A Writer's March ~ The Monday Analysis 15 November 2004

The World Champion Domination was in full effect at the Razor Sunday night. And the Patriots got another big divisional win with the World Champion Red Sox watching.

The World Champion New England Patriots welcomed honored guests the World Champion Red Sox at Gillette Stadium by dismantling the Buffalo Bills 29-6 Sunday night and improve to 8-1. Johnny Damon and Curt Schilling carried in the World Series trophy to 70,000 of Patriots Nation, before their brothers took care of a division rival for a season sweep of the Bills.

It was also another homecoming for former Patriots Drew Bledsoe and Lawyer Milloy, both now with Buffalo, but not that sweet. Bledsoe threw only 76 yards and 3 INTs before being replaced by rookie JP Losman, who didn't fair much better. Running back Willis McGahee managed only 37 yards. The Buffalo defense gave up two Tom Brady touchdowns (David Patten and Christian Fauria), 5 Adam Vinatieri field goals, and a clear path to the star of the show, running back Corey Dillon, who rushed for 151 yards on the night. Dillon spent time on the sideline with a nagging thigh injury, but maybe he was just trying to catch his breath.

"Corey ran hard," coach Bill Belichick said. "He made a lot of yards on his own. It's good when you're able to run well and set up those play-action passes."

"I just wanted to play," said Dillon. "I just wanted to go out there and run and help us win and do what I can do. I'm just having fun. It's been a long time since I've felt like this. We're doing things as a team, winning as a team."

Troy Brown played cornerback again, and had a retro evening. He caught a pass from Drew Bledsoe, only this time as an interception.

"I don't think Drew saw me so he threw it to (Eric Moulds) and I was there to make the pick," Brown said.

To add insult to injury, Schilling, who bought Bledsoe's Medfield home last year and bragged about not paying anywhere near the $6.5 million asking price at the time, showed up in a Brady jersey. I'll bet Drew had the thought "I'll be damned if anyone wears a Brady jersey in this house" at least once while living there.

This one wasn't even competitive. The Bills only scored from a kick off return and blew the two point conversion. The Patriots still need to work on getting the ball into the endzone while in the redzone. The five field goals helped Adam Vinatieri become the second Patriot to score 1,000 points. Gino Cappelletti was the first.

Bledsoe is slated to start next week, but his days are numbered. The Patriots travel to Kansas City next Monday Night.

The Monday Analysis POWER Rankings

1. Pittsburgh (8-1). They stay on top, for now. The road to the Super Bowl may go through Pittsburgh.

2. New England (8-1). Another dominating win over a divisional.

3. Philadelphia (7-1). Bad loss to their PennState Rivals. McNabb and TO need a serious hooking up this week on Monday Night.

4. San Diego (6-3). A Bye week keeps Diego at the top of the heap.

5. Atlanta (7-2). Mike Vick show slams the once and mighty Bucs.

6. Indy (6-3). The Offensive Machine continues to roll.

7. Denver (6-3). A Bye week keeps them at the top as well.

8. Baltimore (6-3). Nice win over the Jets in overtime. They needed it to keep chasing Pittsburgh.

9. Jacksonville (6-3). Jax nearly lost it all int he fourth and fifth quarters. But they held on, which is what you need to do.

10. NJ Jets (6-3). No Pennington, and Quincy Carter can't get then the win. Jersey is dropping.

11. Green Bay (5-4). Back into the winning vibe at home, and Favre gets a late game winning drive going to get back on top of the division.

12. St. Louis (5-4). Rams bounced back against the wallop New England gave them for a big division win, where they remain undefeated.