The worst

I can't believe that hit by Wes Welker on Aqib Talib. I just can't believe it.

I can't believe that the 5-9 (maybe), 185-pound Welker slammed into the 6-1, 205-pound Talib and that the 6-1, 205-pound Talib is the one who limped off the field, into the locker room, and didn't return to the little thing known as the AFC Championship Game.

Really? I agree with Belichick ... That is the worst thing I've ever seen. Since when does a tiny slot receiver crash into a big defensive back and it's the DB that gets the worst of it? The worst indeed.

Watch the Zapruder film above. "Back. And to the left. Back. And to the left." It looks to me like Welker was looking to pick Talib (a common, if illegal move) and instead of just bumping him he just ran smack into him. When I look at the film I see two guys colliding. Talib seems to actually crunch Welker with his shoulder. If I didn't know the outcome and I watched the video I would say "I don't think that little guy is getting up." But the little guy did get up and the big guy did not. And in a game where there weren't too many big plays for the Patriots, that was a big play. It wouldn't have changed the outcome unless Talib could have played offense too, but losing Talib definitely made Manning's life a whole lot easier.

It seems that Bill Belichick really can't be rational when it comes to #83. First he -- and just about everyone else -- blamed him for not catching that pass in the Super Bowl. You know. The one that should have been a title-clinching TD that Brady completely missed. Welker took the heat for that one just because he tried to make an acrobatic, twirling mid-air catch instead of just letting it sail way over his head. Brady still needs to take the blame for that one.

Then Belichick decided that Welker catching 100 passes each year -- many to keep drives going -- was not really that crucial to the offense after all. He decided to let him walk and replace him with Danny Amendola. I thought Amendola -- if healthy -- would certainly be a very good replacement for Welker. But he couldn't be Welker. The guy is as tough as they come. Amendola was nowhere to be found during the biggest game of his career. That never happens with Welker.

Now Welker is responsible for one of the worst plays Belichick has ever seen? I don't know. Belichick is often right and I'm not. But no matter how many times I watch the video it is just too "bang-bang" a play to say there was any intent by Welker other than to interfere with Talib. It just looks like two guys coming across the middle on a collision course and neither being able to get out of the way even if they wanted to.

On another note... that's the second year in a row that Talib has limped out of the AFC title game. That's not saying he's not tough enough. He's played all year with a bad hip. He's tough. And he's very good. But he's also just as injury prone as that other guy we signed ... Amendola.

Welker ... he's tough. And he keeps on playing.

Mile low

AFC CHAMPIONSHIP
I'm not really sure what the people in the Sports Blabosphere are going to do this week. If you watched the Patriots season end with a 26-16 loss to the Broncos in Denver you know there really isn't much to say.

There aren't any "if only Brady had done this" or "if only Dennard had done that." The Patriots were outplayed from start to finish. It was 20-3 at the half but it might as well have been 40-3. Sure, the Pats were down 24-0 to this same Denver team just two months ago and stormed back to win. But that was at Gillette. And the reason the Pats were down in that game was that they turned the ball over and made one mistake after another.

The Patriots didn't make many mistakes yesterday (no turnovers) ... problem is they just didn't make many plays. Or any plays when it really mattered. It was as sound a beat down as any Belichick-Brady team has ever had. Me and my friends and family didn't get to throw a high-five until the game was almost over. That sucked.

The Broncos were the better team all year. But not that much better. The Broncos defense allowed an average of almost 25 points per game during the season (the Pats D allowed just under 22). The Broncos had a solid run defense (as was obvious yesterday pretty early on) but the Pats were better against the pass (not so obvious yesterday). All-in-all it should have been a pretty even battle. One look at the NFC title match between San Fran and Seattle showed what the game should have looked like. Both teams making big plays on offense and defense and special teams, the lead going back and forth, and finally one team making the biggest play to clinch it.

In the AFC title game it was the Broncos making all the plays. One after another after another after another. At times it seemed the Pats were just standing around and watching. Denver receivers were wide open, caught the ball, and then usually broke a tackle or two before either running out of bounds or going down gently. There were no moments of Bronco players taking a big hit as the cost for making a play. Denver was comfortable the whole game.

Other than Edelman, there really wasn't one player on the Pats who looked like they had a clue. Combine that with the Broncos playing an outstanding game and you get dominated. Manning threw for 400 yards because the Patriots' pass rush was more invisible than it usually is. And it's usually very hard to see. It was not the secondary's finest day, but it's hard to cover the best group of receivers in the game when the best quarterback in the game never gets dirty.

The only chance was to put pressure on the Broncos with the offense. But for the fifth year in a row the season ended with the team struggling just to get near 20 points. Brady missed some early chances at big plays and the offense showed a little spark at the end but when the team needed a big play they couldn't make it. The offensive line -- which had looked so strong down the stretch -- was a non-factor. The beast running game that had the offense looking like it was geared for a drive to the Super Bowl didn't show up. Folk hero LaGarrette Blount rushed for six yards. Six.

With the offense providing no pressure and the defense scratching and clawing to keep the game close, the Broncos were content to kick field goals. It seemed that John Fox (me last Tuesday: "Belichick will not lose to John Fox.") figured out sooner than most people that field goals were going to be enough to beat the Pats on this day. You had the feeling that if the Broncos needed to get touchdowns on those drives they would have gone on some of those fourth downs and put up seven. But they never had to.

Another disappointing ending to a great season. But that's the thing. It was another great season. That's like 13 in a row. And this year's team was as fun to root for as any of them. No Gronk. No Big Vince. No Mayo. No Seabass. No Spikes. No Amendola and Vereen for much of the year. But the team kept winning. I thought there was no way they could compete with the Saints offense, even at home. Pats 30-27. I figured there was no chance to come back down 24-0 to Denver. Pats 34-31. And there was no way they could go into Baltimore and beat a Ravens team that had won four in a row. Pats 41-7.

I figured it would be unlikely that they could go into Denver and pull off the upset in one of the toughest places to play. But this team just kept winning. Even the games they lost were close ones. Till today. As has been the case often in the past few years, the Pats saved their worst game of the season for their last game. That's always disappointing -- but no longer surprising -- with a Belichick-Brady team. That's what makes winning three titles in four years still so amazing. Watch each episode of "Three Games to Glory" one of these boring non-football days ahead and you will see just how many times the team's season came close to ending. But each time someone stepped up and made a play. Each time. The 2013 Pats were that team for most of the season but came up two games short. The 2014 Pats look to have a chance to take it two steps further and get the fourth "Three Games to Glory" made.

Well, that is if Gronk comes back healthy. If Vince can still play. If Edelman and Talib re-sign. If the team can find a pass rush. If Brady can stay healthy one more season. If ...

If my biggest complaint about the Pats is that they keep losing in the Super Bowl or the AFC title game ... well, I remember 1-15.

The good Manning

I know it's taboo for a Pats' fan to say... I like that Peyton Manning. (Not so for the little Manning, but he's thankfully done for the year ... so who cares about him?)

I like Peyton. He makes really funny commercials. He seems like a genuinely good guy. His teammates seem to really like him. He often loses to the Patriots in huge games. He doesn't sell UGGs. Oh, and he's one of the three or four best quarterbacks I have ever seen play the toughest position in pro sports.

Montana. Brady. Bradshaw. Aikman. Marino. Elway. Kelly. Staubach. Manning. For me, those are the best of my generation. You can put them in any order that you want. I never thought a Patriot quarterback would be on that list. I grew up watching Bradshaw and Staubach build Hall of Fame careers. I later watched as Montana, Aikman, and Elway won titles. I may not have always been rooting for them but I always enjoyed watching them and loved the way they played.

Manning is the same way. I don't really want to see him win another Super Bowl -- mainly because he's a Bronco and Pats' fans have a special dislike of the Mile High team. But if he does win it all he will have earned it -- again.

Even after a career-threatening neck surgery took a year away from him just as he was entering the last few years of his career, Manning the elder has battled all the way back and still makes passes that boggle the mind. He may be better than ever.

And he's still pretty funny....

Wet and wild

Standing in a torrential, wind-blown rainstorm with your boots covered in mud for eight hours sucks.

Standing in a torrential, wind-blown rainstorm with your boots covered in mud, while drinking, eating meatball subs, steak tips. scallops, baked stuffed tatos, and pecan pie with friends and family and then watching the Patriots crush the Colts in a playoff game ... that doesn't suck at all.

From the wet and wild ride in to the Pats running wild into the AFC title game to that long-anticipated hot shower at 2 a.m. ... it was a great day.