Squish the Fish Preview

Up next for the undefeated Patriots are the one-win Dolphins. I'm not quite sure what happened to the Dolphins last week against the Ravens. It appears that they won the game and celebrated like it was the Super Bowl. Don't be fooled. Everyone knows that the Dolphins suck. Bill Belicheat would never let his team act like that for winning a meaningless regular season game. A coach has to coach his players to act like they've been there before. And by act like you've been there before, I don't mean act like you've just won the Super Bowl in 1972.

Following the Dolphins' first win of the season last week, Cam Cameron, who is supposedly the head coach, received a game ball while his players dumped a bucket full of ice water on him. Aren't ice showers reserved for winning a playoff game or the Super Bowl? That stuff doesn't happen just because you won a game. Has anyone noticed that they still have 13 losses? The Dolphins were mathematically eliminated from playoff contention after only eight games this year. That's nearly impossible to do and I think it starts and ends with the head coach.

A lot has been made about the Patriots being 14-0 and the famous Miami team that went 17-0 in 1972. The Patriots are now the only other NFL team in history to start the year 14-0. Here's a look at some interesting tidbits from the 1972 Dolphins:

The 1972 Dolphins schedule was comparatively easy when put next to the 2007 Patriots schedule. Miami didn't play a team with more than eight wins the entire season, having beaten only the 8-6 Giants and the 8-6 Chiefs. Oddly enough, Miami faced none of the other seven playoff teams during the regular season and then narrowly won their three playoff games by a combined 17 points. I've said before that good teams find a way to win so the margin of victory isn't really a fair argument, even in my biased opinion. But it is worth noting that the Patriots are 4-0 against other division leaders, having beaten Dallas, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh and San Diego, winning each game by an average of 15 points. Not 15 combined points but by an average of 15 points. Those four teams alone are a combined 42-14. Did I mention that they beat those teams by an average of 15 points? Well, they have.

For what it's worth, the 1972 Dolphins were still a very good team, regardless of their opponents. And like Jimmy Williams used to say, "We don't make the schedule we just play it." It turns out that the 1972 Dolphins were the last team to lead the NFL in points, points allowed, total yards and total yards allowed so they had something good going for them.

So why do I make note of the 1972 Dolphins? Probably because I feel like that 1972 Dolphins team has a better chance of beating the Patriots on Sunday than the current team, even if those guys are now all retired and living off of past glory.

The current Dolphins team is just awful. Their quarterback situation hasn't been stable since Dan Marino retired. They started with Trent Green, who appears to have suffered a career ending concussion earlier in the season. Then they tried Cleo Lemon before settling on John Beck for a few games before finding out that he's pretty terrible. Now they're back to Lemon. Sorry, but no QB with the first name of Cleo is going to beat the Patriots. Not to mention that he has less than a 70 QB rating, has thrown only 4 TDs to 6 INTs and has been sacked 17 times in the seven games he has started. I tried to find a silver lining in his stats but they're just not that good no matter how you look at them.

And I'm not sure what to think of Bill Parcells taking the GM job with the Dolphins earlier this week. It appears that he shafted the Atlanta Falcons to take the Doplhins job. If I were Buffalo, I'd start getting a little nervous because they're the only team in the AFC East that he hasn't worked for yet. That might change soon because, even though he signed on for four years, we all know that he never stays committed. Just ask the Giants, Jets, Patriots, Cowboys and any of his ex-wives. I also didn't think that Tuna and Dolphins mixed well together so I can't see this ending well. Will Parcells help? Certainly, he will because he's incredibly smart but the team is a mess so I think it will be a few more years before they're very competitive, unless they can land a decent QB in the upcoming draft.

If for no other reason, I want the Patriots to demolish the Dolphins because I can't stand Don Shula anymore. Yeah, he was a great coach. . . about 25 years ago. Now he's reduced to rooting against any undefeated team so that his 1972 Dolphins team will be remembered forever. He was so unbearable during the Baltimore-Patriots Monday night game a few weeks ago that I had to turn the volume down to stop myself from going insane. Look, records are meant to be broken. It doesn't take anything away from your accomplishment as the coach of an undefeated Super Bowl champion. It just means that you have a little company at the top so get over it.

As for Sunday's game, the Patriots defense played a great game against the Jets last week and it appears that they're rounding into playoff shape. Yeah, they've had a rough stretch of games between Philadelphia, Baltimore, Pittsburgh and New York the last few weeks but they've won them all and the defense has stepped up when they've needed to. Look for it again this week, especially during the last regular season home game of the year.

The only thing that's really confusing me about this game is why it was moved to a 4 pm start time? I think that the league is trying to mess around with the Patriots hoping that some of their players will get the game time wrong and not show up but it apparently hasn't worked. Although, that could explain why Rodney HGHarrison is always late on his coverage. I can just picture him coming in three hours late to make a big tackle in the end zone and then celebrating like he just won the Super Bowl as Ellis Hobbs dumps ice water on him.

It looks like it's going to be another messy game in Foxboro this weekend, with wind and rain coming in for most of the day. I am slightly concerned at the prospect of relying on Laurence Marony for another game so we'll have to see how he responds. And even in bad weather, I'd still like to see the Patriots air it out. As a side note, 21 Patriots players have scored touchdowns this season. Three teams, Kansas City, San Francisco and Atlanta, don't have 21 total touchdowns. That stat is pretty awesome.

So with another rain soaked game coming our way, I'm forced to go with a conservative score of 31-10, Patriots. As if I needed to tell you that I'm going with the Pats or that I think the Dolphins could ever score 31 points. If this game were being played in Miami, I'd go with something along the lines of 52-13 but there's nothing you can do about the way that the schedule is made.

And just like Junior Seau in last week's game, I may wear a t-shirt on Sunday, as I watch the game from the warm confines of my home.

Week 16 NFL Picks

If money grew on trees, here's who I'd pick in the games this week. There are only a few games that have playoff implications while the rest of the games should feature lots of playing time from second and third string players as teams start evaluating talent for next year. Last week I was 10-6. In case you can't figure it out, winning team is in CAPS.

Thursday, Dec. 20
PITTSBURGH at St. Louis
I'm going with the Steelers here and I'm not sure why. They've looked terrible the last few weeks against New England and Jacksonville. Fortunately, they're playing the Rams, who have looked terrible all year.

Saturday. Dec. 22
DALLAS at Carolina
Even with a sprained thumb, look for Tony Romo and the cowgirls to rebound against a weak Carolina team. I wouldn't read too much into the win last week over the Seahawks by the Panthers. Carolina still isn't a good football team.

Sunday, Dec. 23
Oakland at JACKSONVILLE
Jacksonville is shaping up to be a team that I would be very nervous to go up against in the playoffs. Fred Taylor has had some big yardage games in the last month. Look for that to continue Sunday after getting snubbed for the Pro Bowl.

PHILADELPHIA at New Orleans
I'm picking Philadelphia in this game because New Orleans has been inconsistent all year. It's hard to believe that if the Eagles win their final two games that they'll finish 8-8.

KANSAS CITY at Detroit
I looked up the stats and Detroit has by far given up the most points in the NFL all year with 390. However, only Atlanta and San Fran have scored fewer than the 196 points that KC has scored all year. I'm picking Kansas City only because I have a rule against picking any team that has lost six straight games. Actually, I just made that up but it's now officially a rule.

Cleveland at CINCINNATI
I don't feel good betting on Carson Palmer and the Bungals but I'm sticking with them for this game. Both defensive units have given up a ton of points so look for this to be a shootout.

GREEN BAY at Chicago
It's hard to believe that Chicago has started three different quarterbacks this year. I don't think Brett Favre has missed three games his entire career.

NY Giants at BUFFALO
One of the important lessons that we learned last week in the Redskins-Giants game was that it may be better to have no quarterback at all than to have Eli Manning as your quarterback. The Giants look like they've rounded into their regular first round playoff exit mode.

HOUSTON at Indianapolis
Indy looked terrible against the Raiders last week and Houston is fighting for a playoff spot. I'm just going on a hunch here, and a huge disdain for the Colts.

Atlanta at ARIZONA
This is the battle of the sucky teams, with Arizona coming out the victor, if you call it a victory to win the battle of the sucky teams.

TAMPA BAY at San Francisco
With last weeks win against Cincinnati, San Fran moved is jeopardizing their top 5 pick in next year's NFL Draft, which the Patriots own. I hate them.

Baltimore at SEATTLE
I would feel pretty stupid picking a team that lost to Miami. Although, I feel pretty stupid picking a team that lost to Carolina last week. What happened to Shaun Alexander? You know you're having a down year when Laurence Maroney has more yards rushing than you- or it could just mean that you're not very good any more.

Miami at NEW ENGLAND
More to come later in the week.

NY Jets at TENNESSEE
Is Eric Mangina's job on the line here? He's taken a 10-6 team from a year ago and nothing seems to have gone right this year. It may be time to start wondering if he's the guy you want going up against Belicheat for the next decade.

Washington at MINNESOTA
Minnesota continues to look like a good playoff team that could cause some trouble in the playoffs.

Monday, Dec. 24
Denver at SAN DIEGO
Suddenly, San Diego is looking like a good playoff team. It's hard to believe that Philip Rivers is the QB of this team.

I Interrupt This Blog To Bring You. . .

A Celtics Post!

Yeah, I wasn't sure I had it in me, either, but here goes. I'm not a big Celtics fan. In fact, I've never been a really big Celtics fan. I'm not quite sure how this happened, since I grew up here in the 80s but I actually liked the Pacers for quite a while when Reggie Miller was in his prime. And by prime, I mean when he was taking 10-15 flops a game. I think I liked the fact that he looked like an alien when I was growing up and I thought that was kind of cool. And how could you not like a guy who was so proud to show off his enormous ears?

I also didn't care for the Celtics growing up because I remember going to the Real Garden and having what I thought were pretty good seats. That was until someone took a shot and once it left their hands, the ball disappered above the balcony, only to come back in sight right before the hoop. I don't know why everyone loved that dump so much.

I don't think it helpd the Celtics' cause that Larry Bird's mustache kind of creeped me out. I did always like watching Larry Bird play, only because you knew he was the kind of guy that you might not get the chance to see play very often. And talk about creepy, do you remember Kevin McHale's arms? Those things were down right freaky. I don't like to rip on dead guys, either, but DJ was the kind of guy you'd cross the street to avoid and that's all I'm saying. They just didn't appeal to me so I didn't root for them. Although, I'm not sure how a bald, African American guy who looked like an alien in Indiana appealed to me either.

So, here we are in 2007 and the Celtics are off to their best start in franchise history at 20-2, which gives them a .909 winning percentage and on pace for 75 wins. They're 12-0 at home. They have a 7 1/2 game lead over the second place team, Toronto, in their division. They look like they could coast into the playoffs. The fact that I'm talking about the Celtics to begin with is pretty amazing. The fact that I'm talking about the Celtics and the playoffs is even more amazing. They've basically stunk the last five years and that is a shame because Paul Pierce is a good player and he seems like a good guy, too.

And just so you know, since going down 3-1 to the Cleveland Indians, the Boston Red Sox, New England Patriots and Celtics are a combined 41-2. That's a pretty remarkable stat. The Sox ran the table on Cleveland and then on Colorado. As you may have heard, the Patriots are 14-0. If you're a Boston sports fan, there have been only two Celtics losses in the past two months to get you down. And in case you're wondering, I don't care about the Bruins. Any team that holds a rally for a player that won the Stanley Cup when they were with another team doesn't deserve to exist. And I hate Jeremy Jacobs and Harry Sinden.

Amazingly, the Celtics have the number one defense in the league, giving up a league best 86.5 points per game. I thought that any team coached by Doc Rivers had to instinctively suck but it appears that his only challenge this year will be making sure that his starters don't play 48 minutes each night. They also score 100.7 points a game. That extra .7 points comes in handy when your average margin of victory is 12. In fact, I didn't even realize that NBA teams still scored more than 100 points a game but there are a few of them out there.

The Celtics have had some bad luck in the past ten or twelve years, with the deaths of Len Bias and then Reggie Lewis. There was also that very dark time called the Rick Pitino era that didn't quite work out the way they drew it up. Back on draft night of this year, it appeared that their bad luck was going to continue when they slid to the number five slot but it turned out to be the best move for them because it allowed them to get the necessary pieces to land Kevin Garnett. I always say it's better to take an up and comer and trade them away for a known commodity. In this case, not having Greg Oden or Kevin Durant worked for the Celtics. And I don't care how good any of the players that they gave up for Garnett turn out to be, I'd do the deal in a second.

Prior to the season, everyone was talking about whether or not this team would gel or if having three superstars (Paul Pierce, Garnett and Ray Allen) would cause major problems. It doesn't appear that there are any problems. Yes, the Eastern Conference is a bit like the National League in baseball. It's hard to judge just how good of a team you are until you play with the big boys- Suns, Spurs, Jazz, Warriors, Lakers and Mavericks. They play their next three at home against the Pistons, Bulls and Magic. Then they go on the road to the Kings, Supersonics, Jazz and Lakers. The upcoming seven games will tell us a lot about this team and how far they've come, how far they still have to go, and how far the could go.

So stay tuned, we may have to start wondering what it would be like to have a duck boat parade in warm weather.

Some Links That You May Or May Not Enjoy

The beginning of the end for the Rocket. Umm, yeah, he doesn't look any different than he did 15 years ago, does he?


And if MLB won't punish them, the Texas High School Baseball Coaches Association will. It's good to see someone taking a stand against those listed in the Mitchell Report. It's even better to see Roger Clemens in the middle of it.


I like the fact that people hate the Patriots right now. Seriously, we've enjoyed way too much good will so far this century. And if the Patriots going 19-0 adds to the hatred, bring it on.


A good story on Kevin Everett. As far as I can tell, these are his first public comments since his injury.


Looking for a last minute Christmas gift? If you think this is the perfect gift for that lucky lady in your life you may want to reconsider.


And to remember that I didn't think it would last. . . One year later and Tom and Gisele are still going strong.


Andy Petite is a fraud. Or is this a good article on damage control?


This guy is nuts. He almost makes me want to go out and run. Almost.


These fines aren't nearly enough. Ten grand for these goons is nothing. How about a game suspension based on stupidity?


It's good to be a champion. I could watch this all day.

Pats-Jets Review

Well, if an act of God can't stop the Patriots then I'm not sure if anyone can beat this team. I had to be reminded during the game that the Patriots don't play these games to entertain me. They play these games to win. So while the game itself was rather boring, for the Pats, it's just another W in their quest for a fourth Vince Lombardi Trophy. While this game didn't feature the beatdown I originally had expected, this was a good win for the Patriots in horrible weather conditions.

Here are a few of my thoughts on a rather unspectacular game:

∙ The Patriots played about as poorly as I've seen them play this year. They had a season low 265 yards of total offense and also scored a season low 20 points. Tom Brady didn't throw a TD for the first time in over a year, going only 14/27 for a season low 140 yards. He even threw an interception. His QB rating was in the 50s. The Patriots had a botched punt that went for a Jets TD. And yet, I never felt like the game was ever in jeopardy.

∙ Prior to the game, I didn't know if the QB of the Jets was Kellen Clemens or Chad Pennington. It may even be Brad Smith, who is listed as a wide receiver but took several snaps at the position. I'm not sure what the deal with Clemens is- he looks like he may suck. That was an awful interception he threw and he should be lucky that he was hurt on the play so that he didn't have to embarass himself further. Pennington was serviceable yesterday but doesn't look like he has any confidence. And I'm sure it doesn't help your confidence when the head coach puts a wide receiver in at quarterback. In the end, I still don't know who their starting QB is and I have a feeling that Eric Mangina doesn't either.

∙ The snaps that Brad Smith took as a quarterback were poorly designed and executed, at best. Look, when you put in a wide reciever as your QB, the defense pretty much knows what's coming. Hmm, do you think they'll run it or will they do something crazy like run it? It's not too hard to figure out. Yes, you may get a couple of decent plays out of it but for all of the scrambling that Smith did out of the shotgun, you knew it wasn't long before Smith limped off the field with an injury, which he did. That's poor coaching, poor play calling and poor execution. You deserve to lose when you do things like that.

∙ Bill Belicheat took the high road. I hate when people do that but he is so great at it. It would have been awesome if he just walked off the field after the game but he smiled, shook Mangina's hand and said "Great game, awesome." The reason this is so great is because it squashes any further speculating from the fans, the media and the NFL about spygate, his feelings towards Mangina or any other nonsense and allows the players to focus on the game. Belicheat even showed some rare emotion after the game, raising both hands in victory and pumping his fists.

∙ According to Phil Simms, the weather conditions were really bad yesterday. Apparently, the snow/sleet/rain and wind makes it hard to throw the football. That's some insightful commentary.

∙ The Patriots defense stepped up in this game. They blocked a punt, which resulted in a TD two plays later, sacked Chad Pennington five times, and held the Jets to just 3/14 on third downs.

∙ Junior Seau is playing like he's 28, not 38. He had another huge game yesterday with two more sacks. This is turning out to be another one of the bargain basement finds of Scott Pioli and Belicheat. He retired two years ago but was convinced by Belicheat to come play in situational downs for a Super Bowl contender. He's now playing almost every down and playing at a high level.

∙ Everyone is saying how great Laurence Maroney played and I will give him credit where credit is due. The conditions stunk and he somehow managed to run 26 times for 104 yards and a TD. His long run for the day was 11 yards. I'm not sure if 'long run' and '11 yards' should be used in the same sentence but I'll go with it for now. I didn't know if Maroney had it in him but I'm still not convinced of his effectiveness in poor weather games (or good weather games for that matter). However, I am convinced of his stupidity. Following the game, reporters gathered around Maroney's locker and he started off with this doozy: "This is the first time people have wanted to talk to me. Makes me feel halfway special. Where y'all the first 10 weeks?" Umm, is Maroney paying attention? Where were the reporters? Is he serious? How about where was he? He's been out injured, was benched for another whole first half and yet he's wondering why he's not getting any media coverage. Does he realize that he's playing on a team with Tom Brady and Randy Moss and that the head coach is Bill Belicheat? Does he realized we've now played 14 games and not 10? Does he realize that he's not a very good running back in the grand scheme of things? Even with his 104 yard performance yesterday, Maroney is only the 28th leading rusher in the entire NFL with a grand total of 633 yards. And he wants to know why he's not getting media coverage? There was only media coverage at his locker yesterday because Belicheat allowed them to be there. And to think that I was feeling half way decent about Maroney's performance until he opened his mouth.

∙ Why is it that Rodney HGHarrison always seems to be the last guy in on a tackle but the first person to join the celebration after a play? He got to Eugene Wilson after his interception and TD faster than he's gotten to anyone he's been covering all year.

∙ With the W, the Patriots officially locked up the AFC's number one seed and homefield advantage throughout the playoffs.

∙ As Belicheat said after the game, "It's good to win. It's good to win in the division, good to sweep the Jets. Now we move on to Miami." And with that, up next are the 1-13 Dolphins, who somehow managed to beat the Ravens and set off mass hysteria and rioting in Florida with that improbable feat. Barring another act of God, my initial thought for next week's game is something along the lines of 41-13.

The Mitchell Report

By now we've all read the 409 page Mitchell Report on the wide spread use of steroids in MLB. While I think that the report was basically a complete waste of time and money, it is good to have all of the names that have been linked to steroids and HGH in one document. There really wasn't anyone on the list that surprised me except Nook Logan because I didn't think Nook was an actual first name. Unless Bud Selig is actually going to do something about the people listed in the report, then this will turn out to be a major waste of time. Look, we're never going to know the extent of drug use, past and present, but if you're not going to punish those who you now know for certain used steroids and other illegal substances, what kind of message is that sending? These substances aren't just banned in baseball, either. In almost all cases, they're illegal to possess unless prescribed by a physician. Selig has been notoriously slow to respond to any type of major issue relating to the sport that he supposedly oversees and I wouldn't expect him to start acting like he cares now.

Here are just a few of my thoughts on the Mitchell Report:

A lot of people were surprised that Roger Clemens was named. Umm, have you checked his stats? He was a .500 pitcher the last few years that he was in Boston and then suddenly wins 5 more Cy Young Awards? He was the oldest player in the American League at the age of 37 . . . in 2000. We're supposed to believe that he's like a fine wine and has only gotten better with age?

I do have to admit that Dan Duquette must be feeling some type of vindication by having Clemens' name in the report. It was Duquette who stated that Clemens was in the "twighlight of his career" before signing with Toronto. He's made about $140 million since then and now it appears that Duquette may have been right and the only thing that rejuvinated his career was a little juice. Everyone always talks about how different Barry Bonds looks from his rookie year up until now. Well, take a look at Clemens. I think the only thing that surprised me about naming Clemens in the Mitchell report is that he apparently likes it in the butt.

And don't give me this bologna that he was a Hall of Fame player before he started using illegal drugs. First of all, how do we know for certain when he started using drugs? The answer is we don't so a players entire career is in question. I can sort of understand how a marginal player would use drugs to their advantage to go from AAA to the majors to make a living. Would you rather be bagging groceries or living the high life if you use steroids? I think most people would take their chances with the juice if it came to it. But people like Bonds and Clemens were always considered great players. Their insistence on using steroids and other illegal drugs only makes their cases worse because, for them, it was all about making more money and securing the next multi million dollar contract.

To my knowledge, Rondell White was never really a good player. I looked up his stats and was mildly surprised by his numbers and the fact that he still plays. Who knew? In his career, White has a lifetime .284 average with 198 HRs and 768 RBIs. In the late 1990s, White was actually pretty good (wonder why) and in 1997 batted .270 while hitting 28 homers and driving in 82 runs. He was never close to any of those power numbers before or after 1997. His career actually isn't bad for someone so stupid that on the check he used to buy his steroids he wrote in the memo line "bought something."

Then we have the ever classless Paul LoDuca. His teamates hate him wherever he goes, he had an affair with a 19 year old last year and now we have confirmation that he's just plain stupid, as well. With his $3,200 check to purchase HGH, Lo Duca included a nice thank you note written on Dodger Stadium stationery. Call me if you need anything? Is Lo Duca serious? Yeah, how about writing another $3,200 check for more HGH? That is one big exclamation point for one big idiot.

The thing that amazes me the most about the report is how utterly stupid most of the players were to write checks to these guys. I would at least think that they'd pay in cash or get a buddy to buy the stuff for them. And that's part of the problem with the whole drug use in baseball- the players feel invinsible because they've gotten away with it for so long, even though there is now indisputable evidence of certain players being directly involved in the scandal. And who knows how many players are actually smart enough to pay cash or cover their tracks. That comment is aimed at Mark McGwire, who's not mentioned in the report, but was quite obviously using something. He may be smarter than originally thought after his "I'm not here to talk about the past" comment in front of Congress.

And yet, it appears that there will be no punishment handed out. Mitchell said that he doesn't want to focus on the list of names but wants to work towards eradicating drugs from Major League Baseball. Good luck with that one. As long as MLB continues to let known drug abusers play the national past time then they have no one to blame for the problem but themselves. And by themselves I mean Bud Selig, speaking of idiots.

In the end, the two year report didn't really reveal too much that we didn't already know. Some people were hoping that the report would be more revealing, myself included, and make recommendations for swift, harsh penalties. It doesn't look like it will happen. However, this is not the end of this issue by far. The 409 page report only names a few sources who were willing (subpoenaed) to talk to Mitchell. There are hundreds of current and former players, as well as club house attendants and trainers that will hopefully be coming forward in the years to come that will be outing many, many more players.

Somewhere, Jose Canseco is smiling.

Jets Beatdown Preview

Up next for the 13-0 Patriots are Eric Mangina and the lowly Jets, who come in at a dismal 3-10, having beaten only the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dolphins twice. As we all know, Mangina is the reason the Patriots are a completely different football team this year. He called them out on their spying during the first regular season game this year and the Pats have used it as motivation all year. This game could get very ugly and I wouldn't expect their to be any hugging at the end.

Last year, the Jets were 10-6 and made the playoffs, which ended up being a loss to the Patriots. I looked at their schedule last year and they benefited from a relatively easy schedule and the only decent teams they beat all year were the Titans and Patriots. This year, they've really only beaten the Steelers and the debate is still out on them as far as being a good team. Basically, the Jets suck and the only thing that could possibly help them pull this game out is a major snowstorm. People have been saying all year that it would take an act of God to beat the Patriots this year and the storm headed this way is picking up intensity as I type. It looks like we could get anywhere from 1-18 inches of snow or a massive amount of rain. Either way, you may want to start trying to scalp your ticket if you're planning on going to the game.

The Jets' offense is averaging just 18.4 points per game and their defense ranks 28th in the NFL in total yards allowed (350.2 per game) and 30th in rushing yards allowed (141.9). Quite frankly, I was surprised that they score that many points but those stats aren't going to win you many games outside of playing the lowly Dolphins. Their run defense pretty much sucks but, then again, the Patriots don't have much of a running game. I don't even know if we've run for a total of 141 yards all year.

I think that Kellen Clemens is their starting quarterback but I could be wrong. Either way, it doesn't matter because Chad Pennington has no confidence right now and Michael Vick has a better chance of being a starting QB in the NFL before Pennington has another opportunity. Clemens has a 61.1 QB rating, completes 52 percent of his passes and has thrown 4 TDs versus 9 INTs. He's not very good. By comparison, Pennington has an 87.5 QB rating and has thrown for 9 TDs versus 7 INTs. He completes 67 percent of his passes. He's not very good either but I don't know why the Jets fans seem to hate him when Clemens isn't any better and could, quite possibly, be worse. Typical Jets fans for you, though.

Earlier in the week, I looked up the largest margin of victory in the NFL and here's what I came up with:

In 1940, the Chicago Bears demolished Washington 73-0 in the most lopsided game in NFL history. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the most lopsided score since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 was a 59-0 victory by the Los Angeles Rams over Atlanta (I think they've sucked forever) on December 4, 1976. More recently, Green Bay walloped New Orleans 52-3 on October 9, 2005. And it looks like New England put a major hurting on the Jets back on September 9, 1979 when they won 56-3. If not for a looming snowstorm, I might pick the Patriots to put up another 56 points.

The Pats defense put on a good show last week against the Steelers and I'll be interested to see if they show up two weeks in a row, especially Rodney HGHarrison if he's done eating his double sausage pizza.

Unfortunately, if the weather conditions are poor, this game could easily come down to running the ball and that scares me. The Jets have Thomas Jones as their running back and he has rushed for 944 yards this year but only has one TD. Surprisingly, Lawrence Maroney has rushed for 529 yards this year and two TDs. I don't remember either of his TDs. I also found out that his long rush for the year is 19 yards, which is also Tom Brady's long run for the year. I almost fainted when I saw that one. It's never a good sign when your slow-as-molasses white QB is tied with your starting running back for the longest run of the year. Maroney just doesn't seem to be the same back since Sam Morris went down for the year and I'm not sure why. I still trust Brady throwing short slants in the snow/sleet/freezing rain as opposed to Maroney dancing around behind the line of scrimmage trying to clear his visor so that he can find one of his own guys to run into.

And I still wouldn't put it past Brady and Belicheat to keep throwing deep to Moss/Welker/Stallworth even if it is snowing.

So, with the snowstorm coming and the game conditions looking like they could be pretty bad, I'm going with a 24-6 Pats W. If by chance the storm passes and the conditions are clear, I'm going with a 56-13 rout by the Pats, with the Patriots scoring the clinching TD on a 30 yard pass from Brady to Moss as time expires with Belicheat declaring that the offense just needed a little more practice on the two minute drill and that they were not intentionally running up the score.

Week 15 NFL Picks

If I had money to throw away, these are the teams I'd bet on. This week's matchups are another tough call. There are a lot of games that were predicted to be between playoff contenders earlier in the year but they never materialized. Now we're stuck with games like Baltimore at Miami and Cincinnati at San Fran. There are some key matchups that will have big implications for the playoffs, specifically in the NFC where Arizona is at New Orleans and Washington is at the Giants. The season is on the line for many of those teams. Last week I was 10-6. Winning team is in CAPS.

Thursday, Dec. 13
Denver at HOUSTON
I guess I'm going with Houston here and I have no idea why. Both teams are lousy and are fighting just for a chance to be considered for a wild card spot. This one could be ugly.

Satruday, Dec. 15
CINCINNATI at San Francisco
This is a tough one to call. I believe that Carson Palmer is just awful but I also said that I wasn't going to pick San Francisco because the Patriots have their first round pick in next year's draft. I'll stick with Cincy.

Sunday, Dec. 16
JACKSONVILLE at Pittsburgh
I think that the Steelers will have the same problem that most teams who play the Patriots. They demoralize you so badly that it's hard to regroup and play the following week. Look for the Steelers defense to have some major gaps for Fred Taylor to get some big yardage plays.

Atlanta at TAMPA BAY
You know your team sucks when your coach quits on you after 13 games. Any NFL player who wears a Free Mike Vick shirt during this game should be suspended until Vick is released from prison. That's just plain stupid.

Seattle at CAROLINA
I still don't trust Seattle, especially on the road. Although, Carolina is pretty awful and I'm not even sure if they still have a quarterback.

GREEN BAY at St. Louis
Congratulations to Brett Favre for being SI's Sportsman of the Year. I guess that's what passing for 3,678 yards, throwing 24 TDs with 11 INTs and having a QB rating of 98.7 will get you. Brady, by comparison, has thrown for 4,095 yards, has 45 TDs to his 5 INTs and a QB rating of 123.5. It's nice to see Favre get another individual award while Brady's got his eyes set on another Lombardi Trophy.

BALTIMORE at Miami
This could turn into one of the worst games of the year and possibly the only chance that Miami has of actually winning a game this year. Baltimore's offense is pathetic. Luckily, so is the Miami defense.

NY Jets at NEW ENGLAND
I'm thinking 49-13. More to come tomorrow.

Arizona at NEW ORLEANS
Arizona was completely dominated last week by the Seahawks. Look for Drew Brees and New Orleans to expose those same weaknesses, which were pretty much everything.

BUFFALO at Cleveland
I'm really starting to like the Bills. They play a very sound game on both sides of the ball, they don't make a lot of foolish penalties and I like the way Trent Edwards has people believing in him. I hope the Bills can make the playoffs this year and that a competitive Patriots-Bills rivalry is brewing for years to come because I don't see the Jets or Dolphins being competitive any time soon.

Tennessee at KANSAS CITY
I think that San Diego's comeback against Tennessee last week will leave the Titans in a free fall.

INDIANAPOLOIS at Oakland
Look for Jim Sorgi to be playing by the end of the third quarter, if not before.

Detroit at SAN DIEGO
I only watched the last few minutes of the game against the cowgirls but I was amazed to see that the Lions receivers were trying to run out of bounds to stop the clock while they were still up 27-21 with only a few minutes to go. Good football teams don't do that. Although, good football teams also don't have five game losing streaks. You can make that a six game losing streak after Sunday.

Philadelphia at DALLAS
Dallas was fortunate to get out of Dodge with a W last week against the Lions but good teams somehow find a way to win those games. Tony Romo has his cowgirls playing good football and, even better, they believe that he can take them all the way. If not for the Patriots' perfection, Dallas would be getting a lot more attention this year.

Washington at NY GIANTS
I have no faith in Eli Manning to win a tough divisional game but I also don't know who the quarterback of the 'Skins is going to be. Maybe not having a QB is better than having Eli. We'll find out Sunday.

Monday, December 17
Chicago at MINNESOTA
Minnesota is starting to look like a very formidable playoff opponent while the Bears are looking towards next year by starting Kyle Orton. Is anyone outside of Minnesota or Chicago going to bother watching this game?

MLB Offseason Update

We're still another two weeks from Christmas and nearly two months away from pitchers and catchers reporting for spring training but I wanted to chime in on some of the free agent signings and trades that have been happening around major league baseball.

I'll start off with the Hometown Nine and their signing of Curt Schilling (1 year at somewhere between $8-12 million), Mike Lowell (3 years at $37) and Mike Timlin (1 year at $3 million). I think that the signing of Schilling is a great move because he's a proven veteran. I also don't think there's the pressure on him to be a number one or two starter anymore, especially if we can land Johan Santana. I am also looking forward to the constant monitoring of his weight as he tries to increase the value of the contract by being periodically weighed. Although, I have to admit that the Schilling family photo kind of creeps me out for some reason, especially the kid with bare feet and the fact the Schilling looks a bit like a girl. I think that the Mike Lowell signing was a great move. Lowell will be 34 by the start of the season and is a huge presence in the clubhouse. The fact that Theo Epstein got this deal done for only $37 million is amazing. While I'ved like Timlin in the past, I think it's time to start expoloring other options besides 41 year old relievers (he'll be 42 in march) with a recent history of injuries. Timlin has been great for the Sox and, while I think it's time to move on, he's only making $3 million. I'm not even sure how he can feed his family for that amount but he'll have to make due.

I'm not sure what the deal is with the Yankees this offseason. After the Sox won the World Series in 2004, they made difficult decisions to get rid of some of their most beloved starters, including Pedro Martinez and Derek Lowe, and then a year later they let John Damon go to the Yankees. Now it seems like the Yankees can't make the same hard decisions that the Sox have made in recent years. Case in point: they're spending $97 million on Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera. Jorge Posada, who is 36, signed for 4 years at $52 million while Rivera signed for 3 years at $45 million. He just turned 38. That seems like a ton of money to spend on two aging veterans who play key positions, have a ton of mileage on them and may not age gracefully. But never fear, they also signed LaTroy Hawkins as insurance for 1 year at $3.75 million. Yeah, I don't see that working out too good. I'm also skeptical of Joe Girardi as their new manager. Yeah, the guy had a phenomenal year managing in Florida but it was his only experience and that team was very young and easily influenced. The Yanks are an aging team that isn't going to be influenced by a former player coming in and trying to shake things up. I could easily picture LaTroy Hawkins and Joe Girardi hanging out on a beach unemployed in another year.

Speaking of not working out too good, the Dodgers appear to have made a big splash so far this offseason by snagging Joe Torre and Andrew Jones. Jones got a two year deal for $36.2 million that could turn out to be a bargain for the Dodgers if he rebounds from a terrible 2007 season. I think that Torre is taking a huge risk by not staying with the Yankees or retiring. He really doesn't have much to gain by going to LA but if he fails there, people will say that he only succeeded in New York because of the payroll and the ability to buy any player.

Torii Hunter going to the Los Angeles Angels for five years at $90 million seems like a pretty good deal but he's 32 and has been injury prone. This does make the Angels a better team and should also give Vlad Guerrero the protection he's never had.

Billerica's own Tom Glavine going back to the Braves for one year at $8 million had been expected but I don't think it really shifts the division either way right now. The Braves don't look like a playoff contender and, unless the Mets get more young pitching, they may not be able to recover from last year's demise. Although if Pedro is healthy all year, they may not need much more talent to contend.

There have also been a lot of head scratching signings that I don't even know how to comprehend. The first is the signing of Eric Gagne to a one year $10 million contract from the low-budget Brewers. I think someone had too much beer when they offered this contract because Gagne was horrible in a Sox uniform last year. Although, maybe that's what it takes for him to succeed- playing in a place where no one is paying attention. Either way, I will forever loathe Gagne for the anguish he caused at the end of last year. I feel sick writing about him.

I'm also not sure what the Chicago White Sox were thinking giving Scott Linebrink a four year $19 million contract. The guy is a 31 year old reliever who had a 3.71 ERA in the National League last year and it was in the NL West. I don't see this ending well for him or the ChiSox.

Speaking of not ending well, are the KC Royals insane? They just gave Jose Guillen a three year contract for $36 million. Did they realize he's on steroids before they signed this deal? Did Guillen realize he's going to baseball purgatory by signing with the Royals or was this his punishment for the steroid use?

Then there's the NL champion Colorado Rockies going out and signing Aaron Cook for three years at $30 million. I don't ever remember him pitching in the World Series but apparently he lost game four. Last year alone, Cook was 8-7 with a 4.12 ERA in 25 starts. For his career, Cook, 28, is 36-35 with a 4.47 ERA in six major league seasons with the Rockies. Look, anything under a 6 ERA in Colorado is good but are they serious with the $10 million annual salary for a .500 pitcher?

But the insanity doesn't stop there. Not to be outdone, the Chicago Cubs just signed Kosuke Fukudome to a four year $48 million contract. First of all, why would you sign a guy with the last name of Fukudome? You're just asking for trouble when you do stupid stuff like that. I also just found out that the guy is supposedly 30 years old (umm, does he look 30 or closer to 40 in the picture) and just had right elbow surgery in August. I looked up his numbers expecting him to be a big power hitter or something but for his nine year Japanese baseball career he is a lifetime .305 hitter and has 192 homers. And you expect him to come light it up in the majors after having elbow surgery. That gets you $12 million annually? The only good thing for Fukudome is that he'll be playing int he NL Central where an 82 win season might win the division.

As for the one big trade that has taken place, the Detroit Tigers certainly look like an improved group on paper but I'm not sure I'm buying into Miguel Cabrera and Dontrelle Willis coming in and being stars in the American League. In fact, I don't even think Dontrelle Willis is that good. He was 10-15 with a 5.17 ERA last year with the Marlins. He gave up 87 walks and 29 homers. How high is that number going to be in the AL? Miguel Cabrera is a good offensive pickup but I think he'll have a hard time adjusting to AL pitching. He hit .320 with 34 homers and 119 RBIs last year. Those are great numbers but I wonder if that's as high as they'll go now that he's in the AL. I also noticed his playing weight was listed as 210 but I think it's actually about 310 right now. I think that the move ultimately makes the Tigers a better team but we'll have to see if it gets them back to the World Series.

So there's a brief recap of some of the bigger moves in baseball so far this offseason. There are still a ton of free agents out there and the hot stove trade rumors change every day so I'll check back in when things heat up again.

RIP Anthony Smith

Well, that didn't quite turn out the way Anthony Smith said it would, did it? After the game, a Steelers official called Smith "young and dumb." I'd say it's pretty bad when your own team is calling you dumb. I'd also call him used and abused after watching him get burned time and time again throughout the game. It was obvious from the start that the Patriots were going to teach Smith a lesson and picked on him throughout the entire game, going so far as to execute a flea-flicker play specifically designed to burn him.

I think Randy Moss put it best when he said, "They did their talking throughout the week, and we did our talking on the field." He then went on to add that no one should ever bet against Tom Brady because he has "the determination to go out and kill you at any given time."

I like the fact that Brady was right in Smith's face after the first TD, jawing with him. I've seen Brady show more emotion this year than at any other time in his career and I think the guys around him feed off of that. Smith said after the game that he didn't notice that Brady was yelling at him after the first TD. Yeah, right, you can't tell that Brady is helmet to helmet with you telling you that you suck to your face. Smith may be dumber than people think.

The Steelers came in on a roll and boasting about the NFLs best defense but I never thought they looked very good offensively or defensively. After the first quarter, it seems as though the Patriots dominated both sides of the ball. Yeah, Ben Roethlisberger is a good quarterback but I just don't think he can beat you all by himself and he certainly wasn't going to do that on Sunday, having only passed for 187 yards.

Here are a few random thoughts on the game:

∙ The Steelers came in with the best defense in the league, giving up 231 total yards a game and only allowing 154 yards passing a game. The Patriots rang up 421 total yards, 399 of which came from Brady's arm. The Steelers started the day allowing just 12.9 points per game with only one reception of more than 40 yards all year. The Patriots had two catches of over 50 yards yesterday. That's total domination.

∙ Good call by former Steelers coach Bill Cowher to say during halftime to look for the Patriots to come out and establish the running game. In the second half, the Patriots ran the ball three times and at one point called 33 consecutive pass plays. "It was obvious that they didn't care about running the ball," said Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor. Umm, did the Steelers show Ike any film on the Patriots? They only employ a running back to meet equal employment standards.

∙ What the heck was that thing that Bill Belicheat was wearing during the game? Was it actually a coat? I've only ever seen him in a hoodie on game day.

∙ Hey, Mike Tomlin, way to make adjustments in the second half by coming out and scoring zero points.

∙ Randy Moss is taking the whole dropped pass bet to another level. Should we be concerned that he's now dropped at least three sure TDs? Didn't think so.

∙ Was that Rodney HGHarrison making two consecutive big plays on the goal line in the third quarter? Why, yes, it was! This was HGHarrison after the game, still yapping about Smith and how his comments inspired the Patriots. "It's almost like when you go to a pizza shop and you order your pizza, and you say I want extra sausage. There's nothing wrong with extra sausage." I'm not sure what that quote has to do with football but apparently HGHarrison likes extra sausage.

∙ I throughly enjoyed the Patriots going for it on fourth down when they were within reasonable field goal range. There was never even any hesitation after the third down play ended. Either their field goal kicker was taking a bathroom break or that was the screw you play of the game.

∙ I'm not sure what to think of the Patriots non-existent running game. They had nine carries for 22 yards for the entire game. Ten of those yards came on one carry by Lawrence Maroney, which I think was a career best for him. I keep thinking that it would be nice to have a little bit better running game but I also feel a lot more confident with Brady throwing short slant passes for short yardage than taking my chances with Maroney running into his own guys. Steelers running back Willie Parker had 124 yards rushing but I never felt like he was a very big factor or that he could single handedly control the game.

∙ For a team that was considered the best defense in the league, the Steelers didn't sack Tom Brady. He has been sacked only 16 times all season. The previous two games against Philly and the Ravens were very physical and Brady was constantly pressured, knocked down and sacked. I saw very little of that yesterday. The offensive line should get a lot of credit for giving Brady lots of time in the pocket.

∙ Here are a few tid bits on Brady's season to date: He has more touchdown passes than the rest of the AFC East combined (31), more than the combined totals of Brett Favre and Drew Brees (44), and the exact combined totals of Peyton and Eli Manning. Brady only has five interceptions in 476 pass attempts. Dallas' Tony Romo threw that many picks in a single game this season. Brady now has more touchdowns this season than he did during his entire college career at Michigan.

∙ I wouldn't read too much into the time of possession stat: Steelers 35 minutes, Patriots 25 minutes. When Brady is throwing 60 yard bombs, you tend to not need very much time to score.

∙ I am a little concerned with the third down efficiency, where we were just 4-11 yesterday. Again, when you're throwing 60 yard bombs on first down, you tend to not have many third downs. A better percentage rate on third down would be nice, though.

∙ Hopefully this will be my last ever Anthony Smith comment but I couldn't pass up Belicheat's post game reaction: "We've played against a lot better safeties than him. He's just not very good." Ouch.

∙ Up next are the Jets and I'm not sure what to think of this game. I guess I should find out the most points ever scored by one team in the NFL because the Pats might be aiming to break that record. Brady needs five TDs to break the all time NFL single season record and I wouldn't be surprised if it happens in the first half of Sunday's game. The Patriots opened as 27-point favorites over the Jets, the biggest spread ever, and I still don't think it's high enough. This past week I entertained the thought of the Patriots-Steelers game being a close contest. There is no doubt in my mind that Sunday's game will not be close. I'll have more on the upcoming throttling of the Jets later in the week.

Pats-Steelers Preview

I know that I said in my recap of the Pats-Ravens game that I would entertain the thought of this being a close game but I just can't bring myself to do it, especially after Steelers defensive back Anthony Smith (never heard of him) guaranteed a Pittsburgh win. At least I think he did but I'm not sure based on this quote:

"We're going to win. Yeah, I can guarantee a win. As long as we come out and do what we got to do. Both sides of the ball are rolling, and if our special teams come through for us, we've got a good chance to win." -- Anthony Smith

Look, like I said, I've never heard of Anthony Smith. I looked him up and he's a second-year guy out of Syracuse who is only playing because someone on the Steelers defense had to have his spleen removed- true story. Here's the thing, though, either you're guaranteeing a win or you're not because at first he guarantees it and then says we've got a good chance to win. Which is it?

Then we hear that Steelers lineback James Farrior doesn't think the Patriots will pay any attention to Smith's comments. Farrior obviously must be either stupid or dumb because I can guarantee that Bill Belicheat has these comments posted on every locker this morning.

When asked about Smith's comments Rodney HGHarrison answered, "Who was it?" After hearing it was Anthony Smith, HGHarrison said "Never heard of him." That could be the best hit HGHarrison has delivered all year. And Tom Brady only said that "Coach tells us to do our talking on Sunday. I didn't know who he was until we started preparing for them."

"I know Aaron Smith," Patriots defensive end Ty Warren said. "I don't know Anthony Smith."

"That wouldn't happen in this locker room. It just wouldn't," Junior Seau said. "We won't allow it. We don't talk. What we try to do is just work every day and build for tomorrow. That's all we do."

That's classic Belicheat. He doesn't give other teams bulletin board material and he doesn't allow his players to, either.

But Smith's stupidity doesn't even stop there. He goes on to say that Cincinnati, not New England, has the league's best wide receivers. Umm, has Smith been paying attention at all this season? And doesn't he realize that Tom Brady throwing to Moss/Welker/Stallworth is better than Carson Palmer throwing to anyone? Like I've said before, I think that Palmer is one of the most over rated quarterbacks ever.

The Steelers really have nothing to lose in this game so I'm not surprised someone made these comments. I'm just surprised it was some no name who isn't really that good. The Steelers are going to the playoffs but they're not expected to win this game. So if they do win, they're the talk of the town for a few days but if they loose, they were supposed to lose.

One of the things that does have me concerned a little is how the home crowd has been this year. Either we're not cheering very loud or the crowd volume we've been pumping into Gillette has been stopped because during the last home game you could hear all of Tom Brady's play calling when he came to the line. The crowd in Baltimore last week was awesome the whole game. We need to get a little hostile during this game and help rile the Steelers.

The only above .500 teams that the Steelers have played all season are the Browns twice and Seattle and I'm not sure Seattle counts because they play in the NFC West. The teams they've played are a combined 57-87. The Pats, meanwhile, have demolished San Diego, Cleveland, Dallas and Indianapolis but everyone seems to say that they have had a relatively easy schedule this year. The teams they've played are a combined 69-75. Not sure of the math but I think that means the Patriots have had the more difficult schedule while going undefeated. And the game is at Gillette so they won't have to worry about playing on that ridiculous field at the ketchup bottle.

Yes, I'm a little bit concerned about Brady possibly taking another beating this week against a tough defense but I don't think that the Steelers have the backs to cover Moss/Welker/Stallworth without getting burned a few times. From what I can tell, the Steelers defense has only given up 155 points all season, tops in the NFL. But they're going up against the top rated offense on their home turf.

Steelers QB Ben Rothlisberger has thrown for 195, 165 and 184 yards the last three weeks against the Jets, Dolphins and Bengals. Those are three of the worst teams in all of the NFL. He doesn't even have a 300 yard passing game all season and that's what it will take to beat the Pats. He's playing good but he just doesn't come across as the type of guy that will come up here and dominate. By comparison, Tom Brady has thrown for 373, 380, and 257 the last three weeks against the Bills, Eagles and Ravens. Who would you be scared of?

Steelers running back Willie Parker worries me a little bit but in the last three games he's run for 52, 81 and 87 yards and I don't think he's the type of running back that can control a game. And the Patriots have proven that they don't even need to run the ball to win, although, it would be nice if Lawrence Maroney stopped running into his own guys.

So I guess I will lean towards this being a close game, if that's what you call a 38-17 Pats W.

Week 14 Picks

If I were Pete Rose, here's who I'd put money on. Last week I was 14-2. This week I think that the majority of these games could go either way. Not because they're such good matchups but because there are so many terrible teams that play totally inconsistent from week to week. Winning team is in CAPS.

Thursday, Dec. 6
CHICAGO at Washington
I don't like picking Chicago ever, especially on the road with Rex Grossman, but I have a hard time believing that the 'Skins can win this one just a few days after an emotional game against the Bills and then the funeral of Sean Taylor. And no offense to Joe Gibbs because I know he's a giant in the game, but I think it's time for him to quit/retire/be fired.

Sunday, Dec. 9
Carolina at JACKSONVILLE
I guess I'm going with Jacksonville here. They have the better record and home field advantage, as well as the added bonus of playing against Vinny Testaverde.

NY Giants at PHILADELPHIA
Eli Manning looked pretty awful last week and somehow managed to win the game. I'm pretty sure he'll look awful again this week but won't be able to rally the Giants against the Eagles on the road.

ST. LOUIS at Cincinnati
Carson Palmer stinks. This is one of those games that you just don't know what will happen. Either team could win by 20 or it could be a field-goal fest but I still like St. Louis.

TAMPA BAY at Houston
Tampa Bay has only allowed 187 points all season and is emerging as one of the top teams in the NFC.

Miami at BUFFALO
The Fish have never played well in cold weather and I don't expect that to change in the midst of a winless season. If the Fish were smart they would be putting all of their efforts into researching who they'll take with the number 1 pick in next year's draft. Although, if they were smart, they would have drafted Brady Quinn last year instead of Ted Ginn.

Oakland at GREEN BAY
Even with a two game winning streak, I don't see Oakland going into cheeseland and pulling off the upset.

DALLAS at Detroit
Four games ago, Detroit was 6-2. They're now 6-6 and look like they have no clue what to do on offense or defense. Although, it doesn't help that Rod Marinelli is their coach.

San Diego at TENNESSEE
This is the battle of highly touted quarterbacks playing terrible. Both teams come in at 7-5 but the Chargers lead the AFC West while Tennessee is third in the AFC South. With Albert Haynesworth back in the Tennessee D, look for them to shut down LDT.

MINNESOTA at San Francisco
It's funny how Detroit and Minnesota are both 6-6 and yet, Minnesota looks like it could be a formidable playoff opponent.

ARIZONA at Seattle
Yeah, Seattle has won four straight but they could easily have lost each of those games. I think their luck runs out this weekend.

CLEVELAND at NY Jets
The Jets suck and if Cleveland can't beat them then they don't deserve to be in the playoffs.

Pittsburgh at NEW ENGLAND
I'll have a more in-depth preview tomorrow.

Kansas City at DENVER
I could see this game going either way, except that Herm Edwards coaches for KC. Never underestimate the power of an awful coach.

INDIANAPOLIS at Baltimore
I want to pick Baltimore. I really do but I just don't see them bringing the same intensity that they brought against New England last week. They threw everything they had at the Pats and still found a way to lose and pretty much end their season. Indy hasn't looked that great the last few weeks but I'll give them the slight edge because Baltimore will probably still be complaining about the officiating from the Pats game during this game.

Monday, Dec. 10
NEW ORLEANS at Atlanta
Two teams playing absolutely awful and going nowhere. Should be a great matchup.

All I want for Christmas is Johan Santana

I'm a big fan of Johan Santana. The guy is among the best pitchers in the entire league and he's done it while playing for a relatively crappy team in Minnesota. They also have some unsafe bridges there, which I'm sure didn't help his pitching or the fact that he pitches in one of the worst parks in all of baseball. Johan was 15-13 last year, having pitched 219 innings with 235 strikeouts. I'm no math wizard, but that's about 1 strikeout for every inning pitched. He also had an ERA of 3.33. The guy will be 29 years old before the start of the 2008 season and I think the World Champion Red Sox need to do everything in their power to trade for this guy and then sign him to a long term deal worth $110-120 over the next five years. It's not my money so what do I care? Make it $140 for 6 years if Theo wants.

The Red Sox haven't had a quality left-handed starter since the days of Bruce Hurst and he wasn't even that good. Johan could be one of the best pitchers ever when all is said and done. Can you imagine a pitching staff with Johan Santana, Josh Beckett, Daiske Matsuzaka, Curt Shilling and Tim Wakefield. Yeah, Schilling and Wake are old and a bit unreliable at this point in their careers but they would also be your number 4 and 5 starters if you had Johan. Number 4 and 5 starters don't win World Championships- your number 1 and 2 starters win World Championships.

So, what's it going to take to get Johan from Minnie? They don't want established veterans so it will have to be a good package of young guys and I like this one:

Clay Bucholz
Jon Lester
An upper minor league outfielder to replace Torii Hunter, who recently fled the city to sign with the Angels of Los Angeles near the San Andreas Fault in California. I would also be fine if the Red Sox offered another minor league pitcher, perhaps Craig Hansen because we have absolutely no use for his services now that we know for certain that Jonathan Papelbon can throw 95-mph fastballs to close out games and make a complete fool of himself dancing.

I would even go for this deal:
Clay Bucholz or Jon Lester
Jacoby Ellsbury
Craig Hansen or another minor league reliever

Yeah, I know that Bucholz pitched a no hitter and has been compared to a young Roger Clemens but how many people over the years have been compared to Clemens? And throwing a no hitter is a total fluke thing. It doesn't predict greatness. Lester looks like he could be a good pitcher, too, but there might not even a spot in the rotation for him next year, not too mention the fact that he throws a ton of pitches. The biggest point is that Johan already is a great pitcher. I remember when people didn't want to trade for Pedro Martinez because they didn't want to give up Brian Rose, who was considered the best pitching prospect in all of baseball at the time. Yeah, how'd that work out for Rose? Truth is, we have no idea of knowing how good or bad Bucholz and Lester could potentially be but we already know how good Johan is. Loosing Ellsbury would stink because he looks like he's major league ready and perhaps the next Ichiro-type player (wicked fast, singles/doubles hitter who will steal 40-50 bases and play a good center field) but I could suffer through another season of Coco Crap if we had Johan. Do you notice I go by his first name only? He's that good, kind of like Cher or Madonna, only much better.

While you shouldn't make trades just to one-up your competitors, this is an instance where I would have no problem paying a little more to keep Johan away from the Evil Empire. I do not want to have to face him 5-6 times a year if he were wearing pinstripes. But if you have the chance to land an ace like Johan and keep him away from your only real competition in the AL East, then you have to pull the trigger on a trade.

So there it is, Santa. That's what I want for Christmas. I'll be sure to leave a few extra cookies for you this year.

Bend Don't Break

Well, I'm finally recovered from the heart attack I had during last nights Pats-Ravens game. I think the Pats are now 12-0. Let me just check the standings again to make sure. Yup, still 12-0, although, I have to admit that last night's game was one of the strangest games I've ever seen. From the opening kick until about ten minutes left in the game it looked like the Patriots couldn't do anything. The Patriots' defense didn't even show up until the fourth quarter when they finally decided to make an effort against Willis McGahee. Yeah, I'm a little concerned that Tom Brady got hammered again last night. I thought Philly got some good hits on him last week but the Ravens slapped our offensive line and Brady around all night. In fact, in one secquence, Brady was sacked on consecutive plays and I don't ever remember that happening. The loss basically knocks the Ravens out of any playoff hopes, which is good because I wouldn't want to play these guys again.

Here are my thoughts on another W by the 12-0 Patriots:

∙ Willis McGahee was phenomenal the entire game. Up until the middle of the fourth quarter, the Pats defense had no answer for him. However, after nearly every play, he's up flexing his muscles and doing ridiculous dances on every running play. I wonder if he celebrates like that when he parallel parks or opens the door to his car.

∙ Lawrence Maroney is definitely not a very good running back. On one play in the first half, he ran straight up the middle, bounced off his own guy after running into him, ran backwards then to the outside before finally turning upfield. He gained only one yard on the play but must have run at least 30 yards to get it. However, Maroney might be a good receiver, especially if Brady can get him the ball in the open field. He had two catches for 79 yards and is able to use his explosive speed and elusiveness much better as a receiver where he only has to worry about beating one or two guys to pick up big yards.

∙ Rodney HGHarrison is playing terrible right now. He's getting beat on any play that goes his way and tackling guys five seconds after they've scored and yet, he feels like he needs to go taunt the head coach of the Ravens? Classic move by Billick to blow kisses at him. How does Billick restrain himself and not go after HGHarrison. I'm pretty sure Billick wins that contest right now.

∙ Does Kevin Faulk get hurt every game?

∙ The Ravens defense was unbelievably good last night. However, I wonder if they played with too much emotion. They had a lot of dumb penalities, such as the two 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalties on the Patriots last TD, ensuring that the Ravens would start their next drive on their own 20. Those extra yards would have been a huge help on the last play of the game, where the Ravens came up just two yards shy of knocking off the (still) unbeaten Pats. I was shocked that they were able to be so emotional the entire game but I think the head coach has to find a way to get his players to control that emotion.

∙ Overrated: to overestimate the merits of; rate too highly. See also Ray Lewis.

∙ How many passes did Patriot receivers drop last night? I counted at least five, two of which were in the endzone.

∙ After three night games, I am wicked psyched that the Patriots play during the day next Sunday.

∙ That was a strange 4th and 1 play that the Patriots had towards the end of the game. They got stopped twice on 4th and 1 but neither play counted- first because of the Ravens timeout and then because of a Patriots penalty. I'm not buying that Brady heard the whistle on the first attempt and decided to stop running. I'm sure that the Ravens will be complaining about the officiating but I think that they were lucky to only be called for 13 penalties. Their backs were bumping and holding our receivers most of the game and it was rarely called.

∙ In case you missed it, Don Shula apparently made an appearance in the ESPN booth. I'm not sure, but his Miami Dophins may have been the only team to go unbeaten in a season. For some reason, I take great satisfaction that the Dolphins are 0-12 right now.

∙ During the game, I was seriously thinking what would happen if the Patriots lost the game. No one ever likes loosing but the goal isn't to go 19-0. Yeah, it would be sweet to witness but the goal is to be having another Super Bowl parade on lame duck boats come February and having Mayor Menino saying names like Belicheek and Kwaft, right?

∙ I think that the Patriots have a lot of work to do this week in preparation for the Steelers. The offensive line needs to give Brady more time, they need to start getting some guys open or run some screen plays to keep the defense up on the line to help free Moss/Welker/Stallworth and they need to work on their kickoff and punt return coverage. The Patriots gave up about 20 yards per return last night. Their defense also needs to work on getting to the opposing quarterback. A.J. Feeley of Philly and Kyle Boller last night have looked like Pro Bowl QBs because they've had so much time in the pocket. Memo to HGHarrison- it doesn't count as a sack if you knock the quarterback down after he's thrown the ball.

∙ I'm not sure why the Patriots punted with 5:30 left in the game and the ball on the Ravens 41. After the punt, the Ravens had the ball at their own 26. The punt only pushed the Ravens back 15 yards. Why not go for it there, knowing that if you don't get the first down that your defense was finally stopping the Ravens offense at that point? I guess that's why I'm not a coach.

∙ Hey, look, there's Bob Kraft and he's wearing his favorite shirt!

∙ Why did ESPN keep showing the replay of Jabar Gaffney's TD? He obviously had both feet in bounds and he clearly had possession. The referees are instructed to review any type of close/potentially controversial TD in the final two minutes of any game and that's all they were doing but the announcers made it seem as if they would somehow reverse the TD. I thought Troy Brown would catch the game winner but there's always next week.

∙ I only watch MNF when the Patriots are on so I'm glad I don't have to be subjected to Tony Kornheiser for the rest of the year. Seriously, how does he keep his job? Did he really ask Don Shula if he brought steaks? The answer is yes. His most in depth analysis all night was that he talked to Brady for 15 minutes Sunday night but somehow never managed to tell us what they talked about. Maybe he asked Tom if he had any steaks, too.

∙ Well, that's all for this week. Next up are the Pittsburgh Steelers at Gillette Stadium. Should be a good game and hopefully not nearly as close as this one. I liked it much better the Pats had 28 points by the end of the first half. I'll have a more in-depth preview later in the week but I will say that Pittsburgh is very similar to the Ravens in that they are a physical bunch. The only difference is that Pittsburgh has a good QB who's playing great right now. I may even entertain the thought that the Patriots don't win this one in a landslide.