CLOSED!! ? The Official 2006 Sports Thread ? CLOSED!!

In a roster move before tomorrow's game, the Patriots promoted WR Bam Childress to the active roster from the practice squad, filling the 53rd and final roster spot.

 

Before I get to the Patriots, I forgot to mention yesterday (probably with good reason ) that the Boston College basketball team got run out of Allen Field House, one of the great shrines of the college game, losing to the #11 Kansas Jayhawks 84-66 in a game televised nationally on CBS. Sean Williams was almost the lone bright spot for the Eagles, scoring 19 points, grabbing 15 rebounds, and blocking 7 shots. Jared Dudley also chipped in 14 points and 8 rebounds, but was hobbled and may be missing some time in the next couple of weeks. Akida McLain, returning from a suspension, was also injured early in the game and was not a factor. Suffice it to say, I may be shutting up about BC basketball this year unless they can make waves in the ACC.

Apart from that defensive braincramp that allowed Maurice Jones-Drew to score on a 74 yard run, I thought the Patriots played well on the road against a tough team. There was that scare with Tom Brady's shoulder late in the game, but I think he's going to be fine, as a key pass for a first down on his first play back in after taking the hit showed. Of course, the Pats clinched the AFC East for the fourth straight year, and we'll see what Belichick decides to do with the Titans this week.

 

Michael Felger's report card

Apart from the special teams, which only got a C, it was an all As and Bs performance. Tully Banta-Cain brought down the linebackers' grade ( when he failed to tag Maurice Jones-Drew down on the 74 yard TD run (a mistake he readily admitted to).

 

Power rankings:

ESPN: #5
CBS Sportsline: #5
Fox Sports: #5
Sports Illustrated: #4
Football Outsiders: #5

It should be said that, at Football Outsiders, the Patriots' Weighted DVOA, a formula that discounts games played more than 8 weeks ago in order to provide a better picture of how a team is currently playing, is ranked third, and, based on that, they could be a very dangerous team in the playoffs. Dr. Z at SI mused, "Now if you were New England, how would you be positioning yourself for the wild-card round? Would you rather host the Jets, who beat you at home, or the Broncos, who did likewise? Yeah, I know, neither of those two have clinched yet, but I'm absolutely certain that they will."

 

This week's injury report:

Patriots

Questionable: S Rashad Baker (thigh), WR Bam Childress (ankle), RB Kevin Faulk (knee), DE Marquise Hill (knee), OT Ryan O'Callaghan (neck), DB Chad Scott (back), TE Benjamin Watson (knee), NT Vince Wilfork (ankle), DL Mike Wright (shoulder)
Probable: QB Tom Brady (right shoulder), S Rodney Harrison (shoulder), CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist), DL Richard Seymour (elbow)

All of the players listed as questionable, along with Brady, were reported to have missed portions of team practice.

Titans

Questionable: DT Tony Brown (knee), TE Casey Cramer (neck), RB Travis Henry (ankle), DE Travis LaBoy (knee), TE Bo Scaife (ankle), DT Robaire Smith (toe), WR Bobby Wade (ankle)

All of these players were reported to have missed portions of team practice.

Childress, Hill, and Scott are the additions to the Patriots' injury report this week. Harrison has been upgraded to probable after being listed as questionable last week. LB Eric Alexander and RB Laurence Maroney are no longer on the report.

As for Brady, he intimated during his usual Wednesday press conference that he feels OK after taking a shot in the back and shoulder area late in Sunday's game against the Jaguars, but the team has decided to play it cautiously with their franchise QB, keeping him out of today's practice. On the bright side, TE Ben Watson and NT Vince Wilfork returned to practice today after missing the last two weeks as a result of their injuries in the game @ Miami.

 

Just a couple of minor changes to the injury reports today: the Titans reported that RB Travis Henry and TE Bo Scaife had full participation in practice today after missing portions of team drills yesterday.

 

Tom Brady returned to practice today after missing Wednesday's and Thursday's workouts, but he was again listed as having missed portions of team drills. There were no other changes to the Patriots' injury report.

The Titans reported that DE Travis LaBoy and DL Robaire Smith missed portions of team drills. All other players on their injury report were reported to have participated in all drills.

 

Boston College had trouble defending Navy's option offense in the first half of yesterday's Meineke Car Care Bowl, but clamped down in the second half and got a 25 yard TD pass with 7:36 left in the game from Matt Ryan to Ryan Purvis, after which a failed two-point conversion attempt made the game 24-22. Jolonn Dunbar then recovered a Navy fumble at the Navy 40 with 1:32 left, after which Steve Aponavicius kicked a 37 yard field goal with time running out for the 25-24 win. The Eagles have now won 7 straight bowl games, which is the longest active streak in the nation, and tied for the second longest such streak in history behind only Florida State's 11 bowl game skein from 1985-1996. BC's 10 wins this season also marks the first time that the Eagles have won that many games in a season since Doug Flutie's senior year in 1984.

In a related story, Matt Ryan admitted to the media in the week leading up to the game that he had been playing most of the season with a broken bone in his left foot, and will have surgery this week to set the bone. He had been wearing a protective boot virtually 24 hours a day except for practice and during games since he suffered the injury.

 

Pretty chippy game yesterday, with the Patriots getting flagged for several personal fouls, especially early in the second half when the officials decided to clamp down on the unnecessary roughness. The Patriots did end the regular season with a 12-4 mark, however, and a couple of players were involved in milestones...Corey Dillon passed O.J. Simpson for 14th on the all-time rushing yardage list, and Vinny Testaverde threw a TD pass late in the game to make 2006 his 20th consecutive season with at least one TD toss, an NFL record. And, by now, we all know that the Patriots will host the New York Jets Sunday afternoon in one of the wild card round games.

Year in review...

Bruins: Failed to make the playoffs and got off to a slow start in their current season, but have picked it up of late. Their offseason saw the hiring of a new General Manager (Peter Chiarelli), a new head coach (Dave Lewis), and the acquisition of prized free agent defenseman Zdeno Chara, who became team captain at the start of the current season. Perhaps more importantly for the team's long-term future, it also saw much-maligned president Harry Sinden step down from the team's day-to-day operations into an advisory role.

Can-Am League: The North Shore Spirit won the Commonwealth Cup, but the Brockton Rox represented the area in the Can-Am League championship series, only to lose a decisive game 5 at home to the Quebec Capitales.

Celtics: Failed to make the playoffs and have been up and down in their current season, with the most recent stretch being decidedly down thanks to injuries to their big men, and especially to Paul Pierce. Boston sports fans, and the basketball world, mourned the passing of legendary coach and executive Arnold "Red" Auerbach in late October.

Area colleges: Boston College basketball team took the Duke Blue Devils to the limit in two games, including the championship game of the ACC tournament, and reached the "Sweet Sixteen" round of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1995 before losing a wild game to Villanova. Boston University won the Beanpot in hockey, but Boston College reached the NCAA "Frozen Four" championship game, losing to a virtually homestanding Wisconsin Badger team. Boston College football team had a ten win season, but only make it to a minor bowl (winning that game and counted in the ten wins) and lose head coach Tom O'Brien, the winningest football coach in school history, to North Carolina State. UMass football reached the Division 1-AA title game, only to lose to Appalachian St.

Golf: The Champions Tour's Boston-area stop, the Bank of America Championship at Nashawtuc Country Club in Concord, was cancelled due to inclement weather in June. Tiger Woods won the Boston-area PGA Tour stop, the Deutsche Bank Championship at the TPC course in Norton on Labor Day weekend, which, fittingly, benefits his charity.

Patriots: Defeated Jacksonville in wild card round, but lost in divisional round to Denver, largely due to turnover problems. As noted above, they had a 12-4 2006 regular season and won their division for the 4th straight year; playoff fate to be determined. The offseason/preseason saw a holdout over a contract dispute by Super Bowl MVP receiver Deion Branch, who was eventually traded to the Seattle Seahawks for a first-round draft choice, as well as the departures of receiver David Givens, pass-rushing linebacker Willie McGinest, and "Mr. Clutch" himself, kicker Adam Vinatieri. According to some, Tom Brady wasn't the same quarterback this season after the losses of Branch and Givens. Finally, after playing the early part of the home schedule on a bad natural grass field, a FieldTurf synthetic grass surface was installed at Gillette Stadium for the closing home games.

Red Sox: Had a promising start, but bad pitching and injuries after the All-Star break kept them out of the playoffs for the first time since 2002. David Ortiz hit 54 home runs, breaking Jimmie Foxx's long-standing Red Sox single-season record. Closer Jonathan Papelbon had a Rookie of the Y

 

The Herald's John Tomase, citing league sources, reports that S Rodney Harrison suffered a strained right MCL in yesterday's game, will miss Sunday's playoff game against the Jets, and could possibly miss the entire playoffs (a 2-4 week absence is projected, with the Super Bowl being 5 weeks after the injury if the Patriots get that far). Tomase also reports that the play in which Harrison's injury happened, Titans WR Bobby Wade's block on Harrison on a running play, was reviewed by league officials and deemed legal, as Wade was blocking upfield and not back toward the ball, which would've made it an illegal crackback block.

 

May as well keep this one going for any talk about the Pats post-season, since it still relates to the 2006 season, then after the Superbowl start a new one for "The Official 2007 Boston Sports Thread" and continue any sports talk there.
Just my 2 cents...

 

About what I thought you'd say, Mike B.

Michael Felger's report card

Only the special teams' flunk kept this game from being an all As and Bs performance. And it wasn't just the poor coverage teams play: Gostkowski also missed a couple of kicks, including an early PAT that the field condition might have influenced. Felger did go to one thing in his opening notes...pride.

 

I'm curious to hear what everyone elses opinion is on the hit put on Harrison during Sunday's win against the Titans. The NFL has ruled that it was a clean hit and based on the written rule it definately was. I understand that you can't fine someone for throwing a 'legal hit' but it was without a doubt a cheap shot by the Titans WR Wade!

Neither player was moving fast enough that they could have avoided or created a better block. Wade could have just run with the play and blocked Harrison standing up but he chose to go low on purpose. The game was already an ugly one with all of the personal fouls, most of which were incured by the Titans but were called on the Pats. The fact that Wade did that and that the Titans as a team were pleased with what he did is absolutely disgusting! Anyway, as much as it sucks to not have Rodney playing on Sunday at least the Pats can take heart in the fact that they are the division champs (again) and heading into the playoffs (again) while the Titans will be sitting at home this weekend watching football on the TV.

 

I'm curious to hear what everyone elses opinion is on the hit put on Harrison during Sunday's win against the Titans. The NFL has ruled that it was a clean hit and based on the written rule it definately was. I understand that you can't fine someone for throwing a 'legal hit' but it was without a doubt a cheap shot by the Titans WR Wade!

I agree that it was a cheap hit that could have been played out differently. That hit was definitely reminiscent of the Steelers hit on Bledsoe a few years ago... he (Wade) was going for the injury, not the block - IMO.

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I know that this is a Boston sports thread but, I thought that there were a lot of bogus calls during the Michigan/USC game Monday night. I eventually had to turn the game off because I couldn't deal with looking at Pete Carroll's cocky smile any longer.... especially when his team started playing dirty and he seemed to be commending it.

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Here's hoping that the Chiefs can eliminate the Colts this weekend!

 

The Patriots' final power rankings:

ESPN: #3
CBS Sportsline: #4
Fox Sports: #4
Sports Illustrated: #4
Football Outsiders: #5

The Patriots' Weighted DVOA on Football Outsiders climbed to #2 and, based on that and the "experts'" opinion, I expect them to go deep in the playoffs. ESPN did note in their comment on the Patriots that Rodney Harrison's health could be a big factor. Injury reports, of course, to come later today.

 

Injury report:

Jets

Questionable: FB B.J. Askew (foot), RB Kevin Barlow (thigh), CB David Barrett (hip), WR Laveranues Coles (jaw), CB Andre Dyson (knee), FB James Hodgins (knee), C Nick Mangold (thigh), G Brandon Moore (ankle), S Kerry Rhodes (knee), DL Dewayne Robertson (knee)
Probable: RB Cedric Houston (calf), QB Chad Pennington (calf), DB Eric Smith (foot), DE Bryan Thomas (shoulder)

The questionable players for the Jets were reported to have "missed portions" of team practice. Curiously, LB Matt Chatham was also listed on the report as probable, but with no injury. Head coach Eric Mangini said Chatham was excused from practice today for personal reasons and would return tomorrow.

Patriots

Out: S Rodney Harrison (knee)
Questionable: WR Bam Childress (ankle), RB Kevin Faulk (knee), DB Chad Scott (back), TE Benjamin Watson (knee), NT Vince Wilfork (ankle)
Probable: QB Tom Brady (right shoulder), CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist), DL Richard Seymour (elbow), LB Mike Vrabel (back)

Harrison, all of the questionable players, and Vrabel were reported to have missed portions of "team" practice. Vrabel is the lone addition. Harrison was downgraded from probable to out. S Rashad Baker, DL Marquise Hill, OT Ryan O'Callaghan, and DL Mike Wright were removed from the report.

 

The Red Sox are reportedly near a one-year, $4M deal with free agent starter Joel Piniero, who it is suspected that the Red Sox will try to convert into a closer.

 

The Patriots reported no injury report changes today. The Jets reported one minor change: LB Matt Chatham is listed as probable, but participated in all drills today. Yesterday, he was listed as probable and missed practice to tend to personal matters. Now, he is probable with a foot injury.

In other Patriots news, DE Ty Warren was named AFC Defensive Player of the Month for December.

 

Updating the whereabouts of some former Red Sox, Mark Loretta signed with the Astros, Keith Foulke inked a one-year deal with the Indians, and Doug Mientkiewicz, he of the final putout of the 2004 World Series, is now with the Yankees.

 

.... and Randy Johnson is being traded back to Arizona from the yankees and The Sox signed that seattle pitcher (God, I am so bad... I can't remember his name)

Just my two cents...


Thought you all might get a kick out of this...

http://www.nfl.com/playoffs

 

I believe that was Joel Pineiro, who I mentioned earlier.

 

A caller to WEEI's "The Real Post-Game Show" probably put it best when he used a Rowdy Roddy Piper reference to describe the game's result..."Just when Mangini thought he had all the answers, Belichick changed the questions." The game was actually pretty tight through 3 quarters, but the turning point was definitely when Vince Wilfork alertly picked up the lateral that Rosevelt Colvin had batted down and returned it deep into Jets territory. Although the Patriots only came away with three points off that turnover, momentum was all on their side afterwards.

On to San Diego!

 

Michael Felger's report card

All As and Bs...the secondary might have received a higher grade than a B- if not for allowing the 77 yard TD catch and run by Jericho Cotchery. The theme of Felger's opening notes was a one-worder: control.

 

Just thought of something (actually, an IRC guy reminded me)...I hope Reche Caldwell, Jabar Gaffney, and Chad Jackson weren't watching the BCS National Championship Game with Mike Vrabel last night. If they were, Troy Brown might be the only Patriots wide receiver alive today.

(Note: The first 3 mentioned are all Florida guys, while Vrabel is from Ohio St.)

 

Here is this week's injury report. It is late because of the time difference between here and the west coast.

Patriots

Out: S Rodney Harrison (knee)
Questionable: WR Bam Childress (ankle), FB Heath Evans (shin), TE Benjamin Watson (knee)
Probable: QB Tom Brady (right shoulder), CB Ellis Hobbs (wrist), DL Richard Seymour (elbow), LB Mike Vrabel (back)

All but Brady, Hobbs, and Seymour were reported to have missed at least portions of team drills.

Evans is the lone addition. RB Kevin Faulk, DB Chad Scott, and NT Vince Wilfork, all listed as questionable last week, have been removed from the report.

Chargers

Doubtful: DE Jacques Cesaire (knee)
Questionable: DE Derreck Robinson (foot)
Probable: DE Luis Castillo (ankle), S Bhawoh Jue (knee)

EDIT: Cesaire and Jue were reported to have missed portions of team practice.

The biggest name on the Chargers' report is Castillo, who is listed on their depth chart as the starting left defensive end.

In other Patriots news, former LB Andre Tippett was named as a finalist for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame's Class of 2007 will be announced on February 3, the day before the Super Bowl. Finalists need at least an 80% positive vote on the final ballot for election.