Waiting for Sunday

Waiting and hoping. Zero sacks for Tom Brady. Four touchdown passes to four different receivers. A hundred yard rushing day for Stevan Ridley. A sack for Chandler Jones and another for Dont’a Hightower. An interception for Devin McCourty. Patriots 41, Titans 3. Is that too much to ask? All right. 41-10?

  

What’s love got to do with it? In the NFL, that is. In his first “First-and-10” post of the 2012 season, ESPN’s New York Jets’ blogger Rich Cimini noted his surprise at Deion Branch’s release…

“Patriots coach Bill Belichick is a terrific personnel evaluator, but he messed up with the decision to release WR Deion Branch. He's older, not an every-down receiver at this point in his career, but Belichick evidently felt he wasn't good enough to make the final cutdown. Instead, the Patriots acquired Greg Salas from the Rams. You could see why Belichick would want a younger player, but Branch was a good locker-room influence, with a special rapport with QB Tom Brady. Every team needs guys like that.”

First of all, shouldn’t “not an every-down receiver at this point in his career” be followed by an “and,” not a “but?” As for Salas, not only younger, also bigger and he comes with experience in the Patriots offensive system, having played for Josh McDaniels in St. Louis. Clearly, Belichick has lost it.

Cimini does fall short of exhorting the receiver-needy Jets to pick up Branch. Perhaps that’s because all of Branch’s positives are off the field, a position from which it is difficult to affect game outcomes. Every team needs guys like that?

Would it have been nice to see Tom Brady and Deion Branch (and Dan Koppen) hug it out on the big stage one more time? Sure, of course. Does Greg Salas give the Patriots a better chance to get to New Orleans than Deion Branch? Time will tell. It always does. For today, though, it’s hard to argue with younger, bigger, faster.

Having a few days to digest the end of the roster moves – and I may just be drunk on the Bill Belichick Kool-Aid – it all seems to make sense…

Salas for Branch – See notes above. Pigskin Pundits and Bobbleheads note that Salas is not only a potential upgrade in the near-term but possibly long-term insurance for Wes Welker.

Cutting Bobby Carpenter – This looks like a risk with Dane Fletcher out for the year and Tracy White still dinged up until you remember that Chandler Jones, Rob Ninkovich, even Jermaine Cunningham can play standing up (though not very well in Cunningham’s case) and rookie phenom Nate Ebner might find himself moving from safety up to a linebacker spot in sub packages. I should note that when the Patriots signed Carpenter I was all like “Wasn’t he the guy who was a total bust with the Cowboys? WTF?” During camp, Carpenter seemed destined to become the next veteran free agent to make a visit to Bill Belichick’s secret sub-basement pigskin laboratory and come out a proficient role-player; a poor man’s Mike Vrabel. Today, I’m thinking it was that guy who was a total bust with Dallas who got released.

Brian Hoyer hits the Open Market – We’ve covered this before and technically this isn’t an end of roster move but entering the 2012 season with just two QBs has been cause for some anxiety – misplaced, I think. If you’d like to make the argument that if Brady goes down, Hoyer could keep the Patriots in playoff contention be my guest. If you do want to make that argument, I am going to feel compelled to remind you to never run with scissors, never eat candy before dinner, and always look two ways when you cross the street and only when the lights are in your favor. Besides, are you forgetting that Julian Edelman played QB in college?

Apparently, those of us who have been hoping to see Brian Waters walk back through that door will be disappointed. Waters #54 (more famously worn by Tedy Bruschi) has been given to rookie LB Dont’a Hightower. That, combined with the claim of Matt Tennant, yet another C/G type, gives us two dots to connect. Moving on…

Thirty-Two Yes or No Pigskin Questions

1)   Will the Patriots throw the ball less and enjoy it more in 2012? No. Seriously, you want to take the ball out of Tom Brady’s hands?

2)   Do the Jets have a starting QB? No. Vince Young is available.

3)   Has the Bills defense caught up with the Patriots offense? No. Look for the Patriots to go trips TE on Mark Anderson’s side and run Stevan Ridley and then go play action of that same formation with Rob Gronkowski running free up the seam.

4)   Will the Dolphins win a game in 2012? No. Not even close. Expect an alcohol-involved incident at a South Beach gentleman’s club around the 0-7-0 mark.

5)   Is Joe Flacco an elite QB? No. But it really won’t make a difference with Ray Rice and that defense.

6)   Are the Steelers one year too old? Yes.

7)   Can the Bengals hang with the big boys this year? No. I still expect the Ravens and the septuagenarian Steelers to sweep the Bengals.

8)   Will the Browns win a game in 2012? Yes. Inexplicable things happen all the time.

9)   Do the Texans deserve to be Super Bowl favorites? No. Matt Schaub? Please!

10) Can CJ2K bounce back and keep Jake Locker and the Titans out of trouble and in the playoffs? No. Jake Locker will get plenty of cardio this year.

11) Will Blaine Gabbert get it? No. As in never. Still can’t believe Jacksonville didn’t make a run at Tim Tebow.

12) Can the Colts surprise in Andrew Luck’s first year? Yes. That is, if five wins will surprise you.

13) Does Peyton Manning start all 16? Yes. But it won’t be enough. A quick look at Manning’s career stats is enough to see that he was on the inevitable downside of his career before missing the 2011 season.

14) Will the Chiefs spoil the Peyton Manning movie? Yes.

15) Is this the year the Chargers play up to their talent level? Yes. Unfortunately, this is the least talented San Diego roster of the Norv Turner era.

16) Is Carson Palmer done? Let’s just say that if you stuck a fork in him it would slide easily into the thigh meat near the hip joint.

17) Will the Giants repeat? If you mean, “Will they go 9-7-0 in the regular season?” then yes. If you mean “Will they win the Super Bowl?” then no.

18) Do the Eagles put together a playoff run in 2012? Yes. But I think they might do it with rookie QB Nick Foles under center.

19) Will Tony Romo win a playoff game this post-season? No. Romo is better than his critics give him credit for. Then again, it wouldn’t be hard to clear that bar.

20) Were RGIII and Mike Shanahan made for each other? Yes.

21) Do the Packers shake off that junk-punch playoff loss and return to the Super Bowl? No. I’m not sure they can hold off the double-barreled action of the Lions and Bears. Thankfully, no Tigers.

22) Can the Lions take the next step? Yes, but it will be a baby step.

23) Will Cutler to Marshall make fantasy owners and Bears fans happy? Yes and yes. It's been said that it's better to be lucky than to be good. Perhaps it's even better to be crazy. After all, crazy never goes into a slump.

24) Will the Vikings make people in Los Angeles happy they don’t have a pro football team? Yes. Minnesotans seem like goodhearted folk (yes, I’m basing that entirely on “Prairie Home Companion” and Garrison Keillor). I can only hope all three of the Vikings wins this season come at home.

25) Do the Saints host their own Super Bowl come February? No. No way the Puppet Masters of the NFL let this happen in the wake of “Bountygate.” It should be even easier (as in less easy to detect) fixing games with the replacement refs.

26) Are Matt Ryan and Falcons good enough to take down the Saints? No.

27) Can the Panthers and Cam Newton contend in 2012? No.

28) Can the Buccaneers contend in 2014? Yes.

29) Will Randy Moss make a difference? No. Lucky for the 49ers they don’t need him to make a difference. Half of Alex Smith’s interceptions this season will come on passes he underthrows to Moss.  

30) Will the Rams make people in Los Angeles happy they don’t have a pro football team? Yes.

31) Will Russell Wilson still be a feel good story by Thanksgiving? No. It really isn’t good for your health being a mobile quarterback in the NFL, even when you’re as big as Ben Roethlisberger. Eventually, large, unsympathetic men catch up with you.

32) Will the Cardinals make people in Arizona unhappy that they do have a pro football team? Yes.

I miss these guys…