Friday Patriots Headlines

The Patriots lost their first preseason game of the year last night, with the St. Louis Rams hitting a last second field goal to give new England a 36-35 loss in front of what at that point was a sparse crowd at Gillette Stadium.

Russ Goldman takes a look back at last night, and offers up some observations of what we learned after watching last night's game, including some thoughts on the fact that the Patriots defense made rookie Sam Bradford look like Peyton Manning.

Derek Havens also offers up some thoughts on last night, and points out that New England still has some work to do after last night's shaky performance.

After watching the game last night, I went back through it and broke it down, and oddly enough you'll probably be surprised to see that there were more positives than negatives despite the final outcome.

Jeff Howe of NESN.com reports that the Patriots flat performance left head coach Bill Belichick beyond angry after last night's loss.

Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com feels that the Patriots defense had a poor showing last night, and head coach Bill Belichick offered up the same sentiment when the game was over, saying "In a game of no defense, we played less."

Shalise Manza Young of the Boston Globe writes that last night's effort lacked execution and there's still clearly plenty of work to be done before the season begins in two weeks.

Tom Curran offers up five things to remember from last night, and considering that many of these tend to be cliche'd, his observations are surprisingly opinionated and it's actually a pretty good read.

Christopher Price of WEEI.com Has "Ten Things We Learned From Last Night", which starts off with a look at why Laurence Maroney didn't play last night. It's another really good read if you'd like an in-depth breakdown from last night, so be sure to check it out.

Glen Farley of the Patriot Ledger points out that for the second straight game Maroney didn't register a carry against St. Louis. Although I'll point out that before you read too much into that, neither did Fred Taylor last night.

Karen Guregian also gives her take on Maroney's absense last night, and isn't willing to read too much into it.

Jeff Howe of NESN.com disagrees, and feels that Maroney's absense in last night's game may mean his future is looking bleak here in New England.

Guregian also offers up her opinion of the NFL going to an 18 game season, and talks about what it may mean for both the owners and the players.

Scott Cohen of MassLive.com has some postgame notes from what he called last night to be a "half-hearted effort".

Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald also feels that the team took a step backward after last night's disappointing showing.

Rapoport also writes that despite a slow start, Brady still had a very good performance during last night's game.

Mary Paoletti of NECN also looks at Brady's performance, offering a good break down of each of New England's first five offensive possessions.

Glen Farley of the Patriot Ledger takes a look back last night and says that the first two exhibition games gave fans a vision of duck boats in February, while last night's loss instead now leaves us with a sinking feeling.

Erik Scalavino of Patriots.com takes a look back at last night and wonders, "What now?" and feels that after that performance the team is left with more questions than answers.

Mary Paoletti and Tom Curran of NECN look at the "Best and Worst" from last night's game.

Albert Breer of the Boston Globe is a bit more upbeat, calling last night's loss part of the learning curve for this young team.

Ron Borges of the Boston Herald also offers up a surprisingly upbeat report from last night's game, and it's actually a very good read.

Mark Farinella of the Attleboro Sun Chronicle discusses a variety of topics in his notebook this morning, including wide receiver Brandon Tate who kicked things off for New England last night by returning their opening kickoff 97-yards for a touchdown.

Farinella also has quotes from Brady after the game, who tried to give reporters some positives despite the loss.

DJ Bean of WEEI.com also has some postgame quotes from cornerback Leigh Bodden, who feels that everyone should be upset after last night.

Bean also has postgame quotes from Belichick following last night's game.

Robert Mays of the Boston Globe is calling last night's game for Tate a "breakthrough moment", and also has some comments from Sammy Morris who was right behind him as Tate raced into the endzone.

Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com also has a good article on Tate, with the North Carolina standout proving last night that he's got the speed to provide New England with another solid weapon on offense and special teams.

Monique Walker of the Boston Globe has an article on wide receiver Randy Moss who made some noise on the field last night, including a 65-yard touchdown grab from Brady where he beat two defenders on his way to the endzone.

Buried in all these articles from last night was the play of tight end Rob Gronkowksi, who made some noise of his own last night with two touchdown receptions, one of which actually saw him drag his defender into the endzone.

The Boston Globe talks about the rookie's game last night, and offers up some quotes by Brady who was impressed with Gronkowski's performance last night.

That's it for this morning. Hope everyone has a good day on this Friday, and we'll have more later on so be sure to check the front page of PatsFans.com for updates.