Tom Brady adds to G.O.A.T. resume, Patriots schedule quirks may create drama down the stretch

To the surprise of no one, the Patriots and Tom Brady are still good after all. At the 14:44 mark of last Sunday's 36-20 Pats' victory over the Saints in New Orleans, Brady accomplished something he'd never done before in his greatest-of-all-time career--he threw his third touchdown pass of the first quarter. Leave it to Brady to still be setting new standards of excellence in his 18th year in the league (regular-season game No. 239, to be exact). At this point, the list of things that make Brady the undisputed G.O.A.T. at the quarterback position is far too long to mention.

Sadly, Brady didn't keep that pace up for all four quarters and finish with 12 TDs against the Saints. In fact, he never even found the end zone again. However, his 30 completions on 39 attempts, 447 yards passing and three touchdowns were still good enough to earn him AFC Offensive Player of the Week honors. It's the 28th time in his career Brady has won that award, more than any player in league history. Brady had previously been tied with Peyton Manning for the most of all-time.

Unfortunately for Manning, it's the second time this week Brady has surpassed him for an NFL record. Brady threw three touchdowns with zero interceptions for the 52nd time in his career on Sunday. Nobody has ever done that before. Manning did it 51 times.

A quick look at this week's NFL odds shows the Patriots favored by 13.5 points over the Houston Texans. Consider how absurd that is: New England has a 40-year-old quarterback and only one healthy wide receiver (Brandin Cooks) who wasn't even on the team last year. The Pats' defense has allowed an average of 31 points through two games and they're going up against a team that won its division (and a playoff game) last season. And still, the Patriots are expected to win by nearly two touchdowns.

After Houston comes to town, three of New England's next four games will be against the NFC South. The Pats host the Panthers, then travel to Tampa to play the Bucs, then come back home two weeks later (following a visit to New York to take on the 0-2 Jets) for a Super Bowl rematch with the Falcons. Those three NFC South squads are currently a combined 5-0.

New England then has three straight matchups with the AFC West, hosting the Chargers, traveling to Denver, then back home for the Raiders. That's a very tough stretch over the next eight games, and chances are there will be multiple occasions when people once again speculate about the end of the Pats dynasty.

However, five of the Patriots' last six games are AFC East matchups. That's when they'll roll to yet another division title and one of the top seeds in the conference.



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NFL Week 1 Fantasy Surprises

Here's a look at some of the unexpected top fantasy performers in Week 1 of the 2017 NFL season, and what they're each likely to do (or not do) going forward.

We'll start with the first game of the year, where the Chiefs went into Foxboro and stunned just about everyone by scoring six touchdowns (three in the fourth quarter) in a 42-27 victory over the Patriots. Alex Smith (28-for-35, 368 yards, four TDs) handily out-dueled Tom Brady (16-for-36, 267 yards), and a rookie running back many people had never heard of put on a show for the ages. Don't expect a repeat of either of those again in Week 2.

After fumbling on his first pro carry, Kareem Hunt rushed 17 times for 148 yards and a touchdown, while also catching five passes for 98 yards and two more TDs. He's obviously not going to do that on a regular basis, but Hunt will definitely get plenty of opportunities when Kansas City hosts the Eagles next week.

For the Patriots, newcomer Mike Gillislee rushed for 45 yards and three touchdowns. Might Gillislee step right into the role that led to a team-record 18 rushing touchdowns for LeGarrette Blount last season? Maybe, but it also took Gillislee 15 carries to reach his 45-yard total and he was twice stuffed in fourth-and-short situations. With Brady looking to get back on track in New Orleans in Week 2, New England is likely to air it out. Long-term, there's also a logjam in the Pats' backfield, so it'll be difficult for Gillislee to maintain a consistent workload.

There was a lot of talk about the Bears' Jordan Howard (52 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries, as well as three catches for 14 yards in Chicago's 23-17 loss to the Falcons) heading into the season, but in Week 1 he was overshadowed by his rookie backfield mate Tarik Cohen (66 yards on five attempts, plus eight catches for 47 yards and a TD). For those playing daily fantasy on DRAFT, it may be wise to avoid Howard next week while Chicago explores what they have in Cohen.

In the Lions 35-23 win over the Cardinals, Matt Stafford threw for 292 yards and four touchdowns, two of which went to first-year wide receiver Kenny Golladay (four catches for 69 yards). Golladay was targeted seven times compared to 12 for Golden Tate (10 receptions for 107 yards), so don't go counting on the rookie to put up No. 1 receiver numbers any time soon.

It was a big weekend for surprising showings from quarterbacks. In addition to Smith and Stafford, other top QB performers included Philly's Carson Wentz (26-for-39, 307 yards, two touchdowns), the Bills' Tyrod Taylor (16-for-28, 224 yards, two TDs and 38 yards on the ground) and Browns rookie DeShone Kizer (20-for-30, 220 yards, one passing TD and one rushing TD, plus 17 rushing yards). Of that unlikely bunch, Stafford is the one with the best chance to remain a top-5 quarterback in Week 2 and beyond.




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NFL futures bets I'd make if I was a betting man

The 2017 NFL season kicks off Thursday, September 7th, when the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots host the Kansas City Chiefs. To the surprise of no one, the Patriots are the odds-on favorites to take home the title once again, despite a now 40-year-old Tom Brady having just lost his No. 1 wide receiver for the season (Julian Edelman tore his ACL in Friday's exhibition victory in Detroit).

New England is currently listed at +400 to capture the sixth championship of Brady's career next February in Super Bowl LII (that's 52 for those who aren't Roman-numerically inclined). The Pats are also +225 to win the AFC.

The teams with the next-best odds to take home the Lombardi Trophy are a pair of NFC clubs, the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers, both listed at +1000. In the AFC, the Patriots' greatest challenger is expected to be the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are +450 to represent the conference in the Super Bowl and +1100 to win it all.

After the Steelers, the Oakland Raiders (+800), Denver Broncos (+900) and Chiefs (+1000) round out the list of top contenders for the AFC title. With the Patriots such an overwhelming favorite, the other three teams in the AFC East all rank among the bottom six in terms of conference title odds: The Miami Dolphins are +2200, the Buffalo Bills are +4000, and the New York Jets are +6600.

So who is a good bet in the AFC? Honestly, nobody. There's not much money to be made on the Pats at +225 and there aren't any teams out there that have a compelling case to unseat New England. If I had to put $100 on somebody to win the conference, I might take the Raiders at +800 or even the Indianapolis Colts at +1800.

For me, it all comes down to the quarterback. Derek Carr emerged as budding star last year and even though he doesn't have much behind him, I like Andrew Luck's chances at +1800 better than a lot of other guys'.

Here are some other football odds I like heading into the 2017 season:

Green Bay Packers at +500 to win the NFC: Aaron Rodgers has guided Green Bay to the playoffs in eight straight years, but only reached one Super Bowl. He's due.

New Orleans Saints at + 2000 to win the NFC: I'll take a 38-year-old Drew Brees over most of the other QBs in the conference, but only five squads have worse odds than the Saints.

Minnesota Vikings at + 2500 to win the Super Bowl: The Vikings are +1200 in the NFC, which suggests their expected to lose Super Bowl LII if they get there--despite the fact that it's going to be played in their own stadium.



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Awesome Old Song of the Week: "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy (brought to you by the return of Tom Brady)

The last time the Patriots played the first four games of a season without an appearance from Tom Brady?  In 2000, when they started 0-4.  Brady made his widely unheralded NFL debut on Thanksgiving day of that year, during a 34-9 loss in Detroit.  Tom was 1-3 for 6 yards (slightly less productive than the 28-40 for 406 yards he put up Sunday to kick off his 17th season in the league).

Climbing up the pop charts that week was Shaggy's It Wasn't Me:





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Silver linings to the Jimmy Garoppolo injury

Having your quarterback get hurt is one of the worst things that can happen to an NFL team, but in the case of Jimmy Garoppolo, the timing of his injury isn't really all that bad for the Patriots.

First, there's the obvious: Arguably the greatest QB of all time will be back in two weeks.  Before the season began, most Pats fans would've been perfectly content if the Tom Brady suspension ended with New England going 2-2.  Now, that's already the worst-case scenario.

Second, a potentially very uncomfortable situation is avoided.  Garoppolo was playing outstanding football.  What if he continued to be that good for two-and-a-half more games?  Upon Brady's return, anything Tom did that was less than perfect would've sparked "Should Jimmy be starting?" rumblings.  The longer that can be avoided, the better.

And third, Thursday night matchups are the bane of the NFL's existence.  More often than not they're turnover-filled slop-fests, with neither team being properly prepared.  If there's a time when you have to start your third-string quarterback (who can scramble, by the way), it might as well be a contest that's probably going to be ugly anyway.  I like Jacoby Brissett's chances to pull out a victory this Thursday a lot more than I would if the game wasn't until Sunday.


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The bizarre September 11 connection between Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo

In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, the NFL postponed its games the following weekend.  The Patriots returned to the field on September 23 against the New York Jets.  New England trailed 10-3 with five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter when Mo Lewis delivered that fateful hit on Drew Bledsoe.  It was in that moment that Tom Brady's NFL legacy began (sidebar--I can't help but wonder, if September 11th had never happened, is it possible Tom Brady would've never become Tom Brady?).

Fast forward 15 years later, will September 11, 2016 go down as the day Jimmy Garoppolo's career truly began?  After he worked out his "Holy $#!&, I'm starting an NFL game" jitters on the very first play (in which he air-mailed Chris Hogan)...

@LucidSportsFan got his first pass, he was cucumber cool out there after. pic.twitter.com/UUlPYzEIIs

— larry (@larlef) September 12, 2016

...I don't think I would've noticed the difference if that'd been Garoppolo out there in a Brady jersey.


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Did Tom Brady cut his thumb scraping the NFL decal off his helmet?

Above: Last season. Below: Last week.

Yesterday, a story (if you can call it that) broke that Tom Brady played this preseason without the NFL logo on his helmet, something that is apparently standard throughout the league.

Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk suggested the possibility that Brady's cut thumb two weeks ago resulted from him attempting to scrape the sticker off with scissors.

If we're really going to take this ridiculous notion seriously, I'd just like to point out how impressive it is that his helmet appears to be totally free of scratch marks or excess sticker residue (click on the photo to get a closer look).  In order to pull it off, Brady must've enlisted the help of some team staffers.  This egregious rules violation is probably worth an eight-game suspension once the incriminating text messages come to light.

#Logogate.


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Cross-sports trades between different cities can actually happen in real life?

This is something I've dreamed of for decades (at least two).  I started drafting a blog about it three years ago, but I never got around to writing it because the possibilities are limitless and I couldn't figure out how to tackle the topic in anything remotely close to my regular 37-second quota.

The basic premise is, what if pro sports franchises were owned by the cities they represent and trades could be made from one sport to another?  For example, following the Celtics' fifth straight losing season in 1998-99, Boston would have gladly dealt away All-Star Antoine Walker for a quality starting pitcher to follow Pedro Martinez in the Red Sox rotation (maybe that could have made the difference in the '99 ALCS loss to the Yankees?).  That's just one of billions of fantasies to explore down this rabbit hole...

Now it appears as though one of these imaginary trades is actually happening in real life:

And now for a cross-sport trade: Barcelona trading football players to get a basketball player. https://t.co/XgFr0N04BS

— Mark Deeks (@MarkDeeksNBA) August 2, 2016

I don't know anything about the details of European sports leagues, but from what I understand FC Barcelona has both a football (soccer) and basketball club, and they're attempting to acquire a basketball player from Baskonia in exchange for sending a couple soccer players to another team with the same owner.


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I just read a great take on Deflategate I'd never heard before (shocking, at this point)

The following quote is from an unbiased NBC Sports writer named Joe Posnanski in a piece entitled TOM BRADY IS INNOCENT: Unequivocally, unambiguously, thoroughly and 100-percent innocent.

I underlined the portion of it that's the great point I hadn't heard before:

"Look, the NFL charged him with breaking a rule NO ONE cared about. The NFL cared so little about air pressure in football that they let teams bring their own footballs, which were barely checked. My guess is if Brady wanted the PSI level of football lowered, he simply could have petitioned the NFL and they would have just lowered it — they just wanted to make footballs comfortable for quarterbacks to throw. 

Then, there is no proof at all that Brady ever wanted footballs deflated BELOW the league minimum. We know only that he liked footballs AT the minimum (especially because, as we know, football naturally deflate in cold weather). Even the famed “Deflator” suggested his job was to make sure footballs were not OVERINFLATED."

Posnanksi is dead on with this.  It was a rule the league paid no attention to that guys broke all the time.  If anybody thought it actually mattered, Brady or another QB probably would've gotten the NFL to change it.  And, just because Brady prefers his footballs on the low side in terms of air pressure does not mean he wanted them below the limit--regardless of whether they actually were or not.

I'd like to see someone ask Roger Goodell point-blank "Do you honestly believe Tom Brady should be suspended 25 percent of a season for that?"  Imagine if Adam Silver suspended LeBron James 20 games, roughly the NBA equivalent, for an equipment violation?  (For the record, LeBron wasn't even fined when he ripped his jersey apart during a nationally televised game.)

Also, one thing that hasn't been widely discussed is that Goodell has the option to simply back down.  He's not obligated to uphold the original and absurdly over-the-top penalty decided upon just because the courts ruled it's within his rights to.


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Big Papi's new SportsCenter ad, plus Gronk is a terrible Marco Polo player

Here's David Ortiz's latest SportsCenter commercial:



1.  I applaud Papi for his choice of t-shirt.
2.  How pumped do you think Eduardo Rodriguez is that he got to be in this ad with Ortiz and David Price?

And while I'm on the topic of Big Papi commercials, why is Gronk such a terrible Marco Polo player?




RELATED: Music videos from David Ortiz and Rob Gronkowski


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Tim Duncan is Tom Brady--Imagine if Boston had both?

Tim Duncan retired yesterday after a legendary 19-year NBA career:

Tim Duncan will never know what it feels like to miss the NBA playoffs or even finish the regular season with a losing record.

— Alex Kennedy (@AlexKennedyNBA) July 11, 2016

Tom Brady has also never had a losing record in 14 seasons as the Patriots' quarterback.  He did, however, miss the playoffs once--in his second year as the starter when New England tied for the AFC East division title at 9-7 but lost a three-way tiebreaker.

Duncan's Spurs went 1001-391 in all regular-season games he played, a .719 winning percentage. Brady owns a 172-51 record in the regular season (.771).

Duncan won five titles and three Finals MVP awards, while Brady has four championships and also three Super Bowl MVPs.  Both players are two-time league MVPs.

Duncan made 15 All-Star teams 19 years.  Brady has been selected for the Pro Bowl 11 times in 15 healthy seasons.

What if Boston had them both?

Reliving the 1997 #NBADraft lottery / Tim Duncan sweepstakes from the #Celtics perspective #WBZ pic.twitter.com/uRXdBF5mNE

— Joe Giza (@JoeGiza) July 11, 2016

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The Celtics bringing Tom Brady to their Kevin Durant recruiting meeting is legendary stuff

I've had goose bumps ever since I saw this photo:

And it's really happening:

OK, a source who is present for the Celtics' meeting with Kevin Durant verifies that Tom Brady is indeed there in NY and part of the pitch.

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) July 2, 2016

But wait, it gets even better:

Yes, Tom Brady's in New York to help Celtics lure Kevin Durant to Boston. "Durant's favorite athlete," source says. https://t.co/agkbNq1rxG

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) July 2, 2016

Check out this from Durant in 2011 (as well as many others from KD about Brady):

Man Tom Brady is like a perfect QB...seems like he never makes any mistakes

— Kevin Durant (@KDTrey5) September 12, 2011

This tweet makes me laugh:

One NBA executive on Tom Brady joining the Celtics contingent in Hamptons today: "Why bring an UnderArmour guy to a Durant/Nike meeting?"

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) July 2, 2016

Who cares, it's Tom freakin' Brady!  This is exactly how I feel:

Tom Brady joining the Celtics to get Kevin Durant is what dreams are made of.

— Scott Maxwell (@SilvahHammah) July 2, 2016

And this:

@Mike_Dyer13 dude, I can't stop tearing up

— Mark Van Deusen (@LucidSportsFan) July 2, 2016

Sounds like a plan:

If this works, either a) Durant wears No. 12 for Celtics or b) Brady becomes first Boston athlete to have his number retired by two teams.

— Rich Levine (@rich_levine) July 2, 2016

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It's a mattress commercial? Really Tom Brady?

Apparently this ad has been out for a few weeks, but somehow I never saw or heard about it until now:

The first time I watched it, I was thinking this commercial was really cool--until the mattress showed up.

What's Brady going to do in that room with just a mattress anyway?

At least give him some pillows, sheets or a supermodel.



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It's Gronk's world and we're all just living in it

Yesterday, the news broke that Rob Gronkowski will be on the cover of EA Sports' Madden NFL '17 video game...

Rob Gronkowski named Madden 17 cover athlete, calls it ‘surreal’ https://t.co/ujzCcROULd pic.twitter.com/W6dWLbuUYI

— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) May 12, 2016

...AND the cover of the June edition of GQ Magazine.

Again, both announcements came yesterday.

Proud to be the June cover of @GQMagazine!
Check it out here:https://t.co/sPRtrwBeI9 pic.twitter.com/pt6UHaaqTA

— Rob Gronkowski (@RobGronkowski) May 12, 2016

Gronk is the first Patriots player (and the first NFL tight end) ever featured on the Madden game box.

On the other hand, Tom Brady has graced the front page of GQ many times (at least five, by my count).


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Four reasons why a Tom Brady suspension might not be so terrible for the Patriots

First and foremost please, please read the title carefully.  I'm not saying a Tom Brady suspension is a good thing.  The words "might not be so terrible" still definitely imply that it's bad.  But now that a week has gone by since the "suspension back on" news, I'm ready to write about it and I've decided to take an optimistic angle.

So if Tom Brady's suspension actually does stick this time around, here's one potential silver lining for each of the four games he'll miss (in reverse order of importance):

1. We'll get an opportunity to see if Jimmy Garrapolo is any good, which might be worth figuring out sooner rather than later.  Brady will be 39 years old by the time the season starts and chances are he's not actually going to play until he's 45.

2. As I mentioned, Brady turns 39 in August.  A shortened, 12-game regular season could be exactly what he needs, just ask Peyton Manning.  Or Roger Clemens, for that matter.

3.  Last season, New England busted out of the gates, but faded down the stretch and fell in the AFC title game (similar to what happened with the 2007 edition that went 16-0 but lost the Super Bowl).

Two years ago the Patriots started slowly, then got hot and won the Super Bowl (as did the 2001 squad that began the season 3-4).  The same is true for a number of other recent NFL champs, including both Giants teams that beat New England.  The point is, early season struggles don't matter--putting it all together for the playoffs does.

4.  The reason the Pats were so good early on last year was because of the massive chip on Brady's shoulder.  That was after his suspension was nullified.  Imagine the fire that will burn inside of him if he's actually forced to sit out the first quarter of the season?

Watch out, NFL.


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It's NFL draft day, and I couldn't care less

No, it's not because the Patriots had their first-round pick taken away (although that doesn't help).  And no, it's not because I'll be at the TD Garden tonight for Celtics-Hawks Game 6, which could be the end of the C's season (but that doesn't help either).

The reason I don't care about the NFL draft is because nobody has any idea which players will actually be good or not, and every year at this time I get incredibly sick of people taking about it.  It seems silly to me to get excited (or annoyed) about guys now, I'd rather just wait and see how they turn out down the road.

If you're interested in reading more of my totally uneducated philosophy on the NFL draft, here it is:

If I ran an NFL franchise, I'd pretty much only draft quarterbacks



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In other news, Celtics and Red Sox set to take over Atlanta at the same time

I can't write about deflategate today.  I just can't.  I'm annoyed with myself for even using that stupid word that isn't even a word.  Maybe I'll feel differently in the days ahead, but who knows.  Instead, how about this great coincidence involving Boston's two active major pro sports teams:

Sort of cool the Red Sox and Celtics will both be invading Atlanta at the same time.

— Adam Himmelsbach (@AdamHimmelsbach) April 25, 2016

The Sox take the field tonight vs. the Braves at Turner Field at 7:10 pm.  They'll be back at it tomorrow at the same time.  Eighty minutes later, the Celtics will tip off against the Hawks at Philips Arena at 8:30 pm.

In my head, the two teams shared a flight down there today with David Ortiz and Dustin Pedroia sitting across from Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder telling them about what it means to represent the city of Boston in the playoffs.


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Stephen A. Smith lives in Gronk's stomach?

My initial reaction when I first saw this commercial was one of annoyance that Rob Gronkowksi did an ad with Stephen A. Smith.

But the more I think about it, it does at least seem like a fitting place for Smith to be.  I just wish instead of Gronk saying "Hey little voice in my stomach" the line was something like "Hey extremely loud and obnoxious overly opinionated voice in my stomach..."



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What if Tom Brady and Peyton Manning switched places?

I'm not talking about for all time, or even this full season--I mean just for last Sunday's matchup.  And obviously this can't be taken literally with them simply each walking to the other side of the field before the AFC Championship Game.  What I'm asking is, what would've happened if Tom Brady was the Broncos quarterback (fully assimilated to his new teammates and system) and Peyton Manning was on the Patriots?

Before I venture a guess, I have to admit that I didn't come up with this idea on my own, I heard it on Bill Simmons' podcast.

Brady got knocked down 23 times last week by an outstanding Denver defense--nearly twice as many hits as he had absorbed in any game during the course of the season.  Yet somehow, he was still able to lead his club on a final drive that got them within a failed two-point conversion of sending the game to overtime.

Manning, on the other hand, guided the Broncos to just three points and four total first downs in the second half.  He didn't record a single first down on eight of 14 total possessions.  Imagine what might've happened had he been beaten up by the Denver defense all day?  My guess is the Patriots would've been shutout with Manning at the helm instead of Brady.

Score prediction if they switched places?  Brady/Broncos 31, Manning/Patriots 0.

According to My Top Sportsbooks, Carolina is favored by 4.5 points over Denver in Super Bowl 50.  But what if the Broncos had Brady under center instead of Manning?  A line of even money sounds about right, although it wouldn't surprise me at all if Brady's squad was expected to win.  In that case, I'd say Brady/Broncos 31, Panthers 28.

As it is, I'll take Panthers 35, Manning/Broncos 17.  The Panthers' score differs by seven because unlike Brady, I expect Manning to throw an interception that leads to a touchdown.


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I guarantee you can't name the quarterbacks going to the Pro Bowl

Every year the NFL Pro Bowl becomes more and more of a disgrace.  All the Patriots chosen are backing out.  None of the five quarterbacks selected are going--and how is it five, by the way?  Shouldn't there be the same number on each team?  Hmm... Maybe there aren't even teams anymore?  I honestly don't know.  I remember hearing something a few years ago about it no longer be AFC vs. NFC, and I think maybe there are captains who draft players like a schoolyard pickup game?  I'd look it up, but I don't care enough to find out.

The guy pictured above is one of the five QBs going.  I'm willing to bet most people don't know who he is, even with the photo.  Below is a screenshot of the sad list of quarterbacks who will be playing in the exhibition:

I could do some research and look up how not-Pro-Bowl-worthy their stats are, but I don't think this pathetic joke of a "game" is worth that much effort on my part.


UPDATE: So apparently I was wrong about some things--there are six QBs, and Russell Wilson who was originally chosen is going.  Amazingly nobody who read this knew or cared enough to tell me that, which further proves my point about how stupid the whole thing is.


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