Category — New England Patriots

The latest draft talk rumors have the New England Patriots considering Arkansas running back Darren McFadden, going so far as to fly the standout prospect to New England for an interview of sorts. Widely considered the most athletic player in the draft, and arguably the best prospect, McFadden has caught the attention of plenty of teams, but the Patriots are the most interesting.

It’s not because he’ll fit in well — which he likely will, with Bill Belichick making the calls — but because it begs the question, where will he fit in? Laurence Maroney was the team’s starter last season, but he missed plenty of time due to injuries. And while the Patriots managed to by without a running game (in fact, they tore opponents apart without a dominant runner), the team could clearly use a game-breaker like McFadden. McFadden could prove himself a worthy upgrade, but should the Patriots draft him and invest a massive signing bonus in a position already loaded with considerable depth and talent?

Don Shula has an idea. New Englanders are going to hate it, and why not? After all, it’s associated with cheating, scandal, and *gasp* Barry Bonds.

“The Spygate thing has diminished what they’ve accomplished,” Shula said in an interview with the New York Daily News. “You would hate to have that attached to your accomplishments. They’ve got it.

“That tells you the seriousness or significance of what they found,” Shula said of the stiff penalty the NFL handed down ($500k fine to both Belichick and team and loss of first round draft choice, according to the Daily News. “I guess you got the same thing as putting an asterisk by Barry Bonds’ home run record.”

Believe it or not, there was more to take from Sunday’s game than you may know. At least, we learned a lot more than “New England is the NFL’s best team” — though I should note that tidbit did almost make the list.

8. Penalties can kill a team — The Patriots nearly lost Sunday’s game because of penalties. Several got the attention of Bill Belichick and Tom Brady — Brady really lost his cool after a non-pass-interference call — and New England suffered. It was out of character for the Belichick-coached team to act so undisciplined.

7. Randy Moss can catch anything — His athleticism is simply amazing. Watching him snatch passes out of the air with one hand was alone worth the price of admission to Sunday’s game.

Now that we’re through this past weekend’s slate of games, every pundit with an opinion is concentrating his or her efforts on next Sunday’s clash of the titans: Indianapolis vs. New England.

Also, in case you haven’t checked lately, the poll on the sidebar has changed, asking who you think we’ll win. It’s still early (the poll was just put up a day ago and the results are hardly important at this point), but New England has a slight edge at this point.

But getting back to the game, I think it’s interesting that everyone expects a high-scoring affair. Not that it won’t be; these are the NFL’s two best offenses squaring off, so it’s understandable most are predicting that kind of result.

Tom Brady is on pace to shatter the single-season touchdown mark. He’s thrown 30 through the first half of the season, putting him on pace for 60, 11 more than the record set three years ago by Manning.

Here’s the difference: Peyton Manning broke the record mostly out of necessity — the Colts had a bad defense that season — whereas Tom Brady is breaking this record by running the score up on opponents who just don’t have a chance. In other words, he’s breaking the record for the sake of breaking the record.

When you watch the Patriots play, one thing becomes incredibly obvious: Randy Moss is good. Real good. And you get the impression that the guy throwing him the football knows a thing or two about playing in the NFL. In fact, you probably get the impression that the rapport they have is pure chemistry. It’s better than Manning-Harrison of today. It’s better than Palmer-Johnson. It’s the only unstoppable combo in football and the Patriots are taking complete advantage of it.

Now, I’m not saying that Randy Moss is the best wide receiver in football. Nor do I think that Brady is the league’s best quarterback. Those are toss-ups. But put those two in the same lineup and great things happen.

Forget about the Bill Belichick incident. It’s old news.

Sure he was caught cheating earlier in the week, but if it was ever obvious he’s a great coach and the Patriots are a level above just everyone else in the league, it was last night against the Chargers. To make people forget about the spying, the Patriots needed a win on Sunday Night Football, the NFL’s new “biggest stage” since MNF moved to ESPN. And to do so, New England would need to have the right mindset, despite the media circus around them.

What did they do? The won convincingly — very convincingly.

Roger Goodell is still working to make the NFL’s image pristine. Whether or not he’ll ever truly succeed, he’s certainly not holding anything back on his quest.

The latest of his punishments is a stiff fine dished out to the New England Patriots, with an emphasis on Bill Belichick. The crime? Cheating. More specifically, spying on other teams and stealing signals to benefit his own squad.

Goodell’s response: a $250k fine to the team, loss of a first round draft pick if the team makes the playoffs (otherwise a 2nd or 3rd rounder), and, a $500k fine to Bill Belichick. That’s a little more than 12% of his yearly reported salary of $4 million and it’s Roger Goodell’s way of saying, “don’t cheat.”

It appears Vinny Testaverde will be lacing up his cleats for at least one more season, resigning with the New England Patriots. The two time Pro Bowl quarterback turns 44 this year (that’s about 112 in NFL years) and 2007 will be his 21st season in the NFL.

That kind of longevity is rare in a league where the average is around three and a half years. But a guy like Testaverde has grown wise over the years.

“After two-a-days are over [in training camp], I’ll go back and sign my contract,” said Testaverde.

Though it is generally accepted each season that Peyton Manning will be the first quarterback drafted, there is some unsettled debate as to who should be taken second and thereafter.

The usual candidates return: Tom Brady, Matt Hasselbeck, Marc Bulger, and Carson Palmer. But a new contender entered the fray last season, Drew Brees. His unprecedented 4418 yards, 26 touchdowns, and mere 11 interceptions gave him the nod as the second best producer at quarterback in 2006.

Fantasy owners, meet your top six fantasy quarterbacks for the 2007 season: