Finishing Touch

So, the daunting prospect of facing two desperate opponents on the road to end the season proved to be a paper tiger. The New England Patriots sailed into the post-season with a convincing 40-23 win over the Titans—looking to became the first team ever to go 0-5 and make the playoffs.

After falling behind 3-0, the 3-time Super Bowl Champs put up 19 unanswered points—featuring gutsy runs by Corey Dillon (2 TDS).

The defense, who always show up, sacked the very "vincible" Vince Young 5 times—and also saw Assante Samuel take over the NFL interception lead with two pics.

Tom Brady was typically intense and deadly, at one point hurling a 62-yard TD pass to Caldwell that quickly quieted the Tennessee crowd—emboldened by some optimistic scoreboard results from other games. All in all, a dominating way to launch into the "tournament" season.

Winter "Survivor"

Sure, it's felt like Spring so far, but you know the cold blast will arrive eventually. Prepare yourself with this stylish and warm hat—personalized with the Patriot's Elvis Logo.

Aras Baskauskas, the winner of last year's Survivor TV Series, made available a sample of his hat to FoxboroNation. We give the hats a very warm two ("mitten-ed") thumbs up! Root the Pats onto Super Bowl Win #4 with this great idea from Tundra Gear. You can order yours here. Tell Aras you saw the hat on FoxboroNation!

The CLINCH That Stole Christmas

The New England Patriots played like their playoff lives depended on the outcome of their Christmas Eve match-up with the Jaguars—and, in fact, it did. Even though much of the fan base assumed they were a shoe-in for the post-season, the harsh reality was that this very inconsistent squad was up against two tough road games, while the Jets played two relative cream-puffs. The J-E-T-S winning the division? Unthinkable.

So, Tom Brady took the situation into his own hands. The two-time Super Bowl MVP engineered a bevy of long marches—mostly via short passes—on the way to a division-clinching 24-21 victory over Jacksonville. Brady hit 10 different receivers, going 28-for-39 for 249 yards, one touchdown and no turnovers.

Rookie David Thomas (of the Texas Longhorns) caught his first NFL TD on a precise laser from Brady—while shining throughout the contest. Of course, Troy Brown made several big "under the radar" grabs—but you knew that. Laurence Maroney scampered for a scintillating 27-yard TD run that reminded us all of his unlimited potential down the road.

This was a game that could have easily been lost—but this time, while the stalwart defense showed up as always, the offense did as well. Hello, playoffs.

Injury Scrimmage

So, let's say the NFL took pity on the dregs of the league and, in the interests of parity, "handicapped" the really good teams when they played the likes of the Houston Texans (is that their name?). What you'd get is the 40-7 rout you witnessed on Sunday as the the injury-handicapped Pats rolled to win #10.

Not that the Pats were all that impressive, getting ridiculously good field position all day, and converting into pay dirt far too infrequently. This was just too easy a challenge, as New England glided to a 20-0 half-time lead and coasted the rest of the way.

Ellis Hobbs was the stand-out on special teams and defense—snaring one of four David Carr interceptions and sprinting 93 yards for a kick-off return TD. Kevin Faulk was the offensive star with an 11-yard TD run and a 43-yard screen catch and run TD.

Brady was efficient and focused (as was the entire squad after sleep-walking in Miami last week), but threw for only 109 yards before being replaced by Matt Cassel and Vinny Testaverde in the 4th Quarter. Ho-hum, win #10, still no official playoff berth, and two tough road games to go.

Truly Offensive Line

If Tom Brady were a litigious kind of guy, he could sue his offensive line for non-support—and not a jury anywhere in New England would deny him triple damages. Sacked four times and hurried on almost every play that wasn't a run, Brady fumed at his O-Line all day to no avail.

The result was a humiliating 21-0 shutout at the hands of an inferior Dolphin squad. What a debacle—particularly since Indianapolis and the Jets lost and the Ravens (suddenly the team to beat in the AFC) advanced to 10-3.

This game was ugly from the opening kick-off. The Patriots could not protect the Quarterback, they could not keep from committing 9 dumb penalties, they could not protect the ball, heck, they couldn't even tackle! Far be it from us to suggest a strategy to Coach B, but how about a tackling drill this week? Pathetic!

Tom Brady said it best on WEEI's Dennis & Callahan on Monday morning: "We're at Week 13, and we're still looking for an identity". Amen. The more inconsistent performances we see like this, the more we feel that these guys are going nowhere in January.

As Close To A Loss As A Win Gets

What is it about these 2006-2007 New England Patriots? They come with their A-game in big match-ups with quality opponents, but bring Pop Warner-level enthusiasm (or lack thereof) to games they should cake-walk through. It really raises the question of whether this squad has the consistent mental toughness to go all the way. I still think they do, but today's 28-21 eeker of a victory over the hapless Lions had a nerve-wracking quotient of about 1,000.

They 9-3 Pats (now only a game behind the losing Colts) came out sloppy, lethargic and complacent. As a result, they almost lost this one. Only the no-huddle urgency they displayed in the early 4th Quarter allowed them enough of an edge to just get past a feisty Detroit team that had nothing to lose on the road.

Without an injured Laurence Moroney, the venerable Corey Dillon brought it to the table with 3 touchdowns and a grittiness we haven't seen from him in a while. Also, Rashee Caldwell (pronounced REE-Shay please), stepped out the group of receivers to become Tom Brady's new #1 target, hauling in 8 balls for over 100 yards. Mike Vrable was again the stalwart on defense, with two picks and a recovered fumble. Oh, and this Brady kid was his typical cool self in engineering the no-huddle barrage that capped the win. Two weeks in a row, two "W"s, but very little pretty play. This may be the year of the Ugly Super Bowl Champion Patriots. I'll take it.