Projo Pats Blog

TOUGH GUY WES: Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker confirmed what a lot of us already thought about him yesterday -- that he's a stand-up guy who is not going to let a hard hit like the one from Ryan Clark get too far under his skin (projo.com). Former NFL great Cris Carter is among those who admire Welker. Carter told the Boston Herald's Karen Guregian that Welker will probably carry some psychological baggage from the Clark hit, but he told fans not to worry about Welker changing his game: "The reason I don't worry about a player like Wes, is the same reason I don't worry about a player like Hines Ward, or Anquan Boldin. These guys aren't made of the normal stuff that receivers are made of. A normal receiver, I would be concerned they would be a little gun-shy, but all those guys who play in the slot, and have that characteristic of loving to play, of maximizing their ability, and playing hard, and playing reckless, and getting in the big collisions . . . I never worry about them coming back, because they know it's part of the job hazard."

COMFORTS OF HOME: Rosevelt Colvin says that while he never considered himself retired, he was happy enough living as a regular family man in Houston, and he had to think about it before agreeing to return to football with the Patriots (projo). What brought him back, he said, was "the love I have for this organization and the guys on the team." (Boston Globe)

INJURY NEWS: According to an unnamed source cited by The Boston Herald, linebacker Pierre Woods "most likely" suffered a broken jaw in the Steelers game. Woods did not practice yesterday.

NOTHING TO PROVE: Deion Branch says he won't have a chip on his shoulder when he faces the Patriots for the first time since the messy end to his tenure in New England. Branch says he still speaks regularly to a lot of his former teammates, and of Bill Belichick, he says "I respect everything he did." (Boston Globe)

MAKES YOU THINK A LITTLE: Gerry Callahan has his own take on the Plaxico Burress situation, and on the growing trend of players packing heat for their personal protection: "Here is a guy who could not secure his gun and drink his wine at the same time. We're supposed to believe he is better off with a loaded weapon than without one?" (Boston Herald)

BIG DAY COMING: Antonio Pierce is all set to take the field for the Giants against the Eagles this week, but there's an even bigger event looming on his schedule, according to The New York Post: When he testifies before a Manhattan grand jury about last week's Burress shooting. The Post reports that the testimony should guarantee an indictment against Burress, but will also save Pierce from charges of hiding a crime weapon.

PLAGIARISM SCANDAL: The web site ProFootballTalk is reporting that former NFL scout Chris Landry has been fired by Sportsnet News Canada over plagiarism allegations. Sportsnet says that material by Landry has been removed from its web site and that he will "remain off air for now."

ALL IN THE FAMILY: The Rooney brothers have "virtually come to terms" on a deal to restructure ownership of the Pittsburgh Steelers, under which four of the brothers will be able to sell off shares of the team (Pittsburgh Post Gazette). The league is apparently bending its rules a bit to allow Dan Rooney and his son, Art Rooney II, to be considered one party with collective control of 30 percent of the team's value. That would meet the league's minimum requirement for a party with controlling interest in a franchise.

THIS WEEK'S PICKS: Last week's record was a mediocre 10-6. Home teams are listed in all caps.

CHARGERS over Raiders: San Diego is, incredibly, not out of the playoff picture yet with its 4-8 record, but the door is closing fast. Still, that means the Chargers have something to play for at home and in prime time on Thursday night against an inferior opponent.

Vikings over LIONS: Minnesota may or may not have Pat and Kevin Williams playing on the defensive line; if they don't, that might give the Lions a chance to establish a running game on offense with Kevin Smith. The trouble is that Detroit's sieve of a run defense seems to have no chance of slowing down Adrian Peterson.

BEARS over Jaguars: It's surprising that Jacksonville is better than Chicago both in total offense and total defense. Yet the Jaguars have recently been playing like a team that has packed it in, winning only one game (against Detroit) in their last six and losing the last two games ugly.

COLTS over Bengals: The Colts owe the schedule maker big time. There were only a handful of teams that Indianapolis would have beaten with the effort that it put forth last weekend; fortunately for Peyton and company the Cleveland Browns were one of those teams. After not scoring an offensive touchdown in Cleveland, expect the Colts' offense to explode in their own stadium against Cincinnati.

GIANTS over Eagles: Donovan McNabb and the Philadelphia offense looked so good last week. Part of the reason was that the Eagles were able to establish the run early with Brian Westbrook. They won't be able to do the same thing against New York. This has been one heck of a tough week for the Giants, but they are a great (not just good) team, and I expect them to rise to the occasion here for an easy victory.

TITANS over Browns: The Ken Dorsey era begins in Cleveland, which in itself is another sign that the Romeo Crennel era is about to end. The Browns should have won last week against the Colts, but the demoralizing way in which they lost seems to leave them with even less of a shot of upsetting the Titans, who enjoy getting fat on weak competition.

Falcons over SAINTS: This is a huge game for Atlanta, which is 8-4 and in command of the second wild-card playoff spot in the NFC (with Dallas in hot pursuit), but with a tough schedule up ahead. After the trip to New Orleans the Falcons play at home against Tampa Bay and then at Minnesota. A victory over Drew Brees and the Saints is imperative, and although New Orleans is a tough bunch to beat in their home dome, Matt Ryan and the Falcons have impressed me with the way they have refused to fold this season.

PACKERS over Texans: Most of us didn't care that much, but Houston gave an emotional effort in beating Jacksonville on Monday Night Football. They will probably get Matt Schaub back at quarterback this weekend, but you have to wonder if the team can carry over its intensity on the road after a short week. Green Bay ought to be angry after getting buried by the offenses of the Saints and the Panthers in consecutive weeks.

Patriots over SEAHAWKS: After harsh treatment from the Steelers defense, Matt Cassel and the Patriots offense can go back to doing what they do best -- holding on to the ball -- against a Seattle team that ranks dead last in time of possession. Should be no problem for the Pats to remain in the playoff hunt.

Dolphins over Bills: The Bills went from 54 points scored against one bad team (the Chiefs) to 3 points scored against another (the 49ers). We don't know which version of the Bills will show up inside the Rogers Centre (Miami gets quite a break getting to dodge its annual trip to Buffalo -- and in a December game, no less), and we don't know who the quarterback will be. The way Trent Edwards has played lately (with the single exception of the Kansas City game), does it really matter?

Jets over 49ERS: New York must have bad memories of the Bay area, after losing earlier this year to the lowly Raiders in overtime. San Francisco has gone 2-2 over its last four games and has been competitive in all but one (a loss at Dallas), so they still qualify as a dangerous opponent that hasn't folded its tent quite yet. Still, it's hard to imagine the Jets faltering here, since they already had their letdown week against the Broncos this past Sunday.

BRONCOS over Chiefs: Denver has had a bad habit of tripping up against bad teams -- they've lost to Jacksonville, Oakland, and back in September they fell to Kansas City. In that game, the Broncos rolled up 446 yards but turned the ball over four times -- which is how you lose to a team like the Chiefs. They won't do it again, will they?

CARDINALS over Rams: An NFL morality tale of the team that abandoned St. Louis taking on the team that embraced St. Louis, after abandoning Los Angeles. The Rams put up a fight against the Dolphins last week, which surprised me, while Arizona showed how much it lacks toughness by failing to show up for the Philadelphia game on Thanksgiving after a disappointing loss to the Giants. Fortunately, they won't need toughness to beat the Rams.

Cowboys over STEELERS: As much as I love the Pittsburgh defense, I don't think defense alone usually wins championships. And the Pittsburgh offense still concerns me, particularly in this matchup against a Dallas defense that is much more aggressive than New England's. The Cowboys are rolling right now, and they're desperate (the Steelers don't need this one as much), and I think they might become the first team to break the 300-yard barrier against Pittsburgh. Wild card: How good is Marion Barber really feeling?

RAVENS over Redskins: Patriots fans need Washington to come through here, but the 'Skins are playing with no confidence on offense, and Baltimore is not the place for them to pick it up. Getting gouged by the Giants seemed to really fire up Baltimore, which has given up a total of 3 points in its last two games against the Eagles and the Bengals (Philly scored a touchdown on a kickoff return).

Bucs over PANTHERS: The game of the week pits the two teams tied for first place in the NFC South, with identical 9-3 records. Jeff Garcia struggled against the Saints last week, but he had been on a terrific roll before that, and the Bucs defense has once again been one of the league's best. They are sometimes vulnerable against the run, which means that the Panthers' one-two punch of Williams and Stewart will have a big chance to make a difference. Still, I pick Tampa Bay because they are overall the better team, and the better team should win the showcase games.

 Tags  Antonio Pierce Cris Carter Football Today Plaxico Burress Wes Welker

---