It's "T" Time
But otherwise, WELCOME!
"One of these things is not like the others..."
The Pats have officially landed on the other side of the pond and are breathing in “ye olde air” (aka foggy air) and prepping for the big game this weekend.
Coming off of a game where the Patriots found themselves winning 59-0, the Patriots have to be constantly reminding themselves and each other not to get fat and happy and to come out of the gate ready to pounce on this inferior Buccaneers team. There is absolutely no excuse for anything less than a 20+ point win this weekend.
The only real issue the Patriots may face coming into their game is their ongoing injury situation which suddenly has started to take out more key components. With CB Darius Butler (ankle), WR Julian Edelman (broken arm), RBs Sammy Morris (knee) and Fred Taylor (ankle – still), and OT Matt Light all not practicing this week, the Patriots will need to do some things to recover from their losses.
Should Butler be down in the defensive secondary, obviously it wouldn’t be a huge blow for the week since the team is fairly deep back there (meaning depth in personnel, not necessarily quality) and Butler was coming off the bench anyway.
Will we see L-Mo finally take advantage of the opportunity?
The offense will miss numerous players but most of them were out last week as well and look at how the Pats responded. With Taylor out, the Patriots plan was to highlight Morris and L-Mo, and then Sammy went down early in the first quarter. “L-Mo Time” went off without a hitch last week as he responded to the call with a 123 yard game including the 45 yard blast that put “6″ on the board. Expect to see a package that will have Maroney on a short leash but playing the majority of snaps with Benny G-E taking the alternate snaps and Faulk for pretend RB snaps which end up with him receiving the ball 8 yards out and getting a first down (especially with Edelmen out as the third receiver).
The loss of Matt Light has definitely been the gain of the German rookie standout Sebastian Vollmer. People are excited about this kid, he has shown poise and ability to come into this offensive line and has done a hell of a job keeping those strong D-lineman off of Brady, especially considering the whispers that were being said about Light’s performance in the first few weeks. Offensive line is a thankless job, their stat lines are all zeros, they don’t even exist in Fantasy Football, and they really only get talked about if they are protecting a future HOF QB or doing a horrible job. But Let me tell you that Sebastian Vollmer is someone that people are seeking out. 4SB alone has received several hits this week just from people Googling his name, which can be expected due to him, once again, being in a position where not much information is shared about a player.
The biggest SINGLE PLAYER loss (obviously losing 2 RBs is the biggest overall) would have to be Julian Edelman. These Patriots had JUST released Joey Galloway to the wolves on Tuesday and were planning on swapping out the likes of Edelman and Sam Aiken as the third receivers going forward. It was a nice package to have both Edelman and Welker running their slant patterns at the same time and confusing the defense while Randy Moss booked it to the end zone, hand waiving, pleading for the ball. So what are the Pats to do now? Well, Aiken is still available and will be easily be the feature plan on the 3rd WR at least for this week. The Pats also have brought practice squad receivers Terrence Nunn and Brandon Tate along with practice squad QB Isaiah Stanback, who has been working as a receiver at practice.
Though going into this game most of the media and fans have forgotten about one key aspect of the game, the other team… then again, can you blame them?! The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are also playing in this game and as much as they probably don’t mind flying under the radar and watching all the glam photos of Brady running his fingers through his hair as he descends from the plane steps. No attention takes the pressure off of the Bucs and may be the only way that they can win this game this weekend, remember this IS the NFL… where dreams (and nightmares) come true!
Granted the Bucs have a very scary logo and an awesome pirate ship in their stadium, someone forgot to transfer some of the team’s funds over to the personnel account because this team is lacking some recognizable names and faces, or at least ones recognized for positive reasons.
TB has been doing some experimenting with their QB position this year which is always the case with teams trying to develop and see what they can get right (See: “Cleveland Browns” under “not working” and “Arizona Cardinals” for “hey, that worked”). Right now, TB is allowing their young 23-year old Josh Johnson to take the helm after throwing 3 TD and 5 INT in his last 3 games for a total of 493 yards in those games. Young and developing is the only way to describe Johnson and his ability to be a starting QB in the NFL and we will get to see what he can do this Sunday. He is probably pretty excited that he won’t need to plan on getting hit a whole lot this weekend as the Pats have only 10 sacks on the season, including 3 for Mike Wright.
The receivers on TB include Michael Clayton (questionable – kind of like the movie bearing his name), Antonio Bryant, and Sammie Stroughter. However the biggest difference maker in the receiving core is TE Kellen Winslow (29 rec., 286 yards, 4 TDs).
The RB situation in TB shows a lot of promise but really hasn’t peaked yet. Led by Cadillac Williams (64 att., 276 yards, 2 TD, with a long of 35 yds) and Derrick Ward (33att., 135 yards, 1 TD, with a long of 28 yds), the rushing aspect of Tampa Bay’s offense may be its stronger point, which isn’t depressed by Johnson’s ability to move (21 att., 141 yards, 0 TD, with a long of 29 yards – oh, and 3 fumbles, 1 lost)…
Tampa’s defense doesn’t show a whole lot more promise allowing the 4th most points in the NFL with 168, following the likes of Tennessee with 198 (59 points in one game will do that to you), Detroit with 188, and St. Louis with 169 (only 1 more than TB – ouch).
That's right, I am showing off a pic of my kicker!
The Bucs defense also has 10 sacks on the year along with 6 interceptions (1 for a TD) and 4 forced fumbles. Their main standout defensive members are MLB Barrett Ruud, CB Aqib Talib, and CB Ronde Barber. Other than that, this team has little defense to be able to stand up to anything the Pats throw at them.
My prediction on this game tomorrow is a simple 34-10 win by the Patriots withBrady throwing for 320 yards with 2 TDs and an INT. I am giving L-Mo the benefit of the doubt and going to predict for him to rush for 93 yard and a 1TD and we will give Benny G-E 54 rushing yards for 1 goal line TD. Of course, for you math majors out there, this will give Gostkowski 2 FGs to round out the 34… God I hope I am right, that would be amazing, wouldn’t it?!
What is everyone else thinking for a prediction on this game? Easy win or easy to lose focus and lose this game?
Leave a Reply
