New England Patriots

Larry Bird was not in the house when Bill Belichick decided to go for it on fourth and 2 from his 28. Even though Bird works just a few blocks from Lucas Oil Stadium, he has never been to a game there.

Why is everyone so upset about the Patriots’ loss Sunday night? They covered the number - lost by a point but were getting 3. That’s a win where I’m coming from, if you picked New England.

The final word on the coverage on Randy Moss in Week 2 came from Jets coach Rex Ryan yesterday.

Randy Moss said today he couldn't care less what Jets cornerback Darrelle Revis has been saying about covering him the last time the two faced off at the Meadowlands....

FOXBORO - When Wes Welker was a surprise scratch prior to facing the New York Jets in Week 2, it created pandemonium in the fantasy football world, as owners scrambled to...

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - New York Jets safety Jim Leonhard is questionable for the team's game at New England after being limited in practice with a broken right thumb. ...

The New England Patriots (6-3) and the New York Jets (4-5) announce the following player injuries and practice participation.

RB Sammy Morris hopes to get back in action for the Patriots soon. Plus, news and notes from the Friday locker room and practice.

The Patriots are auctioning off the pink gear the players wore against the Baltimore Ravens earlier this season to promote breast cancer awareness. Items include gloves, hats and wristbands. To see the items for yourself, visit proteamauctions.com.

Bill Belichick defended his decision to go for it on fourth down as criticism mounted Monday of the call that led to the New England Patriots stunning loss.

Bill Belichick made a gutsy decision Sunday night ... and it completely backfired. But if you look at the percentages he was playing, it's hard to fault Belichick for the move.

Bill Belichick stands by his decision to go for it on fourth down rather than punt to the Indianapolis Colts.

Watch the video promoting the youth exercise program Play 60.

Proponents of win probability applaud Belichick's controversial 4th down decision in the Pats-Colts game.

It's not breaking any new ground to call the Pats vs. the Colts the decade's best NFL rivalry, but it's the truth.

FOXBOROUGH -- There are a few questionables for Sunday's game against the Jets. The only player officially out is running back Fred Taylor (ankle). Here is the list: QUESTIONABLE WR Sam Aiken (hip) LB Eric Alexander (groin) TE Chris Baker...

Derrick Burgess has a grand total of two sacks this year. And those two could pretty easily be classified as garbage sacks -- one came in a Hail Mary situation at the end of the Buffalo game, another came...

Leigh Bodden will face his former teammate Sunday when the Pats get their first look at Braylon Edwards in a Jets uniform.

The Versus Network, which is debuting a new show called "Sports Jobs with Junior Seau," is reporting that Junior Seau has un-retired once again to play football in New England. Seau's return has been rumored for a couple of weeks, but the network he was working for is the first to report that he has indeed signed with the Patriots to return for a 20th season. With the current youth movement on defense, I'm still trying to figure out why exactly Bill Belichick would bring in a 40-year-old linebacker. The defense, overall, hasn't been bad, and has actually come up with stops when needed. The problem in Denver this past Sunday was the offense not capitalizing on anything in the second half, being completely shut out.

One theory is that bringing in Junior Seau allows Belichick to use more 3-4 defense as opposed to the 4-3 currently being used (for the most part). The linebacking corps has been thin and lacks experience and leadership. Adalius Thomas has the most experience out of the bunch and has only been in New England for what is now his 3rd season. Seau is certainly not an every down player but can still stop the run effectively and get a decent pass rush on. Tedy Bruschi was showing obvious signs of slowing down near the end of his tenure, but Junior still had some gas in his tank last season. He is not the Seau of the '90's, but still fairly effective. I would imagine we will now see more 3-4 defense, which is Belichick's bread and butter. There is much more he can do scheme-wise with this defense than the 4-3.

With Seau aboard, where does that leave Gary Guyton? Guyton has done a great job filling in for Jerod Mayo, who returned to action Sunday in Denver. I would imagine that Guyton will move to OLB where his speed and coverage ability can be better utilized. That leaves Mayo and Seau on the inside on early/run downs and Thomas and Guyton manning the outside. That is not a bad LB corps, but could this move have been avoided?

Don't get me wrong, I like Seau, but seriously, the Pats need to be moving to the future. Belichick had multiple opportunities at quality linebackers in the draft, including Rey Maualuga, who looks like he's going to be a force (off-field issues aside). NFL Network mentioned that Shawne Merriman is up for trade, but that is not a likely scenario. Looking ahead, I know we say it every draft, but let's hope Bill gets some linebacker help so we can avoid bringing in older players.

I suppose having Junior Seau on-board right now is OK, but we can't expect him to be a cure-all and do too much. I certainly hope he's in as good shape as Bill has said, because he has a big task ahead of him this week in trying to stop running backs Chris Johnson and LenDale White.

Go Pats!

After the loss to Josh McDaniels and the Denver Broncos, it is time to reflect a bit more on the 2009 New England Patriots.

This is not your team of the decade as the Patriots continue to struggle offensively with Tom Brady playing the lead role in disappointment. Add to this the poor performance of a third receiver like Joey Galloway - oh I'm sorry he doesn't play, just practicing and getting a paycheck - so not having a third or fourth receiver threat, a first round bust in Laurence Maroney and poor coaching decisions on defensive packages and play calls and you have a recipe of something you would not even want your mother-in-law to have.

Usually Belichick has a plug and play team, but you cannot replace Brady or Josh... oops - sorry there is no offensive coordinator (right Bill? um Belichick or O'Brien), the gap is too big behind Galloway and with Fred Taylor hurt Sammy Morris is good but not an every down back, Maroney seems lost (did you look at him on the sidelines in the fourth quarter) and the Law Firm never breaks out from special teams. Right now these areas are hurting this team.

Okay, so maybe I am being too hard on the team. I never expected the team to be undefeated this year. Maybe more like 12-4 with a loss or two in the AFC East and versus the Ravens and the Colts. So heading into the bye week at 5-2 is not necessarily a bad thing.

Now the question is IF the team may head into the bye week with only two losses. In theory, that may be a possibility facing a winless Tennessee Titans team this week and possibly a winless Tampa Bay team in week after they face the Carolina Panthers.

So who is helping this team?

Vince Wilfork is a BIG guy (and he looks bigger in the all-white retro uniform) and he is having a stellar year, which will only add to the value of his contract - unless he is franchised. He not only is stopping the run and putting pressure up the middle, but for such a big man he is following plays and making tackles towards the sidelines. he has been consistent all year.

Mike Wright had a quiet game with only one tackle, but in spite of the 'Wild Pony' plays was not beat. His previous pressure and sacks were missing this game, but he has been consistent and reliable player since becoming a starter.

Gary Guyton continues to call the plays and be in on every down. Guyton was all over the field this last game and with Jerod Mayo now back (although looking a bit slow reacting on a few plays) both of these players should lead to a repackaged 3-4 after the bye week.

Brandon McGowan was a player some thought may not even make the team after training camp, yet now starts over James Sanders. Sure Sanders is hurt and been missing tackles, but McGowan has been a hard hitting machine, making tackles, forcing fumbles and recovering them as well.

Brandon Meriweather continues to improve and be the guy we hoped he would be after being drafted in the first round. His tackling needs to improve a bit and although the coaches had him sitting back too far this week, he has stepped up after the retirement of Rodney Harrison.

Ben Watson has been playing better than ever. Also in a contract year, I expect him to be in Denver next season. But in the meantime, Watson has been a big target with Wes Welker coming off the knee injury.

Who needs to help this team?

Adalius Thomas has been quiet when the team needs him. Maybe it is because Richard Seymour is no longer on the line, but Thomas has not delivered much since his heralded arrival.

Derrick Burgess/Tully Banta-Cain - a few Raider trades have been busts and Banta-Cain was released by a 49ers team that is having success. I'm not say, but I'm saying...

Sebastian Vollmer has an opportunity and big shoes to fill in order to protect Brady. If Brady was skittish before, Vollmer has to prove he can protect Brady and not get beat up as a rookie.

Kevin Faulk has been quiet this season. This is mostly due to the play calling, but in most games, one would think he would be in to block for Brady and maybe skip out of the backfield for short yardage passes. he is being underutilized.

Joey Galloway, Brandon Tate or Terrence Nunn - One way or another someone has to come in as a third receiver and pose a threat. Galloway is a puzzle at the moment, for the coaches Nunn is a known commodity on the practice squad and Tate may be able to come back from his knee injury and possibly play this year. Is Tate the threat we are hoping for?

IN BILL WE TRUST!!

If you include the playoffs, Brady was 1-5 coming into this game against the Denver Broncos in his career. As a matter of fact, it's the only NFL team against which he has a losing record.

If you count today's game, that total is now 1-6.

Somehow we've gotten used to the Patriots falling on their faces against Denver. I don't think I'll ever completely scrub the memory of the 2006 playoff game against the Broncos from my brain, especially not the part where hundreds of people at the Sports Depot in Allston screamed like we were all on a sinking ship as Champ Bailey ran that INT back for a touchdown...

Sorry, where was I? Right--today's similarly sucky game, although, in fairness, the Patriots were more competitive today, driving the game into overtime, where they lost by a field goal.

Like the Jets game in Week 2, this game was marked by pressure from the opposing defense; the Broncos didn't seem to be rushing the house on every play the way the Jets did, but the offensive line let them get to Brady plenty. In fact, he was sacked in this game; surprisingly, he wasn't against the Jets.

However, the Patriots were able to earn yards in both the passing and rushing game.

As seems to be Patriots-Broncos tradition at Mile High, there was at least one egregious refereeing call on New England that arguably set the Broncos up for success--in this instance an utterly ridiculous "taunting" call on Brandon Meriweather when the referee pulled his flag out before the play was even over.  "Taunting" was only settled on after a conference between a few refs. Sure, that seems legit.

However, you never lose a game solely because of officiating. You just don't.

And of course the other guys are playing, too, and our defense broke one time too many, though that didn't seem to affect their self-esteem any. It never ceases to amaze me that a coach with a reputation for discipline like Belichick allows such excessive celebration by our defensive backs as they seem to get away with week after week. In particular, Tully Banta-Cain really bugged me today, dancing and cheering for himself after sacking Kyle Orton, neglecting to remember that just a few minutes earlier he and his fellow Patriots defenders had surrendered the tying points.

However, the bottom line is that both defenses gave up equal points in the first 60 minutes.

Offensively, Laurence Maroney continues to frustrate -- today he saw playing time again early on, got blown up at least once for the second week in a row on a blocking scheme, and put up a grand total of 21 yards (to Sammy Morris's 68.

However, the Patriots and Broncos finished the game fairly close in net rushing yards -- New England had 97 vs. Denver's 93.

No, the most glaring differential, much as it pains me to say it, was the passing game. Brady went 19/33 for 215 yards, his lowest total of the season so far by a yard. He went 216 yards in the loss against the Jets, where he also had a lower completion percentage--48 percent to this week's 57 percent.

But today, on the other side of the ball, Kyle Orton racked up 330 yards with a 72 percent completion percentage.

This week, you couldn't just blame it on defensive pressure or Joey Galloway (inactive today)--this week, there were times Brady flat-out missed open receivers. In particular I'm thinking of a blatant overthrow of a wide-open Moss in the end zone late in the first quarter, and another deep incompletion he was lucky not to have intercepted in the third quarter, and the fourth quarter pass Wes Welker and Champ Bailey spent a few heart-stopping seconds batting around before neither of them recovered the ball.

And then there was the fumble with less than two minutes to go in regulation, which came as Brady was sacked.

It pains me to say it, but it's true: this week our Golden Boy gets the Golden Sombrero. If any one player's performance should be looked to as the reason for losing this game, it's Brady's. Yes, you can argue Gostkoswki, who missed what turned out to be a crucial field goal, but really, it was Brady who was most inconsistent today, and Brady who left the scoring to Gostkowski in that crucial spot rather than converting for a touchdown.

You have to wonder just what the problem is. He has now lost to Denver at home, away, against different opposing coaches, playing under different offensive coordinators, with high amounts of personnel turnover on both teams since he first began his career. It seems like a silly question, but could it be the altitude? Is it psychological--is that night of Champ Bailey horror still stuck in his head, too?

Just what is Brady's issue with the Broncos?

Or is it a Brady issue, particular to this season, that goes deeper than that? He looked to be showing some of his old magic in Week 1 against Buffalo, but in the other games this season he and the rest of the offense have frequently been frustrating to watch.

When is it time to worry?