Projo Pats Blog

December 2007 Archives

Greed is good -- if you're the NFL, and the networks that televise the league's games.
But not if you're a fan of the New England Patriots.
In what clearly was a matter of dollars and cents, rather than common sense, the NFL -- as expected -- scheduled the Pats' AFC semi-final playoff game in Foxboro for Saturday night, Jan. 12. Which, from a financial standpoint, makes sense, because the undefeated Patriots are the league's biggest TV attraction.
New England's game Saturday night against the Giants at the Meadowlands got huge ratings. An average of 34.5 millions viewers were tuned in to see if the Pats could become only the second team in NFL history to go unbeaten in the regular season, making the telecast the most-watched, regular-season, NFL game since the Cowboys hosted the Chiefs on Thanksgiving Day, 1995.
So it's no surprise that the league wanted to, once again, put the Patriots on in prime time.
From a competitive standpoint, however -- given that the games are going to be played in mid-January -- wouldn't it have made more sense to have the Patriots play Sunday afternoon at 1, when it's possible the sun might be shining, rather than schedule the Colts, who play indoors in the RCA Dome, for that time?
Green Bay, where it's likely to be even colder than New England, has the Saturday afternoon at 4:30 time slot for its NFC semi-final game, and the Cowboys will play Sunday afternoon at 4:30 in Big D.

Today's sports cover chronicles all 16 of the Patriots' regular-season wins in this record-setting season.

Download a copy of today's sports cover in .pdf format.

Randy Moss's sense of comic timing is impeccable.

At his press conference last night, Moss was asked what he thinks of the international coverage his team has received -- the questioner was a journalist who flew in from Japan.

"I've never been in that situation to know that we're worldwide but it's a good feeling," Moss said.

"I can't speak that language, but just tell 'em we said wassup man and we appreciate the support."

Classic.

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – It was one throw.

One long, beautifully executed pass play.

But its completion, aside from being a thing of beauty, was historic.

In one pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss, the New England Patriots staked their claim to the NFL’s first 16-0 regular season, Brady became the first quarterback in league history to throw 50 touchdown passes in a season, and Moss caught his 23rd score of the year, also a record.

And the 65-yard Brady-to-Moss bomb wasn’t intended for Moss when New England broke the huddle. Facing third-and-10 at their own 35 after Brady underthrew Moss a bit on a go route down the right sideline on the play before, the play called for Brady to hit Wes Welker for the first down.

But the Giants’ defense trapped Welker, and Brady checked to Moss, who was wide open this time, having run past safety James Butler and with corner Sam Madison apparently hurt on the play.

Pass, catch, run, touchdown, 16-0.

New England’s 38-35 win over the Giants last night was every bit as hard-fought as several of their wins were seemingly easy. New York travels to Tampa Bay next weekend for its opening playoff game, but the Giants had no intentions of taking the night off and letting the Pats waltz to their 16th victory.

New York became the first team this season to score on their opening drive of the game against the Patriots, and just the fifth club to get a touchdown in the first quarter. The Giants led the game at halftime, 21-16, and by 12 points with less than eight minutes left in the third quarter.

As they have done all season, however, New England made plays when it needed to, from hard-earned second-half touchdown runs by Laurence Maroney, to a timely interception by Ellis Hobbs, to Mike Vrabel’s recovery of New York’s onside kick after it drew within three points with 64 seconds to play.

The offensive line deserves a great deal of credit in this one too: without Stephen Neal and Nick Kaczur and facing a dangerous defensive line, the patchwork unit held up well, as Brady was sacked only once and hit twice.

“All the credit goes to the players,” Bill Belichick said. “They stepped up and made a lot of outstanding plays at critical times in the game, especially in the second half and in the fourth quarter. They came through like they have all year.”

While it was their 16th in 16 tries this season, the win was also New England’s NFL record 19th consecutive regular season win, eclipsing the mark of 18 they set over the 2003-04 seasons.

Belichick isn’t big on singling out players, but Moss is one player who has come through game in and game out. The 10-year veteran has cherished his football rebirth, and last night said he sensed great things from the moment he arrived in Foxboro.

“I’m very blessed and fortunate to be in this position, to do what I love to do, and that’s play football,” Moss said. “There are some opportunities in life that you don’t want to pass up, and I didn’t want to pass up the opportunity to play for the New England Patriots.”

The formerly mercurial receiver began the season with four straight 100-yard receiving games, and with an even 100 on six grabs last night, finishes with nine overall, totaling 1,493 yards and the record 23 touchdown passes. His teammates started lauding him as a leader, and NFL observers scratched their heads – Randy Moss had never been described as a leader and good teammate.

But he knew, clearly, that even his worst day with the Patriots was better than his best with Oakland, where he spent two stormy losing years.

Last night, he spoke words most veteran Pats never would, but they rang true:

“Hats off to us. As a football player, as a fan of the game, my hat’s off to this organization.”

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Bill Belichick was excited.

No kidding, he really was.

Which shows you just how big a deal it was that the Patriots beat the Giants, 38-35, Saturday night and became the first team in NFL history to go 16-0 in the regular season.

"That was some way to finish the season," Belichick said. "It is really exciting to be a part of this football team.

"We feel good about what we've accomplished. Pretty soon, we're going to have to turn the page and move on, but I am happy for the players. You work all year to try and win every game, and to win them all is great. I'm very happy about it."

Joy was evident throughout the New England locker room Saturday night at Giants Stadium.

"It's been a special year," said wide receiver Wes Welker, who, in his first season with the Patriots, set a franchise record by catching 112 passes. "It means a great deal. We talked about playing winning football one game at a time, and that is what we've done so far, and what we need to continue to do."

"We always got everyone's best shot," said veteran defensive end Richard Seymour. "I think that is what makes it so special.

"It wasn't something we talked about a whole lot. It was great to do it. I don't know how to put it in perspective at this point. It's something that, when you walk away from the game one day, you will be able to look back upon and say: 'That was a special team.' It's great to be among the elite."

But there's no looking back for the Patriots now. Instead, they'll be focusing on their AFC semi-final playoff game two weeks from now at Gillette Stadium.

"The only thing we can do with it being a historical season," said record-setting wide receiver Randy Moss, "is enjoy it for 24, or more than 48, hours. We have a tough game in the second round of the playoffs. There's no telling who we're going to play, but you know it's the playoffs and anything can happen. It's one game at a time and, if you lose, you're out.

"Like I said, I think we can enjoy this for what we've accomplished for no more than 48 hours, then we get down to the nitty-gritty and get ready for the playoffs."

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- It wasn't surpassing Jerry Rice that made Randy Moss happiest, it was silencing his critics.

"I don't think me breaking Jerry Rice's record was special," Moss said at his post-game press conference. "I think shutting you guys up was really what made it special

"After all the negativity, and all my critics, I think this reall yis a good feeling, to be able to come and have a season like this."

At the age of 30, and coming off the worst season of his career with Oakland, Moss had a season for the ages, breaking Rice's record by catching 23 touchdown passes -- two of them coming in the Patriots' come-from-behind, 38-35 victory over the Giants that enabled New England to become the first team in NFL history to finish the regular season 16-0.

Moss had 98 receptions for a league-high, 1,493 yards in his first year with the Patriots and their star quarterback, Tom Brady.

"My mindset," said Moss, "was to come here and have a hell of a season. I knew what they had here -- the coaching staff, the guys, the success they've had here over the years. Now, what the numbers would be, I really didn't know. I just wanted to come here and play some good football."

Moss has played great football all year, and was terrific once again against the Giants. He scored the Patriots' first touchdown on a 4-yard pass from Brady on the first play of the second quarter, and then put the Pats ahead in dramatic fashion in the fourth quarter when he hauled in a 65-yard scoring bomb.

Only the play before, Moss had tried to come back on an underthrown pass by Brady that would have been good for 50 yards, but couldn't quite hang on to the ball.

"I tried my best to come back and get it, because I saw one guy -- I don't know if it was the cornerback or the safety -- fall, so I knew it was my change to try to get that catch and move the offense a little closer to the end zone.

"But I missed the ball and jogged back to the huddle, and the very next play, they called a play was really designed for Wes Welker to go out and get the first down, but the corner and the safety trapped Wes, and tried to trap Tommy into throwing the ball there and getting the ball picked off. But Tommy made a good read."

Moss made a bad decision after catching his first touchdown pass, drawing a penalty for excessive celebration after dancing in the end zone and then spiking the ball emphatically. That proved costly for the Patriots as, kicking off from their own 15, they were victimized by Domenik Hixon, who returned the ball 74 yards to a touchdown.

"I don't usually dance," Moss said. "But I decided to try to have a little fun. This week, it was the 'Tootsie Roll.' I kind of got in trouble with coach Belichick, but, hopefully, he'll look past that.

"We're grown men," Moss continued, "but we're still little kids at heart. I love what I do in between the white lines. I'm very blessed and fortunate to be in this position."

And the Patriots are very blessed and fortunate to have Moss playing the wide receiver position.

In the Giants’ locker room after the game, the buzz word was “momentum.”

As in, New York feels it has good momentum going as it prepares for a first-round playoff game in Tampa Bay next weekend despite the loss to New England.

“This is a pretty good momentum builder coming out of a game like this,” defensive lineman Justin Tuck said. “We are still disappointed because you don’t want to lose, but I think it gives us the gauge that we wanted.”

Backup center Grey Ruegamer: “It is a great momentum builder, but we still lost. So I’m pretty ticked off about that. When you play a team like that, you want to gauge yourself and you want to win. We played to win and we just came up a little short at the end. We lost but we are in the playoffs.”

Safety James Butler, whom Randy Moss blew past on his way to touchdown number 23: “The way we played tonight is definitely a momentum-builder going into the playoffs. But you still want to win this game. There are a lot of positives that we can take out of tonight’s game. We were hustling, we were aggressive, and we were playing hard-nosed football tonight. And that is the same kind of attitude and intensity that we have to bring into next week’s game.”

But linebacker Antonio Pierce apparently didn’t get the momentum memo.

“It is a confidence builder,” he said. “That is the best team in the league, probably hands-down in the regular season. I thought we played toe-to-toe with those guys. But you have to play four quarters. You have to play (darn) near perfect against them.”

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- "Mike Vrabel is a guy who I'm not surprised by anything he's able to do."

So said Richard Seymour after Vrabel put the finishing touch on the Patriots' perfect season by cleanly catching Lawrence Tynes' onside kick at the New York 41 with just over a minute remaining, preserving New England's historic, come-from-behind, 38-35 victory.

The players sent on to the field when an onside kick is expected are known as the "Hands" team. And, if you're surprised that a linebacker would be on it, well, you haven't been watching Vrabel in his seven seasons with the Patriots.

Vrabel has a great pair of hands, as he's demonstrated time after time playing tight end in goal-line situations.

He has caught 10 passes for the Patriots over the years, and all of them have been for touchdowns. Two of them have come this season, and two others were in Super Bowls -- one against Carolina, the other against Philadelphia. He once had two TD catches in one game -- against the Jets in 2005.

But it's on defense that he primarily earns his paycheck. He leads the team this year with a career-high 11-1/2 sacks. Although he doesn't have an interception this year, he has had 10 since coming to New England from Pittsburgh as a free agent in 2001.

"He's a football player," Seymour said. "He makes a lot of plays. If Tom Brady were to do down, he could probably step in and play quarterback."

He also has 10 career interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown

Some things are just harder for some people to let go of than others.

After New England’s win over Miami last night to seal an undefeated regular season, the always-outstanding Dolphins media relations staff sent out some quotes from members of the 1972 Miami team, which went a perfect 17-0 in winning Super Bowl VII.

Head coach Don Shula, quarterback Bob Griese and a few other players all sent their congratulations to the Patriots for their accomplishment, with several noting that they know New England’s quest doesn’t stop at 16-0.

But then, at the bottom, was Mercury Morris. Morris has repeatedly said that he’ll welcome the Pats to his “neighborhood” when they start to move their things in next door. But apparently, 16-0 isn’t close enough for Morris:

“My feeling about it is as consistent as it has been all year. It doesn’t matter to me whether or not they win them all because it doesn’t affect anything we’ve done,” he said. “When all the dust clears, the best they can do is stand beside us, and in the end, that’s not a bad thing. I will welcome them to the neighborhood with my Mr. Rogers sweater on, but first they have to get to the neighborhood.”

Guard Bob Kuechenberg also offered reluctant good wishes.

“They’ve done a heck of a job thus far. But now the exhibition season is over and the real season begins. Obviously, if they can win their first playoff game, beat an even more dangerous Colts team, and then Brett Favre or the Dallas Cowboys in the Super Bowl, I will be the first to take my hat off to them. If they can pull it off, they will have earned it,” he said.

“But my heart is dead set against it. The ’72 team is uniquely immortal in American sports and I don’t want us to lose that special place. We will forever be immortal, and if they win every game in front of them, then they will join us among those ranks. They will have deserved it and I will congratulate them. But something in my heart makes me feel that we accomplished something so special that it forever sets the standard of excellence in sports.”

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- "It doesn't get any better than that," said Tom Brady, flashing that winning smile.

It surely does not get any better than 16 wins in 16 games -- a perfect record in what, so far, has been a perfect season for the Patriots and Brady, their just-about-perfect-in-just-about-every-way quarterback.

"My job," Brady said Saturday night, "is to figure out what's going on out there, and get the ball to the open guy."

Nobody has the game of football figured out better than Brady, who rallied his team from its largest deficit of the season -- 12 points, midway through the third quarter -- to not just a thrilling, but a truly historic, 38-35 victory over the Giants.

He threw 42 times and completed 32 of them, for 356 yards and two touchdowns, without an interception. The two TD passes brought his season total to 50, breaking the NFL record of 49 set by the Colts' Peyton Manning in 2004.

Brady broke the record in dramatic fashion -- with a 65-yard bomb to Randy Moss four minutes into the fourth quarter that gave New England a lead it never relinquished.

"Individual records," he said, "aren't as important as what I experienced tonight. What I'm most proud of is that, playing a playoff team on the road, and down 12 points in the second half, we found a way to come back and win. That showed toughness and character."

Brady has both of those attributes in abundance, along with a highly-accurate right arm, self-confidence that inspires his teammates, and an absolutely brilliant ability to find whatever receiver is open.

Which is what he did on the long, touchdown pass to Moss.

"The play was designed to go to Wes Welker," Moss said. "Tom made a great read.

"My job," said Moss, "was to clear out an area so Wes could get the ball for a first down. But two DBs tried to trap Tommy into throwing that ball."

Seeing Welker double-covered, Brady spotted Moss racing past strong safety James Butler, near the right sideline, and hit him in stride.

Just one play earlier, with an onrushing lineman about to bring him down, Brady had underthrown Moss on another deep route.

"I wish I'd made a better throw on that one," he said, shaking his head.

The next one, however, couldn't have been better.

Like the quarterback himself, it was as good as it gets.

The New England Patriots overcame a 12-point second-half deficit to beat the New York Giants, 38-35, and finish their season 16-0. The Pats took the lead for good with just over 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter, on a 65-yard touchdown strike from Tom Brady to Randy Moss. The touchdown set NFL records for Brady (his 50th touchdown of the season, breaking Peyton Manning's mark) and Moss (his 23rd TD catch of the season, breaking Jerry Rice's mark).

We'll have extensive coverage throughout the night on projo.com.

Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
Randy Moss makes the double-record-setting touchdown catch in the fourth quarter.

So here's my question: who gets to keep the ball?

With that amazing 65-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss, both Moss and Tom Brady now own single-season NFL records. Brady becomes the first ever with 50 TD passes, and Moss now has 23 TD catches.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson
Laurence Maroney runs for yardage in the second quarter.

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- If the Patriots hope to remain undefeated, they're going to have to stage their biggest comeback of the season.

Their 12-point deficit (28-16) six minutes into the third quarter is the Pats' largest of the season. What may be encouraging to New England fans is that the Patriots trailed by 10 with less than 10 minutes remaining at Indianapolis and pulled out the win.

What isn't encouraging is that Tom Brady now will have to throw against an even more aggressive Giants pass rush.

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The three field goals in the first half by Stephen Gostkowski are more than the Patriots' second-year kicker has had in any game this season.

He tried three against the Steelers, but missed one.

So far, he has converted from 37 yards in the first quarter, and 45 and 37 in the second quarter. The last field goal put the Patriots on top, 16-14.

Journal photo / Glenn Osmundson
Tom Brady raises his arms after tossing his second-quarter touchdown to Randy Moss.

Another one we forgot: with 158 passing yards on the day, Tom Brady has set a new franchise record for passing yards in a season.

In 1994, Drew Bledsoe threw for 4,555 yards; Brady currently has 4,608.

In between writing and blogging other things, we forgot to mention one more record the Patriots have already set tonight: points scored.

The Brady-to-Moss touchdown gave the Pats 560 points for the season, setting a new single-season record. The 1998 Vikings -- featuring a rookie named Randy Moss -- scored 556 points.

With 13 points currently, New England has 564 points for the year.

Domenik Hixon's 74-yard kickoff return for a touchdown was the first special-teams touchdown New England has allowed this season and the first kickoff return touchdown allowed by the Patriots since 2004.

Hixon, then with Denver, is the player Bills tight end Kevin Everett collided with on opening weekend, leading to a near-fatal spine injury for Everett.

With Tom Brady's 4-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss, the players each tied an NFL record: for Brady, it was his 49th touchdown pass, tying Peyton Manning's 2004 record, and for Moss, it was his 22nd touchdown catch of the season, matching the mark set by Jerry Rice in 1987.

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Notre Dame coach Charlie Weis and his son were spotted just to the left and behind the Patriots' bench area.

Weis was the offensive coordinator for Bill Belichick on all three of New England's Super Bowl championship teams, and also was an assistant with the Giants under Bill Parcells.

After taking the Irish to BCS bowl games in his first two years, Weis lost his first eight games this season before finishing 3-8.

Notre Dame fans hope this is the last time the Irish coach won't be busy preparing for a game as the New Year rolls around..

Wes Welker's first catch of the game was his 102nd of the season, breaking Troy Brown's franchise record for receptions in a season. In 2001, Brown had 101 catches.

E. RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- For the first time since the Baltimore game, the Patriots gave up a touchdown in the red zone.

And it came on the Giants' first possession.

Starting at their own 26 following the opening kickoff, the Giants drove 76 in 7 plays, scoring on a 7-yard pass from Eli Manning to Brandon Jacobs, who ran through a Tedy Bruschi tackle at the 2 on his way to the end zone.

The big play in the drive was a 52-yard pass from Manning to Plaxico Burress.

In the previous three games, New England had allowed opponents just two field goals in nine trips into the red zone.

For the Patriots:
QB Matt Gutierrez (3QB)
WR Chad Jackson
DB Willie Andrews
RB Kyle Eckel
G Stephen Neal
T Nick Kaczur
WR Troy Brown
TE Kyle Brady

For the Giants:
QB Jared Lorenzen (3QB)
CB Kevin Dockery
RB Ahmad Bradshaw
LB Tank Daniels
T Adam Koets
DT Manny Wright
WR Sinorice Moss
TE Jerome Collins

BY JIM DONALDSON
Journal Sports Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Call me a worry wart, if you will, but I'm putting this out there, an hour before kickoff, hoping the worst won't happen, but concerned that it might.

The Giants have a fearsome pass rush. Osi Umenyiora has 13 sacks, Justin Tuck has 10, and Michael Strahan has 91/2. Particularly troublesome to the Patriots is that Strahan and Umenyiora rely more on speed than power, and both Matt Light and regular right tackle Nick Kaczur seem to handle strong guys better than speed guys. Power, they can deal with. Quickness is another matter.

What's worse is that Kaczur, who has started every game this season, will not play tonight because of a foot injury. Replacing him will be 6-foot-7, 330-pound Ryan O'Callaghan, who started six games last season, when he was a 5th-round pick of the Pats out of the University of California, but hasn't started any this year.

Russ Hochstein will be making his third straight game at right guard in place of Stephen Neal, who now has missed four of the last six games with a shoulder injury.

As if it weren't bad enough that two regulars will be missing from the right side of New England's offensive line, veteran tight end Kyle Brady also is "out" with a foot injury. A powerful blocker, the 6-6, 280-pound Brady often is used to help pick up opposing pass rushers.

So it should be obvious that protection could be a concern tonight for New England QB Tom Brady.

It's no secret that Brady (Tom, not Kyle) is the key to the Patriots' hopes for winning a fourth Super Bowl in seven seasons. He has been remarkably durable -- never missing a start since stepping in after Drew Bledsoe was injured in the third game of the 2001 season.

But it's also no secret that the best way to beat the Pats -- if, in 2007, there IS a way to beat the Pats -- is to put pressure on Brady. So expect the Giants to come after him early and often. If they get to him, it's possible the Patriots actually could lose. But the much greater concern is that the Pats might lose Brady for the playoffs.

Expect him to throw many of those short, quick routes he executes so well in order to minimize the effect of the Giants' pass rush.

Hey all --

No thanks to Continental Airlines, we have arrived here at Giants Stadium, where you may have heard there's a big football game going on tonight.

The field below is devoid of players, but that won't last long. There are, however, plenty of cameras and lights and all manner of broadcasting equipment just off the sidelines, and NFL Network has set up a mini-studio overlooking the field on the Giants' sideline.

One funny note: as we were walking into the building, NFLN commentator and future Hall of Famer Deion Sanders ran by in a dark suit -- and bright white sneakers to make his sprint easier. We know that trick well.

shalise

The Patriots have promoted practice squad cornerback Antwain Spann to fill the final spot on the 53-man roster after Thursday’s release of linebacker Chad Brown.

Spann, who was one of three practice players of the week this week for his work in preparing New England for its game with Miami, appeared in eight games with the Pats last year, shuttling back and forth between the practice squad and active roster. He played in all three playoff games as well. All told, Spann had eight special teams tackles last season.

The 6-foot, 195 pound California native attended the same high school – Oceanside -- as Junior Seau.

New England also downgraded five players to out for tonight’s game: defensive back Willie Andrews (elbow), tight end Kyle Brady (foot), fullback Kyle Eckel (stomach), tackle Nick Kaczur (foot) and guard Stephen Neal (shoulder).

Brady and Eckel had been designated as doubtful earlier yesterday, while Andrews, Kaczur and Neal were listed as questionable.

Benjamin Watson (ankle) and Billy Yates (foot) remain listed as questionable; Tom Brady (right shoulder) and Rodney Harrison (thigh) are probable.

For the Giants, corner Kevin Dockery (hip flexor) and receiver Sinorice Moss (back) are listed as doubtful, and running back Ahmad Bradshaw (calf) and defensive tackle Manny Wright (ankle) are questionable. Receiver Plaxico Burress (ankle) and running back Brandon Jacobs (ankle) are probable.

On today's sports cover, Shalise Manza Young goes over the arguments -- from the Giants' point of view -- against using starters in Saturday's game against the Patriots. Also, Joe McDonald writes on the Red Sox' program of offseason physical evaluations for pitchers.

Click here to download the file in pdf format.

New England has once again released veteran linebacker Chad Brown. Brown was signed last month after Rosevelt Colvin was placed on injured reserve.

Brown appeared in one game in his most recent stint with the Pats, Dec. 16 against the Jets.

The team did not announce who would take Brown's roster spot.

Hey all --

Bill Belichick was in a pretty light mood today, and poked some fun at himself when asked about this week's Sports Illustrated cover, which has been photoshopped to show Belichick in a Santa hat and furry red jacket with the headline "Perfect Season's Greetings."

"Well, you know, being associated with Santa Claus - there’s a lot worse associations to have. I’ll take it," Belichick said, smiling. "When you’re a kid, sometimes you dream about being on the cover of Sports Illustrated. That’s not actually the one I pictured, but it’s pretty funny."

But shouldn't he have been shown in his infamous grey hoodie? "Whatever sells," he replied.

shalise

Thanks to the rain, New England moved today's practice inside the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse; after yesterday's walkthrough, today the players are in shoulder pads and shorts/sweatpants.

Three players were not spotted at the session: Kyle Brady, Nick Kaczur and Kyle Eckel.

Three players were in black as the team's practice players of the week: Matt Gutierrez, Ray Ventrone and Antwain Spann.

Shalise Manza Young and Mike McDermott talk about the Patriots' quest to beat the Giants on Saturday and finish a perfect regular season. Click on the play button below to see and hear the show.

Today's Sports cover features Shalise Manza Young's story about Laurence Maroney, and his emergence as a more important part of the Patriots' offense as the weather gets cold. Also, Bill Reynolds writes about the URI Rams' ascent to the Top 25, and Joe McDonald tells us about Red Sox prospects Jed Lowrie and Justin Masterson.

Click here to download the file in pdf format.

Laurence Maroney is one of three nominees for the FedEx Ground player of the week after his 14 carry, 156-yard, one touchdown day against the Dolphins. Maroney had two runs of over 50 yards against Miami, including a 59-yard touchdown.

The other nominees are New York Giant Brandon Jacobs and Kenny Watson of the Bengals.

Fans can vote at nfl.com.

Since the Patriots had a walkthrough and not a formal practice, they do not have a report.

For the Giants:

Did Not Participate
RB Ahmad Bradshaw - calf
CB Kevin Dockery - hip flexor
WR Sinorice Moss - back
DT Manny Wright - ankle

Limited Participation
WR Plaxico Burress - ankle

Full Participation
RB Brandon Jacobs - ankle

You will be able to watch the New England Patriots' season finale against the Giants at home after all.

The National Football League just announced it has arranged an "unprecedented" three-way national simulcast of the NFL Network telecast of this Saturday night's game with broadcast partners CBS and NBC.

Locally, that means both Channels 10 and 12 can carry the game, an NFL spokesman said. Shortly after, both stations confirmed to The Journal that they will broadcast the game.

The Patriots, 15-0, have the chance to finish the regular season undefeated. But a lot of Pats' fans in Rhode Island were likely to miss the momentous event, since the game was to be available locally only to subscribers to the NFL Network.

Lisa Churchville, president and general manager of NBC 10, sent a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell Monday offering to clear the station’s Saturday prime time schedule to air the game.

WPRI-TV Channel 12 carried most of the team's games this season, while NBC 10 carrried two.

This Saturday's game will also be televised by WCVB-ABC (Channel 5) in Boston, WMUR-ABC in Manchester, New Hampshire (Channel 9) and WWOR (Channel 9) in New York.

The telecast begins at 8 p.m. ET with kickoff set at 8:15 p.m. ET.

The NFL describes it as the first three-network simulcast in NFL history and the first simulcast of any kind of an NFL game since Super Bowl I in 1967 when CBS and NBC both televised the first meeting of the champions of the newly merged National Football League and American Football League.

-- With reports from Journal staff writer Paul Edward Parker

In a way, it doesn’t seem that long ago that we played the Giants there in the last preseason game. On the other hand, it seems like it was four years ago. But looking back on it and the Giants from when we saw them earlier in the year, certainly there’s a lot of - that game’s a lot different from this one, but we know the Giants a little bit from going against them pretty much on an annual basis. They’re tough, they’re physical, they’re well-coached, they’re hard to beat. They don’t do a lot of things that make it easy for you. You have to really go out there and play a good, tough football game. The division they’re in - Dallas, Philadelphia and Washington - we’ve seen those teams a lot on film. That’s a pretty physical division and certainly the Giants are as physical as any team that we’ve faced all year on both sides of the ball, particularly in the front. They have some good play-makers, offensively. The running backs are good, the receivers are big-play guys down the field, they have an athletic quarterback, their offensive line is real good and defensively they’re strong on the front. They can rush the passer, they can stop the run [and] they’re a good third down team. [Sam] Madison’s always a guy that’s the play-maker in the secondary, giving us and everybody else trouble, and they have a good blitz-scheme. I think their defense is a combination of just a good, basic, sound defense but it pressures the offense a lot as well, so we’re going to have to do a good job on that. I think all of those elements that I just talked about carry over into the kicking game. They’re a physical coverage team. They’re a strong blocking team. They take people on and they take them on hard, and they’re tough. I think last week’s game against Buffalo is a good example of it, where they just basically controlled the game. Even though they spotted them a two touchdown lead, they controlled the game on the line of scrimmage and in the kicking game on the line of scrimmage, and that was the difference in the game. We have a lot of respect for the Giants, always have. We need a good week of practice here, even though it’s on a short week, to get everything ready to go. This will be a big challenge for us, with their scheme and their style of play and their play-makers.

Eli Manning has had an up and down season at times, but when he’s hot he’s particularly good. Can you talk a little about him?
I think he’s become an experienced quarterback that sees the field well. He’s athletic enough to get out of some trouble. I’m not saying he’s a big-time scrambler, but he’s certainly athletic enough in the pocket to get out of some trouble and he’s made a lot of big plays. Kind of like -- different, but sort of like [Ben] Roethlisberger, where he gets some time, looks down the field, finds [Plaxico] Burress, [Amani] Toomer, [Steve] Smith -- one of those guys running around down there. [Jeremy] Shockey, until last week - and makes big plays in the passing game off scrambles. They do all of the stuff that you would do with Manning, that you would expect them to do with a good quarterback like that. They drop back, they play-action, they bootleg, they sprint out, they run max-protection patterns, they run the empty patterns and stuff like that where they’ll get everybody out. They have a good variety in their passing game. They utilize all of their players - the backs, the tight ends, the receivers, both down the field and on shorter, quicker throws, three-step drops and that kind of thing. They do a good job keeping you off-balance. They’re a well-balanced offensive football team and Manning can do all that they need him to do.

Are the Giants the most blitzing team that you’ll see or that you expect to see? Thinking back, Pittsburgh blitzed you a lot and the Eagles blitzed you a lot.
It depends on how much they want to call it. I mean, they blitz. They could blitz a lot or not as much. That’s hard to tell, how they’re going to play the game. I’m sure they’ll blitz some. It’s a question of how many they want to call and whether that’s more or less than somebody else. I’m sure not - certainly, we have to be ready for it, but I don’t know.

They have a league high, I think, for sacks. When you see that, are those coming off blitzes?
No. No. They get them off blitzes, but they can rush. Those guys - [Justin] Tuck and Osi [Umenyiora] and [Michael] Strahan, they don’t need any help. They can get there, definitely. They do a good job. They’ve got a good pass rush. They lead the league in sacks, they lead the league in runs for negative yardage. They create negative yardage in both the running game and the passing game, and then they get you in long yardage and it’s hard to convert. And they’re a good third down team. They’re a real good defensive football team. They’re good all the way around, but it certainly starts up front. And no, they don’t need to blitz to get there at all. Definitely not. They have plenty of sacks and plenty of pressure on three and four-man rushes, if that’s what they want to do.

Tom Brady and Randy Moss have been a great combination, as have Tom and Wes Welker. Even with a quarterback as good as Tom is, is there a danger sometimes that you get into a comfort zone with a player and you end up trying to force the ball in?
I think every pass is - Every play is designed to be executed differently against different defenses and the way the play comes out, so I think we have to do the same thing we do in the passing game every week, which is put in our game plan [and] prepare for all the different contingencies. Again, a team like the Giants is a tough team to prepare for because they give you a lot of different looks. They play man, they play zone, they play two-deep, they play three-deep, they blitz with help, they blitz with no help. Depending on what happens on the play, how we execute the pattern and adjust it if we have to, how the quarterback reads it and delivers the ball, that’s all going to be a function of, to a degree, what’s going on on the other side of the ball, as well as it is us doing the right thing. That’ll definitely be a big part of the passing game this week. I don’t think you want to go into this game - or any game, for that matter --- without an open mind to the pattern, because it’s hard to tell what they’re going to do and where the best place to throw the ball is going to be until after the ball is snapped and you see what coverage they’re in.

How much practicing in pads will the guys do this week?
We’ll take it on a day-by-day basis.

How much has being able to establish the rush in the past couple of weeks helped your team going forward?

I don’t know. I don’t know. We’ll see how we do against the Giants. That’s really all that matters right now, is how we’re able to play against them, whether that’s running it, throwing it [or] doing a little bit of each. Maybe there’s more one way or the other - I’m not sure. Whatever plays we call, we hope we go out there and can execute them well. That’s why we�