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Patriots, Chiefs On Monday Night Stage Tonight

November 21, 2011 By

The Patriots take on the Kansas City Chiefs on ESPN’s Monday Night Football tonight.

With a win, New England will tie Baltimore, Pittsburgh and Houston with the best record in the AFC. This news is apparently a revelation to both sports radio stations this morning, who I guess had no idea this was possible.

Some quick links to get us going this Monday morning:

The legend of Scott Pioli: Separating myth from reality - This Kirk Minihane column appears to be a response to the talk around town that Bill Belichick’s drafting and personnel acquisition has gone downhill since Pioli’s departure. Yesterday Karen Guregian had Pioli defending Belichick.

Bill Belichick’s steady hand calms Pats - Chris Forsberg has the coach and team keeping focused despite the panic of fans and media.

Always the last word: Belichick has final say on play calls - Paul Kenyon is shocked the Belichick voluntarily gave up information this week.

Pull of a guard - Shalise Manza Young has a look at the impact Brian Waters has had on the Patriots.

Tackle Sebastian Vollmer all right following injury - The Herald notebook has the offensive lineman finally feeling like himself. The Globe Patriots Notebook has Wes Welker dealing with bumps and bruises.

Larry Lucchino has firm hold of the reins - Michael Silverman says that contrary to appearances, Lucchino has always been in charge of baseball operations.

No matter who it might be, this has to be Ben Cherington’s manager - Rob Bradford says that the GM has to be the one to pick the manager.

Filed Under: Morning Links
  • Angry Old Bastard

    about your opening paragraph, what were they talking about?….no, no, don't tell me the 3 P's?….Perverts, pedophiles and Penn State?
    Follow @DryHeave1
    ;

  • latetodinner

    I find the whole….good gm vs bad gm for Belichick as kind of amusing. We all have opinions as to whether he has done better or worse than most GM's in the league. What cracks me up is the anger generated by the media when discussing a player he missed on. Like its their money he is spending. Like they could get better results than he does. Let's look at performance since 2007 when evidently BB became a lousy gm.

    2007 Team goes 16-0 makes it to the SB.
    2008 Brady gets hurt…team goes 11-5 and is the first 11-5 team to miss the playoffs in 20 years. So they had talent to over come losing Tom Brady. Look at the Colts this year and now try and make the case that Bill Polien is a better GM.
    2009 They struggle…still win the division…but lose to baltimore in the playoffs. Key phrase in there…they win the division.
    2010 They go 14-2. Sure they lost in the playoffs but that was not because BB forget how to evaluate players. There were a lot of issues…including Brady being injured (foot surgery right after the season ended) and a DL that was playing the reserves, reserves.
    2011 Pats are 6-3 looking realistically at 13-3 with their schedule. Could they lose a game…sure. Could they win out…equally possible. If they go 27-5 in back to back seasons must mean BB has some handle on talent evaluation.

    I just think media members need to realize football is not baseball or basketball…there is more of an undefinable team component to the game. Picking players and getting them to play is incredibly difficult…I think by now Belichicks record speaks for itself. The fact that certain media members can't see that has to make you question their competency.

  • JohnnyApps

    Okay Late To Dinner:
    Please tell us EXACTLY what's going to happen in the Pats game tonight. I want to know tonight, so when you're ripping the media tomorrow about what they've written, we'll know that you knew what was coming in the game, what the Pats should be preparing for on both sides of the ball….EVERYTHING.
    Tell us…

    • latetodinner

      Here is what I know Apps….

      The Pats team on both sides of the ball will play personnel in an attempt to exploit match ups. On defense they will try and take away the Chiefs biggest advantage, the run…forcing Palco to beat them with his arm and decision making. On offense they will look at exploiting a Chiefs secondary that is all banged up and a line backing crew that will have problems with the TE's.

      Most importantly they are concentrating on one game at a time like they have for the past 10 years. They expect each player on the team to carry his load. Will they win… my guess is yes something around 27-17. But football is a funny game…any given sunday and all that stuff. What I have been railing against is the media members who see the last game and think the next game will be the same. That one or two bad performances mean the team is done. you know the doom and gloomers who refuse to look at a 10 year track record of how this team approaches games and gets losses behind them but are willing to declare a 2 game losing streak as defining this years identity. It is lazy journalism.

      • JohnnyApps

        LTD,

        Excellent. We'll see how things go tonight. Something around 27-17 it is. Did you see any Herald / Globe pieces or anything on the web that was lazy journalism in your eyes? IMO what you said about 'each player carrying his load' and 'one game at a time' and all that is a given. most successful football teams (Pitt / GB / Chicago / Balt / NYG go by that mantra. That is lazy journalism. What other storylines are you looking for tonight? The Pats new and energized (at least from the Jets win) defense again stepping up to lock down Palko? The Pats balanced offense keeping things going? The whole team no looking past a team like KC?
        What should the writers be writing about heading into the game? I don't want to see you livid tomorrow over the team's coverage again after the Jets game.

        • latetodinner

          We will have to see how the coverage goes this morning. If the Pats effort is dismissed because the Chiefs started a 3rd string journeyman..then I will be right. If all the talk is about "well this team can't win in the playoffs"…instead of looking at how for 4 weeks now this defense has been getting better and better even in the face of injuries which have knocked out 3 starting DB's and 3 starting LB's…then yes I will be angry at the coverage. Lastly, if the press doesn't stop being fixated on Chad 85's role I will continue to be upset. They should be talking about depth, coaching, and looking at a topic that I think Kerry Byrnes discussed well on D&C this morning…bend don't break with point differentials.

  • Steve

    An excellent theory that Dan Shaughnessy is Vizzini from the Princess Bride. I can easily hear him yelling "Inconceivable!" when the Sox won in 2004 and 2007 http://blogs.thescore.com/mlb/2011/11/21/metaphor…

  • Classless

    I've noticed the trend of the local media concerning the Pats this year is this: talk about them when they lose, dissect the last 4 years of bad drafting, call for Belichick's head. When the win…*crickets*

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