Stats on Pats Weekly - Fall of the Mangenius
Article by Raleigh Dugal, southcoast247.com correspondent
Fall of the Mangenius
Generally I'm a shrewd football fan whose pigskin logic remains untainted by homer-style slants. But thanks my post-game buzz I after the Pats ceremoniously made the Jets their collective bitch I won't need a drink for three days. Randy Moss muffled his critics with 183 yards and a touchdown, Ellis Hobbes posted the all-time longest kick return for a TD, and Tom Brady tossed three touchdowns to the upgraded Brady Bunch for about three hundred passing yards. On the other side of the ball the Patriots' D buried Chad Pennington under five sacks, including a frightening hit that almost put him out of commission for the one millionth time in his career.
Randy Moss gets it done
Before we all start to coronate the Pats' as the AFC all-star team let's face some monsters under the bed. While Sammy Morris looked serviceable on some nine and ten yard runs, Lawrence Maroney didn't look too hot running between the tackles. The two backs combined for 120 yards and no touchdowns, leaving the goal-line heavy lifting to Heath Evans. Still, in the post-game conference, Brady lauded the effectiveness of the running game and the play action. No. 39 is supposed to be the new feature back, but he only got twenty touches. The case could be made that in the midst of a blowout Belichick didn't want to risk re-injuring his sophomore sensation, but Maroney's time was cut back early, while the Jets were still in the thick of it. He only returned when Morris had a scary moment. More likely there's a sticky situation lurking in Belichick's X-files of an injury report.
Enough dark thoughts. In true Patriots' fashion, the Pats pulled some hijinx near the end zone when linebackers Mike Vrabel and Junior Seau checked in at tight end and fullback. Seau bruised through the line to make way for Evans' stat-padding fourth quarter touchdown. But the play call was more than fantasy fodder; it was a reminder to opposing defenses that New England hasn't switched its blue-collar football philosophy in spite of their glitzy pickups.
NBC cut live coverage of the handshake, but Mangini's face says it all
As most of the national media predicts New England's fourth Super Bowl win in seven years it makes for strange days for the faithful. We're used to winning in spite of bereft secondaries, depleted receiver corps, and nonexistent backfields. While New England must start the season in the shadow of Rodney Harrison's HGH scandal and Richard Seymour's serious injury, I don't think anyone can claim the chips are down. Watching the way the Chargers struggled against hapless NFC Champion Chicago, I'll have to amend my word on next week and call for a possible W. The game carries plenty of baggage, as LT will try to vindicate himself for pouting after last year's loss, and Pats' CB Ellis Hobbes should take out some retribution on sissy San Diego QB Phillip Rivers, who closed last season in a press conference calling Hobbes the "sorriest cornerback in the league". God willing, CB blitzes will abound.
Shank Count: 1
Last week I predicted a bit of a struggle for the boys in blue. I figured that Man-Genius, ex-Bear Thomas Jones, and some thousand Jets fans could muster up enough not-suck to make things interesting on opening day. As the game closed I looked forward to another much-scrutinized handshake at the fifty between Belichick and his former pupil, but was disappointed as the cameras cut away. Oh well, no awkward man-hugs this time around.
Generally I'm a shrewd football fan whose pigskin logic remains untainted by homer-style slants. But thanks my post-game buzz I after the Pats ceremoniously made the Jets their collective bitch I won't need a drink for three days. Randy Moss muffled his critics with 183 yards and a touchdown, Ellis Hobbes posted the all-time longest kick return for a TD, and Tom Brady tossed three touchdowns to the upgraded Brady Bunch for about three hundred passing yards. On the other side of the ball the Patriots' D buried Chad Pennington under five sacks, including a frightening hit that almost put him out of commission for the one millionth time in his career.
