PATRIOTS PLAYOFF PICTURE

The bad news is that the Pats don't control their own destiny. They can win out, finish 11-5, and miss the playoffs. The good news is that the help they need can come from several different places.

Currently, there are four teams vying for two spots in the AFC. The Patriots, Jets, and Dolphins are tied atop the AFC East. The Patriots, Jets, Dolphins, and Ravens are tied for the 2nd and final AFC Wild Card spot. The Jets, Dolphins, and Ravens all have better conference records than the Pats. In the event of a tie, the Pats lose.

All of this assumes the Patriots win their last two games. If they don't, they're out.

The best shot is the Wild Card. Since the Dolphins and Jets play each other in Week 17, one of them will knock the other one out of the Wild Card race. This leaves just the Pats and Ravens. Baltimore has to play the 9-5 Cowboys in Dallas on Sunday night. That's a real tough game. We all saw what the Cowboys did to the Giants. Then Baltimore finishes their season at home against the lowly Jaguars.

The Pats can also slip in if the Colts lose their last two games. Indy is at Jacksonville Thursday night, then they host Tennessee in Week 17, so it isn't much of a stretch.

The Pats can stay in the division race if either (or both) the Jets and Dolphins lose in Week 16. The Jets are at the 3-11 Seahawks, and the Dolphins are at the 2-12 Chiefs. If the Jets lose, then the Pats need them to be the Dolphins in Week 17. If the Dolphins lose, then the Pats need them to beat the Jets in Week 17. If they both lose, then it doesn't matter who wins in Week 17.

If the Jets and Dolphins both win this weekend, the Pats would need them to tie each other in Week 17 in order to win the AFC East.

So this weekend the teams to root for are:

New England over Arizona (duh)
Dallas over Baltimore
Jacksonville over Indianapolis
Seattle over New York
Kansas City over Miami

YEAH, THE RAIDERS REALLY SUCK

It won't get the same attention that Brett Favre's famous performance received a few years ago. After all, it wasn't on Monday Night and it was against a dreadfully bad team, but Matt Cassel's game was, in a word, inspirational. In sloppy weather, he was 18/30 for 218 yards, a career high 4 TDs, and a tipped ball INT that should've been a reception.



Cassel was helped by his friends, specifically his running back friends. As a team, the Pats ran for 277 yards on 39 carries, or 7.1 yards a carry. Those are college numbers. Morris ran for 117, Jordan put up 97 on his old team, and Faulk added 45. Both Morris and Jordan had rushing TDs, Faulk had a receiving score.



Cassel only threw passes to 4 different receivers. Welker and Moss had 6 catches, Faulk had 5, and Sam Aiken had 1. But when you're running game is devouring yardage, and you've got guys like Moss, Welker, and Faulk; you don't need to spread the ball around much.

The defense had a good game overall, but had moments of sheer ugliness. The missed and messed up tackles remain an incessant theme. It seems like Ellis Hobbs must miss a big tackle and allow 30 extra yards at least once a game. But on the bright side, Junior Seau looked more in tune. And Jonathan Wilhite has emerged as a decent CB, taking snaps away from Deltha O'Neal. Thank frigging God.

The Pats didn't get tons of help around the League. The Bills had the Jets down 27-24 under 2 minutes, and for some reason they rolled out JP Losman on a 2nd & 5 passing play. Losman was sacked, fumbled, and the Jets returned it for a touchdown.



The Dolphins beat the 49ers 14-9. San Francisco couldn't manage a touchdown, and Miami rode a pair of 1st half scores to victory.

The good news is that Baltimore lost to the Steelers. So now there's a tie for the Wild Card.

Pats host the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday.

The best moment of the game was seeing Matt Cassel cradling the game ball with pride as he walked off the field. He didn't spend much time on the field after the game, but just enough for Coach Belichick to find him and give him a hug. That was a very nice scene.



Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/George Nitkin
AP Photo/Bill Kostroun

MORE OF THE SAME

Call the Bruins General Sherman because they destroyed Atlanta this weekend. What? Too soon?

The 4-2 score in Saturday night's game doesn't attest to how dominant the Bruins were. For one stretch in the 2nd, the B's had the puck in Atlanta's end for 2 solid minutes. The Thrashers had to ice the puck three straight times before they could work it out of their zone in the traditional way.

Atlanta's Johan "All Together" Hedberg kept the game from being an absolute slaughter. Without some huge saves, the Bruins would have been up 6-1 after 2 periods instead of just 3-1.



Der Kessel is German for "the boiler." Actually, it's primary translation is kettle, then bowl. But Heizkessel specifically means boiler. I'm not sure if Phil Kessel is of German descent, but he is boiling hot. He had a power play goal and a power play assist. That's 15 games with a point, which is the longest streak in the NHL this season.

Aaron Ward didn't play with an ankle injury, Bergeron was scratched with the flu.

A bit of bad news came out regarding Marco Sturm. He was placed on the long-term injured reserve list, which is kind of like baseball's 60 day DL, only much shorter. The move is retroactive to November 17th. Players on LTIR are not eligible to return until the team has played 10 games and it's been 24 days since the injury. Moving him also clears up cap space. But the Bruins wouldn't place him on the list unless they expected Sturm to be out for a few more weeks.

The B's host Toronto Thursday night. The Bruins are 2-1-0 against the Maple Leafs this season, but they were also the last visiting team to win in The Garden.


Sources:
ESPN.com
The Sports Network

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Michael Dwyer

DOMINANT IN DIXIE

6 different goal scorers, and 13 players with points. That's how the Bruins thrashed the Thrashers 7-3. Phil Kessel is officially hotter than the sun as he added a goal and 2 assists to his total. He's recorded points in 14 straight games now and has 18 goals on the season. He had 19 last year.

The Bruins dominated from the start, with Mark Stuart scoring 3:31 after the puck dropped. Michael Ryder made it a 4-0 route 12 minutes into the 1st. After that, some stretches of complacency gave Atlanta extra scoring chances. But the Bruins clamped down whenever the Thrashers made it "close."

By the way, Matt Hunwick had one of the best games from a Bruins defenseman I've seen in ages. Not only did he have 2 assists, but he was all over Ilya Kovalchuck throughout the night. He broke up most of Atlanta's offensive plays before they even had a chance to get started. Sheer brilliance.

The victory is bittersweet as Aaron Ward left after only 2 shifts. He appeared to reaggravate his leg injury and I doubt he'll make an appearance in Saturday night's game. Which is also against Atlanta.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/John Amis

NEW OLD JERSEYS, AND HIDEOUS HATS

What are we? The fucking Devil Rays? The Marlins? We have 4 jerseys now! No, wait, with the green ones that's 5! And now we have our very own "alternative cap?"

I'm bullshit about this. Absolutely positively about to have an aneurysm kind of bullshit. Kick the dog, bite your own tongue 'til it bleeds kind of bullshit.

I don't mind the new road jerseys. I actually like them. They remind me of the new Bruins' jerseys. A sense of history with a bit of modern style. They make a statement without being too loud.



But now we have alternate home jerseys (the red ones) AND alternate road jerseys? What the fuck?



I'm sorry, but that's a spring training warmup, not a Major League Baseball uniform, and certainly not the uniform of a 108 year old team like the Red Sox. Laundry like this should never leave Fort Myers.

But the worst part. The absolute worst part of all this pre-Holiday promotional garbage is the hat that belongs in McCoy Stadium down in Pawtucket, not in Fenway. This is a joke. I can't believe the Boston Red Sox will be taking the field with this travesty atop their heads.



It's not that these things look particularly ugly. And certainly there are worse jerseys around baseball. But why change? How much money is enough? Don't the Red Sox sell enough pink and green and turquoise merchandise for Luchino to survive through the stormy waters of today's stock market?

The Red Sox have 5 different jerseys. That's one more than the Royals. Nuf said.

Source:
Extra Bases

MARK TEIXEIRA, CC SABATHIA, AND MEMORIES OF 2000

November 30, 2000: The New York Yankees sign free agent Mike Mussina to a 5 year, $68 million deal. Which seemed big at the time.

December 19, 2000: Seemingly in response to the Mussina signing (the Sox had made offers, but they fell on deaf ears), the Red Sox sign slugger Manny Ramirez to an 8 year, $160 million deal.

December 10, 2008: The Yankees sign top free agent pitcher CC Sabathia to a 6 year, $160 million deal. But this time, Red Sox Nation laughs at the Yanks for overspending. What a difference two Championships make.

December ?, 2008: the Red Sox overpay to sign Mark Teixeira.

It's going to happen, it's just a question of when and for how much. And I can't help but remember 2000 when we all labeled Dan Duquette a reactionist for signing Manny Ramirez to such a huge contract. We all figured Mussina would extend the Yankee dynasty into the 21st century. Thankfully we were wrong.

But CC Sabathia is not Mike Mussina. We might all laugh at how much extra the Yankees have to pay in order to convince him to come to the Bronx. We might predict he'll break down for some reason. But the Yankees can afford to overpay him. And there's no reason to believe Sabathia will falter physically in the next 6 years.

However, the Yankees just acquired one of the best pitchers in baseball. A pitcher who has proven he can succeed in the AL. A pitcher who has never started fewer than 28 games.

And they're not done spending. They might also acquire former Sox and former Dodgers Derek Lowe and Manny Ramirez.

The AL East just became a three horse race. And Mark Teixiera's production replacing Mike Lowell's won't be enough to give the Sox the inside track.

Source:
Baseball-Reference.com

BRUINS WIN 10TH STRAIGHT AT HOME

Although the game ended 5-3, the Bruins were much more dominant than that score would suggest. Up 3-0 after the 1st period, and 4-1 after 2, the Bruins took their foot off the gas just enough to let Tampa Bay get back into the game. But the Bruins clamped down in the end. PJ Axelsson put it away with his first goal of the season, an empty netter. Earlier he had been awarded a penalty shot that was just barely stopped by Mike Smith, so it was nice to see him finally get on the board.

The Bruins didn't have much killer instinct in the 3rd. It's almost as if having a 3 goal lead is a bad thing for this team. They play so much better when it's a 1 or 2 goal game.

Phil Kessel is unstoppable. He had a goal and an assist, extending his goal streak to 6 games, and his point streak to 12. In those 12 games he has 10 goals, 6 assists and is +9. Matt Hunwick added an assist, increasing his point total to 10. Pretty impressive for a defenseman in 15 games.

Wednesday night will be a treat. The Bruins go down to DC to play the Capitals. Washington is 10-1-1 at home and they're the Southleast Division leaders. Weird scheduling quirk, the Bruins are in the middle of a 6 game stretch of Southleast Division opponents.

I don't mind.

Source:
ESPN.com

Photo Credit:
AP Photo/Charles Krupa

NEAR EMBARRASSMENT

The Pats defense struggled all day, and it nearly cost them a golden opportunity to tie the Jets in the AFC East. Injuries played their part as Ty Warren didn't even dress, Vince Wilfork went out early, Tedy Bruschi left the game in the 1st half, and Mike Vrabel missed a few plays. Junior Seau played much more than he should have and was fully exploited by the Seahawks. Colvin also failed to impress.

But in the end it was the defense that made the game sealing play. Brandon Meriweather, who has looked better and better as the season's progressed, timed his blitz to perfection, went untouched to the QB, and forced a fumble. Seattle was only 10 yards from field goal range so it was a massive play.

The Pats were also inches away from another game changing opportunity. The Seahawks fumbled on a kickoff and Stephen Gostkowski was the closest one to the ball. He got his hands on it, but wasn't able to surround the ball with his body and maintain possession. Two plays later Deion Branch is scurrying all over the field, gaining 63 yards, and just barely staying in bounds when he caught it.



Cassel didn't have a "Player of the Week" type of day, but he was very good throughout. He led the comeback drives nicely, looked poised all day, and avoided pressure. Seattle, at times, put a great deal of pressure on Cassel and he seemed to make the right decision each time. He used his feet to get back to the line of scrimmage, or buy him more time. He threw it away when he had to, and stepped up when he could.



How annoying were the announcers? Did they have to recite the alma mater's of EVERYONE that made a play? Did they have to ballwash their darling Pittsburgh Steelers at every opportunity, somehow giving THEM credit for Seattle having an 8 point lead? Calling Wes Welker "The Slot Machine" and "Mighty Mite" was ridiculous and quite lame. And the way they talked about Deion "Ever Since Tom Brady Stopped Being My QB I've Sucked" Branch as if he were still a relevant player. He juked Junior Seau and had one good game out of 30 in Seattle. Whoopty shit.



And Seattle, you're not the home of the 12th Man. College Station, Texas is home of the 12th man. And get rid of those puke-green gloves and cleats. It's one thing to suck, it's another thing to look bad while sucking.

With the Dolphins beating the Bills and the 49ers beating the Jets, there's a three way tie in the AFC East. If you're curious, Here are the NFL's tie-breaking procedures. All three teams are also a game behind Baltimore and Indianapolis for the 2 Wild Card spots.

The Pats stay out West and play the 3-10 Raiders. Get ready for some tuck-rule whining.

Sources:
ESPN.com
NFL.com

Photo Credits:
AP Photo/Elaine Thompson
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren