WEEK FIFTEEN @ MIAMI DOLPHINS L 24-20

well kids,

the patriots lost to miami, and i didn’t cry at all. we’ve had this loss coming for about four weeks, and while the boys did squander a chance for the one seed, i’m hoping this was one of those meaningful losses that wake up the team as we head into the post season.

in the first batch of games tom brady played without rob gronkowski, he was luck to hit 200 yards a game, so it was a good sign that he had 364 yards in this first game after rob’s injury. sadly, that’s where the good news ended – since it took 55 tries and only 34 completions to get there. i know it’ll be an adjustment going back to playing without gronk, but honestly, this game came down exactly like the last four before it did – all of which gronk played. our fearless quarterback was scrapping to pull off another last minute miracle, and even tommy can’t do that every week...though he does look a little surprised about it.

i’m loathe to give the tommy of the week to anyone – offense or defense – when we lose to the freaking dolphins, so i split the difference and i’m giving it to special teams. one of the highlights of this game actually had nothing to do with our patriots. the field goal holder wasn’t ready for the snap, and it bounced right off his face in the most hilarious play ever. luckily, nate ebner wasn’t laughing and had the wits to jump on the ball for a patriots recovery. that’s what we call a heads up play, nate!

we play the ravens tomorrow night, and with their playoff hopes on the line, it should be even more of a battle than normal. let’s hope our boys actually did learn something from this miami loss and don’t bring it down to the wire....or don’t waste any energy and just hope they win!

have a great saturday night, and go pats!

love dav

WEEK FOURTEEN VS. CLEVELAND BROWNS W 27-26

hey kids-

 

well, the patriots won another come-from-behind-in-the-fourth-take-it-right-down-to-the-wire victory on sunday – and while i’m loving the winning, i’m not loving all the drama. after this one, i literally put my head down on the bar and cried. 

 

our fearless quarterback looked like crap for most of this game, so it’s mystifying that he wound up with 418 yards. most of those came in the fourth quarter,along with his two touchdown passes –  in a span of 31 seconds in last minute of the game. ok, tommy, we get it. you’re the king of the fourth quarter comeback... and of riding your offensive lineman line a pony. please stop trying to kill me. 

this game honestly exhausted me, and i’m not feeling the tommy this week – so let’s make it short at sweet. i’m giving this one to shane vereen. the only player with receptions in each of the four quarters, shane played 60 minutes of football– which explains why he had more than twice as many yard as anyone else did (153). shane’s going to have to carry a lot more of the load with the loss of rob gronkowski, but from the looks of it, he’s more than ready. way to show up, shane!

 

our pats play miami tomorrow, and while the boys seem to have shaken the lose-in-miami-in-december trend, i hope you’ve been thinking your happy patriots thoughts...even if we do luck ourselves into yet another fourth quarter comeback. nice work if you can get it, right?

 

have a great weekend, and go pats!

love dav

WEEK THIRTEEN @ HOUSTON TEXANS W 34-31

hey kids-

 

our patriots eeked out another win, and boy, oh boy was i happy about it. it’s that time of year when teams either sizzle or fizzle, and while i wouldn’t exactly say we’re on fire, things are definitely starting to heat up.

 

our offense continue to look solid, and our fearless quarterback had another great game with 371 yards and two touchdowns. there was also one interception that i blame on rob gronkowski, though i concede the possibility that it might have been underthrown. i vaguely saw headlines that houston was “suspicious” of the patriots after this game, and i can’t really blame them. tommy clearly had all the answers written in his helmet. c’mon, houston! don’t you think that if were cheating, we’d have beaten you by 28 LIKE WE DID LAST YEAR?!

 

sometimes it feels like the offense is improving at a rate inversely proportional to our defense, and this one was of those games. houston has lost the majority of their games in the last two minutes, but even so – they scored four rushing touchdowns, and it was embarrassing that this game came down to another fourth quarter patriots comeback. luckily, we have field goal kicker who is MONEY (when he’s not asked to kick improbably long distances).  while he did miss a 55-yarder, stephen nailed back to back 53-yard field goals to tie and then win the game in the fourth quarter. you might scoff at my decision to give him the tommy of the week for a game in which he actually missed a field goal, but i don’t care. he’s made 93.3% of his kicks this season, and it’s time to show him some love. plus, i think asking him to kick a 55 yards is mean. revel in your tommy, stephen. straight up the middle!

 

we host the cleveland browns on sunday, and the last time we played them, they gave us a well-deserved whooping. think your happy patriots thoughts for sizzle not fizzle, and lets hope the boys set that scoreboard on fire.

 

have a great week, and go pats!

 

love dav