Entries Tagged 'Quick Hits' ↓

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

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

A paper out of our home area may have hit the ongoing Bill Belichick espionage controversy better than anyone else.

Bill Belichick has set off a firestorm in cities hours away. That’s an impact for you.

In today’s Washington Post, the paper’s sports section not only hits on why Belickhick’s indiscretions against the Jets are commonplace, it also analyzes just how he may have committed his sin … and how he may try to again this week against San Diego.

Naturally, it helps that the game will be at home in hospitable Foxboro, but the Post had some pretty ingenious ways of getting to the bottom of the signals that Shawne Merriman and co. will be getting from the newly indoctrinated Chargers defensive staff.

Here’s what they came up with, in the NFL Gameday weekly package.

And not to be outdone, the paper’s Les Carpenter, a national NFL writer, weighs in with just how commonplace Senor Billy B’s methods were.

What’s so interesting about that? Nothing, except for the fact that Michael Wilbon - also of the Post and PTI fame - wrote an almost diametrically opposed piece just a day earlier, at least in terms of how the event has created new fallout.

Says something that a national paper with absolutely no regional connection to the Patriots would invest so much ink on the scandal and punishment, doesn’t it?

– Cameron Smith

There are times in the middle of the offseason when Patriots fans can dream of a juicy preseason matchup against, say, the Titans and wunderkind quarterback Vince Young. Then, once you get there, it all turns out to be so much less exciting than you’d planned.

The Titans provided plenty of problems for the Patriots and rookie defensive back Brandon Meriweather.

Instead, this week lived up to its billing: an intriguing game, plenty of swirling subplots at practice and some terrific writing from the local scribes. Here’s the best of the best from the local scribes, from the lead-up to the Titans to confusion and changing status of Laurence Maroney.

BOSTON GLOBE

From ‘hands off’ to handoffs - There are times when Globe sports columnist Dan Shaughnessy can seem downright worthless. And then there are times, like with Wednesday’s piece on Maroney finally ditching a red practice jersey, when he grabs you and holds your attention. Is it going to win a Pulitzer? Not a chance. But is it a solid, well thought-out, timely piece? Absolutely.

Busy days upcoming for expectant Brady - Christopher Gasper hits this Brady baby preview piece out of the park, using terrific imagery and analysis to break down the walls perpetually surrounding the guarded Pats star signal caller.

Punter Baugher hoping to hang with Patriots - Mike Reiss nails a story about new Pats punter Danny Baugher, the rookie who will break camp as the team’s new starter.

Line to tackle shortcomings - You have to love stories about offensive or defensive lines, particularly when they tie in game review, like this piece by Reiss does.

BOSTON HERALD

Brady keeps birth of his son into busy schedule - Albert Breer of duel MetroWest Daily News and Herald fame touches on Brady’s ever-crowded schedule, and how the birth of his son still fit in to his time for game action.

Hitting stride - Mark Murphy does a terrific job of analyzing the increasing comfort level of Rodney Harrison, and how that changes the outlook for the entire New England defense.

Gostkowski’s goal is to kick it up a notch - Breer comes through with a second special, this time nailing a profile of second-year place kicker Stephen Gostkowski and his plans to be ever more consistent this time around.

Offensive interference - Longtime Pats football columnist Mike Felger weighs in on New England’s surprising offensive struggles, and the effect injuries have had on building chemistry within the unit.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

With New England, the defense never rests - Robert Lee weighs in with an intriguing profile of the Patriots defense.

– Cameron Smith

Well, now we’ve got a game under the belt. Let’s see what the writers could drag out of a game in which regular player hardly saw the field. Here’s betting they still drag something out there …

Get … in … the … end zone … Yeeeesssss. Nice job Sammy.

BOSTON GLOBE

Patriots Sit - Mike Reiss leads his Patriots notebook with all the New England stars who didn’t play, who never saw the field, and who may not play soon, either.

BOSTON HERALD

Pats playing it cool - Karen Guregian links the puzzle pieces, determining that part of New England’s slightly lackluster performance may have been Bill Belichick’s reluctance to open up the play book before the start of the season.

Samuel on other side of state - What would an edition of Quick Hits be without an Asante Samuel reference? Huge props go to Guregian, too, for making the connection of Samuel’s cross-state location.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Snoozing and losing - Amazingly, Shalize Manza-Young gets the award for lead of the night, with a single word: Yawn.

Top RB sits out contest vs. Bucs - Manza-Young leads her notebook with the absence of Laurence Maroney. An interesting choice, which just goes to show how each writer may lead with different observations in football, much differently than they do with baseball and other sports. Just another of the things we love about pigskins.

– Cameron Smith

Are you ready for it? The Pats open preseason action this evening in Tampa Bay, and there’s little question the NFL spotlight will be trained squarely on new additions. Here’s how the local media sees things shaping up:

Tom Terrific has had plenty of autographs to sign already in camp.

BOSTON GLOBE

Lessons learned? Players get their first test - Mike Reiss weighs in on what’s important in tonight’s preseason opener, tapping out his 10 things to watch for.

Patriots’ potential is exceeded only by expectations - Bob Ryan really has his pulse on the designs placed by the public on the Pats, an amazing feat since he hasn’t exactly been sweating out his hours in Foxboro. But Ryan truly expresses why it’s both the best and worst time to be a Pats fan.

BOSTON HERALD

Fan fervor boiling over - John Tomase focuses on how popular Pats camp has become, running the numbers and stats to prove how the Pats have never been more popular than they are today.

Preseason pressure? - Albert Breer writes about the significance of a preseason opener, even if that significance has nothing to do with starters or regular contributors.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Pats look for on-field answers tonight - Shalize Manza-Young writes a fairly wrote, pregame piece with a dry-toast lead. How about hitting us with some more Joe McDonald, huh ProJo?

– Cameron Smith

Naturally, most of the attention in training camp yesterday was trained squarely on new cornerback Dante Wesley, the former Bear who learned he was headed east while he and his family were watching - get this - Transformers. But there’s a lot more to this story than a Michael Bay plot, so let’s let the NFL writers delve a bit deeper, eh?

Dante Wesley may end up being more than the latest big thing … he may be an Asante Samuel replacement for much of the season.

BOSTON HERALD

A moving experience - It’s easy to forget how consistent a writer John Tomase is. But today he reminds everyone what he can do with a keyboard, nailing the Wesley trade story while digging through every possible angle. Impressive work, as always.

In a tough spot - Tomase’s notebook is led with the current workload pulled down by one-time practice team tight end Matt Kranchick, a man who will get considerable run in Friday’s preseason opener, to put it mildly.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

‘Veteran’ Maroney is improving by leaps and bounds - Remember how last week we clamored aloud for more coverage of the development of running back Laurence Maroney? Evidently ProJo columnist Joe McDonald heard our hopes, heeding the advice with a nice piece for today’s edition.

BOSTON GLOBE

Kranchick scores in shorthanded situation - Can’t get enough Kranchick? Great! Read another strong story from budding Globe star Christopher Gasper.

Wesley prepared to fill a void - Guess what? Gasper weighs in on the Wesley addition, too. And he’s just as on with the cornerback as he is on the sparkling untapped tight end.

– Cameron Smith

Whoa, didn’t see all the line talk coming, did you? I guess that is the irony of football media though, isn’t it: the biggest - literally - subjects are often the one’s that slip by.

Yesterday Dan Koppen was the center of everyone’s attention.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Being Brady’s bodyguard is just fine with Koppen - Carolyn Thornton checks in on the offensive line and its center-piece, Dan Koppen, as camp rolls along.

Players are eager to hit someone new - Thornton and Joe McDonald write about how players are so antsy to line up against someone without a Flying Elvis helmet, they’d do just about anything for a scrimmage. Or a Klondike bar. Everyone would you know.

BOSTON GLOBE

Wesley arrives in trade - Mike Reiss checks in with the particulars about the acquisition of cornerback Dante Wesley from the Bears.

Hobbs seeks return engagements - Reiss and Daniel Malloy write about Ellis Hobbs and his crucial role in the team’s return game, particularly if Laurence Maroney is held out of those duties in ‘07-08.

Who the hell is that? Why, it’s the newest Patriot, Dante Wesley!

BOSTON HERALD

Pats’ man in the middle - What’s better than one story about an offensive line focused on its center? Two stories about an offensive line focused on its center! This one is from MetroWest Daily News’ Albert Breer, and it’s right on the money.

Evans’ cup is plenty full - In his ever-expanding football reporting role, Jeff Horrigan writes about fullback Heath Evans, a modern-day Johnny Appleseed trying to spread the wonderful joy of Dunkin’ Donuts to the deep South. It’s a great story, but I’m afraid the D&D idea could end badly.

– Cameron Smith

The only action yesterday in the borough of Foxes involved soccer players and a trio of reporters dripping in sweat. So while the Pats were off on a two-day break with their loved ones … or at least at the beach, here’s what news writers were digging up.

Lineman Matt Light is as much a cog in the Pats’ offensive plans as the team’s crop of top new receivers.

METROWEST DAILY NEWS

System unchanged despite new weapons - Albert Breer writes for his host paper, dissecting the New England offense and how any changes will be subtle, and due more to opponent than new personnel.

BOSTON HERALD

The point man - Karen Guregian pens a terrific piece on Rodney Harrison, and how he’s taken to mentoring younger players as a personal goal.

Plenty of fight in Bam - Bam Childress probably won’t make the final Pats roster, and he might even have a hard time making the practice squad. But the Ohio State alum makes for a great training camp story, as Bruins writer Steve Conroy proved in tracking him down.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Watson remains in play - Shalize Manza-Young writes a sufficient Ben Watson profile piece a day after the Herald and Globe wrote similar spots. Hmmmm.

According to Mike Reiss, Corey Dillon has now officially moved on from football, and he’ll leave as a Patriot.

BOSTON GLOBE

Career has run its course - Mike Reiss‘ weekly football notes column focuses on the new goals and lifestyle of Corey Dillon, who has now officially retired from football.

– Cameron Smith

Evidently the jury is in on Patriots first round pick Brandon Meriweather: the kid can play. That hasn’t been lost on the reporters in town, nor has some of the rumblings about new developments on and off the field around Foxboro. Here’s the best of this morning’s reporting:

Junior Seau’s return for a ring has gone largely undiscussed because of the hype surrounding the team’s free agent improvements.

BOSTON HERALD

Safety in numbers - Albert Breer chimes in on Meriweather, and how he could end up being a key contributor at cornerback come start of the season.

Moss makes return - Karen Guregian nails a notebook lead about Randy Moss, and how his return is a positive … with a huge question mark. Also worth noting was Adalius Thomas’ unexplained absence.

PROVIDENCE JOURNAL

Junior wants the ring - Shalize Manza Young drops in with the first Junior Seau feature of the year, focusing on the linebacker’s overwhelming desire and drive to win a Super Bowl.

BOSTON GLOBE

Coordinated effort on offense - Daniel Malloy slides over and covers the Patriots for a day, leading the Pats Notebook with an interview with offensive coordinator Josh McDaniel, who held his first press conference of the year. And why was he even talking? Because of a new NFL edict forcing one coordinator to talk per week - largely to get around Bill Belichick and the CCCP silence in Foxboro.

– Cameron Smith