Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Special Team
Monday nights' Patriots at Dolphins game was supposed to be a tough game, a battle for a share of first place in the AFC East, and it was for a half. Bill must have said something that lit a fire under the Special Teams of the Patriots, namely Brandon Tate and Patrick Chung. Coming out of the halftime the Patriots lined up for the kick return. The fire inside Brandon Tate exploded as soon as he caught the ball, I think that his 103-yd return can draw comparisons to Flash, this is because he caught the ball took-off, and wasn't touched the entire way down the field. 13-6 Patriots. The momentum shift at this point and time during the game was like day and night from the first half of the game. What can be said about the performance of Patrick Chung? Only word that comes to mind is simply: spectacular. The second year safety had a performance to be remembered for the rest of his professional career. Chung first blocked a punt which set up a New England touchdown. Later in the half, Chung struck again, like lighting striking twice, Chung blocked a field goal attempt, which Kyle Arrington then picked up and took 35 yards to the house. Just when the game reached its pinnacle, and the blowout was confirmed, Chung decided he wasn't done, taking a Chad Henne pass 51 yards to paydirt. Sure the Patriots defense allowed over 400 yards of total offense, but they stepped up at the big moments intercepting 4 Dolphin passes. Another unexpected hero on the defensive side of the ball was Rob Ninkovich, a 5th year linebacker/defensive end out of Purdue. Yeah, Rob Ninkovich, remember the name, after tough knee injuries with the Dolphins and Saints put him out of a job, he has come to New England on a mission. That mission: show he is worth the price of admission. I'd say after the Dolphins game, mission accomplished. Sure it was one game, but how often does the likes of Darelle Revis highly touted as the best cornerback in the game, have 2 interceptions in the game. My prediction is that Ninkovich will become a Vrabel type versatile player for the Patriots who will be reliable for years to come. So the Patriots win and in impressive fashion. Hopefully this will mark the end of the slump the defense has been in the last season and a quarter or so. But like Sam Adams says, "I think we gonna be OK".
Rob Ninkovich
Brandon Tate
Patrick Chung
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Good job Tom. You seriously know how to give a vague recap of a game, while clearly holding back your Patriots passion. Seriously, though, remember who the game was against- Miami. Their quarterback isn't exactly Dan Marino these days, so it's not the biggest accomplishment to catch a few picks against them. And as far as our "stellar" special teams play, remember that going into the game the Dolphins were already ranked 28th in the league in their special teams play, and this game was merely the dagger in the heart for the Special Teams coach, who was fired this week. Wait until the Patriots play against more experienced teams that can actually play before you make such outlandish predictions. But well done Tom, you're side comments mid-recap absolutely make the review soooo much more enjoyable.... fucking homer.
ReplyDeleteAgain, thanks for the criticism, I don't know if maybe you didn't read the title of my blog, Boston's Boys. But still whether or not this game was against the Dolphins, the Lions or the Steelers, the performance of Patrick Chung was out of this world. Tell me the last time an individual had a blocked punt, blocked field goal, and interception for TD in the same season, let alone the same game. All right the Dolphins aren't the cream of the crop, and the team anyone thought they might be going into the season, but believe me they aren't as bad as the Patriots made them look. They played the Jets, the so called team to beat in the AFC East, to a last quarter, last drive of the game play. So if you are going to sit there and tell me that just because the Dolphins aren't the top team in the league then my review is outlandish, just remember they are still professional athletes, therefore they can still play the game of football at as high a level as any other team in the league. Thanks again for being quick to jump on the fact that I am a Patriots sports fan. Maybe you hate Boston sports, I don't know. I'm sorry I have passion for my hometown sports. My bad.
ReplyDeleteI'm a Boston/New England fan myself. I just prefer unbias journalism. There's no denying that Chung had a great game vs Miami. The stats prove it. But look at the past year in sports and see how many players have turned in 1-game masterpieces. Armando Galarraga came within 1 botched call of throwing a perfect game, and later in the year he was sent back down to the minors. Though he was eventually called back up, he finished the year with a mediocre 4.49 ERA and a 4-9 record. I'm not saying Chung is a chump. By all means the fan in me wants him to whup ass in every game and play in this league for a long time. But remember, it's only week 5.
ReplyDeleteWow Mike, you seem to be sipping on some major Haterade over there. And let's not pretend the Dolphins are some pushover team. We aren't talking about the St. Louis Rams right now. The Dolphins are a solid (but I'll admit unspectacular)team who gave the Jets, possibly the best team in the NFL right now, all they could handle. Now Patriots fans are as big of homers as I've ever seen in the NFL (No Tom Brady is not better than Peyton Manning, lets stop pretending), but who wouldn't be high on their team after putting a stomping on a team with legitimate playoff aspirations. And Mike I can already tell that you are that douche bag fan who only thinks his own opinion is correct. Nobody is making you read his blog, so guy find one that is more appealling to your negativity. May I suggest a Cleveland sports blog? There is nothing positive about Cleveland sports so I'm sure you will fit right in.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know Mike, nor do I know any of you. Tom, I admire your courage to begin a blog of your own. But if you would like constructive criticism, I have to say that you're writing really is not material for journalism yet. While English and grammar may be a small part of a blog, but a person is very much more inclined to read a blog if it is worded properly. Commas, more than one loooong paragraph, etc. I like your topics and all, but your writing really isn't very top notch. Try typing it in Word first just to see what types of suggestions they might have for Grammar. Again, like your motivation, dislike your writing. I'm not any type of expert journalist or whatever by any means, just a bystander at that, but I do enjoy reading blogs and the papers, and it is hard to read without the content being well written.
ReplyDeleteDear first anonymous guy thats a great reference to Cleveland haha.
ReplyDeleteDear secon anonymous guy, thank you for the advice, i am only a college student who just began his blog writing so if it were already top notch it would be amazing. Your right the whole long paragraph thing is alot to take in a once. I'm not sure if you don't like the writing style or the content itself but thanks for the help.
I have to agree that the writing can use a little work. You tend to have plenty of run on sentences. Breaking things up can help make it a lot more readable. Add pictures in between paragraphs that pertain to what you wrote. Utilized stats from other pages or include links to references. It all makes things more creditable.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up though, I like your commentaries and wealth of articles already. Content is what holds a blog together, and you are in the right direction of generating plenty of it.