SB Nation User Blog: 6thround

First Day of Free Agency

6thround — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 17:31:33 -0000

With the opening of Free Agency today, the news is coming fast and furious. I don't have time to list all of the stories, but hie thee to the Globe and Herald blogs for all sorts of news. Kelley Washington and Tedy Bruschi are coming back. Kevin Faulk passed a drug test and won't be suspended. Seau has shoulder surgery... Just go already.

Reiss' Pieces

Point After

Why the Matt Walsh part of the story won't get resolved

6thround — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 18:31:55 -0000

Here's a well-done post on the legalities and maneuvering that are likely going on behind the scenes between the NFL, Matt Walsh, etc. The author doesn't think this story will come out, and lays out the legal case why. An interesting read, because it takes what could be a boring subject to a non-lawyer (i.e., just about anything to do with contract law,) and explains how this hot-button topic will likely play out.

Stephanie Stradley at AOLFanhouse

Sammy Morris to IR

6thround — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 00:51:24 -0000

John Tomase of the Boston Herald is reporting that RB Sammy Morris has been placed on the Injured Reserve list, ending his 2007 Patriots season. This leaves the Pats with RB's Laurence Maroney, Kevin Faulk, Heath Evans, and Kyle Eckel on the roster. WR Chad Jackson and CB Eddie Jackson are eligible to come off the injured list. With the Colts on deck, Eddie Jackson's services as a DB looks to get him the call for this weekend.

Are We Talking About This Already?

6thround — Sun, 28 Oct 2007 02:51:33 -0000

Why 16 - 0 Won't Happen
Early Dominance Evokes Thoughts of '72 Dolphins

First of all, I come here to praise the Patriots, not bury them. The very fact that we can even contemplate a perfect season is indicative of how good they are. That many experts are already discussing this after only 7 games is the ultimate compliment of their performance thus far. After all, the Colts are 6-0 themselves but are not being compared to the '72 Dolphins yet. The dominance that this team has displayed is making this a distinct possibility, so let's go through the challenges that stand between them and a perfect season.

The '98 Broncos won their first 13 games before being upset by the Giants. The Broncos also lost their next game, but went on to win the Super Bowl behind John Elway. The `05 Colts also started 13-0, and had wrapped up home-field advantage through the playoffs. Coach Tony Dungy rested most of his key starters, and ended up losing to the Chargers. The Colts continued to rest some key starters for the remaining two games, and ended up losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion Steelers in the playoffs. With the parity that free agency has brought to the league, these achievements are noteworthy in their rarity and highlight the fact that so few teams even have the opportunity to think about this scenario.

Now we must imagine the unthinkable. Despite his continued presence on the Patriots injury list, Tom Brady has been a very durable QB. The last time he missed a game due to injury was the AFC championship game in Pittsburgh during the 2001-2002 run to the Super Bowl. Every Pats fan knows that this team needs Brady more than any other player. Matt Cassel's performance in mop-up duty last week in Miami only reinforces that notion. But with NFL quarterbacks being injured at such a rate that Vinny Testaverde was signed off the couch to start for the Panthers recently, the possibility that Brady could be injured is a real one. Even a minor injury could sideline Brady for a week, especially if there's nothing to play for in the last weeks of the season.

The Patriots have managed to dominate so far, even with several key players injured. Richard Seymour just recently started practicing with the team after missing the first seven games. Laurence Maroney, Stephen Neal, Benjamin Watson, and Rodney Harrison have all missed time and the team hasn't missed a beat. Nonetheless, if the offensive line suffers too many injuries, Brady will have less time in the pocket, and will be more likely to take hits.

Randy Moss has been very durable so far, but has a history of hamstring troubles as recently as this pre-season. Donté Stallworth has had the same problem, missing several games last year when he played for Philadelphia. If the injury bug does take a big bite out of this team, while they have shown the ability to succeed through them, their chances of going undefeated would become miniscule.

With nine games left to play, there are still many obstacles for this team to overcome, not the least of which is this week's opponent, the Redskins. Coach Joe Gibbs and defensive coordinator Greg Williams have this team playing well on defense. Their two safeties, Sean Taylor and rookie LaRon Landry, are perhaps the best tandem in the NFL. Along with corners Fred Smoot and Carlos Rogers, the Redskins have a shot at slowing down the Patriots record-setting passing game. Despite coach Gibbs' thoughts to the contrary, this game is not a foregone conclusion.

There are still several games left on the schedule that could get in the way of a perfect season. On Nov. 4th, the Patriots travel to the Colts. Peyton Manning and company dealt Tom Brady his first defeat in a domed stadium in last year's playoffs, and are 6-0 heading into this weekend's games. With games left at Foxboro vs. the Eagles and Steelers, and games at the Ravens' and Giants' home fields, there are plenty of stumbling blocks left on the schedule. This is not an easy slate in the second half, and the Patriots will have to continue their current level of play to continue winning.

The Patriots nearest competitor for the AFC East division is the Bills, who are 2-4 so far. At this rate, the Patriots will have the division title wrapped up by week 11. If the Patriots do continue winning, they could have home-field advantage as soon as week 15. At that point, coach Belichick will have to decide how much, if at all, to play starters like Brady, Moss, Seymour, etc. The '05 Colts had this back-fire as they entered the playoffs rusty, but the Patriots would only be playing for the record books. Belichick may have an appreciation for history (e.g. Flutie's drop-kick, Testaverde's touchdown pass,) but never at the jeopardy of winning a title. If the Patriots have home-field, the starters may continue starting, but won't finish the game just to stay undefeated.

As the season end nears, if the Patriots are still undefeated, the media scrutiny will eclipse Camera-gate, Brady's love child, and Mike Vrabel's non-foul combined. Seeing how those things haven't affected the team yet, it's likely they won't then. In fact, seeing how they've circled the wagons when the media bashes them, the Patriots foes may be wishing that the pundits just leave the issue alone. All things being said though, if Cassel is being questioned about continuing the streak in week 17, do you feel that he'll be as cool as Brady against the Giants? Me neither.

It goes without saying that the Patriots are a great team. They have been so dominant that I'm actually writing a post in week 8 pointing out the obstacles they will face. The fact of the matter though is that they have a legitimate shot at this feat, and that while the odds may be long, this is just the sort of team that can pull it off.

While the players and coaching staff are focused on winning the next game (and really, is there any doubt about that with this team?), we as fans can contemplate what will happen for the rest of the season. Ultimately, they are driven to win the Super Bowl, and they will never sacrifice their chances just to get in the record book. That's why this team is so much fun to follow. They may have great players, and a great coaching staff, but the discipline and focus on their objective is the true feat.

Signal-Stealing Update

6thround — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 01:09:14 -0000

League Office Confirms Violation
Commisioner Goodell Reviewing Potential Penalties

ESPN is reporting that NFL Commisioner Roger Goodell has confirmed that the Patriots broke league rules when a team official was in possession of a video camera on the sidelines during Sunday's Jets game. The Patriots have until Friday to present their argument re: the specific intent of the use of the camera. Potential penalties could include a suspension for team employees, fines, and loss of future draft picks.

The NFL competition committee will review the charges and make a recommendation to Goodell, who will then hear the Patriots counter-argument. The specifics of the allegation are still unclear. Unnamed league sources are quoted in several articles citing the Patriots guilt, and the likelihood of severe penalties, but no league official has gone on record. There is still a lot of information that needs to come out, but the likelihood of some penalty seems certain now. The league did issue a letter to all teams this off-season re-iterating the policy of prohibiting the type of behavior in question, which could lead to Goodell issuing a stern rebuke as a warning to other teams.

Poll

What penalty should the commissioner levy against New England?

Take away multiple late-round picks

23 votes

Forfeit Jets game

42 votes

Award Indianapolis the Super Bowl

31 votes

Take away a 1st-round pick

23 votes

Take away one 1st-day pick and one 2nd-day pick

28 votes

147 votes | Poll has closed

Patriots Accused of Stealing Signals

6thround — Mon, 10 Sep 2007 23:29:33 -0000

CNN is reporting that the NFL is investigating the New England Patriots for videotaping the New York Jets staff making defensive signals during Sunday's game. The Patriots have previously been accused of stealing signals by the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. John Tomase at the Boston Herald recaps the story and the previous charges in more detail. If the league finds the charges to be true, the Patriots could be lose one or multiple draft picks.

Although there is little public record re: the facts of the situation, the potential validity of the charges must be taken seriously. While the results of the investigation will ultimately determine if there is any fire for all of this smoke, we can still engage in some reasonable speculation both in favor of and against the charges.

If the Patriots have been previously accused of this, why would they continue to do it when the story was already out there? It's hard to imagine an organization as well-handled as the Patriots would do something this stupid, get caught, then do it again, get caught again, and then do it again against a team staffed by multiple former employees. Besides Mangini, Brian Dabol was on the Patriots staff last year (when the initial accusations were made by the Lions and Packers,) so the Jets had to have some suspicions. Unless the Pats staff has been infected by a severe case of hubris, this seems unlikely.
Who is the employee in question? The suspected employee has not been named, nor is it clear if the previous accusations were against the same employee. One remote possibility was that some overzealous person overstepped his bounds. I don't think this is very likely given the multiple instances, but given the number of people granted access to the field there is a chance that the Patriots staff was unaware that he was doing this in addition to his official duties.
How many instances are there? The Buffalo Bills are reviewing security tape looking for potential sign-stealing by the Patriots. Other teams are probably doing the same thing. Even if little hard evidence comes out of the investigation, enough accusations and circumstantial evidence could cause the league to level some sanction.
Why even bother with using a team official on the field? The technology of longer range viewing equipment would preclude the need to use someone on the field. Why would the Patriots be so conspicuous as to have someone on the field making hand signals to the coaches.

It is hard to guess the likelihood of these charges, but the potential fallout is very troubling. I find it hard to believe that the Patriots would feel the need to do this, and would then go about it so stupidly, but until we know more, the potential of losing draft picks (along with the public perception fallout) is a concern to the organization.

Poll

Do you think the Patriots steal signals?

No, but probably some teams do.

15 votes

No, and probably no teams do.

7 votes

Yes, and they're the only ones.

94 votes

Yes, but they're not the only ones.

114 votes

230 votes | Poll has closed

Asante Samuel Is Back In Foxboro

6thround — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:32:01 -0000

CB Reports to Team
Expected to Sign One-Year Franchise Offer

ESPN is reporting that Asante Samuel has reported to the New England Patriots, and is expected to sign his franchise offer. Len Pasquarelli thinks Samual may even practice today. With one pre-season game remaining, Samuel should have time to compete for a starting spot on opening day. It is not known at this time if the Patriots agreed not to apply the franchise tag to Samuel again next year.

Poll

When will Asante Samuel supplant Ellis Hobbs or Randall Gay as starter?

Regular season Week 3

1 votes

Regular season Week 4

1 votes

After regular season Week 4

0 votes

Regular season Week 1

11 votes

Regular season Week 2

6 votes

19 votes | Poll has closed

Patriots Waive Veteran Punter Josh Miller

6thround — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 00:32:28 -0000

Albert Breer at the Boston Herald reports that the Patriots have released veteran punter Josh Miller. This leaves the Patriots with two inexperienced punters: Danny Baugher and Tom Malone. The early release of Miller was seeminlgy done to give him time to sign with another team before final roster cuts.

Stanley Morgan elected to Patriots HoF

6thround — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 00:44:26 -0000

The Patriots announced today that WR Stanley Morgan was elected to the team Hall of Fame. Morgan played for 13 seasons in New England, capturing numerous team records along the way, including touchdowns (68), receiving yards (10,352), 100-yard receiving games (39) and 1,000-yard receiving seasons (3). Perhaps the most impressive record is his career average receiving yards per catch (19.2). Only one player in the NFL Hall of Fame has a higher average, and that is Paul Warfield (20.1), lending credibility towards Morgan's NFL HoF credentials.

Hairston re-signed, was not released for disciplinary reasons

6thround — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 16:31:13 -0000

It turns out that all our (O.K., my,) speculation about why Hairston was released after the very first camp practice was way off base. Albert Breer at the Boston Herald reports that Hairston was released and then re-signed to put him on the Injured Reserve list. I'll keep looking around for more details on what coach Bellichick described as a complicated league rule, which is the reported reason for Hairston's release, and not any disciplinary reasons. I'm glad to hear that it was not any character related issue, and that maybe when he gets healthy, Hairston can contribute to the team.

Breer also reports that safety Mel Mitchell, who was injured early last year, has come off of the Physically Unable to Perform list and will begin practicing again.