By: Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor
It’s Back!!
Yeah I know, it’s just a preseason game, but football is finally here. Take a break from the literally broken Red Sox, because I don’t know about you, but they are giving me some serious “Can we catch the wildcard?” anxiety.
Try to forget the last time we saw our Patriots in action. I know I don’t remember shit having drunk myself back to a time when we were the kind of team that doesn’t let the freaking Baltimore Ravens man handle us. So, grab some beer, some wings, and sit back and enjoy the beginning-of-a-new-year-anything-is-possible-bliss.
Lucky for our boys, their first competition is none other than the Saintly SuperBowl Champs. This might seem rather unlucky, but the fact is that these games don’t matter. So, even if Drew and his team breezes (I’m feeling quite pun-ny today) by the Patriots, it’s okay because it doesn’t mean anything. All it means, is we got to play against some good competition to help us prepare for the games that count.
Now, I know these games are hard to watch, especially by third when you don’t recognize any of our players on the field. But, exhibition matches will give us [...]

By: Jess Lander, YawkeyTalkies Editor
This picture made me smile more than anything else this week. A friend of mine saw Wes Welker at an event he was working. He sent me this picture, but FAILED to get me an autograph, or pass him my phone number. Still, while Wes may not be on a football field running touchdowns, seeing him standing, smiling, and not looking like he had the kind of surgery that could result in him not being the same Wes we love ever again, somehow made me feel really reassured, because I don’t know about you, but:
Last Season +Wes getting hurt = me a very nervous Patriots fan.
Furthermore, this picture says little compared to what pictures of him this week at practice a Patriots uniform doing exercises and drills before going inside to work with a trainer. The fact that Wes put himself out there for the media and all of New England to see shows that he’s confident in his progress and his chances for being on the field when the season comes around.

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Possibly the biggest news in the NFL recently has been that the 2014 Super Bowl will be played at New Meadowlands Stadium, the brand-new, $1.6 billion home of the New York Giants and Jets.
Not only did it make headlines because it will be played in the New York media market for the first time (the stadium is actually in East Rutherford, NJ), it also marks the first time the Super Bowl will be played outdoors in a cold weather city.
With New York having such a strong sports rivalry with Boston, Patriots fans were left saying, “Why not Gillette?”
While many—even Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft himself—agree that a Super Bowl in New York would be a special event, the Bostonians believe that if it’s successful they should be able to host it as well.
Quite frankly, though, it just is not a realistic expectation.
The first problem is the sheer size of the stadiums. Gillette has a large capacity of 68,756. However, the New Meadowlands seats nearly 14,000 more people. That results in a higher sold out crowd which means more money for the league.
As new stadiums are being built, more seats are being put in. Cowboys Stadium, which [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Patriots fans, meet your newest player. Well, the newest as of the Pats first pick in the 2010 NFL draft.
After trading down twice in the first round the New England Patriots actually didn’t trade out of the round, unlike last year. With the 27th pick the Pats selected cornerback Devin McCourty, a senior out of Rutgers.
Although McCourty flew under the radar a bit, New England is getting a talented player at a position they sorely need help at.
In four years as a Scarlet Knight he amassed 261 tackles, six interceptions, two and a half sacks, and two forced fumbles. In 2009 he was a first team All-Big East selection.
While not a shutdown corner like Darrelle Revis or Nmandi Asomougha, McCourty comes pretty close. He’s very good in coverage and is an equally good tackler.
Not necessarily predicted to be a first rounder initially, McCourty had a strong combine with a strong 4.38 40-yard dash time that possibly pushed him into the first day of the draft.
With good speed, he also has returned his share of kickoffs. Without Wes Welker for the beginning of the season, New England could really use someone to step up in that [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
The New England Patriots have joined the rest of the AFC East and have signed a big name wide receiver. The team came to terms with 12-year veteran Torry Holt to a one year $1.7 million deal.
Big name pickup, but does the 33-year-old still have the big game that new AFC East wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Santonio Holmes have?
Once one of the members of the St. Louis Rams’ “Greatest Show on Turf”, Holt’s numbers have declined dramatically. Last season with the Jacksonville Jaguars Holt caught 51 passes for 722 yards, both career lows. It was also the first season he did not play all 16 games (he only missed one game—the final game of the season—so it isn’t that big of a red flag) as well as catching zero touchdowns.
However, those stats don’t tell the entire truth about how much gas is left in Holt’s tank.
The Jaguars are a run-heavy team. Holt’s 722 yards were second-highest on the team, behind Mike Sims-Walker’s 869. Sims-Walker was also the only player to catch more than two touchdowns (7).
On the other hand, the Patriots like to pass the ball a lot and Tom Brady—a fan of veteran [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Last season the two top teams in the AFC East were the division champion New England Patriots and the New York Jets.
In the playoffs the Patriots burned out fast, getting blown apart at home by the Baltimore Ravens. Meanwhile the wild card Jets surprised everyone by making it to the AFC Championship game before bowing out to the Indianapolis Colts.
The two teams seem to continue to be going about their business differently in the offseason.
The Jets, feeling they are on the brink of the Super Bowl have made a splash and added a few talented players to the mix in an effort to push them over the edge.
Meanwhile the Patriots, as per usual, have not gone out and paid big bucks for any free agents and have sat mostly quiet just bringing back their own players that were out of contract.
Two distinctly different styles, but which is the right way to go about business?
The Jets, who also made a big in-season trade acquiring wide receiver Braylon Edwards, brought in two very sexy names in the NFL: cornerback Antonio Cromartie and running back LaDanian Tomlinson.
Cromartie came to the Jets by trade for a conditional third round [...]

By: Scott Jackson, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
Hey, it was a tough end to the season for Patriot Nation.  If the bashing by Baltimore kept you from watching the rest of the playoffs, here are five reasons why you should pick-up the remote and tune in on Sunday.

4- Battle of the Reality Stars: Sure, American Idol winner Carrie Underwood is singing the national anthem during the pregame.  But she might not be the biggest reality at the big game.  That honor goes to Kim Kardashian, girlfriend of Saints running back Reggie Bush.  Or it could go to Kendra Baskett (see picture), wife of Colts wideout Hank Baskett.  Kardashian stars in the E! series “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”  Kendra is a former playmate who starred in E!’s “The Girls Next Door” before moving to her own show, “Kendra.”  Let’s start celeb-insanity.
3- Ex-Pats abound: Randall Gay, David Thomas, Heath Evans, and Kyle Eckel all spent time with New England, and now play for the Saints.  Gay started seven games at corner for New Orleans, recording 37 tackles and an interception this season.  Thomas caught a career high 35 passes backing up Jeremy Shockey at tight end.  Not bad for players cast aside from [...]