Tuesday's New England Patriots Links 9/27
After a quick spin around the internet, here are this morning's headlines:
BOSTON HERALD
Ron Borges’ Patriots report card - Ron Borges
Borges gives out his grades for Sunday, with quarterback Tom Brady earning a 'D' after his four INT performance.
Pats must improve in many ways - Ian Rapoport
Rapoport looks back at Sunday's game and looks at a critical moment in the fourth quarter where Josh Barrett missed a critical tackle on Bills runningback Fred Jackson that ultimately resulted in their game winning field goal. “It’s about stopping them and making tackles,” Barrett said. “I should’ve been there to make the tackle. I didn’t, and it goes across the board. We got to do a better job defensively as a unit.”
Tough to come back from loss - Ian Rapoport
Rapoport files his "notebook", and talks about what was an understandably difficult film session, with Kyle Arrington saying they need to be resilient and bounce back next weekend. “We’re all competitors,” Arrington said. “No one likes losing, especially in this proud organization. No one is accustomed to losing. We definitely want to be a resilient group of guys. You definitely can’t wait to put the pads on again next Sunday.”
Big-play Bills - Ian Rapoport
Rapoport takes a look at the worst plays from Sunday, and breaks down each sequence and shows what happened, followed by what should have happened.
BOSTON GLOBE
Things could be better for Patriots - Shalise Manza Young
Young looks at Sunday's game and also spoke to Kevin Faulk, who said yesterday it's been a long time since he's seen a complete breakdown like the one they experienced in Buffalo. “It’s been a long time, but there have been [breakdowns like that],’’ Faulk said. “There have been wild and crazy games that we’ve played. But that’s what makes this sport so unique, that’s what makes it so spectacular - because whenever you think something is done, something can happen. And we knew [Buffalo] could come back, because they did it the week before.’’
Brady in Supporting Role - Shalise Manza Young
Young looks at Brady's appearance on WEEI where he defended Chad Ochocinco, who had a tough afternoon that included a critical drop in the fourth quarter that could have been a touchdown. “He’s been working hard at it. I think the last few weeks, he’s really been much more involved in the game and playmaking,’’ Brady said. “And we’re going to need him. We’re going to need every single player on the roster.
“I have a lot of confidence in Chad - he works hard, he wants to do the right thing, he studies. He spends time after practice trying to get it right. It’s just been a lot for the new guys in particular, the rookies and the veteran free agents, to really take in, in a short amount of time. Chad is definitely making more plays for us, and that’s important for our offense. They’re going to have to defend everybody.’’
Chad Ochocinco Still Not Catching On - Chris Gasper
Gasper takes a look at Ochocinco's tough start, and feels that if this is his idea of 'heaven', he wonders what the alternative must be after the way things have begin for him here in New England.
WEEI.COM
Patriots Report Card - Brady, Defense Among Week 3 Losers - Kirk Minihane
Minihane takes a look back at Sunday's game and gives Brady and their defense some low marks after their performance on Sunday.
Patriots Defense Takes Responsibility for Nightmarish Finish - Christopher Price
Price has a look back at Sunday's game, with several players on the defensive side of the ball stepping forward and shouldering the blame for the loss. “The game came down to us on the defensive side of the ball, and we just didn’t make the plays that were needed to win the game,” linebacker Jerod Mayo said Monday. “Plays were being made on both sides of the ball. Buffalo just made more.”
WORCESTER TELEGRAM
Patriots: Pass defense puts team at a loss - Rich Garven
Garven looks at Sunday's loss and writes that the fan base is clearly upset after the defensive meltdown, that included some lackluster play from the secondary.
Patriots defense is in shambles right now - Rich Garven
Garven has a Q&A where he answers questions from his readers, including one where he answered the question of how he feels they can right the ship defensively. "The defense is in shambles right now," writes Garven. "It was missing three starters in Haynesworth, Chung and rookie cornerback Ras-I Dowling, who has looked the best of the team's corners when he's been on the field. Unfortunately, he's been injury prone since high school so what's happeninig now shouldn't surprise the Patriots. Anyway, they have to figure a way to get some pressure _ not more, but some because right now they aren't getting any and that's leaving the secondary hanging. Hopefully, getting back those three guys will help some, although it should be noted when they were playing the defense was still getting gashed."
ATTLEBORO SUN CHRONICLE
MillerCoors says Patriots breached beer contract - Staff
The newspaper has an article on a lawsuit that alleges the team reneged an exclusive deal with MillerCoors by instead doing the same deal with Anheuser-Busch InBev.
ESPNBOSTON.COM
Barrett Facing Questions - Chris Forsberg
Josh Barrett had a tough afternoon on Sunday, but he didn't shy away from the questions on Monday. "It's a tough thing to watch, but you've got to learn from it," Barrett said. "There's a lot of coaching points [the defense can] take from it. We'll get better."
Catching up with former Pats - Mike Reiss
Reiss does something interesting and points out how other former Patriots, including an often talked about James Sanders, are doing with their new teams.
CSNNE.COM
Branch Held Silent After Explosive Start - Tom Curran
Curran takes a look at Branch's day after the receiver was targeted just three times and didn't have a reception during Sunday's game.
MASSLIVE.COM
Chad Ochocinco is letting his opportunity with the Patriots go to waste - Nick Underhill
And finally, Underhill looks at Ochocinco and feels that he's letting the opportunity he's hoped for go to waste, after what's been a less than stellar start to his Patriots career.
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That's it for this morning. We'll have more later on, so keep an eye on the front page of PatsFans.com for updates.
