Sporting News

OK, so maybe that 4th Super Bowl is a bit further away than Bostonist originally thought. The Pats were, sad to say, trounced by division rival Miami Dolphins on Sunday, 21-0. This one was ugly folks, from the jump. Alas, Bostonist should have had a bit of a clue that this could be coming, with Tommy's record down in Miami (a place he is under .500, 2-4 career) and the injuries the Pats were stuck with (in addition to Rodney Harrison and the secondary woes in place, Laurence Maroney and Chad Jackson did not make the trip).

This was an ugly one for the offense on Sunday. The Offensive line was pathetic, both in execution and scheme. Matt Light was abused and used by Dolphins Defensive End Jason Taylor. Question for the Pats staff, why wasn't there a running back on Taylor's side all game long helping Light? He clearly couldn't block Taylor himself, and the franchise was taking hit after hit (not to mention giving the Pats zero chance to score any points). Scheme-wise, shouldn’t Patrick Pass or another fullback been assigned to helping Light block/chip Taylor?

Brady took more hits and had more hurries this game than any all year. SO many, that Tom Brady came out of a football game with over 5 minutes to go, and the Pats were on the wrong side of the rout. The last time the Pats were shutout was game 1 of the 2004 campaign in Buffalo, 31-0.

The Pats were further banged up on Sunday, losing Ben Watson and Vince Wilfork, and releasing Doug Gabriel. Wilfork might be the most important part of the Pats run defense, especially seeing that the Pats were gashed right after Vince left the field. And from a receiver standpoint, that leaves 4 on the roster, and no deep threat. As a Pats fan and a Bill/Brady fan, Bostonist still believes, but it’s tough, realistically, to now see this team going far into January with such a decimated secondary and a VERY marginal WR corps. On the bright side, a win at home this weekend will clinch the AFC East for the Pats.

What in the world is going on with the Sox, Dise-K, and Scott Boras? We will all find out in a few days, but really... Bostonist has a feeling that in a decade or so, this "era" will be looked back upon as the time when Scott Boras ruined Major League Baseball. The Sox already have the highest ticket prices in baseball, and the casual fan has been all but priced out of going to Sox games. Scott Boras and his never-ending greed are making it impossible for the casual fan to attend games due to ridiculous salaries. At last check, the "dialogue continues".

Newsbreak - The Sox have offered $8 mil per year for 6 years for Dise-K, and the Boras camp is countering with $11 mil per. Will they make the deal? There are about 36 hours left in the window.

Food for thought on the Sox... If Julio Lugo and J.D. Drew's contracts are worth over $100 million, what is Jonathon Papelbon going to cost?

Note to Danny Ainge: Why oh why would you want to keep Doc Rivers coaching this year? There are about 100 high school coaches in the state of Massachusetts that could do a better job (and also, conceptualize a rotation in basketball and realize that players need to have roles in order to bring about continuity on the court). Why doesn't Danny realize this? Unless it’s an all out tank job to try and win the lottery and draft Greg Oden, the Ohio State Center, and latest hoops phenom. Last time the Celts tried this, they had 2 out of 6 chances to land Tim Duncan, and the balls didn't roll their way.

Photo of Daisuke Matsuzaka courtesy of ESPN.com