PATS CRUSH BILLS

35-7 and it wasn't even that close. Now, all the Pats have to do is win 1 game or have Miami lose a game and they win their 3rd straight AFC East title.

I'm not going to look at this blowout and think that the Patriots are a great team. Let's face facts, the Bills suck. They are terrible. They were still able to exploit our coverage though. Our front defensive 7 was able to shut them down, thankfully. They will be the key to any success we have in the post-season.

Brady had a solid day but made a few mistakes. He threw for 329 yards, and 2 TDs. He also threw 2 picks. However, he did run for 17 yards on 4 carries including a 3 yard TD run. He got shaken up in the 1st quarter though. If he goes down, we might be in bad shape.

Corey Dillon had a great day, which we needed with Evans and Pass on the bench and brady limping. Dillon ran for 102 on 22 carries with a touchdown. He also caught 4 passes for 29 yards.

Kevin Faulk had a good day. He only ran for 14 yards, but he caught 6 passes for 71 yards. His backfield versatility has been missed for most of the season and it was good to see him back to form.

Eight different Patriots caught passes. Four receivers, two running backs and two tight ends. Branch led them with 83 yards while Troy Brown and Christian Fauria each had a TD grab.

Defensively, the Pats were able to rack up 3 interceptions, all of which came because of the front 7. Ellis Hobbs, Asante Samuel, and James Sanders each had one. Sanders took his back for 6.

Roosevelt Colvin has stepped up big time the past few weeks and played well today. He got a sack and contributed to a great deal of pressure on JP Losman. Seymour also made some statistical noise as opposed to the unnoticed noise he makes week in and week out. He too had a sack. Tedy Bruschi had a solid day, tipping the pass that Sanders eventually intercepted. Ty Warren had a good day on the line with 7 tackles.

Solid win by the Patriots today. The Chargers are down 20-17 to the Dolphins. If they can come back, we clinch the AFC East.



If you look to your left, you'll see I have a new sponsor. They seem to have a good variety of tickets to buy. They also have the best phrasing for their ads and I know for a fact that they know they're sports and are Curt Schilling fans.

TEAM USA GETS UNFORTUNATE DRAW

The United States qualified for the World Cup and will be in Group E. They finished 2nd in their group because they scored 3 fewer goals than Mexico. They will be grouped with Italy, a perennial powerhouse. Italy won Group 5 in the European qualifying rounds. They finished ahead of Norway, Scotland, Belarus, Moldovia, and Slovenia. Italy is not as good as they were a few years ago but being forced to play them so early could harm the US's chances of advancement.

Also in the group is Ghana. Ghana won Group 2 of the African qualifying rounds. Rounding out the group is the Czech Republic. They qualified via the European playoffs. The Czech Republic made it to the semi-finals in 2004's European Championships.

The United States will open up their World Cup on June 12 against the Czech Republic in Kelskirchen, Germany. They'll play Italy on the 17th in Kaiserslautern. Then they'll go to Nuremburg on the 22nd to play Ghana. None of the games will be insanely early in the morning like the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan. They will all be mid to late afternoon games.

The top 2 teams will advance. I think the US will finish 2nd behind Italy. I think they will beat the Czech Republic in a close game, dominate Ghana, and draw with Italy or lose. Italy will win the group because they will score more goals against Ghana and the Czech Republic.

If the US advances to the elimination round they will face either the 2nd place team from Group F (Brazil, Croatia, Australia, Japan) which will probably be Croatia, if they win Group E. If they finish in 2nd, they will play the winner of group F which will probably be 2002 Champions Brazil. It is imperative that the US win their group because Brazil is simply the best team in the world. Man, we got a crappy draw. Had we scored 4 more goals in qualifying, we could have gotten Mexico's draw. Mexico is with Iran, Angola, and Portugal. This could be a very short World Cup for Team USA even though they are amongst the top 10 in the World. It is a shame because if we make a good run at it, it would definately boost interest in the sport in the US. Oh well.