The Patriots are in London this weekend to take on the St. Louis Rams on Sunday afternoon. (1pm EST) Jim Nantz and Phil Simms have the call for CBS.

Catch all the coverage at PatriotsLinks.com.

No easy fix for defense – If you’ve listened to sports radio this week, you’ve probably heard two themes from callers – “The secondary SUCKS” and “They need to blitz more!” Matt Chatham says that those themes “whiff on reality” and that things are much more complicated than that.

The Red Sox are piecing together John Farrell’s coaching staff, naming Torey Lovullo as Farrell’s bench coach.

This offseason is big from a player perspective as well.

Why this Red Sox offseason will be different: Uncertain contender status will impact roster building – Alex Speier looks at how this winter will be like none in recent memory.

Tim Lincecum could be worth gamble for Sox – Starting the hot stove season, John Tomase thinks a Lincecum for Jacoby Ellsbury swap might be worth taking a chance on.

The Celtics are prepping for their season opener next Tuesday night in Miami. Get all the coverage at CelticsLinks.com.

Ray plays down the rift – The former Celtics guard just won’t shut up, as now in an attempt at appeasing the fans, he says he’ll “always be a Celtic.” The story reveals that in addition to more money, the Celtics also offered Allen a no-trade clause in an effort to keep him here.

The Celtics Get Jet-Fueled – Grantland writer Amos Barshad has a look at the man who will be replacing Allen in many ways, Jason Terry, and the impact he has already had on his new teammates in the preseason.

TNT analyst Steve Kerr says Celtics are a long shot – Chad Finn’s media column has Kerr giving the Celtics an outside shot at making the finals, but doesn’t consider them a true contender. Finn also has a number of local media notes, including the absence of Greg Dickerson on CSNNE Celtics broadcasts in the preseason.

TNT’s Steve Kerr claims Celtics are biggest threat for Heat – Bill Doyle has more from Kerr.

Ray Allen jeopardizing his legacy with odd comments – My SB Nation Boston column looks at Ray Allen’s missteps with the media this offseason.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

10 thoughts on “Patriots Set For London, Ray Allen Won’t Shut Up”

  1. TGIF…been a long week.Last night watched Felger, Mazz and company trying to decipher WHO Brady was talking about or “calling out” in his press conference….All Brady said was something about, “taking coaching” they made an entire show out of this.

    Was he talking about the defense?…the offense line?….the recievers?……Good grief, sent them into full “conspiracy mode”

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    1. At one point, I expected a camera error panning to one of the sides, with Albert Breer pulling levers, smoke everywhere, and then someone on the set saying, “pay no attention to the man behind the curtain”

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  2. Let the Ray Allen thing go already. His feelings were hurt. So were KG and some of the other guys. It’s normal separation behavior. You should have seen how Teresa was when she found out I was with Catherine.

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  3. Heidi might be joining MLB Network: http://bit.ly/QKtQ6B
    (I’m surprised how long she’s been off-the-air.)
    ———————
    Jason Cole says Hoodie should do the unthinkable and rehire Mangini. At this point, would he rather be coaching DBs or talking down to DBs like Skip Bayless?

    http://yhoo.it/QKu1Pv
    ———————-
    If you missed it, Premier Stern is stepping down in 2014. If you’re missing the “NFL Network”-ish ballwashing tributes on ESPN that look produced by the DPRK, Woj does a great summary of what it means: http://t.co/rzb4vyRZ (funny that Woj also turned down ESPN, yet again, for a job offer..)

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  4. I would welcome Mangini back with open arms at this point, but Belichick holds a grudge better than anyone so it will probably never happen. I mean we’ve had Matt Patricia, the most over-hyped “coaching prospect” I can ever remember (if there even is such a thing). There’s been little to no sustainable improvement made in the secondary during his three seasons running the defense. This despite the team making it an area of intense focus each offseason, as evidenced by the numerous high draft picks and free-agent signings used in an attempt to fill the CB/safety void.

    Either the Pats FO has been extremely poor and/or unlucky in drafting DBs, or their scheme isn’t working. I tend to think it’s a combo of both, but I certainly haven’t seen anything from the coaching staff this season that makes me think they are getting the most out of sub-par talent in the secondary. And please spare me the Matt Chatham straw-man argument that calling out the secondary means you’re just being willfully ignorant of the team’s other issues. Sorry Matt, I don’t recall a single person who tried to suggest the Pats secondary woes are “the singular problem with this defense”.

    However, unlike the secondary, the D-line and linebacker corps are filled with promising younger players – players that struggle at times and need to get better, but seem to make the right adjustments and improve, then MAKE BIG PLAYS AT CRITICAL MOMENTS. The absolute opposite is true of the secondary – it’s filled with underachieving, high round picks that have either stagnated, regressed or been placed on IR. And when the game is on the line, you can count on them to lose complete control of their bowels with a dumb PI penalty or a failure to turn around on the ball.

    And this isn’t some recent phenomenon – the secondary sucks just about EVERY week, even when facing the bottom tier of NFL offenses. While the front 7 or the offense can suck in a particular game here and there, no group sucks more consistently on a week-to-week basis than the Pats secondary. That’s why I think it’s the biggest issue facing the team (no, not the ONLY issue, Matt Chatham).

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    1. Mangini cost him a #1 draft pick, half a million dollars and tried to snag some of his coaching staff behind his back when he left the Pats. I don’t see how you could forgive someone for that.

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      1. Spare us with that nonsense…Belichick would do the same thing if he thought it would give him an advantage as a matter of fact Belichick stole a million dollars from the Jets and stole coaches and other personal from the Jets. So what Mangini did was par for the course. Belichick got done to him what he did to Parcells in that regard, The videotaping scandal is a different situation which still Belichick only has himself to blame. How arrogant is he that after repeated warnings he still had the nerve to do it in the Jets stadium. That goes along in his arrogance and stubborness when it comes to his outdated defensive schemes. What is that saying about continually doing the same thing expecting different results? He’s been getting his butt kissed for so long that he really thinks he is the smartest man in football.

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      2. Actually, it was Teflon Tannenbaum that cost Belichick a #1 pick and a half-million bucks. The guy that actually alerted league security in the bowels of Giants Stadium that day – not the guy that was on the sidelines coaching his team – ought to get the credit for that.

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