“You know, when we’re in those situations [holding a big lead] we tend to back off a little bit because that’s just what we do. Their motto might be different.”–Redskins QB Jason Campbell

“I told him, ‘You need to show some respect for the game.’ You just don’t do that. I don’t care how bad it is. You’re up 35 points and you’re still throwing deep? That’s no respect.”–Redskins LB Randall Godfrey

Jason, let me start with you. If you have the ability to “back off a bit” while playing an NFL game, perhaps that explains why Tom Brady is undefeated and you are not. Intensity and the drive to win are not like switches, Jason. You don’t turn them on and off. You either have that intensity, or you don’t. You want to know what intensity is, Jason? It’s when your team is up by 38 points in the fourth quarter and it’s third and two and the center gets called for false start and all of a sudden it’s third and seven. Were you paying attention to Tom Brady when this happened? Did you see him start to swear? Did you see how pissed off he was? The score was 38-0 in his benefit. Was he letting up? No. You know why not? He can’t. It’s not his nature. It’s why he’s 8-0, Jason, and a 3-time Super Bowl winner. Maybe instead of pointing out how you’d be letting up in that situation, you should be apologizing about the fact that you’d let up, ever, in any situation.

Four plays later the score was 45-0.

How about this, Jason. What exactly do you want Roosevelt Colvin to do when you can’t manage to hold onto the ball at your own 11-yard line? Should he just pick it up and hand it back to you, maybe say, “Hey man, we’re backing off, okay?” Any self-respecting football player is going to run that ball in. You don’t like it, play better. That’s all there is to say. Man up and play better, or shut up. (I’m sorry, here I was, intending to help you out, and I’ve just gone and gotten snarky. My bad.)

As for you, Mr. Godfrey (is that enough respect? Do you prefer another title?), for you to talk about respecting the game of football to the man who has made it his life’s work to refine the sport to such a high level that the likes of you are left gasping in his wake, well, how about this. Instead of talking about respect, you can just go out there and play the game and show how much YOU respect the game of football by not disgracing it by losing 52-7. (Your stat line is mighty impressive, with all those zeros following that one tackle of yours.) Just a suggestion.

“Just from watching film during the last few weeks, New England has always played from the first through the fourth quarter. That’s just their mentality; I don’t think it’s them trying to rub it in.”–James Thrash, Redskins WR

“It’s our job to keep them off the board. This is football, it’s a competitive sport.”–Pierson Prioleau, Reskins S, on whether the Patriots ran up the score

There is no mercy rule in the NFL. You’re playing with the big boys now. Some of the Redskins understand this. The rest of them should just get about the business of preparing for the Jets.

When the schedule came out this year I looked at this game as one of the more interesting non divisional games on the slate. It is not because I thought the Skins would be a powerhouse this year or I thought the Patriots would be looking ahead to the Colts match up the following week. It was more a sense of the unknown. There is not a huge history between the teams and the last time they played was back in 2003, a Patriots loss. Their last loss before they won an NFL record 21 straight games.

I really do think it will be the toughest game to date. Joe Gibbs has turned on the good old boy charm and come out to say he just doesn’t know how his team stands a chance. Aww shucks Joe, I ain’t sure you got a chance against them fellas up north. Might as well just pack it up and go home, right?

Joe, you are a Hall of Fame coach. You have won three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks and made Timmy Smith a trivia question instead of just a drug dealer. While I’m not sure if you are trying to motivate your own team or to lull the Pats into a state of complacency, I can tell you, the second one isn’t happening.

The Redskins bring the fifth-ranked defense, allowing just 14.7 points per game. This is the first defense the Pats will face that brings a physical hard nosed style of play. The secondary is very good, and the safeties, LaRon Landry and Jason Taylor, are both heavy hitters with a lot of athletic ability. The Patriots are clearly a throwing team and it remains to be seen how they react if they have trouble moving the ball through the air. That said, there are only so many guys you can cover. Does Washington try and muscle around Randy Moss and Wes Welker off the line? If so, maybe Kevin Faulk is open all game long as the secondary focuses on the receivers. There are a lot of different ways this can go.

The injury report is short, but there are a couple of significant names on there. The health of Ben Watson is a concern, as he did not practice all week. Expect him to miss the game. If Kyle Brady and Marcellus Rivers can slide into his role effectively, they could have big days. Sammy Morris will most likely also be out, and his hard running will be missed against a team like Washington.

So far the Patriots offense has been able to dictate the tempo of the entire game. They are going to have to get in their groove early to do that this week. The offensive line is playing great and if they continue to give Brady the time he has had this season, the receivers may find themselves open late in their routes. Against a physical defense like Washington, I would not be surprised to see the Pats spread them out with 4 receiver formations.

On defense, the poor tackling from the last game was a focus for the team, so expect a better effort this week. The Patriots typically give young quarterbacks a hard time, although not always by applying pressure. Jason Campbell may find that the New England defense is taking away the things he is most comfortable doing and forcing him to make the play. The speed and big play ability of Santana Moss is no secret to the Patriots, as they faced him twice a year when he was with the Jets. Expect him to draw some extra coverage. Chris Cooley should also get some extra attention, as his is an athletic tight end who they line up all over the place. He is actually leading the team in TD catches, so watch for him to be a focus in the red zone.

Aside from Santana Moss, the receivers are not a great bunch. Old friend Reche Caldwell is back, and I would not mind seeing Rodney get a nice clean shot at him for the lack of basic receiving skills Reche showed in last years AFC Championship. Maybe that’s just me being bitter, but I think people want to know if you hit Reche hard enough, how far out will his eyes actually go?

The other note to watch prior to the game, is who the Patriots activate. They have an open roster spot, having just cut DL Santonio Thomas. Thomas will most likely end up back on the practice squad and the move was made to make space on the roster. The Pats could choose to activate receiver Chad Jackson or safety Eddie Jackson, both having just come off the PUP. I think they might be leaning towards Eddie Jackson, as Eugene Wilson is dinged up, again, and they might be looking for some depth.

The unknown always makes me a little uneasy, and this game has a lot of the unknown. First you have an unfamiliar opponent. Also in the category of the unknown is; will I get to see the game in its entirety? See, I will be at this game; one of the perks of working for a company that has a luxury box at Gillette and guests in town to entertain. Normally I am one of those sports hermits that almost prefer to watch the game at home, where I can jump around and yell at the TV like an idiot. Amy doesn’t care, she knew going in that I was an idiot with a Pats addiction. She embraced this years ago and has since drunk gallons of the Kool-Aid herself. The kids don’t care, they normally don’t need a reason to run around and yell like idiots. Quite frankly, the prospect of having to chat somebody up while my beloved Patriots are on the field is a little concerning. What if Randy Moss decides to raise his personal level of difficulty and catches a ball with his feet in double coverage while I am trying to sound intelligent to somebody in the luxury box. Is it acceptable public behavior to offer up some obscenity laden cheer like I suffer from Tourette’s while running around pumping my fists?

That said, the Patriots are playing at a very high level and they are as focused as I have ever seen a team. I will do my part and focus on giving you all a ‘from the game’ recap sometime after the game [delays due to the Sox in the World Series not withstanding]. It should be a good test for the team and I am sure Bill has them as prepared as ever.

Week 7: Pats @ Dolphins Wrap Up: A Mauling in Miami

There is a lyric in the song Freedom by Rage Against the Machine where Zach de la Rocha whispers “Anger is a Gift,” right before the band pummels the listener with a sonic assault. I found myself thinking of this as I watched the Patriots systematically dismantle another professional football team Sunday. I thought perhaps the fans of this remarkable Patriots team should actually be thanking Roger Goodell and the media feeding frenzy that followed the videotaping incident earlier this year for the gift they gave our team. The Patriots are mad and they are going to take it out on the unfortunate souls who line up against them each week.

The game was well in hand before the end of the first half, when Brady and the offense marched down the field 71 yards in 1:31. The score at the time was 35-7. Brady ran a fake spike and tried to hit Moss for what would have been his third TD of the day. It was a little long and Moss could not come down in bounds, although he did still catch the ball–with one hand. Moss had already caught two TD bombs from Brady, a 35-yard in double coverage and a 50-yard, also in double coverage. The Patriots don’t care if you think they are running up the score. After the miss to Moss, Brady just lined them up and hit Welker for a 14-yard TD to make it 42-7 at the half.

After Brady finally came out of the game in the fourth quarter, Matt Cassel threw an interception to Jason Taylor, who returned it for a touchdown, making the score 42-21. Cassel goes back to the bench and Brady comes back out to dissect Miami’s rotting carcass of a defense 59 yards down the field for another TD to make it 49-21. The drive was much like the rest of the game when New England had the ball. They did what they wanted on offense when they wanted to. It was almost like a intrasquad scrimmage, where you line the defense up how you want so you can practice your timing.

The final score was 49-28, but it was never that close. New England flew down to Miami, where they have traditionally played poorly, and absolutely destroyed the Dolphins. They showed no mercy and no desire to let up at any point. You get the feeling that they are no longer simply trying to win the game, but instead to pummel their opponent into a state of awe. These are Zach Thomas‘ words after the game:

“They’re stacked, and they spread the ball all over the field. Today Wes (Welker) and Randy Moss, they just ate us up. When (Tom) Brady was in there, we couldn’t stop them. They are stacked, and they gave Brady a lot of help this year. They really took it to us. Everything worked for them, and we couldn’t make a play and we couldn’t get them out of rhythm. We’re not very good on defense, and they’re really good on offense. They have a really good team, and they just showed today what they can do, especially in the first half. It snowballed, and what are you doing to do?”

What are you going to do? You are part of this NFL that pissed off a group of highly motivated, extremely talented, and very prideful New England Patriots. You go into the game after having traded your best receiver, starting a second string quarterback with a name that sounds like a summertime mixed drink, and an aging defense. You are now the victim of a team that has had a constant stream of attacks on their dynasty. A team that plays with a chip on their shoulder even when they are heavily favored. A team that is now very angry. And you are in trouble. There is no mercy from the New England Patriots this year.

The Sox are just killing the pregame analysis over here, aren’t they? And before you cry foul, this is a football blog, let me assure you that we are Patriots first, Sox second. Case in point, I knit half a sock during last night’s elimination game. When the Patriots are in the playoffs? No knitting whatsoever. (Yes, a girl can be completely into football and also knit. I am multi-talented and can turn a heel while discoursing intelligently about the defense, or making fun of Ass-drooble Cabrera’s name, for that matter.)

Still, we live in New England, and Sox fandom (and suffering) is imprinted on our DNA. We’ve been doing our part, listening to the Drop Kick Murphys, the disc with Tessie on it, no less. We tried to explain the history of the song to our five-year-old. In the middle of that, Chris figured he needed to explain the history of the Nation’s suffering. (In 2004, I’d tried to explain 86 years by telling Boy the First that the last time the Sox had won it all, his great-grandmother was just about his age.) Our kids have no idea. Boy the First was born two months before the Pats won their first Super Bowl. Next thing you know, the Sox and the Pats are champions at the same time. They don’t know from suffering.

So we’re explaining the song, and Boy the First isn’t quite understanding it, so I’m trying to explain the concept of superstitions, especially as applies to baseball players and athletes in general, and Boy the First asks, “What’s the Patriots’ song?”

“They don’t need a song,” Chris says forcefully. “They dominate.”

“Shut up!” I say, trying to cover up his hubris before the Sports Gods heard him. “You don’t say the D word! Just like you don’t say the U word! Do you need more Kool-Aid?” I went on, as if I’d been taught at Belichick’s knee. “The Dolphins’ defense always gives Brady a tough time.”

“It’s a division game, on the road,” Chris continued.

“That’s right.” I nodded, hoped the Sports Gods were appeased, and went back to listening to Tessie.

And that’s your pregame analysis. The Dolphins’ defense always gives Brady a tough time. It’s a division game, on the road. (I still think we’ll come out on the better side of the U word.)

I have hours of New England sports ahead of me today, people. I expect to be well ahead on my sock count by the end of the day.

Go Sox.

Go Pats.

*Not strictly true. I’m holding out for Tommy.

According to Yahoo! Sports, Tom Brady was fined for…are you ready…it’s shocking:

Not properly buckling his chin strap.

Details here.

Just an FYI: The Pats-Cowboys drubbing will be shown on NFL Network tonight at 8 pm. Getcha popcorn ready.

Ok, more like five seconds. But look–we’re the blog of the day over at Bleacher Bloggers. Check it out here.

Thanks, guys.

Last night with first quarter sack of Tony Romo, Rodney Harrison set the record most sacks ever by a defensive back with 29.5 for his career. This was not mentioned during the telecast at all, and that is too bad. He has plenty of critics, but Rodney is one of the best safeties of his generation. Period.

Congratulations, Rodney. Keep the hits coming.

The Cowboys are what I thought they were. They are what I thought they were! Thank you Dennis Green. No, it has no bearing on the game at all, but who gets tired of watching the youtube clip?

With all the hype and build up, this game was interesting for a while, but in the second half New England grabbed the Cowboys by the throat and choked the life out of them. This team is playing with a ruthless drive I have never seen before. The garbage time TD to Kyle Eckel may not have been necessary, but to a team that is playing with a chip on their shoulder and a perceived lack of respect stemming from the media circus that was the ’spygate’ baloney, it was just another way for them to show that they are the best and if you have a problem with it, you can try and stop it.

I have a hard time grasping how talented this team is. Lawrence Maroney was inactive again. Sammy Morris and Benjamin Watson both went out with injuries. Matt Light was recovering from the flu and he played like it. Randy Moss was the focus of the defense and not able to bust it open like he has been. On most teams if your starting RB is out and his back up goes down early along with your starting TE, and your left tackle is not 100%, you are going to have some problems facing a 5-0 team on the road. The Patriots are not most teams. Wes Welker blows up and finishes the day with 11 catches, 124 yards, two touchdowns and boatload of respect from the Dallas defense. Donte Stallworth snags seven catches for 136 yards and the longest Patriot touchdown this season. Oh, and Tom Brady throws for five touchdowns and 388 yards and goes home to Giselle.

The run game was not overpowering but it was effective. Kevin Faulk again showed why he is one of the greatest Patriots ever. His stats never blow you away, but when a play needs to be made, he is there. The Dallas pass rush put some pressure on Brady, as Wade Phillips knows the only hope to beat Tom Brady is to try and get in his face. Of course, Tom Brady is one of the best two or three quarterbacks ever under pressure. So live by the sword, die by the sword. As a result of the injuries at running back and the pressure, New England ran a bunch of screens and controlled the ball and eventually the game.

Although Dallas took a brief lead in the third quarter, I never had the feeling that New England was not in control of the game. The defense played well against an explosive offense, although Marion Barber gave them some trouble. Can a Dallas fan please explain to me why that guy is not starting and Julius Jones is not your 3rd down back? It is plain to see Barber is the better back. The New England defense did a solid job on the original 81, holding him to six catches and a touchdown. Jason Witten was more the focal point of the defensive game plan. They beat him up coming off the line the entire game and he never became a factor. He can be so dangerous in the middle of the field and running from the slot, they wanted to neutralize his effect on the offensive flow.

So the ranks of undefeated drop to two, and the rest of the league has a game plan to stop the Dallas offense. New England travels to Miami next week, where they always have problems, and I think I can hear Bill telling the troops that they are the best 0-6 team he has ever seen.

So, Chris is much better at the analytical pregame breakdown stuff, but what you have right here, folks, is two bloggers completely done in by yet another Sox playoff game that went on for freaking forever. It would be nice if they’d lose in a decent amount of time and give their fans a break (and some sleep). I lost my fight with consciousness when it was still tied, so as far as I know…but I have to say, thank you, Joe Buck, for pointing out that the Red Sox have the longest average playoff games in MLB from 2004 on. If y’all know that, why the hell are you starting them at 8:30 pm EST? Just saying.

So, right, no snappy pregame analysis here. The best I can do is say I hope the defense makes Romo look at least as silly as the Bills’ defense managed to do, and I expect neither 81 to have a day full of big plays. Belichick is too good at taking out the other team’s favorite weapon, and I figure Wade will do the same. Yet, even when Randy isn’t making the big catches, he’s still out there, drawing coverage and opening up the rest of the field. We’ll see what Owens is doing when he’s not making big plays. Did you notice how pissed off he looked for most of that Bills game last week? Steve Young can talk about Owens’ increased maturity all he wants, but I’m pretty sure Owens is only mature when (1) his team is winning, and (2) he’s getting the ball. I’m so disappointed we didn’t get to see him revert to form last week after all.

So I’ll leave you with more evidence of why Stuart Scott is dropping fast in my list of Sports Guys I Like. In the latest issue of ESPN The Magazine, in his Two-Way column, he has this to say:

I still put Montana, Marino and Elway first in any overall category [of quarterbacks]. Peyton Manning will likely join them once he gets done.

Smart J.C. from Texas asks, What about Tom Brady, Stuart?

If Randy Moss stays healthy and focused for another four years, then so will Brady. (Obviously it’s all about the stats for Scott.) But what sets Peyton apart is he’s the QB with the closest thing to an offensive coordinator’s mind in the league.

I’m pretty sure whatever is in Brady’s football mind, it’s so complex, Scott wouldn’t even be able to recognize it, never mind describe it all pithy like. I’m not saying Manning doesn’t have an amazing football mind. But is he somehow set apart from and superior to Brady in that regard?

Maybe in Stuart Scott’s “closest thing to a reductive and simple sportswriter’s mind in the business.”

That is all. Enjoy the game.