The Daily Blog 9/4
A quick entry today after a long evening of server watching. Then it's off to work while the rest of my family heads to the beach. Something about that just doesn't seem right.
Anyway, I have to say a night of watching our scrubs face off against the New York Giants scrubs, it was certainly an entertaining game last night after the Patriots rallied from 21 points down to win 38-27. Final cutdowns are coming tomorrow, and it appears there are a few questions that may have been answered as a couple of guys made a strong case for themselves last night to earn a roster spot.
1) RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis – If you wanted to see the definition of hard work and determination, Green-Ellis demonstrated that last night with his 29 carry 125 yard performance along with his three touchdowns. It will be quite a surprise if he’s not one of the last men standing when the team makes their final roster cuts on Saturday.
2) QB Brian Hoyer – After a slow start Hoyer got better as the game went on, and brought the team back from 21 points down and the 38 points they scored was one of the highest preseason totals in team history. He was accurate and efficient, finishing the night completing 18-of-25 for 242 yards and had a quarterback rating of 115.8. A solid night, which may have ended the team’s possible decision to bring in another quarterback. If they do decided to bring someone in, I have a feeling he won't be the odd man out.
However, here are a couple of guys I'm wondering about this morning:
1) Ben Watson - He’s been passed on the depth chart by eight-year veteran Chris Baker and four-year man David Thomas. Needless to say he’s battling for the final roster spot with Alex Smith, and this is probably going to be a situation where head coach Bill Belichick will take not only what he’s seen so far during this preseason, but also his injury history and dropped passes over the past couple of seasons. I have my doubts whether or not Watson will make this roster.
2) Sammy Morris – Watching Morris after he first joined this team, he was an impact player that bolstered a running game that was in dire need of a guy who could give them a threat. But we haven't seen much from Morris during this preseason and his history of injuries could be a factor in the event the team decides to not go with 5 runningbacks. Green-Ellis showed us last night he deserves to be on this roster, so with Fred Taylor, Kevin Faulk, Laurence Maroney, and Green-Ellis, if they do cut someone loose, one has to wonder if he could be the odd man out.
Needless to say tomorrow will be an interesting day, and I’m certainly interested to see how it turns out.
Quick Hits
Some quick observations from last night:
- Scott Zolak talking about John Stephens who was killed in a single car accident Thursday. "I'm 41 he was 43, it was sad to see." I agree. Who would have thought at 21 he was middle aged. Definitely a tragic story.
- Matt light bobbing his head to "Pour Some Sugar on Me" by Def Leppard at the two minute warning. Funny stuff.
- Brandon McGowan jumping over Shaun Bodiford of the Giants, after he went down following his reception. Bodiford didn't hear a whistle and got back up and since McGowan gave up and didn't touch him, he picked up a few more yards before finally being brought down. Not a good way to finish a game and I'm sure he'll be given an earful about that play.
- Julian Edelman has missed the last two games and didn't play yet again Thursday night. Haven't heard what his situation is, but he's shown a lot of promise so hopefully he's O.K.
- Matthew Slater's injury was ugly. I'm pretty sure his arm wasn't supposed to bend that way, so we wish him the best as he recovers. His injury may have opened up a roster spot for someone else, so hopefully he receives a "thank you" from whoever is the beneficiary.
- The stadium definitiely emptied out quick. One commercial break at the end of the game, and when they came back and panned accross the field everyone was gone. May have been the quickest I've ever seen that happen.
That's it for today. I'll add another longer entry in the morning, and keep an eye for this week's "Patriots Week In Review" which will be relaunching at PatsFans.com tomorrow as well.
