One for the road

WEEK 15

A trip to Buffalo has never looked better from my vantage point on the couch. The Pats came away with a solid 17-10 victory and the Jets and Wildcats both dropped close games to fall two behind in the AFC East with two games to go. Win this weekend at home against the Jags and the Pats claim another division title. All-in-all, that seems like a pretty productive road trip.

It's considered the first genuine road victory because for some reason traveling to London and winning a game doesn't seem to count as a road win for most people. London seems as road as you can get. But a win in the cold of Buffalo on a day when the division title was hanging in the balance is a much bigger road win. No argument about that. And it sure didn't start out looking too good.

The Bills opened the game clearly intent on taking advantage of the absence of Vince Wilfork and Ty Warren on the D line. And take advantage they did. Buffalo put together a 14-play, nine minute drive that included nine running plays and only ended in a field goal after a holding call on third down at the Pats two-yard line stopped their momentum. Mark texted me that "this could be a long day." It was looking that way after Brady threw a pick on the Pats' first series, setting up the Bills at their own 39. The Patriots were in need of someone to make a big play before they got in a big hole and Mike Wright, not surprisingly, was that someone. Wright, playing for Warren on the end, came on a delayed rush and sacked Fitzpatrick on second down. That was followed by a sack by Derrick Burgess that stole the early momentum away from the Bills. Brady then led the team on a nine-play scoring drive, connecting with Randy Moss in the back of the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown and the Pats were in control the rest of the way.

Ah, Randy Moss. He finished the game with five catches for 70 yards and the touchdown. That gives him 10 TDs for the season. Certainly not on his 2007 pace of 25 but darn good. He's still one of the three or four most dangerous wideouts in the game. And yet, if you read the newspapers and listened to the radio all week you would think he was single-handedly responsible for all the team's problems this season. After last week's much-needed win against the Panthers (in which Moss had a one-catch/one-fumble lousy game) the Globe featured a story across the top of the sports front focusing not on the victory but on the comments made by the Panthers D backs saying that Moss quit on the team. The losing Panthers D backs. Who were not a factor in the game. It was an interesting news choice. The Panthers players were saying that they knew if they hit Moss early and often he would be less effective. Really? Did they just come up with that idea because there have been very few wide receivers in the history of the game that strategy doesn't work on. Be aggressive with Moss? No kidding. Too bad they forgot about Wes Welker and the Pats running game.

The media madness continued with one columnist stating that Moss's performance was a disgrace to the position of wide receiver. I'm not sure such a thing is even possible because receivers aren't known as the real "character" guys on football teams. But whatever. The media's disdain for Moss is understandable. He's a little "out there" most of the time. But from my seat at the stadium these past three years Moss has been a solid citizen. Sure, after Brady went down in Game 1 of last year Moss often sat at the far end of the bench -- instead of working with Matt Cassell -- acting like his hot girlfriend had just dumped him. But he knew another shot at a ring was probably lost so cut him some slack. He still had a good year.

The offense has had a very good season. They trail only the Saints in total offense. They have had red zone issues for sure. But Brady, Moss, Welker, Faulk, and Watson are one of the most dangerous passing attacks in the league. And Moss has had a big role in that again. Unlike last weeks ground-it-out win over Carolina, the Pats went for the deep ball against the Bills. Brady and Moss stretched the D several times. Even though they didn't hit one, it was a key part of the game plan. That's the thing about the Pats that makes me think they could make some noise in the playoffs. Their depth and their versatility. The have won this year playing many different styles.

A talk radio voice, citing the Pats less-than overwhelming victories these past two weeks, said that the reason the Pats haven't looked too great is because "they really aren't that talented." That's a ridiculous statement on the face of it when you have players like Brady, Moss, Welker, Faulk, and Mayo. But it also ignores the offensive line depth with Light, Mankins, Koppen, and Vollmer. And the defensive line of Wilfork, Warren, Green, and Wright. And don't forget players such as Banta-Cain, Meriweather, Bodden, and Maroney.

That seems like a lot of talent to me. Is it enough to go on the road to San Diego or Indy (or both) and pull out a huge playoff win? I'm still convinced it is. Take care of business this weekend against the Panthers and we should get a chance to find out once and for all what this team is capable of.

Give away game

WEEK 14
Patriots 20, Panthers 10 (12/13/09): The Carolina Panthers brought their 5-7 record to Gillette. It was the first tailgate since mid-November when the Pats convincingly beat the Jets and Topher's car got smashed. The Pats have looked more like Toph's car since then so a tailgate was long overdue. And much needed.

Mark, Shep, Matt, and Bergs took a day off. It's what we call a "give away game" in the season ticket world. A game against a crappy team from the other conference whose starting QB is hurt. Not one you circle on the schedule at the start of the season as "must be there." And the weather forecast was not so promising. Thus a game season ticket holders look to "give away" to friends and family.

And that means a lot of people going to their first Patriots game. Like my wife Devra and our co-worker Katie, a Broncos fan from Colorado (Broncos vintage T-shirt on but hidden under the layers). Bringing people to their first Pats game is one of the best parts of being a long-time season ticket holder. They have that wide-eyed look (thanks to the Bailey's and coffee maybe) like a kid at the circus. Things that you take for granted are fun again. Me, Dev, Paul, and Katie rolled into P2 around 10:30 under mostly gray skies. But we were feeling pretty good because we knew rain was coming our way but it looked like the pregame tailgate would be enjoyed in dry -- if not toasty -- weather. And enjoyed it was. As Devra said when questioning the lack of beads and tie-dyed T-shirts (or NFL equivalent) being sold in the lot ... "It has a definite Dead show atmosphere."

We listened to a tailgate mix Toph made during the 16-0 season (Dead featured prominently) and grilled up some flank steak for sandwiches. But not just any steak sandwiches. Dev prepared banh mi -- a Vietnamese version. The recipe includes some pickled vegetables (carrots, cucumbers, radishes) and a rub for the meat (soy sauce, coriander, white pepper) that has a rich flavor. Add a little sriracha and it will warm you up almost as much as Maker's Mark and Coke (Katie's excellent addition to the menu -- flask and all). It was the tastiest -- and prettiest -- steak sandwich ever consumed at a tailgate.

The game itself was not so pretty. The Pats actually looked much better in most of their loss to Miami than they did beating the Panthers. Neither team was really in sync. As the first half drew to a close the drizzle started. It was just one of those regular season games where all that really matters -- for the team and the fans sitting in the wet and the cold -- is to get a win. That makes it all good.

The Pats ran the ball 40 times. (Katie and Dev didn't get to admire Brady's passing form too often, but there was admiring going on nonetheless.) They ran 40 times! That is the story of the game. The Patriots brought a certain mindset. A late-season, grind-the-game-out mindset. And it worked. Maroney again looked strong, gaining 94-yards on 22 tough carries. The team had close to 200 yards rushing. And Gostkowski made two kicks (one a 48-yarder) in a close game under tough conditions. He's quietly having another excellent season and confidence in him going into the playoffs has to be high.

There's a lot to talk about on the positive side after the victory, but you know the thing that will be talked about the most this week is the performance of Randy Moss. The future hall-of-famer had a lousy game. He only had one catch and on that play he fumbled the ball. That's a lousy game. But he really wasn't a featured part of the game plan. Anyone who was at the game could see that. You could tell Moss knew on most plays that the ball wasn't coming anywhere near him. Sometimes he went through the motions. Sometimes he didn't. The interception that Brady threw early in the game when he was trying to hit Moss on a out looked like a bad pass and bad decision on Brady's part. Moss didn't react fast enough to prevent the pick but there wasn't much he could do. That pretty sums up his day. There wasn't much he could -- or was asked -- to do. That happens. Fortunately there was a lot Wes Welker was asked to do -- and did. Another ridiculously great game -- 10 catches for 105 yards. Moss wasn't asked to do anything pretty in this game. Next week he might. And odds are he'll deliver.

So it wasn't a pretty game for the Pats, but it keeps them ahead of Miami and New York. Now they head to Buffalo. They haven't recorded a real road win all season (they are due, right?). If they can handle the always challenging Buffalo weather and crowd noise conditions and bring home a win -- even against a mediocre opponent -- that would be a very enouraging sign. No matter how pretty -- or ugly -- the game might be.