SB Nation User Blog: JohnHannahRules

MNF: Tennessee v. Houston. They don't like each other.

JohnHannahRules — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 02:03:43 -0000

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

about 1 month ago: New England Patriots cornerback Leigh Bodden (23) heads for a touchdown with an interception of a pass intended for New York Jets wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery (89), being blocked by Patriots safety Pat Chung, right, in the first quarter of an NFL football game in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Nov. 22, 2009. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

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The last time the Pats played the Saints, New England escaped with a 24-17 victory in Foxboro. This highlight vid from NFL films features a lot of old friends who aren't around anymore: Branch, Vrabel, Wilson, Davis just to name a few. The Saints look different, too. No one will mistake Aaron Brooks for Drew Brees, for example. No rest for the weary -- not this week, anyway.

Use this space for jibber-jabber, if anyone's up watching the Monday night tilt between Tennessee and Houston. They hate each other, and are treating us to a glimpse of playoff-level intensity. Keep an eye on Matt Schaub, Andre Johnson and Mario Williams, as we'll be facing them the last week of the year -- a match that might have implications for playoff seeding.

Pats v. Jets: some unconnected thoughts.

JohnHannahRules — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:12:13 -0000

Got a chance to see this one in person. We were very far away, but here are some quick hits and general impressions.

First, our offensive line is very banged up. Vollmer missed four or five series at the end of the first half. Mark LeVoir filled in for him (and absolutely crushed cornerback Donald Strickland -- you could hear the helmets crack in the upper deck -- if anyone Tivoed it, please post!), but it was clear that we're in dutch if we don't have a healthy Sebastian Vollmer. Protection suffered. Dan Connolly started for the injured Stephen Neal. Nick Kaczur got banged up pretty good late in the game -- his knee I think. He gutted it out and I was impressed because I don't think he should have been walking on it, much less playing football. Hopefully he and Matt Light and Vollmer will all be serviceable for the Saints game.

Almost, but not quite, this far away. Using the field lights at the bottom of the image, count 3 stanchions from the right, then down three rows of seats. They must've known I write for electronic media.

Tom Brady didn't actually look that sharp (for Tom Brady). There were a couple of instances when he went to Moss in a seemingly predetermined way when Welker or a check-down were wide open. His side-line throws are still off the money (thinking here of Moss's missed opportunity in the first quarter, for example).

Kevin Faulk's drop of what would have been an outstanding third down catch could have been a difference-maker and was reminiscent of Green-Ellis's bobbled touchdown a couple of weeks ago.

Laurence Maroney was fair, and aggressive, but still isn't seeing the cut-back. Perhaps the only virtue of watching the game with a nosebleed and vertigo is the coach's-camera view it affords. He's never going to have big-time vision and we're all just going to have to get used to it. I wish they'd get him the ball in screens/bubbles/swing-passes more often because he'd be very dangerous in that role.

Still no pass rush. It's making it very hard for our backfield, which I think played only well enough to win. The Jets were plenty open, but have a bad quarterback. Next week is going to be an adventure.

Our second-half offense is crap. It's the exact opposite of what you want to see from a team bound for the playoffs: we didn't sustain a single drive after the first half. (Four punts, with a touchdown drive of 28 yards (!) off of Meriweather's pick [do we have a sarcasm font yet?].) The play-calling was dumb: looking for plus-10s inside our own 10, wasting plays, mental mistakes, poor execution (way too many 2nd-and-10s). It's not like the Jets were stoning us. Bad play selection and decision-making. It does not give me a warm and fuzzy feeling.

Speaking of mental mistakes, the end of the second quarter was vomit-inducing. First the miscue on the punt for a gift of points. Then a miscue at the other end with a delay penalty which forced a kick which Stephen Gostkowski missed. Ragged.

Sat in section 326, three rows down from the top. That's about as far away from the action as you can get and still be in the stadium. Plus, I think we actually parked in Wrentham. Aside from the fact that cheering from that location is purely for self-gratification and warmth, I was struck by how much things improve from seemingly marginal changes. Just walking to the bottom of the stairs made the field seem significantly closer. Watching from the rail near the concessions was a marked improvement over that. Walking over the bridge was like actually being at the game and when we exchanged seats with friends in the fourth quarter to stand in section 133, it was like having them play right in the living room (totally awesome, in other words).

Watching Vollmer rev up the diesel and drive the defender off the ball was breath-taking. I think every ex-player harbors the belief that "if only" etc. and etc. Well f*ck that. There's no way I want to be within 15 yards of that guy when he gears up to run block. Impressive. He's tall and rangy which is not a run-blocking advantage. But he shows much-improved flexibility at the hip and knee, he gets low and really arches his back. And he's mean. If Light can handle moving to the right, I'd love to see the Vollmer-Logan Mankins freight train heat up through the playoffs.

All-in-all, though, I have to say that we do not currently have the look of a team that will go very far in January. We lack rhythm on offense and consistency on defense. Lack of a pass rush is becoming a very serious issue. Special teams have become an adventure and we are making a ton of mental mistakes at really inopportune moments.

It makes me miss the old Patriots, who rarely dazzled but never screwed up and grinded their opponents down through precision, patience and mental strength. We better find some of that in a hurry or it's going to be a short January.

Wednesday Re-focus: I Hate the Jets

JohnHannahRules — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:30:54 -0000

These two original AFL franchises will meet for the 101st time this week, with the Jest holding a 50-49 advantage; there has been one tie. The Patriots have played the Jets more than any other team in their thirty-nine year history. Over that time, emotions around the game have rolled up and down from indifference when either team was irrelevant, to something like sympathy as the formerly moribund Patriots found their way to the 2001 Super Bowl and offered hope that the AFC East might find its way back to the elite. For myself, however, any hint of fellow-feeling was erased by a 2007 trip to the Meadowlands for opening day. So let me set this on the table:

I hate the Jets. I hate the team. I disdain their fanbase. I will make no bones about it. This is nothing like the "hate" I have for the Colts. The Colts you can respect. The Steelers, you can respect. The Jets are beneath contempt. They are the worst of New York, the dregs of the tri-state area and a blight on the face of the AFC. In Rex Ryan they have found their apotheosis: a loud-mouthed ass who yaks when he wins, whines when he loses, and generally shows his ample hind-parts every time he goes out in public. Their fans have no relationship with reality, no sense of propriety and zero class. If this starts a full-fledged flame way, fine. I don't care. Don't blame MaPatsFan, who knows better than me.

I can compartmentalize, though. I have much respect for Kris Jenkins (injured). Leon Washington is a threat (injured). They have a very serious offensive line, led by Alan Faneca, Jason Ferguson and Nick Mangold (who deserves more credit as a top-shelf center). But the stink that surrounds this franchise is not the fault of the fens which surround it, but rather the barely animate homunculi which drag themselves from the mire to gibber in brainless orgy at the direction of a scabby inebriate whose single lesson in spelling fails to take hold in the webby, vacant brain-pans of those idiots bound by habit alone to drool on this "franchise" in their borrowed stadium.

So no. I don't like the Jets very much.

The New England Kinevals? American Patriators?

JohnHannahRules — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:11:58 -0000

File this under "thank god they kept it in-house."

Noted graphic artist Ken Carbone took a shot at redesigning three of what he felt were the worst graphic designs on NFL helmets. Number three? The "Flying Elvis" of your New England Patriots. Now, I've never been a fan of the new design. I'm very partial to old Pat Patriot, ready to snap the ball and rip off your face. But Elvis is so significantly better than what this professional dreamed up that it makes me glad to have him. Peter Fonda would be quite at home in this, but man! What a horrible football helmet. Just horrible.

Follow the link to Fast Company and read the universal panning this design gets in the comments. (Including some valid insight into what being a patriot means up New England way.) I can't say that any idea I'd come up with would be an improvement over what we already have, but I goddamnguarantee you that it'd be a huge improvement over this...this...monstrosity.

via Fast Company, KSK

Time capsule: Plunkett to Vataha keys victory over Colts, December 19, 1971

JohnHannahRules — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 01:15:27 -0000

A clear and cold late December afternoon in Baltimore's Memorial Stadium. The sun struggled all day to bring the temperature above the freezing mark, and by game time the barometer rests around forty -- a fine football day. The bundled crowds assemble in the face of a light southerly breeze as Johnny Unitas, black high-topped cleats and buzz cut in place, warms up along the sidelines. Baltimore is in a fight for playoff positioning, trailing Miami by half a game in the standings in the regular season's final week.

The 38-year-old Unitas was nearing the end of an unrivalled career. He had been dueling for starts with Earl Morrall all season, but there was plenty of gas still in the tank.

The previous year marked the merger of the upstart AFL with big-brother NFL. The storied Baltimore franchise had been called to play the low-rent league frequently as a member of the new AFC East. In 1970, they defeated Boston in the first-ever meeting, 27-3, with Unitas throwing 3 touchdowns. In 1971 the Patriots became "New England," but the early results were much the same. Baltimore had walked all over the Patriots in brand new Schaffer Stadium back in October, 23-3. The lone Patriot score was a Charlie Gogolak field goal, courtesy of a 19 yard interception return by Patriots defensive back John Outlaw who picked Earl Morrell in the second quarter.

Here now in December, the 10 - 3 Colts had the Dolphins in their sights and 5 - 8 New England firmly in the rearview. Across the field from Morrall and Unitas, two kids in their early 20's were stretching for the kickoff: a speedy receiver from Stanford named Randy Vataha and his old college quarterback, rookie Jim Plunkett.

The game was an ambush. Playing with nothing on the line, the Patriots sprinted to the lead on the feet of their young guns. Plunkett connected with Vataha from 2 yards out to open the scoring. The Colts answered with a field goal and were driving again, moving across midfield when 3rd year pro Outlaw stepped in front of an errant Unitas offering and raced sixty yards up the field for a touchdown, the longest return of the season.

Coming out after the half, Unitas took his men in on a 31 yard strike to favorite target Eddie Hinton and it looked like the football universe would right itself. But the Patriots bounced right back. Two weeks previous, New England had helped the Colts with an upset victory over Miami, keyed by two Plunkett scoring throws and an interception return for six. The pattern would repeat this week. Plunkett found Vataha for an 88 yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to put the game away. Hinton and Johnny U would add one more to make it look better in the books, but the story had already been written. It was New England's first regular season win over an Original Franchise since the merger a year before.

Unitas and Morrell led the Colts through the playoffs with a win over Cleveland before meeting and losing to Miami, whose seeding advantage had Baltimore on the road for that game. Miami had corrected a tie from the first week with a final week win over the Packers. They ultimately lost to the Cowboys in the Super Bowl. Among his many honors, Unitas' 17 years with the Colts is still a team record.

Plunkett earned Rookie of the Year honors, though the team finished 8-6. He helped the Pats to three upset victories that year, leading with an opening day two-TD display against the Raiders to christen Schaffer Stadium. Plunkett would ultimately find himself in Oakland, also finding there the success that eluded both he and the team in New England.

John Outlaw was purged when Coach Fairbanks took over the New England squad, but found a home with the Eagles where he played for five more years.

Randy Vataha played six years with the Pats, ending his career with a one-year stint in Green Bay. After retiring, Vataha helped to found the USFL with an ownership stake in the Boston Breakers.

It would take the Patriots until 1980 to claw their series record with the Colts to .500 parity. In the decades since, New England has widened the split and the series now favors the Pats at 44-28, 2-1 in postseason play. The Colts have won four of the last five, however, including a playoff victory in 2006.

Much has changed in the league and with these franchises since that night in 1971, as the inimitable Johnny U was on his way out and Jim Plunkett on his way in. Goalposts were moved back and out of the way, and the Colts suffered an ignominious removal to Indianapolis, among other things. But just as the 1971 matches revolved around the quarterbacks, it was the rise of the quarterback position that turned these teams from sometime foes to full time rivals.

Peyton Manning was drafted in 1998 out of the University of Tennessee and immediately went to work on the history book, breaking rookie records left and right and throwing the ball all over the league. By the time New England drafted the unlikely Tom Brady in 2000, Manning had thrown for 52 touchdowns and almost 8,000 yards.

In 2001, New England's starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe was leveled against the Jets. Brady stepped in and started the rest of the year, leading the team to a Super Bowl victory. He also began to chip away at Manning's head start, with a 44-3 victory in the their first encounter.

The rest, you know.

Dan Shaughnessy, Randy Moss and the Dangers of Tenure

JohnHannahRules — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:20:16 -0000

I normally wouldn't bother to lay out a piece that takes rebuking a pundit as its jumping-off point. But what's the point of blogging if not to vent your spleen from time to time?

There's no game so perfect that Dan Shaughnessy won't take a leak on it in an effort to make himself seem relevant. Sunday's win was no gem, but rather than simply celebrating the beauty of Brady-to-Moss, Shaughnessy can't help but throw a few barbs at Randy, apparently because he doesn't like talking to the press.

He comes off as rude, ridiculous, self-important, and difficult.

Why not take a look in the mirror, Dan? 'Cause that sounds like a sportswriter I know.

Woe is the reporter who accuses Moss of going through the motions. Belichick and his minions are ever-ready to defend Randy with froth and fury.

Huh. I wonder why? Obviously, whatever Randy isn't to the media, he absolutely is to his teammates. There are no clubhouse cancers in New England and there haven't been for just under a decade -- even when they aren't going to the playoffs, the team presents a united front and guys who don't toe the line are run out of town. Asante could ball, but that didn't save him. Hobbs was serviceable, but he got run when he got too big for the team. I think it's safe to say that whatever else Randy Moss is, in that character is a likeable guy.

Just shooting spitballs here, but could the fact that Randy's entire life course was in some ways set by what other people said and wrote about him have something to do with the fact that he doesn't like or trust the media? Moss kicked a kid while he was down in high school. Read the media from the time, and it's clear that two black hoods jumped an innocent white kid. Spooked, holier-than-thou Lou Holtz pulled the ticket to Notre Dame (note: but not like a man. Apparently, Randy didn't fill out his form correctly).

Randy Moss has learned this much: The past does not stop. Year after year, it comes back to haunt, demand explanations, complicate things. It can shackle a man as much as it can a place, never allowing either to completely move on.

Cut Off from the Herd, S.I., August 25, 1997

I'm not typically one to defend the high and mighty athlete -- I figure, we pay and part of what we pay for is some of his time. But in fact that's not the case, really. We pay to see what he does on the field. Now the NFL mandates that players give the press some face time and some quotes. Time was, a guy like Randy simply wouldn't ever speak to the press and that would be that.

"We're never going to know Randy Moss," Shaughnessy sighs, whether with bitterness or longing one can never quite tell. Sadder still, Dan's just flat wrong. It's like watching a pathetic kid lob up a freethrow in the driveway, miss, and say, "I'll just never be good at basketball." Sigh, droopyeyes. Well, no, you won't -- not if that's your attitude.

"He not only knows what he’s doing, he knows what everybody else is doing," Belichick said. "He knows what the defense is doing and he usually knows what the quarterback is doing with the ball, based on all that information he compiles in a very short amount of time – a couple to pre-read and then maybe a half a second or second into the play." Moss: Mentally and Physically Superior

And he knows what you're doing, Dan. Sad thing is, it'd be easy enough to see what he's doing, too, if you took your job seriously. I guess this is what they mean when they differentiate between "reporters" and "columnists." Sadder still, it's the online "unprofessional" community that has done the majority of honest reporting on Moss the man. The print and corporate media seem more interested in reruns of Moss the boy.

Every article ever published about Moss's charity work -- whether it's "Links for Learning" or his charity bass tournament or his visits to kids in the hospital includes some version of the phrase "Moss doesn't like to publicize his charity work." But if you go look for it, it isn't hard to find. Just poke around Rand, West Viriginia and start asking questions.

Here's the thing: If Randy ever becomes a problem, he'll be ditched in a heartbeat. When his game slips, he'll be gone. Wants too much money? Out.

And in this corner, the Boston Globe and "columnist" Dan Shaughnessy, whose whiny, limp prose has been suffused with the tone of the put-upon, the schlemiel, the loser, the victim ever since he stumbled on the "curse of the Bambino" as a way to support a career -- not a career in sportswriting, but a career in professional collective self-pity that uses Boston sports as its McGuffin.

But until he does something actually illegal, the chances of him ever making way at the Globe for someone of Breer or Reiss' caliber is slim-to-none.

Colts Hobbled? Old Foe Indianapolis has a full infirmary

JohnHannahRules — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 02:00:21 -0000

More photos » by Darron Cummings - AP

This way to the hospital! Indianapolis Colts safety Bob Sanders is among the several Colts suffering with injury as Indy heads into the meat of its schedule. (AP Photo/Darron Cummings, File)

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Back in early October, New England squeaked out a home win over the Ravens when a Joe Flacco pass bounced harmlessly to the turf off the chest of his receiver. Looks like the Colts had their Baltimore.

This past Sunday in Indianapolis, Texans' kicker Kris Brown missed a field goal as time wound down. The miss preserved a Colts' home victory in which Peyton Manning had to engineer yet another late-game scoring drive to overcome a furious Houston rally. After taking a 13-0 lead early in the second quarter, Indy surredered 17 unanswered points and the lead. Manning engineered an 8-play 60-yard drive midway through the fourth to go ahead and they survived with Brown's miss to keep their record pure.

Just as New England has hit the serious part of the year, so has Indy -- or what passes for it. Their early season schedule ranks as the easiest in the AFC and the Colts have treated it accordingly in racking up the wins. Nevertheless, losses have been suffered. Indianapolis will play host to New England with many of its most important players holding down the fort in the infirmary.

Veteran cornerback Kelvin Hayden is expected to miss the next 2 - 3 weeks with a sprained knee.

Cornerback Marlin Jackson is now on injured reserve after re-injuring his ACL last week in practice.

Defensive mainspring Bob Sanders has been placed on injured reserve with a torn biceps from the 49ers game.

Receiver Anthony Gonzales had arthroscopic surgery on his right knee. A return date has not been specified, but it won't be next week.

These are the recent additions. Other denizens of the IR list include DB Nick Graham; OLB Tyjuan Hagler; DB Travis Key; backup TE Jamie Petrowski. Indy has been trotting out Matt Stover to kick as Vinatieri has undergone knee surgery and his return date is unknown.

WR Austin Collie left Sunday's game against the Texans with an injury.

No one playing in week 10 is at 100%, but it's worth noting that linebacker Gary Brackett and pass-rushing great Dwight Freeney have both struggled with actual hurts this year and are perhaps less fit than most other week-10 NFLers.

Of course, the obvious big hit is Sanders. Bob is an interesting conversation piece for connoisseurs of safety-play. You hear "for a player his size" a lot in those conversations, but it is undeniable that the Colts are a defense of a different character when he is on the field. Like Harrison used to do for the Patriots and like Belichick evidently hopes Seau will do now, Sanders has an electrifying effect on the Colts. Without him they are notably less dynamic.

None of this should in any way be thought to imply that the game will be easier. Peyton has his starting line intact and is making much hay with his recieving corps -- notably old friend Reggie Wayne and new toys Collie and Pierre Garcon. Oh yeah -- Dallas Clark still plays for Indianapolis, meaning Brandon McGowan has another peach of an assignment this week.

It is nice not to be the team with everyone hurt, however. A win at the Oilcan is always a slippery proposition.

Hidden Inches

JohnHannahRules — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 23:34:23 -0000

More photos » by Stephan Savoia - AP

New England Patriots kicker Stephen Gostkowski had four field goals in the win over Miami on Sunday. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

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"The inches we need are everywhere around us.
They are in ever break of the game
every minute, every second."

-- Coach Tony D'Amato, "Any Given Sunday"

The inches we need are everywhere sound bite

Every week, there are plays that waste inches and plays that scoop them up. Over the course of the game, thousands of variables collide and the outcome of the game could turn on any one of them. A holding call, an offside penalty. A broken shoelace, an angle of pursuit just a little too acute. A pass an inch too slow.

Watching the game, we see these moments go by. Sometimes you know they're big; often they fade into the background of a great win or a heartbreaking defeat.

Without question, the most prodigal of inches are penalties -- particularly mental errors that threaten to swing momentum. When your team commits a gaffe like that, the hero of the moment can be the teammate who grabs those yards back with a great individual effort. The hero of the moment may not make the cover story, but his colleagues will know the game turned on his timely work.

Despite some great individual performances by marquee players, this week's moment belongs to Stephen Gostkowski.

In the second quarter with the Patriots leading 10-3, the Dolphins uncorked their "pistol." On second and 8 from their own 22, rookie Pat White entered the game for the first time at quarterback. From a shortened shotgun set, White took the snap and raced in option formation around left end. Tully Banta-Cain, suddenly confronted with a defensive conundrum he hadn't faced since his college days, shot up field. White cut under and rambled for 33 yards.

Immediately, Patriot heads began to spin. Miami Offensive Coordinator Dan Henning, like a cagey old boxer, mixed combinations to thoroughly bamboozle New England's defense. Four plays later, White optioned right with a pitch to Ricky Williams who hit the gain line with a full head of steam and barreled into the endzone. The drive covered 80 yards in just under three minutes, and everyone with a rooting interest in the Patriots -- including the players themselves -- was experiencing a very acute and unpleasant attack of deja vu.

As Belichik huddled his defenders and began some intense sideline chalk-talk, Brady and the offense took the field with what suddenly looked like a very ordinary attack: shotgun passing and runs up the gut. In eight plays, marred by an offense pass interference call, the Pats ground down to the Dolphins 20. Gostkowski calmly drilled a field goal and the moment had arrived.

Last week in New Jersey, Ohio State product Ted Ginn, Jr. returned two kickoffs for touchdowns on runs totaling over 200 yards. Each return was a showcase of raw speed and athletic ability. The scores were the difference in the game -- which Miami won although the Jets statistically dominated. Already on Sunday he had a 37 yard return to his credit (stopped short by Gostkowski in a tackle that could itself have been the subject of this piece).

Now, with New England's defense still reeling on the sidelines and the momentum of the game very much in the balance, New England again needed to put the ball in Ginn's hands and risk the outcome. It was a brittle moment.

As the rest of the world watched, Gostkowski booted the kickoff out of the endzone for a touchback. Fan and player alike sighed with relief and began to shift attention to defense. But there was a flag on the play.

In a miscue in a line of miscues including Watson's drive-killing interference penalty, Bodden's drive-enabling defensive interference penalty and the general fugue that seemed to grip the defense, James Sanders had left too soon in pursuit. This infraction on the kickoff required a re-kick from New England's 25 yard line. Ginn and his blockers would have 75 yards to operate in, against a New England kickoff team that had been an adventure against even average return-men.

The coverage unit lined up again. Folks in the stadium tried to counter the sinking feeling in their bellies by leaning forward in their seats. Seventy yards away, Ginn wiped his hands and licked his chops: the holes were going to be there -- they had been before and they would be now. Everyone knew it. And they were probably right.

But Ginn never got his chance. Gostkowski struck through the ball and bloodlessly boomed a monster kick over ninety yards in the air and out of the back of the opposite end zone for a touchback. At a moment in the game when momentum was waiting to be grabbed, Gostkowski muckled on to it with one kick and handed it to his team.

Randy Moss would go on to have a monster day, with 6 receptions for 147 yards and a touchdown, climbing a couple of different all-time ladders in the process. But he was the first man on the sidelines to greet Gostkowski as the kicker jogged off the field. Everyone in silver and blue knew who the man of the moment was.

The defense responded by forcing a punt and the Patriots stole back the possession they had given away on an interception at the start of the game. With one second left in the half, Gostkowski came on again for a field goal and made sure that Momentum spent halftime in the home locker room.

When the story of the game gets told over the next few days, you likely won't see this play in many highlight shows. But it was the corner around which this Patriots' victory turned.

Week 9: Patriots 27 Dolphins 17, Postgame/Late Games Thread

JohnHannahRules — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:16:10 -0000

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

about 1 month ago: New England Patriots running back Laurence Maroney (39) runs into the end zone for a touchdown during the first quarter of their NFL football game against the Miami Dolphins in Foxborough, Mass., Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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Big-time divisional tilt, and the Pats performed when they had to.

Miami rolled out a couple of wrinkles to the catPhish this week, and it had an effect. A second quarter, 5 play, 80 yard touchdown drive had New England running around like a bunch of peewees, and a Joey Haynos reception from Ronnie Brown after what had been a tough goalline stand landed another 7 in the 'Phins ledger.

Pat White momentarily confused the lads, lining up at QB but running the old option (and taking a shot or two for his trouble). New England was having enough trouble setting the edge that they ultimately moved Big Vince out over stud LT Jake Long. It worked, sort of, but it didn't help the pass-rush much.

Speaking of the pass rush, it was still anemic. We can't seem to get pressure unless we bring a big-blitz. Pat Chung had one sack and one sick hit that doubtless helped Henne forget a little more of his childhood.

The Patriots, for their part, unveiled a recommitted Laurence Maroney who ran with a will and a punishing style that we've been longing to see. The line was opening holes and LOMO was finding them. Twice in the fourth quarter we started inside our 15. On the first series, Maroney and BJGE hammered us out to the 48 before we lost momentum.

That brutalizing was the key to escaping the box on the second deep-startng drive, as the 1st play was a play-action pass to Randy Moss for 17 yards that moved him into 17th all-time in career receiving yards.

Speaking of Mr. Moss, he had a couple of beautiful plays today against surprisingly game rookie corners. One was a peach of a one-hander down near the goalline -- a 37 yard reception that had us seeing 2007. The second was a no-soup-for-you special on a crossing route where he stiff-armed the defender and ran away for a 71 yard score. That TD moved Moss into 6th all-time. So a good day for Randy.

Henne made a real game of it, as his receivers dropped two catchable balls on Miami's 2nd-to-last possession (stupid penalties reared their ugly head throughout -- a glaring jump on the o-line at the end ruined what should have been a satisfying clock-killer of a drive).

All in all, an uneven day from the boys in blue. Great to see us running hard (24 for 109). The run defense was adequate considering the foe, but the defensive backfield got fooled a few times. I'm guessing Joey Porter will be blaming the officials, but I don't think he had a single tackle on the day. What's wrong J-Peezy? Nothing to say?

Key Late Games: Nuthin', really, until Pittsburgh and Denver kick off tomorrow at 8:30 (MNF).

Here's a thread for communal jibber-jabber:

GAME THREAD: New England Patriots v. Miami Dolphins, Foxboro, MA, Sunday November 8, 2009, 1:00pm

JohnHannahRules — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 17:47:14 -0000

It's a balmy 66 degrees and sunny at Gillette Stadium today, as your 5-2 New England Patriots prepare to host the 3-4 Miami Dolphins, a fierce intra-division rival who is playing better than its record. Beer is cold, crowd is hot.

Let's have at it: Go Pats!