A Capital victory

WEEK 14
Bring it on Sports Blab Radio. Bring it on Borges. Bring it on Felger. Bring it on.

There'll be lots of talk about the defense giving up another tanker full of yards. There'll be lots of talk about how the Pats had to battle to the final play to beat the lowly Redskins. There'll be lots of talk -- LOTS OF TALK -- about the heated argument between Brady and offensive coach Bill O'Brien on the sideline.

GRONK: Feeding the beast.

The Pats' exciting, entertaining 34-27 victory against Washington -- their first ever in the nation's capital -- was exactly what I expected. I was saying all week (right, Rich?) that the Skins are much better than their record. They lead the league in sacks and have hit on a great, young rusher in Roy Helu (126 yards). Those two things combined with the fact that Rex Grossman is capable enough to move the ball against the Pats' bruised and bad -- uh, I mean battered -- secondary and I figured it would be a hard-fought game. It was. The Pats just won a few more of the battles. That's what it takes to steal a road win in the NFL.

It also takes having a monster on offense named Gronk. The second-year tight end set the record for most touchdown catches in a season. The good-hands man had 160 yards receiving and two touchdowns. The old record was 13. Gronk now has 15. He's not done.

Neither is the Pats D. Sure they gave up another 400-plus yards of offense. Sure they had trouble covering the AARP receiving corp of Santa Moss, Stallworth, and old friend Jabar Gaffney. Sure they gave up a lot of big plays. But... the D had another strong game in the red zone.

The game would have been over if Brady doesn't throw a little behind Welker as he cut across the goal line wide open with just a few minutes left in the game. The next play Brady threw a pick in the end zone giving Washington one last shot to tie the game. The Skins drove inside the Pats' 10-yard line with just seconds to play when Tracy White and Jerod Mayo stepped up and combined for a game-ending play. Grossman hit Santana Moss but White hit Moss at the same time popping the ball loose and into the hands of a diving Mayo. When the play was over defensive backs McCourty and Ihedigbo -- who were playing injured the whole game -- couldn't even raise their arms in celebration. That's guts.

The Pats are 10-3 but you might not know that when you pick up the paper (please pick one up) or turn on the radio or TV this week. You'll read and hear lots of "The Pats have some serious problems ..."; "They won't be able to get away with that in the playoffs ..."; "They were lucky..."; "Brady and O'Brien's fight is a sign this team is cracking ..." This game will provide a week's full of pointless chatter in the Sports Blabosphere. Lots of pointless chatter.

Where's my iPod?