LooGie Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 http://feeds.theonion.com/~r/theonion/dail...y_mere_17_point BOSTON—The Patriots organization is reeling this week following their narrow 34-17 victory over the lowly Browns, taking stock of their game-planning methods, philosophy, and indeed their entire season in the aftermath of a game in which they gained barely more than 500 total yards, came within seconds of failing to cover the spread, and scored only twice as much as their opponent. "I think it's too early to call the season a failure," said visibly shaken Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, who was called into the office of owner Robert Kraft Monday morning and officially placed on probation in light of the insufficiently dominant victory. "I wish to extend my deepest apologies to the Patriots fans and ask them to continue supporting the players and the team. All the blame for Sunday's victory has to lie with me." Practices have been subdued and intense this week as players struggle to adjust offensive and defensive schemes that were unable to put the Browns away until late in the first quarter, produced a scant 4.4 yards per rush—only 0.6 yards over the league average—and had to rely on two interceptions and a fumble recovery to finally go up by more than 10 points. "I have to take my share of the blame," said quarterback Tom Brady, who has already drawn moderate criticism this season for throwing only three touchdowns in each of the Patriots' games so far. "With two minutes left in the fourth quarter, I missed [tight end] Kyle [brady] in the end zone. Any other greatest quarterback makes that touchdown pass and we win by 24—not outstanding, but at least it would have given us some pride in the locker room. As it was, we couldn't look each other in the eye." Although Belichick has refused to discuss personnel moves, Patriots insiders say that benching Brady for next week's game against undefeated Dallas was a definite possibility. All-pro tight end Ben Watson, who only scored twice against the Browns and struggled to produce a 106-yard performance, will almost certainly lose his starting job. Backup running back Samuel Morris managed only 102 yards on 21 carries and is generally acknowledged to be finished in the NFL. And wideout Randy Moss, held to only 49 yards, is almost certain to be traded by next week. "It was probably my worst game as a pro," said linebacker Junior Seau, who was almost invisible for the whole game, only able to intercept a total of two Derek Anderson passes all game and none in the second half. "Not that I was alone out there. Randall [Gay] only recovered one fumble for a touchdown. And I hate to call out the other unit, but there were a couple of times when the offensive line almost gave up their fourth sack of the season." "I've tried so hard to build a culture of winning here, and this is the kind of win we get," Belichick said at a post-practice press conference Wednesday. "This team has so much wrong with it, it's hard to believe we've managed to only lose zero games." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaterMan Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrbernz82 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 http://feeds.theonion.com/~r/theonion/dail...y_mere_17_point wow i think kraft is getting greedy...he should be happy w/ the win. i really hope they go 16-0, win their first playoff game and then get smoked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackshi17 Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 wow i think kraft is getting greedy...he should be happy w/ the win. i really hope they go 16-0, win their first playoff game and then get smoked by the Steelers. Fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kpholmes Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Good read. Always enjoy humor+sports. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rajncajn Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Truth in humor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Itals Posted October 11, 2007 Share Posted October 11, 2007 Where is the Sports Rag when we need it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mroban Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 wow i think kraft is getting greedy...he should be happy w/ the win. i really hope they go 16-0, win their first playoff game and then get smoked. You know its a joke right? Its the Onion... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DemonKnight Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 wow i think kraft is getting greedy...he should be happy w/ the win. i really hope they go 16-0, win their first playoff game and then get smoked. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menudo Posted October 12, 2007 Share Posted October 12, 2007 This is a funny article, but, I really can't wait for when they get beat. The general football population and most of the media, has already decided that they are who they think they are, and they are crowning their ass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazysight Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 wow i think kraft is getting greedy...he should be happy w/ the win. i really hope they go 16-0, win their first playoff game and then get smoked. Tell me this guy didn't get the point of it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprofessor Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 Fixed Not a chance in H#LL that happens Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theprofessor Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 This is a funny article, but, I really can't wait for when they get beat. The general football population and most of the media, has already decided that they are who they think they are, and they are crowning their ass. They might get beat but there's nobody in either conference that will beat them when it counts Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Menudo Posted October 13, 2007 Share Posted October 13, 2007 They might get beat but there's nobody in either conference that will beat them when it counts We shall see. It is hard to argue against them right now, but, 2 years ago, the Colts looked to be unbeatable as well................ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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