NEWS ITEM: Welker runs wild over J-E-T-S
Something occurred to me as Wes Welker was running roughshod over the Jets Sunday (“psssssst, Rex, he’s No. 83”) – Welker should have been the guy getting the ball on fourth-and-2 in Indianapolis.
Now, the intention here was to let that thing die. Argue all you want about whether it was, depending on who was doing the talking, the worst decision in the history of the NFL or pure genius by our resident genius, I’m here to talk about the play itself, and Welker showed again Sunday why he should been the man making that play (“Rex, the little guy. In blue”).
Or maybe even Randy Moss?
Hey, anyone who has seen a Patriots game in this decade knows what a quality receiver Kevin Faulk is, so it’s hard to argue going to him – except when you have Welker, the best possession receiver of his time, on the same depth chart.
Welker (“Yeah, Rex, that guy”) has 302 catches in his 40 games in New England. Think about that, and he did it with Tom Brady missing all but a few plays last season.
You want consistency? The guy caught 112 passes, for 1,175 yards and eight touchdowns in 2007, grabbed 111 for 1,165 yards and three TDs last year (with Matt Cassel throwing the ball) and now has 79 catches for 854 yards and four touchdowns, with six games left in this season.
“I’m not trying to point nobody out, but you know, Wes Welker, you gotta pressure him, you gotta get physical with him,” said Darrelle Revis, who was busy with Moss.
Pressure him? You have to be in the same zip code first.
What he did Sunday, 15 catches, 192 yards, plus an 11-yard run, was pure video game stuff. Yes, the Jets were determined to limit Moss, and Revis did another fine job, but someone had to pay attention to Welker.
“He’s like the Energizer bunny, he keeps on going and going, even if he gets knocked down,” said Revis.
The convincing win quieted the fourth-and-2 talk – some. It likely will never go away, especially if it winds up costing the Pats home field somewhere down the road.
Next up is a visit to New Orleans, and another chance to beat an unbeaten. I thought they’d beat both Indy and the Saints. Now, they get a shot to make me half right.
NEWS ITEM: Savard returns to Bruins
Just a few days off of a bad home loss to the Islanders, the B’s produced a pair of road wins Thursday and Friday night, both on the road against decent teams and both in extra time — and featuring the work ethic it is going to take for this team to win.
To win, this team has to grind. It’s really that simple.
Monday night, the Bruins were set to get Marc Savard, the closest thing they have to a major NHL point getter, back from his broken foot. Reports are swirling he’s about to sign a contract extension, thus passing up unrestricted free agency at the end of the season. If the club had any doubts about the deal in the 15 games he was out, his absence made it clear how much this team needs his skill level.
NEWS ITEM: This and that from the notebook
For the second time in a dozen years, Boston has lost a local college football program. In 1997, it was Boston University. Now, it’s Northeastern, and while there will be screams and sobs of sadness, you have to realize the Huskies played in a residential neighborhood and no one went to the games. How do you keep something like that going?
With former Red Sox executive Jed Hoyer now running things in San Diego, do the Sox pry Adrian Gonzalez loose from the Padres? Stay tuned on that one – and what could be an interesting battle between the Sox and Yankees over righties Roy Halladay and John Lackey. Both could affect the AL East next season.
The Celtics needed a last-second overtime shot to beat the Knicks Sunday, further proof this isn’t going to be the 70-win season I thought it might be. Danny Ainge might need to do some tweaking here, and the C’s will be better when Glen Davis gets back, providing, of course, he doesn’t have any more best friends to punch out.
Finally, with Charlie Weis on the way out at Notre Dame, is it really hard to imagine him coming back to New England? If it’s not here, it’s going to be somewhere – as long as it’s in the NFL. This college thing just didn’t work out.
Tags: Adrian Gonzalez, Boston Bruins, Boston Red Sox, BU Terriers, Charlie Weis, Darrelle Revis, John Lackey, Kevin Faulk, Marc Savard, New England Patriots, New York Jets, Northeastern Huskies, Randy Moss, Roy Halladay, San Diego Padres, Tom Brady, Wes Welker
