Posted by Teddy Panos, Sun Staff

Tackling the "lucky to not be 0-2" New England Patriots and a couple of other sports thoughts:

-I'd already come to grips with the "fear factor" being gone and teams no longer feeling threatened by the mere presence of the Patriots on the same field. What I didn't think we'd have to deal with so soon is the disrespect card no longer working, either.

It used to be if you mouthed off about beating Bill Belichick's troops, certain defeat would follow. The Pats would feel "disrespected" when even the media suggested praise for an opponent, never mind said opponent. The result was always a thorough beating on game day.

So how shocking was it to hear the Jets talk trash, then come out and back it up? I mean, these were the J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets. They're not good enough to bloody Lady Gaga, never mind a Patriots team some folks had ticketed for another 19-0 run.

-It's pretty obvious Tom Brady isn't himself right now. What still remains to be seen is if he'll ever be the old Tom Terrific again.

Brady used to be a passing machine, standing tall in the pocket till the last possible second before firing a perfect pass that hit his receiver in stride. The post-injury Brady (and I'm talking about the guy who was banged up in the 2008 AFC Championship and Super Bowl) isn't the same quarterback. Number 12 is backpedaling more often than Kanye West and underthrowing or overthrowing receivers at a rate that would make Rohan Davey blush.

-Remember the old Belichick formula for shutting down high-powered offenses?

Let them take all the dump passes they wanted, then belt the receiver hard and often as soon as the ball was caught. After a few licks, the pass catchers would begin hearing foot steps and turtling to the ground before impact.

Have you noticed how it's now the Patriots big-play threats doing the same thing?

-Speaking of big play threats, when you have two of the best long-ball receivers in the history of the game in Randy Moss and Joey Galloway, shouldn't they be sent on fly patterns more often?

Randall Cunningham, Jeff George and Daunte Culpepper made careers out of throwing the pigskin as far as they could and watching Moss out leap defenders to come down with the ball, more often than not for 6-points. A slew of mediocre QB's in Seattle, Dallas and Tampa Bay did the same while watching Galloway simply outrun cornerbacks and safeties to paydirt.

-If Serena Williams is suspended, the Patriots should at least look into signing her to play linebacker. She's scarier than anyone currently playing the position for the Flying Elvis', though I'd be worried about random testing, if you know what I mean.

-Memo to Cawley Stadium concession workers: how about serving turkey during Friday night's Lawrence-Lowell matchup? Until the great Thanksgiving Day rivalry resumes, we should at least try to replicate Turkey Day as best we can.

-Can't believe I'm going to say this, but trading Phil Kessel instead of paying him big bucks is a smart move for the Bruins.

Sure, it reeks of the legendary Jeremy Jacobs/Harry Sinden cheapness, but in this day and age of an NHL salary cap, you simply can't afford to tie up big bucks in a player who pulls a Whitey Bulger come playoff time.

That's the view from here...how do you see things? Is the Patriots dynasty done? How can an offense with so many weapons look so bad? Have the Pats gone soft? Who would you take in a fight...Serena Williams or the entire New England linebacking corps? Can the Bruins fill Phil Kessel's skates? Who will prevail in the resumption of the Lowell-Lawrence gridiron rivalry?