The Good, the Bad and the Ugly: Red Sox Back On Track

Sports fans: Not only is it Saturday, it’s the Saturday of NFL opening weekend 2017. Let’s use our mulligan on that excruciating Patriots’ loss, Thursday night. Try to enjoy some objectively exciting football, Pats fans. As sure as the snow will fall, come this winter, we will have our redemption. This Sunday, we should be so sportsmanlike as to cheer for the heartbreak of other teams and other cities that we don’t care about.

Enough sulking. Buck up! It’s time for another edition of: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly.

The Good

You may have been distracted by the disheartening commencement of the NFL season, but while you were away the Sox got back on track.

This past Tuesday, Boston won a 19 inning-game against Toronto. It was the 2nd longest game ever played in our beloved, yet well antiquated, Fenway Park. The worst part is: I had a ticket to this game, but of course work got in the way. It’s fine, I just missed a historical Red Sox moment. No big deal… Shout-out to my best friend, and The 7th Floor podcast co-host, Joey Copponi for going without me!

It’s the bottom of the 19th inning. Mookie Betts has just crushed a ball to left; he’s standing with latent speed waiting to be unleashed on 2nd base. Notorious big-whiffer Hanley Ramirez is at the plate. He loads and pops up a rainbow of a bloop single to center field. Mookie, absolutely on his horse, crosses home and the Red Sox win. The best part: They have not lost a game, since this super climatic victory.

Hanley was interviewed after being drenched with gatorade and tackled by his teammates, in celebration. He’s not known as the most eloquent of orators, but Tuesday night (Wednesday morning technically) he put it best. On the manufacturing of the victory, Ramirez said: “We don’t have a bunch of guys who hit home runs”, but we hustle and we “get it done”.

Every World Series winning team has to have a little bit of magic. All the great postseason teams have had regular season’s that are saturated with pivotal, and seemingly impossible, victories. This past Tuesday, the Red Sox illustrated their heart and conviction to win. Sometimes that is enough to compensate for your deficiencies on the field and on paper.

When trailing after 5 innings, the Sox have won 17 games this year. That is by far the best in the majors. Considering that they have 80 wins this year, almost 25% of those are late-inning comebacks.

Feel that dirty water momentum Boston! The boys are rolling. Chris Sale takes the mound tonight. We lead the AL East by 4 games over the Yankees. Red Sox fans should be encouraged by the appraisal of their team, at this juncture in September. That should remedy some of those open Patriots wounds.

The Bad

These guys have really, and I mean REALLY, earned it. The bad category this week goes to Roger Goodell and his band of inept subordinates who run the NFL. They take the cake for their miscarriage of the personal conduct policy, this time in regards to the Ezekiel Elliott case.

An ex-girlfriend is accusing the Dallas running back of physically abusing her, in July of 2016. Wait. Didn’t Elliot have a breakout rookie-season with the Cowboys last year? Yes, so either the NFL is legally ignorant. Or they wanted to stimulate the popularity of this budding star for as long as they could.

This summer, our insufferable commissioner Roger Goodell announced that Elliott will serve a 6-game suspension. Again, it appears that upon a negligible amount of, if any, deliberation Goodell has come up with an arbitrary punishment. His dolling out of suspensions, when it comes to the personal conduct policy, seems expedient. On the surface, Goodell wants “justice”. But when you inspect the timeline, you see that these punishments have all been rather convenient for the NFL.

The NFLPA fought for an injunction in the Elliott case, recently granted by U.S. District Court judge Amos Mazzant. Ezekiel Elliott’s suspension is now on hold. Yeah, fantasy owners rejoice, but this is a solemn matter. We’re talking about purported domestic abuse, and the integrity of America’s football league.

Suspiciously the NFL has just now protracted the suspension of ex-Giants Kicker Josh Brown. If you remember, he was accused of assaulting his significant other last year. Like the reactionaries that Goodell and gang are, they gave him a hasty 1-game suspension, without conducting a coherent investigation. Now, on the coattails of Ezekiel Elliott’s injunction, they’ve decided to suspend Josh Brown 6 more games. It appears as though the NFL is trying to set a precedent here, in a retroactive manner.

Don’t get me wrong: A precedent must be set. The NFL has been dishing out incalculable suspensions for players who violate the personal conduct policy.

It seems like Goodell reads the public barometer, then decides what a fair punishment would be. He’s playing both sides, like a moral-less businessman. Why were both Brown and Elliott allowed to play in the season in which their respective allegations were made against them?

When it comes to domestic violence, a thorough investigation has to be conducted on behalf of both parties. No matter who’s involved. Goodell has ignored evidence and he has assessed evidence, at his convenience. This has been a huge issue for the NFL in recent years.

Make the punishment predictable yet more severe for players who are violent domestic criminals. Do whatever you have to do to send the message that this is invariably unacceptable behavior. As it stands, the litigation of the NFL domestic abuse policy needs an overhaul. It is ineffective and confusing for fans, players and most importantly the victims.

The Ugly

Short ugly category: Stop despairing Patriots fans! We lost the season-opener, so what? If the Super Bowl was decided by the first game, the Chiefs would be champions. Flukes happen!

Since Thursday, I have heard talks of a forced Tom Brady retirement. I’ve also heard questions of Bill Belichick’s competence. This uncertainty needs to be arrested right now.

We weren’t perfect last year, and we won the Super Bowl. We all remember what happened last time we were perfect up until the Super Bowl: So calm down.

You learn more from defeat than you do from victory. It’s foolish to presume that Bill won’t scrupulously study the tape, and correct these mistakes. Tom looked bad, but he’s older now: He may have needed to shake off the rust. In practice this week, rest assured that the Patriots will be indefatigably running laps until they vomit. Pain is weakness leaving the body: Belichick’s gonna make them feel it.

As I said in the beginning, we will have our redemption come this winter. Don’t be the fickle doomsayer that jumps off the wagon prematurely. Do we not remember that, at heart, we’re hard-nosed underdogs? Nothing has changed: The Patriots are still favorites to win the Super Bowl this year. 28-3. That’s all I have to say.

Patriots Should Look To Trade Dion Lewis To Fill A Position Of Need

Dion Lewis was 5th in rushing attempts for the Patriots season opener with 2. That is tied with QB Tom Brady who also had 2 rushing attempts. On those two attempts Lewis ran for 9 yards averaging 4.5 yards per carry.

With the running back depth chart being deep at the moment and other positions not so much. The thought of trading Lewis has to be considered.

According to Jeff Howe of the Boston Herald several teams have reached out to New England regarding the running back. Including one team this past week. But every time they have received a call, the Patriots have declined to have the conversation.

Lewis is listed as a the number 1 running back on the Patriots unofficial depth chart alongside James White. But on Thursday against the Chiefs he saw a running back low 6 snaps. White led the running back group with 43 snaps, Mike Gillislee 24, and Rex Burkhead 10.

Based on the game against the Chiefs, Lewis is New Englands fourth running back on the depth chart. With the receiver position being an are of need, why not move Lewis for a wideout?

“I’d say the biggest concern is doing a better job,” Bill Belichick said on a conference call Friday when asked if he’s worried about the depth at the position.

At the receiver position the Patriots are down Julian Edelman, Malcolm Mitchell, and now Danny Amendola. Mitchell and Amendola will return eventually, but timelines are unclear on the duo. The depth is so bad that Josh McDaniels had to run newcomer Phillip Dorsett out there for 18 snaps. Dorsett was traded for just 5 days prior to the game and was a non factor with only one target from Tom Brady.

Of course a trade of Lewis shouldn’t happen anytime soon. Injuries can happen at the running back position and with the need for a kick/punt returner. It would make sense for Lewis to get a look on special teams and contribute to the team that way.

But if October’s trade deadline rolls in and the running backs are relatively healthy and the receiver position is still weak, a trade of Lewis could make sense for the Patriots.

Patriots Talk: What the Pats did Wrong Last Night

It was a hyped up Season Opener last night [Thursday] as the Patriots unveiled their new Super Bowl Banner.  New England was playing Kansas City and when the Patriots scored the first Touchdown it felt good.

Yet the night would shift quickly and reach a real sour note on the field.  The Patriots would eventually give up several big plays that iced them from winning the game.  They lost [42-27] to the Chiefs.  Here are a few take aways from the game but more specifically, what the Patriots did wrong:

After the first fumble of the game, the Pats got the ball back yet they failed to score.  This was huge during the game.  The Patriots got the ball back in good field position and they failed to get a first down.  It was awful!  They went for it on 4th and inches and got stopped short.

What were they thinking?  What they did wrong was not to run the Tom Brady style QB Sneak.  I mean seriously, they could have pulled it off easy!  He has done it so many times in his career that it seemed like the only reason that they didn’t do it was to keep him from getting hit.  In my opinion this was a real mistake for the team.

Defense, Defense, Defense!  They didn’t play well on D.  What they did wrong was have one on one with Linebackers on KC receivers.  It was awful!  I mean they needed to play something like a “cover 2” with Safety help for the middle of the field or over the top.  What I saw last night shouldn’t have happened.  Even with the Linebackers covering Receivers, their were blown assignments.  T. Hill kept getting open the same way, time and time again.  Scoring on deep down field passes.

The Defense didn’t bend but broke!  Listen this is the Achilles Heel of the Team.  It was something we noticed during Preseason. They aren’t fast enough and they certainly aren’t experienced enough to handle the spread Offense.  Dont’a Hightower is their best Linebacker but when he went out of the game there was no one else who stepped up.  Boy, was it disappointing?

What they should have done was Blitz!  I know it sounds ridiculous but listen Alex Smith had all day to throw.  They didn’t put enough pressure on him as he dropped back to pass.  They needed to play more physical and take away the deep threat.  Hey, I know it sounds easy from my arm chair right now but seriously they needed to sack him!  What else can you do but set up a zone Defense?  The Pats Secondary didn’t play well.  They did some good things, like covering the short gains.  But if you can’t take away the deep threat then you are in trouble.  And the Patriots got into trouble in the 2nd Half of the Game.

There was yet another point in the game where the Pats went for it on 4th and inches.  Yet once again they didn’t go to the Tom Brady Style QB Sneak.  Which is what they should have done.  For whatever reason they wanted to run the ball and they failed at getting the 1st Down.  If you string these two 4th Down opportunities together you can say they missed out on two TD scoring chances.  That’s 14 Points!  Enough to make it a closer game and even tie the game with a 2 Point Conversion.  I know the game went sour but looking back these were the critical plays on Offense.  These were the plays that we know that they could have made with their Offense.

With hind sight being 20/20 I think that the Patriots have a lot to work on.  They can see their mistakes.  We can see their mistakes.  And I bet you anything that this Bill Belichick Team will be making corrections.  Listen Bill won’t stand for anything short of good.  So with “No Days Off” expect some real moves to get this team where it should be at.  Week 2 against Drew Brees looms near!