Roose's review of PHI/NE

Going into this game as the 24 for point underdogs, no McNabb, and a depleted secondary, the Eagles were sure losers on Sunday night. In fact, the Patriots were highly anticipated to embarrass the Eagles like they have to almost every other team they faced this year. No one expected the Patriots to only beat the AJ Feely and the Eagles 31-28.

For the first 3 plays, it looked as if it was going to be a blow out when on the 3rd play of the game, Asante Samuel picked off Feely's pass and returned it for a touchdown. Philly then marched down the field and tied it at 7. The teams alternated with scoring until it was 24-21, New England, at halftime.

The Eagles looked poised to tie the game up at 31 in the 4th when on 2nd and 4, Feely went deep to Curtis but overthrew him. The pass was picked off my Asante Samuel in the endzone ending the drive and the hopes for the Eagles upset. The final score was 31-28, Patriots.

There was a lot of good that came out of this game. New England is beatable and Andy Reid set a "blueprint" for success against New England:

1) Hit Brady - The Colts did it first and it worked. The Eagles did it better and it was masterful. You need to be able to rush only four guys and keep the rest in coverage. What the Eagles did was mind blowing. They rushed three guys most of the night and hit him over and over. It was beautiful.

2) Press Moss - One on one. Get physical and make him work for everything. Bring the safety in for help on deep balls and let your CB go to work. The problem with this is having a good enough CB to stay on him the whole game. Sheppard and Brown proved they were good enough.

3) Attack the Middle - The Patriots give up the middle of the field on defense. They let you catch and then make the tackle. The problem most teams have is buying the quarterback enough time to get the recievers open. If you can protect the quarterback you can hurt them in the middle of the field. The line was amazing all night. Feely had time and he got into a rhythm.

4) Keep Tom Brady Off of the Field - Mostly by doing a lot of numbers 1&2 and keeping long scoring drives going. Once Brady gets in a rhythm its all but over. Keep him over there, off the field and then once he gets on the field, hit him in the mouth. The Pat's are going to score, just do these things to try and stop them from doing it so often.

I see New England falling. They are beatable. Let's go Steelers. End Brady's dreams.

Continuing reading...

Cowher: Brady could be target of cheap shot

Cowher: Brady could be target of cheap shot
Wednesday, Oct 31, 2007 4:13 pm EDT

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As the New England Patriots pour it on opponents, fans have to be wondering about it and Tuesday former Pittsburgh Steelers coach Bill Cowher said it: If the Patriots keep running up the score, will someone like Tom Brady be the victim of a retaliatory hit?
The subject of the Pats' late-game tactics is causing a lot of buzz around the NFL, particularly after Sunday's 52-7 victory over the Washington Redskins. On a CBS conference call with reporters Tuesday. Cowher noted the Patriots could be playing a dangerous game.
"At some point if this continues, someone's going to take a cheap shot,'' Cowher said. "Is that worth subjecting your players to if it comes to that?''
Source: Boston Herald

In my opinion, after what they did to the Redskins last week, I wouldn't be suprised of this either. If they beat Indy, they will be the next unbeaten team in my mind. If they keep running up scores, their pretty boy could get a little roughed up pretty soon.

Continuing reading...