Unholy Quotables
"With every question he asked, it became clearer that despite any declaration to the contrary, he viewed me as an adversary. Rather than seeking to elicit information, his questioning sought to elicit a conclusion that he had reached before the hearing began."
-Anita Hill (Congress's version of Matt Walsh) on Arlen Specter's questioning of her during the Clarence "is that a pubic hair in my Coke" Thomas
- That was a hell of a football game. Frustrating for a Patriots fan looking for more punishment inflicted on an inferior opponent, but it was still great.
- The Patriots were completely out-coached tonight and I can't remember the last time I thought that, though it was probably both Colts games last season. That was a hell of a game plan by Jim Johnson. Did anyone else think back to the Patriots DVD from 2001 where Belichick is on the sidelines yelling at the defense, "In-cuts! Slants and in-cuts! That's the game. That's the game." And then they went out and took away the slants and in-cuts. Tonight, they didn't.
- Does Tedy Bruschi still play for the Patriots?
- Thank God for Wes Welker. Lots of dropped balls tonight, none by Welker.
- Is it me or did Al Michaels and John Madden just keep repeating the same 4 points over and over again? 1.) Madden: do you get the feeling the eagles came in with a chip on their shoulder? 2.) Junior Seau is a heck of a football player isn't he? 3.) Al: If nothing else, the Eagles have to feel pretty good that they're hanging with the Patriots 4.) Madden: Look, no huddle 4 receiver set out of the shotgun, they're going into it again. No kidding John. Madden had the one good early point about the Patriots being vulnerable to in-cuts. And that's all he had all night.
- If I'm an Eagles fan, I think I would have been annoyed every time Al Michaels gave the "moral victory" spiel with 7 minutes, then 5 minutes left in the game. They were down by a field goal and were carving up the Patriots secondary to that point. It was only when they foolishly went to the outside that they turned the ball over.
- On a positive note, I'm glad Andrea Kramer is having less and less time to report on nothing during the games. Nothing worse than going to a sideline reporter for an injury note that could just be ready by Madden so he can increase his contributions to the game by 20% with a 5th topic.
- Get ready for Patriots backlash this week. The overboard "greatest team ever" and "they're going to score 50 on everyone" talk will now be replaced by "they're overrated" and stories about how the Steelers, Ravens, and Giants can now beat them because they were given a blueprint by the Eagles. Of course the blueprint the Eagles drew up was taken largely from the Colts blueprint, but since we're in an era of media laziness, they won't mention that.
- Would it kill the Gillette Stadium crowd to make some noise to at least pretend there is a home field advantage along the lines of the Colts, Chiefs, etc?
More on Week 12 and the Patriots on Monday. I was frustrated the whole game, but in the end it was an exposure of the aging Pats linebackers, injured secondary (Randall Gay drives me crazy), and the game of his life from A.J. Feeley that did in the Patriots. Brady was good, a more typical 2003-2006 Tom Brady performance.
9 comments:
I was told that Belichick was evil for not letting Welker talk to the pretty reporter after the game.
So how long has Seau been in the NFL? Remind me NBC?
"How about that Junior Seau!" "Isn't he something!" Thanks John.
How about a shout-out for Logan Mankins! He power-pushed Laurence Maroney into the endzone for that touchdown. He was also seen blocking three defenders by himself - one of whom got loose to get to Brady (1 on 3? c'mon.) The man is a BEAST!
Great points Marie! Logan Mankins has been a force this year and commentators sometimes put too much focus on the play of the tackle over the guard. Matt Light has been good, no question, but last night he was "out-physicaled" (my favorite Merill Hodge-ism).
I think it would be insane for Logan Mankins to miss out on the Pro Bowl this year. But of course it's always difficult to compare the play of offensive linemen across the league. Like the Gold Glove in baseball it usually goes to the person with the most name recognition.
Hopefully Welker will get over not being able to talk to the pretty reporter. I'm guessing Jabar Gaffney was just happy to talk to anyone considering how many quotes he had in the game recaps. Jabar Gaffney?
I'm wondering if we'll see any "moss is frustrated" columns this week on an unrelated note.
I think I'm most ticked off by the fact that the Pats didn't seize on the soft run coverage more. We didn't even see Maroney until almost the second half, and they played Faulk as a receiver most of the time. I only really saw two of the run plays outright stuffed. Maybe if they had been trying more runs on first and second down, they wouldn't have had to convert 3rd and longs, and the Eagles corners wouldn't have had as much help, and Moss could have actually broken a play or two.
Also, I miss having Troy Brown in the middle of the field. All those inside routes kept making me cry, because I fully expected the Pats to adjust at halftime and take them away.
PS- don't get me wrong, I love Asante Samuel. I just hated seeing them get burned on the same bleeping play every time.
Eagles fan here who was incredibly annoyed by talk of a "moral victory". There are no moral victories.
Teams win, teams lose, and here the better team won. Brady was not at his best but still managed to turn it on in the fourth. Moss was practically invisible most of the game and yet the Pats still found a way to win.
I'm amazed every week by this Pats team. Hate to say but this is a truly great team at work. Mental toughness, immense talent and quality coaching. It's good to watch.
Despite being an Eagles fan I'd love the Pats to win the Superbowl (let's face it, we're not even making the Playoffs) and to do it unbeaten. How often do you get to watch history in the making and records broken?
If Jim Johnson couldn't figure out a way to stop the juggernaut that is the Pats offense nobody can.
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