Sports Redux: It Begins

AP photo

Listen, we're as happy as anyone else about the fact that Tom Brady has reclaimed his place in the huddle. There was nothing that filled us with more delight than the sight of Tom Terrific sliding after gaining yardage during Monday night's showdown against the Bills.

We do, however, have to be realistic and call shenanigans on Shaughnessy today. "It was as if he never left" - seriously? Dan, were you watching the first three and a half quarters of this game? Because what we saw was a top-shelf quarterback who was clearly transitioning back from an extended absence. He was checking his knee, he wasn't planting and he was missing his targets - until the game was on the line, at which point we saw that vintage Brady we've been missing.

(To Shaughnessy's credit, he does go on to say that Brady did show sloppy play, but only after heralding the return of the Golden One to his place amongst the gods.)

The rest of the Patriots team was off to a similarly shaky start. Without Richard Seymour, without Tedy Bruschi and - yikes - without Jarod Mayo, who went down with an injury in the first, the defense failed to assert itself early on, but came up big time when the time came to deliver. With both Derrick Burgess and Tully Banta-Cain sacking Trent Edwards in that final crucial minute of the game, we have to wonder if Bill and Company are onto something with this young crew.

True, Buffalo did open the door for New England with Leodis McKelvin's fumble, but the team had to deliver quickly. They did. BEN WATSON, no less!

Happy as we are, we do have to ask our quarterback to please let the rest of us know when he has perfect insight into how things are going to go. Pats fans were busy freaking out, while Tom and Company knew the ending all along.

The Sox are hoping that one of their big guys stages a similarly dynamic comeback today. Dice-K's back in the mix tonight, kicking off a three-game series against the Angels at home at Fenway. We'll see how it goes, but we're really hoping that Matsuzaka brings his big game play to the park tonight, as we'd love to be able to breathe for a night and not anxiously check in on how the Rangers are doing against Oakland.

If you dare talk about playoffs, register today for the ALDS ticket lottery.