Denver Broncos

1. Regular season or post season. It doesn’t matter. The Patriots keep on breaking records. QB Tom Brady became the first player to throw five touchdown passes in one half of playoff football. He also tied a post-season record with six touchdown passes in a game. Brady did this while throwing for 300 yards in a playoff game for the first time. To top it off, Brady executed a well placed 48-yard quick kick to Denver’s 10-yard line.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Divisionals"

Bill Belichick doesn’t do reunions. The Patriots head coach is not the sentimental type. Only if he feels someone can make the team better, then Belichick will welcome a familiar face back.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Divisionals"

1. Behind Tom Brady’s good looks and nice guy personality is a competitor with an incomparable desire to win. After a week of Tim Tebow this and Tim Tebow that, Brady wanted to make a statement. Mission accomplished: 23-34, 320 yards, two TD passes and a rush TD. Tebow is a nice story, but when it comes to the best in the league, Brady expects the list starts with him. Don’t you think Brady envisioned Tebow’s face on the spot Brady spiked the ball after his touchdown run? I think so.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Week 15"

About a month ago, I wrote a critical article about Denver quarterback Tim Tebow, declaring results won’t matter as much as his performance to secure the franchise quarterback role with the Broncos. His inability to pass accurately for a full game was the foundation of my argument.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 15"

1. I have to take a moment and pay respect to Al Davis. The legendary Oakland Raiders owner passed away on Saturday. Born in Brockton, MA, the rebel and leader of the Silver and Black was a steward of the AFL and helped form the modern day NFL. The Patriots held a moment of silence before the game to honor Davis. The league lost an icon.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Week 5"

The Running Back Depth Alert has gone from green to orange. Kevin Faulk’s ACL tear immediately creating an urgent need for another capable running back. Signing former New York Jets WR/RB Danny Woodhead is for more than just espionage now. 

Continue reading "Back of the Future"

Great news for Sam “Bam” Cunningham. Not only was he inducted into the Patriots Hall of Fame this past summer, but now the Patriots can retire his number! 

The opportunity for the “39” made famous by Cunningham to never be worn again comes from Tuesday’s trade of RB Laurence Maroney. The former 2006 first round pick was sent to Denver, packed with a sixth round pick, in exchange for a fourth round pick. 

Continue reading "Maroney a Patriot No More"

I have a lot of expectations for this year’s rookie class. First round pick Devin McCourty will get a lot of run, maybe as high as the third corner. The two tight ends will contribute almost immediately. Brandon Spikes will become a two-down run-stuffing ILB. Zoltan Mesko will win the punting job. 

Continue reading "Projecting Cunningham"

While the current tally for New England during free agency doesn’t include DE Julius Peppers or WR Anquan Boldin, I’d say the Pats are having a decent off-season. The only free agent they signed, LB Marques Murrell, isn’t a marquee free agent. But the Patriots had success keeping their free agents. 

Continue reading "Can't Keep Them All"

In 2005, the Patriots “lost” the season finale to the Miami Dolphins. Because of that “loss,” the Pats hosted the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card game instead of facing Pittsburgh. 

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 16"

The Patriots are already deep into preparations for the undefeated New Orleans Saints, possibly the toughest opponent of the year. Any news outside of their scope of focus is a distraction. 

Continue reading "Bill Belichick's Nemesis"

w the Pats are still in great position to wrestle it away from the surprising Cincinnati Bengals or Denver Broncos. If the teams finish with identical records, tie-breakers will determine who gets the higher seed. 

Continue reading "Looking Ahead"

Pro Bowl balloting is open to the public. Choose wisely. 

This year New England fans will have a tough time rationalizing Patriot players worthy of being selected. The offense’s big three of QB Tom Brady and WRs Randy Moss and Wes Welker will get their share of votes. Beyond them…good luck. 

Continue reading "Pro Bowl Ben?"

Alright, Tom Brady. The grace period is over. Now it’s time to be yourself again. That means the accurate surgeon capable of lighting up the scoreboard with few errors should finally be back. You’ve had enough time to work out the kinks. No more excuses. 

Continue reading "The Real Tom Brady"

I wish head coach Bill Belichick let Dennis Green do the post game press conference for him. I really needed to hear the Patriots let the Broncos off the hook. It was as if New England let off the gas in the second half offensively. I realize New England has a poor record playing in Denver but they can’t use that as an excuse. I don’t think the Broncos are three points better than the Patriots, but the Broncos made the plays and earned the overtime win. 

Continue reading "Pick Six: Week 5"

Accept no substitute! Support the real New England Patriots! 

The media really likes the Denver Broncos, or in some circles, Patriots West. Praised is heaped upon Broncos head coach Josh McDaniels like he’s the second coming of Bill Belichick, down to the gray hoodie. 

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 5"

The Patriots offense was virtually shut down by the New York Jets. QB Tom Brady was unable to get the offense into the endzone and was constantly rushed by a relentless New York blitz. It got people saying the Jets had the blueprint for beating the Patriots and with the rest of the league as witnesses, every opponent will follow suit. 

Continue reading "The Blueprint"

There’s been a lot of talk of contracts of late: Why has Vince Wilfork’s talks stalled when Nick Kaczur and Mark LeVoir can get extensions? With Eli Manning and Phillip Rivers getting mega deals, what will Tom Brady ask for when his negotiations open up? If Ted has four oranges and Mike has seven, then what is the capital of Scandinavia? 

Continue reading "Fishy Deals"

A team strength just got a tiny bit weaker. The Patriots traded DL Le Kevin Smith to Denver for a 5th round pick. That selection was then sent to Oakland to complete the Derrick Burgess trade. The agreement was New England gave the Raiders 3rd and 4th round selections unless the Pats could get Oakland a 5th round pick. If the Pats came through with the fifth rounder, then that would replace the fourth round pick.

Continue reading "A Few Small Transactions"

No matter how many times I re-do my mock draft, the answer is always the same. Virginia linebacker Clint Sintim falls to the Pats. I’ve just completed my third edition and for the third time Sintim is the logical 23rd pick overall. 

Continue reading "Dream Draft"

Another team that is probable to change is the Denver Broncos now that Josh McDaniels is running the show. DE Jarvis Moss might be tailor-made to make the switch to OLB, but Denver has a lot of work to do before they have all the players in place to make a 3-4 work.

Continue reading "A Difficult Search for Patriots-type Players"

Brett Lorenzo Favre, the beloved gunslinger from Southern Mississippi who was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons, made his first pass completion on his way to prominence as a Packer to himself and adorned a New York Jets uniform in his final season, announced his retirement yesterday…again.

Continue reading "Favre Retires. Finally. I Think."

ien will be named quarterbacks coach, replacing Josh McDaniels who left to become head coach of the Denver Broncos. He will likely be groomed to become the next offensive coordinator this year, and likely will get the reins of the offense sometime down the road. Maybe it might happen sooner than expected because O'Brien has experience as an O-coordinator at Duke Univeristy. This move follows the pattern of New England promoting from within the organization. Considering how well it worked out with previous promotions, this one doesn't worry me one bit.

Continue reading "Short Takes"

In a tough economy, the Kraft family is doing their part to reach out to the community. At Gillette Stadium, the Patriots will host a job fair.All stores and restaurants in Kraft City will be represented, from Bass Pro Shops, Bed and Bath Beyond, the CBS Scene, and The Christmas Tree Shops. Even the Patriots will have a table as the coaching staff and front office has a few entry level positions open.Of course these openings are due to the departure of three long time New England employees.The first to go was offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Josh McDaniels to Denverto be the next Broncos head coach. Just a day later, vice president of player personnel Scot Pioli accepted the general manager job from the Kansas City Chiefs. And earlier today special teams coach Brad Seely accepted the assistant head coach/special teams coordinator job with the Cleveland Browns.Apparently the AFC is adopting the "If you can't beat them, hire them" approach. That's four openings now available when broken down by roles (McDaniels had two titles).

Continue reading "Patriots Job Fair '09"

He was waiting for the right opening, and the chance to be the Denver Broncos' head coach might be exactly what he wants.

It's hard to argue with his choice to wait. Looking back at last year's openings, Atlanta and Baltimore looked like a huge question marks without a franchise quarterback at the time. Miami was coming off of a 1-15 season. Washington had good pieces in place, but initially were interested in a marquee name.

Continue reading "McDaniels Leaves the Nest"

I can't believe I'm about to say this. It makes me feel dirty just thinking about it. But it's what has to be done.

Go Jets.

 Ugh! I'm gonna need a shower.

As much as I despise New York and their teams (the Yankees once again came through with more than $400 million reasons to hate them more this off-season), for once, I want the Jets to win.

Continue reading "Sacreligious"

About a couple of weeks ago, I was talking with a co-worker about the current state of the Patriots. He suggested that maybe the team would be better off tanking for better draft position as opposed to trying to get into the playoffs because they'd probably get bounced out early.

Continue reading "Playoffs or Draft?"

People seem to like the New York Jets to beat the Denver Broncos with ease.  I suppose this is a bit of an obvious bet, which is usually a good reason not to bet it.   

The Broncos defense is so bad it cannot be counted on to force a single punt all day.  They just got done losing to the Oakland Raiders in Denver, so that certainly does its part in creating a bad image for the Broncos. 

Continue reading "NFL Week 13 Musings"

Is this game against Miami a must win?

Personally I hate that phrase because it suggests that if a team loses the game, there's no hope for the rest of the season. I don't think that's the case for the Pats. They stand at 6-4 and while one loss hurts their chances of reaching the playoffs, it doesn't completely kills their chances of advancing to the second season.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 12"

My interview with Bill Romanowski is on Real GM. You can read the trimmed for print edition or go to the end of the article and read the full interview.

Or watch the interview as it happened. Your choice.

Continue reading "The Romanowski Interview"

arries that remind us what it means to play football.

Peyton Hillis scored two touchdowns for the Denver Broncos on Sunday.  Jay Cutler may get a lot of credit for his final touchdown pass to take the lead for good, but Hillis was the MVP of the game in my eyes.

Continue reading "Undrafted and Unstoppable"

>NT Vince Wilfork had a reluctant visit with commish Roger Goodell about his elbow to the helmet of Denver Broncos QB Jay Cutler. While a suspension was an option, Goodell showed some leniency and just fined Wilfork, but it is a hefty fine.

Continue reading "Vince Will Fork Over the Dough"

Are these Rams for real?

St. Louis was the 98-pound weakling just three weeks ago. But they changed coaches from Scott Linehan to Jim Haslett and now they're Ram tough? They lost by an average of 26 points in the first month. All of a sudden they bounce back and upset the Washington Redskins and Dallas Cowboys.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 8"

I'm surprised that QB Matt Cassel was voted as the AFC Offensive Player of the Week. Sure he completed 75 percent of his passes for 185 yards and three touchdowns, his best performance this season. But he doesn't do this without his teammates.

Continue reading "A Team Award for a Vintage Win"

Harrison tore his quadriceps Monday night against the Denver Broncos and is unable to play for the rest of the season. This move hurts Belichick because he hates to see Harrison's season come to an end in this fashion. Even worse, there's speculation that this torn quad will end Harrison's career.

Continue reading "End of the Road for Rodney?"

It took CB Deltha O'Neal a day to talk to the media after the nightmare game against San Diego. He needed to sleep off the memory of getting beaten downfield a few times by the Chargers receivers.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 7"

With the Denver Broncos coming to town with their prolific passing attack, the Pats can't leave the secondary at the mercy of QB Jay Cutler and receivers Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal.

The

Continue reading "Change We Need Is Coming"

Have the mighty fallen? It's too early to say. Maybe they tripped and skinned their knees.

The three best teams in the AFC last year are struggling. The Indianapolis Colts are just .500 as injuries to key players has Indy stumbling thus far. The two other powers face off tonight in primetime, though both teams are looking up at division leaders instead of their typical spot on top.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Week 6"

I don't think I mentioned it earlier, but I do like the Deltha O'Neal pick-up. He's not too old and had a few great seasons. Joining this team is incentive enough for O'Neal to regain his focus and approach his Pro Bowl level of play. Put O'Neal in a veteran locker room with coaches Bill Belichick and Dom Capers, two of the best at coaching the secondary, and you'd have to like the chances of O'Neal bouncing back.

Continue reading "Is O'Neal for real?"

ynch was shown the door by Tampa Bay in 2004, Belichick wanted him but lost Lynch's services to the Denver Broncos. But the second time around, coach Bill got his man.

Besides the long time crush on Lynch, Belichick likes very veteran defenders. In years past he signed DTs Ted Washington and Keith Traylor, DE Bobby Hamilton, LB Junior Seau, and S Rodney Harrison. The Lynch addition falls in line with the pattern already set. Belichick has done well finding guys that still had something left in the tank. Maybe Lynch will fall in that category.

Continue reading "Lynch in, Easy on the Mayo"

99 wins. That's the total number of wins in 2007 of the Patriots' opponents for the upcoming season. It is the easiest schedule for any team in the NFL and it already has ESPN analyst Chris Carter saying the Patriots can go undefeated in '08.

Continue reading "Schedule redux"