Bronx33
12-10-2007, 01:45 PM
Link
(http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Patriots+Notebook%3A+Belichi ck+stamps+Smith%27s+%27guarantee%27+void&articleId=7eac589c-65de-4d32-92fa-45628f059361)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – THE CHANT from the Gillette Stadium crowd was "Guarantee! Guarantee!" and there was little doubt that the intended recipient heard it.
The New England Patriots improved to 13-0 with a 34-13 win over Pittsburgh (9-4) at Gillette Stadium yesterday. Pittsburgh second-year safety Anthony Smith raised some eyebrows during the week when he guaranteed a Steelers win.
The Patriots did not talk back during the week, but didn't mind the extra motivation even if they didn't need it.
"It's almost like when you go to a pizza shop and you order your pizza and you say 'I want extra sausage,'" said Patriots safety Rodney Harrison. "There's nothing wrong with extra sausage."
►After two close calls, it's a rout: Patriots rip Steelers, 34-13
►No. 13 easier than 11 and 12 for Pats
►Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Steelers left speechless after a spanking
Not only did the Patriots spoil Smith's Nostradamus impression, they did it by picking on Smith on two of the biggest plays of the game.
The first came with the Patriots leading, 7-3, in the second quarter. On the first play of a fresh possession, quarterback Tom Brady faked a handoff to Laurence Maroney that drew Smith in and away from Randy Moss, who blew down the middle of the field to haul in an easy 63-yard touchdown pass.
"We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. "The safety play at that position was pretty inviting."
Ouch.
The second smackdown of Smith came in the third quarter in a tight 17-13 game.
Brady took the snap and fired a quick lateral to Moss, who dropped the ball but scooped it up to throw it back to Brady on a second lateral. Brady then launched a bomb to Gaffney for a 56-yard TD connection.
On the play, Gaffney beat Smith.
Brady even did a little talking of his own as he gave the Steelers defenders an earful.
"I don't care to repeat it, especially if my mother reads it," Brady said of his conversation. "She wouldn't be very happy with what I said."
Patriots Graphic
Steelers cornerback Allen Rossum is lifted off the ground tackled by Pats linebacker Pierre Woods, center, on a kick return during second-quarter. Pats safety Mel Mitchell (24) moves in to help. Right, quarterback Tom Brady (12) lets a pass go during first quarter action.
Even the known "talkers" on the New England side stay away from guarantees, for good reason.
"(A) Lesson hard-learned. (A) lesson hard-learned," said Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs. "You just don't do stuff like that. Go play. The game speaks for itself. You shouldn't have to do any extra talking."
Smith himself had little to say after the game, so Moss added the final word on the prediction.
"I think that the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as far as their toughness and their mouths, have a lot in common," Moss said.
Up next are the New York Jets, the team that squealed to start the "spygate" scandal after week one. Revenge won't be on the lips of Patriots players, but it will be on their minds.
Sounds like some extra sausage, eh, Rodney?
__
Game Grades and Side Stories
TOP OFFENSE IS TOP DOG: The top-ranked Steelers defense had not allowed more than 324 total yards in a game all season but gave up 421 yesterday.
Brady had a big day against a defense that was allowing just 154 passing yards per game. Brady finished 32-for-46 for 399 yards and four touchdowns to bring his season total to 45, four shy of Peyton Manning's record.
New England also boasted two wide receivers with more than 100 receiving yards in Moss (seven catches, 135 yards, two TDs) and Gaffney (seven for 122, TD).
The Steelers had given up only one 100-yard game all season.
And they did it without even pretending they were interested in running the ball. New England ran just six times in the first half for 17 yards and nine times in the entire game for 22 yards.
The Patriots used a lot of four wide receiver sets and no huddle offense to keep Pittsburgh off balance and unable to substitute players. The result was a big second half for New England that built the lead and controlled the clock.
"We couldn't stop them consistently," said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. "(We gave up) big plays by their offensive people, who are good and we knew that. That still doesn't mean they should go up and down the field on us."
__
PATRIOTS MVP: Brady lit up the Steelers, plain and simple. His assault on the record books now has three games remaining and plenty of fodder with the Jets (3-10) and Dolphins (0-13) looming.
"I told him I hope he breaks the record next week because it's so much fun watching him play," Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said of his postgame chat with Brady. "I don't like him playing against us and how well he played, but it truly is an honor to watch such a great quarterback play the game."
__
THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN: Moss and Gaffney are no-brainers here. The offensive line also played well in protecting Brady for 46 drop-backs. On defense, Harrison continued his strong play with 11 tackles and a pass deflection and made a fourth-and-goal stop on a Hines Ward reverse at the one-yard line.
There are no complaints strong enough to warrant a thumbs-down this time out.
__
MOSS ROLLS ON: With his two touchdowns, Moss now has 19 on the season to set a career (and franchise) high. Only Jerry Rice (22 in 1987) has caught more in a season.
__
NO DRAMA THIS TIME: After two weeks of nail-biting football against sub-par opponents, the Patriots got back on track in a big way. Three-point wins over Philadelphia and Baltimore had New England looking vulnerable.
"The last two weeks really open up your eyes and (you think) this is not
Patriots football," Harrison said. "We kind of got re-focused and we wanted to play well in practice and come out here and give everything on Sunday and we did."
(http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Patriots+Notebook%3A+Belichi ck+stamps+Smith%27s+%27guarantee%27+void&articleId=7eac589c-65de-4d32-92fa-45628f059361)
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – THE CHANT from the Gillette Stadium crowd was "Guarantee! Guarantee!" and there was little doubt that the intended recipient heard it.
The New England Patriots improved to 13-0 with a 34-13 win over Pittsburgh (9-4) at Gillette Stadium yesterday. Pittsburgh second-year safety Anthony Smith raised some eyebrows during the week when he guaranteed a Steelers win.
The Patriots did not talk back during the week, but didn't mind the extra motivation even if they didn't need it.
"It's almost like when you go to a pizza shop and you order your pizza and you say 'I want extra sausage,'" said Patriots safety Rodney Harrison. "There's nothing wrong with extra sausage."
►After two close calls, it's a rout: Patriots rip Steelers, 34-13
►No. 13 easier than 11 and 12 for Pats
►Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Steelers left speechless after a spanking
Not only did the Patriots spoil Smith's Nostradamus impression, they did it by picking on Smith on two of the biggest plays of the game.
The first came with the Patriots leading, 7-3, in the second quarter. On the first play of a fresh possession, quarterback Tom Brady faked a handoff to Laurence Maroney that drew Smith in and away from Randy Moss, who blew down the middle of the field to haul in an easy 63-yard touchdown pass.
"We've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you," Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said. "The safety play at that position was pretty inviting."
Ouch.
The second smackdown of Smith came in the third quarter in a tight 17-13 game.
Brady took the snap and fired a quick lateral to Moss, who dropped the ball but scooped it up to throw it back to Brady on a second lateral. Brady then launched a bomb to Gaffney for a 56-yard TD connection.
On the play, Gaffney beat Smith.
Brady even did a little talking of his own as he gave the Steelers defenders an earful.
"I don't care to repeat it, especially if my mother reads it," Brady said of his conversation. "She wouldn't be very happy with what I said."
Patriots Graphic
Steelers cornerback Allen Rossum is lifted off the ground tackled by Pats linebacker Pierre Woods, center, on a kick return during second-quarter. Pats safety Mel Mitchell (24) moves in to help. Right, quarterback Tom Brady (12) lets a pass go during first quarter action.
Even the known "talkers" on the New England side stay away from guarantees, for good reason.
"(A) Lesson hard-learned. (A) lesson hard-learned," said Patriots cornerback Ellis Hobbs. "You just don't do stuff like that. Go play. The game speaks for itself. You shouldn't have to do any extra talking."
Smith himself had little to say after the game, so Moss added the final word on the prediction.
"I think that the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as far as their toughness and their mouths, have a lot in common," Moss said.
Up next are the New York Jets, the team that squealed to start the "spygate" scandal after week one. Revenge won't be on the lips of Patriots players, but it will be on their minds.
Sounds like some extra sausage, eh, Rodney?
__
Game Grades and Side Stories
TOP OFFENSE IS TOP DOG: The top-ranked Steelers defense had not allowed more than 324 total yards in a game all season but gave up 421 yesterday.
Brady had a big day against a defense that was allowing just 154 passing yards per game. Brady finished 32-for-46 for 399 yards and four touchdowns to bring his season total to 45, four shy of Peyton Manning's record.
New England also boasted two wide receivers with more than 100 receiving yards in Moss (seven catches, 135 yards, two TDs) and Gaffney (seven for 122, TD).
The Steelers had given up only one 100-yard game all season.
And they did it without even pretending they were interested in running the ball. New England ran just six times in the first half for 17 yards and nine times in the entire game for 22 yards.
The Patriots used a lot of four wide receiver sets and no huddle offense to keep Pittsburgh off balance and unable to substitute players. The result was a big second half for New England that built the lead and controlled the clock.
"We couldn't stop them consistently," said Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. "(We gave up) big plays by their offensive people, who are good and we knew that. That still doesn't mean they should go up and down the field on us."
__
PATRIOTS MVP: Brady lit up the Steelers, plain and simple. His assault on the record books now has three games remaining and plenty of fodder with the Jets (3-10) and Dolphins (0-13) looming.
"I told him I hope he breaks the record next week because it's so much fun watching him play," Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said of his postgame chat with Brady. "I don't like him playing against us and how well he played, but it truly is an honor to watch such a great quarterback play the game."
__
THUMBS UP, THUMBS DOWN: Moss and Gaffney are no-brainers here. The offensive line also played well in protecting Brady for 46 drop-backs. On defense, Harrison continued his strong play with 11 tackles and a pass deflection and made a fourth-and-goal stop on a Hines Ward reverse at the one-yard line.
There are no complaints strong enough to warrant a thumbs-down this time out.
__
MOSS ROLLS ON: With his two touchdowns, Moss now has 19 on the season to set a career (and franchise) high. Only Jerry Rice (22 in 1987) has caught more in a season.
__
NO DRAMA THIS TIME: After two weeks of nail-biting football against sub-par opponents, the Patriots got back on track in a big way. Three-point wins over Philadelphia and Baltimore had New England looking vulnerable.
"The last two weeks really open up your eyes and (you think) this is not
Patriots football," Harrison said. "We kind of got re-focused and we wanted to play well in practice and come out here and give everything on Sunday and we did."