I approached this weekly column with hesitation this week.
Is it because New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski suffered what at first appeared to be concussion-like symptoms against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night, and then a possible punctured lung, but more recently reduced to a less severe chest injury? Yes.
Is it because Tom Brady nearly fumbled away a potential game-tying touchdown on a third down play late in regulation, and failed to get in the end zone from a yard away? Yes.
Is it because New England’s defense – playing without recently traded Jamie Collins and an inept Jabal Sheard – looked like Swiss Cheese at times against Seattle? Yes.
Is it because those same Patriots failed to beat Richard Sherman and those smug Seahawks, who avenged their Super Bowl loss? Yes.
Is it because I went 4-8 in our Beat “The Putz” pro football contest this past Sunday? Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes.
Yes to all of the above.
I expect the Patriots to rebound this Sunday against the lowly San Francisco 49ers. As for my improvement picking winners in the National Football League, that remains to be seen.
More than half of our contest field went 6-6 or worse in Week 10. Five entrants tied for the best record at 9-3 with Tara Owczarski, of Chicopee winning with 52 tie-breaker points.
Don’t forget to pick your point total for this week’s tie-breaker: the Green Bay Packers at the Washington Redskins. Attention weekly winners: pick up your unclaimed prizes now at our office on 62 School Street.
