Patriots To Cut Meriweather?

As we discussed last week Meriweather could be in trouble, as there are rumors he shot two people (you can read the story HERE). Like I said that the previous post their are a ton of flaws in the story, but that might not matter. The Patriots cutting Meriweather could have just as much to do about his on the field problem, as his off the field problems.

"First off, let's remember that the incident involving New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather has yet to be fully investigated, and that his actions on that night are being disputed. But, in a strongly worded column for CSN New England, Tom Curran argues that time is running out when it comes to Meriweather's tenure with the Pats. Curran notes that Meriweather is entering the final season of his current contract, and that he played a lesser role as the season progressed.

In the end, a legal result that exonerates Meriweather may just delay the inevitable, in Curran's view: "If he shot the gun, he's probably done in New England before the 2011 season starts. If he didn't, he'll be done after the 2011 seasons ends (ESPN)."

I agree with this 100%. Meriweather isn't that great, and it is a joke that he made the Pro Bowl. In the coming seasons I see Patrick Chung taking his spot. Meriweather just isn't that great in prospect, and is prone to HUGE mistakes. You add that to the fact that he is a shithead, and it ends up the Patriots getting rid of him either before this year starts or at the latest the end of this coming year. I have never been that big of a fan of him, so I am fine with it either way.

Brandon Meriweather Shot Two People? (UPDATED)

Very odd story coming from Florida today...

"According to Deadspin, Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather allegedly shot two men outside a house party in Apopka, Fla., Feb. 27. The incident, which reportedly includes one of the men getting shot in the head, was being reported by the attorney for the two victims, John Morgan.

The report states that a friend of Meriweather allegedly beat up a woman outside the Blue Jeans Lounge, leading to the woman's brother to arrive with his own acquaintance. The story states with the brother proceeded to beat up the New England player's friend in a fight, leading Meriweather to fire a gun at the brother of the woman. The bullet, according to Morgan, grazed the woman's brother in the face, while hitting the other victim in the head.

According to the report, detectives from the Orange County Sheriff's Office have made no arrests, but continue to investigate the case. Former Miami football player, and current Florida sports talk radio host, Dan Sileo first mentioned the shooting (WEEI)."

When I first read this I wrote off that we would never see Meriweather again in a Patriots uniform or in the NFL, but as I have been reading more there are so many holes in this story that it's starting to get hard to believe.

1. When the police station was called they said they had no investigation into Brandon Meriweather.
2. This happened over 10 days ago, there should be an arrest if someone was actually shot in the head.
3. This "lawyer" that broke this whole story to the radio station was just on WEEI and he said he doesn't know if he believes his clients (the 2 people who were shot). Plus, he is just an ambulance chaser, and how do you not back your own client?

Now, saying all of that, we also have to say that this isn't the first time Brandon Meriweather has been in trouble for using a gun. When he was in college (2006) he shot at someone, but was never charged, and it was never proven that he actually hit anyone. So, I wouldn't be all that surprised if this turned out to be true.

I am sure the NFL is going to look into this, but there is so much misinformation out there right now, so be careful what you believe.

We will keep you posted when REAL facts come out.


***UPDATE***

"There is an incident," a spokesman for the Sheriff's Department told CBSSports.com. "But we do not have confirmation that [Meriweather] was involved in any shape or form. "There is no such confirmation." The Sheriff's Department did add that a case, involving the shootings in question, "is still active (CBS Sports)."

Also, there have reports that Meriweathers "camp" is denying these allegations.

Pro Bowl Is Such A Joke

"Quarterback Tom Brady, offensive lineman Logan Mankins and defensive lineman Vince Wilfork were named AFC Pro Bowl starters, while inside linebacker Jerod Mayo, rookie cornerback Devin McCourty and safety Brandon Meriweather were named as backups, the NFL announced Tuesday night (WEEI)."

I first read this and was like this is great Mayo is having a great season, McCourty has done a hell of a job as a rookie, and then I saw Brandon Meriweather's name and that's right when I went back to thinking this entire process is a big joke.

Meriweather has been benched at least twice this year for poor play. On top of that we have seen more and more of Sanders and Chung back there over the past couple of weeks, yet Meriweather is now a 2 time Pro Bowler. Meriweather isn't terrible, but I certainly wouldn't go above and above average rating, and yet now he will be joining some of the best players in the league on the Pro Bowl list. Sorry, that just pisses me off, and I'm a Patriots fan.

As for who should've made it... Eric Weddle, Chargers is way better.

Anyways, this is the rest of the Pro Bowlers...

AFC OFFENSE

Quarterbacks
* Tom Brady, New England
Philip Rivers, San Diego
Peyton Manning, Indianapolis

Running Backs
* Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville
Arian Foster, Houston
Jamaal Charles, Kansas City

Fullback
* Vonta Leach, Houston

Wide Receivers
* Andre Johnson, Houston
* Reggie Wayne, Indianapolis
Brandon Lloyd, Denver
Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City

Tight Ends
* Antonio Gates, San Diego
Marcedes Lewis, Jacksonville

Centers
* Nick Mangold, N.Y. Jets
Maurkice Pouncey, Pittsburgh

Guards
* Kris Dielman, San Diego
* Logan Mankins, New England
Brian Waters, Kansas City

Tackles
* Jake Long, Miami
* Joe Thomas, Cleveland
D'Brickashaw Ferguson, N.Y. Jets

AFC DEFENSE:

Defensive Ends
* Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis
* Robert Mathis, Indianapolis
Jason Babin, Tennessee

Interior Linemen
* Haloti Ngata, Baltimore
* Vince Wilfork, New England
Richard Seymour, Oakland

Inside-Middle Linebackers
* Ray Lewis, Baltimore
Jerod Mayo, New England

Outside Linebackers
* James Harrison, Pittsburgh
* Cameron Wake, Miami
Terrell Suggs, Baltimore

Cornerbacks
* Nnamdi Asomugha, Oakland
* Darrelle Revis, N.Y. Jets
Devin McCourty, New England

Strong Safety
* Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh

Free Safeties
* Ed Reed, Baltimore
Brandon Meriweather, New England


AFC SPECIALISTS:

Punter
Shane Lechler, Oakland

Kick-return Specialist
Marc Mariani, Tennessee

Place-kicker
Billy Cundiff, Baltimore

Special-teamer
Montell Owens, Jacksonville


NFC OFFENSE:

Quarterbacks
* Michael Vick, Philadelphia
Matt Ryan, Atlanta
Drew Brees, New Orleans

Running Backs
* Michael Turner, Atlanta
Adrian Peterson, Minnesota
Steven Jackson, St. Louis

Fullback
* Ovie Mughelli, Atlanta

Wide Receivers
* Roddy White, Atlanta
* Calvin Johnson, Detroit
DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia
Greg Jennings, Green Bay

Tight Ends
* Jason Witten, Dallas
Tony Gonzalez, Atlanta

Centers
* Andre Gurode, Dallas
Shaun O'Hara, N.Y. Giants

Guards
* Jahri Evans, New Orleans
*Chris Snee, N.Y. Giants
Carl Nicks, New Orleans

Tackles
* Jason Peters, Philadelphia
* Jordan Gross, Carolina
Chad Clifton, Green Bay


NFC DEFENSE:

Defensive Ends
* Julius Peppers, Chicago
* John Abraham, Atlanta
Justin Tuck, N.Y. Giants

Interior Linemen
* Ndamukong Suh, Detroit
* Jay Ratliff, Dallas
Justin Smith, San Francisco

Inside-Middle Linebackers
* Patrick Willis, San Francisco
Brian Urlacher, Chicago

Outside Linebackers
* Clay Matthews, Green Bay
* DeMarcus Ware, Dallas
Lance Briggs, Chicago

Cornerbacks
* Asante Samuel, Philadelphia
* Charles Woodson, Green Bay
DeAngelo Hall, Washington

Strong Safety
* Adrian Wilson, Arizona

Free Safeties
* Nick Collins, Green Bay
Antrel Rolle, N.Y. Giants

*starter

Fines, Fines, Fines

Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison was docked $75,000 on Tuesday, while New England Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather and Atlanta Falcons cornerback Dunta Robinson will lose $50,000 each.

OK Fine let's move on with it, BUT...
The folks at KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh have uncovered an interesting angle regarding the hit that resulted in the imposition of a $75,000 fine against Steelers linebacker James Harrison.

The league currently is selling photos of the incident involving Harrison and Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, at anywhere from $15.95 to $249.95.

this image:


and then Harrison posted on his twitter:
If the NFL cares so much about player safety, why are they adding two more games. Just saying..

Which is true. I'm getting sick of the greedy NFL being the most hypocritical league of the 4 major sports.

Meriweather: Defensive Player Of The Week

"Brandon Meriweather's big performance on Sunday served as more than a breakthrough. It also got him a nice piece of hardware. The Patriots safety was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for the first time in his three-year career. Meriweather got New England's rout of Tampa Bay started, picking off Josh Johnson and going 31 yards for a touchdown on the Buccaneers' first offensive possession. He also registered another first-half pick as New England really put Tampa in the rear-view mirror.

"The difference today is I was playing within the defense," Meriweather said on Sunday. "I was being myself, but I was playing within the defense. The d-line got a great rush, and he happened to throw the ball like that, and I happened to have a good break on the ball (Boston.com)."

Meriweather is turning into a very good safety. He has always been a hard hitter, but now it seems like he might be able to add some catching ability to his abilities. Anyways, for me to start thinking that the Patriots have the ability to win it all they are going to have to beat a good team on the road. I think they will, but I cannot (and will not) gloat about this team until they do.

Bills 24 Patriots 25

Seriously I don't know how the Patriots won this game.

The Patriots were down by 11 with only a couple mins left in the game. Brady had been off all night. Not by a lot, but that's all it takes in the NFL. Each Patriots drive seemed to get to the Bills 40 and then they would find some way to mess it up. Then all of a sudden Brady and the New England offense clicked. Brady Drove the Patriots down the field on an 11 play 81 yard drive capped off by an 18 yard touchdown to Ben Watson.

Still with only 2:06 left in the game the Patriots' chances looked slim. New England decided not to do an onside kick. Instead they kicked deep to Leodis McKelvin, who made one of the strangest places I have seen in a while. The kick went in the endzone, but he decides (after pausing for a moment) to run it out. Meriweather lights him up, and then has the smarts to go for the ball. He gets it loose, and then kicker Gostkowski jumps on the loose football. The Patriots now have the ball down 5.

Brady makes quick work of this drive going 3 plays for 31 yards ending on a 16 yard touchdown by Ben Watson with 50 seconds left in the game. The Patriots once again tried to go for 2 but it failed. It didn't matter though as the Bills had really bad clock management at the end of the game, and the Patriots hang on for the 25-24 win.

It wasn't pretty, but Brady looked sharp at the end of the game. The defense has a lot of question marks though, and with Mayo getting hurt in this game the Patriots are now very thin in the middle of that defense.

Patriots Saftey Situation

I, as many of you probably thought, the Patriots were going to go out and sign John Lynch, who was on the team during the preseason. The loss of Harrison leaves an interesting scenario growing the the Patriots backfield. James Sanders will now move over to SS, leaving a hole at FS, which will be filled by Brandon Meriweather. Meriweather is a hard hitting safety, who had trouble picking up the defense last year. He does have a pick this year, but overall has hands of stone. The Pats are really going to need their front 7 to get on QBs, or they are going to get tourched down field (just like what happened against the Chargers). Harrison was not good in pass coverage, but he was a leader on the field, and had to tendency to make a big play when it counted.

I actually think in the long run this will help the Pats, as they really need to inject some youth in to the defensive side of the ball, and Meriweather definitely gives them that. Still, I am surprised that they would not bring back Lynch, for running type downs (instead of Sanders being in there).

-BMack