This one hit me like a kick to the face. Sad to see Vrabes go, and it's too bad about Cassel - he did a fantastic job last season; far, far beyond my expectations - but we can't carry two QBs for all that cap cash. This should give the Pats a lot of flexibility. As always, In Belichick We Trust.
Now we just need Brady back in action in September. Hopefully married life does wonders for Tommy's recovery.
(That is a legit power couple right there.)
A few weeks ago we had quite the feast here Chez MRhé. It was the weekend after Thanksgiving. The 1L was in town and the Pats were playing on Sunday (although let us not speak any more of that tragi-comedy against the 'Burgh) - reason enough for a big jam. 45 contributed his specialty - bacon-wrapped jalapeno poppers. Utterly delicious. I did up some littlenecks in white wine, butter, and garlic sauce and then did an impromptu version of clams casino stuffed with diced bacon, shredded italian cheese blend, and panko bread crumbs. I also happened to have a giant turkey carcass lying around - Thanksgiving leftovers - so I made turkey soup from scratch. Worked out well and it was a great, fun meal, football ineptitude notwithstanding.
I just watched the Bills throw away a win in the final minutes of their game against the Jets. Just a horrific soil, with a fumble by Losman returned for a TD then an INT on the Bills' next possession. This is bad news for Pats fans, as we desperately need Jets (as well as a few other teams) losses from here on out. Every game is a must win now, but New England will also unfortunately be dependent on the failure of key teams down the stretch. Not a good position to be in.
As last week's game proved, there are no easy wins for this team. Battered and depleted by injuries, the Pats nonetheless entertain every game. Let's just hope some form of secondary shows up today, ok?
Gametime!
I'm going to resist the urge here to whine about how it's chilly out, how it's gray and increasingly dismal here in Our Great and Noble Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Just another fall Sunday in New England. Not going to wax wishful about my wanderlust for somewhere warm, sunny, and beautiful for the majority of the year, not just a scant few months. Nay - there's too much positivity in the air, too many things to celebrate.
Ladies and gentlemen: Introducing Mr. and Mrs. Jeremy Bifano! A hearty congratulations to Laurie and Jeremy on their wedding this past Friday. I had the honor of being an usher in the wedding party, and it was a lovely affair. I think I need to rock the tux more often. More of my friends need to get married. Or at least I need to get invited to more weddings, they are a blast. The Scottographer was out in full force at the reception Friday night, snapping pics left and right and burning through film like the unpaid professional that he is. Too bad we can't expect to see those pics for the next several years, if at all...
Lazy Sunday reading: Catching up on my weekend WSJ, Globe, blogosphere, internews, and hopefully putting Prague out of its misery. Possibly my favorite way to spend a Sunday...
...with the exception of the Hub Sunday Sports Smorgasbord! Patriots-49ers at 4:15 and Game 3 of the Sox-Angels ALDS at Fenway at 7:17. That's about 6 or 7 hours of televised awesomeness, not to mention the associated daytime beer drinking. How 'bout those Sox taking two from the LAAoA out on the Best Coast and bringing it back to the Easy Coast to seal the deal? ThatswhatImtalkinabout.com. As for the Pats - Someone please tell Cassel the guys in red and gold are not his receivers. Thanks.
Victory Chili is a-simmering: One of the few benefits of cold weather is that it gives me the opportunity to cook up big, hearty meals, like stews, soups, chilis, and a ridiculous amount of glazed bacon. If everyone could start every day with glazed bacon, this world would be a better place. Football season means it's time for Victory Chili, and I've been simmering this season's first batch since about 3:30. Should be perfect in a couple more hours. For those interested, I once again used homemade turkey stock (frozen since April - the only stock in this market that's way, way up!), added a bottle of Sam Adams Octoberfest (minus a few sips for taste testing purposes) and substituted black beans for the cannellini. I'll let you know how it comes out. Preliminary tasting predicts near-perfect levels of flavor and heat. Full credit goes to my Gourmet magazine apron.
Some fantastic news for Patriots fans. (But what a groaner of a headline.)
There's always next season!
One more win to complete the Ultimate Season. Pats vs. Giants. Brady vs. Manning. Beer vs. my liver.
GO PATS!
A nice article over at WEEI.com talking about how valuable Kevin Faulk is to this New England Patriots offense. Also, a very telling stat - he is the leader in receiving yards in the postseason so far. Good to know that even when teams shut down our big guns he's there to pick up the slack. And he made a couple impossible-looking catches last week. Cheers to Faulk!
And next Sunday cannot get here fast enough...
A tremendous piece of sports criticism criticism from Ken Tremendous over at FJM. An excerpt on why Boston is the Hub of the Sports Universe presently:
[T]he NE Patriots are about to play in their fourth Super Bowl in seven years, and feature a quarterback who is somehow handsomer at the end of each game than he was at the beginning; the Boston Red Sox have won two of the last four World Serieses; the Boston Celtics are 33-6; and also there is a hockey team.
Brady's in a walking cast. I like the part about how he's on his way to Gisele's apartment with a bunch of flowers. Sensitive and he can thread the needle, ladies!
I'm not worried; he's got two weeks to heal up. Still, not the best news.
An AFC Championship game haiku:
Pats' D stonewalls Bolts;
Hey Norv, a word to the wise -
Field goals don't win games.
Today was a frigid, blustery one in the horrific climate that is winter in New England. I needed a hot, hearty meal, and decided that chili would be the perfect compliment to the Patriots-Chargers game at 3:00. I was inspired by Ernie's post last week (and it looks like he brought out the "Victory chili" again for today as well). Since Ernie hasn't posted his recipe yet I made my way over to SimplyRecipes to see what Elise had on file. (A fantastic recipe blog, by the way. Great pics and instruction.) She actually had recently posted a list of several chili variations a few days back. I was planning on making a simple beef chili, but her turkey chili looked good. I followed her recipe with a few minor changes:
The Cold, Hard Football Facts have a good article breaking down why San Diego could pose a big threat to New England on Sunday. I don't think Patriots fans are shaking in their boots at this point, what with having beaten the tar out of San Diego early on in the season and the undefeated record, but the Chargers have played much better over the remainder of the season, including knocking off defending champs and favorite Indy. This at least has the potential to be a very good game. I admit that I was surprised by the ranking in several key categories that the Chargers have achieved this season.
History is against the Bolts, however. But history doesn't always come through.
I cannot wait for Sunday @ 3:00.
GO PATS!
A Divisional Playoff Game Haiku:
Number seventeen;
Jaguars cannot keep pace with
Perfect Patriots
16-0. Has a certain beautiful asymmetry to it, doesn't it? The New England Patriots have finished up an amazing, historic regular season in which big records fell, in which their quarterback and coach won the MVP and Coach of the Year awards. But, here's the thing: the real season starts tonight at 8:00, when the Jacksonville Jaguars come into the House that Kraft Built and try to defeat the offensive juggernaut that is the Patriots. The Pats have had a perfect season thus far, and now that perfection has to continue. Because it's one-and-done from here on out. Shutting up Shula and the '72 Fish was fun and all, but anything other than a goose egg in that Loss column and it's gonna be all Celtics and Spring Training talk in the Hub until Double Sessions next season.
I'm very confident that we can dominate the Jags tonight. They had an impressive late-game comeback against the Steelers (after having blown a comfortable lead in the 4th quarter), so they're hungry, and they're feisty, and riding on some emotion at the moment. Don't give them room to breathe. Get out to a lead early and they won't be able to come back.
(Image from news4jax.com)
GO PATS!
Wow. Great Pats-Giants game last night, and the win marks the sixteenth for the Pats in the last 16 games! The game last night lived up to the hype, with the Giants leading at halftime and giving the Pats all they could handle until the last quarter. The game had the feel of a playoff game, despite its "meaningless" nature. It was the center of attention at the party I attended, with almost everyone watching the game, fans and disinterested folks alike - akin to the Superbowl.
I was worried there for a bit. The Pats came out looking flat, especially the defense. The blown coverage on the kick return run-back after the Pats took the 10-7 lead was demoralizing. The Giants added to their 5-point halftime lead with a TD in the 3rd quarter, resulting in their biggest lead of the game. A 12-point lead at that point in the game was by no means insurmountable by this Pats team, but nevertheless I was nervous as hell (again, as if this game were important...).
But they pulled it off. Brady and Moss connected for a huge TD in the 4th quarter, which took the lead. It also catapulted both stars into the record books with the single-season passing and reception records. The team also became the single-season scoring leader, in addition to joining the '72 Dolphins as undefeated in the regular season.
Props to Gostkowski, whose three field goals (two 37-yard and one 45-yarder) were big, and made up for his miss last week.
My accolades pale in comparison to those of Cris Collinsworth, however. In last night's broadcast he deemed the Patriots a "professional football team." Indeed, sir. Indeed. (This especially irks me coming from C.C. because I think he's actually one of the better analysts out there.)
Three more wins, boys.
I was going to post a few well-thought out musings on the news that the NFL Network will simulcast this Saturday's game between the New England Patriots and the New York Football Giants, but Chris already did so over at A Large Regular. He makes a few good points, as per usual. Drop him a few good wishes on his traumatized back if you make a stop over there, will you?
History will be made, ladies and gentlemen. And now everybody gets to see it!
Yesterday's squishing of the Fish was an odd one - the Dolphins received an appropriate drubbing at the hands of the Patriots for the first half, failing to score against the 28 points that the Pats put up. In the second half, however, the Pats looked sloppy, with Brady forcing long bombs to Moss, resulting in a couple interceptions. The Patriots failed to score again for the remainder of the game. It didn't matter in terms of getting the win but I would hate to see the team get soft or lackadaisical at this point in the season.
15-0. Four more wins.
Tom Curran over at NBC Sports has a pretty entertaining interview with Bill Belichick (before this past Sunday's game).
TC: Are any of the quarterbacks I mentioned better than Tom Brady?
BB: There’s no quarterback I'd rather have than Tom Brady, let's put it that way.TC: Past or present?
BB: Past or present.
