5 Observances

The secondary has their moments, but overall it’s been solid: I’ll be the first to admit that I’m extremely critical of the secondary, no matter who happens to be a part of it. When the Patriots brought in Delta O’Neal a few weeks ago I seemed to be the only one who wasn’t excited with the acquisition. Don’t even bring up Ellis Hobbs. However, so far, both have looked impressive especially Ellis Hobbs. OK, so the Chiefs and the Jets don’t have the strongest passing attack, but I find his play impressive nonetheless. Even Lewis Sanders has looked decent. Rodney Harrison may be missing tackles that he would normally make (three years ago), but overall he seems to be holding his job down early on. O’Neal had the biggest play of Week One when he preserved a win against Kansas City late in the game, he also made a good play this week on a failed Jets screen pass. Had Favre not shied away from throwing the pass, O’Neal would have taken it for six. Hobbs also made numerous outstanding plays, all of which the Jets would argue to be pass interference. No such luck. All were fantastic plays by Hobbs.

Gostkowski is connecting in every way: With Brady down, the Patriots won’t be seeing nearly as many touchdown drives which makes Stephen Gostkowski that much more important. So far, Gost is perfect in field goals; the best part about that being that he has had past troubles with shorter kicks. Not only is Gost perfect, but he hasn’t had one kick that has made fans hold their breath. It seems all of his kicks have perfectly split the uprights. Gost also hit a very important kick this past week as his 4th quarter field goal put the Patriots up by more than one possession late in the game. It was by no means an Adam Vinatieri-like pressure kick, but it was big all the same. Also, a big factor of the Patriots win this past week was field position. The Patriots started a lot of their drives in goo field position, which definitely helped Matt Cassel. On the other hand, the Jets started at least six drives from their own twenty, which is mainly thanks to Gostkowski. The wind wasn’t that strong in Jersey and yet Gostkowski was booming kick-off after kick-off out of the end zone and pinning the Jets; something Vinatieri was never able to do with his more accurate-than-powerful leg.

Linebackers unseen: Aside from Adalius Thomas’ throw down of Brett Favre and Leon Washington, who has seen much of the linebackers? I’m not at all surprised by Tedy Bruschi’s lack of appearance since he hasn’t made a big play in a long time and has fallen off the map the past few years. But how about Mike Vrabel? How about rookies Jerod Mayo and Shawn Crable? Aside from Thomas’ sack, the most notable play concerning a Patriot linebacker happened when Pierre Woods injured himself. Due to Brady’s absence during the preseason, we may have gotten to caught up in our younger players success and expected immediate contribution. We were all pumped for Mayo and Crable to burst onto the scene; however, Mayo hasn’t surfaced onto the big picture yet, the same goes for Crable. Crable hasn’t seen much playing time, but I take it that Mayo may become what last years Adalius Thomas was like. He’ll do his job, but stay out of the spotlight. Naturally, this will raise eyebrows and question what he’s bringing to the table (similar to what happened with Thomas in 07), but unless I hear he’s struggling than I’m not going to worry. Lastly, in these first few games we’ve seen a lack of Mike Vrabel. Could Vrabel be slowing down? Vrabel can still come around the corner to pressure the QB, but he hasn’t been fully able to escape the blocks stopping him yet. Patriots haters always talk about guys like Bruschi and Harrison aging, but could this refer to Vrabel as well? I’m going to leave my judgment out of this. To be honest, as long as the Patriots stop the run like they have so far I won’t have any problem with the linebackers being MIA.

Cassel looking stable: We’ve successfully made it past the first game of the Matt Cassel era and I’m sure that the fact that Brady is gone has sunk in by now. Through a start and three quarters, Cassel hasn’t thrown an interception, and while he has thrown a few lame ducks, he’s looked solid so far. However, the entire passing attack relied on short passes and screens. I’m sure the thought of Cassel throwing more than 15 yards into coverage makes most Pats fans cringe, including myself. For that reason alone I am not getting TOO excited about Cassel’s surprising success. A good team will take Faulk and Welker out of the game and make Cassel look for Moss and Gaffney in deeper coverage. It’s been easy to see that Cassel is no Tom Brady. He seems to panic a little when under intense pressure, but hasn’t made a mistake yet…he’s thrown the ball away on a few occasions which is good to see. It’s also clear that Cassel doesn’t have Brady’s pocket presence as he moves out of the pocket a lot more often than Brady does. The thought of Cassel throwing on the run scares me more than the thought of Peyton Manning throwing on the run with five Ty Law’s awaiting his release…

The D-Line: Seymour, Wilfork and Warren have looked good so far. There have been moments where the run defense could be questioned, but for the most part the d-line did a good job of stuffing Larry Johnson and Thomas Jones. I’ve noticed that Ty Warren looks especially quick this year, and hey!! Big man Richard Seymour actually recorded a sack. I’m aware that recording a sack is nothing new to Seymour, but that’s his first that I’ve actually seen in a while.

It’s a Magical World

It’s a Magical World

“It’s a magical world Hobbes ol’ buddy!” – Bill Watterson’s “Calvin and Hobbes”‘

It’s apparent that Calvin and Hobbes couldn’t possibly be hardcore sports fans…and yet, that small and simple statement made by Calvin in the final “Calvin and Hobbes” comic strip could relate to sports situations.

A lot of the time, as sports fans, we get caught up in a moment; other times we may not appreciate those moments until they’re gone. One thing is for sure, sports provide us with a piece of our magical world, although it all depends on how we capture the moments we witness.

I’ve heard both the theories that “no good thing dies” and that “even good things have to die”; however, I may be living in the aftermath of something great. Whether that good thing continues on literally or purely as a memory is yet to be seen.

For those who haven’t caught on, I am of course talking about the injury to Tom Brady and how it may affect the future of the New England Patriots. Tom Brady, the God-like figure of our magical world has been struck down at the worst possible time. Before Brady went down, it seemed this great time we’ve come accustom to was weak, especially after 18-1, but we continued to hold a positive mind state for the most part. We had our saviors in Tom and Bill and as long as those two stayed together and performing then the magic could continue. And then it happened. It was an evil twist and an already heart-wrenching climax. The story of a lowly team, who rose to greatness turned dominance in just a few years, only to face heartbreak in several different forms. Every good thing must come to an end I suppose.

Seeing Tom Brady roll around on the ground clutching his knee was like watching one of your heroes die. At the time, I sat motionless watching it happen and really had no words to express what had just happened. In those few moments that Brady was down, the memories came swarming back from every direction, both the good and the bad. I saw Vinatieri’s two Super Bowl winning kicks split the uprights, I saw Aaron Boone raise his arms triumphantly, I saw the Red Sox celebrating in St. Louis, the Patriots in Jacksonville, and the Celtics in front of their home crowd. I saw Brady walk off the field dejectedly both in Indy and Arizona, with flashes of Ben Watson lighting up Champ Bailey out of the corner of my eye. I relived all of these moments strictly from seeing a New England icon, Tom Brady, lie painfully on the ground.

But above all, I saw Nomar Garciaparra walking out of the Red Sox clubhouse and heading for Chicago. Watching Brady lie there was like losing my hero, my idol, my symbol of something I held dear and now felt unsure of. I remember thinking of the worst when Nomar was traded, and as everyone knows that deal resulted in the best outcome. However, while I couldn’t think of the Patriots without Tom Brady, I still had no thoughts while he lay there. I was stunned. Literally, I couldn’t blink or talk or move. I just stared at the TV screen almost wait for it to scream APRIL FOOLS! Finally, I came around and the first thing I could ask myself was: “is this the end?” I had been crushed when the Patriots lost to Indy two years ago, even if I didn’t wear my emotions on my sleeve. That soon changed when the Patriots blew their undefeated season last year as I let all of my rage out and like most Patriots fans I will never get over that loss. But when Brady went down all I couldn’t ask myself anything except whether or not the Patriots reign on the NFL was coming to an end. The AFC Championship Game. The Super Bowl. The Injury. It all seemed like a nightmare and the thought that all the events happened in a span of three years concerned me. It seemed like far too much bad luck. (Which I obviously blamed it on…come on, the Patriots’ play actually losing a game for them? Pfft.) Could this be the end of our magical world so soon after it started? Needless to say I don’t want to go overboard, but I think I was emotionally and spiritually beat up by the past few Patriots seasons and when I saw Brady helped off the field…a little piece of me died.

And yet a world without magic is a world nonetheless. While Calvin and Hobbes were a pair of uneducated comic strip characters, they represented the world perfectly. Some days they didn’t get along, other days things just flat-out went wrong for them, but when you get right down to it every day, both in sports and life (I guess) is magical whether you’re living it or reminiscing.

Don’t loss the magic Patriots fans. We’ve had the priviledge to see the Patriots go through their best years and also see them face their biggest heartbreaks. We do not know what Matt Cassel will bring, and while he isn’t an icon, every falling empire needs someone to step up and be a leader. And no matter where he may lead us, whether it’ll leave us celebrating new glory, giving us back that hope we lost when Brady went down, or leaving us remembering better times, we’ll keep those magic season, this magic team, this magical world alive.

KEEP THE FAITH! CASSEL ‘08!

TFB meet TBB

TFB meet TBB

No, this isn’t Tom Fuckin Brady meet Tom Bitchin’ Brady, this is Tom Fucki Brady being introduced to Patriots fans, who will now go by the nickname “Terrified Beyond Belief”. When Patriots fans didn’t catch a glimpse of Brady in the preseason they started to get a little worried. Eventually, Brady started missing practices and those worried faces became stunned faces. Then comes along the week before the start of the regular season when it’s announced that Brady has a cracked bone in his foot; however, will probably start the opening week. Those worried and stunned expressions quickly moved to terrified expressions, at least in the eyes of this fan.

Normally, Boston fans act either outrageously smug or unbelievably pessimistic depending on how their teams are fairing; however, above all the other cases of smugness vs. pessimism comes the biggest one dealing with Tom Brady. Tom Brady has been the NFL greatest QB for years and Patriots fans (even the humble ones) never let people forget it. It’d be hard to hold a conversation about a Patriots weakness with the phrase “we’ve got Brady, we’ll be fine” being uttered. When Brady is on the field and open in the eyes of the fan, New England is at bliss. Yes indeed, Tom Brady is a hero.

Unfortunately, everyone hero has a heroic flaw.

Don’t get me wrong, Tom Brady is the perfect human being. I’ve never seen another sports figure make less mistakes than he does, no, the problem lies in his faithful worshippers. Patriots fans cared far too much about Tom Brady. What he’s doing, where he’s doing it, what he’s thinking, and above all, his health. BB, meaning “Before Brady,” you would be lucky to find one person who would skip an important day with their family to stay home and watch Drew Bledsoe command the Patriots. The fans cared, but they didn’t REALLY care…especially from 97-2000. The Patriots had been entering a dark age when a Californian prodigy arrived in New England. He wasn’t nestled in a manger, but he might as well have been. As his magical word was spread, more and more people came to follow him and his word.

Seven years and three Super Bowl rings later, fans are obsessed. He is easily the most cared about New England figure in recent years; more than Nomar, Pedro, Ortiz, Ramirez, Pierce, KG, or Allen. (I won’t go as far as to say Russell, Bird, Clemens, Yaz, and Williams since I didn’t witness them do their thing, but I have a feeling Brady is above them as well) Knowing this, can you imagine the reaction to the news that Brady has a cracked bone in his foot? Can you imagine the thoughts of Patriots fans when they heard that Brady SHOULD be ready for opening week? Can you imagine how many people out there would offer up a relative or girlfriend/boyfriend to God as long Brady is healthy?

The coming days and first few weeks, all eyes will be on Brady. The Pats went 0-4 in the preseason, showed both a weak defense and offense, and yet Tom Brady is going to be in the spotlight again. Each time Brady drops back, fans will hold their breath. Every time Brady throws a seed to Randy, Pats fans will exhale and claim how they weren’t worried. Every time he overthrows a receiver, Pats fans will start blaming the foot.

And every time Brady gets hit or falls to the ground, Pats fans hearts will stop.

Just another game in the Tom Brady age, but this time there is going to be a larger amount of worry coming with every play.

And personally, I’m terrified beyond belief.