Splitting a Doubleheader With Baltimore Has Become Good News

This is the state of things. A split doubleheader with the O's is the best news Sox fans have been able to enjoy in weeks. It also seems like the Sox offense needs to score 18 runs in order for this team to win. The pitching has become that bad.

John Lackey is the worst regular starting pitcher in baseball. His ERA is up to 6.49. He's actually saved his worst performances for the end of the season. His July was mediocre, his August was bad, his September has been godawful.

The 18 run onslaught was nice, but does this offense simply annihilate bad pitching, then struggle against the good? Do they "run up the score" when Brian Matusz is on the mound, then can't get more than 4 or 5 runs against decent pitchers like Guthrie?

Perhaps the Game 1 loss yesterday was a wake-up call, and the team answered in Game 2. However, I think that the Sox simply pounded an atrocious pitcher. I'll definitely take the win, though.

Erik Bedard faces Rick VandenHurk (he's Dutch) tonight. VandenHurk has only made one start this year and he didn't get out of the 3rd, so the Sox should put up some runs.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

Patriots 35, Chargers 21

Brady had asked the fans at Gillette Stadium to get "lubed up" but it was the Patriots' offense that was a well oiled machine. Brady himself has already thrown for half a mile this season. BJG Ellis and Woodhead moved the ball well on the ground (4.1 per carry as a team), Branch had a 129 yard day, and Gronkowski caught 2 TDs.

The defense, however, played an equally important role in this victory. They forced four huge turnovers that were key turning points. Wilfork's interception took 3 points from San Diego, and gave 3 to New England. Sergio Brown's pick ended a San Diego drive that was threatening the end zone. Tolbert's fumble came on the heels of a failed 4th and 4 attempt by the Patriots and destroyed any chance San Diego may have had to drive to the end zone and take a lead. And Rivers' fumble ended the game.

What I really liked about the interceptions was the pressure that helped force them. A blitzing Ninkovich threatened Rivers, who threw without realizing Wilfork was lurking. It was a tremendous tip and catch by the 325 pounder, but Ninkovich's pressure set things into motion. Rivers' second interception also came when the pocket quickly collapsed around him. He threw without stepping through and Sergio Brown caught it.

It was Wilfork's and Brown's first career picks. I'm sure the Elias Sports Bureau could find the last time two teammates had their first career inteceptions in the same game. But I'm not doing all that research. I'll just guess it was 1971 and the Rams were somehow involved.

The Patriots' defense was good, not great. They had an important Red Zone stand, but they also allowed San Diego to convert 10 of 12 third downs. They made big plays with those turnovers, they also allowed San Diego to stick around.

I'm sorry if I sound like I'm attacking the defense, because I'm not. This defense is good enough to do two vital things:

1. Don't allow big plays
2. Make it difficult to score in the Red Zone

If that happens, the Patriots will be fine. Opposing teams will score, but so long as it isn't either quick or easy, then the Pats will be good to go.

Back to the offense, before anyone criticizes Chad Ochocinco, can I just point out that the guys Brady is throwing to are pretty damned good? Branch, Welker, Hernandez, Gronwkoski, Woodhead. That's a nice grouping. And they've been open. Why wouldn't Brady throw to them?

The people that have been critical of Ochocinco are usually the same ones that thought he'd be Randy Moss 2.0. He's not. He's a veteran receiver learning a system, and he's competing for playing time and receptions with some of the best in the business, who all know the system well.

Then think about history. How many passes has Brady thrown to Ochocinco? How many hundreds more has he thrown to Welker? How many millions more has he passed to Branch?

Ochocinco is the 3rd receiver in an offense that almost always has an RB in the backfield, and often uses 2 or 3 tight-ends. Just because he's not on the field doesn't mean he doesn't comprehend the offense.

Things look good. There's room for improvement, but winning while improving is the best.

Pats at Bills at 1 on Sunday.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo

College Football Picks: Week 3*

I went 1-4-1 with my picks last week, dropping my total record to 5-7-1. But it's early in the season, and we're all trying to figure out who's good and who isn't. Here are my picks for this week:

Boise State -20 @ Toledo
I normally don't like big spreads, but this one seems small. And once Boise State gets ahead, they tend to pour it on.

West Virginia +1 @ Maryland
This is a close game to pick, but I have to go with West Virginia because they're slightly more talented.

Penn State -6.5 @ Temple
Ummmmmmmmmmmm, duh.

Auburn +3.5 @ Clemson
Auburn has won a pair of ugly games, but it's not like Clemson's wins over Troy and Wofford were meaningful.

Michigan State +5 @ Notre Dame
I had to double-check that this was the spread.

Ohio State +3 @ Miami
The only professional football game that's being played on Saturday.

Florida State +3 vs. Oklahoma
I'm picking against my heart here.

A Football Life... Wow

If you didn't see Part 1 of A Football Life: Bill Belichick last night, you either need to see it OnDemand. Or if you don't have NFL Network, you need to sleep with someone who does and/or break into their house and watch it. Or wait for the inevitable DVD. It was bloody brilliant.

You rarely get any sort of inside look into what goes on behind the doors at Gillette Stadium. Saying Bill Belichick is slightly guarded is like saying Rex Ryan is a little outgoing. So this was fun to watch, to see meetings between Belichick and Kraft, between Brady and Belichick. Seeing Belichick reminisce about his days with the Giants was my favorite part.

He always seems to be multi-tasking. Walking on a treadmill while studying notes on a future opponent. And we learned why he's so brief when answering the media, it's because he's eating a salad.

Speaking of Rex Ryan, it's kind of funny how Ryan's antics in one pre-season provided enough material for an entire mini-series. They followed Belichick for an entire year and only made two hours from it. But it seems like they have an amazing two hours of material.

I just wish they did this with Belichick every year, and could somehow do it going back in time when he was with the Giants.

Savard to Get Name on Cup

There hasn't been much good news for Marc Savard, but at least his place on the Stanley Cup Champions will be recognized on the most hallowed trophy in sports. He didn't play the minimum number of games, but they'll make an exception for him when engraving the Cup.

His career is likely over, but this isn't a bad way to end it.

How to Catch a Foul Ball

Why not catch a foul-ball like a badass without missing a beat in a cell phone conversation.

You can actually read his lips as he says "I just caught a foul ball."

Bruschi Attacks Ochocinco

Tedy Bruschi and now Rodney Harrison, both retired Patriots turned media members, have criticized Chad Ochocinco for his tweeting and lack of impressive play. The particular tweet in question is this:

"Just waking up after a late arrival,I've never seen a machine operate like that n person,to see video game numbers put up n person was WOW"

Which seems fairly innocent. Bruschi and Harrison are criticizing Ochocinco for being amazed by what the Patriots did Monday night. And I'm kind of with them on that. Brady wasn't amazed, nor was Gronkowski surprised or Branch bewildered. Did Belichick look like he didn't expect the Pats to score so much?

To be fair to Ochocinco, he's been on the Bengals' sidelines for a decade. The whole notion of prepare, then execute, then win is something foreign to him. He seems to be in a state of shock, he's struggled to learn the playbook, and he also might be afraid of making a mistake, and slowing down this mesmerizing machine.

He's had trouble with the preparation part, but I don't think Twitter is the problem. And if effort is the problem, isn't that up to Coach Belichick to enforce?

I love Bruschi and Harrison, but if a member of the media attacked one of their teammates when they were on this team, they'd rally around him and dismiss everything as an internal Patriots matter. Which it is. If Twitter's a problem, then let Belichick handle it. If Ochocinco isn't putting the effort in, let Belichick handle it.

Belichick is the coach, Ochocinco is the player, Bruschi and Harrison are the external entities now. Some of us expected Ochocinco to be amazing here, and that hasn't been the case. His on-the-field performance of 14 yards and 1 reception wasn't dazzling, but it didn't exactly hurt the offense either. Belichick will find a way to utilize Ochocinco. Bruschi is entitled to his opinion, but he's not the coach, he's on the outside.

One thing I do like is that none of the Patriots have given much of a response to this. And neither has Ochocinco.

School of Bard Knocks

Remember when Daniel Bard was a strength and not a liability? It seems like ages ago. Three of his 5 blown saves have come in the last two weeks, which is doubly painful because wins are at a premium for the Sox lately, and he's literally blowing them away.

Five appearances for Bard in September, 4.2 innings, 9 earned runs (19.29 ERA), 3 blown saves, 3 losses. The only person happy with Bard's September is Jonathan Papelbon's agent.

How often do you get a tolerable start from Lackey? How rare is it for him to give the Sox a chance to win? And Bard wasted it. The Sox got some nice timely hitting as well, enough to drive 4 runs in.

In a pennant race that's been heating up, it's a shame to waste wins like that.

And it better not continue this weekend. The Rays are 4 games behind in the Wild Card, and they come to Fenway for 4 games. A split would be huge for the Sox. A 4 game deficit with 14 games left is comfortable. But if the Sox lose 3, it's tight, and if they get swept, it's as tight as it can be.

Kyle Weiland vs. Jeremy Hellickson. These guys are 25 and 24 years old, respectively, and they're pitching in the middle of a pennant race. They'll have millions of Red Sox fans and a few dozen Rays fans watching their every move.

Photo Credit:
AP Photo