New England Patriots

Wow! Here it is January and the Pats have yet to lose a game. There are only 3 more games for them to play and win (and win hard) before they have a totally undefeated season and are finally recognized for the great team they really are.

I started out not being a Tom Brady fan, but honestly, this kids proven himself to me.

As a New England Patriots fan for many years, I absolutely adored Drew Beldsoe and was crushed when he was hurt and Brady took his place. I thought Brady would be a one season wonder. I was dead wrong.

I despised "The Tuna" I thought he was a pompous arrogant street punk and I don't like him any more today than I did then. Now he's off to Florida to be chief cook and bottle washer. I thought he demeaned the Patriots too much and didn't really serve them all that well.

I loved Pete Carroll, I still do as a college coach, but I think he was too opposite Bill Parcell's and was way too easy on the Patriots.

In comes Bill Bilicheck: He's the perfect mix of both. Arrogant when he needs to be, firm when he needs to be and well liked!

Go Pats!!

The New England Patriots are now in Arizona preparing for the 2008 Super Bowl.

Forget about the media hype, forget about the fact that Tom Brady has been seen in a soft cast all week, remember instead that the game has not been played and the New York Giants have as much of a chance of winning this game as the Patriots do.

Like most good Patriots Fans, I don't really believe that the Giants can take them on for this game but most of us never believed that the Colts would win last year and yet inexplicably they did.

Kudos by the way to Coach Bill - he was asked if he 'had disdain' for the media - and as is his usual 'classy' style his answer was more or less that he knows they have a job to do and that while the media might not like his answers, he tolerates them.

I believe he had some fun with this Brady high ankle injury telling the media that he'd get them the 'injured' player report on Wednesday and that he'd look forward to getting it to them. I thought it was clever of the Pats to keep Brady out of the spotlight - however many folks believed that this was a ploy to put the Giants off center. I don't believe that this team would have played that type of game (at least I don't want to believe that).

OK so let's see what's happened with the Patriots during 2007 that could have destroyed another team:

Let's face it this team really created their mission in 2006. Their loss in the AFC Championship to the Indianapolis Colts put something in this teams spine. They had a great record, 12-4 for the season but couldn't quite make it to the Super Bowl. Rather than hanging their heads in shame they did what any professional team does - they got back to work and started correcting their mistakes.

May 2006 - Death of Marquis Hill friend and fellow team mate - the first active New England Patriot to die. Tragic - and what did the Patriots do? This didn't discourage them - they wore his number (91) on their uniforms for the entire season, and another teammate wore his shoulder pads and helped to financially support his family (Jarvis Green)

The off-season brought the arrival of seven unrestricted free agents to the Patriots. On offense, the Patriots added running back Sammy Morris tight end Kyle Brady, and wide receivers Donté Stallworth and Kelley Washington. On defense, they added linebacker Adalius Thomas, cornerbacks Tory James and Eddie Jackson, defensive linemen Rashad Moore (New York Jets), Kenny Smith (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), linebacker Chad Brown (Pittsburgh Steelers), tight end Marcellus Rivers (New Orleans Saints), and punter Chris Hanson (New Orleans Saints).

Then came the trades in the first week of free agency, the Patriots traded to the Miami Dolphins for wide receiver Wes Welker who signed a five year contract, and Randy Moss who came to the Patriots after accepting a pay cut of more than $6 million.

Then came spy-gate:

Coach was cited for cheating (filming that everyone does with permission) and the team got fined big time and lost a first round draft pick

Did this stop the Patriots? No. They went on as if to say - hey do you think we need to cheat to win? Guess again. Guess they've proved that point.

There have been many teams who have boasted that they could beat the Patriots during this season - none of them have.

Have the games been slam dunks? No absolutely not. Have the Pats had to work hard for these games? Some of them they worked very hard on.

The scores tell their own story:
Game 1: Patriots/Jets 38-14
Game 2: Patriots/Chargers 38-14
Game 3: Patriots/Bills 38-7
Game 4: Patriots/Bengals 38-13
Game 5: Patriots/Browns 34-17
Game 6: Patriots/Cowboys 48-27
Game 7: Patriots/Dolphins 49-28
Game 8: Patriots/Redskins 52-7
Game 9: Patriots/Colts 24-20
Game 10: Patriots/Bills 56-10
Game 11: Patriots/Eagles 31-28
Game 12: Patriots/Ravens 27-24
Game 13: Patriots/Steelers 34-13
Game 14: Patriots/Jets 20-10
Game 15: Patriots/Dolphins 28-7

The Patriots' 15th win matched the win totals of the 2004 Pittsburgh Steelers, 1998 Minnesota Vikings, 1985 Chicago Bears, and 1984 San Francisco 49ers, while their 15-0 season start was a first in NFL history. The Patriots' 6-0 record against division opponents was a franchise first. The win also marked the Patriots' 18th straight regular season victory since their December 2006 loss to the Dolphins, tying the Patriots' 2003-2004 NFL record.

Then came the pressure for Game 16: to make the game more widely viewable preceded the decision to simulcast the game on CBS and NBC. Arlen Specter, wrote the league a letter threatening to reconsider the antitrust exemption currently enjoyed by the NFL under United States law and Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts pressured the league and cable companies to settle their dispute so "no die-hard Pats fans will be shut out from watching their team take aim at football history."

In the end, 15.7 million viewers watched the game on CBS, 13.2 million on NBC, 4.5 million on the NFL Network, and 1.2 million on New York, Boston and Manchester, New Hampshire television stations. The game was the most watched program on television since the 2007 Academy Awards and the most watched regular season NFL game in more than 12 years.

Game 16: Patriots/Giants 38-35

The Patriots' joined the 14-0 1972 Miami Dolphins, 11-0 1942 Chicago Bears, and 13-0 1934 Chicago Bears as the fourth team to record an undefeated season, also setting a record for most regular season wins in a single season. The victory was the Patriots' 19th consecutive regular season victory, breaking their own record set during the 2003-2004 season. Finally, the Patriots finished the season with a +315 point differential, breaking the 1942 Bears' record of +292.

Division Round 1:
Patriots/Jaguars: 31-20
Patriots advanced to the AFC title game for the second year in a row and extended their perfect record to 17-0

Round 2 AFC Championship:
Patriots/Chargers: 21-12

Awards
Bill Belichick
Week 6: Motorola NFL Coach of the Week
Week 17: Motorola NFL Coach of the Week
2007 Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year

Tom Brady
Week 3: AFC Offensive Player of the Week
September:Week 6: AFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 6: FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week
Week 7: AFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 7: FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week
October: AFC Offensive Player of the Month
Week 11: FedEx Express NFL Player of the Week
Week 14: AFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 17: AFC Offensive Player of the Week
2007 Sporting News Sportsman of the Year
2007 Associated Press Male Athlete of the Year
2007 Associated Press NFL MVP
2007 Associated Press NFL Offensive Player of the Year

Ellis Hobbs
Week 1: NFL Special Teams Player of the Week

Randy Moss
Week 9: AFC Offensive Player of the Week
Week 11: AFC Offensive Player of the Week
November: AFC Offensive Player of the Month

Stephen Neal
2007 New England Patriots Ed Block Courage Award

Asante Samuel
Week 12: AFC Defensive Player of the Week

Mike Vrabel
Week 8: AFC Defensive Player of the Week
Week 8: GMC NFL Defensive Player of the Week

Ty Warren
2007 New England Patriots Ron Burton Community Service Award

Wes Welker
2007 New England Patriots 12th Player Award

Pats: New England fans love you you're doing great!! Go Pats!

After falling short in their quest for a three-peat the Patriots entered the season missing a few key pieces as Adam Vinatieri was to the Indianapolis Colts via Free Agency, while already short at Wide Receiver the Patriots were dealing with the holdout of Deion Branch, as they were forced to trade the Super Bowl XXXVIII to the Seattle Seahawks.

Despite their holes the Patriots continued to find ways to win as they got off to a 6-1 start. After two straight losses at home to the Indianapolis Colts and New York Jets, the Pats rebounded in dominant fashion shutting out the Green Bay Packers on the road 35-0. A week later the Pats made a statement at home beating the Chicago Bears 17-13, as they blitzed through the NFC North with a perfect 4-0 record, completing the sweep with their third straight win over the Detroit Lions.

After a stunning 21-0 loss to the last place Miami Dolphins, the Patriots finished the season on a roll winning three in a row, as they captured their 4th straight division title with a 12-4 record. In the Playoffs the Patriots would face the Jets at Foxboro, hoping to get revenge for a November 12th loss, as former Defensive Coordinator Eric Mangini now Head Coach of the Jets feuded with Bill Belichick.

The Patriots would use their playoff experience well as they controlled the game from the start and pulled away at the end for a 37-16 victory.

A week later they were the underdogs as they faced the San Diego Chargers who dominated the NFL all season. The Patriots would fall behind early as the Chargers grabbed a 14-3 lead in the 2nd Quarter, the Pats would make it close heading into the half as Tom Brady led a scoring drive which was completed with a 6-yard TD pass to Jabar Gafney with 8 seconds left.

After the Pats cut the lead to 14-13 in the 3rd Quarter, the Chargers turned to Ladainian Tomlinson to build a 21-13 lead in the 4th Quarter. However, the Pats would not give up as Brady led a game tying scoring drive and two point conversion with 5:00 left, as the Patriots turned fortune into gold as a Brady's first pass was intercepted but the ball was fumbled during the return.

With the game tied despite being outplayed the Pats would get the ball late and would win the game 24-21 on a 32-yard Filed Goal by Stephen Gostkowski.

In the AFC Championship Game against the Colts, the Patriots quickly quieted the fans in Indianapolis as they jumped out to a 21-3 lead with Asante Samuel delivering the dagger with a 35-yard interception return for a Touchdown early in the 2nd Quarter. The Colts would start to chip away as they scored on a Vinatieri as they first half ended.

In the second half the Colts continued to comeback, tying the game at 21. However, the Pats quickly retook the lead. After the Colts tied the game again at 28-28, the Pats appeared to be driving for another TD when Reche Caldwell dropped a pass with nothing but the end-zone in front of him. After trading field goals the Pats took a 34-31 lead, as Ellis Hobbs set up another easy scoring drive with this second long kickoff return of the day.

After stopping the Colts, on a three and out the Patriots had a chance to clinch the game with 3:22 left. However, a costly penalty at the start of the drive put the Pats in a hole as they were forced to punt the ball away. With 2:17 left the Colts had the ball on their own 20 and would drive the ball up the field and took the lead 38-34 with 1:00 minute left. The Pats would have a chance to answer back as they begun their own drive with 54 seconds left on their own 21. With just three plays Tom Brady would get the ball across midfield as he tried for another magical 4th Quarter playoff drive.

However, this time it was not meant to be as he was picked off but Marlin Jackson with 17 second left, as the Colts advanced to the Super Bowl which they would win, though many felt the real championship game had been played against the Patriots. 

The Patriots were charter members of the AFL in 1960 and played as the Boston Patriots through 1970. Throughout the franchise's existence, the Patriots have been frequent contenders. It was, however, most recently that New England raised their level of success. Three Super Bowl championships in a four-year span - wins in Super Bowl XXXVI, XXXVIII and XXXIX - have assured the Patriots place in NFL history.

First Regular-Season Game: A 13-10 loss to the Denver Broncos, 9/9/60.

First Regular-Season Win: A 28-24 victory over the New York Titans, 9/16/60.

First Regular-Season Points: A 35-yard field goal by Gino Cappelletti vs. the Denver Broncos, 9/9/60.

First Regular-Season Touchdown: A 10-yard pass from Butch Songin to Jim Colclough vs. the Denver Broncos, 9/9/60.

First Winning Season: 1961 (9-4-1).

First Playoff Appearance: A 26-8 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFL's Eastern Division Championship game, 12/28/63.

First Super Bowl Appearance: A 46-10 loss to the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XX, 1/26/86.

First Super Bowl Win: A 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI, 2/3/02.

First All-League Selections: LB Tom Addison and DB Russ O'Hanley, 1960.

First Patriot Elected to the Hall of Fame: G John Hannah, 1991.

First to Rush 100 Yards in a Game: Ron Burton, 127 yards vs. the Denver Broncos, 10/23/60.

First 1,000-Yard Rusher: Jim Nance, 1,458 yards (1966).

First to Pass 400 Yards in a Game: Babe Parilli, 400 yards vs. the Oakland Raiders, 10/16/64.

Most Yards Rushing, Career: Sam Cunningham, 5,453 yards (1973-79, 1981-82).

Most Yards Passing, Career: Drew Bledsoe, 29,657 yards (1993-2001).

Most Receptions, Career: Stanley Morgan, 534 receptions (1977-1989).

All-Time Leading Scorer: Adam Vinatieri, 1,158 career points (1996-2005).

Fewest Yards Rushing Allowed in a Game: In a 41-0 win over the San Diego Chargers on 12/17/61, the Patriots allowed just two yards rushing.

Most Lopsided Win: A 56-3 victory over the New York Jets, 9/9/79.