The long bye

WEEK 10
Patriots 37, Bills 31 (11/11/'12): The Patriots under Bill Belichick have been almost unbeatable after the bye week. Going into last season they hadn't lost after the bye in almost ten years. But last year they lost back-to-back games against the Steelers and the Giants after their week off. They looked out of sync. The bye can do that to you. Take you off your game a bit. It happens for players and coaches. And for tailgaters.

I got a late start for yesterday's 1 p.m. game at Gillette. As Mark and Bergs were rolling into the Enchanted Forest around 8:30 in the morning, I was just starting to think about getting out of bed. A few hours later I was making my way down the scenic Route 1 with Dunkin's caramel swirl ice coffee in hand. About five miles from the stadium -- and about 10 a.m. -- I got a call from Shep. "Are you almost here?" he asked. I figured the group was starting to get annoyed at the straggler. "Just passed the Walpole Mall. Will be there soon," I assured him. "We have an emergency," Shep said. "We have no charcoal for the only grill we brought."

Bye week. Totally out of sync.

"Well, it's a good thing I slept in today," I said. "I'll make a charcoal stop."

"We need lighter fluid, too," Shep added.

Less than an hour later I arrived at the tailgate with the ingredients for fire. The key to every successful tailgate. It wasn't long before the fire -- and I -- were nicely glowing. And it wasn't long before the burgers were ready and the tailgate was in full swing.

"We finished strong," said Shep's son, Matt. "That's what counts."

Same goes for football. Finish strong. The Pats were able to do it against the Bills yesterday thanks to an interception from Devin McCourty with just 23 seconds left. Bergs and I watched the game from the ramps where the Super Bowl banners hang just to see what the view is like from up there. It's a pretty good place to watch a game. You get to see the plays unfold from such a high vantage point. You get to see how the Bills were able to gash through the middle of the defense because there was often no one in the middle. And you get to see how the Bills were able to mess up the D with simple counter plays. You get to see how quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was able to lead his team back from an early 24-10 deficit and have a chance to steal the game. And you get to see him make a big mistake at the worst possible moment to give the game away.

You also get to see Tom Brady scramble to make some great plays in a game where he and the offense looked a little out of sync too.

"It's all about how you finish," Bergs said as we headed back to the tailgate to fire up the charcoal for a second round of burgers.