Chasing The Patriots Can Be Hazardous To Your Health

There's an old saying in football that if you're not running a quarterback sneak on 4th and 1, you probably shouldn't be going for it on 4th and 1.  

As noted, it's an old saying. So, why is a new, modern, millennial, disruptive, innovative offense like the Kansas City Chiefs running a quarterback sneak? 

Is everything up to date in Kansas City?

A Long Way To Go

I may be rooting for the worst 6-0 team in the history of everything but it could definitely be worse. 

I'm looking at you Dallas Cowboys' fans.

Adversity Isn't Just A Suburb of Boston

See what I did there? I'm riffing on "Denial isn't just a river…" Oh, you got it? Okay...

If you're a Patriots fan, you know this is when it really gets interesting. The team is running like a 20-year old Ford 150 in dire need of a tune up. Injuries are piling up and seem to be clustering around a few key position groups. Has there been controversy? (Antonio Brown. Check.) Are there rumors of a rift between Tom/Bill/Robert and Bill/Robert/Tom? (That's become a cottage industry for pigskin pundits and bobbleheads, hasn't it?) Somehow, the cap-strapped Patriots are connected to every disgruntled player on the Other 31. Meanwhile, New England is working out street free agents who are coming off a disappointing, injury-limited start to their careers. Hey, when you're short on cap cash, you got to shop at the pigskin Dollar Store.

Time to plug some holes in the wall with toothpaste…

If This Is Wrong I Don't Want To Be Right

They're 6-0-0. They've outscored their opponents by 142 points. On a short week, battered by injuries and a Nor'easter, they won 35-14, covering an absurd 17 point line in the process.

So, what's everybody want to know?

How much longer must we endure this pigskin disaster that is the 2019 New England Patriots?

Jeopardy

They're chronically involved in controversy, their roster has been decimated by retirement, free agency losses, and injuries, they lack playmakers on offense, their AARP-eligible quarterback just had the worst game of his career yet they're still undefeated, sit atop NFL power rankings, and remain the money makers' favorite to win back-to-back Super Bowls…

[Jeopardy! music plays...]

Who are the New England Patriots?

A Big Game In Buffalo

Injuries. Scandal. Palace intrigue. Doubts. A media-hyped, early season divisional game. On the road.

We've been here before, haven't we?

Just Another Sunday For Patriots' Fans

For about a day it was just about football. Okay, not just football. After all, Antonio Brown brought more baggage to Foxborough than the boys on The Darjeeling Limited. Still, I was looking forward to Tom Brady, Brown, Julian Edelman, Josh Gordon, James White, Sony Michel, and Phillip Dorsett doing amazing pigskin things. We were going to need a word that went on beyond explosive. 

And then, an explosion of a completely different, yet somehow unsurprising, kind occurred.