Patrick Crayton, You Are Stupid

With so much focus on the Pats offense in this past weekend's beat down of Dallas, the Pats defensive performance was overlooked by many. It shouldn't have been. The Pats held Dallas almost 100 yards below their average passing total and 40 yards under their average rushing total. TO led the team in receiving yards with 66 yards, which was the first time this year no Dallas receiver had more than 90 yards and only the second time no Dallas WR had less than 100. The Pats D also managed to make Jason Witten pretty much a non-factor. If not for that bogus fumble return, this game would have been even more laughable that it already was. The defensive effort was impressive. Dallas WR Patrick Crayton, however, was not impressed:

Cowboys receiver Patrick Crayton told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram yesterday that he was less than impressed with New England's defense. "Offensively, they are the real deal. I'm not going to lie about that. Defensively, I can tell you no, they're not," Crayton said. "They're not [that good] at all. The only time they stopped us is when we had penalties. If that's stopping us, it is what it is. Defensively, they are not the real deal."

First, Crayton is not entirely correct. The Pats forced 3 and outs on the Cowboys first 3 possessions. No penalties were accrued by the Boys during those possessions. In fact, I could only find two drives that were adversely impacted by Cowboy penalties.

But all of that is not really the point here. The point is who the fuck is Patrick Crayton? Isn't this the same Patrick Crayton who has never caught more than 36 balls over an entire season? The same guy who has 2 100 yard games in his entire career? The same Patrick Crayton who wouldn't even be on the field if Terry Glenn was healty? Am I mistaken, or isn't this the same guy. I'm not saying that fringe NFL players can't call out other teams, nor do I generally mind bravado or zany antics (I'm prepared to defend Manny's posing to the death), but how is Patrick Crayton in anyway qualified to comment on what a "real deal" defense actually is? How the fuck would he know? He certainly didn't face one at Northwestern Oklahoma State and though they played as if Buffalo were the the '85 Bears, that defense doesn't qualify. Patrick Crayton, you may want to simmer down. Because if the Pats get a chance to play you again this year (highly unlikely), maybe Rodney Harrison starts up his cycle again. Then you'll know what the "real deal" feels like, big fella.