Decades

I spent this sunny December morning surfing the Internet for Patriots porn. I relived some of the Top 100 moments with Tom Brady, and inspired by the Rich Eisen challenge to Bill Belichick asking for a signature moment from Brady's career, not to mention every local pigskin pundit and bobblehead putting together All Decade lists (players, Top 10 Games, etc.), I searched for Patriots "greatest" video content. While this activity is always deeply satisfying, I couldn't help but ask myself…

Can this two-decade run for the New England Patriots actually be appreciated? It is, after all, unprecedented. How do we deal with that which has never been and may never be ever again?

'Twas The Day After Christmas

I hope all your religio-cultural specific celebrations - stolen from pagans who were simply glad the days were once again getting longer - resulted in dreams come true. Or mostly true. 

Don't be greedy.

Season's Greeting

A glorious Sunday before Christmas in New England. A milky sun, unseasonably warm temperatures, and the New England Patriots are the AFC East Champions for the eleventeenth time in a row.

Nobody's Perfect

"And that might not have been a loss if not for a New England touchdown on special teams as well as the second-half departure of Bills quarterback Josh Allen."

• Bleacher Report's Week 16 Expert Consensus NFL Picks

Where to begin?

History Rhymes Again

A disappointing loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. A cheating controversy involving videotape. We're on to Cincinnati.

Wait-What?

If you built a time machine and traveled back in time, would you know you built a time machine in the future?

I Was Told There'd Be No Math

We are like one of those intergalactic cultures that Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise visited, where all knowledge of technology has been lost; the forgotten magic of the ancient ones. The server rooms have become dusty churches where the green-skinned, miniskirt-clad tribal women of today perform the ritual of the reboot without any underlying understanding of what it once meant. Their fear of these remnants of solid state technology and it's strange binary math has cost the lives of many of whatever passes for goats on this distant planet, offered in sacrifice to these machines in the ghost. 

NFL fans are like these sexy alien women in their love of Captain Kirk and their fear of the existential threat of… mathematical elimination.

Making It Up As They Go

There's a dark subtext to seeing the Patriots set the record with their 17th consecutive season winning 10 games (or more, of course). I mean… That can't go on forever. Right? 

It doesn't help that the consensus amongst pigskin pundits and bobbleheads seems to be that this is the worst 10-1-0 team in NFL history. Wounded. Living off their rep and a soft schedule. No longer Super Bowl contenders. (Can you say a more hurtful thing about the Patriots?) Is that The Cliff photobombing Tom Brady's Instagram posts? 

If there's an upside, it's that Bill Belichick is some kind of pigskin alchemist who can transform doubt into blocked punts.