Patriots Acquire Wes Welker

Well at least I'm honest.

I hate this move. According to many reports, one of which from ESPN, the Patriots got Welker and have to give a 7th and 2nd round pick for him.

I can't say I get this one. Granted, he absolutely KILLS the Patriots, but many guys do that you wouldn't expect to. Jerricho Cotchery does too. But I don't think he's worth a 2nd round pick.

Here are some of Welker's numbers:

2005
435 yards on 29 catches in 16 games

2006
687 yards on 67 catches in 16 games

Obviously he's a big kick and punt returner, and the Patriots have been less than explosive on the punt side of things, but Ellis Hobbs is a great kick returner. That's not a need for the Patriots right now.

Matt Light, Eugene Wilson, Deion Branch, all second round picks. I may say the Patriots are at their best when they're working in the second round.

Where does this leave them? The WR position is of no real need at this point. I think that much is clear. I see them trading down in the first round to add a 2nd round pick and to potentially get another pick back from their dealings thus-far.

Regardless, I'm on record as not liking this Welker deal.

Ron Borges is a Hypocrite (Again)

For those readers who are not familiar with the Boston Globe writer Ron Borges, he has a personal vendetta and dislike for all things New England Patriots. The reason's why aren't completely clear, but it has to do with Bill Belichick's dealings with Borges personally, with close friend of Ron Borges' Drew Bledsoe, and just a general dislike between the two.

Borges consistently rips on Belichick, enjoys when the Patriots fail to win a Super Bowl, and many think he gets legitimately angry when something that Belichick and the Patriots do something that works out well.

You may remember during the week leading up to the AFC title game that Borges wrote one thing in the Boston newspaper and another on MSNBC.com. Well, here's round 2 of the Borges hypocrisy game.


From today's Boston Globe:

Long before the free agency period began, strong side linebacker Adalius Thomas
was designated the year's premier catch by many pundits and personnel men.
Perhaps he will prove to be just that, but if history is any predictor, he
should be approached with caution.

Oh those national pundits! Always quick to point to the hot free agent or available player that will be sure to disappoint.

Wait, isn't Ron Borges himself one of those said national pundits? I mean, he does write for MSNBC. Didn't he write this article? And I quote:

There will also be good value available this year, even at what will be the top
of the pay scale. Which players seem most likely to deliver value for their
services? Barring injury, here's one list of likely candidates.
Best
values1. Adalius Thomas, LB: He wants a $18 million signing bonus and will
probably get it, likely from the 49ers. Wherever he goes, the 270-pound Thomas
appears headed toward making an impact.

Apparently until the New England Patriots make that move. Then its a bad one.



At least Borges is consistent. At what point does he become nothing more than a sports writing side-show....a good comedic shtick every now and then?


Read some more anti-Borges chatter on Boston Sports Media Watch.

Adalius Thomas to Patriots?

Adam Schefter was on the Dennis and Callahan morning show this morning in Boston and he mentioned that the Patriots have the inside track to sign Adalius Thomas, and the signing could come in the next 48 hours.

While I love this move for obvious reasons, I can't help but mention that the Patriots really need the help at Inside LB not so much on the outside.

I hope this doesn't cement Mike Vrabel playing inside.

An Open Letter to Tom Brady

Dear Tom,

I'm not writing to you today simply as a fan, but also as a friend. You see, I feel as though you are a close friend of mine. No, we've never met and we never will, but your accomplishments have won me so much money and have given me so much happiness that I can't help but see you as a friend.

So please, don't take this as criticism, but take this as some friendly advice.

Get back with Moynahan. Full-time. You have to. You see, she won. She got'ya good and there's no other way around it. Think of it as taking a sack rather than throwing an interception.

By my calculations this kid will be born sometime before training camp. And I know I'm not the only Patriots fan thinking this, but we need you at the peak of your game next year. So make it easy on everybody and just suck it up and get back with the woman.

Its for the better. For everybody. For you, for the baby, but more importantly for Patriots Nation. We need you at your peak next year and we can't afford any less.
The last thing we need is you having to fly somewhere for the birth, fly back to training camp, fly somewhere else during the bye week, fly here, fly there, etc.

I think your sister would make a wonderful personal assistant turned nanny, and Moynahan really isn't anything to get sick over - she still looks damn good. So suck it up, take the sack, and regroup on 3rd down. You see, its all very simple if you boil it down to football terms.

Your friend,

Andrew
thatguysportsblog.blogspot.com

Ted Johnson Story

Today's Boston Globe has a tough story to read for this Patriots and fooball fan. It is being reported that due to some possible mishandling of his treatment with concussions, Ted Johnson is suffering from various post-concussion syndrome symptoms, and there is a direct correlation between being forced to come back too soon and when these symptoms began.

I don't know how to react to this one...its a tough story to say the least.

Bear in mind, I'd absolutley trade depression, drug addiction, memory loss, etc for the chance to play in the NFL. I mean half of my buddies from a D3 football program could've been considered addicted to aderol in college....not to mention the other reasons half of us don't remember shit. I mean my back hurts nonstop but that may be more due to my fat nature than any football injury.


I just hope this doesn't turn into a witch hunt. Bill Belichick reportedly admitted to Johnson that a mistake was made, and Johnson seemed ok with the results of their conversations. This better not turn into something more than it is today...an unfortunate story, but one that isn't rare and shouldn't be foreign to those that get paid millions of dollars to play a sport.

The NFL Has to Review Penalties

How does this happen? From profootballtalk.com ( http://www.profootballtalk.com/rumormill.htm )

In response to an item in our Conference
Championship Ten-Pack regarding a key pass interference call on Patriots
cornerback Ellis Hobbs that allowed the Colts to complete an 18-point comeback
and knot the game at 21, a member of PFT Planet has alerted us to a January 25,
2007 "Q&A" on Jaguars.com in which Vic Ketchman writes that the NFL has acknowledged
that a bad call was made.
Writes Ketchman, in response to a question that
chastised him for suggesting that face-guarding is still
forbidden:
"Face-guarding was discontinued several years ago and I
completely missed it. I talked to Dean Blandino in the league office and
he confirmed what you're saying. Blandino, by the way, was in the replay
booth at the Patriots-Colts game. Ellis Hobbs should not have been flagged
for pass-interference. He didn't make contact with the receiver and in no
way did Hobbs impede Reggie Wayne's ability to catch the pass. Blandino
confirmed that the incorrect call was made. It advanced the ball from the
Patriots' 19-yard line to the one-yard line and was the big play in a touchdown
drive that led to a two-point conversion and a tie game at 21-21. Referee
Bill Carollo made no reference to face-guarding in his explanation, but CBS
analyst Phil Simms did. Apparently, he, too, doesn't know the rule no
longer exists. The next time you hear a TV analyst say, 'he wasn’t playing the
ball,' think of the Hobbs play, then turn down the sound."

How does this happen? I don't think judgement calls should be reviewed in a "was that holding" sort of manner, but if they called "face guarding" and it wasn't face guarding, that SHOULD be reviewable. If there's not even a distinction about face guarding in the rule book, HOW CAN YOU CALL FACE GUARDING.

It blows my mind that this is under the radar in the NFL right now. If this happened to the Colts, Bill Polian would be on the front page of ESPN.com, cbs.sportsline, cnnsi, thatguysports, all of the major sports websites in the country. But because it happened to the Patriots, nobody is going to freak out and nobody is going to say anything.

Face guarding isn't even a rule anymore. Yet it was called in the AFC title game. Unreal.

The Patriots Without Belichick?

I couldn't even begin to tell you how miserable I would be if this is even remotely true.

From ProFootballTalk.com via barstoolsports.com:

A league source tells us that there are emerging rumors in NFL circles
linking Patriots coach Bill Belichick to the New York Giants. The
move, per the rumors, would entail a package deal of Belichick and Pats V.P. of player
personnel Scott Pioli.

We don't buy it. Though Pioli clearly is in
play for the Giants G.M. job (although there could be an effort by New England
ownership to block a move), Belichick won't be coaching the Giants
without the blessing of Robert and Jonathan Kraft. And there's no way in
hell that the Krafts will allow both Pioli and Belichick to escape
from the organization.

Despite some speculation in media circles that Belichick's contract might expire after
2006 (including an oddball shot-in-the-dark by Ron Borges that Belichick could end up with the Texans in
2007), Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe recently
reported that 2006 is
not the final season of Belichicks contract.

I don't even know if I can talk about this coherently. This would be a nightmare. How is this even possible? Would the Bulls have traded Michael Jordan? Would the Twins trade Johan Santana? This astounds me.

Just tell a 5 year old there's no such thing as Santa Claus and look at his reaction. That would be my face with this news.

Lets just move on. Nothing to see here.

Jack Del Rio, and the Jacksonville Jaguars, SHUT UP

Nothing is more annoying than a second rate team, in a second rate city, complaining about a football game and officiating. Check out the Jacksonville press clippings from yesterday.

"When I saw the replay, I had hope because his arm was moving forward,'' Jaguars
coach Jack Del Rio said. "The arm is moving forward, and the ball (was) knocked
out, and that by definition is an incomplete pass. It wasn't ruled that way.
"I don't know that I can do any better job of explaining it. I know what I
saw on replay, and I had hope. It just wasn't ruled that way, so what you have
to do is deal with it and move on.''

Ok, that's something I can sort of agree with. It was a borderline call that I did think would get reversed - but you don't actually think, Jack Del Rio, that you were going to eventually score on that drive, do you? Please. You were toyed with yesterday. You scored on a fluke long run from the second coming of Christ (go ahead and ask Dan Dierdorf, he anointed him as the second coming yesterday during his Maurice Jones-Drew person of the year campaign that got in the way of his announcing the game yesterday) because the Patriots thought he was down, as did half the officials.

You scored a meaningless touchdown against a prevent defense that allowed you to score. Stop bitching about that one play - you weren't going to score to win the game.

And this is even more pitiful:

Del Rio also was unhappy about a challenge he lost in the third quarter, when
the officials ruled that New England's David Thomas made a 22-yard touchdown
catch. Del Rio had time to consider his decision to challenge because safety
Deon Grant injured his hamstring on the play, giving Del Rio time to check the
replays.
"The ball hit the ground, and it moved,'' Del Rio said. "I saw it
on the screen and verified it because we had an injured player, so I had several
looks at it.
"Maybe I'm looking from an angle full of hope. I don't know.
It's clearly not an unbiased view, but we didn't get either of those calls, and
in a close game like that, that didn't help, that's for sure.''

Hey Jack, that ball stuck on his arm the entire time, and it didn't move. You're desperate. You're a joke. Go swing an ax in the locker room.

The Patriots may have just ended your season. Again.

Bill Belichick loves Charley Casserly

You can just feel the venom with this piece from Mike Reiss's blog today. If he hates Casserly this much, can you imagine what festering hatred there is for Polian at the Colts?

Priceless stuff.

On another front, Rodney Harrison was upgraded to Questionable this week. I don't think he plays Sunday, but the fact that he's improving is a fantastic turn of events for this team. My gut is that he'll destroy Vince Young in week 17 to tune up for the playoffs.

Who goes on the bench, Hawkins or Sanders? Part of me prefers two safeties who can kind of hit - so I'd prefer Hawkins on the bench, but I think Sanders would get burned about 10 times in that first playoff game, so who knows.

Remember the safety Eugene Wilson the Patriots used to have?