Extra points

Law and the Patriots flirt every year it seems like. If he were going to come back it would have happened when it should have - three years ago - in time to save us from losing the 2006 AFC Championship Game. If either him or Vinitieri had come back that year, we'd be talking about 4 super bowl wins in 6 years. Oh well. There's bad blood. Belichick doesn't forget someone who calls him a liar I don't think. And Law doesn't forget the Lawyer Milloy situation.

As for the Navy connection, the real story is the connection between the 'Patriots Way' and what Belichick learned as a kid at the Naval Academy. The connection between the Patriots Way and the way of the U.S. Military.

Vinitieri wouldn't have helped us win the 2006 AFC championship, what we needed was a WR who could catch.

Still remember blind caldwell dropped the ball on td pass moron

Our kicker was perfect in the 2006 play-offs, how would Adam V. have helped? I didn't know he was a receiver...idiot.

He would have helped by not being on the Colts. Remember his kick before halftime, that started the momentum reversal. Vanderjagt would have missed it.

He would have helped by not being on the Colts. Remember his kick before halftime, that started the momentum reversal. Vanderjagt would have missed it. Our offense scored 31 points that game if memory serves. That's pretty good production by Jabbar Gaffney, Caldwell et al. Good enough to win if Law were on the field, or Vinitieri was wearing 'away' colors.

Why do we want Law in 2009 when we have Butler, Bodden, Springs, Wheatley, Wilhite and others?

I'm still a little worried about ILB and OLB -- but I'll be happy to learn some new names at CB this year -- and forget about how the Jets were able to convert on 3rd and 12 in OT in 2008.

All we needed for the 2006 AFCCG was a receiver who could catch. Everything else was in place. The defense pretty much played as well as they could, including Hobbs. Caldwell just killed the team with that drop. The loss of Ty Law and Adam Vinatieri had ZERO to do with that loss.

Hey John Clayton.... Belichick could have "parlayed" Cassel's franchise tag into the third overall pick, then traded it for even more future picks and set us up for the next couple of years on top of setting us up who-knows how well for this year. How many of those eleven veterans are going to pan-out? Do I have to give you a list of veteran free-agent flops that Belichick brought in??
I'm loving the Chung pick, but we could have gotten him, AND packaged the two first round picks and moved up to take Orakpo. I can't believe we blew the opportunity to get the next Dwight Freeney. We need some quick ferocity on the d-line. PLEASE Shawn Crable stay healthy this year! The three fat, slow starters we have now did more dancing with o-linemen than anything else. I couldn't believe how many times I saw those guys give the opposing QB six to ten seconds in the pocket because they just plain got stood up and stopped. How often do you see that happen to the Giants d-line? Thats right...NEVER. If we could get to the QB consistently in under five seconds like the Giants do we would be unstoppable. I cannot believe no attention was given to a fast, strong d-lineman in the draft or free agency. Fix that problem and we won't have to spend so much time trying to fix the corners. NOONE can cover consistently for six to ten seconds. This bend-don't-break crap is starting to bother me.

great link to the annapollis capital piece on the Navy players. it was a good read, seems that we picked up a few guys that could help us in two years after learning the system and fullfilling their duties. Good to see the Belichick connection with navy is still there.

Trading Cassell for a 2nd rounder was genius for The Pats. If we did not make that trade we would not have taylor,bodden,springs, etc. Look at the Panthers they want first rounders for Peppers and doing so they were not able to sign any free-agents. BB tried for 1st rounder but could not get it right away and free-agency started and he had Cassells franchise tag of 14mill and Vrabels4mill on the cap so he got a second #34 which was like a late first and got rid of all that cap room to sign whom he wanted too.

wow some of you patriots fans are unbelievable. you win three rings in a decade and still complain about the two that you came close to winning. Get real and appreciate what you have like every other fanbase would.

We need some quick ferocity on the d-line. PLEASE Shawn Crable stay healthy this year! The three fat, slow starters we have now did more dancing with o-linemen than anything else. I couldn't believe how many times I saw those guys give the opposing QB six to ten seconds in the pocket because they just plain got stood up and stopped. How often do you see that happen to the Giants d-line? Thats right...NEVER. ~Jaxpatriot
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Jaxpatriot, the Patriots, unlike the Giants, play a 3-4 where the linebackers are supposed to get after the QB, not the line. That "dancing" with offensive linemen? That's what they're SUPPOSED to do. They tie up blockers, which allows the linebackers room to operate. The D-Line is awesome and they do exactly what they're supposed to do. Read up on the game a little next time.

Ty Law coming to the Pats huh?

Why don't you just write a story about the possibility of another Brett Favre comeback, it's about as played out and interesting...

Interesting, though misleading, take on the Cassel trade by Clayton. The Pats never intended to pay Cassel the $14m+ franchise amount. The fact that they have used that money to sign Fred Taylor and a bunch of retreads, doesn't validate the trade. Wow, 12 guys for 2!!!! What nonsense. They would have had that money to spend no matter who they traded Cassel to. In the end, they traded an NFL starting quarterback and one of their best defenders for Patrick Chung. Both the national and local media rely on the "genius Belichick" storyline to an absurd extent.

Hey Rob, if you think the job of defensive ends is to just tie up blockers, YOU need to read up on the game. What good does it do if they get tied up and no linebackers make it through? Ask Dwight Freeney, John Abraham, Jared Allen, Warren Sapp, Shawn Merriman, etc if they are getting paid to dance with o-linemen. 3-4, 4-3, it doesn't change the fact that our front three are not getting to the QB enough with or without linebacker help. Who is getting the sacks for NY? THE D-LINEMEN! If they played the 3-4 it would still be the same. It's pretty simple, they have guys that get after it every down and we don't. Injuries or not, Seymour has sucked since he got the big payday, and how many sacks do we see out of
Warren? It seemed like the only time a d-lineman got to the QB was when one of those guys was on the bench and Jarvis Green was in. Our d-line is weak at pass rush and it makes our secondary look weak, that's the bottom line. The bend-don't-break philosophy only works when you have
a superior red-zone defense, which we didn't last year. The fact that our coaching staff didn't make the proper adjustments to compensate shows an alarming stubborness and arrogance.

Yeah Ryan We Patriots fans are unbelivable. Speaking for myself I have invested thousands of dollars as a season ticket holder and much time following them year round. The fact of the matter is that they squandered 2 sure Super Bowl wins and maybe a 3rd if Brady had not thrown that interception to Chump Bailey. It is very hard to put a team in to a position to get that far and any thing less than a Super Bowl win with this team is a disapointment. Sorry BB probably feels the same and I am sure all the work he puts in and not to get the ring in those 3 seasons makes him sicker than any one of us fans. He knows his place in NFL history if the team would have won those titles