Great First Half Play Leads to 31-14 Win Over Bucs 3 Stars 1. Brandon Meriweather- the Pats played great except for Meriweather. He seemed to have no life on the field. I think his emotions are getting the better of him, since there are rumors of him getting cut. When he played in the fourth quarter against the 3rd stringers, he was getting beat. He didn’t make an impact on defense. It wasn’t difficult to beat Brandon Meriweather on this night. Hopefully he will improve in the off-season. Pats Looking at Signing More Veterans By Tim Sorota (August 15, 2011)Darren Sharper, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and Renaldo Hill will all be flying in to either Logan Airport or TF Green (Providence) Airport in the recent future. They will all work out with the New England Patriots. Darren Sharper was the leader of the defense on the Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in 2009. Sharper was called “one of the hardest hitting safeties in the league” by fan Demetry James in his 2010 YouTube video “Greg Jennings (Broken Leg) scores on Saints”. Sharper is a 14 year veteran who has been selected to five pro-bowls. However, he is 35 and only started one game last season. Hill is another player who is towards the end of his career. He is entering his 11 NFL season and hasn’t had as much success as Sharper. Last season, the Patriots didn’t have a need at safety. But this off-season Brandon Meriwether got in trouble with the law.. He hasn’t cooperated very well, and it’s angered the organization. He is a pro-bowler and can potentially be one of the best safeties in the league. However, if his risk isn’t greater than the reward, he will be cut or traded. The team is sending him a message by playing him on the 2nd team. If the team signs Sharper or Hill, does that mean Meriwether is out the door? I certainly hope not. Sharper may only have one good year left and you don’t know how Hill will do. Meriwether is a pro-bowler and a rising talent. His character hasn’t gotten in the way of his play at any point in his career. Earlier this off-season, the Patriots acquired Chad Ochocinco from the Bengals. His former teammate T.J. Houshmandzadeh is in talks about joining New England. His production has declined a lot over the past few seasons. The team already has young receivers like Taylor Price, Brandon Tate, and from Andover, Mass (my home-town) Buddy Farnham. If Houshmandzadeh is signed, he will take plays away from those three. It doesn’t make much sense. It seems to be a waste of money. If it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Pats Thump Jags 47-12 The Patriots put on a royal beating on this Thursday night in Foxboro, Massachusetts. However, the game didn’t start out great for New England. Jacksonville was starting rookie QB Blaine Gabbert and they were not starting all pro Maurice Jones-Drew. New England wasn’t starting their full defense either. The first drive of the game, Rashard Jennings ran all over the New England front. Kyle Love, in particular, got swallowed up by Jacksonville’s down blocking. The Jags put three points on the board after a Josh Scobee field goal. In New England’s first possession, Aaron Hernandez fumbled and it led to another Jaguar field goal. After those three points, the game turned around. Brian Hoyer would take the Patriots on an 8 play, 3:57 drive that would lead to a Stevan Ridley touchdown run of 1 yard. The Jaguars would quickly punt and 3 plays later Taylor Price would make a remarkable catch to make the score 13-6. The Jags would add 1 field goal and the Pats would add 2 before half time. At the half the score was 19-9. In the second half, New England scored a touchdown on every single possession they had. They were led by rookie QB Ryan Mallett, who made smart decisions from the pocket. Ridley continued his hard-nosed running and was joined by teammate Richard Medlin, who scored 2 TDs. Jacksonville could only manage a 31 yard field goal. At the end of the game, the score was 47-12. 3 Stars 1. Brian Hoyer. He looked like an experienced NFL QB in the game tonight. He was cool and collected in the pocket. He completed 15 passes out of 21 attempts for 171 yards. It was said on tonight’s broadcast that the Patriot coaching staff liked Hoyer as much as Matt Cassel. Hoyer certainly proved their point with tonight’s performance. 2. Dane Fletcher. He was the leader of the defense tonight. He looked like a perfect “mike” linebacker. He made a number of important plays in the early stages of this game. He was in the right place at the right time, and the Jaguars had to know where he was at all times or he would hurt them. 3. Mark Anderson. He didn’t record make a dent on the stat sheet, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t make an impact. He was extremely quick of the edge and pressured Gabbert and made him uncomfortable in the pocket. He will be a player of impact this season. 3 No Bodies1. Darius Butler. He is on the edge of being cut and his performance tonight only hurt his chances of being employed by the Patriots. He was constantly being beat by Jaguar receivers. This guy started last year and now he can’t stop a noise bleed. 2. Kyle Love. He is not Vince Wilfork that’s for sure. He was swallowed up by a single blocker, much less two blockers. When he is relied on to push the center or guard into the running back, instead, he was pushed out of the way. It allowed Rashard Jennings to run all over him. 3. Carson Butler. He was nothing more than terrible on special teams tonight. The man he was “blocking” made the tackle on every single kick-off return. He stood around wondering what had just happened. Well I can tell him, he got cut. The Patriots Interesting Off-Season Moves By Tim Sorota (July 30, 2011)On Thursday the Patriots acquired veteran Defensive Tackle Albert Haynseworth. It certainly sent a shock through New England. Coach Bill Belichick has doesn’t tolerate lazy and selfish players. In the past, Haynesworth has been widely considered both of those. The team already has all-pro Vince Wilfork, who plays the same position. But, the deal could turn out great. Haynesworth was a pro-bowler with Tennessee before going to the Redskins. Sometimes, Wilfork is moved to Defensive End and Haynesworth would be moved to D end. Having both Wilfork and Haynesworth on the field at once would cause fear to opposing Running Backs, if they both perform to high levels like they’re capable of. Later in the day the team added WR Chad Ochocinco. This deal shocked me. Ochocinco seems to be a cocky self promoter. Since trading Randy Moss, I wouldn’t think they would go for a guy who is extremely similar off the field. The only difference is this: Ochocinco is much more of a possession receiver. Unlike Moss, Ochocinco will go over the middle and fight for a ball. And, they gave up next to nothing for him. They pretty much got him for free. A guy who can give you 60+ catches and you only have to give two draft picks, why wouldn’t you take it? If he doesn’t produce, Brandon Tate can take his place. He has a safety net. Albert Haynseworth had a safety net, until Friday. The Patriots on Friday announced that they had released long-time Pat Ty Warren. Warren was a two-time champion and was a key contributor on the 2007 team that was 16-0. With Warren gone, Haynesworth was pretty much traded for Warren. If you announce that Warren was traded for Haynesworth, a lot of people would be extremely upset. People are saying that Warren was released because he failed his conditioning test. Haynesworth has a history of failing those tests. Warren failed his because he had a bad ham-string. Haynesworth fails them because he is out of shape. He hasn’t started practicing and Coach Belichick said “There are many things he must do first”. Would you want a guy who is out of shape or a guy who has a recoverable injury? The Pats chose out of shape. Since Warren is gone, Haynesworth has no safety net. If he stinks and doesn’t make the team, Brandon Deadrick will have to start or Kyle Love. Both the initial trades were great, and still can be. Ochocinco will be a good receiver and produce. Albert Haynesworth is a different story. It’s hard to tell whether or not he will help the team. I could see both these deals doing wonders for the team, and I can also see them being horrible. WELCOME TO THE BOSTON HOT SPOT PAGE FOR THE NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS! more posts will be here in the future! |  Eric Moore gets pressure on Josh Freeman. Freeman was often rushed making throws in a 31-14 loss to the Patriots. (Picture courtesy of Patriots.com)  Darren Sharper has sparked interest in signing with the Patriots. (picture courtesy of Yahoo Sports)  Stevan Ridley goes flying through the air, as Jacksonville players try to tackle him. He scored three touchdowns as the Pats beat the Jaguars 47-12. (Photo courtesy of NFL.com)  Chad Ochocinco making a catch in training camp for the Pats. Last year he had 67 catches and he and the team are looking for similar results this season. (Picture courtesy of Patriots.com |
