I had John Madden calling Tom Brady “cool” at 9:09 p.m. in the pool. He held out until 9:40.
Other than that, things went pretty much as expected last night, even ABC going to commercial at the precise time Kevin Millar was striking out in a clutch spot on NESN.
Tom Brady’s timing with his receivers was a lot better, thank goodness, and the quest for Lombardi Trophy No. 4 began in very satisfying fashion.
First of all, it was great to have the NFL back, and flipping back and forth between the Pats and a tight, meaningful Sox game kind of makes you count your blessings again if you’re a fan of both.
What was weird last night, though, was not wanting to under or overemphasize the importance of either game. The football game got top billing in the Whitehouse hideout because it’s one of 16, and the Sox game was one of 162. Of course, heading into a big series with the Yankees this weekend, last night may ultimately prove just as important to our one-time defending champions as it does to our two-time defending champions.
Then again, it may not.
Game One of the NFL season takes on more importance than Game 139 of the baseball season for obvious mathematical reasons. But in terms of giving us solid answers for what’s going to happen the rest of the season, it’s no more revealing than Game One of the MLB schedule.
We’re a culture of instant gratification, so some people will look for answers based on one game. They’ll say the Patriots don’t miss Charlie Weis because they scored 30 points, and Brady carved up Oakland’s swiss cheese secondary. They’ll say the defense doesn’t look much different without Tedy Bruschi, Ty Law and Romeo Crennel. They’ll say Warren Sapp is the most over-rated defensive lineman in NFL history.
I’m not ready to endorse the Weis and Bruschi/Law/Crennel theories. I’ll commit to the Sapp one, though.
It’s not so much answers that Patriot fans should try to get out of last night. It’s impressions.
And I don’t mean impressions like the impression Ozzy Osbourne did during the pre-game show of a singer trying really hard to look like he’s not lip-synching.
Myself, I always look for things that I’d like to see more of and less of after the first game.
Brady spread the ball to eight different receivers in the first half. That’s his style. It’s Bill Belichick’s style and it works great for them, obviously. But man, I really wouldn’t mind seeing Ben Watson get the ball seven or eight times a game, just to see what he could do with it.
I’d also like to see the Patriots offensive line get more recognition. I know they’re the most boring part of a team America finds sooooo boring, but face all different kinds of defenses, all different kinds of blitz packages, all kinds of different schemes, but they always get the job done. They also make a pretty funny commercial.
I’d like to see less of Dan Klecko at fullback, especially if he’s going to keep blocking like Randy Moss.
The special teams was a mixed bag. Good returns, some great kicks by Josh Miller, terrible blocking on an extra point and a punt. I’d like to see less of the special teams, good or bad. I just don’t like the foot in football.
The Raiders got flagged for 14 penalties. I can’t see enough of those. They didn’t have any controversial replay calls go against them. I can’t see enough of those, either.
The Patriot defense bent but didn’t break, as it always has. It played the field-position game well, as it always has. I thought long before last night that the defensive line is going to be really, really good, and I’d like to see more of those four-man fronts.
Tyrone Poole got burned deep. I’d like to see less of him, at least less of him on No. 1 receivers.
I used to sometimes wonder last year why people would almost never talk about Poole when they discussed the injuries the Pats’ secondary suffered.
I don’t wonder why anymore. That’s one answer I did get last night.
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