BLAKE WHEELER AND MARK STUART SUCK

Apart from the 5 goal explosion in the 3rd period of the Pittsburgh game, the Bruins have only managed 4 goals in their last 4 games. To be fair, they're missing Marc Savard: the quarterback of the Power Play unit. And David Krejci: the playmaker that's been spearheading the 1st line. But there are just so many players on this team that simply don't score goals. And that's fine, because they usually do something else. Shawn Thornton and his linemates bring energy. Andrew Ference has become a decent defenseman (when he doesn't try to go beyond being Andrew Ference). And role-players like Daniel Paille can at least participate in a decent penalty-kill.

But what does Blake Wheeler do?

Seriously, what's his purpose?

I'm still no Michael Ryder fan, as he remains a Hab in my eyes (although unlike a Canadien, he actually got penalized for his diving on Saturday). But Ryder has an identity. And in the 30% of the time he's actually playing well, he can score goals.

What's Blake Wheeler, though? Who is Blake Wheeler? What's his identity? Is he a grinder? No. An igniting energy guy? A playmaker? A high slot Glen Murray type? A low slot Mark Recchi type? A fighter? A scrapper? Does he win battles along the boards? Does he trigger the rush through the neutral zone? No. He does nothing but fail.

So many Bruins' offensive possessions end with Blake Wheeler having the last touch. And it's not because he's scored, it's because he's either missed the goal completely, or turned the puck over.

He had an easy scoring opportunity on Saturday. Bergeron made a brilliant drive to the net on a Power Play, found a slit of space between Elliot and the post, and as the puck lazily dribbled across the goal-line, all Wheeler had to do was use his stick as a pool cue and nudge the puck forward. Instead, he missed. Not the net, but the puck. The curved blade of his stick glided over the puck, almost as if Wheeler intended to not score. Then he literally punched the puck over, in a goal that was instantly disallowed.

The announcers called it "unlucky," I call it unimpressive, untalented, and unworthy of a spot on this team.

Oh, and remember when he completely missed the goalmouth on a breakaway? Aiming for Elliot's glove, he hit the glass behind the net.

And then there was the time he tried lobbing the puck into the offensive zone, only to miss all 6,000 square feet of the zone and launch the puck over the glass and into the stands.

It's time for Wheeler and his $2.2 million cap hit to be launched out of Boston, and I don't care if it's a trade, or if he's released, or if he's run out of town, or if he's quietly eliminated by the Newfoundland mafia.

Then there's Stuart. Who, to his credit, serves a purpose. I've always compared Stuart to cavemen, to Neanderthals. And he definitely brings that aggressive, physical savagery to the game. It's slightly scary for opponents when Mark Stuart is on the ice. Unless they're trying to score a goal. In which case, he's quite the helper.

His caveman aggression seems to come with caveman intelligence. And on Saturday, he again was a key part in an opponent's goal. This time, you can say Chris Neil got away with a light bit of interference on Ryder. Then again, Stuart was screening Thomas enough to make Sean Avery jealous and/or proud.



Stuart's giveaways, and his constant mishandling of the puck are verging on Dennis Wideman levels of sabotage. Stuart is a great physical force, but there's a reason why Neanderthals are extinct. And that's what Mark Stuarts should be in Boston.

The Bruins need to get offense from somewhere, but it won't come from the Blake Wheelers of the world. It also won't come from the Shawn Thorntons, Jordan Carons, Gregory Campbells, and Brad Marchands of the world. This team has a lot of fake-depth, in that filling out the lineup isn't a painful struggle, but there are very few truly good players you can put out there.

Goaltending, defense, and a grinding offense. Those are the things this team can do well. And the likes of Blake Wheeler can't grind. Neither can Michael Ryder. And the likes of Mark Stuart can't figure out how to play good defense. Adjustment is needed.

The Bruins host the Devils Monday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

BACK IN BUSINESS

"The Cleveland game was an aberration." Yes it apparently was. But not to be a total buzzkill, so was this. It's true, the Patriots did go to Pittsburgh and dominate. They played well in all three aspects of the game. And they haven't had a road win this big in a very long time (November 4, 2007 @ Indianapolis, in my opinion).

But let's remember how forlorn we were a week ago. We should try to avoid getting too high after this win. Let's also remember that the Steelers played most of this game without Hines Ward. Taking Hines Ward from Ben Roethlisberger is like taking the bullets out of a gun.

That being said, the biggest difference between this week and last was the play of Tom Brady. He went from barely completing half his passes, to completing about 3/4. He was throwing deep, outside, inside, all over the place. He also ran for a touchdown on a nice goal-line read. When he brings his A Game, the Patriots become a very difficult team to beat. When he doesn't, they're essentially a .500 team.

Gronkowski must have had a good week of practice, as he was Brady's favorite target. And it worked out well. Three TD catches for the tight-end, who caught 5 passes total for 72 yards. 8 different receivers caught passes.



The offensive line has been simply stellar all year long. And the defense finally showed up with a consistent pass rush. But give an assist to Pittsburgh's shaky O-Line for that.

There's still plenty of football left to play, but at least the Pats are back on the right track, have a big road win under their belts, and enter a tough stretch of games on the right foot.

Indianapolis comes to Foxborough on Sunday.

Photo Credits:
AP Photo

MORE SATISFACTION

All the hype around Miami, and they just can't get rolling. I'm sure they will, and I doubt they'll endure many more 1-3 stretches, and there's no way they'll remain the 3rd place team in the Southeast Division. But remember when KG and Ray Allen began their Celtics careers? The C's started 07-08 winning 29 of 32 games.

Because the Celtics were a team. The Big Three were mature, and all united with a single goal, and all working under Doc Rivers with a plan to achieve it. The Heat are still working things out. They don't have Doc Rivers. They don't have the leadership of Garnett or Pierce, or the freakish health of Ray Allen. They have Gatorade commercials and jersey sales.

The Celtics got maximum contributions from several sources last night. Ray Allen had a ridiculous night, hitting 7 of 9 three point attempts, finishing with 35. Pierce had 25, and Garnett added 16 plus 13 rebounds. Rondo had 16 assists (he's averaging 14.8). Shaq had 7 rebounds, Glen Davis had 9, and Nate Robinson scored 12 points.

The Celtics are, at the moment, a better team than the Heat. The Heat are younger, so have room to improve and to gel. The Celtics are older, so have room to get injured and fall apart. It's only November.

But, it's very clear that the Heat were grotesquely overhyped. On ESPN.com's NBA page, in between links to "Teams" and "Players," there's a link for the "Heat Index," an entire section of the site dedicated to the preseason #1 Miami Heat. ESPN is ball-washing a 5-4 team.

The 7-2 Celtics are in Memphis tomorrow night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

BRUINS FALL SHORT

Until Montreal's 3rd goal, I was going to applaud the Bruins for playing a decent, though not great, game. They were coming off a big comeback win the night before, were up against a good team, and the refs were apparently born in Trois-Rivieres, Quebec. They didn't play bad enough to lose, though they weren't good enough to win either. I felt like they deserved a point, but certainly not two. But in the end, they got none.

The Bruins needed Rask to be nearly perfect, and he wasn't. On the first goal, Subban found a gap between Rask's side and the post. And Gomez's goal came off a juicy rebound, which Rask repeatedly gave up all night. Rask wasn't bad, but he wasn't great. I don't like his style, I don't like how small he is, and I cringe whenever he handles the puck.

Plus/minus is not a stat to take too literally, but in the case of Mark Stuart, it's very telling. It seems like Stuart is always "involved" when the opponent scores. Last night, he misplayed a breakaway, which eventually resulted in Gomez's goal. His +/- is at -1, which doesn't seem horrible until you look at all the other Bruins' defensemen, and their +/-. Chara is +5. Hunwick is +6. Ference is +6. Seidenberg is +5. Boychuk was +3 when he got hurt. Even Adam McQuaid is +1.

I love how physical Mark Stuart is. But technically, he is a mediocre defenseman at best. The Bruins need to shed some salary. I think they could get decent value if they traded Stuart.

After Montreal scored their 3rd goal, the Bruins gave up. That's too bad. I'd like to see this team string together 5 good periods of hockey in a row. Then try to string together 10. They were on the verge of reaching 4 solid periods, until they quit in the middle of the 3rd.

I'm not very impressed by Montreal, though. So that's something. The Bruins host the Senators Saturday night.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

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