The Year in the Rear View Review

It was something of a Dickensian year for the Patriots. It was the best of times (12-4-0, AFC East Champs, First Round Bye) and it was the worst of times (no Wilfork, no Mayo, no Gronk, still no replacement for Randy Moss). In the end I have to say this has been one of the best, most enjoyable regular seasons for New England since 2001. I like this team. It’s been great rooting for them. If this season was a movie I’d be going back to see it again next weekend and I’d be looking for an IMAX theater.

Here are some thumbnails sketches of the Patriots 2013 regular season. Seriously, has this been released on Blu-Ray yet?

Wild Cards

We’re all 0-0 now.

Drew Brees 5476*

So this is fair.

The Year Christmas Literally Kicked My Ass

An open letter to the my long-time friends this New Year's Eve...

Can Nice Guys Finish First?

My wife Vickie has an inscrutable process for choosing her favorite Patriots player. In the case of her first favorite player, Willie McGinest, it came down to one play, a sack of Peyton Manning in which Willie made an incredibly athletic move to get to the quarterback. “Did you see that?” Of course I did; I’m watching the game. “Who is that guy? He’s sung,” she said, using a Tai Chi term that I was familiar with but hadn’t really understood until that moment. Willie was so in tune with the game of football that there wasn’t an ounce of tension in his body. He moved like water in a river. “Yeah,” I said. “That’s Willie McGinest.”

Her latest favorite player does not move like water in a river unless that river just burst through a dam. Before his record-setting Sunday against the Bills, we watched LeGarrette Blount on the Patriots pregame show on WBZ and my wife said, “Who is that guy?” And that was before we got a look at his custom wheels. LeGarrette Blount, I suddenly realized, is Tom Hanks in “Big.” Who couldn’t like this guy?

It's Win or Go Home Time

In case there was any doubt, this is a quarterback’s league. Make a list of the best QB’s in the NFL and then cross-check that against a list of the teams in the playoffs. Peyton Manning, Tom Brady, Andrew Luck, Philip Rivers, Russell Wilson, Colin Kaepernick, Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees are probably on your list in some order and all of them going to the pigskin prom. And if it hadn’t been for an officiating gaffe in the Chiefs-Chargers game, Roethlisberger would be in the playoffs, too. Andy Dalton was close to making the best list but then he threw four interceptions against the Ravens. Good thing for the Ginger QB and Bengals’ fans that defense wins championships.

It Comes Down To This

This is the end. For some.