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.
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."
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
Sports Illustrated cover: Not quite the dream fulfilled
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.
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.
Maroney nominated for FedEx ground player of the week
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.
Update: Pats-Giants game will be shown on local TV after all
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
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Wednesday press conference
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’re calling them, but it’s not always the same every week. Whether there’s a carry-over from one game to the next, whether those plays carry over or even that style attack carries over, I’m not really sure.
It seemed like Brandon Meriweather maybe had a little more time on defense in the last game. If that’s the case, how do you think he responded to seeing more time?
I think Brandon’s improved all year. He played more two weeks ago against the Jets when James [Sanders] was out and then played in some dime situations last week. He’s improved through the course of the year and there’s still a lot of things he needs to work on, but I think he gives us good depth at the position. I’d like to see him catch the ball a little bit better, but that’s… He’s around it and I think he’s making progress.
How much does the fact that you played them in a preseason game factor into this game, if at all?
Well, a lot of the players that played in that game won’t be playing in this one, but from a scheme standpoint, they line up in some of the same - basically the same places, and so do we. The way the plays are blocked or the plays are defended, whichever side of the ball you’re talking about, you can definitely see how some of the schemes fit together. Maybe it’s not necessarily the players - You know, we played them two years ago in preseason as well, so I think there’s some good… There’s certainly some good teaching from those tapes because it’s us and them and it’s our scheme and their scheme, but some of the individual match-ups are different, so we’ll have to account for those, but there’s something to be gained from looking at it.
Do you mean players who were back-up players won’t be playing in this game or players that have been released since the preseason?
I think both teams played a lot of players in the preseason game that aren’t on the roster now for either team.
Transcript: Tom Brady's Wednesday press conference
Does it feel like the season has flown by or does it feel like a long time when you look back to training camp?
Probably a little of both. Some weeks, it does fly by; other weeks really feel like it’s been a grind. I’m glad it’s a 16-game schedule as opposed to a 22-game schedule or something like that. I think everyone’s excited for this week, realizing that it’s the last regular-season game. I’m really just hoping that we go out and play our best.
Is it hard not to look at the importance of this game, as far as history is concerned?
I think we all realize what a win would mean, but a win’s always big. A win is always important for us and we’ve prepared pretty hard over the last four months, as every team prepares pretty hard. Being 16-0 would be a very special achievement, one that no other team has ever achieved and we’re finally at that point.
As much as you obviously would like to finish 16-0, you want to play better and better football every week. Do you guys feel like you’re doing that?
I think we’re constantly trying to make improvements and I think we’re trying, as a team, to find ways to be consistent and efficient out there. Some weeks are better than others. Ultimately, the goal is to win the game. You’re really judged by your wins and losses and I’d love to be playing our best football come January. This will be a great step in the process and [the Giants are] a very tough opponent, on the road. Hopefully, we can put our best out there.
At the beginning of the season, could you ever anticipate a season like this, where you’re undefeated heading into the 16th game of the season?
I think whatever hopes you might have . . . We’ve had great seasons and we’ve been 14-2. This has been a very special season. I’d hate to think that we’d go out there and not put our best out there this week so we’ve got to bring energy and excitement. It’s going to be a big test to beat these guys because they’re very good and they play well at home, too. I just hope that we’re able to finish off the season the way that we’d really hoped.
You’ve been on a lot of great teams and you always hear the cliché that you’re only as good as you practice. How good of a practice team is this? Is it any different from any other team that you’ve been around and what, if anything, makes it a great practice team?
I think that’s really where you get better. It’s where you find a lot of situations that you can carry over into the game of what you’re trying to do and understand as an offense, as a defense. I think, offensively, we do practice every situation. We’re very situationally aware. I hope that carries over to the way we play. Once again, I think at times it’s been better than in others. We put a lot into practice. There’s a quite of bit of emphasis, as a team, on it and Coach Belichick is pretty tough on us in practice. He always expects the best out of us. I think the pressure is always on us to go out there and achieve, even if it is practice because you can gain a lot of confidence playing well in practice.
Did you and Randy Moss click right away in training camp, or did it take a while to really get it down?
I think it always takes a little bit of time and we still… Things come up at this point that we try to improve on. We’re still learning from each other and we’re still trying to understand situations and read each other - for him to really know what I’m looking for and vice versa. It only leads to, hopefully, more success.
At the beginning of each season, there are probably similar goals: Win the division, make the playoffs, win the Super Bowl. What’s it like when a new goal is presented to you, something like going undefeated? Is that taken as a distraction?
No, I don’t think it’s like winning too many games. That’s a good distraction to have, I guess. I don’t think that distracts us. It’s always one-week seasons. We’ve [said] this all year, that we’re just focused on the team that we’re playing and this week it happens to be the Giants. If we win it we’ll be 16-0, like last week was 15-0 and the week before was 14-0. It’s very short-term goals that hopefully at the end of the season you can look back and be very proud of what you accomplished.
One of the trademarks of this Giants defense has always been bringing pressure. Can you talk about them?
They’re very talented. I think definitely [Michael] Strahan and Osi [Umenyiora] should take the weekend off. I’d rest them. I know that, definitely not playing those two. They’re great. They’ve got 40 sacks, I think, between Osi and Michael Strahan and [Justin] Tuck. They can rush. They have some very experienced cover guys back there. It’s a very veteran defense. I’ll be lobbying for that. Coach [Tom] Coughlin, if you’re listening, definitely rest those guys.
You’re comfortable with Randy Moss obviously. Do you think that comfort level will sometimes lead you to force the ball in there or take chances with him?
It all depends on whether you complete it or you don’t. There have been times when I’ve forced it and he caught it and it’s a great play. He’s always a big part of the plan. I’m always trying to find ways to get him the ball. You can always look back and say if it’s incomplete that maybe you should have made a better throw, but at the same time, you want to give him opportunities to make those plays.
Have you been surprised that he’s such a good guy after all you’ve heard about him otherwise?
I’m not surprised. I really try not to prejudge anybody or stereotype anybody. I just kind of deal with them as I have in my relationships with all the guys on the team. Regardless of what people say about somebody, oftentimes it’s very misleading. He’s a great guy and a great teammate and we’re all lucky to have him.
What would getting two more touchdown passes mean to you? It’s a pretty significant NFL record if you get it.
Yeah, we’ve got a lot of records at stake, the most important one being the 16-0. I hope we achieve that. It’d be a great feat for the team. We’d go down as the only team to be 16-0 so that’s the goal I’ve got in mind.
You can have a perfect record, but do you think there can ever be a perfect team?
I really feel you can have a perfect record. I don’t know if anybody’s perfect. I haven’t experienced that. We all make mistakes and we all try to learn from them and try to work hard to achieve your goals. We set very high goals around here, as every team does. I just think we’ve been fortunate this season in a lot of ways. Along with a lot of hard work, you need quite a bit of luck, too. I think we’ve been on the good side of that, in terms of injuries and the ball bouncing our way at certain times.
It’s kind of strange in a sense that you’re such a team guy and around here it’s all team. Sure, you can look back on those records and say, ‘I want Randy Moss to break Jerry Rice’s record,’ with all the history and everything else, and other people want to see you break records. Is that a strange thing to come into this week?
We’re in team sports so part of achieving anything in sports [is] you rely heavily on everybody else. I’m only as good as the guys I have playing around me. For every touchdown pass you throw, you need somebody to catch it, you need somebody to block for it. Nothing in this sport is achieved on your own. Like I said, being 16-0 would be the most important thing for all of us. If you take any energy away from that as a goal, then you’re really not doing yourself or your team any justice. Maybe when you look back at the end of your career you look at those things and it’s a cool thing to have, but everything I’ve experienced in the NFL and the greatest moments I’ve had is not when you throw five touchdown passes. It’s when you win championships.
Your numbers have gone down in the last three to four games from where they were at the start of the season. Does that trouble you or do you think it was an inevitable downturn and can you get it back up to what it was?
Yeah, we’re slumping. A negative trend, that’s never good. You just try to be as efficient as you can and we’ve been winning games so you always look at those. I’m not a big statistics guy. I evaluate each play. “What could I have done? What could I have done better?” I always feel I try to play very consistently and the team really can depend on me as a consistent player. I hope that continues.
We're just in from the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse, where the Patriots are not holding a practice, but rather a walkthrough despite the short week.
Since no one was in jerseys, it was hard to take attendance, but it seemed like everyone was there, as Benjamin Watson, Kyle Brady, Stephen Neal and Billy Yates, all of whom did not play in Sunday's game, were in the building.
Media watched some kickoff return and coverage work; on the sidelines, Laurence Maroney, Jabar Gaffney and Randy Moss were playing catch, trying to catch the ball between their legs.
Channel 10's bid to air Pats-Giants a waiting game
WJAR-TV NBC 10 still hasn't heard from the NFL on its request to broadcast the New England Patriots' final regular season game Saturday night against the New York Giants.
The Patriots, 15-0, have the chance to finish the regular season undefeated. But a lot of Pats' fans in Rhode Island could miss the momentous event, since the game will be available locally only to subscribers to the NFL Network.
The station had not gotten a response as of about noon today, according to Barbara Beresford, the station's director of marketing. "We're hoping to hear today," Beresford said.
WPRI-TV Channel 12 carried most of the team's games this season, while NBC 10 has carrried two.
As currently scheduled, Boston's Channel 5 is the only New England station scheduled to carry the game on free, over-the-air television.
Rhode Islanders and other fans across New England will only be able to view the game if they are paid subscribers to the NFL Network, visit a bar or restaurant that subscribes, or if they can pick up Channel 5 in Boston.
First off, belated holiday wishes and I hope everyone (who celebrates the day) enjoyed Christmas with family and friends. Personally, I had to wake up at 4:30 this morning to fly back here from Atlanta and drive directly from Logan here to Gillette. But hey, I love my readers (and having my job).
At any rate, as you'd expect, and as has become custom in recent weeks, there's a lot of media here. The NFL Network, ESPN, the New York Times, USA Today, and even Canada's TSN are on hand.
Bill Belichick opened his press conference by saying that "in a way, it doesn't seem that long ago that were played the Giants in our last preseason game, and in another way, it seems like we played them four years ago."
Belichick lauded the Giants for being a physical team, and noted that the defensive front seven is especially strong, leading the league in both quarterback sacks and runs for negative yardage.
In the locker room, Tom Brady, Heath Evans, Kevin Faulk, Kelley Washington, Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi all chatted for a few minutes, and of course, 16-0 was on everyone's minds.
"Right now, our focus is the New England Patriots and doing what's best for this team," Faulk said. "If (16-0) falls into that category, then it becomes important to us."
Though they have a short week due to the Saturday game, the Patriots will have only a walkthrough today inside the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse.
FOXBORO -- Punting from the back line of the New England end zone, Chris Hanson got off his longest kick of the season -- 64 yards to the Miami 35, where it bounced out of bounds.
The Patriots were backed up deep following a goal line stand in which Miami QB Cleo Lemon threw an incompletion on third down from the 1 and then, on fourth down, just barely failed to get inside the pylon when he scrambled to his right and tried to run for the end zone. The play was reviewed, but the ruling on the field was upheld because Lemon was carrying the ball in his right hand and it clearly never crossed the goal line.
Wes Welker's catch on the first play of the second half is his 100th of the season, making him just the second player in franchise history to hit the century mark.
That Tom Brady-to-Jabar Gaffney (with the assist to Lance Schulters) touchdown was the 71st of the season for New England, breaking the record of 70, set by the 1984 Dolphins.
The Pats are six points away from breaking the single-season scoring record of the 1998 Vikings, who had 556 points. New England currently has 551, but at this rate, that record won't be around much longer.
Tom Brady now has 48 touchdown passes this season, tying him with Dan Marino for second-most in a single season. In 1984, Marino also threw for 48 touchdowns.
Laurence Maroney's touchdown was the 70th of the season for New England, tying the NFL single-season record. In 1984, the season Dan Marino threw for a then-record 48 touchdowns, Miami also scored 70 TDs.
Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
Boston Red Sox players David Ortiz and Curt Schilling, with the World Series trophy, acknowledge the crowd prior to the Patriots' game against the Miami Dolphins.
Red Sox principal owner John Henry, designated hitter David Ortiz (wearing a Laurence Maroney jersey), pitcher Curt Schilling (in a Tedy Bruschi jersey) and first baseman Kevin Youkilis (in a Tom Brady jersey) were just announced to the Gillette crowd.
A highlight film was shown of the Sox' season to a soundtrack of (what else?) "Dirty Water," and they also have both World Series trophies with them.
FOXBORO -- Less than five minutes after breaking loose for the longest run of his career -- a 51-yarder on the last play of the first quarter -- Laurence Maroney darted through a gaping hole off left tackle and sprinted 59 yards, untouched, to a touchdown that gave the Patriots a 21-0 lead with 10:04 remaining in the first half.
Once Maroney zipped past the line of scrimmage, there wasn't a Miami player anywhere near him -- no linebackers, no defensive backs -- leaving him an easy romp to the end zone.
With that sack, Mike Vrabel now has 10.5 sacks for the season, and the newly minted Pro Bowler becomes the first Patriots player with 10 or more sacks in a season since Willie McGinest's 11 in 1995.
FOXBORO -- So, you think Tom Brady wants the NFL record for TD passes?
Faced with a first-and-goal at the 1 early in the second quarter, following a pass interference penalty on Miami in the end zone, the Pats put in their power alignment -- Heath Evans and Kyle Eckel in the backfield; Ryan O'Callaghan, normally an offensive lineman, at tight end; and backup tight end Stephen Spach, signed just prior to the Jets game, at H-back.
That left Moss as the only wideout.
Instead of running, Brady whipped a quick pass to Moss for his 47th passing TD, and Moss' 21 TD reception.
Brady now is two shy of tying Peyton Manning's season record of 49 TD passes, set in 2004. Manning broke the record of 48, set by Dan Marino in 1984.
Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
Fans look to catch a glimpse of players on the field prior to the Patriots' game against the Miami Dolphins.
A Tom Brady to Randy Moss touchdown pass is just what the doctor ordered, for all the fans who are looking for the duo to break two big regular-season records.
FOXBORO -- Laurence Maroney's 51-yard run -- behind the blocking of Randy Moss -- on the final play of the first quarter was the longest of his career, and the longest by a New England back this season.
Blasting through a huge hole at the line of scrimmage, Maroney ran from the N.E. 21 to the Miami 28, picking up extra yards downfield by following Moss, who made his reputation as a receiver, not a blocker.
FOXBORO -- For the 12th time in 15 games, but the first time since the Ravens game, the Patriots scored on their first possession.
Through the first 12 games of the season, the Pats scored the first time they had the football in 11 of them -- racking up 8 TDs and 3 FGs.
After failing to score on their first posssession against either the Steelers or Jets in their last two games, the Patriots were back in synch against Miami, driving 70 yards in 10 plays, culminating in an 11-yard touchdown pass from Tom Brady to Randy Moss -- his league-high, 20th TD.
Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
New England Patriots' Troy Brown takes to the field prior to the game against the Miami Dolphins.
Troy Brown didn't have to wait long to get onto the field, coming on to field Miami's punt on the first drive of the game. The veteran received a great cheer when the fans noticed who was lined up deep, and Brown returned the punt 10 yards.
He is New England's franchise leader in punt returns, with 247 for 2,580 yards.
Read more about what could be his "curtain call," the last regular-season home game in a Patriots uniform.
We had a gut feeling this week that Troy Brown would be active for what could be his final home game as a member of the Patriots, and he is. In our scenario, Brown becomes Number 22, the 22nd different player to score a touchdown this season for New England, thus breaking the league record.
However, New England will be without both of its top tight ends, Benjamin Watson (ankle) and Kyle Brady (foot) and guards Stephen Neal and Billy Yates.
Inactives for New England:
3QB Matt Gutierrez
WR Chad Jackson
DB Ray Ventrone
G Stephen Neal
G Billy Yates
TE Benjamin Watson
TE Kyle Brady
LB Chad Brown
For the Dolphins:
3QB Casey Bramlet
S Tuff Harris
RB Patrick Cobbs
DT Anthony Bryant
T Julius Wilson
T Anthony Alabi
DE Rob Ninkovich
DT Paul Soliai
The Patriots will honor members of the 2007 Red Sox before the game today, recognizing them for their win over Colorado in the World Series.
Also, Patrick Noone will be honored as the Patriots Fan of the Year. Noone lives in Poconos, Pa. and drives five hours -- each way -- for each New England home game, and has missed only two games over the last 32 years.
And American Idol darling, Boston College student-athlete and Wrentham resident Ayla Brown will perform the National Anthem.
While outside is still covered in white, inside Gillette Stadium there is little snow to be seen. Crews were here working all week to clear out the stands, and the result is completely clean seats for the fans. There's also no snow on or around the field.
And while the sky is somewhat bright, there is still the threat of rain that could affect the second half of today's game. Still, the forecast isn't nearly as cold and just nasty as last week's was and turned out to be.
The Patriots have activated defensive back Ray Ventrone off the practice squad for the second time this season. The 24-year old former Villanova standout takes the 53rd roster spot left open when New England released two players and signed just one, nose tackle Rashad Baker, earlier this week.
Ventrone was activated for the Pats' game with Indianapolis in Week 9 and made his first appearance in an NFL game, playing on special teams. He was released and re-signed to the practice squad in the days after that game.
A versatile player, Ventrone has been named as a practice player of the week on a team-high four occasions this season.
The Dolphins have announced that linebacker Channing Crowder was placed on season-ending injured reserve today. After playing in 11 games and amassing a team-high 78 tackles, Crowder was inactive in games 13 and 14 before undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his right knee this week.
Quarterback Casey Bramlet was activated off Miami's practice squad to fill Crowder's roster spot.
The Patriots' Friday practice is no different for the players than Wednesday's and Thursday's were: they are once again in full pads, and being in full pads for three straight days is something that hasn't happened since training camp, as best we can recall.
It is also being held once again in the more traction-friendly confines of Gillette Stadium, though it is extremely cold outside.
Billy Yates and Kyle Brady were once again absent from the media-access portion, and today were joined by corner Randall Gay. Adalius Thomas and Rodney Harrison, who missed yesterday's session due to team decision, were back on the field.
On today's sports cover, Shalise Manza Young writes about the possibility that Rhode Islanders will not be able to watch the Patriots go for 16-0 against the New York Giants. Robert Lee writes about Junior Seau's resurgent season, and Bill Reynolds has a feature on Providence Country Day basketball coach Tom Sienkiewicz, a Villanova grad who was drafted (but eventually cut) by the Seattle SuperSonics.
Due to issues with our blog server, we couldn't post earlier, but New England again practiced inside Gillette Stadium, and also were in full pads again. It is rare that the team is in full pads on a Thursday. Once again, Kyle Brady and Billy Yates did not practice, but they were joined today by Rodney Harrison and Adalius Thomas.
Troy Brown, who gave the Pats' defense a look at New York receiver/quarterback Brad Smith last week, was in black as practice player of the week.
Did Not Participate
TE Kyle Brady - foot
S Rodney Harrison - team decision
LB Adalius Thomas - team decision
G Billy Yates - foot
Limited Participation
G Stephen Neal - shoulder
TE Benjamin Watson - ankle
Full Participation
QB Tom Brady - right shoulder
For the Dolphins:
Did Not Participate
LB Channing Crowder - knee
DE Jason Taylor - foot
DT Keith Traylor - knee
Limited Participation
RB Jesse Chatman - ankle
LB Joey Porter - shoulder
DE Matt Roth - groin
R.I. lawmakers ask NFL to put Pats finale on local TV
The Patriots are two games away from finishing the first 16-0 season in NFL history, and many fans in Rhode Island might not be able to see it happen.
In case you're unaware, the Pats' season finale is Saturday, Dec. 29, against the New York Giants, and it will be available locally only on Boston's Channel 5 and on the NFL Network, which is part of Cox's digital cable package.
Now, the four members of Rhode Island's congressional delegation have weighed in, sending a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell urging him to allow the game to be shown on a Rhode Island channel.
Click below to read the text of the letter, signed by Senators Jack Reed and Sheldon Whitehouse, and Representatives Patrick Kennedy and James Langevin.
December 19, 2007
Mr. Roger Goodell
Commissioner
National Football League
280 Park Avenue
New York, NY 10017
Dear Commissioner Goodell:
We write to express concern regarding the boundaries of the primary broadcast market for the New England Patriots for their upcoming game on Saturday, December 29th against the New York Giants.
As you know, the New England Patriots have an undefeated record with just two games remaining. The December 29th game has the potential to culminate in the Patriots having the first undefeated regular season in the NFL since 1972, and Patriots’ fans across New England are looking forward to cheering on their home team. However, as currently scheduled, only the residents of Boston and New York City will be able to see the game on free, over-the-air television, while Rhode Islanders and other fans across New England will only be able to view the game if they are subscribers to the NFL Network.
The New England Patriots are assuredly a regional team, with many loyal fans in the state of Rhode Island. The state welcomed the Patriots for many years when they held their training camp at Bryant University in Smithfield, Rhode Island, and Gillette Stadium is a short twenty-five minute drive from downtown Providence. Unfortunately, limiting transmission of the game to Boston excludes many of the team’s biggest fans from this event.
Therefore, we urge you to make the final game available on over-the-air television across New England to ensure that the region’s Patriots’ fans will be able to watch this highly anticipated game. Thank you for your attention to this matter, and we look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
U.S. Senator Jack Reed
U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Representative Patrick J. Kennedy
U.S. Representative James R. Langevin
Kimberly-Clark Corporation and Shaw's representatives have presented the 2007 Patriots 12th Player Award to wide receiver Wes Welker. The award is presented annually to the Patriots player who personifies the Patriots team spirit, performs beyond expectations and is recognized for his contributions to the organization, both on the field and in the community. For the past 12 years, Patriots fans have selected the winner by casting their votes at Shaw’s Supermarkets throughout the season and by voting online at www.shaws.com. Recent winners include running back Laurence Maroney in 2006, linebacker Willie McGinest in 2005, wide receiver/defensive back Troy Brown in 2004, defensive tackle/fullback Dan Klecko in 2003, kicker Adam Vinatieri in 2002, quarterback Tom Brady in 2001 and linebacker Tedy Bruschi in 2000.
Welker leads the Patriots with a career-high 96 receptions this season, a total that ranks second in the NFL. His 96 receptions are tied for the third highest single-season total in franchise history and he needs six catches in the Patriots’ final two games to eclipse Troy Brown’s franchise record of 101 receptions in 2001. Welker ranks second on the team with a career-high 1,004 receiving yards and is one of just eight players in team history to record a 1,000-yard receiving season. His eight touchdown receptions rank second on the team and are also a career high. On Nov. 25 against Philadelphia, Welker caught 13 passes, tying the second highest single-game reception total in team history and tying the highest single-game reception total by a Patriot in a non-overtime game. His 149 receiving yards in that game set a new career high and stand as the second highest receiving yard total by a Patriot this season. Welker is his first season with the Patriots and was acquired in a trade with the Miami Dolphins on March 5, 2007 in exchange for a second- and seventh-round selections in the 2007 NFL Draft.
Only hours after it appeared Bill Parcells was on the brink of becoming director of football operations for the woeful Atlanta Falcons, that deal is off and Parcells is considering an offer from the Miami Dolphins.
That's more bad news for Falcons fans already reeling from the imprisonment of quarterback Michael Vick and the resignation of coach Bobby Petrino.
The Dolphins have an even worse record (1-13) than the Falcons (3-11). It had been rumored, before West Virginia coach Rich Rodriguez took the job at Michigan, that Miami coach Cam Cameron was interested in coaching the Wolverines. It'll be interesting to see how Parcells views Cameron's situation. Or, conversely, how Cameron likes having the Big Tuna looking over his shoulder and having final say on player acquisitions.
Looks like Bill Parcells is going to get to shop for the groceries in Atlanta. He is not, however, going to do the cooking.
The New York Daily News reported Wednesday morning that Parcells is on the brink of becoming director of football operations for the Falcons -- a franchise in disarray following the criminal prosecution of star quarterback Michael Vick and the abrupt resignation of first-year coach Bobby Petrino, who quit last week to return to college coaching, at the University of Arkansas.
"Under no circumstances," Parcells told Gary Myers, the Daily News' longtime NFL columnist, "is Bill Parcells going to return to the field."
Patriots fans will remember that one of the reasons Parcells left New England after the AFC championship season of 1996 to return to New York, where he won two Super Bowls with the Giants, to become coach of the Jets was a complaint that Pats owner Robert Kraft wanted him to ``cook the meals," but wouldn't let him "shop for the groceries."
If, as appears likely, Parcells takes the job in Atlanta, no moves will be made without his approval.
His first move will be to hire a general manager, and then work with the new GM to find a replacement for Petrino.
A lock to be elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, the colorful Parcells is a brilliant coach and strong personality who'll bring expertise, credibility, and a winning attitude to the 3-11 Falcons.
Team owner Arthur Blank was left reeling by the fall of Vick -- the highly-paid, face of the franchise --and the departure of Petrino after just 13 games. Blank approached former Steelers coach Bill Cowher in hopes he would replace Petrino, but Cowher said he wasn't interested in the job.
Bringing Parcells to Atlanta would be a positive step in restoring stability to the franchise.
Even before he became head coach of the Cowboys in 2003, Parcells had said that, while he still loved coaching on Sundays, he wasn't sure he still wanted to do the
The Sporting News has selected Patriots quarterback Tom Brady as its Sportsman of the Year, calling him the "perfect pick" for their annual award.
From the press release:
“Tom Brady has given us one of the greatest seasons in NFL history,” said Sporting News Sr. Vice President/Editorial Director, John Rawlings. “You can’t help but admire what he has accomplished – even if much of the NFL world has suddenly turned anti-Patriots.”
The Patriots wouldn’t be the Patriots – and the NFL wouldn’t be the NFL – without Tom Brady.
The Sportsman of the Year issue hits newsstands on Dec. 24.
Eight members of the undefeated New England Patriots were named to the AFC Pro Bowl roster today, the most for the team since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970.
Quarterback Tom Brady, center Dan Koppen, left tackle Matt Light, left guard Logan Mankins, receiver Randy Moss, cornerback Asante Samuel, linebacker Mike Vrabel and nose tackle Vince Wilfork are the honorees.
Conspicuously absent from the list is defensive end Ty Warren.
The Pats also had eight Pro Bowlers in 1985. Last year, only Light and Richard Seymour represented New England in Hawaii.
Shalise Manza Young and Mike McDermott discuss the Patriots' win over the Jets and look ahead to potential playoff foes. Click the play button below to listen and watch.
Here are some excerpts from Shalise's comments:
On the defensive line: "Having Seymour back at 100 percent means that Jarvis Green and he can keep switching back and forth, and they can stay fresh and theoretically they can be more effective that way. The only problem right now is, without Mike Wright, you're kind of thin at backup for Vince Wilfork at nose tackle. LeKevin Smith is technically the backup right now, but he's a little bit untested in that role, so we'll see what happens with that -- if they might have to switch to a 4-3 a little bit more often than they have in the past."
On Laurence Maroney: "If you look at his numbers, for the 25 or 26 carries that he had on Sunday, there wasn't a single negative run. And I think that's the most important thing, because if you look back at his other games this year, he's had several runs for losses, whether it was one yard or two yards. And that's just not what the Patriots want. They want him to gain four yards, help keep the defense honest on the other side of the ball, so that they're not keying in on that receiving group all the time."
On Kelley Washington: "I've talked to him about it [and] he's said it took him a little while to get adjusted to the idea that he wasn't going to be on the field with his offense. And I think if you look at his snaps, it's been maybe a dozen snaps all season that he really has been on the field with the offense. He was signed as a free agent in March, and they didn't bring Randy Moss in until the end of April, and that really changed things for [Washington], because without Randy he may have played a bigger role in the offense, and who knows what the result might have been. ... He's definitely made a contribution [on special teams], and like he told me, the fact that he's on the field is better than not being on the field at all, so he'll take the role that he has, and he obviously he's excelled at it.
Toughest potential first-round playoff foe? "Jacksonville's a really tough team. I think they proved that Sunday, winning in Pittsburgh. ... I think if Jacksonville comes up here it will be a really big game. I don't really expect it to be a high-scoring game, and the Patriots really need to clamp down their run defense, and probably make David Garrard beat them with his arm, and see if you can get him to do that."
Read how Patriots' defensive lineman Richard Seymour is returning to top form as the team closes in on an undefeated season with another Super Bowl win as the ultimate goal. Also, URI might be leaning towards one of its own as the school's new football coach; and Bill Reynolds weighs in on the Major League Baseball substance abuse problem. Download file
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Monday press conference
[There’s] not really too much different from what I said yesterday after the game. It was good to win. [It’s] good to be 5-0 in the division. Hopefully we can be 6-0 in the division. We’ll get a chance to do that this week and that’s something that we haven’t done around here. I thought yesterday that the elements had a little bit of an impact on the game. I thought one of the things we did well was not putting the ball on the ground. Ball-security was pretty good on both the kicks and passes and handoffs and that kind of thing, the actual possession of the ball, so that was good. We had - We turned the ball over a couple times when they weren’t quite able to hang on to it, so those were big plays in the game. [The] blocked punts kind of evened out, but as usual, the kicking game plays a big factor at this time of year and that’s something that we need to work hard on, continue to work hard on and I’m sure it will be a factor in other games as we wind down here. So now we’re moving on to Miami. [That was a] good win for them yesterday. They’ve been in a lot of close games this year. I don’t think their team is in any way a reflection of their record. They’ve been in a lot of tight games. We played Baltimore a couple of weeks ago [and] we know what type of team they have, so we have a lot of respect for the Dolphins - always have. They really, especially in the second half down there, hurt us a lot running the ball. They have some good runners, good skill players, Jason Taylor and their guys on defense, and we have a lot of respect for them in that phase of the game as well. So we’re shuffling past the Jets here and getting ready to move in to Miami.
What did you think of the way Richard Seymour played yesterday?
Richard had a couple big plays for us. I thought defensively, overall the entire team did a good job. [They] were good on third down, good in the red area. Richard and the defensive line were a part of that - Ty [Warren], Vince [Wilfork] - and I thought they all did a good job. We got some good production from our linebackers as well. I thought it was a good defensive effort. Any time you can hold a team to three points in this league, defensively, you have to feel good about that.
A couple of players were talking about being prepared for what they did offensively. Did you have the scout team work on the option quarterback and all that, and who in particular played the part of Brad Smith?
Troy [Brown] did. Troy was Brad this week, as a receiver and as quarterback and he had the different roles that Brad played in, so that was Troy. Yeah, we worked on that. We didn’t play the first one very well on the pitch. They kind of split us on that. We just didn’t play it very well, but I thought overall we did a pretty good job on that. We had some trouble tackling Smith. It looked like there were a number of times we had him kind of hemmed in, it didn’t look like he was going to gain very much and he came out of there with four or five yards. But yeah, that was something that we had worked on. Whenever you play the Jets, you have to be ready for that. They put him in the backfield a lot, use him at quarterback and we’ve seen those kinds of things before from them.
Considering the elements, how tough was that for Tom Brady? Were there specific things he couldn’t really do?
No, I don’t really think there were too many things we took out of the game plan -- a couple of plays with some ball-handling. It’s just we didn’t feel like that was the best situation to run them in yesterday, but for the most part, everything we had - probably 95 percent of what we had in the game plan, we were prepared to run. I mean, you never run all of it, but the elements were… You were there. You saw them. It wasn’t terrible. It wasn’t a sunny day in September, but it wasn’t… We’ve all been in worse. It was the same for the Jets. Everybody dealt with the same things, so that’s… Look, we’re in Boston. It’s the middle of December. I don’t think any of us are surprised if it’s not clear, sunny and warm out there.
You’ve secured home field advantage for the rest of the playoffs. How does that make you feel and how much of an advantage is that for you?
It’s good. It’s good to have that, but right now that’s not really anything we’re going to dwell on. We’re just going to get ready for Miami and get ready to play the Dolphins. That’s what we’re going to do this week.
I know you talked about it a little bit yesterday, but could you talk about Laurence Maroney and the job he did?
He got a lot of carries. We ran the ball yesterday quite a bit, partially because of what the Jets were doing. They were playing - Sometimes they only had a couple defensive linemen in the game. We felt like we had some match-ups there and I thought our offensive line did a good job of sorting out some of those formations where they were moving people around and stemming guys in and out of the front late and dropping safeties down and pulling them out and things like that. I thought our line did a good job on that and Laurence got his hands on the ball. I thought he ran hard, ran well in short yardage and goal line, had some good runs on the perimeter in early down situations - I think he did a good job, like he usually does. He’s done a good job for us all year. He’s a versatile guy that can run inside, run outside, has got the speed and ability to make big plays like we saw in the passing game a couple of weeks ago. He’s got the toughness and power to pick up a tough yard on short yardage and goal line. He did a good job for us on blitz pickup, as did Kevin [Faulk]. I thought both of them played well.
Tom Brady had a few carries, too, but it was hard to tell whether those were designed plays or if something went wrong and he had to tuck it and run.
I think there was one play where we just missed - We had an audible on the line of scrimmage and we weren’t quite all on the same page on that one. [On] another one, he pulled the ball when he saw a safety blitzing off the edge. [He] would have handed it to Maroney. I think that was a very smart decision. I don’t know what would have happened, but [when] you have an unblocked guy running right at the line of scrimmage and he gets there about the same time as the handoff, it could be big trouble. The downside on him keeping the ball verses trying to exchange it into a blitzing safety… I think it was a smart decision on Tom’s part.
Can you elaborate a little on Richard Seymour? He said the last couple of weeks he hasn’t been 100 percent, in terms of his knee. Is he where you would like to see him?
From where he started - he missed the first six games of the season, or seven, whatever it was - Seven, I guess it was. So for any player to start playing then, without any training camp - Unlike, say, Rodney [Harrison], who had 30-some practices in training camp - that’s a lot of ground to make up and I don’t think you make it up in one or two weeks. It’s a gradual process. Richard’s worked hard. You all know what kind of player Richard is, and he’s gotten progressively more reps as the season’s gone on, from his first few weeks back. I think that accumulation of practice time and timing and game reps and conditioning and different situations playing against different types of players, different types of offenses and those kinds of things, that’s what rounds every player into really playing shape, is being able to handle all of the different things that come at that position, whatever the position is, over an extended amount of playing time in games. Practice is good, but it’s not the same as games. I think all of those reps, practice and games cumulatively have helped him, and that’s probably really the way it should be.
With him being at Cleveland, I know it kind of changes your relationship, but is it nice to see Romeo Crennel doing so well?
Sure. Yeah, sure. Yeah, that was a big game for them against Buffalo. Both teams [are] right in the fight there. I’ve talked to Romeo several times. As I said last year, I think he’s done a good job there. The record doesn’t always reflect the progress of the team, and I think that was probably the case last year. I know the fans and media don’t always want to hear that, but I think when you look at it objectively and really try to analyze a team that you can see that. When we played them earlier this year, I thought that that was a good football team. I said that at the time and they are. And he’s done a good job there.
Kyle Brady went down and you obviously had to insert [Stephen] Spach, the new guy, in there and Wesley Britt. Were you pleased with the play at that position?
We were scrambling a little bit at that position. We brought in Steve during the week and of course Ben [Watson] was inactive during the game, and Kyle I think probably missed the better part of three quarters. I thought that Steve and Wes did a good job filling in, with the amount of repetitions and practice time that they had, which wasn’t extensive this week. But we didn’t have any major breakdowns. There weren’t any catastrophes. There were certainly things that could have been better, but there were things that were good, so if that’s the situation we get into, that’s why you try to build that versatility in your roster all the way back in training camp, with having different guys plays different positions. You never know when those situations are going to come up, whether it’s Troy at corner or defensive players at goal line and short yardage and so forth and so on. We were able to manage the game that way. It wasn’t ideal; It’s not really what we’re looking for, but it was a way to manage the game and we were able to come out of it with a win. If we have to do something like that again, hopefully next time it will be a little bit better.
A couple of times yesterday Randy Moss was in the backfield with his hand in the dirt. Was that to confuse the defense? He’s not a classic blocker.
He never stayed there. He motioned out. The Jets are a match-up defensive team and we had a couple of formations where the match-ups probably would be a little bit new for them or different from what they’d seen. [We] just tried to keep them off-balance a little bit.
Today's Sports cover highlights Laurence Maroney's efforts to keep the Patriots on track for a perfect season when yesterday's wind-driven snow grounded quarterback Tom Brady in the team's 20-10 win over the visiting Jets.
Chris Baker, tight end
(On fumble)
I was trying to get some extra yardage and get the first down. He just came in and made a great play. It’s part of football.
(On being satisfied that they played the Patriots close)
No. Satisfaction is coming away with a victory. We play to win, not play close.
(On missed opportunities)
Our defense came out and shut down their offense and gave us the ball in scoring position and we just couldn’t do anything. We knew it was going to be a close game, we just came up short.
D’Brickashaw Ferguson, tackle
(On taking satisfaction from playing the Patriots close)
That is not our mentally. We go out to play sixty minutes of hard football and we don’t come out with that victory, that’s disappointing to us. There’s some things we did nicely in the game that we can take away from the game, but the fact is we were not successful.
(On whether the outcome was due to lack of execution or the Patriots defense making plays)
I think it was a combination of us not doing things we needed to do. There’s a lot of things that go into winning a game and obviously we didn’t do it.
(On Chad Pennington’s performance)
He’s played in the league for a long time and he’s seen a lot of things. It’s unfortunate to see Kellen go down, but Chad stepped up like he always does. He’s a captain for a reason. He stepped in and he assumed the role of leading us.
Justin McCareins, wide receiver
(On the play in the back of end zone)
I thought I had it, but it slid around in my hands a little bit and the referees made a decision and that was the bottom line.
(On the game)
It was just very frustrating to lose another game. It has been a frustrating season and we still have two more games. We just have to pull together and get another win
Ben Graham, punter
(On the effect of the weather)
You cannot control the wind, and it is the same for both teams. We practiced in it all week. We new it was going to be windy, wet and cold.
(On the blocked kick)
I have not had a lot of time; I would like to look at it again. My job was to get the ball into my hands, and get the ball on the foot as quick as I can, and get it down field. It was not a great feeling.
Mike DeVito, defensive end
(On getting to play)
It was great to be able to get some play time, especially up here in my hometown.
I was disappointed with the outcome, but it was nice to get out there and move around.
(On the game)
It was a big week of preparation, but we approached it just like every week.
Darrelle Revis, defensive back
(On the defensive play)
It was great for us and we are making a lot of strides on defense. We left a couple of plays out there and you can’t do that on a great offense. You have to make sure everything is right and be at the right place at the right time and be doing the right thing. We were aggressive and played great, but they got us with the field goals and a few other things.
Victor Hobson, linebacker
(On the hype of the game)
It kind of gets your attention, but at the same time we have learned not to even pay attention to what people say outside the locker room. If we have been going by what everyone outside the locker room has been saying all season, we probably would be a distraught and separated team right now, but that is not the case. I think we came and we fought hard and showed a lot of character. You just have to give them credit. As a defensive unit we were able to slow them down tremendously, but that is what good teams do, they just find ways to win. That is what they (Patriots) did today.
David Bowens, linebacker
(On his blocked punt and touchdown)
Their protection slid over and I was able to beat the center one-on-one. The punter had a bad hold, so it forced him to hold it a little bit longer. I’m still not believing it. It was pretty exciting. Any time you can make a play like that in a game like this it is pretty exciting. I really didn’t know what to do [when I scored]. My role is to contribute any way I can. We didn’t get the win but as a team we showed a lot of people what we are capable of doing.
(On his last touchdown)
It was in high school, it has been a long time.
Victor Hobson, linebacker
(On the Jet defense)
We just played hard and executed the game plan. We played a great team with a lot of weapons. You have to stick to the fundamentals and make things happen and we were able to do that for the most part.
(On the elements)
It is part of playing football. If you can’t play in the elements, you shouldn’t be playing football. I like to step on the football field, whatever it is, snow or rain. I am just ready to play.
Andre Dyson, cornerback
(On the Jets’ defense)
I don’t think we shut them down, but we did a good job of containing them. We had a good game plan and we executed pretty well. We played harder and smarter and faster (than the last time they played). Sometimes you put in a game plan and don’t execute it. There is no such thing as a moral victory. We came here to win, gave it a good shot and fell a little short. They are a good team. There is a reason they have won as many as they have.
Coming in as such underdogs, do you feel like you guys proved a point today?
We came out and fought hard. We kept the game close. We had a chance to make plays to make it even closer, but we couldn’t get closer than where we were. We had opportunities.
How do you feel like your game plan worked?
We played pretty well on defense. We had a good game plan coming into the game. We knew some of the things we could do to slow them down and it held, to a point, in the game, so we weren’t surprised.
Do you take it personally when people say you’re going to lose by 50 or 60?
If you have pride, you’re definitely not going to let them-or want them-to say that. People coming into the game were saying they were going to score 70, not 50. We just came out on defense, and we were excited, playing around, jumping and having fun. We pretty much held them in check. We pretty much had a good game.
Did you hear anything interesting from the fans?
On the way here people in the neighborhoods, when we were coming to the stadium, they were doing the whole spy-the camera thing. Somebody threw a plastic rat on the field. So there were plenty of things going on.
Do you feel like this was a lost opportunity and that you left plays on the field?
We definitely left plays on the field. I’m sure they probably feel the same way. We had opportunities. And at the end of the game we still had an opportunity to make it a lot closer than it was, so we definitely left plays on the field.
What were the things you guys did consistently today?
I think we did a good job of moving around and making [Tom] Brady’s checks harder for him. He didn’t [have] it simple; He had to go through a lot of possessions just to get into a good place. I think that would probably be the thing we did.
To confirm, it was a plastic rat?
Yeah it was plastic. I thought it was real. Somebody said there was a rat and I thought it was real and I was like, “that’s tough.” I didn’t see it. I just heard about it.
Do you feel like the team has Eric Mangini’s back?
I would hope so. We came out and fought and that’s the mentality of this team and that’s the mentality of our head coach. We like to come in and fight and be aggressive, and he doesn’t really like to take anything from anybody, so that’s the way we play the game.
Can you talk about when you got hit?
We had a pass called with three wide receivers to the left. [I] dropped back, there was a little bit of pressure, a little bit of penetration, and instead of risking a sack I threw it away. The defender hit my right arm as I was throwing and then landed on me as when we went to the ground.
How painful was that?
It wasn’t anything immediate -- really just some pain when I got back to sideline and I started visiting with doctors from there.
Could you have come back into the game?
It was the coach’s decision on whether or not I came back, so Coach made the decision that he was going to let Chad [Pennington] roll, and I respect that decision.
Were you disappointed or upset?
I was still in the locker room when Chad went in. I support Chad just as he has supported me. It’s unfortunate in the grander picture that with how close this game was we weren’t able to come away with a win.
Did you come back to watch the game on the sideline?
Yeah, I was on the sideline. I was on the sideline for most of the second quarter and the whole second half.
Were you physically able to return?
Coach made the decision that he was going to stick with Chad, and as I mentioned, we all respect that decision. I did my best to support Chad.
What type of injury is it?
It’s being called a rib injury.
Can you talk about Pennington’s game?
Chad Pennington is a professional. He works hard, he obviously has a lot of experience and he’s a good quarterback. You expect nothing less than from Chad than to be prepared, and then when a situation like this comes up for him to have the success that he did.
How much pain are you in now?
I can feel it.
As you watched, do you feel like you guys let this one get away?
I think we definitely had an opportunity to win the game. We were in it throughout. It’s frustrating to come in here and play a good football game against a good football team in some pretty difficult conditions. The guys played hard and gave great effort and it is frustrating.
Transcript: Jets coach Eric Mangini's postgame press conference
I just talked to the guys and talked about the opportunities that we had today and the opportunities that they created. We just weren’t able to capitalize on them. We were in the red zone four times and then couldn’t get the points that we needed to get. I thought, defensively, there was a lot of really good things today and not just in terms of the passing game, but the running game and the things that we are trying to do. I thought they did a nice job. This is a good football team that is obviously hard to beat and we had some opportunities to put ourselves in a very good position. We just couldn’t finish those.
Can you talk about your third down efficiency in the first half?
Yeah, it wasn’t very good. We weren’t able to do very much on third down until the fourth quarter, so the drives didn’t last very long and the defense was on the field quite a bit. It is hard to be effective without being good on third down.
Kellen Clemens was listed as probable with a rib injury. Was he close to coming back?
As we looked at it and we talked to the doctors, I thought it was best to continue on with Chad [Pennington]. And I think Chad did a nice job. It is another example of a guy who doesn’t get very many reps. When he was called on, he went in and I thought he did a very good job.
What was your thinking in using Brad [Smith] at quarterback? It was obvious that he wasn’t going to be a threat to throw.
We like that package and thought it was another way to get the ball to the perimeter and a chance to get the ball to one of three guys. So, either Brad, Leon [Washington] or Thomas [Jones]. You had an opportunity based on what they did with the front and thought that would be another way to attack the edge as well as have an inside presence with either Thomas or Leon.
Was that package in place regardless of Clemens getting hurt?
That is something that was not in reaction to Kellen’s injury. It was something that we had as part of the game plan.
What are your emotions like after the buildup to this game?
To me, it is a disappointment because of the opportunities that we did have today and because of how hard the players prepared and worked and, for the most part, executed. It is like the different games that we’ve talked about. When you get in those positions to score points or capitalize on a turnover or the need to protect the football-all of those things came into play today. We had some really good chances that we just weren’t able to finish up on.
I meant your emotions as it related to the spying thing, etc?
My emotions are related to the fact that the players prepared hard and fought a hard game and put themselves in the position to do some very good things. It is a very good football team that we were playing at home. We had an opportunity and weren’t able to quite finish. But, I am proud of the way the guys put themselves in that position and put us in that position.
What did Bill Belichick say to you at the end of the game?
I can’t remember. Good game or good luck or something like that.
What did you say to him?
Good game or good luck.
It looked like your defense was trying to give a lot of different looks by moving a lot of guys around.
Yes. We were trying to give as little information as possible. Tom [Brady] does an excellent job when he knows what you’re in and what he can expect, of beating the coverage or getting the offense into the right play. So, part of that is the ability to not give him too much information and to make it as difficult as possible for him to make those reads.
Clemens was reported to have a rib injury. Is that accurate?
Yes. I’ll know a lot more about it as we go.
Was he medically able to return?
It was a coach’s decision.
What did you see on the play when you got your punt blocked?
Initially it looks like it was a combination of a good move by their outside rusher, not very good leverage by us in terms of where we needed to be with the block point and our position, and also not being able to get the ball off quickly enough from the punter’s perspective.
Did you feel that was the turning point?
There was plenty of back and forth after that point and we had some good opportunities to score. We had the blocked punt; they had the blocked punt. So, we had some good chances after that.
Was Chad Pennington having difficulty hearing during the game?
He had some difficulties getting the signals from Brian [Daboll]. The coach-to-quarterback signals. But, we got it fixed and it was okay after that.
How long did he have to deal with the glitch?
I think it was a series or part of a series.
Are there any suspicions on your part about that?
No. That happens a lot where the helmets go in and out, different places.
Is there a possibility that Pennington could start next week?
I’ll have to look at everything and evaluate it. We have the injury. We don’t really have as much information now as we will later on and I’ll look at all of that stuff.
What about Laveranues Coles? It looked like he tried to go but couldn’t.
Yeah, he is tough. He did try and he’s been working to be able to play. He just wasn’t able to go as much as he would have liked.
Was that also a product of the conditions?
Sometimes that can happen when you get extreme weather or that element. But, I’m not sure if that’s exactly what it was or not, but that can happen.
Did you hear anything derogatory from the fans?
I think that there is a boatload of those comments, but that is what you get at every stadium.
Transcript: Jets quarterback Chad Pennington's postgame press conference
With the poor third down and red zone play, do you feel like you guys let one get away today?
We obviously had some opportunities to make it real interesting. That’s what it came down to, third down and red zone efficiency, and a lot of time it does come down to those two areas. Being 21 percent on third down and then 0-4 in the red zone, you’re not going to win that way.
After you threw that pass to Justin McCareins in the end zone, did you have a feeling it was going to get overturned?
To be honest with you, just from my personal vantage point, I felt like there wasn’t enough evidence to overturn it. But that’s why I play the game and why the league gets paid to make those decisions. Once it was overturned, we had to move on to the next down and opportunity, and we still had opportunities to make plays even after that one.
Can you talk about finally getting into a rhythm?
The first series or two it feels weird because you haven’t had any reps throughout the week. I played Tom Brady all week, but I’ve been in this position before and I knew I had to prepare mentally and do some things after practice to stay as sharp as I can, understanding that I wouldn’t get any physical reps.
Did you put up as good of numbers as Brady [in scout team]?
I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to count.
Do you feel like you guys proved a point tonight?
I don’t think you ever prove a point by losing. Our guys don’t feel that way. We’re not into moral victories, that’s for sure. We’re highly disappointed. We always feel like no matter what the records are coming into a Patriots-Jets game, it’s always a good game and a game we have a chance to win. And no matter what’s going on around us, we’ve felt that way. Our defense played exceptionally well; got some big plays on special teams [like] the blocked punt. Offensively we just didn’t do enough, so that’s disappointing.
What are your thoughts for next week? Do you hope to start?
I’m just going to be me. I don’t have any control over the coaches’ decisions. I prepare as hard as I can and do everything I’m supposed to do to be ready. And when I’m called on I’ll be ready.
Did the weather play a part?
There’s two ways to look at it: when you’re a little kid and there’s snow on the ground and it’s messy outside, you beg your mom and dad to let you go out and play. I really didn’t worry about the weather. Obviously, that presented some different challenges and I think your antenna goes up a little as far as ball security and making sure you do have a good grip on the ball, especially when you’re making a down the field throw because if the ball does slip out or something, bad things can happen. I just tried to block that out and be aware of the surroundings.
What were you able to exploit today?
I think our guys did a great job in space and we were able to get our playmakers the ball in space and let those guys make plays. We weren’t quite as successful as we want to be, especially in crucial opportunities such as third-down and red zone [opportunities]. That’s the difference in the game and that’s what all these kind of games come down to. It’s one thing to be successful in first and second downs, but third down and the red zone are where you make your money, and we didn’t make enough.
Was it motivation to try to beat the Patriots’ unbeaten streak?
We never talked about the streak. What was important for us is that it’s a division game and that we had a change to get our third division win. And any time the Pats and the Jets get together it’s exciting and a playoff atmosphere and there are good players on the field. We didn’t focus on [the streak], we just focused on what we needed to do to win and we had a good game plan, we just didn’t execute.
Was it difficult to get your rhythm back after Brad Smith went into the game? Do you take that personally?
I don’t take that personally because it wasn’t a surprise. We had a package for Brad and I knew as a quarterback, and we knew as an offense, that that package could be called at any time, so I didn’t take it personally . . . That’s what you have to do sometimes when you have [someone] like Brad who makes play like that, as a quarterback you have to be ready. It’s hard sometimes, but that’s no excuse. You have to come in and execute. I don’t have any excuses, The first time I got in was a third down and a completed comeback for 18 yards, so I don’t have any excuses.
Can you talk about how quick that transition from watching to playing happens?
The biggest difference in that you go from having no adrenaline to all of a sudden getting an adrenaline rush real quick. And that’s a good thing. That’s what you need to play this game. You can’t play it lax, you can’t play it not focused, you’ve got to have some intensity and some drive. If you don’t, you’re going to get hurt out there, so that was what’s different from going from kind of being a spectator and doing everything you can from the sidelines and all of sudden you’ve got to jump in there and start making some things happen.
Jabar Gaffney, wide receiver
(On if the game plan was to run the ball more today)
With the elements you need to keep the ball on the ground more. Maroney did a great job running with the ball and the line was blocking good.
(On how the conditions affected the passing game)
It affected it a little bit; the ball was a little wet and with the way the wind was blowing it made it a little tough. So it makes you do a lot of short passes instead of stretching the field a little more. Overall we got it done.
(On have you ever seen a game suspended for fans throwing snowballs onto a field)
That was my first time seeing that. It’s great [that] our fans are very passionate and they like to have fun out there.
(On how it feels to be only the 2nd team ever to go 14-0 in a season)
Winning the first 14 games is a feat in it self, we never set out to be 14-0 we just try to go one game at a time and try to win the next one and then the one after. We have done a really good job at that and we will continue to do that, we have the Dolphins coming in and we will go on and prepare for them and hopefully after that keep going.
Kelley Washington, wide receiver
(On the blocked punt)
When I see a left footed punter, I rushed in from the right side and got an opportunity to make a play. The wing was playing kind of soft and I just felt myself driving him back and before you know it I was right on the punter. You know I always try to make big plays for the special teams and it was a big play right before the half. It was just great execution as a team.
(On the punt earlier that Willie Andrews knocked back from the end zone and Washington downed)
We practice those plays all the time and that was just great execution by Willie getting down there and hitting the ball and me backing him up and being right there to down the ball. Once again it’s just putting to work what we practice all the time and it was just great execution as a special teams group.
(On going 14-0)
I think, as a team, we’re just playing. We’re going out day-in and day-out, trying to improve in practice and on Sundays. One thing about this team is that guys never talk about it. We hear in the media and from other people, but as corps, as a team, the Patriots and the organization, we take it game-by-game. I think that’s what’s special.
(On blocked punt)
It wasn’t just me. I might have blocked the punt, but there were other guys around that got their man and made it easy for me to block the punt. I think, overall, we had a good performance as a corps on special teams.
Ellis Hobbs, cornerback
(On the defense playing up to the standard set by the offense)
You kind of get overlooked with the type of offense that we have. You’ve got to give it up to them; they’re juggernauts out there as far as making plays when they’re supposed to be making plays, or when you don’t think they’re going to make plays. I think, ourselves on defense, we hold our end also. Check the stats - that red zone defense has started to come along. I think today, maybe we’ve jumped up to 28th. We hold our own out there. It just so happens that this is an offensive game. Fans love to see the ball in the air. They love to see the ball in Tom’s hands, which is fine. We’re going to continue to go out there and make big plays and play our style of defense.
(On Eugene Wilson’s performance)
That’s what we do. Whoever’s down; the next person steps in. We’re not asking you to go out there and make these spectacular plays, a couple of those did happen, but we’re not asking you to do that-just play the role that you are given. Eugene’s been in this position before, starting, coming out there and getting back into the swing of things. I’m happy for him [and] the way the game went for him.
Kevin Faulk, running back
(On starting the season 14-0)
It’s a great accomplishment but it’s not what we’re trying to do. As a team, we’re trying to accomplish something a little bit greater than what that is right now.
(On the running game being the focus of the offense)
If we wanted to win, we had to run the ball. That’s something that we came into the game knowing that we had to do and that’s something that we try to do. Whatever we have to do to win the game, that’s it. If we have to throw it underhand to win, that’s what we’ll do. It’s just a fact about doing your job and knowing that the guy beside you is going to do his job.
(On the weather being a factor)
To be honest, when you’re in the game you’re not really worried about it. You have to worry about your footing and everything, but as far as the conditions, you just play football.
Heath Evans, running back
(On playing in poor conditions)
You’d always rather have snow than wind and rain, but the weather really wasn’t bad tonight. We played a good opponent and had our hands full for a while. Luckily, we made enough plays down the stretch to add another [win].
(On if the team ran the ball consistently because of the weather)
I don’t really think so. I think intentions are one thing every single week and the coaches adjust to what’s getting thrown at us. Obviously this week it was working. Laurence [Maroney] had a great game from what I can see. He ran hard downhill and that’s what we ask of him.
(On Laurence Maroney’s effectiveness)
I know what he’s capable of. I think he was given ample opportunities today and he did the most with it and I’m proud of the way he ran.
Laurence Maroney, running back
(On getting consistent carries)
You get a feel for the game. After you run a play a couple of times, you get a feel of how the defense is going to play it now and where you can make a person miss or where the hole might be. Running the ball a lot today, it gave me a chance to know where things were going to be before they happened.
(On securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs)
It’s always better to play in front of your home crowd, to make the visitors play with the noise. You can just play relaxed and you don’t have to deal with the crowd noise. You know what the elements are going to be up here and you can make teams come and play in our elements, the ones that we practice in every day.
(On developing the running game)
Coming into the game we knew that when we ran the ball for the first two quarters it was going to be real difficult. We weren’t going to break one and we were usually going to have to stick with it and pound for two, pound for three. Eventually the defense was going to get tired and three-yard [runs] were going to turn into four and five and hopefully you’d break one. It was basically running downhill because you can’t make too many cuts on this bad field in the rain like this.
Tedy Bruschi, linebacker
(On the playing conditions)
It was cold out there. It was ugly and sloppy at times, but the surface held. There was a little bit of rain we had to deal with, but overall its nice to know that we can go into elements like this and still play well and come out with a victory.
(On the satisfaction of starting 14-0)
Every win feels great. We’ve strung some together and it’s at 14 now. It feels good to be 14-0, I can’t lie to you, but I’m going to feel good about it tonight and then tomorrow we’re going to move on. We have to get ready for the Dolphins and that’s just how it’s been the whole year.
(On Eugene Wilson making big plays)
He didn’t have to return that interception very far, but still in elements like that it’s a tough catch. It’s tough to get your pocket under that and squeeze the ball. He was able to score a touchdown, so I hope that gives him a boost. I think it will to make a couple of big plays like that after you’ve missed a lot of action. It’s nice to see him contribute.
(On Richard Seymour forcing the first quarter interception)
That was a great hit. Usually when you have a ball like that, that sort of flutters and is short of the target, you have to look back to the rush and say he got a hand on his elbow or he was able to pummel him like Seymour did. He’s such a dominant force in there and whenever he explodes on someone like that - is able to finish a quarterback like that - you take notice.
Adalius Thomas, linebacker
(On the team’s red zone defense)
It was very important. I think that really came out on top, with the missed field goal and stopping them on fourth down. I think that was a big momentum shift in the game, especially after that turnover, so it really came up big today.
(On the Jets switching quarterbacks)
I don’t think it kept us off balance. It’s just the effect of different programs. They ran certain things with [Brad Smith] at quarterback and certain things they ran with [Chad] Pennington at quarterback. We knew what it was. We missed some tackles, but I think we adjusted to it well.
Matt Light, offensive lineman
(On if coming out and running the ball more was part of the game plan)
We knew that with the conditions we were going to have to be able to run the ball depending on which way we were going on the field. I thought we ran the ball alright. Obviously it would have been nice to be able to go out there and put together a good drive towards the end of the game, keep them off the field. When you have games like this and the weather is an issue you definitely have to go to the running game a little bit more.
(On the benefit of having that established with the possibility of playing games like this in January)
You have to be able to play in what Mother Nature gives you. I think we’re a good running team. I don’t think we’ve necessarily come out and run the ball a whole lot, obviously, in the last three week,s but we can run the ball. We’ve got guys that are good at seeing what’s going on up front and making good blocks. These are just things that we’re going to have to keep developing all the way into the playoffs.
Logan Mankins, offensive lineman
(On whether running the ball more than passing was the game plan)
Not really. We go into every game with the same amount of runs and passes. We’re just going into the game looking to see what will be the most effective on that day and today we felt with the weather and the way we started out running the ball that would be the way to go.
(On if the weather affects the running game)
No, not running it. As long as you have good footing, which on this field you’re going to have good footing, everything’s pretty equal. You don’t notice the rain really.
(On the hype of the Nor’easter leading up to the game)
After everything all week, you thought you’d be out there in ten feet of snow, after everything that was said. It was a lot nicer than predicted.
(On if it was an in-game decision to run the ball more)
That’s pretty much the coaches. The players, we’re in the dark, we just practice what they tell us to practice and during the game we just run what they tell us to run. Sometimes we have a feeling from just watching film on our own of what we are going to do. This week I think we thought we’d run it more just because we knew the circumstances with the weather. That’s what we did, we ran it more than we threw it.
(On what looks the Jets gave that made the team think the run would be there)
Well they are a 3-4 defense, like our defense, which [Eric] Mangini learned from Bill [Belichick]. I think as long as you have good fits and everyone is playing hard you can run against that scheme and that’s what we tried to do today.
Eugene Wilson, safety
(On the effect of the conditions on the movement of the ball)
The weather wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be really, really nasty, but actually it wasn’t too bad at all.
(On his overall performance)
Today was one of those great days for me. Every week, you see guys get those picks where the ball just comes right to them and I had to be that guy this week.
(On the effect of the weather on the game’s outcome)
Obviously, when you have weather, anything can happen. We just kept our composure and do what we were supposed to do and came out with the win.
(On his fumble recovery)
When the play started off, I didn’t know he was hold it loose. I was hoping that somebody was going to hit it and it just kept on popping and I was like, ‘Here we go,’ so I picked it up and tried to get what I could.
Rodney Harrison, safety
(On the weather)
We’ve practiced in this type of weather before. We really didn’t make it an issue. It wasn’t a problem. We just kind of ignored and did what we did as far as our game plan, execution, trying to go out there and make plays, making plays on the ball, as well as tackling. It really wasn’t that big of an issue.
(On improving to 14-0)
It’s the 14th game. It’s pretty nice as we look at it, but we’re not getting overly excited about it because that’s just one more step on the path of where we’re trying to go. [There’s] a lot of football to be played. We’re excited about it, but at the same time, we have a lot of improvements to make and lot of areas where we could do better.
(On red zone defense)
It just helps us continue to build confidence. We were probably 31st or 32nd in the league so there was no other place to go but up as far as our red zone defense. The defense came out. We had guys like Adalius [Thomas] - he played his butt off. Junior Seau played tremendous football and the defense just rallied, stuck together regardless of the situation or the circumstance, and we persevered.
(On Richard Seymour’s play)
Richard, he played tremendous. He’s a consummate pro, a guy that’s working his butt of to get back and trying to get back to form. He’s a guy that you’re happy for because you’ve seen his progress and coming off the knee injury, which I understand. It’s tough.
How did the conditions affect the play on the field?
The conditions were bad. Each week it’s something, but as you can see, they have problems, we have problems. [There were] a couple of mistakes in the kicking game on both sides. It’s really just getting a win. Luckily, we’re 14-0 and it’s something good to smile about.
Did Bill Belichick show at all how much he wanted this victory?
Coach Belichick emphasized all week being mentally and physically ready to go out there and play 60 minutes of football. I don’t know what personal vendetta he had against Coach Mangini, but he didn’t express it all week. Anything he had was definitely kept inside. As far as preparing his team to go out there and play 60 minutes with the weather conditions, that’s one thing that we’ve done this week, knowing what we had to do to get the win.
Did the conditions call for your game plan to not stretch the field?
If you know football. A lot of fans that watch don’t know the real football concept. If you really looked at the game today, there were certain times when we were trying to use the wind to our advantage for things like that, but it did play a big factor today because we had some plays in our offense that we couldn’t call because of that reason. We got the victory, both teams had to deal with it and we’re 14-0.
Do you expect to play in another weather game like this again in January?
There’s no telling. One thing throughout my career that I’ve always watched is the New England Patriots playing in the snow and bad weather, so when I came up here I just wanted to know which days and what time of the month that it was coming. Now it’s here, so there’s nothing we can do about it but just try to go out there and play and see what we can do.
What did you think about the fans throwing snowballs onto the field?
I though it was hilarious. Actually, I told Tommy [Brady] on the sidelines - I think it was the first touchdown, no, it was [Eugene] Wilson’s pick that he took to the house - they started throwing snowballs. I started looking and the whole stadium was throwing snowballs. Actually I looked up where my people sit, I didn’t think they were up there, but they were standing up jumping with them. It was funny. Like I said, they put a lot of fun into the game here, if it’s the Jumbotron, the guy on the microphone, or just the fans themselves. We have fun here. Not just myself and the players, but with the fans also.
How satisfying is it to be just the second team in NFL history to start a season 14-0?
Me, personally - I’m really speaking for myself - as long as that zero stays in that [loss] column, I’m cool with it. But, this being the second team to do this, do that, I think we have a goal set out, because now it’s playoff time. It’s getting close to the end of the regular season, [our goal is] to go on and play for the trophy. I don’t really care what’s going on during the regular season, as long as we have a chance to play for that trophy. I think a lot of guys feel that way. In the locker room - 14-0, second team to do it - guys mention it, but what are you going to do?
How important is it for you guys to get that number-one seed?
I guess it’s just something they do around here. I guess it’s expected. One thing about this organization, we never look into the future or where we’re going. We have seven, six days to prepare for a team and that’s what Coach Belichick keeps us grounded in and humble, that we cannot look past a team that we’re about to play. Anything down the road, individually we think about what we’re doing and what we can possibly do, but as a whole unit, we don’t talk about it, we don’t celebrate it. Basically, we’re going on to Miami and seeing if we can get the win.
Is that culture a good thing for you as a player? The fact that “looking ahead” is off your shoulders?
Not just for this organization, but for sports period. I think in sports today, if you get too ahead of yourself, things happen. That’s one thing Coach Belichick is not letting us do, getting ahead of ourselves. There are times out there when you might see us afterward having fun or jumping around, but that’s just between the white lines. Then once we come in here, get in the classroom, work, and go out to practice, it’s back to normal. So we don’t look past the team that we’re playing that week.
Can you talk about your catch when there was pass interference called?
It was a play designed to go deep. Actually I was going out to the right, to the deep corner. I saw the ball thrown and had to go get it and he bumped me and stopped my progression. They have to throw the flag. Their bench was saying it was on me. I’ve been getting calls my way and some I haven’t. Luckily we got the pass interference and I completed the catch and we went down there and scored some points.
Was your old college quarterback [Chad Pennington] the last guy you wanted to see out on the other side of the field?
I’ve always been a big fan of Chad’s. The things we did in college is something we still cherish to this day. That’s the thing about college football. That’s when you go from being a young man to a grown man and you have a lot of good things happen in your life, not just in football, but the college experience. Just seeing Chad and him getting back in there - I wasn’t really paying attention to their quarterback controversy or whatever it may be. But I’ve always been a big fan of Chad’s and hopefully he does well.
Is there a chance the team might take it easy and rest some players in the next couple of weeks?
We haven’t talked about it. Just by your questions that you all are asking, Coach Belichick is not letting up. If you all think there’s any chance he is going to let up and give us a break, he’s not. From Week One, all the way to training camp, you heard about the “humble pie.” There’s no telling how much we’re going to eat this week, but Coach Belichick would never let a team like this [take it easy].
Did you think you were going to catch a touchdown on that pass broken up by Hank Poteat?
That was just a good play. With the conditions we played in, the last couple weeks we’ve emphasized securing the catch. Don’t try to do anything with the ball, just secure the catch. It was just a good play by him, getting his hand in there. We tried to stick it in there, but like I said, he made a good play.
How did you like playing fullback?
Well, you saw I motioned out to my wide receiver spot. That’s really not me. My body is not made for that. But if it’s third-and-one and they need me to block for [Laurence] Maroney, all I could do is get in somebody’s way.
How important was this win for you? Especially playing in the elements, big win obviously for your head coach.
Yeah. Great win and I think [the weather is] probably the way it’s going to be next week, the week after, the week after - So it’s good to get out there gain some confidence that we can win a game when the conditions aren’t really like they’ve been. Ee’ve had great weather all year. Anytime you beat the Jets it’s a great win and 5-0 in the division and 14-0, so it’s a lot to be proud of.
(On how the conditions and the wet ball affect the offense.)
Wet, rain, wind, cold - for an offense - and then you lose your tight end early in the game too, so you’re kind of forced to throw it a lot. I think defenses had the upper hand today.
I know you have a lot of things you want to accomplish this season and still to accomplish but does the significance of being the second team ever to go 14-0 mean anything?
We’re just trying to get better and execute better each week. I’m happy we won today and I think next week is going to be a challenge. I’m glad we’re playing at home; the crowd was a factor today and hopefully we can play better next week.
Did you think you had [Randy] Moss in the end zone there where Hank [Poteat] reached in a broke it up?
Yeah I did. I did.
Were you amused, disinterested - what’s the word for the whole Belichick-Mangini subplot this week?
It’s just one of those things that’s not really in our control. We as a team have a lot of confidence in our coach and [the Jets are] very well coached. Eric [Mangini] is a great coach; we know that from being around here. We all have respect for that team and the coaches and they play extremely hard. I’m glad we got the win. I think that’s the way we approached it all week and what anyone says about anything… it ultimately comes down to the way you play. The more time and energy you spend focusing on things that really aren’t that important, you’re wasting time and energy.
Do you think that chapter is closed now on this rivalry or is that something that will always be part of it?
It’s a great rivalry as it is. I think since Coach Belichick got here and his history with the Jets, all the players we’ve had come from the Jets, and vice versa, it makes for a great rivalry. It’s always a tough opponent for us to face and I know last year we played them in some pretty [tough] conditions and lost. This year they tried to confuse us quite a bit with what they were doing and I thought we handled it a little bit better. [We] didn’t execute well enough to put drives together, but it was good to go down and get the field goal there at the end and I think we ran the ball pretty effectively at times.
How tough were those conditions and how much did they dictate the game plan?
It’s just one of those situations were there are a lot of things you don’t call because if you’re playing them on air you don’t hit them or complete them. Anything deep or to the sideline is challenging so you have to find a way to make those plays on the inside part of the field when you get your opportunities to make the plays. Obviously, it’s not very conducive to throwing the football. I wish we played in a dome every week, it’s 65 degrees or 70 degrees playing in a dome and elements are never a factor. That’s not the case in Foxborough, but you play with whatever conditions are out there and you just try to do the best you can do. I’m glad we got the win.
At the end of the second quarter, I think, you had the wind at your back, was that a factor?
Yeah, it’s kind of at your back but it’s kind of at the side too. It’s not like it’s straight down, it’s more to the side and across. Wind, no wind, it’s always challenging with the wind and then you put a wet ball out there and it’s challenging but I thought we made a lot of good plays, a lot of plays we needed. Randy [Moss] made a great catch there at the end. Wes [Welker] had a big third down catch. Those guys caught the ball really well. A lot of great concentration, and, like I said, it was a good win for us.
The way the conditions were, is it a possible benefit knowing that you might have to play a pair of playoff games in this in January?
I’m sure it’s going to be a factor throughout. I’ve been in this winter-time conditions, practiced in the snow and the rain and the sleet and it’s nice [that] the field we have [has] great footing. I always like it a little snowy out there so everyone doesn’t have great footing. It makes it kind of easier to throw the ball. When they have great footing… I like when everyone is on skates out there, like [Thursday’s] practice. We’ll probably have those conditions again. I hope we learned from today and we’ll just try to go out and play better next week.
Teams will rest their best players to protect them for the playoffs. Do you think you’ll play in the next two weeks? Or play much?
I hope so. I hope I play every snap. That’s the most exciting part of my job is playing; [it’s] not practicing, I know that.
You probably haven’t had the year everyone expected out of Laurence Maroney. Does a game like this, is he moving in the right direction, back on track per se?
It was a big game for him. I thought he played really well. I thought he ran the ball hard, took care of the ball, scored on the goal line. When you have elements like this you want to play great defense and run the ball and I thought we played great defense today and we ran the ball well. That’s what we’re going to need the rest of the season. Hopefully Laurence gained some confidence. I know we all have confidence in Laurence. He just hasn’t had quite the opportunity that he would like, but I know he was excited today.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's postgame press conference
That was a good win for our football team. It was a game where all three phases of the game, there were some key plays in it. The kicking game turned out to be big, obviously, and we were able to make enough plays that we needed to make to win. It was certainly one of our goals at the beginning of the year, to win in our division, and next week we have a chance to go 6-0 in the division, and that’s a good way to get to that point and hopefully we’ll be able to play well enough to win next week. That was a good football game out there today. [I’m] proud of the way the guys played. [They] dealt with the elements [and] all the other things that go into a tight game like this. [They] made plays throughout the game – made some in the fourth quarter, made some in the second quarter and it’s good to win. It’s good to win and we’ll get on to Miami next week.
You’re 14-0. How significant is that, that you’re only the second team ever to do that?
We’re happy with our record, but right now it’s all one-week seasons. We’ll take a look at the Jets film, make the corrections from that [and] move on to Miami. That’s all we’re thinking about.
You have to be happy to have wrapped up home field advantage as well.
Yeah, that was good. That was good.
With the number one seed wrapped up, does the context of the games change the way you’ll utilize your personnel?
We’ll do what we always do.
You touched on the elements. How much of a factor was that?
Well, the rain was I think the biggest factor – you know, the wet ball, the wet field. The wind was somewhat… we’ve played in worse, but it was a factor. But ball handling, the ball was a little slick and so was the footing. I think that affected the tackling a little bit, too. It looked like both teams missed some tackles out there where they couldn’t’ quite get a hold of the guy or couldn’t quite get their feet under them– the tackler couldn’t really get his feet under to really secure the tackle. It felt like that was a little bit of a factor, too.
When you say, “Do what we always do,” does that mean . . .
It means we’ll prepare for the game. We’ll break down the film, we’ll prepare for the game, the players will come in, we’ll give them the game plan, we’ll get ready to go and we’ll go play on Sunday. [The] same thing we always do.
How about as far as what players . . .
That’s what we always do. We’ll play the same way. We’ll do what we always do. We’ll come in, we’ll prepare and we’ll play the game on Sunday. That’s what we do.
You talked during the week about things you looked at to improve with your team and get better at, and one was red zone defense. That played a pretty big role today.
Yeah, they did a pretty good job. We finally pulled ourselves out of the basement. We’ve been down there all year. I think we were 31st last week or something like that. The players were talking about it today -- maybe we’ll be 29th or something like that. It was good, though. It’s good to be able to keep a team out of the end zone, force them to field goals and if they don’t make them then you get out of there with no points. That was something we’ve done a little bit better the last couple of weeks. Hopefully we can continue that, continue in that direction. Those are big points, especially in a tight game like we had today.
Laurence Maroney had over 100 yards and 20-some carries. Were you happy with his performance?
Yeah. I think he carried the ball, ran hard. I thought he made some good runs, had some good balance. We’ll look at the film. I’m sure there’s things that he could do better, but it was a good performance for him on the ground and we needed that. It was one of those kinds of games where we had some opportunities to run the ball and he ran it, and I thought he ran hard and he took care of the ball, which was really important.
Did you expect to run as much coming in or was that weather-related adjustment?
I think it was more . . . it was sort of a function of . . . well, the weather certainly had something to do with it, but it was a little bit of a function of the defense, too. You saw the Jets standing around out there, walking around on the line of scrimmage, so we thought we had an opportunity to snap the ball, run the ball at some of those fronts, and we did that.
They caught you on a big play there after Kellen Clemens went out and they kind of ran the thread to the option. Was that something you expected?
Yeah, we’d worked on it. They put [Brad] Smith back there in the backfield a lot, run the dive, run the option, run the pitch and we just didn’t play it as well as we needed to. And there were a couple of times where it looked like we had them and we had a little trouble tackling. But again, it was one of those days where there were a lot of broken tackles out there on both sides.
On special teams, Kelley Washington made some big plays today.
Yes, he made some big plays. I’ll tell you, we really work a lot on punt blocks, believe it or not. I know we haven’t blocked a punt since I’ve been here, so it’s hard for me to say yeah, we’re good at it, but that was a great time for it. Then we were able to get the ball in on the goal line and that hasn’t always been the case against the Jets. We’ve been stopped down there in our goal line offense in some other games against them, but I thought we did a good job of running it in there and it was big for us to be able to convert that. I know [when] you get the ball on the three yard line you say, “Well, it’s in,” but it really isn’t, so that was big. That was a huge play by Kelley.
Did you see something from Maroney today that maybe you hadn’t seen earlier in the year?
No, I wouldn’t say so. Laurence has played good football for us all year – actually, since he’s been here. He’s tough, he runs hard, he’s patient, does a good job in blitz-pickup, he’s made some plays in the passing game, like he did a couple of weeks ago, so he does a good job for us.
Now that it’s over, how do you feel about being done with the Jets?
It’s just like the other games. It’s good to win. It’s good to win in the division. It’s good to sweep the Jets and we’ll move on to Miami.
Washington also had a big play early in the game. How important has he been on special teams?
He’s done a great job for us in the kicking game. He’s done an outstanding job -- covering kicks, both on kickoffs and punts, kind of the outside guy on those, downing them. I mean, the block obviously was a huge play. He’s given us some big plays in the kicking game this year throughout the course of the year, even going back to opening day on a couple of those sideline returns with Leon Washington. He’s been solid for us in the kicking game all year, both on the coverage teams, blocking, and on the punt return, so he’s done a good job. That was a big play today. That was huge.
With everything now wrapped up, why wouldn’t there be an advantage to letting up and maybe resting guys?
I think I already answered that question. Anything else?
Are there any extra or different emotions, given the backdrop of this game and also, to follow up on something you said on Friday about you not giving permission . . .
Yeah, I think we’ve covered all that.
Will you follow up with the league?
I think we’ve covered all that.
It had been a long time since Tom Brady played a game when he didn't throw a touchdown pass.
Over a year, in fact.
Dec. 10, 2006, to be exact.
Until this Sunday, when the Jets prevented the NFL's leading passer from completing a pass in the end zone.
The Jets and the weather, that is.
"Obviously, it wasn't very conducive to throwing the football," Brady said.
Throwing a wet ball on a dismal afternoon of sleet and rain, Brady completed a season-low 14 of 27 passes, for just 140 yards -- also a season low _ with one interception.
"I wish we played in a dome every week," said Brady, sounding about envious of his primary rival for NFL passing supremacy, Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, who plays at least half his games indoors in Indianapolis.
"It's 65 or 70 degrees playing in a dome," Brady said, "and the elements are never a factor. That's not the case in Foxboro. But you play with whatever conditions are out there, and you just try to do the best you can."
The best thing to do on such a blustery day is run the ball, which the Patriots did successfully -- Laurence Maroney rushing for 104 yards and a TD on 26 carries.
"It was a big game for him," Brady said. "I thought he played really well. I thought he ran the ball hard, took care of the ball, scored on the goal line.
"That's what we're going to need from him the rest of the season. Hopefully, Laurence gained some confidence. I know we all have confidence in Laurence. He just hasn't had quite the opportunity that he would like, but I know he was excited today."
Given the weather, it was hard for Brady to throw the ball with much confidence.
"It's just one of those situations," he said, "where there are a lot of things you don't call because you don't hit them or complete them. Anything deep, or to the sideline, is challenging, so you have to find a way to make plays on the inside part of the field when you get your opportunities."
Brady almost had a touchdown pass late in the game, but Jets defensive back Hank Poteat, a former Patriot, knocked the ball away from Moss at the last instant. The Pats wound up settling for a field goal on that drive, the highlight of which was a 46-yard completion to Moss at the N.Y. 14. Prior to that, the longest completion Brady had was a 16-yarder to Wes Welker only a few plays earlier in the same series.
"It's always challenging with the wind," said Brady. "Then you put a wet ball out there and it's even more challenging. But I thought we made a lot of good plays, a lot of plays we needed. Randy made a great catch there at the end. Wes had a big third-down catch."
Brady did set a new career-high yesterday in passing yards, increasing his season total to 4,235 -- 320 yards shy of the team record set by Drew Bledsoe in 1994. Brady has thrown for a club-record 45 touchdowns, and is four shy of tying the NFL record set by Manning in 2003.
But TD passes may be increasingly hard to come by as winter weather descends upon New England.
"This is probably the way it's going to be next week, the week after, and the week after that," said Brady. We've had great weather all year, so it's good to get out there and gain some confidence that we can win a game when the conditions aren't really like they've been."
This will be the fifth time since the NFL adopted its current playoff format in 1990 that the Patriots have earned a bye into the conference semifinals. Every previous time, the Pats made it to the Super Bowl -- 1996, 2001, 2003, and 2004. After losing to the Packers in Super Bowl XXXI, New England upset the Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, then beat the Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII and the Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX.
This is only the second time that the Patriots are the No. 1 seed in the AFC. They also earned that distinction in 2003, when they beat the Colts in the conference championship game in Foxboro, 24-14.
Under coach Bill Belichick, the Pats now have won five straight division titles, and six of the last seven.
PATRIOTS CLINCH TOP SEED IN AFC PLAYOFFS
With their victory today, the Patriots have clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs for the second time, joining the 2003 team as the only squads in team history to accomplish the feat. New England has won the 2007 AFC East division championship and has also clinched a first-round playoff bye. They have won their division for the fifth straight year and have earned a first-round bye for the fifth time since the current playoff format was adopted in 1990. The Patriots also earned first-round byes in 1996, 2001, 2003 and 2004. New England will host a divisional playoff game at Gillette Stadium on the weekend of Jan. 12-13.
PATRIOTS TIE NFL’S LONGEST WINNING STREAK TO BEGIN A SEASON
The Patriots have begun the 2007 season with 14 consecutive victories, becoming just the second team in the NFL’s 88-year history to open a season with 14 straight wins. New England joins the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who finished their season 14-0. The NFL went from a 14-game regular season to a 16-game regular season in 1978. The Patriots are the third team in league history to win 14 straight games within a single season, joining the 1972 Dolphins and the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, who won their final 14 games of the year to finish 15-1.
PATRIOTS TIE FRANCHISE RECORD FOR REGULAR-SEASON WINS
With 14 victories in 2007, the Patriots have tied the franchise’s single-season record for regular-season wins. The Patriots also won 14 games during the 2003 and 2004 campaigns, finishing with a 14-2 record in both seasons. The 2007 Patriots are the 24th team in NFL history to win 14 or more regular-season games.
PATRIOTS TIE SECOND-LONGEST REGULAR-SEASON WINNING STREAK IN NFL HISTORY
The Patriots have won 17 consecutive regular-season games dating back to last season, tying the second longest regular-season winning streak in the NFL’s 88-year history. New England’s winning streak ties the 17 straight wins by the 1933-34 Chicago Bears for the second longest streak, trailing only the Patriots’ NFL-record 18 consecutive regular-season wins from 2003-04.
BRADY SETS SINGLE-SEASON CAREER HIGH FOR PASSING YARDS
On a 12-yard completion to Randy Moss in the first quarter, Tom Brady set a new single-season career high for passing yards, topping his total of 4,110 yards in 2005. Following his 12-yard completion to Moss, Brady had 4,117 passing yards for the season. He finished the game with 4,235 passing yards this year. Brady’s 2007 yardage total is currently the second highest total in Patriots franchise history, trailing only Drew Bledsoe’s team-record 4,555 passing yards in 1994.
MOSS BREAKS 12,000 RECEIVING YARD MARK FOR CAREER
On his final catch of the game – a 46-yard reception from Tom Brady in the fourth quarter – Randy Moss exceeded 12,000 receiving yards for his career, becoming the 15th player in NFL history to accomplish the feat. Moss ended the game with 12,043 career receiving yards on 763 career receptions.
MOSS BREAKS 1,300 RECEIVING YARD MARK FOR SEASON
On his 46-yard reception in the fourth quarter, Moss exceeded 1,300 receiving yards for the season, becoming the second player in Patriots history to achieve the feat. Stanley Morgan is the only other player in team history to break the 1,300-receiving yard mark, gaining a franchise-record 1,491 receiving yards in 1986. Moss ended the game with 1,343 receiving yards on 87 receptions in 2007. His 1,343 receiving yards are the second highest single-season total in Patriots history, trailing only Morgan’s 1986 total.
WILSON AND THOMAS TEAM UP TO CREATE TURNOVER
Adalius Thomas forced New York’s Chris Baker to fumble following a third-quarter completion and Eugene Wilson scooped up the loose ball to give the Patriots possession at their own 14-yard line. The forced fumble was Thomas’s first of the season and was the 16th forced fumble of his eight-year NFL career. For Wilson, the play was his fourth career fumble recovery and his first of the season.
QUICK HITS
-- The Patriots have gained 5,790 total net yards this season, the second highest total in franchise history and trailing only their franchise-record 5,965 total net yards in 1978.
-- The Patriots have gained 347 first downs this season, the second highest total in franchise history and trailing only their team-record 348 first downs in 1994.
Tom Brady now has 4,235 passing yards this season, a career high. He’s beaten the Jets 12 times in his career, second only to his 13 victories against the Bills as a personal high
* * * *
Wes Welker eclipsed the 1,000-yard receiving mark for the season, giving the Pats two 1,000-yard receivers (Welker and Randy Moss) for the first time since Harold Jackson and Stanley Morgan in 1979.
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Laurence Maroney had a career-high 26 carries yesterday for a season-high 104 yards. His previous career high for carries in a game was 20. Maroney also scored a touchdown, making him the 19th player in franchise history to score at least 10 rushing touchdowns for the Patriots.
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The Patriots have now won 12 of their last 15 games against the Jets, and yesterday’s victory lifted their all-time record against New York to .500 (48-48-1).
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The Patriots are now in fifth place on the list of teams with most points scored in a season, with 523. They trail the 1998 Vikings (556), the 1983 Redskins (541), the 2000 Rams (540) and the 1999 Rams (526). Their 37.35 points per game trails only the 1950 Rams (38.83).
* * * *
The Patriots have outscored their opponents by 291 points this year (523-232), the second-biggest total in history. They trail the 1942 Bears, who outscored their opponents by 292 points in an 11-game season, by one point.
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The Patriots have scored 67 touchdowns this season, tying the 2000 Rams for second place on the all-time list of TDs in a single season. The 1984 Dolphins scored 70.
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The Patriots are now 26-6 in December games since Bill Belichick took over as coach in 2000, and 44-8 in games played after Thanksgiving since 2001.
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The Patriots are 34-9 against AFC East opponents since 2001.
Bill Belichick did indeed meet Eric Mangini at midfield to shake his former assistant's hand. It was brief, but it definitely happened. Afterwards, Belichick shook his fist above his head in victory.
It wasn't exactly the way Patriots fans thought it might be, but the New England Patriots won their rematch with the New York Jets today, 20-10, at Gillette Stadium.
The Patriots became the first team since the 1972 Miami Dolphins to go 14-0. For the Dolphins, the 14 wins meant a perfect regular-season record; the Pats still have two more to go before they begin their playoff run.
New England's offense sputtered all day in the rainy, windy conditions, but the game turned on a big plays by the defense and the special teams.
Early in the first quarter, Richard Seymour buried Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens as Clemens threw from the end zone. The rushed pass went right to Eugene Wilson, who easily returned it for the Patriots' first touchdown of the game. Clemens was injured on the play, and the Jets turned to Chad Pennington (with wide receiver Brad Smith calling signals on a few plays) the rest of the way.
In the second quarter, with the Patriots clinging to a 10-7 lead, seldom-used wide receiver Kelley Washington made a one-handed block of Ben Graham's punt. The play gave the Patriots the ball at the Jets' 3-yard line, and Laurence Maroney ran in for a touchdown two plays later.
Tom Brady did not throw for a touchdown (he did have one pass intercepted), leaving him four shy of Peyton Manning's single-season record (49). Maroney surpassed 100 yards rushing for the second time this season, and the first time since New England's Week 3 victory over Buffalo.
In case you were wondering, coaches Bill Belichick and Eric Mangini did shake hands after the game.
The game is currently being temporarily suspended until the crowd stops throwing snowballs onto the field. They had been warned earlier to stop -- there's no problem as long as the snow stays in the stands -- and fans continued to throw them.
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Junior Seau celebrates his second-quarter sack of Chad Pennington.
Courtesy of the Patriots' PR department:
PATRIOTS TIE NFL RECORD WITH 21st DIFFERENT PLAYER TO SCORE A TOUCHDOWN
With his first quarter interception return for a touchdown, Eugene Wilson became the 21st different player to score a touchdown for the Patriots this season, tying the all-time NFL record for most players scoring a touchdown in a single season. The Patriots have tied the 2000 Denver Broncos and the 1987 Los Angeles Rams, who also each had 21 players scoring a touchdown.
WILSON SCORES FIRST CAREER TOUCHDOWN
Eugene Wilson returned an interception five yards for a touchdown in the first quarter to give the Patriots a 7-0 lead. The touchdown was the first of Wilson’s 5-year career and came on his 10th career interception. Wilson has become the 30th player in Patriots history to record 10 or more regular-season interceptions with the team and ties Mike Vrabel for the third highest interception total in a New England uniform by an active Patriots player. Of active Patriots, only Asante Samuel (22) and Tedy Bruschi (12) have more interceptions than Wilson in a New England uniform. The interception was Wilson’s first since Nov. 20, 2005. He became the sixth Patriots player to score a defensive touchdown this season, joining Asante Samuel, Ellis Hobbs, Randall Gay, Rosevelt Colvin and Adalius Thomas. The interception return for a touchdown was the third for the Patriots this season.
BRADY SETS SINGLE-SEASON CAREER HIGH FOR PASSING YARDS
On a 12-yard completion to Randy Moss in the first quarter, Tom Brady set a new single-season career high for passing yards, topping his total of 4,110 yards in 2005. Following his 12-yard completion to Moss, Brady had 4,117 passing yards for the season. Brady entered today’s game leading the NFL with 4,095 passing yards for the season. Brady’s 2007 yardage total is currently the second highest total in Patriots franchise history, trailing only Drew Bledsoe’s team-record 4,555 passing yards in 1994.
MARONEY SCORES THIRD TOUCHDOWN OF SEASON
Laurence Maroney gave the Patriots a 17-7 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. The scoring run was Maroney’s third of the season and was the ninth rushing score of his career. Maroney’s touchdown against the Jets was the 10th overall touchdown of his career, including nine rushing scores and one receiving touchdown.
WASHINGTON BLOCKED PUNT: FIRST FOR PATRIOTS SINCE 1999
Kelley Washington blocked a punt by New York’s Ben Graham in the second quarter, giving the Patriots possession at the Jets’ 3-yard line, setting up a 1-yard touchdown run by Laurence Maroney and a 17-7 Patriots lead. The blocked punt was the first for the Patriots Dec. 19, 1999, when Larry Whigham blocked a punt by Philadelphia’s Sean Landeta in a 24-9 loss to the Eagles at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
EVEN STEPHEN
Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 10-0 lead. Following that field goal, Gostkowski was 17-for-20 on the season (85 percent) and 37-for-46 for his regular-season career (80.4 percent). Including his 8-for-8 career playoff mark, Gostkowski was 45-for-54 in his career (83.3 percent) following the kick.
OPPONENT BLOCKED PUNT RETURN FOR TOUCHDOWN: FIRST TIME SINCE 1990
The Jets’ David Bowens blocked a Chris Hanson punt and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown, marking the first time a Patriots opponent had returned a blocked punt for a touchdown since Oct. 18, 1990. In that game, Miami’s Mark Higgs returned a blocked punt of New England’s Brian Hansen 19 yards for a touchdown. Prior to today’s game, the last time an opponent blocked a Patriots punt was on Sept. 8, 2005, when Oakland’s Randal Williams blocked a Josh Miller punt.
SEAU RECORDS SECOND SACK OF SEASON
Junior Seau sacked Chad Pennington for an 8-yard loss in the second quarter. The sack was Seau’s second of the season and raised his career total to 55.0 career sacks. Seau’s career sack total ranks fifth among active linebackers.
SEYMOUR/GREEN SPLIT SACK
Richard Seymour and Jarvis Green combined to sack Chad Pennington for a 13-yard loss in the second quarter.
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Journal photo / Bob Breidenbach
Journal photo / Gretchen Ertl
In the first quarter, Richard Seymour slammed into Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens as Clemens threw, top. The pass was intercepted by Eugene Wilson, who returned the ball for a touchdown, middle. Fans celebrated by hurling snowballs in the air.
FOXBORO -- The journey to Foxboro was an interesting one.
I left my house at about 9:00 a.m., after an hour of shoveling my driveway and my street so that my car could make it to a major road that had been plowed.
I took route 10 to 95 and neither road had been plowed very well. Most drivers were going 35-miles-per-hour or less. Traveling on route 95 in Rhode Island was much better than traveling on it in Massachusetts because 95 had been plowed in Rhode Island but it had not been plowed in Massachusetts.
You couldn’t even see the pavement in Massachusetts for much of the drive. Trucks did plow the middle lane a few miles before 495. Traffic did not back up until a half-a-mile before Route 1, and Route 1 was only two lanes instead of the usual three heading to the Stadium. In all, it took about two hours once I left my house to get to Gillette Stadium (three if you include the shoveling).
Unfortunately, the parking lots weren’t paved very well and many fans attending the game parked either illegally or squeezed in-between two cars in spaces that were too small for a regular spot and then struggled to get out because they were too close to the other cars.
The fans were then in for a big surprise because most of the isles and seats at Gillette Stadium had not been shoveled.
Eugene Wilson's interception return for a touchdown makes him the 21st different Patriots player to score a touchdown this season, tying the NFL record held by two other teams: the 2000 Denver Broncos and the 1987 L.A. Rams.
It is officially about 10 minutes until kickoff, and there are a lot of empty seats here inside Gillette Stadium.
There are people milling around on the concourse as well, but if I had to venture a guess, I'd say only about 10-20 percent of the seats have people in them right now...
The field looks clear, seats too, although the aisles are still white. With temperatures expected to be around 37 degrees at gametime, slow melt, occasional rain and trampling should clear the rest.
The X factor remains the wind, expected to be gusting to 45 mph this afternoon when the Patriots meet the Jets.
Later: I've added screenshots of images captured earlier today, and one yesterday for comparison.
The Webcam has a time-lapse feature and you can choose to animate the slideshow in large or tiny increments.
For the Patriots:
QB Matt Gutierrez (3QB)
WR Chad Jackson
S Rashad Baker
S James Sanders
G Stephen Neal
G Billy Yates
WR Troy Brown
TE Benjamin Watson
For the Jets:
QB Marques Tuiasosopo (3QB)
WR Chris Davis
OL Jacob Bender
T Adrian Jones
TE Jason Pociask
LB Marques Murrell
DL Kareem Brown
DE Eric Hicks
The grounds crew has started taking the tarp off the north end of the field, as it's about that time for players to start coming on the field to warm up for the game.
The workers in the stands are still diligently clearing the piles of snow from the lower bowl, and ushers are trying to clear the steps in their sections as best they can.
I don't relish waking up at 6:40 a.m. on a Sunday, but thanks to Mother Nature, that's the situation I was in this morning, as I suppose many folks headed this way for today's game did. The Patriots opened the parking lots around the stadium at 8 a.m., an hour earlier than usual, to accommodate those who got here early, and when we were coming in 20 minutes ago, there were plenty of people braving the elements.
On the field currently, the grounds crew is working hard to clear the snow off the tarp that's covering the FieldTurf. Of course, where they started already has another thin layer of snow re-covering the tarp.
There are also crews in the stands clearing out the piles of snow and funneling it down onto the field, where it is being carried off the field and dumped under the bridge in the north end of the field.
We'll continue to update you as the game gets closer.
With the potential for winter weather, fans are advised to take weather conditions into consideration by leaving early and using extreme caution on the roadways.
Gillette Stadium parking lots will open at 8 a.m. Stadium gates open at 11 a.m and kickoff is at 1 p.m.
Stadium officials are asking fans to be patient approaching the stadium, entering the lots and entering the stadium.
PARKING
ALL FANS ARE strongly encouraged to Park in P10 or P11.
From the North, stay to the right and park in P10.
From the South, stay to the left and park in P11 or P10.
TRAVEL BY TRAIN
Avoid the roads by taking the train from South Station or Providence.
Tickets are $12 for the round trip and may be purchased for cash only. No other Commuter Rail tickets or passes may be used. Coolers and backpacks will not be allowed on the trains. No personal possessions may be left on the trains. Trains will depart Foxborough 30 minutes after the conclusion of the game. For more information about attending Patriots games via MBTA, log onto their site at www.mbta.com/riding_the_t/patriots or call 617-222-3200 or the ticket office info line at (800) 543-1776.
Transcript: Defensive coordinator Dean Pees' Friday press conference
How will losing Mike Wright affect your guys?
Obviously we’ll miss Mike, just like Rosie [Colvin]. You’re always going to miss a player. He’s a versatile player for us and has held some different spots for us. He was getting better all the time so obviously we’re going to miss him. It’s kind of like what we’ve always said and how we’ve always kind of been here - and how you’ve really got to be everywhere - it opens up the door for someone else, whether that is Le Kevin [Smith] or whoever it might be. We’ve got to adjust and somebody else has got to step up and take his spot.
How is that going to affect your rotation? Is it fair to say that some of the guys you have been trying to rest a little bit are going to have to play more?
It just depends. It depends, again, on Le Kevin and the versatility because he’s been working hard and he’s got some versatility too, so we’ll just have to see how the rotation goes. I can’t guarantee… I can’t really tell you one way or the other that they’ll play more because Le Kevin won’t or Le Kevin will play more. It just kind of depends on how well he plays and comes along. [That] will give us that flexibility.
Will you be able to play as much 4-3?
Whether we play 4-3 or 3-4, we’ve always kind of traveled with the same number of defensive linemen, so generally that doesn’t make a lot of difference what form we play.
What about Adalius Thomas in the 4-3? He played end in the Colts game. Can you envision more of that, or was that just a specific package?
It really depends on the [opposing] team and what all they do. It really is more of a tactical question that I can answer based on a particular team because you just can’t play the same front, necessarily, against somebody that maybe shifts a lot or doesn’t shift a lot. And [it depends on] how many checks are going to be involved. There are a lot of things that go into it. It would be too hard for me to answer quickly. We could do it in some situations and not in others so there’s always that possibility.
Bobby Petrino was a college coach for a long time and he left the University of Louisville and went to the Atlanta Falcons. He recently left the Falcons after 13 games. Having your background in college football, why do you feel it’s a tough transition for coaches like Bobby Petrino and others we’ve seen come from the college game, and then go back?
I don’t think it is necessarily a tough transition. I think it’s all up to the individual. If it was a tough transition for him, I can’t answer that. He has to make all the decisions based on what he thinks. I didn’t feel it was a tough transition. Maybe that was because of the players I had and because of the organization I’m with [or] whatever. I’ve felt really comfortable from the day that I came from college football to here. I think to blanket all college coaches into one and say they are Bobby Petrinos, or to couple all guys like me that don’t feel like it was a hard transition -- I don’t think you can do that. I think it’s really on an individual basis whether a guy has a hard time with it or doesn’t.
I understand that you probably didn’t have much knowledge of it, but what did you think when you heard about Petrino’s departure?
The only thing I would say because I don’t feel like it’s my position to ever criticize anybody or condone anybody for what they do. My first thought was that it puts the Atlanta Falcons in a very awkward and tough position with three games to go. It’s one thing if you get fired; they made that choice to fire you with three games to go. But when you leave with three games to go, I feel like it puts the players in a tough position and the organization in a tough position. But again, I don’t know all the facts. I don’t know why he did it so that’s his personal decision.
Did it require some soul searching for you when you made the jump?
I can’t state that New England was not a real long discussion in my mind and I don’t mean that negatively toward Kent State. I just felt like having the chance to come this organization was… I felt like it was a great opportunity. There were a lot of things involved in the decision, but that was an easy decision. That took about two seconds to call my wife and say, ‘I’ve already accepted the job.’
So you were leaving?
We were leaving and she knew it. She knew I only had to talk to Bill [Belichick].
Knowing what we know about the linebackers in that room and how they like to give each other hell, I’m guessing that with an Ohio State guy like Mike Vrabel that Kent State has to have come up at some point.
Mike is from Kent. His house, his home where he grew up is in Kent, Ohio. He went to Akron to high school, to a Catholic high school, but he grew up in Kent so we’ve gone around and around with that stuff. I’m from Ohio; my whole family went to Ohio State, except for me. I’m a Buckeye-guy, not by choice, but they didn’t recruit me. I didn’t have any choice.
I want to ask you about Eugene Wilson. Obviously, injuries have limited him a little bit this year, but how much has his decrease in playing time been health-related, or is it something else?
I think it’s quite a bit. I would say that he certainly has not been healthy and he’s been working hard to get back. He’s doing well. He’s had a good week of practice. But I would also say that James Sanders has played himself into a position where it could have been a rotation had there been an injury or not. But I think all three of them were playing well and Eugene was hurt so that made the decision a little bit easier.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Friday press conference
We got a little work in the snow yesterday. That was interesting, but [it’s] just part of the preparation for playing at this time of year. You never know what you’re going to get, but most importantly, [we’re] spending as much time as we can here getting ready for the Jets and all the different scenarios and problems that they present. So we’ll kind of wrap it up here today, putting it all together with the situational stuff and review the things we did on Wednesday and Thursday and be ready to go on Sunday afternoon.
What concerns do you have for the fans coming out if there’s really adverse weather conditions, as they’re predicting, on Sunday? Is there any chance this game could get called off?
I have no control over any of that. That’s way, way beyond me. I’m just the coach.
You’d play in front of nobody?
You’d have to talk to somebody else about that. I’m just trying to get the team ready to play. I don’t know between . . . I know that the league handles that, our security people, our . . . I don’t even know who makes those decisions, but certainly not me.
What’s the coldest [game] you’ve ever been in? I know in Cleveland you had some cold ones.
I’d say one of the coldest games was the Giants playoff game against the Bears, ’85. It was cold that day. It’s always cold when you get beat 21-0, I can tell you that, though.
Was that worse than that Tennessee night game?
The score has a lot to do with how cold you are. It’s never really that cold when you’re winning. It’s a lot colder when you’re losing. It could be 20 degrees and feel like 80 below, depending on the score.
The AFC Championship game against the Colts -- it got pretty cold that day.
You’re talking about the Indianapolis game? Again, the score has a lot more to do with how you feel than I think the actual temperature. I’m not sure if that was the coldest game, the Chicago game, but 21-0 - Like I said, it felt like it was 80 below.
What were you able to work on yesterday in practice?
Everything. We had our normal practice, just practice started [with] very light flurries. It was pretty pleasant out there. By the end of practice there was significant accumulation on the field, wet ball, ball-handling, playing in the snow, field-awareness, lack of lines, alignment - The whole depth and…The field, [there] are no markings, so just spatial relationship of the goalpost and the stadium, the field and just landmarks that you have to kind of estimate at when you don’t have those markings there.
Given the possibility that it could snow on Sunday, did that work out nicely for you?
I don’t know how it’s going to be on Sunday. [If] you listen to four forecasts, you get four different versions of it. Sooner or later, maybe we’ll play in it. I don’t know. Maybe we won’t, but we’ve practiced in rain, wind, snow, night, afternoon, morning. There’s things you can learn from every experience and practice [and] game, so there’s some we got yesterday. Whether it will have application on Sunday or not, I don’t know. I’m not really worried about it. If it does, it does. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t. Maybe it will some other time. I don’t know.
Speaking of ball-handling, since you’ve been here you’ve averaged 25 turnovers per season. This year, you lead the league with 10. To what would you attribute the dramatic drop off and the excellence with which you handle the ball?
I don’t know. Turnovers are really . . .when you look at them at the end of the year, it’s usually not one common thing. It’s usually a combination of things. But I think number one, the credit of that goes to the players. Those are the guys that handle the ball and they take care of it, including the kickers, snappers, all of the specialists, returners. That’s definitely a part of it, of the ball-handling, too, and those guys actually have the tougher ball-handling situations - especially the returners. But in the end, it’s the players’ ability to secure the ball and their dedication to protecting it. There’s some turnovers that are just… When you watch the play, you say, “Well, there wasn’t much we could do to prevent that.” There are other ones that you could do more to prevent, and so you just hope that every player will do everything he can when he has the ball to secure it and take care of it. There’s going to be some plays where a defender comes in and has a perfect hit with his helmet right on the ball and there’s enough pressure on the ball that will probably jar it loose from just about anybody. And then there’s other plays where there’s almost no pressure on the ball and it comes out. The same thing with interceptions. Sometimes the defenders make great plays and you look at it and say, “Boy, that was a tremendous play.” And then there’s other times you look at it and say, “Boy, that could have been prevented with a better route, a better throw, better protection,” whatever happened on that particular play. You try to avoid the ones that are just careless.
Conversely, have you looked a lot of film and seen your players do things -- whether it’s protect the ball, cover it, switch arms, whatever it is -- to prevent turnovers?
Yeah, I think there are times where I think our players have shown good ball-awareness and security. We definitely pointed that out. There’s other times where it hasn’t been so good. Sometimes that’s resulted in a problem; sometimes it hasn’t. Just because there’s careless ball-handling, as you well know, doesn’t always mean the ball’s going to come out, but the more of it you have, the higher percentage it is that sooner or later somebody’s going to hit it or you’re going to mishandle it and it will be a problem, so we’ve tried to cut those down as much as we can. It’s not perfect, but we do have an awareness of it, and I think the players do a good job of - generally speaking - do a good job of taking care of the football. And defensively, we try to capitalize on our opponents when they don’t take as good care of it.
What kind of trickle-down effect does it have on your team, particularly the defense, when your offense takes such good care of the ball?
Defensively, you always like to be on a long field and just play the percentages. It forces the offense - if they don’t get it all on one big play - it forces them to execute more plays throughout the course of the drive and statistically we all know that the further away they are from the goal line, the lower percentages are that they’ll score touchdowns, field goals [and] points. That doesn’t insure anything. Defenses give up long drives and they give up big plays, but statistically speaking, on a percentage basis, that field position works in the defense’s favor and conversely, putting the offense on a short field works on the offense’s favor - over the long haul, statistically. It definitely is important. Field position is always a critical thing. Especially - we had a situation come up the last few weeks at the end of the half where one first down, a few yards makes a difference between a field goal or a scoring opportunity at the end of the half. You can score at the end of the half and then there’s 1:30, 1:40, whatever left, and with good field position you or the other team can be right back in scoring position in a hurry. A few yards makes a difference then between a long field goal attempt and a Hail Mary into the end zone, which is a lower percentage play.
In the offseason, was it a point of emphasis?
It’s always a point of emphasis.
Well, more than usual? Was it something you said, “This has got to come down,” more than other years?
I don’t know. I don’t know, but it’s always a point of emphasis. It’s not anything that was glossed over, we don’t care about or [is] just lip-service. It’s a point of emphasis every year and whether you are good or bad the year before, it’s still important the next year, so we look at all of our turnovers. It’s part of what we do at the end of every season. We look at our turnovers in the previous year [and] analyze them. Defensively, we do the same thing. We always look at the teams who lead the league in those categories - fewest turnovers on offense, most turnovers on defense - [and] try to see if there’s any kind of trend or correlation or any thought or idea that might come up that we could utilize. Maybe it’s just seeing another player, his technique of getting the ball out or situations that he looks to get the ball out, if one player’s causing a number of turnovers - something like that. Like Ed Reed. We took note of him [last] week, playing him. That was more of an offensive thing, but defensively in the offseason that’s the kind of guy that you’d take a look at. He’s involved in a lot of turnovers and [we’ll] try to look at him. Kerry Rhodes is another guy like that. [He] shows up on the ball a lot. Some players are instinctive to do that but there’s also some technique involved in coming up with the ball, verses other guys who make a lot of plays but maybe don’t turn the ball over as much. But that’s part of the offseason study we do on an annual basis. It’s not, we’ll do it this year, we didn’t do it last year - We do it every year.
Last offseason when you were looking to add wide receivers, what were you look for specifically, and when did you realize the receivers were really going to click with Tom Brady?
We go through the same procedure every year in the offseason. We look at our team and look at the options we have to improve our team at every position. We don’t narrow it down to anything; We don’t exclude anything. Every player that’s available, we consider. Some of them we tried to add to our team and were able to, and some of them we’ve tried to add and we weren’t [able to]. And that includes players that are on our team at the end of the season who are not on our team the following year - some are signed to free agent or whatever the classification is. Each year you try to build your team [and] make it as strong as you can. Whoever you think can help do that, you try to work it out with them. Sometimes you do, sometimes you don’t. It wasn’t a conscious effort to go out and do this or do that. It was trying to upgrade our team, which is the same thing we do in every season. Those guys have come in, they’ve worked hard - Randy [Moss], Wes [Welker], Kelley [Washington]. Jabar [Gaffney] was here last year; Chad [Jackson] is coming off an injury - But those guys, they’ve come in, they’ve worked hard, they’ve learned the system, they’ve played different positions and they’ve continued to get better, from all the way back in the spring camps, to training camp to practices and games here during the preseason and regular season. I don’t think there’s any one day where you say, “Oh, wow. This is good or not.” You just try to keep working every day, try to keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep improving. There’s a lot of things in the passing game we still, we always need to work on. You have to work on them every week, so it’s a continuing process.
Can you expand on Chad Jackson and his importance on special teams last week, him coming off the PUP and having an impact in that regard?
He’s done that for us before. He’s returned kicks, punts and kickoffs. He did it in college. He’s a big kid, [he’s] got some size, he’s fast, runs well with the ball in his hands, made some plays in the passing game on run-after-catch plays. We have a number of guys that have done that for us through the years. The past couple of years we’ve had a number of guys return punts [and] kickoffs; We’ve done it this year - Willie [Andrews], Wes, of course Ellis [Hobbs]. Laurence [Maroney] did it some for us last year, Chad. Depending on what the situation is and what everybody’s role is and how some other things on the team are working out, sometimes we try to break those responsibilities up and sometimes we don’t.
How does the injury to Mike Wright affect the defensive line, and how has Le Kevin Smith progressed at nose?
Well, we have right now one less player there, so we hate to lose Mike. Mike’s done a good job for us [in] both the regular and sub-situations. He’s played inside and outside. He’s got some versatility. Le Kevin’s done that, too. [He] just doesn’t have quite as much experience. He’s improved a lot over the last year and half, two years now. He’s played outside, he’s played inside, he’s a smart kid [and] he runs well. He has some size and he’s gaining experience. If he gets an opportunity, I’m sure that he’ll be ready to try to take advantage of it. He’s worked hard here for a couple of years and maybe somewhere along the line here he’ll have an opportunity to take advantage of all of that.
Do you see any similarities between Wes Welker and Troy Brown?
Well, sure. There’s some obvious [things]: Both play in the slot, they’re similar-size kind of guys. I think they each have their own playing style, but they both have been productive in that position, in the slot position. Both return kicks. So, sure.
I saw on TV somewhere they were breaking down your post-game handshakes. They had you in slow-motion and stuff. Why do coaches always shake hands after the games? Is that a league-mandated thing or tradition?
It’s not any rule that I’m aware of. So I would say, yeah, it’s traditional. I mean, not in any formal way, though.
Could you do without that this week?
I think we’ve talked plenty about that. Right now our focus is on the Jets and the game, and not on the high-fives and cartwheels and back flips.
Junior Seau talked about his first game in snow, verses Cleveland. Do you remember the first game you coached in the snow and maybe the outcome?
I remember the ones here pretty well. Buffalo, we played in the snow and the Oakland game. Those are the two, those are really the two snow games. The Miami game, there was snow in the stands but there wasn’t really much on the field. It didn’t snow during the game. And the Colts game.
What about at the Giants?
The Giants, I don’t think we really had too many snow games there that I can remember. I might be forgetting one, but I don’t think so. I mean, there’s an element of moisture like you have with rain, although it’s certainly not rain. And then you have an element of - depending on the accumulation - snow on the field, which is different, but similar to a muddy field. You could have some footing issues, you could have some ball-handling issues. But again, in the end, whatever the conditions are out there, the team you’re playing is the team on the other side of the line of scrimmage. That’s who you have to beat. It’s not like golf, where you’re hitting the ball into the elements. There’s somebody on the other side of the line of scrimmage. You have to block and tackle, cover and defend and all that. It’s certainly a part of the game, I’m not saying that, and it’s a factor, but I don’t think it’s [as] much of a factor as the execution of your team against your opponent. That’s who the real opponent is.
New England has announced that it signed tight end Stephen Spach to take Mike Wright's place on the 53-man roster.
Spach (pronounced "Spock") is in his second season and played 13 games with the Eagles in 2005. The 25-year old is 6-foot-4, 250 pounds and was among the Vikings' final cuts in September after spending 2006 out of football. With Philly two years ago, he had seven catches for 42 yards.
Spach played at Fresno State, which is coached by former Bill Belichick assistant Pat Hill. He becomes the third former Bulldog on the Pats' roster, along with Logan Mankins and James Sanders.
Limited Participation
G Stephen Neal - shoulder
S James Sanders - knee
LB Mike Vrabel - thigh
TE Benjamin Watson - ankle
Full Participation
QB Tom Brady - right shoulder
*This is Sanders' first appearance on the report this season; Neal did not play last week against Pittsburgh, and Yates is one of the players (with Russ Hochstein) responsible for filling in for him.
For the Jets:
Limited Participation
TE Chris Baker - back
WR Laveranues Coles - ankle
WR Jerricho Cotchery - finger
TE James Dearth - foot
WR Justin McCareins - thigh
DL Dewayne Robertson - knee
Full Participation
QB Kellen Clemens - thigh
TE Joe Kowalewski - shoulder
WR Brad Smith - back
At the top of the Patriots' participation/injury report was this item: DL Mike Wright has been placed on season-ending injured reserve with a foot injury.
A former undrafted rookie out of Cincinnati, Wright added versatile depth to the defensive line, as he could play end or nose tackle.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Thursday press conference
We slid things up a little bit today, but we’ll just still do what we have to do and just get you guys in a little bit earlier. It looks like we might be in the snow today.
Would you go ahead and practice outside today, in the elements?
We’re practicing. Whatever we get, we get. Whatever it is, it is.
Figuring you haven’t really seen much of it this year . . .
No, it’s just . . . well, we’ve seen a little bit of everything. Whatever we get, we get.
You’ve given up a couple hundred yards rushing in the last couple of weeks. Is there a reason for that?
No, I think we’ve played some good running teams and we haven’t played it as well as we’d like to play it. [There’s] certainly room for improvement.
Are there specific reasons why you guys haven’t done as well?
Just haven’t coached well enough, haven’t played well enough.
That’s general. Is there a specific reason?
No, that’s the reason. I just gave it. Each play is different. It’s been a combination of things. It’s not any one play or anyone. It’s just, we have to do a better job - coaching and playing.
When an opponent’s rusher gets - what was it, a 30-yard run by Willie Parker last week? That kind of skews the stats. Is that easier to figure out what’s wrong than if you’re giving up five or six yards?
Yeah, I know what you’re saying. In a way, it is, but in a way it’s still . . . you don’t want to give up a long one, either, so that’s a problem. I guess if you give up all eight-yarders, then it’s good because you’re not giving up any long ones, but it’s not good because you’re giving up all the eight-yarders. [If you] give up some two-yarders and then a 40-yarder, then that’s bad because you gave up a 40-yarder. There’s plays that we defended well and there’s others that we didn’t, and as I said, it just goes back to we need to do a better job of coaching and a better job of playing. And we’ve faced some good runners, so that’s not to take anything away from them, but we just need to do a better job.
I don’t know if there’s any one, but what are some of the keys to avoiding so-called ''negative plays'' as an offense?
Just the usual culprits -- penalties, missed assignments, just in general penetration. If the defense can’t penetrate the line of scrimmage, it’s going to be hard to get a negative play, so if they do penetrate the line of scrimmage and they somehow get to the runner before he can get into the hole, then you’ve got problems. Of course, penalties, that’s the quickest way.
You guys have been on the snap pretty good at avoiding not just negative plays, but turnovers as well.
Well, the less penetration you have, then the fewer opportunities the defense has to have a negative play. If they can’t get on your side of the line of scrimmage then they’re going to have fewer of those. The more they’re on your side of the line of scrimmage, then sooner or later they’re probably going to get some. And sometimes that’s getting to you physically and sometimes it’s some type of mental error or some type of scheme error where you allow the defense to penetrate. It’s more a function of you making a mistake than them making a great physical play. But, you know, sometimes that happens, too. We play against a lot of good defensive players. Sometimes they make good plays. Sometimes we make them.
What do you remember about the Miami game in 2003? Did you have as much fun as the fans and players seemed to?
What was it, 12-0? That was a good win for our team. It was a big win. It was good to see the fans get into it - that was good. It was a win against a division team. It was an important game for us and that gave us the division, right, if I remember correctly. So that was great. Believe me, that was great. Anytime you can win a game in the division - especially against Miami, [with] the way that was going with them. We didn’t beat them very often - and win the divisions, it’s great.
I know preparing for the Jets and winning is obviously important, but how much have you talked to the team about the importance of this game and clinching home field advantage?
We’re just talking about beating the Jets. That’s it. Everything else will just take care of itself. We just have to do what we can do, do our job and just let everybody else worry about the other stuff. [There’s] nothing we can do about it.
With David Harris playing in the lineup for them as a rookie - I thought he would be the kind of guy that you would be interested in. Did you look at him?
Sure, we looked at a lot of players.
Obviously Eric Mangini runs a similar style defense to what you do here. Do you think he’s a good fit for that system?
I think you’d have to ask him that question. Obviously they did, based on the fact that they traded up to take him. He’s had some production for them. He’s done a good job. They started off playing him at the weak side spot when [Jonathan] Vilma got hurt, and he actually played there during preseason. And then they shifted him over to what we call the Mike, to the strong side spot and bumped [Eric] Barton back to the weak side, where Vilma had played. So I don’t really know what - You’d have to talk to them about that move, why they did it and all that, but that’s kind of what happened. Harris played on the weak side in through preseason and in the early part of the regular season, and then they switched and moved him over to Mike and moved Barton back to the weak side. He’s had a productive year.
Where does Leon Washington rank in terms of the returners you’ve faced this year? I know you’ve faced some good ones, but . . .
Yeah, he’s right up. Leon, he’s good. He does both punts and kickoffs. There’s some guys that haven’t done that - [Josh] Cribbs did, but we’ve seen guys like [Willis] McGahee and even Justin Miller in the opener that are kind of one guy does one thing and another guy does something else. Leon’s quick, he’s fast, he’s had the long runs, which shows you that he’s got enough long speed. He’s a hard guy to tackle. He’ll reverse his field [and] change directions. [He’s] maybe a little quicker than Cribbs, probably not as strong, maybe a little bit faster. But we’ve seen some real good ones. McGahee is another, probably more of a straight-line guy - although he’ll change directions, too, but I think Washington is a pretty nifty guy, sort of like Roscoe Parrish from Buffalo, in terms of his quickness. [Ted] Ginn - we’ve seen a lot of good ones.
Is bad weather more disruptive to defensive players than offensive players? They’re the ones what have to react to what they see. It seems like that might cause them more difficulty.
I think there’s some truth to that, yeah. When you’re reacting to somebody else on a wet or slippery surface, then it’s easier if you know where you’re going. So I think from that standpoint [it is], and it’s harder to make a sharp move. Sometimes the pass-rushers have trouble on a slick field, being able to really change directions, if that’s the kind of pass-rusher you are, you’re trying to move quickly on that type of surface.
Is there any way to mitigate that through cleat-selection and things like that?
You do everything you can to put yourself in the best position. Absolutely. Yeah, in terms of equipment or body position leverage, there’s a lot of things you can do to try to maximize it, regardless of what the conditions are. You can try to find the best way to attack or defend whatever side of it you’re on, on any play. Part of that’s the conditions, part of that’s what you’re doing and how it matches up against the opponent and what they’re doing on that particular play.
Are there any other receivers you’ve seen that have the package that Randy Moss brings to the table, in terms of leaping ability, patterns, hands, speed - the whole package?
I think each player has their own skill-set. There’s a lot of good players. Each guy is unique. Each guy has his own individual skill-set. We’re all like that. We’re all a little bit different, so I think that’s true of football players, too. There’s certain categories - there’s some big receivers and fast receivers and quick receivers - but each guy has his own - And some of that is within the offensive system. You can’t really run every route that everybody runs. You just don’t have enough time to work on all of them and be good at them, so you pick out the ones that are a core to your system and maybe you have a couple of others that you use situationally, based on certain looks or coverages or techniques that you’ve faced that you might use in those situations, and the next team has theirs, and the next has theirs. Sometimes a player, what he does is somewhat related to what the team does in the passing game.
You spread out defenses a lot with 4-5 wide receiver sets. Other than having the tight end in sometimes, what’s the difference between now and the run-and-shoot you used to run back in the day?
Well, the run-and-shoot was an offense into its own entity. What they did was… It was the run-and-shoot. I don’t think the run-and-shoot had a lot of carry-over to any other offense. The quarterback was always under center. [In] the true run-and-shoot, there wasn’t any shotgun. Now, again, like the west coast offense and other offenses, certain things evolved and, depending on the coach that was running it, he may have added or subtracted to it, but [in] the original run-and-shoot, the quarterback was always under center, the back was always behind the quarterback. Backs were always big backs, fullback-types, because they were big protectors. They were sometimes borderline guards, in terms of protection. [It] only ran two formations. It was its own offense, kind of like running the triple option or that type of thing. You do what you do, you have your adjustments to it. They only had a few plays. The plays had multiple, multiple adjustments off each play and off each route. A guy could come out and run any one of maybe five or six routes, or it could be one of three routes, depending on the play. When you have that much flexibility in the passing game, that’s kind of unique. [It would] be hard to put in a lot of plays that have - They did it and they did it full-time. It would be hard to put in two or three plays on a part-time basis and try to get the execution that those teams got on a full-time basis with those plays.
How special is this season for you and your team? Is it special?
Right now we’re really just . . . we’re thinking about the Jets. It’s a one-game season. I’m not going to say it’s been bad. I’m not unhappy with our record, but at the same time, it doesn’t really mean anything for this week. This week’s just about this week, and so that’s where our focus is. We’re not worried too much about what happened in the past and we’re not worried too much about what’s coming up next. We’re just focused on the Jets.
There’s been a lot of talk this year about humble pie. Do you feel you have to counterbalance that at some level with some sort of praise?
I’m not sure I follow you.
The humble pie -- All of the guys talk about humble pie, and obviously it keeps them level. You don’t want their heads to get inflated, but do you have to counter that with some positive reinforcement so guys don’t get beat down over the course of a season?
I think when you put together a team you try to have a way to keep improving your team and get better and that can come from a lot of different ways, be it motivation, technique, practice, meetings, etc. You do what you can to improve your team. I think that’s what a coach does. Whatever all those elements are, I think there are a number of them and I’m sure every coach uses all of them at some point or another. I think you should probably ask the players about that. That’s not . . . I just try to coach the team [and I] try to do the best I can. It’s not perfect, it’s not great, but it’s what I think is the right thing to do.
Yesterday you spoke very highly of Vince Wilfork, for example, and deservedly so. It seems like you’ve done that more this year than maybe in the past.
Have I ever spoken negatively about any of our players?
Not negatively, but they talk about humble pie and you serving it up to them. Not publicly, no.
I don’t know. You’d have to ask them about that. I don’t know.
What’s the harshest reception you’ve ever gotten on the road?
I don’t know, I haven’t ranked them. I don’t think any team is very popular on the road -- or coach, for that matter. It’d be about a 31-way tie.
Is there a place out there that’s more creative than others?
There’s a lot of creative places. Go to the black hole in Oakland. There’s some creation out there. I’m not sure what it is, but there’s plenty of it.
How is Foxboro for visiting teams?
Oh, they get you on Route 1 about four miles before you even get to the stadium. It’s kind of like a parade. They know what the visiting buses are. They get you early and they escort you all the way into the stadium. I’ve been on that one a few times.
As if on cue, it began snowing as soon as the media was let onto the field for the Patriots' practice session. Even though it was freezing, it was actually kind of like being in a snow globe.
There were two absences today -- G Billy Yates and DL Mike Wright.
As for the black jerseys, there were several: Chad Jackson, Chad Brown, Matt Cassel, Ray Ventrone, Ryan O'Callaghan, and Tim Mixon.
Tom Brady has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week for the fourth time this season after his 32-for-46, 399 yard, four-touchdown performance against Pittsburgh on Sunday. Brady's 399 yards were second-most in his career and most ever in a non-overtime game.
This is the ninth time this season a New England player has won one of the weekly AFC awards -- Randy Moss (twice), Ellis Hobbs (special teams), Mike Vrabel and Asante Samuel have also been honored.
The New England Patriots' Alumni Club has donated $10,000 to help with the travel expenses for eight New England Pop Warner teams to travel to the Pop Warner National Championships in Orlando, Fla. this month.
Two Rhode Island teams -- the Darlington Braves, who play a few blocks from where I lived for 20 years, and the Mount Hope Cowboys -- are among the eight teams who will each receive $1,250 to help defray travel expenses.
The other teams are: the Everett Huskies, Malden Cyclones, Mission Hill Buccaneers, Oakmont Chargers and Worcester Vikings from Massachusetts, and the Fairfield Chargers of Connecticut.
As numerous media members gathered in the parking lot outside the Dana-Farber Fieldhouse for today's practice access, we were told that there had been a scheduling mistake: for the second straight Wednesday, the Pats would not have their usual full-pads practice.
Instead they are having a walkthrough.
Last week's light day - on a short week, as the Pats prepared for a top opponent - was met with a great deal of appreciation from the players and they seemed rejuvenated against the steelers.
According to a report this morning in Newsday by reporters Bob Glauber and Tom Rock, the New York Jets were caught using a videotaping device in a game last season at Foxboro, resulting in the removal of a Jets employee. According to Newsday, the Jets last night admitted to videotaping the game, but said they had permission from the Patriots to film from the location in question.
It's not clear, the newspaper said, whether the incident occurred during the 2006 regular-season game in Foxboro won by the Jets, or during the AFC Wildcard Playoff Game won by the Patriots. A Patriots source said it happened during the Jets' win, while a New York source said it happened during the playoff game.
The Patriots' underachieving, only-semi-durable, second-year running back might want to ponder these comments by Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy regarding the until recently unheralded Ryan Grant, who rushed for 156 yards on 29 carries Sunday against the Raiders: "I really like the way he runs. No wasted steps. One cut. Always moving forward. That's the style in the NFL that works best, I think."
Maroney was drafted 21st overall by New England in 2006. Grant was obtained by the Packers this year from the Giants in exchange for a late-round draft pick, after spending the 2005 season in New York on the practice squad and last season on the Injured Reserve list.
Unlike Grant, Maroney tries to make too many cuts, does too much dancing, too often runs East-West, instead of North-South.
As the weather worsens, and it becomes increasingly difficult to throw the football consistently, the Patriots will need to rely more on Maroney, who thus far in his brief career has not run as well as his former teammate at Minnesota, the Cowboys' Marion Barber.
Shalise Manza Young and Mike McDermott discuss the Patriots' win over Pittsburgh and look ahead to the Jets circus. Click the play button below to see and hear the show.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Monday press conference
[There’s] not really too much different from what we talked about yesterday after the game. I’m proud of the players. I thought they executed pretty well against a real good football team. We made some big plays offensively and had a couple drives there when we needed them. Pittsburgh blitzed us a lot. Really, it was almost all blitz. It was a blitz-a-thon the whole day. Defensively we played better in the red area and the goal line, made a couple [of] big stops there. That helped us. Special teams, we had the turnover there that we couldn’t take advantage of, but it was a heads-up play by our punt team - James [Sanders] and Larry [Izzo], and those guys. [We] got a good return there from Chad [Jackson] to answer their first score. [There were] certainly some things we could have done better in that phase of the game, but I thought we had some plays when we needed them. The team played with poise, played hard. It was a physical game. I’m sure we’ve got a lot of sore guys in our locker room today, or tomorrow, whenever they come in, and I’m sure Pittsburgh does, too. It was that type of a game. We’ll try to put that one behind us and move on. We have a couple of games in the division here coming up. Obviously the Jets, who we saw quite a bit of last week in watching them play Pittsburgh, so we know what kind of football team they have and the job they did against the Steelers. That was an impressive win. So that’s where we’re at today.
Randy Moss said he was lobbying to you and the rest of the coaching staff since he got here to let him throw. How did he convince you?
Randy can throw. He made a nice play there where he - after he dropped it - picked it up and slung it back to Tom [Brady]. I think Tom put it well that Randy threw him the ball better than Tom threw it to Randy, but no, he’s got a good arm [and] can throw the ball. It was just a play we’ve had in for a little while and yesterday [we] had a good opportunity to run it. It was well-executed, though. We didn’t really plan on Randy dropping it, but he did enough to kind of help get everybody over there when he threw it back to Tom. There was just nobody left on the back side. And Jabar [Gaffney] did a good job selling it. It was 10 yards behind the defense. Those plays are always great when they work.
You utilized Chad Jackson in the kicking game to field punts. How do you think he did and what was the line of thinking in using him there?
We thought that was the best way to utilize the personnel in the game. I thought he did a good job. There are some other things that could have been better, like the kickoff return. We handled the ball a little bit cleaner, but I thought getting the ball back up to midfield after they scored was good. I thought he made a good catch on the punt that was a short ball. I think if he could have kept his feet there might have been a big play there, but at least it didn’t hit the ground and roll 20 yards like it usually does when you don’t catch it. So there’s some good things; there’s some things he can keep working on.
Obviously the offense made some big plays, but the defense did, too. There’s a couple I’d like you to talk about. One was Vince Wilfork’s sack - he talked about how he had picked up a call that Ben Roethlisberger made and kind of anticipated it. Also, on the fourth down stop that Rodney Harrison made on the goal line, he talked about having remembered seeing that play before and anticipating that.
I think Vince’s comment on his play is a lot more than I can add. That’s the kind of game within a game that goes on out there on the offensive and defensive lines where you’re just lining up that far away from the other guy for 50, 60, 70 plays, whatever it is in the game, and picking up a call or a stance or a weight-distribution or the way a guy kind of looks. That’s stuff you just don’t see on film and it’s hard to - As a coach, from the sideline, you just, that’s the kind of thing - I know Vince is a smart guy. Vince picks up a lot of things. We talk about it when he comes over to the sideline, you know, about, “I can read this, I can read that,” and he’s right. He can read it, and he’s right on those things, so it doesn’t surprise me that that type of thing happens, because he’s very astute and he’s got enough experience to know when to take a chance on it and when not to. I think he [exhibits] very good judgment on that. The fourth down play was - Mike Vrabel did a great job at the point of attack. He kind of pushed the wing back and when [Hines] Ward got the ball he couldn’t really cut up and would have had to give more ground to get outside. Rodney had him in man-to-man coverage, so when he trailed him over and took the hand-off, he kind of was in good position to make the play, as long as the ball got held up a little bit, which it did, but I think that had a lot to do with Vrabel pushing the line of scrimmage back and Ward kind of had to throttle down. Then there wasn’t much space for him to work in. Usually you get a guy, you get the ball guy in a little bit of space and you feel like he can make a yard one way or the other by just squirting through there, and that’s high-percentage football. Mike and Rodney both did a good job on that. Rodney made a good tackle on it. But yeah, after we got past the first series, that first long drive that Pittsburgh had, our third-down defense was better and our red area defense, we were able to make a couple of plays there, too. Those were good situational downs for us on the defensive side of the ball and that helped us, like I said, once we got past that first series.
On your first scoring drive - your second possession - there was a play where Laurence Maroney surged ahead for 10 yards and Moss came out of nowhere and sort of bashed Ike Taylor. Do you think Randy was setting a tone of, “You can be as physical as you guys are. We’re going to be physical, too”?
I think our receivers overall have done a good job blocking - better than we’ve done in some other years in the past. I’m not saying it’s perfect, but I think they do a pretty good job. I thought yesterday in particular they did a good job of blocking - Jabar, Randy, Donte’ [Stallworth], Wes [Welker] - they all, I thought, did a good job of blocking downfield. There were a couple of times when, like Randy peeled Taylor off the pile [and] did another time on a swing pass to Gaffney. Donte’ had a couple good blocks in there. Gaffney had a couple. Welker had a couple too, so they did a good job of blocking for each other and blocking downfield, but I think overall they’ve done a pretty good job of that this year. Like I said, better than probably overall what we’ve had in the past for awhile. It’s a good part of their unselfish play and it helps everybody else out. I thought the offensive line on that particular play, Laurence stayed on his feet and showed the kind of strength that he had. Logan [Mankins] and [Dan] Koppen and those guys were kind of in the pile. They just kind of kept pushing, too, and like you said, before you know it, two yards became 10.
Is there any formula that you use with rotation of you defensive linemen?
No. No, we try to utilize them, but it’s not in any set formula. Sometimes it’s by personnel groups, you know, nickel or dime, kind of like we do on offense when a certain back or a certain tight end will go in with a certain group of wide receivers, where we have a name for that - Group A, Group B, Group C. You go in on your group, and we do that sometimes on our defense, too, as it goes from our base defense to some of our sub-groupings. Then beyond that, there’s just a normal rotation and that’s done very unscientifically, based on what we feel like. It could be a variety of reasons, but what we feel like is the time to make a change or just substitute or roll them in. Sometimes it’s a function of what’s going on in the kicking game as well as on offense or defense. I know the question was about the defensive line, but really it rolls into every grouping on the team.
So you can make those on the fly based on the flow of the game or whatever?
Oh, definitely. Definitely. And sometimes the players make them on their own, although we don’t do a lot of that, but occasionally a player will come out because he has a sore something, something got hit on the play before or whatever and comes out, then he’ll go back in. So sometimes it’s that too, but we’ll substitute based on -- some weeks it’s down-and-distance, some weeks it’s the personnel they put it, sometimes it’s just to kind of give our guys a little bit of a break. Sometimes we know a certain player’s going to be in on one group, so we sub for him in a different group to try to balance out the reps and sometimes we feel like a certain situation is more important than another one, so we want to make sure we have our players in on that situation. Then if we’re going to rotate it would be in a different situation. So to answer your question, there’s no set formula over the course of a season. There may be a set formula for one particular game, but that fluctuates, too.
What is your impression of the Jets? Last year they were a playoff team, this year . . .
My impression of them was in the Pittsburgh game they played very well. And they beat
Pittsburgh. I haven’t seen yesterday’s game, but we watched the Pittsburgh game pretty carefully because we were watching Pittsburgh. We’ll get rolling on the Jets this afternoon and into the week. They did a good job against the Steelers.
Obviously the events of the first week of the season will be rehashed this week leading up to the game. What will be your approach this week and will there be any extra motivation for your team?
We’re going to approach it like every other game.
Which is?
Just the way we’ve done all of them -- come in, look at the film, get together a game plan, try to figure out the best way to attack and defend them. Try to win.
And extra motivation?
We’re going to do the same thing -- we try to win every week, believe it or not. It may not look like it at times, but we do. We try to play our best game out there every week and we try to win every week, so we’re going to try to win this week.
Is there a point where you weigh the bigger picture against individual games?
Well, right now that doesn’t really come into play so I’m not going to worry about it and we’re not going to talk about it. We’re going to try to win the next game.
It appears from the outside the approach has always been to play each game independently.
Absolutely. And that’s exactly right. That’s what it is. I mean, people try to make more out of it than that, but that’s all it is. Just try to play this game for what it is.
Is there a benefit to that approach, even when there isn’t anything tangible at stake?
I don’t know how to approach the game any other way. We’re playing a team this week, so what should we do, talk about some other game? What’s the point in that? Talk about something that happened a month ago or last week or that might happen sometime in the future, which is so unpredictable -- it’s hard enough to predict what’s going to happen a couple of days from now. To think about, well, this is something that might happen a month from now…So, we don’t spend a lot of time on that. In fact, I would say zero.
For instance, Anthony Smith’s comments obviously gave everybody a little extra juice. So what happened with the Jets won’t provide any extra juice?
What happened yesterday was a function of our players executing some plays better than the Steelers and some plays not as well. There’s no points for any quotes that were or weren’t in the paper. [The] plays that we executed well, we gained yards on. The plays that we didn’t, we didn’t gain yards on and there were some of both. The plays that we executed well on defense, they didn’t gain too many yards. There were several plays that we didn’t execute very well - they gained plenty of them.
You don’t feel that the fallout from that Jets game has an impact at all on the rest of your season?
I’m telling you that we’re going to approach this game like we approached the last one and the one before that. That’s all I can tell you.
Did Smith’s aggressive nature towards the run allow you to scheme play-action plays a little better over the top with him?
Those are plays that are part of our offense, so we run them. We’ve run them in the past. I think that’s the decision that the defensive backs have to make, is whether they want to try to come up and help in the running game or whether they want to stay back, create more space in the running game and defend the deeper part of the field. But I think that the offensive line and the ball handling and all, it was good action. It sold the play pretty well and Randy - You’re talking about on his second touchdown? - He came out and put a good move on Taylor, held him outside and beat him to the post. I’m not sure really whether the safety was supposed to be there or not. I mean, I’m not sure exactly how they were keying or playing the play. You’d have to ask them that. Whether Taylor had him all the way or whether he was getting help, I’m not really sure. That’s something that only they could answer.
You talked about the Jets over the Steelers and how impressive it was. Given the nature of that win, are you surprised they haven’t had more performances like that?
I think I have a lot of respect for the Jets [and the] Jets players. They have some outstanding players and they played very well against Pittsburgh. I can’t tell you what happened in all of the other games. The only games I really am familiar with are our first game with them and then this Pittsburgh game because of the amount of time that we spent watching Pittsburgh last week. The rest of it, we’ll catch up on the next couple of days and try to be ready to go when the team comes in on Wednesday.
You’re facing a pretty stiff penalty. Are there any lingering feelings you harbor towards the NFL or . . .
I’m trying to get ready for this game against the Jets. That’s what I’m trying to do.
You have Jackson returning kicks. Is there ever a point where the division of labor can make players better at specific tasks? Is any of the logic to dividing the labor and not having Ellis Hobbs returning as much?
I think that -- sure. When you take your 45 players to the game, you decide how you want to go into the game, how you want to distribute all of the different jobs that have to be done amongst those 45 players. And a lot of times when you make the decision on the final roster that’s taken into consideration, is how you want to break it up. And whichever player you decide is your 43rd, 44th, 45th, whatever it is, then basically what you’re deciding is that that player has a more important role than the 46th, 47th or 48th. And that’s not to say - If we could dress those guys, we would dress them, and we would play them. They wouldn’t just dress, they would play, but you’re limited so you have to decide how you want to do it and it’s hard to take players to the game - the quarterback and back-up linemen fall into a little bit of a different category in terms of the utilization, because of the position that they play. They don’t for the most part play in the kicking game and things like that, so truly they’re insurance players, but you have to balance your depth on offense and defense with the plays that you need guys to do on special teams and all of the different situational plays that come up. That’s how you decide on your roster, on your final 45-man roster - if you have a choice. Now there’s some weeks where you only have 45 healthy guys and those are the ones you take. But if you have more than that, which was the case for us last week, then you have to decide which ones you’re going to take and how you’re going to distribute those jobs.
Can the fact that Jackson returns kicks make Hobbs a more effective defensive back?
Again, I think it’s a question of breaking it up. I’m not sure exactly how to characterize what the benefits are, but there’s some - I agree with what you’re saying, to a point. I’m not sure what the percentages are and how exactly it breaks down, but yeah, I think in theory if you have one guy out there doing everything - returning all the kicks, playing all of the plays on offense or defense, covering all of the kicks - that maybe if he played a few less plays than he might be more effective on the ones that he’s playing. I think that there’s some truth to that. I’m not saying that’s the case in every situation, but I think there’s some truth to that. And again, it just depends on - Sometimes you’d rather have the guy possibly returning kicks and playing less plays on offense or defense. It just depends on your make-up as a team and what you feel is the most advantageous for you as a team, or maybe in one particular game. Maybe it’s not the same for every game.
Now that you’ve had a chance to look at the film, how did Eugene Wilson look? It’s been quite a while since he’s been out there.
I would put Eugene in the same category I probably would put most all of the players in: They did some good things; there’s other things that could have been better. There’s always plays there, but it’s good to have him back.
Did he seem pretty fluid? I know he’d had the ankle for awhile.
He hasn’t been on the injury report for a couple weeks, has he?
Before the game yesterday there was a banner play that offended a lot of Patriots fans. Does it upset you or frustrate you that there’s a perception outside of New England that your wins or tainted or the season is tainted by Week 1?
I try to control the things that I can control, and that’s what I’m going to do -- coach the team, get them ready to play, get them ready to go. That’s what we have control over. [We] can’t control what else is out there.
With the decision Monday to push the starting time for New England's Dec. 23rd game with Miami at Gillette Stadium back to 4:15 from the originally scheduled 1 p.m., the Patriots now will wind up playing just one of their final nine games -- and only 2 of their last 13 -- at what for years has been the traditional starting time for NFL games.
The last time the Patriots had a 1 o'clock kickoff was Oct. 21, at Miami. Three subsequent games were switched from 1 o'clock starts -- Nov. 18 at Buffalo, which was delayed 'til that night; this past weekend's game with the Steelers, switched to 4:15; and now the Dolphins game, leaving the Jets game this Sunday in Foxboro as the only 1 o'clock start for New England in the final 2 1/2 months of the season.
The Pats played the Eagles and Ravens at night, and games with Washington and Indianapolis always were slated to kickoff at 4:15.
The only other 1 o'clock starts for New England this year were the season opener at Giants Stadium against the Jets and home games against Buffalo (9/23) and Cleveland (10/7).
While there is a compelling angle to the New England-Miami matchup because the Patriots are trying to go undefeated while the Dolphins are trying to avoid a winless season, it figures to be a one-sided game for that very reason, which could prompt viewers nationwide to find other diversions on the Sunday before Christmas.
Journal photos
Patriot's Coach Bill Belichick abandoned his customary grunge look (right) for a shiny, puffy jacket (left) in yesterday's game.
Some Patriots' fans might have looked twice before recognizing the guy in the headset directing the Patriots from the sideline during yesteday's game.
Sure, that was the same Bill Belichick who has guided the Pats to an undefeated season so far, but where was the customary -- maybe even lucky -- hooded sweatshirt?
Today's Sports cover highlights the Patriots win over the visiting Steelers as the Pats continue their undefeated run. Also, read how Providence College cruised past Brown in a men's basketball game at the Dunkin' Donuts Center. Download file
Hines Ward, Wide Receiver
(On the game)
We were going up and down the field, but they scored touchdowns and we didn’t. That is the biggest difference. We drove the ball fairly well and got down into the red zone but just weren’t able to put the ball in the end zone. Against a great team like that you can’t do that. Today they were a better team. They executed when they got in the red zone. Randy connected with Brady a couple times. Then the trick plays. You can’t give up trick plays like that. Maybe one, but not two in one game. The play action was deep, okay, maybe we can overcome that. But then the other one, we were playing catch-up. That is hard to do against a great team.
(On the Steelers’ offense)
You look at it and keep things in perspective. You learn from it. We drove the ball fairly well. We went to no-huddle and they seemed to have a problem with that. We went down to the red zone but didn’t punch it in. We are a good team and usually when we get down the red zone we get touchdowns instead of field goals. Today we didn’t get anything and you can’t do that. Against a team like that you have to execute every time and today we didn’t do that. That was the difference in the game.
Willie Colon, Tackle
(On the game)
We beat ourselves, to be honest. We did, for the most part, what we had to do. That wasn’t our best performance. They got away with the two gadget plays. It is what it is. They didn’t break our spirit. If we come back we are going to be ready, I know that for sure.
Larry Foote, Linebacker
(On the Patriot offense)
He knew that blitz was coming. So he was throwing into it. When we were coming free, he was throwing into the hot route. If we play them next time, and I am not even thinking about them, we are going to change some things around. You better believe that.
(On the guarantee)
The only ones that were fired up about that was the crowd. We play the game between the lines and it doesn’t matter what the guy said. The media doesn’t motivate that. It has nothing to do with guarantees or whatever you say during the week. You have to go out there and run and tackle.
(On Patriots)
They’re a good team and they had a couple of big plays. You have to make more plays than the other team and we didn’t.
(On defense giving up big plays)
One of them was a trick play and it tricked everyone on the field. The other one was a miscommunication with the coverage and we beat ourselves.
Sean Mahan, Center
(On the Steeler offense)
We know we can play with them. We just didn’t come out with a win tonight. We’ll look at the tape and see what the tape shows. We’ll be ready for next week.
Brett Keisel, Defensive End
(On Brady’s quick passes)
There is no way to get pressure on him. You have to rally to the ball and tackle him. They got a bunch of little squirmy guys who know how to break loose. Welker is very quick. He would make one guy miss then get at least seven yards. That was a great game plan by them.
Ike Taylor, Cornerback
(On the game)
Tom Brady does not make mistakes. It is just plain and simple. He is going to capitalize on your mistakes and that is what makes him so great. He pretty much can see the whole field and if he sees something, he is going for it. He is rarely wrong. They were just making plays. I have to give those guys credit. They came out to play and they played well. They won and so there it is. They have got Tom Brady out there and he does not make mistakes. When you have a guy like that and receivers like that, you just about have to play perfect. We just have to get ready for next week.
(On the long plays allowed)
If you just keep playing football things are going to happen regardless [of] whether you’re good or bad. We just have to learn from today. We made two crucial mistakes. We have got a lot of football left and we can’t keep our heads down. This is in the past. We just have to move on and we have Jacksonville next.
Anthony Smith, Safety
(On the game)
We did not come out here to lose. We just gave up some big plays and that is what it came down to. They have got a good offense, but we just beat ourselves. We didn’t play all of our right keys and gave up some deep plays. They came up with some new gadget plays that we haven’t seen and that is pretty much what it was. Besides that one play-action play that they hit for the touchdown, that is all the play-action we saw. I don’t think play-action was a big emphasis for their offense. The way our defense is run and the way we rotate, they really couldn’t target me. We will see them again.
James Farrior, Linebacker(On today’s game)
We didn’t play well today and we didn’t execute on defense as well as we should have. They made some big plays on us and you can’t win like that.
(On big touchdown plays)
That put us behind the eight ball a little bit. We were playing catch up from there, but that’s part of the game and we have to be prepared for things like that. We can’t get beat on big plays.
(On playing a team that doesn’t run the ball)
It was a little weird at first. I thought they would try to run when they had a lead on us, but they kept throwing the ball. It was a tough day. [Tom] Brady is good at reading defenses and our disguise wasn’t good enough today. I think he picked up most of our blitzes.
Tyrone Carter, Safety
(On trying to hard to be physical with receivers)
I won’t say we tried too hard, because they didn’t give us a chance to be physical. They ran a lot of trick plays; they didn’t just come out and run routes. They kept running that bubble screen, then you come up on the bubble screen and they hit you deep. You have to learn from that. Had we stayed on our keys, we would have been OK.
(On Patriots’ receivers)
They’ve got three good receivers, but my focus point is still on the quarterback. He makes this team rise. He gets them in the right plays when he sees what we were doing and he did a great job of doing that. We can’t make mistakes in the back end and we did and we lost.
Q: Do you say, "If a couple red zone plays work out differently, you're right in it," or do you say, "Hey, major ground to make up?"
BR: I say that we look at the scoreboard and realize that we got outplayed and that they were the better team. We need to improve, but the good thing for us is that the season is not over and we still play next Sunday, no matter what. Win or lose, if things went our way we still would have to come back here. So, we move on, we take the loss and we go forward.
Q: How frustrating is it that you guys controlled the time of possession, but you could only get three points out of some of those drives?
BR: It's very frustrating. We're proud of the offensive line-we did a lot of no-huddle tonight. I called a lot of the plays and there was no cadence, so you have to give the offensive line a lot of credit. We moved the ball all the way down the field and then we faltered, for whatever reason, in the red zone, whether it was a little bit of them, a little bit of us or a little bit of both.
Q: Does it feel pretty correctable?
BR: If I sit here and say, "We made too many mistakes and we screwed everything up," then it makes it sounds like if we play and we don't make those mistakes we beat them. I don't know what happens. It's too hard to tell. I will say that they made us make mistakes; they made us do things in a negative way, especially in the red zone, so give them a lot of credit.
Q: After the game, Tom Brady came over and talked to you. What did he say to you?
BR: Oh, just real quick he came up. He kind of surprised me as I was saying something to the defense because I wasn't expecting him to be there that quick. He just told me that I was doing a good job and that he was proud, and I told him I hope he breaks the record next week, because it's so much fun watching him play. I don't like him playing against us and how well he played, but it truly is an honor to watch such a great quarterback play the game.
MT: Obviously, the Patriots were the better team today. They are to be congratulated for that performance. We couldn't stop them consistently. We couldn't make critical plays when we had to. Offensively, of course, we couldn't make critical plays when we had to, particularly in the second half. [Defensively], big plays by their offensive people, who are good and we knew that they were good. But that still doesn't mean that they should go up and down the field like that on us. We've got some work to do, and that is what we just talked about in there. We have a ways to go. If that is the measuring stick, we're not close. That being said, we'll roll up our sleeves and go back to work tomorrow.
Q: What did you do to prepare for Tom Brady this week?
MT: Like we always do. We focus on what it is that we do and put our defensive plans together. We make sure that we are prepared to execute, a lot of which we didn't do tonight.
Q: What happened during the Patriots flea flicker?
MT: It was a nice play by them. We were out of position. We thought we were closing but we didn't make the play.
Q: The Patriots seemed to be aware of Anthony Smith's comments guaranteeing a win. Will you have your team downplay comments like that in the future?
MT: Those comments don't mean anything. At 4:15, what was said during the week was irrelevant. It is about what you do and how you play. After a performance like that when they beat us up, then yes you can point back to that comment. But, that is a good football team. I doubt that those comments were a motivating factor in terms of how they performed today. They were the better team today. They beat us.
Q: Do you think that the situation affected Anthony Smith's mental state more than anybody's?
MT: You would have to ask him that.
Q: Would you say that there was a lack of pressure?
MT: You know, sometimes we got to them and sometimes we didn't. They are very good. They executed at a high level and we didn't.
Q: What did you find out about your team today?
MT: That is to be determined. We are still writing our story. This is not the final chapter in our story and it wasn't going to be, whether we won or lost. We have another game to play, a big game coming up at home. We have to prepare to do that. Get back with me in a couple of months.
Q: On that long touchdown pass to Randy Moss, was Anthony Smith supposed to be there on that coverage?
MT: I'm not going to get into pointing fingers. We are a football team. The reality is that they rang the scoreboard up on us, the Pittsburgh Steelers. We accept responsibility, starting with myself for that.
Q: Randy Moss did have a big day. What were you not able to do against him?
MT: We weren't able to stop him from catching the ball, like a lot of people. We weren't able to keep him out of the end zone, like everybody else that he's played.
Q: It looked like you were trying to do something different this week by moving Ike Taylor around a little bit.
MT: We did. We did. Ike, of course, is our biggest guy. He is our fastest guy. It didn't mean that we were going to match him up in man-to-man situations all day. That wasn't the case. We called our normal defenses, we just had what we thought was a physical matchup that leveled the playing field, so we did that.
Q: What can you improve on with your red zone offense?
MT: We just have to find ways to finish. Those are the minute details that are the difference. Of course, those are the realities of this business. We have to get back in the lab on that. Because when you play good people like these guys, particularly on the road, field goals aren't going to get it done. We were in some situations where we were close. We have to execute a little bit better. We have to put them in position a little bit better. We have to keep punching the clock.
Q: Did Santonio Holmes' ankle flare up a little bit in the second quarter?
MT: I don't know. At this point we don't have anything major from an injury standpoint. We'll see where it is tomorrow.
Q: When they were in five wide and you don't get any pressure, is that just a function of them getting rid of the ball?
MT: They were in 4-wides. Faulk was on the field. We got pressure sometimes. Sometimes we didn't. When we did get pressure he got the ball out of his hands. He is very good.
Wes Welker, Wide Receiver
(On guarantees from the opposing team)
Yeah. We just went out there and executed and just did our thing out there. I don't think that it played too much, I think that we just went out there and executed our plays. We are not going to pay attention to what anyone says or does out there, we are just going to go out and execute out there and do what we do out there.
(On if a win against a team like the Steelers is more satisfying)
Yes. They are a really good football team, so anytime you can get a win against a team like that it's a good deal.
(On the Moss to Brady to Gaffney touchdown pass)
It was really impressive and I didn't realize that Tom could throw that far. He really threw the ball down there and made a nice play.
Jabar Gaffney, Wide Receiver
(On the touchdown play from Moss to Brady to Gaffney for 56 yards)
The play was called the Ravens Special. We had it in for last week but we never got to use it. I knew it was going to be a touchdown.
(On what his touchdown catch did to the game.)
I think it put it out there a little bit and got us excited and got the crowd into it and I think we just rolled from there.
(On if Tom Brady took a while to throw it)
I think that he wanted to make sure that he could throw it that far and he just threw it all the way to the end zone. When I took off everyone bit up and I knew that if it made it back to Tom, it would be a touchdown. It took like forever for the ball to come down. I looked back and it was still in Tom's hand and I was like "come on, lets throw it".
Tedy Bruschi, Linebacker
(On the win)
The theme of the week was to go back to being a smart and tough football team. We have been doing some things the past couple weeks that we wanted to fix. We talked about fixing these things with just being a smart team because that's what you have to be to beat a team like this.
(On if the Patriots were trying to make a statement with their level of play tonight)
I don't care about statements and what people say, I just care about what the scoreboard says. We came away with a victory and that was all this week was geared for. We weren't focused on who was saying what, but more on us just doing our job.
(On the dominating 2nd half of play by the Patriots)
We had a couple of key series where we went three-and-out and got the ball in the offense's hands and they were able to do things with it. On defense we put them on a few three-and-outs and that's how we got them scrambling a bit.
(On what the team did well)
TB: Red zone, red zone defense, winning on third down, things like that, things that Baltimore had success with, Philly had success with. You may win games but you're constantly trying to still learn how you can get better. Number one we wanted to do better versus the run, we wanted to do better in the red area. I think we did that tonight and have a better percentage on third down. Those are things we'll continually harp even after this game going on later in the year and into the playoffs.
(On how the defense improved)
TB: I think we made progress. I think we made progress. It feels good when you talk about things during the week and then you go out and execute them. You set a goal of, let's get better in the red area, lets get better on third down and you go out there and your supposed to perform you have one chance a week. When you go out there and you do that, it feels good.
Rodney Harrison, Safety
(On the defense's success in the red zone)
It's an area that we struggled at this entire season, the goal line. We're not very proud of it. The only thing we can try to do is get better. We're probably the worst team in the league in the red area. Nowhere else to go but up.
(On how the Patriots did their talking on the field Sunday, not through the media)
A win is a win. They have a very good team. It's just, we don't get caught up in that cat and mouse game. The games aren't won or lost through the media. They're won or lost on Sunday and that's what we focus on. When I was a young player like that, I barely opened my mouth. You have to go out there and play football and not worry about the other crap that's going on.
(On if he's surprised that another opponent had to re-learn that lesson)
That's not my problem, that's their problem. Our team is focused on the 53 guys in this locker room and what we have to do and what we stand for and what we're trying to get accomplished, and that's to win one game at a time.
(On making the goal line stop on Hines Ward on fourth down)
I've seen that play over the course of my career maybe four or five times, when the wide receiver lines up wide and comes across on motion and they hand it off to him. Once he started motioning in - Hines is a big, physical receiver who likes to run the ball, [an] ex-quarterback - I figured they were going to run that play and I was able to come and make the play, along with all the other guys blowing up things to get myself, as well as someone else free to make that tackle.
(On the play of the defense Sunday)
We played Patriot football and this is what I'm used to playing since I've been here for [the last] five years -- going out here, not taking any crap, standing up to a big, physical team like Pittsburgh and doing what we do best. That's playing sound, fundamental football very physical and that's what we proved today.
Ellis Hobbs, Cornerback
(On the Patriots doing their talking on the field Sunday)
The game should speak for itself. You shouldn't have to do the extra talking. The really great players and great teams don't have to say all that. Play speaks for itself.
(On whether he has said anything he has really regretted afterwards - referring to Anthony Smith's guarantee)
Yeah, I've said some things, but nothing to that degree. Personally, when I said the things I regretted, [they were] more about my character, how I want to be portrayed, things like that, but nothing where you have the whole east coast waiting for you to come over here so they can slap you around. Nothing to that degree.
(On if the Patriots' offense was picking on Smith with the two long touchdown passes)
I have no clue what they were doing over there. I know he was back there and didn't make the plays. I don't know if they were picking on him, if it just happened like that, but whatever the offense did, keep doing it.
(On whether God has a sense of humor when things come around on people for something they say)
My God does, me being a Christian believer and everything. "Lower yourself so that he may be exalted." There's nothing wrong with confidence, don't get me wrong. You have to have a swagger out on the field. But there's a fine line and he definitely crossed it. He was definitely knocked down when he crossed it today. It is what it is. I wish the best for him, but not tonight.
(On what he expects in terms of motivation this week for the Jets game)
I expect us to go out there and continue to play. We've played, to this point, 12 games since [the first match-up between the teams] and we've done just fine. We're not worried about what happened then, definitely not worried about what's going to happen in the future. I just want to enjoy this win and let's move onto the Jets on Wednesday.
(On teams continually giving the Patriots bulletin board material)
EH: I think, maybe it's a defense mechanism. They see it as a weakness or as an approach of 'we're going to show you that we're not scared and we got all the confidence in the world.' Which is fine if that's how they feel, whatever, but we're going to continue being the same team. That's what keeps us driving, what motivates us, knowing that when we come in here, all of us, you're going to get 53 players plus who ever else is in here of guys that are dedicated to winning the right way. Doing the job in practice, not talking about it, going out there and doing the job and letting it show on Sunday.
Logan Mankins, Offensive Lineman
(On how the team responded and was more physical than last week)
LM: Oh, I think we did great. If you look at the scores someone was more physical than the other one.
(On whether or not the team got bullied in Baltimore and how they bounced back)
LM: At certain times your guy's going to beat you. That's how it goes, they give it and we give it. It's going to go back and fourth but I think tonight we won the majority of the battles.
(On the team coming out with more energy tonight)
LM: I think so. It felt like the first series was not that great but after that it felt like the momentum picked up our way and we were playing fast and playing physical. I think we played a lot better tonight.
Vince Wilfork, Nose Tackle
(On his sack)
VW: I knew the block that was given [because] they were giving it to me all game. I basically gambled on that play. He [Ben Roethlisberger] made a check at the line and I heard the same check earlier in the game and it was [a] pass so I knew right then and there what I was going to do. [Alan] Faneca came down and it was a double team but it was a pass play and I spun out of it and I was back there before he could even fake the ball. I think I kind of surprised him because once he turned around he tried to curl up. I stole a play. Preparation, I still do preparation on the field, during game time. Like I said that was something I picked up early in the game and I carried it over. I heard it again and I knew exactly what they were doing, so a win for me.
(On the teams' physicality)
VW: Of course, I mean you have to be to physical to beat this Pittsburgh Steelers team, to do what we wanted to do. There was a lot of talk leading to this game but we knew they could play some football. We knew that they could back up what they say so we had to match it and I think tonight we matched it. The outcome was in our favor, which we kind of wanted it to be. We are very happy with that win, very happy.
(On the difference between tonight's game and Monday night)
VW: It might sound funny but I think we played with more emotion tonight. I think we really did. I could see guys running to the football, guys having fun on the field and I think [Richard] Seymour or [Mike] Vrabel, one of them turned to me and he was like 'you know the problem is we having fun' and we always play good when we're having fun. I think last week we lacked that. Today we didn't lack it today.
Richard Seymour, Defensive End
(On how the win feels)
RS: Well it's always good when you beat a good football team and we classify them, those guys that we played today as a good football team. They're well coached and they play tough smart and physical, that's the way we try to play. We can go out and get a win against a quality opponent and every team we've played so far has been a quality opponent. It was a big night for us, one step closer to the ultimate goal.
(On how they felt about stopping the run in the past couple weeks)
RS: Yeah, I thought they just ran the ball but I didn't feel like they were effective. I thought they ran the ball and we stopped them when we needed to. I think throughout the game when you need to make stops and you need to score offensively and you can do that I think ultimately it helps our football team out a lot. I think going down the stretch we are definitely going to need everybody but it was a big win today.
(On how he is feeling, and if he is at 100% yet)
RS: Not quite 100 yet, but moving in the right direction. It's just good to get a win at this point. 13-and-0, one step closer and it's a quality opponent. That's always good. This is the time of year when you want to play your best football.
Q: Did the talk surrounding this week's game at all affect your preparation for this game?
RM: I think our focus, with everything that's been said was really held in. Coach [Bill] Belichick and his coaching staff did a great job of getting us prepared - on and off the field- because when we were sitting in the classroom doing work, it was more talking and looking at that humble pie and then motivation at the same time. Then, when we go on the field, it's the same thing. I think, for the most part, our preparation was very focused and very set on going out here and getting it done.
Q: How much attention did you pay to what was said by Anthony Smith?
RM: I've played in the league for 10 years and I don't think I've ever heard a player ever say anything like that. There's trash-taking each week, but just to guarantee a victory - that's something hard. I don't know if his teammates had his back or whatnot, but it was said, it was documented and it was printed. It came to us and we went out there today and you [could] see we wanted it more.
Q: Do you feel like teams are playing you more physically at the line of scrimmage as the season has gone on?
RM: I've been doing my thing for 10 years. What defensive coordinators throw at me is what they throw at me. What they throw at the offense is what they throw at the offense. Like Tom [Brady] has said time and time again, and that's the whole unit, we're going to go out there and execute. Tom is going to find the open man and let's get with it. I don't really get caught up in watching the game. I don't really know how many completions he had to Wes Welker on one drive. I said, 'Wes, if you don't slow down, you're being greedy. Let somebody else.' It was a good victory today, overall. Like I said, with how teams play me, I've seen it my whole career. Sometimes it is frustrating to get bumped and then once you get up to another level, you're still going to get bumped. My main thing is just to try to stay focused and do what I have to do week to week to help the team move the ball.
Q: What was more impressive about that lateral play: The fact that you fielded a grounder from Tom Brady, or the pass back, or his pass downfield?
RM: To be honest with you, I think it was just all 11 of us executing. Tommy [Brady] had to step back. I had to step behind Tommy and make sure that it was a backwards lateral, and he had to step behind me. The offensive line had to protect. The wide receivers had to do their thing. It wasn't just one individual and it wasn't just one pass; it was everybody executing on the same cylinder. And you saw what the results were. Sometimes you look at a play, and before I came here, I've seen all the gadget plays that the Patriots ran and when I first got here, they said that nobody throws the ball but Tom Brady, so I've been lobbying and lobbying, 'Let me throw the ball. Let me throw the ball.' Eventually it worked and we scored a touchdown so that actually felt good.
Q: So they weren't going to let you do it?
RM: They made it very clear that Tom is the only one in this offense that throws the ball. Like I said, it was us executing on all cylinders by the whole unit. It was a great call by Josh McDaniels and we just had go out there and once he threw to me and I threw it back him and he threw it up and everybody was like, 'Uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh.' And then, it was caught on [Anthony] Smith so I think that was probably, after all of that… it was all on Jabar [Gaffney] catching it on No. 27 [Smith.] It was really worth it.
Q: What sets Tom Brady apart from other quarterbacks?
RM: Poise, patience… and going out there determined to kill you at any given time. They can give you a fourth and 24 and Tom's still ready to kill you. I don't know how you're going to get it, but that's really his mindset. When you have a guy like that leading your team, leading your offense, everybody else has to pick up and get on his level. Tom Brady, like I've said before, I've always been a big fan of his. Now that I'm on his team, I'm not going to stop. Him - being our leader and our quarterback and all his upsides and his knowledge of the game and his precision and him making good decisions with the ball… my hat's off to him.
Q: Was it important that you develop a relationship with Brady heading into this season?
RM: We see each other every morning. It's 'Good morning,' then 'I'll see you tomorrow morning.' We're around each other a lot and that's the one thing that I said time and time again that Tom and I had to develop some kind of relationship because on the field it's down to business so we don't really get time to talk a lot, but when we're in that locker room, getting dressed, or doing whatever, we get the time to really get to know each other. In my time here, we have gotten to know each other. We talk about everything. That's one thing-I really have trust in him that I can talk to him about anything that's going on. It's not just even football-related. I hope he has the same trust in me. That's how you develop a relationship.
Q: Is there time during the season to put into perspective everything that's going on around here in regards to offensive records by yourself, or Tom Brady, or the offense?
RM: Not really put things into perspective, but-I don't really read the papers or watch a lot of sports television, but my phone rings and text messages come across my phone and it's hard not to really pay attention to what's going on. One thing that I really try to do is to try to stay in straight tunnel vision, try to stay humble, try to eat some of Coach Belichick's humble pie, just follow the road and just keep going each week.
Q: Will there be a period when you will reflect on all of this?
RM: I don't think we'll look back and reflect until the season is over. If we do, do these things-fine. If not, we're still going to look back and reflect after the season. It's really hard to look ahead right now because of the Coach that we have. Coach Belichick really doesn't let his players get ahead of themselves. That's one thing that I really commend him for because he keeps us grounded. We're out here working, preparing for the next team that week. I can't even tell you who we've got next week…
Q: The Jets…
RM: Well, there you go. I really know that Coach Belichick doesn't like us looking forward and, after tomorrow, this game is behind us. When we come back to work, we'll prepare for the Jets.
Q: Do you think there will other players to guarantee victories going forward?
RM: There's plenty of young players in the league so there's no telling what will come out next. I actually think that just being young and being caught up in the game and all the hype that something was bound to slip out. I think that the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers, as far as their toughness and their mouths, it's no telling what's coming out next. Like I said, they've done their talking throughout the week and we did our talking on the field today.
Q: What did you think of that lateral play for the touchdown?
TB: That's the first time that's worked in weeks. It doesn't work against the scout team-they've seen it, but we've been practicing it. I told Randy [Moss] that I guess he expected me to throw it on the ground. That was not the intention, but he made a great play to pick it up and get it back to me. I just barely got enough on it and it was a big turnaround in the game for us.
Q: How much does it help when Wes Welker produces like he did tonight?
TB: It always does. It always does. He's always a big part of the plan. I thought he played really well, made a bunch of huge catches. He made that huge third and one on our first scoring drive. He played well all night, caught the last touchdown on the post. He really played well.
Q: It seems like defenses are jamming Randy Moss at the line more. Does that affect how much of a factor he is?
TB: Sometimes they get good jams, that's part of being a good defensive back. I think if you ask our defensive backs, 'What's the best way to play receivers?' [It's] to be physical. Sometimes you're physical and it looks great. Other times, you miss and he was able to create space for himself. He's got great quickness for a guy his size, but sometimes they make pretty good plays, too. When he gets off clean, he's usually into his route, up on those safeties and makes it tough on them. He works extremely hard and we'll continue to find way to get him the ball and, obviously, he had a huge impact on the game tonight.
Q: Was that touchdown [to Jabar Gaffney] to start the second half a shot across the bow at the Steelers?
TB: No, we just try to execute on offense. That's what it comes down to. Good execution overcomes a lot of things. I think the last few weeks, we haven't necessarily executed as well as I thought we were capable of. Tonight was better, but I still think we let some plays out there. But, you know you're going against the first-ranked defense in the league and that's what it takes.
Q: Was it intentional that Gaffney's touchdown went in Anthony Smith's direction.
TB: No, he just ended up being in the right place at the right time.
Q: It looked like Randy Moss returned a pretty tight spiral to you. Do you have to wait before you set and threw downfield?
TB: Nah, I've got good hands… You know, as a quarterback you catch the ball quite a lot while you play catch so I'm lucky I didn't drop that. He made a better throw to me than I did to him.
Q: It looked like you got into it a little bit with their players in the first half. Do you care to elaborate on what you said?
TB: There's always just a little jawing. I don't care to repeat what I said.
Q: Can you give us a hint of what it was?
TB: I don't care to repeat it, especially if my mother reads it. She wouldn't be very happy with what I said.
Q: What do you put into players guaranteeing victory?
TB: It comes down to execution. You've got to come out and as soon as the ball is kicked off you've got to execute your plays.
Q: Are you at all surprised to see a player doing that?
TB: Yeah, he's a good player. I think he was trying to motivate his guys and I think him saying, 'We've seen the best receivers in the league.' Maybe that's their opinion, but hopefully we can go out and execute our offense. No matter what you say during the week, it comes down to execution.
Q: After you've wrapped up the division and home-field advantage, does going undefeated at all enter the picture in your minds of things to accomplish this season?
TB: 14-0 means something to me. I think that's about as far as I would go.
Q: Did it mean anything extra to have those plays on Anthony Smith?
TB: I think the receivers get more motivated than the quarterback. I think I'm kind of aware of that whole defense and just happened to be… Like I said, we happened to have those plays on him. He's the one that's got to go back to his team. Other than that, we're just going to move on and try to go out there and play great against the Jets.
BB: That was a good win today for us. [I'm] really happy for the players, proud of them, proud of the way they played. I thought we played a smart football game and did a pretty good job of taking care of the ball. [We] had a couple of stops in the red area on defense, which was good, and again, our offensive line really did a nice job of handling all of the pressure. They gave us a lot of pressure, a lot more than we've seen, especially last week. I thought our line did a good job. We threw the ball well, made some big plays and played better on defense. It was a good win and Pittsburgh is a good team.
Q: You mentioned last week that you were tired. Did you like the energy and the bounce-back…
BB: Now, hold it. What I said was on Monday night we were tired - midnight. And we were tired.
Q: Did you like the energy tonight?
BB: I thought our team had good energy all week. I thought we had good practice all week and I thought we played well today.
Q: Could you comment on the role of the passing game and big plays to help your team take control of the game in the third quarter?
BB: I thought that we threw it and caught it a lot better than we have the last couple of weeks. Josh [McDaniels] and the coaches and the players, they did a great job with the passing game. Our execution was pretty good and, of course, the protection was pretty good, too, for the most part. It was the number one-ranked defense and all of that. I thought we went out there and moved the ball and scored some points. Most of it was throwing and we felt like that was a good match-up for us, and I would say that it was.
Q: On the second red zone stop they came out with nothing. That was a particularly effective play. It ended the game, really.
BB: You're talking about where they ran the sweep to [Hines] Ward? Yeah, that's kind of one of the things they do down there. You know, they run a lot of trick plays with Ward at quarterback or hands-offs or halfback passes, stuff like that… kind of their two-point package, so it was a heads-up play. I thought Rodney [Harrison] made a great play on the fade pattern on the play before. He went out and played the ball perfectly. It was an outstanding play. It was back to the ball and then making the tackle on that fourth down sweep was heads-up, too. We were in goal line defense. It was good to make a stop down there. We know that hasn't been one of our strong points this year, but it was good that we came up big today, what was it, two or three times, whatever it was. So I thought it was good.
Q: On the lateral to Randy Moss, was he supposed to drop that on purpose?
BB: Yeah, that really sold it, didn't it? No, he wasn't supposed to drop it on purpose, but he did a good job with it. He did a good job of… I think that sold the play a little bit and everybody kind of was hustling over there and he made a nice throw back to Tom and you can't get him much more open than that. It was well-executed. It's a play that we've practiced a few times and it came in handy today. It was a big momentum play for us in the third quarter. It was a nice job by [Jabar] Gaffney, really selling it, and Moss by dropping the ball, I think that really gave it a little more draw. I wish I could take credit for that, but that wasn't part of the play.
Q: What was it about that situation that made you call that play? I would imagine there'd have to be a lot of factors that go in to deciding to use that kind of play.
BB: We had talked about it earlier. I think where the situation in the game [was] and the ball being on that hash mark… We actually were going to run it earlier and we ended up having to take a time out. We just couldn't quite get it worked out right. I think it just kind of worked out right that time. But the most important thing is execution. I don't think it was so much when it was called as how well it was executed.
Q: What was your feeling at halftime, and did you make a decision at that point that, 'We threw the ball a lot in the first half. We're going to even throw it more in the second half'?
BB: We tried to mix it up a little bit. We ran some no-huddle and then we also ran some of our regular stuff and tried to mix some runs in there and some play-action passes, so it was just trying to keep moving it around on them and keep them off-balance. We had some three-wide receiver sets, some four-wide receiver sets and ran some empty sets where nobody's in the backfield. We tried to give them some different looks. Again, I think the players did a great job executing the passing game. The receivers, the quarterback, the backs, the line, the tight ends - We did a good job with our spacing and our blitz pick-up and getting open in man-coverage when they tried to play man against us.
Q: What did you say to the team, if anything, about Anthony Smith's guarantee?
BB: You know, I think Rodney put it the best, so I'll just leave it at that. But we've played against a lot better safeties than him, I'll tell you.
Q: Did running that play have anything to do with Pittsburgh, or was it something you'd been looking to get in? Was it because of their aggressiveness?
BB: Well, again, the safety play at that position was pretty inviting.
Q: Randy's production today - the touchdowns, and every catch he made for first down - Is that good throws by Tom?
BB: [He's been] doing it all year. Good quarterback, good receiver. He's leading the league in receiving, right?
Q: If you reach a point where there's nothing left to play for - the bye, home field advantage - does it change the way you prepare?
BB: [We] treat every game… We'll treat the next game just like we treat the other ones. Right now all we're thinking about is one game and that's the Jets. We'll get ready for them just like we [got] ready for Pittsburgh this week and Baltimore the week before and Philadelphia the week before that. We'll do the same thing we've been doing for the last however many weeks it's been… 12, whatever it is: 13.
PATRIOTS CLINCH FIRST-ROUND PLAYOFF BYE
By virtue of their victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers today, the Patriots have clinched a first-round playoff bye for the fifth time since the current NFL playoff format was implemented in 1990. New England has earned first-round byes in 1996, 2001, 2003, 2004 and 2007. If the Indianapolis Colts lose to Baltimore tonight, the Patriots would also clinch the top seed in the AFC and homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. If the Colts defeat Baltimore, the Patriots can clinch homefield advantage with a victory over the New York Jets next week.
500 POINTS FOR THE SEASON
With Tom Brady's 2-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker in the third quarter, the Patriots' season point total stood at exactly 500 points scored, marking the first time an NFL team has broken the 500-point mark since the 2004 Indianapolis Colts scored 522 points. New England finished the game with 503 total points this season. The 2007 Patriots are the 11th team in the 88-year history of the NFL to break the 500-point mark. The 1998 Minnesota Vikings hold the NFL record with 556 points scored.
PATRIOTS RAISE SEASON TD TOTAL TO 65
Following four touchdowns today, the Patriots have scored 65 touchdowns this season, a total that ranks seventh in NFL history. The 1984 Miami Dolphins hold the all-time record with 70 touchdowns, following by the 2000 St. Louis Rams (67). Four teams have scored 66 touchdowns in a season, most recently the 2004 Indianapolis Colts.
BRADY'S 45 TOUCHDOWN PASSES ARE THIRD HIGHEST NFL SINGLE-SEASON TOTAL
Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes to raise his season total to 45 touchdown passes. Brady's 45 touchdown passes are the third-highest single-season total in NFL history, trailing only Peyton Manning's NFL-record 49 touchdown passes in 2004 and Marino's 48 scoring throws in 1984 Brady's 45 touchdown passes have eclipsed the Patriots' old single-season mark of 31, set by Vito "Babe" Parilli in 1964. Brady has thrown 45 touchdowns and just five interceptions so far in 2007.
NFL SINGLE-SEASON TOUCHDOWN PASS LEADERS
Player Team Year TD
Peyton Manning IND 2004 49
Dan Marino MIA 1984 48
Tom Brady NE 2007 45
Dan Marino MIA 1986 44
Kurt Warner STL 1999 41
BELICHICK RECORDS 100th VICTORY AS PATRIOTS HEAD COACH
Bill Belichick recorded his 100th overall victory as Patriots head coach today. Since being hired by the Patriots prior to the 2000 season, Belichick has now recorded 88 regular-season victories and 12 playoff wins for a total of 100 victories. He is one of four current NFL head coaches to win 100 or more overall games with their current team, joining Washington's Joe Gibbs (168 wins), Denver's Mike Shanahan (130) and Tennessee's Jeff Fisher (117). Belichick has an overall coaching record of 137-84 (.620), including a 124-81 regular-season mark and a 13-3 playoff record.
MOSS'S 19 TOUCHDOWN CATCHES ARE SECOND HIGHEST NFL SINGLE-SEASON TOTAL
With two touchdown receptions in the first half, Randy Moss caught his 18th and 19th touchdown passes of the season, recording the second highest single-season receiving touchdown total in NFL history. Moss's 19 touchdown catches this season trail only Jerry Rice's NFL record total of 22 in 1987. The 19 touchdown receptions set a new career high for Moss, topping his 17 scoring catches in 1998 and 2003 while with the Minnesota Vikings.
NFL SINGLE-SEASON RECEIVING TD LEADERS
Player Team Year TD
Jerry Rice SF 1987 22
Randy Moss NE 2007 19
Sterling Sharpe GB 1994 18
Mark Clayton MIA 1984 18
Randy Moss MIN 2003 17
Randy Moss MIN 1998 17*
(Six others tied with 17 touchdown receptions)
*-NFL Rookie Record
BRADY RECORDS FIFTH GAME WITH FOUR OR MORE TOUCHDOWN PASSES IN 2007
Tom Brady threw four touchdown passes, marking his fifth game of the season with four or more scoring throws. Brady's five games with four or more touchdowns tie the third highest total in NFL history, trailing only the six games with four or more touchdown passes by Peyton Manning in 2004 and by Dan Marino in 1984. Brady's five games with four or more scoring passes tie Donovan McNabb's 2004 total, Marino's 1986 total and Brett Favre's 1996 total.
MOSS SETS TEAM RECORD FOR MOST OVERALL TOUCHDOWNS IN A SEASON
With his first touchdown catch of the day, a 4-yard reception from Tom Brady, Randy Moss set a new Patriots record with his 18th overall touchdown of the season, topping Curtis Martin's previous record of 17 touchdowns in 1996. Moss added a 63-yard scoring grab in the second quarter to raise his season total to 19 touchdowns. All 18 of Moss's touchdowns have come via receptions. In 1996, Martin had 14 touchdowns via rushes and three via receptions.
PATRIOTS SINGLE-SEASON OVERALL TD LEADERS
Player Year TDs Rush Rec. Ret.
Randy Moss 2007 19 0 19 0
Curtis Martin 1996 17 14 3 0
Curtis Martin 1995 15 14 1 0
Corey Dillon 2006 13 13 0 0
(Five others tied with 13 overall touchdowns)
GAFFNEY HAS CAREER HIGH YARDAGE
Jabar Gaffney set a career high with 122 receiving yards on seven catches, including a 56-yard touchdown in the third quarter. Gaffney's previous career high was 109 receiving yards, achieved while playing for the Houston Texans against Chicago on Dec. 19, 2004. The 100-yard receiving game was the second of Gaffney's regular-season career. He also has two 100-yard games in three career playoff contests, all with the Patriots in 2006.
BRADY HAS SECOND HIGHEST YARDAGE TOTAL OF CAREER
Tom Brady totaled 399 passing yards against Pittsburgh, completing 32-of-46 passes (69.6 percent) with four touchdowns and no interceptions for a 125.2 passer rating. The 399 passing yards are the second highest of Brady's career, trailing only his 410 passing yards in a 41-38 overtime win over Kansas City on Sept. 22, 2002. Brady's 399 yards are his highest career total in a non-overtime game. Including today's yardage total, four of Brady's top five career single-game yardage totals have come this season. Against Pittsburgh, Brady recorded his sixth 300-yard passing game of the season and the 21st 300-yard game of his career.
BRADY PASSES 4,000-YARD MARK
With a 4-yard completion to Wes Welker in the third quarter, Tom Brady exceeded 4,000 passing yards for the season, marking the fourth 4,000-yard passing season in Patriots history. Following that completion, Brady had 4,001 yards on the season. He finished the game with 4,095 passing yards, a total that ranks third in team history. Brady has accomplished the feat for the second time in his career, having also exceeded the milestone in 2005 (4,110 yards). Drew Bledsoe also exceeded 4,000 passing yards two times in a Patriots uniform (4,555 yards in 1994 and 4,086 yards in 1996).
TWO COMPLETIONS OF 50 YARDS OR LONGER FOR FIRST TIME SINCE 2001
The Patriots completed two touchdown passes of longer than 50 yards, marking the first time since 2001 that the Patriots have had two completions of 50 yards or more in the same game. Against Pittsburgh, Tom Brady hit Randy Moss for a 63-yard touchdown in the second quarter and later completed a 56-yard touchdown toss to Jabar Gaffney in the third quarter. The last time New England completed two passes of 50 yards or longer in the same game was on Oct. 21, 2001 at Indianapolis, when Brady threw a 91-yard touchdown pass to David Patten and Patten threw a 60-yard scoring pas to Troy Brown.
WELKER BREAKS 90-CATCH MARK
With an 11-yard reception in the fourth quarter - his 90th catch of the season - Wes Welker recorded the fifth 90-reception season in Patriots history. He joins Troy Brown (101 receptions in 2001 and 97 receptions in 2002), Ben Coates (96 catches in 1994) and Terry Glenn (90 receptions in 1996) as the only players in Patriots history to achieve the feat. Welker finished the game with 93 receptions this season, a total that ranks fourth in team history.
MOSS PASSES 1,200-YARD MARK
On his 63-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter, Randy Moss passed the 1,200-yard receiving mark for the season, becoming the second player in Patriots history to achieve the 1,200-yard receiving plateau. Following that catch, Moss had 1,212 yards on 78 catches in 2007. Moss joins Stanley Morgan (1,491 yards in 1986) as the only players in franchise history to achieve the feat. Moss has exceeded the 1,200-yard receiving mark for the seventh time in his 10 NFL seasons and has achieved the milestone for the first time since gaining a career-high 1,632 receiving yards in 2003 with Minnesota.
MOSS RECORDS 54th CAREER 100-YARD RECEIVING GAME
With 135 yards on seven catches, Randy Moss has recorded his eighth 100-yard receiving game of the season and the 54th 100-yard receiving game of his career. Moss's 54 career 100-yard receiving games rank third all-time, trailing only Jerry Rice (76) and Marvin Harrison (59). Stanley Morgan holds the Patriots single-season record with nine 100-yard receiving games in 1986. Moss's 135 receiving yards are his third highest total of the season, trailing only his 183 yards against the New York Jets on Sept. 9 and his 145 yards against Indianapolis on Nov. 4.
MOSS CATCHES 63-YARD TOUCHDOWN PASS
Randy Moss hauled in a 63-yard touchdown reception from Tom Brady in the second quarter to give the Patriots a 14-3 lead. The reception was Moss's longest of the season, topping a 55-yard grab at Indianapolis on Nov. 4. It was also Moss's fourth catch of 50 yards or longer this season and was the 33rd reception of 50 yards or longer in his career. The 63-yard touchdown was Moss's 11th touchdown catch of 60 yards or longer in his career. It was the second longest reception of the season for the Patriots, trailing only a 69-yard scoring pass from Brady to Donte Stallworth at Dallas on Oct. 14.
PATRIOTS HELD ON OPENING POSSESSION
New England did not score on its opening possession for just the second time in 13 games this season. The only other game this season in which the Patriots did not put points on the board on its first offensive possession of the game was at Indianapolis on Nov. 4. On their 13 game-opening possessions this season, the Patriots have scored eight touchdowns, three field goals and have punted twice.
STEELERS BECOME FIRST PATRIOTS OPPONENT TO SCORE ON OPENING POSSESSION
The Patriots allowed the Steelers to convert a 23-yard field goal on Pittsburgh's first offensive possession of the game. The points were the first of the season that New England has allowed on an opponents' opening possession of the game. Entering this week's game, the Patriots were the only NFL team not to allow an opponent score on their opening possession. Jacksonville entered the week ranked second by allowing nine points on opponents first drives.
QUICK HITS
-Vince Wilfork stuffed Willie Parker in the backfield for a 2-yard loss in the first quarter.
-Chad Jackson returned a kickoff 39 yards in the first quarter, marking the fifth kickoff return of 35 yards or more by the Patriots this season.
-Jarvis Green sacked Ben Roethlisberger for a 9-yard sack in the first quarter. The sack was Green's fifth of the season, a total that ranks second on the team.
-Vince Wilfork sacked Roethlisberger for an 8-yard sack in the third quarter. The sack was Wilfork's first of the season.
-Adalius Thomas sacked Ben Roethlisberger for a 2-yard loss in the fourth quarter. The sack was Thomas's fourth of the season.
-James Sanders recovered a Steelers fumble on a punt in the second quarter. Sanders pounced on the ball after it his Pittsburgh's William Gay, giving the Patriots possession at the Steelers' 34-yard line.
-Rodney Harrison batted away a pass intended for Santonio Holmes in the end zone on third down in the fourth quarter. On the next play, Harrison combined with Richard Seymour to stuff Hines Ward for no gain and keep the Steelers out of the end zone.
HOT WHEN IT'S COLDThe Patriots have enjoyed tremendous recent success in cold weather and are 21-3 since 1993 when the kickoff temperature is 34 degrees or less. Today's kickoff temperature was 34 degrees. New England has won 16 of its last 18 games when the kickoff temperature has been 34 degrees or colder. Tom Brady is 23-2 as a starter when the temperature is less than 40 degrees.
PATRIOTS GAMES 34 DEGREES OR COLDER SINCE 1993 (21-3)
Sorted by Temperature
Date Opp. Temp Notes W/L Score
01/10/04 TEN* 4 Wind Chill -10 W 17-14
01/23/05 at PIT* 11 Wind Chill -1 W 41-27
12/26/93 IND 19 Wind Chill -1 W 38-0
01/07/06 JAX* 24 Clear and Calm W 28-3
12/21/96 at NYG 24 Wind Chill 17 W 23-22
01/01/06 MIA 25 Wind Chill 20 L 26-28
01/16/05 IND* 25 Snow W 20-3
12/14/03 JAX 25 Wind Chill 16 W 27-13
01/19/02 OAK* 25 Snow W 16-13 ot
12/05/05 NYJ 26 Light Snow W 16-3
12/10/95 NYJ 26 Wind Chill 12 W 31-28
01/12/97 JAX* 27 Wind Chill 11 W 20-6
12/07/03 MIA 28 Wind Chill 17 W 12-0
12/11/05 at BUF 30 Light Snow W 35-7
12/26/04 at NYJ 30 Wind Chill 21 W 23-7
12/20/03 at NYJ 30 Wind Chill 20 W 21-16
11/05/06 IND 31 Clear and Calm L 20-27
12/24/00 MIA 31 Wind Chill 22 L 24-27
01/02/05 SF 32 Wind Chill 27 W 21-7
01/18/04 IND* 32 Light Snow W 24-14
11/16/03 DAL 33 Cloudy and Calm W 12-0
11/26/95 at BUF 33 Flurries W 35-25
12/09/07 PIT 34 Cloudy and Cold W 34-13
12/16/01 at BUF 34 Wind Chill 25 W 12-9 ot
12/12/93 CIN 34 Wind Chill 23 W 7-2
*-playoffs
With their victory today, the Patriots have secured a first-round bye for the playoffs. It is the fifth time since the current playoff system was implemented in 1990 that New England has earned the bye.
They can also clinch the number one seed if Indianapolis loses to Baltimore tonight, but given the way that game is going right now, that probably won't happen this week.
The New England Patriots today took a giant step toward a perfect regular season, easily defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers today in Foxboro. On a day when the Patriots handed the ball off only eight times, Tom Brady threw for 399 yards and four touchdowns, including two to Randy Moss.
After going into halftime with only a 17-13 lead, the Patriots clamped down and shut out the Steelers in the second half, while their pass-happy offense moved the ball methodically down the field.
Stephen Gostkowski's extra point gave the Patriots an even 500 points for the year, making them the 12th team in NFL history to score at least that many points.
FOXBORO -- The Patriots have the lead at halftime, even though the Steelers had the ball most of the time. Despite Pittsburgh's dominance in time of possession -- 19:12 to 10:48 -- the Pats led, 17-13. One reason is that New England had a one-play scoring "drive" in the first minute of the second quarter, when Tom Brady threw a 63-yard TD pass to Randy Moss.
FOXBORO -- Gostkowski made good on his second long-range attempt, connecting from 42 yards with 42 second left, increasing New England's lead to 17-13, and boosting his percentage to .500 -- 2 of 4 -- on field-goal tries from 40 yards and beyond.
FOXBORO -- Pats kicker Stephen Gostkowski's miss (wide right) from 48 yards midway through the second quarter left the second-year specialist 1-for-3 this season from 40 yards and beyond. He also has a miss in the 30-to-39 range, where he's 5-for-6. Overall this season, he's 14-of-17.
His miss meant the Pats failed to capitalize on a fortuitous turnover, having gained possession at the Steelers' 34 when Chris Hanson short punt bounced off a Pittsburgh blocker and the ball was recovered by New England's James Sanders.
As the scores come in for Randy Moss' pirouette into the end zone...
With 83 yards receiving today, Moss now has 1,212 for the season, making his just the second player in Pats' history with more than 1,200 receiving yards in a season. Stanley Morgan holds the team record, with 1,491 in 1986.
Moss' TD was his 19th of the season, and is now alone with the second-most in league history in a season, as he's three behind Jerry Rice's league record of 22 in 1987.
That Tom Brady-to-Randy Moss touchdown was noteworthy for several reasons:
It was Brady's 42nd TD of the season, fourth-most all-time for a single season.
It was Moss' 18th TD reception of the season, a new career high, and ties him for second-most in a single season. It also sets a new Patriots single-season record. Curtis Martin had 17 touchdowns (14 rushing, three receiving) in 1996
After completing that touchdown to Randy Moss to put New England up 7-3, Tom Brady had some words for Steelers' Anthony Smith, he of the we will win guarantee. As Brady jawed, linebacker James Harrison came up behind him and bumped him.
Brady continued to talk to Smith as he backed off the field.
The Steelers' 23-yard field goal marks the first time this season that the Patriots have allowed an opponent to score on their opening drive of the game. They were the only team in the league with that distinction at this point in the year.
For just the second time this season, the Patriots failed to score on their opening drive of a game. New England went three-and-out against the Steelers, and also didn't put points on the board after their first drive against the Colts.
FOXBORO -- To a disappointing number of Patriots fans, pursuit of the almighty dollar apparently trumped their team's pursuit of perfection.
Given that Gillette Stadium is sold out on a season-ticket basis, there are a surprising number of Steelers fans obviously in attendance, as evidenced by the yellow towels they're waving.
The people from Pittsburgh had to have obtained their tickets on the secondary market, where they were marketed by New England fans who may have wanted the money to go shopping at Patriot Place.
FOXBORO -- No one in their right mind would come to shop at Patriot Place on the day of a game. In fact, only the most hardcore fans are willing to put up with what continues to be an utterly ridiculous, and highly frustrating, traffic problem getting to Gillette Stadium.
I've been covering games here since 1979 and, for the most part, I could drive to Foxboro with relative ease if I arrived between 10:30 and 11 for a 1 o'clock game. Not any more. Traffic on Route 495 was backed up almost to Route 95 nearly four hours before the 4:15 kickoff. It was bumper-to-bumper, poking along, all the way north on Route 1. Team officials insist there are more parking places than ever, despite the space taken by the new mall just south of the stadium. Nevertheless, traffic is worse than it has ever been.
As for shoppers -- why would anyone battle game traffic to get to Patriot Place? And since most of the parking spots around the stadium are a healthy hike from the stores, why would those stores even bother to open on the day of a game? Did they expect extensive walk-in traffic from fans? Hard for me to picture a Patriots fan heading to Bed, Bath, and Beyond before he enters the stadium.
Other media members arriving from the North report similar problems.
The best move might be to go to Circuit City during the week, buy a big, flat-screen, HDTV, and watch the games at home.
Welcome to Gillette Stadium, where the Patriots will play the first of three straight home games, and their first non-prime time game in over a month -- their last such game was Nov. 4 in Indianapolis, which was also a 4 p.m. start.
Beloved Bruins' National Anthem singer Rene Rancourt will perform the song here today, and the color guard will also have a bit of a local flavor, as the Swansea Fire Department will present the colors.
We got here a bit later than usual, so the Pats players who usually do early warm-up have already retreated to the locker room; we did see Mike Vrabel out there. There are several Steelers still on the field currently.
Four Baltimore Ravens players have been fined for violating league rules prohibiting the abuse of game officials, the NFL announced today.
Bart Scott was fined $25,000 for verbally abusing game officials and throwing an official’s flag into the stands during last Monday night’s Baltimore-New England game.
Samari Rolle, Chris McAlister, and Derrick Mason were fined $15,000 each for publicly questioning the integrity of the officiating in last Monday night’s game.
“This is about the importance of sportsmanship and respecting the integrity of our game,” said NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson. “We do not tolerate inappropriate conduct between teams and game officials. This includes reminding game officials that they are to conduct themselves at all times as professionals in their dealings with players, coaches, and other club personnel.”
Anderson went to Baltimore this week to speak directly with Scott and Rolle before issuing the fines today.
“Last Monday night’s game was well officiated,” Anderson said, “and it is the obligation of both players and coaches to maintain proper respect for game officials at all times.”
In addition to prohibiting physical contact with game officials, league rules also bar team personnel from verbal or other non-physical abuse of officials and from public criticism of their integrity.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Friday press conference
Can you talk about what the addition of Wes Welker has meant to your team this season?
Wes has done a real good job for us. He’s come in and worked really hard. [He] was one of our off-season award winners. [He] primarily plays in the slot, although I think there are other things that he can do, but just the way that our team is, the way it fits together with our other receivers and our offense and so forth. He’s in there a lot. We had a lot of trouble with him in Miami, defending him, and we’ve tried to put him in some of those situations that we had trouble with in our offense. That’s sort of some of the things we’ve done in the past anyway, so it’s not like we redesigned the offense or anything. [We’ve] put him in the spot where we feel he can be productive and compliments our other players. He’s done a good job.
Offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels was just talking about your goal line package with Mike Vrabel and Junior Seau coming in. What are the advantages to that as opposed to Laurence Maroney behind Heath Evans?
I think there’s a lot of different players that could do different things for us. It’s just a question of really how you want to utilize your personnel and how to distribute everything, how you want to put it together. I think that’s something that we talk about on a regular basis and it’s an overall team thing - It doesn’t just come down to one guy, “Could one guy do this or one guy do that?” Certainly, but it’s just a question of how you want to put the entire team - put everything together and…There’s a lot of things that go into the decision, is what I’m trying to say. [There’s a] lot of things that go into the decision and we do what we think is best for our football team.
Is short-yardage something that Maroney needs to work on?
I didn’t say that.
Is it?
I think everybody can work on everything. I think that every player can work on every phase of his game. I wouldn’t - If Tiger Woods can go out and practice 14 hours on the driving range, I think there’s things that we could do, all of us, can do to be better. I’m not saying that. But yeah, I think Laurence can run in any situation. I think our backs have a lot of versatility.
In particular with Heath Evans, what has allowed him to succeed so much here? It wasn’t that long ago that he was released. What has allowed him to do so well here?
He’s a smart kid, [he’s] versatile, he’s got some size, he’s got some running skill, [he has] good hands, [he’s] intelligent, [he can] handle a lot of different assignments. [He’s] pretty athletic, for a big kid. I think he’s got a lot of things going for him physically, athletically. He’s tough and he’s smart. Those things all work in his favor.
You talk about Welker, Randy Moss, Corey Dillon - What are you looking for, other than talent, obviously, when you bring these guys in? What makes them fit into your system? They seem to have a lot of success when they come here.
Every time you bring a player onto your team, I think you want to have an idea of what you’re going to do with them, what you’re going to ask them to do and whether or not you feel like he can do it. Whether you draft them or sign them as a free agent or a veteran free agent or whatever the situation is, here’s what you envision this guy’s responsibilities being and what he needs to do, and then whether or not you think he has the skill, the make-up and maybe in some cases experience, depending on what that role is, to do it. There’s no magic formula for anything. It’s a very inexact science, for sure, but you try to identify what you’re looking for and then find people that fit that particular niche or role or criteria, however you want to look at it. If you feel like it will be productive, then you do it. If you don’t, then you keep looking. Sometimes you find guys that you think will and for whatever reason they’re not available or you can’t acquire them on your team for one reason or another. And then sometimes you get another shot at them at a later point in time. You say, “Hey, this guy would be a good fit here.” For whatever reason, you don’t get him - somebody else drafts him or you’re not able to sign him or whatever. And then maybe that opportunity comes up later on. Or maybe it doesn’t. It’s a regular process. We go through it on a - It’s very cyclical. We go through it many times during the year and then the next year we go through it again. Some of the same names come up; some of them don’t. There’s some new names.
How helpful is it to have a veteran reserve offensive lineman like Russ Hochstein to step in in the middle of a game?
I think all of our offensive linemen that play for us have done a good job. Ryan [O’Callaghan]’s played a lot for us. Wes [Wesley Britt] last year in the Cincinnati game did a real good job for us. Billy [Yates]’s played, Russ has played. It’s a good group. They work hard. They work well together. Dante [Scarnecchia] mixes them in in practice so they all get a lot of reps. They work together. When you’re just kind of watching the offense and you’re not really focusing all of your attention on the offensive line, you kind of don’t realize who’s in there. You might go back and look and say, “Oh, that was Wes at tackle,” or “t]That was Russ at guard.” “That was Billy at guard,” or Steve [Neal] or Logan [Mankins] or - I’m not saying they all look the same. I don’t mean it that way. I’m just saying in terms of execution that it’s not real noticeable when one player’s in there or one isn’t. They all seem to function and operate well together, and certainly Russ is a part of that unit. He’s played center and guard for us, even at times briefly tackle and tight end, in some multiple tight end packages, so he’s a versatile guy, a smart, tough kid and has played well for us when he’s had the opportunity to - As has Billy, as has Wes, Ryan and the other five guys. I think we’re very fortunate there. They all work well together. They’re unselfish, they work hard. Dante does a great job of preparing each of them individually and as a group and it’s a good group to coach.
Do you think that’s the goal with the offensive line, that they reach a point where they’re all interchangeable parts but there’s still execution?
As much as possible, yeah. You’d like to have that at every position on your team, where you have several guys and they can all go in there and play well, and if one player’s in there instead of another one, you’re still able to go in there and operate and execute the plays the way you want them to. Everybody knows what to do and you can be productive. I’m not saying there’s no difference between the players, but I’m just saying, you’ve seen all the games. There’s times when there’ve been different combinations in there through the years, back to when Dan [Koppen] got hurt a couple of years ago and the tackle situation. There have been different players there. It’s been pretty functional.
What do you attribute that to? Is it the level of the players that you bring in or the system that allows them to do well?
I think it’s a combination of things, but really it’s the players. I don’t think it’s the system, I think it’s the players. They work hard, they’re well-prepared, they have the physical skill to play and when they get an opportunity to play they play at a good level. Not perfect, but good and [they] work hard to get better. They’re well-coached, they take the coaching. When they make a mistake, they correct it, they go out there and get it right the next time. We usually don’t have the same mistakes repeat over and over again. That’s not good to have in any position, but there’s usually not too much of that on the offensive line. I think all of those things are important.
What kind of challenges is Pittsburgh’s front going to present to them?
Pittsburgh’s good on defense. They lead the league in pretty much every category on defense, starting with the most important one, which is points, so they’ll be a big challenge for us. It’s not just the linemen, it’s the linebackers, the DB’s blitz, they stunt a lot, there’s a lot of different combinations, you’re not always blocking the same guy. [Casey] Hampton [is] one of the best noses in the league. [Aaron] Smith, he does a great job. [The] linebackers are active. [Troy] Polamalu shows up there on the line of scrimmage and he’s a tough guy to block, so they give you a lot of combinations. It’s not always just a straight, one-on-one match-up. It’s guard or center or a tackle could end up blocking one of three, four or five different guys from play to play.
Do you find watching film that they blitz as much as they have in the past?
Yeah, they blitz. It depends on which game you watch, but I mean, yeah, they blitz.
Has their defense changed much under Mike Tomlin?
No.
Tom Brady said yesterday that there’s a lot of pride in the December record of this team, especially in the last three or four years. What is it about December that brings out the best in this team?
I don’t know. I’d like to think there’s a lot of pride taken around here in every game, including December. I definitely agree with what Tom said, but at the same time, we try to take pride in our performance every week, from game one to game whatever. That’s the way we do it - come in, prepare for the team, get ready to go, try to play our best on Sunday and try to win. That’s what we do every week. I don’t have any real formula for why, but the most important thing is that we maintain consistency there and we try to get to the highest level we can. I’m not saying we always do it -- we’re far from perfect, we make a lot of mistakes - but that’s what we try to do. We try to do it on a regular week. It’s not like we go along in October and November and say, “OK, we’re going to really change things here in December and try to start playing good football.” [We] try to play good football all year long. [We] try to coach well. We don’t always do it, but we’re trying.
You’ve often said if you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. When did you first learn that? Was that something from your dad?
I don’t really remember putting it quite that way, but I think probably the first guy I remember saying that - I think probably one of the first people I remember really talking about that was Chuck Noll, saying you’re not going to stay the same. You’re either going to get better or you’re going to get worse. And at that time, they were pretty good, so it wasn’t something that you as a competitor wanted to hear, because the Steelers were pretty good as it was. You didn’t really - The thought of them getting a whole lot better than they already were was not a particularly pleasant thought if you had to play against them. But I think that’s probably the first time I remember hearing it, or words to that effect.
What do you see in the Pittsburgh defense?
I think they’re really good. They’re very consistent and very good at all phases of their defense. They don’t give up big plays, which to me means you’re going to have to establish long drives to get the ball moved on them. They play real physical up front [and] make it difficult in the running game, it’s a big challenge for us this week. I think they do a great job on third down. [They] get off the field well. They play tight coverage and get after the quarterback, and they’re really good in the red zone. They’ve allowed the fewest, or one of the fewest number of red zone possessions of any team in the league and that speaks to not allowing teams to put together long drives and not giving up the big plays to get down there. I think every phase that you look at-the running game, pass protection, being able to get open and convert on third down and then, ultimately, trying to get down into the red zone and put points on the board. They’re very consistent. They play hard. They’re physical and their scheme-they’ve done it for a number of years and they know exactly how to play it. They’ve got good players and they’re really well coached.
Have you seen anything different from them under Mike Tomlin?
There are probably some new wrinkles, I would say, but I think that the base of the system is what it is and what we’ve played against in the past - there may be a few little wrinkles here and there in some things that have changed since he’s been there, but I think overall the system, the basis of it, is very consistent with what we’ve played against in the past.
Is there any factor to explain Randy Moss’s decline in production the last couple of games? Is it just the defenses trying to take him out of the game?
I think there are a number of factors, whether that be play design to get them the ball against certain coverages… certainly teams have tried to do things to force us to go other places with the football and that’s always a part of it. We’re going to be willing to do that if they try to take somebody away. Then, we’ve got to be able to go somewhere else with the ball and then there’s been some poor throws, a drop here and there so I think there are a number of reasons for it and I think we’re looking to try to improve in all of those areas to try to make sure that all of our players are productive. But I would say that it’s not one factor. There have certainly been weeks when he’s had a limited number of catches, or production and we’ve done very well and, like I said, we’re going to continue to try to do what’s best for the team.
How was it that Baltimore was able to take away Moss and Wes Welker last week? How much did that hamstring you as an offense?
I mean, obviously, we want to get them involved and try to get them the ball. I think that comes back to performance. We could’ve done quite a few things better. We had opportunities to get them the ball and didn’t, like I said, for a number of reasons. They dropped a lot of guys a lot of the time and they didn’t blitz us a lot, but I think that’s something that teams are going to do to try to do to take away both the outside guy and drop guys back inside to take away some of the inside players and we have to do a better job when we have the opportunity to try to get them the ball when we can.
Are you seeing new ways that teams are bringing pressure each week?
I would that each team that we play has a style of the way they pressure. Certainly in the NFL they’ll look at games previous and if there’s something that worked they may kind of incorporate that, but, like I said, Baltimore didn’t hardly pressure us at all. I think it was 12 blitzes or 13 blitzes as opposed to other weeks when there has been a number of pressures. Pittsburgh’s got their style. They’ve got the types of blitzes they like to use, that they run very well and execute to a high degree, a high level. I would expect their blitz package to be what it is and not really take over somebody else’s identity as far as what they did to pressure us.
What has Wes Welker’s addition meant to this offense this season?
I think Wes is having a very productive season. He obviously gives an element when he’s there in the slot. He’s been able to catch and run. He’s done a decent job for us in punt returns. But what I think I’m proudest of him for is that he’s one of the finest blockers that we’ve had in the slot that we’ve ever had here. Troy [Brown] was good when he was in the slot, too. But Wes [Welker] does a great job. He really gets in there and tries to fit up whomever he needs to in the running game. He’s done a great job for us in that aspect. He’s been a very productive player for us. He’s given us an element of catch-and-run yards that don’t always get measured in practice. You throw a 5-yard completion in practice; it looks like a 5-yard completion. You throw him to him in the game and it turns into a 25-yard gain. Wes has been that type of player for us. He’s made a lot of plays for us and, hopefully, he can do that going forward.
When you said that you feel that teams are pretty set in their defense, do you at all think that they try to play more physical against this offense outside of what they normally do?
I wouldn’t say that they’re trying to be more physical than they normally have been. If a team is a split-safety coverage team, then chances are we’re going to see a lot of split-safety coverage. Philadelphia chose to do something different. Baltimore was a little bit of a different variation and I’m sure this week will be more of what Pittsburgh does. Their identity is to mix it up and bring pressure and play coverage and play split-safety and roll the corners and flip to post-safety so they do a lot of things and I wouldn’t expect that would change drastically for us because they are very good at what they do and I don’t think you go into a game and say, “Let’s abandon what’s been good for us because of the way that somebody else plays.” I think that would carry over. They have no reason to change. They’ve been very successful doing it.
What’s been the decision-making process behind consistently using Heath Evans, Mike Vrabel and Junior Seau in goal line situations?
It’s a decision that we had made going into the season and we’ve really carried it through basically every game this year. That’s been the grouping that we’ve worked with down there. I don’t think it’s any secret. That’s what ends up going into the game. Those are the guys that we feel… That package of players is going to give us the best chance to get it in down there, for a number of reasons. We feel like we’ve been able to do that off and on. We’ve been stopped a little bit more than what we would like down there, but we’re working hard to improve that area just like the other ones. Again, it comes back to what we feel like gives us the best chance to be successful when we get into that goal-line situation.
Those guys give you an option to both pass and run?
Yeah, both. Every time we get into a goal line situation, I think you want to definitely have the best threat to run or throw it that you can have. Again, it comes back to trying to make them defend everything and those guys, that’s what we feel they can do for us down there.
Did you tell Russ Hochstein to take that false start penalty on Monday?
I wish I could claim that. I did not. I did not.
This team has done so well over the last five or six years in December. How important is it that you’re playing your best football around this time?
I think you always want to play your best football this time of year. I think that gets back to preparation during the week and then going out there and putting together consistent… We’ve had too much inconsistency the last couple of weeks here, I’d say, and we’ve got to start playing on a consistent basis [and] eliminate the mistakes. That’s how you want to really play your best football in December, is not to hurt yourself and really put your best performance out there. I think it’s very important this time of year that you continue to improve, even though we’re 16, 18 weeks into the year, including training camp, and we’re still trying to improve all the little things that we can to try to carry that through the rest of the season and then, hopefully, into the playoffs. I think it’s very important to be playing well at this time of year. I also think it’s very important to try to get better on a daily basis. You can’t just say that what you’ve done in the past really matters because it doesn’t. We’re looking forward to the next week and the next practice and trying to improve.
What prompted the decision to call the pass to Jabar Gaffney against Baltimore?
There are certain things, certain packages that Jabar has been in that Donte’ [Stallworth] hasn’t or vice versa. Donte’ has certain things down there that Jabar doesn’t do and that kind of goes… There are some things that Kyle [Brady] does that Benjamin [Watson] doesn’t do and there are things with [Laurence] Maroney and [Kevin] Faulk and so on and so forth. I think there's plays that guys run and feel comfortable with and we feel comfortable with them and, at the time the selection that we were going to go with, was more of a Jabar-type of plays and he ended up in there and, thankfully, he made a big play for us.
Today's sports cover looks at some of the famous guarantees in sports history. Shalise Manza Young asks the question: Will Anthony Smith join the likes of Joe Namath, or the likes of Fred "the Hammer" Williamson? Also, Kevin McNamara reports on PC's loss to South Carolina in Philadelphia, and Sean McAdam writes on the restocked Detroit Tigers.
Patriots' receiver Randy Moss was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for November, continuing New England's stranglehold on the award this year.
Tom Brady won conference offensive player of the month in September and October.
Moss had 24 receptions for 316 yards (13.2 yards per catch) and five touchdowns as the Patriots won three games in the month. Against Buffalo on Nov. 18, Brady had 10 catches for 128 yards and four first-half TDs.
It is his first Player of the Month award in Moss' 10-year career.
Limited Participation
S Rashad Baker - ankle
QB Tom Brady - right shoulder
G Stephen Neal - shoulder
DL Ty Warren - thigh
*This is the first report of the week for New England, as they did not practice yesterday. Brady was the only player on the team's last injury report, last Friday.
For the Steelers:
Did Not Participate
S Troy Polamalu - knee
Full Participation
RB Najeh Davenport - foot
*Polamalu was not on yesterday's report; WR Hines Ward, who did not practice yesterday (coach's decision), is not listed today.
Journal photo / Mary Murphy
Patriot veterans Rodney Harrison, left, Troy Brown, right, and Tedy Bruschi, background, run a drill at practice in the bubble at Gillette Stadium, in preparation for Sunday's 4:15 p.m. game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The team has returned to the practice field after yesterday's day off to rest.
What is your first impression of Pittsburgh? The same blitzing Pittsburgh Steelers that you’ve faced in the past?
They blitz us. They blitz us quite a bit. Their style is pretty much the same. They’re a good defense, obviously, the best in the league according to the statistics and if you ask them they’ll tell you that. It’s going to be a great challenge for us, so hopefully we go out and play well.
What did you think of the bold prediction by their corner back [Anthony Smith]?
Coach always says we do our talking on Sundays. I’m glad they feel that way. I hope they feel that way. I hope they do, I hope they feel like they can win. I’d hate for them to come in here and feel like they can’t win any games. We’ll see, we’ll see who comes out ahead on Sunday.
Is it fair to say that it might be talked about a little bit this week? It might find its way on a wall somewhere? [Anthony Smith’s victory guarantee]
I’m sure yeah. We heard about it, I think everybody on the team has heard about it. It always comes down to who plays better. Well done is always better than well said -- that’s been the motto of this team.
What do you know about Anthony Smith?
I didn’t know who he was until we started preparing for them. He’s a young player and it’s obvious that [there are] guys that we’ve played in the past that we really respect on that team, Deshea [Townsend], Troy [Polamalu], Aaron Smith, Casey [Hampton] -- those guys aren’t the ones that say it. It’s a great challenge for us we’ve had a great history with them, we’ve played some very meaningful games and they’re a great team. They’re really well-coached both offensively and defensively. I just hope we play well.
Do you consider the source when you hear things like that?
I don’t know if we’ve ever come out and predicted victory or anything and we’ve won a lot of games. Whether you predict it or not, he’s got to show up on Sunday and try to guard us, play his role, do his job and we’ve going to try and make it hard for him.
Are the Steelers are doing anything differently on defense with Mike Tomlin as head coach?
Not really, not really. To me it looks like it’s the same defense, the same group of guys, same style. They blitz a lot. It’s the same blitzes. It’s the same style of play that they’ve played in the past. They always seem to play it well. I think their players are very comfortable in their scheme and I think they have players that really play their scheme well. It’s a challenge to run it. It’s a challenge to throw it, it’s a challenge to protect and get open. It’s a lot of man coverage from the outsides. We all have our work cut out for us.
What needs to improve offensively going forward?
It’s a team-wide thing and I think we all need to focus on doing our job the best we can. Not to try to correct everybody’s mistakes, we all have our own mistakes we need to correct. I need to throw the ball better, make better reads, make better protection calls and lead a bit better. I think for each of us we need to look at ourselves individually and try to make improvements for ourselves. If we do that, collectively as a team there will be improvements. We’ve won these games, it’s been exciting to win them, it was a great game the other night but at the same time you realize we made mistakes in the game that we need to correct.
Is everybody kind of refreshed after a day and a half?
Oh yeah. Can’t you see the bright and sunny faces in here? It’s a long season and I think there’s moments when you feel a little drained and moments when you feel really reinvigorated. Going into my eighth year I really felt like every year, “OK, I have it a little more figured out this yea,” and you just realize it’s a grind. Everyday you come in here you’re coming in to work hard and give everything you’ve got. When you give everything you’ve got and it’s Monday, Tuesday morning at four in the morning you are drained but you find a way over the next day and a half to prepare yourself and come in here bright-eyed and bushy-tailed ready to get to work. There is no better team for us to be excited about than the Steelers and the challenges they present. There’s been a lot of excitement in our locker room. We’re back home playing in front of our crowd and hopefully we play the best game we have all season.
Along those lines, every team goes through the long grind of the season, but how much easier is it for this group to get back their energy back with your record being what it is and knowing that you’re playing for something?
I think you’re always playing for something. Whether you’re 12-0 or 0-12 you have a lot of reasons to be motivated and I think we’re motivated by playing a team that presents a lot of challenges for us. We’ve got to play our own style of game, understanding what they really do well and understanding what we need to do well. It’s a very motivated group we have. [We’ve] got some veteran players that try to work hard and take the coaching and we’re coached very hard around here. I really hope we’ve listened to what has [been] preached this week and can go out there and show it on Sunday.
They are number one in a lot of different defensive categories, but particularly in pass defense. What do you guys have to do to operate at your optimum level against their pass defense?
Yeah, they play the run well. They play the pass well. I think they create disruption with their front and they get to the quarterback and push the pocket. They’ve got some guys who can really rush. It’s a lot of man coverage on the outside and they’re on those guys tight and you’ve to find ways to get open. You don’t have all day. That’s the hard part. It’s a little bit of a challenge.
Coach Belichick talked a lot about Ed Reed last week. What do you see out of Troy Polamalu? How does he affect the Steelers defense?
He really sets the tone for them. In the times that I’ve played against him, he always makes a huge impact on the game. He’s very aggressive and he’s always focused on the ball and he can really make a lot of plays. He’s a really explosive athlete. We have to account for him on every play. Every week, we’re facing guys that are the best in the league and he’s… I don’t think there are too many players better than Troy.
Have you seen more and more creative ways each week in trying to bring pressure against you?
It’s different. I think different teams have different styles. For example, Baltimore blitzed 17 times so it wasn’t a big blitz game. They dropped a lot of guys into coverage. Every team looks at different ways to approach us and some want to cover, some want to pressure. Some want to play man. Some want to play zone. It’s probably based on what they do well and what they think they have to do to stop us. I think I know how to defend us, but I think I know how you wouldn’t defend us, too, so we’ll see if they’re right.
Well, along those lines, how do you defend against you guys?
There’s your chance. You’ve got to study the film, buddy. You’ve got to study the film.
Seriously though, you set the standard so high in the first 10 games, but the last two games do seem a little bit different from the passing production standpoint. Has there been a difference? Is it because of what teams are trying to do against you? What’s been the deal in terms of what you’ve seen in the passing game?
Well, I don’t think we’ve been executing as well. I think that’s what it comes down to. We’ve been playing good defensive teams that don’t give you a lot of opportunities, or much margin for error. When you get those opportunities, you have to take advantage of them so we’ve got to play better.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Thursday press conference
We’re getting caught up here on Pittsburgh. They’re a very impressive team to watch. They really do everything pretty well. They’re good in all three phases of the game, they’re well-coached, they’re tough, they’re physical, they make a lot of plays, they run the ball, they’re hard to run against, they throw it and they’re hard to pass it against. They have a lot of good players. They have a good scheme that we’ve seen before. I think it’s very similar to what they’ve done in the past. [They have] a few new faces and a lot of the core guys that we played against in those ’04 and ’05 games, so [there’s] a lot of familiarity there, but at the same time a lot of new things that we have to get ready for. [It’s a] style of play that really we haven’t faced this type of offense or this type of defense quite the way they do it in a little while. We need a good week of preparation. We’re underway and we’ll step on the pedal here today and tomorrow and Saturday and try to be ready to go on Sunday afternoon.
You’ve seen Ben Roethlisberger since he came into the league. What progress have you seen from him from a game management standpoint from when he came into the league until now?
I think like any quarterback in a couple of years he’s matured. He does a lot of little things maybe a little better than he did a couple of years ago, but he was pretty good then, he’s pretty good now. He’s a winner. He wins a lot of games and he makes good decisions. He’s obviously a good passer. He’s strong in the pocket, [a] hard guy to bring down. Ben makes good decisions with the ball in critical situations - third down, red area, end of the game type situations. He’s certainly one of the better quarterbacks in the league, one of the better guys we’ve faced.
What sort of challenges does the Pittsburgh defense pose? What makes them different?
Just the schemes they run. We’ve seen the Jets and Dallas and San Diego [who] are all 3-4 based schemes. They don’t quite run it the way Pittsburgh runs it, that’s all. Pittsburgh has their own way of doing it and it’s unique to them. That’s who we play this week. That’s the challenge this week.
In order to study Pittsburgh, you’ve obviously had a lot of exposure to Dick LeBeau over the years. How can you tell the fingerprints of Mike Tomlin? What has he done there?
I would say it’s pretty subtle. I think that a lot of the things that they do are…What they do, that’s what they do. It’s pretty much what they’ve been doing [since] when LeBeau was there in ’92. Then, of course, he left and went to Cincinnati and Buffalo, then came back when Dom [Capers] was there and Marvin [Lewis]. They’ve had a lot of different coordinators on the defensive side of the ball, but essentially their defensive package is pretty consistent.
So kind of like it wasn’t broken so they didn’t try to fix it?
It hasn’t been [broken] for the last 15 years. But whether it was Greg Lloyd and Kevin Green and [Earl] Holmes and the different linebackers they’ve had there, the defensive line, the secondary…It looks pretty familiar to me. Now, you know, every once in awhile they’ll come to something - Early in ’01, ’02, ’03, teams started playing empty. They’ve modified their package a little bit against some empty sets and that kind of thing, but it’s because they saw it and it was new. But the stuff that they’ve seen before - the two-back stuff, the slot stuff, the one-back stuff - they kind of do what they do. They do it pretty well.
I know you have to play the schedule as it comes up, but with a short week how much tougher does that make it late in the season?
Look, I made a comment the other day that our team was tired, and I think at midnight or 1:00 a.m., whatever time it was Monday night, Tuesday morning, we were tired. But it’s Wednesday. The game is Sunday afternoon and we’ll be ready to go. At the end of a week like that and playing on the road and playing a tough game, sure, it takes something out of you. But we bounced back yesterday and we’ll be at it today and we’ll be ready to go Sunday. We play once a week. We have all week to get ready for the game, just like everybody else does and that’s what we’re going to do.
You mentioned linebackers. Can you talk about James Harrison?
Really impressive. He’s really a good football player -- very explosive, he’s got good speed, real tough, makes a lot of big plays, very physical player. I’d say one of the most physical players in the league. He plays on the coverage teams, on the punt teams, on the kickoff team. He’s made big plays in that phase of the game, too. [He] hasn’t taken anything away from his performance on defense - there’s production on defense. He’s a good pass-rusher, he’s a good run-defender, he’s good at the point of attack, he’s good in pursuit, he’s an explosive player. He’s got some of the best hits we’ve seen all year in their games that we’ve broken down. He’s an explosive, impact-player. He was very good in the kicking game when he played for them and now he’s had a chance to play on defense and he’s - Not that he didn’t play on defense before, but he’s certainly played more this year and he’s had a lot of production, but his production hasn’t dropped off on special teams, either. He’s a good football player. You have to know when he’s on the field. He makes a lot of plays.
I’ve heard you mention in the past when you have a successful run defense, the players have to have proper fits. To the layman, what does that mean?
The runner only needs one hole to go through, so however you construct your defense to handle all of the different running plays that you see - zone plays, scheme plays, inside plays, outside plays, cutback plays, power plays, all of those things - it has to be coordinated across the board. You can be good at the point of attack and a good runner will find a seam somewhere else, so you have to have however many people you have in the front, whatever technique they’re playing, whether it’s one-gap, two-gap, stunting, playing straight, penetrating, reading - whatever it is, it has to be consistent so that you can defend the line of scrimmage. So that’s what it comes down to. It’s not any one scheme or player, but all however many guys it is, six, seven, eight, however many you’re defending with, it all has to be coordinated and everybody has to do their job across the board.
Is that the top challenge every week in terms of having a productive run defense, getting all those players on the same page?
I’d say that’s part of it. That’s part of it, but there’s no running plays that are designed to not block people, so no matter who you put there somebody’s assigned to block them. Then it comes down to whether or not they block you or they don’t. It’s not like when we line up in the defense and even if we’re in proper position, they still have a player to block each one of our players, just like we have a player to block each one of their defenders. Whether we get them blocked or don’t get them blocked, and then whether you can tackle the runner, then ultimately that’s what it comes down to in the running game, is getting the guy with the ball on the ground. You can have good fits, you can be in good position [but] if you get blocked or if you can’t tackle the runner, then you’re not going to have a good run defense.
What was more the issue in the Ravens game? Was it tackling?
We’re done with the Ravens game. We’re on to Pittsburgh.
What would you like to see improve for the Pittsburgh game?
There’s a lot of things we could -- there’s things we could do better in every phase of the game. And we’ve talked about that and we’re on to Pittsburgh.
You said not a lot changed with the defense with Dick LeBeau still being there. What about the offense?
No, I think it’s -- their offense looks pretty similar to what it did in the past. They’ve worked [Santonio] Holmes in there, he wasn’t there -- or we didn’t see a lot of him when we played them a couple of years ago - so he’s a big part of their offense, and [Nate] Washington, but [Hines] Ward and [Heath]Miller’s taken a big role for them, [Willie] Parker, of course. The offensive line is good, the right tackle, [Willie] Colon, is an excellent player. He’s been a real good addition to their offensive line. I think he’s one of the better tackles that we’ve seen this year, especially in the running game. So there’s some new players, but I think overall, scheme-wise, they have their two-back runs, they have their one-back runs, they have their play-actions, they have their drop-backs, they spread the field on you on third down like they always have -- not as much four receivers, because they use Heath Miller like a fourth receiver as a flexed-out tight end and that kind of thing. It’s the four receiver passing game, but only three receivers [are] in the game. Miller’s probably as good as most receivers anyway, so they don’t really lose much with him in there. In a lot of ways they gain it, because it’s a different match-up on the defense and it gives you another protector, if you need him. It’s good.
In terms of so-called “bulletin board material,” how much do coaches consider the source?
I don’t know. I think the most important thing is for us to be ready to play the game on Sunday afternoon. The Steelers are a good football team. They’re tough. I’m sure they’re going to play hard. We’re going to play our best. That’s what it’s going to come down to.
Troy Polamalu has been back in practice this week after missing some time. What does he do to this game? What dimension does he bring for them, defensively?
He’s an impact-player. He’s a big play-maker in both the running game and the passing game. He’s got tremendous speed, [he’s] tough, [he’s a] big hitter. Last week they didn’t play their dime defense I think probably because he wasn’t in there, so they just used nickel. They’re really a dime team. He plays down around the line of scrimmage in their dime coverage package, so I’m sure that that would be a grouping with him in there that they probably would use more of. It’s one of their core defensive packages. But he’s an outstanding football player. He makes a lot of tackles, he’s hard to block, he’s very fast in the passing game, can play man, can play zone and he’s a hard guy to throw in front of because he’s so fast and he’s a good tackler. He comes up and he usually makes a play for not much of a gain after the guy catches the ball. He adds a lot to their defense. He’s a really good player.
Do you ever use so-called bulletin board material?
I think the most important thing for us is to understand what Pittsburgh -- how they play the game, how we need to play it and how we need to -- what we need to do to win. I think that’s what’s the most important thing.
So you don’t use it?
I’m just saying, we can sit around and put a bunch of stuff up on a board and write stuff down on paper and all of that. I think in the end it comes down to whether you can outplay the other team on Sunday or not outplay them. On a priority basis, that’s what our priority is -- trying to prepare well and play well.
Would it get your attention if one of your guys guaranteed a victory?
I would hope when we walk on the field, we expect to win. That’s what I would hope. I would hope that we would expect to win the game when we walk out there on the field. I would expect when Pittsburgh walks out there, they’re going to expect a win. I can’t imagine that they would approach it any differently. We expect to win, they expect to win, both teams will play hard [and] we’ll see who’s better on Sunday. I don’t know what else there is.
It just seems unlikely that one of your guys would go out and publicly guarantee a victory.
I would think every one of our players would expect to win the game on Sunday. That’s what I would think. I would hope they would prepare and go out there with the confidence that we could play well and win it. I can’t imagine playing another NFL team that didn’t feel the same way. Certainly the Steelers - As good as they are? The way they’ve played? Their record, their team - I’m sure they’re confident that they can come in here and win. I think if I was in Pittsburgh I’d feel the same way, and I think if they were here, they would feel the same way that we feel, that they would be confident that we could win. So, you know, that’s why you play the game. I don’t think either team lacks confidence. I don’t think either team’s going into the game not expecting to win it. I can’t imagine -- maybe you guys think so, but I can’t imagine anybody going in to this game not expecting that they’re going to do well and win. Based on what?
Pittsburgh safety Anthony Smith today told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette that he guarantees a Steelers' victory on Sunday in Foxboro. It pains me to say it, but Smith went to Syracuse, so he really should know better.
From the story:
"We're going to win,'' Smith said today after practice. "Yeah, I can guarantee a win.''
Smith, a hard-hitting free safety who replaced injured Ryan Clark as the starter midway through the season, said he's not worried about any motivation he might be giving the 12-0 Patriots with his words.
"Now we have our swagger back on defense and we're playing great ball and they're playing great on the offensive side, too,'' he said of the Steelers. "I think we have a real good chance to win the game and we will win the game.''
Not only that, he said while New England's receiving corps of Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth is good, it isn't as good as the one the Steelers played Sunday against the Bengals , featuring T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Chad Johnson and Chris Henry.
"I think we were facing great receivers last week too and we shut them down,'' Smith said. "Those three guys, I don't think it gets much better than Cincinnati's corps of receivers. We've already seen the best."
Smith added a little more lumber to the fire when he said New England's receivers haven't been hit the way they will be hit on Sunday.
"They said Baltimore was their most physical game but I think we hit harder than Baltimore, so they haven't seen nothing like us yet.
"They should be worried about us. We never worry about receivers. We're the ones doing the hitting. They have to run routes. We're attacking them, they're not really attacking us."
ESPN’s Monday Night Football averaged 12,529,000 homes (based on a 13.0 rating), breaking the record for household audience set last year when the network averaged 11,807,000 households for the New York Giants at Dallas Cowboys on October 23 (based on a 12.8 rating). The game was seen by an average of 17,522,000 viewers, breaking the record set by Disney Channel’s "High School Musical 2," which averaged 17,241,000 million viewers on August 17 this year.
ESPN out-delivered all broadcast and cable networks in prime time among households, persons 2+, and all key male and adult demo groups (M18-34, M18-49, M25-54, P18-34, P18-49, and P25-54). It was the third time ESPN has won Monday night overall; MNF has “won the night” in the male demos every week this season.
In Boston, the game delivered a 28.3 rating on ESPN and an 8.3 rating on WCVB-ABC, for a combined 36.6 rating. In Baltimore, the game delivered a 12.9 rating on ESPN and a 24.6 rating on WJZ-CBS, for a combined 37.5 rating.
The game’s audience peaked from 11:30 – 11:45 p.m. ET (the telecast ended at 11:49 p.m.) with a 17.6 rating, representing 16,920,000 homes and 23,865,000 people. For that quarter hour, ESPN’s share – the percentage of U.S. television homes watching TV that were watching ESPN – was 31.
Transcript: Mike Vrabel's conference call with Pittsburgh reporters
What’s Ohio State doing in the title game?
Hopefully not getting blown out. They’ve got some scores to settle with that SEC.
Do you guys have the Steelers number; you’ve certainly beaten them enough times?
No, I don’t really understand that or get that. I think we’ve always played them it’s certainly been big games. It’s been in a championship game or was the opener up here. When we opened our new stadium that was certainly a big game, it was I think a Thursday night game. Just the thing that I think about with them is that it has always been an important game or it’s been a big game and we’ve made the plays in those games to win.
A lot of us saw what the Jets did to the Steelers, Mangini used to coach with you guys, and people think that you can do the same thing with better players. Is that accurate?
Well, I think the thing that you have to understand about this league, which you guys know, is that it is a copy-cat league. The film is available to everybody and you look at the film and I’m certain that’s one of the games we’ll look at. Just as we’ll look at the Bengals game and the Dolphins game and right on down the line. You have to be careful with some of those games, that’s not quite reflective of their offense. Because it is an explosive offense and sometimes playing in those kinds of conditions you don’t really truly get to see what they are capable of. But, we’ll certainly look at all the film we can.
Any advantage in being in close games the last two weeks for you guys, Mike?
I think that not that you want to have them, but there are going to be close games in the league and you have to win games in the fourth quarter. Not that it’s good or bad but there used to be a day where that’s how we played. We played games, tight games, close games and we won them in the fourth quarter. That’s how this league is. There are tight games every week. There’s teams that have a chance to win with the ball and that’s how it comes down to.
You guys made it look so easy for most of the season. Does it help you winning those close games?
Yeah, I think helps anytime you are in a position to make plays and I said this earlier in the year that there are going to be opportunities where we are going to have to make the right plays and we are going to have to perform under pressure and make the plays down the stretch to win games. We’re not just going to be up by three or four touch downs. If you make a mistake it doesn’t cost you the ballgame. We did that, we stopped them and we were able to stop them when it counted and get the ball back and the offense was able to complete the drive.
What are some of the differences with this year’s Steelers offense compared to the Steelers you’ve played in the past?
I think the running game is obviously always prevalent. The thing I think that impresses me a lot, which they have done in the past, is that Ben’s been able to get out of the pocket. He makes a lot of plays out of the pocket. He’s very consistent. I know those plays aren’t designed but as soon as he is out of the pocket, those receivers know they have a chance to make a big play, or the tight end, if they get open or uncover from their guy, he’s able to find them.
Speaking of tight ends, do you enjoy that position as much as any?
Well, it's part of what I do. Its not a big focal point, but it’s situational football that we have to do, whether its goal line, red zone, two minute, things like that. It’s just situational football and it may be comes up a couple times a game, maybe it doesn’t come up, but I have to be prepared for it.
Is this the best New England team you’ve been on?
Well, it’s the most talented. I think that nobody can say that they have the best team they’ve ever had until the season is over, until the run through the playoffs and the Super Bowl. I would look back to San Diego last year and I’m sure they thought they had a really really good team but I think if you asked them after the season they would say that it wasn’t because you have to win a championship to be considered that good of a team.
How important is it to you guys to go undefeated?
It’s not what motivates us or not what challenges us. We’re trying just like everybody else is to get ourselves in a position for the playoffs. That’s what everybody does. And obviously by winning games, the more games you win, the better opportunity you have to get home field advantage, to get a bye. So those are the things we’re trying. We won our division and we have to just keep trying to check off goals.
What was your reaction to some of Baltimore’s claims about how the referees wanted you to win?
That would be a first for me that if I ever left the game thinking that the refs wanted us to win. I don’t really pay much attention to it. We’ve been in those positions before. We need to concentrate on the Steelers.
Why was Baltimore able to have such success running the ball, and how much of a concern is that going into Steelers this week?
Well, I think it is a big concern. If we don’t get those problems fixed, I would say that Pittsburgh runs the ball on average a little better than Baltimore does. So if we don’t fix the problems that we had, I’m sure it’s going to show up again on Sunday.
Does it all affect a legacy when the league ruled you guys were cheating?
No. We’ve moved past that and I don’t think it affects our guys on this team and how we prepare or how we try to go out and play.
In some way have you used that as a motivation at all?
Well, no, I think we are past that and we are moving on to other motivating factors, playing the Steelers and the way they are playing right now and the guys that they have on their team, that’s motivation enough.
Transcript: Mike Vrabel's conference call with Pittsburgh reporters
What’s Ohio State doing in the title game?
Hopefully not getting blown out. They’ve got some scores to settle with that SEC.
Do you guys have the Steelers number; you’ve certainly beaten them enough times?
No, I don’t really understand that or get that. I think we’ve always played them it’s certainly been big games. It’s been in a championship game or was the opener up here. When we opened our new stadium that was certainly a big game, it was I think a Thursday night game. Just the thing that I think about with them is that it has always been an important game or it’s been a big game and we’ve made the plays in those games to win.
A lot of us saw what the Jets did to the Steelers, Mangini used to coach with you guys, and people think that you can do the same thing with better players. Is that accurate?
Well, I think the thing that you have to understand about this league, which you guys know, is that it is a copy-cat league. The film is available to everybody and you look at the film and I’m certain that’s one of the games we’ll look at. Just as we’ll look at the Bengals game and the Dolphins game and right on down the line. You have to be careful with some of those games, that’s not quite reflective of their offense. Because it is an explosive offense and sometimes playing in those kinds of conditions you don’t really truly get to see what they are capable of. But, we’ll certainly look at all the film we can.
Any advantage in being in close games the last two weeks for you guys, Mike?
I think that not that you want to have them, but there are going to be close games in the league and you have to win games in the fourth quarter. Not that it’s good or bad but there used to be a day where that’s how we played. We played games, tight games, close games and we won them in the fourth quarter. That’s how this league is. There are tight games every week. There’s teams that have a chance to win with the ball and that’s how it comes down to.
You guys made it look so easy for most of the season. Does it help you winning those close games?
Yeah, I think helps anytime you are in a position to make plays and I said this earlier in the year that there are going to be opportunities where we are going to have to make the right plays and we are going to have to perform under pressure and make the plays down the stretch to win games. We’re not just going to be up by three or four touch downs. If you make a mistake it doesn’t cost you the ballgame. We did that, we stopped them and we were able to stop them when it counted and get the ball back and the offense was able to complete the drive.
What are some of the differences with this year’s Steelers offense compared to the Steelers you’ve played in the past?
I think the running game is obviously always prevalent. The thing I think that impresses me a lot, which they have done in the past, is that Ben’s been able to get out of the pocket. He makes a lot of plays out of the pocket. He’s very consistent. I know those plays aren’t designed but as soon as he is out of the pocket, those receivers know they have a chance to make a big play, or the tight end, if they get open or uncover from their guy, he’s able to find them.
Speaking of tight ends, do you enjoy that position as much as any?
Well, it's part of what I do. Its not a big focal point, but it’s situational football that we have to do, whether its goal line, red zone, two minute, things like that. It’s just situational football and it may be comes up a couple times a game, maybe it doesn’t come up, but I have to be prepared for it.
Is this the best New England team you’ve been on?
Well, it’s the most talented. I think that nobody can say that they have the best team they’ve ever had until the season is over, until the run through the playoffs and the Super Bowl. I would look back to San Diego last year and I’m sure they thought they had a really really good team but I think if you asked them after the season they would say that it wasn’t because you have to win a championship to be considered that good of a team.
How important is it to you guys to go undefeated?
It’s not what motivates us or not what challenges us. We’re trying just like everybody else is to get ourselves in a position for the playoffs. That’s what everybody does. And obviously by winning games, the more games you win, the better opportunity you have to get home field advantage, to get a bye. So those are the things we’re trying. We won our division and we have to just keep trying to check off goals.
What was your reaction to some of Baltimore’s claims about how the referees wanted you to win?
That would be a first for me that if I ever left the game thinking that the refs wanted us to win. I don’t really pay much attention to it. We’ve been in those positions before. We need to concentrate on the Steelers.
Why was Baltimore able to have such success running the ball, and how much of a concern is that going into Steelers this week?
Well, I think it is a big concern. If we don’t get those problems fixed, I would say that Pittsburgh runs the ball on average a little better than Baltimore does. So if we don’t fix the problems that we had, I’m sure it’s going to show up again on Sunday.
Does it all affect a legacy when the league ruled you guys were cheating?
No. We’ve moved past that and I don’t think it affects our guys on this team and how we prepare or how we try to go out and play.
In some way have you used that as a motivation at all?
Well, no, I think we are past that and we are moving on to other motivating factors, playing the Steelers and the way they are playing right now and the guys that they have on their team, that’s motivation enough.
We've just gotten word from ESPN that Monday night's Patriots-Ravens game was the most-watched program in cable history, topping the numbers put up by Disney Channel's "High School Musical 2" earlier this year.
We'll give you exact numbers when we get the release.
Transcript: Bill Belichick's Wednesday press conference
Just a quick rundown here. We got back late Monday night, so we’re going to change the schedule a little bit this week and get back into our normal deal tomorrow. [We’re] just trying to catch up a little bit today. Getting ready for the Steelers – this will be a big challenge for us. They’re very good at everything – good on offense, good on defense, real good skill people in the kicking game. They do an excellent job. They’re a very physical team. They play hard in all three phases of the game, they’re obviously well-coached and defensively they pretty much do it all. They lead the league in points and they’re good against the run, good against the pass, good on third down, good in the red area. They have a lot of three-and-out drives. Their production out of our their front seven guys…The Bengals are a team that has been scoring a lot of points and Pittsburgh shut them down twice. I think that’s an indication of how well they play. Offensively, the Steelers run the ball well and they run it more than anyone else in the league. They’re good on third down, they’re good in the red area. [Adrian] Peterson has a lot of long runs and a lot of yards. [Willie] Parker is second in the NFL to Peterson in most of those categories. I know [Hines] Ward is obviously tough. [Santonio] Holmes is a big-play guy, [Heath] Miller has been very productive for them at tight end, [Najeh] Davenport’s given them some quality snaps at running back behind Parker. Of course, you know, Ben [Roethlisberger]’s an excellent quarterback, a hard guy to tackle, big physical, keeps a lot of plays alive with his scrambling ability. We have a lot of things to get ready for this week -- [Allen] Rossum as a returner. They’re a physical coverage team, just like they are on defense. We have a lot of things to get ready for, [a] short week, and we’ll try to utilize our time the best we can to try to make sure we get all our bases covered by Sunday.
Just to double check, the guys are not practicing today?
Right.
Is that an acknowledgement of the short week and the three straight primetime games? Do you sense the guys dragging a little bit?
That’s just where we are. We have a lot of things that we’re going to cover and walk through. We’ll be on the field tomorrow.
You mentioned Willie Parker and what he’s done. Can you give a little breakdown? Would you describe him as a hard-hitting back between the tackles or a guy that can get outside?
He can pretty much go anywhere. He’s fast, he’s explosive, he’s a good inside runner, a good outside runner, he’s got excellent speed so he can turn a short run into a long one. He’s not a three-yards-in-a-cloud-of-dust guy. He’s fast, he’s athletic, plays well in space and he’s got good power.
Can you talk about the Steelers secondary in general, and Ike Taylor specifically?
Taylor primarily plays on our right being a big, physical kid, [a] good tackler, strong, physical on the line of scrimmage. In regular, the shakedowns and plays on the other side for him, Deshea {Townsend] moves into the nickel position in sub when [Bryant] McFadden comes in the game. Of course, their safeties – [Anthony] Smith and [Troy] Polamalu or [Tyrone] Carter, who’s been there for Polamalu a little bit the last couple of games -- they’re all physical, they’re all fast and they cover a lot of ground back there. It’s an overall fast secondary, physical, [a] hard-hitting group. Like I said, Taylor’s really the perimeter corner on everything and Townsend plays outside when there’s two corners in the game. When there’s three corners in the game, then he moves into the slot.
As a follow up to that, there are a lot of big-name corners out there. Taylor’s name hasn’t been mentioned with a lot of the elite guys, but he’s had a very good year so far and the Steelers have been tough. Do you have any observations on his play?
Just what I said. He’s big, he’s physical, he’s a good tackler, he’s strong. The Steelers play a lot of zone coverage, so you don’t see them in a lot of man-to-man situations. Some on third down. But that’s their style of play and I think he plays it well. I mean, their whole defense plays well.
Are you proud in any way that given the number of blowouts that that didn’t lull your team to sleep, that they’re still able to play situational football in crunch-time and execute these last two weeks? In a lot of the games you’ve played previously, you didn’t need pinpoint execution late in the game because you were already up by 35?
Each game has it’s own plays and points to it, so some of those games we went out and executed some things very well early, got some turnovers, put points on the board, took advantage of field position and so forth. This was a game Monday that there was less of that and it came down to some situational plays at the end of the game and we were fortunate to make a few more of them than they did. As you said, it was some of the different plays that some similar elements from Philadelphia, or even going back to Indianapolis. Each game is it’s own entity. We just have to deal with whatever the circumstances and the situation [are] in that particular game and try to execute it to the best of our ability.
Did you ever worry that in the blowouts the guys would lose the ability to do that, or were you confident that when it was called upon to make crunch-time plays late in the game that you never forget how to do that just because you’ve won some big, blowout games?
As I said, I think it came up in the Indianapolis game a month ago. Down by 10 with 10 minutes to go – that’s playing from behind. There were elements of it in that game and then two games later against Philadelphia, we’re down again in the fourth quarter. I hope we don’t make a habit of that. I think it’s harder to play the game that way, but [it’s a] complement to the players that they were able in those situations to make those plays, but it really requires that you make just about all of them and there’s not much margin for error when you put yourself in that situation. Fortunately, we were able to make them this week, but it’s not the optimum situation to be in. It’s not where we’re trying to be.
Can we revisit the situation with the kickoff at the end, the unusual one where it was at the 35-yard line? I’m just curious, what would have happened if Steven [Gostkowski] had kicked it out of bounds? Would they have had the option to have you re-kick? Would they have gotten it at the five yard line, and has that ever come up? I know you talk about situations a lot. It just seemed very unusual.
Yeah, I don’t think I’ve ever seen it come up. The rule would have been a half the distance to the goal line penalty, so it would have been on I guess the 17 and a half.
It was obviously an emotional game. Some of the Ravens were talking about the referees wanting the Patriots to win and all of that kind of stuff. Do you have any reaction to that kind of talk?
No, we’re focused on what we’re doing.
Can you talk about defending the Hail Mary at the end of the game? Eric Alexander made the key tackle down there. Is he normally in your Hail Mary defense, or what was the idea of having him back there?
Well, the situation wasn’t quite as clear-cut as what sometimes it would be. There were eight seconds to go in the game and the ball was on…I think it was Baltimore’s 45-yard line. Probably if they’d gotten the ball to the 30, they would have had an opportunity to attempt a 50-yard field goal, and so that’s only 25 yards. So, with eight seconds, you definitely would have time to run a deep sideline route or maybe a short corner route from the slot-receiver, that kind of thing. Get out of bounds and either kick a field goal or be throwing a Hail Mary from maybe the 40-yard line or the 35-yard line, instead of from the minus 45. You can pick up some yardage there. So we had to defend the 15-20 yard kind of pass, too, with only eight seconds to go, as well as the deep one. We were back there, we defended the goal line. If the ball was caught in front of it, like it was, and tackled, then the game’s over. That’s obviously what happened. We were trying to go up for it. There was definitely some contact down there, but in any case, the idea was to set a fence on the goal line if the ball was thrown in front of us and make sure that they didn’t get it in. Our players were in the end zone, expecting the ball to come down further in the end zone, where we would definitely need to play it and obviously not let them catch it in the end zone. If they catch it in front of us and allow us to tackle them, then that would still be a successful play in that situation, and that’s kind of how it worked out. But it wasn’t a clear-cut Hail Mary situation. They didn’t have to do that with eight seconds to go, but they did it. Had they gotten it a little bit closer, then I think the ball would have come down in the end zone instead of short of it.
The skill is as the ball is coming down, but then once the ball is in his hands, is that just pure luck? Is there anything you can coach the guys to do, other than just swat it down?
Well, yeah, I think there’s a lot of coaching involved in the play. You don’t want everybody jumping for the ball, or if it gets tipped, you don’t have anybody on the guys standing around getting the tip. There’s also a chance that you could knock each other off, so you’d want to keep it clear so your jumper that can go up and get the ball can go up and get it. Again, part of the problem with that play was one of our players that was trying to jump, wasn’t…There was quite a bit of contact there and [he] wasn’t able to go up.
Getting back to the day off from practice today, is it kind of more a product of the three night games in a row and the players needing a rest or a break?
No. No. After a Monday night game, it’s a shorter week and we feel like this is the schedule that gives us – The bigger part of the problem is not, I think, practice with the players. It’s for the coaches to be ready for the players when they come in here. As I said, Pittsburgh is a hard team to prepare for. What you don’t want to do – What I don’t think you want to do is give your team a game plan and then you do more work on the team [and] find out, well, this isn’t quite what we want here and we need to change this and we need to change that. We felt it was just better to take a little more time ourselves from a coaching standpoint, a staff standpoint, to make sure that with the extra time we had this morning that we could get things as close to exactly the way we want them so when we do give them to the players that we don’t have to go back and change them. There are always little adjustments that you make, but so you don’t have to go back and make a lot of major changes and adjustments in your game plan, when you start you’re headed in the right direction and you don’t have to change that course during the week. That’s not a good position to be in, in terms of preparing your team. We’ll get a full day in here, we’ll get a lot done what we normally get done on Wednesday and then we’ll move on to Thursday tomorrow and we’ll be ready to go on Thursday.
I believe this is the fourth team you’re playing this year with a first-year head coach. Does that at all factor into the time it takes you guys to prepare?
I mean, each team has it’s own elements that you have to prepare for, from the coaches to the players to the coordinators to all of the other things that affect the game. In terms of your preparation, you put all of those things together and figure out what you want to do. But each team is unique, each team is hard to prepare for. There are a lot of things that you have to deal with and you try to analyze all of them and then sort it out and figure out what you want to do. The Steelers are obviously a very good football team. They’re good in all three phases of the game. They’re playing very well right now and they’re a huge challenge to get ready for. Mike [Tomlin] has done a great job with the team. The players are good, the coaches are good, they have good coordinators, they’re sound, they’re tough, they’re well-disciplined. That’s why they’re 9-3.
I know Tomlin came from a 4-3 background. Have you seen elements of that in Pittsburgh’s defense or are they still pretty much strictly 3-4?
I think they’re basically running the same defense they ran previously when Bill [Cowher] was there and when [Dick] LeBeau was the coordinator. They’ve carried it over to LeBeau as a coordinator and kept it pretty much in tact from what it’s been. I don’t see a lot of difference from what they did last year, defensively.
We've just concluded a conference call with Patriots coach Bill Belichick, as there is no media access at Gillette Stadium today.
For the most part, Pats players have the day off, but Belichick indicated that there will be some walkthroughs and classroom work as the team prepares for Sunday's game with Pittsburgh.
Though several players said after Monday night's game in Baltimore that physically they were spent after three consecutive prime-time games, Belichick said the time off for the players was not to give them rest but to give the coaches time to prepare a game plan for the Steelers.
"The bigger part of the problem isn’t the players but for coaches to be prepared when the players come in here. Pittsburgh is a hard team to prepare for, and we felt better to take time ourselves from coaching standpoint to get things as close to exactly the way we want them so when do go back to the players we don’t have to make major changes," he said.
The players will be back on the field tomorrow.
Though the Steelers have a new coach, Mike Tomlin, whose background is with the 4-3 defense, Belichick said he hasn't seen much difference in the team's defense because Tomlin retained defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau and the 3-4 system they were using under Bill Cowher.
We will have conference calls with Steelers' running back Willie Parker and Tomlin shortly.
Today's cover highlights the Patriots' tense victory in Baltimore. Sean McAdam is on the Johan Santana beat at the baseball winter meetings in Nashville, Tenn., and Kevin McNamara previews the PC-URI showdown tonight.
BALTIMORE – Tom Brady’s eye-popping pace has slowed a bit, but he’s still getting some impressive marks.
Last night, he had his 40th and 41st touchdown passes of the season, making him just the fourth player in NFL history with at least 40 TDs, following Peyton Manning, Dan Marino (who did it twice) and Kurt Warner.
Brady also got his 27th career fourth-quarter comeback win, and second in as many weeks. He is also now 29-5 in games where the final margin is a touchdown or less.
More Brady numbers:
He’s 46-16 on the road; 34-2 on artificial turf; and 42-8 on games played Thanksgiving or later.
*****
Randy Moss caught Brady’s first touchdown pass of the night. It was Moss’ 17th scoring catch of the season, tying his career high. Moss also had 17 as a rookie with Minnesota in 1998 and again in 2003.
With four catches last night, the 10th year veteran has 751 for his career, the 25th player in league history to hit that mark.
Moss has 1,129 yards receiving on 75 catches this season.
*****
New England recorded its 12th win of the season last night, just the fourth time in franchise history the Patriots have enjoyed a 12-win season. All four years – in 2003 and ’04, they had 14 wins, and in 2006 – have been with Bill Belichick as head coach.
*****
The win over the Ravens was the 99th win for Belichick as coach of the Patriots; he will become the first coach in team history to hit the century mark when New England wins again.
*****
New England has won all four of its meetings against the Ravens since the team moved from Cleveland in 1996. This was the Patriots’ first-ever trip to M&T Bank Stadium.
Tedy Bruschi is the only player to have appeared in all four games; Troy Brown was among the Patriots’ inactive players last night.
*****
New England is now 42-8 after Thanksgiving since 2001, the best late-season mark in the NFL.
*****
Last night’s announced attendance was 71,382, the largest crowd ever at M&T Bank Stadium.
BALTIMORE – Tom Brady’s eye-popping pace has slowed a bit, but he’s still getting some impressive marks.
Last night, he had his 40th and 41st touchdown passes of the season, making him just the fourth player in NFL history with at least 40 TDs, following Peyton Manning, Dan Marino (who did it twice) and Kurt Warner.
Brady also got his 27th career fourth-quarter comeback win, and second in as many weeks. He is also now 29-5 in games where the final margin is a touchdown or less.
More Brady numbers:
He’s 46-16 on the road; 34-2 on artificial turf; and 42-8 on games played Thanksgiving or later.
*****
Randy Moss caught Brady’s first touchdown pass of the night. It was Moss’ 17th scoring catch of the season, tying his career high. Moss also had 17 as a rookie with Minnesota in 1998 and again in 2003.
With four catches last night, the 10th year veteran has 751 for his career, the 25th player in league history to hit that mark.
Moss has 1,129 yards receiving on 75 catches this season.
*****
New England recorded its 12th win of the season last night, just the fourth time in franchise history the Patriots have enjoyed a 12-win season. All four years – in 2003 and ’04, they had 14 wins, and in 2006 – have been with Bill Belichick as head coach.
*****
The win over the Ravens was the 99th win for Belichick as coach of the Patriots; he will become the first coach in team history to hit the century mark when New England wins again.
*****
New England has won all four of its meetings against the Ravens since the team moved from Cleveland in 1996. This was the Patriots’ first-ever trip to M&T Bank Stadium.
Tedy Bruschi is the only player to have appeared in all four games; Troy Brown was among the Patriots’ inactive players last night.
*****
New England is now 42-8 after Thanksgiving since 2001, the best late-season mark in the NFL.
*****
Last night’s announced attendance was 71,382, the largest crowd ever at M&T Bank Stadium.
BALTIMORE – Randy Moss hasn’t said much in the media this season.
But last night, he had plenty to say.
The receiver, accused of loafing by ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski after New England’s win over Philadelphia, didn’t put up big numbers again last night, recording four catches for 34 yards and his 17th touchdown of the year.
But according to Moss, the Ravens’ coverage on him wasn’t totally on the up-and-up.
“Baltimore came out with a game plan that they were going to try and be physical and do a lot of talking, stuff like that. Coach Belichick doesn’t coach us or raise us that way,” he said. “So for us to come up and shut them up with a last-second touchdown, that’s what really felt good.”
Ravens safety Jamaine Winborne was whistled for holding on fourth down, giving New England first-and-goal at the 8. Jabar Gaffney scored the game-winning touchdown on the next play.
“There was just so much trash talking man, from guys who really haven’t done anything in the league,” Moss said. “So it was a good thing for the offense that Jabar Gaffney came up with a key catch, luckily, for six, and we shut them up. I’m not a trash talker. I talk with my play, not my mouth.”
BALTIMORE – Rodney Harrison likes Brian Billick as a coach.
He just doesn’t like him that way.
There was a funny moment last night between Billick, the Ravens’ head coach, and the Patriots’ safety after James Sanders intercepted a Kyle Boller pass in the fourth quarter, returning it 42 yards to the Baltimore sideline.
Harrison said something to Billick after the play, and Billick blew some kisses Harrison’s way in response.
“I’m yelling and screaming and having fun, he’s yelling and screaming,” Harrison said. “I don’t know. I have a wife. I’m not that type of guy.”
Harrison came up big in the fourth quarter, stopping Willis McGahee for a one-yard gain on second-and-10 on the Ravens’ first possession of the quarter; Sanders’ interception came on the next play.
After New England got a 38-yard Stephen Gostkowski field goal, Harrison dropped McGahee for a one-yard loss on second down; that drive ended with a punt two plays later.
Harrison also had a hand in ending Baltimore’s next possession. Kyle Boller completed a pass to McGahee on third-and-2, and Harrison stopped the back a yard short of the first down.
Game story: Hot heads, timeout lead to thrilling win
BALTIMORE – Heath Evans summed it up best: “Thank you coach Billick.”
A timeout which proved to be extremely poorly timed led in part to New England getting its game-winning touchdown against the upset-minded Baltimore Ravens last night, as the Patriots kept their undefeated record intact with a 27-24 win.
Down four points with 3:30 to play and two timeouts and the two-minute warning in their pocket after their defensive teammates forced the Ravens into a three-and-out, Tom Brady and the Patriots’ offense went to work.
The drive that started off normal enough – drop by Donte Stallworth on first down, 23-yard completion to Benjamin Watson on second down, a dump-off to Kevin Faulk on the next second down, quarterback sneak by Brady, failed pass attempts on the next two downs – then took a turn for the absurd.
It was the type of turn a team needs to go in its favor to, say, win every game on its schedule.
On third-and-10 from the Ravens’ 39, Brady found Faulk on the left sideline, but Faulk stepped out of bounds just before the first-down marker. The Pats went for it on fourth down, and it appeared that Brady was stopped.
But not so fast: someone on the Baltimore sideline, possibly Billick and possibly defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, called timeout before the play, whistling it dead.
So the Patriots try again. This time steady Stephen Neal is whistled for a false start, walking New England back to fourth-and-6. Brady drops back, scans the field, sees nothing and then takes off, gaining 12 yards. Five more were tacked on when Samari Rolle was flagged for illegal contact.
New England has first down at the 18. Faulk picks up five yards on first down, but again there are back-to-back passes not completed. On this fourth down, Brady looks to Watson in the end zone, and the missed catch is nullified when Jamaine Winborne is called for holding.
Now it’s first and goal. You can’t just hand Tom Brady first and goal. Jabar Gaffney, who hadn’t caught a ball all night, has his number called, and Brady zips a ball in to him on the left edge of the end zone. Gaffney gets both feet inbounds, but there is a question of whether he had possession. The answer comes back yes.
Before the catch went to review, however, Baltimore Pro Bowl linebacker Bart Scott committed football stupidity. He drew two personal foul unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, one for his actions after the touchdown pass, and the other when he picked up the first flag he received and hurled it into the stands.
Scott had to be restrained by his teammates after the calls.
After the game, the Ravens, who otherwise played a fabulous game against the Patriots in a matchup they looked at as their personal Super Bowl, called the costly timeout “phantom” and pointed to the referees as the reason they weren’t able to end their five-game losing streak.
“Did you all see anybody call timeout? Did they call it? I don’t know,” said Terrell Suggs. “But if it’s called, it’s called. I don’t get into that part of the game.”
“It’s hard to go out there and play the Patriots and the refs at the same time,” cornerback Chris McAlister said. “(The referees are) horrible. That’s the bottom line. They made a lot of bad calls, and it is what it is.”
Even for all of that, Baltimore had a chance to win the game, or at least get a tying field goal. Kyle Boller – who finished the game with a higher quarterback rating than Brady – picked up 25 yards on two passes, then each team called its final timeout. Boller was nearly picked off by Brandon Meriweather, but on the last play of the game, unloaded a bomb that Mark Clayton caught about two yards short of the goal line. He was gang tackled before he could try and dive over the goal line.
Despite the close call – Rodney Harrison joked that he had three heart attacks watching the drama unfold – Tedy Bruschi said he never doubted the outcome would be in New England’s favor.
“No. No. I know who we have on this team, on this defense, this offense,” he said. “These are the ones I’m used to. The most important quarter to win is the fourth quarter, and that’s when we finally started doing things right.
“If you went to sleep on this one, you missed a lot.”
BALTIMORE -- Normally, an offensive lineman drawing a penalty on 4th-and-1 for moving before the snap would be embarrassed and upset.
Especially if it happened in the fourth quarter, with time running out, his team trailing, and the game on the line.
But Russ Hochstein and his New England teammates were relieved when the veteran right guard was called for illegal motion at the Ravens' 30 with 1:48 left to play and Baltimore leading, 24-20.
That's because Pats fullback Heath Evans was dropped for the loss of a yard on the play, which was nullified because Hochstein had moved before the snap.
"Any time you get a false-start penalty, it's not good," said Hochstein, who's in his seventh NFL season.
"Normally," he said, "that's a terrible spot for that to happen. But it worked out, because we made a play on the next down."
The Patriots picked up the crucial first down on 4th-and-6 when QB Tom Brady, unable to find an open receiver, scrambled out of the pocket and ran for 12 yards."
Helped by another fourth-down penalty -- this time on Baltimore, for holding tight end Ben Watson in the end zone -- the Patriots were able to score the game-winning touchdown on an 8-yard pass from Brady to Jabar Gaffney with 44 seconds to go.
"We kept making play after play and kept our hopes alive," Hochstein said. "Finally we were able to score."
BALTIMORE -- It was Tom Brady's worst game of the season.
Statistically, at least.
Completing just 18 of 38 passes, for 257 yards and two touchdowns, Brady was sacked three times, for 21 yards in losses, and threw his sixth interception of the year, leaving him with a season-low rating of 76.3 for the game.
"We have to execute better -- run better routes, throw better passes, make better catches, block better," said Brady, sounding remarkably, and unfortunately, like coach Bill Belilchick.
The Patriots appeared about to go down to their first defeat when Brady was stuffed on a fourth-down sneak at the Baltimore 30 with 1:48 to go. But the Pats were given a second chance when the officials ruled that Ravens coach Brian Billick had called a timeout from the sidelines just before the snap.
"I heard the whistle blow and stopped," Brady said, with tongue planted firmly in cheek. "I would've made the first down if the whistle didn't blow."
The Patriots came close to blowing the game, but the bottom line _ as Brady pointed out _ is that they didn't.
"We made a lot of plays under pressure," he said, "and that's what we needed to do down the stretch."
BALTIMORE -- Rather than blaming themselves for snatching defeat from the jaws of victory, the Ravens blamed the officials.
"The refs were horrible," said cornerback Chris McAlister. "That's the bottom line. They made a lot of bad calls. They'll send in their little report to say that we made a mistake on this one, and this should have been that, and that should have been that -- but it's too late. They need to get it right out there on the field, or don't call it at all."
There were several calls late in the game that upset the Ravens.
One was a defensive holding penalty on a fourth-down pass intended for tight end Ben Watson in the end zone.
"In a game of this magnitude," said cornerback Samari Rolle, "you don't make that kind of call. Let the players decide the outcome of the game. (The Patriots) are a great team. They're not asking the refs to help them. But it's a travesty when you go out there and play that hard and the refs decide the outcome."
The only problem with that tirade is that Watson WAS held during his route, and might have caught the ball for a touchdown otherwise.
That was not the way McAlister saw it, however.
"Winborne jammed (Watson) within five yards," he said, referring to safety Jamaine Winborne, who drew the flag on the play. "He had to run to catch up to the guy. The flag didn't come out until the ball hit the ground."
The worst call of the game was not made by the officials, but by Baltimore coach Brian Billick, who signalled for a timeout from the sidelines just before a fourth down play on which the Ravens stuffed quarterback Tom Brady behind the line of scrimmage.
Instead of getting the ball, and likely running out the clock, the Ravens got a timeout.
"The coaches called timeout," Rolle said. "So that's out of our hands. I can't comment on that. I don't know what happened. The coaches make those decisions."
Billick tried to defend that decision.
"If he'd gotten the first," he told the media attending his post-game press conference, "it would've been you screaming: 'Why didn't you call time out?' Let's make sure we don't have a revisionist history."
Baltimore appeared to stop New England again on the next play, dropping Heath Evans behind the line of scrimmage, but that play didn't count because the Pats were penalized for illegal procedure before the ball was snapped.
Then, on 4th-and-6, Brady scrambled 12 yards for a first down, and another five yards were tacked on the play for a defensive holding call.
Ravens defensive end Terrell Suggs thinks the NFL wants the Patriots to make history by becoming the first team to go 16-0 in the regular season.
"I think the world, everybody is kind of cheering for them to go undefeated, break all the records," he said. "You only get a few times to really get the NFL's poster boys in that type of situation. I don't know. I don't know."
BALTIMORE -- The Patriots, who only a few weeks ago were being criticized for running up the score against overmatched and overwhelmed opponents, suddenly have morphed into the Cardiac Kids.
"This is the third time in four weeks that we've come from behind in the fourth quarter," coach Bill Belichick said.
They did against the Colts, in Indianapolis, a month ago. They did last weekend in Foxboro, against the Eagles. And they did it again Monday night, in Baltimore.
"Once again," Belichick said, "we made a few more plays than our opponents. You have to give our players credit for the way they played in the fourth quarter. It wasn't perfect. There are a lot of things we need to work on. But I was proud of the way they played when the game was on the line."
BALTIMORE _ So now, Pats fans, do you believe the New England defense has problems?
A week after being carved up by a backup quarterback, the Patriots gave up 24 points to a Baltimore team that hadn't scored more than 14 in six of last eight games.
Some of the New England faithful thought it was a fluke when Philly's A.J. Feeley threw for 345 yards and three touchdowns, completing 27 of 42 attempts -- that it was an aberration, just one bad game.
Now the Patriots 'D' has had two bad games in a row.
"We got bullied," veteran strong safety Rodney Harrison said after Baltimore's Willis McGahee bulled for 138 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries as the offensively-challenged Ravens outgained the Patriots' prolific offense, 376 yards to 326.
"We can't allow teams to run the ball and pound it like that," Harrison said. "There are times this is a 'mano-a-mano' battle, and they were winning it. Tonight's game showed we have a lot of problems."
And they don't have much time to work on them, with AFC North division-leading Pittsburgh coming to Foxboro on Sunday afternoon.
"There's a lot of things we didn't do as well as we needed to do as a football team," Pats coach Bill Belichick said. "You name it, it was a problem.
"Defensively, we didn't play well. Offensively we didn't play well. The coaching plan, certainly, needed a lot of improvement
"McGahee ran well, as he always does," Belichick continued. "They didn't do anything magic. They did a good job blocking. They had a good scheme, and the challenges were in the off-tackle and cut-back areas. Some of them we played well, and some of them we didn't."
BALTIMORE — Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick said last week that last night’s prime time game against the New England Patriots was his team’s Super Bowl. And the Ravens came darn close to pulling off the upset on the grand stage.
But when push came to shove, the Ravens flagged.
As in penalty flags.
Baltimore committed two costly penalties which led to New England’s game-winning touchdown — an eight-yard pass from Tom Brady to Jabar Gaffney, who came down with both feet barely in bounds with 44 seconds to play — as the Patriots kept their perfect season alive with a come-from-behind, 27-24 victory.
“[Brady] made a great throw,’’ said Gaffney. “I was able to get both feet down.’’
The play was reviewed by officials in the press box, but upheld the call.
“I wasn’t nervous at all,’’ said Gaffney of the review. “I knew I had it.”
“I told him, that was the best catch of his career,’’ said Brady. “It was a hell of a time to do it.’’
But as back-and-forth and just zany as the final minutes of the game were, the Ravens very nearly pulled off the improbable win, as Kyle Boller’s Hail Mary with seconds left on the clock was caught by Mark Clayton – but Clayton was gang-tackled at the 3-yard line with time expired.
After the 30- and 40-point victories recorded by New England this season, Bill Belichick insisted that his team still had work to do, though to most observers, it seemed like Belichick was being unreasonable.
But last night, weaknesses were exposed, particularly in the run game, on both sides of the ball.
“I was proud of the way they played when it was all on the line and we had to make some plays,’’ said Belichick. “We made most of them.’’
Even so, people now believe Belichick when he says his team isn’t perfect … even if their record still is.
“There were a lot of things we didn’t do as well as we need to do,’’ he said. “Special teams, we couldn’t stop them on defense at times, offense . . . you name it.’’
As for the Ravens, their game plan was mainly give the ball to Willis McGahee.
And the plan worked.
New England’s defense, which came into the game as the sixth-best in the NFL against the run, could not find an answer for McGahee, who was traded to Baltimore from Buffalo at the beginning of this season.
The Patriots had allowed but one 100-yard rusher this season, the Colts’ Joseph Addai, but McGahee added his name to that short list, with 138 yards on 30 carries and a touchdown. He added four catches for 21 yards.
Many of McGahee’s runs went behind Pro Bowl left tackle Jonathan Ogden, who missed five games earlier this season with a toe injury.
New England handed the ball to Laurence Maroney early on, but the second-year back was making no progress against the Ravens’ run defense. Kevin Faulk had some success, but the biggest rushing gain of the night for New England was from Brady, who picked up 12 yards on a fourth-down play on the Pats’ last possession.
On that play, Samari Rolle was flagged for illegal contact, a five-yard penalty that put New England on the 18. Kevin Faulk picked up five yards on first down, but the Patriots didn’t do anything on second and third downs, and Brady looked to Benjamin Watson in the end zone on fourth down.
But Jermaine Winborne was called for holding, putting the Patriots on the eight-yard line with a fresh set of downs.
On the next play, Brady went to Gaffney on the left edge of the end zone. Gaffney got both feet in, and after review, the catch stood up.
Linebacker Bart Scott was not happy with the play, and was flagged for both a personal foul and for picking up one of the yellow penalty flags and throwing it into the stands. Those two penalties, combined with a five-yard penalty on the PAT, meant Stephen Gostkowski was kicking off from the Baltimore 35-yard line and all but assured the Ravens would have too much distance to travel on their final drive.
“You’ve got to be smarter than that,’’ said Baltimore coach Brian Billick of Scott. “You can’t be a dumb football player.’’
It was a physical night, with a lot of trash talking.
New England began the game in a 4-3 defense, which they had used for stretches this season, particularly in Buffalo two weeks ago. Outside linebacker Rosevelt Colvin was placed on season-ending injured reserve last week, and take advantage of the team’s depth at defensive line was theorized as an option for the Patriots.
However, they did switch back to the 3-4 during the first half.
Boller had been sacked 10 times in Baltimore’s previous two games, and the Ravens had committed 17 turnovers during their losing streak, but there were no such problems last night. Boller was kept upright, and had not turned the ball over, though he had attempted just 14 passes.
The Patriots couldn’t get much going offensively early on. Baltimore committed three penalties on consecutive plays on New England’s first possession, and the Pats had first-and-goal from the one yard line.
But a pass to Benjamin Watson in the back of the end zone was broken up by Ray Lewis, and a handoff to Heath Evans pushed the offense back two yards. Brady went to Watson again on third down, in nearly the same spot, and the tight end dropped the ball.
Stephen Gostkowski made a 21-yard field goal to give New England three points.
Baltimore would go ahead 10-3 on a four-yard touchdown pass from Boller to Derrick Mason and a 29-yard field goal by Matt Stover.
But looking to make progress, New England went to the no-huddle and saw immediate success, completing back-to-back passes for Donte Stallworth. A pass interference call on Chris McAlister on Randy Moss in the end zone gained the Patriots another first down at the one, and on second down, Heath Evans barreled over the line for the tying score.
The score remained that way into halftime, though there was a crazy play at the close of the opening half.
Brady dropped back and looked for Wes Welker, and Welker missed the catch, tipping the ball up into the air. Baltimore’s ball-hawking safety, Ed Reed, plucked the ball out of the air and took off. But around the New England 30, Kevin Faulk hit him and got his helmet on the ball, forcing Reed to fumble.
Watson came up with the ball, giving the Patriots a new set of downs. There were only seconds left in the half though, and Maroney was handed the ball twice to run out the clock.
The Ravens would claim the lead again just after the half, giving the ball to McGahee on six of the eight plays in the drive.
New England answered with a long drive, punctuated by a three-yard pass to Randy Moss for Moss’ 17th touchdown and Brady’s 40th scoring pass of the season.
That Tom Brady-to-Randy Moss touchdown was the 40th TD pass of the season for Brady, making him just the fourth player in NFL history to throw for that many scores in a season, joining Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Kurt Warner.
It also was the 17th touchdown reception of the year for Moss, tying his career high, which he has done two other times previously, including his rookie year with Minnesota.
BALTIMORE -- Not only did Baltimore control the ball for 16:52 in the first half, compared to 13:08 for the Patriots, but the offensively-challenged Ravens outgained New England's high-powered attack, 159 yards to 125.
When the Ravens took the second-half kickoff and drove 73 yards in 8 plays, capped by Willis McGahee's 17-yard touchdown run for a 17-10 lead, it marked only the second time in the last six games that Baltimore scored more than 14 points.
McGahee carried 6 times on the drive, for 48 yards, and has 106 yards, on 21 carries, in the game.
The fans here in Baltimore may be freezing, but they know a good matchup when they see it: Tonight's attendance was just announced as 71,382, the largest crowd in M&T Bank Stadium history.
BALTIMORE -- When Ravens QB Kyle Boller threw a 4-yard scoring pass on third down to wide receiver Derrick Mason with 1:23 remaining in the first quarter, it was only the second touchdown Baltimore has scored in the first quarter all season.
BALTIMORE -- Although they had to settle for a field goal when tight end Ben Watson dropped what should have been a touchdown pass from Tom Brady, the Patriots scored on their first possession for the 11th time in their 12 games this season. They now have eight TDs and three FGs the first time they've had the ball.
It is quite cold and *very* windy here in Baltimore, where we're still more than three hours away from kickoff for the Patriots and Ravens. This is the first time New England has played in M&T Bank Stadium, and count me a fan -- all of the seats are purple, my favorite color.
If we had to guess, we'd say kickoff will be 34 degrees or less, and New England is 21-3 since 1993 when game-time temperature is 34 or colder.
We already knew that Ravens' quarterback Steve McNair was out of tonight's game, but the Baltimore Sun is reporting that McNair's season, and possibly his career, is done, as he'll have surgery on his partially torn left rotator cuff tomorrow.
Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy will appear on this HBO's "Costas Now" this week, as Bob Costas takes a look back at the year in sports. Here are some excerpts from Dungy's comments on the show:
Bob Costas: “When this year’s New England game ended, there was a brief handshake between you and Bill Belichick. Most people viewed it as frosty. How did you view it?”
Tony Dungy: “Well, it probably was. But that's Bill. Bill has always been that way with me.”
Bob Costas: “When you said prior to the game that you thought that the Spygate thing was a black mark for the league, I think you said, more so than for Belichick or the Patriots, did you hear from him, either directly or indirectly?”
Tony Dungy: “I did not. But what I meant was you had so many people looking at this team and this organization. They've won three Super Bowls. We're talking about them as maybe the best team ever. This is the, they're the franchise in the NFL. And to have something like that happen, it just lets people say, ‘Oh, you know, this is how you win.’ Or, ‘This is okay, as long as you win.’ And I didn't think it was good for the NFL. In my opinion, a tough day for the NFL, and something you just wish didn't happen.”
Bob Costas: “Do you think he resented that, and carries that resentment forward?”
Tony Dungy: “I don't know. I hope not. And I hope there's no one out there that would think it was a good thing, or an okay thing. It was very unfortunate.”
Today's sports cover features Shalise Manza Young's profile of Adalius Thomas, the Patriots linebacker who continues to be influenced by a scary car crash that he survived 16 years ago. Also, Jim Donaldson looks ahead to the Pats' remaining schedule, and wonders if there is anyone that can put a blemish on the team's record. Sean McAdam reveals a surprising turn in the Johan Santana trade talks, and Kevin McNamara reveals why Providence College won't be sending its cheerleaders or mascot to South County for tomorrow night's game with URI.
