Starting with defense

The Pats have just about finished their free agent shopping. The draft is now over. Except for a few undrafted free agents and training camp veteran signings the 2012 version of the New England Patriots is pretty much set. When you have gone 27-5 in the last two seasons there's not too many battles in camp.

The offense is loaded again and will threaten the records the team set in '07. The defense was where reinforcements were needed. Reinforcements have arrived.

I'm guessing the Pats will return to playing a 3-4 more this year since they now have four potentially very good linebackers. Here's what the starters in the 3-4 could look like if everyone stays healthy and the new guys reach their potential quickly:

DEFENSIVE LINE

          LEFT END                          NOSE TACKLE                              RIGHT END

     Jonathan Fanene                     Vince Wilfork                              Chandler Jones

LINEBACKERS

    LEFT OUTSIDE              MIDDLE                  MIDDLE                RIGHT OUTSIDE

   Dont'a Hightower         Brandon Spikes         Jerod Mayo              Rob Ninkovich

DEFENSIVE BACKS

  CORNERBACK              SAFETY                   SAFETY                   CORNERBACK
   Ras-I Dowling             Patrick Chung         Devin McCourty             Kyle Arrington          

I'm counting on a few things. Jonathan Fanene is this year's Andre Carter. Chandler Jones and Dont'a Hightower earn starting jobs and make impacts like McCourty and Mayo did in their rookie years. Ras-I-Dowling gets healthy and lives up to his draft position.

If those things happen then the transition from the Bruschi-Willie-Rodney-Vrabel-Law-Seymour years to the next championship-caliber defense is in the final stage. Big Vince is one of the dominant forces in the game. Brandon Spikes and Mayo came together at the end of last year to show just how good they can be as a duo in the middle of the field. Chung and a relocated McCourty could be one of the best young safety tandems in the game by mid-season.

It's a very athletic, young, and skilled group of starters with some serious playoff experience and confidence.  And as good as the starters look (on paper), the depth of the defense is just as good and experienced. I don't think this defense will be near the bottom in yards allowed next year. No way.

Jedi mind tricks

Bill Belichick was either at his most evil-genius on the second and third nights of the NFL Draft... or he's just been wearing his hood a little too tight around his head.

After grabbing two very likely starters on defense in Dont'a Hightower and Chandler Jones, the Patriots had only two more picks left in the final six rounds. Both of those picks had to be defensive backfield. The first pick was the 16th in the second round, 48th overall. There were still lots of solid defensive backs available. Casey Hayward of Vandy. Trumaine Johnson of Montana. Jamell Fleming of Oklahoma. All would have been good picks. Belichick went with safety Tavon Wilson of Illinois. I had been doing some pre-draft studying this year, something I rarely do. I couldn't remember Wilson. I went to NFL.com and clicked on his name. Each player up to that point had a profile discussing strengths and weakness. When I clicked on Wilson's name there was his photo ... and nothing else. NFL.com hadn't heard of him either. Turns out he is big and fast and never misses a snap. But at the 48th pick? At least it was another defensive guy.

The Pats' next pick was the 62nd overall. Belichick hadn't traded down yet. You knew he must have been getting itchy to start stockpiling picks all over the draft. And so he did. He sent the pick to Green Bay for a third and fifth-rounder. The Pats finished out the second day of the draft by using that third-rounder on Arkansas end Jake Bequette. Another 6-5 defender. He's a four-year starter and had 10 sacks last season. Four picks used on a linebacker, a safety, and two D linemen. So far so good.

Day three looked to be a very brief one for the Patriots, owning just a single pick in the fifth round. When the pick arrived it was announced that Belichick had traded it -- the 163rd pick -- to Green Bay (again) for three picks. A sixth-rounder and two in the seventh. Can any other GM turn one pick into three that late in the draft? It has to be a Jedi mind trick. "You do want the 163rd pick in the draft. You want it so bad that you will give me all your other picks. Move along."

So suddenly the Pats were going to be very busy in the final hours of the draft. A draft in which they were already one of the dominant stories. Belichick used the next two picks on ... defense. First he took Ohio St. defensive back Nate Ebner. Another guy NFL.com had never heard of. Seems he didn't play much defense. But he projects as a solid special teams guy. I think Belichick was just having fun with all the experts on ESPN and the NFL Network. There was more fun to come. With their first pick in the seventh and final round (#224), Belichick did it again. He took Nebraska corner Alfonzo Dennard. The same Alfonzo Dennard who was recently charged with assaulting a police officer. Dennard was projected as a possible second-rounder. Punching the man in the face will send your value plummeting. No team wanted to touch him. Not even the Bengals. So there was a talented defensive back with a slightly-troubled past sitting there in round seven. It's a no-brainer. And a possible coup.

The Pats started the draft with six picks and to me the only way to go was defense, defense, defense, defense, defense, and defense. After much wheeling and dealing the Pats had made six picks ... all on defense. Thanks.

But the Pats had added one more pick, the 235th. One more chance at a defender. Then the pick came in. Wide receiver Jeremy Ebert of Northwestern.

A wide receiver? My all-defense draft was spoiled. But wait. A wide receiver? Maybe he can play defensive back like Julian Edelman or Troy Brown.

Maybe it was another defensive pick.

Only the hooded one knows for sure.

Two for one

When you think Bill Belichick and the NFL Draft one word comes to mind... unpredictable.

The first round of the 2012 draft was no different. Pats fans always go into the night with dreams of linebackers dancing in their heads but braced for the coach/GM to trade away most of the picks for more picks the following year and the year after that and the year after that and the...

Turns out the year after that is 2012. The Pats traded up twice in the first round. That's right. Belichick and co. traded up to go get a player. Twice. I'm not sure if he did it to help me get over the Super Bowl loss, but I think the drafting of two defensive studs finally did the trick. I've moved on. (Although I'm still pissed at Brady).

So who did the Pats get? Two guys I had hoped for in my mockest of drafts. The Pats were sitting at #27 when the night started and I hoped Alabama linebacker Dont'a Hightower would slide his way down the board to them. I also wanted Syracuse defensive end Chandler Jones but thought he would hang around till the second round. Apparently the Pats were interested in both players too, but had no interest in waiting around to see if they would be there when the team got its turn on the clock.

First Belichick traded the 27th pick and the team's third-round choice to Cincy to slide into the 21st spot and grab Jones. I think the Steelers were going to grab him two spots later and I think Belichick thought that too. Jones is a 6-5, 250 end out of Syracuse who can get after the quarterback. I thought he was a bit of a reach at the 62nd pick so it seems like a huge reach at 21. But Jones was one of the hotter names rising up the board leading up to draft day. Hot enough to get Belichick to move on him early. NFL Network's Mike Mayock said that in a few years Jones will be considered the best defensive player to come out of the draft.

The Pats were then sitting at #31 when they decided to make a move again ... this time for Alabama monster linebacker Dont'a Hightower. I thought it was worth moving down in front of the Jets at 16 to stop them from getting Hightower. Somewhat surprisingly the Jets passed on the 6-5 linebacker in favor of defensive end Quinton Coples of North Carolina. A Tar Heel lineman instead of a Nick Saban bred Crimson Tide linebacker? Rex is having quite an offseason so far. Hightower was sliding to the Pats but the Texans at #26 were not going to let him get past them. So, for a second time in the same night, Belichick traded up, this time costing the Pats a fourth-rounder to get Denver's #25 spot. Hello Dont'a. Meet Ninko, Mayo, and Spikes.

The Pats didn't get Harrison Smith, the safety from Notre Dame. He was the guy I wanted after Hightower. The secondary will have to be addressed in the remaining rounds. Jones and Hightower may finally solve what has been the team's biggest weakness for years. A mediocre pass rush.

The draft is only one round in and for the Pats it's already a success.

Are you mocking me?

Mock draft.

Those two words together only mean something to NFL fans. And at this time of the year (i.e. less than a week till the NFL Draft begins) some fans can't get enough of them. Go to NFL.com, any of the 52 ESPN sites, SI.com, or any other sports website and you will see more mock drafts than there are players available.

Most mock drafts stop after the first-round. Andrew Luck is going #1 in all of them. Many of the experts have the Pats trading away at least one of their two first-round picks (#27 and #31). That's a pretty safe guess. The Patriots have just six picks (as of noon on Monday) in this year's draft. A much lower number than in the past several years. But they have two in the first and two in the second. That's where it counts.

So who would I like to see the Pats select with those six picks? Let's pretend for a moment that Belichick actually uses all those picks (that's why it's called mock), I think they should all -- all -- be on the defensive side of the ball. The Pats are very deep at offensive line (even if Light really is retired), very very deep at wide receiver now that they have about a dozen signed, they drafted two running backs last year and there are plenty of free agent veterans out there (Ryan Grant), and of course they have the best quarterback and tight ends in the game. The offense is deep and talented.

The defense is not. But if they can add these guys it would sure help.

Round 1, Pick #27 overall
Dont'A Hightower, inside linebacker, Alabama
You can't go wrong taking a Crimson Tide linebacker. Especially one coached by Nick Saban. Hightower has been jumping all over the first round in mock drafts. A week ago one had him going as high as #13 to the Jets. Others having him going to Pittsburgh at #23 or to the Giants in the last pick of the first round. I'm hoping he slides to the Pats at #27. Hightower is 6-2 and is quite a passing obstacle with his arms raised, which is key in a league where knocking down passes continues to grow in importance. Add Hightower to a linebacker corps of Mayo, Spikes, and Ninko and the Pats could go back to the 3-4.

Round 1, Pick #31
Harrison Smith, safety, Notre Dame
Many mock drafts have targeted Smith for the Patriots. For good reason. Put him next to Chung and behind Mayo and Hightower and suddenly the middle of the Pats D looks a little nasty. Also 6-2, Smith is known as being equally tough against the run as he is against the pass. There hasn't been a lot of good things to see when watching the Irish the past few years, but Smith was one of them. He is a playmaker who scouts say has a great mind for the game. Belichick has to like the sound of that.

Round 2, Pick #48
Devon Still, defensive tackle, Penn St.
There's a reason most mock drafts end after one round. Who the heck knows who will be available at the #48 spot? But if Devon Still is still available he would be a great young D lineman to grab. He's 6-5 (yes, the  Pats D needs to heighten) and NFL.com says he is "the most NFL-ready interior lineman of this year's senior class." He's the type of player who can go head-to-head with NFL offensive linemen and actually knock them off the ball. Still would be a steal at this pick and give the team a young player at every level of the D.

Round 2, Pick #62
Chandler Jones, defensive end, Syracuse
More defense please. Where Still would be considered a safe pick, Jones would be considered more of a risk here. He's 6-5 but only 245. A little undersized, but maybe Big Vince can help him with that. He's the classic Belichick pick because he has a lot of talent but suffered a knee injury that slowed his progress and lowered his profile.

Round 3, Pick #93
Trevin Wade, cornerback, Arizona
I want the Pats to take three defensive backs, two defensive lineman, and a linebacker. So that means these last two picks should go safety or corner. Let's start with corner. Trevin Wade is 5-10 with speed. He was a hot prospect till his play dipped as a junior in the passing PAC-12. He's known as a solid cover corner when he is interested. Playing for the Pats might get him interested.

Round 4, Pick #126
Casey Hayward, cornerback, Vanderbilt
I think the Pats go corner here again instead of safety. Belichick has to be thinking that McCourty may end up playing a lot of safety as he did near the end of last season. That means you are going to need more options at corner. Hayward would definitely add to your options. Scouting reports say he has speed speed and more speed. NFL.com says "he can run with any receiver in the SEC." Those guys in the SEC are fast. Hayward also seems to have the savvy and confidence that are rare in young players.

Six picks. Use them all on defense and really hit on three of them and the Pats will be pretty tough to beat... even for little Manning and the Giants.

Of course, what will actually happen is that Belichick will trade one his first picks for a third and a first next year and then trade his other third -round pick this year for a fifth this year and a second next year and then he will trade ...

Pick six

Just a few more days till the NFL Draft. All eyes will be on first-round blue chippers Andrew Luck and RG3, but you never know what you will find in the later rounds.

The Light stuff

The Patriots dynasty has been a DVD memory for years now. Sure, the Pats are still annoying football fans all over the country by winning divisions and getting to Super Bowls and building mansions, but this team is not really connected to the three Lombardi teams. It's been eight years since the last title. How could it be connected?

The players that created the Patriot Way (another annoying media-invented phrase) have almost all moved on to other teams or TV studios. There are just a few left. One less now. Matt Light, after 11 years protecting Tom Brady's neck, is retiring. That leaves just Brady and Kevin Faulk from the first Super Bowl championship team. And Faulk may not make it to the opener. Though I hope he does.

I've written odes to past players on this blog. Bruschi. Troy. Willie. Rodney. Dillon. They all played the flashy positions. Catching touchdowns. Breaking big runs. Making big sacks and picks. Light was an  offensive lineman. They are only noticed when they are called for holding or when the QB is face-planted into the turf. They don't usually get the odes. But Light deserves one.

Bill Belichick and Scott Pioli took Light in the second round of the 2001 draft. Light came out of Purdue and the Big Ten with an impressive resume. He was first team All Big Ten as a senior and helped the Boilermakers win the conference crown. At the time Belichick was looking for guys to help keep veteran quarterback -- and immovable object -- Drew Bledsoe from aging a bit too fast. Light seemed like a good pick.

Except to football scribe Ron Borges. Yes, him again. Borges wrote this in the Globe the day after the Pats drafted Richard Seymour in the first round and Light in the second ... "On a day when they could had impact players David Terrell or Koren Robinson or the second best tackle in the draft in Kenyatta Walker, they took Georgia defensive tackle Richard Seymour who had 1 1/2 sacks last year in the pass-happy SEC, and is too tall to play tackle at 6-6 and too slow to play defensive end. This genius move was followed by trading out of a spot where they could have gotten the last decent receiver in the draft (Robert Ferguson) and settled for tackle Matt Light, who will not help the team any time soon."

He actually wrote that. And he still goes on TV and acts like he knows what he is talking about. Ah, the modern-day sportswriter.

Matt Light, who would not help the Patriots any time soon, started 12 games in his rookie year, playing a key role in an offense that averaged more than 110 yards per game on the ground and protected a young quarterback on his way to leading the team to its first Super Bowl title ... ever. Light, who would not help the Patriots any time soon, helped that Pats ground game rush for a huge 133 yards against the Rams in that Super Bowl. For that, Light was named to the Football News all-rookie team.

And he was just getting started. Light became Brady's security blanket for years to come. A hairy one, but a rock-solid one. Light won two more rings and was part of the offensive line in '07 that kept giving Brady enough time to connect with Randy Moss time and time and time again. There has never been a better offense in the history of the game. That starts with the line. Two of Light's best years were the last two when everyone (including Borges I'm sure) thought he was all done. He wasn't. It seemed that every week one of the story lines going into a big game was "could Light stop this guy or that guy from killing Brady?" If you look at Brady's stats it's easy to see that much more often than not Matt Light did indeed stop the other guy. And he seemed to enjoy every minute of it, even when he was going face-to-face with a defender after the play.

That was Matt Light as a player. Always playing as hard as he could and enjoying the moment. Light's trademark shaggy beard and ever shaggier hair were outdone only by his sense of humor. In interviews and on the sidelines you could see he was the guy who kept things light (no pun intended) in the locker room and on the field. You need guys like that. You could see Brady sure appreciated having a guy like that for 11 years.

As a fan, so did I.

Right on schedule

Thanksgiving is probably my favorite holiday. No gifts. Lots of food and wine and laughs with the family. Pretty much stress free (except for my sister who hosts the family every year. Thanks Laurie). And football. It's pretty much the perfect day off.

Why bring up Thanksgiving on April 17th? Because the NFL has just released its 2012 regular season schedule and the Patriots will be playing against Tim Tebow and the Jets on Thanksgiving night. A perfect holiday just got that much better. I really can't wait.

The NFL has grown to such a level of all-consuming pastime that just the release of the schedule is an event and major topic of discussion. The NFL Network had a special program where they announced the games week-by-week and team-by-team as if they were revealing MegaMillion lottery winners. Major League Baseball doesn't hold a TV special to tell you the first time the Brewers visit the Pirates. No one cares. But I do care what week the Ravens visit the Steelers. The release of the NFL schedule is like one of those sneak peak hours into the upcoming season of your favorite show. Who's going to die? Who's going to screw over who? Of all the dramas and comedies on TV, the NFL is still my favorite show.

And the Patriots are still one of the stars. A look at the Pats schedule shows that the 2012 season may be the best yet. That little Thanksgiving night game being the high point.

Back before the Pats routinely won ten or more games a year, Mark and I used to call each other with Globe in hand (yes, long long ago) and go over each game on the schedule. When are they going to Miami? Do they have to go west? When is the bye? How many games do you think we can win? When is our first tailgate? Mark and I don't call each other to go over the schedule anymore. These days we text. It's not as fun.

Two years ago I went over the schedule game-by-game and thought the Pats would go 13-3. (Yes, optimistic). They went 14-2. Before last season I thought the Pats would go 12-4. They went 13-3. I see a trend.

WEEK 1 @ Tennessee
The Pats start the season on the road again. It worked out well last year with a big win in Miami. This time they take on the Titans, a team they haven't seen in a few years. Jeff Fisher was the coach back then. He's gone. As is a lot of the Titans' swagger. Tennessee finished 9-7 last year even with a very subpar performance by Chris Johnson. It's an interesting first week matchup. An opener the Pats should win as easily as last year.

WEEK 2 vs. Arizona
Not the most exciting of home openers. But it will be the first tailgate and that's all that matters. And it will be my first chance to yell "Nice throw to Welker, Tommy!" And it will be the first home win of the year. The Cardinals are worse than the Titans. Again, it's a team the Pats aren't very familiar with. But, again, that should not be a problem. Pats should start off 2-0.

WEEK 3 @ Baltimore
Now the fun begins. A rematch of the AFC title game that ended with the Ravens kicker missing an easy game-tying field goal. Ray Lewis and co. are still pissed. This will be a big early test for both teams. A Pats road win against Baltimore would be huge. And would give them the advantage come playoff tie-breaker time. (Yes, Week 3 is not to early to think about that stuff). Brady comes in with Brandon Lloyd and Anthony Gonzalez and hopefully some young defensive studs chosen on draft day. The Ravens D will be just a little bit older. I like the Pats here.

WEEK 4 @ Buffalo
The Pats blew a 21-0 lead against the Bills on the road in Week 3 last year. The Bills fell apart after that while the Pats went to the Super Bowl. Buffalo landed the big free agent in Mario Williams and will enter the season with one of the best pass rushes in the game. Bill Belichick's team very rarely -- as in never -- has letdowns after big wins. But I think that happens here. Bills hand the Pats their first loss for the second year in a row.

WEEK 5 vs. Denver
I had hoped the renewal of the Manning-Brady battle would be on a beautiful early October night. Perfect for football and tailgating. Close. It's at 4 in the afternoon on Oct. 7th. That works. Tailgating begins at 9 a.m. There's no way of knowing how well Manning will be playing this early into the season. Probably pretty well. But not well enough to beat the Pats at home in the game of the week. Manning might be ready for that but the rest of the Broncos showed in the playoffs last year that they aren't. Pats get to 4-1.

WEEK 6 @ Seattle
The fourth road game in the first six weeks takes New England on their only voyage out west. Waiting for them will be old pumped-and-jacked friend Pete Carroll. Why do I think Belichick will run the score up in this one? The Pats are one of the few teams that have had some success going out to Seattle to play. This year should be no different against a weak version of the Seahawks. Something like Pats 52, Seahawks 13.

WEEK 7 vs. NY Jets
Let me start practicing... Teee-bow! Teeee-bow! Teeeeee-bow!. The beauty of it is the Foxborough fans can start chanting that while Sanchez is in the game to annoy him and then turn it into a mock cheer when Tebow comes in and throws a pick. Thanks Rex. Your brilliance is blinding. Tebow aside, this will be a great game. Belichick and the Pats reasserted themselves against Mt Ryan and his gang last year. Ryan will be doing a lot of talking before the game. Not after. Pats go to 6-1.

WEEK 8 @ St. Louis
I love the NFC West. Cardinals and Seahawks and Rams. Oh my. Another place the Patriots play well even when the Rams are good. This time they aren't. But they aren't playing it in St. Louis. For the second time in a few years the Pats are headed to London to play a real game. I don't think the NFL is really serious about this expanding the game to Europe nonsense. If they did they would have the Pats-Broncos game in London. Pats vs. Rams. A game only a Pats fan could love. Blowout. 7-1.

WEEK 9 Bye
As if the schedule wasn't setup perfectly enough, the Pats get the ideal middle-of-the-season week off. They'll get a chance to recover from their trip overseas and get a chance to prepare for a second half schedule that will be a little tougher than the first eight. And  I'll get a chance to gather my layers for five cold-weather home games down the stretch. Unless this global warming thing continues.

WEEK 10 vs. Buffalo
An extra week to prepare didn't work out last year when the Pats lost their next two games after the bye. A rarity in all ways during the Belichick years. The coach will be able to drive that point home and the Pats will be ready to go. Avenging their only loss up to this point, Brady, Welker, Lloyd, Gronk, Gonzalez, Hernandez, and Branch take it up and down the field. 8-1.

WEEK 11 vs. Indianapolis
After the bye the Pats get back-to-back home games. Against Buffalo and Indy. How nice. The Colts will be in the middle of their first year with Andrew Luck as the new Peyton Manning. The Colts weren't too pretty in Manning's first year and that team had more talent around him. I don't care how much Luck the Colts have, this game should be an easy one. Yes, Pats get to 9-1.

WEEK 12 @ NY Jets
I will be staking out my seat in my sister's basement up in Maine around 7 p.m. with pie and beer in hand. I want a good view of this one. It doesn't matter if the Pats come into this Thanksgiving night game at 9-1 or 6-4, this will be another epic chapter in the rivalry. (They won't be 6-4). The Jets will either be battling with the Pats for the division lead or battling among themselves. Either way, I still (barely) give Big Rex enough credit to think that his team will show up to play and win at home. If they can't, then that will be the best beer and pie I've ever had.

WEEK 13 @ Miami
The Pats will get a trip to South Beach to take their mind off of a tough loss. It should be just what the schedule-maker ordered. I don't know who will be playing QB for the Dolphins. I'm not even sure if they have a coach at this point. The Pats get Miami twice in the final month of the season and that's a good thing. Pats win another division game and get to 10-2.

WEEK 14 vs. Houston
The Texans are a tough team to predict for 2012. They won their first division title last year and should have taken out the Ravens in the playoffs but were on their third- or fourth-string QB and lost a tough one. Then they lost Mario Williams to the Bills. So are they still a top contender? I think so. The D is still very good and if Schaub can get back to form the offense is too. Good enough I think to sneak into Gillette and steal a game. If that happens the Pats will have lost two of their last three and the Blabosphere will be all lathered up.

WEEK 15 vs. San Francisco
The Pats will give all those lathered up blabbers and bloggers a big "calm down" the following Sunday night in a prime-time matchup with the 49ers. Another great home game. Another great December tailgate in the Enchanted Forest. And another great home win. Like last year, I expect the Pats D -- if healthy -- to begin to begin to really figure it out right about now. Old friend Randy Moss will be among the Niners testing them. I think the Pats will pass this test with a big win. 11-3.

WEEK 16 @ Jacksonville
12-3. The Jags won five games last year and Maurice Jones-Drew had a great season. And stayed healthy. That may be asking too much from him again. The Jags should be stumbling around the NFC South basement with the Colts while the Pats should be locking up the AFC East penthouse yet again. Pats go to 12-3 and clinch another division title. Hats and T-shirts.

WEEK 17 vs. Miami
For the second year in a row the schedule makers send Miami up to Foxborough as the New Year approaches. They really don't like the Dolphins. But the Pats do. There will be lots of talk about what players should rest before the playoffs. I can tell you who will rest... no one. Belichick will start them all and they Pats will wrap up another top seed at 13-3.

Optimism. It's so easy in April. Actually, with Brady and Belichick it's pretty easy in September, November, and January too.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving.

Jets Nation

So ESPN had another of its SportsNation polls up on its website. (Am I the only one who has had enough of all the Nations? Red Sox Nation. Patriots Nation. It takes a Nation. Norman Nation. Enough.) This poll asked the simple -- and simply delicious -- question "Which team will have a better season? Broncos or Jets?"

Broncos or Jets? You mean Manning or Tebow. That's right, Tebow. It's so clear to everyone that Tebow will eventually rise from the bench and replace Mark Sanchez as the starting QB that we're already doing national polls comparing his former team and his current one.

Which will have the better season? Manning's Broncos or Rex Ryan's beloved New York Jets? I just had to weigh in on that. I happily clicked "Broncos" and saw the little blue and red result bars begin to race across the screen. The two bars (why wasn't the Jets bar green?) were neck and neck for about half a second and then the Jets' bar came to an abrupt stop while the Broncos bar kept on going and going and going... 79 percent of those who clicked said the Broncos would have the better season.

More than 130,000 people had voted. Less than 30 percent think the Jets will have a better season than the Broncos. Wow. I thought it would at least be close with all those New Yorkers voting. I moused over some of the states to see how the voting broke down. Colorado gave the Broncos 83 percent. No surprise there. Right here in Massachusetts the Broncos got an even higher 84 percent. No surprise there either.

Then I moused over New York. Broncos 69 percent. Jets 31.

Way to believe in your team Jets Nation.

Curse word

Whew. I will not have to spend the 2012 season waiting for the Madden Curse to strike down Rob Gronkowski.

The future hall of fame tight end lost -- badly -- to Megatron (Calvin Johnson) in the online voting to be the cover boy for the video game Madden '13. I guess my 50,000 votes for Johnson helped. My right hand is sore but it was worth it.

Madden is one of the best video games ever created... way back in the late '80s. I was working the overnight shift back then and had time to play a lot of video games while "watching" my daughters. It was quite a change in the sports gaming experience. One that me and my nephews would later play whenever we would get together. My team would always lose. Sorry Ryan.

It's a great game. With an even better curse. Their favorite player gracing the Madden cover has replaced the SI jink as the thing fans should fear the most. Well, other than Eli Manning in a Super Bowl. The big guy himself (Madden) was on the cover for the first decade of the game, but in 1999 EASports decided to start putting star players on the box.

The first choice was runningback Garrison Hearst of the 49ers. He soon broke his foot and missed the next two seasons. Next up (or down) was Barry Sanders -- one of the greatest runners in the history of the game who was in the prime of his career. He decided to retire. Then there was Dorsey Levens (out of the game in a year), Eddie George (fumble to lose a big playoff game), Dante Culpepper (two blown knees), Marshall Faulk (knee), Ray Lewis (wrist), Donovan McNabb (torn ligaments), Shaun Alexander (foot), Vince Young (mental breakdown), Brett Favre (victim of Bounty-gate), Troy Palamalu (ligaments), and last year's cover boy Peyton Hillis who missed games due to a hamstring injury and a strep throat. The Madden Curse is nothing if not creative.

There's one other victim of the curse. The biggest one of all. Michael Vick. The dog whisperer. Vick adorned the game cover in 2004 in his sharp white and red Atlanta Falcons uniform. Vick was the man at the time. The greatest thing to hit football since... well, the previous greatest thing to hit football. My nephew Ryan (Sorry Ryan) took Vick with his first pick in our family fantasy football league. We do the draft down the Cape, often with some preseason football on the TV in the background. The draft had hardly ended when word came that Vick had suffered a broken fibula and was lost to the Falcons (and Ryan) for the whole season before the season even began. Poor Mike Vick. We thought the Madden Curse really got him. Of course the curse was just getting warmed up with #7. A few years later the football world would learn that Vick was holding dog fights at his mansion and that some of the dogs were killed. Vick would be tried and sentenced to jail.

Now THAT'S a curse.

I'll be voting for Aaron Rogers to win the cover competition.

Sorry Packer fans.

Finally moving on

Easter Sunday found me, my brother, and nephews talking football (who really wants to talk Sox right now?). Who will the Pats draft with those two first-round picks? Will the Pats even use those two first-round picks? How bad will the Tebow-Sanchez mess in NY be? Can Brandon Lloyd play like '07 Randy? Who's more to blame for that infamous missed pass in the Super Bowl, Brady or Welker?

I have been in the "it was a horrible pass" camp from the start. Brady blew it. Welker almost made a great catch but couldn't pull it in. Brady missed a wide open Welker with the Super Bowl on the line. Still hard to believe.

My nephew and my brother put more of the blame on Welker. They are in the "if it hits you in both hands and you don't catch it ... it's a drop" camp. Seems like that is the much larger group. And that could be because Brady never came out and said "I screwed up." He has let Welker take all the blame.  I'm still waiting to see if Brady will ever take his share.

When it was announced that Brady agreed to have his contract restructured to be more cap friendly, leading many to believe that the money will go to a long-term deal for #83, Shep texted me "That's Brady's way of saying 'Sorry Tim'. Will you let it go now?"

OK, time to let it go. Time to move on.

Brady is still the man. With the offense the Pats have assembled, this coming season may be his best yet.

Uniform look

Are you ready to fork over $150 for your all-new Patriots' game jersey?

The NFL and Nike sure hope you are. With much fanfare the league unveiled its line of updated uniforms. Meet the new unis, same as the old unis. They all look pretty much the same, except the Saints uniforms which have dollar signs where the fleur de lis used to be. I'm hoping that the Pats still break out their 1980s throwback uniforms. Love those.

Nike, taking over from Reebok as the league's apparel manufacturer, has made things sharper ... and tighter. The NFL must be looking to increase its market share with women. This should help.