Winning ways

WEEK 12
Teams have to learn to win in all ways.

A team that wins every game easily isn't prepared when faced with a nasty playoff battle. A team that knows how to win a 16-13 war but can't put 30 points on the board is going to have a problem against the best offenses. A team that falls behind and can't battle back has to play perfect football to win. The best teams -- in any sport, really -- can play any style you want and beat you at each.

The 2011 New England Patriots are winning in all ways. They have dominated teams from start to finish. They have held off late comeback attempts. They have stolen last-minute victories. They have won some beautiful games. They have won some ugly games. Yesterday, they added another style of victory. They fell behind early but came roaring back for a dominating come-from-behind decision.

Patriots 38, Eagles 20. It was worse than that. Philly scored a meaningless TD in the final minute to break the defense's string of games holding the opponent below 20 points. The defense -- despite injuries to key starters -- is making plays and gaining confidence. The offense continues to run like a machine. There will be more bumps along the way, but if the D gets Chung and Spikes back and the team stays healthy elsewhere there will be more playoff action at Gillette. Yes, the Pats are due for a home playoff win. But it's way too early for that blog post.

The Eagles jumped all over the Pats in the first seven minutes, building a 10-0 lead and threatening to expose the fact that the Patriots don't really have an NFL secondary at the moment. But then two things happened. The Patriots responded, outscoring Philly 38-3. Philly responded, outscoring the Patriots 50 embarrassing mistakes to zero. It was a good thing Santa was not in the stands.

Like last week's win against KC, there's not a whole lot to be be gained breaking this one down. Same holds true for the next two games against the winless Colts and the hapless Skins. If New England is to earn a first-round bye, these are games that they not only should win, they must win. There can be no letdowns or trap games. Yesterday had the appearance of a trap game early. Then Brady, Welker, Branch, Gronk, Bennie, and a lot of guys on defense with much less familiar names decided they weren't losing.

A team that never gives up. That never stops playing no matter what the score. Or as the coach would say "Sixty minutes! Do you hear me?! Sixty minutes!" That's the most important way to know how to win.