port of indecision

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Well at least there is good news, I just saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geiko. And now to the negatives. Hopefully no one put any stock into my picks for the football games, they were truely aweful. After watchign Peyton Manning teams collapse year after year, I should of seen this one coming. I just completely botched the Seattle-Washington game. Carolina is beating the Bears as I type this, so I could go an incredible 0-4. The Patriots-Denver game was just a complete disaster, here's my thoughts on what happened.
The Patriots lost this game for a few reasons, oddly enough not much of it had to do with the Broncos.
1. Turnovers, they beat themselves. Troy Brown is normally one of the most sure handed guys in the league, and has been a consistent clutch performer. His error on the punt return summed up the turnover situation for the day. Guys who you expect to be mentally tough players lost focus on what they had to do, handing the game to the Broncos.
2. I hate using this because it looks like more of an excuse and a cop out, but the officiating was attrocious. The pass interference call on Ellis Hobbs was terrible, it was a perfectly defensed ball, and the call was about 10 to 12 seconds late. The Champ Bailey play was odd, it could of gone either way. But the one thing that really caught my eye about this game was the excessive amounts of holding Denver got away with. Holding happens in the NFL and goes uncalled on a lot of plays, usually if its away from the ball, or if an offensive lineman grabs onto a defensive players breast plate, disguising the hold. But these holds were blatant, in front of referees, and easy calls to make. I counted a total of 5 times where Vince Wilfork and Richard Seymour actually got tackled. If these are called this game is a different story.
3. Brady and Vinatieri. These guys have been the heroes for the past 4 years, the best in the game at their positions, and even better with the game on the line. Niether came through in situation you would expect them to last night. Brady missed two or three passes that would have gone for huge plays. Vinatieri missed a big field goal. Some people say the thin air in Denver makes a difference, and maybe for Vinatieri and Brady it did, I really don't know.
4. The John Lynch show. This guy came in as fired up as you get. He played up in the box, stuffing the running game, but the Patriots still couldn't get it over the top of him. Just a great performance by one of the best safety's in the game.

So where does this leave the Patriots? I think they are still in great shape for next year. Brady has a very good recieving corps. coming back. Ben Watson could become a dominant tight end in this league. Harrison and Bruschi should be 100 percent, as well as Dillon. Corey did not run hard these last few games, and it was obvious he was still hurt. The offensive line should be better with Matt Light coming back. The only thing I see as a real issue is picking up a shut down corner, someone along the lines of hte Ty Law caliber player they have had in years past. The defense was as good as you could ask of them down the stretch this season, especially the front seven. Unfortunately I don't think they had enough time to gel this year. For the first time in a while the Patriots won't have the last pick in the draft, which should help us pick up someone capable of playing a key role next year, preferably an offensive lineman. Watching the post game interviews, it was easy to see why the Patriot organization is the class of the league. The player's were gracious in defeat, specifically Brady. He could of gone the route Peyton Manning went, and blamed everyone else. (In case you missed it, Peyton threw his offensive line under the bus after the loss to Pittsburgh.) The team is still fairly young, has a lot of talent, and with Belichek at the helm another shot at a superbowl in '07.

posted by Southeast of Disorder @ 4:26 PM 0 comments