The Road to 16-0

Well, I'm finally back from vacationing in Buffalo (although, I think that vacation and Buffalo is an oxymoron but I'll go with it for now) and the Patriots sit at 16-0. Pretty sweet. But it's not the goal. I've said all along that the goal is for the Patriots to be riding around in ugly duck boats in the dead of winter hoisting some lame piece of tin over their heads as hundreds of thousands of fans wait hours outside so they can see their Super Bowl champs for about 45 seconds from 50 feet away. But 16-0 is pretty cool.

It seems like it's been months since the Patriots ran up the score on any of their opponents but here's the thing- for the last six weeks, their opponents have been playing them like it was their Super Bowl. Those teams (Eagles, Ravens, Steelers, Jets, Dolphins and Giants) left nothing on the table. Okay, maybe the Dolphins did but they're just awful. And in each case, the Patriots don't just beat you, they demoralize you. The Giants played as good as they can. They played their starters, they ran trick plays, they played an emotional game, perhaps their best game all year. And they lost.

Here are some thoughts on the game:

∙Eli Manning is 23-9 in the first half of the season and 12-20 in the second half. That's a combination of not being a very good quarterback and having a terrible coach.

∙Want to know what the two highest scoring offenses (Patriots 2007 and Vikings 1998) in the history of the NFL have in common? Randy Moss.

∙The mantra of the Patriots all year has been 60 minutes. And no, I'm not talking about the tv show. Remember they held a 21-3 lead at Indy in the AFC Championship game last year with 31 minutes left and wound up losing? All year, Belicheat has talked about the importance of playing 60 minutes in preparation for playoff games and not taking your foot off the pedal. People talk about running up the score but all the Patriots talk about playing full tilt for 60 minutes.

∙Bob Kraft to Bill Belicheat: "Congratulations on completing the most awe-inspiring regular season in the history of the NFL. You are the best coach in the history of the NFL and you've helped make me a billion dollars."

Bill Belicheat to Bob Kraft: "Nice shirt."

∙The late hits by Rodney HGHarrison finally caught up to him and I don't think Belicheat is too pleased. On a kickoff, HGHarrison got into a shoving match with one of the Giants. On the very next play, he was called for a 15 yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. I liked Belicheat benching him following that play. There's a reason that HGHarrison is consistently voted one of the league's dirtiest players but that sequence was just plain stupid.

∙The two minute drill that the Giants were running at the end of the game was pretty pathetic. That's poor execution based on poor coaching.

∙Chris Collinsworth is 100 percent correct on two points. First, this New England Patriots team is the best team ever. They showed the clip of Collinsworth saying the exact same thing in week six and it's cemented in history now with a 16-0 regular season. Second, being the best team ever will mean nothing if they don't win the Super Bowl.

∙Can someone please explain what happened on one of the Giants kickoff returns? The official announced that the penalty was on Randy Moss, who was sitting on the bench. Chris Collinsworth then said the penalty was actually on Brandon Merriweather for a hit out of bounds, but the hit was clearly in bounds. Then the official pushed the Giants back 15 yards with no explanation at all. Neither announcer mentioned it again, either.

∙"I don't know any better way of being prepared for the playoffs than to go against a team that is 15-0. And I really think this provides the momentum we were looking forward to." Tom Coughlin, after the Giants' loss to the Patriots. Let me get this straight- losing your last game, your starting center and one of your starting linebackers, as well as a cornerback, is going to give you momentum? Everyone is praising Coughlin for playing his starters and making it a great game but in the end, I believe that it will cost the Giants their season. The Giants were going to be the number 5 seed in the NFC no matter what happened in the game. They knew they were going to play in Tampa Bay in the first round of the playoffs. Congratulations, not only did you lose the game but you also gave your team a disadvantage in the playoffs. Look for the Giants to be making an early playoff exit.

∙I don't get the 15 yard penalty of Randy Moss following his first TD catch. He got leveled several plays earlier and was constantly being held and bumped beyond five yards. He scores and does a little celebration and that's a penalty? Some guys do more than that after they get a first down. It's apparent that Moss has a bulls eye on his jersey and anything he says or does is under close scrutiny.

∙I actually called the record breaking TD to Moss following the dropped pass on the previous play. I said they should go right back to Moss deep and they did. The only thing that was surprising is that they didn't call that route on every play because Moss looked like he could beat his man eleven times out of ten.

∙Donte Stallworth ended the regular season with 46 catches for 697 yards and three TDs. I can't remember a single one of those catches.

∙Laurence Maroney didn't play in three games this year and somehow still managed to run for 835 yards on 185 carries for a 4.5 yards per carry average. I have no idea how he pulled this off but I may have to rethink my position on him- he may not be great but he may not stink, either.

∙I think that the Patriots broke every conceivable record there is, inlcuding the most team points, most TDs by a QB, most TDs by a receiver and most records broken in a game. Tom Brady finished the year with 4,806 passing yards, 50 TDs, 8 INTs and a QB rating of 117.2. There is also a rumor that Brady broke another scoring record with Gisele after the game but it is still unconfirmed.

∙After the Miami Dolphins won their first game of the season against the Ravens a few weeks ago, the players dumped Gatorade on Cam Cameron, the head coach. The Patriots just completed the first ever 16-0 regular season. There were no Gatorade showers. Yeah, everyone is jacked and pumped about being undefeated but they have their goal set on the Lombardi Trophy, not meaningless regular season games. Belicheat has his team acting and playing like champions right now.

So up next is a first round bye week. Of the AFC teams remaining, the only ones that concern me are Jacksonville and Indianapolis. Jacksonville plays a very physical game and they have an awesome ground game. Unfortunately for them, their quarterback is David Gerrard, who has only thrown 18 TD passes all year. By my accounts, that less than one-third the number thrown by Brady. And I'd be crazy not be concerned about Indianapolis. They're still the world champs until someone knocks them out. The game being in Foxboro is a big advantage. The only NFC team that concerns me for a potential Super Bowl matchup is Green Bay and that's only because I don't want to listen to more stories about Brett Favre. I'll be back later this week with some first round playoff predictions.