Gravity, And Other Things You Can't Feel But You Know Are There

A few days ago, via Twitter, Chad Ochocinco was asked about his thoughts on Tim Tebow. Ochocinco replied: “I can’t critique a QB, I’m not even playing wide receiver the right way.”

I’ve really been thinking about this. I find it interesting that he’s aware of the situation. In other words, he’s not blind to the fact that he’s been useless. Most of Patriots Nation has given up on this guy, and for good reason. We’re in week 9 of the season and I still can’t name one stand-out play from him. I remember him having a catch or two, but they were unspectacular and I can’t even recall the games in which those catches occurred. He’s been abysmal. But he also hasn’t played very much. Obviously Bill is seeing something on the practice field that’s keeping him from trusting Ocho with gametime minutes.

The truth about the Ocho situation is nowhere to be found. The Patriots are notoriously hush-hush and stubborn with the media, and they never critique each other’s performance in public unless it’s completely positive and encouraging. The team barely commented on Bodden’s release. Gronk’s photo with the porn star was here and gone overnight, and the Edelman situation has been so sparingly spoken about that it’s almost like it never happened. That’s a part of Patriots football, and it’s frustrating sometimes because it’s difficult to get a grip on the inner guts of the team. When there’s in-house fighting with the Jets or the Eagles, we know about it the next day; guys are calling each other out, words are exchanged, shots are taken, it’s out there. But with the Patriots, inside baseball stays inside. Brady goes to unbelievable lengths to shower Ocho with praise in front of the media. What’s going on with Ochocinco and the New England Patriots is completely up to speculation.

I realize that, to a certain extent, I can’t fight reality. We’ve seen him play, and he’s been worthless. I know. I’m admitting it. But, I just can’t give up on the guy. I can’t say I expect anything productive from him, but I also can’t think of anything I want for the holidays more than to see this guy go on a scoring rampage. I’ll tell you what -- I’ll demote my expectations; give me one remarkable touchdown. Just one. And I’ll tell you why that’s important to me. This Patriots team isn’t necessarily in a funk, but they strike me as a ball club that will continue to need remarkable acts of courage and memorable plays of excellence to jolt them into championship contention. The Dallas game was a perfect example; a flawless two-minute drive, classic Tom Brady, all the receivers got their hands on the ball, Hernandez caught a wicked touchdown pass with extra mustard, and after that two minute display, every New England fan in the world stood up on two feet, applauded, and said to themselves: “That’s Patriots football.” And those are the moments that this team is going to need. This isn’t the same dynasty team that’s going to go full-throttle every week for 60 minutes. This is a Patriots team that’s going to make fans scratch their heads every now and then. We know this. But if we can accept that this is the team we have, then we have to hope that Ochocinco has one of those moments in the sun.