NFL GridIron Gab Daily Digest

If you asked who has been the Patriots biggest breakout surprise of the preseason so far, the obvious choices are rookie tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski who have defibrillated life back into the tight end position for New England. The dark horse candidate for the honor is second year wide receiver Brandon Tate.

Aside from Gronkowski, Tate was the lone bright spot for the New England Patriots in their third preseason game, a final second loss to the worst team in football, the St. Louis Rams. Tate announced his presence on the NFL scene loud and clear by returning the opening kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown.

Tate has one of the most unique story's of any player on the Patriots roster. He was widely considered a lock to become a first round NFL Draft selection when he entered his senior season at North Carolina. Tate's jitterbug quickness and ability to explode through a seam made him the most electrifying kick and punt returner in all of college football. The road to super stardom in the NFL was paved for Tate until one punt return changed his fate forever. Tate tore his right ACL and MCL against Notre Dame and missed the final eight games of his senior season. The injury also caused him to slip to the third round of the 2009 NFL Draft.

Tate's ability as a kick returner comes as a shock to nobody, especially not the Patriots coaching staff that selected him in the third round (83rd overall) of the 2009 NFL Draft. Tate is the NCAA career leader in combined kick return yards with 3,523 yards. He also is the ACC's all time leader in kickoff returns (109) and kickoff return yardage (2,688). The Patriots coaching staff took a chance on Tate and chose to take it slow with their investment. Tate began the 2009 season on the non-football injury list before being activated prior to Week 7. Tate's return was cut short after suffering another knee injury in Week 9 that forced him to go on injured reserve.

Tate's return fully healthy this season is expected to be an added bonus to New England's group of wide receivers that includes Randy Moss, Wes Welker, Julian Edelman, and new rookie Taylor Price. Tate was viewed as both an elite return man and a legitimate NFL caliber wide receiver prior to the injury, and set out to prove he belonged in the league this season.

Tate drew rave reviews from the fans, the media, and the coaching staff throughout training camp, and the major question marks and expectations were laid out for Tate entering the exhibition schedule. Could Tate be an impact player for the Patriots this season? Could he become a game-changing factor in the return game?

As Tate sprinted past St. Louis defenders and into the end zone on Thursday night, he answered those critical questions.

Tate was the deep man at the goal line with Sammy Morris alongside serving as the up back and lead blocker. The kick came to Tate at the 3 and in the blink of an eye, Tate was alone in the open field. He took the return up the middle and then, reading the gap perfectly, shot through it cutting to his right and was off to the races.

"My teammates were the ones blocking so without them it wouldn't have been possible," Tate said, "I kept saying, 'I'm ready…this is going to be the one,' so all the credit has to go to my teammates."

"Every time I get to go out there and play, I try to put my best foot out there," he said. "I go out there and compete every play and just play hard."

Tate finished with three kickoff returns and one punt return for a total of 162 return yards.

As Patriots fans watched Tate gallop into the end zone with Tom Brady and Randy Moss celebrating on the sideline, the next question for Tate was hatched. The only question left for him to answer is: Can he become a complement to Moss and Welker in the offense?

Tate played with the first-team offense against St. Louis, lining up both in the slot and split out wide working alongside Moss and Welker. Tate caught two balls for 17 yards in the contest against the Rams.

"It felt good to play with whoever is out there," Tate said of lining up with the likes of Brady, Moss and Welker. "It doesn't matter who it is. I just thank the coach for giving me a chance to play."

The breakout surprise of training camp in my opinion, Tate has established himself as a factor in the return game, and is beginning to carve out a role in the offense as well. Tate is a testament to French philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche's saying "what doesn't kill us only makes us stronger." Tate is making progress game by game, and is developing into the star everyone believed he would ultimately become right before our eyes.

The Miami Dolphins suffered an ugly loss to the Atlanta Falcons last night, and the only feeling and thoughts that went through my head were that of complete disgust and embarrassment. The whole first team failed to move the ball the whole first half, or make anything happen on either offense or defense to suggest that the starting units as a whole made strides from last year. They were completely dominated, plain and simple. The Falcons were the better team, and despite the score, 16-6 suggesting otherwise, this game was not that close, and could have been a lot worse if Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was more accurate last night. But even though I am disappointed, I do have some quick thoughts to share before I watch the replay on my DVR.

• Vontae Davis was the lone bright spot on the team last night. He registered 7 tackles, one forced fumble, and three pass deflections on the night, and he did not even play the full game! Davis made his presence felt in both the run and pass defense. He was in single coverage most of the night, against Roddy White, and dominated. Granted, there were some plays where White or one of the other Falcons receivers broke loose, or caught a pass in front of Davis, but with Davis being on an island, you have to take the rare mishaps with the multiple highlights and plays he gave the Fins defense last night. Davis was described by some members of the media as one of the most improved payers on the team this year, and he showed why he has garnered that praise last night.
• The Dolphins are committing way too many penalties right now in the pre-season. Yes, this is the pre-season, and the team has yet to form that chemistry within the whole offense or defense. But the team is committing stupid penalties that just come down to mental mistake, which is the one thing that this coaching staff will not tolerate. If this continues during the season, one has to question the coaching staff and why these mental mistakes keep happening.
• The ground game was nothing last night. In fact, this is the third straight game where our rushing attack was invisible. Our team is built around the run. All of the players on the starting offensive squad are reknowned for their run blocking, or their mean streak. So you can see my concern when our one main strength has not been effective during the pre-season. The biggest gains on the ground last night for the Fins came out of the Wildcat, something that I thought we would not need to use as much with our run offense being so reliable without it.

The Dolphins have a lot of work to do yet before Week 1, and even though they play the struggling Buffalo Bills, as the team can remember from last year, if you sleep on the Bills, they'll make you pay. The Fins need to make things happen, and straighten out whatever they need to straighten out, before Week 1, or it could be a long season again for a team that has big expectations facing them.

Matt Leinart finally responded to being benched in favor of Derek Anderson for this Saturday's pre-season game against the Chicago Bears.  Here's what he had to say:

It is disappointing and a little bit frustrating.  I can't sit up here and say I'm happy and all smiles.  It is frustrating.  I am not sure the expectation put on me.  I have high expectations on myself, and I think, based on my body of work in the preseason, I have been accurate and not turned the ball over.  I think the preseason is about gelling together as an offense.  We have a lot of new faces on the offense.

When you don't move the ball, it's not what you want, but that is what preseason is for.  To gel together as an offense.  It is what it is.  I don't make these decisions.  I have done everything coach has asked of me.  I have been committed and I have worked extremely hard.  If it is an open competition, then let's have it that way from the start, if this is what this is.

Moving forward, I have to keep working.  Go out (Saturday) and work my butt off and let my play do the talking.  I am confident in my ability.  I am extremely disappointed, and I'm not exactly sure why this decision was made, but it's not my decision."

It's hardly inspiring stuff from Leinart.  Phrases like "I'm not sure [of] the expectations put on me," and "it is what it is," are really head scratching at this point.  Leinart went on to address the "mental strains" of the pre-season position battle:

It's mentally draining. It drains you a little bit and it's been like that the last three years.  Physically I feel fine and I have been efficient this preseason … in the limited, limited opportunities I have had, I think I've done my best.  Can I get better? Absolutely.  I know that. I'm not perfect and I know I have a lot of work to do.  If it's open competition, I think you need equal opportunity.  Who's to say … I don't know if that is happening."

Leinart also responded to the position that Whisenhunt may be trying to send him a wake up call:

Coach has a way of handling me and my situation the last three years, even when Kurt was here.  For me, I've always kind of taken it with a grain of salt and continued to work hard.  If he is testing me, that's fine.  I am disappointed but it's not going to stop me from working and being a leader.  I know guys are looking to me still.  It's adversity but I will get through it.  I know hard work pays off.

I'm not going to look much into it.  I am going to go out, play my game, and take advantage of the opportunity I get.  That's all you can do."

First, Whisenhunt flat out stated that he's testing Leinart.  Second, this is what I, and probably the rest of the Cardinals team, wanted to hear from Leinart: "I realize that the Cardinals have built a fine offense over the past few years with Kurt and others at the helm.  We haven't lived up to those expectations to this point and I take full responsibility for that.  I understand that as a leader of this team, more is expected from me in order for us to succeed.  I know I can meet those expectations and I just ask that the team place its trust in me to do so."

Instead, we got mostly boilerplate, blame shifting equivocation about efficiency and accuracy on 4-yard passes.  That's not the stuff of which leaders are made.  Matt had better wake up or he's going to have a front row seat to watch Derek Anderson take control of this team.

I still say that Leinart has the ability to do it.  Speaking strictly in terms of ability, I believe he's a better quarterback than Anderson, who has zero accuracy and no touch.  Unless Leinart's attitude changes, however, ability will pale in comparison to strong leadership, even if it's from a similarly or lesser skilled quarterback.  I believe that Leinart will be should be the starting quarterback against the Rams on Sept. 12th, but his time to prove me right is really, really running out.

Hard to believe we are already at game three of the preseason, but so it is, as the Steelers will be in Denver to play the Broncos, a team they took care of on Monday night football at the same venue a season ago.

The Steelers have been solid in two preseason wins, while the Broncos have dropped two preseason games to the Bengals and the Lions. Here are some things to look for this week as the Steelers look to remain perfect in the preseason.

1. The QB Derby Heats Up

All indications are Dennis Dixon will get a very long look in this game, and could even get the start from all indications. The Steelers have a big decision to make as to if they go with the hot hand in Dixon in the season opener, or keep with their original plans and stay with Byron Leftwich. It's not that Leftwich has been horrible, and he even had a big play with a long TD pass to Mike Wallace in the win last week. Right now though Dixon is clearly playing better than the veteran, and it will be up to the coaching staff as to who they feel better going with in game one September 12th vs Atlanta.

2. Center of Attention

The biggest story in camp this week was by far the switch at the center spot between Maurkice Pouncey and veteran Justin Hartwig. The first round pick in Pouncey will have his hands full this week with former Charger NT and now Bronco Jamal Williams, and if he can handle himself against the former All-Pro, it will just cement his spot as the center for this football team. As for Hartwig, he could be looking at his last two games as a Steeler, as it would be tough for the club to pay him $3.7 million to be the backup center. The future appears to be now with Pouncey, and that fact could be set in stone with a good showing Sunday night.

3. Redman the Real Deal?

Isaac Redman, the second-year undrafted back from Bowie State, turned heads last season in preseason, but never got to see the field in the regular season. He's trying to make sure that won't happen again in 2010, as he's playing at a high level and is one of the players stepping his game up for increased playing time. The Steelers should have given him the shot late in the first half from inside the 5 instead of Mewelde Moore, and maybe they will think that through a bit more this week. Redman is running well in the open field as well as picking up the blitz as a blocker and catching passes out of the backfield. He has been the surprise player of camp to this point.

4. Who will handle kickoffs?

The team had such an issue last season with covering kicks, and this year they may try a different approach, that being not allowing the return man to take back the kick at all. With that, the club gave a shot last week to punter Daniel Sepulveda to handle the kickoffs, and in five kickoff returns the Giants averaged just 17.4 yards per return.

Compare that to week one at home vs the Lions when Jeff Reed handled the kickoffs, and Detroit put up 23.3 yards per return including a 33-yard return. Word is Reed isn't happy about being taken off kickoffs, but if the Steelers can pin teams back and not allow big returns, it makes them that much better of a football team.

5. Can the D Continue Solid Play?

The defense has done a nice job the first two preseason games, allowing a total of 567 yards and 36 first downs in the two contests against the Lions and Giants. They seemed a little sluggish to start in the rain vs Detroit, but finished well and then last week vs the Giants played much better in holding NY to 3-for-10 in third downs and QB Rhett Bomar to a QB rating of 54.5. The D took a beating offseason about how they wore down in the 4th quarter of games, and while it's preseason, it's good to start the reverse trend of that now.