Projo Pats Blog

Yesterday's Patriots game continued a frustrating trend in which the local football team has killed itself with mistakes. If you review the Patriots' five losses, three of them -- against the Colts, the Jets and the Steelers -- might have turned out differently without some crucial errors. You had the dropped pass by Jabar Gaffney and the David Thomas unnecessary roughness penalty against the Colts; Ben Watson's no-contact fumble to kill a drive against the Jets. Yesterday it was just add water, and the mistakes multiplied. While Pittsburgh's defense certainly caused some of the Pats' problems -- particularly on the two strip sacks by James Harrison, in which Harrison embarrassed Matt Light and brought back memories of last year's Super Bowl against the speed-rushing Giants -- others were completely self-inflicted. Matthew Slater's failure to field a kickoff was critical, because it turned a 13-10 game into a 20-10 game, and seemed to set the Patriots snowballing into self-destruction mode.

BAD MEMORIES: Did anyone else get flashbacks to the 2005 AFC Divisional Playoff Game between the Patriots and the Broncos? In that game, won by Denver, 27-13, New England also committed five turnovers, including two interceptions and a muffed punt (it was Troy Brown playing the role of Matthew Slater in that game), and Ben Watson even had a spectacular (albeit meaningless) tackle to stop a defensive player from scoring a coast-to-coast touchdown off an interception.

WRONG SIDE OF THE ROAD: Yesterday's debacle left the Patriots in negative territory in turnover differential, with three more committed than forced.

TIME FOR FANS TO RE-EVALUATE: It might now be time to stop all the silly get-rid-of-Brady-to-make-room-for-Cassel talk. While the first-year starter has done an admirable job all season, and has been brilliant at times, he was completely befuddled yesterday by Dick LeBeau's zone defense (Boston Herald). And if you want to say the results would have been better if Randy Moss had done a better job holding onto some balls, well, you're right, but the Steelers dropped a couple of interceptions, too. Cassel's struggles remind us of the thing that makes Brady great most of all -- the ability to make the right decision in the tightest of situations, something he has shown time and again throughout his career (and something he should continue to show when he returns from his rehab), and that Cassel has only shown flashes of grasping. An unfair comparison? Sure. Just as it's unfair to suggest that based on a handful of good games, a career backup should displace one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.

MORE EVIDENCE: Another reason that the market for Cassel had become way overheated (at least before yesterday): He has given no indication that he can consistently connect on passes more than 10 yards downfield (projo Fantasy Sports Blog).

TOAST OF THE TOWN NO MORE: It's probably an indication of this region's overblown expectations of success that Steve Buckley can point to the 7-5 Patriots as a team that is letting Boston down (Boston Herald).

CHEAP SHOT? YEAH: Robert Littal of BlackSportsOnline has posted a video of Ryan Clark's hit on Wes Welker in the third quarter, and he tells Steelers fans to accept the obvious: It was a dirty play.

BUT IT'S MORE PLEASANT WHEN YOU WIN: Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said the conditions on Sunday were the worst he has ever played in (Boston Herald).

SCARY THOUGHT: Here's another reason that James Harrison is the defensive player I admire more than any other in the NFL at this moment: He forced two turnovers on strip sacks yesterday after hyperextending his back, forcing him to be wheeled into the locker room at halftime (Pittsburgh Post Gazette).

AND NOW FOR THE REAL TEST: Pittsburgh sure looked like a team that could advance to the Super Bowl on defense alone. But we'll know more about them after next week's game, when the Steelers host the high-flying Cowboys (NFL.com).

THE BURRESS SHOOTING: Plaxico Burress turned himself in to police in New York City today and is expected to enter a not-guilty plea on a felony gun possession charge stemming from his self-inflicted gunshot wound, suffered at a Manhattan nightclub called Latin Quarter. He was walking without a cane and without a noticeable limp when he arrived at the East Side stationhouse today.

The New York Post today reports on the steps that Burress took to avoid the authorities after the accident, including convincing staff at the nightclub to clean up the evidence and not contact the authorities, spending 90 minutes calling around to see where he could get discreet treatment, and then giving a false name (Harris Smith) when he arrived for treatment at New York-Cornell Hospital. Hospital staff recognized him as Burress, The Post reports, but did not report that they had treated someone for a gunshot wound, as required by law.

Meanwhile, Burress' teammate, linebacker Antonio Pierce, could be in trouble because he took possession of the gun, which was not licensed in New York, and brought it with him to New Jersey (New York Post). Pierce was interviewed Saturday night by an NFL security official and was in the starting lineup yesterday for the Giants' game against Washington.

Former Giant and current NBC commentator Tiki Barber reported last night that the third Giant who was with Burress and Pierce at the Latin Quarter nightclub was running back Ahmad Bradshaw; Barber reports that Bradshaw was not involved in the incident. He also had the news that one of Barber's teammates, receiver Steve Smith, was recently robbed at gunpoint outside his home, which might have prompted Burress' decision to carry a weapon (ProFootballTalk.com).

As for Burress' mental state in the midst of all the attention -- he seems to be taking things in stride. Giants running back Brandon Jacobs told the New York Daily News that Burress was laughing and joking about the shooting when he talked to teammates about it on Sunday night.

THE BEAT GOES ON: From a football perspective, the most important thing that happened with the Giants yesterday was this: They demonstrated once again that Plaxico Burress is not an essential ingredient in their formula for success (just as they showed last season with Jeremy Shockey), and they are still unquestionably the best team in football (NFL.com). Yesterday's victory over Washington was the Giants' sixth straight over a team with a winning record; they can make it seven straight next week against Philadelphia.

NOT GOING TO HAPPEN: I'm not in New York right now, but I hope all the talk of a Giants-Jets Super Bowl has been toned down following the Jets' home loss to Denver.

ANOTHER QUARTERBACK GONE: Derek Anderson's nightmare season has come to an end as a result of an MCL injury suffered late in yesterday's loss to Indianapolis (ESPN). Anderson is likely to join Brady Quinn on injured reserve, meaning Ken Dorsey, who has not started a game in more than three years, is the new starter in Cleveland. This is more bad news for head coach Romeo Crennel, who according to Chris Mortensen of ESPN needs a miracle finish to save his job.

A-TYPICAL: The Colts' 10-6 win in Cleveland marked the first time in more than five years that they won a game without scoring an offensive touchdown. The decisive play yesterday was a 37-yard fumble return for a touchdown by linebacker Robert Mathis.

FAREWELL TOUR: Monte Kiffin, the defensive coordinator behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' rise from worst franchise in football to consistent contender, appears destined for Tennessee, where he will join his son on the coaching staff of the Volunteers. ESPN's Pat Yasinskas writes that Kiffin gave Tampa Bay fans something to savor yesterday with his defense's performance against the high-powered Saints. The Bucs intercepted Drew Brees three times, helping the team make up for a paltry 252-yard offensive performance.

NOT A GOOD STREAK: For the second consecutive week, the Packers' defense found itself on the wrong end of a franchise-record setting performance by an opposing player. After getting shredded by Saints quarterback Brees a week ago, Green Bay gave up four touchdown runs to Carolina's DeAngelo Williams and saw its playoff hopes probably sink for good.

WIDESPREAD USE OF STEROID? The web site ProFootballTalk reports today that as many as 25 New Orleans Saints players may have taken StarCaps, which contained a banned ingredient. The information reportedly comes from the leaked testimony of defensive end Will Grant from the combined hearing of Grant and two other Saints players who are facing suspension.

AND FINALLY: The Patriots had a bad day yesterday. They weren't alone. Referee Mike Carey called attention to himself (never a good thing for a referee) twice during yesterday's Falcons-Chargers game. Thanks to the web site FanHouse for calling our attention to these two videos, the first of which shows Carey forgetting what the penalty he was about to call was, and the second of which shows him getting trampled by Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan:

 Tags  Football Today Matt Cassel Plaxico Burress Tom Brady

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