By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
They didn’t pay Asante Samuel. They didn’t pay Richard Seymour. It’s up in the air if they’ll give in and actually pay Vince Wilfork.
Now all this lack of commitment to such important players is having a rather large impact on a future free agent.
Wide receiver Randy Moss said on Saturday that he does not anticipate the New England Patriots to extend his contract after the 2010 season.
“You know the Patriots don’t really pay, so when I got my second contract from them that was a blessing in disguise. I understand the business. I don’t think they’re going to re-sign me back,” Moss told reporters at former Patriot Heath Evans’ charity softball event. “I’m not mad. I’m not bitter. It’s just the way things are in this NFL, so like I said after this year I’ll be looking for a new team. I think so.”
Moss is entering the final season of a three year deal and will make a base salary of $6.4 million. Combine the Patriots infamous frugality and the money that will be allotted to two other crucial players more valuable than Moss, and the outcome doesn’t look too rosy.
Vince Wilfork is the first [...]

By: Scott Jackson, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Ten years ago this week, Bill Belichick was named head coach of the Patriots.  In his first five years with New England, Belichick’s squad won three Super Bowls.  The Patriots were the newest NFL Dynasty.
But since beating the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX, the team hasn’t won a championship.  And the dynasty is dead.
Yes, the team has had good seasons; they made it to the 2007 AFC Championship Game (which they lost to the Colts after leading by 18, the biggest comeback in NFL playoff history), and they went 16-0 in the 2007 regular season (before losing to the Giants in the Super Bowl).
But to be a dynasty, a team needs to win championships, and New England hasn’t done that in five years (and AFC rival Pittsburgh won 2 in 4 seasons since New England’s last win).
Looking back, the dynasty died in the minutes after Super Bowl XXXIX ended.  Defensive Coordinator Romeo Crennel accepted the Browns offer to be their head coach, and Offensive Coordinator Charlie Weis, Tom Brady’s mentor, took over at Notre Dame (he had accepted the job earlier in the season, but remained in Foxborough until the final snap of the season).
While [...]

By: Scott Jackson, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
What a long, winding road the Patriots went down this season.  It started off on a high note, with a point comeback against the Bills on Monday Night Football (I was there with fellow YawkeyTalkies writer Dan Massar), and ended in the 33-14 beatdown by Baltimore on Sunday (I wasn’t there, fortunately).
Quarterbacks:
Statistically, this was Tom Brady’s second best season.  He finished with 28 touchdowns, 4398 yards, a 65.7% completion percentage, and 13 interceptions, good for a QB rating of 96.2.  But there was something missing this year, performance in the clutch.  Entering this year, he had 29 fourth-quarter comebacks/game-winning drives in seven seasons (including postseason games).  This season, he had only the aforementioned one against Buffalo.  Granted, seven of the Patriots wins came by more than a touchdown, but Brady seemed to falter a bit in the clutch on the road against Miami, Indianapolis, and Denver.  Or, I’m just spoiled after seeing him engineer two last minute comebacks in the Superbowl in his first three seasons.
My Grade: B
Runningbacks:
A season both good (Laurence Maroney’s nine rushing touchdowns) and bad (his four fumbles, three of which were in the red zone).  Overall, the corps averaged 120 yards [...]

By: Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor
Well, at least the Celtics won today?
This was probably the worst performance we’ve seen from the Patriots all season. And maybe all decade. Home was supposed to be where we were safe, undefeated there all season, undefeated there in playoffs all-time with Brady as our leader. We also had never lost to Baltimore before. All the statistics said the Pats should have had that in the bag.
But we looked like we were in foreign, hostile territory. On the first play of the game, the Ravens’ Ray Rice ran for an 83-yard touchdown. Five minutes into the game it was already 14-0. Three turnovers for Brady in the first quarter which ended 24-0, one fumble and three interceptions for him throughout the game.
Maybe they just couldn’t do it without Welker. Maybe it was Brady with three broken ribs. But either way, the Patriots got rocked. All of the Patriots. Brady was a mere 23 for 42 with just 154 yards. Moss, our go to without Welker, only caught five passes all game for 48 yards. The defense allowed 234 yards rushing. Belichick punted when the Pats desperately needed to go for points.
Welker’s replacement Edelman [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
In the Wild Card round of the playoffs, the Patriots open at home against the Baltimore Ravens in a rematch of their week four game.
Last time the teams squared off Tom Brady looked like he was returning to form after a shaky start to the season, aided by the return of his favorite target, Wes Welker, who missed the previous two games with a knee injury.
This time a battered Brady, playing with three broken ribs, will have to face the Ravens defense without Welker, who tore both his anterior cruciate ligament and his medial collateral ligament.
The blow is devastating to the Patriots pass-happy offense. Welker led the team in receiving seven times this season, more than any other player. His 123 catches this season were the most in the NFL and set a franchise record, breaking the one he set himself in 2007.
Brady relies heavily on Welker. Without him, Brady’s completion percentage this season drops from 68% to 56% and his quarterback rating drops from 102.9 to a measly 68.9.
The opposing defense will now be able to double Randy Moss, which does not bode well for the receiver who already had been rumored to taking [...]

By: Scott Jackson, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
After dropping the ball last week, the report card is back.  Unfortunately the Patriots dropped the ball this week, losing to Houston 34-27.
Quarterbacks:
Tom Brady didn’t look like a man with three broken ribs.  He did, however, look like the game didn’t matter, coughing up an interception that set-up Houston’s winning score.  Backup Brian Hoyer played well; until the final drive when he couldn’t complete a pass.
My grade: C-

Runningbacks:
No Laurence Maroney.  No problem.  Future Hall of Famer Fred Taylor scored two touchdowns.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis set-up Taylor’s first score with a big block.  But the group didn’t do a great job overall, only gaining 64 yards on the ground.  And Taylor did fumble the ball in his endzone, but that was mostly the fault of the offensive line.
My grade: C-
Receivers/Tight Ends:
Wes Welker will be missed.  But Julian Edelman filled in well, catching ten passes for 103 yards (it’s weird seeing a #11 out there who can run, isn’t it?).  Despite not scoring, Randy Moss had a good game, finishing with 75 yards.  And the tight ends stepped up with Welker out, catching everything thrown their way.
My grade: B
Offensive Line:
An offensive line has two jobs.  The first is [...]

By: Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor
Not that we were THAT worried.
But we can breathe easier knowing this year is better than last. The Patriots clinched the AFC East after absolutely dominating the Jaguars, and earned themselves a spot in playoffs. And it’s looking like they’ll be at a decent seed too.
After weeks of performances that didn’t reach the expectations of Patriots fans, the Pats finally showed up in shoes from season’s past. Brady, throwing as many interceptions as touchdowns lately, threw for four td’s, and Moss, recently criticized for not giving his all on the field, was on the end of three of those, shutting up the media and Carolina defensemen. The Pat’s easily took their clinching victory, beating Jacksonville 35-7.
Sammy Morris and Chris Baker scored the other two, and the Pats picked off two interceptions in the game, one on the Pats five-yard line. The only really awful moment of play was just minutes into the first quarter when Maroney fumbled (his 4th of the year) on Jacksonville’s one-yard line.
Even more exciting today was that the Giants lost to CAROLINA 41-9. Not only did they lose to one of the leagues worst, but they got absolutely slaughtered, and probably lost [...]