Joy division

WEEK 13
The Patriots clinched another AFC East title with a solid -- if somewhat difficult -- road win down in Miami. A win of any kind on the road in the NFL is a good win. A win that clinches your fourth division title in a row ... well that's a great win.

The Dolphins are a pretty good football team. They almost beat the Colts on the road a few weeks ago and they did beat the Seahawks last week. Both the Colts and Seahawks are playoff teams. I watched both of those games and was impressed with how well coached the Dolphins are and how tough they play. They won't make the playoffs, but they are not an easy win for any opponent.

Most Pats fans knew that. Except for Dan Shaughnessy. Then again, he's not really a fan. He's a Dan. And if you are a Dan you really don't know much about the NFL. It's pretty obvious. Before the game Dan wrote the following ... "Winning the AFC East is kind of a joke. It’s like the New York Times being named one of the top 10 newspapers in the country. It’s like Shaquille O’Neal winning a slam-dunk contest at Lincoln-Sudbury High School." Actually, it's not like that at all. As Tom Brady would say ... Winning any game in the NFL is tough. Winning a road game in the NFL is really tough. How did the mighty Niners do against the Rams yesterday? Not so good. The Jets, Bills, and Dolphins are not near the top of the league, but when they play a solid game they are nobody's pushover. Especially the Dolphins.

But Dan didn't see it that way. He added this in his column before the game: "It’s weird to be this confident for any road game in the NFL. ... Sunday is no contest. This New England team is on a roll."

There is no "on a roll" in the NFL. Each week is different. The Giants looked like they couldn't be stopped a few weeks ago then proceeded to lose two in a row. Some weeks Gronk catches 12 passes and two touchdowns and looks like a monster and then the next week he catches two passes and spends a lot of time blocking. The NFL doesn't operate in hot teams and "rolls." It's week to week. A fan gets this. A Dan doesn't. Most fans thought the Pats would win because they are the better team. But "no contest"? In Miami? Against a pretty tough team in your division? Please.

So what did Dan have to say today after the Pats did win in a very tough road game to take the AFC East? "We are spoiled. A win, even when it clinches a division title/playoff spot, isn’t good enough anymore. ... It was pretty ugly — downright unwatchable at times." Who is we? Speak for yourself. Once a Dan, always a Dan. Unwatchable? I really enjoyed watching that game. The Dolphins have a good pass rush and are one of the best teams in the league against the run. They challenged the Pats and the Pats answered the challenge. If you are a football fan, you love a game like that. If you are a Dan, you want every game to be 49-19 so you don't have to pay attention and you can beat the traffic. There were many big moments in yesterday's game and the Pats came through in enough of those moments to get the win.

Especially at the end of the game. Miami kicked a field goal (forced by a great Mayo sack on the delayed blitz) to cut the score to 20-13 with just more than eight minutes left to play. Brady and the offense got the ball at their own 20 and -- after a day spent getting stuffed on the ground -- they handed it to Ridley time and time again for an impressive 16-play drive that chewed up seven of those eight minutes. Gosty kicked a field to seal the win. The Dolphins D said "go ahead and try to run on us" and the Pats offense (especially the banged up line) responded by doing just that. That's football. It was a great drive to watch. For a football fan, that is. Apparently not all that fun if you are a Dan.

Ugly or not, the win did indeed clinch the division, the first of the three goals the team sets every year for the regular season.

1. Win the division.
2. Get a first-round bye.
3. Get home-field advantage.

One down, two to go. A win next Monday night at Gillette against top seed Houston will go a long way to accomplishing the other two.

I was surprised to see how few times the Pats won the division in the first 40 years of my life. Just five. Then I remembered something... they often sucked! Bad. Does 1-15 ring a bell? Which makes what the team has done in the past twelve seasons (10 division titles) even more amazing ... and completely unexpected.

My nephews have grown up knowing nothing but division titles and playoffs. It won't always be like that. They will have their 1-15 some day. But not any time soon. But they know that. And they appreciate and enjoy every win -- even the "ugly" ones. They are fans. Not Dans.

Reading material

The NFL really is the best drama on television. I love "Game of Thrones" but it can't match the NFL for week-after-week drama. The first two episodes of the 2012 NFL season have been outstanding television. The triumphant (somewhat) return of King Manning. The adventures of the ragtag army of replacement officials. The collapse of the House of Brees. The romance of Lord Gruden and young Prince Luck. Who will sit on the throne at the end? Will it be the House of Belichick? All those in the lands of the north hope so.

There were lots of story lines from Week 2 that made for great reading on the Internets. Here are a few of the best...

• It didn't take long for Jay Cutler and the new looks Bears to resemble Jay Cutler and the old look Bears. Chicago looked like a contender with a Week 1 41-21 drubbing of the Colts. But against a real football team -- division rival Green Bay -- they just looked bad. The best part -- for non Bears fans -- was eternal brat Cutler getting in his lineman's face for missing a couple of blocks. Problem was Cutler was busy throwing four awful interceptions to kill his team's chances. Classic Cutler.
• The Saints continue to pay the price of Bountygate. A much higher price than the 10k they put on Brett Favre's head. With head coach Sean Payton suspended and the team on its second interim coach, the Saints have given up 922 yards and 75 points in two games. But the Saints have never been a defensive beast. It's the offense that has brought them to the top of the NFL recently. That offense is out of sync despite putting up 32 and 27 points in the first two games. Most of those points came in late-game comeback desperation mode. Not a recipe for success for Drew Brees.
• The patience with the NFL and its use of replacement refs is wearing thin. Ray Lewis and just about every coach in the league has expressed frustration with the league risking the safety of the players and the integrity of the game. The league's response to some really bad officiating in Week 2 was "officiating is never perfect." Funny. I don't remember the NFL ever saying that when the regular officials came under fire for a bad call. As Ray Lewis says, at least with the regular officials you knew what you were going to get. Not any more.
• The Philadelphia Eagles are one of the 2-0 teams in the league. But what an ugly 2-0 it is. Mad Dog Mike Vick and his team had to stage a last-minute comeback to beat the very bad Cleveland Browns 17-16. But the game was in Cleveland and any road win in the NFL is a good road win. Sunday the Eagles faced a much tougher test at home in the form of the Baltimore Ravens and once again the Eagles snatched victory from defeat at the last second. Vick has made a season-full of mistakes in just two weeks but the team is unbeaten. Sometimes that's all that matters.
• The New York Football Jets -- along with the rest of the AFC East -- sit at 1-1 after getting soundly beaten by the Steelers. Skinny Rex and his team were feeling pretty good after beating up on the Bills in their opener but they are feeling a little less cocky -- if that's possible -- after their offense sputtered all over Heinz field. How long till the "Teee-bow! Teee-bow!" chants begin? The Jets offense, Wildcat or not, is not expected to be among the best in the league. The defense is. Against Pittsburgh it wasn't.
• The Giants-Bucs game was a wild one right up to the very last play. Little Manning -- again -- led the G-Men to a comeback victory. This time scoring 25 points in the fourth quarter as Eli threw for a ridiculous 510 yards. (Too bad Brady doesn't get Tampa this year.) But it was the traditional kneel-down play that got all the attention. Manning went to take a knee with a few seconds left and the game over, but Bucs rookie coach Greg Schiano told his defensive guys to keep playing hard and go after Manning and try to get the ball. Go after him they did, charging through the offensive line and knocking the guys in blue jerseys all over the place. After the game -- in what is becoming a new, fun tradition in the league (see Harbaugh/Schwartz 2011) -- Giants coach Tom Coughlin got in Schiano's face for breaking the kneel-down code.  There are loud opinions on both sides of this one. I have to agree with Coughlin. The kneel-down is an accepted part of the game. You lost. Go get a beer.
• Finally, there is the Wes Welker saga. Why isn't he playing as much? Is he hurt? Is Belichick mad at him for wanting a big contract? Is Brady mad at him for "dropping" the pass in the Super Bowl? Is Gisele behind it all? What is going on? It's a good question. My guess is Welker is a little banged up. He himself said missing some of preseason has him a little behind. And clearly Gronk and Hernandez are now the focus of the offense ... at least it was till Hernandez got hurt. The Globe's Greg Bedard has a good piece on it. He says there's no doubt that Welker was being phased out of the offense. Of course he didn't ask Belichick about that. None of the reporters did. He says why bother because Belichick wouldn't have answered. That's one way to excuse not doing your job. He also says maybe the Pats are trying to reduce Welker's numbers either as punishment for not accepting the offer the team made in the offseason or are hoping if he gets less catches he won't get a big contract offer as a free agent next year. Then Bedard says how low that would be for the team to do that and says "So let's not even go there." Problem is, he just went there. And it's ridiculous. The Globe's Dan Shaughnessy takes a break from doing what he does best -- ripping the Sox when they suck -- to chime in on the game he knows not all that well. He says if the Pats lose next week at Baltimore -- certainly a possibility -- they will be below .500. Well, he's good at math.

That's just one week. I can't wait for episode three.

Dan. Oh.

BRADY: He doesn't look too worried.

The Globe's Dan Shaughnessy -- are you sitting down? -- doesn't think the Patriots can win a playoff game this year. (Those who are not surprised to hear this please click the "like" button.)

Clearly wanting the title of "first member of the Sports Blabosphere to say the Pats suck," Shaughnessy wasted no time declaring the playoffs over. Me and my tailgating friends plan on showing up anyways for the first playoff game on the night of January 14th. Actually, we can't wait.

But according to Dan, we are not going to like what we see once the game begins. "Something bad is going to happen at Gillette Stadium before this month is over," he writes. Something bad. (Hopefully not a ban on margaritas). I assume he's talking about the Pats losing a playoff game. He may be right. That's the thing about the NFL. You can have a great regular season (like, say, 13-3) but then have one bad game (heck, one bad quarter) and the season is quickly over. Happens to at least one team every year. Happened to the 14-2 Pats and 14-2 Falcons last year. That's what makes the NFL playoffs so much fun. Each game is huge because there is not the "we'll get 'em tomorrow" attitude you get in the best-of-seven world. That's why football fans get into watching every playoff game. Each one is an event. Each one is huge. A team like the Packers can get hot and roll to a championship. But let's not get all caught up in how much fun playoff football is. Who wants to talk about that when you can talk about how bad the 13-3 Pats are?

Like I said, Dan may be right. The Pats might get knocked out quickly. They are not unbeatable. And the other teams are all good. The Pats will have to play solid, near mistake-free football and even get some luck. That's the way it is no matter what a team's record is or how many passing yards the defense has given up. You know what team was beatable but played solid football and caught some luck? Actually I can think of three. The 2001, 2003, and 2004 Pats. Were those teams better than the 2011 Pats? In many ways yes, in some ways no. What those teams did better than all their competition was make plays when they had to. They gave up plays but got turnovers when they needed. And they caught breaks, lots of them, and took advantage of almost all of them.

Of course in '01 there was the Tuck Rule. And a non hands-to-the-face call in the Super Bowl on a pick-six. But the luck didn't end with that incredible year. Many seem to look at the back-to-back title teams as if they dominated every game. They didn't. In '03 there was a Steve McNair pass tipping off the fingers of Drew Bennett on a fourth-down play that should have been caught and would have sent the game into overtime. The Pats barely escaped the frigid temperatures and then went on to win it all. In '04, the Pats played an average game in the Super Bowl against Philly but made just enough plays to win by a field goal.

That's one of the main positives about the Pats of the last two years. They make a lot of plays. That's one thing the '09 Pats didn't do. And it showed in the blowout loss to the Ravens. Last year and this year the Pats have been among the best in winning the turnover battle. That, combined with a great offense and sound special teams, makes them a real contender. Dan says he thinks the real Patriots aren't the 13-3 team, but instead the team that fell behind early against Denver (and Miami and Buffalo and ...) before, in his words, "the Broncos turned the ball over three times in their own end in the second quarter ..."

Dan talks about those turnovers as if the Denver players just handed the ball to the Pats D and said "Here... you guys need some help." In fact, two of the three turnovers were plays that the Pats D made to turn the momentum in their favor. The D made those plays. The result of players doing what they have learned to do and being in the right position. And then making the play. The first was linebacker Dane Fletcher sniffing out the run, nailing the running back at the line, and knocking the ball loose. The next lucky turnover was caused by defensive end Mark Anderson who is becoming a force to deal with. Anderson slashed through the line and caught Tebow on the option, hitting him in stride and forcing another fumble. A great defensive play. The third turnover was a special teams gift. A gift that Ross Ventrone quickly accepted with the recovery. That's the Ross Ventrone who has been released, signed to the practice squad, activated, released, signed, released, signed ... He's one of the many role players who has played his role well.

Just as important as the plays to create the turnovers were the plays the offense then made to turn those turnovers into 13 points to take over the game. I think the real Pats are the ones that took the best shot of a red-hot Broncos team and then responded, one play at a time. On the road. Under pressure.

Dan can talk about how he doesn't have a good feeling about this team. He doesn't like what he sees. Maybe he needs to look a little closer. Here's what I see. Tom Brady. Wes Welker, Gronk, Hernandez, BenJarvus and Ridley, Branch, Woody, (not Ocho), Waters, Mankins and the rest of the offensive line. Solid young kickers in Zoltan and Gostkowski. And on the statistically challenged defense... Big Vince, Mark Anderson, Mayo, Spikes, Chung, a one-armed but gutsy McCourty, Arrington, Ninko, and Edelman (the new Troy Brown). That's a lot of playmakers.

Oh. and Bill Belichick. The Pats might lose, but it won't be because they aren't a playoff caliber team. In fact, I would say there's just as good a chance that the Pats come out and play a great playoff game as there is that they don't.

But that's just the way I look at it. I'm a fan. Not a Dan.

Fresh start

NEW YEAR, SAME RESULT: 1-0 in 2012.

WEEK 17
Patriots 49, Bills 21 (1/1/'12): Some highlights from another entertaining victory on a 45 degree sunny New Year's Day at Gillette...

Chili and sausages. A cooler full of cold beer. Sweatshirts and hoodies instead of parkas and wool caps. Chung and Spikes back in uniform. A scoreboard update of the Miami D picking off Sanchez. A couple of refreshing margaritas. Another update of the Miami D picking off Sanchez. The Bills breaking out to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter. Bill O'Brien screaming at his entire offense this time.

OK, those last two certainly weren't highlights. But everything that happened in the next three quarters after that was. The Pats scored 49 straight points as the offense that struggled in the first quarter kicked into high gear and the defense that looked lost -- again -- seemed to find itself thanks to the return of #25 and #55. The Pats D is never going to fill one with confidence, but the return of leaders Chung and Spikes sure helps. Too bad Andre Carter isn't still on the field.

The next two weeks the Blabosphere will be buzzing with warnings about how the 13-3 Patriots are not a serious Super Bowl contender because of their slow starts on offense and false starts on defense. Many will predict another one-and-done playoff run. Or a two-and-done. But done before they even get started. Predictions are tough to get right. Just ask Rex Ryan ... again.

Mo, Larry, and  Curly (a.k.a. Borges, Felger, and Shaughnessy) will be leading the chorus I'm sure. They will acknowledge that the Pats have the best offense in the AFC, but they will tell you that's all they have. They will tell you the defense will bring it all crashing down in the playoffs. They may be right. The Pats will either win or lose so it's a 50-50 shot.

But the Patriots will show up in two weeks to face either Cincy, Denver, or Pittsburgh. If they win they are hosting the AFC title game. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick have lost their last three playoffs games dating back to the '07 Super Bowl. Brady has not been the reason they lost those games but he was far from his best. He's due to be at his best. If Brady and the offense can be at their best -- very best -- for the next three games, the Pats will raise that fourth Lombardi that they should have had a few years ago.

Now the fun begins.