Ravens safety Ed Reed told CBS Baltimore in a radio interview that Brady had texted him. Reed try to text back to Brady, but ended up calling him and Brady apologized. Reed told Brady “it’s good.” The puzzle the NFL is trying to figure out is whether Brady was automatically protecting himself, or did he had any intention to spike Reed.

More absurdity is yet to come as Baltimore Ravens safety Bernard Pollard publicly complained that Tom Brady should to be fined by the NFL. Reports reveal Pollard’s exact word as “If you want to keep this going in the right direction, everyone should be penalized for their actions.”

Jan 20, 2013; Foxboro, MA, USA; New England Patriots running back Stevan Ridley (22) carries the ball in the second quarter of the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

Really? If that’s the case let’s started with Bernard Pollard, “The Bonecrusher”, as he was nicknamed while at Purdue University for his hard hits and tackles. In the 2012 season alone, Pollard was fined more than $100,000 for illegal hits. During the 2012 regular season he recorded a total of 98 tackles, 71 solo and 27 assisted. As for the postseason, he has recorded a total of 15, 9 solo and 6 assisted tackles.

The $100,000 fine mark is unparallel and insignificant as to the amount of hits he recorded. Many of those hits are very likely to be illegal hits that are not being accounted for; either because the officials did not see, or just sweep under the carpet.  Such an example can be noted in the first week of the playoffs in Baltimore Ravens 24-9 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Pollard collided with Reggie Wayne for a helmet-to-helmet hit. On that play, Wayne was ruled to be a defenseless receiver by the officials. It’s was not a surprise Pollard was not thrilled about the call on the field. A couple of plays after his flag, Pollard also received a taunting penalty, but no fine.

Here he is again, ‘the bonecrusher” terrorizing another New England Patriots, running back, Stevan Ridley, on the Patriots 13-28 loss in the AFC Championship.

Crashing Tom Brady’s planted left leg and resulting in a torn anterior cruciate ligament, in the first game of the 2008 season as a Kansas City safety, for Pollard that is just the beginning.

In January 2010, this time with the Texans Houston, Pollard had to satisfy his bonecrushing craving by injuring another Patriots player. This time his victim was Wes Welker. Pollard closed in on Wes Welker and while Welker tried to cut away from the safety, he tore his ACL.

But wait! Pollard is not done yet. In order to diminish the New England Patriots’ chance to win the game in 2011 AFC Championship, Polllard chose tight end, Rob Gronkowski, as his victim of the evening. Gronk sustained a high ankle sprain as the safety dove, dragged down and placed all his 224 lbs weigh on his ankle.

I have seen nasty hits in the NFL, but the helmet-to-helmet hit Pollard delivered on Ridley was, by no means, acceptable or within any safety standard. With 12:53 remaining in the fourth quarter, Ridley was smacked by Pollard at the end of a 5-yard run. The hit was so intense that Ridley immediately lost consciousness as it was so visible seeing his defenseless body laying on the ground. From a medical point, looking at the way the hit occurred; at the time of contact Ridley’s skull stopped moving forward sending his still-moving brain toward the left side of this skull. When he rebounded upward and spun to his right, his brain rotated counterclockwise which means that his brain moved in several different directions causing him to lose consciousness.

But hey! No penalty in there. Pollard did not have any vicious intention in inflicting a concussion on Ridley. All that matters is that the ball came out loose and a fumble was recovered for the Ravens celebration.

The officials agree with the clean hit and the NFL sends the Baltimore Ravens and Pollard its blessings.

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Part of being great and successful in the National Football League is overcoming injuries. Surely, the Patriots were facing tough loss due to injuries from the get-go, primarily in the final weeks of the regular season such as Julian Edelman (broken foot), Aqib Talib (hip) Rob Ninkovich (hip), and then Rob Gronkowski (foream) and Chandler Jones (ankle) during the playoff against Houston Texans. The set of injuries in the game against the Baltimore Ravens was ridiculous, for a lack of better word, starting with Aqib Talib (hamstring), Kyle Love (knee), Patrick Chung (shoulder), and sadly Stevan Ridley (head injury).

Jan 20, 2013; Foxboro, MA, USA; New England Patriots mascot leads the team out to the field before the AFC championship game against the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

There was lack of execution across the board. The defense did what they could under the circumstances, but it was very disappointing not to hear Vince Wilfork’s name during game coverage – not even ounce. Brandon Spikes did not hold the end of the bargain when he said in a locker room interview last week.

“Me personally I felt I played my worst game of the season. I definitely want come out and do a lot better than I did in Week 3. Like I said, it’s a whole different defense.”

However, what can we expect? The offense missed several opportunities in third down completions throughout the entire game. It was more like a punt festival than anything else. Of course, if the Patriots defense is constantly on the field; playing about 31:06 of the 60 minutes of the  game clock, soon very soon, all hell will break loose and fatigue sets in.

As the team wins as a team and loses as a team, there was some deficiency coming from the coaching staff as well. During the last few seconds of the second quarter, Tom Brady ran and went down short for a first down. In my opinion, that was the moment to call a time-out. There was about 10 seconds in the clock remaining and I believe there was still time for a touchdown pass. If the play was not successful, then stopping the clock once again and go for a field goal could have been an option. That was just an example of the many miss opportunities in play-calling and Coach Bill Belichick addressed the media in his post-game conference.

“I don’t think anything was really as good as it needed to be tonight. [We] gave up too many points, didn’t score enough. I’d say we probably came up a little short in every area.”

As a New England Patriots fan, win or lose, I will always be proud to be a Patriots fan. I see the game as it is because nothing is certain in football. Miracles can happen and disasters can happen.

Looking from a fan perspective without the football jargon and technicality, I would love to have seen the excitement, confidence, and energy coming from the players and coaching staff as I have seen many times before. There was no enthusiasm as the clock start to run its 60 minutes course. And that was the reason why the Patriots really came up short. And that was what I missed the most.

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The Patriots signed Forston as a rookie free agent on May 10, 2012 out of Miami, but he was inactive for the first two games of the season.

July 27, 2012; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots defensive lineman Marcus Forston walks onto the field during the training camp at the team practice facility. Mandatory Credit: Stew Milne-USA TODAY Sports

Interesting enough, the 6-foot-3, 305-pounder, made his first NFL appearance as a defensive substitute in Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens. He was then released on September 26 and re-signed to the practice squad on September 28.

Debuting in three games as a junior in college in 2011, he finished with five tackles, one sack, and one forced fumble before suffering a season-ending knee injury.

As a sophomore in 2010, Forston started in twelve games of the thirteen games played. He recorded thirty-seven tackles, twelve tackles for loss, three sacks and one interception. Unfortunately in 2009, he only appeared in three games before being granted a medical redshirt with an injury.

As a freshman, he was named to the Football Writers Association First-Team Freshmen All-American team after playing in twelve games with a record of eighteen tackles, three sacks, 4 ½  tackles for loss and one pass defended.

Forston is a 23 year-old and a 20-pounder lighter than 31 year-old defensive lineman, Vince Wilfork.    Let’s see what Forston has in store as an addition to the Patriots defense. It would certainly be nice to see a Vince Wilfork “little brother” on the field.

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