Week 3 Recap:

For The Week
vs. W/L: (12-4)
vs. Spread: (10-6)
vs. Aggregate (10-6)

For The Season:
Vs. W/L: (36-11)
Vs. Spread: (30-17)
Vs. Aggregate: (26-21)

Vs. “The Sportsline Experts”:


PFN: 30-17-0
Richard: 28-19-0
Madden: 26-21-0
Judge: 24-23-0
Harmon: 24-23-0
Prisco: 22-25-0
“SpiN”: 23-24-0

Well, that’s a first, being ahead of all of the “experts” at this stage of the year, though we’re not ones to gloat as all it takes is a 5-11 week to get humbled in a hurry. So, we’ll work hard and “call ‘em as we see ‘em”, one week at a time. It is weeks such as the last that make the Vegas Boys load up the money wagon. Playing favorites was not the best strategy on Sunday. How many favorites failed to deliver?

NY Giants
Buffalo
Indianapolis
New England

Enough money to fix the banking crisis probably filled the Vegas Boys’ coffers on those games alone. Week 3’s “Big Story” was Miami’s blowout win over the Patriots. The post-game analysis had the feel of a post-mortem as the mood around these parts is rather grim. Miami came up with an innovative game plan that caught the Pats’ off guard and their O-Line simply pushed around the Pats’ vaunted defense around at will. That’s textbook Parcells’ football and the Dolphins should be congratulated for dominating New England in every phase of the game. What was most unnerving was to hear that a good percentage of the frontrunning phonies that attend Patriot games in Foxboro made a hasty retreat for the exits in the third quarter. The Patriots have more of a history of being low men on the totem pole than kings of the hill. One disheartening loss is not going to break the spirit of those loyal fans that faithfully stuck with the team through all the lean years. The problem is that most of those folks have been priced out of Gillette. There is no excuse for what happened in Foxboro on Sunday both on the field and in the stands. A lack of consistency with the offense can be expected with a new quarterback, but the defense was blown off the ball. The Patriots now have to decide for themselves how they want to play out the season in Brady’s absence. They can define themselves accordingly and play out the string or decide to regroup as a team and give a professional effort next time out. It’s gut check time for Coach Belichick and the troops.

Week 3 Game Balls: The Miami Dolphins and Ronnie Brown

Week 3 Duds: Patriots’ defense: Allowed 461 yards.