This is just a silly thing I came up with and was amused by to distract myself from the impending 'worst AFC championship game ever'.  Let me know if you like it or not.

Basically, I applied the seven sins to a football team, trying to use teams that are currently or generally 'competitive' in the league, as to not kick anyone who's down.  I applied one to the Pats to be fair.  Obviously I'm taking low blows here, but all in good fun.  Check it out below the jump.

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Just something I wanted to bring up...

There was a point in the game, where I knew exactly what the Pats were doing before they did it.  Brady was looking around, probably audibling, and he did a quick hand motion, the 'dive' that Moss sometimes does when he scores.  And I said 'quick pass to moss' and lo, Moss caught a quick pass and was immediately tackled for a gain of 2.

The announcers said Ray Lewis had been studying Brady's cadences, and felt confident he could predict plays most of the time.  Granted, he could be bluffing or full of himself.

But it is disconcerting...I feel that the team has become too predictable.  Both in play calling and disguising what play was called.  They really need to work on trying to confuse defenses.  Does anyone else get that feeling?

Also, I knew the first pass would be to Edelman.  It just seemed prophesied, and he got crushed on the second offensive play cause the Ravens knew it too.

I feel that is '07 we had tons of trick plays, and we'd throw bombs at any particular time which would keep the secondary from coming up.  I hope that with a full season of health, Brady can work on this.

Now he's whining about the late pass.  If anything that late pass was a silent 'tip of the hat' to Darrelle Revis...having fun with the Revis/Moss rivalry.  Ryan seems like he wants to manipulate every event to try and get his team to hate the Pats, and while finding motivation is one thing it's just pitiable for him to do it in public, especially when he has to bend reality to make his point.  He's like the TO of coaches.

I'm just the messenger here, but this story has the details.  The woman's story is chilling, though it is not for me to say if it is accurate.  I do wonder if our Steeler friends will regret their previous behavior against us now that Lake TahoeGate may have arrived.  I also wonder if Arlen Specter will ask congress to investigate.  Will ESPN cover this with intensity or ignore it?  I don't see it on their site yet.

Kobe seemed to recover from his lawsuit in time...we shall see.

The Patriots dodge a bullet as Cutler goes to the Bears instead of the Jets:

NFL.com's Steve Wyche reports that the Broncos will receive first-round draft picks this year and in 2010, a third-round pick (84th overall) this year and quarterback Kyle Orton in exchange for Cutler and a 2009 fifth-round selection.

Certainly a hefty price, but consideing the Bears have been stuck in a quagmire at the QB position they are probably happy about it.

Denver may be a force in 2010-12, but probably not before then, since their offense was their good side of the ball and Cutler was a large part of that.

The Patriots have found a possible #1 cornerback for 2009 in signing Shawn Springs, who was released from the Redskins after they signed Deangelo Hall

Springs, a 12-year veteran, has played for the Redskins the past five seasons. Prior to that, Springs played seven seasons in Seattle, which chose him with a first-round draft pick in 1997 with the third pick overall.

The former Ohio State star has played in 143 games with 134 starts. He has 372 tackles, 32 interceptions, 66 passes defensed and 8 1/2 sacks. Springs is the son of former Dallas running back Ron Springs. He played in nine games with seven starts for the Redskins in 2008, before an injury ended his season.

I live in the DC area right now, and some of the talking heads on Redskins sports radio have lamented that Dan Snyder choose the the untrustworthy Hall over the veteran leader Springs.  Also while listening to Jeremy Green on his podcast today, he flat out said that Springs was still the superior corner and that Washington was letting go of him too soon.

Very very interesting story here about how Josh McDaniels tried to replace Jay Cutler with Matt Cassel, and send Cutler to the Bucs, and a Bucs pick to the Pats.

Cutler has found out and is furious!

The source said Cutler was hurt by the news that McDaniels wanted to start his Denver tenure with Cassel and not him. 

"The relationship has been tarnished," the source said. "I think it's beyond repair."

Looks like both ex Patriots were competing with each other over Matty C.

The Kansas City Chiefs were the youngest teams in football last year but new general manager Scott Pioli wanted to install some veteran leadership.

Pioli accomplished that task by trading an undisclosed draft choice to the Patriots for 33-year-old linebacker Mike Vrabel.

Vrabel is one of the leaders of the Patriots defense, and it will be his job to teach a good work ethic to the Chiefs.

In trading Vrabel, the Patriots cleared $3.35 million in cap room.

John Clayton covers the NFL for ESPN.com.

A source told Foxsports.com that Dungy has talked his decision over with family members and they decided it was the best time for him to step aside. Dungy, the source said, was at the team's complex in Indianapolis on Monday morning saying goodbyes to players and team employees.

Some may say anybody could coach Peyton Manning, but regardless, he's always acted with dignity and won a ton of games so I tip my hat.

Here are our official opponents and game locations for next season.  The dates of the games will come in the Spring.

We play on top of our rivals: the emerging NFC South, the AFC South, Baltimore, and Denver

We again must travel to Indy. We don't play the Chargers or the Steelers for the first time in a while.

--------------------

New England

Home: Buffalo, Miami, N.Y. Jets, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Baltimore, Atlanta, Carolina

Away: Buffalo, Miami, N.Y. Jets, Houston, Indianapolis, Denver, New Orleans, Tampa Bay

Well, the Pats aren't in the playoffs, so I must figure out who to root for in the upcoming games.

So I've decided to list the teams I like, not in terms of ability, but who I can stand to root for.

(Edited once in light of Raven's taunts)

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The traitor*ahem*  The coach of the Jets Eric Mangini is expected to get the axe today.

ESPN reports:

Eric Mangini is out as head coach of the New York Jets, 1050 ESPN Radio and various other New York media outlets are reporting.

Mangini and the Jets missed out on the playoffs after losing to Miami on Sunday. The Jets lost four of their last five games to finish 9-7.

The Jets are scheduled for a 10 a.m. ET news conference. Mangini is not expected to attend.

Mangini, 37, was 23-26 in three seasons with the Jets, including 0-1 in the playoffs.

This season, the Jets acquired Brett Favre before the season started and ran off to an 8-3 start. But losses to Denver, at San Francisco, at Seattle and Sunday to the Dolphins left New York on the outside of the playoffs for the second straight season.

So much for the Mangenius.

I have not heard whether Cassel will be back with the team and ready to start.  Obviously it's up to him.  Belichick will keep quiet about it probably either way.

Belichick said this week about Kevin O'Connell:

“Kevin learns every week,” Belichick said. He’s a smart guy. Football is important to him he works hard at it and I think he gets better on a daily basis. He’s getting better through the course of the year in the opportunities that he’s had, which have been limited. But he’s always ready to go when we put him in there."

Sounds to me like if Cassel doesn't feel ok to go then Bill trusts O'Connell to start.  As an O'Connell fanboy this would be very interesting to see.  As a Pats fan hoping to win out, this could be worrying to see.

Also on O'Connell, Ellis Hobbs said:

 “In practice he definitely has a strong arm on him, can throw the deep ball, can throw the intermediate routes. Just like any quarterback we have, they’re great in the system. They can go and just put the ball wherever we need and let our skilled players do the rest.”

Nothing like having backup players that can stay off the roster until needed ;-)

From ESPN...

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The New England Patriots have signed 39-year-old linebacker Junior Seau to replace Adalius Thomas.

Seau is a 19-year veteran and 12-time Pro Bowl player. He played 27 games for the Patriots the last two seasons but hasn't been with a team this season. Thomas will miss the rest of the season because of an arm injury and was placed on injured reserve Friday. The Patriots also are without injured linebackers Eric Alexander and Pierre Woods.

Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press

You heard me.  With the AFC East race tight, there is one team asides ourselves that can strongly help us win the crown: The San Francisco 49ers.

You may recall we defeated them early in the season.  Since then they have sacked their coach and installed Mike Singletary, who is attempting to whip them back into shape with unorthodox measures, and may have succeeded finally with their impressive romping over St. Louis this week.

Why should we send out good karma to the The City by the Bay?

Week 13: SF @ Buf

Week 14: NYJ @ SF

Week 15: SF @ Mia

Go get 'em Singletary!

This probably isn't a big deal, but if it's news anywhere, it should be news here.

ESPN reports that Brady had surgery again on his wounded knee, this time to clear up an infection no doubt caused by the first surgery.

The good doctor DiNubile says...

"This can happen to anyone having a surgery, but it's a relatively rare occurrence after knee procedures.  The earlier you recognize and treat it -- that's surgery and antibiotics -- the less likely you're going to have problems down the line. The best-case scenario is that they got it early, and if everything goes right, he would be back at the same time as was expected."

Let's hope this minor bump has no long reaching effects, and be glad Brady probably has the best medical care that can be afforded.  I for one will continue my fantasy of Brady descending from clouds to throw 6 TDs at next years season opener.

So I'm reading Gallo's article on Page 2 and what do I see?

3. Shameful showing by thousands of Patriots fans Sunday. Leaving at the start of the fourth quarter?

Good lord people, shameful indeed.  You call yourselves Pats fans?  Bostonians?  We do not flee our own stadium.  If the score is infinity to zero, you watch.  When your team is having it's 21 game winning streak broken, you do not boo, you applaud politely for what they have done for us over that span.  Have we become so spoiled we can't even act like men when the Ronnie Brown Express catches us by surprise?  I only expect such sick behavior from Yankees/Jets fans.  If you are going to leave early please just forward your tickets to me and I will distribute them to worthy fans.

Watch the whole game, and support the team no matter what.  Patriots law.

Perhaps indicating a preference for system over experience, Belichick has signed Matt Gutierrez to the practice squad.

Of course, Gutierrez was released when the roster was shrunk, but has been a Patriot for his entire 1 year career after spending all last season with the Patriots as the third-string quarterback behind Tom Brady and Matt Cassel. He originally signed before last season as a rookie free agent out of Idaho State.  He may well be activated for Jets game.

Sports Illustrated has printed their 2008 preview, and they have projected the Patriots as winners over the Eagles in the Super Bowl.  Tom Brady will grace the cover of the magazine when it is printed.

They have our regular season record as 13-3, and defeating the Colts at home for the AFC crown after beating the Steelers in the divisional game.

So they are predicting a victory over the Eagles just as in 2004, except the order of beating the colts and steelers is reversed and we lose 1 more regular season game than that season.

I have the Eagles as my NFC sleeper pick so I am not too surprised there, although I would have expected the Chargers to be in the AFC championship game again.

In Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback he talks a bit with Tony Romo, but the interesting thing is that Romo is trying to make his style match Brady's:

Now Romo was up showing me.

"Before,'' he said, "I'd drop back seven and I'd be looking, looking, looking ... ''

He looked left, center and right in the room, bouncing on his feet, moving forward as he did it, ending up about three yards ahead in this imaginary pocket, throwing to an imaginary receiver on the right.

"I've moved way up. See? I better throw it now or the pocket's gonna collapse on me," he said. "What I was doing was creating pressure where there should be none. When I watched film, I wanted to change that.''

"To get out of the traffic?'' I said.

"Yeah,'' he said. "And as I watched film of other quarterbacks, I noticed one, Tom Brady, who didn't do it. As he looked 1-2-3-4, boom-boom-boom, I saw his feet. They weren't coming forward. He was seeing his receivers though.''

Now he dropped back, imitating the stay-at-home Brady."

Brady's like, back-back-back, stay, look, stay, look, boom! Complete. That's what I want to be doing.

Now, I'm no Cowboys fan so I'd rather not see Romo improve, but it's certainly interesting to see how much respect Romo gives our boy Tom.

News has come out that this will be Willie McGinest's last season.  He was with us for our three super bowl wins, and he was a great player.  I'll never forget when he stuffed Indy on 4th and goal at the 1.  Unless we come up against them, I'll be routing for the Browns this year in his honor.

Here is a list of his Patriot highlights:

Career GP/GS: 171/146 (18/16):

McGinest begins the 2005 season ranked fourth among the Patriots all-time sack leaders with 72.0 career sacks. He needs one more sack to pass Tony McGee (72.5) for third place on the Patriots all-time sack list.

McGinest's 72.0 career sacks rank second among all active NFL linebackers entering the 2005 season. He trails only new teammate Chad Brown's mark of 78.0 career sacks.

McGinest led the team and finished tied for seventh in the AFC with 9.5 sacks in 2004. His 9.5 sacks last season were his most since 1996 when he registered the same amount.

McGinest has recorded 11.5 career postseason sacks, ranking him third on the NFL's career postseason sacks list, behind only Bruce Smith (14.5) and Reggie White (12.0).

McGinest has played in 155 games during his 11- year career with New England, ranking second in games played among active Patriots players (Troy Brown, 162).

McGinest was named to his second Pro Bowl following the 2003 season after recording 79 tackles (58 solo), his highest tackle total since 1999.

McGinest set a Patriots record and led the NFL with 5.0 sacks in the 2003 postseason. His total included 3.0 sacks in the divisional playoff against Tennessee (01/10), where he set a Patriots record and tied for the third-most sacks in a playoff game in NFL history. ? McGinest earned the NFL's Levitra Play of the Week honors by providing one of the most memorable plays of the Patriots' 2003 season when he stuffed Indianapolis' Edgerrin James on the goal line with 11 seconds remaining to preserve New England's 38-34 win over the Colts (11/30).

McGinest finished tied for the Patriots lead with 5.5 sacks in 2002 along with Richard Seymour. It marks the fifth time in his career that he either led the team or was tied for the team lead in sacks.

McGinest led the team in sacks in 1995 (11), 1996 (9.5), 1999 (9), 2000 (6) and 2004 (9.5). His 11 sacks in 1995 were the most by a Patriot since Andre Tippett's 12.5 sacks in 1987.

McGinest earned back-to-back Miller Lite Player of the Game honors following his two-sack performances against Denver (10/28/01) and Atlanta (11/4/01). He became the first Patriot to record multiple sacks in consecutive weeks since Chris Slade accomplished the feat on 09/12/93 and 09/19/93. He has recorded multiple sacks in 17 games during his career (including playoffs), including three games in 2003.

McGinest led the Patriots with two sacks during the 2001 postseason, including a 16-yard sack of Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XXXVI.

The Patriots have qualified for the playoffs in seven of McGinest's 11 NFL seasons. He has played in a team-record 16 postseason games with New England, including 14 starts and has totaled 72 tackles (51 solos), including 11.5 sacks for 78 yards.

McGinest was voted defensive co-captain for the 2000 season by his teammates.

Earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors in the 1999 season opener at the N.Y. Jets (09/12/99) when he was credited with two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown in a 30-28 victory over the Jets.

He was voted to his first Pro Bowl in 1996, after his first season playing defensive end.

In 1996, he earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month for his performances during the month of October when he combined for 21 tackles, including four sacks, one interception and three passes defensed to help the Patriots complete a 3-1 record during the month.

Earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance vs. Buffalo (10/27/96) when he posted seven tackles (5 solo), including a sack, had two passes defensed and returned his first career interception 46 yards for a touchdown.

Closed out the 1995 season in Pro Bowl form, recording 15 solo tackles and five sacks in the final three games of the season, including multiple-sack performances vs. the Jets (12/10/95) and at Indianapolis (12/23/95).