Brad Seeley - Special Teams Coach

Kickoff coverage wouldn't couldn't defend the 30, a blocked extra point AND punt as well as too many handkerchiefs on punt returns showed a unit poorly prepared for the start of the season. This unit is most affected by pre-season cuts but forgiveness is earned next week for this woeful a job in all phases. These are the things which can cost games when the match is closer and Brad Seeley has earned a four day stay with Kibble rations for the actual worst of the week saved only by the above fan issues from a reasonably well earned fate.

Roosevelt Colvin

Partly by scheme the man vanished but his fellow linebackers, Vrabel excluded, failed to make the impact linebackers are expected to make in the Patriot scheme. A pair of Touchdowns came from the Tight End but mostly the three doghouse mark comes from the running game dominating as Jordon frequently gained too many yards on first down. The scheme switch reduced the linebacker role and ultimately changed the results but Colvin, McGinest, Brown and Beissel all can enjoy their three day stay which gets them to a normal practice week after a Thursday night game.

Josh Miller

Two beautiful punts inside the ten ensure some doghouse evasion but a pair of woeful short punts and a total inability to recognize a punt block overload, and thus the resulting block, ensure he joins his coach for a single day stay.

Rodney Harrison

While the Secondary did limit the passing performance to 18 of 40, they gave up too many deep plays and Rodney with his missed tackle helped give Moss the 68 yard touchdown. He only earned a conversation at the doghouse as the MVP of the last season and captain of a secondary which ultimately worked more than well enough. Still the bar is set high by and for Rodney Harrison and so did he earn the brief trip. He might as well have that conversation with Eugene Wilson so the two can ensure Anderson never catches another wide open touchdown on them again.

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September 18 vs Carolina Panthers

No addition is needed for the Doghouse this week. It is far more effective to force the overwhelming numbers into cramped quarters and conditions such that they may better understand the errors of their ways!

Worst of the Week:

Brad Seely

Hardly a surprise to the Virtual Tailgaters at Zip's, Seely has had more than enough warnings and his units are getting worse not better. Kickoff and Punt returns by Carolina were so dangerous and provided such excellent position for the Panthers they might have single-handedly cost the game. Punt returns *averaged* 21 yards though even without the ill--timed 76 yarder they averaged better than 10 yards per return. Letting the Panthers average starting position be the 38 yard line was nearly a 20 yard advantage on every series.
As Coach in charge of the unit it is Seely's job to find and fix the problem. Since it worsened he failed in his duties and can spend a full week in Modi's doghouse devising a proper plan to ensure his players understand their responsibilities, execute them and that those tasks create an effective Special Team unit. It is absolutely time for a Special Team stand-out player to emerge.

Dishonorable Mention:

Tom Brady

The leader of the offense was exceedingly ineffective. Though his numbers are inflated by a blown Carolina coverage which provided Troy Brown and Tom Brady with a 71 yard gift due to blown coverage. Brady had many errant passes to accompany an assortment of drops and host of penalties on his unit. Adding his fumble and interception, despite the great play by Witherspoon for it, and Brady is a lock for a three dog night's stay in the Modi Doghouse. There he can help Coach Seely find his poise while getting his own ready for the Steelers.

Offensive Line

Throw in (or possibly out) the Tight Ends because with penalties and ineffective run blocking this unit helped make a one-dimensional game painful for the Patriots. Light started the yellow flag parade which didn't end for another 12 penalties but was definitely highlighted by offensive line struggles. Matt Light reverted back to his second year jinx as speed rushers flew by him like a turnstyle. With more tough DL fronts ahead this uit needs to find focus and harness some raw blocking power approach. The large lumbering lot of them can take a three day stay with Tom to keep him safe there whle cramping the quarters and ensuring it means something to earn the way out of the doghouse.

Coach Belichick

The brains of the operation is still well understood and respected, deservedly, for his abilities. He must also be appropriately levied some blame as another excellent coach in John Fox managed to produce a significantly better prepared Panther team. With the Offense and Special Teams both failing and the defense mired in considerable mediocrity, the man in charge gets a one night stay in the Doghouse where hopefully he'll have the keys to fixing both of the primary problems.

September 25 @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Victory inspires an easing of the doghouse but when leads of 14 and 15 are lost in two separate and respective halves, somebody needs to be held accountable. Clearly losing those leads without significant turnovers indicates a defensive problem and that is precisely where MOdi shall target his ire:

Worst of the Week:

Assante Samuel

Generally the lone stalwart of the Secondary or at least corners, Samuel had his worst game in two years. Not only did he drop a pair of potential interceptions but he was badly burned on several occasions as well as coming up short, literally and figuratively, on a pair of crucial plays. Whether he's trying to do too much or just had a bad game is unclear but a three day stay in the Palace of Modi will hopefully start him on the road to recovery. Some time on the jug machine for the reputed ball-hawk may result in an interception next week which vaults him out of the doghouse doldrums!

Gus Scott

It is no surprise that the doghouse is littered with Secondary 'performers' as they were left on a limb of sorts while the Pats concentrated successfully at lowering the vaunted Atlanta ground attack. Still Gus Scott joined Samuel in being two of the worst for wear allowing deep balls aplenty with more spacing than is reasonable in this league. Scott as a lesser performer had slightly lower expectations on him and thus will only endure a two-day stay for this venture.

Chad Brown

Barely avoiding a Chad Scott dogging, the linebacker corps were most misrepresented by Chad Brown still struggling too much in this scheme. He and Monty continue to make enough failings to put games on the line when they should be making enough notables to make this team stronger. As such he gets the two days of Kennel rations whilst barely mentioned Monty sneaks under his name for a day stay.

Dueane Starks

The third of the trifecta of Secondary failures, Starks had a fair amount of good plays to add to his struggles and as such only gets a single day stay. The fact is that the performance of Schaub was better than anticipated and justifies some of the failings given the run defense emphasis.

Ben Watson

The only offensive performer to make this list, Watson forfeited a pair of significant first downs to his offensive pass interference penchant. Adding a False start ensured he garnered the worst of the penalty performers and his single catch was not sufficient to atone fully. He'll join starks for a day in the Dog-house and help them all work on handling tall receivers while they get to help punish his failings.

Obviously with a loss there are generally larger numbers of blamed individuals to visit the doghouse but in this case the blame can fall to a few with enough significance in the failings to warrant the loss. It was painful to endure the second quarter and first drive of the third quarter but the remainder of the game was a competitive and interesting affair.

Worst of the Weak:

Duane Starks

While he amidst he had a poor game, this doesn't alleviate the blame for the game resting with sufficient amounts on his performance. Thrice beaten long he is responsible for a pair of touchdowns and in general was victimized as the target once again. Whether his thigh injury hampers him or the defense sells him onto an island of coverage, he must perform better than his weak week performance. He wasn't even contesting any of the deep throws and all were crippling to the games results. As his Coordinator will be joining him in the Doghouse, he has the full week to work on his coverage and remind himself how to recapture glory days of Raven fame if he wants to still be here when New England hunts the victory in Buffalo. So bad was his performance that he can spend half the bye week in the doghouse of Modi's displeasure. Worthy but painful comments over-heard in regards to his performance:
"Tedy Bruschi was on the Physically Unable to Perform list - apparently *with** Duane Starks!"
"I'd insult his performance but it would probably go over his head...like all those passes!"
"If you forget your man's number it's on the front of the jersey too!"

Dishonorable Mention:

Logan Mankins

There was some debate about the validity of his offense but there was clearly some level and along with his penalties the personal foul left the team short handed seriously and was a total lack of discipline. He helped us earn a partially deserved reputation of being...cheaper than the Bronco offensive line. These combine to put the rook, according to Ted Johnson, in the doghouse for the season. Modi is kinder than Ted and will release him for the bye weekend.

Monty Beissel

His tendency to over-run cost us the bulk of Tatum Bell's long Touchdown run. It also cost us the most needed tackle in the game when he let himself be juked for the first down that sealed the Bronco win. Toughness with a broken hand is commendable, being around the ball often is commendable but Monty needs help, discipline and a better understanding of staying within his role ont he team. He has four days to think about that while in the Doghouse Modi built.

Eric Mangini

Duane Starks isn't sold out alone. His defensive coordinator must bear some of the brunt for asking a player to do more than they can manage by a long shot...three long shots in fact. Safety execution probably bit inappropriately and the blitzers didn't execute and provide any pressure but the scheme was simple in this game: stop the run with cheating up if necessary and don't led Rod Smith beat you. If Starks was that poor on Smith than a double there was essential as a consideration on every play but rather than that Starks was Stark naked on several and Smith made him and us pay on several occasions. The Lelie burning is accepted and forgiven, the Smith - including the final first down with no press is not. He must scheme this banged up unit into a working and capable defense which recalls we are predicated on making teams beat us with long drives and mistake free football with no big plays. Our big play numbers are way up against us and way down in our favor. Overtime is now mandatory in Modi's home with Mangini getting all the time Starks has in the doghouse but days free to consult with the rest of the Coaches.