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Okay, I know ESPN thinks I should be concerned but I'm really not. Did the Patriots look like a steaming turd against the Eagles? Sure. But last time I checked the Super Bowl wasn't played on week three of the preseason...

Patriots Lose Another Meaningless Game, ESPN Declares Dynasty Dead

by Mike Dussault (Columnist)

31

808 reads

Game Recap

August 22, 2008


 

Okay, I know ESPN thinks I should be concerned but I'm really not.

Did the Patriots look like a steaming turd against the Eagles? Sure.

But last time I checked the Super Bowl wasn't played on week three of the preseason.

Did we learn nothing from last year's heartbreaking end?

Because what we should've learned is that the only thing that matters is winning the last game in February, and I'm not talking about the Pro Bowl.

Not the games in September. Or even October. And definitely not in August.

February. That's when it counts.

Who's the idiot arguing that Brady needs to be out there to get in sync with the team? Good ol' Mark "pitching my own reality series" Schlereth. 

I don't know if Donko Mark was too busy trying memorize his lines for that soap opera of his but last year Randy Moss sat out the whole preseason.

He had never even played a game with Tom Brady until he tore up the Jets in the opener for 183 yards and the touchdown we've seen almost as much as the David Tyree catch this off-season.

Seriously, you want to tell me it's important that Brady plays a meaningless half against the out-there-with-something-to-prove Eagles behind a ramshackle line so he can get in sync with his guys?

Laughable.

Okay, so what are the "Big Concerns" at the moment?

1. Offensive line. 

The might not be playing but last time I checked Matt Light and Stephen Neal are still on the team, and neither is on IR. Assuming they return at some point, we'll have last year's entire starting offensive line back.

I might be wrong on this but I think they sent three guys to the Pro Bowl last year. Yet all anyone can remember is how they played that one game in February.

Matt Light will be back for opening day. Neal may be out a little longer. Regardless, as long as we get both back, it's not going to take them long to get up to speed. 

This line has been playing together for going on three seasons. Four if you start the year before Kaczur arrived.

The point is, they're veterans, they're good and we need them at the end so Brady isn't getting destroyed in the Super Bowl again. 

2. Matt Cassell

Will probably not play a down this year unless it's to take a knee at the end of a blow out. Next year he'll be gone.

3. Cornerbacks

Where you're playing loose zone defense, absent any kind of pass rush, guys tend to get open. With Dom Capers coaching them, solid rookie Terrence Wheatley, and an actual defensive game plan from our coach (who just happens to have defensive game plans he created in the Hall of Fame), I think this group will be fine. 

Maybe we don't have Champ Bailey or Asante Samuel, but neither one of them won a Super Bowl last year.

Who were the Giants starting corner backs in XLII? Exactly.

4. Chad Jackson

If he makes two of the five plays Donte Stallworth made last year I'll call it a successful season for The Chad, as long as Welker's "rib injury" is nothing serious. If it is, The Chad needs to step up big time, and I'm not so sure he's got it in him. Though, hopefully, the touchdown catch will help out his confidence.

5. Special Teams Stunk

Patriots Kickoff Team that gave up the TD: Five Rookies and a veteran known to have lost a step who's been with the team a week. Forgivable.

Patriots Punt Team that gave up the TD: No excuse on this one, it was a disgrace, and by putting their names I hope I add to their shame:

Jerod Mayo, Eric Alexander, David Thomas, Ray Ventrone, Kelley Washington, Heath Evans, James Sanders, Pierre Woods, Matthew Slater, Lonie Paxton, Chris Hanson

Still, this does give Belichick a good excuse to lay into some veterans. He can't just yell at Wesley Britt and Chad Jackson all the time.

 

Last season the Patriots peaked too early. That cannot and will not happen again. It's much better to lose a couple early than to lose the last one.

So breathe easy Patriot Nation.

There will be fury unleashed upon the Kansas City Chiefs in fifteen short days.

PatriotsPropaganda@gmail.com

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31 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. William Berry 10 months ago

    You still bother watching ESPN?:)

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  2. Ian Philip 10 months ago

    I wouldn't be too concerned with ESPN. From a Charger fan's perspective hearing those fools repeatedly recite Norv Turner's pre-Chargers win/loss record, or saying that Drew Brees could never be a quality starter locked in for me that those guys are a bunch of fools that know as much about analyzing chances as me and you... if not less.

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  3. Samuel Bell Jr 10 months ago

    Mark Schlereth sucks bad...he's way to overzealous about everything...I agree these August games are nothing to look too deep into and Brady and Co. will be fine come season-time

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  4. Silver Fox 10 months ago

    (1) It's ONLY preseason.
    (2) Tom Brady is not playing ,due to a foot injury.
    (3) It's ONLY preseason.
    (4) The Patriots will turn it up when it counts - in the regular season.
    (5) It's ONLY preseason.
    (6) The Patriots divison is not weak, but it's easily winnable for New England.
    (7) It's ONLY preseason.
    (8) The Patriots' goal is to win the Super Bowl.
    (9) It's ONLY preseason.
    (10) ESPN's misanalysis paralysis matters and is rlevant?
    (11) It's ONLY preseason.
    (12) It's ONLY preseason.

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  5. Jeffrey Mann 10 months ago

    SO true, also every minute of time ESPN uses to analyze Cassel's playing time will be wasted when he gets cut in a week. The only problem with this patriots roster is that they'll probably lose a decent player or two when they try to sneak them on the practice squad.

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  6. Scott Harris 10 months ago

    The whole Patriots defense is a huge question mark heading into this season. With as many changes as they went through in the off-season, it's very hard to predict how they'll hold up. But if Brady & Co. are scoring 45 points per game, does it matter?

    They won't go undefeated again, but we'll see them in the playoffs.

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  7. Michoel Botwinick 10 months ago

    Laughable is right.

    If you're referring to the Patriots, that is.

    Way for Randy Moss to get laid out by Asante Samuel. Oh, and special teams? LAUGHABLE.

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    • Mike Dussault 10 months ago

      Yeah the pats looked about as good as the Eagles two minute drill in Super Bowl 39. At least none of our guys were throwing up on the field. Congratulations, you've won nothing.

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    • William Berry 10 months ago

      Yup, the Patriots rely on running Moss on reverses.:)

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    • Michoel Botwinick 10 months ago

      Oh and Mike, way to go with this "snide" comment:

      "Yeah the pats looked about as good as the Eagles two minute drill in Super Bowl 39."

      OK, so you just told me that the Patriots just looked really, really bad. So congratulations, you've proven nothing.

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    • Mike Dussault 10 months ago

      Um, did you read the article? I think I concede the Pats looked like crap multiple times. The point is that it's the preseason and doesn't meant anything.

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    • Michoel Botwinick 10 months ago

      I realized it's only the preseason. That's why I get my chance to say, HAHA THE PATRIOTS SUCK. 0-3 ANOTHER LOSS. GO EAGLES!!!

      Hey, even I'll admit I don't often get a chance to say that during the regular season. That's why I'm so GLEEFUL.

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    • Chris Allen 10 months ago

      is this a joke? Congratulations, the Eagles have won a preseason game against the Patriots. Too bad they wont win it when it really counts, eh?

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    • Michoel Botwinick 10 months ago

      Well, they provide a blueprint for the Giants doing it last year -- so why not?

      Wow, that Super Bowl loss must sting...

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    • William Berry 10 months ago

      "Well, they provide a blueprint for the Giants doing it last year -- so why not?

      Wow, that Super Bowl loss must sting..." -michoel

      Wow. An Eagle fan happy about the Giants. Are you felling OK, or are you just hoping to get beat up?:)

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    • Michoel Botwinick 10 months ago

      No, I'm not happy about the Giants (although I hate the Patriots more). My point is, just in case you missed it, that the Eagles could also beat the Pats because I feel the Eagles are a better team than the Giants.

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  8. Michael Inglis 10 months ago

    Special teams means nothing in terms of W-L but the Pats look awful. But in that weak division they'll make the playoffs. I'd say 12-4.

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  9. Andrew Mason 10 months ago

    does anyone really put that much interest in preseason? Randy Moss didnt play preseason last year and i think he did quite well in the first week. I dont think any of the patriots honestly try that much anyway to let the eagles offense without curtis or brown score a td...

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  10. Michael Schlossberg 10 months ago

    The Patriots dynasty ended when the Giants beat them in the Super Bowl... but don't ever take anything from a preseason game

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    • Mike Dussault 10 months ago

      I think we'll have to wait until Belichick and Brady are gone before we can say when the Patriots dynasty ended.

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    • William Berry 10 months ago

      OK, so if they win the next few Super Bowls that is different and won't be lumped into the Brady/Belichick era? Gee, you are so smart to be able to see the future.

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  11. TR 10 months ago

    What dynasty?

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  12. Chris Allen 10 months ago

    Too true Mike. ESPN has no idea. The Pats are coming to take the division by storm this year. Too bad for the Phins and Bills that Farve is here too. Oh well, third and fourth isnt THAT bad. Just kiddin :)

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  13. Steve Frith 10 months ago

    I hold half the crap that those blubering morons on ESPN say almost as high as I hold the crap that comes out of the knuckle heads that act as commentators on the NFL network.

    Pooh said it best when he exclaimed: "Hefalumps!"

    Until the Pats have a losing record, I won't worry about the "Dynasty" being "dead".

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    • TR 10 months ago

      I think, in fact, it was the airheads on ESPN who first used the word 'dynasty' in reference to the Pats. I was laughing at them then, and I'm laughing at them now.

      "Hefalumps!" indeed!

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  14. William Berry 10 months ago

    I lost all respect for ESPN when during their "reality" show where a normal schlub can become a sports center host Judge Stephan A. Smith explained to Some guy he had to take a stand. I forget the exact thing, but he basically said, "Although some would say Ted Williams was, they would be wrong. DiMaggio was the greatest hitter."

    Then it dawned on me. They don't care if they are right, as long as they are controversial.

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