Four Down Territory

By Ryan Whitfield

Twitter: @RyanWhitfieldNE

First Down

If Ole Ed there really did tell Cam he’s too young to get that call (provided it wasn’t a joke) then I’m on Cam’s side. It’s one of the many things I hate about the NBA, the seniority and stardom affecting the levelness of the playing field. But, Cam crying about his safety? Give me a break. You’re 6’5 245 lbs and your life wasn’t in danger on that hit. As your former teammate would tell you, put the offenders on your lifetime hit list and ice up son.

Second Down

Patriots fans, shut up. That’s right, a little Pat’s fan on Pat’s fan crime here. Seriously though, we’re really going to make Bart Scott’s comments into a story here? First off, listen to the whole clip, he kind of couches his opinion and it’s clear he’s trolling. Secondly, he was on a show that is near and dear to New England’s heart, as DA use to be the night time host on the Sports Hub here in Boston. Caller’s were giving him a hard time so he gave it back. Third, he was Jet and a Raven. He’s supposed to hate Brady! Lastly, stop diminishing him because he’s retired at 35 and Brady’s still playing. Linebackers have a shorter shelf life than Quarterbacks. My fellow Brethren, stop whining!

Third Down

I’m going to dive into this much deeper later this weekend but I’ll introduce it now. This time last year it was “the end” of Brady and we all had an eye on the future with Garappolo. Well, we were wrong. Most Pats fans relish in mocking Dilfer, Young, and even Felger. But that Tuesday after Kansas City, 98.5 the Sports Hub ran a contest for tickets to the Pats and Bengals game and people called in saying you couldn’t pay them to go watch our awful team. Hell, Belichick used a second round pick on a QB. We all thought the end was on it’s way, but it’s not. So New England, what to do with Jimmy? Do you sell while the value is high and look for the next guy next year? Or do you continue the succession plan as currently constituted? It’s a question I guarantee Bill and his scouts are already talking about.

Fourth Down

I’m amending my AFC North Pick to Cincinnati and knocking the Ravens out of the post season – deal with it!

For the two Wild Card spots I have the Steelers and the Jets. I think Pitt can hang around until Ben is back and then sneak in on a down year for the conference and league. I think the Jets are a legit 10-6 or 11-5 wildcard team.