PATRIOTS PASS SOME TESTS

It's preseason. That needs to be repeated every time you feel any emotion while watching one of these exhibition games. Any thrill at seeing Fred Taylor break a big run, any disappointment at a 14 yard gain yielded by the defense, needs to be tempered.

The Patriots tested two things in this game: Wes Welker and the running game. Brady threw at Welker three straight times, putting him in tough positions, and eventually getting him hit pretty hard. It was Welker's first appearance in preseason, and you can tell that the Pats want to appraise him before they rely on him.

The Pats ran the ball. A lot. And it caught the Falcons off guard. So the two rushing touchdowns, Taylor's 54 yards, and Morris' 52 yards shouldn't be taken at face value. Then again, Atlanta allowed the 10th fewest rushing yards, and 8th fewest yards per carry in the 2009 season.

This team doesn't need the ground attack to win games for them. But they do need other teams to respect it. They need it for short yardage, 3rd down, and red-zone/goal-line situations. They need it for play-action pass. They need it to slow down and wear out opposing pass rushes.

The biggest concern I have with the runningbacks is their age. Sure, Taylor, Morris, and Faulk looked great. But they played half the game. Half a game in August. Will they still be this good in November and December?

One very positive thing from this game was the play of Aaron Hernandez. He's not really a tight-end. I think he can be a challenging guy for opponents to cover, though. The Patriots haven't had a reliable pass-catching tight-end since Fauria. And Hernandez can present some real matchup problems for opposing defenses.

How will the defense be this year? Probably inconsistent. Matt Ryan was finding holes in the zone just before he was pulled. Give skilled coaches, QBs, and WRs 4 quarters to figure the Pats' defense out, and things will get difficult. I like Chung at safety. But I didn't like how the unit looked against a no-huddle offense.

So while a 28-10 win with rookie tight-ends catching touchdowns, and runningbacks amassing 120 yards on the ground is very pleasant, there are still some concerns that might not manifest themselves until snow starts falling.

Photo Credit:
Getty Images

ANOTHER BECKETT FAILURE

I'll eat my share of crow on this one. I liked the Red Sox' signing Beckett until 2014. Good pitching is hard to find, and $17 million per season seemed only a little above a good price. I was wrong. So very, very wrong.

Since the end of 2007, Josh Beckett has a 4.40 ERA. That's fairly bad. That's not worth $17 million. He's not only been inconsistent, but when he's not on his A Game, it's an F performance. There's no middle grounds. He doesn't pitch his way through difficult games. He has no guile, little deception. He's a chucker.

Has it been a blessing in disguise that he's only made 14 starts this season? I think it is. 3-3, with an ERA at 6.67. That's the 2nd highest ERA in the Majors among pitchers with 60 innings or more. That's just garbage.

Dustin Pedroia was scratched from the lineup due to pain in his foot. I think the Sox should be extra careful with him. I'd like him to play in all 3 games against the Rays next weekend. But maybe he should only go every other day until then.

Honestly, risking further injury to Pedroia when the team is 6 out of the Wild Card doesn't seem worth it.

Toronto comes to town, and Brett Cecil opposes Jon Lester.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

SOX GRIND IT OUT

A very nice, solid, hard fought victory last night. The Sox never looked much better than the Angels until the late innings. Lackey was able to extend himself to pitch 7 innings, then Bard and Papelbon finished the job.

Lackey gave up a big 3 run homer in the 5th. But other than that, he did his job. Thankfully, the Sox bats woke up once they got Kazmir out of the game. Beltre had a vital 2 run homer in the bottom of the 5th to keep the Sox in it. He's hit 23, and knocked in 83. His offensive contributions, and not his defensive ones, have helped save this team.

Seeing Pedroia back in the lineup just makes things seem better. Even if he doesn't rekindle how well he was hitting before his injury. He was 1 for 3, stole a base, scored a run, drew a walk, and had a sacrifice bunt. Just seeing how much he veered into the infield grass on his sac-bunt, giving him 0.0001% more of a chance to reach 1st base on an error, was just refreshing to see.

But pitching is what will win or lose down the stretch. Lackey wasn't great, but he stayed out there until finishing 7. He had some nice efficient innings at the end of his outing that allowed Francona to keep him out there.

Speaking of pitching, and how important it is, the Sox will go for the sweep behind Josh Beckett tonight. He's opposed by Ervin Santana. I don't have a great feeling, as Santana shut down the Sox back in May. And Beckett's been a basketcase lately.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

BUCHHOLZ YOURSELF

Where would the Sox be without Clay Buchholz? I remember before the season, that Buchholz was supposed to be the 4th or 5th guy, that could be good. And any contribution from him would be a bonus. 14 Wins, 14 Quality Starts later, and he's the Ace of this staff. And arguably the MVP of the team.

Buchholz wasn't razor sharp, but he pitched out of trouble. That's something he struggled with when he first came up. But he doesn't get nervy anymore. He keeps the ball low, induces ground balls, and maintains control of the game.

The big hits of the night came off the bats of the #8 and #9 hitters. Darnell McDonald blasted a solo shot in the 3rd. Ryan Kalish hit his 2nd career homer, and first career Grand Slam in the 4th.

Dustin Pedroia returned, and was 0 for 4. But I have to believe that having a guy with his kind of fight and desire can only help this team. It's nice having players who want to play. And yes, that's a veiled criticism directed at Jacoby Ellsbury.

The Sox need to keep winning against teams like the Angels. Lackey opposes Scott Kazmir tonight. Lackey has done well against his former team. Kazmir has often baffled the Red Sox.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

REMINDER: THE JETS SUCK

They made the AFC Championship game. They have a budding young star at QB, the #1 defense in the NFL, an All-Pro cornerback, the #1 rush offense, so on and so forth.

But let's not forget that they were 9-7 last year. And one of those wins was against a Colts team that practically forfeited in Week 16. Peyton Manning played slightly more than a half in that game. And let's not forget that "The Sanchize" had a QB Rating of 63 last season. He threw 20 picks, to go along with his 12 TDs.

Oh, but they added LaDainian "I'm a classy guy" Tomlinson. Who will split carries with Greene and Washington. Then again, LT's ex-teammates went out of their way to criticize Tomlinson for bitching about a lack of carries. Maybe splitting carries isn't the best role for Mr. Classy.

The Jets also lost Thomas Jones, who was by far their best offensive weapon in '09. TJ ran the ball 331 times, for 1,402 yards. He scored 14 of the Jets' 37 TDs. He only fumbled twice.

But then again, they have Reality TV star Rex Ryan. Watching Hard Knocks this season, it's like that episode of Family Guy when Peter was the star of a reality TV show.



Rex Ryan is utterly obsessed with himself. He thinks everything he does is worthy of being nationally televised, then replayed, dissected and analyzed. He's a loudmouth jerk. He was praised for being such a phenomenal coach last year, turning the Jets around from a 9-7 team into a 9-7 team. But how hard is it to give Thomas Jones the ball 300+ times? How much thought goes into telling Darrelle Revis to intercept 6 passes (plus 2 more in the playoffs) and shutdown half the field?

Rex Ryan will be exposed as a fraud, either this year or the next.

OK, so maybe the Jets don't suck. But many out there seem to think a bit too highly of them.

WIN PREVENTION

"Run Prevention" was the phrase bandied about by the Sox' Front Office before the 2010 season. And while the supposedly excellent defense has been average (7th best fielding percentage in AL, 14th in MLB), it's been the bullpen that has been preventing wins instead of runs.

Friday night, the Red Sox inexcusably blew an 8-2 lead. Josh Beckett was the ringleader of the collapse, but it was an entire cast of relievers that kept pouring out of the bullpen like clowns out of a Volkswagen.

Sunday afternoon, Daisuke was the victim. He had a hard-luck loss after going 6.2 innings. I don't pity Matsuzaka. He got plenty of fortunate wins in '07. But the bullpen allowed Texas to pull away, just as the Sox' bats were coming to life. Delcarmen allowed a homerun, turning a 2-0 game to 5-0. The Sox promptly scored 3. Then Bowden let the Rangers score 2 more.

Injuries have plagued this edition of the Red Sox, but not nearly as much as their 2 man bullpen. And even the duo of Bard-Papelbon have been far from infallible. Bard blew his 5th save of the season on Friday, and Papelbon's blown a career high 6 already.

Building a bullpen is difficult. It helps to have starters go deep into games (this was only Daisuke's 4th longest start of the season). It helps to have an offense that can create big leads, so you can save your closer and top set-up guys. But honestly, there are 2 current bullpen members I'd like to see wearing a Sox uni in 2011. That's it.

The Sox end a 5-5 road trip on a sour note. They didn't lose much ground. But the clock is ticking, and they need to be gaining ground. They're now 5 behind Tampa Bay, 6 in the loss column. There's also the White Sox to worry about, only 1.5 behind the Red Sox.

A 9 game homestand begins Tuesday night, as the Angels, Jays, and Mariners come to town. These are 3 very beatable teams, and the Sox need to win 6 or 7 of these games.

Buchholz faces 11-7 Jered Weaver Tuesday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

FIRST IMPRESSIONS

The first pre-season game is about as meaningful as the day of training camp preceding it. The opponents aren't really focused on beating you. They haven't studied you, haven't focused on you, haven't devised a gameplan to exploit your weaknesses and avoid your strengths. It's a scrimmage in a Stadium. Not much more.

Julian Edelman was the standout offensive performer. He caught 6 passes for 90 yards. Everyone touts Edelman as a stopgap replacement for Welker. He's not, folks. Welker is one in a trillion. But I would like to see Edelman as a 4th receiver in a bunched up kind of 4 WR formation. Welker on one side, Edelman on the other. They could run some interesting routes that would give Brady two outlets, and really mess with the opposing defense's coverages.

Aaron Hernandez has had an impressive camp, and looked good last night. He's athletic, and knows how to use every ounce of the speed he has. The Pats haven't had reliable tight-end play since the Fauria era.

The running game looked good last night. But Maroney has to do a lot more to convince me that he's worth a roster spot. We've seen him have good games before. It's the consistency. And that's priority #1 with a running game.

The defense contained the vaunted Saints offense, especially when the starters were in there. But as I mentioned above, it's not like the Saints schemed anything to play the Pats. They, like the Patriots, are evaluating their own strengths and weaknesses.

Darius Butler is too undisciplined to be a truly reliable CB.

It's hard to get any accurate assessment from this game, especially on the defensive side. The Patriots defense was statistically good last year, allowing the 5th fewest points in the NFL. But it was a matter of when and how those points were allowed. The Patriots didn't come up with the big stops in pivotal and pressured situations. There are no pivotal or pressured situations in pre-season.

Photo Credit:
Getty Images

PAPELBLOWN... AGAIN

With all the injuries the Sox have endured this season, and with a Wild Card berth just now in grasp, they need all their star players to perform like star players. Jonathan Papelbon failed to do so last night.

John Lackey had a great start, going 8 innings, allowing 3 earned runs, and keeping his pitch count down. You can understand why Francona pulled him after allowing a homerun in the 9th, but it was still one of Lackey's best outings of the season.

Then Papelbon... well, what else can you say except that he blew it.

This was his 6th blown save of the season. That's matching a career high. It was his 5th loss, a new career high. He's allowed 6 homeruns, a new career high. He's allowed 13 doubles, a new career high. His 3.26 ERA is 1.21 higher than his career ERA, and nearly a run higher than his highest season's ERA.

His WHIP is actually the same as it was last year, at 1.15. But he skated around trouble in '09. In 2010, he's been unable to do that.

Now it's silly to replace Papelbon with Bard at this point. Papelbon is still a very good closer. But he's not great, folks. That yokels who'd started to compare him with Mariano Rivera are strictly morons. And most closers don't maintain that near unhittable quality to them. It's unnatural for any pitcher but guys like Rivera to remain that flawless.

I'd say Papelbon is a low Top 10 closer these days. Not a liability, but it's not a guarantee in the 9th anymore. And when his contract comes up, I won't weep if the Sox replace him with a cheaper Top 10 closer.

The Sox face the Rangers tonight in Arlington. Beckett opposes Tommy Hunter (9-1, 3.01 ERA, yikes).

In other news, Kevin Youkilis was at the pre-season Pats game last night, looking very forlorn.



Photo Credits:
AP Photo