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A Word from The Writer: The Monday Analysis - 12 December 2005 Wild, wild week of football. Big wins, close wins, and huge blow outs. Speaking of, let's check on the World Champs traveling to Canada, err, I mean Buffalo. Patriots Beat Up Bills Want to know how these Patriots feel about football these days? Patriots are ahead 35-0 in the final minutes, and the Defense gives up a desperate touchdown to Josh Reed for a 51-yard return. The cameras got a shot of Tedy Bruschi on the bench with a sour look on his face. The score is 35-7, the Patriots have ball in the final two minutes, and the Defense isn't happy. Of seven lousy points. That's the fire that won three championships. Needless to say, a 35-7 final score is a great day, even with two Tom Brady picks, one in the endzone, the other caused by a failed catch from a receiver. But JP Losman was worse. Three picks, one returned for a touchdown by CB James Sanders. So much for the lousy, no-name secondary. Even with a sore leg Brady suffered on a touchdown run in the first
quarter, New England wasn't Brady, 29-38 for 329 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs, was more fired up about a block he laid out for a Deion Branch run that was flagged illegal than anything else. ''I thought it was a good block,'' Brady said. ''We don't get a chance to block a whole lot so you get excited when you can stick your nose in there and make a play.'' Another exciting return was the Dynamic Duo of Corey Dillon and Kevin Faulk. Dillon rushed 102 yards on 22 carries with a touchdown. He also had 4 receptions for 29 yards. Kevin Faulk played out of his head, leading receivers with 6 catches for 71 yards, and 5 carries for 14 yards. Even good ol' Troy Brown came up with a smashing touchdown reception at the end of the second quarter to go up 21-0. The Bills never had a chance in this one. ''We're starting to roll,'' defensive lineman Richard Seymour said. ''I thought the offense did a a good job creating situations for us, and I thought it just rolled over to the defense.'' ''Thirty-five points is a defense's best friend,'' linebacker Rosevelt Colvin said. To add insult to injury, Tedy Bruschi deflected a Losman pass that ended up in the hands of defensive back James Sanders and he marched it into the endzone for a touchdown. Who is Sanders, you ask? Rookie out of Fresno State, drafted in the fourth round last April. Welcome to New England, Sanders. We win championships here. "I thought that was a good win for our football team today," said head coach Bill Belichick. "I thought we came in and played pretty solidly in all phases of the game. It was a good effort defensively. We did a good job in the running game, and played better on third down. I thought it was a solid effort." Solid as a rock. Short week this week. The Patriots host Tampa Bay on
Saturday. Pray for snow. Pray for cold. The current forecast for next
Saturday is partly cloudy and with a high of 40. Super Bowl XXXIX Teams Have Problems of their Own When you win one year, you walk around with a bull's-eye target on your back the following year. It seems unfair, since, as Bill Belichick might put it, the team hasn't won anything in the new year. Nothing, really. Each team starts off with a pair of goose eggs, and how they change those shapes are their own destiny. For the Eagles and the Patriots, they are the walking targets on the Road to XL. But it seems pretty unfair, more like jealousy than traditional payback. Actually, in most cases it is jealousy. The Patriots lost their fair share of key members in the offseason, including both coordinators, Ty Law, a couple of other coaches, Joe Andruzzi, Roman Phifer, David Patten, Ted Johnson, Tedy Bruschi and Troy Brown for short amounts of time, and Keith Traylor. Now some of them were not asked back by the team, or the Patriots allowed them to seek free agency. But look at the names, just the starters. The 2005 roster is different from the 2004 roster, enough to say, hey, this is a different team. Yet the bull's-eye remains, and the league doesn't care if that is fair or not. On top of the absences is the far too long injury list, that include four opening game starters in the secondary out for the year, Offensive lineman Matt Light, RB Kevin Faulk, RB Corey Dillon is fighting through injuries, Tedy Bruschi missed six games, Richard Seymour has missed four, the secondary and receiving corps has been a revolving door of players, not to mention the running backs. Patrick Pass stepped up, started, go injured. Heath Evans was brought in off the street, and he too got injured. The secondary is a disaster. Only Asante Samuel and Eugene Wilson remain of the starters. Rodney Harrison was lost to a knee so drastic it might end his career. Tyrone Poole is gone. So is Randall Gay and Duane Starks and Chad Scott. Tom Brady's constant at center, Dan Koppen is gone on IR. Matt Light has been out with an injury. Two rookies, Logan Mankins and Nick Kazcur are forced to start in place of injured players. David Givens missed time, so did Troy Brown. More? Of the starting players on Offense from Week 1, only Stephen Neal, Deion Branch, and Tom Brady remain consistent. Philadelphia now comes off a 42-0 home loss on Monday night to Seattle. In that game, RB Brian Westbrook suffered a season-ending foot injury. Third string quarterback Mike McMahon was pulled after he tossed two INTs for touchdowns. Koy Detmer replaced him, only to toss his own INT for a return that ended on the Eagles 7 yard line, and set up a Seahawks score. Terrell Owens proved to be a headache all season, first holding out of training camp for more money, then showing up, only to be sent home, then coming back, only to mouth off against his teammates and the front office in the press and be such a distraction in the locker room the Eagles suspended him without pay for four games, then pulled the plug on his season by deactivating him. QB Donovan McNabb entered the season with a sport hernia that requires surgery. He opted to suffer through the pain during the season and have surgery in the offseason, until he suffered a groin injury on another Monday night game against Atlanta. McNabb was promptly placed on IR, and had surgery to repair the damage. But the damage is already done. In ghostly bad luck fashion, the Super Bowl runner-up will again fail to make the playoffs. The Eagles enter Week 15 5-8, and looking up from the bottom of the NFC East. The Patriots are still alive, on top of the AFC East with a 8-5 record, and two of their last three opponents are divisional games. The third is hosting Tampa Bay at home. New England is starting to get players back, and the injury reports have become a bit more optimistic. Corey Dillon, Kevin Faulk, and David Givens all returned to action in Week 13, and made an impact. But none of the defensive backs will return. Six are on injured reserve, including Rodney Harrison and Tyrone Poole. A lot of guys won't be back this season. Those who are on the field will need to step up and make an impact. New England is lucky enough that they will have a chance to defend their title in the playoffs. Philly is completely out of it, most of their best players are gone. But for 30 other teams facing these two at the beginning of the season, they never really had a chance. They've been targeted since February. Whether it was fair or not.
Brady is SI's Sportsman of the Year Put Patriots Quarterback in the same company as Michael Jordan, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods, The 2004 Boston Red Sox. Cal Ripkin, Jr., Don Shula, Joe Montana, Arthur Ashe, Jack Nicklaus, Muhammad Ali, Bobby Orr, Carl Yastrzemski, Edwin Moses, MaryLou Retton, Sugar Ray Leonard, Pete Rozelle, and Sandy Koufax.
"This has turned out to be something very overwhelming for me, so thank you," Brady said at the awards dinner last Tuesday. Brady beat out a slew of contenders including his own head coach Bill Belichick and former coordinator Charlie Weis, now head coach of Notre Dame for SI's Top Spot. Brady has been the magic man in New England, the first since Doug Flutie played for Boston College, since taking over the starting position in 2001 and leading the Patriots to their first ever Super Bowl. It would be the first of three. Brady was named Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XXXVI and XXXVIII. His top receiver, Deion Branch, captured the honor in Super Bowl XXXIX. During his acceptance speech, Brady recalled the last NFL player who made SI's Sportsman of the Year award, Joe Montana in 1990, and recalled Leigh Monteville's article in that issue. Brady read the first few lines, a monologue imagining a kid with a Montana poster on the wall, the kid throwing a football in between the model airplanes hanging from the ceiling, dreaming about making big plays in the big game. "That was me fifteen years ago," Brady admitted. "Maybe there's a kid out there who is going to read this article and think big. And have just as big of dreams as I did when I picked up that article. I think that's something that would mean more to me than any award that I could ever get." The Monday Analysis congratulates Brady on the top honor. Seeing one of
our guys on the cover of SI means more than any other award, too, Tom. Weekend Break Down STEELERS (8-5) 21, Bears (9-4) 9 - FINAL: Pittsburgh stays in the playoff hunt with a big win over the Chicago Defense. Jerome Bettis is the solution, 101 yards rushing with 2 TDs, and the Offense wins the Time of Possession battle, controlling the clock for 37:19. TITANS (4-9) 13, Texans (1-12) 10 - FINAL: Poor Houston. Not only have they lost most of their games, but they have been at margins like this one. The Texans just can't push themselves over the edge. Colts (13-0) 26, JAGUARS (9-4) 18 - FINAL: At least Jacksonville tried to make it a game of it. Unfortunately, they didn't start playing until the fourth quarter. Patriots (8-5) 35, BILLS (4-9) 7 - FINAL: Talk about a beating. Like WBZ's Steve Burton said, the game wasn't even that close. JETS (3-10) 26, Raiders (4-9) 10 - FINAL: All right! The wobbly Jets get themselves a win. BENGALS (10-3) 23, Browns (4-9) 20 - FINAL: The Battle for O-HI-O goes to Cinci, as they close in on the division title. A final second field goal wins it for the Bengals and their first double digit wins season since 1988. Buccaneers (9-4) 20, PANTHERS (9-4) 10 - FINAL: The Grudens are determined to make the NFC South a fight to the end, and hand the leading Panthers a loss, and a snap of their 6 game win streak. Cadillac Williams rushes for 112 yards and a pair of TDs for the Bucs. VIKINGS (8-5) 27, Rams (5-8) 13 - FINAL: Where did these Vikings come from? Not only are they winning with a ton of injuries, but they are chasing a Wild Card spot, and possibly the NFC North title. Whatever Mike Tice is doing, it is working. SEAHAWKS (11-2)41, 49ers (2-11) 3 - FINAL: Another blow out win for Seattle. Giants (9-4) 26, EAGLES (5-8) 23 - FINAL/OT: Wild game. Philly hanging on to all of their dignity, but they lose it in the end. Eli Manning less than spectacular, but the New Jersey Defense comes up with enough stops for the patchwork Eagles Offense, who held their own for as long as they could. Redskins (7-6) 17, CARDINALS (4-9) 13 - FINAL: Joe Gibbs pulls up over .500 again. But it might be too late for the Redskins. Arizona still can't get out of their own way. COWBOYS (8-5) 31, Chiefs (8-5) 28 - FINAL: Wild ending. The lead flipping back and forth like John Kerry on US policy. Drew Bledsoe tosses the go ahead/game winning touchdown with 22 seconds left, and Kicker Lawrence Tynes kicks it wide right with zero time on the clock. Big win for Dallas, keeps them in the playoff hunt. The Chiefs might be done. Dolphins (6-7) 23, CHARGERS (8-5) 21 - FINAL: Marty Schottenheimer can't do anything right. A Miami loss would have clinched New England the AFC East, and keep the Chargers in the playoff hunt for the season. Neither happened, and Diego might just be done. BRONCOS (10-3) 12, Ravens (4-9) 10 - FINAL: Note to Brian Billick: If you survive this season, and get to return, make sure your don't bring Kyle Boller back with you. All he did was hand the ball over to a poor-playing Denver team who could not run the ball all day. Your QB did your team no favors back in the pocket. PACKERS (3-10), Lions (4-9) - FINAL/OT: Sloppiest game ever. No wonder these two team stink. The coaches and players are running the game poorly with penalities and bad play calling. But Favre gets another win. Bravo. Poor Detroit. If they didn't have bad luck, they'd have no luck. New Orleans (3-9) at Atlanta (7-5) Tonight 9 PM ABC Playoff Outlook Here we are. Back calling out the winners, the loser, and the teams the playoff forgot. No chance Y'all Got No Chance. New Jersey (3-10): J-E-T-S Done Done Done! Teams With a Star's Wish of a Chance Atlanta (7-5): So many promises of greatness this season have
disappeared. Teams Just Waiting for the Official Word New England (8-5): A win and a Miami loss does it. Teams with the Title Indy (13-0): Yeah yeah yeah.
We have Saturday games this week, three of them, including one at the Razor. Saturday, December 17th Tampa Bay (9-4) at New England (8-5) 1:30 PM. The Bucs suck in the cold. Pray for frigid temperature. Kansas City (8-5) at N.Y. Giants (9-4) 5 PM. Another fierce match up, both team looking for January play. Pray for frozen rain. Denver (10-3) at Buffalo (4-9) 8:30 PM. Great night game! The Broncos leave their third-rate city for the fourth-rate Buffalo. Cold teams battle in the cold. Pray for a blizzard. Sunday, December 18th Carolina (9-4) at New Orleans (3-9) (Baton Rouge, LA) 1 PM. NFC Southern matchup. The Saints are playing for pride. The Panther are playing for the division title. N.Y. Jets (3-10) at Miami (6-7) 1 PM. AFC East matchup. Who will be Bottom of the Barrel Dwellers? Dallas (8-5) at Washington (7-6) 4:15 PM. Classic NFC
East matchup. The Cowboys are looking for revenge from the Week 2 loss in
Texas. League Notes Cleveland rookie WR Braylon Edwards is out for the season with a knee
injury he suffered in Week 13 loss against Jacksonville...The Eagles suffer
another star loss. RB Brian Westbrook is out for the season with a foot
injury sustained in the 42-0 home loss to Seattle Monday night...Reports
from the NFLPA state Packer WR Javon Walker and Eagles OT Tra Thomas have
ditched agent Drew Rosenhaus. Rosenhaus represents Terrell Owens, among
others, and created a stir in the off season by trying to rework Owens'
seven-year deal with Philly one year into the contract. Walker is said to be
dealing with business on his own, while Thomas has rehired his former agent
Peter Schaffer...Bills head coach Mike Mularkey and owner Ralph Wilson suspended WR Eric Mould this
week for a sideline dispute with an assistant coach in the 24-23 loss to
Miami in Week 13. Bills Owner Ralph Wilson stated Moulds was suspended
without pay. The suspension will cost Mould $93,000...Ravens middle
linebacker Ray Lewis was placed on IR after he had surgery to repair a torn
right hamstring. Lewis was limited to six games of playing time due to
injuries this season...The Rams placed CB Terry Fair on IR with a neck
injury...Jets RB Curtis Martin was placed on IR and is out for the
season with a right knee injury that requires surgery. This also ends his
119 game regular season starting streak... Signs of the Apocalypse The Modern Internet page is going too far. I can't stand these pop ups. And now that all of the browsers come with pop up windows, web developers have found new ways to annoy us. When trying to write this column Sunday night, I was trying to use SI dot com for information. Instead I was met with these in-page pop ups for the Marriot and that Ron Howard film Cinderella Man. The Howard movie did not have a nice close button and I had to surf out of the page in order to get to a link on the title bar of the page that the ad was blocking. Are you keeping up with me? No? Yeah, now you know how I felt. Notes and Quotes Week 14 Time of Possession: Patriots 41:49 Bills 18:01 FINAL: Patriots
35, Bills 7 32 First Downs - New Patriots Franchise Record Tom Brady is 14-0 when the temperature is below 35 degrees. Top Ten List of the Week 1. A lot of Patriots are returning to the line up. Are you excited? I am. Are your scared? I think some teams might be. 2. Congrats to Indy on clinch home field throughout. Yeah, that was heart-felt. Right. 3. Cinci is cruising to their best season since Frankie Goes To Hollywood was a hit on the radio. They could be the antidote to this wild season Indy is having. Could. 4. The NFC Championship game is going to have to go through Seattle. Bring your rain gear. 5. If I were Ralph Wilson up in Buffalo, I'd think about having a fire sale in terms of personnel, and starting over in 2006. 6. Great comeback by the Dallas Offense. Great way to nearly blow it with 22 seconds left, Dallas Defense. 7. My Cinderella team this year is Minnesota. I just love the possibility of Mike Tice taking his team through the playoffs and beating NFC rivals. 8. Typical Marty Schottenheimer to blow a game at home against Miami. There was no reason why the Chargers should have lost that game. 9. If the Giants expect to do much in the playoffs, Manning No. 3 better not listen to Manning No. 2 about playoff techniques. 10. Congrats to Tom Brady as SI's Sportsman of the Year. 12 December 2005 | ||
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The Writer
rattled. Two interceptions, and the Patriots seemed to blow if off like it
was a simple three and out. New England seemed out for blood. Something has
ticked them off. 
Brady
was awarded Sports Illustrated's Sportsman of the Year for 2005, making this
his second consecutive Sportsman of the Year award. He won the Sporting News
Sportsman of the Year award in 2004.