Week 8 rewind

5-3. That's where the Pats stand after eight games. That's exactly where the Pats were after eight games last year. They won their next ten games to get to the Super Bowl. I wouldn't bet on the Pats going on a ten game winning streak this year but I sure would bet on them winning another AFC East title. Especially if they play like they did Sunday in London.

GOOD

• The Gronk is back. Rob Gronkowski caught touchdown passes #6 and #7. He had eight receptions for 146 yards. And he had two ridiculously Gronked-up spikes. Gronk is back. He's only the best offensive weapon in football. And the most entertaining.   
• Stevan Ridley is leading the AFC in rushing. That's right. Stevan Ridley has more rushing yards through eight weeks than Arian Foster, Darren McFadden, and Ray Rice. Meanwhile, my guy BenJarvus is doing nothing in Cincy. Isn't Belichick sick of being right? The running combo of Ridley, Bolden, Vereen, and Woody is the big difference in this year's Pats.
• Special teams play -- often overlooked -- is starting to be a factor. McCourty's touchdown return against the Jets was one of the five biggest plays of the season so far.  He may not be able to play corner any more but he can return kicks. Gosty made two huge field goals against NY and his kickoffs are often going going gone. Then there's Zoltan. The third-year punter is only 29th in average. That needs to get better. But he's also third in the league in the number of punts inside the 20. And that's impressive considering he doesn't punt as much as most other guys because he plays on the team with the highest scoring offense. 
• Of all the stats that are cited in the NFL -- QB rating, passing yards allowed, sacks, sacks allowed -- the most important one is turnover ratio. "Take care of the ball" is rule one two and three. The Patriots are following all three rules. They are tied for first in turnover ratio at +13. The defense leads the league with 11 fumble recoveries. 

BAD

• Just one thing. What else? The pass defense. On the Rams' opening drive the defense gave up a 50-yard bomb. It didn't look good. It still doesn't. The Pats are among the worst in the league in giving up big pass plays. Ras-I Dowling is done for the year. Chung and Gregory have missed most of the first half. McCourty looks better at safety than corner -- again. But there's hope. Chung and Gregory should be back soon and their veteran presence at safety should help. Youngsters Ebner, Dennard, and Wilson have made some mistakes but when the veterans come back the experience they have gained in the first half should only help down the stretch.

5-3. Not great. But it's only October. The time for great isn't now. It's in January and February. The Giants have taught everyone that lesson.

Storm brewing

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

There's some rough weather bearing down on New York City. Not Hurricane Sandy. I'm talking about the media storm that is about to engulf Rex Ryan and his J-E-T-S ... Jets Jets Jets.

It was about two weeks ago that Skinny Rex stated "We know we're going to beat the Patriots and I want them to know that we know." The Jets have lost two straight division games since that boast. He will never learn. The Jets played a heck of a game in Gillette but came up short in overtime. It was a very tough loss. But not as tough as yesterday's 30-9 thrashing at the hands of the Miami Dolphins ... in the new Meadowlands. In front of the home crowd. Take a look at the Jets' fan above. He doesn't look like he enjoyed his Sunday as much as I did.

The Jets have lost five games and we're only halfway through the season. That is a recipe for a second straight playoff miss for Skinny Rex. And if that happens, the greatest defensive head coach in the game may find himself becoming the greatest defensive ex-head coach in the game.

At his post-game press conference Ryan looked ready to cry. The not-so-big guy said he was shocked by his team's awful performance. The calls for Tebow have now hit critical mass even though he missed a block on punt coverage that led to a blocked kick. Mark Sanchez looks like he is just about done in New York. He threw another bad pick yesterday. The team looked disorganized and unmotivated ... much as they did during their season ending implosion last year. The "fire Ryan" stories have already begun.

I've said before that the trouble with a loudmouth for a head coach is that it only works when you are winning. Then he can be the cocky, funny, know-it-all. Problem is, if the loudmouth's team starts to lose then his boasting looks ridiculous. He looks like Nero as his team burns. And when his team completely collapses -- as the Jets did last year and are on the verge of doing again -- the loudmouth just looks like Biff after he was smashed in the mouth by McFly. Done.

That's why Belichick is the same win or lose. It's the smart thing to do.

That's Ryan's problem now. All the tough talk is worthless if his team goes out and gets whipped. As Ryan stood on the podium yesterday looking defeated, I kind of missed the bigger, brasher Rex raising a fist in the air and guaranteeing that his 3-5 Jets were still going to win the Super Bowl. He's not only not as big as he used to be, he's not as defiant too. And not as fun. Is it because his team is a mess or because he's not as big as he used to be? Maybe he should start eating some goddam snacks again. Maybe then he'll get his swagger back.

Mind the gap

WEEK 8
Just three minutes into today's game, Rams quarterback Sam Bradford let a bomb go deep down the middle of the field and 50 yards later it landed gently in the hands of Chris Givens who was -- of course -- a step behind safeties Tavon Wilson and Devin McCourty. Touchdown. It looked just like the end of the Seattle game. Not even the most optimistic Pats fan (me) could deny at that moment that the team was in trouble.

Tom Brady knew it too. He came out and responded, leading the offense on a quick and impressive eight-play drive that ended with him hitting Brandon Lloyd on a perfect corner pattern to tie the game. Brady was more fired up than usual as he smashed helmets after the drive. Brady knew it.

The offense scored touchdowns on its first five drives on the way to a 45-7 blowout in merry old England. And after giving up that early touchdown, the defense had its best game in years. The Pats head into the break at 5-3 with a chance to get healthy and get ready for a second half loaded with home games. The team could be in a better position if they hadn't let leads against the Ravens and Seahawks slip away, but all considered they are in a pretty good spot to battle Baltimore and Denver for the second seed.

Many in the Blabosphere will spend the next two weeks reminding everyone that the Rams aren't that good. That would be the same blabbers who were warning everyone that the Rams should not be taken lightly. That's what makes this win so encouraging. Just like the opener against a decent Tennessee team. If the Pats are truly one of the best teams in the league -- and they are -- then they should be able to dominate the lesser teams. Not always. But more often than not. That's the sign of a real contender. The gap between most NFL teams is not that great. But the gap between the contenders and the rest of the league is bigger. When one of the better teams plays up to its capabilities the lesser opponent really doesn't stand much of chance. As they say in London ... mind the gap.

The Pats get a week off and then play back-to-back home games against Buffalo and Indy. Two more teams that are decent but should not be able to stay with Brady and the Pats -- if Brady and the Pats play like they did today.

Time to enjoy the bye week. No Pats game next week? Hello, Red Zone. Here I come.

Classic sports

I know it makes Brady look like Tony Eason ... but I love the throwback uniforms.

Week 7 rewind

Just win, baby. That was the philosophy of the late Al Davis, one of the most important and entertaining figures in the history of the current NFL. Just win, baby.

I couldn't agree more. And that's exactly what the Patriots did at home Sunday against the Jets. It wasn't always pretty, but it was a win. And a very entertaining win. That falls into the "good" category every time in my book. The Blabosphere can warn us that this Patriots team is fatally flawed. And they may prove to be right. But at the moment, what the Pats are is 4-3 and in first place in the AFC East.

Just win, baby.

GOOD

• Finally ... a clutch win. After letting games against the Ravens and Seahawks slip through their fingers the Pats almost did it again. But they didn't. Down by three with 1:37 left, Brady led the offense on a clutch game-tying drive. And then did it again in overtime for the win. And the defense finished the game with a stop. All good.
• The win over the Jets makes the Pats 2-0 in the division. They are 0-2 against the NFC and 0-1 against the Ravens. But other than their overall record the most important column in the standings the rest of the way is record in the division. Win those games and the division is yours.
• The sack/fumble forced at the end of the game was a rare appearance for the pass rush. Cunningham got through his block and forced Sanchez back and Ninko came in for the kill. The Pats had four sacks in the game but Sanchez often had lots of time. With Jones, Cunningham, Ninko, and the linebackers the Pats should be able to get more of a rush. Maybe they just need to release the hounds.
• Who says Gostkowski can't make a clutch kick with the game on the line? Before Sunday, lots of people. Not anymore. Gosty made a 43-yarder as time expired to tie the game and then hit a 48-yarder in overtime. Both were nailed. And his kickoffs continue to be among the deepest in the league.

BAD

• Injuries have become a concern. And not just the ones that are keeping guys like starting safeties Chung and Gregory out of games completely. Hernandez is back but clearly still limping. As is Gronk. As is Welker. As is... The team needs the bye week bad.
• The pass defense continues to be a concern. Will things get better if/when Chung and Gregory return? You have to think so. But after Mark Sanchez threw for 328 yards -- almost twice what he had been averaging -- it is clear that the pass defense has not improved from last year.

The Patriots head to London for a game against the 3-4 Rams. Before the season I thought this would be an easy one. Not anymore. There will be lots of talk about the NFL trying to make the sport international blah blah blah blah blah. It's all nonsense. What really matters is the Pats need this one to get to 5-3 heading into their bye week. A loss to another NFC team would be very, very bad.

Dissatisfied customers

Tom Brady has had enough. So have I. Sunday against the Jets Brady and the offense got the ball to open the game. I had been saying all day I preferred the Pats to lose the toss so they could get the ball. "I want Brady to lead one of those great 12-play touchdown drives that sets the tone and gets the crowd fired up and into the game early."

The crowd was pretty fired up as Brady took the opening snap at his own 20-yard line. Two first downs later the offense was moving and the crowd was into it. On 2nd-and-9 at their own 45 Brady dropped back in the pocket, surveyed the field, and threw a low laser to Brandon Lloyd who was open all the way down to the Jets' 30. It was a great call and a great play. Unfortunately a sliding Lloyd couldn't cradle the ball into his chest and it bounced away for an incompletion.  Lloyd has made so many great catches in just seven games with the team that I can't count them. This time he dropped one. It happens.

On third down Brady missed Lloyd deep down the left sideline (questionable call and decision) and what looked like a good opening drive fizzled. As the offense walked off and the punting team walked on there was a rumble of boos from the crowd. The Patriots' home crowd. Booing just one drive into a huge game against the rival Jets. Booing the highest scoring offense in the league. Booing Brady. Booing McDaniels. Booing Belichick. I looked at my friend Mark and said "Really? Already? Booing?" He shrugged.

When asked about the crowd reaction and the inevitable panic in the Sports Blabosphere today after the Pats pulled out a huge -- and lucky -- overtime win, Brady said "Maybe we just spoiled some people. It's hard to win, man. It's really hard to win."

Brady is right. It is hard to win. And many Pats fans are starting to look spoiled. The team is 4-3. Has the highest scoring offense in the game. Is in the top 10 against the run. Is loaded with young talent. Is coached by one of the all-time best. But none of those things guarantee easy wins. Why? Because there's another football team on the field. Full of talented NFL players. Even the worst teams in the league are tough to beat. The St. Louis Rams will prove that again this Sunday in London.

It's just hard to understand the mentality of people who spend a good chunk of cash to go to a football game -- a big football game -- on a near-perfect fall afternoon and start booing their team before they've even finished their first beer. Especially when that team has given them more years of enjoyment than anyone ever imagined possible. Do the Pats have problems? Sure they do. Secondary. Pass rush. Play calling. They have let games get away that they should have won. But every game they have played has been entertaining. Isn't that enough? Especially with three banners already hanging in the south end zone? I guess not. I guess the only way some Pats' fans can enjoy themselves is if the team wins every game 45-10.  Those games are fun. But give me a 29-26 overtime nail-biter. Now that's fun.

You know what else is fun? Rooting for this team. The Pats lost a tough one to Seattle two Sunday ago. But it wasn't for lack of effort. At one point Wes Welker took a big hit that seemed to make it hard for him to breathe for the next 20 minutes. Yet he stayed on the field and made the next catch, and the next one, and fielded punts, and blocked. And every time a close-up of him was shown he looked like he was dying. But he kept making plays. Fans of all the other teams might be sick of Welker, but how can Pats' fans not love to root for him.

And Brady. And Gronk. And Vince. And Mayo. And Spikes. And Lloyd. And Mankins. And Bolden. And Branch. And Vollmer. And Ridley. And Jones. And Hightower. And Hernandez. And ...

It never gets old

WEEK 7
Patriots 29, Jets 26 OT (10/21/'12): I love the walk into Gillette before a big game. There's a buzz -- literally -- in the crowd as thousands of Gronks, Bradys, and Welkers make their way to their seats or the taps. You can feel the anticipation in the air as the loudspeakers blast Creed or U2 or Springsteen. Especially on a near-perfect fall day like yesterday.

The start of the day was a lot of fun. Mark and I were the first ones into the Enchanted Forest and cocktails were served shortly after 11. The end of the day was a lot of fun. A sack of Sanchez and fumble recovery by Ninko for the overtime victory and a tailgate dinner of roast pork with homemade apple sauce. In between the tailgates? There was sure a lot of fun. And a lot of frustration. But that's sports.

The Blabosphere will be in full "Pats suck" mode this week. Guaranteed. The Pats pull out a thrilling 29-26 back-and-forth overtime win -- stealing a victory right out of the mouth of Skinny Rex and the Jets -- and everyone's unhappy? Sure, the team has problems. What team in the NFL this season doesn't? And don't say 6-0 Atlanta because they do. The Pats coughed up another lead. Gave up too many yards passing. Made some key mistakes. But they battled all the way and when it looked like they had handed the game to the Jets (which prompted Ryan to yell "Oh ... my ... God!" so loud you could hear him across the field) they pulled themselves together and marched down the field to tie the game with no time left on the clock. If you can't enjoy a game like yesterday's then I'm not sure why you are watching. And no doubt about it, if they lost it would have been a crusher. But it still would have been a great game ... and a great day.

Tailgating just never gets old. I was up at 8:30 in the morning for the 4:25 kickoff. I picked up Mark and his portable cooler loaded with pulled pork and homemade coleslaw at the train station in Providence. A stop at Seven Stars bakery for the bread for the pulled pork sandwiches and we were on our way to the Enchanted Forest lot south of the stadium. We pulled in and headed to the very back behind a large rock formation we have dubbed Rock Ridge. Shep and Matt soon joined us and we were enjoying the beautiful weather and the pulled pork that came up on the morning Amtrak from New York. There's nothing like a nearly five-hour tailgate to get you ready to watch some football.

And we sure got some great -- and bad -- football to watch. The Pats got the ball and were moving with the no huddle but a drop by Lloyd stalled the drive and the Pats punted. The Jets then took the ball and drove 76 yards on 11 plays, getting five first downs along the way. It was impressive. The crowd was not happy. The Pats offense had punted and the defense had allowed a touchdown. Apparently the Jets had nothing to do with it. It was all mistakes by the Pats.

There was a real "uh-oh" mood in the crowd. And then the Pats responded by scoring the next 16 points and, of course, everyone was happy again. First came a 104-yard kickoff return by Devin McCourty. A kick return for a touchdown is one of the most thrilling plays to experience in the stadium. You can really see the play unfolding because you can see the whole field. As the hole opened up the crowd began to roar and when McCourty burst through that hole the place erupted. McCourty passed in front our seats at midfield and it looked like two Jets were going to catch him. It was at that moment that he turned on the jets and left them in the dust.

The Jets got the ball at their own 10 and went three-and-out as big Kyle Love got Sanchez for the first of four sacks for the D. Brady got the ball at the Pats 42 and went right back into the no huddle. This time there were no drops and Brady and Gronk finished it off with a great 17-yard touchdown pass. Brady's throw under pressure was perfect and Gronk's juggling catch was outstanding. The teams exchanged punts and Mesko pinned the Jets deep again. On first down Big Vince smashed through the line and forced a fumble and Sanchez had to kick the ball out of the end zone for a safety. A kick return. A great touchdown pass. A great punt. A safety. 16-7. Ya. The Pats aren't making plays.

The Jets mounted two long field goal drives to cut the score to 16-13 with nine minutes to play in the third. Sure, the Pats D failed to make the stop. But Sanchez and the Jets' offense also made some pretty impressive plays. The Jets may have been 10 1/2 point underdogs (which seemed crazy), but they are a good team and they were playing good, tough football.

Brady and the offense got the ball at their own 17 needing to respond. And respond they did. A nearly seven-minute, 15-play drive that mixed the run and pass beautifully and ended with Gronk catching his second touchdown. The Pats offense can't make the big drive when they need it anymore? 15-plays. 83 yards. Nearly seven-minutes. 23-13.

The Jets answered back. How did they do it? Well, the last time I checked they have NFL caliber players on offense too. How come when the Pats score it's because the offense is unstoppable? But when the other team scores its always because the Pats' D is incompetent? Sometimes the other team makes plays too. Sanchez led his team from his own eight-yard line and drove 14-plays for a huge touchdown to cut the score to 23-20 with just 5:44 left to play. What a crazy 5:44 it was.

The Pats got the ball back and had another chance to make the game-closing drive. They couldn't do it. It started off well when Brady hit Lloyd for a quick first down, but a late flag from the ref 20 yards away called Lloyd for pushing off and put the Pats in a 1st-and-20. There was no replay at Gillette (Why Mr. Kraft? Why?) but I have since seen the replay and it was a crap call. The penalty killed the drive and the Pats punted. The Jets got the ball with 4:19 left at their own 35. OK. Another chance for the defense to make a game-closing stop. They couldn't do it. The Jets drove for the tying field goal. The Jets were making all the plays. The Pats needed to make something happen to save the game. As McCourty took the kickoff out of his end zone Mark said "Hang on to the ball, son." Two seconds later the ball went flying across the field and the Jets recovered. Ryan almost choked with delight as he ran around yelling "Oh ... my ... God!" That's what everyone in the crowd was saying too. Just quieter. 23-23 with 2:01 to play and the Pats had just coughed it up at their own 18. Talk about a crushing defeat.

Tebow came on to the field and took a direct snap and ran for two yards and was stuffed. Two minute warning. The Pats still had three timeouts. The crowd started to realize that if they could hold the Jets to a field goal that Brady would still have a chance to tie it up or win it. It was right about this moment that the Pats began to make all the plays. That's right. With two minutes to play the Pats pulled themselves together and made play after play after play in all three phases of the game. It was as clutch a finish as the team has had in a while. If your response is they shouldn't have been in that position in the first place you are disregarding the fact that there was another team on the field making plays too.

The Jets got stuffed for a yard on second down and then on 3rd-and-7 rookie D'onta Hightower chased Sanchez out of the pocket and then chased him down for a sack. Big play on D. The Jets kicked the field goal but Brady and the offense still had 1:37 left to play and a timeout. The Pats have run the two-minute offense maybe better than anyone the last five years. But mostly at the end of the first half. This time they did it at the end of the game, when it really counts.

Brady to Gronk for 15 yards. It took eight guys to stop Gronk. Brady to Gronk again for 12. Brady to Woody on a short pass that Woody took for 20. It was Woody playing the role of Kevin Faulk to perfection. Brady to Woody again for seven to the Jets' 25 with just five seconds left. Timeout. Now it was time for Gostkowski -- who missed a game-winner in the homer opener -- to step up and make a 43-yarder to send the game into overtime. He nailed it. The crowd cheered with an equal amount of excitement and exhaustion. 

The Pats won the toss and Gillette got its first look at the new overtime rules. Score a touchdown and the game is over. Score a field goal and the Jets get a shot to win it or tie it and keep overtime going. (It's not as complicated as it sounds.) The talk in the crowd was do you risk going no huddle in OT? No huddle is great but it can sometimes cause mistakes and turnovers. What to do? Belichick and McDaniels knew what to do. No huddle. Brady to Woody. Brady to Branch. Woody run. Welker for 13 on 2nd-and-9. Brady to Hernandez. Woody run. Brady to Welker for 12 down to the Jets' 34. Brady to Woody for four. Brady and Hernandez couldn't connect on third down so Gosty came out to hit another huge field goal. This time a 48-yarder in overtime. He nailed it.

The Jets got the ball. The conversation in the crowd returned to the OT rules. "How does it work, again?" So like I said ... if the Jets score a touchdown they win the game. If they get a field goal then overtime continues and the next team that scores any points wins. If the Pats stop them on downs or get a turnover ... Pats win. Sanchez (with the help of a holding call on 3rd-and-5) moved the Jets to their 40-yard line. On first down Big Vince stopped Joe McKnight in his tracks, creating a 2nd-and-10. Sanchez dropped back to pass, Jermaine Cunningham broke through the line and grabbed at Sanchez's feet making him stumble backwards. Just before he hit the ground Ninko blasted him and knocked the ball loose. Ninko rolled over Sanchez and got the ball. Fumble! It's over! Pats win it!

Wait. All turnovers have to be reviewed. Was it a fumble? I thought for sure it was but others weren't so sure. Since it's Gillette it takes a while for the replay to come up if it ever does at all. We looked at the giant screens that Kraft spent millions on but never really uses except for Dunkin' ads. We waited and waited and ... Finally the replay showed. Sanchez falls in slow motion ... Ninko whacks him ... the ball comes loose before Sanchez is down. Fumble! Pats really do win! The replay was so obvious that the two teams were shaking hands, holding a prayer circle, and walking off the field before the ref could come back out to announce the obvious.

A day that started at 8:30 in the morning ended when I dropped Mark (and his empty container of pulled pork and coleslaw) in Providence for the 10:20 p.m. Amtrak to Penn Station. "Great tailgate. Great win," Mark said. "Great day all around."

It sure was. 25 years and nearly 300 games and still never gets old.

 

 

Goodnight moon

Goodnight Bill. Goodnight Rex. Goodnight Gronk. Goodnight Wes.

Goodnight 2001 banner. Goodnight overtime win. Goodnight 2004 banner. Goodnight tonic and gin.

Goodnight McCourty the hero. Goodnight late flag from ref. Goodnight McCourty the goat. Goodnight traffic mess.

Goodnight Brady touchdown. Goodnight Sanchez sack. Goodnight Gosty game winner. Goodnight near heart attack.

See Timmy Run

The big story out of New York this week (other than the Yanks' season imploding in a four-game sweep at the hands of the Tigers in the ALCS) was the news that the Jets plan on using Tim Tebow -- their secret weapon -- as a running back against the Pats Sunday. That Rex Ryan is so smart. Having your backup quarterback run the ball instead of Shonn Greene, your actual running back who rushed for 161 yards and three touchdowns in the team's best game last week.

Take a look at this Tebow pass against the Panthers from a preseason game. Hmmmm ... maybe putting him at running back isn't such a bad idea.

Week 6 rewind

The Patriots during the Bill Belichick years have dominated the NFC during the regular season. Coming into this year the Pats were an amazing 38-9 against teams from the other conference. When looking at the schedule before each season you could almost always count on at least three wins in those four games. Not this year. With the team's last-second loss in Seattle they are now 0-for-2 against the NFC. The first one was their last-second loss to Arizona in Week 2. Last-second losses. That's been the biggest "bad" of the season so far.

GOOD

• Mistakes forced: The defense had two more takeaways against Seattle. The team now has forced 11 fumbles and recovered 10 of them in just six games. Best in the league. Throw in six picks as well and the defense -- for all its other issues -- is coming up with big plays. 
• Aaron Hernandez: The other half of the tight end dynamic duo was questionable before the game and the thinking was that he would be eased back into action. Belichick doesn't do easing. Hernandez caught Brady's first pass of the game and finished with six catches and a touchdown. A great touchdown. Good to have Hernandez back.
• Spikes and Mayo: Speaking of dynamic duos ... Mayo added to his total of tackles (second in the league) and Spikes added to his total of bone-rattling hits. If they can just stay healthy...

BAD

• Mistakes made: The Pats have made more mistakes in six games than I have seen them make in a season. Missed field goals. Bad clock management. Wasted time outs. Wasted red zone chances. Bad penalties. Crucial turnovers. These things are going to happen, especially on the road, but the emphasis needs to be on reducing the errors. And it will be.
• The secondary: What secondary? The thing is ... I'm not that down on the secondary. If Gregory and Chung were healthy you wouldn't have had rookies Wilson and Ebbert chasing Sidney Rice on the winning TD. I still think Chung is a very good NFL safety. But not with one arm. He needs to get healthy. As does Gregory. Then the secondary gets its depth back. I still think a secondary of McCourty/Chung/Gregory/ Arrington with Wilson, Ebbner, Dowling, and Dennard as backups will be just fine. 
• The play calling: When a team loses, the play calling is always criticized. When a team wins, not so much. Well, the Pats have three loses and in each of them there have been play calling issues. In the three wins, not so much. I agreed with going for it with six seconds left in the half. Brady needs to take care of business there. And I think if Bolden doesn't get hurt the Pats don't throw it as much. At least I hope they wouldn't have. When you rush for more than 200 yards in back-to-back games it makes no sense to throw it 58 times. I don't care how good the other team is supposed to be against the run.

The Pats are 3-3 but two of those losses are against the NFC. At the end of the year they don't count against you as much. But four of the next six games are against the AFC East. Starting with the Jets. Those games really count. The season starts Sunday.

Everybody's talkin' at me

It's going to be a great week of hype. The Jets are coming to town. And they are feeling cocky. What else is new? It's funny how one NFL team can be 3-3 and feel like shit while another can be 3-3 and talking shit. It's all a matter of perspective I guess.

But before we get to the hype for the Jets there's the matter of the trash-talking corner from the Seattle Seahawks, Richard Sherman. After he picked off Brady and played a key role in the comeback win, Sherman spouted off to the assembled members of the Blabosphere in the locker room.

Sherman said he went up to Brady after the game and let him know "We're better than you. You're just a man -- we're a team. That's the Brady Bunch; this is a defense. We've got 11 players out there to play great ball, and we're never going to let one man beat us. It's not just about one man.''

He added in an interview with Yahoo Sports: "Anytime you run a gimmick offense, you're a little bit afraid -- you're not sound in what you're doing in your base stuff. You're running this hurry-up stuff, and there's a reason it's not effective, because there are great defenses out there who will stuff it. We figured out early in the game what the calls were, what they were doing, and what the adjustments were. We started executing better, and that's why they got only six points in the second half." 

He then tweeted the photo above from when he went up to Brady after the game and added the "U MAD BRO?" caption on it. Wait till Wes Welker sees that. You know he'll be making that his Christmas card. 

Like I've said before, the NFL is the best drama on TV. And Richard Sherman is the great new character introduced in the middle of the season. He's like Marlo on "The Wire." He's going to be fun to watch. And when you win a big game you have earned the right to talk. Although all that talk really does is put a target on your back that can weigh you down when you mess up. And you will mess up.

Just ask Skinny Rex. He kicked off Pats-Jets week in rare fashion. Ryan, the man who started the season saying he was going to talk less and coach more, took about three seconds into his Monday morning press conference to open his big mouth. Feeling confident after a convincing 35-9 win over the mighty mighty Colts (who won two games last year), Ryan had this to say about the upcoming game against their division rivals.

"I want them to know, and they know, that I think we're going to beat them."

Ah, Rex. He just can't help himself. His stomach may be smaller but his ego and his mouth are the same size. And that's what makes him so fun to root against.

Is it Sunday yet?

Broken clutch

WEEK 6
Pats' ball with about seven minutes to play up by six (or three or five or whatever). A time-consuming drive by the offense right here that ends with points puts you in a great position to win. What happens? The offense usually gets a first down ,, maybe two ... but then punts, eating up almost no time.

Pats' somewhat shaky defense comes on to the field with five minutes to go. They need a stop here. What happens? Defense does its job and everyone breathes a sigh of relief. A big sigh of relief.

Brady and the unstoppable offense get the ball back ... this time with just about four minutes to play. The offense doesn't even need to score here. Just a few first downs and Brady can take a knee. What happens? Three-and-out. That's what.

Uh oh. Defense comes back out on the field with about two-and-one-half minutes left. Up by less than a touchdown. Can they make one more stop and win the game? What happens? Well, you know what happens. The opposing QB leads his team pretty-easily down the field as the Pats' secondary runs around looking lost. Game over.

That was the scenario that played out yesterday for the Pats in Seattle. Just like it was earlier in the year against the Ravens and in last year's Super Bowl and the game against the Giants before that and the ...

Brady said after the Sunday night loss to the Ravens "We need to start winning close games." Yesterday was a great chance to start doing that. Instead, it was just another great game wasted. It was a great game. Just like the Ravens game was ... and the Super Bowl ... and the ...

The 3-3 Pats have lost three games by a total of just four points. For comparison, the Pats' next opponent the Jets, also 3-3, lost one game by 34 points. The record is .500 but the Patriots are clearly better than that.  Just like the 5-1 Ravens are clearly not that good. But the Ravens have been able to do something the Pats haven't ... win close games. Maybe even steal a few. That's what teams that get a first-round bye do to get to 13-3 or 14-2. And that's what teams that win Super Bowls do.

As good as the Pats are, until they can start closing out tight games they are not going to take that next step.

They might not get a chance this weekend against the Jets. I think the Pats run all over them. (Although I thought they would beat Seattle, too). But there'll be another game soon where the Pats have the ball and the lead with seven minutes to play. That would be a good time for one of the best offenses to put together one of those 14-play touchdown drives that it does so easily in the first three quarters of the game.

For Pete's sake

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
Pats 26, Dolphins 23 (11/23/'98): The history books say Pete Carroll lost his job as the Pats' coach after the 1999 season. Not true. Carroll lost his job in November a year earlier. I know. I was there. It was one of the wildest days on the aluminum benches of Foxboro Stadium that I can remember.

The 5-5 Patriots, coached by pumped and jacked Carroll, and the 7-3 Dolphins, coached by two-time Super Bowl winner Jimmy Johnson, faced off on a fairly mild late November night. It was Year Two under Carroll and things were clearly trending in the wrong direction. The Pats started off 4-1 but were a very undisciplined team and limped into the game against Miami looking dead. We could see the foundation that Bill Parcells had built slowly being eroded like a beach cliff under a Cape home. But on this night (and then the following Sunday) Drew Bledsoe almost single-handedly put the team back on solid ground.

We tailgated in nearly 50 degree temperatures, eating, drinking, and mocking Carroll's style of coaching. All rah-rah. Perfect for college. But it very rarely works in the NFL. You either have a dour tactician (Landry, Noll, Belichick) or an in-your-face motivator (Lombardi, Parcells, Cowher) at the helm of the best teams. Cheerleaders as coaches don't usually work out. And when a cheerleader replaces a motivator it usually spells disaster because the players are so glad the guy yelling at them is gone that they ease up and lose their edge. That was the '98 Patriots.

Besides our coach, the other topic of conversation that night was the announcement earlier that week that Robert Kraft had a tentative deal to move the team to Hartford. Hartford! In Connecticut! There was even talk they would change their team colors to match that of the NHL's Hartford Whalers. Green and white. Uh, those are Jets colors. Our team was sliding back into irrelevance and our franchise was moving to Connecticut. We were not in a very good mood as Brendan grilled up some tuna steaks in honor of the Dolphins. (You can't legally buy dolphin.)

Miami was led by Dan Marino nearing the end of his Hall of Fame career and coached by Johnson who spent most of the game pleading with the refs for penalties while Carroll stood around looking mostly lost. It was a back-and-forth affair. Bledsoe connected with tight end Ben Coates for a touchdown early in the game. In my book, the Bledsoe-to-Coates connection is still the all-time best passing tandem in the team's history. Coates would pull in nine passes for nearly 80 yards. But it was Bledsoe that was the story of this game. Hell, he was the story of that whole year. In the midst of a season where the team was disintegrating under Carroll, Bledsoe held things together by throwing for more than 3,600 yards, 20 TDs, and an 80.0 passer rating. Of course he threw many killer picks, but that was Drew.

Miami took a 23-19 lead with just over three minutes to go in the game. Bledsoe led the Pats from deep in their own end to almost midfield at the two minute warning. On a second-down play Bledsoe dropped back to throw and on his follow-through hit his passing hand on a defender's helmet. The Pats took a timeout and he came over to the sideline holding his hand and started to make some practice tosses to test it out. At the same time backup QB Scott Zolak (yes, that one) started warming up. "Zolak's coming in," Mark said with a tone of dread. "We're moving to Hartford and Zolak's coming in. The Parcells magic is officially gone."

But Zolak did not come in. Bledsoe, even though he would later be diagnosed with a broken finger, came back onto the field. And then took another timeout. He burned two timeouts without ever taking a snap with 1:42 to go in the game. He came over to the sideline and took some more practice tosses. He returned to the field, with only one more timeout to waste, and on 2nd-and-10 air-mailed a pass over Terry Glenn's head. He shook his hand some more and started to walk off the field as if he was coming out of the game. But again he stayed in and threw a pass to Coates for a short gain. Fourth-and-six and the Pats have to go for it. Carroll started signalling vehemently for a timeout. The players clearly saw him but ignored him and lined up to run a play.

Bledsoe hit Shawn Jefferson on a curl for a first down with 34 seconds to play. The crowd went nuts and Carroll shrugged and laughed as everyone in the stadium realized Bledsoe has just ignored his head coach. It was at that moment that Pete Carroll was no longer the head coach of the team. And everyone knew it.

On the next play, in the face of a corner blitz, Bledsoe let one rip into the left corner of the end zone that landed right in Jefferson's hands for a touchdown with 30 seconds left for the amazing victory. The stadium went into a state of delirium. Moving to Hartford? Not tonight! Beating Miami on a last second play. It was one of the best moments at the old stadium.

Bledsoe, broken finger and all, led the Pats on an amazing 26-play, 84-yard game winning drive. He finished with 423 yards passing. And as the game ended he ran around the field, responding to the roar of the crowd, pumping his fists and soaking in the moment. The next week, also at home, he played the entire game against the Bills with his broken finger taped to his other fingers, and again led the team to a last-second come from behind win, this time hitting Coates for a touchdown with no time left on the clock. He had many, many great moments as the Pats QB. But those two games in '98 were the two most amazing back-to-back victories that old Foxboro Stadium ever saw.

Bledsoe's career, and the team's fortunes, began to slide from that point as the Pats finished 9-7 that year and then 8-8 the next. Among all the sins of Carroll's years here, the biggest one is his ruining of Bledsoe. Parcells was tough on Bledsoe and that's what he needed. It motivated him. Carroll coddled him and his skills eroded. He was never Baryshnikov, but his footwork just got worse and worse until he become the most stationary target in the game. And then he took a hit by Mo Lewis that changed his -- and the team's -- fortunes. He left the field and Brady came on ... and hasn't left since.

There were a lot of stories in the media this week giving Carroll some credit for the success that Belichick has brought. There's probably some truth in that. But not much. Carroll's a good guy. I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't root for him. He did a great job with USC ... except for all the NCAA rule violations that took away most of his wins after he left. He is a very good defensive coach, as the Pats will find out today when they go to Seattle. But I still don't think he's a good NFL head coach. Sure, the Seahawks are getting better. But his first two seasons as head coach have ended 7-9 and 7-9. I'd be surprised if their record is any better than 8-8 this year. But my guess is that Pete Carroll would be pretty pumped and jacked if the Seahawks finished 8-8. That's his way.

Week 5 rewind

I've said it before. It's a great time to be an NFL fan. Giant HD televisions in your house. The NFL Network. Red Zone. Games on Monday, Thursday, and all day Sunday. If you want to get lost in the season it's pretty easy.

Two of my new favorite ways to do that are NBC Sports' "NFL Turning Point" and  NFL.com's Game  Rewind.

"Turning Point" is a weekly show that the NBCSports channel started last year. Every Thursday night it features the highlights of three games. NFL Films highlights. Great sideline video. Great shots of the big hits and big plays. An immersive experience. And because the Patriots are almost always involved in one of the games of the week they are almost always one of the three games featured.

Game Rewind. for a small yearly fee, offers you the chance to watch the replay of any game you want any time you want over and over again on your laptop or iPad all season long. Have a little time and feel like watching the Pats win over the Bills again? It's there. Feel like watching the fake refs screw the Packers again? Also there. Want to watch all the Jet's losses? You got it. Not only can you watch the replay of the TV broadcast, but you can also watch the coaches film of every game. How much time does one have to watch replays of games? I've watched large chunks of the Pats-Broncos game three times already.

Here's what the tape showed:

GOOD

• A pass rush. That's right. A pass rush. The Pats unleashed the dogs and got after Peyton Manning. That means two things. 1. Belichick knows he doesn't have Ty Law, Rodney Harrison, and Asante Samuel to cover back there anymore. 2. He thinks he does have a pass rush when he needs it. And he does. Ninko, Jones, Mayo, and co. sacked Manning twice and were in his face all day. 
• Tom Brady and the hurry up. Actually, hurry up doesn't do justice to the offense the Pats ran against Denver. More like non-stop. The Pats ran 89 plays. I don't have time to look it up but I don't know if they have ever had more than that in a game. That's a lot. It was exhausting watching it while drinking myh margaritas.
• Rookie cornerback Alfonzo Dennard made his debut after a hamstring kept him out of the first four games of the season. Dennard is the guy who was arrested a few days before the draft and fell all the way to the Pats in the seventh round. He is a second or third-round talent. With an arrest on his record. That's a lot of potential and he showed it against Peyton Manning.
• Turnovers and tackles. The defense still has some issues, but as long as they are creating turnovers and making the tackles on 3rd-and-3 they are doing there job. They forced three more turnovers against Denver and are tops in the league in turnover ratio. And at least once a drive someone on the defense (often Spikes) makes a big hit to get off the field.
• Saving the best for last ... the running game. Back-to-back games over 200 yards rushing? Do the Pats really have that good of a running game? If they can get half of that against Seattle this week I think the answer is yes.

BAD

• Late touchdowns. You know you are reaching to find trouble when the biggest "bad" you got is that the defense gave up two fourth quarter touchdowns to Peyton Manning. So instead of a convincing 31-7 win the Pats had to settle for a convincing 31-21 win. I don't worry about garbage time touchdowns too much. Especially against a guy like Manning. He's down by 24 points, he's going to fling it. The question is still can the defense stop a team in a close game. That is still a very big question.

Reading material -- Jets' edition

It's shaping up to be a very entertaining NFL season. It sure helps that the Patriots are still putting up 30 points a game. It won't last forever. Just ask Jets fans.

This "reading material" post could find some interesting articles on the Saints finally winning their first game. Or the Falcons and Texans still not having lost a game. But there's just so much good reading on our green neighbors to the south that the rest of the league will have to wait.

• Mark Sanchez is on his way out as New York Jets quarterback. That's the headline on the post by Adam Schein on NFL.com. I figured that headline would be written at some point this year, but I didn't think it would be this soon. How great is that? Schein says Skinny Rex should take a lesson from the benching of ARod by Yankee manager Joe Girardi and send the Sanchise to the bench in favor of Tim Tebow. How great is that? Schein says Sanchez is "inaccurate," "average," and has the "wrong attitude." And Schein begins by saying he used to be a Sanchez backer.
• Also on  NFL.com, Kimberly Jones says that the Jets are already at the point of desperation, so why not throw Tebow out there? It's a good question. She says the Jets are trying trick plays (onside kick against the Texans that didn't quite work out) and using players in different roles due to injuries but they still don't know what to do with Tebow. When asked after the Jets lost their second straight to fall to 2-3 if he understood his role with the team, Tebow answered a simple "no." Doesn't seem anybody in N.Y. does.
• Terrell Owens added to the New York theater scene by tweeting during the Jets' loss Monday night that he was available and better than what they had on the field. Rex Ryan responded, of course, by saying "never say never." As a Pats' fan, I can't think of anything better than T.O. joining the train wreck that could become the Jets' season. As a Jets' fan, Gary Myers of the New York Daily News doesn't think it's such a great idea. 
• For all the attention being given the quarterbacks, not enough has been paid to the defense. That's the defense run by the self-anointed best defensive mind in the league. The Jets defense is ranked  31st against the run, giving up an average of 172 yards per game. Hmmm. The Jets are next to last against the run, the Pats are third in the league in rushing. I can't wait for kickoff at Gillette in just more than a week.

Mr. Clutch

Another member of the Patriot dynasty announced his retirement today. Kevin Faulk. #33. Before there was Wes Welker, there was Kevin Faulk. Whenever Brady needed a first down, he looked to Faulk. He made some of the biggest plays on a team of big plays.

I have Faulk ranked as the ninth most important player during the Pats' dynasty. He really was the role player who played every role perfectly. Need a big first down? Throw it to Faulk. Need a block to stop the blitz? Keep him in the backfield just in front of Brady. Need a sure-handed kick returner with the game on the line? Kevin Faulk is your guy. No matter what Bill Belichick needed, Kevin Faulk was always his guy. Even on the infamous 4th-and-2 against the Colts that to this day I still believe Faulk got. Even if you needed a blunt at a Lil' Wayne concert, Kevin Faulk was your guy for that too.

ESPNBoston's Mike Reiss has a good piece on the retirement ceremony. Belichick called him the hardest worker and ultimate team player. Brady called him clutch.

Kevin Faulk looked like he was 40 when he was first taken by the Pats in the second round of the 1999 NFL draft. He was the best decision  then-GM Bobby Grier ever made. Faulk was a star at LSU, finishing his career with the SEC record for all-purpose yards. (A record Tebow broke). That sums up Kevin Faulk ... all-purpose yards. He was as dangerous on the draw play as he was on the screen pass as he was on the kick return. He could get you a tough first down on 3rd-and-2 or take a short pass 40 yards on 1st-and-10. He could bull his way over a tackler or make an acrobatic finger-tip grab and never break stride. Faulk was one of those players who was like having an extra coach on your team. The Pats had a ton of those guys. That's how you win Super Bowls.

The Pats have had a lot of players that have been a lot of fun to root for in the past decade. Not for the rest of the NFL, of course. But if you were a Pats' fan it was a blast to root for Tedy, Rodney, Ty, Willie, Corey, Brady, Welker, Randy, Troy, Vrabel, Vince, and on and on. They were just easy players to like. None more so than Kevin Faulk.

Thanks, #33.

The unexpected

WEEK 5
Patriots 31, Broncos 21 (10/7/'12): It's always a pleasant surprise when the game-day rain that was forecast all week never really arrives.

It was just one of the many surprises on a day of the unexpected at Gillette. We arrived at Rock Ridge about five hours before kickoff on what turned out to be a pretty nice fall day for drinking and grilling. It wasn't until the third hour of tailgating (and drinking and grilling) that we needed the cover of the tent. It was right about that time, as I was enjoying the roast chicken, that another unexpected thing occurred.

One of the tailgating traditions in the Enchanted Forest is the old guy who dons a Pirates batting helmet and the jersey of that week's opponent and walks around the lot taunting Pats fans -- good natured of course or he'd have disappeared in the woods long ago never to be seen again. One week he's dressed as Ray Lewis, the next as Ben Roethlisberger. He walks among the grills and coolers yelling "Let's go Broncos! or "Come on Jets!" to the entertainment of everyone wearing Brady jerseys. It was about 4 p.m. when he made his rounds, this time wearing a vintage Elway jersey. As the tailgating crowd laughed at old man Elway, the guy tailgating next to us reached into the back of his SUV and pulled out a giant fox head. That's right. A giant fox head.

With the words "I'm coming to get you, Elway!", he put the giant fox head on and started climbing up Rock Ridge. Old man Elway stopped and looked back to see a man in a giant fox head stumbling towards him. It was obvious he was not expecting that either. The two exchanged a few words -- although it was hard to hear exactly what the guy in the giant fox head was saying -- and then old man Elway disappeared over the rocks towards the other side of the lot. As giant fox head guy walked back with his arms raised in victory, Matt -- who works for ESPN so he knows these things -- recognized that it was not just any giant fox head but actually the giant fox head of Slyde, the New England Revolution's mascot. That's right. The New England Revolution apparently have a giant fox as their mascot. And his name is apparently Slyde. Turns out one of the other guys tailgating next to us is Slyde. Not the guy who put on the head. If you google Slyde and compare him with the photo above you will notice a difference. We asked why a soccer team named the Revolution had a fox named Slyde for a mascot but no one seemed to know. Not even Slyde. So we raised a toast to our mascot neighbor and then headed into the stadium for what would turn out to be four more hours of rain-free weather and unexpected developments.

Brady vs. Manning round 13 turned wasn't really about Brady or Manning. They both had good games. Very good games. But the story was the Pats running game. Again. It is the unexpected story of the season so far. And if it continues it will make the already dangerous Pats' offense almost unstoppable. Even for the Giants in February.

The teams traded impressively long drives for a 7-7 score early in the second quarter. A tight game was one thing that was expected. The fact that my third margarita was not being watered down by rain at that point in the evening fell happily into the unexpected category. The Pats would score the next 24 points (pretty unexpected) to break the game open. Brady continued to build on what may turn out to be his best season ever. He only threw for 223 yards and one touchdown but he was in total control of the game. Any talk of anyone but him for MVP at this point is foolish.

Brady used the running game and a very hurried-up offense to wear the Bronco defenders down to the point of exhaustion and confusion. The crowd was on its feet as the Pats went on drives of 14 plays (touchdown), 16 plays (field goal), and 16 plays (touchdown). Ninkovich then sacked Manning inside the Denver 20 and Big Vince recovered another big fumble. Two plays later Stevan Ridley (151 yards rushing) crashed into the end zone and the Pats were in control 31-7. Manning put up a couple of late touchdowns to close the score to 31-21 but, like many times in the past few years, it was too little too late against the Pats D.

With a big AFC victory in hand and the Pats back in their familiar spot at the top of the AFC East, we headed back for a post-game tailgate of burgers that Matt had brought up from Noack's in Connecticut. From the time the score hit 31-7 I had been thinking about those burgers. We started unloading the truck ... table, grill, chairs, cooler ... cooler? No cooler. Just as Shep was saying "Someone stole our cooler!" one of the guys a few cars down was yelling "Someone stole our cooler!" No post-game hamburgers. No post-game beer. Talk about unexpected. In the nearly 20 years we've been tailgating we've never had a cooler or anything stolen from the back of the truck. First time for everything.

As we ate the leftover chicken we talked about two things... who would steal someone's hamburger meat! And the fact that the Tom Brady-led New England Patriots are currently averaging 165 yards a game on the ground. Third best in the NFL.

Now that's really unexpected.

The rain came down

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
Jets 6, Pats 0 (11/28/'93): To quote Christopher Robin ... Tut, tut. It looks like rain.

Forecasts for this afternoon -- right about the time Tom Brady and the Pats square off against Peyton Manning and the Broncos -- is for some pretty steady rain. Rain. The worst conditions for tailgating and football watching. Especially if you wear glasses. And if you aren't prepared. Like I was almost 20 years ago.

It was 1993. It was an ugly winter and the Patriots played some ugly games to match. The team was 1-9 through ten games, losing by scores of 38-14, 45-7, and 28-14 to name a few. I had given up my season tickets a few years earlier and had not regretted that decision one bit as I sat on my couch week after week watching the team get stomped. But there was a reason for hope.

The Patriots had hired Bill Parcells. The Tuna. A two-time Super Bowl champ with the Giants and one of the most entertaining SOBs to ever coach the game. As I used to say "Love him or hate him, you have to love him." The day Parcells was hired the Patriots went from bumbling franchise to a real NFL team. You could see the change almost immediately. Not in wins or loses. That would come later. But in the no-nonsense, my-way-or-the-highway approach. Players who had become used to losing were cut. Quickly. Veterans who had won with Parcells before were suddenly lining up to join the team. The Pats were still getting creamed week after week but there was someone in charge of my football team who knew what he was doing. Finally.

Me, Mark, Shep, Bergs, and a few of our friends decided to buy some tickets to see our saviour in person. The Pats were 1-9 but we were as psyched for the game as if it was the playoffs. It was Week 11 on the schedule and it was against the hated Jets. And Parcells was coaching. This was before Jets-Patriots became a holy war, but they were a division rival, they were a NY team, they wore green, they often sucked as much as or more than the Pats but received way more media attention. You know, New York and all. Beating them would brighten a dismal season.

As with most tailgating stories in New England, the weather would play a huge part in the fun. The guys met up in the newspaper's parking lot on a day that heavy, wind-driven rain was forecast. A forecast I had not heard. I didn't always watch the Sunday morning news in those days to see what the weather would be like. I haven't made that mistake again. I drove into the lot under a gray sky and walked over to Mark, Topher, Bergs, Brendan, Paul, and Tom Brady. Yes, Tom Brady. Not that one. This one worked at the newspaper and was the first Tom Brady I ever heard of. Of the two, he's had the second biggest impact on my life. Paul was wearing his EMT brother's rain gear. Mark had a heavy rain jacket. Shep was covered toe-to-toe in plastic. Tom Brady wore a hat and coat as if he was one of the James brothers in "The Long Riders." Everyone had boots on. I strolled up in jeans, a T-shirt and light jacket, sneakers, and a Patriots painter's cap. "Where's you rain gear?" Paul asked. "Is it going to rain?" I said. "A monsoon," Mark said. A half-hour later the monsoon had begun.

It was the first time I had been to Foxboro Stadium since I gave up my season tickets. As I stood there in the rain feeling the cardboard in the brim of my painter's cap turn to pulp, all the frustrating memories of the 1-15 season came flashing back. But so did all the fun memories. Foxboro Stadium was quite a different experience than what you have today. The stadium was located practically on Route 1 and the dirt lots spread out below it towards the woods. In the shadow of the stadium stood the old harness track Foxboro Raceway, a dirt track that opened in the '40s and was still populated by many of the people who were there for the opening.

We tailgated behind the track towards the woods, a place far from the stadium where security rarely roamed. We stood in the rain eating our wet steak sandwiches and burgers, some of us wetter than others. Tom Brady was from Jersey and this was his first Pats game. We tried to tell him what the concrete toilet bowl was like but we knew he really had to see it to believe it. As we were getting ready to go into the game, Tom took off his jacket and handed it to me. "This might help a little. I've got another coat," he said. Tom's about 6'4'', I'm 5'11''. It was a little big. But drier than what I had on. "But you can't have my hat," he laughed as he looked at my shrinking cap.

The Jets were 6-4 coming into the game so a Pats upset would be sweet. We figured a monsoon might give us a chance. We made our way through the rain and squeezed most of our group onto the bench in Section 309. We had the four seats on the aisle of Row 26. But we often fit five, six, seven guys into those four spots. That's one of the many differences between Gillette and the old stadium. Seats. That's right. Seats. My ticket now entitles me to an actual seat with arms on each side and a back. Made of plastic. Foxboro Stadium had benches. Long, cold aluminum benches with 38 numbers on them to mark your spot. There were about six inches on each side of the number. That was enough room for me but not for some of the larger Pats fans. Since there were no arms dividing the spaces people would crowd in with their buddies even if they didn't have a number on that row. We did it too. It could get pretty jammed. But not as jammed as the concourse below heading for the beers or the bathrooms.

The rain didn't let up as the game started. And the wind began to pick up. It rained in such thick sheets that some times it was hard to see the action on the field. The Patriots would make a play and the crowd would cheer. The rain would get heavier and the crowd would cheer more. Both teams struggled to pass, run, catch, block, and tackle on the wet carpet. The Jets hit a field goal in the second quarter to take a 6-0 lead. The rain got heavier. "It can't rain any harder,'' I said to Brendan. "It just can't." It did. I looked down at my beer and it was almost full. I was certain that five minutes before it was half empty. Brendan looked at his cup. It was overflowing. "Time for new beers," he said as we dumped out our cups of rainwater. Brendan headed down to battle the beer lines.

A long time later I saw him making his way back up the stairs as the wind whipped the rain horizontally. Brendan was wearing a plastic bag to stay dry. He put his head down, struggling against the wind and rain, gently balancing the two beers so as not to spill a drop. He got about five rows from the seats when the wind lifted the plastic bag up and over his head, covering his face. Brendan wrestled with the plastic -- while not spilling a drop -- and pushed it up and off his head. The bag flew in the wind till it hit another guy carrying up some beers about 10 steps below Brendan. The wind pulled the bag tight against the guy's face, so tight you could see the terror in his expression as he lost his balance and dropped his beers. Brendan got back to the seats, partly out of breath. "Didn't spill a drop,'' he said as he handed me my cup.

The Jets clung to their 6-0 lead late as Drew Bledsoe lead the Pats on one last drive to win the game. Of the fans who came to the game -- and there were a lot for a 1-9 team playing in a monsoon -- many of them were still there. Soaked, but there. Bledsoe move the offense down to the Jets' 30. He then hit receiver Michael Timpson cutting across the middle for a first down inside the Jets' 10 as the clock neared a minute left to play. Timpson tried to get a few more yards in the mud and got hit, losing the ball for a game-ending fumble. Parcells was 1-10. We were soaked to the bone.

We made our way down the stairs as the rain continued and began walking along the main aisle to get out of the stadium. As we walked along the aisle rained poured out of holes that were cut in the concrete. I never knew the real reason why there were holes in the concrete, but my guess was and still is that after the stadium was built someone realized that they had not designed a way for the water to drain out of the upper sections. So someone -- Chuck Sullivan maybe? -- decided they should cut holes in the concrete to let the water drain out. Right about head level for those walking in the aisle. As Tom Brady made his way through each fountain that hit him right in the face, he would turn and look at me. Finally, at the last gushing hole of water, he stopped and said "Nice stadium you got here, Tim. If I knew they had built-in showers I would have brought a bar of soap."

The Patriots went on to win their last four games that season. The foundation was being built for a new approach to football in New England. One where the team stopped beating itself. One where players stepped up and made big plays. And most importantly one where the head coach was really in charge. Just three years later we would be getting ready to go to Foxboro for the AFC championship game.

A few nights later me, Mark, and Shep sat in a bar talking about the game and our new coach. Parcells came on TV talking about the game too. He was saying things like he saw progress being made and that the young players were starting to "get it." And then he added: "One thing I want to say, to those fans who stayed for that whole game in the rain, they are my kind of football fans. We're gonna continue to get better for them."

Mark got a look in his eye. "If I go to the stadium tomorrow to buy four season tickets will you each buy one?" Shep and I said sure, but I don't think either of us thought he was serious. Several glasses of Dewar's can blur one's judgment. The next morning I woke up, still blurred, and another storm was raging, this one with a few inches of wet snow. I looked out the window and the ground was white. No way Mark waited outside to get tickets in weather like this, I thought. No way.

That afternoon I was at my desk in the newsroom. I saw Mark walk in the door, looking kind of wet again. He came over and put a stack of Patriots tickets down in front of me. "You owe me $350 for a season ticket," he said. I sure have gotten my money's worth. And then some.

Horsing around

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
Broncos 34, Patriots 8 (11/17/'96): The Denver Broncos come to Gillette tomorrow for a big AFC game. It's always a big game when the Pats and Broncos play. And now that Peyton Manning is Denver's QB the game is even bigger.

It's always better when the Broncos have to come here instead of the Patriots going to mile high Denver. It very rarely goes well out there. Actually, it doesn't go too well wherever the Pats play the Broncos. Denver is 25-18 all-time against the Pats. Tom Brady is 3-6 against the team from Colorado. There have been some ugly losses in those games for the Pats. Ugly.

I've been to a lot of great games over the past 20-plus years. They are the games that all Pats fans remember fondly. But I've seen some heartbreaking losses and been to some blowouts that had me daydreaming of the post-game hamburgers by halftime.

There was the game in '98 against Atlanta when the line getting into the old concrete toilet bowl was so long we missed the first ten minutes. By the time we got to our seats the score was already 21-3 Falcons. It was one of the rare games that our co-worker Ken came with us. Sorry Ken. There was the '95 game against the Saints that ended with me slouched up against my car in the parking lot after the Pats surrendered two touchdowns (69-yard pass, 66-yard run) late in the game for a 31-17 loss and an official end to that season's playoff hopes.

The Super Bowl Patriots had their moments too. In '05 the defending champs were in a great battle with the Chargers on a beautiful October day. The score was tied 17-17 at the half and Paul and I said something like "This team is just so much fun to watch." ... The Chargers outscored the Pats 24-0 in the second half. The lasting memory of the day -- other than the post-game burgers -- is Antonio Gates making catch after catch as he brushed of would be tacklers like flies at a tailgate. It was ugly.

But not as ugly as the ugliest game I have ever had the bad luck of witnessing. And of course, it was against the Denver Broncos.

The Broncos came into Foxborough with a 9-1 record against the Parcells' Pats and their 7-3 record. It was a statement game. The Broncos made the statement. By the end of the first half it was 24-0. Denver out rushed the Pats 198 yards to 17. The Denver D stuffed Drew Bledsoe, holding him to just over 200 yards passing and a pick. It was one of those games where the loudest sound of the day -- other than Denver running backs smashing into and over Pats defenders -- were the groans from the stands after almost every play.

We sat on the visitors side in the old stadium. Though we were pretty far up we could see that the Denver players -- especially Shannon Sharpe -- were mocking Pats fans as the score got higher and higher. The stadium emptied out after the score hit 34-8. At one point Sharpe picked up one of the sideline phones and got into an animated conversation. We thought maybe he was ordering pizza since the game was all but over.

It wasn't till I got home and turned on SportsCenter that I saw what Sharpe was saying on the phone. "Mr. President! Call the National Guard... Send help! ... We are killing the Patriots!"

There'll be no Shannon Sharpe making calls to the president today. But there will be Peyton Manning. There's always drama when the Pats play the Broncos.

Face time

The Manning face looks the same in Bronco orange as it did in Colt blue.

If you have been following the Pats-Colts, Manning-Brady rivalry since 2001 then you are very familiar with the Manning face. If not, then look at the photo. That's it.

I like Manning. He's the third-best quarterback I have ever seen. (1. Montana. 2. Brady). Although I was rooting against his Colts, I was glad he finally got a ring. And also glad he didn't get a second one. I like Manning, but I like him better when he's wearing the Manning face. I hope to see a lot of the Manning face on Sunday. The weather is supposed to be lousy. That usually increases the Manning face sightings.

Bring on the rain.

Week 4 rewind

I could watch this hit over and over and over and over again.

Big Vince may one day be in the NFL Hall of Fame. If he can play another four or five years at the level he has played the last three -- and maybe win a Super Bowl or two -- he will go down as the greatest nose tackle of his generation. And he seems like truly one of the good guys. Except when he's about to unload on you with all his 325-plus pounds.

The Wilfork hit was tops on a very entertaining highlight reel from the Pats' victory over Buffalo. On the good and bad list the best thing is the Pats avoided a 1-3 start. That would have been very very bad.

GOOD

• The offense put up 52 points. That's more than some teams score in a month of football. Pats fans just need to savor every moment of this because the end for Brady is a lot closer than the beginning. He's in his 13th season and -- other than the times he ducks a little too soon -- he's playing as well as he ever has. The touchdown he threw to Woody and the one he ran in himself were great veteran plays. 
• The offensive line. How does Scarnecchia keep doing it? I don't know either. With Mankins out, the offensive line kept Brady upright against the new and improved Bills pass rush and, more importantly, blew open holes to allow the running game pile up an impressive 247 yards. 
• Speaking of 247 yards, backs Stevan Ridley and Brandon Bolden each ran for more than 100 yards. Ridley looks good but Bolden is the back I would want carrying the ball most of the time. I'm not a big fan of the time-share running back approach. And that's not even considering the fantasy football aspect. Just as I like fullbacks, I also like have one feature back and having him run the ball 25 times a game. You know. Like a Corey Dillon. It's unlikely either Ridley or Bolden are going to be the next Dillon, but maybe together than can come close.
• Brandon Spikes. The fourth-year linebacker has been a little inconsistent, but when he is on his game he is nasty. He has been delivering some crunching hits this season. On Sunday, two of those hits resulted in big fumbles. One at the goal line late in the first half with the Bills threatening to break the game open. He still misses some reads and hits the wrong hole, but if he can stay healthy he should quickly improve on that.
• Devin McCourty. I may be one of the few people who were so thrilled with his rookie year that I will still believe in him right up to the moment he is cut. But if he plays like he did Sunday that moment will be a ways off. The thing I like about McCourty is he is always near the ball. If he can keep remembering to look for the ball he can get back to what he did as a rookie,

BAD

• Stephen Gostkowski has to snap out of it and fast. He badly missed the game winner with seconds left in Week 2 against Arizona and he missed back-to-back attempts in Buffalo. His kickoffs are still rocket launched and I think most people still have confidence in him. Time for him to go on a 15-for-15 streak.
• The forecast for Sunday ... It looks like rain for Brady vs. Manning. Time to break out the tailgating tent and the rain gear. It's Week 5 and my first tailgate of the season. The ribs and chicken will taste good even if they'r a little soggy. As will the Don Julio.

Going fourth

NFL coaches like to look at the 16-game season in four quarters. Now that each team has played four games, time has expired on the first quarter. So who is looking good at the quarter pole? And who is fading fast? My rankings go to 12 (not 11) because that's how many teams make the playoffs. There are some surprise teams not on the list like the Saints, Steelers, Lions, and Jets. Well, maybe not the Jets. And there are some surprise teams on the list like Arizona, Washington, and Denver.

It's only four games, but with a few exceptions these teams will be your playoff competitors come January. That's how important a good start is in the NFL.

1. San Francisco 49ers (3-1): They aren't one of the three remaining unbeaten teams, but they are the only team that could probably beat all three. The Niners stumbled against the Vikings but are still the most balanced team in the league. The San Fran D is a beast and the offense -- with running back Frank Gore -- is good enough to get the job done. The Niners are -- at the moment -- the best team in the NFC

2. Houston Texans (4-0): The Texans are -- at the moment -- the best team in the AFC. Houston will be sitting atop most power rankings after four weeks, And rightfully so. I just think the Niners D is better. And the Niners have more experience. But the Texans have a better quarterback in Matt Schaub and a very good runner in Arian Foster. And they haven't missed Mario Williams all that much, have they?

3. Atlanta Falcons (4-0): The Falcons are a little lucky to still be unbeaten. A Cam Newton fumble gave Atlanta new life and Matt Ryan and the offense were more than glad to take advantage of it with a great game-winning drive. Matty "Ice" looks like he has moved into the elite category. The Falcons are scoring 31 points a game and allowing 19. That adds up to 4-0.

4. Baltimore Ravens (3-1): The Ravens are off to a 3-1 start without Terrell Suggs, one of their leaders and one of the most ferocious pass rushers in the game. They were outplayed by the Patriots for a good chunk of their game and had to scrape and claw to beat the lowly Browns but player for player the Ravens are as good as anyone in the AFC. Torrey Smith is now one of the most dangerous weapons in the game. And Joe Flacco is off to a great start so far. We'll see if that lasts.

5. New England Patriots (2-2): The Pats would be ahead of the Ravens if they had held on to that 9-point lead. But they didn't. The Pats -- even without Aaron Hernandez -- have the best offense in the league. Brady has been at his best. But they haven't been able to win the close games and are sitting at 2-2. So what are the Pats doing in the top 5 instead of the 4-0 Cardinals? Well, this is a Patriots blog. And, honestly, do you really think if the two teams played again this weekend the Patriots wouldn't win? Really?

6. Green Bay Packers (2-2): My preseason #1 pick should be 3-1. Everyone knows that except Pete Carroll. The Packers paid the ultimate price for the fake refs ... a win. And they almost lost to the Saints in a wild one. The Packers are like the Patriots. They can score almost at will and their defense -- which should be better than it is -- gives up way too many big plays. But Aaron Rodgers -- like Brady -- has that look in his eye that he will not be denied. And they are coached by one of the classiest guys walking the sidelines.

7. Arizona Cardinals (4-0): Records don't mean everything. The Cardinals are unbeaten but they were lucky to beat the Pats (yes, the Cards D played great) and were really lucky to beat Miami. Sure, no one even had the Cadinals in their top 20 heading into the season that I saw so #7 is pretty good. The defense is young and fast but I think the offense is playing over its head. Every year a team starts off 4-0 or 3-1 and ends up missing the playoffs. The Cards are that team this year.

8. New York Giants (2-2): If you saw the Giants get beat by Philly you might not think they were top 10 worthy. But they are. The best pass rush. A two-time Super Bowl champ at QB. A hall of fame coach. A tough as nails run game. Experience all over the field. The Giants may only win 10 or 11 games but if that's enough to get in the playoffs then look out.

9. Chicago Bears (3-1): The Bears are nothing if not entertaining. Kind of like an episode of the "Kardashians." There's a lot of bickering and falling down, but then they dress up for prime time and kick the crap out of Dallas. Jay Cutler (playing the role of Kim) goes from bumping his lineman in frustration to tossing bombs all over Jerry Jones's coliseum. Brandon Marshall makes them a much different team offensively. When Forte gets back they will be even tougher. Of course, they still have Lovie as their coach.

10. Denver Broncos (2-2): There's only one reason the Broncos are on this list, bumping off 3-1 San Diego and Cincy. Peyton Manning. He's looked pretty darn good for an old guy who missed a year because his neck had to be fused back together. Very good actually. He has a young, talented group of receivers, a good running game, and a pretty good defense. That should get them to the top of the AFC West even with John Fox as coach.

11. Philadelphia Eagles (3-1): The Dream Team is back! Sort of. Michael Vick and his cast of stars have won three games while racking up an amazing number of turnovers in those games. It wasn't till they beat the Giants that I took them seriously. Till then they were stealing games from the likes of the Browns. But they are a talented team with a lot of experience and if they can just stop making mistakes (a big if) then they might finally make the dream come true for Philly fans.

12. Washington Redskins (2-2): RG3. No. It's not the new Nike sneaker (yet). It's the Skins saviour at QB. Robert Griffin III is this year's phenom rookie quarterback. Maybe even better than last year's model, Cam Newton. Griffin is fun to watch and the Skins are getting better on defense so they make the third NFC East team on the list. Yes. It's the toughest division by far.

Dishonorable mention: The 0-4 New Orleans Saints. Now we know what things would have looked like around here if Belichick had been suspended for a year over Spygate. Whew. The Saints continue to score tons of points thanks to Drew Brees. But they can't stop anyone and they look lost when the games get tight. Sean Peyton is clearly missed. As Belichick would have been. Whew.