Tony Branco

I have been a Boston sports observer since the 1980s. I have seen the highs and lows of all the local sports teams and athletes.

Patriots

Patriots: Veterans in jeopardy of not making the team

Mike Vrabel was hired as head coach of the New England Patriots on January 12, 2025. It took a few weeks to assemble a coaching staff. Josh McDaniels and Terrell Williams were hired as offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, on January 22. By February 3, the entire coaching staff was

Patriots

Patriots draft recap: Vrabel cleans house

One thing has become abundantly clear since Mike Vrabel became head coach of the New England Patriots. This is his team. Anything that happened before January 12, 2025 – the day Vrabel was hired – does not matter. Throw sentimentality out the window. In fact, if a player had any lasting connection,

Patriots

Patriots hope not to repeat the Packers' mistake of drafting Mandarich in stellar 1989 NFL draft

After months of speculation, Draft Day is, finally, here. Mock drafts are like snow globes. Every year it is the same thing. Mock drafts often get shaken up and changed, but the actual NFL draft usually winds up where everyone originally thought. There are, usually, a couple of key dates

Patriots

Takeaways from Vrabel's comments at the NFL Owners Meetings in Florida

Patriots' head coach Mike Vrabel met with the media at the annual Owners' Meeting in Palm Beach, Florida, on Monday morning. It was a thirty-four minute Q & A session. We know it was thirty-four minutes because Vrabel pointed it out as he stood up to leave at

Patriots

Patriots should trade down two spots with the Raiders and draft tight end Tyler Warren

The Patriots have glaring needs at wide receiver and left tackle. It's no secret. As hard as they tried, they couldn't fill those needs in free agency. The dream scenario for the Patriots would have been to fill all their positional needs via free agency so

Patriots

New England's free agent signings mark the return of The Patriot Way

If there was ever any doubt, a new era has begun in New England. Or are we seeing a return to the old mythical Belichickian "Patriot Way?" I say "mythical" because many, over the years, within the Patriots' organization viewed the term "Patriot Way&

Red Sox

Alex Bregman is a Valentine's day gift from John Henry and the Red Sox

John Henry gave Red Sox fans a surprise, early Valentine's Day gift late Wednesday night just before they laid their heads down to sleep. It was much needed to reignite the flame that had been flickering in the romance between fans and owner. Doubts have been creeping in,

Providence Friars go old school and almost pull off huge comeback against former coach Pitino

It was almost a storybook ending for the Providence College Friars — almost. The Friars trailed by 19 points with only ten minutes left in the game. The offense had only managed to score 34 points in the first 30 minutes of the game, most of it coming from the hot,

Local kid Liam Coen named head coach of the Jacksonville Jaguars

I was a sophomore at Cumberland High School in Rhode Island in the fall of 1985. My parents didn't allow me to play football, but I loved the game and wanted to be around it. So when one of my friends who was the starting running back on

Super Bowl on the line: Can Buffalo get past Kansas City? Is Washington a team of destiny?

I went 3-1 in my divisional round picks last week. There was no shame in having my only loss be Detroit losing to Washington. I'm sure I was far from being alone on that one. Against the spread, I was only 1-3, thanks, in part, to Kansas City,

The most exciting weekend of the NFL season on tap

The season came to an abrupt end for five teams last week. The most disappointed team had to have been the 14-win Minnesota Vikings. They dominated the rest of the NFL, but just couldn't figure out how to beat the Lions and Rams. The Bucs were the most

Better late than never: Vrabel is the new head coach of the Patriots

My best advice to Mike Vrabel while he is, literally, receiving bouquets of flowers from Robert Kraft, fans, and media is enjoy your honeymoon period. It will last until August. Everything is great right now. Vrabel will be given the benefit of the doubt during the draft and free agent

NFL Wildcard weekend picks: Which teams are peaking at the right time

Note to self: Don't ever bet on the final week of NFL regular season games. I knew going in Week 18 it was going to be ugly, but damn. Kansas City and Buffalo couldn't have been more obvious that they wanted to lose. The Dolphins, Bucs,

When did Kraft know that he wanted to can Mayo?

Well, that happened fast. I was thinking of writing that Jerod Mayo was fired before many fans even made it out of the parking lot at Gillette Stadium after New England's win (loss?) over Buffalo in the season finale. Typically, that statement would have been true. Not this

Week 18 NFL picks: Minnesota-Detroit will end the NFL's regular season in explosive fashion

The final week of the regular season has arrived. There are many teams, including the New England Patriots – proud new owners of the #1 pick in the 2025 NFL draft – who can't wait to pack their bags after Sunday's game and put this season in the

Week 17 NFL picks:Time to shut down Drake Maye? Jayden Daniels pulls another win out of his hat

I am embarrassed to show my face this week. Good thing I'm a writer. I watch a lot of YouTube videos of people making their NFL picks. That's my research, people. I often laugh to myself when I see some of these bigger named NFL "

Buehler, Buehler

The Red Sox missing out on Juan Soto may be the best thing that ever happened to them. It's not like they are a perennial playoff team missing that one piece to get them over the hump to obtain a World Series ring. Instead, the Red Sox are

Remembering Jim Donaldson: The end of an era in Providence sports journalism

There is never a good way to find out someone you know has died. Such was the case Thursday afternoon when I was scrolling through social media. I kept scrolling down and down. Ho-hum. It was all the typical stuff on my timeline. There were reports about the Patriots maybe

Week 16 NFL preview: Can anyone slow down Josh Allen, aka Superman?

Last week was a solid week for me. It would have been made better if Mac Jones could have completed the upset of the Jets. What was that thing the Rams and 49ers did last Thursday night? Was that supposed to be a "football" game? 12-6? What year

Shut Drake Maye down for the season after Sunday's game in Buffalo

I was ridiculed, recently, on a Patriots' podcast for a question I posed. That's okay. I once had a melanoma removed from my back and my skin doctor told me it was a good thing I had thick skin. I said, "I know." I responded

You said it, I didn't

Oh, Jerod. When will you ever learn? Jerod Mayo is a rookie coach. We expect mistakes from any rookie – be it a coach or player. What we expect is for rookies to learn from their mistakes and to show that they are learning on the job. Let’s take a

Week 15: Desmond Ridder and Chad Ryland Revenge Games. Are you excited?

I knew Week 14 was going to be tough and it was. It wasn't all bad. Miami not only came back from 8 down to the Jets in the 4th quarter, but they covered the 5.5-point spread by scoring a walk off touchdown in overtime. The Falcons,

Should the Red Sox be in on Juan Soto?

It sounds as if we may be hours away from learning what uniform 26-year-old superstar outfielder Juan Soto will be donning next year. Everyone knew Soto would be a free agent after the season ended. Boston fans weren't very interested in following the news, though. They knew better.

NFL picks: Chargers-Chiefs, Green Bay-Detroit highlight Week 14

It was a great bounceback week for me after a s0-so week (by my very high standards) the week before. It is amazing how good I was on my picks, but not so good on picking the over/unders. It was a crazy week for over/unders, though, as a

Grading the Patriots’ offseason: Bring back a 4-13 team and you have a 4-13 team... or worse

Bill Belichick used to say the season really starts after Thanksgiving. For too many seasons lately, including this one, the season has been over before it ever had a chance to begin for the Patriots by Thanksgiving.  The Patriots were never expected to be playing meaningful games in December this