Jared

Of the four rookie receivers (Thompkins, Boyce, Sudfeld, Dobson), Dobson was the least impressive through camp and preseason, despite having the highest draft position.

I don't see BB retiring until he has serious physical ailments. He grew up in a football family, and his own son has been involved with the team as well. For him football is life. I doubt he knows how to live without the game.

It happens everywhere, to various degrees.

Wait, you're saying when teams turn into perennial winners, their fans get annoying? And when teams suck, they fans don't speak up? This is some hard hitting reporting you folks are doing here. Personally I was hoping for a bit more focus on the racism the Pats (and New England in general) fan base harbors. The kind of fan base where, after we signed John Lynch one year, his jersey exploded through the stadium, despite the fact that he was old, terrible, and cut half-way through preseason. But not bad, as these articles go. I still like the Jets article the most of all the AFC East ones.

If you cut a guy, you don't get to complain when someone else picks him up. If you don't want people picking up your scraps, don't cut them.

<- pats fan here The entire concept of bulletin board material is overrated. Even more so on opening day. Just to make a few more comments on things brought up in the thread: 1) the pats were lucky as heck to get Brady... But then again, no one else bothered to take him. Further, the Super Bowl winning years were not because Brady was aging all world, lights out, but in large part because Bill built a very stingy defense out of other people's cast offs. That being said, 16-0 and much of the pats recent success is almost entirely tied to Brady being one of the greatest QBs of all time. The rest of the afc east is basically screwed until he retires or his play slips significantly. 2) I do like much of the pats roster more than the bills, with the exception of obviously the bills rbs and probably their corners as well. (That says more about the pats secondary than the bills secondary though). I'd strongly consider taking the bills safeties too, if Byrd were healthy. 3) I think under the current regime the bills have a lot to look forward to in terms of growth and improvement. A lot of this is to be determined by how EJ turns out ob iously.

Note that the Pats only have 3 TEs on the roster (though they also have a FB/H-Back). This seems to bode well for Gronkowski's health. But then again, does anyone think losing one player who is not named Tom Brady will be the deciding factor against the Bills?

Capitalism. Pay X dollars, get tickets to 8 regular season games and 2 preseason games. If you don't like the value of your purchase, STOP PURCHASING IT.

Pats fan here. I think late hits out of bounds are FAR more egregious than Spikes' hit that took the helmet off. I don't disagree with the flag, as I think that flag gets thrown regardless of who the blitzer is, or who the QB is. However it wasn't particularly late, and the hit started below the helmet. The helmet came off because of the way Spikes slid up Fitz's body. I understand why they fined him (gotta protect your stars in a QB driven league) though. But seriously, late hits out of bounds are far worse, if only because they are completely inexcusable.

The McDonald's coffee case involved ridiculously hot coffee, like damn near boiling, massively hotter than any other restaurant or coffee maker would ever make/serve. You make coffee at home and you spill it on yourself, it just hurts a little. In that case, the woman's coffee spilled and did MASSIVE amounts of damage to her. The McDonald's SOP called for serving WILDLY hotter coffee that was bound to cause a serious injury to SOMEONE eventually. Luckily, the juries in these cases do have access to the facts, and we have an adversarial system that sorts it all out pretty well most of the time.

If it comes down to a shoot out, my money is on the future hall of famer, plus the running back tandem that rolled up 200 yards the last time these two teams played. Just sayin'.

The Baltimore game was a bit of an aberration. If you ignore the first quarter (where the Pats had a number of successive turnovers) it was basically an even game, where BAL tried to run out the clock, while NE kept scoring. If not for the embarrassment of turnovers in the first quarter, it was an even game. I think the Jets games are a better example of how to play the Patriots.

Did Bruschi say anything that hasn't already been said by fans here?

The team with reigning MVP Tom Brady at QB didn't draft a QB in round 1 or 2, and you're using THAT as a sign that the guy isn't good? If anything, the fact that the team with reigning MVP Tom Brady at QB drafted the kid in round 3, DESPITE having a solid young backup already in Hoyer, should set off warning sirens that this kid might be pretty good.

I love that Vince Young includes himself in the list of Dream Team additions.

I don't know that Banta-Cain is a "monster." Tully was an overachiever who exceeded expectations in NE. Unfortunately, many Pats fans kept increasing their expectations for him. He went from a very good sub package player to a sub-par starter according to most fans, despite leading the team in tackles. He was released in part to save salary, and in part because of injury. Important to note: Banta-Cain recently underwent surgery for a sports hernia which he knew about all summer, but put off until right as the lockout ended. Rumor is BB was pissed (and was pissed at Ty Warren for pulling a similar stunt last summer), and it was the final straw. The result of the surgery is that he probably can't even participate on a football field for 4 more weeks.

Crumpler is a slow pure blocking TE whose drop cost the Patriots a chance to beat the Jets when it counted. Every Patriots fan who isn't a sentimental homer (you know the kind of fan, the one who always overvalues their own players, and never wants to cut anyone) is not shocked by his release, and if anything, expected it.

1) Rule seems odd, but they put in a black and white rule specifically so there wouldn't be any ref judgment involved. 2) The rule is called fairly consistently, and had been called earlier that season at least twice, including once on national television. 3) The only reason this instance is remembered is because it happened right at the end of the playoff game and the Patriots eventually won the Super Bowl. If the Pats get blown out by the Rams, no one remembers the "Tuck Rule" except as a minor oddity. 4) Hard to get upset about refs calling the game exactly as is written in the rule book.

1) Rosters are updated fairly regularly by EA throughout the season. The important one is the week 1 update which should have all the correct regular season rosters. 2) The rosters downloaded for online use CAN be used in other modes. Just go into your My Madden area and load them. 3) Preseason depth charts? Seriously? This is what you're complaining about? Edit: I just realized this is only my 11th post since 2003. Awesome.

#10: Still bitter about that ESPN crew? #9: Selective amnesia. The "tuck" rule was invoked prior to the Pats/Raiders playoff game. It was just on a larger stage that time. You simply choose to remember the incidents you want to. #8: Blame Hollywood for that one. #7: the 4th team behind Russell and Bird's C's, Orr's B's, and one of the oldest professional sports teams in the country? What a shock. I apologize for the metro Boston area having more teams that WNY. #6: Kraft is probably the best thing to happen to this team. Great that a life long fan bought it, rather than move us to St. Loius. #5: Agreed. Rt.1 isn't a highway, and it doesn't pretend to be. The problem was it existed long before the Patriots were a good team. There is no easy way to improve the situation though. #4: Applies to many many many other teams, in many sports. Not something that will ever change. #3: Yes. We love you too. #2: I feel similarly about Denver. #1: Surprised you picked this reason as your number one, considering he is a relative newcomer to the team, and frankly has been a model citizen since joining the Pats. I suppose people's pasts stick with them for a long time. PS- BlueFire is a nerd.

Look at his left hand. Look at what it is gripping.