A Chance To Be Special

Yes, I'm getting ahead of myself. Yes, the Patriots need to win in Miami first. If they do, and it won't be easy, New England will finish 14-2-0 with the #1 seed in the AFC and home field for the playoffs. They will have ended three-game road losing streaks in Denver and Miami and finish the regular season undefeated on the road. They will have accomplished all of this despite having to start the season without Tom Brady and having to finish the season without Rob Gronkowski. This could be one of the best Patriots teams of the Belichick era and that's not a statement that can be made lightly. If Brady throws 3 TD passes without an INT this Sunday, he will own the single season record for TD/INT ratio (he currently holds 3 spots on the Top 10 list). If the defense pitches a shutout, they will become the stingiest Patriots defense of the Belichick era for points allowed.

Still a few questions left to be answered, of course.

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…

Simple Doesn't Mean Easy

It's really simple for the Patriots. Win in Miami and they'll have the #1 seed in the AFC bracket and home field throughout the playoffs.

That doesn't mean it will be easy.

If there's a road venue that rivals Denver for the New England Patriots, it's got to be Miami.

Never Too Early To Get Ahead Of Ourselves

Monday morning and the gridiron cognoscenti are busy talking themselves into their favorite "Has a Chance to Beat the Patriots" team. There's Team KC and Team Steelers. The Raiders minus Derek Carr have been filed in the "What Might Have Been" folder and cross-tabbed with "Wait Till Next Year." Oakland can still secure the #1 seed and still no love for Matt McGloin! (I know what you're thinking; you're thinking Matt McWho?)

Miami and Houston, well, thanks for the regular season narratives. They were fun. Enjoy that first round home game, Texans!

17 Wasn't Enough

It couldn't be a better Christmas. The Patriots demolished the Jets on Christmas Eve, we got out to see "Rogue One" (and we followed that up by watching "Star Wars IV: A New Hope" when we got home) and the kids will be over for Christmas dinner later today. As a young man I never really thought of myself as the paterfamilias but I'm really looking forward to figuring out how to fit all those chairs around the table, not to mention all that food on the table. The turkey's in the oven and I'm working on my fourth mimosa. Good times? Good times.

Who Knows?

When the big story of the week is just how much trade value your backup quarterback has, things are pretty good. When the second biggest story of the week is just how incredibly drunk the wide receiver you picked up on waivers was, that's not so good. Life. It's not just a board game.

Butt-Puckering Time

Most NFL fans find themselves somewhere between anger and acceptance at this point in the season. Denial was left in the rear view a few weeks ago. For others, though, there is still plenty of fear, uncertainty and dread left. Well, except for Cowboys fans, who have nothing better to do till the playoffs start than stuffing Salvation Army buckets with cash. Merry Christmas to (almost) all!