WPRO News talk 630

"Week 6"

Worked out some technical problems with a few posts that apparently never made it to the page so we are back on track.

Patriots blowing out the Titans in the snow really says way more about the Titans than it does the Patriots. New England looked good don't get me wrong and Tom Brady was throwing TD's all over the place in the 2nd Quarter but Tennessee is a really bad football team right now. I can't remember the last time I saw a team give up this early in the season in the NFL. The Titans effort was called into question after the game by the media asking Coach Fisher and he defended his team saying they didn't quit. I believe when Tennessee goes over the film of this game today effort won't be seen too often. So Patriots fans can feel good this week and take the win but this game doesn't mean the Patriots are as good as this game made them look. This game does however pretty much end the coaching tenor of Jeff Fisher. It is absolutely time for a change in Tennessee and I think it is a matter of when not if they fire Fisher.

One side note real quick on Jeff Fisher. I have seen a few Titans games this year and another reason I think he should be fired is the fact he has blatantly ignored the Wildcat phase going on around him. Everybody has some form of the Wildcat offense going in the NFL. Jeff Fisher has Vince Young as his backup QB and Vince just sits there every week and doesn't do anything. If you are Fisher you have to use Vince Young in the Wildcat. Send Vince in motion, line him up at the slot, put him behind center. Think about the fact that one of the most talented athletes on the team isn't making the field? At all. And you are 0-6. Why hasn't Fisher been questioned about not using Vince in the wildcat? If Mike Vick wasn't being used in the wildcat you can bet people would wonder why. I am sorry but I think that the coach should have found a way to get the football in Vince Young's hands. Ultimately will cost him his job.

Back to the Patriots....the defense of the Patriots is looking better and better each week. Butler is fun to watch and he will get better and suddenly I love the Patriots secondary. Brandon Merriweather is much better than he gets credit for nationally and around here I feel like Patriot's nation doesn't even appreciate him the way they should. Top Safety in the league. Overall at this point in the season I am very impressed with the defense.

"Week 1 Buffalo"

First game is in the books and the Pats came away victorious. It wasn't the way anyone envisioned the first game. Buffalo hung tough for a while but the Patriots kept them in this game. Until the end Buffalo had 7 from the defense on a fluke pick that Brady threw right to Schobel that sure kept the Bills closer than they should have been. A missed field goal by Gostowski which won't happen often and the Bills were even closer than they should have been. Buffalo gets credit for playing good in this game against the Patriots but I think Buffalo has some problems this year and Trent Edwards is going to lose some games for them. He just is. Couple quick things from week 1.

*Pats lose Mayo early in the game and everyone had the "here we go again" feeling. admit it. In fact it may still be there now that you read Mayo on the computer screen. Word is Mayo did hurt the knee and won't be put on Injured Reserve. That is good news but he is certainly missing some games for sure.

*Fast forward to the end of the game. Sure sack by Adalius Thomas but instead he somehow loses his mind and body slams the QB. He gets a 15 yard penalty changing field position, giving first down and changing momentum. It was a good call by the rules and it is called every time. Adalius Thomas surely knows he can't do this and on top of that the league sends officials to every team's camp in August and Thomas heard from them first hand that the quarterback will be protected. If we know as fans that this league protects the QB at all costs of course the players know this. Unacceptable play from a guy who is supposed to be one of the leaders on this team now. Horrible penalty that could have cost them the game and should have if it weren't for a stupid play on a kick return. What a different day in Foxboro today for Thomas this would have been if they lost. 

*Leodis Mckelvin. Send him a fan letter today. Mckelvin helps Pats win the game by taking a sure thing touchback out of the endzone with no blockers and everyone in the stadium in shock. Make no mistake about it what caused this play was Brandon Meriweather. The guy hits everything that moves when he plays football and he popped Mckelvin that cause the ball to be stripped by a teammate. Meriweather had at least 3 other big hits in the game. The guy is awesome and was all over the field last night.

"Seymour Trade"

Wow. Just typing that title is still shocking. Of course I expected them to trade his rights AFTER THE SEASON or that he would leave via free agency AFTER THE SEASON. Bill Belichick doesn't always go the most expected route and this trade over the labor day weekend was not expected by anyone that I know of locally or nationally. Not many people were throwing out a trade of Seymour before this week and if they did it would have been dismissed so fast. Trade Seymour? Now?!? That would have been the reaction in hypothetical terms. Now the trade really happened and you can't find many people around here who aren't making excuses for Belichick and checking off to him immediately. Everyone is drunk on the Belichick kool-aid in this fan base. I thankfully don't even know the color of the kool-aid let alone drink it. I get that Belichick is a genius coach but this move doesn't make sense to me. I am not looking ahead until 2011 and I am not waiting to see who they get with this 1st round draft pick from Oakland. This trade was done 8 days before the season which means it has to also be judged on what it does to THIS YEAR'S team. I don't know how you can honestly tell me this trade of Seymour makes the Patriots of 2009 a better team. The fact is that this trade, made 8 days before the season starts, hurts this year's team. All I hear around here with my conversations with people is that Seymour wasn't that good anymore, he is getting old, he was leaving anyway, they have younger options. I don't want to hear it. Seymour is a 5 time Pro Bowler, led the team in sacks last year and commanded a double team when he was on the field last year. The guy can still play at a high level and the point is the guy who fills in for him isn't as good. Period. Patriots already had question marks in the secondary and some at linebacker. Nobody questioned any part of the Defensive Line. Today it has questions. The defense is weaker in 2009 and we will see how this works out. This trade has a major impact on the 2009 Patriots and I for one don't like it due to the timing of it and the immediate negative impact to your team THIS YEAR. Most of you will disagree and wonder how I could even think about questioning Belichick but on this move I do question him. Let's see how it plays out this year but I am on record as not liking it.