Feeling Random

I'm a bit at loose ends today. Random thoughts. Questions without answers. Maybe it's the time of year, as the poet once wrote, or maybe it's the time of man…

All this "easiest path to the Super Bowl" chatter amongst the gridiron cognoscenti has me nervous. I'd say it feels like a reverse jinx but the local pigskin pundits are every bit as guilty as the national media in dismissing the rest of the AFC playoff bracket as mere supporting players in the Patriots' Super Bowl narrative. It's definitely a setup for heartbreaking disappointment for Patriots Nation should our heroes fail to bring closure to the Deflategate saga.

Could Matt Lengel actually be a player? I'd be happy with unexpected folk hero status built on a few key catches and an edge-setting block on a Dion Lewis TD scamper in the Super Bowl.

Will Michael Floyd be anything more than a very expensive insurance policy for Danny Amendola? When Amendola returns (assuming he does), will Floyd even make the 46-man game-day roster?

Yes, the Dolphins are a different team from the one that came to Foxborough Week 2 but so are the Patriots and in the most obvious way. Miami has lost their starting quarterback and New England has theirs back.

How important is the disrespect factor in this Sunday's game? I can only hope the Patriots want to send a message to not only the Dolphins - a potential playoff opponent - but to the rest of the NFL.

Dante Scarnecchia and the Patriots offensive line in 2016 is a great example of just how important coaching is in the NFL but perhaps not the best example. I'm looking at you, Rex Ryan.

Is a 1st and a 4th too much to ask for Jimmy Garoppolo? I guess that depends on who your team's current starting QB is. Personally (and I think I'm repeating myself) I'd say a 1st and a 4th is a qualifying bid. Belichick doesn't have to move Jimmy G. He's cheap and he's good and who else has a better backup QB right now? Maybe the Cowboys with Tony Romo? What other teams in the playoffs could withstand losing their starting quarterback and still have a shot at making it to Houston? Half of the AFC bracket are already starting a backup. Why would the Patriots part with Garoppolo for anything less than a 1st and a 4th while he still has a year left on his contract?

Terrell Suggs warned the Patriots - after losing to New England - they'd better hope they didn't see the Ravens again. I guess he meant next year. Or 2018. Whenever. Now Victor Cruz says the Patriots don't want to see the Giants in the Super Bowl. Um, okay. Looking over the the NFC playoff bracket, I'd have to make the Giants the team the Patriots would most like to see in the Super Bowl.

Speaking of the Giants, in taking a look at their record to see how they played on the road since that's where they'll be playing in the playoffs, I noticed something I found a little hard to believe.

Beginning in Week 6, the Giants had five home games in a row, prevailing in all five by a touchdown or less. Five home games in a row! (Hey, I'm not saying the League plays favorites, I'm just, you know, saying.) Tack on a road game at Cleveland and you have the six-game winning streak that fueled the Giants playoff push. As for that road record, the Giants will need to win in Washington this weekend to get to 4-4-0. Overall, the 10-5-0 G-Men are just +17 in point differential. That works out to +1.13 points per game. I believe that is the very definition of an unsustainable business model.

The Patriots don't want to see the Giants in the Super Bowl? Oh yes, yes they do. Please, please somehow make your way back to Dallas, Victor Cruz.