Cloud was released on Tuesday

Michael Cloud was released on Tuesday, making room on the roster that hasn't been filled yet. This may be an indication of the return of Corey Dillon or Kevin Faulk.

Corey Dillon has missed the last two games with a a high ankle sprain. After missing last week's game against the Kansas City Chief's, Dillon was projected to return on Dec 4th.

Kevin Faulk broke a bone in his heel Sept. 25, an injury that was first considered to be season ending. He has been improving lately, so much so he was set to questionable on last week's injury report.

In other news, Lenny Walls, formerly of the Denver Broncos, was picked up off the waivers by Oakland. The Patriots were rumored to be interested (a warm body who plays cornerback), but since they were 32nd on the waiver wire list, every other team would have had to pass him up.

Also, "the Patriots will honor retired linebacker Ted Johnson at Sunday’s game against the Jets. Johnson spent all 10 years of his career with the Patriots and was instrumental in their three Super Bowl wins. He finished with 757 tackles and 11.5 sacks. Johnson retired in July because of short- and long-term complications he suffered from concussions over the years." - quote from an artcle by Michael Parente in the woonsocketcall.

Tags: Patriots

Johnny Damon, another free agent, another paycheck

Gordon Edes at the Boston Globe discusses the market for Johnny Damon in an article today and he makes some good points. Scott Boras is asking for a 7 year $80 million deal for his client, Johnny (WWJD) Damon. And he may get it (I'm not sure where, but it's looking better every day for him).

Let's review the market price for center fielders. (yes, there really is more)

Carlos Beltran got 7 years, $119. J.D. Drew got 5, $55. Andruw Jones will be getting $26.5 over the next two years. Jim Edmonds got 6 years for $57. Bernie Williams received $12 last year, and if the Yanks had a moment of insanity, he would have received another $15 in an option year this year (all $ in millions, of course).

So where does that leave Johnny? The Red Sox have reportedly offered him 4 years at $40 and they would apparently be getting a bargain at that money. At one point, Damon was a leading contender for MVP (I never thought it would carry through, but his name was mentioned at the beginning of the year). His numbers speak for themselves, and so does his durability. But his real worth comes from being a genuine lead-off hitter. The Sox could get another center fielder (who has a better arm), it's the lead-off spot they'd have trouble filling.

So, I expect the Sox to offer Johnny another year (by team option), and about $12 a year. But when Damon gets a better offer somewhere else (yankees, to yank boston's chain or angels?), he'll be gone.

Manny Ramirez' condo is for sale

You too can buy this $6.9 million dollar condo. It comes unfurnished with a condo fee of $4000/month. But with that fee you get concierge service, parking (not to be underrated in Boston), and access to the sports bar. 4500 square feet on the 37th floor of the Ritz-Carlton Towers with a view of the Charles, what more could you want?

In another indication that even Manny expects the trade to happen this winter, he and his wife have put their condo up for sale. See images over in a NESN news report through the Boston.com website.

A little bit of perspective

If somebody had told you on Saturday that Tom Brady was going to throw four picks on Sunday, what would you have said the score was going to be? 35 - 14? 42 - 12? Well, the end score was 26-16 in a deserved loss. Any team that plays as bad as the Patriots did against the Kansas City Chiefs deserves to lose and that's that.

But if you listen to the radio this morning, you would think this team was the worst of the worst with no hope. The only thing they have to hope for was an early entry and an early exit for these hapless defensive players.

Well, I'm here to tell you that's a little bit overboard. Yes, these New England Patriots are not as good as last years players. Their defense has been bad and there doesn't seem to be anything they can do to improve this secondary. But that's not the whole story.

The defense did pretty well yesterday. Holding the Chiefs to 26 points off of 4 turnovers was not an easy thing to do. Their run defense was pretty good. Yes, Larry Johnson had 116 yards on 31 carries, but what did you expect him to have after they went up 20 points?

The offense is hoping for a little bit of relief in the next couple of weeks. With Corey Dillon out, Heath Evans has been carrying the load at RB. Their number two WR was Tim Dwight. I mean, how much offensive firepower is that? Yes, they're out there playing hard, but they are not who they were supposed to have.

The Pats offense struggled yesterday, mostly because Tom Brady had a bad game (and not because of pressure from the KC defense, despite what Hicks had to say). He was throwing high right from the start, the ball was definitely sailing on him.

This is definitely a flawed team, but that doesn't mean they are a bad team. They've played some very tough teams and payed the price in bodies and bruises. Hopefully, the injury bug will pass on to some other team now and their offense will return soon.

Do I think the Pats will win the SB just as I did last year, no. Do I think they have a chance of facing up with any other team out there, yes. This season is not over and they still have a good chance of taking it all.

Tags: Patriots

Patrioits and Chiefs injury report

Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk, Bethel Johnson, David Givens, and Matt Light are all out for Sunday's match against the KC Chiefs. Most likely, Evans and Pass will mix it up at RB once again. Most likely, despite being probable once again, Tom Brady will play... ;-)

NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS (6-4)
PLAYER	POSITION	STATUS	INJURY	PRACTICE
Matt Light	T	Doubtful	Ankle	Missed Portion
Kevin Faulk	RB	Questionable	Foot	Missed Portion
Tom Ashworth	T	Questionable	Knee	Missed Portion
Monty Beisel	LB	Questionable	Back	Missed Portion
Troy Brown	WR	Questionable	Foot	Missed Portion
Corey Dillon	RB	Questionable	Calf	Missed Portion
Tim Dwight	WR	Questionable	Rib	Missed Portion
David Givens	WR	Questionable	Knee	Missed Portion
Daniel Graham	TE	Questionable	Shoulder	Missed Portion
Jarvis Green	DE	Questionable	Shoulder	Missed Portion
Patrick Pass	FB	Questionable	Hamstring	Missed Portion
James Sanders	S	Questionable	Ankle	Missed Portion
Bethel Johnson	WR	Questionable	Pelvis	Missed Portion
Willie McGinest	LB	Questionable	Finger	Missed Portion
Tom Brady	QB	Probable	Right Shoulder

KANSAS CITY CHIEF (6-4)
Jerome Woods	S	Out	Hamstring	Missed Portion
Ronnie Cruz	RB	Out	Knee	Missed Portion
Kendall Gammon	TE	Out	Leg	Placed on IR
Kris Griffin	LB	Out	Hamstring	Missed Portion
Willie Roaf	T	Questionable	Hamstring
Ryan Sims	DT	Questionable	Foot
Patrick Surtain	CB	Questionable	Ankle
Eddie Kennison	WR	Questionable	Back
John Browning	DT	Probable	Knee
Boomer Grigsby	LB	Probable	Abdomen	Missed Portion
Benny Sapp	CB	Probable	Hip

Tags: Patriots