PATRIOTS NOTES: Controversy coming at QB and K

Land of Patriots’ Amy delves into what could be a hot topic, as Super Bowl XLII is one week away.

It seems as if the Patriots are just going to sit NFL MVP Tom Brady, and, with the consult of University of Nebraska coach Tom Osbourne, slide Donte’ Stallworth under center, and start running the ol’ Option offense.

Amy quoted Stallworth:

“Well, Bill (Belichick) actually brought me in his office earlier (Saturday) morning and asked me if I wanted to move to quarterback, and we’re going to put in a whole new offense. He wants me to run the option.

A calculated move by the three-time Super Bowl champion coach. Belichick would tie Steelers coach Chuck Knoll for most Super Bowl wins with a victory Sunday.

He doesn’t seem to have any faith in his kicking game, either.

In Saturday’s walk-through, Pro Bowl LB Mike Vrabel was asked to give his leg another sort of workout. Vrabel, the team-first guy that he is, calmly strode up to the line, concentrated on the placement, drew back his leg, made contact with the ball, and…

…kicked the ball square into the snapper’s ass.

Vrabel drew a smile from Belichick, after taking a risk to break out his Belichick impersonation after the botched kick.

“I’ve been in football 35 years and I’ve never seen that!”

Also, in 35 years, Belichick has never seen a team sit at 18-0, looking for its fourth championship in seven years. Clearly, they are overwhelmed by the pressure of what faces them. (AHEM)

While Stallworth was clearly joking about taking over at QB, the Boston Herald did get a piece in today’s paper about Brady walking around with a noticeable limp. Sports Cartel still sticks with common thought, that while the injury, however severe, isn’t a good thing, per se, it won’t do much to affect a pocket passer.

He’ll have that thing wrapped up tighter than his spiral, and the Patriots are going to use Brady’s Probably-Status right arm 40 times in the game.

University of Minnesota product Laurence Maroney? Yeah, it’s been a nice run for you this post-season. Now it’s time to let the big dog eat.

But for Patriots fans, it’s good to know SeanMC has gotten to the bottom of Brady’s boot. It’s a simple endorsement tool. Genius marketing strategy, if you think about it. Peyton Manning has already sucked every last drop out of every potential advertising deal by glutting the market with hilariously fresh and original ads of any (every) product you can imagine. It left Tommy Terrific with a Stetson ad.

My grandpa recently tossed Stetson aside after 55 years of use.

But now, with the boot, Brady sets himself up for a lucrative deal with the goodly people at ActiveForever. Looking at the picture in the ad, I can’t help but just smell the Stetson cologne on whomever is wearing it.

(Why are we writing this? I dunno…think of it this way, the Sports Cartel staff isn’t being paid an industry-standard $49,000 a year to inform its readers that the Giants and Patriots led their conferences in sacks. At least ours is something you may not already know.)

Or…we could talk about how Giants WR Plaxico Burress thinks his fellow pass-catchers are better, top to bottom, than the Patriots.

Hmmm…

Now, to be totally objective and fair, it doesn’t seem to matter a good Gall Darn who has better receivers, because the only match-ups that matter in regards to that position is how they match up with the opposing secondary. That being said, Randy Moss broke the league’s touchdown receptions record (Rice set the record in 12 games), and Wes Welker led the NFL with 112 catches. Burress doesn’t sniff either one of them in terms of production.

Yet, we digress. The Patriots’ general reaction to all these “slaps in the face” is easily as boring and tiresome as the opposing claims themselves. The point is whether Burress actually does believe his team’s receiving corps is better than New England’s is irrelevent. The question is which team’s defensive backs will do a better job of not letting those receivers get open, which quarterback will be able to complete more passes to them, and whether the pass rush or protection will be stronger.

(This is possibly the most disgusting thing I’ve read…don’t open this link if you have a hangover.)

Either way, since NT Vince Wilfork is another $5,000 poorer, the obvious question now becomes, who’s a dirtier player, Wilfork or SS Rodney Harrison?

Certainly a better debate than who’s a better WR, Moss or Burress, but kind of annoying all the same. Looking at replays of the $12,500 cheap shot Wilfork took on Bills QB J.P. Losman, it really is difficult to take much of what Wilfork says seriously (or this moron who looked at the replay and thought it was unintentional). But, to an extend, he does make a good point:

“It’s bad because you go out there and you get a penalty and the first thing you say is, ‘Am I going to get fined?’ It’s ridiculous. Anything you do that’s a penalty, it’s a fine. I don’t think the game should be like that, but the NFL makes the rules and we have to abide by them. We have to do a better job of abiding by them.”

It’s just hard to hear that from the guy who’s been fined more than Mark Cuban this season. Kind of like Chargers LB Shawne Merriman calling DE Richard Seymour a dirty player. Nick Hardwick? Sure. He plays against him. But Merriman? The guy who tested positive? Hard to hear.

As far as Seymour goes…most will simply judge this clip for what it is. Did he or didn’t he? Just because it’s almost impossible for people to be objective about this, it usually ends up being horribly micro-analyzed. Being objective, it’s as clear as day, Seymour bumped his facemask off the Chargers coach’s face, and he clearly did it in a macho tough-guy way, trying to intimidate the man.

Is it all that big of a deal? Not really. But to suggest nothing happened is simple, blind Patriot-Homerism.