Patriots Season Outlook II

Bill Belichick was bang-on after the Patriots' 24-21 win over the Seahawks Sunday when he said "that was a great example of 60 minutes."

The Patriots never stopped fighting in a game that not only saw them miss their starters that were out before the game (Tom Brady, Lawrence Mareoney, Adalius Thomas, Rodney Harrison, Pierre Woods, Vince Redd, Kelly Washington)but during the game lost defenders Mike Vrabel, Teddi Bruchi and Vince Wilfork.

Junior Seau and Rosey Colvin had to turn into every down linebackers, after both were family men in street clothes less than a week before the game, Seau hadn't even had a real practice with the team.

Now the Patriots are staying on the west coast, and face a Raiders team, that although they have shown some fight against some teams this year, (Bills, Jets etc.) it should be a win for the pats.

In most circumstances.

News of Matt Cassel's father passing away on Monday night has come about, and Cassel is back home and the Patriots are not sure when he will be back. First of all, my thoughts and prayers are with Matt and his family. And secondly, I hope Cassel has a little Brett Favre monday night after his faster passed in him.

As far as the Patriots playoff chances go, It looks like they are going to have to win out, as it is almost guaranteed that either the dolphins or jets will get to 10 wins, and maybe 11. The Ravens have a very tough remaining schedule and are by no means a lock for a wild card spot.

The big match up is still next week in Foxborough against the Cardinals. Lets hope its cold and rainy day and the Patriots running game and defence can dominate the game, and force Kurt "fumble alot" Warner into some untimely turnovers.

Sam Mitchell got the ax last night.

I was never a huge fan of Sam Mitchell, but i came to respect what he did and never was totally against him as a coach. It seemed he got along well with his players and emphasized the right things.

Emphasizing something, and actually getting the players to buy into it are two different things though, and the Raptors have not been able to defend in years. Mitchell did a great job with a young club, bring a group of European and American players, many who could not even understand each other, together and win 47 games two years ago, albeit in a division with 3 deadbeat teams at the time.

Now that the team has such a solid nucleus and is focused on advancing in the playoffs, The Raptors need more of an "x's and o's" guy. I think that Jay Triano is more of that, although I think you are crazy if you think that Collangelo sees Triano as his long term option.

Look at the history of Raptors coaches: Sam Mitchell, Butch Carter,Kevin O'Neill, Brenden Malone, Gene Keady, Darell Walker. None of these guys have ever had another NBA head coaching job and many have never been heard from again. Outside of Lenny Wilkens the Raptors have never had an "A List" coach. Bryan Collangelo never picked Sam Mitchell and now we will see who he brings in for next year. Personally, I think Avery Johnson is holding by. We need a quality coach in Order to help convince Chris Bosh that Toronto is a good place for him to sign a long term deal.

Here's Hoping.

Raptors out West

The Raptors got beat pretty handly on Sunday night in LA, but that I don't think that really upset too many Raptors fans, as the Lakers appear to have something special going on.

With O'Neill out of the lineup, it left Bosh to pound with Bynum, which Bosh is not built for, and clearly took away from his offensive game.

Something special about playing in LA with Jack Nicholson and David Beckham courtside, and Kobe seemingly scoring anytime he wanted. I enjoyed watching this game as much as any Raptors blow out loss I can remember.

My Sports Quick Thoughts

Leafs sign Burke. Although I think people in Toronto are overrating him, he is probably the best guy available, and hopefully he will bring some credibility back to a franchise, and a fan base that deserves it.

Surprise surprise, another Wide receiver in trouble. If you ask me, his days as a Giant are over.

On the same topic, this is the fourth or fifth incident recently involving an NFL player and a gun, the league as got to do something about the trend.

Ted Rogers has done much for the Toronto sports scene even though he was not the biggest fan himself, we thank him and his family for the contributions and keep them in our prayers.

Bosh may be putting up MVP numbers, but MVPs don't come from .500 teams.

Congratulation Michael Phelps on winning the prestigious Sports Illustrated Sportsman of the year for 2008.

The Browns have gone from 2 quality starting quarterbacks, to none. Did you hear that return specialist Josh Cribbs is the backup QB this weekend?