mr. blackandwhite

It was the year, without Patriots playoffs, the kids all feel so sad..

Well this sucks. No playoffs for the Patriots this year. Even though they truly deserved a spot, tie-breakers did them in, that and having to rely on Brett Farve to win a game. I was trying to be positive about Far-vre but I knew right from the get-go that he would let us all down, again. Just like in 2002.. just like it. 

I could go on a mini-tirade about that guy but why bother? It's not worth the effort.. I expect the Jets will disintegrate in the off-season as they watch Chad Pennington's Fish prepare for the playoffs while wearing their spiffy new AFC East Champions ball-caps. 

Pennington gets the last laugh on The Jets and their fans in the end. Remember when was playing in New Jersey for the Jets and his own team's 'fans' cheered his injury as he was lying on his home field turf writhing in pain? Karma's a real bitch. I can't deny there is some twisted pleasure derived from knowing The Jets are about to officially become a complete mess.

As far as my own team, who would have thought an 11 - 5 team would miss the playoffs? Not that long ago, 11 - 5 was the Patriots high-water mark for games won for cryin' out loud. 

Well, what can you do? Nothing. Just bitch about it on your lame web-page, I guess, and look forward to next season. 

Despite the disappointment of missing the playoffs, this year's Patriots team has a lot to be proud of. People everywhere had left this team for dead before the end of the first quarter of the first game of the year, but The Patriots never quit and went on to post a very successful season and an impressive 11 - 5 record. That is nothing to be ashamed of.. Just ask the fans in Detroit, if there are any left. Man, do I feel for those guys. I'm sitting here in a funk about my team barely missing the playoffs. How about watching your team going 0 - 16?? Sheesh. 

Matt Cassel. What can I say about him? Matt Cassel = The Muthafuckin Balls. Absolutely THE BALLS this past season. Nobody thought he was going to be able to fill Tom Brady's shoes, but he did great, better than great. Cassel had a few shaky games, no doubt, but he came into his own and led this team to a playoff worthy record. 

Remember in September when everybody was freaking out and screaming for The Pats to go get Chris Simms, Dante Culpepper or some other free-agent QB? Bill Belichick made it clear that The Pats were sticking with Matt Cassel. Once again, Bill Belichick was right and everybody else was wrong. Someday we'll learn to just shut up and listen to him. 

I hope in the coming off-season, things will work out great for Matt. I am sure that he is going to be a highly sought after quarterback. His future will undoubtedly be in some way tied to the ongoing recovery of Tom Brady's knee, but hopefully it all works out for everybody involved. Hopefully Brady fully recovers, Cassel gets a nice pay-day and becomes a starter for a, preferably NFC, team, and The Pats get some nice draft picks as compensation for Matt's services. That would be nice.

Patriots players also earning THE BALLS moniker this past season: Wes Welker, Kevin Faulk and rookie Jerod Mayo. 

To the off-season we go. Time to start making the 2009 New England Patriots. In the meantime, The Bruins and Celtics are kicking all kinds of ass. That's a nice fall-back to have.

Oh, as far as the NFL Playoffs go, GO TITANS.

In Belichick We Trust

GO PATS

Now we wait..

Congratulations to the New England Patriots! Going 11-5 after all the injuries they endured this year is a great achievement. I remember when Brady went down, people were saying they would go 1-15 or 2-14. Ridiculous.. My personal prediction was 10 - 6 so they made me look bad, but I don't mind! 

Now we have to sit here and churn on some stress as we swallow hard and root for the Jets.. and Jacksonville. At the moment Jest / Fish are tied in the 2nd, while Jax has a 7 - 3 lead.. It's going to be a stressful afternoon. I already think I need a Tums... So here we go.. GO JETS and GO JAGS!!

AND GO PATS!! See you in January 09 I hope!!

A prayer to the Football Gods.. the '08 Patriots deserve a few more games.

Dear Football Gods,

I was all ready to write a straight-forward post about how The Patriots need a win in Buffalo today against a spoiler minded Bills team followed by an improbable win by the completely unreliable Brett Far-vre and the NJ Jets, but why waste time with the obvious? (I'm not even considering the possible Baltimore loss to Jacksonville option, we all know that ain't happening..)

Instead I'm just going to ask you to give Matt Cassel and The 2008 Patriots a few more games in January 2009. I humbly submit to your cold, yet chick-magnet-ey hearts, I think they have earned it.

Between forever emblazoning us with the mark of an 18-1 non-championship team, directly followed by taking away the best QB in the game for an entire season, you've smote us in Patriots Nation pretty good over the last year or so. 

Ok, we got the message, you smacked us off the mountain pretty hard, but we are still here and as we await the kickoff of the last regular season game of '08, The Patriots are still here. They never gave in when it would have been easy to do so. They have clawed their way back up that mountain and are looking to keep going further. 

So how about a few more Patriots games in January 2009, All-Powerful Football Gods? I think you know as well as I do, they've earned it.

GO PATS

Hey, in case you didn't know, it's a three week season in the AFC East.

Here's a little peek at the schedule for this '3 Week Season' the Pats are mixed up in. As has been discussed elsewhere, the Pats not only need to win out December, but they need some help from other teams if they want to make the Playoffs this year.

It's impossible to guess which team is going to show up when the Jets and Fish play teams like Buffalo, Seattle and San Fran.. Any of those teams could be a problem, or they could just roll over. The Jets and Fish could be up against a feisty team like The Pats just faced in Seattle or they could be up against an 'ok we give up' team. It's crazy. Let's hope for feisty.

The Jets and Fish have to play each other so one of those teams is guaranteed a loss.. There can be only one.

AFC EAST

Jets:
15      Sun, Dec 14      Buffalo (6-7)
16     Sun, Dec 21     @ Seattle (2-11)
17     Sun, Dec 28     Miami (8-5)

Miami:
15      Sun, Dec 14      San Francisco (5-8)
16     Sun, Dec 21     @ Kansas City (2-11)
17     Sun, Dec 28     @ New York (8-5)

N.E.:
15      Sun, Dec 14      @ Oakland (3-10)
16     Sun, Dec 21     Arizona (8-5)
17     Sun, Dec 28     @ Buffalo (6-7)

In the Wildcard, The Colts schedule is so easy, it's almost laughable. The only exception is Tennessee, but at that point in the season they will likely have the 1st round bye and home field clinched and are probably playing for nothing anyway.

The Ravens on the other hand have a pretty tough schedule. Pittsburgh will be tough, and Dallas has the potential to be tough. Jacksonville? Ah, let's hope for tough but I'm not counting on it.

Wild Card:

Colts:
15      Sun, Dec 14       Detroit
16     Thu, Dec 18     @ Jacksonville
17     Sun, Dec 28     Tennessee

Ravens:
15      Sun, Dec 14      Pittsburgh
16     Sat, Dec 20     @ Dallas
17     Sun, Dec 28     Jacksonville

Of course it all means nothing if the Pats drop one more game.. but you know that.

GO PATS