Halfway there, almost nothing is clear.
Sure, one club is spotless, the Tennessee Titans at 7-0 with a four-game lead in the AFC South. Right behind them are the 6-1 New York Giants – but with only a half-game lead in the NFC East. Two divisions – the AFC East and NFC North – are tied at the top. And one game separates the top two clubs in two other divisions – the AFC North and NFC South.
As the NFL reaches the midpoint of its season this week, much is bubbling. Houston has won three in a row. Cleveland has won three of its last four, as have the New York Jets. Carolina at 6-2 is one game within matching its victory total of last year. Miami (3-4) has tripled its win total of last season.
“Now is the push where teams begin to define themselves halfway through the season,” says head coach JIM ZORN of the Washington Redskins, who are a half game behind the Giants.
As the weather turns colder, the “pushing” will only get rougher. “There’s going to be, I’m sure, a lot of tight games down the road,” says New England Patriots quarterback MATT CASSEL.
Like this week. Some of the Week 9 NFL games that will contain, for sure, “tricks and treats” on Halloween Weekend:
A quick look back at the Rams Game Before moving on to share what to watch on the Colts game Sunday night.
Against the Rams, the Patriots needed to do these things in order to win, at least that’s what the consensus was around a group of insiders I work with every week.So How did they fare?
Control The Running Game – As stated, the Patriots needed to take some of the pressure off secondary by stopping the Rams running game. Steven Jackson had chewed up huge chunks of yards against supposedly better teams like the Cowboys and the Redskins.
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Stop the Big Play – Another week and another game with big plays. This time Deltha O’Neal gave up a 35-yarder on the first drive allowing Donnie Avery to get past him down to the NE 9. The Rams could only get a field goal out of it, which could be considered a victory. Unfortunately the secondary got burned by Avery again – a 69-yard touchdown strike when Avery blew past Ellis Hobbs and cut back to cause James Sanders to wipe out the would be tackler. Poor angles have Sanders out of position for the third game this year when big plays are concerned. Avery finished with his best game of the year a 6 reception, 163-yard outing.
It’s Halloween night. It’s the perfect time for some scary thoughts.
1) Three years ago Rodney Harrison hurt his knee against the Pittsburgh Steelers one month before Halloween weekend and was done for the season. This year Harrison is gone again before Halloween due to a leg injury just prior to the holiday
The Scary Part: New England played the Colts one week after the holiday in 2005 and were pasted 40-21 for the second worse loss of the season. The worst loss came against the Chargers who blew New England out by over 20 points. Sound familiar?
2) The Patriots play the Colts for the ninth time in the past six seasons, with three of those matchups coming in the playoffs.
The Scary Part: The Colts have won two out of the past three regular season contests not including their win in the highest scoring playoff game in recent history. All of those games came with Tom Brady under center.
3) The Patriots’ record stands at 5-2 and they have won at least five of their first seven games for the past three seasons, a feat only one team in the league can match.
The Scary Part: That team is the New York Giants, last year’s Super Bowl winners who still have 90% of their entire defense intact and the quarterback who led them to those wins.
4) Matt Cassel has a better quarterback rating (84.6) than Peyton Manning (79.0).
The Patriots travel to Indianapolis to take on a Colts team desperate to climb back into the AFC South division hunt. Indianapolis was in a close contest with the Tennessee Titans, until some late dropped passes which turned into interceptions derailed the game for them. Head Coach Tony Dungy and Colts tight end Dallas Clark spoke about the tough loss and the even tougher game against the Patriots.
Here are some highlights from the Colts conference calls this week:
COLTS HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY
(In your opinion what has contributed to your team’s 3-4 start this season?)
For us it has probably been inconsistency. When we look at the things that have really caused this it’s a lot of penalties that we don’t normally get, a lot of turnovers…things that we are doing that really cause you to lose games. We have played well in spurts but we really haven’t played good consistent football that we need to win these games and we have to get back to it pretty quick.
(How different is this week’s game against the Patriots from in the past where both teams were usually at the top of the AFC?)
They [Patriots] are doing a little bit better than we are. I would say neither of us has played up to our expectations so far. This is going to be a big game. It’s pivotal in a lot of ways. When you are fighting like this you have to get wins and get a streak going. We have to get it turned around quickly and we are playing a very tough opponent to try to do that.
The New England Patriots passed along the following for those who might have an interest in supporting worthy community organizations.
Current and former Patriots players, and executives Josh Kraft, President of the New England Patriots Charitable Foundation and Lester Stong, Chief Development Officer of BELL will be part of the event TONIGHT @ 6:00pm
From the press release:
NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS CHARITABLE FOUNDATION AND FIDELITY INVESTMENTS PRESENT SECOND ANNUAL NEPCF BELL BOWL
Current and former Patriots players will coach a touch football tournament to benefit educational programs in under-resourced communities
October 28, 2008 — The New England Patriots Charitable Foundation (NEPCF) and BELL (Building Educated Leaders for Life) will host the second annual NEPCF BELL Bowl, presented by Fidelity Investments tonight at Gillette Stadium. The event allows sponsor teams to compete in a flag football tournament on the field of Gillette Stadium, home of the three-time Super Bowl champion New England Patriots. Both current and alumni Patriots players will join guests for the night as they mingle and enjoy this very special evening of fanfare and spirited competition. The event, sponsored by NEPCF and Fidelity investments, will raise money for important community initiatives, including BELL’s nationally acclaimed summer and after-school tutoring and enrichment programs in Boston.
Where: Gillette Stadium
Former New England Patriot wide receiver Chad Jackson was signed by the Denver Broncos the team announced on Monday. Jackson reportedly agreed to terms last week and the move became official Monday.
Jackson spent his first two seasons with New England after being selected in the second round (36th overall) of the 2006 NFL Draft out of the University of Florida. The third-year 6-foot-1, 215-pound receiver participated in training camp with the Patriots this season but was waived on Aug. 31, one day after the final round of roster cuts.
It wasn’t Jackson’s pedigree that caused the Patriots to give up on the speedy receiver; it was more of not having room for a one-dimensional player. New England demands players to show versatility and to use their intelligence on the football field. Jackson was one of the fastest players on the Patriots roster, using his speed to get past defensive backs. The problems arose when Jackson suffered a rash of injuries that held him back. Leg injuries limited his speed, while reportedly his difficultly learning the nuances of the playbook allowed other receivers to move ahead of him.
When the Patriots signed Kelley Washington, DontÄ— Stallworth and traded for Randy Moss and Wes Welker in 2007, Jackson dropped from possibly the second or third receiver to fifth behind Jabar Gaffney while Washington pushed for the spot by playing on special teams.
The New England Patriots came back from a 16-13 fourth quarter deficit to defeat the St. Louis Rams tonight 23-16. It was an all around victory for New England who improve to 5-2 to claim a share of the lead in the AFC east. The Rams fall to 2-5 on the year.
Patriots vs. Rams - October 26, 2008
PATRIOTS TURN IN FRANCHISE’S FIRST PENALTY-FREE PERFORMANCE
The Patriots were not flagged for any accepted penalties against St. Louis, marking the first penalty-free game in the franchise’s 731-game history. The Patriots have been called for just one penalty in a game on 13 occasions, most recently on Sept. 10, 2006 against Buffalo. New England’s penalty-free performance was the first in the NFL this season and the first for an NFL team since Seattle was not flagged for any accepted infractions against Baltimore on Dec. 23, 2007. The Patriots’ penalty-free game was the 50th such performance by an NFL team since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger.
PATRIOTS ARE 5-2 OR BETTER THROUGH SEVEN GAMES FOR THIRD STRAIGHT YEAR
The Patriots have begun the 2008 season tied for first place in their division with a 5-2 record and are the only AFC team to start each of the last three seasons by winning at least five of their first seven games. New England joins the New York Giants as the only two NFL teams to achieve the feat in 2006, 2007 and 2008. The Patriots have begun the season with at least five wins in their first seven games for the fifth time in the last six seasons.
Here are some keys to Sunday’s game against the Rams if the Patriots want to win.
Control The Running Game
New England has done OK against the run, but they still rank as one of the bottom teams in the league against the run (19th overall) giving up 117 yards per game. If the Patriots can make the Rams one-dimensional, it will help protect the Patriots secondary, which has been victimized by teams all season. The Rams will be without Steven Jackson making it much harder for the Rams to churn up big chunks of yardage. Jackson turned in a huge game last week against the Cowboys, but he won’t be able to go Sunday due to a leg injury.
Stop the Big Play
Two weeks ago, the Patriots were burned repeatedly by the San Diego Chargers. Philip Rivers connected on deep passes almost at will, burning Deltha O’Neal twice on huge plays. New England has given up 5 plays over 40 yards (T-4th worst overall) and could give up more against Bulger who has found a new favorite target in Donnie Avery.
Stop Long Drives
New England has given up far too many long drives by opponents because they continue to struggle on third down defense. New England has allowed opponents to convert nearly 41% of their third down attempts (T-9th worst overall).
Get Cassel On Track
Flurry of Activity In New England Backfield
The Patriots running back group has undergone yet another metamorphosis when first round running back Laurence Maroney was placed on the reserve/injured list prior to Monday Night’s 41-7 blowout of the Denver Broncos. One of the issues that plagued Maroney was his injured shoulder. The lack of availability came to a head after the 49ers game where Maroney was obviously favoring the injury.
Without Maroney, Sammy Morris stepped in to fill the void. Morris however was injured in Monday night’s win over the Broncos in the first half. Despite having a career performance, Morris’ knee injury put a damper on the evening. According to Scout.com, and NFL Netowrk reports, Morris will miss 2-3 weeks.
More of a concern for Sunday is the absence of LaMont Jordan who missed a pair of games due to the calf injury he sustained against the 49ers. With Jordan out, Maroney in I/R and Morris out, the Patriots have been reduced to using Heath Evans, Kevin Faulk and rookie BenJarvus Green-Ellis.
That doesn’t seem to bother Bill Belichick. “I think that we have had contributions from all of our running backs,” Belichick said Friday. “Whichever guy has been in the game has been productive for us - LaMont [Jordan], Sammy [Morris], Kevin [Faulk], BenJarvus [Green-Ellis], Heath [Evans], Laurence [Maroney]. I expect that it will continue that way.”
The St. Louis Rams had some interesting things to say this week regarding the Patriots, some of their players and the matchup for this weekend. Here are comments from this week’s conference calls.
Rams head Coach Jim Haslett
Q: The Rams have looked pretty good in the last two games. What do you think has contributed to the turnaround?
JH: I just think more than anything [it’s] just the players wanting to get the job done. They’ve been practicing well and they’ve been into it and we just tried to get them to understand that we’re not as bad a team as everybody thought. You just have to try to do things right.
Q: Did I read correctly that you gathered not just the players, but everyone in the organization as the transition took place from former head coach Scott Linehan to yourself? Is that true and if so, why did you do that?
JH: I just thought there was a separation in the building between football, business, management and marketing and as long as I’m here, I just thought that somehow you have to try to come together and be one. So I opened up practice for those people to come out to practice, to eat with the players and to do different things. Obviously if we win games it helps all of those people and the more they can do to help us the better. It was one of those deals where I just wanted everyone to be positive and feel good about the team and try to come to grips with [the fact] that we’re 0-4, but we’re going to fight to do whatever we’ve got to do to win some games.
Harrison’s Season Over, Career In Jeopardy
In sad news from Monday Night’s blowout of the Denver Broncos, veteran safety Rodney Harrison has reportedly torn a muscle in his leg and will miss the rest of the season.Citing a league source with knowledge of Harrison’s condition the NFL Network reported the injury today. The Boston Globe re-iterated the report, speculating that the injury could be career-threatening.
Harrison hurt himself while trying to make a cut back to tackle the Denver runner. His leg twisted in awkward fashion causing him to fall in a heap on the ground. After the play, Harrison just lie there, not wanting to move as trainers rushed onto the field to see what happened. The news wasn’t good, and they called for the cart.
Veteran linebacker Tedy Bruschi jogged out onto the field as the trainers surrounded Harrison to get him ready for the cart. The pair exchanged words as Harrison lie motionless.
“I’m going to keep that to myself if you don’t mind," Bruschi said when asked about the conversation. "Rodney is one of my favorite teammates of all time and I just went out there to check on him. What I told him and he told me was something between us.”
The patriots had an insurmountable lead at the time Harrison went down. The team was positively giddy stopping the vaunted Broncos passing attack ranked second best in the league heading into the game. That excitement, after rebounding from a dismal performance a week ago in San Diego, was on the Patriots players’ minds after the game. Thoughts of Harrison also crept into the conversation.
How Matt Cassel fared in his Monday Night Football debut—compared to some of the game’s greatest QBs.
(Not because I think Cassel will be great, but because i’m a loser who enjoys looking at old box scores.)
October 20, 2008—Matt Cassel: 18-24 for 185 yards, 3 TDs and 0 INTs. Patriots won, 41-7.
September 19, 2005—Eli Manning: 13-24 for 165 yard, 1 TD and 0 INTs. Giants won, 27-10.
September 25, 2000—Peyton Manning: 26-36 for 440 yards, 4 TDs and 0 INTs. Colts won, 43-14.
November 8, 1993—Brett Favre: 20-34 for 213 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTs. Packers lost 23-16.
Last night, after Sammy Morris 4th and goal touchdown run, the Patriots partied in the end zone for 15 seconds. They celebrated like the Little Giants after the Annexation of Puerto Rico; like an 0-9 high school team that just scored its first touchdown of the season.
Fifteen seconds. Think about how long that is. Count it out in your head while imagining the NEW ENGLAND Patriots getting straight up giddy in the end zone.
Here’s how it went down: After stopping his momentum, Morris turned around and immediately threw himself into the arms of an oncoming Heath Evans. A second later, David Thomas hopped on top of Morris. Then came Mike Vrabel—who delivered a flying roundhouse to Morris’ helmet—while Matt Light is shown in the background celebrating like K-Rod after a save. Next, Matt Cassel flies into the picture, but misses the pile completely and crashes to the ground with the help of a Tedy Bruschi stiff arm, as Bruschi piles on. Then comes Light, who nearly dislocates his knee on Cassel’s torso, but manages to simultaneously lift the QB and jump into the action himself. Once everyone’s there, the whole team just chills for a second, arm and arm.
At that moment, the Patriot Mystique officially died.
And I couldn’t mean that in a more positive way.
The New England Patriots demolished the Denver Broncos 41-7 on Monday Night Football at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro last night. New England improves to 4-2 on the year, while Denver drops to 4-3.
Here are some game notes from the Patriots Media Relations Staff:
FOUR OUT OF SIX TO START THE SEASON
The Patriots have begun the season with a 4-2 record, marking the third straight season that they have won at least four of their first six games. The Patriots are the only AFC team to start each of the last three seasons with a six-game record of 4-2 or better (the Patriots started 6-0 in 2007 and 5-1 in 2006). New England joins the New York Giants and Carolina Panthers as the only NFL teams to start with four or more wins in their first six games in 2006, 2007 and 2008.
PATRIOTS RUSHING TOTAL TIES MOST IN A SINGLE GAME SINCE 1985
As a team, the Patriots ran for 257 yards on 38 carries (6.8 avg.), tying the team’s highest single-game rushing total since Dec. 22, 1985, when the Patriots posted 281 yards on 46 carries (6.1 avg.) against the Cincinnati Bengals. New England rushing total against Denver matched their Dec. 26, 1993 total of 257 yards (on 58 carries) against Indianapolis as the highest since that 1985 game. Against Denver, Sammy Morris led the way with a career-high 138 rushing yards, while rookie BenJarvus Green-Ellis added 65 yards on 13 carries, Kevin Faulk picked up 50 yards on four carries, Heath Evans had three yards on one carry and Matt Cassel has one yard on four carries, including three game-ending kneeldowns.
What To Watch
The Denver Broncos Pass Defense vs Randy Moss and Wes Welker
The Broncos are one of the worst (actually THE worst, 32nd overall) pass defenses in the NFL allowing on average 255 yards per game. New England could really use a boost to their ego in the passing game, especially after the heat Matt Cassel has taken for not being able to throw the ball downfield. Cassel needs to show he can throw the ball downfield, but that depends on the protection he gets and the running game that allows him to try play-action.
The Patriots pass rush vs Broncos O-Line
The Patriots had no sacks and no knockdowns last week against the san Diego Charger and it showed. The secondary was torched, and the Chargers did almost anything they wanted against the defense. Although the game plan may have been to stop LaDainian Tomlinson, the execution was horrid. The defense got no pressure on Philip Rivers allowing him to hit targets deep downfield. Without pressure Rivers completed 18 of 27 passes for 306 yards and 3 TDs for a 141.9 rating.
