Well, I suppose I have to do one last entry to wrap things up. I've decided it's easier to watch a well fought game and lose in the last seconds then to watch the entire game knowing you're going to lose. From 4 and a half minutes when we went down 14-0 I knew it was over. They had no spirit, no fight, and it showed. I knew after the Saints game that this wasn't gonna be a year for a Super Bowl run, but it would be nice to at least make it past the Wildcard Round! I guess this just goes to show we were the Team of the Decade in the 2000s. So far in the 2010s, we're 0-2. Glad to get to the offseason. Time to retool for another run.

I feel like Bill Belichick in his postgame press conference, I really don't want to talk about this game. Other than a goal line stop, defense was just bad. Granted they didn't have 3 defensive starters playing, but they gave up 21 points in the fourth quarter. You gotta close out games in the playoffs. How we do this month all depends on what defense shows up. Offense was reasonable. Brady, Edelman, Hoyer all did pretty well. It's good to have Fred Taylor back especially with Maroney and Faulk out on the injury list today. All in all, obviously the biggest story is Wes Welker's knee. From his reaction, it looked bad. I'm guessing he's probably done for the season, but we'll find out in a few days. But we've played without him before. Edelman is a good backup. He won't command the double team that Welker would, but he can catch the ball and move the chains. Yes, I think the Patriots can win without Welker. Yes, I think it will require a better all around effort, especially from the defense. That's all there is to say about today. Now we just sit back and see who we get to play next week.

Before todays game I was convinced we'd be done after the first round of the playoffs. After todays game I now think we'll advance to the divisional round. There are two things you need to win playoff games: 1) a solid run game, and 2) good defense. We did both of those things well today. We finally closed out a game with a 12:12 minute drive in the 4th quarter just running it down their throats. Aside from a goal line fumble and a Jacksonville touchdown during clean up time the game was pretty much picture perfect. It's nice to see the defense coming together and stopping one of the premier running backs in the league. This is a team worthy of the AFC East division title that they clinched with the win. This is a team worthy of the 3rd seed in the AFC playoffs which they maintained with the win. This is a team we haven't seen much this season, but if they stick around, they should put up quite a fight in the upcoming playoffs.

Another sloppy victory in the books. We're definitely not one of the elite teams in the league, but at least we can beat the bad teams . . . unlike Pittsburgh. The run game looked good today, although it should against the last ranked run defense. I'm also glad they found ways to get Randy involved. It seems the underneath routes are the Pats' bread & butter. They even swapped Welker to the outside to bring Randy underneath. On the other side, the line was getting wrecked with the run, but fortunately we got enough of a lead to force the Bills into throwing the ball. That allowed our depleted defensive line to get some good pressure on the QB. The most glaring disappointment is our fourth quarter offense, and it's not just today. We had the ball three times with opportunities to run down the clock and ice the game, but we couldn't even get the first down. They know we're gonna run so it gets stuffed at the line and we punt it away. We can't seal a victory for anything! We let the Buffalo Bills get within one possession of winning the game . . . the Bills! I still have no confidence in the playoffs, but fortunately with losses to Miami and New York today, our division title is all but wrapped up. Though with Jacksonville and Houston both fighting for their playoff lives, neither of those games will be a gimme.

Rough win today. This is not a good looking team. We won that game on Panther errors. They had 9 penalties in some key situations. That's why we won, only because we were playing a worse team. Randy Moss was not good. Brady had his issues. Three turnovers! Are you kidding me! The offense could do nothing the entire first half. They finally got it going the second half. Looking for something good, it was nice to see Ben Watson step in as a third receiver. And the running game actually looked good today, aside from Sammy Morris' fumble and 4th down failure. Fred Taylor seems closer to returning every week which will only help matters. If we can make teams respect the run that should help open up the passing game and take some pressure off Brady. Also Wes Welker's got to get his props. The guy's solid and does everything he's asked week in and week out. Defense did their job holding the Cats to 10 points, but it was mostly thanks to an inept offense. There were two easy passes where I know everybody was saying, "Rodney would've made that pick." Truth is, we're definitely missing all that veteran defensive talent and leadership that left in the offseason. That's not something you can draft, but I don't see another Super Bowl ring without it.

All I have to say is our second half game is awful. We can't get to their quarterback. Miami receivers were finding wholes all over the field. We made Chad Henne look like a league MVP. All around, upsetting. But like I said last week, they're an average team. At this point I'd be very surprised if we make it past the Divisional Round of the playoffs. And if that weren't bad enough, Washington managed to blow my one consolation of the day and let the Saints come back and win.

It doesn't happen often, but yes, I walked out on the Patriots with seven minutes left to go in the game. It's been a long time since we've been schlacked that bad. With no pressure whatsoever, Drew Brees picked apart our secondary with ease. Their pass rush and inexperienced corners shut down our deep ball. Laurence Maroney (surprisingly!) was probably the only bright point of the evening. He ran hard knocking guys around and scored both our TDs. Before the game the commentators quoted one of New Orleans' coordinators saying, "Either you are or you're not." That about sums it up. Clearly the Saints are one of the best teams in the league. They can score at will and shut down a great offense. They are championship caliber, no doubt. And as much as it hurts to say, clearly the Patriots are not. I know every dynasty has an end, but that doesn't mean it's any less painful when it happens. Last night was the game where every Patriot fan had to realize, we're no longer the standard of the NFL. Since the 03-04 seasons, we've always been an elite team until we proved otherwise. Last night demonstrated that now we're a second tier team until we prove otherwise. We're no longer favored just because we're the Patriots. We're back to being the underdogs, because we deserve to be. Our days of expecting to win every game are gone. That doesn't mean we're not a good team, we're just not great. And for all those emotional fans (mostly female) who are objecting that I've lost hope and I'm bailing the bandwagon after one tough loss, suck it up and be realistic. Sure, we'll bounce back and beat Miami. Sure, we'll win the division and make it to the playoffs. But now greatness has to be attained rather than assumed. But then again, that might not be such a bad place to be because I remember a lowly 2001 franchise who had a lot of attaining to do.

Today I couldn't decide who to give photo props to. There were so many worthy contenders. So I picked two: Wes Welker for an impressive 15 catch game and setting a career high in receiving yards in a game (and for the cool stiff arm pictured), and Leigh Bodden with a stellar 3 picks on the rookie QB (pictured taking this one to the house). The defense was relentless on the young Sanchez forcing 5 turnovers and making him look like the rookie he is. The emotion of a new coach and a promising star is long gone and things are back to normal, with the Jets looking 3 games up at the Pats. However, Thomas Jones still churned out a hundred yard game even though it was all for naught. The offense was also impressive. Maroney stepped it up when we needed to wind down the clock, something he couldn't do a week ago. Brady was, well...Brady. The major point of concern I saw was quite a bit of QB pressure in the second half. Everyone knows if Brady's jersey stays clean then the Pats are gonna clean up. Chances of doing that would be greatly improved with a respectable run game, which will hopefully get a boost in Sammy Morris' return in the near future. All in all, the defense did their job making an average offense look bad. The biggest test of this young secondary will be against Drew Brees and his high powered offense next Monday night. We've all seen our offense can score enough points to keep up, but can our defense keep us ahead when it counts. That's the lingering question that makes the difference between a bye and wildcard weekend.

Never have I seen a team so thoroughly snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. They put up 34 points on a team that previously hadn't allowed more than 23. They forced Indy to punt more than they had all season. They gave up two endzone turnovers and still held a 17 point forth quarter lead. Then they sent their cheerleaders onto the field for the final 15 minutes to give the best roll-over-and-play-dead impersonation I've ever seen. Commentators and reporters are billing it as a phenomenal Colts comeback and singing Manning's praises. But that ridiculous! That's perhaps the worst quarter of football the Patriots have played all season. And the coaching!? Handing the ball to Peyton Manning on your own thirty with a 6 point lead?! Are you flippin out of your mind?!?! I haven't seen a decision that bad since the Bills kick returner ran it out of the endzone in Week 1! Now any hope of home field advantage in the playoffs and probably a first round bye is long gone. But worse then all that is now the Colts have a free ride to break our record 21-game winning streak and match our unprecedented 16-0 regular season record from 2007. We had our chance to do something about it but we handed it to them on a silver platter. Had we won we would've pulled into a tie with them for most games won this decade (109), a statistic that certainly would seal our legend as the team of the decade. But now all that goes out the window along with Belichick's heralded 4th quarter decision making.

This weeks photo gives props to the Offensive Line. Only nine sacks on the year for Brady is a great stat to boast. These guys have silently been doing their job, no matter who gets injured. So Miami has consistently been the burr under the saddle of the Patriots as the commentators said, but in the end the better team comes out on top. The second and third quarters were tough to watch as the Dolphins just marched their way down the field. A ten minute drive to open the half and take the lead was painful. But it's a 60 minutes game and the Patriots defense came through when it mattered. The passing offense is smoking! It's nice to see Brady with time and receivers finding holes and making great catches. Aside from the obvious, I've been quite pleased with many of the younger guys who've had to step it up this season. "Sea Bass" Vollmer's a stud on the line, Butler on the corner, Tate returning, they all did pretty well today. Last but not least, Stephen Gostkowski has to be the best kicker in the league. Not only did he nail 4 fieldgoals today, but he drilled an 85 yard kickoff out of the endzone and limited Ted Ginn Jr. to only a couple returns. All around a solid effort to be excited about. Next week we'll face our 6th undefeated team this season and this will by far be our toughest. But with Indy having a cake schedule to this point, I see the Pats bringing them back to earth next week.

"We'll retire 1-0 internationally." I like the sound of that. Not sure how the 4 hour time difference or clay surface or British accents affected the team, but another double digit penalty week doesn't instill much confidence. Now I suppose I shouldn't complain with a 35-7 victory, but then what am I suppose to write about? :) One disclaimer, for the first time this season I wasn't able to watch the game on tv or online so all my observations come from Gino Cappelletti and the radio broadcast. I must say, I'm pleased with Brandon Meriweather's growth as a solid safety. The guy's a ball hawk, no doubt. And Brandon Tate had a decent showing for his first game in a year. But ten penalties, most from the offensive line, is unacceptable. Against a good team, that's gonna come back and bite you. All in all, we're 5-2, first in the division, with a brutal next 5 games on the schedule. A good week for a bye.

What can I find to complain about when the offense puts up a franchise record of 59 points and the defense posts a shutout with 5 turnovers and -7 passing yards?! Well first of all, the weather was our 12th defender today. Titans were dropping passes and fumbling the ball left and right. But Pats defenders were missing a lot of first tackles (snowy and slippery I know) and Tennessee got some huge run plays. Now the shutout definitely deserves credit and they took advantage of the Titans mistakes, but if it weren't snowy I'm not sure this would've been a shutout the way Chris Johnson was running. On the offense, here I'm definitely pleased. I'm glad they didn't throw out half the playbook for the weather. I'm glad to see Brady with plenty of time to throw, great accuracy, and finally hitting some long TDs. Maroney and Green-Ellis were solid on the ground. They'll have to keep it up the rest of the season with Morris and Taylor both injured. Overall, it was a good show against a bad team, admittedly a little better than expected, but I'm not getting too excited because it was against a winless team. It was a good building block towards a tough November. And as if today couldn't get any better, the Bills upset the Jets in OT to give the Patriots sole possession of first place in the division.

Well I guess we know one thing for sure now...Denver is legit. Everyone was saying they're not really a 4-0 team but they went out and played some tough ball. I gotta hand it to them...mostly for Josh McDaniels sake. It's a lot harder to hate a team (sports hate) with such a good guy as a coach. How cool was it to see him trade hugs with Ben Watson and Steven Neal after the game...and he was so excited. As much as I hate to drop a game, that makes it a little easier to swallow. But this post isn't about the Broncos...

It's an exciting time to be a Patriots fan! The number one thing I noticed today was defense making tackles. Baltimore did rack up some yardage, but not very much after the catch. The game ending drive made me a little nervous, that was a little too close for comfort, but in the end, if Mark Clayton can't catch a ball thrown right to his hands, they don't deserve to win anyway. It appears we're back to our "bend-but-don't-break" defensive scheme of a few years back. That doesn't inspire a lot of confidence, but the swarming and hard nosed tackling are signs of a playoff worthy defense. I'm not ready to label them championship-caliber yet, but there's still a lot of season left. On the other side of the ball, we managed 80-some rushing yards against a stingy run defense, just enough to balance the attack and keep the blitzers honest. Brady seems to be getting better every week, though I'm sure a healthy Wes Welker didn't hurt. I have to wonder if no Joey Galloway is a sign the end may be near for him. And I'm glad to know we can still get a Red Zone touchdown, finally. I was beginning to wonder if we were purposefully trying to pad Gostkowski's stats. Overall, a solid win over a good team, even if it did take a few well-timed penalties to keep us rolling. Making the most of your opportunities, that's what makes a good team.

How's that for a welcoming party! Did anyone else remember that this is a New England team that doesn't lose back to back games? Apparently no one warned Matt Ryan and Co. I must say, I was pleased with how much our "weak" points flexed a little muscle this afternoon. How about that defense shutting out the likes of Matt Ryan and Michael Turner for the whole second half. They made some great third down stops and took Tony Gonzalez completely out of the game. Not only that, but when was the last time we had a 100 yard rusher, and who said Fred Taylor was too old? The supposed "strength" of our offense, the passing attack, still wasn't firing on all cylinders, but Julian Edelman had a fair share of grabs for a rookie and Randy Moss is still...well, he's Randy Moss. It's a little frustrating that everybody expects unbelievable feats from this team. Sure they rewrote the record books in 2007, but that was a different team. Some sports writer was saying that Brady's biggest competition these days is his own myth. If everybody's going to expect this team to be the 2007 offense with the 2004 defense, then they'll be sadly disappointed. For all those whining about missing Rodney Harrison or Teddy Bruschi...Get Over It! This is a different team. A different defense, and a different offense. They'll get things done, but they'll do it their way. And after three weeks, maybe they're still figuring out what their way is. So all I have to say is thumbs up for the win, but there's still plenty to work on for next week.

It's sad when you've watched a team long enough that you know they're gonna lose when they walk away with 9 points in 3 trips to the red zone, of course that's easy to say in hind sight. But that's not the only factor that led to today's loss. First of all, ELEVEN penalties for 89 yards! I don't remember the last time the Patriots had eleven penalties. You just can't do that and expect to win a game. Also, they say you don't know what you got till it's gone, well everyone in Patriot nation now knows what they got in Wes Welker. I'm sure Joey Galloway and Julian Edelman were trying their best, but there's just not the chemistry with Brady. When you have the kind of pass rush they saw this week you have to release the ball quickly and to do that you need good chemistry with your receivers. Speaking of the pass rush, Sanchez had ALL DAY to pass the ball while Brady was getting tossed to the ground almost every play! Everybody's been talking about the NY blitz all week, but they had no answer for it. This is gonna be a loooong season for Brady if he spends half of it on the ground. And it's gonna be a loooong season for the defensive backs if we can't get any pass rush from our D-line. And last but certainly not least, do we have a kick coverage team? Or maybe they just thought it was a good idea to give up 30+ yards and great field position everytime. When the kicker is in on the tackle, you know there's problems.

I'm sure no one would be surprised to hear that with 5 and half minutes left I was as confident as Brady in a collapsing pocket that the Pats would somehow come out with a win. I've been watching this team long enough to know that if you let them keep the game close, they'll find some way to win in the end. And sure enough, when the Bills kick returner thought he was helping run the clock out by leaving the end zone, he should have known they'd be ball-hawking to force that fumble that turned into the winning touchdown. So while I'm pleased to see that we haven't lost the swagger or the ability to play games all the way to the end, there are a few things that are a bit concerning.

Travel Update:

I had a great time with family up in Michigan. I spent my birthday with them, playing in the pool, doing some go-carting, mini golf, and bumper boats. My visit also coincided with opening night of a musical my cousin was in, so it was fun to be there for that. Then after much too short a visit, I made my way down to Indiana to visit with my college friends, Joe & Ashley and Laura & Dave. Now while the other guys are out mountain biking, I'm enjoying a nice quiet morning catching up on laundry, Patriots news, and blogging.

Training Camp News: