By Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
The weak link gets weaker.
Coming into the season the New England Patriots running backs posed the biggest question on the team, at least for the offense.
A group plagued by injuries, turnovers and inconsistency made the position a revolving door of inadequate performance.
After Week 1, the Patriots finally gave up on Laurence Maroney. The former first-round pick showed flashes of good play, but for the most part he was either putting the ball on the ground or not even making the active roster.
He never ran for 1,000 yards in a season, never played all 16 games, and he fumbled quite a bit in the red zone.
So he was cast off to Denver in exchange for a fourth-round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft.
Instead of giving the ownership justification for trading away Maroney, the rest of the group—Kevin Faulk, Fred Taylor and BenJarvus Green-Ellis—ran for measly 52 yards on 20 carries. Faulk, was the leading rusher with 22 yards on five carries, yet was put on IR after the game because of a torn ACL.
The Faulk loss will be hard-felt. While the running game has not been a stable form of production for the Pats, Faulk has [...]

By: Dan Podheiser, YawkeyTalkies Assistant Editor
After a dominant Week 1 drubbing of Cincinnati, the Patriots didn’t look so hot against their division rival, the New York Jets in a 28-14 loss.
The offense was sharp at times, but was unable to get into a consistent rhythm at any point during the game. And the defense? Well, giving up 28 points to a Mark Sanchez-led attack is never good.
Here’s a position-by-position breakdown of how the Patriots performed in their loss on Sunday.
Quarterbacks
Tom Brady didn’t have the best game of his career against the Jets. In fact, at one point Brady threw six straight incomplete passes, tying the longest stretch of his NFL career. Brady completed just 56 percent of his passes, going 20-for-36 for 248 yards, two TDs and two INTs. His second touchdown pass at the end of the first half was beautiful; a soft, aired-out completion to Randy Moss, who made a one-handed grab. And to be fair, Brady’s second pick, which bounded of Moss’ hands twice, wasn’t really the QB’s fault. Nevertheless, a 72.5 QB rating won’t cut it in a game of this magnitude.
Grade: C+
Runningbacks
The Laurence Maroney trade was assuredly meant to give the Patriots’ other backs more [...]

By: Phil Shore, YawkeyTalkies Staff Writer
The New England Patriots came out on fire in their opening week victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
Now they have a chance to send a statement to the rest of the AFC East, that statement being that the division runs through them and to be the champions you have to beat the champions.
There was a lot of hype surrounding the New York Jets this offseason, with all their roster additions, their appearance on HBO’s Hard Knocks, and their bold claims of winning the Super Bowl.
Some anointed them champions, but after their offense’s futile performance in Week 1 against the Ravens, the panic button may have already be hit.
They Patriots need to jump on the Jets while they are down, asserting their dominance. There are some key things that the team needs to do in order to make sure that happens.
The Patriots need to prove they can win on the road
Last year in the regular season the Patriots were unbeatable at home going 8-0, however they were a pathetic 2-6 on the road.
The Jets did a poor job of defending their new turf last weekend, and they have to be up for the Patriot game or else [...]

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 [...]