Whatever ailed the Patriots a week ago in Buffalo vanished in a convincing 31-19 victory on the road against the Raiders on Sunday. Tom Brady reverted to his error-free play with an efficient 16-30, 226-yard performance that included two more touchdown passes. While Brady's interception-free game gets the headlines, the Patriots benefitted from a balanced offensive attack. Oakland led early, by a 10-7 score early in the second quarter. The Patriots, who gained 184 yards on the ground, scored the next 17 points thanks to rushing touchdowns from BenJarvus Green-Ellis (75 yards) and Stevan Ridley (97 yards), and a field goal from Stephen Gostkowski.
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Results tagged “weswelker”
A lot happened on Sunday, sports fans. We found something good to lead-off with. Jacoby Ellsbury. The Sox speedy centerfielder saved the team after, we think, they were close to hitting rock bottom in Sunday's doubleheader. Ellsbury finished the games with a 5-11 performance with three home runs and five RBI. Ellsbury joined the 30-30 club, a first in franchise history. They lost game one, 6-2, and needed a three-run home run in the 14th inning from Ellsbury to win game two, 7-4.
We were reading something about Tom Brady being old this week. Brady looked as good as ever last night, leading New England to a 38-24 win over Miami that might have been one of the most one-sided 14-point wins you'll ever see. With the score tied at 14-14 in the third quarter, the Patriots routed Miami, 24-3, over the next 15 minutes to take a 38-17 lead with about six minutes left to play. Brady finished with 517 yards, or the 5th highest single-game total in league history, the 11th 500-yard passing game in league history, the most yards in franchise history, the most yards ever on Monday Night Football, and the most yards in a game since Boomer Esiason threw for 522 yards in 1996. Phew. He had four touchdowns, too, and an interception. We didn't forget.
Here's the world's worst idea for a drinking game, NHL-style: Drink every time you hear the word "concussion." Were you to undertake this ridiculous idea (seriously, don't do it), you'd be on the floor with the room spinning before Rene Rancourt begins his post-anthem fist pump on the Garden Ice.
To beat the Jets, the Patriots have to be themselves and play mistake free football. It sounds simple and has been simple for a couple of months. We know what we can expect from Brady in that regard. The Patriots do have rookies - Devin McCourty, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski - in key roles. How will they respond to the playoff pressure? We'll find out soon. The Herald outlined a few keys to the game.
Please don't call this a prediction. (You know who we're picking, though.) Sunday's AFC Divisional playoff game between the New England Patriots and the New York Jets can't possible live up to the hype before the game. The New York Post won the hype battle with a clever "Return of the Jet-I" theme on the cover of a pullout section for the game. Granted, it's clever, and it's understandable how a perennial winner can be viewed in a negative light by an opponent's fan base. Two issues, though. Rex Ryan is more similar to Jabba the Hut than Han Solo. Bill Belichick is better cast as the Emperor than Darth Vader. It's a hood; not a helmet.
There's a game to be played involving the Patriots today. All the Patriots will be playing, too, in a meaningless game. Some fans, and a few bloggers, question Bill Belichick's choice to use the varsity today against Miami as a risky move that backfired a year ago as Wes Welker ripped his knee apart in the regular season finale. WBZ just reported Welker and Deion Branch are inactive today.
What a difference a week makes. One week after getting their butts handed to them by a lower-class AFC North team, the Patriots went back to the Rust Belt and spent sixty minutes grinding a much-better (on paper) team into the dirt. If anybody can figure out how the rest of this season will play out, please let us know.
While Wes Welker visited a North Attleboro school with a real hero, a bunch of Patriots, including Tom Brady, visited Henry Grew Elementary School in Hyde Park. Brady brought Robert Kraft, Deion Branch, Patrick Chung, Brandon Merriweather and Zoltan Mesko with him. We don't know who drove.
The Pats visited the school to promote the NFL's Play 60 program to get kids to exercise for at least 60 minutes of a day. The school got a $10,000 grant to buy gym or recess equipment. The highlight was Brady showing off his now controversial hair.
- Bay State executives don't necessarly trust their employees. [Boston Business Journal]
- Despite state aid, Biotech corporations Genzyme Corp. and Biogen both announced layoffs. [Boston Herald]
- Companies are offering creative perks in a tough economy. HubSpot has no limit on vacation days as technology allows employees to work 24/7. TripAdvisor has a kegerator on Fridays. [Boston.com]
We know. The last time the Bruins skated at the Garden in a meaningful game...well, let's forget that ever happened. The '10-'11 Bruins made their home-ice debut last night, and it's clear the team and the fans have turned the page.
The Patriots didn't need the Randy Moss saga to be supremely focused on today's game with Baltimore. The Ravens were clearly better than the Pats in the playoffs, and we think Bill Belichick is still annoyed about it. Without Moss, he can also play the "nobody thinks we can win" card with a straight face.
The Celtics completely dominated Philadelphia before surviving an encounter with the Nets, 96-92, after a Marquis Daniels three-pointer and two Nate Robinson free throws. Two wins in pretend games against two "teams" won't mean much in May.
And to think we were panicked. The Patriots' shaky preseason is a distant memory, and so are the Cincinnati Bengals, after the Pats smacked them around 38-24 in one of those proverbial "it wasn't as close as the score" games.
Despite Tom Brady's awesomeness on the field, there are times when he does things that make you wonder about him. Then, he provides us with unequivocal redemption.
Are you ready for some preseason football? It's here even if you aren't ready.
- Mike Cameron is on the DL. His season might be over. No hurry, Jacoby. [Globe]
- Wes Welker triumphantly returned to practice today. Pads and all. [ESPNBoston.com]
- Milan Lucic is supposed to be healthy and productive in the 2010-11 season for the Bruins. [NESN]
- Jack Parker had heart bypass surgery on July 23 and is expected to be coaching the Boston University men's hockey team for the 2010-11 season. [WEEI]
Training camp is on for the New England Patriots. The Globe provided detailed recaps of the first practice and the entire first day of camp.
If David Ortiz is going to hit this well while in Anaheim, we're considering a relocation. Let's name ourselves the Boston Red Sox of Anaheim and operate out of Angel Stadium. Sure, we'll miss the crowds at Fenway Park, but at least the guys on our roster will be able to win some ballgames.
The Red Sox limped out of Oakland and found what they needed in Safeco Field in Seattle: two wins.
Sox drop two to Texas
The Red Sox are two games into the second half of the season and they managed to fall behind in the first inning of each game and never really recovered enough to win either game. Last night, Texas scored twice in the first off of Felix Doubront before adding five more in the fifth in an 8-4 win. Tim Wakefield (3-8) allowed six runs before Boston batted and the Rangers rolled to a 7-2 win on Thursday.
Will the real Daisuke Matsuzaka please stand up? The jitters that always come with a Dice-K start were in full effect on Monday evening, as it is absolutely impossible to know what we're going to get. He either implodes or sparkles, with little middle ground.
Forgive us if we're a little off today. We watched ESPN's coverage of the entire first round of the NFL draft, and if there's one thing that makes that a little better than spending four hours in a car with Chris Berman and company, it's that they don't make you swing into every roadside Wendy's for another burger.
The Celtics didn't make any rumored changes to the starting five and routed the Indiana Pacers 122-103. But, the bench and its 26 first-half points provided a spark to help the Celtics quickly open a first-half lead. At the end of the first quarter, Marquis Daniels scored a bucket, Nate Robinson buried a three-pointer and Glen Davis blocked a shot to put Boston up six, 29-23.
First, let's get the good news out of the way. Paul Pierce isn't hurt as badly as we anticipated when we were completely freaked out about the possibility that we couldn't even beat the Wizards without sacrificing one starter. Nothing's broken, say the Celtics, and Pierce might be able to go as soon as tonight against Miami.
It's been a long time since any of our teams won much of anything, hasn't it?
There's much that can - can, has and will - be said today by proponents and opponents alike when it comes to Boston's newest corner infielder, Adrian Beltre. What it all really comes down to, however, is the fact that the names and faces that will make up your 2010 Boston Red Sox roster sure are different than the team fans saw walk off the field in shock when their reason ended abruptly back in October.
So the Patriots' first move of the offseason - whenever that begins - should be to sign Bernard Pollard. Sign him, and then immediately send him on a fact-finding mission to Micronesia or wherever the Red Sox stashed Julio Lugo. Because having Bernard Pollard in the building is bad news.
The Patriots, we learned last week, call these "Hats and Shirts Day". They're the days when the team clinches something, in this case finally locking down the AFC East, and everyone on the club gets commemorative hats and T-shirts proclaiming them division champions. The way the Pats looked yesterday, and the way the NFL has become completely insane, it's not crazy to think there might be more hats and shirts in the near future, is it?
This is what the 2009 Patriots season has come to. Even a win - a win that broke a 2-game losing streak - doesn't feel very good.