General

Wow, what a game on Sunday between Pittsburg and Denver. I don’t know about you guys, but I didn’t see that coming. After the Huston win I was convinced we were going to be facing Pittsburg. I was sitting there pre-game and said I hope Denver pulled an upset as the Steelers scared me. That said, how does the expression go, “Be careful what you wish for!” Tebow looked scary. What I mean by that is on both sides. His first quarter was pathetic, but the remaining three were very impressive. I know it shouldn’t be an issue, but our defense against the pass is poor at best. It should be interesting, but I always get nervous especially when you have a 9-8 team going against a 12-4. Denver has nothing to lose and everything to gain. We are going to see just how stone cold, (or not) Tom Brady is. He has everything to lose. A loss in this game I feel would start to tarnish that legacy of his. Three, one and out in the playoffs would not bode well, especially if one of them is Denver. I am looking forward to Saturday night.

#55 Brandon Spikes – I chose Brandon because of the impact he could have this coming Saturday night. His specialty is stuffing the run and he has been missing for the past seven weeks with an injury. His return couldn’t come at a better time. If he is in game shape he could help the defense as it faces the #1 rushing team in the NFL. Brandon had three tackles in the last game of the year against Buffalo and looked good. While he didn’t play that much it was encouraging to see him out there. I would anticipate more playing time this coming weekend. 

Brandon was drafted out of Florida in the second round of the 2010 draft. Born in Shelby, NC he played high school football at Crest High School in Shelby. Brandon does carry some baggage with him for sure. At Florida he was suspended by his head coach, Urban Myers for his antics on the field in which he tried to gouge the eyes of Georgia’s Washaun Ealey. That said, his talent is not questioned. As a senior team captain, he was one of three finalists for the 2009 Chuck Bednarik Award, a finalist for the 2009 Butkus Award, a first-team All-SEC selection, and a consensus All-American, receiving first-team honors from The Sporting News and the Walter Camp Football Foundation and second-team honors from the Associated Press.

On December 10, 2010, prior to the Patriots' Week 14 game against the Bears, Spikes was suspended four games (the remainder of the 2010 regular season) for a violation of the NFL's banned substances policy,  reportedly for an ingredient in Spikes' ADHD medication.  The same day, Spikes released the following statement: "I’ve been contacted by the NFL and informed that I will be suspended four games for the detection of an illegal substance in a drug test. The substance was a medication that I should have gotten clarification on before taking. It was not a performance enhancer or an illegal drug. The integrity of the game is very important to me. I understand the league’s ruling and apologize to my teammates, the fans and the Patriots organization for this mistake."

He finished his rookie season with 61 tackles, one interception, and three passes defensed. With his season shortened by the suspension, he played in 12 games, starting eight.

#18 Matthew Slater – born in Orange, California September 9, 1985. He is the son of “Hall of Famer” Jackie Slater. Matthew was drafted in the fifth round of the 2008 draft. Drafted out of UCLA as a wide receiver, he has played a significant role on special teams.

A piece of trivia for you sports trivia fans, Slater was one of two players selected in the 2008 Draft (the other being Chris Long), and the sixth in the history of the NFL Draft, who is a son of a Hall of Fame member. At the start of this season, Matthew was voted by fellow teammates to be one of the six team captains when he was named captain of special teams. A team favorite for his hard work and dedication he is a typical “Belichick” guy. He has also been nominated for the Probowl twice in his career as a special teamer.

This year he is now becoming one of a growing list of Patriot players making the jump from the offensive side of the ball to the defensive side. In the most recent Miami game he played 70 out of 73 defensive downs! That is amazing. As a matter of fact it was the most football he has played as pro. Not bad considering he is a wide receiver. Well it will be interesting to see how the rest of the season goes for Matthew, but if Sunday was any indication I would expect to see more of him on defense.

Well the boys came to play again! I must admit I got a bit nervous with the 10-0 start but Tommy and the offense got it together. There still are some issues on defense. While I know they only scored 20, seven of those in garbage time, they still gave up over 500 yards of offense. That will not bode well come the playoffs if they don’t tidy that up.

But, there is a bright side. We have a new Troy Brown in town, Julian Edleman. Did you see his stats for this past week? He had sixteen snaps on defense finishing with three tackles and one blitz. Remember he is a wide receiver and punt returner.

It was great to see Wes and Deon turn it around. I don’t know you noticed, but how does Dion not score on the pass from Tommy? I can’t believe how much he has slowed down over the years.

How about Gronk!! How lucky are we? He is going to be a joy to watch over the upcoming years. I don’t know if you caught it, but he said he was in Tommy’s dog house all week at practice, didn’t look that way during the game. Anyway, let’s hope they don’t take Indy for granted. That would be insulting if we gave them their first win of the season. That shouldn’t happen.

Whew! It is nice to see that we are back to normal. After two losses in a row I was getting worried. It has been so long since we have had a stretch like that it was becoming unnerving. Things are back to where they should be for now, but time will tell if it continue moving forward. It was a late one, but I didn’t miss a play. Gronkowski was unbelievable and even though the first half was a bit shaky, it was nice to see Tommy get back to his old form in the second half. The injuries are piling up on the defense which isn’t good except for the fact that the defense has basically been inept all year so the injuries couldn’t make it much worse. While I feel bad for Devon McCourty, when he left the game the defensive backfield actually got better. Did anyone see the hit by Julian Edelman at the end of the game when he was playing in the defensive backfield? You heard me right, the defensive backfield. It was a great shot on LaDainian Thomlinson. Well it is on to Kansas City next Monday night. I always get nervous when we face a team we should beat. Matt Cassel won’t be playing either as he was hurt yesterday and is going to require surgery on his hand.

Excellent Photo

Photo: Tim Farrell/THE STAR-LEDGER