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Ups and downs

Posted by Mike Reiss, Globe Staff December 14, 2008 10:00 PM

A look at who’s up and who’s down from the Patriots' 49-26 win over the Raiders:

Up

  • Matt Cassel -- Quarterback gets a well deserved game ball after his gutsy performance. He finishes 18 of 30 for 218 yards, four touchdowns and one interception, but the story was much bigger than that.

  • Running game -- Sammy Morris (117 yards, 14 carries, TD), LaMont Jordan (97 yards, 12 carries, TD) and Kevin Faulk (45 yards, 6 carries) lead a dominating charge.

  • Ellis Hobbs and kickoff return team -- A 95-yard kickoff return for a score is the team's first runback for six points this season.

  • Kelley Washington -- Receiver sets the tone on the first play of the game, stopping return man Justin Miller on the Raiders' 7-yard line, giving the Patriots good field position to work with.

  • Wes Welker/Randy Moss -- Receiver tandem teams up for 12 receptions for 135 yards and three touchdowns.

    Down

  • Benjamin Watson-- Tight end can't hold on to the ball in the second quarter, as it bounces off his chest and leads to an interception.

  • Field-goal unit/coaching-- After a 10-second runoff due to Jabar Gaffney's illegal shift penalty resulted in just one second being on the clock, the Patriots did not respond accordingly and couldn't get the snap off to try for a last second field goal before the half.

  • Kickoff coverage team -- Unit comprised of Heath Evans, Larry Izzo, Ray Ventrone, Kelley Washington, Mike Richardson, Lewis Sanders, Matthew Slater, Sam Aiken, Antwain Spann, Brandon Meriweather and Stephen Gostkowski surrenders a Justin Miller 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.

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    9 comments so far...

    1. Mike.....where ya been...usually look forward to the post game comments etc. etc. after the game..

      Posted by Stevie D December 14, 08 10:05 PM

    1. UP - coors light commercial starring ditka and billick

      Posted by m diddy December 14, 08 10:09 PM

    1. I was pulling for the Steelers today. I could be wrong, but with the Ravens going down I think the Pats will make the playoffs if they win their last two games and the Cowboys beat Baltimore in Dallas next Saturday or Jacksonville beats Baltimore Dec 17. If the Ravens win out, then it's tougher, and whichever team wins the Jets/Miami game at the end of the season would have to lose next week, when KC plays Miami and Seattle plays the Jets. Not likely.

      Therefore... Go Cowboys!

      Posted by SoCal Pats Fan December 14, 08 10:37 PM

    1. This team is playing as well as, if not better than most teams in the NFL. Saddest part, however, is that they may end the season at 11-5 and still not make the playoffs. When does an 11-5 team not make the playoffs? Very sad possibility.

      Damned Bills today, leading the Jets by 3 with just over 2 minutes to play and they had posession of the ball, 2nd and 5. What brain dead coach calls a passing play on a deep drop in that situaltion? Of course, Jets sack, force the fumble and take it in for the winning TD. Unbelievable. A Jets loss there could have been what put the Pats on toip of the division as season's enc.

      Posted by Mike Allen December 14, 08 11:57 PM

    1. Yea well I hope this season doesn't have us all lamenting two atrocious plays that cost the Pats the playoffs:

      1) Thomas' stupid, idiotic completely unjustified and unneccessary late hit, singlehandedly costing the Colts game

      2) The atrocious holding call on Vrabel (I've watched it 20 times and do not see anything close to holding) the refs cost us this game against the Jets. Was this call ever reviewed by the NFL?


      play ever

      Posted by J.P. December 15, 08 12:05 AM

    1. Yup SoCal, that's right. We either need the Jets to lose in Seattle and then beat the Fish in NJ, or we need Miami to lose against KC and beat the Jets on the final day. A Baltimore defeat would help, but I wouldn't count on it, Dallas and Jacksonville are both done. More importantly, we need to win out!

      Mike - I'd have had the secondary as an UP. I know this wasn't the most challenging offence for them to face, but Wilhite made some excellent tackles and had extremely good coverage on one play, as well as grabbing that pick. And James Sanders came up big, Merriweather had a decent tackle. The only member of the secondary who underperformed (in my view) was Hobbs, who got beaten on the Curry TD grab.

      Posted by Ben December 15, 08 04:21 AM

    1. They won a game they should have won, putting up almost 50 points. This is what they were supposed to do. I have no faith, at all, in this current Patriots team, in a playoff game against a quality opponent. No defense, no chance, and I think Arizona will expose them bad next week.

      Posted by Classless December 15, 08 01:26 PM

    1. Glad to see someone else noticed Sander's making plays. BUT it wasn't James it was Lewis. James was OUT yesterday. Lewis played his position.

      Posted by Rog December 15, 08 06:13 PM

    1. Where have all the complainers gone?

      Posted by Justin-R December 16, 08 10:14 AM
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    Mike Reiss, Christopher L. Gasper and the rest of the Globe team provide regular updates –and a behind-the-scenes look– on the daily happenings of the Patriots.
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