More photos » by Stephan Savoia - AP

3 months ago: New England Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson (84) is congratulated by teammate Stephen Neal after scoring the go-ahead touchdown in the fourth quarter during an NFL football game against the Buffalo Bills, Monday, Sept. 14, 2009, in Foxborough, Mass. The Patriots beat the Bills 25-24. (AP Photo/Stephan Savoia)

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I love this picture of TE Benjamin Watson.  In the pre-season, it was widely rumored that he was in the fight of his life for a job.  Nicknamed "Stone Hands" and the potential victim of a team relegating TE's to blocking duties, it didn't look good for Mr. Watson.  Then, things changed in our throwback opener against the Bills on Monday Night Football.

Full of controversy about "The Brady Rule", we were behind with a little over 2 minutes left in the 4th quarter.  Tom Brady found TE Benjamin Watson who, in that moment, got rid of his "Stone Hands" monicker.  The Bills fans in front of me at the game got very quiet.  As we kicked off the Buffalo, Patriots fans were hoping for a miracle.  And we got one.  Leodis McKelvin, pulling down a Stephen Gostkowski boot into the end zone, decided to run the ball out instead of taking a knee for a touchback.  As our special teams had practiced time and time again, McKelvin was stood up and the ball stripped from him in Bills territory.  The Bills fans around me were now holding their heads.  They knew that giving the Patriots the ball that close was not good.  They were right.  Brady hit Watson for another fantastic catch to win the game 25-24.  What an opener for our Patriots and a disappointment for Buffalo.  We've been on the other end of one of those this season (Indy anyone), so we're familiar with the feeling.

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Hi, it's me again. It seems only a short few weeks ago that my favorite team barely scraped by the Bills in an MNF season opener. If not for an early Leodis McKelvin Xmas present... sorry to bring that up.

Brady's still not back IMO, Moss is catching a lot of heat, and we've discovered just how young and inexperienced our secondary really is. Possibly vulnerable? Well, we dropped one to Miami; maybe you can take solace in that. Oh, and Indy and New Orleans and... Let's just say we don't do well on the road.

You have questions and I have answers or, at the very least, snarky comments.  Fire away Rumblings faithful.

More photos » by Charles Krupa - AP

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After a tough few weeks, Randy Moss is getting slammed for perceived poor play, for quitting on his team, teammates, and fans.  Moss has carried around this albatross for many years; as soon as production drops, he's labeled a malcontent.  The problem with this is that Moss is already so far above most receivers that a drop to merely above average is viewed with disdain, kind of like superman in the presence of kryptonite.

The recent spat of invective started when losing Panthers CB Chris Gamble said Moss gave up:

"Some of his body language let me know it was a run, and that’s how I got a feel on when to help out on the run," Gamble said. "I think if he came off the ball and had a little Wes Welker in him, you wouldn’t know what was coming. That’s what I think Moss needs to do -- be like Wes and go hard every play. I’m going to respect him, and every other [defensive back] is going to respect him if he comes off the ball hard."

To which the often stoic and reserved Belichick replied:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- In distinct Bill Belichick style, the Patriots coach defended receiver Randy Moss on Monday when asked about critical comments made by Panthers defenders Chris Gamble and Chris Harris that Moss didn't give an all-out effort in Sunday's game.

"My response would be that's a lot of conversation coming from a team that just lost another game," Belichick said.

A few minutes later in his press conference, Belichick added another dig.

"I have a lot of respect for Randy, I think he's one of our best players and I think if you watch other teams defend him and watch other teams play against him, they think the same way -- other than these two guys from Carolina after they lost another game. I guess they don't think that way. They haven't won a lot of games now."

Ouch...

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More photos » by Gretchen Ertl - AP

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It's a good thing NFL Pro Bowl participation isn't determined solely on the voting intelligence of fans.  I consider "us" to be intelligent fans, but those other idiots... It's a good thing players and coaches make up the other two thirds.  There are a few obvious ones, like Peyton Manning topping the list for AFC quarterbacks.  Ok, I can go with that one.  His team is having a stellar season so far.  Vince Wilfork tops the list for defensive lineman which makes perfect sense.  Hoodie has moved him around so much this year that it truly shows his value to the team.  I certainly hope they pay the man.

Now let's get into a little silliness.  In particular the guy in the picture at..wait for it...fifth.  Sure, if you go by touchdowns Wes doesn't deliver.  But that's not his job.  Yards per game: 105.3, receptions: 105, receptions per game: 9.5.  And he did all of this while MISSING 2 GAMES!!  The other bit of silliness, I'm sorry to say, is to put Randy Moss ahead of Wes Welker.  It's clear the voters are going for "sensational" - big yards and touchdowns.  Andre Johnson deserves the number one spot; he's blowing up the field.  For receivers, the list should be ordered as such: Andre Johnson, Wes Welker OR Reggie Wayne at 2nd or 3rd; I think a case could be made for either.

It'll be interesting to see where the coaches and players go with this.  Hopefully they think about which players give them the most trouble on the field.  Just who might that be, pray tell?

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

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"We knew he was going to shut it down," Panthers cornerback Chris Gamble told me after the game. "That's what we wanted to do him. That's what we did. ... He'd just give up a lot ... Slow down, he's not going deep, not trying to run a route. You can tell, his body language." Gamble continued ... "I know everyone who plays against him, they can sense that. Once you get into him in the beginning of the game, he shuts it down a little bit."

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Here ya go.  I got Chargers and Cowboys.  Indy and NO have basically clinched a bye and home field advantage for the playoffs.  Ugh.  I'd like nothing more than to face the Colts in the second round and beat them in their house.  We'll see how it shapes up.

More photos » by Elise Amendola - AP

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A W is a W, however ugly it is.  Randy Moss was essentially non-existant with drops more often than not.  Maybe we can count him as productive as a blocker or decoy - who knows.  All I know is Wes Welker is an absolute rock star.  10 receptions for 105 yards puts him over 100 receptions for the year...and he missed 2 games this season.

Offensively, I was happy to see us mix the run and the pass.  Laurence Maroney with 94 yards and Kevin Faulk with 58 simply chewed up the clock and kept Carolina off balance.  Defensively, things look a bit better.  The defensive backfield had some nice blocked passes.

This game, overall, was too close.  We needed some key Carolina penalties to keep the game going.  Against a team with better fundamentals, it would've been a different story.

Wonderboy is playing today.  Was there any doubt?  At any rate, our 7-5 Patriots host the 5-7 Carolina Panthers.  Carolina has a 99% chance of NOT making the playoffs while New England's chances of blowing it are 22%.  We need this win.  We don't want to get into tiebreakers with the Fins.  Let's do this.

GO PATRIOTS!!