FanHouse TyWarren

I
In the days following the 2001 draft, when a still unproven Bill Belichick drafted defensive tackle Richard Seymour with the sixth overall pick, then-Boston Globe columnist Ron Borges writing for MSNBC.com cemented his place in Boston sports history by writing these words:

Through the first six years of his career, Oakland Raiders left tackle Kwame Harris hasn't exactly lived up to the expectations that come with being the No. 26 overall pick in the NFL draft. After being, basically, a bust of a selection for the 49ers, Harris moved across the bay prior to this season and inked a three-year, $16 million deal with the Raiders.

Thus far, the move has been maddening, if not completely frustrating, for the Raiders and their fans. Fortunately (I think) for silver and black faithful, the madness is coming to an end this Sunday, when Harris is going to be taking a seat on the bench in favor of Mario Henderson when the Raiders host New England.

According to Raiders beat writer Jerry McDonald, the reason for the benching is because Harris can't seem to grasp the concept that offensive lineman aren't allowed to move before the snap, and because he's been a turnstile when it comes to protecting JaMarcus Russell's blindside.

While it would be very easy to talk about Patriots quarterback Matt Cassel getting a healthy dose of reality, I think that would be somewhat unfair to everyone's favorite free-agent-to-be quarterback. Sure, he had a really bad day in the Patriots 33-10 loss to Pittsburgh, but in his defense, the weather conditions were less than ideal, and he received absolutely no help from anybody on his offense.

A week after playing the disrespect card because Miami single-covered him, Randy Moss was a relative non-factor in the game. Forget single coverage, if the Steelers would have left him out there by himself, or, even worse, lined me up across from him, it wouldn't have made a difference.

Moss finished with only four catches, and dropped what would have been two guaranteed touchdowns. The first one came on a deep pass over the middle, and the second one occurred late in the first half when Moss was alone in the back of the end zone. For reasons that escape me, Moss jumped into the air to attempt to catch a pass that would have hit him right in the numbers, only to have it slip through his arms and fall to the ground. Right after that, Stephen Gostkowski shanked a 27-yard field goal, and the Steelers dominated the remainder of the game.

This is a slightly modified segment of one that was run on NFL FanHouse last year, in which a specific team blogger scours the internet and interviews a blogger of the opposing team.

I began this season by interviewing Tom-Masse of Pats Pulpit, a Sports Blog Nation column that covers the New England Patriots.

Dan Benton: "The Patriots went wild during free agency this offseason. Which of New England's many additions do you believe will play the most significant role throughout the season?"

Tom-Masse: "If you limit the discussions to free agents, linebacker Adalius Thomas will have the most significant impact, especially now that Richard Seymour is on the physically unable to perform list for at least 6 weeks and Rodney Harrison is serving a 4-week suspension for violating the league's substance abuse policy.

Thomas is a Patriots kind of player. He is very versatile, and he's willing to do what's necessary to help the team. With Tedy Brucshi, Mike Vrabel and Junior Seau a year older, Thomas also gives Bill Belichick and his defensive staff more options and a legitimate threat so those other three guys can get more rest. Don't be surprised to see some very creative defensive sets from New England this season."