WEEK FIVE - BYE  

hey kids-  

well, the bye week turned out to be the bye-bye week, as the patriots traded randy moss to the minnesota vikings. while the writing has been on the wall since randy used a postgame press conference to complain about his contract situation a few weeks ago, i'm still sad to see him go. i'll never forget standing in the middle of brother jimmys on a cold december night, a lone patriots fan amidst a sea of giant bandwagoners, watching randy catch tommy's 50th touchdown pass of the season and securing that sweet 16th win. whatever may have gone down in the last few weeks, there's no denying that randy put on quite a show in the last few years. here he is, looking a little sad as he and tommy wave goodbye. thanks for the memories, randy.  

speaking of memories, the patriots also welcomed back a familiar face this week, trading a draft pick to seattle to secure the return of deion branch. branch was the MVP of that superbowl against the eagles, but he hasn't been healthy or productive since becoming a seahawk. hopefully that'll change now that he's got his best buddy on the other side of the ball again. these two are reportedly thrilled to be reunited, and by the looks of this photo, that may be an understatement. welcome home, deion- but don't think for a second you're wearing #83.  

thankfully, wes is definitely keeping deion's signature number - and he may even be keeping randy's signature move. both players joined the patriots in 2007, and aside from missing a good friend, wes will probably also miss the double coverage randy attracted. somehow, i suspect he'll find new ways in which to get open- providing me with new ways in which to heart him.  

we play the ravens on sunday, and it should be even more of a grudge match than usual after that whoopin they gave us in the playoffs. the ravens always always whine about bad calls when they play the patriots, so watch closely and then i'll put it up for a vote on the blog page next week. in the meantime, think happy patriots thoughts, and have a great week!