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We’re at a crossroads, those of us who consider ourselves football connoisseurs.
We’ve seen what good football looks like over the past two decades, if not longer, so it stands to reason we should also know what mediocre – or even ‘bad’ – football should look like, too.
It’s easy to write off the preseason, if only because preseason football means squat.
But what Patriots’ fans witnessed last Sunday wasn’t just ‘bad’ football, although it wasn’t far from squat.
It was lethargic. It was disappointing. It felt hopeless. And this was only Week One.
We should know better. Seasons are not decided on one miserable week on the field. We tend to overreact to poor play because – we rarely see it. We’re used to seeing something else entirely.
But it is way past time to wake up to a few new realities in Foxboro.
1) This team is in transition. 2) This team is not a contender. 3) This team needs more talent. 4) This team needs discipline as much as it needs talent. 5) This team needs help from above.
And I ain’t (yet) asking for Divine Intervention here. Close as I might be.
This team needs help from its coaching staff. For all the shots BB’s assistants and play callers have taken in and outside of the media, and some of it may be deserved, the only way to correct this issue is for this team to be as buttoned up preparation-wise as it can be.
And in this instance, the coaches failed miserably in Week One. Mental mistakes, physical errors, lack of production on both sides of the ball.
If this is partly an issue of loyalty from BB toward his guys, Matt Patricia and Joe Judge (as we’ve previously opined) then the boss needs to rethink this philosophy and perhaps remember who his ultimate loyalty should belong to – HIS boss.
It’s hard to discredit 21 years of largely unmitigated success and history around here. As such, it’s not easy, and maybe not fair to say, “what have you done lately,” if
only because so much has been done.
But…“what have you done lately?” Because lately – it hasn’t been much.
How far away are these Patriots? In the last four games against Buffalo and Miami, they’ve been outscored 69-133. Whoa.
There were, as you might imagine, plenty of “mean tweets” throughout Twitter in the aftermath of the Dolphins debacle. A predictable one, from @Phinsin6: “The New England Patriots are back to where they were without Tom. A sorry excuse for a team and organization.”
A funny one, from @JeffT32Phins: “The Miami Dolphins have not lost a game to the New England Patriots since I’ve been divorced. I sacrificed for us all.”
A truthful one, from @ChrisBrownBills: “The Patriots offense looked as anemic as their fans feared though they did go against a good defense in Miami. New England has now lost 8 of their last 11 in Miami. New England still looks slow athletically like they did in the Wild Card game against the Bills.”
And if the last one is true, there’s no one else to pin this on EXCEPT for BB and his staff. You don’t need to be a connoisseur to figure that one out.
This alleged schism being discussed in media and fan circles between Kendrick Bourne and the coaching staff…or perhaps more pointedly, Matt Patricia…is childish.
Patricia is the coach/boss, like it or not. Bourne is the player/employee, and by most standards a talented one. Matty P. should listen, all good bosses do. KB should know when to zip it, as all good employees do.
Kiss and make up for the good of the team. Or move on.
NFL Week One Takeaways: 1) The Cowboys are already toast. Dak Prescott can’t stay healthy. 2) Kansas City is playing with a chip on its shoulders, sans Tyreek Hill. 3) No matter how bad your team has it, someone else has it worse.
Unless you’re the J-E-T-S.
While NFL TV ratings are up nationally, and naturally…they are taking a tumble locally. Again, it’s only Week One. But is there a chance the discerning sporting public of New England (and elsewhere) is figuring out this team really isn’t anything to be excited about?
The Patriots pulled a 23.9 rating against the Dolphins, which is down a full 25% from the season opener a year ago. They averaged a 31.5 rating throughout last season, which is roughly a third of all TV’s in use at the time, but never reached that mark during their South Florida sojourn last Sunday.
Think anyone in upper management noticed this?
Ok, show of hands here…anyone else have trouble finding Amazon Prime for the Thursday Night game? Yeah, not sure how the NFL can spin this, except to say, “Ok Boomers.”
Did the Patriots catch a break with Steelers’ stalwart T.J. Watt’s injury against the Bengals? Yes. But that offensive line was, at times, offensive last week against the Dolphins…so they could use the break.
I mean, guys, your QB ended up getting x-rays after the pounding he took.
My buddy “Big E” sez he got an email this week about someone stealing his bank account password. “That’s impossible,” he told me. “All my passwords are protected. By amnesia.”
On the local college football front, URI continues to rise in the FCS rankings – up to #14 this week in the AFCA Coaches Poll – after the Rams moved to 2-0 with a 35-21 win over Bryant.
Rhody’s defense deserves the spotlight here, with a program-record TEN QB sacks, eight coming in the second half. The Rams get their first major test this week, in their Kingston home opener against 10th ranked Delaware.
Nationally, this season is already proving to be a coin flip. And fun to watch. Can you fare any better than the teams in the “Group of 5” Sun Belt Conference last week?
Notre Dame, Texas A&M, and Nebraska paid Sun Belt teams a collective $4.173 million to play “guarantee” home games over the weekend. All three powerhouse programs lost…to Marshall, Appalachian State and Georgia Southern, respectively.
And just three games into its season, Nebraska fired head coach Scott Frost.
The Cornhuskers were 254-0 since 1901 when scoring at least 35 points at home. They’re now 254-1, after losing to Georgia Southern (a former FCS program, ICYWW) 45-42.
How ‘bout those Irish? Head coach Marcus Freeman is the first Notre Dame coach in school history to start his career 0-3.
For the first time ever, the top four college basketball programs in all-time wins ALL won football games on the road, on the same day. Kansas (won at West Virginia 55-42), Kentucky (won at Florida 26-16), North Carolina (won at Georgia State 35-28) and Duke (won at Northwestern 31-23) each managed to make Dr. Naismith proud.
And maybe John Heisman proud, too.
The Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as I-AA) had four wins over Football Bowl Subdivision (aka I-A) schools last weekend, including Holy Cross. The Crusaders won on the road, thumping Buffalo 37-31.
The Cross…is 2-0. If not a good week for the little guys, it certainly was a good week for the littler known guys.
Brown opens its 136th season Saturday at home in Providence against an already-tested Bryant team that beat them last year in Smithfield. The Bears, however, do have experience with nine starters back on offense and seven returning on defense, and 32 seniors.
Not for nuthin’, but there will be 363 teams in Division I college basketball for this season, up five from last year’s total. Stonehill College, Ed Cooley’s alma mater, is one of those. 726 DI teams for men and women, all told. Is that too many?
Some believe we’re cruising toward a divisive moment with DI splitting up, if football hasn’t already driven college sports in that direction. But a majority of college coaches, as polled by CBS Sports.com this past week, think we’re just fine with the 363.
After all, some are the punchers. Others have to be the punchees.
The ProJo’s Bill Koch reported this week URI’s Anthony Harris, the transfer from North Carolina, is not enrolled for the first semester. Once he takes care of classroom issues, he could be back on the roster for the winter semester…but he’ll miss out until then, including PC on Dec. 3rd.
PC’s long-time, traditional Mal Brown preseason hoop scrimmage is back on the slate this year, for the first time in five years. It will be Saturday, Oct. 15th at the AMP, too…so you can get used to calling it that. If you wanna.
Don’t underestimate the strength of the Friar non-league schedule this season. Sure, it’s disappointing to not have a “marquee” home game. But as we’ve said many times previously…as has Ed Cooley…few (if any) Power 6 teams willingly travel to Providence.
As you know, traditionally the Dunk is (or was) where ranked teams go to die. Or at least to lose. Coaches all know this. Will the AMP be where the Friars continue to turn up that effort and energy?
PC already has Mohegan Sun scheduled. You willing to play a neutral site game instead of getting a home game in a home-and-home deal? Don’t be ridiculous. The league schedule is strong enough to give the Friars, and anyone else, a reasonable chance to dance in March.
Provided you win a few, of course. And don’t sleep on that Miami matchup at the casino. The Canes, coached by PC alum Jim Larranaga, may have one of the best backcourts in the country with Isaiah Wong and Kansas State transfer Nijel Pack.
The PC women’s basketball team can win a true state title this season, with the Friars facing Brown and Bryant at home and playing at Rhode Island. PC’s women open their Big East slate at UConn on Dec. 2. That’s a ‘wow.’
Bryant steps into America East after a first-ever NCAA dance ticket punched last spring. And when you add Doug Edert (who starred for St. Peter’s in their NCAA Elite Eight run) to the mix, you can figure out why the Bulldogs may have had a tougher time getting games than usual.
A 30-game slate (one shy of the max you can play) features games at FAU and FIU in Florida, at Syracuse, at Cincinnati and at Tulane. Playing the Orange on Nov. 26th is a bit of a surprising invitation, since the Bulldogs took the Cuse to the limit last season before falling at the end.
Is Jim Boeheim getting senile in his old, um, age? Just sayin’.
Both PC men’s and women’s hockey teams were preseason picked for 4th in Hockey East. Both Northeastern teams, men and women, are the preseason favorites.
Frozen Fenway is back with a pair of college doubleheaders for 2023, following the Bruins’ taking part in the NHL Winter Classic.
Providence’s men’s soccer team is the Big East preseason favorite, and started the season ranked 16th nationally. They’ve struggled a bit to start the year but improved to 2-2-2 with a 1-0 win over UNH this week. Grad student Gil Santos scored on a bicycle kick that made ESPN’s Top 10 plays, at Number One.
While the Los Angeles Dodgers punched their ticket to the postseason this week, the Red Sox just get punched. Again and again.
But if they could make a play for Aaron Judge in the offseason – even just to drive his price up for someone else (Yankees, hello!) – I’m good with that.
Rule changes for 2023 – Like: The Pitch Clock. I wish I didn’t. But too many self-absorbed buttheads can’t figure it out on the mound. And the coaches that teach them to ‘nibble’ should all be fired. Throw strikes. Develop a rhythm. End of discussion.
Dislike: Banning the shift. It makes players lazy. If they’ve left the entire right side of the infield open for you, HIT IT THERE. But most can’t or won’t. Lazy.
Bo Bichette’s September has been a month that should be remembered. Kudos to the Blue Jays social media team, renaming the month “Septembo” for what he’s done at the plate.
And what’s he done? Through midweek – hitting .500, seven home runs, 16 runs scored, 21 RBI’s and an OPS of 1.677…more than double the OPS of Vladdy Guerrero. He’ll carry his team into the playoffs.
And over at Fenway, they have to ‘think about’ re-signing Bogaerts and Devers. The Sox are in an arms race in the AL East, shooting with a squirt gun mentality against four other teams (yes, Baltimore included) developing their nuclear arsenal.
MLB will have something to ‘think about’ as well this offseason, as minor league players voted to join the MLBPA. After the 99-day lockout that delayed the start to this year, this winter baseball now will need to negotiate minor league pay and conditions for the first time.
Think the players will have any influence here? Joe Musgrove – who threw the first no-hitter in San Diego Padres history this year – used to work at a Costco in the offseason to make extra money while playing in the minors.
Hey Edward in East Providence – this Carlos Alcaraz kid? Is he the new face of the sport? He’s the first teenager (19 years old) to be ranked #1 in the world, and the first teen to win the US Open since Pete Sampras in 1990.
Oh, and one more Ed. Where does Roger Federer rank as the GOAT? Top five? Top two? Inquiring minds, now that Federer has officially stepped off center court, need to know.
Let’s give a little credit to the Connecticut Sun in the WNBA finals this week – they’re 4-0 this postseason in elimination games, holding off the Las Vegas Aces in Game 3 Thursday night. Alyssa Thomas scored the first triple-double in WNBA finals history. Game 4 is Sunday.
Wait, wut? Providence led the country in watching F1 auto racing last week? US Motorsport viewing last weekend had nearly 1 million viewers checking out the F1 series on ESPN2, and Providence was the highest rated viewing market – ahead of Austin, TX and Columbus, OH, where they actually have established racing communities.
Twitter follower Tom informed me the Rusty Wallace Racing Experience is based in Pawtucket – even though that’s NASCAR…but still, watch out, motorheads are running free amongst us!
Interested in having your questions on local Rhode Island sports (and yes, that includes the Patriots, Red Sox, Bruins and Celtics) answered in a somewhat timely fashion? It’s your chance to “think out loud,” so send your questions, comments, and local stories to jrbroadcaster@gmail.com. We’ll share mailbag comments/Facebook posts/Tweets right here! Would appreciate the follow on Twitter, @JRbroadcaster…and join in on Facebook, www.facebook.com/john.rooke.