You know what they say about the “Payback” or as the Late Great Godfather Of Soul James Brown used to put it “The Big Payback.” In week two of the NFL season after a week of telling the media how unimpressed he was with Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and his team New York Jets rookie head coach Rex Ryan defeated New England 16-9. The victory would give New York possession of first place at 2-0 a game ahead of the Patriots and the newest scrappy underdogs of the NFL. Quarterback Mark Sanchez was being compared to “Broadway Joe Namath” and he was going to lead the Jets to the Super Bowl.

 In week eleven the picture has changed quite a bit; the Jets came into their second match-up of the year against New England with more losses than wins. Ryan is no longer considered a genius and the comparisons between Namath and Sanchez stopped long ago. The starting quarterback for New York now has thrown six more interceptions than he has touchdowns for the season as he threw four passes that were intercepted against the Patriots en route to a 31-14 loss.

The much maligned New England defense came up big against the Jets especially veteran corner back Leigh Bodden who intercepted Sanchez passes three different times during the game once for a touchdown in the first quarter. The rookie did not have a good day against the Patriots as he completed just 8/21 for a total of 136 yards with 1 touchdown and 4 picks in the game. New England quarterback Tom Brady had a much nicer afternoon as he completed 28/41 for a total of 310 yards with 1 touchdown.

New England also got two touchdowns via the running game as Laurence Maroney crossed the goal line twice in the contest. He would make a two yard dash in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 21-0 lead and then would have New England’s last touchdown of the day in the fourth quarter as he ran one yard for the score.

This was a much needed win for the Patriots for a myriad of reasons many of them having to do with their collapse agaisnt the Indianapolis Colts last Sunday night in a game that should have been an airtight victory. Because of that collapse NFL observers questioned Belichick’s decision making as well as the caliber of the New England defense. This game against their Division rival showed what that defense still is capable of.

The Patriots after the victory now have a record of 7-3 and will play next Monday night and will be in the Superdome to take on the still undefeated New Orleans Saints. The Jets are now 4-6 and will host Carolina who will also enter the game with a 4-6 record.

© Copyright 2009 thesackattack

A botched 4th down made matters worse, and Luke SkyWelker has been sent on a mission to rescue his friends Han Brady and Princess Gisele from the clutches of the vile gangster Jabba the Rex.

It is a dark time for the Patriot rebellion, and SkyWelker is the only hope.

The Dana-Farber Cancer Institute holiday cards, candles, and ornaments 2009 collection is on sale to benefit adult and pediatric cancer care and research through the Jimmy Fund. There are a total of 9 different card designs in this holiday collection. Highlights include original artwork of New England scenes, as well as New England Patriots and Boston Red Sox themed designs. New this season are e-cards and customized photo cards, which will be produced by Vistaprint. Last year’s holiday cards will be sold at special sale prices.

This year’s collection includes a Patriot’s Mailbox ornament and a limited edition Patriot’s Holiday candle in bayberry scent Aunt Sadie’s Candle, which burns for over seventy hours. The themed card design is New England’s Patriot’s Winter.

Proceeds from sales benefit Dana-Farber through its Jimmy Fund. Visit jimmyfund.org/holidaygreetings, to view the entire 2009 holiday line and make a purchase. Imprinting of company logos and customized messages are available for inside the cards and on envelopes for an additional fee. Call Monica Zurlinden at 617-582-7724 to place an imprinting order. Orders will be accepted until January, 2009. Starting November 1, the entire collection will be sold in the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute lobby at 44 Binney Street in Boston from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m.

Founded in 1948, the Jimmy Fund has been an official charity of the Boston Red Sox since 1953. It supports the fight against cancer at Boston’s Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, which is a leading cancer research and care center for adults and children. Unrestricted support from the Jimmy Fund is an integral part of Mission Possible: The Dana-Farber Campaign to Conquer Cancer, a $1 billion capital campaign to accelerate cancer research, speed development of life-saving therapies, and expand the Institute’s signature patient- and family-centered care.

Hold on.

I agree, it was a helluva risky call. With about two feet to go, and deep in their own territory, the penalties for not completing the play were harsh: the Colts, rich with time-outs, would regain possession almost in the red zone. In that case, the winning touchdown was nearly inevitable. Why take such a chance?

But think about it. If you were coaching a team – name any team – facing such a situation with Tom Brady on the other side of the scrimmage line, what would you do? Tom Brady could be standing in his own end zone and with nearly two minutes to go, nobody would bet against his ability to march the ball down the field and make that necessary score. With time to spare.

Of course, those of us die-hard Patriots seem incapable of imbuing any other quarterback with Tom’s magic, but if there were one who could invoke the same nightmare scenario, it would be Peyton Manning. Punt the ball into next week and Manning, with enough time, could get it home.

Belichick’s decision was dangerous, yes, but not stupid. It was a calculated gamble, one that unfortunately didn’t pay off. Had it succeeded, Patriot’s Nation would be gleefully proclaiming that we knew all along he could do it.

Great coaches, and great teams, don’t play it safe. They don’t play it dumb either but that’s not what this was. Let’s all hope for the rule of unintended consequences to kick in. Forget playoff home field advantage for a minute. Let’s imagine that this heartbreaking loss has made the competitive fires burn even more fiercely. Let’s hope that the lesson learned is to avoid being in such a situation in the first place. A game was lost but not the season, and when payback comes, as it will, it will be all the sweeter.

© Peaco Todd

A few years from now when Peyton Manning is inducted into the NFL Hall Of Fame there is a good probability that the game the Indianapolis Colts played against the New England Patriots on November 15, 2009 will be brought up. They will talk about how he marched his team repeatedly down the field in the fourth quarter to score 21 points and would score 14 points in the last 2:27 of play and came back and defeated the Patriots 35-34 in front of the home crowd at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Patriots looked like they were heading for a huge win as they led 34-21; however running back Joseph Addai ran four yard over the goal line with 2:27 left to play. After Matt Stover kicked the ball through the goal posts it was a 34-28 contest. New England got the ball back with 2:23 remaining and all they had to do was control possession of the ball for the rest of the game. They failed miserably going four plays and out and running just 23 seconds off the clock.

The Colts would regain possession on the Patriots 29 yard line and every person in that stadium knew what was going to happen. Four plays later Manning hit Reggie Wayne with a one yard pass for the touchdown to tie the contest. Matt Stover once again kicked the ball through the uprights and with 13 seconds to play Indy had a 35-34 lead. Patriots QB Tom Brady threw a 9 yard pass to Wes Welker and New England would see time run out with them with the ball back at their own 29.

What Manning was able to accomplish in that fourth quarter was astonishing; however the way the Patriots defense fell apart was despicable. New England would blow leads of 31-14 and then 34-21 in the fourth quarter; as prolific a passer as Peyton Manning is you can not give up 21 points in a quarter and 14 points in 2:27 and possibly contend for a NFL Championship.

Both Manning and New England quarterback Tom Brady are not afraid to go for the back breaking plays so you will always see these two men throw picks even in their best games. The reason is they tread where most of their peers are afraid to go. It is having the confidence in your abilities that even if you make mistakes you have enough talent to compensate for them. Manning and Brady both had games like that Sunday night; one would think that when they face each other it elevates both players games.

Manning completed 28/44 for a total of 327 yards with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Brady was 28/41 behind center for 366 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 pick. Manning threw two touchdown passes to Reggie Wayne and one each to Joseph Addai and Pierre Garcon. Addai also got another touchdown on the ground for the Colts.

Brady hit his favorite receiver Randy Moss two times for touchdowns. He also threw a touchdown pass to Julian Edelman. Laurence Maroney would also score a touchdown for the Patriots via the ground game. The dramatic victory keeps the Colts season still without a loss as they are now 9-0. Next Sunday they will be in Baltimore to face the Ravens. New England is now 6-3 still in first place in the AFC East and will play host to the New York Jets next week.

© Copyright 2009 thesackattack.net

Patriots rookie safety Patrick Chung has been fined $7,500 days after he received a roughing the passer penalty for a helmet-to-helmet hit on Miami Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne in Sunday’s 27-17 victory. The hit in the third quarter of Sunday’s game resulted in a 15-yard penalty, moving the Dolphins to their own 41-yard line. But Miami was unable to score on the drive.

The 6-foot-1, 237 pounds Williams was originally a fifth-round draft pick by Jacksonville out of USC in 2008. He appeared in six games for the Jaguars as a rookie.

Williams was waived by Jacksonville before the start of the season and spent time on the Seattle and Houston practice squads.

The Patriots worked out a pair of running backs last week, but they did not add either to the roster. It seems the Patriots will not be adding any high-profile help in the backfield, either. Asked during his weekly appearance on WEEI if the Patriots would consider bringing in Larry Johnson, who was released by the Kansas City Chiefs today, Belichick replied simply: “I would doubt it.”

You never know quite what to expect when you match up the Miami Dolphins against the New England Patriots regardless of the season or what  the team’s records are when they play. The only thing you can usually count on is a somewhat exciting game and the contest Sunday at Gillette Stadium  would fit into that description. The Dolphins hung tough for three quarters and did not go down without putting up a battle.

However after Miami took a lead in the third quarter Patriots quarterback Tom Brady connected with receiver Randy Moss on a 71 yard touchdown pass. After a subsequent 2 point conversion and a late fourth quarter field goal by the man with the magic foot kicker Steve Gostkowski New England would wind up  with a 27-17 win. The victory gives the Patriots a 6-2 record tops in the AFC East  and gave the Dolphins their first loss in the division after a 3-0 start in game against AFC East opponents.

This was not a classic Tom Brady performance  however he did exceed 300 yards in the air for the 27th time in his NFL career. The Pats QB was 25/37 for a total of 332 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. Although the New England running game was not very effective running back Laurence Maroney did give the team their first touchdown and first lead of the game when he ran 1 yard into the end-zone with 6:58 left in the first quarter. The bulk of the offense was by the kicker Gostkowski who had a total of 4 field goals the longest being the 40 yard attempt he put through the uprights in the final quarter.

Miami at times throughout this contest went back and used their “gimmick” the “Wildcat Offense.” While it was effective in the third quarter leading to a Dolphins touchdown giving the Fins at the time 17-16 lead with 4:51 left in the period it is far from a surefire success. Miami had no luck with it at all during the previous two games; and at times on Sunday the Dolphins offense looked about as confused as the New England defense while it was in use. The touchdown in the third was the Dolphins’ only one in the air of the game as Ronnie Brown threw a 1 yard pass to Joey Haynos. Miami did not score again the rest of the afternoon.

Dolphins starting QB Chad Henne was not really effective behind center as he went 19/34 for a total of 219 yards without a touchdown or an interception. Dolphins veteran running back Ricky Williams had a 15 yard touchdown run with 6:11 left in the first half. After the extra point by kicker Dan Carpenter Miami had temporarily tied the game at 10-10.

New England with a 6-2 record will be in Indianapolis next Sunday night as they will take on the Colts. Miami drops to 3-5 after the loss will play host to the Tampa Bay Bucs next Sunday.

© Copyright 2009 thesackattack.net

New England: LB Eric Alexander, RB Fred Taylor, DL Jarvis Green, CB Jonathan Wilhite, WR Julian Edelman, OT Matt Light, OG Richard Ohrnberger, RB Sammy Morris.