When do we get our Tommy back?

Randy Moss’s best performance this year was when Welker was out and he was called upon to fill that short slants/ crossing routes role. He pulled out a double-digit catch performance and over a hundred yards, all while struggling with a sore back. Now Welker’s back, and Edelman’s in the third WR role, and they’re trying to throw downfield to Randy. It. Isn’t. Working. Go back to what does work, and that’s using Moss like an actual receiver, not just a semi-guided downfield target drone that Brady can’t hit at the moment anyway.

The playcalling at the moment is doing more to take Moss out of the game than anything the opposition is doing; he’s far too dangerous to not get the ball into his hands as often as possible, even if it’s in short. And in the meantime, every short ball they catch is a chunk of yardage towards those precious commodities; first downs. Those things that NE couldn’t get in the second half. Yes. Them.

This offense is different from the 2007 and needs to be treated differently. The 2007 offense was negated by eliminating the Randy Moss factor. With the playcalling (as well as Brady’s inability to make the plays) eliminating Moss on their own, the defense can focus on taking out Welker and all the other weapons. I’ve never seen Wes so beat up as the Broncos game.

Basically, defenses learned how to stop the 2007 Patriots at the end of the season but we’re attempting to continue the 2007 Patriots scheme. They know how to stop it. We need to adjust.

You know he is not satisfied until perfection is achieved. I think a year of inaction has it’s tool on synchronization…hopefully at home he will show some more comfortableness.

I hate to use Donovan McNabb as an example, but after his knee surgery, it took him until the second season to even somewhat resemble his former self. When he came back, he had the same problems as TB is right now; high, low, too long, too short, etc. He said as much in an interview I saw.

Brady wants to be the same as he was in 2007, no doubt in my mind of that, but wanting, and the body being able and cooperating, two entirely different things.

That being said, the offense is very predictable now. There is no innovation or surprise. Nothing fresh. I have a great deal of respect for BB and never want to second guess him, but a lack of an OC is seriously hurting us right now.

2008 Week 7, the Colts were beaten by the Packers 34-14 dropping them to 3-3 for the season.

NFL Game Center:
It was over when …
Packers safety Aaron Rouse intercepted Peyton Manning’s pass at the 1-yard line and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown. The score put Green Bay up 34-7 with 4:27 left.

Key stat:
Coming into Week 7, the Packers led the league in penalty yards, but on Sunday the Colts looked like the team out of sync. Indianapolis was penalized 12 times for 110 yards, a record-high for a team coached by Tony Dungy.

Colts blogger BigBlueShoe had this to say after that game:

Desperate opponent. Unfamiliar setting. Unfamiliar team. Road game. Lambeau Field. It all equals a recipe for disaster.

Now, I say all this because, just like after every loss, there needs to be a voice of reason. I, personally, am not built to be such a voice. That’s why guys like shake n bake and mgrex30 are here. Me? I’m the nutball who flies off the handle, accusing the Colts of lying about Peyton Manning’s second knee surgery. But in regards to this loss to Green Bay, I feel I have to step in and state the obvious:

Calm down. Take four deep breaths. Go kiss your kids, your girlfriend, boyfriend, whatever. Shake the crazy talk from your system.

The Colts are a very good football team. They still are. But just like every other really good football team this season, they are playing inconsistent football. Part of it is injuries. Part of it is new players. Part of it is veterans, like Peyton Manning, who are not playing well. Eventually, and this will likely happen very soon, this team will get itself together and start playing consistent football. They are too good, too smart, and too well coached not to. It is literally that simple.

The Colts lost to the Packers because of turnovers and penalties. It wasn’t their run defense (3.3 yards a carry allowed) or their pass defense (186 yards allowed). It wasn’t their o-line protection (zero sacks) or their special teams. They lost because they committed 112 yards worth of penalties, and Peyton Manning played one of the worst games he has played as a pro. Again, that simple.

First, Peyton. You’ve seen me furiously defend Peyton when morons love to blame him for games where he actually played very well in, like the San Diego regular season game last year. In this game against Green Bay, Peyton was awful. The offense spurted because Peyton was not throwing the ball accurately. Two INTs returned for TDs… that’s on the QB. Peyton himself took responsibility after the game because he knows he sucked and, like a real leader, he owned up to it. Peyton is God, and even God can screw up now and again.

Manning went on to be voted MVP last year and the Colts at 12-4 at least made the playoffs as a wildcard, even if their “god” only saw fit to make them 1 and done at the hands of the Chargers (which I’m confident will spark a Colts fan to pop over and vehemently deny that the loss was God’s Peyton’s fault or had anything even remotely to do with him at all.)

Patriots Faithful, this is week 6 coming up and the 3-2 Patriots have a chance to go up 4-2 when the Titans come to New England this Sunday. There is still a lot of football left to be played, and as frustrating as it is to watch the team struggle, the season is not over and time is still on our side. We fans just need to keep our perspective and patience while it all plays out.

Hey, look at the bright side – not a single article anywhere so far about how the Patriots might be peaking too early, or showing dismay at how they’ve been running up the score on defenseless opponents.

The number they let D Burgess have. Guess he’ll be picking another number. Burgess that is.

Tom just needs to practice throwing bombs a ton in practice until he gets strong again. Situational practice has it place, but if the fundamentals ain’t workin, you gotta put your focus on the fundamentals first.