Game Time Decisions

For those of us east of the Connecticut River the seven most reassuring words in the pigskin 'verse are "Tom Brady, expected to play this Sunday..."

Far less reassuring are "Tom Brady, game time decision..."

Newsworthy

As I scanned the usual and customary web sites this morning I was reminded of that old saying; things are never as good as the seem or as bad as they seem. Except when they are.

The Perfect is the Enemy of the Good

Are there other fan bases that gnaw on their own ankles as if their foot was caught in a bear trap of doom and despair after a 30-17 win? There aren’t, am I right? It’s just us, the good citizens of Patriots Nation, isn’t it? I thought so.

Fascinated By The Process

Thank the pigskin gods, yet one more time, for Tom Brady.

Let me start with the touchdown pass to Malcolm Mitchell. It was sublime. It was like watching a great NBA point guard hit a streaking swing man on the fast break. A Eurostep dunk. The quick step to the right by Brady to stay alive in the pocket. The nanosecond between recognition and execution. The defender, with his back turned, has no idea what is about to happen. Brady’s pass is thrown perfectly; a dart, it hits Mitchell in stride. When Mitchell catches the ball, the defender is suddenly surprised and in the moment of hesitation that follows shock, Michell is gone.

I will revisit the highlights from this game many times just to see this play again and again.

So beautiful.

Metric This

“There are lies, damned lies and statistics.”

-Mark Twain

“Stats are for losers.”

-Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick is a secret stat nerd. He just doesn’t want you to know it. I get it. It’s complicated. But I like to keep things simple. As Belichick himself has acknowledged, there is one stat that matters; points.

Rooting Interests

We’ve reached that point in the season where I care almost as much about other teams losing as I do about the Patriots winning.

Almost…

I'm On To San Francisco

Look, I get it. Dallas looked like Godzilla in the Tokyo financial district in the win over Pittsburgh. Then Tom Brady couldn’t overcome the ennui and Gronk couldn’t make a catch playing with a punctured lung and the Patriots had lost their second home game. It was… disconcerting. At the end of the day they simply didn’t play well enough to beat a team as good as the Seattle Seahawks. Maybe it’s a good thing. A Zen slap. An icy cold glass of wait-what? The proverbial wake-up call. Maybe it will be good in the long run...

On to San Francisco!