"Bye-weeks. Bronco Nagurski didn't get no bye-weeks! And now he's dead! Well, maybe they're a good thing." - Moe, The Simpsons These are the times that try fan's souls. The cavalcade of ridiculousness that is Media Day is long over, but the actual game is still three looooooong days away. But with 564,000 media members stomping around Greater Phoenix, stories will be filed even if there's no story there. And we have to talk about......

We guess we have to face the facts that the Steamroller Pats of this past autumn were the aberration, not the norm. The M.O. for the first three championship teams was: keep it close, make the big plays and make the other guy NOT make them, then walk out with a win, and make sure the other guy walks out shaking his head and wondering if one or two plays would have made the difference.......

In the first half of the Patriots' perfect-so-far season, there were a few scary moments. There was the time Dallas took the lead in the third quarter, and....well, that was about it, actually. For eight games, the Pats picked the tune, and the opponent either danced along, or more likely, got flung out of the way. We've had our scary moments now. Yesterday was a game when the Pats not only didn't pick the tune,......

"Enough is enough. I am bitterly disappointed, as I'm sure all Yankee fans are, by the lack of performance by our team," said Yankee owner George Steinbrenner. But in the same statement, he reaffirmed his faith in manager Joe Torre and GM Brian Cashman to right the ship. With rumors of a deathwatch swirling in the Bronx, it will be real interesting (and, from Boston's perspective, joyous) to check the Boss' pulse after the next......

Did pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka reveal his "Ultimate Galactic Dragon Gyroball Pitch Power Explosion" in the Red Sox game against Boston College? No. But, in Dice-K's own - translated - words, he did okay. He played two innings, and a BC player scored a double off his very first pitch. (Did that player's stock go up, or what?) After that, Matsuzaka decided he wasn't going to mess around, and no one else scored. Also, we were......

The defining moment in the career of Dennis Johnson - who Larry Bird called the best teammate he ever had - came in the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals against the evil Pistons (as seen on this clip). Everyone remember's Bird's steal, but it was Dennis' layup that won the game. And check out the clip; DJ is breaking towards the basket even before Bird picks off the pass. It was like telepathy. And now DJ......

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! A familiar foe in a familiar venue with the stakes as high as it gets. The winner of Pats v. Colts goes to Miami for a shot at the Super Bowl. It doesn't get much better than this. What does our beloved home squad, the New England Patriots, need to do in order to win this game? Indy came into New England (pre-FieldTurf, mind you) and took New England to task 27-20 on November......

What a game last weekend, the Pats and Bears. Excitement, defense, hard hitting, and even some of the usual drama added by the NFL Zebras (are they serious with those Pass Interference calls? Were they watching the same game? Bostonist is in agreement with Troy Aikman; its time to make Pass Interference a reviewable offense). But, last night's game was proof that Defensive games can be fun. Here's hoping the boys over at Elias Sports......

After what seemed like a 3 month lay-off, the Patriots were back in action Sunday afternoon, this time facing rival Buffalo in up-state New York to kick around the Bills, 28-6. The Patriots showed no signs of rust on Sunday, coming off their bye week, as they took it to the hometown Bills in front of their home crowd right from the starting gun. The Pats jumped out to an early lead by scoring......

The rumors of the death of the Patriots have been greatly exaggerated. That paraphrase couldn’t be more true to Bostonians after the Pats dismantled the Cincinnati Bengals 38-13, in Cincy (they did not PROTECT THEIR HOUSE; that Under Armour guy would be heated with them), no less. While this space tends to focus mostly on Touchdown Tommy Brady (and has received heat for so doing), this week, rookie running back Laurence Maroney stole the......

Early in the third quarter, this one looked like it was about to get really ugly, as the Pats had jumped out to what looked like an insurmountable 24-0 lead over the Jets at the Meadowlands in New Jersey last night. But the Jets made it more than a game, but in the end, Tom Brady and the Patriots were up to the task, winning their 7th consecutive game against the hated Jets. This......

Tom Brady’s week can be summed up best with a reference to eclectic director Quentin Tarantino’s latest film(s), the Kill Bills. In the movie Kill Bill Vol. 1, David Carradine’s character “Bill” finds his former cohort and lover, Uma Thurman’s character, Beatrice Kiddo (a.k.a., the Black Mamba, the most deadly woman in the world) in a small Midwestern town on the eve of her wedding. Beatrice, who has obviously left her former life as an......

The Patriots returned to their winning ways yesterday in Foxboro with a 16-3 triumph over division rival, the New York Jets, during a cold and snowy Sunday afternoon. This one was a bit of a yawner in the early stages. After a bit of a field position battle over the 1st 17 minutes, when the Pats put together a 14 play drive lasting 8:09 seconds that began on their 20 and ended with a......

Whoever said that you "can't win 'em all" might have had a brief audience with Bill Belichick before yesterday’s matchup with the Kansas City Chiefs. The Patriots lackluster performance and effort yesterday was just enough to keep them from being run out of the building, and that is about it. The Patriots were basically playing what would be considered the second string, if this were earlier in the season, due to their rash of......

Ahh.. The Pats... what a squad, eh? Less than a week after being left for dead in Foxboro at the hands of the NFL's best team, the Indianapolis Colts, the Pats were back on the field facing a divisional foe, the Miami Dolphins, in a critical AFC East matchup. The Patriots were banged up, big time. David Givens was out. Corey Dillon was active, but after a single play didn't return to the Pats......

It’s tough to complain about the Boston sports scene, especially with all the successes over the past few years... But let's be honest... The Indianapolis Colts took the defending champs to the proverbial woodshed last night, and it wasn't pretty. The Colts jumped out to a Speedy Gonzalez 7-0 lead in a mere 2:27 (the quickest opening TD against a New England defense in the Belichick tenure), capped off with a 1 yard TD......

While Tom Brady was hardly the focus of Sunday night's contest, the Patriots were able to overcome a 16-7 4th quarter deficit and rally to overcome the visiting Buffalo Bills 21-16. The minions of "the Krafty one" were able to pull of an inspiring comeback that began with a meager 10:37 remaining in the contest. After a penalty-filled lackluster contest in the first half that ended 3-0 in favor of the visiting Bills, the Pats......

A valiant second-half effort by Tom Brady and the 3rd string Pats was not enough to overcome a 21-3 halftime deficit. Denver was able to extend their lead to 28-3 with 11:02 remaining in the third quarter on Sunday at Invesco Field in Denver. Tom and the Pats then began a ferocious rally over the next 26 minutes and change to bring the game within a single score at 28-20. Brady, unfortunately, didn't have enough......

So many monikers, which one fits best? Tom Terrific? Touchdown Tommy? THE Consummate Champion? Anyone who witnessed the masterpiece that New England's Tom Brady orchestrated on Sunday afternoon at the Georgia Dome versus the Atlanta Falcons could choose any of the above to label the 2-time Super Bowl MVP, who led the Champions to a 31-28 victory. Brady's performance, which included 350 yards passing, 3 touchdown tosses, and 22-27 passing with only a single blemish......