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Titan-ic Annihilation By Patriots

October 19, 2009 By

Nothing like an 0-5, Southern football team coming into the snow at Gillette to make the Patriots look good, huh?

Tom Brady and the Patriots had a record breaking day at Gillette Stadium, as they set records for points, margin of victory, and TD passes in a 59-0 annihilation of the Tennessee Titans at Gillette Stadium yesterday.

On Patriots Daily, Chris Warner has the Gut Check reactions to yesterday.

Ian R. Rapoport notes that even coach Bill Belichick was in wonderment at what his club had done. Mike Reiss has Tom Brady getting his groove back in the record-setting performance. Michael Vega has the Patriots improving to 11-0 in snow games at Foxborough with the win. Brian MacPherson has the Patriots offense snowballing in the second quarter. Shalise Manza Young has the Patriots celebrating a snow day at Foxborough. Mark Farinella says that it is possible that the Patriots could’ve put on this performance against any opponent. Andy Vogt wonders if the Titans developed a case of chionophobia at kickoff. Jennifer Toland says that it was almost like 2007 all over again. Glen Farley has strange things happening at Gillette yesterday.

Even while the game was going on, I was wondering, 1) is it possible to nitpick and find things to be negative about this game, and 2) which chuckleheads will be the ones doing it? The answer to 1 is a resounding “yes”,  and the answer to 2 is “the usual suspects” with Comcast SportsNet last night focusing on Adalius Thomas being inactive (making it yet another personnel failure by Belichick) and the Patriots starting Butler and Wilhite at the corners instead of Bodden and Springs - another implication that this team has problems - rather than the record-setting win.

Today, Bob Ryan tells us that we shouldn’t get too excited over a 59-0 win, because it came over a winless team in bizarre conditions. Ron Borges, who wouldn’t put into print half the things he says on the air, says that Brady’s record-setting day didn’t come against an NFL team, but that isn’t the QB’s fault. (Must be Belichick’s.) Rich Garven acknowledges the total effort from the Patriots, but says that they need to show more. You could tell from his press conference questions that Jim Donaldson was going to write a story on the Patriots success in the snow, and that’s exactly what he did. Jonathan Comey can’t stop looking at the box score. Christopher Price has the 10 Things We Learned Yesterday.

Christopher L. Gasper says that the rekindling of the Brady-Moss magic was a sight to see. Robert Lee has the Patriots finally able to connect on big plays. Farinella has the offense getting straightened out yesterday. Eric McHugh wonders if this is the start of something great, or just another tease from the ’09 Patriots. Tim Weisberg has the Patriots finally able to channel 2007. Kirk Minihane says that we need to remember this day.

Karen Guregian has Laurence Maroney finally answering the call when opportunity knocked. Monique Walker has Maroney silencing his critics, for one game anyway. Chris Forsberg has Maroney finally breaking through. Farinella has the offense operating well above optimum levels yesterday. Brendan Hall has Sebastian Vollmer looking impressive in filling in for Matt Light.

Walker has rookie Darius Butler playing with a heavy heart after college teammate Jasper Howard was stabbed to death  on the UConn campus hours after the Huskies beat Louisville. Jeff Jacobs looks at a terrible day at UConn. Dan Duggan has Butler playing well dispute the tragedy. Lee has Butler playing with a heavy heart yesterday.

Dan Ventura has the Titans saying they didn’t quit yesterday. Peter Gobis has the Titans not blaming the weather.

Borges lists out the best and worst from yesterday. Ventura and Duggan round up some quotes of the game. Lee provides game analysis. McHugh has who was hot, who was not - I was wondering if reporters would be able to pick anyone who wasn’t “hot” yesterday…I guess they could. The Metro looks at what went right & wrong.

The Globe notebook has a look at Thomas being deemed a healthy scratch yesterday, and a look at some firsts for Patriots rookies and young players. Rapoport’s notebook has more on the Thomas benching. Young’s Patriots journal says that Belichick may not be happy with Thomas. Gobis’ notebook suggests that perhaps Maroney just likes playing in the cold. Vogt’s notebook looks at a day of mourning for Butler. Toland’s notebook has Titan turnovers helping the Patriots cause. Farley’s notebook has more on Butler. Weisberg’s notebook has records falling all over Foxborough yesterday.

Filed Under: Morning Links
  • Curtis

    Bruce, to be fair, I think Thomas being a healthy scratch IS a story. The money they are paying this guy and the complete lack of production is a story. Should it be the lead – no and it wasnt. If you watched all of the Comcast Sunday show (which is miles ahead of either SportsFinal or SportsExtra) they began with the record setting day and even praised Maroney before getting to Thomas or the secondary starters. I know you have adopted the Patriot mentality of looking for ghosts and haters wherever they may be but today you’re reaching further than Borges is when saying Thomas has been a bust – which is 100% accurate by the way.

    • Bruce

      I don’t know…if it wasn’t the main story then they started on it at about 10:02 and the show started at 10:00. It certain is a story, I agree, but they really hammered away at it on a day in which the team was setting NFL records. They may have done the highlights first, but to them, Thomas was the biggest story of the day.

    • Classless

      Actually, it’s not much of a story. If you’ve watched the games
      since 2007, you wouldn’t have been surprised this bum had been benched. He was benched before: in 2007, against Indy, with Dallas Clark his potential matchup. He’s not bringing results at all for this defense, so his benching is as surprising as Galloway’s.

  • Jason Coyote

    For me, the news was hearing on Friday through one of Mike Reiss’ columns that Thomas has only been on the field for about half of NE’s defensive snaps at Denver last week, while undrafted Gary Guyton has been on the field for virtually every defensive snap so far this season. Made Thomas’ inactivation yesterday much less of a shock.

    Again, it all comes back to solid reporting from Reiss. If he could only start shouting at the top of his lungs, I know EEI would give him his own show in a heartbeat.

  • Tony

    I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I thought the Notorious Ronnie B. made a semi-relevant point last night when he said that Thomas was a star in Baltimore when he was surrounded by 4 or 5 All Pros on defense, but that he’s overrated and the Pats overpaid for him. I don’t know about him being overrated, because I seem to remember Thomas being VERY disruptive and a playmaker in 2007, especially when the Pats used him exclusively as a pass rushing OLB (in the Super Bowl against the Giants he was well-nigh unblockable, with 2 sacks, and several pressures, including the “near miss” on the helmet catch play). But Borges did make at least an arguable point about Thomas, which is quite unusual for Ronnie B.

    • Classless

      Revise your “playmaker” description of him in 2007. He could be best described then as “inconsistent”. He made a splash against S.D. with his INT TD return. Then did nothing until the Patriots put his exclusively on the edge, which didn’t happen until the playoffs. He did have a big Super Bowl, but still, he was yet another Patriot defender who “almost” made the big play.

      • Tony

        Can’t really disagree with you there. All in all, he’s been a disappointment, and he’s another reason why the Pats don’t usually delve too deeply into the high-priced free agent market. I think Rosie Colvin would have been a GREAT signing but for the hip injury suffered in his SECOND game as at Patriot. It took him essentially three years to recover from that, and then he suffered the Lis Franc injury in late 2007, just as he was starting to get his 2002 Chicago form back. With Thomas, it could very well be that he does one thing well–rush the passer from the edge–but the Pats want him to be more versatile. Ronnie B. could be right: Thomas simply could be overrated at worst, or one-dimensional at best (I would, however, let him display that one dimension more often if I were Belichick or Pees, since they’re into this guy for a LOT of money over the next year or two).

  • Angry Old Bastard

    same thoughts were going through my mind as I watched the game…..all year long we’ve been hearing….”what’s wrong with the Pats?”…”what’s up with Brady?”….blah-blah-blah….They finally put together a kick ass 60 minute game and the talk is, “well, that didn’t mean much. The Titans really suck”…..LOL….ya gotta love it. Too comical.

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