Cursed To First - Sox and Pats forever.

Running game leads Pats over 49ers

News flash: Matt Cassel is an inexperienced quarterback.

News flash: Bill Belichick is a smart coach.

News flash: The Patriots are capable of improving from week to week, and learning from their mistakes.

Today the Patriots adjusted not only to the mistakes they made last time out against Miami, but also to some miscues that had them trailing San Francisco early in this game.

Randy Moss has been making noise about wanting "touchdowns, not field goals," oh, and also the ball. Cassel went to Moss a couple times early on - once with a long bomb for a beautiful touchdown in the first half. But the next time he tried to go the long-bomb-to-Moss route, he got an interception for his troubles. He's not an experienced enough driver to take that particular high-octane vehicle out for a spin at will like Brady used to; that's just a fact.

By the end of the second quarter, though, the Patriots switched Cassel to a steady diet of short passes to Welker and Moss and gained traction with a balanced running game that saw contributions from Sammy Morris, Kevin Faulk, and LaMont Jordan, the latter before he went down with an injury in the second quarter.

The Patriots actually gained 233 of their 377 total net yards today on passes from Cassel, but two of the three touchdowns New England scored were rushing touchdowns. Factor in three field goals and that 111 of the total passing yards were gained by receivers--and you have a nice balance between Cassel showing improvement, and his veteran teammates and coaching staff also shouldering much of the load.

The game against Miami showed some defensive vulnerabilities, particularly against the running game, that were troubling. Give them two weeks, though, and the Patriots were not only holding San Francisco to a pathetic 3 first downs rushing, but the Patriots pass defense also showed an ability to stiffen up, holding the 9ers to an 11% third down conversion rate. Rodney Harrison in particular seemed to have shifted up a gear for this game, with a big interception in the third quarter.

It was also Harrison that delivered the final defensive coup de grace for San Francisco's QB, JT O'Sullivan, in the fourth quarter, first with a tipped pass that Deltha O'Neal caught for the third San Fran turnover of the game, and then by flying in out of nowhere to elbow the ball out of Arnaz Battle's arm in the waning seconds.

On the offensive side, the line also showed marked improvement over the previous ordeal against Miami. Matt Light was clutch, pancaking linebackers and opening holes for the backs. Most of the successful Patriots runs were off the left side today--including Kevin Faulk's touchdowns. They even took a page directly from Miami's playbook in week 3 for the second of those TDs, with a direct snap to Faulk on the 2-yard line.

Both the Patriots and 49ers entered this game in second place in their respective divisions, and both started inexperienced quarterbacks. But by the end of the game, only one of those QBs was looking rattled, while the other was holding his own, surrounded by veteran teammates.

Cassel's still wet behind the ears, and he's going to make mistakes. Gone are the days this team could be wholly focused on what to "take away" from opponents, and instead its vulnerabilities do sometimes take weapons away from them, like the long passing game today. But the all-or-nothing idea that this is a "lost season" for the Patriots without Brady is looking more foolish by the minute.

Patriots Squished by the Fish

When I argued that this is not a lost season for the Patriots shortly after Tom Brady went down, the relative ease of their schedule this year, especially early on, was something I took into account. Miami at home has been all but a lock over the last few years; while I knew it wouldn't be a cakewalk, I wasn't expecting this.

Neither, it seemed, were many of my fellow Patriots fans, who flooded talk radio yesterday afternoon with their views on exactly who lost the game. To my consternation, and that of the radio hosts I was listening to, there was a vocal faction wanting to ship out Matt Cassel and give Kevin O'Connell a shot under center.

Call me a quarterback apologist, but I didn't see this loss as Cassel's fault. At least, not totally.It's true he faltered in the red zone, as he had against the Jets (luckily 1,000 field goals were enough to beat them). The Tuna's defense kept him shuffling between the 20s all day, not something that would've happened to Brady.

However, Cassel also doesn't seem to be getting much protection. You could argue that Brady just made it look like he had more time because of his calm style, or hid a multitude of blocking sins with his mobility in the pocket, but there were times yesterday Cassel didn't even have a second to set his feet. Then there was Randy Moss, shutting it down in the third quarter and showing shades of his old self.

And to lay it all on the backup QB would amount to a grossly unfair overlooking of the defense yesterday, which played as if opposing runningbacks were invisible.� There's plenty of blame to go around - one analysis I've seen attributes the effectiveness of the Dolphins' running game to deception from a spread formation, hardly the kind of thing it seems the Patriots should fall for� - which suggests that this team has deeper problems than its Hall of Fame quarterback's left knee. That in itself is an unsettling thought.

Although, maybe I should have been expecting this. After all, the Dolphins were the last team to beat the Patriots in the regular season, and that time was even more of an upset - and even more of a crushing loss. That time was with Brady at the helm, the Patriots didn't even get on the board, and every member of the Dolphins was outfitted in traffic-cone-orange shoes. It was a game Kristen and I came to refer to with the statement, "What Miami game?" because the Patriots were headed for the playoffs anyway, and there were bigger fish to fry, and so it seemed the best course of action was to forget the game ever happened. In fact, this is probably the first time I've acknowledged its existence since.

Old-school Pats fans like my Dad have more animosity toward the Dolphins than I do, recalling the days when the Dolphins were dominant and the Pats were so bad not all of their games were even televised locally. So it was an especially bitter thing to some to have this latest regular-season winning streak bookended by losses to Miami. And wouldn't you know it'd be the Tuna cackling on the other side of the ball when it was time for another streak to end.

All of that said, it's pretty tough even for a Pats homer like myself to feel too terribly about this. I'm supposed to be grieving the first lost regular-season game in two years? The week after the team tied its own consecutive-regular-season-win record? Please. I'm spoiled, but I'm not that spoiled.

Even if I was, we've lost both a heartbreaking Super Bowl and our star quarterback in the last 8 months. This game was a sucker punch, but it pales in comparison.

"Every time the fans cheered I looked over at the door"

Given the reports about the severity of Brady's injury, Randy Moss's description of his feelings during the game just twists the knife a little for New England fans:

�I was like a little kid at the candy store just hoping you would see that No. 12 come out those doors and up the steps. Like I said, every time the fans cheered I looked at that door so basically I was just snapping my neck around every time. Late in the fourth quarter and after halftime, when I knew he wasn't coming back, I don't know his injury or what happened but all I know is he didn't come back.

Al Michaels during Colts / Bears game: Patriots to be working out Chris Simms tomorrow.

Cold, Hard Football Facts: No offense, folks, but you don't simply replace a quarterback who is probably the most historically significant player in the history of the game.

Oh captain, my captain

The Patriots announced their captains for the 2008/2009 season. The cast includes some familiar faces, Tom Brady, Tedy Bruschi, Rodney Harrison, Mike Vrabel, and Larry Izzo, who have all been captains before. Both Bruschi and Brady are serving their seventh seasons as team captains, while Izzo is entering his eighth season as a captain. However, the list has also has some first-timers. Left tackle Matt Light, nose tackle Vince Wilfork, and wide receiver Randy Moss have all been elected captains for the first time. Of course, the most intriguing name on the list is Randy Moss, who brought a less than team-first reputation when New England traded for him last offseason. However, this selection does reenforce what Coach Belichick and QB Tom Brady have said in the past about Moss being a leader in the locker room. Now, it's offical and clear his teammates feel the same way.

Here is a breakdown of the captains by team unit:

Offense: QB Tom Brady, LT Matt Light, WR Randy Moss

Defense: LB Tedy Bruschi, LB Mike Vrabel, S Rodney Harrison, NT Vince Wilfork

Special Teams: Larry Izzo

Patriots Preseason Malaise Continues

So far, there's not much of a QB controversy in New England--even a backup QB controversy, though that was the headline leading up to this week's game after news of Brady's foot injury broke. Right now, tonight, there's a starter, and then there's fear and sacrifices to the football gods for Brady's health.

The battle for backup QB wound up, if such a thing is possible, with two losers - both Matt Cassel and Kevin O'Connell. Or, rather, one clear loser and one inconclusive - O'Connell at least scored a touchdown.

Cassel's effort to redeem himself for last week's blunders, on the other hand, was a spectacular failure, which culminated in his loss of a high snap for a TB touchdown. Cassel scored no points and turned the ball over twice, if you count his interception on his very first drive in the fourth quarter along with the botched snap. O'Connell turned the ball over once with an INT of his own, and the two of them finished with a combined 118 yards. As a whole, the team netted 174 yards.

Even aside from the quarterback situation, this game was just bad, all around. Sort of like how I knew by halftime of the Super Bowl that the Giants defense was outplaying the Patriots at every turn, tonight I knew there was something off about the team after just the first five or six plays. The Tampa Bay runningbacks were slicing through even our first line of defense like a hot knife through butter, something they would continue doing throughout the night.

But surely, I thought, there would be a few bright spots. I wasn't able to catch the first preseason game, so I was looking forward to sitting down and seeing the new faces, and who would impress. From my Reiss readings so far this year, I was especially interested to see Fernando Bryant, whom Reiss wrote about going stride-for-stride with Randy Moss in full pads during camp. But the only time I really took notice of him was when he walked out to start the game and the NFL Network anchors read his name.

To call this game bad would be a gross understatement. As a matter of fact, I can't think of a single bright spot or encouraging factor, with the possible exception of Gostkowski's 53-yard field goal, which was a pretty nice kick. Otherwise, the Patriots came out disorganized, disheveled and frankly dispirited against Tampa Bay.

How to feel about it I guess depends on how seriously you take the preseason. I was disturbed, but my dad would only remind me, repeatedly, that it's just the preseason. Things are not always what they seem.

But nobody wants to watch their team play a game like that, whether it counts or not. Nobody wants to watch every level of the Tampa Bay quarterback depth chart, including a guy coming back from a ruptured spleen, dismantle our defense. Nobody wants to see our O-line get its butt kicked for the second preseason game and third overall game in a row.

The preseason isn't supposed to really count, but I remember that by the second week of last year's preseason I already had a sense that we had something special in our offense (which, despite the SB, we did.) So far this year, I'm getting an unusual feeling again, but it's in the opposite direction.

And it strikes an ominous note when I think of the quote from Belichick which Jamie highlighted before the game, that "[Playing the Buccaneers] will be good because a lot of things they do have application to other teams we will see during the course of the year in all three phases of the game."

If that's the case, New England had better buckle down. Or else, we in the peanut gallery had better buckle up.

Dazed and confused by Patriots non-moves

I have to say I'm surprised. I understand that the Patriots don't have the luxury of resting on laurels this off-season after their defeat just seconds from the 19-0 finish line; I understand that a coach as perfectionistic as Bill Belichick will feel he has to re-tool as much after a Super Bowl squeaker as he would had the team not even made the playoffs. But some of the Patriots' moves (or, rather, non-moves) have really surprised me.

I knew Asante Samuel would drop the Pats like a bad habit after his acrimonious off-season last year, but Rosie Colvin? I love Tedy Bruschi as much as the next person, but why does he warrant resigning if Colvin does not?

On the offensive side, I could've predicted�role-players�like Kyle Brady looking elsewhere for an expanded role or more money. But Donte Stallworth? And silence on Randy Moss?

I�hope Brent is right and that the Patriots can develop Chad Jackson to fill Stallworth's role, but I'm�less optimistic that they can. Stallworth was a solid� situational weapon for Brady �and his yards after catch were tops on the team. If Chad Jackson could've done that, why didn't he the times he was in the game?

You could argue that strategically, the�Patriots focused in their approach too much on the offensive side of the game last year, especially earlier in the season, and were punished for doing so when the offense was rendered a non-factor during the Super Bowl loss. Still, I fail to see how�dumping Stallworth and possibly dumping Moss makes the team stronger in the places they got beat in the Bowl. Call me naive, but I thought that was the idea.

Patriots riddled with question marks for 2008

With the number of questions that the Patriots face in the wake of their Super Bowl loss to the Giants, I'm amazed people are still even bothering with...what should we call it? Belichick Left the Field a Second Too Early-Gate?

Here are a few that have occurred to me when football finally wormed its way back into my brain after a good week or so of trying to block it out.

Please note: none of these questions will address all the Congress / NFL investigation stuff, which I'm not going to get into any more until more information comes out.

1.�What's the game plan for next season, Coach? After the Patriots lost to the Colts in the 2007 AFC Championship Game, Belichick went on the warpath with his players about conditioning, endurance, and staying mentally committed through 60 minutes of football. These improvements created a perfect regular season, but the Patriots looked flat and the offensive line completely physically overmatched in the Super Bowl. Was the idea sound, and the execution not up to par in the end? Or did the perfect regular season take a toll? How do the Patriots regroup strategically and what can they learn from this experience, similar to the way they learned from the loss to the Colts?

2. How do we fill the holes? As Jamie already wrote, the Patriots have a slew of players eligible for free agency now that the season's over. Some of them are also eligible for retirement, and it's hard to ignore how the median age of the defense has crept up. The Patriots have traditionally shunned building through the draft for the short-term; will that philosophy be modified this year to get a youth movement going? At this juncture the Patriots would do well to follow the example of the Red Sox, and focus on developing more young talent for the next generation of Patriots football. In the meantime, the most crucial free agent question: does Asante stay or go?

3. What's the future for Tom Brady? It's clear opponents have determined that eliminating Brady is the key to defeating the Patriots. It's also clear that given the unanimous enmity the league seems to feel toward the Patriots, most teams will have no problem at least attempting to re-enact the Giants' blitzing performance when next they line up against the Pats.

Meanwhile, Brady has already racked up nagging injuries including shoulder separation, knee sprains, ankle sprains and a sports hernia. He's mobile in the pocket but not a scrambling quarterback; it's easy to say the Patriots should just get some better offensive linemen, but that unit already has veterans, Pro Bowlers and Super Bowlers alike--it's tough to figure how it�could be built better. Rather, rebalancing the offensive strategy to focus a little less on the pass might take some of the heat off Brady and improve his longevity in the league, but it's easy to see why the Patriots had no time for that idea this year with the way Brady was playing earlier in the season. So do they clip Brady's wings a bit or do they risk losing him too early, and for good?

Brady's also up for a contract extension and bump in pay, though he is signed through 2010, and the Globe points out his contract situation, regardless of which way the Patriots decide to go,�"would affect�all other offseason planning."

4. Where can we find the next Adam Vinatieri? There were, in retrospect, a number of questionable coaching decisions that affected the outcome of the Super Bowl, but none stands out more than the decision to go for the end zone rather than a field goal kick on 4th and 13. Mike Reiss points out that this decision in turn may have been influenced by�a lack of confidence in Stephen Gostkowski:

Belichick explained that there was thought given to the field goal, but he ultimately felt the kick was too long. In making that decision, he likely was factoring in Gostkowski's body of work this season, that his season-long field goal was 45 yards. Gostkowski had just one attempt from 48 yards or longer this season, a miss against the Steelers.

At the time Vinatieri was let go, the thought was that the Patriots shouldn't have so much of a dependency on the kicker; that they wouldn't get too far�relying on clutch three-pointers and instead should push for a�more solid lead.

But�with the exception of the first part of this past regular season, the Patriots have succeeded by focusing on each opponent�without looking ahead, and by doing just enough to win; this was also true of the Patriots throughout the latter half of this season. When you're playing a finesse game, three-pointers add up: the Patriots had won each of their Super Bowls by three points and lost this one by three.��

5. What's the post-mortem on the Randy Moss experiment? He behaved like a model prisoner this year...except for that little restraining-order debacle leading up to the AFC Championship Game. He broke records as a wide receiver during the regular season...and was a moping non-factor in the Super Bowl. Versatile targets like Donte' Stallworth and Wes Welker proved just as valuable for Brady this year, and they're going to want vastly less money. Which way do the Patriots go?

We're in uncharted territory as Patriots fans; it feels like the upward trajectory of the last five or so years is tapering off, and now the age of the team's best players, what proved to be a fallible game-planning / coaching strategy somewhere along the line, SpyGate and Handshake-Gate and Ankle-Gate (Pats Edition), leave the Patriots at possibly the most crucial impasse of the decade. How the team regroups from this loss, what kind of 'humble pie' the coaching and personnel staffs will be feeding themselves this spring, and how the team is built this year will play a big part in the future of the franchise for years to come.

Randy's all clear, and game day is here

Well, now I feel like a horse's ass.

Since I wrote my post when the Randy Moss news first came out, further detail has been revealed about the "battery" in this case, the injuries suffered and what "would not allow her to seek medical treatment" means.

My communications with Mr. McGill began last Wednesday. He told me that Randy had intentionally hurt his client�s hand and wouldn�t take her to the hospital and that if Randy didn�t pay up, he would go public and file suit in Florida for battery. He gave me until 3 pm Friday to let him know. He demanded that I not come up with �something like $50,000 or $75,000,� but something with �six figures.� He had told me that the x-rays on her hand or finger were negative. I explained that it was my understanding that what occurred was the result of a horseplay-type accident and Randy was sorry it had occurred and he would pay for her medical bills and pain and suffering and that I would prefer to turn this over to his homeowners� insurance coverage as we normally do with accidents. He said he was not interested in insurance or what her injuries were. He said he was evaluating the claim based on what Randy stood to lose. He threatened that Randy would suffer large amounts of money in future salaries and endorsements and what he claimed would be game suspensions.

He also threatened that his client had lots of �dirt� on him. Making such threats is clearly unethical, and in my opinion, criminal. When I tried to ascertain the extent of her injuries, he said that he didn�t know and that it didn�t matter as I just needed to make an offer big enough that she would take it.

First of all, much credit to Boston.com for printing this in its entirety rather than quoting from it. Second of all: she sprained her finger and Moss wouldn't drive her to the hospital. And for that she wants 500 large. And also, to embarrass and distract Randy Moss in public just before the biggest game of his career.

Um.

When I wrote my post the other day the injuries had not been detailed. I did question why that was, but when I heard "battery" I thought it must have been something like a punch to the face, and the medical attention needed being stitches. I was picturing threats, explicit instructions not to go to the hospital...

She sprained her finger and he wouldn't drive her to the hospital.

Thanks for wasting our time with this.

***

Anyway, what time is it? GAME TIME!

Well, not quite. But for the few hours between now and game time, here are some thoughts.

Will the starting Chargers show up? "Sources close to the team" are tipping off the press that Rivers has a partially torn ACL and is 'doubtful' for this game. Apparently the only day he practiced this week was Friday. LT has been practicing and will reportedly make the game.

Here's another question: does it matter? Look what the Chargers did with Billy Volek against Peyton Manning in Indianapolis. A team that doesn't let injuries slow it down...hmm. Who does that remind me of?

However, the "intangible" factors aside, FootballOutsiders.com crunched the numbers with a vengeance and predict

a blowout on the Patriots� way to 19-0 � particularly if Billy Volek or a hobbled Philip Rivers throw a couple of early picks. The Chargers� pass rush will get to Brady a couple of times, but most of the time he�s going to have time to throw and some big holes in the secondary to throw at. The biggest reason to believe it won�t be a blowout is the Chargers� red zone defense, which could force Stephen Gostkowski onto the field numerous times.

Also, that Defensive Value Over Average (DVOA) graph for the Patriots, as one commenter put it, "is just so elegant and beautiful." He added, "This really is Bill Belichick�s masterpiece if they win it all. Their graph is a cosine graph right now implying this team has come full circle."

But, as always, we'll see. Remember what happened in Indianapolis, after all.

Official statements on the Randy Moss allegations

The woman accusing Randy Moss of battery, Rachelle Washington,�had her attorney release a statement earlier today regarding the situation. It reads as follows:

"For the past 11 years, Ms. Washington has cared deeply for Mr. Moss and has been there for him throughout all of his trials and tribulations. However, she refuses to be further disrespected by him. It has never been her intention to hurt Mr. Moss in any way. However, she has suffered mental and physical harm as a result of his actions. She simply wants him to take responsibility for what he has done. As a battery victim, she has shown great strength throughout this entire ordeal.

"Ms. Washington has been unfairly characterized as someone simply seeking financial gain. In fact, it was Mr. Moss' representatives who first contacted our office to offer a "six figure" settlement with hopes of not having this incident become public record.

"We have heard Mr. Moss' statement regarding the incident. He has acknowledged that he was at Ms. Washington's Florida residence and that he was "guilty" of an "accident" which occurred. However, Mr. Moss fails to mention how his reckless and degrading conduct rendered Ms. Washington unable to drive her vehicle to seek medical attention. As the evidence will show, there is serious doubt that Mr. Moss is capable of recalling with clarity the exact details of what transpired that evening. As Mr. Moss has previously stated, "Do your homework and check his resume.

"We look forward to presenting all of the evidence at the court hearing on January 28, 2008."

Randy's agent the issued a more detailed response, which is quite long and interesting. It can be read in its entirety by clicking here. What jumped out at me is that the "accident" Moss spoke of occurred as a result of horseplay with the woman. I had a feeling this is what Moss meant but I didn't want to jump to conclusions. I'm sure many of us out there have either been hurt or accidentaly hurt someone while horsing around. What also jumps out at me is the fact that Moss's agent along with his attorney are moving forward with the Florida bar and the District Attorney's office to seek some kind of sanctions or disbarring of� David McGill, the Rachelle's attorney. Apparently, as you can read, he attempted to extort $500,000 from Randy by threatening to go public with not only this incident but other "dirt" that his client supposedly has on Randy Moss. This is definitely a serious matter and I'm fairly certain that Mr. McGill with not be practicing law much longer if this is true.

Randy Moss's he said, she said

Well, this is exactly what we were afraid of when they signed him.

Some would say, true to form--Randy Moss is embroiled in a public controversy with someone he terms a "long-term acquaintance" just five days before the AFC Championship Game is set to be played in Foxboro. This could not have come, for the team and for Moss, at a worse time.

So. She said:

On Monday, Rachelle Washington secured a temporary restraining order against the wide receiver in Broward County Circuit Court (a copy of Washington's TRO petition can be found below). Washington, 35, alleges that she was battered by Moss in her Fort Lauderdale home on Sunday, January 6 (the Patriots did not play that weekend due to the team's opening round bye in the NFL playoffs). Washington contends that she has had an "intimate relationship" with the 30-year-old athlete since 1997. In the "lethality assessment" section of a court form, she checked off boxes indicating that Moss has guns and a "drug or alcohol problem." The restraining order case, which is classified as a "dating violence" matter in court records, is scheduled for a January 28 court hearing. Until then, the TRO bars Moss from coming within 500 feet of Washington, her home, and her auto.

He said:

Moss, a resident of Orlando, Florida, said he was asked for a financial settlement from the woman over an incident he termed was an �accident' between the two . The woman, in an affidavit filed in Broward County, claims Moss asked her not to seek medical attention.

A restraining order was issued over the woman's claims of "dating violence." There were no further details provided of exactly what happened between the two, or when or where the alleged incident happened.

"Over an accident, six figures," Moss said when asked how much Washington was seeking in damages. "All I know is that it's a friend of mine, a young lady, it was an accident where she hurt herself, to where they called me, called my attorneys, trying to get X amount of dollars out of me, and if �we don't get X amount of dollars' they were going to go to the press before this game."

Somewhere out there, in between these stories, is the truth. The problem, as a mass audience dealing with a celebrity via the press, is that we can't know it. Nobody but Moss and Washington know what really happened.

This kind of thing is very hard for me to deal with as a female sports fan, and one who at least considers herself a modern woman, if not a radical feminist. I know that in many if not most cases, abused women are not believed, whether their abuser works a blue-collar job or is a multimillionaire athlete. I also know that when the abuser is a multimillionaire athlete, the chances of anyone believing her story--let alone anyone doing anything about it--are basically nil, no matter what the truth is.

But let's not forget the other part--the sports fan. The rabid, total-homer Patriots fan who wants nothing more, regardless of gender, than for this to go away. For Moss's teammates not to be distracted before the biggest game yet this year. For the team and the joy they've brought us this year to be unclouded.

To be honest, both sides of this story have huge holes. If they've had an "intimate relationship" since 1997, why is this only happening now? If she was assaulted Jan. 6, why did she wait until Jan. 14 to file a restraining order? Why did she file a restraining order when Randy Moss was already nowhere near her? Why has she not been more forthcoming about what the battery was and what her injuries were? If, as her restraining order claims, she fears retaliation from Moss for seeking medical treatment for her injuries (when for at least the last weekend he hasn't even been in the same state), why bring a restraining order and court case against him? Something tells me exposing him publicly like this carries a far higher risk of retaliation.

But when I read Moss's statements on the matter, my heart sank. First, he places himself at the scene of the crime, so to speak, by not denying that an incident, and, by extension, injuries of some kind did occur, instead calling it an "accident." He also attempts to deflect the scrutiny to his accuser by alleging she's trying to extort money from him, and by pointing out the timing of events. But he does not deny that an incident occurred, or that she was hurt. That is deeply troubling, to say the least.

Moss obviously has every reason in the world to keep his nose clean this year. As he put it in what was perhaps his most sincere statement about the case, "Everything I tried to do from getting here early and making sure I eat the right food all the way to practicing and playing good. I wanted all of it to be A-plus."

But let's go back to his college days, when not once but several times he had the whole world on a plate if he just kept his nose clean. He first signed a letter of intent to play at Notre Dame, where according to Wikipedia, "former Notre Dame head coach Lou Holtz, [said] Moss was 'the greatest high school athlete I had ever seen � a bigger Deion Sanders'." But before he could get out of high school, he took part in what Wikipedia describes as a "racially charged fight" that left someone hospitalized; Moss was sent to jail for battery (!) and was cut by Notre Dame, but they gave him a referral to Florida State.

Moss took that second chance and trashed it too, by flunking a drug test while on probation. Florida State went away, too. That's how Moss ended up at Marshall, where he eventually did play football well, but not without stirring up controversy there, too, when he was quoted in Sports Illustrated "saying the 1970 Marshall plane crash 'was a tragedy, but it really wasn't nothing big.' Moss claimed that the quote was taken out of context."

As the national football audience well knows, Moss's tendency to get into trouble followed him to the pros. As a member of the Vikings in 2002, Moss was busted again for drugs. And there was the "walking off the field" incident. And the mooning incident (though I saw the humor in that one, I must confess). And so on.

I bring up that history because when we consider Randy Moss's role in this new situation, his history suggests strongly that all the incentives in the world to keep himself on the straight and narrow--even temporarily--have failed in the past. His history, fair or not, also casts aspersions on his character and makes his side of this story that much less credible.

People thought that his miserable stint with the Raiders and being traded for a draft pick was rock bottom for Randy Moss, but I think if left to his own devices, he could very well find another level. I am afraid, as a Patriots fan, that he has. He doesn't have any more second chances left, certainly not with a coach like Bill Belichick, no matter how many touchdown passes he caught this year.

In the end, it's another sad chapter in a chequered career that might have been orders of magnitude more accomplished, had Moss allowed his obvious talent to come through rather than his off-field antics. But yet, here we are again. It's hard not to believe in a moment like this that this might just be his MO. And as fans, it's moments like this we have to consider how far we or our team are willing to tolerate this kind of thing from a player, whatever he does between the lines.