Todays Guest Post is brought to you by Clair Wyant. Clair Wyant is a sports fan, a former sports reporter for the Tucson Citizen newspaper, currently a foreign exchange professional. Originally from Arizona, but has been a Red Sox fan since day one. Clair’s loyalties go towards Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots, and University of Arizona, with college basketball & NFL his favorite leagues. Clair has previously lived in LA, London, and has lived in Boston the past 5 years. Clair can be found on twitter @ClairDogg.
The New England Patriots beat the Miami Dolphins this past Monday Night, 41-14. This win was key for several reasons. For starters, it was against a divisional opponent, which is always key (they do not have to suffer the next two weeks). This was the 1st win on the road since 2008, excluding Buffalo last season & London against Tampa Bay (neutral field). It also showed some of the lesser-known players can step up and contribute to a solid win.
Two lesser-known players who joined as free agents played a huge factor, Danny Woodhead and Patrick Chung. Woodhead scored a touchdown the past two games. Chung had a career game; two blocked kicks and a touchdown. Let's see if they can keep it up. Only good things can happen if it does occur. Imagine what New Englanders would be talking about if they did not step up. This blog entry would be different for sure!
Fans all around said they were pleased with the game and the result. You cannot argue about the end result, a win is a win. How it was won is a different story. Personally, I think the game was poor for the Patriots. Sure, special teams performed close to beyond belief. Not one team can expect to rely on special teams to win every game, not to say anything about lifting the team to victory, such as Monday night.
Fans are still questioning certain aspects of the team. One area is defense. The reality is they are young. That cannot be changed this year. They need to get older and gain more NFL experience. Simple? It is reality. Like it or not, live with it.
Next question mark… Tom Brady.
Ok, I am stumped, and late to the party on questioning him, while other talking heads and fans were doing so in the preseason. I was a defender of him all offseason and the first month of the season. Question marks are now running around.
Fans and talking heads have been talking about all of his offseason distractions (aka personal business). All players have personal business in the offseason. He was still working out. Does it really make a difference if it was in Foxbrough or California? No.
Sure, he has a kid and is married, so are a lot of other players. Do all players decline in ability as soon as they get a family? No. He just gets more attention than other players because of who he is and whom he is married to. I am sorry, not buying it.
The car accident has generated enough questions. Sure, it was reported (and appeared) Brady was fine. Did he get some sort of injury that is still allowing him to play, but preventing him to perform to his full potential? Maybe some side effects from his season-long injury?
Not saying the car accident is the cause, only where I see questions. Who knows, maybe it is his personal life! Or could it simply be he is getting older?
If you came here to get answers, sorry… nothing here.
Clair Wyant is a sports fan, a former sports reporter for the Tucson Citizen newspaper, currently a foreign exchange professional. You can also follow Clair on twitter @ClairDogg.
Thanks to Keith Allison for the picture of Randy Moss.
I agree that our defense is young and inexperienced, but that’s where we get all of our speed from. You can’t coach youth and speed. They do need to speed up the process learning the system though.
It looks like the Patriots are looking back to that 2003 formula of young, unproven, dedicated, rough and talented guys that can play well in all aspects of the game. This 2010 team in no way can compare “brand” wise to the ’03 Pats, but the formula remains the same. Find those scrappy guys that have a chip on their shoulder and put the team above themselves.
I can see the team concept brewing and two weeks worth of practicing and working on chemistry is just what this team need after opening the season 3-1. Let’s just see who fills the void for Moss.
-Josh Gans
Josh – Since you brought up Moss, he was still a part of the system. That will effect chemistry.
I may be in the minority out there who thinks he was a major part of the system this year. He still scored touchdowns that contributed to wins.
This trade only damages the chemistry & things will have to be adjusted. Say what you want about practice… practice is practice (which is needed). The real gelling occurs on Sundays.
-Clair Wyant
Clair, I agree 100% with you. I’m highly upset that we traded Randy Moss for a 3rd round draft pick. He is irreplaceable and our only deep threat. We have no one to fill his void (Tate, Edelman, Slater)…No One! We have a good team and one great receiver in Welker and a group of role players. We also just gave teams an extra defender to put in the box instead of doubling Moss.
I think the team chemistry will not change for better or worse, but given the bye week and extra practice, that’s when they need to get to know each other better and build stronger bonds going into week 6.
I disagree with your last statement. You play the way you practice. The game is won during the week, it’s just played on Sunday.
-Josh Gans