Don’t Count the Patriots Out Yet

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It certainly feels like strange days in Foxobro. Playing in front of empty seats at Gillette Stadium, and in mostly empty stadiums on the road, the Patriots have stumbled out of the gate. At 2-3, they find themselves with a losing record after five games for the first time since 2002. Even more alarming, they are currently 11th in the AFC. 11th! It will take a lot of work, and maybe even some luck, for the Patriots to extend their NFL record of consecutive playoff appearances to 12 this season. Still, I’m not counting them out yet.

It’s not unusual for the Patriots to get out to slow starts. The 2001 team was 3-4 on Halloween and the 2003 team started out 2-2 before finding it’s groove and winning 15 straight en route to a Super Bowl championship. More recently, the 2014 team fell to
2-2 after getting shellacked in Kansas City. We all know how that season ended up.

The 2018 team stumbled to a 1-2 start after back-to-back losses at Jacksonville and Detroit.

It’s well established that this team treats September like an extension of the preseason as it tries to get all of its pieces to fit together, and hopefully not peak too early. Why then would 2020 be any different? With a new quarterback and no preseason at all in 2020, on top of COVID-19 to deal with, it shouldn’t be surprising at all if it takes a few extra weeks for Bill and Josh and the gang to figure things out this season. But I’m still confident that they will.

Don’t forget that the Patriots have only played one divisional game so far this year. That means they have five AFC East games left. That includes two games against the Jets and two games against the first-place Bills who have recently fallen back to earth. That gives the Patriots a lot of control over their own destiny over the next 11 weeks.

Keep in mind seven teams from each conference will make the playoffs this year. That alone gives the Patriots a better chance to get back to the playoffs. Should they right the ship and find themselves playing in January again, they’ll have a better chance to make some noise this year than they did last year.

With seven teams making the playoffs, only the #1 seed will get a bye. Assuming the Patriots make the playoffs but are not the #1 seed, if they win wild card weekend they may not have to play team coming off a bye week in the divisional round. Only the lowest remaining team after wild card weekend will have to play a team coming off a bye. That’s huge for a lower seeded team.

Even without the #1 seed, the Patriots still could get a bye week before the playoffs. With many teams’ regular season bye weeks now in the rearview mirror, it likely won’t take many more COVID reschedulings to necessitate a Week 18. That could turn out to be a bye week for the Patriots. But even if the Patriots are one of the teams that has to play in a Week 18, it would at least get them one more weekend off along the way before the playoffs.

Aside from the scheduling and timing of potential playoff games for the Patriots, the location and atmosphere of games could also prove to be an important factor. If they are not in a position to host playoff games, at worst they’re on the road in a partially-filled stadium. That’s not the same challenge as heading into packed houses in Kansas City, Pittsburgh or Denver. However, there’s also the possibility that all playoff games could be a neutral sites.

Until the baseball players agreed to play the MLB playoffs at bubble sites, the idea of NFL playoff games at bubble sites would have seemed unthinkable. But if the league sees more COVID-19 cases over the next 11 weeks, and not fewer cases, what’s to stop them from trying to host the playoffs in bubbles? It’s easy to see the AFC playoffs being held in Dallas and the NFC playoffs being held in Houston. The league could play one game a day at each site, Saturday, Sunday and Monday for wild card weekend. Think of the ratings! The Patriots would have much better chances in a partially-filled neutral site stadium than in a true road game.

There’s still a lot of football to be played and who knows what the next shoe to drop will be. That being said, the Patriots are still in this thing. They’ve got a coach chasing the all-time wins record and a quarterback still out to prove himself and get back on the quarterback A-list. Not a bad duo to have leading the charge.

All I’m saying is, don’t count them out yet.

Cody Bellinger Dislocated His Shoulder CELEBRATING A HOME RUN in Game 7

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USA Today – Cody Bellinger has always had plenty of pop. But after the biggest home run of his life, he’d just as soon avoid the pop that followed. 

Bellinger made history Sunday night, becoming the first player to hit homers in two Game 7s of the National League Championship Series. And after he ripped a 2-2 pitch from Chris Martin into the right field stands at Globe Life Field, strutted down the first base line and exhorted his Los Angeles Dodgers teammates as he tallied the final run in a 4-3 victory, Bellinger got a little too exuberant. 

He swung his right arm wide for a powerful forearm bash with teammate Kiké Hernandez.  A bit too powerful.  Bellinger dislocated his shoulder in the celebration, he told MLB Network, and retreated to the training room so it could be popped back into place. 

“I hit Kiké’s shoulder a little too hard and my shoulder popped out,” Bellinger said. “They had to pop it back in so I could play defense. It kinda hurt.

“I’m going to maybe use my left arm (next time). I’ve never dislocated that one.”

Jee. Sus. Christ. The Bash Brothers would be rolling in their graves if they saw this nonsense. Cody Bellinger literally dislocated his shoulder by forearm bashing his teammate while celebrating a home run.

Bellinger now joins Bill Gramatica in the Worst Sports Celebrations Hall of Fame.

I know we all grew up on the adrenaline and testosterone (and the cream and the clear) of the late 80s and early 90s, but come on man. Maybe the reason Jose Canseco and Mark McGwire were able to violently smash their forearms together after hundreds of home runs is because they were juice up goons with arms the size of folding tables?

What do I know, I’m just a blogger, but maybe Cody Bellinjury should remember that the next time he wants to put a forearm through his teammate’s radius and ulna bones.

Hopefully this doesn’t hurt Bellinger’s performance as Game 1 of the World Series is tomorrow night so theres not a ton of time to rest. BUT I did play lacrosse with a kid in high school who had graham crackers for shoulder sockets and would routinely dislocate them during games. Kid would just jog over to the trainer, get it popped back into place, and go about his business like nothing had happened. So theres that unrelated anecdote I can offer to worried Dodgers fans if it helps.

Speaking of the Bash Brothers, go watch The Unauthorized Bash Brothers Experience on Netflix. Adam Sandberg and the Lonely Island crew randomly decided to make a 30 minute music video honoring the 80’s Oakland legends and I was fucking crying laughing watching it. Way funnier than it has any right to be.

Patriots Have a Losing Record This Late in the Season for the First Time in 18 YEARS

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I know that headline is the definition of first world problems and every Jets, Bills, and Dolphins fan in America is probably reaching for the closest pencil to stab me in the eye with. BUT, that doesn’t change the fact that in the midst of a bizarre, start and stop, don’t say it don’t say it don’t say it UNPRECEDENTED season, the Patriots officially have a losing record this late in the year for the first time since 2002! That is WEIRD! A lot of factors have gone into that, mainly the greatest quarterback of all time leaving town, but also this goddamn pandemic screwing with rosters and schedules all across the league.

I mean the Patriots have played all three of their QBs at various points this year and Cam Newton just missed the better part of the last two weeks of practice after a positive COVID test. Add in the fact that the Pats are dealing with injuries/other COVID issues and the team was forced to roll out some Papier-mâché amalgam of an offensive line unit yesterday. Newton was mostly mediocre throwing the ball yesterday with 2 picks and only completing 17 passes all day. In fairness, Newton has completed 15, 30, 17, and 17 passes in each game he’s played in this year so it wasn’t a disastrous drop off, but he did have his worst QB Rating of the year by far at 51.6.

Newton did rush for 76 yards and a TD though, including a 30+ yard run where he stiff armed the shit out of a defender at the end.

Another thing that stuck out to me was the decision to go for 2 instead of just kicking the extra point after scoring to put the game within 9. That was head scratching. If they just kick the XP then they’re only down 8 points, but failing to get the 2 point conversion put the Pats down by 9, which requires them to score twice to come back. Now I know the analytics stat heads say it’s actually smart because getting that play out of the way affects the game script and the team then knows they need two scores regardless, instead of banking on getting a 2 point conversion at the end and leaving yourself no time. I’m not a math or economics guy so I don’t want to sound like a disgruntled scout at the Moneyball table, but that sounds like a bunch of malarkey to me. Luckily it ended up not hurting them after Drew Lock melted and threw two picks to put the Pats right back in the game.

They only lost by 6 so it’s a moot point, but still seemed like an instance of the Pats overthinking things.

Now do we give Josh McDaniels credit for being in his bag with all the trick plays down the stretch yesterday?

Or do we rightfully give him and Cam shit for being incapable of moving the ball against a team that just barely beat the Jets the week before? I mean you never want to say it’s a waste if it works, but it didn’t result in a win so it’s kind of a waste to call all these trick plays against the goddamn Broncos because now it’s on film for future opponents to study. The element of surprise is what makes these plays work, despite the fact that I’m almost positive the Pats tried to run this same exact play on the prior series when Edelman got immediately tackled for a 2 yard loss.

I’m pretty sure the play where Newton went out for the reception is the same one that Brady got hurt on last year too. So it just goes to show the stark contrast of this year’s team vs last year’s; there are certain areas where Newton has helped tremendously as Brady nearly broke his leg on that same trick play last year. But the Pats are in a lot more rock fights this year and are just looking to keep opposing teams under 20 points as they’ve become much more reliant on the running game, the defense, and sleight of hand.

I want to err on the side of patience considering Newton and the team barely practiced the last week or two, but hey the same thing happened to the Titans after they flipped the bird to COVID protocols and they rolled in their first game back after essentially zero practices. So who the hell knows what to expect from this team, but I do know there is potential for an elite unit there. Just look back 3 weeks to the Seattle game, which they lost, but Newton went off for 397 yards and 1 TD plus 47 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. So if the Pats can get it together and find some semblance of consistency, which is easier said than done in these UNPRECEDENTED TIMES, then they can be dangerous.

Random Silver Lining of the Day

Cam Newton is in fact not afraid to dive into the pile to recover a fumble, despite sports talk radio hosts roasting Newton about that for weeks after signing with the Pats. Forgetting the fact that the moment in question was one play in a game that happened nearly 5 years ago. This was actually a huge moment that kept the Patriots’ slim chances alive. Cam didn’t play great, but it wasn’t for a lack of grit.

Watch the Losers Episode “Stone Cold” ASAP

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Reading the title, you may be thinking that the documentary I am about to describe is about one of Stone Cold Steve Austin’s defeats at the hands of Bret “The Hitman” Hart or Triple H. Serious WWE fans may even be hoping for an entire episode devoted to Stone Cold vs. The Rock at Wrestlemania XIX, when Austin risked paralysis or even death to compete, according to his doctors.

The Rock vs. Stone Cold at Wrestlemania XIX in 2002.

When I tell you the episode is pure excitement, sparkling electricity, and dripping with more sex appeal than a Rihanna music video, I wouldn’t blame you for thinking of such a legend. However, if that’s what you are thinking right now, you are mistaken.

No, “Stone Cold” isn’t about the beer-chugging, finger-flipping king of the ring. It’s about none other than….curling. That’s right. I said it. Curling. “Stone Cold” takes us deep into the world of Canadian curling culture in the 1980’s, building to the historic 1985 battle between Pat Ryan and Al “The Iceman” Hackner. And it’s glorious.

Netflix curling documentary | The Curling News
Pat Ryan in full concentration mode.

I’m not gonna lie to you, this is nothing short of Oscar-worthy. Loaded with the magical mustaches and devastating calm only 1980’s Canada can produce, this made me want nothing more than to throw stones with my buds, beer in hand and cig dangling from my lip.

The story starts by describing the sport and it’s beer league mentality during the 1970’s and early 80’s. We learn about the rules, the terms, and the annual championship event, known as The Brier, where teams from each province are represented. For years, The Brier was dominated by The Iceman and his Ontario squad, who, after suffering their own heartbreaking defeat early on, set the standard for the sport.

Is curling a real sport? Why was it invented? Help. | Dawson Creek Mirror
Pat Ryan and the Albertans holding the Brier trophy.

Then, the drama escalates. The year is 1985. Enter the sexy MF’s from Alberta pictured above. And you know what they do? Change the game. Nonstop training. Workouts. No drinking or smoking. Laser. Fucking. Focus. These measures are unheard of at the time, but they work. Crazy Albertans, amiright? Behind the intensity of team leader Pat Ryan, they cruise to the finals to take on defending champ Al Hackner and team. Down 5-3 in the 10th and final end, the Iceman hits this incredible shot, forever to be known as “The Hackner Double”.

Now, you need to watch the documentary to really understand the significance of this shot, which is why I don’t mind spoiling it a bit. Regardless, the shot only ties the game. The match inspires Pat Ryan to once again change the game, and he develops a defensive approach in the years to come that revolutionizes the sport while also eliminating nearly all of the scoring. In typically raucous Canadian behavior, this lack of scoring leads furious fans to chant “Boring! Boring!” And they say Philly fans are bad! Anyway, Pat Ryan eventually becomes a champion, but the league institutes rules banning his new approach in the years to come.

In what is quite possibly the best ending to the story imaginable, Pat Ryan goes on to become a country singer in retirement. The whole episode is superbly Canadian. Maybe I’m late to the game here considering this series came out in March of 2019, but I never noticed it until a few days ago. It’s pure gold and everyone should know about it.

Legit Thought Lamar Jackson Blew Out His Hip After Doing the Chappelle’s Show Rick James Leg Crawl

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WHAT AM I GONNA DO ABOUT MY LEGS EDDIE MURPHY?!

I happened to catch the end of the Ravens game and I saw Lamar Jackson break this huge run only to do this awkward Rick James leg crawl before hopping back up. I’m not even a Ravens fan, but I imagine John Harbaugh had a miniature stroke seeing that on the sideline.

Maybe we don’t joke about blowing out our legs, especially after a week you missed practice because of knee injuries. I don’t know, just a thought.

And yes that is the second time I’ve referenced a 17-year-old show in the last couple of blogs. Truly is a goddamn shame that show didn’t run for longer. Obligatory embed of the Chappelle’s Show Charlie Murphy Rick James True Hollywood Stories below:

Introducing the Official #RushHourRap Playlist

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Introducing the official #RushHourRap playlist curated by The 300s. Dozens of songs compiled from the past 30 years so you can take my obscure music recommendations with you anywhere. Featuring everyone from household names like Eminem and Kanye to lesser known artists, rappers you need to know, and young guys on the come up.

Just search #RushHourRap on Spotify to add it to your library.

Some of the deeper cuts of #RushHourRap unfortunately did not make the list because Spotify doesn’t exactly have a plethora of obscure mixtapes. So that means you’ll still need to track down hidden gems like Switch by Lupe Fiasco on YouTube.

But if you’re a fan of our morning rap recommendations then make sure you save and share this playlist because it’s a living breathing entity that I’ll be adding to all the time.

Bill Burr Crushed It In This Sam Adams Skit On SNL

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It’s hard to believe last weekend was Bill Burr’s first time ever hosting Saturday Night Live considering the man has been an A-list comedian for years. He had Comedy Central specials back when those were a thing and obviously was a key guy off the bench on Chapelle’s Show back in the early 2000s.

So I was pretty jazzed to see old Billy Red Face take the stage at 30 Rockefeller Plaza. His monologue got the most attention because it did what Burr does best, it pissed off a ton of people, it made others uncomfortable, but it was all genuinely hilarious. But the best part of his episode had to be the Sam Adams commercial.

“Yea it’s kinda sweet and shit, but there’s nothing else to drink” had me howling. That and when Burr chugs the entire glass, then looks on in disgust only to say “I don’t like that.”

It’s nice to see SNL playing to the strengths of the actors and their backgrounds for a change rather than forcing everyone into quirky situations or another hamfisted political skit. I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s just me being provincial, but SNL always seems to kill it with the Boston skits. I mean how can we forget Casey Affleck’s Dunkin Donuts commercial?

I fuckin love Dunkin, guy.

Dexter is Coming Back

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SPOILER ALERT FOR A SHOW THAT ENDED SEVEN YEARS AGO.

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So yesterday from the clouds came the news that Dexter is coming back to Showtime for a limited series 10 episode run. After a brief seven year hiatus it seems like they’re trying to make up for that god awful ending of Dex sailing directly into a hurricane only to somehow survive and go become a lumberjack. God that ending was dumb, but I know we’ve had this discussion so many times on this blog; how many great TV shows really stick the landing? It’s an unenviable task after years and years of buildup and fan expectations, it’s impossible to please everyone. Breaking Bad is the only show that really seemed to nail the finale. Game of Thrones did not, The Sopranos did not, LOST absolutely did not, hell even the Seinfeld finale was a weird letdown.

But in the age of streaming many beloved TV shows have regained new life. Whether it’s Arrested Development, 24, Roseanne, Fuller House, Prison Break, Will & Grace etc. These revived shows of yesteryear are usually either a blatant cash grab, a nostalgia bomb, or a make good for a poorly received finale. The point is, in the age of streaming fans have more power than they’ve ever had before.

With all that being said and after the taste the finale left in my mouth, I am all in on Dexter making a comeback. Reports say it starts shooting next year and is likely to air in fall 2021. This show was one of my favorites in college and was one of the first I truly binge watched bumming DVDs off friends because this was before Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime etc. But when Dexter was good, it was GREAT so it will be awesome to see Michael C. Hall back in the shoes of our favorite serial killer. Granted the show kind of waned in the last couple of seasons with convoluted plots and forced storylines.

Like I said though, when this show was good it was great as it had some incredible acting. John Lithgow even won an Emmy for his role as Arthur Mitchell in Season 4.

Dexter won four Emmys, two Golden Globes, and Michael C. Hall himself earned 27 award nominations including a Golden Globe win for Best Actor.

The show featured some all-time shocking TV moments like finding out who the Ice Truck Killer was, Rita in the bathtub, Deb vs LaGuerta over Dexter, the affable Lithgow dropping an absolutely nuclear C-bomb on his wife, or Sgt. Doakes catching Dexter with a one liner so popular it became a meme.

But what really sealed Dexter as an all-time show for me was the incredibly powerful Dark Passenger monologue from Hall in Season.

Now that is acting.

So I am ready for some more Dexter in my life and I’ll have my credit card ready for you Showtime, just name the premiere date.

Ranking the Possible Ingredients of a Burrito

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To begin this vignetted list of possible Tex Mex culinary additives, please note that the title ends in, “Of A BURRITO.” Not a burrito or burrito bowl. Since I am not so afraid of gluten that I fear turning to stone like a Sanderson Sister should I ingest a single milligram of it, I stick with the classics (WE GOT SEASONAL JOKES UP IN THIS MOTHERFUCKER). To extend this brief prologue, I’ll also say I’m leaving the wrap itself off the rankings because that is what defines the food. It is also really hard to fuck up.

Believe it or not, for the lists and rankings blogs I have published to The 300s dot com (check the merch store), I have done whatever I can to put bias aside. As an example, the last such blog of this nature I believe outlined what the best Boston movie was. To do so I’m pretty sure I spent about 1,000 words defining the criteria for such a film in order to weigh all in the category equal. So ya, I try to be fair. However, it is usually an impossible task to completely put your preferences aside when ranking/listing things. It just is. In the back of your mind will always be your own tastes, what you feel should be ranked highest vs. what you know for, almost a fact, should be. Heart vs. head.

All of that is to say I have removed 99.9% of bias from this one. This was possible because I am not necessarily ranking the best ingredients, to a certain extent, but the most important ones. For instance, some people would say they like pickles on their burger, some would not. However I don’t think one of the issues amongst those at war on the Gaza Strip relates to pickles on a burger, it just does not matter, enough at least, either way. On the flip side, I am guessing the vast majority of folks want a bun. That argument could indeed incite violence. So what really matters to a Burrito? What defines it?

Let’s find out, least to most important.


13.) “Veggies”

“Veggies” here refers to the “veggies” in a “veggie burrito”. I keep using “” quotes because I have no idea which veggies are actually used in the ambiguously labeled “veggie burrito.” Could be a whole raw carrot for all I know. Veggies also come in last here because I assume no rabbits read our blog


12.) Corn

Fuck you.

11.) Lettuce/Tomato

I feel like these varmints began as an idea at Taco Bell and sort of just stuck around when more “authentic” places like Chipotle began moving in. We put them on subs so why not put them on something that is totally not a sub? That’s basic American math right there. Actual burrito/taquerias don’t generally even offer them as ingredients. Therefore I can’t say they are all that important to the formula. Nothing against them. They just don’t matter.


10.) Guacamole

This is where Professor Red pulls out his red pen and begins editor-ing all over this blog claiming I’m flip flopping on my claims of not bringing my own biases to the table. And it is true I don’t like “guac.” With that said, I continue to stick to my claim that no one, at least of my generation, ate it until we were around college-aged. And we definitely ate burritos before that. In conclusion, it matters not much.


9.) Hot Sauce

This one hurts because I used to not add hot sauce, but now I do and I love it. Honesty must prevail though and depending on what else you add to your burrito and how those ingredients are prepared it just isn’t an important enough of a factor to go any higher. My favorite podcast, History Hyenas, refers to such things as hot sauce in burritos as a “Clyde Drexler,” or a “Drexler” for short. Basically, if Clyde Drexler had played in era without the greatest basketball player ever in Michel Jordan, he’d be in the conversation. Just wrong place at the wrong time. Same with our pal hot sauce here.

8.) Beans

This is a tricky one. Personally, I can do without beans but I understand that that is just me and that a lot of people love them. But compared to what is above and below them on this list I can’t honestly rank the magical fruit anywhere else. It also doesn’t help that there are a large variety of beans, both within each restaurant and across the cuisine itself, which doesn’t help their case in terms of how staunchly they’re supported in any particular form.


7.) Sour Cream/Crema

This is probably my boldest ranking, but I stand by it. Especially when considering there may not be hot sauce (which the establishment may skimp on anyway) present, you need something in that burrito to wet the whistle a bit. A dry as hell burrito stinks to high heaven. It’s like an overcooked burger. It’s a worst-case scenario that many a road can bring you to: the aforementioned small portion of hot sauce (if any), old/dry rice, old/dry meat, etc. The sour cream and/or crema not only brings a little extra flavor, but an extra, very necessary texture augmentation.


6.) Pico de gallo/Salsa

The importance of the next two ingredients are hard to articulate but cannot be understated. Pico brings a flavor and texture boost to any burrito that simply cannot be replaced. It’s the 6th man of a burrito. When you need a clutch bite or some extra oomph, there it is.


5.) Rice

The other hard to understate ingredient, rice. You simply have to have rice in a burrito. Rice also curiously has an inverse relationship with beans. There are a few varieties of rice. And while the varying nature of beans makes me think of them as disposable, the very same quality of rice makes me think of it as flexible and triumphant. Regardless, rice quite frankly is part of the palate in every bite of a burrito and brings a consistent presence that no other ingredient brings.  


4.) Carnitas

And now we get into the main courses. Carnitas (pork for the uninitiated) comes in last due to pure statistics. I don’t really know anyone who orders it. I have no qualms with carnitas, they just trail their peers.


3.) Ground Beef

It’s gotta be tough on ground beef having never been assigned a cool Spanish name. It’s also sort of….I don’t know basic? This is what I got in my hard- shell tacos with a side of fries on “taco” night in my Irish Catholic household growing up (fuckin LOVED taco night). GB is also a lightly ordered main course so it’s going to look back at only carnitas.


2.) Chicken

This was tough. It just was. Who doesn’t love chicken? Who doesn’t, whether in a burrito or not, order chicken in some capacity all the damn time?  But we’re talking burritos, and there is something about falling back on old faithful that sort of betrays the point of springing for a burrito over a sub, pizza, etc. I love you chicken. Always will.


1.) Carne Asada

I don’t make the rules. Sure, there are places that mail their carne asada the fuck in. I get it. But when done right and portioned correctly (there is such a thing as too much and such a thing as too little), carne asada burritos kick fucking ass. They are the cat’s pajamas. You simply cannot beat red meat, season right, cooked to perfection, rolled up snug with a variety of the ingredients mentioned above. Therefore, carne asada ranks #1.

-Joey B

The Jets Gave Up On Le’Veon Bell. Are the Patriots Interested in the Former All-Pro?

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ESPN – The New York Jets’ rocky relationship with Le’Veon Bell came to an abrupt end Tuesday when the team announced it had released the running back.

The move concluded a 19-month tenure that was filled with disappointment and broken promises. Bell, who arrived as a marquee free agent in 2019, never clicked with coach Adam Gase, who opposed the signing from the outset.

That Jets contract (4 years $52.5 million) was a disaster from Day 1, but imagine picking Adam Gase over Le’Veon Bell?? It’s hard to tell if after 1 year + 4 games in New York if he is already washed up or if the Jets are just sucking the life out of him. I mean he’s only 28 years old, granted it’s an old 28 considering his monumental workload at Michigan State. But you’d have to think he still has a couple good years left in him. Adam Gase, the offensive guru responsible for (read: worked in the same building as) Peyton Manning’s record setting 56 TD season in Denver, has now traded, released, and generally made the Jets’ best players worse. All-Pro Jamal Adams. Former All-Pro Le’Veon Bell. First Round QB Sam Darnold. All three were seemingly key building blocks for a rebuilding team. Two of them are now gone and Darnold, despite flashes of the potential that made him the third overall pick two years ago, looks to be stuck in neutral.

So Patriots fans do you want Le’Veon Bell? He officially becomes a free agent at 4 pm on Wednesday. It’s basically become a cliche around here to say the Pats are in on Veteran X whether it’s Calvin Johnson, or Larry Fitzgerald, or AJ Green. The Pats are in on all of these guys and then nothing happens. Now the Pats are rumored to be in on Le’Veon Bell. Except, this time it’s the Jets. The Jets bought HIGH on Bell and sold LOW, getting absolutely nothing in return and releasing the former All-Pro running back. The Patriots absolutely do not need another running back with James White, Damien Harris, Rex Burkhead, and eventually Sony Michel already in the mix. But Bill Belichick is nothing if not a man who enjoys stomping on the graves of his enemies. I cannot even imagine the size of the grin on Belichick’s face as he thinks about picking the latest failed experiment of his rival off the scrap heap and turning him into a weapon for the Patriots as they fight for another Super Bowl title.

The Pats absolutely do not need him, but there are few teams out there that could utilize Bell better than New England. Now let’s look at Bell’s side of it. He legit sat out an entire season in Pittsburgh because he wanted a new deal and didn’t want to risk blowing out his knee right before his one big pay day.

Like LeBron or Sebastian, high school graduates
Straight to the league, I ain’t waitin’ for my knee to blow
Yesterday I was needin’ this dough

Then he signs a gargantuan contract with New York to be their bellcow back and take the Jets back to prominence. Only for the new head coach in town, aforementioned offensive guru and recently fired Dolphins coach Adam Gase, to immediately shit all over the move.

Hows that for a welcoming party? Bell drastically underperformed and battled injuries, but even when he was healthy the team around him was getting worse and the rift between him and the head coach was getting wider. You think that guy is motivated at all to stick it to his former boss?

What better way than to sign on with their biggest rival and beat the Jets’ brains in and win a ring in New England? It’s a win win for both sides as Bell signs on with a competent team that will utilize his talents, reestablishes his value, and helps him try to get that elusive Super Bowl ring before signing another big deal somewhere else this offseason. It’s the playbook that Darrelle Revis and Trent Brown perfected in recent years.

Not to mention that every player we thought was a bum while playing for Gase has THRIVED since getting away from him. Just look at Ryan Tannehill. Under Joe Philbin for the first three years of his career in Miami, Tannehill improved every. single. year. Touchdowns, Yards, Yards per Game, Completion Percentage, Quarterback Rating, even his total Rushing Yards ALL improved every single year. Enter Adam Gase. Tannehill played a mixed bag of two seasons under Gase (he missed 2017 due to injury) as the Dolphins floundered and the coach publicly threw his QB under the bus. Both got 86’d by the Dolphins as Gase went on to do Gase things in New York, while Tannehill won Comeback Player of the Year with the Titans.

And don’t even get me started on Kenyan Drake. After 3+ seasons in Miami where Drake failed to top 644 rushing yards in a year, Drake rushed for 633 yards in 8 games with the Cardinals last year. After never rushing for more than 4 touchdowns in Miami, Drake rushed for 8 touchdowns in 8 games in Arizona last year. Drake is also more than DOUBLING his yards per game in Arizona compared to Miami as he has turned into a stud away from Adam Gase.

These turnarounds from Tannehill and Drake post-Gase legitimately offend me as a football fan. The clock is ticking on that man’s head coaching career as the Jets continue to be the worst team in football.

He’ll probably latch on somewhere else pretty quickly because the NFL is incestuous with former coaches just being recycled all across the league, but if I’m running the Jets the next move I make is the same Gase made with Le’Veon Bell, send him packing.