Guest: Mike Wilkening From Pro Football Weekly

Matt and Justin discuss the Red Sox latest move for closer Andrew Bailey. Mike Wilkening from Pro Football Weekly joins Matt to talk NFL and Patriots. Closing time predictions are made.

Guest(s): Chris Herren – Former Boston Celtic

Matt & Justin discuss the controversy surrounding Patriots Wide Receiver Julian Edelman, as well as the upcoming showdown at Gillette with the New York Giants. Later the guys talk to Chris Herren. Herren formerly of the Boston Celtics talks about the recent documentary on his life made by ESPN. Closing Time predictions are also made.

By: Tom Rowe

Week 2 of the NFL Preseason is over for the Patriots. After a vicious pounding on the Tampa Bay Bucs last night, the Pats fly home to prepare for the new looked and revived Detroit Lions, but first we look back and dissect the game down in Raymond James Stadium; who was great and who needs improvement. The good thing we can say first off is there are more pros than cons.

Tom Brady looked to be hitting every note and was as sharp as ever. Going 11-19, 118 yards and 2 touchdown strikes to Aaron Hernandez and Chad Ochocinco, it seemed he never left the football field during the past lockout. “The Law firm” BenJarvis Green-Ellis, ran for 2 touchdowns of his own and seems to have secured the starting role at halfback for the Patriots. Rookie Steven Ridley continues to inpress everyone, also Wes Welker and Devin McCourty look to be in mid-season form as well as the Defense which has been impressive so far. But, that’s more than I could say about starting safety and 2-time pro bowler Brandon Meriwether. Meriwether has been nothing but a loose cannon since being handed the keys by former Patriots safety and mentor Rodney Harrison. Now not even the future hall of famer can defend number 31’s wild and reckless behavior on the field now after a season last year where even his fans labeled him as a head hunter. This season will determine whether Meriwether will remain a Patriot in years to come. The same can be said about former pro bowl lineman Matt Light.

After seeing what rookie Nate Solder can do on the starting line, Matt Lights day off may be the start of many to come. The 10 year Left Tackle was brought back for one reason only, to teach his replacement. Light may think he has a lot left in the tank and that’s okay, he just might. But the Patriots are not the team that he will finish his career with whenever that may be. Solder has the mentality and ability to be the long term solution at left tackle for the Patriots and be one of the best in that position. Light just has to accept that sooner or later that this season will be his last as a starter.

Now the Patriots are preparing for Detroit and this won’t be a normal match against the same old Lions. This team is amped up, loaded up with new talented players and will not be accepting another losing season. This is only preseason we all know that, but since the lockout took so much time away from teams, the Lions will be treating this upcoming game as a statement match, so will the patriots as they show no mercy to any team this year.

With the pre season in the books, the 2010 Patriots welcomed TO, Ochocinco, and the rest of the Bengals to town.  The pre season did not end well for the Pats, the defense looked like a young defense and the running game had some questions.  Let’s look at each phase of the game and see how I graded the Patriots.

Overall Offense Grade- A

The Pats looked great entering the game, moving right down the field and scoring on their first possession.  They were outgained by the Bengals, 428 to 376, but the Bengals played from behind the entire game.  They were great on third down, 9-13, and in the red zone, going 3-5 with three touchdowns.

Quarterback- A

You can’t get much better than a 120.9 passer rating as Brady carved up the much hyped Bengals defense.  Brady looked in mid season form, going 25-35 for 258 yards and three touchdowns.  As usual he spread the ball around hitting 7 different receivers and hitting Wes Welker for two TDs.  Brady will face a better defensive backfield in week 2, but these are players he is used to playing against, Revis and Cromartie, so he will make something happen.

Offensive Line- A

Logan who?  This was looking like a big weakness heading into week one, but they O line only let up two QB hits and no sacks allowed.  This will be a up and down season for the offensive line, so let’s not get too excited yet.

Wide Receivers/Tight Ends- A

How could I not grade them with an A?  Welker came back and had 8 receptions, 64 yards, and two touchdowns in his return game.  Moss had an average game, 5 receptions for 58 yards, no TDs, but an 11.8 average and a 32 yard reception, which shows that he is still a big play WR.  The great thing to see was second year WR Brandon Tate, who missed the 09 season with an injury, had 4 receptions and 36 yards, and also made an impact in special teams.

Running Backs- B+

This is going to be a committee of backs and each week we could have a different guy stepping up.  Fred Taylor lead all backs with 14 carries, 71 yards, and a 5.1 average.  He is healthy now, and will continue to be the starting back until someone else steps up.  Kevin Faulk contributed as usual; the ageless back had 3 carries for 23 yards and four catches for 47 yards.

Overall Defense- B

Yea, I gave them a B.  They looked good at the start and some guys stepped up big and looked to be leaders out there, however, they did let up 24 points, 428 yards, 342 of them were passing yards.  Lastly, they were outscored 21-10 in the second half.  With a lead that big, the defense should have pinned their ears back and went for blood, which leads me to believe that Belichick still has some questions.

Defensive Line- B

We all know in a 3-4 defensive scheme, these guys do not get any glory, but they played well this week.  Vince Wilfork and Ron Brace chipped in with a few tackles and one pass deflected.  Mike Wright did not show up much in the box score, but that is what a true lineman does in the 3-4, take up space so the LBs can make plays.  They are thin at D-line, and will need to continue to improve each week.

Line Backers-B

The Pats have a young group of LBs this year and they will be up and down each game.  Jarod Mayo (12 tackles, 8 solo) will continue to be a rock in the middle of the field and is the leader of the front seven.  Against the Bengals, the LBs were steady, but they were outplayed by the secondary.

Secondary-A

The defensive backfield was the reason the Patriots won this game (and special teams).  Second year safety Patrick Chung was amazing having 16 tackles (12 solo) and seemed to be everywhere on the field.  Darius Butler did give up a TD to Chad Ochocinco, but he was solid as well with 8 solo tackles and a pass defended.  Brandon Meriweather, the most experienced Pat in the secondary chipped in with 7 tackles.  This is a young secondary and they will have their ups and downs, but it seems that they get what the coaches want them to do; we should see some steady improvement throughout the season.

Special Teams- B

Kicking Game-B

Stephen Gostkowski was 5 for 5 for extra points, but the usually solid kicker missed two field goal attempts missing two from 40 plus yards.  It is early in the season and he is a great kicker, so no reason to panic yet.

Rookie punter Zoltan Mesko had one punt for 43 yards.  Not much to discuss here.

Return Game-A

Second year receiver, Brandon Tate had a great first NFL game.  He missed all of last season after a knee injury in the preseason.  The speedy Tate had four returns for 184 yards, averaging 46 yards a return.  He had an electrifying 97 yard return to open up the second half and give the Pats a 31-3 lead.

Overall the Patriots had a great game, jumping out to an early lead and maintaining the lead throughout the game.  The Bengals got some yards and points in garbage time which is to be expected, but I would have liked Belichick to continue to be aggressive with his young defense.  We shall see how things work out next week against the hated Jets.

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The Patriots traveled to Atlanta to face Matt Ryan and the Falcons.  The Falcons are coming off a year in which they missed the playoffs and had many injuries.  The Falcons have many weapons on offense and would put some pressure on the young Patriots defense.  As I mentioned in the last post, the Pats have showed some swagger and look like they have something to prove with each snap.

Game two welcomed backed Wes Welker to the offense and Tom Brady threw to him right away.  Welker finished with 2 catches for 20 yards.  It was a dropped pass that made him feel like he was back; he took a hard hit as he was going down.  As many players say, it’s that first big hit that makes you feel back in the game.  Brady continued to impress, 10/12, 84 yards, and a TD.  He did take a big hit in which he fumbled but the Pats recovered.  Second year backup Brian Hoyer looked good as well, 8/15, 94 yards and a TD as well.

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I do not know if the Belichick “Jedi Mind Trick” has worked, but the Patriots seemed to come out fired up in their first game since the playoff loss to the Ravens.  Belichick has removed everything that reminds the team of prior success, pictures, clippings, whatever, it’s gone, like most of the players from that run.  I know the Saints had been on the road for a week before the game, but it was good for the Pats to come out the way they did against the Super Bowl Champs.

I still have not been able to look at Tom Brady with a straight face with his “Beiber” cut, but the man without a contract for next season looked in game shape throwing the ball down the field very easily against the Saints, connecting on 5 of 8 passes for 67 yards.  It is the first game, but he looked much better than he did a year ago.  Brian Hoyer was impressive as well, going 8/13 for 106 yards.

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According to Mike Reiss from www.espnboston.com the Patriots have placed WR Wes Welker on the Active PUP list for the start of training camp.  I originally wrote that he would be a full participant in camp, earlier than expected, which is still the case.  Once again, Belichick pulls a great move, by putting him on the Active PUP List, this allows Welker to participate in team activities and frees up a roster spot.  This is a loop hole that the Colts used two seasons ago when Manning had his knee surgery.

Everyone knows Welker will be back and on the team, the “active PUP list” tag allows the Pats to look at other receivers and players longer and determine what to do with them.  A position that was once thought of as a critical need has become a position that will have a lot of figuring out.  We all know that Moss and Welker are on the team, but there is going to be a fight for the last three or four roster spots.

Tory Holt is a good possession guy, but who knows if he can run the routes and create the space he needs as he has lost a step, the Pats do not want another Joey Galloway situation.  Holt has had two down years, but he was on bad teams and not Brady throwing to him. Julian Edelman looks like another Welker type guy and was productive last year, but needs to stay healthy.  David Patten was an odd sign this off season, I don’t know what he has left in the tank, and he hasn’t been productive since 2007.  That leaves Sam Aiken, Brandon Tate, Matt Slater, and their third round pick, Taylor Price.

Aiken (20 Rec, 326 yds, 2 TDs) had a decent numbers for being thrust in the third receiver role in the middle of last season, but he has been around for 8 seasons with various teams.  Tate, a third round pick from 2009 was only active for three games last year and did not have a catch.  He is more known for his KR/PR skills and with Kevin Faulk getting older, he may be valuable.  Matt Slater, listed as a WR, but he is a special teams wiz and we know how Belichick loves special teams guys and NFL pedigree (He is the son of HOF lineman, Jackie Slater).  Unless Tate or first round pick Devin McCourty steps up, there will be a place for him somewhere.  That leaves 2010 3^rd round pick, Taylor Price. I feel with his talent, he can be productive and he has an NFL build.  He needs to show what he can do right away with the opportunity he has.

All and all, they have a strength that looked like a weakness heading into the offseason.  They need to get younger and make sure Brady likes the younger guys, so I have a feeling that baring a crazy injury, Sam Aiken and David Patten may not make the roster and that will allow the young guys to step up and show us what they have!  It should make an interesting battle at training camp.

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According to sources including 98.5 FM Boston, The Sports Hub and Chad Finn of Boston.com and the Boston Globe (he also mentioned it on the Hometeam today), Wes Welker will report to practice with the “full participation” label on him, this just less than 8 months after tearing all three major ligaments in his knee.  All signs showed that he was ahead of schedule and most people thought he would start on the PUP list and then be activated week 6, once again, Welker proves everyone wrong.

What does this mean for the Patriots heading into the start of camp next Thursday?  It means that baring any set back, their worry at the wide receiver position has decreased tremendously.  This leaves Tory Holt, Julian Edleman, Sam Aiken, rookie Taylor Price, and a slew of others to fight for the last few spots to solidify the potent Patriots offense.  It also means Tom Brady can focus on other things (his contract, maybe?) rather than trying to find a new go to guy while Welker was healing.  Brady already has to get use to three new tight ends this season.

It was heart breaking to see Welker on the sidelines after his injury, and the Patriots seemed to lose a little of that “toughness” that Welker brings to the field.  Observing the way he plays as well as how he works, it is not surprising that he is back earlier than expected, but this early is border line amazing.

The next few weeks will be a big test on Welker’s knee, he runs very specific patterns and if his stop and go moves and quick cuts are not there, he becomes just an average guy.  So keep this in mind Patriots fans, Wes Welker is back, but give the man some time to get back in to the swing of things, and if he drops a few passes and has a few “average” games in the first few weeks, don’t worry, he has always defied the odds.

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