Sunday, October 22, 2006

7th STRAIGHT WIN OVER BILLS


This game wasn't as close as the 28-6 score implied. The Pats jumped out to an early 14-3 lead and seemed as though they would blow the Bills out by half-time. Then they stalled in the 2nd quarter. The defense remained strong though and kept Buffalo from taking advantage of our inability to move the ball forward. They forced some turnovers, and even though the offense didn't do much with the ball, we kept the Bills from marching down field and kept them from getting good starting field position.

The Pats finally ended their long streak of deep passes that completely missed the intended receiver. Brady hit Jackson in stride and in the end zone to effectively end the game late in the 3rd quarter. The Pats ran out the clock, added another TD pass, and took down a 28-6 victory.

Nothing remarkable statistically in this game. Brady had a typical Brady day, 18/27, 196 yards, 2 TDs. The team rushed for 94 yards total. No receiver had more than 60 yards or 5 receptions.

Brady did move into 3rd place on the Patriots all-time passing list behind Bledsoe and Grogan.

Seymour left the game early with an arm problem after being nailed while on the ground. More on that when there is more on that.

This was just a typical Pats win, but it could have been sealed much earlier. Buffalo didn't play well and we came out of the gate playing great. Then we just stopped moving the ball forward. Against a good team, they might have taken advantage of that. Fortunately, Buffalo is not a good team.

The victory gives us a 1.5 game lead over the Jets, and a 2 game lead in the loss column. We're 4-0 in the division, which is huge. The Bills and Phins are now all but out of the race. Next week we're on the road to play the Vikings.

On a side note, the NFL's broadcasting rules really piss me off. I was watching the Steelers/Falcons game on CBS, but at 4:15, CBS had to stop live coverage. What'd they do? The guys in the studio watched the game and narrated what was happening. Really weird. Then they showed the play that had just happened on a tape delay. Why not just let us see the game live?

EAGLES CONTROL ACC DESTINY


November 23, 1984. That was the last time Boston College won a football game in the state of Florida. The 21 year, 11 month streak is over.

#22 Boston College went into their game with unranked Florida State as underdogs. They came out with control over the ACC Atlantic Division. Clemson is in first place of the division with a 4-1 record after beating Georgia Tech. However, BC is tied with them in the loss column and posess the tie-breaker. In fact, Boston College is the only team that has beaten Clemson this season, something which will help the Eagles in the BCS and the eyes of the national sports media.

NC State dropped down in the divisional standings with their loss to Maryland. At the same time, Maryland is now in the mix for the divisional title.

Boston College has a home game against Buffalo next week. It seems as though every team in Buffalo is playing a Boston team in a 7 day period. In fact, they are. After BC disposes of Buffalo, they'll have 4 ACC games to play. They'll be at #25 Wake Forest on the 4th of November and could very will win or lose the divisional title that day. Then they get Duke, then Maryland. The Maryland game may or may not be vital. Then they're on the road in Miami.

We beat Wake Forest, we've pretty much got the division wrapped up. We lose to them and we'll need Clemson, Wake, maybe NC State and Maryland to all lose another game. The important thing is that we control our destiny. We win, we're in.

BC did come close to blowing this game. I thought it would be another heartbreaking BC loss when they're on the precipice of being an elite program. O'Brien's decision to take a safety at the end of the game was simply incorrect. He ran off 0:08 from the clock, and gained maybe 20 to 30 yards of field position. But he also made it so a single touchdown would win the game for FSU. One missed tackle, a big return, a blown coverage, and the game would be over. They wouldn't even be forced to try an extra-point to tie it.

Boston College might be able to move into the Top 20 in the national rankings with their win over FSU. BC is already 20th in the BCS, but will probably move up. #19 Georgia Tech, #17 Nebraska, and #14 Oregon all lost this week so the Eagles may wind up somewhere around 16th or 17th.