Brandon Vincent's Carolina Panthers friend's fan blogs

What happens in preseason games doesn’t matter.

That’s garbage. Try telling that to a head coach after a piss-poor performance by his team as his hair goes gray during the post game press conference.

The primary goal of the preseason is to evaluate players. But as valuable as individual performances are, how well eleven individuals play as a team is paramount. If a unit isn’t getting the job done, it shoots a large red flag up the flagpole.

After two preseason games the run defense by the first unit had room for improvement. Add the ineffectiveness from the next two preseason games and there is a reason for concern.

New England allowed almost 500 yards in four preseason games. The average yards per carry was an acceptable 3.9, but allowing 123.5 yards per game ranked 28th in the preseason and would had ranked 22nd in the league in 2009.

Continue reading "A Running Concern"

When CB Terrence Wheatley walked off the Gillette Stadium field last Thursday with a couple of trainers, it crossed my mind it would be for the last time as a Patriot for Wheatley. But his chance of sticking around went up with CB Leigh Bodden going down.

As one of the handful of moves needed to get the roster down to the 75 player limit, Bodden was placed on injured reserve for the 2010 season with a shoulder injury. That takes away the secondary’s doyen from a unit that averages just 2.5 years experience without Bodden.

The back four was going to be under pressure to begin with this season. Playing behind a front seven that needs to blitz to pressure the quarterback will leave the secondary in a lot of one-on-one situations. Without blitzing, the secondary will have to cover receivers for five or more seconds as the passer stands in the pocket as if surrounded by a force field.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Preseason Four"

It’s the most important preseason game – the dress rehearsal. The starters will play three quarters as the players and coaches prepared for the game as if it is a regular season game.

Enjoy it while you still can if the owners have their way. The greedy millionaires want to cash in two preseason games for two regular season games. They say it’s for the fans to give us better value. They say we don’t care for the preseason.

The truth is we don’t care for paying full price for practice games. Owners don’t like seeing their stadiums partially full, knowing they aren’t making every cent possible or even losing money on the night.

I’m one of the millions of fans that practically can’t get enough football. I tune daily in to the NFL Network just to see what’s on. NFL Replay is the greatest thing since sliced bread. I’ve DVRed the Patriots preseason games to watch a second time. And I’ve watched a bit of almost every preseason replay aired by the network.

Continue reading "Hours Before Kickoff: Preseason Three"

Fullbacks rarely have moments to shine. If one is lucky, they have a signature play to be remembered by.

Think back to 1994. It’s week 11, a home game against the Minnesota Vikings. QB Drew Bledsoe’s coming out party. After falling behind 20-0, Bledsoe rallied the Pats in the second half to tie the game at 20 before leading an overtime drive that ended with a 14-yard game-winning touchdown.

Remember who was on the receiving end of that pass?

The player was Kevin Turner. He released from the backfield on a play action fake and caught the touch pass in the back corner of the endzone, just landing inbounds.

Known better for his hands than his blocking, Turner had a good eight year career. The former 1992 third round pick out of Alabama played three years for the Patriots before parlaying his 52-catch 741-yard 1994 season into a lucrative contract with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Continue reading "A Memory of Kevin Turner"

Thankfully the NFL Network aired a replay of Thursday’s preseason game on Friday afternoon. I might not get to the game on my DVR now:

1. It brings me no comfort knowing the two best running backs are also injury-prone. On just 17 carries, Fred Taylor and Sammy Morris combined for 106 of the Patriots’ 120 rushing yards. They also missed 14 games combined last year. Owner Robert Kraft’s decision to build Brigham and Women’s/Mass General Health Care Center as part of Patriot Place looks smarter by the day. Hopefully there’s an express lane just in case for Taylor and Morris.

2. On the other side of the ball, I don’t like the run defense, particularly the first unit. Two weeks in a row they gave up at least 50 yards on the ground by halftime. This could be the first sign of how much the defense will miss DE Ty Warren.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Preseason Game Two"

Before the first preseason game, the Patriots held a ceremony to induct RB Sam “Bam” Cunningham into the Patriots Hall of Fame. He was joined on stage by owner Bob Kraft and fellow HoFers LB Andre Tippett, QB Steve Grogan, CB Michael Haynes, K-WR Gino Cappelletti, LB Steve Nelson, and G John Hannah. Not only was I there, but I was fortunate enough to shake Cunningham’s hand and say congratulations to the newest member while wearing his throwback jersey (thanks to Bob Hyldburg for making that opportunity happen).

While I don't like a runningback with 5,453 career rushing yards being a HoFer, I will pay my respects to the honoree. And when his peers heap praise upon him, I won’t argue with that. Grogan said if Cunningham was the primary ball carrier instead of part of a backfield committee, he would had run for double. That would mean 10,906 yards. That’s a number that impresses me.

Continue reading "Pick Six: Preseason Game 1"

It was seven months ago that New England was blasted on their home field in a Wild Card loss to Baltimore. Now, with a few free agent additions and the arrival of a very intriguing draft class, we get our first glimpse of the 2010 Patriots.

The starters won’t play much against the reigning Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints, which is what I want. I’m more interested in the players fighting for their roster spots. Here’s what I’ll be looking for Thursday night:

Who starts: LG is up in the air with Logan Mankins holding out and Nick Kaczur injured. With one OLB spot an open competition, who plays with the first unit could indicate who’s in the lead. Will ILB Gary Guyton play alongside Jerod Mayo or has Brandon Spikes already nudged the Georgia Tech product aside? We’ll see if S Pat Chung can take the first step toward warding off challengers James Sanders and Brandon McGowan. And if WR Wes Welker sits this one out, who is the back-up plan?

Continue reading "First Look"

The Patriots Hall of Fame needs a senior selection committee. Just like the Pro Football Hall of Fame has a separate group to induct players whose window of eligibility expired, the Patriots Hall could use a similar group.

It should consist of former accomplished players and veteran journalists that know the history of the franchise inside and out. The players don’t have to be members of the hall. If the player had a good career with the team (Steve Grogan, for example), he could be a part of this SSC.

The idea is to have a group of people to elect deserving players when the normal process passes them over. It works for the NFL Hall. RB Floyd Little didn’t get in until 30 years after his eligibility, and DB Dick LeBeau benefited from the SSC after being snubbed for 33 years.

Continue reading "A Hall Pass for Morris"

The purpose of training camp is to sift through the roster and find players while discarding the ones that won’t cut it with the team. New England isn’t wasting time with that process this year, as two players are out, with a third pending, and camp hasn’t even been in session for a week!

Before the first snap of camp, the Patriots placed OLB Shawn Crable on the active-PUP list before cutting him. As camp started, DE Derrick Burgess was MIA as rumors swirl that he’s contemplating retirement. And three days into practices, WR David Patten hung up his cleats, declaring he had enough after a dozen years in the NFL.

It’s far from the end for Crable, a 2008 third round pick that never played a down and spent two years on injured reserve. He could resurface with another team or play in another league, like the CFL or the AFL. It’s not even out of the question that the Pats bring Crable back if Burgess actually hangs it up. Without them, the roster is thin at outside pass rushers with OLBs Tully Banta-Cain, Pierre Woods, DE Rob Ninkovich, and rookie Jermaine Cunningham.

Continue reading "Quick Cuts"

The freshmen are on campus (at least the ones who have all their admission papers completed and signed) and the upperclassmen are due to arrive on Thursday. Training camp is under way.

There is no shortage of storylines we’ll discover during camp. Everyday there will be a new perspective on a competition or a personal story of achievement to learn about.

I have a handful of things I’m anxious to see or hear about. Instead of a shallow top five you’ll see in a lot of places of the biggest question marks, I’m going in a slightly different direction by listing my top eleven, in no specific order. Sorry Zoltan Mesko. You didn’t make my Starting 11:

Torry Holt: I have high expectations for the 11-year veteran. I said back in February I wanted the Pats to sign Holt when he was a free agent. Because New England did, I want him to succeed because a bit of my reputation as a couch scout is on the line.

Continue reading "Starting 11"