Bye-ing their time

WEEK 17
Patriots 28, Dolphins 0 (12/30/'12): Some Sundays are just better than others. After a tough, sloppy loss to the Niners and a just sloppy win over the Jags, the Patriots came out with a focus in the season finale and took the game to Miami in the frigid evening at Gillette. The solid 28-0 win, combined with Indy knocking of Houston, lifted the Pats into the second seed in the AFC and gave them a week off before a home playoff game. One home win and they're in the AFC title game. Again.

It was a team win, something that was much needed after a few shaky weeks. Brady looked playoff ready, throwing for 284 yards and two touchdowns and spreading the ball around. Gronk came back from his broken forearm and caught a touchdown. Stevan Ridley got back on track with two touchdowns and NO fumbles. It was a workman-like job by the offense.

But it was the defense that set the tone and controlled the game. Granted, Miami is not the strongest team offensively. But the Pats held them to just 256 total yards. If the D can play like that in the playoffs then the Pats are going to be tough to beat. Rookie Justin Francis, who has been getting more playing time down the stretch, had three of the team's seven sacks yesterday. Steve Gregory had a nice pick and Kyle Arrington even made some tackles. Ninko limped off the field with what looked like a leg or hip injury. Losing him for the playoffs would be a big loss. But if Ninko is OK and corners Talib and Dennard are healthy then the young, fast, and tough defense -- all led by Big Vince -- should be able to do its part in the playoffs.

As Brady said after the game ... "We’ve won 10 of 11, so it’s pretty good. We were 2-3 at one point, [and we] had some tough games early in the year. We won 10 of 11 and the only loss was against a pretty good football team (San Fran) where we turned it over four times. So if we don’t turn it over four times, I like our chances."

Exactly. If the Patriots can play three games without a turnover they have a very good chance to hoist that elusive fourth Lombardi trophy. A very good chance.

21-snowball salute

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE

Patriots 12, Dolphins 0 (12/7/'03): As the Pats get ready to close out the regular season today against Miami in a snow-covered Gillette, I thought back to another snowy December game between the two teams nine years ago. It's one of my all-time favorite tales from the tailgate.

The game took less than three hours to play. It took me almost two hours longer than that to get to the stadium. It was worth it. If you look at the score you'd see a 12-0 win over a lousy Miami team. Just another regular season game, you might think, on the way to a Super Bowl title. Oh how wrong you would be.

This one's called the "Snowball Game" for the impromptu -- and kind of magical -- method of celebration that the Pats fans created with the snow piled up in the stands. Did I mention the snow? Twenty-eight inches fell on southeastern Mass. overnight and into that Sunday morning. Although at times it seemed more like 28 feet. I started shoveling at 5 a.m. in order to meet Mark and Bergs in the lot by 9. I was a little late. As the shovel broke through the snowbank of my driveway into the street I looked at my Doberman-Shepherd and thought "If I only had 11 more of her to pull me on a sled to the game." It would have been faster.

I loaded up the car for the wintry tailgate I was anticipating and headed down the street. It was just before 8 a.m. as I called Mark to let him know I was on my way. "Bergs and I are stuck in traffic on Route 1 but we are almost there," he said. "I may be a little late," I said. "But I should be there soon." I only lived 20 minutes away. A quick stop at Dunkins' (28 inches of snow doesn't stop the mail or the DD coffee) and I started my journey to Gillette.

There are many routes one can take to the stadium if you live in the next town. Of course all of them lead to the route to end all routes ... Route 1. I decided I would use the main roads and highways, figuring they would be plowed better than the back roads. So it was Rte. 140 to 95N to Rte. 1S. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I hit Rte. 140. Seems the main roads weren't really plowed either. The backup to get onto 140 was about a mile from the lights. I sat patiently in my car listening to the pre-game show and drinking my coffee. What would have taken about eight minutes on a clear day took my close to half an hour. But I crawled my way along the ramp to 95 hoping that my pace would quicken once I hit a real highway.

It didn't. The road was lined with cars that had skidded off the side. Some accompanied by tow trucks. Some clearly left there by their owners hours before. The three-lane highway was down to one barely passable path down the middle. I slid my way into the traffic and resumed my crawl. "Route 1 getting to the stadium is not moving," one of the Pats announcers said. "I'm glad I got here hours ago." No sooner had he said that when Mark called. "Route 1 is not moving," he told me. "Bergs and I have barely moved since we talked to you." It was now after 9 a.m. We decided to abandon our plan to meet in the P2 lot and agreed to just grab any spot we can when we got there and then find each other. "See you soon," I said.

The single lane on 95 moved at speeds varying between two and five miles an hour. Mostly two. "I should have bought another coffee," I thought to myself as I made my way along the ramp to Route 1 as the clock neared 10 in the morning. An hour on Rte 95 to go just about 2 miles. I got to the turnaround on Route 1 and merged into the traffic heading south to the stadium. The cars were barely moving. The clock -- on the other hand -- seemed to be moving faster. 30 minutes later I had made my way to the three-miles-from-the-stadium sign. Three miles to go. Almost there! The radio guy chimed in again. "If you are not at the stadium yet," he advised. "You aren't getting here. State Police are urging people who haven't left yet to stay home. And my advice to those who are on the road right now is turn around and go home."

Turn around and go home? It's just after 11 and I'm three miles away. The game doesn't start for two hours. Hell, I can still cram down a burger and a few drinks if I get there in 90 minutes. Turn around and go home? I've been on the road for three hours. It's going to take me that long just to get home. Turn around and go home? Screw that. I turned off the announcers and put on some music. Around 11:30 Mark called. "We're in!" he announced. "How close are you?" I told him I was about two miles away and that traffic was beginning to move a little. "Two miles?" he said. "OK, well we'll start cooking and have something ready when you get here."

As the clock moved past noon the aggravation level began to rise. I know there's a lot of snow but why is it taking this long? The roads are bad but they aren't that bad. I soon had my answer. I made my way through the booth to pay my parking toll and all I could see were giant mountains of snow. There had to be parking spots somewhere out there. But where? And where are the guys in orange who always make you park in a certain spot? Nowhere to be found. It was every car for himself. Most turned right towards the stadium so I turned left towards the end of the lot to find a spot. First thing I saw was a traffic island. Well, I didn't actually see it. But I felt it as I drove up and over it. I think some guy in orange yelled at me from the distance but I'm not sure. I kept going further and further away from the stadium. Lots of snow and cars. No spots. Finally. Finally! I found a spot between a snowbank and a porta-potty. It wasn't really a spot but I was taking it. I got out of the car, put on my layers, and called Mark. "I made it," I said. "Where are you guys?" He told me they were waiting by the South Gate with my ticket and a cocktail. A cocktail? I started running.

I ran the length of the lot, passing people who seemed to be wandering around lost among the mounds of snow. As the National Anthem played in the stadium I got to the gate where Mark and Bergs were standing. "Here," Mark said as he handed me a heavily iced vodka and cranberry juice. "I made it a double. Figured you'd need that." With a smile I drank it down as if we were in a desert instead of a winter wonderland.

We got to our seats and found that most of the stadium was still covered in deep snow. The steps had been mostly cleared but the rows had enough snow in them that you couldn't get your seat to go down all the way. What to do? The people in front of us hadn't arrived yet so we simpled kicked and pushed as much snow as we could down on their seats. Just as the people behind us had done earlier. Slowly but surely the snow was making its way to the bottom of the stadium. One fan, one row at a time. I had a flashback to the old stadium when it was filled with snow and how it always led to snow (more like chunks of ice) being hurled through the stands. I never got nailed but there were some close calls.

Gillette was quite a sight with all the snow but the game itself wasn't much to see. Adam Vinatieri kicked a field goal in the first quarter and that 3-0 score was holding up with nine minutes to go in the fourth. The Dolphins had the ball at their own goal line. QB Jay Fielder dropped back to pass and threw a dart on a quick slant to the right. Tedy Bruschi, who had already returned three picks for TDs that season (that's what playmakers do), stepped in front of the pass at about the five yard line and took it untouched into the endzone to make the score an insurmountable 10-0. As the touchdown music blared (Gary Glitter's "Rock 'n Roll Part 2," of course) the fans began picking up the snow and tossing it in the air every time they got to the part where everyone yells "Hey!" It looked like white fireworks going off. A much different snow experience than in the old stadium. People laughed and tossed snow again when the Pats recorded a safety and they continued the snow tossing magic when the victory became official. We were all kids again playing in the snow.

After the game, Bruschi was quoted as saying "That was incredible, wasn't it? Throwing the snow up in the air with the music. It got me into the holiday spirit." Five hours in traffic. No tailgate food. Snow piled on our seats. Holiday spirit? Tedy was right. Watching the snow fly in the air everyone in the stadium felt it too.

Week 16 rewind

I said I wasn't going to look back at last Sunday's Pats uninspiring win at Jacksonville to find the good and the bad. And I'm not. But I just can't help looking back at another game from Week 16 involving my other favorite team ... the Jets.

Rex Ryan and "the best team he's ever had" took one step closer to total laughingstock with a 27-17 loss at home to the soon-to-be-fired Norv Turner's Chargers. But -- as usual with Skinny Rex's team -- it wasn't what happened on the field that was the most laughable. It was what happened off the field.

Ryan decided -- again -- that he had seen enough of starting quarterback Mark Sanchez. That's the Mark Sanchez that the team handed a large three-year contract extension before the start of the season. Right before they traded to get blessed backup Tim Tebow. Ryan had pulled Sanchez during a game two weeks ago but Tebow was injured so he inserted third-stringer Greg McElroy. The kid looked like a third-stringer but the Jets got a rare victory so Rex had to make a decision. Go with the kid or go back to Sanchez? Ryan, wisely, went back to the guy he's paying millions. But that ended for good when Sanchez played one of the worst games I've ever seen a quarterback play. He threw four picks against the lowly Titans to make official what everyone else has known for weeks. The Jets won't be going to the playoffs again.

So Rex decided it was time for a change at quarterback. And this time Tebow was healthy. Since they made a big deal out of signing him it seemed like an easy choice. Sure, everyone knows Tebow isn't going to throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns. But he knows how to make plays and he knows how to win. He did it in college and he did it last year with Denver. And he's fun to watch. So give him a shot. Obvious. Right?

Well, not to Rex. He decided to go back to McElroy. And you know who wasn't happy about that? Tim Tebow. Mr. Turn the Other Cheek decided he'd had enough of the Jets and their three-ring nonsense. So he decided that if he wasn't considered good enough to start over some guy named McElroy then he wasn't interested in running the lame wildcat plays that offensive coordinator Tony Sparano likes to use him in. And he told his coaches just that.

So the Jets went up against San Diego with some guy named McElroy as their starter and some guy named Jeremy Kerley as their backup/wildcat quarterback. No wonder Fireman Ed quit. And to no one's surprise the Jets offense was inept again.

If you are a Pats fan then its required reading to go to the websites of the Daily News and the Post on Mondays. It's high entertainment. ESPNNewYork had a good piece on the quarterback mess. A mess that should get someone fired. First should be Sparano. He is officially the most overrated coach in the league. It also might be time to take a look at the GM.

But I sure hope it's not Skinny Rex. He's just too much fun. And I'm hoping after his team loses the season finale to Buffalo -- and it will because they can't beat anyone that can score more than 20 points -- that he will be so depressed at his team's 6-10 record that he goes on a goddamn snack binge and returns to being Rex with a big gut and a bigger mouth. I miss that Rex.

Moving on

WEEK 16
Bill Belichick likes to say after a loss (or a cheating scandal) "we're moving on." That's exactly what the Pats and their fans (and, please, the Sports Blabosphere) need to do. The Patriots beat the Jaguars 23-16 down in Florida but you wouldn't know it from the picture of Brady.

It was one of those ugly wins that playoff teams get. No one feels great about it when it's over but it goes in the W column and that's what counts. And the Pats are now 11-4 and still alive for a bye. That's what really counts.

Brady threw two picks in his first three possessions and at the end of the first quarter the 2-12 Jaguars led the defending AFC champs 13-3. Fortunately the Pats D was playing better than the Pats offense. And fortunately there's a reason the Jags only have two wins. Brady got his act together to lead touchdown drives in the second and third quarters and the team held on at the end with the help of two picks by Patrick Chung deep in Pats' territory. It would be good to see Chung get his game together for the playoffs.

And it would be good to see the Patriots start to play like the Patriots again. But we're moving on. I'm not even bothering with a "good" and "bad" review of this one. Time for the season finale at home against Miami. Word is it might snow. That should cheer up Patriots' fans.

Week 15 rewind

I usually look at the "good" of each week's game first and then the "bad." With the Pats' wild and disappointing loss the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night it has to be the other way around because there was just way too much bad before there was any good.

31-3 (BAD)

• Where to begin? How about the worst half of football a Tom Brady-led offense has had since that playoff game against the Ravens in '09. Punt. Punt. Interception. Punt. Fumble. Field goal. Punt. Fumble. Interception. You are going to fall behind any team in the league playing like that. Against a team like the Niners, you are going to fall behind 31-3. Play like that in the playoffs and you are out.
• So who was to blame? Let's start with Stevan Ridley. He's a more talented runner than BenJarvus, but if you can't hold on to the ball it doesn't matter how great a runner you are. Ever heard of Chuck Muncie? When I was younger and the Chargers were a great team that me and my brothers rooted against, we always knew they would lose because of "the Muncie Factor." You just knew he would fumble at the worst possible time. Kind of like Brett Favre and his game-killing picks. You just knew one was coming. We better not be talking about "the Ridley Factor" when the playoffs are done.
• Speaking of turnovers... Brady had another one of those where he just flings the ball deep down the field hoping his receiver can jump and get it but either way overthrows or underthrows it so the defensive back has an easy pick. I know. Criticizing Brady for interceptions is ridiculous since he takes care of the ball as well as any QB I've seen. But those plays -- like the one to Gronk in the AFC title game last year -- have to stop.
• The defense continues to lead the universe in big plays allowed. That too will have to stop before playoff time rolls around. Randy Moss (Randy Moss!) caught a 24-yard touchdown. San Fran QB Colin Kaepernick hit Delanie Walker for a 34 yard TD. Kaepernick and Michael Crabtree connected on 27-yard touchdown and they connected again on the game-winning 38-yarder. I keep hearing the Pats secondary is improving. I have my doubts. It may have been injuries to Talib and Dennard. I have my doubts.
• Another thing that will have to improve for the playoffs... kick coverage. The Pats special teams got caught napping in the first quarter on a 4th-and-10 when the Niners faked the punt and were able to get an easy first down. But a much bigger sin came late in the game, after the Pats had rallied to tie the score. Gosty kicked to the goal line (also not good) and La Michael James took the ball up the left sideline. He shouldn't have made it past the 20. But he did. Way past the 20 all the way to the Pats 38-yard line. Sloppy technique and tackling turned the momentum right back in San Fran's favor for good. It's the kind of play that could get a special teams coach fired.

31-31 (GOOD)

• OK. Enough of that. There aren't a lot of other teams (or any) that can come back on the San Fran defense from 28 points down. Not only did Brady and the offense come back, they came back in a flash. A 73-yard drive for a touchdown in four minutes. 86 yards in just under four minutes. 70 yards in a minute. And a ridiculous 91-yard drive in three minutes to tie the game. And all without Gronk. The Patriots offense made a statement in the second half that caught the Niners' attention.
• The defense that has given up way too many big plays has made even more of them. Which more often than not adds up to victories. Devin McCourty had another big pick to stop a scoring drive cold.  The D kept the Pats in the game in the first half while the offense sputtered and then it shut the Niners down while the offense staged its comeback. 
• Danny Woodhead. He has taken the role of the underrated role player. The new Kevin Faulk. Woody is almost unstoppable on the pass out of the backfield and the draw play. He's as tough as they come and rock solid with the rock. In short, he's one of my favorite players. Oh, and Rex Ryan cut him. Ha.
• Brandon Lloyd. Has this guy lived up to expectations or what? Lloyd, against one of the toughest defenses in the league, caught 10 passes for 190 yards. He didn't have a touchdown again but that's OK. There are lots of guys scoring touchdowns. But he's the only one making huge toe-tapping sideline catches for first downs. Brady has to love this guy. I know I do.
• The linebacker group of Jerod Mayo, Brandon Spikes, and rookie D'onta Hightower are becoming a force. The key has been (knock on Woodhead) that Mayo and Spikes are still relatively healthy. Mayo had 12 tackles against the tough Niner run game. Hightower had eight. Spikes had six and they were all bruising. Combined with Big Vince, Kyle Love, Ninko, and Chandler Jones up front gives the Pats one of the best front seven in the game.
• Composure. Down 31-3 to the Niners, a lot of teams would have folded or crumbled. Not a Bill Belichick team. They never give up when they are down and never let up when they are ahead. That's what makes them contenders every year. Although the 2012 Patriots are one of the youngest in the league, they are battle tested.

And there will be some big battles ahead. Battles that they will win if they don't turn the ball over four times. That's always the key.

A good reminder

WEEK 15
49ers 41, Patriots 34 (12/16/'12): After a week of the experts putting the Patriots in New Orleans for Super Bowl XLVII, the San Francisco 49ers reminded everyone that the NFL is a week-to-week deal. Following their beat-down of the Texans on Monday night, the Patriots were at the top of almost everyone's power rankings and the Dans of the world were booking flights for the Big Easy. Well, in the NFL nothing is easy.

That was obvious with about ten minutes left to play in the third quarter and the scoreboard reading Niners 31, Patriots 3. Not only were the Patriots getting beaten badly at home, they were getting beaten badly at home in the cold rain. In December. A very rare sight around these parts. The Niners were using a bruising defense and an opportunistic offense to knock the defending AFC champs around their own building. And the Pats were making it easier for them by piling mistake on top of mistake on top of mistake. In the cold rain,

It was ugly. Randy Moss was catching touchdown passes. Sophomores Stevan Ridley and Shane Vereen were coughing balls up. Brady was getting sacked and harassed. Welker and Hernandez were getting beat up on every play. Here's how the Pat's first nine drives ended... punt, punt, interception, punt, fumble, field goal, punt, fumble, interception. Unstoppable? Hardly. It was about as bad as the Pats' offense with Brady has ever looked. But -- as we always do -- most people in the crowd felt that if Brady could just put a drive together that they could quickly get back in the game.

That's exactly what the offense did. In fact, the offense put together four straight touchdown drives to change a 31-3 game against the best defense in the league into a 31-31 battle with about eight minutes left to play. There are few offenses in the league that could have done that. Unfortunately ... the Pats had a few more mistakes left in them. Moments after Woody slammed the ball to the ground after scoring the tying touchdown, the Pats' special teams took a little nap and allowed kick returner LaMichael James a ridiculous 62-yard run back all the way to Pats' 38-yard line. One play later, Colin Kaepernick hit Michael Crabtree on a quick pass to the sideline and cornerback Kyle Arrington whiffed -- again -- on the tackle and Crabtree took it in for an easy touchdown. A great comeback was gone. As was the Pats' chance to control their shot at a first-round bye.

That's how it goes in the NFL. One week a team looks unbeatable. The next week it can't get out of its own way. That's what makes each week so important ... and so much fun. And that's what will make the playoffs even more fun when they start next month. Both the Patriots and the Niners will be there. And they will both have to play better than they did last night in the cold December rain.

Week 14 rewind

Get ready for the onslaught of stories anointing the Patriots as unbeatable. Because here they come.

The Pats' domination of the Texans on Monday night was as complete a game against a good opponent as the team has had in a few years. When you beat the top seed in the conference 42-14 there's not much to put into the bad column. I guess the only bad would be that it wasn't the Super Bowl. I expected the Patriots to play like that in the '07 Super Bowl ... I'm still waiting.

GOOD

• Brady may have locked up another MVP trophy with this one. He completed 21 out of 35 passes for 296 yards. Not eye-popping stats. But he was in command the whole game. Four touchdowns. No picks. He led touchdown drives of 36, 82, 70, 74, 72, and 68 yards. Total command.
• This was supposed to be the year of Aaron Hernandez. The other tight end. But an ankle sprain in the second game of the season has put a dent in that. But Hernandez seems to be healthy again as his eight catches and two touchdowns showed. If Gronk and Hernandez are both healthy come playoff time then the Pats just might be unbeatable. Because both should be pretty fresh.
• Devin McCourty is you new starting safety. The rookie of the year cornerback lost his touch playing his natural position. It's been a puzzling development. But since being moved to safety McCourty has gotten his touch back. He made a huge interception in the end zone to snuff out an early Houston drive  and he had five solo tackles.
• Big Vince keeps playing bigger and bigger. There may be no better defensive player in football. The Pats are one of the top teams against the run and Wilfork is the main reason. The defense held Arian Foster to under 50 yards rushing. That's impressive.
• Rookie Chandler Jones was having a rookie-of-the-year type of season before he got hurt. He's back now and hopefully can get back in gear by playoff time. The other top rookie the team drafted in the first round, D'onta Hightower, has had more of a struggle so far. But against Houston, the linebacker tied for the team lead with six tackles. He was all over the place. He may be a factor when it really counts.

BAD

• Like I said, the only bad thing about this game was that it wasn't the Super Bowl. But it still meant a lot. Suddenly the top seed is a possibility because Houston has to play the red-hot Colts twice. If the Pats play this solid in their final three games then, as they say, the road to the Super Bowl goes through Gillette.

Light it up

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, marrying super models, 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, had his half-time ceremony at Monday night's game. Kevin Faulk had his earlier this year. That leaves just Brady.

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.

'Tis the season

WEEK 14

Patriots 42, Texans 14 (12/10/'12): The headline on this post has been banned (rightfully so) this time of year at the newspaper where I work. But when it comes to December and the New England Patriots it truly 'tis the season ... for winning .. when it really counts.

All week the Patriots said the game against Houston, the AFC's top seed, was a good measuring stick for them. In 2012 in the AFC, it's still the Patriots who are the stick and it's the rest of the conference that keeps doing the measuring. And coming up short.

The Texans are a very good team and if they have home-field advantage in the playoffs they will be tough to beat. But last night, in what they themselves admitted was the biggest game in the history of their franchise, the Texans were not a very good team. At least not when compared to the Patriots.

The game was supposed to be a tight contest and played in very rainy conditions. Neither proved to be the case. The back seat of my car was loaded up with rain gear and we invested in a new tailgating tent (like the team, we are getting ready for the playoffs) but we didn't need it. My raincoat stayed in the car and the tent ended up shielding us from the rays of sun that broke through the clouds just before sunset instead of the predicted downpours. A Monday evening in the Enchanted Forest with temperatures in the 50s and steaks on the grill had us fired up by the time we got to kickoff. Seems the Pats were pretty fired up to.

Brady and the offense scored touchdowns on their first three possessions and it was 21-0 before the Texans could get their prime-time sea legs. Brady and Lloyd connected on a rare deep bomb for the second score which came just a few plays after McCourty picked off Matt Schaub in the Pats' end zone. The offense was clicking and the defense was coming up with third-down stop after stop. One team looked focused and confident. The other looked confused and intimidated. As is often the case, it was the Pats doing the intimidating.

Brady finished with nearly 300 yards passing and threw for four touchdowns with no picks. He spread the ball around to Welker, Hernandez, Lloyd, Woodhead, and even connected for a 63-yard touchdown with old friend  Donte Stallworth. And the running game was strong again. On defense, the Pats held Arian Foster -- the second-best back in the league -- to just 46 yards. It was an all around impressive performance.

It's been so long since the Pats have lost a home game in December that I can't even remember it. Next week will be an even bigger challenge as the Niners -- with the league best defense -- come to Gillette for a Sunday night game. It's another measuring stick game.  And it's the Niners who will be doing the measuring.

It's December. 'Tis the season.

Monday Monday

TALES FROM THE TAILGATE
Cowboys 35, Patriots 21 (9/21/'81): Are you ready for some football? Of course you are. The Patriots host the Texans tonight in what is expected to be a warm -- but rainy -- night at Gillette. I hate tailgating in the rain more than anything. But nothing can dampen a Monday Night battle for supremacy in the AFC.

In 2012 the NFL plays on Thursday nights, Sunday nights, Saturday evenings, and of course from sunrise to sunset on Sunday. But Monday Night is still special. It all started in the 1970s to promote the merged AFL and NFL. It brought football to a new level and it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. Even when your team is mediocre (Jets), it's always fun to settle in on the first weeknight, open a beer, and watch them play.

The Patriots have played 44 MNF games. They have won 22. They have lost 22. Like most Patriots stats, the majority of those wins have come in the last 20 years. In fact, the team has played 20 of those 44 games in just the past decade. Bill Belichick is 15-5 in those games. I have enjoyed some great nighttime football during that time. My favorite is still the 2010 game against Rex Ryan and the Jets. The Pats were 9-2. The Jets were 9-2. Not-so-skinny Rex was talking about a new sheriff in the AFC East. Final score ... Patriots 45, Jets 3.

The Pats have played at least one Monday night game for eleven straight years. It comes with the territory when you are a championship contender year after year. And whether at home or on the road they are among the most anticipated games on the schedule. But before Belichick and Brady (and Parcells) turned the franchise's fortunes around, the Pats were not regulars on MNF. In fact, after a particularly ugly night at the old stadium in 1981 the Pats (more to the point: their drunken fans) were banned from Monday Night games for years.

1981. Ron Erhardt. "Call me Fargo." 2-14. I was a 19-year-old fan who a mere five years earlier had become hooked on the team watching Steve Grogan, Russ Francis, Steve Nelson, John Hannah, Stanley Morgan. and a group of entertaining, tough players make the playoffs and almost knock off the eventual champs the Raiders. The Pats fired their coach (Chuck Fairbanks) before the playoffs the next season and went into a downward spiral that hit rock bottom on a cool, late September night at what was then known as Schaefer Stadium. A perfect night for tailgating. A perfect night for drinking. For drinking a lot.

The Patriots started the season 0-2 but were ahead of the Dallas Cowboys 21-17 in the third quarter. Matt Cavanaugh was the team's quarterback and he made Zolak look competent. Cavanaugh threw four picks and the Cowboys scored 18 straight points to win 35-21. It was ugly on the field. And uglier off the field.

Schaefer (later Sullivan and Foxboro) was known as a tough stadium. It was not a place to bring your kids. Or you girlfriend. Or your doberman. It was like watching the game at the corner bar. There were three fights for every touchdown. It seemed that as much beer was dumped on people as it was consumed. Of course that's impossible but it often felt that way. As Rodney Dangerfield would say... "What a rough crowd." On that night in 1981, as the Pats blew the game to Dallas and fell to 0-3, the rough crowd turned into a raging mob. The final stats on the game say Cowboy great Tony Dorsett rushed for 162 yards and the Patriots finished with seven turnovers. The final stats in the stands (and the dirt parking lot) say 100 people were kicked out of the game, about 60 people were arrested, 35 ended up in the hospital, 1 cop's gun was stolen, and 1 person in a wheelchair was assaulted.

The mayhem was so bad that ABC Television decided they weren't going to be bringing their MNF crew to lovely Schaefer Stadium for a while. Turns out it was 14 years before the Patriots played another Monday night game at home. Fourteen years. It was a different time for sure. I was in the stands that Monday night in 1981. I got out alive. Someone else was in the stands that night. Robert Kraft. He too got out alive. And something tells me it was that night he decided he would one day buy the franchise and make it so that boxing skills were not required to attend a Patriots game.

Thirty years later it is a great place to watch a game. And now a lot of those games are on Monday night. I think you had to be there on that night in 1981 to truly appreciate what Mr. Kraft has accomplished.

The leader board

One month to go in the 2012 NFL regular season. So far it's been a highly entertaining season (unless you live in KC). This is a pretty good brand of NFL football. And I grew up on 1970s NFL. One of the toughest, craziest, most innovative decades of football ever. If you are a pro football fan, today's NFL -- with the NFL Network, NFL.com, and, most importantly, the Red Zone -- is as good as anything television has to offer. It's the best comedy/drama/reality series there is.

There's the story of Peyton Manning coming back from "Terminator" neck surgery and playing better than ever. There's Andrew Luck, the rookie who replaced Manning in Indy, showing why Indy was crazy enough to give up on one of the three greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game. There's RG3. There's the Colts going from two wins last year to a playoff team this year, inspired by their coach who was diagnosed with cancer. In an era of fantastic offensive displays, there are contenders in San Fran, Seattle, Houston, and Chicago that are led by nasty, hard-hitting defenses.

Oh, and there's Tom Brady and the Patriots battling for the top -- again. The rest of the NFL-loving world must be beyond sick of them. That makes rooting for them that much more enjoyable.

Twelve teams will make the playoffs. Six in each conference. These are the twelve I think will make it...

1. Houston Texans (11-1): It took back-to-back overtime wins against lesser teams (Jags and Lions) to keep the Texans from plummeting down this list. But win they did. The have talent all over the field and they are well coached by the perfectly coiffed Gary Kubiak. The Texans face the biggest game in their franchise history on Monday night at Gillette. Bigger than their playoff game last year. Why? Because if they win they are the #1 seed and get to eat Texas BBQ throughout the AFC playoffs. If they lose then they are in a dogfight just to get a first-round bye. The Texans are the second best team in the league against the run. The Pats are eighth in rushing. The Texans have a point differential of an impressive +130. There's only one team better... the Pats at +170. That's right. The Pats have score 170 more points than they have allowed.

2. New England Patriots (9-3): And that's why they are the second best team in the league till they win Monday night. Did I mention they have scored 170 more points than they have allowed? And they have done it with major injuries to Hernandez, to Gronk, to Edelman, to most of the offensive line, to both starting safeties, and now to rookie of the year candidate Chandler Jones. If Brady and the Pats can get a bye and get healthy come January, there is only one team that would make me nervous in the playoffs. That's the one with the white N and the G on their blue helmets, of course.

3. Atlanta Falcons (11-1): I said in an earlier ranking that the Falcons have the smell of that team that goes 15-1 and loses at home in the Divisional Round to the Bears or the Giants. They are starting to smell just a little less each week. Following their first loss to New Orleans a month ago they have beaten Arizona, Tampa, and their nemesis the Saints in three tough games. Playoff-like games. The Falcons have the fourth-best passing attack. But they are only 28th in the league in rushing, And they are average stopping the pass and the run. They deserve to be ranked at the top of the NFC heading into the stretch drive, but I wouldn't bet on them getting a chance to play for the Lombardi.

4. Denver Broncos (9-3): How great would it be if Peyton Manning and the Broncos came into Gillette for the AFC Championship game? I know, be careful what you wish for. But it would be great. Especially if it was about 25 degrees with a little snow. I've got plenty of layers for that. And it just might happen because Manning the Elder is playing as great as ever. It really shouldn't come as a shock. Impressive, yes. But not a shock. If you've been watching Manning for nearly 20 years you've seen him do some amazing things. This year is no different. The best play the veteran made all year was when he passed over other teams and chose to go to Denver. The Broncos were a pretty good team last year. Now they are very good.

5. San Francisco 49ers (8-3-1): The best defense in the league is great to have but you still need to be able to control the ball and score points on offense. That's the Niners achilles heel. And they now have a quarterback controversy. That's never good. Jim Harbaugh got a little too smart for his own good. But he's always been that way. The Niners were looking solid with Alex Smith at QB, the guy who led them to the NFC title game. Then he got hurt and Harbaugh's guy Colin Kaepernick came in and looked pretty good. But really not any better than Smith. And then the Niners lost to the Rams with Kaepernick and now Harbaugh has a problem. But it's not a huge problem because quarterback is not -- by far -- the most important position on his team. That's because his running game is the second best in the league. And the defense? Well, it's second against the pass and third against the run. The best defense in the league.

6. Green Bay Packers (8-4): It's been a crazy season so far for the Pack. The team that went 15-1 last year has had a much bumpier, injury-filled ride this time. The Pack had a game stolen from them by the fake refs. After five games they were sitting at 2-3 but then strung together five straight wins and were looking like the NFC favorite again only to get stomped by the Giants. After all that, the Pack is still sitting at 8-4 and now have a chance to grab that #2 seed and get the bye and a home game at Lambeau. If Aaron Rodgers and his well-coached team can do that then I think you will be seeing them in the Super Bowl.

7. New York Giants (7-5): Or you'll see these guys. A month ago I had the 6-2 defending champs at the top of the list. Since then they have gone 1-3. They are now in a dogfight with the Skins and the Cowboys ... and the Skins with RG3 are starting to jell. Why do I find the Giants more dangerous at 7-5 than I did when they were 6-2? Because that's what the Giants do. Little Manning had a rough few weeks but you now he will be clutch when it counts. And the G-Men have that great pass rush. Still, I get the feeling that the horseshoe may have fallen out of this team's pocket.

8. Chicago Bears (8-4): When the Bears are clicking they are a heck of a team. It's just hard to believe a team coached by Lovie Smith and led by Jay Cutler will click when it counts. But the defense is good enough to give them a chance to find out. There's been a lot of talk of how Brandon Marshall has made a huge difference on the offense. And he has. But the Chicago passing game is 31st in the league. Sure, the running game is top 10. As is the defense. But with Cutler in charge the Bears are always beatable.

9. Indianapolis Colts (8-4): One of the more compelling stories in the league this year is the Colts resurgence and the fact that it's happening while their first-year coach is being treated for cancer. As great a human interest story as that is, it's the play of rookie QB Andrew Luck and the rest of the rebuilding Colts that has been something to see. Luck has had Manning-like moments. The rest of the team is  pretty average, but Luck (like Manning) makes everyone better. The Colts are the Cinderella team riding on emotion. You don't want to play them in the first round.

10. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-5): This is the point in the rankings where you can choose from about fifteen teams. I'm going with the proven commodity. Big Ben and the Steelers are getting older and are pretty banged up. But they just schooled RG3 and the Skins on how to play smash-mouth football. As the Ravens are losing more guys to injury, the Steelers are starting to get healthier. If they get Polamalu back they should win the AFC North and be a team to fear in the playoffs because they have the experience and they have Big Ben.

11. Seattle Seahawks (7-5): Pete Carroll has something going here. Much to my surprise. It seems like he has built a really good college team in the Northwest and those college players are responding to his style. The Seahawks are like the Bears. Good running game. Very good defense.  Not very dangerous passing game. But rookie Russell Wilson has been gaining more confidence. I would have more faith in him than Cutler in a playoff game. Seattle will go as far as their young, nasty D will carry them.

12. Baltimore Ravens (9-3): If there were more than four weeks left in the season I think the Bengals would catch the Ravens for the last wildcard spot. The veteran (old) team in Baltimore is fading that fast. The Ravens are 15th in the league in passing, but only 23rd in the league in rushing. That's hard to explain considering they have Ray Rice. More worrisome if you are a Raven fan is the fact that the defense is ranked 23rd against the pass AND the run. The Ravens have a lot of talent, but they are a wounded team heading into the playoffs.

Dishonorable mention: The 3-9 Philadephia Eagles. Sure, I could have put the Jets here after their performance on Thanksgiving night against the Pats. (He ran into his ass!) But enough of the Jets. The Eagles are having an even more hideous season. Their second in a row. Since dubbing themselves the "Dream Team" before last year, the Eagles have gone 11-17. Dream on. Michael Vick. Disaster. DeSean Jackson. Disaster. Nmandi Asomugha. Disaster. Andy Reid. Gone.

Joy division

WEEK 13
The Patriots clinched another AFC East title with a solid -- if somewhat difficult -- road win down in Miami. A win of any kind on the road in the NFL is a good win. A win that clinches your fourth division title in a row ... well that's a great win.

The Dolphins are a pretty good football team. They almost beat the Colts on the road a few weeks ago and they did beat the Seahawks last week. Both the Colts and Seahawks are playoff teams. I watched both of those games and was impressed with how well coached the Dolphins are and how tough they play. They won't make the playoffs, but they are not an easy win for any opponent.

Most Pats fans knew that. Except for Dan Shaughnessy. Then again, he's not really a fan. He's a Dan. And if you are a Dan you really don't know much about the NFL. It's pretty obvious. Before the game Dan wrote the following ... "Winning the AFC East is kind of a joke. It’s like the New York Times being named one of the top 10 newspapers in the country. It’s like Shaquille O’Neal winning a slam-dunk contest at Lincoln-Sudbury High School." Actually, it's not like that at all. As Tom Brady would say ... Winning any game in the NFL is tough. Winning a road game in the NFL is really tough. How did the mighty Niners do against the Rams yesterday? Not so good. The Jets, Bills, and Dolphins are not near the top of the league, but when they play a solid game they are nobody's pushover. Especially the Dolphins.

But Dan didn't see it that way. He added this in his column before the game: "It’s weird to be this confident for any road game in the NFL. ... Sunday is no contest. This New England team is on a roll."

There is no "on a roll" in the NFL. Each week is different. The Giants looked like they couldn't be stopped a few weeks ago then proceeded to lose two in a row. Some weeks Gronk catches 12 passes and two touchdowns and looks like a monster and then the next week he catches two passes and spends a lot of time blocking. The NFL doesn't operate in hot teams and "rolls." It's week to week. A fan gets this. A Dan doesn't. Most fans thought the Pats would win because they are the better team. But "no contest"? In Miami? Against a pretty tough team in your division? Please.

So what did Dan have to say today after the Pats did win in a very tough road game to take the AFC East? "We are spoiled. A win, even when it clinches a division title/playoff spot, isn’t good enough anymore. ... It was pretty ugly — downright unwatchable at times." Who is we? Speak for yourself. Once a Dan, always a Dan. Unwatchable? I really enjoyed watching that game. The Dolphins have a good pass rush and are one of the best teams in the league against the run. They challenged the Pats and the Pats answered the challenge. If you are a football fan, you love a game like that. If you are a Dan, you want every game to be 49-19 so you don't have to pay attention and you can beat the traffic. There were many big moments in yesterday's game and the Pats came through in enough of those moments to get the win.

Especially at the end of the game. Miami kicked a field goal (forced by a great Mayo sack on the delayed blitz) to cut the score to 20-13 with just more than eight minutes left to play. Brady and the offense got the ball at their own 20 and -- after a day spent getting stuffed on the ground -- they handed it to Ridley time and time again for an impressive 16-play drive that chewed up seven of those eight minutes. Gosty kicked a field to seal the win. The Dolphins D said "go ahead and try to run on us" and the Pats offense (especially the banged up line) responded by doing just that. That's football. It was a great drive to watch. For a football fan, that is. Apparently not all that fun if you are a Dan.

Ugly or not, the win did indeed clinch the division, the first of the three goals the team sets every year for the regular season.

1. Win the division.
2. Get a first-round bye.
3. Get home-field advantage.

One down, two to go. A win next Monday night at Gillette against top seed Houston will go a long way to accomplishing the other two.

I was surprised to see how few times the Pats won the division in the first 40 years of my life. Just five. Then I remembered something... they often sucked! Bad. Does 1-15 ring a bell? Which makes what the team has done in the past twelve seasons (10 division titles) even more amazing ... and completely unexpected.

My nephews have grown up knowing nothing but division titles and playoffs. It won't always be like that. They will have their 1-15 some day. But not any time soon. But they know that. And they appreciate and enjoy every win -- even the "ugly" ones. They are fans. Not Dans.