talent, a few injured players returning, and a descent off-season. LT may be on the decline, however, so that could shake things up in the west a bit.
2. Denver. New head coach Josh McDaniels made a splash early in the off-season with the Cutler Diva Drama. It ended in a messy divorce that will hurt the Broncos, but they should still win some games and probably won't have a losing record.
3. Kansas City. The additions of Pioli, Cassel, and Vrabel from the Patriots certainly help this team who did pretty much nothing last year. It will be up to Cassel to prove that he's not just flash in the pan and new coach Haley to prove that this team can win games. The only place to go is up.
4. Oakland. I think we have to face one truth in all of this: as long as Al Davis gets to make decisions, the Raiders are screwed. If new head coach Tom Cable can stand up to Davis and avoid being fired, that team has a lot of talent, if not...


AFC South

Like the NFC North, this is a division I just can't make up my mind on. Saint Tony has retired, along with a good bit of the coaching staff. Its gotten so bad that Peyton Manning has actually called them out on national TV. He's clearly frustrated and uncomfortable with what has to be a big change for the Colts. No Rhodes, no Harrison, and new coaching may make the beginning of the season tough for Manning and Co. They could win the division or this could be called a "building year".

Between Tennessee, Jacksonville, and Houston, with the talent they have and the moves they've made in the off-season, I don't have a favorite. My gut tells me that it will be one of these three, not the Colts, who wins the division.


AFC North

1. (or 2) Baltimore. Tough defense, good arm and football IQ for Flaco (trust me, I've seen him play live and its amazing), and a gritty, tough vibe, the Ravens look good. They are my tentative number one, because like the Colts, you can never count the Steelers out.
2. (or 1) Pittsburgh. The possibility of the Superbowl hangover is looming, the chance that Big Ben takes up alligator wrestling to top his motorcycle accident is there, and the Madden curse is just waiting in the wings to claim another victim. Despite all of that, the Steelers are again in contention for division.
3. Cleveland. This town deserves someone to play well. While I don't think the Browns have any shot at the post-season, I think they will win as many games as they lose this year.
4. Cincinnati. The Bengals are all over the place, they are getting arrested, not showing up for training camp but showing up on ESPN in LA doing something completely unrelated to football. They are just a mess. And if you think those off-field distractions won't bother their game, wrong.


AFC East

1. New England. Number 12 is back, Welker and Moss know the offense better this year, they picked up some good free agents, and made some good draft day moves to freshen up an aging defense. The loss of Vrabel and the retirement of Harrison does not help, but Rodney Harrison was injury-prone, and Vrabel is past his prime. The additions of Galloway and Taylor are excellent, considering they ha ve three passing weapons, and Taylor can join the Morris-Maroney running back by committee group. Look for them to be the top of the AFC east, and possibly the AFC.
2. Miami. Ronnie Brown and Chad Pennington will do their best to take the Dolphins back to the playoffs. They could be a wild card team, they could even possibly take the division, but with an entire off-season and hours of film, I don't think defensive coordinators will be fooled by the Wildcat.
3. New York Jets. (Or Jersey...) All eyes will be on Sanchez this year which is probably not great for the young Rookie. I wouldn't look for him to be the post- Favre savior, but as long as he doesn't crack, he should win a few games. I wouldn't look for the Jets to be as dangerous this year, new head coach, new QB, etc., but they made some good moves for next year.
4. Buffalo. I know, TO is at Buffalo. He'll help them. But you have to remember, the AFC East secondary is used to going up against guys like Randy Moss, they won't be dazzled by TO's ability to catch balls no human should. Sure, he'll help the Bills, and they certainly won't be a bad team, but I think them taking the division is a little far-fetched.

That's all my rankings, premature and slightly-biased though they may be. Feel free to argue!