SZ 684
BY
JIM DAWSON
SEPTEMBER
10, 2018
PATRIOTS
ROPE IN TEXANS 27-20
On
a cool September 9th (62°
at game start) with the wind gusting greater than the 10 mph listed,
the Pats took control of the game early and led comfortably until
Riley McCarron fumbled a punt (he had called for a fair catch his
other 3 times). The ensuing Texans TD made it a 7 point game but the
Pats held on, helped by a first down catch by James Develin and a
Ryan Allen punt of 54 yards downed by Jonathan Jones at the Houston
1. With only 43 seconds left, Houston was hog-tied.
So
my daughter Cara got to enjoy her 29th birthday with
Driller Killer and me. If as a guest the Patriots get a win, you get
to be invited back. No problem, Cara.
The
Texans won the toss and elected to kick off (one of the only things
that JJ Watt did. this day). However when Houston got the ball back,
Deshaun Watson fumbled, Dont’a Hightower recovered and a Gronk TD
followed. The Pats never trailed after that.
Possible
concerns about the offensive line protecting Brady were put to rest
this day. LT Trent Brown defended Brady’s blind side well and RT
Marcus Cannon and sub LaAdrian Waddle the right side. JJ Watt was
held to 2 tackles and an assist, and Jadeveon Clowney to 1 tackle
and 1 assist as the two edge rushers were held in check.
Not
only did the OL protect well but they blocked well on runs as NE
rushed for 122 yards. Unfortunately Jeremy Hill (4 carries, 25 yards)
was injured at the beginning of the 2nd half when Gronk
fumbled and in the ensuing scrum, Develin was knocked into Hill’s
right knee. Hill may be done for the year. Rookie Ralph Webb, who is
on the practice squad, may replace him if so.
On
the Pats’ last drive of the 1st half (after Hill
partially blocked the punt) with 1:28 left, Hill ran for 8 and 11
yards. Chris Hogan (only 1 catch on 5 targets) saved the bacon when
he recovered a Rex Burkhead fumble. The drive continued with passes
to Phillip Dorsett for 12, 14 and 4 yards, the last a TD. I joked
that Dorsett caught more passes on the day (7) than he had all last
year (he actually caught 12). 7 catches on 7 targets.
Besides
the questions about the OL, there was hope that the Pats Defense
would be better. It was. It surprised me when rookie Ja’Whaun
Bentley started at RE with Trey Flowers at LE. Bentley was second on
the team with 7 combos (4 tackles, 3 assists). Only Stephon Gilmore
was better (7 and 1). Meanwhile Flowers and Dietrich Wise Jr. each
had a sack and a half. The team had 12 hits on Watson and kept his
running game somewhat in check (8 carries for 40 yards).
The
Pats opened with a 4-2-5 Defense with Hightower and Van Noy at LB and
an extra DB in Jonathan Jones who played the slot receiver.
The
Texans were held to 2 for 11 on 3rd down and 0 for 1 on
4th. The Texans were 2 of 5 in the Red Zone (NE was 3 for
4) which contributed to the Pats win.
A
key play was DL Lawrence Guy tackling Watson as he tried to throw
long and was intercepted in the end zone by Stephon Gilmore. The ball
was on the Pats 49 at the time.
AREAS
NEEDING WORK
The
Pats were only 4 for 14 on 3rd down.
NE
had 3 turnovers (one fumble was recovered or it would have been 4),
which was one more than Houston. More turnovers than your opponent
often leads to a loss.
James
White was targeted 9 times but only had 4 catches.
RB
Tyler Ervin, who returned kickoffs, had 5 for 156 yards. That will
spell disaster if not fixed.
Cordarrelle
Patterson was targeted but once and had 1 catch. He had a penalty on
a 3rd and 1 that made it 3rd and 6. He did have
3 end arounds for 13 yards.
ODDS
AND ENDS
When
there was an extra point or field goal try, both officials didn’t
always signal whether it was good. One would raise his arms, the
other didn’t. They’re paid to do so.
Watson
was 17 of 34 (.500) with an INT.
There
was a play where Watson was in the grasp in the end zone when he
threw the ball into the ground. I thought it was intentional
grounding and should have been a safety. On replay, TE Jordan Thomas
was in the area.
Sportzine
is also available at jimdawsonsports.com thanks to Buffalo Steve Lenz
AROUND
THE NFL
Some
ex-Pats: the Saints’ Mike Gillislee had 3 carries for 9 yards and
his fumble was returned for a TD by the
Bucs. Dion Lewis had a good game for the Titans: 16 carries
for 75 yards and a TD. Lewis also had 5 catches for 35 yards. Miami’s
Danny Amendola had 4 catches for 26 yards.
Jimmy
G. opened the season by throwing 15 of 33 (less than .500) with 3
INTs, one returned for a TD. The Vikings sacked him 3x. The Vikes do
have a great D. We’ll see how
Jimmy G
fares at home vs Detroit next week.
Cleveland
QB Tyrod Taylor was 15 of 40 with 1 INT and was sacked 7x. He
did run for 77 yards on 8 carries and his team tied the Steelers.
How? Roethlisberger threw 3 INTs and Pittsburgh had 3 fumbles. They
blew a 14 point lead in the 4th quarter at Cleveland.
Seattle
lost to Denver 27-24. Janikowski missed a 46-yard FG for the
Seahawks. Russell Wilson threw 2 INTs and was sacked 6 times.
Denver’s Case Keenum had 3 INTs.
RED
SOX
OK
so maybe
I was a little over anxious when the Yankees crept within 5 games
behind in the loss column. Fortunately, FootJoy clued me in on the
fact that at the time, if the BoSox went .500 that NY would have to
play .710 to tie. And if the Sox played .600 ball than the Yanks
would need to play .806 to tie. Thanks FJ for easing my stress.
In
less than a week after I wrote about my concern, Boston won and the
Yankees lost and the lead in the loss column went back to 9. As of
this writing, the Sox lead is 8
in the loss column with 18 games to play (NY has 19)
BULLETS
• One
of the amazing stories
about the Red Sox is Ryan Brasier who was pitching in Japan last
year. ERA of 1.73 and very
few inherited runners
allowed to score.
Now
we have Brandon Phillips who stuck around with the PawSox since June
hoping to have a chance of being with a team that could win the World
Series. It looks like hope may have just been rewarded. Think
Phillips will be on that Boston playoff team?
• In
case you missed it, Brandon Phillips channeled
Willie Mays Hayes from the
movie Major League II
when
he did that
backwards
lean after
homering in the 9th
to put Boston ahead of the
Braves.
• Cordarrelle
Patterson was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings after they
traded for the Patriots 1st
round pick
in
2013.
The
Pats got the Vikes 2nd,
3rd,
4th
and 7th
round picks for him. They used the picks for LB Jamie Collins, CB
Logan Ryan, WR Josh Boyce and traded the 7th
pick
for LeGarrette Blount.
Seems
ironic that Patterson is
now with NE.
• The
series with the Astros could be a Preview of Coming Attractions.
Houston is a formidable foe with as much firepower as the Red Sox.
The Astros lead the Majors in team ERA (3.10) while Boston is 4th
(3.66). It’s obvious from this recent series
that the Sox will need to shore up their relief pitching. Let’s
hope that Boston does just that.
• While
I don’t often mention my movie choices, the three movies that I
would recommend that I
really liked in the past little bit
are: Get Out, Three
Billboards Outside
Ebbing, Missouri and
Baby Driver.
EMAIL
Jim,
I'm
guessing that "Rockpile" was the band that you referenced.
Oddly enough, they were an opening act for a Denver based concert
that I attended, (circa 1979-80) that headlined Van Morrison. Was
not impressed with "Rockpile" and they were henceforth
referred to as "Shitpile"; besides...next to Van?
"Young
Will" LaPlante
Bill,
good guess but no. Wasn’t Rockpile the band with Nick Lowe and/or
Dave Edmunds? Never saw Van Morrison. Heard he could be great or
boozed up beyond control. - Z
How-do
James. I think the answer to this week's quiz is "The
Pretenders". their 1st album was one of the best debuts ever,
for my money. Chrissie Hynde being the 1 lone american paired with 3
Englishmen. The Davies' tune was "Stop your Sobbing".
Bobby
Sisto
Bobby,
yes it's the Pretenders and the Ray Davies' song is Stop Your
Sobbing. Davies also did the song Go to Sleep for the 2nd album. I
agree that the first album was one of the best ever. Can't remember a
bad song on it. - Z
Jim,
Ken
Forestal
Yes
Ken, it's Chrissie Hynde and the Pretenders. That first album was a
knock out. Brad took a pic of her when we saw them at RIC. Guy took
his camera away, but left the film in, so Brad has a pic or two of
her. She was pissed. Yeah Raymond Douglas Davies and Chrissie had a
short relationship which led to a daughter - Natalie (1983). Stop
Your Sobbing was the Davies penned tune, as you noted. Nick Lowe
produced the single. -Z
SPORTZINE
was written while listening to John Prine’s new cd – Tree
of Forgiveness.
THE
HOT CLUB
Professor
Peter had a good
trivia question. When was the first time that the National Anthem was
played at a sporting event? Turns out it was the 1st
game of the 1918 World Series, Boston
Red Sox vs.
the Chicago Cubs. So this year will be the 100th
Anniversary. The Professor wondered if it
might be a Red Sox- Cubs World Series matchup in 2018.
Snark said ‘Don’t play the Anthem in the World Series this year.’
(It seems that the
Professor is a little off on this trivia – explanation next time).
Recently
FootJoy pointed out to me that the best move Dave Dombrowski made
this season was waiving Hanley Ramirez and keeping Swihart after Alex
Cora talked him into dropping Hanley and keeping Swi. Best move by
both. Give credit to Dombrowski for listening to and heeding Cora.
Amazing that no team picked up Hanley.
I
pointed out to Charlie Clancy that the mast of a boat in the marina
was swaying back and forth rather vigorously. Charlie said,
“Someone’s getting lucky.”
Charlie
said that no team had come back, down 6 runs in the 8th
inning or later this season. Sure enough, it was 0-487 until the Red
Sox did it to the Atlanta Braves.
Fleet
Feet Pete had a previous job working for
Reebok.
One of his duties was to meet occasionally
with
Paul Fireman at Fireman’s Boston office. Someone asked Fleet Feet
what that was like. He said, “Like walking into a lion’s cage
wearing a 3 pork chop suit.”
A
pigskin pundit told me that if the Patriots win the AFC East and
Jacksonville or Indianapolis win their divisions, all 16
of the Patriots games in
2019 will be against teams in the
Eastern Time Zone.
THE
LAST TIME
THERE WAS A TRIVIA QUIZ -
ANSWER
The
question was: This band
shot to fame with the aid of a song penned by Ray Davies of the Kinks
and the production efforts of Nick Lowe. The band enjoyed great
success first in England. It was composed of 3 Englishmen and one
American. Name? Chrissie
Hynde and The Pretenders, of course. Only Bobby Sisto and Ken
Forestal guessed it.
THIS
ISSUE’S TRIVIA
This
singer wrote a # 1 song for the Rolling Stones. He also wrote songs
for Janis Joplin,
J
Geils Band and Wilson Pickett. He’s in the Rock and Roll Hall of
fame. Name?
posted by jdawson59 at 10:49 AM
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