Given the troubles with our O line and a somewhat green QB, Cassel could have his work cut out for him. My memory is a bit faded, but I seem to recall Freeney somewhat contained (injured?) in the second half of our 2007 matchup. Cassel’s getting better in the pocket; against the Rams, he was moving up instead of getting happy feet and going sideways like he did against previous opponents.

At any rate, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Pats are working on quick options to Faulk and Welker vs. looking for the long ball to Moss; it hasn’t been there anyway, but Freeney and Mathis simply won’t give Cassel the time to find the vertical guy.

The consensus is Mayo is coming along nicely. shake n bake did an excellent analysis earlier in the year on the Pats defense. To sum it up, defensive players in Belichick’s system typically take 2-3 years to become productive as it’s a fairly complex scheme. Mayo started day one. Some of that could be the lack of another option for ILB, but I believe he’s just that good. He had some trouble reading pass plays early on, but that’s just a matter of reps; he’s picking thing up fast. And yes, he absolutely matches my expectations.

I was not surprised he was drafted so early. I think the Patriots had their eye on him for awhile and were certainly in need of some youth and speed at linebacker. Oh, and he routinely tops the list of downs-per-player!

so he better get the start, what say you MaPatsFan?

He’s still on the injury report as did not participate, but so is LaMont Jordan and he’s projected to be back. Jordan’s more of a 2nd half guy, brought in when the defense is tired. The safe answer TODAY would be you will see the starters for the Rams game, namely Kevin Faulk with lots of support from rookie BenJarvus Green-Ellis. Given those guys are healthy and productive, there’s probably no reason to risk Morris as Laurence Maroney’s been IR’d for the year.

Not a nightmare, but he’s definitely a fill-in, not a starter. We’ve got two mediocre cats on the right side now, and it ain’t a pretty picture. Thank god it isn’t Cassel’s blind side—at least he can see what’s about to hit him. We’ve had to keep TE help around a lot—part of the reason Ben Watson hasn’t been catching many balls so far.

He was out most of the year last year with an injury. Last week we had a firesale on DB’s—everyone went down, it seemed — and Mike got himself some game time. I think that he’ll eventually be a solid contributor. He’s an excellent athlete. But he’s still a little lost back there sometimes. (Man, do we miss Rodney.)

In my preseason ramblings, I had Richardson on the bubble simply because there were so many people in front of him. I mean, we had 10 CBs on the preseason roster! As JHR pointed out, he missed his entire rookie season due to injury, a bummer for a rookie trying to make a name for himself. Even if he was healthy in 2007, I don’t think he would’ve seen much time behind Asante Samuel and Ellis Hobbs. I would’ve been shocked if Belichick tinkered with anything in that season given how it was progressing. 2008 is a whole different story. CB Jonathan Wilhite got torched on a few plays against the Rams, so I wouldn’t put it past BB to rotate in Richardson to see what happens. Hobbs is our main guy in that position, but I think he lacks the swagger and the edge to play at a high level. I hate to say this, but I miss Asante Samuel.

Anytime is fine. Poking a little fun at GQ Tom is always in season, especially when he’s your hated rival.

Hindsight’s twenty twenty, but I do miss Asante. He was a ball hawk and a real threat, imo. I think Samuel made offenses avoid that side of the field. Unfortunately, he wanted top 5 money and the Patriots just couldn’t afford him; he had already been franchised for 2007. In addition, his contract was setup so that if he met certain goals, he couldn’t be franchised again; he met those goals. We also had a few things to fix. Ex: linebacker. Tedy Bruschi won’t be the perennial ironman at ILB forever and Jerod Mayo is turning out to be a fantastic pick for us.