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Ugly, butt ugly. Plain and simple.  That was some really bad football by our Patriots.  But, before I get into it, anyone who lays this on Cassel wasn't watching the game.  Sure, he had his share of mistakes, but overall he played solid ball.  When the cast around you CAN'T...HOLD...ONTO...THE...BALL, there's not much you can do.

30 unanswered points.  You read that right; Bill Belichick's Patriots haven't done that in like 5 years.  Just poor football on our part and a Steelers' team ready to create and take advantage of opportunities.  Outplayed, big time.

Positives

• Mike Vrabel's interception to setup a TD.
• [EDIT] Kevin Faulk with 6 for 73, one gain a 41 yarder

Negatives

• Gostkowski, usually money, misses a 27 yarder with 21 seconds left in the half.
• Matthew Slater muffs a kickoff return catch and Pittsburgh recovers.  Two plays later, Hines Ward muscles his way into the endzone.  I was wondering why he was in there instead of Hobbs or Faulk or Welker.  Was BB trying to rest the other guys?  We'll never know.  All I know is Slater will be catching about 412,378,954,123,315 kickoff return balls in practice this week.  Or maybe he won't...which would be worse for him.  Being ignored is a death sentence.
• Pittsburgh OLB James Harrison is allowed in the backfield on Cassel's blind side and manages 2 strip sacks.  That side of the O line fell apart on keeping track of him.  What's his contract status?  Can we pick him up? :-(
• Our receivers, so hot in the last couple of games, simply couldn't find the handle.  Randy, with two sure touchdown catches, is the most guilty of them all.  Those were not only lost points, but momentum killers.  Make those kind of catches and the opposition is demoralized.
• Third down efficiency was 1/13.  JHR caught this in the open thread and I think he's right: this was a MAJOR factor in this loss.  Third and some yardage?  Let's just throw every time, which leads me to my next point...
• Why the hell were we passing sooooooo much when Kevin Faulk was having such a good game?  I mean, 6 for 73 with a 41 yarder...and you're throwing the ball?!?!?  We were running against one of the best run defenses in the business.  Aarrgghh!!!
• Deltha O'Neal is a serious liability.  If not a shutdown corner, Asante Samuel was pretty darn close.  O'Neal is a "throw it here" corner.
• 1 for 4 in the redzone.  Couple that with a horrid third down efficiency and we were in for a long night.
• We have no answer for the RB pair of Mewelde Moore and Willie Parker.  Combined, they blasted through us for 154 yards.
• Time of possession for the Steelers' was 35:05 vs. the Patriots' 24:55.  Our defense was on the field too, too much. 

Using Shake's wildcard standing post, we're still in the mix.  I just hate relying on other teams to lose for us to make it.  I think I need a drink.

Ugly, ugly football by our team.  I'm working on my recap right now, but here's your postgame thread.

Here we go!!  Pittsburgh rolls into town with their killer D and revenge on their mind.  If you recall, we managed a 34-13 win over Pitt and their memory is long.  Matt Cassel has progressed nicely and this will be a good test for him.  Can he continue to hit Moss like the Miami trouncing?  Will Pitt be able to apply a strong pass rush AND shutdown starts Randy and Wes?  Welcome to Foxborough, MA.

Injury Report
Starting Lineups

Here ya go, gang.  If you happen to be watching some of the other NFL games, drop a comment or two.  For divisional matchups we have Buffalo vs. SF, Miami vs. Seattle, and NYJ vs. Denver.

I was convinced the battle to watch was our #7 O vs. the Stillers' #1 D.  With a couple of 400+ games under our belt and significant improvement since the beginning of the season, an offensive victory would be huge for this team.  And, if it was against the #1 D in the league, it would be, like ya know, cool like (been hanging around my teenager too long).

I was convinced, that is, until one of our fine rival bloggers suggested Patriots' D vs. Steelers' O.  We've run into this before.  Even in 2007, our D was much maligned as having the luxury of a record breaking offense; they had a cushion.  Some of the numbers are remarkably similar.  As an example, we're at the bottom of the barrel for red zone defense at 31...almost identical to last year.  And cornerback is, well, cornerback.  Have I mentioned Rodney's IR'd?

I think our rival blogger has a point.  The Steelers' D and Patriots' O have already proven their worth and ability.  The Steelers' O and Patriots' D could be the battle to watch, IFF (if and only if for the non-boolean logic folks in the crowd) they show up.  IFF Big Ben "shows up", we'll be in for a long day, especially in the red zone.  Consequently, if our D manages to exert pressure on Ben and make him jittery, it'll give our offense that much more time on the field.

This is gonna be a good one...

Hello 'Fins faithful,

there was a lot of back and forth this past week about "The Incident".  For me, it's water under the bridge and I hope that's the case for y'all - no hard feelings.  We get heated about our teams because we're fans, good fans.

The AFC East is getting strong again and the Fins are a huge part of that.  Good luck against the Rams.  We have the Stillers at home and it oughta be interesting.  Oh, and it was 35 and raining at my nephew's Pop Warner game this morning.  Now THAT'S football weather.  Sorry, couldn't resist... ;-)

Today starts a day, and weekend, of football for me.  Just to show you how old I am, it's my 33rd Thanksgiving Day game, Woburn High School vs. Winchester High School (my first was as a freshmen in high school, dang I'm old).  I haven't missed a game yet with my dad.  Friday, my nephew (just moved from Indiana) fights for the Massachusetts Pop Warner State finals in his age group.  If he wins, the Woburn Trojans D team heads down to Florida and the nationals.

There are many to thank, but I'm always thinking of our service men and women who are abroad and not able to be with family during this day of giving.  Thank you for keeping us safe and come home soon.

I am most thankful for my wife who slaves over a hot stove preparing a meal for a dozen people while I get to watch football.  I'm lucky she doesn't toss me out the window with the turkey carcass!

Have a safe holiday, folks.

I have tried, lord knows I have tried to stay out of this.  I want to let the punishment and the fines from the NFL speak for themselves.  I want to continue the excellent discussions we've been having with fans of our upcoming rival, the Pittsburgh Steelers.  I really do want to do that, but I can't.  Feeding the flames is not my style; live and let live is my usual mantra.  However, people have blinders on and are only looking at the last 3 seconds of the Crowder vs. Light "interaction".  In order to give you a more objective view, I present to you...the video:

• 00:02 - Crowder starts going low at Light's legs
• 00:06 - Crowder brings both hands up to the side of Light's head, smacking him in the head
• 00:07 - Light grabs Crowder's hair and throws a few shots
• 00:10 - Other Dolphins' players drag Light to the ground
• 00:11 - Crowder runs away

This will be the last few words from me on this subject.  Quite frankly, it's simply not worth any more bits and bytes.  Punishment has been handed down.  It's over.  If opposing fans want to use this as yet another reason to hate, be my guest.  I'm moving on to more important things like talking football.

For the 'Fins fan perspective, head on over to The Phinsider.  Warning to Patriots fans: the discourse is littered with venomous invective.

For weeks we have been watching the progress of Matt Cassel and our beleagured Patriots deal with a string of injuries. The IR chart is a relative who's who of starters and key players.  The good news?  Second, third, and fourth stringers are showing they have what it takes to step up and perform.  This is a credit to their work ethic and preparation, but let's also give credit to the Patriots organization.  Without guys like Scott Pioli and his staff scouring the college and free agent ranks for this forgotten player or that unrecognized rookie, there would be no depth.  None.  And we'd be in a world of hurt right now.

This Sunday at 4:15, we face what I consider one of our toughest opponents, the Pittsburgh Steelers.  This is a storied franchise and one of only three in the history of the NFL to win five Super Bowls.  Both teams have usually had to face the other to get into the playoffs, hence a nice rivalry has developed.  But that's history.  This is 2008 and we have the #1 defense in the NFL to contend with.  Here's a quick view of the Stillers' defensive stats:

• Points per Game - 14.5
• Yards per Game - 235.4
• Passing yards per game - 168.8
• Rushing yards per game - 66.5
• Sacks per game - 3.4

Yep, it's a tough D all around.  They're good at almost everything: pass defense, run defense, pass pressure... you name it, they own it.  So is there any hope?  Are we in for a long day?  Not so fast.  Cassel has gotten MUCH better in the pocket, very Brady-esque.  He's stepping forward instead of sideways and, in many instances, simply running when his receivers are covered and LBs go soft.

Is that all you got, dude?  What else?  Relax, I'm getting to it.  Spread the defense.  Wes Welker and Randy Moss are known threats.  Left alone or played soft, they will eat teams alive.  While DBs are busy keeping tabs on them, Matt has found success with Jabar Gaffney or Ben Watson.  Usually in single coverage, they're great for those quick 8-12 yard pops.  Putting 3 WRs out is a great balance because that leaves 5 on the line, a TE, QB, and an RB.  The TE and RB can provide pass protection OR be available as an option.  With 4 wideouts, you'd have to lose either the TE or the RB and Cassel's vertical-ness.

My prediction?  Pitt's sack count at 37 is second in the league and their pass defense is first with 168 YPG.  This means, too me at least, that they create a lot of pressure and blitz quite a bit (could be good coverage, too).  If that's the case, I don't think Cassel will have time to hang in the pocket too long.  Both Welker and RB Kevin Faulk may be in for a workout as he looks for the quick check downs.  However, if we can spread the defense and force some tentativeness on the rush, we could have some success.

The Patriots' offense has had a couple of high yardage games.  Can they repeat against the league's #1 D?  This is going to be cool to watch.