It’s a two-for-Thursday over at Patriots Daily, where Dan Snapp is getting that old familiar feeling about this Patriots team. Scott Benson goes over Five Questions that seem pertinent this week.

In the Metro, I’m hoping for steady improvement from this Patriots team as the season wears on.

Michael Felger has this week’s Patriots mailbag, there is also this week’s edition of the Ask Reiss mailbag.

Adam Kilgore has Vince Wilfork avoiding a suspension from the league. Rich Garven has Wilfork talking about his aggressive approach to the game. Karen Guregian has Wilfork escaping his meeting with Roger Goodell with just a fine. Steve Buckley has Wilfork saying that he needs to learn to play until the whistle and not after.

Dan Shaughnessy wonders if Bill Belichick is secretly enjoying the challenge of coaching without Tom Brady. Bill Reynolds says Belichick is doing one of his best coaching jobs. Bob Halloran wonders if Brady is thinking about retirement.

 Mark Farinella has Terrence Wheatley getting better with experience. Rich Garven has Wheatley facing a big challenge this week. David Brown says that the entire secondary is going to have their hands full on Sunday. Ben Swasey looks at how impressive the Patriots have been on special teams this season. Christopher Price has Stephen Gostkowski in the midst of a great season. Guregian has the young defensive backs feeling a bit more prepared for Manning after seeing Tom Brady every day during training camp.

 Andy Vogt says that the stakes are different in this week’s Colts/Patriots matchup. Hector Longo feels sorry for Peyton Manning. Daniel Barbarisi says that the Patriots won’t take the struggling Colts for granted. Shalise Manza Young says that Matt Cassel’s first seven games are remarkably similar to Tom Brady’s first seven.

Kilgore’s notebook says that just because the hype isn’t as loud doesn’t mean this isn’t an important game between the Colts and Patriots on Sunday night. Garven’s notebook has a look at Ellis Hobbs’ big year on kick returns. Glen Farley’s notebook has Wilfork avoiding a suspension. Guregian’s notebook says that with Rodney Harrison out, the Patriots will need to find a new way to cover Dallas Clark. The Projo notebook has Wheatley saying that he’s learned from his mistakes.

Celtics/Bruins

Mark Murphy has Paul Pierce driven to be even better this season. Mike Fine says that there were plenty of questions answered on Tuesday night. Marc J. Spears has Rajon Rondo hungry for more.

Stephen Harris says that it has been worth staying up late to see these Bruins. Kevin Paul Dupont looks at the contributions of the NYT line for the Bruins.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

13 thoughts on “Colts Coming Into Focus”

  1. Yeah I’m still waiting for all the writers who totally bashed Belichick when Brady went down, and making fun of his record without Brady(ignoring how he improved that Browns team). He should really be commended if the season keeps going in this direction.

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  2. I’m fascinated by Bob Halloran’s pensive study on the possibility of Tom Brady retiring. Leave it to Halloran to look beyond the 5-2 record and the coming showdown with the rival Colts to speculate on something that any reasonable person knows has no chance of happening at any point in the near future. It takes one giant brain to stay five steps behind the crowd as Halloran has consistently done with great distinction. Just goes to prove that all those “give Drew’s job back to Drew” thinkpieces from 2001 were no fluke.

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  3. To be honest Tiffany, Belichick ought to be commended even if this team starts to struggle because of all the mounting injuries, which may start catching up with them the next few weeks as the schedule starts to get more difficult.

    If the Pats fail to make the playoffs it will likely be due to injuries and not poor coaching decisions.

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  4. Bob Halloran…a true sports media hack if ever there was one. His book on boxing was roundly panned, and it seems as though with this metro piece he’ll grab dough from wherever it’s offered. Here, he takes a ’60 Minutes’ interview from 2 years ago and fashions his own ‘Chicken Little’ story. He’s a disgrace to a profession that revels in same.

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    1. I think the real question is which type is more harmful to the society of sports media–buffoons like Burton or Butch, or folks like Halloran and Shaughnessy who have a modicum of intelligence but waste it on moronic, hacked up opinions like these?

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      1. I know that making some sort of distinction between the two types would be a wise thing to try, but it’s not necessarily possible. They’re both tiresome. You expect more from a Shaughnessy, of course, but the whole sports media cabal has descended to a depth never before seen. Reversing the trend is, to me, an impossibility. The more we hate them the angrier they get; the angrier they get, the more we hate them. In the immortal words from the movie ‘War Games,’ ‘The only winning move is not to play.’

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  5. Didn’t the World Series end last night? I know it wasn’t Boston based, but there were no articles of note on this?

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    1. Whenever stories are omitted, whether it’s out of town baseball, or BC athletics, or whatever, it is always an issue of time. I try to get the most relevant stuff out here in the time that I have.

      The World Series is certainly a worthy story, but right now it is still ranks below the local teams today.

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  6. Bob Halloran and Hector Longo are in the same idiot vein as Butch Sterns, Steve Burton, Mike Felger, etc…It’s astounding that morons like this are still able to find work. It’s amazing to see where a 2 digit iq can get someone.

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    1. Not sure I agree, Sam. At some point in time Halloran possessed some intellect. Go back to his early days in the Boston market and you’d be surprised to find some clever and witty thought in his work.

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      1. That HAD to be prior to 2001, because he’s been the same idiot ever since I first heard of him with those ridiculous sobbing love letters he used to write to Drew after that brown nose Brady undercut him while Drew was fighting for his life.

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  8. “…there is also this week’s edition of the Ask Reiss mailbag…”

    Dude (Bruce), how dare you give Reiss second billing to that Felger. Big thumbs down. Remember: Reiss good, Felger douche.

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