SZ614

BY JIM DAWSON
DECEMBER 8, 2015
DROPS, DROPKICKS AND DROPS IN IQ
When you are leading 14-0 and controlling the game, you should not try a trick play such as a dropkick
(by #43 Nate Ebner). It got the Eagles' dander up and they proceeded to go down the short field for
their first touchdown (and the only one that the offense would score until the 4th quarter). The first
dropkick was perceived by some Eagles as 'dissing' them. It was a coaching blunder. And it was
repeated after Gostkowski had a successful onside kick followed by the coaches going back to the
dropkick after the Pats scored a TD. To repeat the mistake was evidence of a major IQ drop. Go with
Gostkowski who has had some success with onside kicks.
That drop in IQ was also evidenced by QB Tom Brady who made an uncharacteristic unforced error by
throwing to Amendola at the goal line when he was guarded by two men. The resulting 99 yard return
by Malcolm Jenkins for a TD was a huge momentum swing. The Pats had just had the ball first and
goal at the 1 when they tried a quick snap. Jenkins nailed White for a 4 yard loss. Where was Blount?
The loss forced the Pats to pass with disastrous results. 1st and 1, the ball should be in Blount's hands.
The one guy on the Eagles that could hurt you is Darren Sproles. Yet he was wide open at times and ran
well getting around the corner when the Pats failed to seal it. Poor job of taking away the Eagles' best
offensive player. On his 83-yard punt return, both Nate Ebner and Matthew Slater came in too fast and
ran by Sproles. It was an especially bad day for Ebner. He had the failed dropkicks. And if you watch
the video, Ebner vacated the spot that the Eagles player (Chris Maragos) ran in untouched to block
Allen's punt resulting in the return for a TD which tied the game with 8 seconds left in the half. The
punt might never have happened if time management (and luck) had been better. After a 1st down at
their 33 with 50 seconds left in the half, the Patriots took a timeout. Brady was then sacked at his 30.
Then Philly called an injury time out at 40 seconds. While the Pats ran on 2nd down, they passed on
3rd with 19 seconds left. Had they run, they probably would have left the half up 14-7 because the
clock would have run out with the Eagles unlikely to call a timeout. After Brady was sacked, the Pats
should have taken a knee.
Ah yes, and the drops – multiple drops by players: Scott Chandler (a disappointment so far – he never
missed any when he was killing the Pats with the Bills); Daniel LaFell who went back to his dropsy
days and looked to have stopped running on Brady's 2nd interception (which Brady alibied for him),
and Keshawn Martin, who has shown promise, but needs to work on those hands. We'll give him a pass
on the 4th and 10 at the end (the Pats were called for holding anyway). Even Amendola had a drop. The
ProJo's Mark Daniels (12/8) had Pats receivers with 9 drops.
This was a horrible loss that should never have happened. Hubris was involved. Underestimating your
opponent played a role. Bad play calling and quarterbacking helped humble the Patriots.
We'll see how they do in Houston with a tough defense but a QB (Brian Hoyer) that they know. A lot of
pundits gave up on the Pats last year when they lost to KC. This loss was so tough because it was self-
inflicted. Two special teams touchdowns. An interception for a touchdown. Will lessons be learned?

POINTS AFTER
The Patriots seemed to go away from the run in the 2nd half. I was surprised to see the halftime stats:
the Pats had more rushing yards (80 on 17 carries) than the Eagles (70 on 15 rushes), but the Eagles (91
yards), had better passing yardage than NE (77). That's because Brady was 9 of 16 for 94 yards but the
two sacks by Connor Barwin reduced his yardage total.
So the Pats had 17 carries in the 1st half but only 8 rushes in the 2nd half. In the 1st half, Blount was 10
for 43 yards (4.3) and Bolden 3 for 22 (7.3). Sproles had 7 1st half carries for 44 yards (6.3). The Pats
were behind by 14 at 4:18 of the 3rd quarter, so you would expect them to go to the pass more then.
The Eagles had 2 more sacks in the 2nd half (Brandon Graham) and a total of 13 QB hits. Brady again
took a beating. The Pats had 1 sack (Jerod Mayo) and just 3 QB hits. Mayo missed an easy interception
on a ball that hit him in the chest.
When Josh Kline went down, he had been having a bad day protecting Brady. Rookie Shaq Mason took
over at RG.
If there was a sliver of a silver lining, it was the emergence of RB James White. He had 10 catches on
13 targets (115 yards), many in the 2nd half. Amendola had 13 targets and 7 catches. Chandler was 7/4,
LaFell (9/4), Martin (8/3) and Bolden (who may have gotten hurt) 5/1. Sproles was 6/4 for 34 yards.

BULLETS
• As a BoSox fan, I am impressed with new GM Dave Dombrowski. He got a great closer in Kimbrel, a
starting ace in Price and moved Wade Miley (4.46 ERA) to Seattle for set up RHP Carson Smith (13
saves, 2.31 ERA and 92 K's in 70 innings!) and LHP Roenis Elias who may help as a starter/reliever.
Jonathan Aro, who didn't do much when called up (6.97 ERA/6 games), went with Miley.
• The NFL concussion issue and the findings by Bennet Omalu re CTE (chronic traumatic
encephalopathy) in retired players may deliver a big blow to an otherwise impregnable NFL. See
League of Denial and you'll understand better. Goodell and Tagliabue are exposed as only concerned
with protecting their money making machine. If parents stop letting their kids play football, it will
eventually dry up the one resource that the NFL can't do without - fresh football bodies for fodder.
• Peyton Manning is practicing with a partially torn plantar fascia in his left (plant) foot. He should not
play again this year. The Cleveland Browns have nothing to lose by playing QB Johnny Manziel.
• Per the NY Times (AP-12/8), 20 BC students (8 b-ballers) got sick after eating at a Chipotle's.

VIEWPOINT
A good way to find movies and TV series is through your local library. Get a card and create an
account. You can request films and shows on line and when they come in to your library, you get an e-
mail message. Movies can be taken out for 7 days and TV series for 3 weeks. If you run over those
times, the fines are small and you're helping your library in a small way. Victoria clued me in.
Many new movies are available much quicker than in years past. And some libraries even have Blu-
Ray versions. I usually prepare some lists of popular movies, including those up for various film
awards. Then I check them out at the IMDb web site and see what they are rated. Anything 7 and over
is worthy of watching, and IMDb seems to be accurate most of the time (except for horror, one of my
passions, which traditionally score lower). In the future, I'll suggest some titles that we've liked a lot.

THE HOT CLUB
Charlie Clancy and DD's Ron and I were discussing the Civil War. Ron pointed out that the North was
not faring well until McClellan and Burnside were replaced. With Grant, Sheridan and Sherman, the
North had better generals than the South. I agreed and noted it was especially so after Stonewall
Jackson was shot (by his own men) and died.
So Ron and I chuckled about our local general Ambrose Burnside for whom sideburns are named.
When I googled Rhode Islander Burnside, I learned that he was the first president of the NRA. Figures.
So I told them about my friend Chris who visited Atlanta's Cyclorama & Civil War Museum. He was
looking at a Civil War exhibit when a Southern gentleman said to him: “We would have won the war if
we had repeating rifles.” Chris responded “Who told you to start a war without repeating rifles?”
Wikipedia notes that the Spencer repeating rifle (7 shots) was used by the Union cavalry and mounted
infantry. While Confederate soldiers captured some Spencers, they lacked the copper for cartridges.
Foot Joy had a good point about the David Price signing by the BoSox. Because Price was traded (by
Detroit to Toronto) during the year, the Red Sox do not lose a #1 draft pick for signing him.
In talking to Mike Module and his friend Scott, I mentioned that last week's Sports Illustrated cover
showed Brock Osweiler back to pass. In the background the Broncos' lineman can be seen holding the
Patriots #99 Dominique Easley. Naturally no penalty was called. A gentleman named Ed brought his
smart phone over and showed us the SI cover.
Kevin, the Module's brother, asked me if I had seen ESPN's 30 on 30 show about Marvin Barnes. I
have not. Kevin noted that Barnes was signed by the ABA's Spirits of St. Louis, and that the young
radio voice of the Spirits then was Bob Costas (Ed. for KMOX).

LAST ISSUE'S QUIZ ANSWER
So who was that band member of a popular group that sold over 75 million records, wrote some songs
for them and one for Linda Ronstadt, then recorded a one hit wonder with his new band? Only Buffalo
Steve got part of it – He knew it was (Robert) Michael Nesmith, but not the hit, Joanne, which Nesmith
had with First National Band. Contrary to public opinion, Nesmith could play guitar before joining the
Monkees (Peter Tork too). Gretsch created a one-off 12-string electric guitar for Nesmith, which he
played with the Monkees. Nesmith wrote Different Drum for Ronstadt and the Stone Poneys. Nesmith's
financial woes ended in 1980 when he inherited money from his mom who created Liquid Paper which
she sold to Gillette for $48 million in 1979. Nesmith and the Monkees wrested control of their music
after getting producer Don Kirshner, their original music supervisor, fired. (Source - Wikipedia)

THIS ISSUE'S QUIZ
This one hit wonder had a massive winner in the '70's performing a song that was then covered by
many vocalists from the jazz, pop and R&B world. Even easy listening band leaders played it. In some
circles, it was considered one of the worst songs ever. Name the artist and his one hit wonder.

THANKS TO STEVE LENZ, SPORTZINE IS ALSO AT JIMDAWSONSPORTS.COM