A very weird feeling knowing this is the final ever primetime game slated for Ralph Wilson Stadium, barring any late-season schedule adjustments. Very fun game to go out on if so, and one that I think goes down to the end.

One play will never win or lose you a game in pro sports, but one can always be the start of something big, and in football, that can especially apply on the special teams front.

Unfortunately for Carolina, they've been hit with the injury bug badly in these first few weeks of the year. Starting right guard and center Robert Hunt and Austin Cobert are out for the year and two months, respectively. Tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders is currently week-to-week with an ankle issue, and both starting edge rushers, D.J. Wonnum and Patrick Jones, are also confirmed out.

Even on a day where the Patriots' defense was mostly solid and consistently was able to bail out a Patriots offense that committed five turnovers (four fumbles, one pick), the offense was the "bad football to take advantage of" talked about all offseason in its final form for at least one afternoon.

Fresh off a huge win down in Miami for the first time since 2019, the Patriots are throwing it back for a weekend to honor Julien Edelman and (regrettably) Bill Parcells by inducting them into the Patriots Hall of Fame, and then hosting the Pittsburgh Steelers 24 hours later. Their AFC North foe is coming off a brutal fourth-quarter collapse against the Seattle Seahawks, and worse than that, is going to be down multiple starters on the defensive side of the ball tomorrow.

While the Patriots' season didn't exactly get off on the right foot last Sunday vs. the Raiders, they're a decent chunk of teams with...

The sacred art of professional sports uniforms/uniform design is something near and dear to my heart, so I was a bit nervous when the NFL announced their new "Rivalries" sets alongside Nike back at the NFL Draft in Green Bay.

The phrase, "taking advantage of bad football," was something everyone gravitated towards in Vrabel's opening presser, and simply looking at the Patriots' schedule, those opportunities should be there.

A mix of the Tavai injury situation and the "Mapu position switch" should be the catalyst that gets second-year safety Dell Pettus on this roster. I know some people are intrigued by new safety, Marcus Epps, but Pettus was legitimately good for this team a year ago as a defender and special-teams contributor.

In a long, prestigious line of "shifty and scrappy" white wide receivers who are < 6'0" in Patriots history, Eastern Washington's Efton Chism III appears to be in line to take up that mantle for this team in 2025.

The one stretch that would worry me somewhat would be from late October through November, where the Panthers draw the Bills, Packers, Saints, Falcons, 49ers, and Rams in succession, but that stretch last year where they gave the Chiefs, Bucs, and Eagles all they could handle in consecutive weeks, then that season finale in Atlanta, gives me hope they can answer the bell against some tougher competition.

Honestly, I think the majority of the AFC teams can say they had fine drafts at the bare minimum, but as is the case every year, some...

They had the money to bring a guy like Williams in and took no chances.

The annual NFL Combine is underway with on-field drills, but the top New England Patriots contingent, led by Mike Vrabel and Eliot Wolf,...

Is this team close to a Super Bowl as of right now? Absolutely not, but they didn't build Rome in a day, either.

Things continue to get worse, not better, defensively, this offense starts too slow, and Mayo continues to fan flames at the podium.

For my own mental sake, please do not lose contain on Kyler Murray.

What does a program like UNC have to lose by accepting a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity?

You deserve to lose if you can't get off the field defensively in crunch time.

Given that the Patriots' final three opponents after this weekend are the Bills, Cardinals, and Chargers...