ALL THREE PHASES OF THE GAME

This had "trap game" written all over it. Which is why I thought maybe it wouldn't wind up being one. And maybe it wasn't a trap game. In this NFL, every team with a winning record isn't as good as their record suggests. And every team with a losing record isn't as bad as their record suggests. It's all about how you play on Sunday.

And the Patriots played atrociously. It started with one or two players messing up, then seemed to spread like a virus. Gronkowski essentially cost the team 14 points in the first half. I mean, how is it that Dan Connelly is a better returner than Gronkowski?

That being said, the Patriots were worse in the 2nd half. And that was led by Brady. How many passes did he throw poorly? Better question: how few did he throw well? He missed Gronkowski a few times, underthrew, overthrew. He was 19 for 36, barely completing over half his passes. And that was with Hernandez making some absurd catches.



He had ample time. The O-line created pockets big enough for Michael Moore's jeans. But the Browns' coverage was excellent, and you felt the absence of Randy Moss. Well not really Moss, but the theory of Randy Moss. Wes Welker was frequently doubled, and may have missed the attention Moss once drew. Welker probably also misses his old ACL. He's been just a little off all year, even when Moss was around.

Receivers like Tate dropping balls didn't help much. And I went over Gronkowski's struggles.

The defense got manhandled at the line of scrimmage. And at times, looked utterly lost. It was as if the Patriots just found out in the morning that they'd be playing the Browns. They didn't look prepared for anything out of the ordinary. And on the ordinary stuff, Cleveland thoroughly pushed them around.

That being said, they were put in some lousy situations, right off the bat. And they needed the offense to give them a break. Instead, the Browns held the ball for 38 minutes, nearly twice as long as the Patriots. It's no wonder that Hillis ran for 184, and the Browns amassed 230 on the ground.

The commentators kept talking about the "chess match," between Belichick and Mangini. While Cleveland's trick plays and gadgets were well planned and exquisitely timed, this game came down to a few simple non-chess-like things.

#1: The Browns ran the ball well
#2: The Patriots couldn't put drives together (3/11 on 3rd downs)
#3: The Patriots didn't take care of the football

I will say that Belichick has a tendency to overcoach in games like this, when his team isn't executing, and he seems to feel the need to win the game on his own. The squib kick in the 2nd, going for it on 4th down on the Cleveland 24 in the 2nd quarter of a 10 point game (it worked, but I didn't like that decision), challenging Colt McCoy's touchdown.

But ultimately, players play and coaches coach. The Patriots, at least a number of them, didn't play well.

And they'd better spend the week striving to remember how to do so, because they'll be in Pittsburgh soon, where the crowd is louder, where they run the ball, and where they pressure the QB.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo

MOSS FITS THE TITANS

I have no idea how Randy Moss will work out for the Titans. But it's likely to work out better than his tenure with the Vikings.

When Moss was traded to Minnesota, everyone thought it was a great deal for them. Even I, who defended Belichick's decision to trade Moss, felt like the Vikings would also benefit from the deal. How could we have been so dumb?

Moss was walking into a situation that was already tumultuous. The Vikings were 1-2, had a quarterback embroiled in an off-the-field sexting scandal, and one of the most dunderheaded head coaches in the League. They went 1-3 with Moss, and it was mostly the fault of their QB and their coach.

But Moss would also be sharing targets with the likes of Harvin and Shiancoe. And Randy, like most diva WRs, does not share well.

The Titans, on the other hand, don't need Moss to dazzle. They just need him to play. Even with Kenny Britt healthy, Moss would be their #1 target. The Titans haven't quite figured out their QB situation, but that's much better than having a prima donna under center. Then there's Jeff Fisher, one of the most respected coaches in the game. The Vikings were a constant tug-of-war between QB and coach. The Titans are Jeff Fisher's team. No doubt about it.

If Randy misses New England, he's in a slightly more similar location now. The Titans are contenders. At 5-3 they're 1/2 game behind the Colts for 1st, and would be a playoff team if the season ended today. The Titans also have the best point differential in the NFL.

In Minnesota, Moss was a fire on a sinking ship. He was the broken windshield wiper on a car with no brakes. Disaster was imminent with or without him, but he didn't help things either.

In Tennessee, he can contribute, be productive, get catches, make plays, and possibly earn a contract. And if he doesn't, the Titans lose absolutely nothing by cutting him loose.

The Patriots didn't need Randy Moss, and were unwilling to risk his antics. They got rid of the tumor before it became a tumor. He could only hurt the Patriots.

And the Vikings were a complete mess with or without Moss, who was just another clown in a circus out there. He couldn't help the Vikings.

But the Titans have room for improvement. They could use Randy Moss, but they still don't need him. They have direction, leadership, a team identity. He can only help the Titans.

BRUINS SLICE SABRES

Buffalo came into this game with a 3-7-2 record, and without Ryan Miller. So a Bruins victory was in the cards. However, not in this fashion. The Bruins scored a pair of shorthanded goals as part of a 3-0 first period.

Usually, that means the Bruins will come out flat in the 2nd, but Michael Ryder quickly made it 4-0. At that point, the game was completely decided. The Sabres did break through Thomas, who allowed a season high 2 goals (that's fun to say).

5 goals from 5 players, 9 players had points.

Brad Marchand's goal was the first in his career.

Blake Wheeler finally scored a goal. He's consuming $2.2 million in cap space and is utterly useless. Speaking of which, it's time to trade Daniel Paille. Young forwards like Caron and Marchand play a much more dynamic game. Paille is an adequate penalty-killer, and that's it. He's a poor man's PJ Axelsson, as he doesn't do the little things that PJ once did. He's getting $1.075 to be a healthy scratch.

Lucic scored an empty-netter, his 5th goal of the season. He's healthy, and he's been playing the style of hockey he should be playing. He didn't score goal #5 until February last season.

It's still November. But it's hard not to get excited with a 7-0-0 goalie (best start for a Bruins goalie ever) whose GAA just skyrocketed to 0.72. The penalty-kill unit has scored almost as many goals as its allowed (2 scored, 3 allowed). Goals are coming from everyone. And you've already secured 5 road wins.

The Bruins enter a series of good test games. They're at Washington Friday night, then host the 6-1-2 Blues Saturday night. Then it's at Pittsburgh, then their first meeting with Montreal.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

MANKINS TO REPORT TO PATRIOTS

Maybe listening to Randy Moss drone about how great it is to be a Patriot got to Logan Mankins. Or maybe he realized he was a football player that wasn't playing football. Or maybe someone from the Patriots said "hey, all BS aside, we need a good player like you." Whatever the reasons, Logan Mankins will reportedly sign a restricted free-agent tender offer. This will return him to the lineup, and allow him to possibly play on Sunday in Cleveland.

It was expected that Mankins would report, but at the November 16th deadline to do so. So why two weeks earlier? That I don't know. But I do know that I'm glad he's back. Connelly has been solid in his place, but against good pass rushes, the entire left side of the line could use some shoring up. Especially on the road. And the Patriots play back-to-back road games in hostile environments before that November 16th deadline.


Source:
ESPN

MOSS DROPPED

The Vikings have placed Randy Moss on waivers. This after the headcase receiver caught 1 pass for 8 yards against the Patriots, then held a post game press conference praising his former team.

Moss's 22 receptions (77th in the NFL), and 313 yards (66th) have been more than a little disappointing this season. Although he does have 5 touchdowns (tied for 10th). Moss was often touted for his deep-threat capacities distracting defensive backs. But it's becoming obvious, even to the most ardent Belichick haters, that Moss is also a distraction to his teammates.

Some here think the Patriots might reacquire him. Why not? It's like selling stock in Lehman Brothers when it was at $25, then picking it up at 25 cents. You've already pocketed your money (a 3rd round pick in this case), why not take a freeroll shot at something big?

Then again, why did the stock crash in the first place? Why did the Patriots rush to get him out of here? Maybe he's "learned his lesson," but he's also the kind of guy that never learns a lesson. He's not a good teammate when things aren't going well. And that's when you need to be a good teammate.

I do not want Moss back here. He'll likely get claimed by another team off waivers. But if he falls to the Patriots, I don't want him. His 22 receptions and 313 yards aren't worth it.

If he's picked up, I'll understand. I won't like it, but I'll understand. He's still a talent, and there's not much the Patriots could lose. Then again, it's like a break-up. Belichick broke up with Moss for a reason. Maybe he's learned a lesson. But why did he need to be taught that lesson?

THANK YOU, KESSEL

After Tyler Seguin netted his first goal on home ice, the Garden crowd chanted "Thank You, Kessel" over and over again. While I laughed and thought it was a quality chant, the fans probably should have been thanking Tim Thomas. Or maybe they should have thanked all the other NHL teams that didn't want him this off-season.

Thomas became the first Bruin goalie since Tiny Thompson to start a season with 5 straight wins. Tiny started the 1938-39 campaign with a 6-0 run. If not for a really stupid decision with the puck last week, Thomas would have 3 shutouts already.



Thomas only had to stop 20 shots, a credit to the Bruins' defensemen and forwards, who harassed the Leafs in the neutral zone for most of the game. But Thomas made solid positional saves, two or three of the acrobatic variety, and most importantly his puck handling was, shall we say, more traditional.

On the other side of things, the Bruins played excellent special teams hockey. They scored a power play goal, killed 5 penalties, and were very close to some shorthanded goals. If this team kills penalties as well as they did last year, but adds some consistency to the power play, they can become very dangerous in a playoff series.

Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg both had sensational games in all three zones. Chara assisted on Bergeron's goal (the 100th of his career), and it was Seidenberg who set-up Seguin. Nathan Horton's point streak ended, but he did boost his season penalty minutes total from 0 to 15 with just a few punches.



Horton got a 10 minute misconduct for punching Phaneuf AFTER this picture. These refs weren't my favorites.

Blake Wheeler continues to be useless. He made one or two decent plays, but then caught Dennis Wideman Disease (DWD) and made some really awful ones too. Andrew Ference had a similar night. Adam McQuaid was very solid filling in for Boychuk. He made one glaring mistake, but also nipped it in the bud very quickly. Mark Stuart was physical and played a very sound game.



The Bruins have started a stretch of divisional games the right way. They travel to Ottawa on Saturday, then Buffalo next Tuesday. Then it's Washington again? Yes it is. Great job, NHL. The Bruins will play Washington three times in a 17 day span. Then once more for the remaining 156 days of the season.

Anyway, Bruins at the 4-5-1 Senators Saturday night.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PICKS: WEEK 9*

It was an awful week for me, as my picks were 3-6. I had some close calls, but this isn't horseshoes. My record against the spread is now an unremarkable 19-16-2. So let's hope as conference play continues, I can go on a nice run heading into the bowl games. Here are my picks for this week in college football. I took the odds from Doc's Sports Service.

Thursday 7:30 PM - ESPN
#16 Florida State Seminoles @ NC State Wolfpack
I have to take the Noles -3.5 here. The ACC seems to produce a contender, then reduce them to fraud shortly thereafter. And NC State has been pretty good this year. But FSU is having a nice rebound season. FSU -3.5



Friday 8:00 PM - ESPN2
West Virginia Mountaineers @ UConn Huskies
WVU has fallen off a bit, and the game is in Storrs. But I've picked UConn like three times already this season, and lost every time. So it's time for the Huskies to make me money. West Virginia -6.5.



All these games are on Saturday:

12:00 PM - ESPN3
Clemson Tigers @ BC Eagles
Boston College has a decent defense, but has no offensive capabilities whatsoever. They'll probably put up a good fight against Clemson, but I think the Tigers win, and cover the 7 point spread. Clemson -7.



12:00 PM
Northwestern Wildcats @ Indiana Hoosiers
I'll take Northwestern -3, and yes, I know I'm picking lots of road favorites so far. So what?

3:30 PM - ABC
#6 Missouri Tigers @ #14 Nebraska Cornhuskers
It's kind of hard to believe that this game will be the most important Big XII clash of the year, maybe even more important than the Conference title game. I'm taking Mizzou +7.5. Even if Nebraska wins, they'll win close in a defensive struggle.

3:30 PM - CBS
Florida Gators vs. Georgia Bulldogs (Jacksonville, FL)
Remember when this game meant something? I'll take the Gators +3, because Georgia sucks.



3:30 PM - ESPNU
Wake Forest Demon Deacons @ Maryland Terrapins
WFU are 2-5, 1-3 in ACC play, have lost 5 straight, and haven't won a road game all season. I'll take Maryland -5.5.





6:00 PM - ESPN2
#1 Auburn Tigers @ Ole Miss Rebels
Look, I know that #1 teams have lost three straight weeks, all on the road. And here's the #1 team on the road. But Ole Miss isn't Missouri, and Oxford, Mississippi isn't Madison, Wisconsin. I'll take Auburn -7.



7:00 PM - Versus
#13 Stanford Cardinal @ Washington Huskies
This is a pure gut-feeling pick. Stanford's on the road, Washington's been solid, and the spread's not bad. Washington +7.5.



8:00 PM - ABC
#2 Oregon Ducks @ USC Trojans
Oregon should be #1. And they're on the road. Against a tough opponent. In a tough place to play. So according to the trend of the last few weeks, they should lose. USC +7.

88 WAYS TO BEAT THE HEAT

Yes, this game represents 1.2% of the regular season; a meaningless morsel of what is a meaningless stretch of 82 games. But you know what, all off-season, it's been "Miami this," and "LeBron that," and "New Big Three those," et cetera. The Celtics reminded the rest of the basketball world that there are some pretty good teams outside of Miami.

This game was also a reminder that the Celtics have Rajon Rondo, and Mr. Rondo had 17 assists. Ray Allen had a great shooting night, which we all know is something that will come and go, but led the C's with 20 points. Pierce had 19, Glen Davis contributed 13 from the bench, KG had 10, Shaq had 9. KG also had 10 rebounds, Pierce had 9, Shaq had 8.

LeBron James put up 31 points. None of his teammates did much offensively. Wade had 13. That's nice, I guess. The Heat only had 15 assists compared to the 25 the Celtics compiled.

Some ridiculously optimistic Celtics fans out there will proclaim this as definitive proof that the Celtics are still atop the Eastern Conference. That's really stupid to suggest after only one regular season home game. Especially since the big question for the aging Celtics isn't "will they have it in Game #1?" It's "will they have it in game #91?"

But at the very least, the Celtics demonstrated that the game isn't played on paper. Champions aren't determined by hour-long ESPN specials

Game #2 comes quickly as the Celtics play in Cleveland tonight.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo