A rare link dump from me.
* Hmm, when I clicked on the headline of this story, I thought I was in for an interesting read. Instead, I'm not sure where the complaints come from. Oooh, Steelers fans heckle opposing fans and give soft old overly nostalgic frumps a hard time for leaving early. Big deal, right?
* One For The Other Thumb has its always creative and funny weekly injury report, replete with his world famous Photoshop skills on display.
* Matt Cassel just a product of New England's 'brilliant offensive system?' So says this article, who contends that even a guy like Cassel who hadn't started a game since high school is able to make plays and put up numbers in New England. Hmm. First of all, the Patriots have had multiple 'systems' since Tom Brady arrived on the scene in 2001. Secondly, I think having a fantastic offensive line and arguably the greatest playmaker in the game at WR helps more so than anything that offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels does or does not do.
* Here's SBN's Pats blog Pats Pulpit's recap of the Patriots 48-28 victory over the previously surging Miami Dolphins.
* Last year's New England game was truly the game where we learned that our defense, despite being very good, was not truly elite. At least not elite enough to trump the shortcomings we had on offense. This year our top ranked defense will again have a chance to make a statement against a New England offense that is still potent. Pressuring the QB will be imperative, and something tells me that they won't be able to exploit a LB with Wes Welker like they were able to do for the entire second half of last year's affair, but still, at the end of the day, our secondary is going to have to come up big. Ike Taylor is up for the challenge, and in his own words, he's tired of the secondary not getting any credit for its solid play:
"Our secondary doesn't get the credit it deserves," said cornerback Ike Taylor. "It's usually all about our linebackers. That's two years in a row we've been No. 1 and we still don't get the credit."
No time like the present Ike to make people take notice.