Depth perception
When the calendar turns to September, it's tradition here at TATB that at least some of our harebrained sporting thoughts turn to football and the Patriots. I apologize in advance for the dumb things I'll write in the months to come (I'm still smarting from arrogantly predicting a Super Bowl blowout). So with that disclaimer out of the way, let's kick things off (groan) with a look at a few of the names caught up in Bill Belichick's odd game of roster roulette the past few days . . .
John Lynch: Like most of you, I imagine, I loved the idea of Lynch on the Pats, but the version in my mind's eye was much different than the one we saw on the field this preseason - namely, the helmet-cracking force I remembered was about five years younger and three steps faster. Though it sounds like there's a decent chance he'll rejoin the Patriots over the course of the long season - he's apparently on Belichick's taxi squad of future Hall of Famers, along with Junior Seau and, I believe, Paul Warfield and Lawrence Taylor - I wasn't surprised he was let go. Mike Shanahan in Denver didn't seem to think he could run anymore, and I wouldn't surprised if Belichick came to the same ruthless conclusion after watching Lynch struggle to keep up with young, fast, and mostly anonymous receivers in the preseason. Ultimately, there may be a role for him here, but sentiment aside, I'd prefer faster players to aging, famous ones.
Chad Jackson: I imagine his famous final scene unfolded this way:
Assistant coach/grim reaper: "Chad, coach wants to see you in his office. Bring your playbook."Jackson, dropping the PS3 controller in astonishment: "Dude, wait . . . we have plays. Like on Madden?"
It was obvious Jackson had a ton of physical ability. It was also obvious that Tom Brady had no faith in him to be at the right place at the right time on the football field, and when you're a wide receiver and the Franchise doesn't trust you, well . . . let's just say it isn't long before the Patriots send you to a nice home out in the country, where you spend your days obliviously running around in a field alongside Bethel Johnson, Doug Gabriel, Tony Simmons, and Donald Hayes. I'm sure he's happy there.
Matt Cassel: The only possible reason that this scattershot Scott Secules wannabe the is on this team is an alarming one: He was more prepared than Matt Gutierrez, in terms of knowledge of the playbook, maturity, and so on, to step in and play if Tom Brady's mysterious foot injury is worse than the Patriots are letting on, or hinders him in any way early in the season. While I think Brady will play Sunday, I do find the headlines ("Brady Ready For Pats' Opener") to be slightly misleading, only because Brady himself seems to qualify every answer with curious word choices, such as "If it's up to me . . ." To put it another way: I think he starts against the Chiefs. But the Patriots aren't as convinced as they'd like to be that his foot is completely healed, and there's at least a small concern that he may not finish. Thus the prepared, if hardly impressive, Cassel remains employed, while Gutierrez is left to wonder what he did wrong.
Deltha O'Neal: First thought when I saw on the ticker that he'd been signed: The Pats are picking up defensive players dumped by the Bengals now? Guess we should plan on a lot of 45-41 games this year. But the Patriots obviously had a need for a veteran cornerback after Fernando Bryant spent camp doing a spot-on Antonio Langham imitation (complete with the tire tracks on his chest) and played his way into a new line of work, and while the Bengals suggest O'Neal lost a step last year, he was axed primarily because the NFL's Official Cheapskate Franchise didn't want to pay a backup defensive back $3 million dollars. I bet he helps the cause in the same way Terrell Buckley did in '01. I'm also all for bringing back Ty Law at a reasonable rate, even with the suspicion that he may be attempting to become the first 260-pound cornerback.
Mark LeVoir: It's a strange game Belichick is playing with the back end of the roster, finding space for no-names like Rams discard LeVoir while turning one day's Stephen Spach into the next day's Jason Pociask. The suggestion, I guess, is that the roster isn't quite as deep as we thought it was. I was surprised that versatile Maine Black Bear great Mike Flynn didn't stick, but who knows, maybe Belichick will bring him back again in the next roster shuffle.
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I get the sense that the 3008 edition isn't going to be as good as last year's version. The DBs are raw, back ups on the O-line, WR position weaker, core LBs are older and Brady has a sore foot that could very well be related to what ailed him in the SB last year.
Not that they will fess up.
Intensity is missing as well.
Oh well......
Oh the pain of that Super Bowl loss still lingers, but the hope of another great season helps. Are we all being too critical since the near dance with perfection? Let's face it, if Brady is healthy for the entire season this team has a good shot at another Super Bowl...if not, nothing else matters.
So we wait, hope Tom is OK, and have faith in Coach. He has proven he can bring out the best in everyone...
Who would be the quarterback slinging passes to those receivers at the retirement farm. My pick would be Rohan Davey. He had a killer arm, strong enough for him to let it fly so that those oblivious speedsters could run underneath the ball.
"...I was surprised that versatile Maine Black Bear great Mike Flynn didn't stick, but who knows, maybe Belichick will bring him back again in the next roster shuffle...."
Maybe if they need someone to drive the team bus to Logan, eh?
The Pats ALREADY have the NFL's first 270 pound corner: remember when Adalius lined up there for the Ravens?
I just always find it hard to believe Bill is that wrong in his assessment of Cassel. He's had 4 years to make a judgment on the guy. I am not saying we'd be in strong hands. I am saying that compared to other back-up options, we would not be very much worse off than most other teams. I just find it hard to believe that we would be left that exposed... Worst case scenario, we deal one or more of his stockpiled draft picks for a viable commodity should the need arise...
Definitely Michael Bishop
Another option for the out-to-pature-WR's-QB would be the "man that we all wanted to replace Drew Bledsoe"...Michael Bishop.
While Bledsoe sits on the porch and takes it all in.
Chris Simms? Vinnie? Huard? This team is too strong to have an inexperienced back-up QB one heartbeat from the Presidency (of Patriots nation). Casell has started fewer games at QB than Sarah Palin--and he's cute, but not that cute. Bill the Brain has got to be smarter than John McCain!
NUTS, all NUTS. League has caught UP. Wake UP! no superbowl for what 2 years now. None this year. we are in the most pathetic division. We can win it but not much else. WAKE UP! Im out in Cali now and even the Niners are getting me excited again. NOT the PATS. barely win PATS.......fade awayyyyyyyyy.......
NUTS, all NUTS. League has caught UP. Wake UP! no superbowl for what 2 years now. None this year. we are in the most pathetic division. We can win it but not much else. WAKE UP! Im out in Cali now and even the Niners are getting me excited again. NOT the PATS. barely win PATS.......fade awayyyyyyyyy.......
Posted by vfp007 September 3, 08 06:16 PM
You fade awayyyyyyyy guy, u r a turncoat, root for the 9ers. If you have nothing positive to say about the PATS, then blog in cali where you are now.
It's shocking to here that The Patriots let a Brady like ..QB Matt Gutierrez go specially after all the praising coach Belichick gave him. I quess 217 yards of passing yards from Guttierrez coming back from injury vs 60 yards of' the so called experienced Cassel wasn't good enough proof. Maybe If Guttierrez got the same protection as Brady gets, you might see different results. Remember Brady got sacked 5 times in the super bowl when he didn't get much protection. If Brady is not 100% ready for this coming game opener, I don't think Cassel can do the job. I hope Guttierrez gets picked up by another team and given a chance.
Every year we complain and moan about this and that, and every year the pats come up with a stellar season. We have not won the superbowl in over two years. WOW! We're in the hunt every year though. That's all you can ask for - being in the mix to win one. I think BB knows a little more about football than I do, so i'm going to yield to his judgment. If he thinks he has a team he can go far with, then i'm not going to complain about it. It will be exciting to see how the new guys fare. Remember last year when the fall of the dynasty was predicted because of our poor draft? What happened this year? Stellar draft with all of the picks making the team. This is a first-rate organization and it seems that there is very little that escapes Bill and Scott.
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Irreverence and insight from Chad Finn, a Globe/Boston.com sports writer and lifelong and incurable sports nut. Yes, he realizes how lucky he is. You can e-mail him at chadfinn4@yahoo.com.
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