Bill Belichick, Proving Once Again that we can all Kiss his Ass

Since 2008, the popular refrain/lament throughout New England has been that the Patriots have lacked the ability to rush the passer. The panic level around these parts was increased last season as the Pats, despite posting a 14-2 regular season, allowed opponents to convert on third down a whopping 47% of the time, nearly two percentage points worse than the 2008 Detroit Lions who, you know, only went 0-16. It was becoming increasingly clear that Belichick lacked the players to execute his once vaunted 'read and react' version of the 3-4 made popular by the likes of Lawrence Taylor, Harry Carson, Willie McGinest and Tedy Bruschi. The defensive line was a shell of itself after Richard Seymour was jettisoned and Ty Warren left to have pre-emptive season ending surgery in training camp. The outside linebacker position once manned by the likes of McGinest and Mike Vrabel was now occupied by a rookie second round draft pick in Jermaine Cunningham and journeyman like Rob Ninkovich and Tully Banta-Cain. Only lineman Vince Wilfork and Inside Linebacker Jerrod Mayo proved to be reliable members of the front seven. It was a testament to Tom Brady's awesomeness that this team managed to win at all.
      Things looked worse as the draft went by. Belichick ignored the glaring weakness of his team by choosing to shore up his suspect offensive line and bolster his running game. New England went nuts as the Man in the Gray Hood seemed to be embracing his anemic passrush and was seen to be consigning his front seven to another ass-raping in the playoffs.
      Nearly seven days into training camp however and Belichick has told all of us in New England to STFU as he has clearly demonstrated that he knows what he's doing and once again is the smartest man in the room. After getting cut this past Friday, Ty Warren hinted that the Pats had chosen to go in a different direction defensively and the first few days of training camp have hinted that that is indeed the case. With the trade for oft troubled Albert Haynesworth, Belichick has demonstrated a willingness to abandon what was increasingly becoming an antiquated version of the 3-4 for a more aggressive 4-3 base. In camp the base defense seems to be a front four of Jermaine Cunningham and Eric Moore on the ends with Haynesworth and Wilfork in the middle. This leaves the former inside linebacking core as the new core of backers with Mayo and Guyton on the outside with second year player and pornstar Brandon Spikes manning the middle. There's no telling if this will solve the problem of the Pats inability to stuff the run, they ceded an average of 4.2 yards per rush last season, but at the very least they should be far more aggressive in the passing game and wreak havoc in opposing backfields with this new alignment. Haynesworth and Wilfork will occupy the majority of blockers allowing the backers and ends to roam free as mismatches will abound around the football field. They'll be bolstered by what is shaping up to be a fearsome secondary behind them. So look at that, I guess Bill didn't lose his fastball and knew what the fuck he was doing all along. I guess we can all just go fuck ourselves now and kiss the rings.

Boston to Thorton: Leave Felger Alone!!

During last Wednesday's celebration as the Bruins hoisted Lord Stanley's Chalice, Shawn Thorton took a jab at Boston's most negative radio host by looking into an NBC camera and telling Michael Felger to "suck it". Now, I'm not going to go all Chris Crocker on Thorton. I get it, Felger is an acquired taste, I used to hate the guy when he was the Herald's Patriot beat writer back in '04. And I really don't understand his hankering for past their prime women like Hannah Storm or Sarah Palin, it's like wanting to eat only two week old Chinese food. But Felger may be the greatest thing going on Boston Sports Radio and television right now.
       The man's negativity and cynicism jive with Boston Sports fans, along with his constant conviction that the worst is around the corner for any and all of the major four sports teams. I'm one of the biggest Belichick sycophants around, but Felger's constant questioning of Belichick is well founded and a welcome alternative to the total lovefest on WEEI, this was especially true after the Pats completely blew it against the Jets last January. After that loss Belichick deserved some tough questions, not the softballs Ordway and crew served up and only Felger would have the balls to look at Belichick after his explanation of the "eight minute drive to nowhere" and yell BULLSHIT. Elsewhere, the man's radio program is genius. Most of his comments are spot on and he and co-host Tony Masserotti are quick to belittle callers that waste their time. I'm sorry but I know the story of your grandfather taking you to Bruins games when you were young really hits a note with you, but like some of the shit on Pawn Stars your bullshit has no value to anyone else and you deserve to be made fun of mercilessly for waiting on hold 45 minutes to bore the shit out of us. Plus, only Felger could draw the ire of an entire city's media (Montreal). I know he's annoying, I know he's arrogant, but give the man a listen. This Cheesehead belongs here and he's kicking ass on the airwaves.