"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.......

If you were looking for a titanic defensive struggle, last night wasn't a game to remember. If you were looking to see two patient, methodical offenses chew up yards back and forth all night, you're probably pretty pleased right now. Most importantly, if you're a Patriots fan, you're extremely relieved this morning. The first half was an amazing display of mirror-image drives, with Tom Brady and David Garrard piloting their teams down the field back......

Gifts were exchanged in Foxboro yesterday. From Miami to New England: a total lack of competition. From New England to Miami: Their foots off the gas pedal and a non-humiliation. 'Tis the season in the NFL. The Pats jumped out to an early lead, befitting a matchup of 14-0 against 1-13. Brady found Randy Moss twice (been a while since we've heard that!), then Laurence Maroney dashed away untouched for a career-long 59 yards for......

We could choose to be disappointed. We figured (and we weren't the only ones) that the combination of crappy weather, boisterous fans and motivated personnel would mean the Patriots would kick the Jets' butts up and down the field for three hours. We figured that, even though we're better than New York in every sport right now, yesterday would be a cathartic blowout to soothe any lingering anti-NY feelings around here. Well, not quite. The......

When the RMS Carpathia began hauling Titanic passengers out of lifeboats in the North Atlantic in 1912, those passengers probably didn't want to spend a lot of time reflecting about the food, or the music, or man's hubris. They were just happy to be alive. Was that too Nick Saban-y an analogy? Sorry about that. But that's kind of how we feel after the Patriots clawed their way to survival against Philly last night. The......

A mixed bag on Big TV day in New England. Let's start with the good: The Bills had won four in a row, and were feeling pretty good about being able to hang around with the Patriots. They even got an inspirational message on the Jumbotron from injured Kevin Everett, so they had to be pumped up. Eleven seconds later, they were down 28-0 (numbers may not be strictly accurate). We're running out of ways......

We don't watch Wheel of Fortune any more - once they started spotting people five letters in the bonus round, the thrilling intellectual pursuit seemed to be missing. But we remember from childhood the portion of the show where the winning contestant got to pick out their winnings; the disembodied head floated in the upper-left corner of the screen, smiling and beaming as the camera panned all the marvelous prizes up for grabs. Which is......

Wonder whatever became of the Pats? Well, they missed their target of 38 points, but still comfortably routed the Bengals last night, 34-13. On paper, it looked like the Bengals hung around - it was 10-7 until late in the second quarter - but it never felt like they were any closer than a long arm's length. With Laurence Maroney sidelined due to a groin injury, the spotlight shone on Sammy Morris, who made the......

There clearly was a bit of a letdown for the Patriots yesterday. After the excitement of opening day, and the motivation leading up to the Charger game, there was nothing particular about Buffalo to get the competitive juices flowing. And that's why, for most of the first quarter, the Bills looked like they belonged on the same field as the Pats. When starting Buffalo QB J.P. Losman was knocked out early, it looked like the......

The national script for this game was supposed to be that the Patriots, widely considered Superbowl favorites, would have a tough test against a hungry Jets team that made life tough for the Pats last year. Well...not exactly. The Patriots played like they were all outta bubblegum yesterday, kicking the Jets' butts up and down the field. Want offensive highlights? Well, Brady and Randy Moss shushed the haters by connecting nine times for 183 yards......

Sure, it was 147 degrees yesterday, but fall is in the air today. The Patriots are in New Jersey, the J-E-T-S are staring at them from the opposite sideline, and the game is on. All the question marks, fortunately, are fairly minor. Will Laurence Maroney step up to being the number-one option running? Will the secondary stay strong with Rodney Harrison in football purgatory? Is Randy Moss a ticking time bomb, or will the Pats'......

To the left is a picture of what was facing Chicago at about 4:00 Eastern (3 Central) yesterday, and as you might expect, the wave of massive thunderstorms and punishing wind meant that the Sox/Sox game at Comiskey* would be definitely cancelled delayed for three hours, then cancelled. So they'll try to play two today, but conditions in the Windy City are scheduled to still be a little windy. Josh Beckett will now face Jon......

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......

OK, so maybe that 4th Super Bowl is a bit further away than Bostonist originally thought. The Pats were, sad to say, trounced by division rival Miami Dolphins on Sunday, 21-0. This one was ugly folks, from the jump. Alas, Bostonist should have had a bit of a clue that this could be coming, with Tommy's record down in Miami (a place he is under .500, 2-4 career) and the injuries the Pats were......

The Patriots proved to a national audience Monday evening that this team is for real, and in all likelihood will be playing playoff games in January, and maybe one in February... (crossing fingers, dodging lightning bolts, knocking on wood) New England utterly dominated the Minnesota Vikings (who were billed as the "Denver Broncos of the NFC", who handed the Pats their lone defeat of the season) 31-7 last night, a few miles from the......

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......

On Sunday afternoon, things didn't start spectacularly for the New England Patriots, but they sure did end that way. The Pats prevailed in Foxboro yesterday in front of a full house at Gillette Stadium by the score of 19-17. The Pats season started in what looked to be a disastrous manner. The season's first play for the Pats was not what Pats fans had envisioned for the inaugural play of the 2006 campaign. On......