You are here: Home / Morning Links / Patriots Still Licking Their Wounds

Patriots Still Licking Their Wounds

September 22, 2009 By

The grades are in this Tuesday morning, and they’re not pretty.

The best grade Ron Borges can hand out is a “B” to the running backs, while the linebackers get a “F.” He lists Chad O’Shea under the “Back of the Pack” with the comment “His special teams weren’t.” One problem there, Scott O’Brien is the special teams coach. O’Shea is the wide receivers coach.

It’s funny how people see things differently. Where Borges gave the linebackers the “F”, Michael Felger gives them a “C+”. He gives the receivers an “F” and the defensive line a “B”, while Borges had given that unit a “D”. Follow that? Jeremy Gottlieb has the Patriots Daily report card. Steve DeOssie saves his harshest grade for the special teams.

Mike Reiss offers some ups and downs from yesterday. Scott Benson gives the PD Game Ball to Rex Ryan and has Tom Brady Take a Lap.

Coach Bill Burt has ten things the Patriots need to do to improve, and the first thing is that that bum Brady needs to show some life. Jonathan Comey says that the Jets will win a minimum of 11 games this season. Glen Farley says forget circling November 22 on their calendar for the Jets rematch, the Patriots need to be circling the wagons right now. Lenny Megliola says that the Patriots have some deep problems. Michael Hurley says that the loss might not have been quite as bad as we all think.

Ian R. Rapoport says that red zone woes were a major factor for the Patriots on Sunday. Monique Walker says that the Patriots need to make some adjustments this week while recovering from the Jets loss. Robert Lee also looks at the Patriots woes in the red zone. Christopher Price has more on the red zone troubles. Much of the preseason worry was focused at the defense, but Rich Garven notes that it is the offense that is struggling now.

Rapoport checks in with rookie Brandon Tate, who continues to work his way back from a knee injury. Brian MacPherson has a look at the impressive debut of Julian Edelman.

Rapoport’s notebook looks at the small role of the running game on Sunday. The Globe notebook discusses offensive and defensive communication. Lee’s Patriots journal has Vince Wilfork giving the Jets credit for backing up their words. Garven’s notebook has the Patriots failing to take out the trash on Sunday.

Red Sox

The Red Sox were shocked in KC last night, leading 6-1 at one point, Manny Delcarmen was hit hard again out of the bullpen, and it snowballed from there, with the Royal eventually recording a 12-9 win in very wet conditions.

Amalie Benjamin has the Sox turning a win into a loss right when they’re playing their best ball of the season. Michael Silverman says that one soggy night shouldn’t derail the Red Sox march to the playoffs, but it sure was ugly. Daniel Barbarisi has Tim Wakefield and the Red Sox giving this one away.

Sean McAdam says that the Red Sox can still catch the Yankees for the division, and should try to do so. Bill Reynolds says that the Red Sox may be peaking at just the right time. Adam Kilgore has weary Tim Wakefield not really looking like he’s going to be able to take the mound again in five days. Barbarisi looks at how far Junichi Tazawa has come in just a single season.

Amy Nelson wonders how much Tim Wakefield has left this season. Rob Bradford says that it wasn’t all bad for Wakefield last night. McAdam looks at the miserable weather last night in Kansas City and why the game was played despite it. David Willis gives a hesitant vote for Curt Schilling as US Senator. Joe Haggerty checks in with Billy Wagner. Alex Speier looks at how Red Sox assistant GM Allard Baird will find it hard to root against the Royals’ Zack Greinke tonight.

The Globe notebook looks at yet another shuffle at the shortstop position.  Silverman’s notebook has the Sox bringing Chris Woodward back as a reserve infielder with Nick Green out. Barbarisi’s Red Sox journal has PawSox manager Ron Johnson joining the big club and watching over his “kids.”

Bruins

Fluto Shinzawa has a look at Andrew Ference as he returns from groin surgery. Rich Thompson has Tim Thomas getting up to speed. Mick Colageo says that the Bruins are better after the Phil Kessel trade. Mike Loftus has former first round pick Zach Hamill giving the Bruins a tough decision.

Shinzawa’s notebook has the Bruins taking a long look at 19-year-old forward Jamie Arniel.

Filed Under: Morning Links
  • Chris

    WEEI should play the sound of crickets chirping because that pretty much sums up how their year is going to go if the Patriots don’t get better…fast. This is an 0-2 team dressed up in 1-1 clothing.

    • Lance

      Give me a break. It’s the second game of the year with the best coach in the NFL leading it. Will they have problems? Tell me what team doesn’t. If the Pats D held opposing offenses to straight three-and-outs for an entire game the chicken littles would still find something to whine about.

      • Chris

        My point isn’t to be critical of the Patriots; it’s to be critical of the sports media consumer, who has desire or patience to ‘consume’ negativity. In other words, fewer clicks on the web stories; fewer newspapers purchased; fewer sports-talk listeners; etc. etc. That’s just the nature of the Boston sports fan: they’re all over the good-news stories but they slink away when things are going poorly. Sure, things can change for the better. I’m expecting they will. These problems are ‘sync’ and ‘timing’ things, I believe, which are remedied through coaching and practice.

        • Tony

          Chris, the problem I have is with the coverage of the football team in town, in particular.

          It’s impossible to deny that many in the Boston sports media dislike the man making the decisions down in Foxboro–hell, Shaughnessy even hates Belichick’s boss dating back to the Parcells affair, when Shank firmly came down on the side of the Tuna and never missed an opportunity to rip Kraft.

          Many of these people have let their personal agendas get in the way, and any time things are not going 100% swimmingly for the Patriots, they let loose with all of their fury against the head coach.

          Moreover, their dislike of the head coach comes with the added cross of having to dislike the FANS who give the head coach the benefit of the doubt whenever he makes a controversial decision.

          Add it all up and what you’ve got is a mess. You don’t get “reporting” or “facts”; you usually just get hatchet jobs against Belichick and, in Shaughnessy’s case, the owner who hired him and the fans who support both of them.

          Is that what you want to read the day after a loss?

          I’d rather read a sober analysis of what went wrong and what the Pats need to do to fix things.

          I used to read about EVERY game, win or lose; but in the last few years as the anti-Belichick animosity has grown stronger in the media (again, we’re talking about a few hacks, mainly), I’ve pretty much stayed away from the media after the team loses.

          With the Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics, it’s different. You don’t have that hatred of the coach and the organization permeating throughout the media, so I usually check out the game stories, win or lose.

          With Belichick and the Pats, it’s a personal thing for some of the writers in this town and quite frankly, I don’t need to read about their personal feelings towards the coach, fans and ownership.

        • Angry Old Bastard

          Fantastic post,Tony…..you really nailed it. Nice job.

  • NP

    Hey Chris – what does WEEI have to do with your urine-stained crocs?

  • Classless

    Actually Chris, the Patriots struggling is a boon for WEEI. A close, problem filled loss for the Pats spurs all the “Danny’s from Quincy” to call in and say the sky is falling, allowing the fat boys on the radio to scold them and sound like they have the superior intellect. Talk radio would not exist if it weren’t for negativity. Do you even live around here?

    • Angry Old Bastard

      not to mention the fact we’ve been saying FOR YEARS now that WEEI ratings would start tanking for this reason or that reason. But the WEEI machine shows no signs of slowing down….face it, alot of people like to listen to that crap…it’s a strange world we live in.

%d bloggers like this: