The worst

I can't believe that hit by Wes Welker on Aqib Talib. I just can't believe it.

I can't believe that the 5-9 (maybe), 185-pound Welker slammed into the 6-1, 205-pound Talib and that the 6-1, 205-pound Talib is the one who limped off the field, into the locker room, and didn't return to the little thing known as the AFC Championship Game.

Really? I agree with Belichick ... That is the worst thing I've ever seen. Since when does a tiny slot receiver crash into a big defensive back and it's the DB that gets the worst of it? The worst indeed.

Watch the Zapruder film above. "Back. And to the left. Back. And to the left." It looks to me like Welker was looking to pick Talib (a common, if illegal move) and instead of just bumping him he just ran smack into him. When I look at the film I see two guys colliding. Talib seems to actually crunch Welker with his shoulder. If I didn't know the outcome and I watched the video I would say "I don't think that little guy is getting up." But the little guy did get up and the big guy did not. And in a game where there weren't too many big plays for the Patriots, that was a big play. It wouldn't have changed the outcome unless Talib could have played offense too, but losing Talib definitely made Manning's life a whole lot easier.

It seems that Bill Belichick really can't be rational when it comes to #83. First he -- and just about everyone else -- blamed him for not catching that pass in the Super Bowl. You know. The one that should have been a title-clinching TD that Brady completely missed. Welker took the heat for that one just because he tried to make an acrobatic, twirling mid-air catch instead of just letting it sail way over his head. Brady still needs to take the blame for that one.

Then Belichick decided that Welker catching 100 passes each year -- many to keep drives going -- was not really that crucial to the offense after all. He decided to let him walk and replace him with Danny Amendola. I thought Amendola -- if healthy -- would certainly be a very good replacement for Welker. But he couldn't be Welker. The guy is as tough as they come. Amendola was nowhere to be found during the biggest game of his career. That never happens with Welker.

Now Welker is responsible for one of the worst plays Belichick has ever seen? I don't know. Belichick is often right and I'm not. But no matter how many times I watch the video it is just too "bang-bang" a play to say there was any intent by Welker other than to interfere with Talib. It just looks like two guys coming across the middle on a collision course and neither being able to get out of the way even if they wanted to.

On another note... that's the second year in a row that Talib has limped out of the AFC title game. That's not saying he's not tough enough. He's played all year with a bad hip. He's tough. And he's very good. But he's also just as injury prone as that other guy we signed ... Amendola.

Welker ... he's tough. And he keeps on playing.