The Patriots put together a dominating performance in London yesterday, smoking the Rams 45-7. The last two times the Patriots have faced a Jeff Fisher-coached squad the cumulative score is 104-7.

When WBZ interrupted Patriots fifth quarter to go to Gov. Patrick’s press conference for the hurricane, I flipped over to CSNNE, where Mike Felger, Ty Law and Troy Brown were ripping the secondary and saying that major changes need to be made and some real soul-searching needs to be done during the bye week.

Now, I understand that one game does not mean that the secondary issues are gone, far from it, but after a runaway win like that, all that they can talk about is the problems with the secondary?

All day Friday, Felger was telling us about the bad vibes he had about the Patriots, and how they didn’t want to be in London, and they wouldn’t be prepared, and that they would get their doors blown off by the Rams. Mazz of course agreed with him. Troy Brown picked the Rams to win the game, and then after the game dismissed the win because it was only the Rams. Um, OK. I’m a little disturbed that great players like Law and Brown, who have so much knowledge and experience to impart, have sold their souls to Mike Felger for some airtime on cable television, where they just follow his lead in pronouncing doom and gloom. (Though, away from Felger, they did change their tune somewhat.) It was pretty similar on WEEI.

It is really unbelievable to hear what is said on-air about this team, both TV and radio.

Whatever happened to the “easiest schedule in the history of the NFL?” Now I’ve heard on-air people worried about Miami, and there is still Houston and San Francisco on the schedule as well.

By the way, did you know that Dan Shaughnessy proclaimed last season’s schedule the easiest in NFL history, and also this season’s?

If you spout this crap year after year, does it ever dawn on you that perhaps the reason that the schedule appears easy is because the team playing it is pretty damn good? No? I didn’t think so.

Just a few links and back to storm preparations:

What we learned Sunday: Why there’s a feeling of familiarity with these Patriots – Christopher Price says that this team so far is very similar to the two previous editions.

Patriots show off their best – Mike Reiss has the Patriots able to put it all together.

Patriots defense rebounds after another shaky start – Greg A Bedard has the defense putting in a solid effort.

I did enjoy the lede of Tom E Curran’s game column:

Crushing afternoon of football for legions in New England who live to lament the decline of the Patriots.

A 45-7 Pats win in London over the Rams. Bitter soup for the “I hand-wring, therefore I am” crowd. But it was exactly what the Patriots needed to close out a star-crossed first half of the season and head into their bye week on a high.

So, while the bleating harpies withdraw their forks from the “aging” carcass of the quarterback, it is time, once again, for the annual Ode To Mental Toughness column.

Patriots secondary finally shows signs of improvement – Curran also notes that the defensive backs even contributed.

Get the rest of the coverage at PatriotsLinks.com.

A couple of Celtics links:

Celtics’ Jeff Green shows heart in comeback – Shira Springer looks at the comeback of the Celtics forward.

Celtics’ depth, optimism ride high – Chris Forsberg says that this Celtics team might be more talented, top-to-bottom than the 2008 champions.

Prelude to more series matters – Steve Bulpett says that even though tomorrow night’s opener will be dissected ad nauseam, (“OMG — did anyone shake Ray Allen’s hand?”) the game actually means nothing, big picture.

Published by Bruce Allen

Automattician.

12 thoughts on “Patriots Secondary Again Embarassed in 45-7 Win Over Rams”

  1. Great take, Bruce…….Ty Law and Troy Brown are like 2 Felger “Mini-Me’s” on that show. It’s disappointing. Not saying I want Ty and Troy to be “cheerleaders” but you said it, they’ve “sold their souls” to Felger…….Think back to when those guys were playing and how they viewed the media, now look at what they’ve become……too funny….

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  2. I LOVE the sarcastic titles on these posts. I just know I am going to enjoy it.
    I didn’t watch more than 2 moinutes of CSNNE’s hideous pregame show, but the 2mins I did catch included the ‘bold predictions’.
    Felger’s: “A long day for Tom Brady”
    Oh Felgie… even a broken clock is right twice a day.

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  3. Bruce, prepare for some sort of statement like this made by the Pet Parrot today: “Mike, I know the defense only allowed 7 points but, against a team like that, what can you really learn?”

    Now I admit, the secondary has issues and yesterday doesn’t mean SB here we come. But what more can this team do?If they have a great game, the opponent is too weak. If they stink it up against a weak team, the sky is falling. I didn’t think they would only allow 7 points, but isn’t that amazing against any team nowadays, with the passing and rules the way they are?

    The fact that the Rams made the early big play is concerning, but the DEF looked good after that, right? Doubtful in Felger’s eyes. Be prepared to hear how Tom Brady covered up for the DEF.

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    1. Of course, coming in, they were scared because Bradford was a good QB who would light them up, and the Rams front four invoked memories of the fearsome foursome. Janoris Jenkins was going to shut down Wes Welker and Courtland Finnegan was going to shut down everyone else. Now, it’s “just the Rams.”

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      1. Felger just stated that “the Rams are not a good team, but he expected the Patriots to lose.” They are poorly coached team with a Shottenheimer, however the Pats did have SOME injuries so we shouldn’t discount the win. Some injuries? Hernandez, Mankins, Gregory, Chung, Arrington (left early in the 1st Q), Dowling.

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  4. I actually watched a small amount of Felger’s post-game show yesterday. I usually boycott him but there wasn’t much else on at the time because of the cut-away for the governor’s press conference on the other channel. There was a segment when they showed the Dolphins-Jets highlights, and Felger said something like “the Jets don’t help their cause any by being such obnoxlous trash talkers all week and then going out and getting their butts kicked like that.”
    I was then expecting Felger to say something like: “You know the Jets are now 3-5; they’re 11-13 since the start of the 2011 season; they’ve been completely humiliated at home, twice, in the last month; their roster is top-heavy as far as the talent goes, and injuries to guys like Revis and Holmes have exposed their lack of depth because they spent all their salary cap money on just 5 or 6 of their top players and left very little for the rest of the roster; and I guess this proves, once and for all, that I was 100% wrong when I said less than two years ago that the Jets’ way of building a contending team is superior to the Patriots’ model.”
    …..Then I woke up and realized that expecting Felger to ever admit that one of his “contrarian talking points” was wrong was like expecting my dog to clean up after himself when I take him for a walk.

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  5. One of the arguments we’ve been hearing in recent weeks is that the Patriots “don’t have a team identity” and that somehow this is a major problem (couldn’t bother reading Gasper today but it looks like he devoted an entire column on it). This is one of those points that only matters to reporters, similar to “Belichick snubs the media” or this guy or that guy “is always accountable to the media.” It has no bearing to me as a fan and certainly doesn’t matter to on-field performance.

    That said, they actually have an identity – the most balanced offense in the league. They are first in total yards and in 5th in BOTH passing and running yardage. They also lead the league in points scored (and this will be true even after they take the bye).

    Like in similar years they give up a lot of yardage (23rd in league) but are in top 12 for fewest points allowed. They have forced the most fumbles (and recoveries) and are tied for 7th in interceptions.

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  6. Bruce, are there any numbers out on the CSNNE pre/post? They must do well. All CSN RSNs do the same with their respective teams but if the repeat numbers of the Brady/Hoodie pressers (do something like 1.1-1.5?) are any indication, I would not be surprised if they do well.

    That said.. Felger + Ty/Troy picked the Rams. Can’t blame them. I would have picked them if I had to put $ on something. Against that grain, 50+ of 60 ESPN/SI analysts and most people I read picked the Tigers to win the WS. The nice thing? 6 days ago I got Tigers at +160. Easiest money ever. Sidebar.. lets continue..

    On the production of pre/post: they clearly let Felger assume his TSH role. I can’t say it’s a gamble because they do move the dial, but I thought they would do something different. Most of us here listen to sportstalk daily, so I think our reaction is going to be the same, “oh, there is Felger again”. What if he just did a host role or changed it up for pre/post? I have no clue would happen.

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  7. Your hatred of Felger is beyond obnoxious at this point Bruce. You have zero credibility. I’ve been watching CSN’s postgame show… for some reason I like that compared to the competition (or lack thereof in the market) you actually get a little substance from their shows. I just went back and watched the very top of the show. Here’s a transcript.

    Felger: “Welcome, just for clarity’s sake, all three of us picked the St. Louis Rams in this game, we thought it was gonna be a rough spot for New England, and I do think it was a rough spot for New England. We also said in the pregame, if they win this one, chalk this up as a good win. St. Louis obviously is not the caliber of team as you are, but the Patriots are injured, tough travel, they’ve had a tough first half of the season, now they go into the bye at 5-3. You should feel good about this win.”

    Ty and Troy both follow up with compliments to a great effort, nice job by McDaniels, Brady, et al. Troy says outside of the first drive a great effort by the defense. I’m not going to waste my time going back and re-watching two hours of a show to refute your point but good god, Bruce, did Felger bully you in elementary school or something?

    His schtick can absolutely get old and he is overexposed on CSN. I know you said you only “flipped over” from 5th quarter (I know you must have missed the hard-hitting analysis from Steve Burton) but give me a break. You are turning into the man you hate so much at his worst: finding a snippet of a 2 hour show and drawing one broad conclusion off of it. Sidebar, just saw the open of Sports Tonight and he said he thought it was a good win.

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    1. yes, “Fact-Checker” Felger did say those things AT THE TOP of the show. Then for the rest of the show took a TOTALLY different tact and downplayed the victory……which is the point…Felger is a BLOWHARD who talks out BOTH SIDES OF HIS MOUTH

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  8. There is more than a bit of pleasure and satisfaction seeing Danny Shaughnessy get locked behind The Globe’s paywall…almost as humiliating as being locked inside The Globe’s Soviet-styled HQ building. Adding insult to injury is the laughably low dollar amount needed to ‘unlock’ Shaughnessy; a couple bucks a month lets you read his drivel. Yet, ONE small order of McDonald’s french fries is worth more than a month of Shaughnessy. THAT is the ultimate humiliation swallowing this insufferable writer up.

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  9. The Cardinals are an absolute dumpster fire. They had 7 rushing yards last night. They could barely put 3 on the board last night. Alex Smith (SF QB) rushed for 6 himself. Part of that is definitely the 49ers but also.. Arizona is who we thought they were… doesn’t this make you feel like the 34-14 loss to the Browns in Mangini’s last year (2010) in Cleveland?

    Is it me or does Ray Allen just need to shut his mouth? I’m so sick of hearing his name now..

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