Patriots at Chargers
What a game! Going into the game, my prediction was either a close Patriots win, or a huge Chargers win. I'm glad to be right in a good way. What happened? Ellis Hobbs (disclaimer: I wear number 27's jersey every week when the Pats play). And a lot of other great headsup play by the Patriots, I'll grant, but Ellis Hobbs had an amazing day - he had several last man tackles on LaDainian Tomlinson, and broke up a lot of passes to Antonio Gates. His goal-line stop of Lorenzo Neal was amazing, as well - like watching a ping-pong ball derail a bowling ball.
Heath Evans was the special teams guy today - he seemed to be in on every special teams tackle or knockout, which was nice to see (not enough credit is given to special teams tacklers, so here's one!).
Troy Brown, as usual, gets the offense/defense player of the game. Sure, he never took a snap on defense, but forcing that fumble on the interception? Amazing!
The CBS announcers are, in my opinion, idiots. Maybe they don't have as clear a picture as my HDTV, but several times they miscalled plays, or misanalyzed what was going on on the field. And then they'd do recaps that would run over the next play. Message to announcers: The Patriots do not have the traditional 22 second gap from end of play to break huddle. They often do a hurryup - so stop with cutting to clips!
Marty Schottenheimer: If you're going to make a point of not wearing a headset as a head coach, boy does it make you look nervous when you put one on halfway through the game.
LaDainian: The NFL is full of taunting. Both teams were aggressive and taunting - and note that it was your team with the two unsportsmanlike conduct flags. Storming off the field after your last game the season you're named the league MVP? That has absolutely no class. Your comment that they were mimicking Merriman's dance on their victory, and that was direct orders from Belichick to disrespect you holds no water. To quote Artrell Hawkins' comment to you, "You're better than this." You're going to need to apologize to Bill Belichick, and the Patriots, to get beyond this.
Next week is, yet again, the Colts and Patriots duking it out. Sorry to everyone who had been looking forward to the much-heralded shadow SuperBowl (Ravens at Chargers); you'll have to settle for this rivalry instead.
