Patriots 28  Falcons 10

Overall, a very solid game played on both sides of the ball tonight by the Pats.  Wes Welker made his preseason debut because he felt like tooling on the Falcons' secondary.  He only played a couple of series but don't worry, he looked in mid-season form.  2 receptions, 20 yards.

Enough horse housing, let's get to the thoughts on Game 2.

-The RB's looked great tonight.  Fred Taylor - 11 carries, 54 yards, 1 TD...Sammy Morris - 6 carries. 52 yards, 1 TD

-Brandon Tate didn't do too much.  But he had one screen catch where he was one-on-one with the Falcons' starting CB and he just broke his ankles.  There's no other way to describe it.  It was 3rd down and like 10 and he juked the shit out of the guy and ran for 16 yards after the catch.  Impressive.

-Dan Connolly again looked solid.  I can remember on one specific run, it was 3rd down and about 8 and he blocked the entire 8 yards with Kevin Faulk behind him just using him as a big ass shield.

-Devin McCourty is making Bill Belichick look good for passing on Dez Bryant.  He is one physical melon farmer (Lethal Weapon joke).  He's also good at playing football.

-Patrick Chung started at free safety and played well.  His closing speed is legit.  Also, he brings a poop load of energy every play.

-Jonathan Wilhite has an interception and did the funniest/gayest dance I've ever seen, shaking and gyrating his pelvic region around fellow teammates/grown men.

-Ron Brace actually played! And not only that, he forced a fumble, which was picked up by Tyrone McKenzie.

-Every time I saw TE Rob Gronkowski catch a pass, it took like 4 guys to tackle him.  No joke.  He was in beast mode to be sure.  4 catches, 38 yards, 1 TD.

-Tight end Aaron Hernandez was flat out sick tonight.

Which leads me to the awards.

Best Offensive Showing
The running backs and tight ends.

Sammy Morris and Fred Taylor led the way in the running game and did a great job.  They both exploded through holes and ran up hill the majority of the night.

Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez both had big break out games.  Gronk literally carried defenders on his back a lot of times, which leads me to believe he is strong as shit and has phenomenal balance.  I know, amazing analysis.

Aaron Hernandez has taken the role of the main passing tight end.  He has amazing hands and his best skill might be running after the catch.  This dude is legit, look out for him to fuck shit up this season.

Worst Offensive Showing
Stephen Neal

This is more of a "I had to pick someone" pick than anything else.  Neal didn't play that bad, but he did have two false starts, which is not fun for anyone.

Best Defensive Showing
Devin McCourty

Played as shut down as you can get tonight.  He jammed guys at the line very well and stayed with them if they stopped crying long enough to run their route.  It's early, but Devin McCourty is on the right path.

Worst Defensive Showing
The defensive line

Again, more of a "I had to pick someone" pick.  Overall, the line played well against the run, but the first two defensive units did not record a sack.  Rob Ninkovich got the only sack of the game, very late in the game.

The first unit better step their shit up if they don't want offenses to laugh all the way to the end zone.

Guy That Might Be Overlooked, But Shouldn't
Tyrone McKenzie

He was 2nd on the team with 3 tackles tonight and fell on the fumble created by Ron Brace.  It was definitely an upgrade over last game.