Hollywood Donahoe

You're late. Beetle knew the Pats' system? His 10 catches a year indicate otherwise. J.J. Friggin' Stokes managed 15 in less than half a year in 2003, and he was brought in off the street. Bottom line, Johnson was a bust who was probably going to be cut, and Sullivan was a bust as well. It was a swap of two busts to see if a change of scenery would help. To paint this as a bad trade for the Pats because Johnson was some kind of asset is beneath even you, MDB.

Bingo. The less the federal government gets its hands on, the better. This is what the media and the layperson fail to see - Bush's biggest failure isn't Iraq, it's his complete unwillingness to even curb the increase in size and spending of the federal government.

The Pats have four QBs on the roster on the moment (the three you mentioned plus Corey Bramlet). I imagine that Mortenson and Bramlet are camp fodder, and that a vet will be brought in before TC (Fiedler seemed like a good fit, but he's gone to the Bucs). One can never really read Belichick, but the Pats seem pretty high on Cassel. Whichever vet they bring in, I imagine Cassel will still be #2 on the depth chart.

What a fuggin' dope.

Again, "the defense bailing Brady out" is a myth. Here his three playoff EZ INTs: - The most recent one resulted in a loss (Denver). Obviously, Brady screwed up big time, and he and the Pats payed the price. - Before that, there was the one in SB 38. We've been over it a million times (earlier in this thread), but the long and short of it is that Brady had to bail himself out TWICE because the defense shat the bed. The defense was pathetic following the INT, and obviously didn't "bail Brady out." - The first of the three, against Indy in the '03 AFCC game, occurred when the Pats were up 14. Obviously, not a very good decision by Brady to force something when a FG would make it a three score game. That said, the defense eventually GAVE UP another TD to make it a one score game, which would obviously disqualify them from the "bailed Brady out" running. Myth busted. Brady has thrown exactly one postseason INT that has caused his team to lose, and his defense hasn't bailed him out of squat.

He really does little to help himself in that regard, what with the goat pictures and the man purse and the turning his teammates onto the joys of hair highlights. I think most have, although there are selected stragglers (AKC, Johnny Coli, etc.).

It's killing you. Isn't it? Do me a favor and don't further insult my intelligence by acting like I'm a fool for having the gall to defend an NFL player who's done more in his first five years than most, if not all, players in NFL history.

"Good?" In the offseason before the 2001 season, a PFW article listed the results of an anonymous poll of NFL executives and front office types regarding which teams were least likely to make the Super Bowl in the next five years. The Patriots were voted as the least likely. Brady - at least in the early portions of his career - was not on a good team, but on one that was likely among the worst in the league. A ridiculous comparison, surely formed out of either abject stupidity or extreme intellectual dishonesty. QBs, on average, throw far more INTs than do RBs fumble. The numbers bear this out. The top 30 passers in the NFL last year averaged 11.8 INTs. The top 30 rushers of 2005 fumbled 2.4 times on average. Thus, 3 fumbles in 11 games would be a significant statistic, since the average rusher fumbles only 2.4 times per full 16 game season. However, 3 INTs in 11 games is far below average (it averages out to 4.4 INTs in a full 16 game season), and therefore is not statistically significant, at least in terms of proving that the thrower of said 3 INTs is deficient as a passer. If anything, it proves how deft the passer is at not turning the ball over. He ran for one as well. Don't forget that. I don't recall claiming that Brady has led the Patriots to the playoffs every year. In any event, 4 playoff trips in 5 years is impressive, even more so when those 4 trips result in 3 SBs and a postseason record of 10-1. A record of 2-0 in the aforementioned games indicates that Brady was doing something right, even if it was only avoiding costly turnovers and helping his team to win the field position battle in adverse conditions. LA and I have been over this a number of times. In fact, I'll dig up an old post as a rebuttal: I would like you to explain how the defense bailed Brady out of [the SB XXXVIII INT], given that: - the defense gave up a LOOOOOOONG go-ahead TD 3 plays after the INT. - Brady immediately put the Pats back up with a flawless TD drive that ended with a TD pass. - the defense quickly surrendered the lead, allowing a long TD drive to tie the game. - Brady led the Pats into FG range on another great drive with time running out. As you can, the actual sequence of events doesn't support you claim that Brady was bailed out of his INT by anyone but himself. The fact that you use that game as a negative is laughable, given that Brady threw for 350+ yards and 3 TDs, and set a Super Bowl record for completions. Won on the foot of Vinatieri? They were up by 10 until the defense went into sieve-mode. Perhaps you're confusing the sequence of events. I fail to see how Brady's 2 TD passes were less significant that Vinatieri's 2 FGs. I'm sure last year's "down" year (if one can call it that, given that the Pats, at the end, were as good as or better than all but four other teams in the NFL) had nothing to do with the countless injuries to so many of Brady's teammates, right? And don't forget that Brady led the Pats to titles in '03 and '04 despite facing record amounts of injuries to his teammates. Failing to overcome extreme adversity for the third year in a row makes one overrated? Doesn't seem right to me. In such a case, the player should be commended for twice overcoming extreme adversity in the first place. That's your conclusion, but your arguments, filled as they are with inaccuracies and faulty logic, don't bear this out. Perhaps you can try looking at the situation objectively, and then you might not appear so foolish by defending an indefensible position.

There was no option for short EZ fade route, so I couldn't reply. Seriously, is there a lamer pass route in all of football?

That was referenced in Johnny Coli's post: But if we're talking about Brady's playoff trends, I think the most important is that he's led his team to wins in 10 of 11 games.

Here's why: Absurdity born of ignorance and contempt. Sometimes you just have to laugh.

Yes. As far as I'm aware, Bruschi has cured no diseases. Global warming (the anthropogenic version, anyway) seems to me to be largely a myth.

In the 3-4, the talk is that Vrabel and Colvin - both terrific passrushers - will man the outside (with the typical DE/OLB elephant types - Banta-Cain, Mincey, etc. - rotating in), while Bruschi and a bulkier (put on 8 some odd pounds of muscle in the offseason) Monty Beisel in the middle. If Beisel fails, the Pats seem pretty high on second-year LB Ryan Claridge; and by all accounts, UDFA MLB Freddie Roach has impressed. With the Pats' DL depth, though, they'll likely play a lot of 4-3 as well. Beisel comes of the field and is replaced by Jarvis Green or newly-acquired Johnathan Sullivan. If the Pats can make this work as a base formation, I think it's their best chance to get their most talented players on the field. Of course, all of this is contingent on the Pats staying reasonably healthy, something they've been completely unable to do for three straight years. So who knows?

And you got a few positions wrong. Is LOLB Brown supposed to be Chad Brown? if so, I believe he's been cut. You left out Vrabel, one of the Pats' finest defensive players, and surely better than any LB on the Bills but Spikes. Light is the LT, and RT will be a competition between Kaczur, Gorin, Britt, and O'Callaghan. Also, Jackson or Caldwell, not Brown, is likely to start opposite Branch. In any event, quite a silly list, and a ludicrously simplistic method of comparing talent levels. As always, the games will come down to coaching and on-field execution, not homeristic lists comparing player talent level.

Tampa must be kicking themselves.

Jeez! Hope it's nothing serious. He should really wear a helmet.

As if it would be anyone else...

It sure looks like him (one wonders if this was done intentionally), but it's a different actor.

http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Live_Togethe..._Die_Alone#Plot

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/pages/results/president/ 121,480,019 > 65,000,000

I guess that's why I'm skeptical. Based on my limited run-ins with BF (a couple of brief football-based debates and the vicarious experience of reading the retatta thread), I've always thought the first of Coli's BF theories seemed more likely. Either way, I must admit I find ieatcrayonz' (whoever he is) story to be quite amusing.

I don't think BF is clever enough to concoct this whole hamster story.

I wish Dougie would just quit the drama and retire already so the Pats can sign a new backup.