Breaking News: Julian Edelman Arrested

"According to a report in the Boston Globe, Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman will be arraigned on charges of indecent assault and battery in Boston Municipal Court on Tuesday. Officers were called to a Back Bay nightclub around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning to investigate reports of a possible assault. Edelman was arrested on a single count of indecent assault and battery, according to Boston police spokeswoman Elaine Driscoll. Edelman was taken into custody but posted bail and was released by police (WEEI)."

Right now the story is that Edleman was at some Halloween party and was dancing with some chick and reached under her dress. This caused a fight between Edleman and some guy that was there. All 3 people were kicked out of the bar, and police arrived at the scene and arrested Edleman.

It is too early to know what's true or not true, but with Edleman only having 3 catches for 25 yards this year I'd say he is probably going to be cut rather quickly. The Patriots have way too many similar WRs on this roster as it is, and if this is true will be a back eye for the Patriots and I would expect that they wouldn't put up with this.

If we get more news on the story we'll update the post.

How I Feel As A Patriots Fan: Concerned

I am not concerned about the Patriots making the playoffs. I'm not even concerned about them winning the division, but I am concerned about this team being a Super Bowl team.

As a Patriots fan we can keep holding on to this team being a bend, but don't break defense. Sure, I'll play along and even understand it, but sometimes (like yesterday) it isn't good enough. When the Patriots did that on-side kick yesterday I thought it spoke volumes about how this team feels about it's defense. Every time the Steelers got the ball they would drive. Maybe not leading to touchdowns, but they got first downs. In my eyes, I didn't feel at any point the Patriots were going to get the Steelers offense off the field.

So, from that standpoint I don't blame Belichick for doing what he did. It really didn't bother me as much as it seems to be bothering everyone else. WHAT DOES BOTHER ME is the moves he has been making for years now. The trading of draft picks to stockpile later picks. Not fixing glaring problems (pass rush) either through the draft or free agency. Cutting people for seemingly no reason. Can anyone really sit here and tell me the Patriots weren't a better defense with Bodden, Meriweather (I know I hate him too), and James Sanders? They wouldn't be a lot better, but they are more talented then the undrafted guys were are throwing out their in our secondary.

I believe Belichick is one of the best coaches in the game, but his role as GM has been pretty questionable for awhile now. I know, there are probably Patriots fans that just threw their computer across the room, because God forbid you question their moves, but I am still not over the fact of how much better this team could be if they drafted better and made better free agent pickups. Coaching can get you so far, at some point you need talent. When they did that onside kick, it was because they knew they couldn't stop the talent on the Steelers.

Now, I agree with Rob the problem yesterday was the offense. If they don't score 35+ point they will most likely lose. There was 2 reason why the Patriots offense got shut down. First was the Steelers excellent gameplan of playing press coverage on the Patriots WRs, which threw off the timing of the offense. The Patriots don't have deep threats, so you throw off the timing, game over. The other thing that threw off their timing was the fact the Steelers seemingly had the ball the whole game. You keep an offense off the field, especially a timing offense like the Patriots, and they just aren't going to be as sharp.

Can they turn this around? Sure, the offense can be THAT good when the timing is on. I don't think there are many teams that can do what the Steelers did, so there is a chance they go far, but if you ask me how I feel as a Patriots' fan today I'll tell you that I'm concerned.

Around The NFL: Here We Go

25 Steelers, 17 New England
The Steelers and Big Ben proved that they were the team to beat in the AFC. No James Harrison, No James Farrior, No Hines Ward, no problem. The Captain failed to mention in the recap that Ben torched the suspect the Patriot defense for the tune of 365 yards on 50 attempts on which he had 36 completions. The Patriots defense were worse than the Steelers wide receivers and that was pretty evident. They basically controlled the whole game through the air.

Also the Captain failed to mention the terrific job the Steelers did on Brady and the offense. Pittsburgh did to the Patriots what the Patriots did to the Rams in the superbowl. They beat up the Patriot Receivers and they hardly made an impact on the game. Welker had 6 rec and 39 yards, Deion Branch had 4 rec for 36 yards and TD. The Patriots were unable to play their game, because the Steelers didn't allow them. The Lamar Woodley and Brett Keisel were in the backfield a lot putting a ton of pressure on Brady. Holding Tom Brady (who has been on record pace) to under 200 yards is amazing. Ike Taylor is the 2nd best corner in the league.

ANOTHER thing the Captain failed to mention is the follies by head coach Bill Belichick. Bill had his once a season real bad game. His game plan sucked and the onside kick was one of the dumbest things I have ever heard. They haven't got an onside kick in Bills time as a Patriots coach and had 3 time outs and the two minute warning. Yes, Gostkowski muffed it, but it should have been kicked deep. When is Bill going to accountable for these things. I mean he had a bye week to game plan for this and it was very "unPatriot" like. All they did was cut Leigh Bodden and put Pos I Dowling on the IR, which hurt in this game.

Looks like there will be a rematch in the Superbowl with Green Bay and Pittsburgh.

31 St. Louis, 21 New Orleans

What the fuck Saints and Drew Brees. How do you let the winless Rams destroy you. Steven Jackson had a great game running 25 times for 159 yards and 2 TDs. The Saints can't have these games if they want to be considered elite.

21 Panthers, 24 Vikings
Cam Newton is having a great year statistically but owns a 2-5 record. He threw 3 TDs and led his team to FG range at the end of the game to tie it and Olindo Mare shanked it. Tough loss for the Panthers, I feel like I say that a lot.

30 Baltimore, 27 Arizona
Right when I was bashing Joe Flacco all day he goes and 31/51 for 336 yards. Most of which was in the 2nd half. Baltimore had to come back from 24 points in this game, they won, but they can't feel good about themselves.

23 Bills, 0 Washington
I picked Washington in this game......... I shouldn't have. Ryan Fitzpatrick rewarded the Bills by throwing 262 yards and 2 TDs.

45 Lions, 10 Broncos

Here is Tim Tebow getting Tim Tebowed..... funniest thing ever.

Tebow went 18/39 for 172 yards with 1 TD, 1 Int and an for 63 yards and fumbled 3 times with 1 loss. Thank God we don't need to hear about him for a while.

34 Cincy, 12 Seattle
Andy Dalton may not be putting up Cam Newton stats however, he has his team at 5 and 2. Rookie AJ Green is having a pretty good year as well with 5 TDs this year. Seattle is bad.

34 Philly, 7 Dallas
This is probably Vick's best game since last year. He went 21/28 for 279 and 2 TDs and also chipped in with 50 rushing yards. But the real star of this team is Lesean McCoy running for 185 yards on 30 carries and 2 scores. I don't get Dallas, sometimes they look awesome and other times they look like last night.

Steelers 25, Patriots 17

Do you know what's alarming? As ugly and painful to watch as the Pats' D was on Sunday, they were the best unit on the field for New England. They kept the Patriots in the game. They held the Steelers to 3 field goals and 2 TDs in the Red Zone. They intercepted Roethlisberger which set up an 8 yard TD drive. They were on the field for 2/3 of this game, and they played much better than the offense.

Give credit to the Steelers for doing two key things defensively: pressuring Brady (from unanticipated angles) and neutralizing Wes Welker. Brady was rarely comfortable and Welker was held to 6 catches for only 39 yards. When Welker did catch the ball, he was immediately (and forcefully) greeted by a Pittsburgh defender.

The Patriots shot themselves in the foot, too. Four false start penalties by the line (give partial credit to the Steelers' pass rushers), and they all came at key moments in drives. The Pats didn't take advantage of the penalties Pittsburgh committed, they didn't even try to run the ball, they didn't do much to stop Pittsburgh's pass rush like run some screens with Woodhead and/or Faulk. The Patriots offense was 3/10 on 3rd downs.

It was nice seeing Faulk in the backfield, he played well for being 80 years old. Gronkowski was stellar. He had more guys on him than Bibi Jones after a baseball game. And unlike Bibi Jones, he didn't go down easily. That's about it as far as good offensive performances go.

The defense did a decent job, but it was far from pretty. The blitzing was predictable. Blitzing worked for the Germans in 1940 because France didn't know where or when it was coming. The Patriots sent extra men in predictable situations, and sent them in predictable directions. And the Steelers ate them up for it.

If any team wants to move the ball against the Pats, all they have to do is run 6-10 yard curls. It's open. Every single down. Thankfully, the Pats clamped down in the Red Zone and turned possible touchdowns into field goals. If they hadn't, Pittsburgh would have won in a blowout.

Speaking of field goals. This was Gostkowski's worst game as a Patriot. One missed field goal, two botched onside kicks. He was one of many Patriots that simply didn't do their job.

Then there was the Patriots' clock management in the 4th. Instead of challenging the refs when Gronkowski appeared to catch the ball over the goal line, they wasted 1:37, taking their time to set plays up before finally scoring after several attempts.

The Pats are 2-2 on the road. Those 2 wins were in Miami and Oakland. Those 2 losses were in Buffalo and now Pittsburgh. The Patriots haven't beaten a good team on the road yet. And they play in the Meadowlands in 2 weeks. I'm more than a little concerned.

They host the Giants Sunday evening.

-The Commodore

Patriots Cut Leigh Bodden

Leigh Bodden Was cut today by the Patriots, and this just doesn't make any sense to me at all. Bodden, from what I can tell, has been playing pretty well , and it's not like the Patriots don't need help in the defensive backfield, so I just really don't get it. To be honest I really don't get a lot of the moves the Patriots make. They seem to workout for the most part, but it doesn't bother me any less. Like I still don't understand why we cut Meriweather AND James Sanders. Like why do we need to redo the who defensive backfield all at once.

Again, I have no idea why they made the cut. Maybe he is having off the field problems, or maybe he is terrible and I just never noticed, but I don't like this at all.

Gronkowski Going A Little Charlie Sheen On Us?

During the Patriots bye week Rob Gronkowski had a picture released of him and adult film star Bibi Jones (as seen above). Brady had to respond to these question on WEEI this morning...

"I would have guessed there would be pictures of him somehow with his shirt off, posing or something like that," joked Brady when asked about the incident. "I'm just glad I'm no longer the one people are making fun of on a daily basis. Gronk is definitely holding in the lead there."

Asked if Gronkowski would be summoned into the office of Patriots' head coach Bill Belichick, Brady said, "He probably already knows it's coming."

"Gronk is single, he's young and he's making his own decisions. It's hard for coach .. he talks to us every time we head out for an extended vacation about our decision-making. I'm sure he'll have something to say to Rob. The players will probably be asking more details the jersey that the girl was wearing or something like that (WEEI)."

All I can say is this girl is smoking. I would put up a bunch of picture, but being at work and looking up pornstars isn't the best idea. As for the Patriots, as long as he doesn't like fail a drug test or some up to practice late who the hell cares. I am sure Belichick won't be happy, but he really shouldn't be the one to talk shit after he stole his woman from another man.

Anyways, good for you Gronk, LIVING THE DREAM.

So Yea, Ochocinco Is Done

DP brought it up last week, and now it just seems like a matter of time before Ochocinco is cut. He was on the field for 4 plays last game. On the season he has under 200 yards, and when he is on the field seems to be out of the mix and making mistakes. It's too bad, because everyone really wants to like this guy, but the bottom line is that he hasn't picked up the offense, or he is finally washed up. If he is only going to be playing 4 plays a game I'd rather they just cut him before he explodes. Plus, at this point it's be better to get someone like Price on the field more who can spread the field deep better the Ochocinco.

Like I said, it's really a shame, because he is such a good guy, but this seems like a failure and we are getting pretty deep into the season for him not to be doing anything. I guess if you wanted to be hopeful you'd say that this is their bye week, and maybe he can breakout against the Steelers, but I'm not holding my breathe.

Patriots 20, Cowboys 16

The Patriots' defense finally impressed us for 60 minutes last night. Which was good because their offense was absent for 58 minutes. If you'd told me before kickoff that the Pats would turn the ball over 4 times, lose the time of possession battle, and only score 20 points, I'd just assume that they'd lose the game. But the defense showed up, big time.

They made Romo uncomfortable (2 sacks, 4 hits), they didn't allow Dallas to mount any consistent running attack (apart from Romo's 17 yard scramble, the Cowboys averaged 2.6 per carry), they forced negative plays (7 tackles for loss), they shut down Witten (4 catches, 48 yards) they got off the field (Dallas was 4/12 on 3rd downs), and they went and got the ball (1 fumble recovered, 1 interception).

And they made the big plays at the big moments. That 3 and out in the 4th quarter won the game. The Red Zone stops and limiting Dallas to field goals kept the struggling Pats' offense in the game.

It didn't have to be so exciting. The Patriots turned the ball over 4 times. They turned it over 10 times all of 2010. Brady's first pick was a glanced ball and a bit of misfortune. His second pick was Favresque. He was throwing on the run and against his body to either to Welker in triple coverage, or Hernandez in double coverage. All on a 2nd down.

Then the fumbles. Slater's was too easy. The ball was just tapped and it flew out. And Hernandez continues to worry me with his occasional lack of grip on the ball. It's not a major liability right now (especially when he can also catch 8 passes for 68 and a TD), but of all the Pats on offense, he's the only one who regularly loses his handle on the ball.

The defense minimized the damage of these setbacks with turnovers of their own, and holding Dallas to field goals.

Watching the defense play this well was quite enjoyable. Typically, this defense is so shaky that late in the game I'd rather the Patriots be down by 4 points with the ball then up by 4 without it. They showed up Sunday, made a statement, and hopefully they can build something from this game.

Pats have a bye before travelling to Pittsburgh in two weeks.

-The Commodore

Ochocinco Non Factor Shirts Get Em While Their Hot

I am actually shocked that Ochocinco has been such a non factor for the Patriots. If someone told me preseason that in week 6 he would have 9 receptions for only 136 yards I would be shocked.

I don't know what it is. I know that the Patriots spread it around and but you would think he would be more of a threat than Deion Branch. It can't be the playbook because by week 6 you have to know your patterns or your fucking retarded. Of all the Patriots I like him the most out of everyone, so seeing that he is a huge bust kind of sucks.

I'm not a Patriots fan, but if he were putting up these numbers in a Pittsburgh uniform I would be getting extremely impatient.

Patriots 30, Jets 21

If you were to compare the Patriots' offense to cuisine, you could say that it's normally like gourmet Filet Mignon served in a classy restaurant. On Sunday, the Pats' offense was more like hamburgers and sausages served at a greasy diner. The Patriots actually ran the ball more than they passed it (35 compared to 33). And they ran the ball well.

The Jets might have been expecting a pass-heavy game, but what they got was a heaping helping of BenJarvus Green-Ellis. He ran for 136 and 2 TDs. He averaged 5 per carry, and if he wasn't able to get the job done, then the Pats' gameplan simply wouldn't have worked.

Before I gush on and on about a nice win against our arch-rival, let's think about a few things: Were the Jets even close to being on the same level as the Patriots? Nope

Did the Patriots clearly outplay the Jets and did the Patriots seem to have a superior gameplan? Yes and yes.

So why was this a 6 point game halfway through the 4th? Why was it a 3 point game at halftime?

The Patriots were undoubtedly the better team Sunday, which is good. The Jets are 2-3, with an offense that's not rushing the ball well and a QB that can't be counted on (even by his head coach). But mistakes allowed the Jets to hang in there.

Aaron Hernandez not being able to hang on to a touchdown pass. He's got some ball control issues. I wouldn't go so far as to say that it's a problem, but there have been too many times when he'll be downed, then the ball will pop loose. And on a team that never ever fumbles, stuff like that stands out.

The Patriots were an instant replay review from another Red Zone turnover. The refs got the call right, but Branch was still very close to catching a ball then fumbling it.

Then there's the big kickoff return. That's usually a Patriots' strength, but the timing of that return was like life support to a dying patient. The Jets were on the ropes, that return gave them new life.

I'm not trying to be a downer. The Patriots are 4-1, they're tied for first in the AFC East. They're clearly better than the Dolphins and Jets at the moment, and they now have a running game to go along with that vaunted passing attack. This team's biggest problems are their own mistakes. That's fixable. And to end on a positive note, if these problems do get fixed, they'll be very, very dangerous.

Patriots host the Cowboys next Sunday at 4:15.

-The Commodore

Jerod Mayo's Injury Not Season Ending (UPDATE)

"The Patriots will be without their starting middle linebacker for an extended period of time after Jerod Mayo suffered a sprained MCL in his left knee, according to a report from Comcast's Tom Curran."

Thank god, because the Patriots need this guy in the middle of their defense. He eats up a lot of tackles, and is probably the 2nd best Patriots defensive player other then Wilfork. I really thought when he came off the field that he tore his ACL, and that would be it for the season. Luckily that is not the case. Normally an injury like this takes 2-4 weeks to heal, as much as that sucks it could've been a lot worse.

***UPDATE***

According to this source it could be a lot worse then I thought....

"The Boston Globe reports that Patriots LB Jerod Mayo (knee) will likely miss six weeks with a medial collateral ligament sprain, citing a league source."

That seems really long to me, since Mayo had this injury in 2009 and was able to come back in 6 weeks. We probably won't find out much more since it's the Patriots, but that was be terrible news if he is really out that long.

Patriots 31, Raiders 19

It wasn't immaculate, but the Patriots got back to the business of winning in Oakland Sunday afternoon, thanks to Wes Welker, Vince Wilfork, and some Raiders' penalties.

It's safe to say that Welker is back. He caught 9 passes for 158 yards. He's on pace for 160 receptions. He's Brady's favorite target again, he's getting yards after the catch, he's getting himself open on 3rd downs.

Vince Wilfork is the defensive MVP of the Patriots. He not only holds down the middle of the defensive line (which is extra hard on the road as Haynesworth apparently does not like to travel), but now he's making plays. Two interceptions this season, which is only one shy of Arrington for the team lead.

Turnovers saved the Patriots in this game. Chung's interception ended an Oakland drive that should have been a touchdown. The Pats do not have a good defense, but if they can retrieve the ball (and the offense can hang on to it), then they can be saved.

I had a thought during this game. Why not use Matthew Slater as a defensive back? He can't be much worse in coverage than the safeties currently employed by the Pats, and at least he can tackle.

I'm glad the Patriots fully utilized Ridley. 97 yards on 10 carries, and a touchdown. He can be more effective than Ellis (getting more yards per carry), and more dependable than Woodhead to get those 2 must-have yards.

The Raiders did the Patriots plenty of favors. Richard Seymour's childish antics with Brady are the foremost example. But even just running the ball instead of taking advantage of the Patriots' weak zone defense felt like Oakland was trying to not take advantage of the Patriots' biggest weakness. Thanks.

The Pats are now tied with the Bills for first, with a big divisional game this Sunday. Jets at Patriots, Sunday at 4:15.

-The Commodore

Bills 34, Patriots 31

I'm getting flashbacks of 2009, and I don't think it's because of A Football Life: Bill Belichick. It's because this team isn't playing as well as it should. The offensive numbers are gaudy. The Pats amassed 495 yards on Sunday. But the defense has shown vulnerabilities in all three games. And now Brady is making mistakes. The Pats can win without Brady being perfect. But they simply cannot win when he turns the ball over 4 times.

The picks were products of arrogance. Brady dazzles us with his perfect throws, but he gets cocky sometimes. Can't blame him. He'll throw 9 or 10 consecutive completions, often into coverage. And more often than not, he's able to place the ball so perfectly that only Gronkowski or Welker can retrieve it. But if those throws are only 99% perfect, they're risky. The margin for error is so slim, and Mr. Brady is still a human being. He makes mistakes. And that was more than apparent yesterday.

I don't want Tom Brady to tone down his aggressiveness. But there's a fine line between fearless and reckless. He's not Brett Favre tossing up ducks out there, but he's good enough that he doesn't need to be forcing some of these passes. He can find other options.

Now to the officiating. The pass interference call on Sergio Brown was awful, and it saved Ryan Fitzpatrick from one of the biggest mistakes of his life. The Bills scored a touchdown instead of the Patriots getting the ball back with a 24-17 lead. That call was awful, and it may have changed the result of the game.

But the Patriots shouldn't need a perfectly officiated game in order to beat the Bills. They shouldn't need all the bounces and calls to go their way.

And after the blown call, how did Brady respond? He doesn't see a linebacker, throws it off his helmet, and a Buffalo Bill catches it. You can call the bounce unlucky, but a QB has to see linebackers lurking underneath. If it hits an LB's helmet, it just as easily could have been caught by him.

Then there were moments like the confusion induced false start on 3rd and goal, just before Welker's game-tying TD. That was after a timeout. No excuse for confusion.

Speaking of timeouts, Rich Gannon is a moron. After the Bills' apparent touchdown was overruled, Belichick called an immediate timeout because the clock would have started to run once the ball was set. The replay was initiated by the booth, which means that the clock would resume as normal once the review was over. Belichick called a timeout to stop the clock.

The Patriots' defense looked awful. I don't know why they even use people in the safety position. Forget the 3-4/4-3 debate, just go with a 5-4 front and two CBs. Devin McCourty has looked so exposed this year because he's on an island. He's good, but he's not good enough to do that. Few are. He has no safety help, neither does Bodden.

Maybe Chad Ochocinco should play safety. He seems to be more adept at causing incompletions than he is at making receptions. I'm done defending Ochocinco. It's one thing to struggle with the verbiage of this complex offense. It's another thing to be unable to catch a perfectly thrown ball that touches both hands and the chest. A receiver that doesn't catch the ball is as useful as a kicker that struggles to kick the ball.

I know the Pats ultimately scored on the drive, thanks to the superhuman Wes Welker, but it took about 5 minutes for the Patriots to score. The game changes if Ochocinco catches that pass. Maybe Buffalo scores, but the Pats have enough time to respond.

Brady trusts Welker. He trusts Gronkowski, Branch, Hernandez, Woodhead, and even Edelman (pronounced Ed-ell-man, not aid-ell-man). I don't know how much he'll be trusting Ochocinco.

It'd be unfair to not talk about how amazing Welker's performance was. 16 catches (franchise record) for 217 yards (franchise record) and 2 touchdowns. He also ran for 19 yards. He's definitely healthy, and back as a force, and as Brady's #1 option.

Gronkowski also had an excellent game. 109 yards and 2 TDs. Stevan Ridley looked good, carrying the ball 7 times for 44 yards. I know the Patriots don't run much, but I'd like to see this kid get more carries. He's a powerful back, but is capable of getting a few more yards. I feel like runs that BJG Ellis gets 2, Ridley gets 4. When Ellis gets 3, Ridley would get 6. My one coaching criticism from Sunday would be that when Ridley was running well in the 4th, the Patriots inexplicably went back to running with Ellis.

Thankfully, the Jets lost to Oakland. Still, this was a divisional game. Divisional losses mean more than non-divisional losses. And while Buffalo is no longer the joke of a team they once were, the Patriots shouldn't be close to losing to them.

The defense on this team is not good enough to sustain itself if the offense makes mistakes.

-The Commodore