Entries Tagged 'Patriots News' ↓

Plenty of more national attention for the surging Pats, this time after Tom Brady and the receivers dismantled one of the NFL’s better defenses.

Roosevelt Colvin and the Pats defense had plenty to celebrate Sunday.

BOSTON GLOBE

Seymour proves to be a bit rusty in return - Mike Reiss and Chris Gasper tag-team to tell the tale of Richard Seymour’s return, a non-factor factor in New England’s latest dominant win, 52-7, over Washington.

Defense felt it needed to make point - Reiss chimes in on the defense’s dominance of Washington, noting their multiple turnovers and complete frustration of Washington’s inept offense.

For Vrabel, both sides now - Globe regional writer Monique Walker tackles Mike Vrabel’s versatility in a strong feature piece.

BOSTON HERALD

Under scrutiny - Karen Guregian writes on Bill Belichick and how the coach is being taken to task for running up final scores. Another nice piece from the former columnist.

Pats keep rolling, set to deal with Colts - With seemingly every other Herald writer covering the Sox in the Series, Guregian doubles her effort to get across a solid gamer.

NEW YORK TIMES

This season, Moss is in the mood to play - William C. Rhoden, longtime New York Times “Sports of the Times” columnist, takes Randy Moss to task for his lack of effort in the past, and his current success.

The murmuring about Belichick and Brady running up the score continue to get louder, on a national scale.

THE WASHINGTON POST

Brady gets it, all right - Rather than find fault with the Pats, Washington Post columnist Sally Jenkins says that the Redskins should learn from quarterback Tom Brady and coach Bill Belichick’s drive for perfection.

Redskins go a little too quietly - Similarly, Michael Wilbon claims its the Redskins’ own fault they got beat so bad, saying that they should have attacked Brady when the score started slipping away.

– Cameron Smith, Globe, Herald photos

Go ahead, take the 16 1/2 points. We dare you.

Make no mistake, this Washington Redskins team isn’t exactly a collection of world beaters. They’ve struggled to score points throughout the season. They watched leads against the Giants and Packers evaporate into thin air in both of their losses. They boast a cool, collected quarterback whose young enough to get ID’ed in most states.

Adalius Thomas and the Pats defense may have a lot to say about just how confused Jason Taylor is on Sunday, and ergo, how close the Redskins actually get.

But despite those problems, this Redskins team is not as bad as many, likely including most fans in New England, think they are. They have a dominant defense, a pair of wideouts as good as almost any in the league and coaches who won’t be afraid to bring all out blitzes with so little expected of them.

Believe it or not, Redskins running back Clinton Portis wasn’t completely out of line when he said Washington had the most talent of any team in the league. Well, he was out of line, but maybe not by as much as most people think he is. The Redskins have compiled more speedy playmakers on defense than any team outside of Baltimore, their closest regional rival. And who captains that group? None other than London Fletcher-Baker, former extraordinary New England enemy via Buffalo. They have Portis, a back whose been kept under wraps by injuries and inefficiency early this year, but who has the power and speed to break open nearly any game. They have Antwaan Randle El, a wide receiver who poses a versatile threat for a possession grab or deep route over the middle.

Despite all of Washington’s speed and hitting prowess, the Redskins should still struggle to control Tom Brady’s trio of top notch receivers; Randy Moss, Donte’ Stallworth and Wes Welker. And there’s little doubt that budding quarterback Jason Campbell will havce a hard time reading the defenses designed by Bill Belichick and executed by Tedy Bruschi, Adalius Thomas and co.

In the end, make no mistake, this should be a New England win. It’s just possible that Campbell may find Randle El and Santana Moss for a few more deep balls than people expect, and Brady may find more opposition in front of his receivers than he’s used to.

And that just may make this game a lot more competitive than a lot of people think it’s going to be, a trend that might even be in New England’s best interest right about now.

– Cameron Smith, AP Photo

Sure, the Dolphins are 0-6. Their designated starting quarterback, veteran Trent Green, is officially done for the year after yet another head-scrambling concussion. So how can Miami possibly expect to compete with undefeated New England Sunday?

Tom Brady is a cover boy again. Surprised? Neither are the Dolphins.

They can’t. But that doesn’t mean they won’t try.

Just look at past experience. No defense gets under Tom Brady’s skin more than Miami’s. They spoiled the team’s glory run down the stretch in 2005. They knocked Tommy boy around like a rag doll last year, to the point that it was the Pats who were hardly even competitive. Even Bill Belichick was scratching his head over his team’s struggles with the perennially lowly ‘Fins after the debacle in Miami last year.

Add unseasonable heat - in all seasons - to the equation, and you’ve got a sudden set of question marks that just make things a bigger question.

That being said, New England clearly should dominate this game exactly as they have all six others they’ve played this year. They’ll have a distinct advantage on all defensive sets, using experience linebackers again up-and-coming runner Ronnie Brown and a struggling Miami offensive line. They should be able to frustrate fill-in quarterback Cleo Lemon, a signal caller who is bound to get pasted by Miami fans who are still clamoring for Cleveland rookie Brady Quinn (you’ll remember his awkward departure from the green room in last spring’s NFL draft after being passed over by Miami … for receiver Ted Ginn. Now Cleveland doesn’t need him and Miami has no one to throw the ball. Interesting how that one is working out, isn’t it?). That matchup could get awful ugly.

Then there’s the New England offense, which currently looks unstoppable. Miami is sure to blitz the hell out of New England, but that doesn’t mean it’ll be as effective as it has in the past, when defensive end Jason Taylor and linebacker Zach Thomas have spent so much time in Brady’s face mask that he’s smelled their breath for a week. This year the Patriot offensive line has improved from sturdy to dominant. And Brady suddenly has former Dolphin Wes Welker, the ultimate receiving safety valve when the blitz comes hard.

Of course, none of this ensures that any of these things will happen. And whenever a team looks like it has a whitewashing level of dominance entering a game, something usually slips.

That may happen again Sunday, but this year it’s incredibly unlikely that enough will slip to make a difference. Or so it seems.

– Cameron Smith

How good are the Patriots? Good enough that media outlets far and wide, well beyond the normal scope of Pats-centric coverage in New England, are weighing in on Brady’s bunch and their chance of running the table. As each week goes on without a New England loss, it’s likely that the attention will only increase. Or at least continue.

Randy Moss is happy and winning, so everyone just hold your breath.

So, with that we’ll clue in to more than just the usual suspects, if you will. Still, that’s always a good place to start:

BOSTON GLOBE

QB receives more support this season — Bob Ryan drops a doozie on paper, talking about, fairly predictably, the sudden explosion of the Pats passing attack. Another nice effort from the city’s best columnist. No surprise there.

Moss has praise for Belichick — The Globe’s go-to guys on the Pats beat, Mike Reiss and Chris Gasper, come through with a strong piece about the respect Randy Moss has for his new coach, a revelation which only became more striking after Terrell Owens’ comments regarding Wade Phillips later in the week.

Stallworth’s love of music is no bum rap — Donte’ Stallworth is finally synching up with the emerging New England offense, and Gasper ties together his love of catching footballs and rap music. A nice feature on an underrated performer thus far.

BOSTON HERALD

Moss loves his new job — Can you tell that Karen Guregian is starting to get really comfortable with the Pats beat? The one-time Herald columnist nails a feature about Moss, tying his quotes and performance in with that of another Beantown favorite: Manny Ramirez.

Pats still in running — Guregian writes a nifty slide piece about how the team has prospered despite a sudden rash of injuries to runners, and how they’ll try to keep winning regardless.

Motivation not hard to find — Jeff Horrigan takes a turn writing a Pats feature, weighing in on Bill Belichick’s ability to motivate his team, even against a winless foe.

WASHINGTON POST

Pats poised to be perfect — Veteran columnist and PTI host Michael Wilbon jumps on the undefeated bandwagon, coming to the conclusion that the Pats are just too good to be stopped after watching the Dallas dismantling in person.

Pats may be scary good, but running the table is out of the question — Meanwhile, fellow Post columnist Leonard Shapiro says that as good as New England may be, there’s no way they’re running the table.

As major writers across the country are starting to realize, Dr. Watson is just another one of Tom Brady’s arsenal of targets.

LA TIMES

A year to revere for Patriots - Sam Farmer weighs in on the team’s early dominance and Tom Brady’s continued surge while watching from the left coast.

– Cameron Smith, Herald and Globe photos

Who knew Wes Welker, the Tom Brady-annointed labrador of Patriot receivers, had such a big wow factor.

Wes Welker’s feet hardly touched the ground Sunday.

Not only did Welker carve up the Dallas secondary for two touchdowns Sunday, he also pulled down a stunning 11 catches for 124 yards, both career highs to go with his first two-touchdown, single-game effort. While Randy Moss fought off double teams to pull down New England’s first touchdown (two more later scores went by the wayside due to penalty calls), Welker made the Cowboys pay for leaving themselves exposed over the middle to crossing routes from the slot position.

It was exactly the type of performance Bill Belichick and his coaching staff envisioned out of the Texas Tech grad when they signed him away from the divison-rival Dolphins in the offseason. While Moss stretched the field and Donte’ Stallworth provided a dash of pizazz on the flank with screen passes and bump-off deep routes, Welker served as Brady’s security blanket, a younger and faster incarnation of the role played by PUP-listed veteran Troy Brown for ages.

In fact, the Pats got even more than that out of their slot receiver. Welker also returned kickoffs on Sunday, tag-teaming with regular return man Ellis Hobbs to give the Pats special teams unit even more oomph. By game’s end, the veteran had two returns for 55 yards, his best returning performance of the year and a mark that gave Belichick plenty to reflect positively on.

Of course, Hobbs remains the return unit’s biggest star, a credential punctuated by his 108-yard touchdown return against the Jets in the season opener. Hobbs now leads the team with a return average near 30 yards on a total of 15 bring backs.

But, according to Christopher Gasper of the Globe, that doesn’t mean that Belichick won’t keep using Welker to bring back kicks, something former Billy B colleague Nick Saban - now of the Alabama Crimson Tide, of course - did with Welker to the tune of 3,858 yards in past seasons.

The question becomes whether the returning duties will slow down Welker’s otherworldly productivity on out routes. That’s a good question in itself, but it doesn’t seem to be worrying Belichick or Brady, as you can tell from their quotes in Gasper’s article.

And after his performance Sunday in Dallas, there doesn’t seem to be much reason why it should worry anyone else, either.

– Cameron Smith, AP photo

Look, even the Crisco Lineman Battle needs a bye week. It got one last week. But after some serious R & R, the greased up throwdown is back for a very big week as the undefeated Pats prepare to take on fellow 5-0 Dallas.

Dan Koppen may be the key to the integrity of the Patriot offensive line, but can he handle a greased up Marcus Spears?

Any time a team is undefeated, it’s a pretty safe bet that its offensive and defensive lines are doing their job pretty well. That’s certainly the case in both New England and Dallas, with the Pats running game humming and Cowboys finding ways to bring pressure on both the defensive and offensive sides of the ball.

So, why take second-tier rushers into a steel cage when you can bring the big dogs? Why use reserves when you can have Pats center Dan Koppen try to hold off Marcus Spears?

Let’s start the analysis with Spears’ bona fides. The third-year defensive end has upheld the sterling reputation he brought from LSU, proving that he can get to almost any quarterback and create havoc throughout a game. Despite missing parts of training camp with an injured knee (for the second straight year) last fall, Spears returned with a vengeance, started all 16 games and put together a sterling first full season. He had 48 tackles on the season - 31 solo stops - and one sack to go with three tackles for loss and a handful of quarterback pressure.

Spears is big. The former LSU champ stands 6-foot-4 and weighs in at a beefy 305 pounds. He’s quick, with good footwork and an ability to chase down almost any opponent. Want proof? In Vince Young’s first start, Spears was the player who led his team’s defensive line in tackles. End of story.

Luckily, the Pats player tapped for the chore of stopping Spears is no rookie himself. Koppen has led New England’s offensive line through much of its renaissance, starting a whopping 46 consecutive games between 2003 and 2005. He was one of the main road graders for Corey Dillon’s record-setting 2004 season, and has taken leadership of one of the most consistent units in professional football.

That being said, Koppen has a distinct size advantage in this one. Not only does Spears have a good 2 inches on his offensive blocker, he also has a full 10 pounds. And those 10 pounds are significant, as Spears has a tendency to play with the force of a 320 or 325-pound pass rusher rather than a 305 run stopper. It’s uncanny.

Now, with the grease piled on, who would be more elusive? It’s a legitimate question worth pondering. While Koppen makes his living by being deceptively sturdy, Spears does so by mixing stand-up stopping with slippery moves on the edge.

Marcus Spears is large, in-charge and a serious threat on the field. And that’s before you cover him in Crisco.

The more you think about it, the more Spears starts to sound unstoppable with the Crisco advantage. And while it hurts us to say it, we really can’t see Koppen holding him back forever.

So, with much regret, we have to announce this week’s Crisco Lineman Battle Champion as … Dallas defensive end Marcus Spears.

Yeah, yeah, we hear the boos, but you have to admit, Spears has a unique blend of talents that only look better when grease is added to the equation. The man is huge, mobile and a deadly hitter. He proved it in college and is starting to in the pros as well. Just watch Sunday.

Will a New England lineman get back in the win column of the Crisco Battle next week? Is there hope for Koppen’s fellow linemates or their defensive counterparts against the Dolphins … in Miami?

We’ll find out next Wednesday.

– Cameron Smith

And not by a little bit. As Rodney Harrison works his way through the week’s practices, it’s becoming clear how much better he makes the entire New England defense.

Rodney Harrison is back, and that makes the Pats a whole lot better.

No one here is going to defend Harrison’s use of Human Growth Hormone. What he did was clearly wrong, regardless of whether he was acquiring it to recover from an injury, get a bigger hat size so Tedy Bruschi would finally stop calling him mini-cabeza or just to get buff to impress the ladies. He just shouldn’t have dipped into the cesspool of performance enhancing drugs. And he definitely shouldn’t have done it so clumsily, using his own name to order through an online service based out of upstate New York. Clearly, Harrison never heard of Eliott Spitzer.

But now that he’s done his time, Harrison is back. For that matter, not only is he back, he suddenly has a reason to return with a vengeance, a factor which has transformed him from a dominant DB to an almost unstoppable one in the past.

Harrison is that guy. The type A personality who goes off at the drop of a hat, yet only when it’s fortuitous for him to do so. The team leader who you would never want near a tank in the military. The playmaker who looks like the guy who hits the clubs after big wins, but turns out to head straight home to his family’s house in the ‘burbs.

But Harrison always needs an agenda to get him juiced up. It’s in his blood. That’s where the current HGH controversy actually helps him, and New England in the process. While he might be a bit rusty for the first quarter or so, Harrison now has people to prove wrong. Again. And while he’s made it clear that he won’t talk at length about the suspension now that it’s over, he’s almost certainly creating a mental rolodex of names, people who have brought it up, a group of personal Harrison dissidents that he can use as ammunition for his personal tackling powder keg.

What Harrison brings to the defense is undeniable. He’s athletic enough to cover more ground, providing a valuable buffer in both the run and pass game. His sheer presence allows other defensive backs to thrive. Just look at Asante Samuel’s performance. While he was close to gathering in a pair of picks last week in his first start of the season, he couldn’t ever quite finish the deal. With Harrison back behind him, Samuel will have a better safety net behind him, and impetus to try and jump more routes in the process.

Of course, the Samuel example is just the start of a snowball of advances the unit is likely to make with Harrison back on board. But that’s the point. His influence is almost too large to measure, the Tom Brady of the defense in both his understanding of the team’s systems and his role in building pride and performance.

And that’s precisely why the undefeated Pats just got a lot better without even playing another game.

– Cameron Smith

How do you sleep when you’re one of the world’s sexiest men - it’s best-dressed according to GQ, for that matter - you have a supermodel girlfriend, a toddler on the other coast of the country and a football team that has cruised to a 3-0 start?

Ummm, not sure if that’s what GQ was talking about Tom. Nice try though, bud.

You sleep well, of course.

Seriously, how can you find anything wrong with the current life of Tom Brady? The quarterback is putting up the most sublime statistics of his NFL career - more touchdown passes to Randy Moss than he had to all receivers a year ago at this point - and he’s just getting started. He’s already worked through two of the team’s tougher matchups of the season, and the year is just three weeks old.

Now he gets to kick back and relax, right? Not exactly.

If past precedence is any indication, Brady will be in for plenty of blitzes this Monday in Cincinnati. The Bengals are in a borderline desperate situation. Another loss would drop Cinci to 1-3 in a division where Indianapolis is a lock and stellar starts for all the AFC South teams means that buffer room for a playoff qualification will be small. Put it all together, and a 1-3 start may not cut the postseason mustard in 2007-08.

Then again, Brady’s not exactly a stranger to pressure. The Chargers were expected to go blitz happy on the passer, but instead found their hands full trying to cover all of his weapons. Moss has been so good that he’s once again requiring double coverages, and Wes Welker looks like one of the league’s best and most reliable slant receivers, even though he’s only been catching passes from Brady for three weeks.

So how does it all shake out? Probably with more beauty rest for Tommy Boy. The New England offensive line has been beyond stout, helping Brady avoid pressure relatively drama-free. It’s possible that a third week of film study will lead to more gaps and holes in the front line, but that hardly seems likely with Bill Belichick’s focus on consistent line play and Logan Mankins emerging as one of the star blockers in the NFL. Seriously, if Mankins isn’t a Pro Bowler this year, he’s being ripped off.

Instead, Brady’s drama is much more likely to come from his personal life again, where he hasn’t reunited with his month-old son, and hasn’t exactly been cavorting with his supermodel gal pal on a weekly basis, either. We’ve seen the extent of Gisele’s jealousy before - the open air hissy fit over Bridget Moynahan’s pregnancy and public arguments over dinner - but will missing Tom for a few weeks send her into a slap happy stance?

Good questions all, and all would be considerations for a sub-par Brady performance. If, that is, he didn’t thrive on pressure. Just think about the last time Brady was shrouded in controversy. He went out and put up a near-flawless performance in his final preseason tune up. Now that enough time has elapsed to build up potential strife in his personal life, he should be primed for another epic performance.

Now THAT is more like it. Way to go superstar.

That assumes the last three weeks weren’t epic enough, which is a hell of a claim. If it’s correct, Pats fans should be in for a lot of TiVo viewing material. After all, who would want to miss perpetual quarterback clinics and wipe-out wins.

Not us, that’s for sure.

– Cameron Smith

There’s plenty of things to like about the AL East … as long as your a Patriots fan.

Dante spent last year in Miami, but this week he’ll return with the Raiders, ready to start his own inferno.

Just look at the plethora of positives. The Pats are 3-0. They’ve looked absolutely dominant in every win, to the point that we’re running out of anything original to say. And almost as importantly, their divisional opponents look absolutely woeful. The only team that might possibly be considered a contender to keep close with New England was whitewashed by the Pats themselves in week one. Whitewashed. So how can New England fans even be concerned?

As long as Tom Brady and the team’s key core of players is healthy, they can’t be worried. At all.

Still, the NFL changes week to week more than any other professional sports league, so it’s important not to jump to any conclusions. With that in mind, we’re here to breakdown the weekend’s AL East games, a couple days early to give you a jump start on your weekend plans … and Vegas two-way teasers and over-under bets.

NEW YORK JETS at BUFFALO BILLS: Finally, an all-AL East win that doesn’t include the Pats. That’s a pretty good thing, because New England has already throttled both teams. Chad Pennington looked slid in his first start after missing week two with an ankle injury, but emerging second-year passer Kellen Clemens was just good enough the week before to make New York fans wonder whether Chad really is in the answer in the Big Apple. Well, not really in the Big Apple, but for the team in the Big Apple that plays in that pit out in New Jersey.

Meanwhile, Buffalo is just trying to get through a game without suffering a horrific injury or the loss of a truly essential player. Last week it was quarterback J.P. Losman on the first series of the game. They’ve also had a handful of defensive players banged up, and still seem like they have the psychological state of deer in the headlights after the season-opening paralyzing stinger delivered to third-year tight end Kevin Everett.

So who wins this battle? Should be an easy Jets win, right? In theory that’s definitely the case. Yet it doesn’t feel like anything will come the Jets way with ease this year, so we’re not willing to hedge our bets on that one yet. Instead, this feels like the week that the Mangenius, Coach Eric “The Penguin” Mangini will insist on establishing the team’s run game, which has sputtered despite the addition of alleged burgeoning superstar Thomas Jones. If they do, the Buffalo defensive line is stout enough that it could force Pennington to go to the air early and often, and that may make things a game, and make New York full with the sound of quarterback controversy again. Nonetheless, it also says here that by day’s end, the Jets will even their record at 2-2 and emerge as the division’s second legitimate playoff threat.

OAKLAND RAIDERS at MIAMI DOLPHINS: Go ahead and book it: Dolphins linebacker Joey Porter is guaranteeing a win, so it’s going to happen.

Well, better take a rain check on that guarantee. These Dolphins are bad. Really bad. Borderline awful even. Returning home to Miami should help, but even a visit from the equally woeful Oakland Raiders shouldn’t shore up all of the ‘Fins problems. Will it shore up enough? Maybe. But it’s hard to believe that a Miami defense that has - shockingly - struggled with the run all season will finally stiffen against a back in the midst of one of the league’s great resurgences, Oakland’s Lamont Jordan. Additionally, Miami’s blitz-happy packages are less likely to be successful against Dante Culpepper, the much more mobile option, than anticipated starter Josh McCown.

Add in Culpepper’s revenge factor - his less-than amicable divorce from Miami after a single year was well publicized and contentious - and it seems like this is an early season nail-in-the-coffin blow to Miami’s playoff chances. Maybe it won’t be, and maybe Trent Green will finally look like the former Pro Bowler the Dolphins expected to lure from Kansas City. We just can’t see it that way yet. In fact, if we were Dolphins coach and alleged offensive genius Cam Cameron, we’d start warming up rookie signal caller John Beck today. Good to give the Mormon gunslinger extra time you know.

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS at CINCINNATI BENGALS: Is there any question who we’re taking in the Monday night matchup? Shouldn’t be. Not only has New England looked like the best team in the league through three weeks, they’ve done it by putting up serious offensive numbers against two defenses that know what to expect and a third that was expected to be one of the league’s best. Now they head to Cincinnati to face off against one of the league’s worst D’s. So what’s going to happen? Expect more points to be given up by the defense then we’ve seen this year. Then again, that’s not saying much because 14 has been the early-season high water mark. And in the end, you can definitely book another New England win, at least at the moment. You never know when Gisele is going to flip out, attack Tom Terrific and send the season into a tailspin.

You know what? That might be the only thing that could slow this team down. Forget we just wrote that while we go perform self penance by sticking a fork in our left eye. The right one’s too important.

– Cameron Smith

Oh, you thought the Crisco Lineman Battle would dry up after a couple of weeks? As ESPN’s Lee Corso would say, “Not so fast my friends!”

Mike Myers is a beast. Not quite to a Shrek or Halloween level, but a beast nonetheless.

No, this Monday the Pats visit Cincinnati for a second-straight season, heading into a matchup with the 1-2 Bengals that Cincinnati desperately needs. Of course, the Pats could use a fourth-straight victory, too, but urgency will clearly be more prevalent on the part of Cincinnati.

And one of those emotionally charged Bengals will be defensive tackle Mike Myers - doesn’t he have the most under-utilized great name in football? - a man who’s line-leading 80 tackles a year ago included a handful of stops against the elusive Laurence Maroney and one-time bruiser Corey Dillon.

This year? Don’t expect to see the same thing twice. That’s because Myers will be pushing up against themost cohesive o-line in football so far, a unit that includes guard Stephen Neal.

It may not be the most tantalizing Crisco matchup possible, but it might be the most fair. Just look at the numbers. Myers stands 6-foot-2 and weighs in at a beefy, and perhaps underrated, 300 pounds. Contrast that with the more lanky Neal, 6 foot 6 and 305 pounds, and you have a dominant size advantage but little else. And with Myers mobility and slipperiness, tht would seem to give him an edge, perhaps one of the few that the Bengals will have this weekend.

But that’s not looking deep enough. That analysis doesn’t consider Neal’s background.

Before Neal came to New England, he was an international wrestler, once ranked as high as No. 1 in the world, wrestling in matches as far away as Colombia and Bulgaria.

Yet Neal wasn’t comfortable with his international exploits, preferring instead to send out an inquiry tape to football general managers and coaches. One of the first tapes went to Bill Belichick.

Five years later, Neal is a top offensive lineman, helping limit defenses and open holes for running backs and protect Tom Brady alike.

Stephen Neal has seen this whole wrestling thing before, so it’s not really a fair fight between him and anyone else. Like trying to duel against a man with a mustache.

And could he protect Brady from Myers? It’s likely. Could he do it in a pit of vegetable oil, with another man? Absolutely.

While Myers might have a football advantage, Neal’s wrestling background not only gives him a clear Crisco Lineman Battle advantage, but also in the entire season-long competition. Perhaps even well into the playoffs.

So, there’s no surprise when Neal takes this week’s matchup at the end of the day. The only question is whether he will be able to keep rolling when the Crisco playoffs come around.

And, of course, whether he can duplicate the success on the field at Paul Brown Stadium on Monday. It says here he has a good shot, perhaps even a fighter’s chance.

– Cameron Smith