The latest College Football playoff rankings were released last night. Here some thoughts on all four teams. 1.Alabama: Alabama is by far the best team in the country. As long as they don’t stumble between now and the end of the season, there is no reason to believe that they won’t finish number one and the favorite to reclaim the national championship trophy. I truly believe they’ll go back to back….
Rob Gronkowski’s latest injury is yet another why the Patriots traded for Martellus Bennett last off-season. As great a player as Gronkowski is, he cannot stay healthy for an entire season. He is expected to miss 1-2 two weeks with a punctured lung he suffered on Sunday night when he collided with Seahawks safety Earl Thomas. Gronkowski usually misses one to three games on average per season in his career….
Iowa subdued Michigan on Saturday night and turned the college football world upside down. 1. The College Football was turned upside down on Saturday when Michigan, Clemson and Washington all lost. It’ll be interesting to see which way the committee goes tonight. 2. The beneficiary of Saturday’s chaos is Penn State. The Nittany Lions control their own destiny. If they win out, they go to the Big Ten Championship game….
Game Rewind: The Patriots lost a back and forth affair to the Seattle Seahawks 31-24 last night at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots had their chances to win the game but costly turnovers and the defense’s inability to get off the field on third down cost them the game. Here are five observations from last night’s game. 1. The Defense Was Awful: The Patriots played their worst game of the season…
Storyline: The Seattle Seahawks visit Gillette Stadium for the first time since Pete Carroll was hired in 2010. It’s Carroll’s first trip to Foxboro since he was fired by the Patriots after the 1999 season. Here are my five keys to the game. 1. Pass Pro: The Patriots offensive line needs to consistently block Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril in pass protection. They cannot allow them to collapse the pocket,…
Everett and Central Catholic will once again meet in the playoffs. 1.Central Catholic and Everett will feature two of the most explosive spread offenses in the state but it will also be a battle of two of the best coaches in the state in Chuck Adamopoulos and John DiBiaso. Games like this are close and usually determined by which team wins the turnover battle and plays the best defense. This…
By Michael Vallee -Shipping Out of Boston: Against Buffalo the Patriots defense, once again, employed their bend-but-don’t-break philosophy, or in this case, bend-and-let-the-opposition-shoot-themselves-in-the-foot. They allowed 376 total yards, but just 17 points until a garbage time touchdown put the Bills at 25. To most observers New England’s defense appeared to give another good but not great performance, similar to the previous seven games of the season. Belichick, however, was reportedly…
By Mike Vallee The majority of Patriots games I write about and analyze are consumed from the comfort of my couch or the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium but this week three of my friends and I decided to go behind enemy lines and head out for a little football road trip to the jewel of Lake Erie: Buffalo, New York. The Trip: Nothing like starting your weekend with a…
The Patriots trading linebacker Jaime Collins shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Bill Belichick made a series of moves over the past few months that added linebacker depth but were also signs that the team was ready to move on from Collins. Belichick signed former Chicago Bears linebacker Shea McClellin in the spring, traded for linebacker Barkevious Mingo and just last week traded for linebacker Kyle Van Noy….
Image courtesy of Mark Mulville/Buffalo News Game Recap: Tom Brady sparkled in the Patriots 41-25 win on Sunday. Brady completed 22/33 315 yards and 4 touchdown passes in the win. Here are five quick thoughts on the Patriots win. 1. Pats Get Revenge: I think a lot was made of the Patriots gaining revenge after their 16-0 loss to the Bills earlier this season but the Patriots did indeed get revenge. I…