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Patriots Reaction/Look Ahead

January 15, 2012 By

With the Patriots demolishing the Denver Broncos last night, it puts an end to several storylines:

The streak of one-and-done is over at two.

Tom Brady can still play in the postseason.

The defense can actually make some plays.

Gregg Easterbrook and company can quit with the “Patriots haven’t won a playoff game since Spygate” crap, even though it was incorrect to begin with. (He claims Spygate “started” with the Tomase article, which the Herald later apologized for.)

But we get a whole new set of sports radio storylines this week:

Ochocinco only played one snap!!

Why was Hernandez playing late in the game – he might have a concussion!

Patriots still haven’t beaten a team that finished the season with a winning record!

They’re in trouble when they face a real quarterback!

Good times.

Check all the Patriots stories over at PatriotsLinks.com.

Comment section is open for your reactions, though if you’re not a registered commenter, you may see a delay for your comment to be posted.

Filed Under: Morning Links
  • bsmfan

    Actually, I was checking some internet forums and the Spygate claims are in full force. It's nice when you can get away with stuff like that in a message board without any evidence but its still a thing and probably always will be with Hoodie + McDaniels.

    • tl;138

      The evidence was there. It's why the Pats and BB were fined and punished. They even had to turn in their tapes to the league for destruction.

      I agree that the whole affair has been blow way way out of proportion but the Pats did have tapes of defensive signals filmed from the sideline apparently. Had they not, they wouldn't have been punished.

    • Tony

      Next time you come across forums like that, do a Google search with the following parameters: spygate, cameras, videotaping, stealing signals, Dick Vermeil, Jimmy Johnson, Mike Shanahan, Bill Cowher, Scouts Inc.

      Those few parameters alone will provide you with tons of links worth of ammunition to fire back at those Spygate-obsessed losers. Cowher, Johnson and Shanahan–Super Bowl winning coaches all–each admitted to doing the same thing, or similar things to what the Pats were doing. Vermeil has said repeatedly that he'd seen "a lot worse things done" during his 20+ years in the NFL. And the Scouts, Inc. people (posted at ESPN.com, of all places) provided perhaps the best takedown of the Spygate nonsense with an article about how the only "advantage" the Pats may have gained was being able to put their gameplans together a day sooner than usual…maybe.

      It won't matter to the immature conspiracy cranks out there, for sure, but at least it will provide some food for thought for those willing to consider the truth.

  • Classless

    As dominant a win as they ever had. Probably the most dominant since blew out the Jets in 2006.

    I'm already hearing the silly argument from pundits and non-patriots friends that they still haven't beaten anyone of note and that Denver sucked anyways. That flies in the face of what I heard all week, which was TEBOW TEBOW OMG OMG TEBOW. If anything, the Patriots may have put the nail in the coffin of his QB career. A playoff QB going 9-28 is historically bad…against a "bad" defense.

    That being said, Brady, as I've said all year is the G.O.A.T. Next up, a week of Baltimore ballwashing followed by Revenge Game #2.

  • Rickky

    I'm anxiously waiting for George Cain's take. He's a thinker.

  • SteveFromYellowstone

    With the Saints and Packers both being eliminated, that gets rid of the Pat's biggest competion (although the Giants should still pose quite a challenge). But while this is great for the Pat's chances of winning the Super Bowl, it will mean that even if they win 45-10 in the next 2 games, making them champions, Felger & Mazz will declare that the Pats SUCK because they didn't beat the best teams out there. Of course when it was the Pats having a great regular season and losing in the first playoff game, the entire 14-2 regular seasons was dismissed as meaningless. No way will Felger apply that same standard to his beloved Green Bay Packers.

  • ben

    I think a fair storyline after this weekends' games will be "can an offense heavy team have playoff success?"

  • mandb97

    I know I maybe saying something that a lot of you may already know, but it seems incredible that not only do some in the local media have jobs but there are some who actually think these people are credible. One example is Michael Felger, who all this week with his pet parrot told us that if the weather is cold and windy, we should not like the chances of the Patriots. When he was informed of all the recent victories in bad weather, Felger said those were snow games and those don't count. Yeah, Mike the Bears game had lite flurries. By the way the Patriots looked truly awful last night in the cold and wind.

    After the Patriots game all Felger's main points were how Tom Brady looked vulnerable after his interception but Denver did not take advantage of it. There was no mention that the Patriots defense had something to do it. He then went on to talk about Tebow and how all pro-Tebow fans were correct. In the same breath, Felger says fans should not get to excited because Denver is not a great offense. Felger then has Troy Brown and Ty Law talk about what the Ravens can do that will defeat the Patriots. I wonder what he would have said if the Ravens actually lost. We hear nothing about what the Patriots can do to the Ravens. I guess it's a hopeless cause because the Ravens are just ten times better than the Patriots. The only thing the fans can hope for is that Patriots get in a shootout.

    If you wanted an alternative there is the second coming of Einstein, Steve Burton. Burton actually asked Scott Zolak the following, "Do you think any of the Patriots will be fined or suspended for the skirmish after the Brady quick kick?" Zolak looked at Burton like many other people who talk to him do, like he had four heads and said, "for what?"

    Back to Felger, tonight he had Troy Brown and the always objective Ron Borges and Dan Shaughnessy. Again, the same stuff as last night, with Borges basically calling the Patriots a bunch of ballerinas who will lose to real men who play a mans style of football. Shaughnessy again has told us we learned nothing because Denver is not a good team. Earlier in the week he stated this will be a tough game.

    It's frustrating as someone who wants good analysis of the local teams that the majority of high profile media people are so inept at their job. They are paid to stir the pot only, intelligent talk be damned. What's funny is when these same media personalities complain about athletes who are paid a lot but under perform. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

    • tl;138

      RE: The Ravens. We've been watching the Pats play all season long and know what they're bringing to the table. I don't mind a talk show host talking about how the Ravens can beat the Pats. They haven't played them this year and there's not a ton of hype surrounding the team unlike Denver.

      • latetodinner

        I don't mind it either…but how about a little balance…maybe explain how and why the pats can/will win. Each time the host shrieks about how bad the Pats defense is maybe he could shriek about how bad Joe Flacco is. We just want balance and some semblance of objectivity (or at least evenly applied subjectivity) if possible.

      • mandb97

        I do agree that we should hear opinions on what the Ravens can and should do but how letting us know what the Patriots can do against the Ravens. I do not want to hear that the Patriots will win if they get in a shootout and leave it at that, which the majority of media will do. I will say Troy Brown has added a little insight on the deficiencies of the Ravens and what the Pats need to do to take advantage of it.

    • bsmfan

      I forget who was talking about it on ESPN but they did give our D credit. Instead of being "torched" at any point, they failed to capitalize on turnovers, and actually showed up. I think it was the NFL Primetime folks but don't recall exactly who.

      If you go onto various sites like Yahoo Sports, there are some great articles about how the "least impressive" win of the day has to be more. We're not Houston on D but if the Pats can do to Tebow what the Texans did to Flacco, the edge goes to us. Vegas opened the line at -7.5 and I've seen -9 already (in favor of the Pats).

      Who is Steve Burton? Doesn't sound like a NFL analyst.

      "It's frustrating as someone who wants good analysis of the local teams that the majority of high profile media people are so inept at their job. "

      It seems like once you get tenure in the "Sports Lodge", you'd have to plagiarise a work or worse in order to be kicked out–oh, wait, that doesn't even work. Sorry, but if I was caught plagiarising in college, I'd be lucky if the school kept me there. I don't know how this works for journalists because it seems like something that you'd be fired from right away.

      This also reminds me a little of the WEEI post you had a few posts back about how to fix and maybe get them back to being #1. To state the obvious, do something with Dale Arnold. You're asking for him to get a better offer somewhere else. Maybe you're fine with that but he'll help you out with the younger (and higher revenue generating, right?) demo.

      Without going into each personality, this "lets just put on the air anyone who writes or plays sports" plan that many local networks have should be challenged. Not everyone who can write can articulate themselves well in a live or studio situation; and, not everyone who played sports can articulate their points as to where you should have them on each week (Smerlas, Wiggens). Sorry, but if you think I'm wrong, you might want to see how ESPN seems to get this right most of the time.

      Is there really such a shortage of talent around here that you have nobody else to put on? I refuse to believe that. Maybe there isn't time or the resources to develop them, but as SportsHub is behind the giant CBS and CSNNE has NBC and NBCSports behind it, it's hard to imagine. I know credibility and making sure you're not putting on some blogger doesn't always work, but maybe they're happy being where they are. The competition around here is almost a joke as CSNNE looks like it's building Chucky Cheeses on Mars while NESN is still trying to figure out how the wheel works, and WEEI finally realized that it was in the byzantine era being on AM.

      Maybe the "just put the locals who write" approach works because it will fulfill the "appeal to the LCD", but I wonder if it will going forward because of all the big networks coming into play. If ESPN were to try and further penetrate into the Boston market, I think that would start shaking up the radio things much more. And, with them already producing localized segments for each of their "ESPNCITY" segments, one has to wonder if they might challenge the NBCSports regional approach by maybe getting into specific markets.

      To end on something positive, lets look at how the NHL and Hockey are covered here. WEEI ignored the Bruins for years and SportsHub said no problem. We all know that the raitings have favored SportsHub but it's become clear that it was not because of the Bruins success alone. To this day, I still think WEEI treats hockey like ESPN does, and most "analysts" are as anemic and inept as Barry Melrose. (Sorry, ESPN, but Melrose is a joke and you keep Burnside on the written side only?). Boston is unique where hockey can thrive but hopefully also a template for what works and does not work. Stick a laughing stock of "analysts" who clearly don't care for nor do anything but watch or who are inarticulate and you are asking your competition to come along and steal an audiance away.

      • mandb97

        All very good points bsm. The national media takes a beating locally, especially ESPN. There is no question there are some talent that are not so good like Chris Carter, Keyshawn Johnson and remember Trent Dilfer crying over Brett Favre retiring? They also have good analysts like Darren Woodson, Merrill Hodge and Ron Jawarski. Rich Eisen at the NFL Network is a terrific host surrounded by a bunch of buffoons like Michael Irvin.

        Locally though the majority of media are dolts. As you said they are there to cater to the LCD in which case you need to blame station management. It is a shame because I think many more want smart intelligent talk. A good example is Troy Brown. Brown the past couple of days has said Joe Flacco is not much better than Tim Tebow. He explained that if you take away his number one target he becomes befuddled. Ron Borges, Tom E.Curran and Lou Merloni jumped all over Brown saying Flacco will do what every other quarterback does against New England and get 300 yards like what they say is fact. Yeah, Troy Brown would have no clue what a good quarterback looks like.

        • bsmfan

          Want to know the funny thing on Flacco? Out of all people, Mr. Dilfer himself said just about the same thing on ESPN last night. When I tuned in to catch.. nfl highlights on sportscenter? (want to give credit here if I can) he seemed to hold Flacco in the same light as he knew he performed.

          While on Dilfer, the national media has really started to praise him, even after the "Dilfer Stat" ESPN wants to make everyone use called the TotalQBR. It does seem like he's really grown into and loves his job. Each time I see him on, it sounds like he's been watching something and has worked on making sure he can present an intelligent delivery but that anyone can understand, without the arrogance. This is just my opinion but I look forward to him.

          NFLN has.. 0 competition, right? Since you pay for the channel in the tier, I can't see it as being something you need to "compete" with someone like an ESPN. I do agree on the Jocks around him point where they don't add much value in besides the "flare" when they get all excited. On ESPN, I think they do what they can to make sure that while it's a Jock party that there is still added value. Maybe it does strip guys of their individuality, but this is what ESPN has built itself doing.

        • Winning_

          Great points bsmfan but just a couple things to clarify or disagree with.

          1) Borges did get suspended, then later fired from the Globe after the plagiarism scandal. Not saying they handled it right, but I believe he did receive "some" hand slapping.
          2) While I agree with more Dale Arnold, I disagree that he appeals to the younger demo. Dale's market is the old timers but I wish he still had a prominent voice on radio.
          3) I partially agree with your take on ESPN. They do a slightly better job than not with hiring/training ex-jocks. They have done well with the likes of Dilfer, Bruschi, Keyshawn, Schlereth yet have struck out just as much IMO with Nomar, Chris Singleton, Cris Carter, Ditka, Steve Young (speaks decent, says nothing). Some of the lousy voices remain but are often overshadowed by the ones we like.

          Great post though!

        • bsmfan

          1.) Thanks on the clarification. I just stated it because I'm not sure how another outlet (unless it's starting up or willing to overlook) would hire a person who do did that.

          2.) Thinking about it, I'd agree. I think he'd appeal to more but if the only approach to "getting younger" is to Beavis and Buttheadatize your show, I'll stick with what WEEI has right now.

          3.) The key I wanted to portray (which you mentioned) is that they clearly evaluate the jocks there and also seem to develop their talent. How long would a Wiggens or Smerlas last there? Longest I could see ESPN tolerating would be a short 2-minute off-topic segment with a show like first take. I wish more local networks excercised the same discretion but maybe like non-jock talent, if they are this good, ESPN/large network will throw a large contract at them that a local network cannot afford.

        • Winning_

          You don't like Keyshawn? I always thought he was pretty good, way better than agenda driven Cris Carter. I always thought KJ would give credit where its due unlike Ditka, CC, and TJ. Agree to disagree I guess.

        • mandb97

          Good point on Johnson, I think maybe he sometimes gets lost with some of the knucklehead voices on the pregame show which is why I am critical. But your right, he is not the worst of the bunch. I have no idea how I forgot Steve Young. Why does ESPN need 37 people on their pregame show? How about three, maybe four for the show?

        • Winning_

          Exactly, I never usually watch the countdown show cuz theres too much useless noise. Between Bermans preambles, Ditka somehow getting a Bears reference in, Cris Carter hating on someone, and TJ talking Broncos.

        • Steve

          You forgot about TJ hating the Patriots. If you're using your "pick" to motivate a sports team that you cover, you are not a professional and should not be on the air. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/20/t…

  • bsmfan

    BTW, we now don't own the worst regular season to post season one-and-done. That now belongs to the Greenbay Packers at 15-1. What an egg they laid there. Can't wait for the breakdowns but Green Bay didn't bother showing up on this one, and, unfortunately, the Giants seem content on defending the "elite" part of 3rd-string Manning.

  • Sands

    Other topics of discussion this week:
    - Defense wins championships. Saints and Packers lost. Patriots are in trouble.
    - Patriots are a finesse team. Patriots are in trouble.
    - McDaniels had tapes on the Broncos. They won't have that for the Ravens. Patriots are in trouble.
    - Defense got lucky against Tebow. They haven't stopped anybody of consequence, run or pass. Patriots are in trouble.
    - They ran up the score. Classless. Why were the starters playing in the fourth quarter?
    - They had Brady punt the ball as a message to Mesko that they won't pay him. This team doesn't pay it's players. Cap is crap.
    - Welker. Will this be his last game? Will he be distracted? They won't pay him. This team doesn't pay it's players. Cap is crap.
    - Aaron Hernandez and Wes Welker circa 2009 comparisons. Patriots are in trouble with an injured Aaron.
    - Injury report shenanigans. Patriots will not report Aaron Hernandez injury correctly, to make sure he can play this weekend.

    Stay sane and stay away from sports radio this week.

  • Tom

    It is amusing, the lengths to which some of these guys will go, to not give them credit.

    Part of the reason is their crazy belief that there are ONLY two kinds of opinion:
    - Being negative, which they describe as 'objective'.
    - Or 'pom-pom waving' which means you have said something positive about the team.

    Those are the only two things you can be, in their minds. Borges is always my favorite. Last week, he literally said about Denver regarding their 18pt loss to the Pats in December, "if you take away the 3 turnovers… and you can't…. but if not for that, they played them even." Last night he is telling us that the Pats win is not that impressive because Denver stinks. Way to stay consistent, Borges.

    These games are about match-ups, so for that reason, I don't take the Ravens lightly agt all. Houston might be a difficult match-up whereas the Pats might be easier for them, you never know. That said, they hung on to beat a Texans team, missing oms ekey ingredients, AND made a couple of huge unforced errors.

  • Tony

    Regarding Felger: the Comcast show he hosts on Sunday nights is a complete joke when it comes to Patriots coverage, as he ROUTINELY trots out known anti-Patriot hacks Shaughnessy (who still knows NOTHING about football all these years later) and Borges. And Borges' act last night was precious. As someone else here has mentioned, he trotted out the "tough team against soft team" nonsense, calling the Patriots soft (they may be an offense-first team these days, but the 2011 team showed they could take punches and hit back hard—unlike the teams of the previous 3 or 4 years). Then he trotted out the "PIttsburgh and the Giants are the only good teams they've played and they lost both games" stuff, without providing any context, such as the Spikes/Chung injuries and the borderline P.I. calls that cost them the Giants game. The fact that Felger trots out Borges and Shank on Sunday nights to "analyze" the Patriots just proves that he's more interested in aggravating and getting a rise out of Pats fans than he is interested in having his show provide true analysis. What a tool.

  • Walt

    Appalling to put in Hernandez at running back at the end and run him into the teeth of a goal line defense. I know Belichick never takes his foot off the pedal but that was just plain stupid regardless of whether Hernandez is injured or not.

    • mandb97

      What would you have said if Hernandez had been injured receiving a pass? Football players play football and they get hurt. It has already happened to Hernandez twice as a receiver. What difference does it make if he does it as a back or receiver?

  • latetodinner

    Great Post above mandb…to add to your insight…I was out driving Sunday at different times and heard all sorts of ridiculous chatter from different people saying

    - the Patriots can't use the same game plan to beat the Ravens…because clearly the Patriots only use one game plan and don't have the flexibility and smarts to game plan for each opponent…it has only bee their trademark for 11 years now.

    - The Patriots can't beat the Ravens who are too good on defense. Of course the last I looked the Ravens sucked on the road this year, the Pats are 6-0 against them in the regular season all time and save one bad game 3 years ago when Welker was out because of a busted up knee, Moss dogged it with only 5 catches (Edelman lead the team that day), Ben Watson was the TE with one catch and Kevin Faulk was the leading rusher. Color me unimpressed with Baltimore who got lucky playing the Texans at home, and again got lucky when Jacoby Jones made one of the dumbest plays I have ever seen in a playoff game.

    - That the Patriots will b hard pressed to do the things they do with Ray Lewis and Ed Reed playing against them. My first comment is see above. My second thought is Reed has a sprained ankle…I am not sure he will play and if he does…good luck to him chasing Hernandez all over the lot. No way they put him on Gronk. As for Lewis…the guy is two steps slower than he was…they are not playing his reputation, they are playing the 36 year old LB.

    - Joe Flacco can pass for 300+ yards against this pats defense. He could but if he does that means Baltimore is playing from behind. Besides Flacco will make mistakes and the refocused Pats should take advantage of them.

    - How will the Pats stop Ray Rice. Last time they played in the playoffs Rice had an 86 yarder on the first possession and that set the tone for the game. That 2009 defense was the youngest one the Pats had used in years. Harrison, Bruschi and Vrabel had all left the team the previous offseason and the Pats were rebuilding. I have no doubt that a front 7 that includes WIlfork, Warren, Daederick, Anderson, Spikes and Mayo can stop Ray Rice. If the Pats do stop Rice…how the heck will Baltimore score enough points to keep up? They better pray the defense is as good as they think it is …and that they can bring it on the road.

    There were many more idiotic things said but I don't have the energy to recap all of them, especially those who thought they were lucky Denver played a bad game. Suffice to say…I think the Pats beat Baltimore by at least 10. I think SF beats the Giants and I have no thoughts on the SB yet.

    • mandb97

      Well done late. Right now we are hearing Felger's pet parrot telling us that all the lambs are gone and we need to worry about the Ravens. He is telling us the old tired line that the Patriots have not beat anybody worthwhile. My question is what have the Ravens showed the media that says we could have another 2009 game. The Patriots are significantly different then the team that lost to the Ravens that year. The Patriots have two of the five best TE's in football. Wes Welker is playing. There is no Lawrence Maroney. The defense as you mentioned was in the midst of a complete rebuilding. Is there still issues in the defensive backfield? Absolutely. Is Joe Montana quarterbacking Ravens? I don't think so. Do I think the Ravens have a chance to win? sure they do. Will the game be similar to 2009? of course not.

      • bsmfan

        That "oline" also allowed 5 Flacco sacks. Anyone see shades of a certain QB in green that doesn't exactly react under pressure? No, not Blane Gabbert, if you were thinking that, but I think he's in some new Pepsi commercial.

        Again, go outside the local media and there is a reason the Pats are a -7.5 favorite here. See the highlights with some of the all-22 and skycam tape when Hernandez became a runningback and they had a safety on him? Hernandez looked to be 70lbs heavier, if not more.

        (Love the matchups)

  • scott

    Merrill Hoge is a good analyst? Completely disagree—really don't respect his opinions. Anyone else think Tony Massarotti and Shaugnessy could be the Boston media's Simon and Garfunkle?

    • mandb97

      Scott I look at Hoge on Edge NFL Matchup which is a really good show. I also still feel Hoge is 100% correct on Tebow. I think Tebow has done a remarkable job of winning this year but he's truly flawed as a quarterback and Hoge was the first to be really vocal about and he is correct.

      • bsmfan

        NFL Matchups is pure porn, to me. I absolutely love that show and, to this day, do not understand why ESPN burries this at 3:00AM. On the 4th day, Thy Lord invented a DVR!

        On NFLN, AFC/NFC Matchups is also very good. They devote an hour to each conference and it's done just as well.

        On NFL Matchups, SalPal is an excellent host and love or hate Jaws, he is as good as Cosell (produces the show) on viewing tape. I think Hodge is just as good. Again, love or hate ESPN, they don't put smucks on "tape duty" since I assume NFLN wouldn't allow just anyone to view the all-22, let alone make a show around it.

  • bsmfan

    Rome–I mean Green Bay–is burning.
    http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/reality-fi…

    —
    Excerpt:

    Green Bay – Somewhere between the turnovers and the awful pass defense and the dropped balls and the boos that deservedly rained down on the Green Bay Packers as they sought halftime refuge, the mind drifted back to the idyllic and possibility-filled summer of 2011.

    This was going to be the calendar year when our little ol' state ruled the sporting world. The Brewers were going to the World Series. The Badgers were going to win it all. And the Packers were surely going to repeat as Super Bowl champions.

    Is it just me, or did it feel like a nuclear winter of reality blew in Sunday?

    But, hey, at least we've got Miss America.

    —-

    I forget the press here as I avoided much of it, but I assume it was the same.

    On the article above, check out some of the comments. It looks like this "DOOM AND GLOOM" journalism is an epidemic everywhere.

    First comment:
    ——

    Illinois Packer Back – Today at 4:10 PM – Report Abuse
    0 0
    You remind me of Mike Imrem, down here in Illinois. He is negative about everything as well. Of course, he doesn't do anything in sports except write his opinion. Does anyone up there read your drivel? Questions that should be asked: Why that first onside kick? Do you wish, now, Mike McCarthy that you had not given so much of the team the time off in the game against Detroit? The team wasn't ready for the playoffs but that does not take away from the successes during the year.

    (My take: Did Ron Borges relocate to Green Bay?)
    ———-

    If you're into this type of Schadenfreude, sbnation/independent blogs are rife with this stuff:
    http://www.acmepackingcompany.com/2012/1/15/27098…

    Enjoy.

  • http://twitter.com/awesomeneil @awesomeneil

    This has easily been the least enjoyable 14-3 AFC Championship round season of all time. On a weekly basis since November 13, the Patriots win, and then the media tells us how bad they are.

    - Their defense sucks.

    - They don't have an outside receiver to stretch the field.

    - They don't have a good running game.

    - These slow starts will catch up to them one of these weeks.

    - Brady has to worry about the defense and it hampers his effectiveness.

    - The schedule has as bunch of "tuna cans" (copyright Tony Asserotti) so these wins all mean nothing.

    The last one bothers me the most. Beating the Jets twice, apparently, means now nothing because they finished with a losing record. Winning on the road in Philly means nothing. Beating the Cowboys means nothing. The Jets 5-3 and tied in the standings when the Pats beat them.

    So even if they beat the teams they're supposed to beat, they still lost in the media because all of the above mentioned flaws. It's almost like the media is frustrated that they can't have the "Patriots lost to Tuna Can; See? We Were Right!" storyline. I hope they win the whole friggin' thing and Belichick tells every media "personality" to shove it when it's over.

  • Doc Michaels

    Borges' worst comment was that the Ravens would win if it's a "street fight." The Patriots would win if it's a "pillow fight." Again, can someone explain to me why people keep putting him on the air? Do they think people will tune in just to hear his anti-Patriot rant week after week?

    Re: Felger. The other hilarious comment he made the other night was "chalk one up for defense" when the 49ers beat the Saints. Did he even watch the game? Seriously. The 49ers played zero defense, and won the game because their offense twice ran down the field in the waning minutes. They won because they had the ball last. Ridiculous.

  • mandb97

    I have to give credit when it is deserved and yes Steve Buckley of the Boston Herald gets some credit. Last night on CSNNE Buckley actually broke down the differences between the 2009 Patriots and the 2011 Patriots. He did it in detail and with accuracy. I was flabbergasted but enjoyed it.

    I was also pleased by a caller on the Felger and Maz show who called out the dim duo for always being quick to criticize the Patriots but rarely give praise. The caller said that F&M are contrarian for no other reason then ratings. He also said to Felger something that I have been saying forever, that is, Michael Felger does not believe half the things he says. It was a great moment.

    P.S. I will give F&M credit for letting the caller make his point. Glenn Ordway would have cut the caller off and gone on a half-hour diatribe on how dumb the caller was.

  • mandb97

    Late, that is true about Hoge, although I think he has gotten a little better in not showing as much bias. Speaking of bias, Kordell Stewart was sending roses at the feet of the Ravens without giving any information what the Ravens can do to stop the tight ends. He also feels that the Patriots have no running ability which is truly a crock.

    • latetodinner

      I can't listen to Stewart…I am not sure he understood the game when he played and I doubt he understands it any better now. As for the Pats perceived lack of a running game…I find that kind of funny when as a team they averaged over 4 yards a carry this year. The running game is secondary to the passing game but it exists. Its not like GB's.

    • bsmfan

      Complete agree here. Take Hoge, Stewart and Richie, and it's almost obvious how fast they pick against the Pats. At least mask it with some legit criticism but when you get them on "less analytical" shows like First Take, it's rampant how fast this stuff just flows.

      Most of the time, they atleast back it up with some facts instead of the Fred "Why is the Ravens charter headed into Logan instead to Hawaii, Florida or wherever their off-season plans are? Smerlas.

  • Winning_

    Anyone listen to F&M today when they were discussing how successful the Brady Belichick duo has been over the last 11 years with 6 years making it to the AFC championship. Aren't these the same two who routinely mock Patriots fans for talking about the past success and how it plays nothing into this year. Also they then bring up the last two years failings telling us it has a direct correlation. I wish I had time to call up and call them out. This angered me to no end today. How phony a duo in town to finally praise the regime and how successful when 95% of their air-time is spent chastising the way they do business.

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