by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

So much for the 24 point spread, huh?

Random thoughts from last night’s narrow 31-28 Patriots win over the upstart Eagles:

*First, all due credit goes to Philly for this one. I don’t know about you, but I sure underestimated them. The Eagles probably had more success carrying out their game plan than the Patriots did.

*I’m sure we’ll hear how the Eagles have given the rest of the league a blueprint on how to beat the Patriots. News flash: the Patriots won. Lost in the blueprint stuff will be the fact that for the second time this month, the Pats took a solid punch and remained standing. That’s twice in the last four weeks they’ve rallied to win in the fourth quarter, with late plays being made on both sides of the ball. Oddly, you might think more of the Pats for winning this kind of game. That they walked out of there winners after looking like upset victims all night says everything about their mental toughness.

*I have to thank the Eagles, though - last week, I was having a hell of a time staying with that rout over the Bills. Didn’t have that problem last night.

*Slants and in-cuts - THAT WAS THE GAME! It all started with the Philly o-line - they rolled the Pats d-line pretty good in this one, and AJ Feeley had plenty enough time to find the holes in the Pats secondary, of which there seemed to be many. The Pats never mounted a consistent pass rush, and they left their defensive backs to take a pummeling. I thought John Madden was extra sharp on explaining how the Pats would give away the inside to protect against the big play. The Eagles were happy to take it, and it almost won them the game. When they tried to get to the perimeter late, the Pats took the ball away twice. Why did the Eagles do that, by the way, when they had owned New England between the numbers?

*The Eagles were intent on stopping Randy Moss, and did so admirably, which had a trickle down effect on Tom Brady and rest of the Pats offense. Philly put a lot of heat on the MVP quarterback (three sacks) with their typical array of blitzes, which disallowed any of the deep throws that had been the Pats hallmark through the first ten games. The end result? The high flying Pats offense was held to - gasp - just 24 points.

*Speaking of Moss - do you think the NFL came right out and said to their officials, “Mr. Polian wants you to call more offensive pass interference penalties on Randy Moss,” or did they try to straight-face it with some ‘general’ language instead?

*So with the chips down, Wes Welker saved Brady and the Pats (Jabar Gaffney with the assist). Remember there were a few days there after the trade when we fretted over whether New England really had to give up the second rounder for Welker? Seems even more ridiculous now. Didn’t he go over EIGHTY receptions last night? Would the Patriots have won without him? Oh, and one more thing: LOVE the little screen play with him coming in motion and then taking the quick pass behind two receivers on the edge. That’s as good as a running play.

*Which they otherwise had little interest in pursuing. The Pats had 13 carries by people not named Tom Brady (who was the team’s best runner on the night). I liked how Laurence Maroney hurled himself at the end zone for the winning points, but on the final possession, he seemed to think he was helping by being tackled as quickly and as passively as possible. He couldn’t be less of a factor in the Patriots offense.

*Both Rosevelt Colvin and Randall Gay left with injuries, which figures since the Patriots went into the game the healthiest they’ve been all season. Gay’s injury forced Eddie Jackson into regular action after a long layoff, and it showed. Ellis Hobbs and Rodney Harrison both hobbled off as well, but both returned. We’ll hear a lot about New England’s secondary being “exposed”, I think (despite three picks, two by Asante Samuel), but again, I go back to the pass rush. I’ve said it before - there’s a good bit of the team’s money tied up in that front seven, and as a result, they’re the ones who have to make the plays. They didn’t tonight, for the most part.

*So the Pats have clinched the AFC East and, at mimimum, the third playoff seed (they can’t finish behind West leader San Diego now). In the race for the first seed, it comes down to this - the Colts and Steelers have to hope the Pats lose three of their last five if either is going to have a shot. I suppose they’ll look at tonight’s result as evidence it could happen, but as mentioned above, I think they would be reading that entirely wrong.

*Back on ice for another week, antique Dolphins. You AND your champagne.

by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

The New England Patriots captured their fifth straight AFC East title, and the first berth awarded to the 2007 NFL playoffs, when the Jacksonville Jaguars defeated the Buffalo Bills 36-14 this afternoon in Jacksonville.

The clinch, which comes some four hours before the Pats take the Gillette Stadium field against the Eagles, ties an NFL record for earliest division clinch since the 16 game schedule was instituted nearly 30 years ago.

The fifth straight AFC East crown is also record for that division. It is the sixth division championship for the Patriots this decade.

by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

It will be another looooooong Sunday for New England football fans as the 5-5 Philadelphia Eagles arrive in Foxboro tonight for the Pats’ second consecutive appearance on NBC’s Sunday Night Football.

This is the price we pay for being granted this rare football team, I guess - a prime-time schedule to rival that of Dateline NBC. And there’s more to come - next Monday night, the Pats will be in Baltimore for Monday Night Football, their third straight prime-time game.

At least the Giants game - the regular season finale - is on a Saturday. Doesn’t seem half as bad. These Sundays and Mondays are killers.

Still, we trudge ahead. At least we have a hat and t-shirt game to watch in the interim - if the Jaguars can beat the Bills at 1:00 PM (CBS), the Patriots will win their fifth straight AFC East title. If Jacksonville comes up short, the Pats can do the job on their own by beating Philly later.

Let’s get the day started with a look at the morning papers.

In the Globe, Chris Gasper and Jim McCabe ponder the divergent paths taken by the Pats and the Eagles since their last meeting, in Super Bowl 39. Gasper recounts the charges against Public Enemy #1 (was this even necessary, AGAIN? Yeah, I’m concerned about the Pats image in the eyes of their opponents) and McCabe wonders how difference between the teams went from 3 points (January ‘05) to 24 (tonight’s point spread). 

Gasper’s notebook has Donovan McNabb out and AJ Feeley in for the Eagles. An upgrade, as far as I’m concerned. Jim McBride likes the Eagles to cover but the Pats to win by three scores anyway. In his weekly league notes, Mike Reiss talks with Bill Parcells about the disparity between the NFL’s haves and have nots, which the legendary coach attributes to quarterback play. That’s true, coach, but as I mentioned earlier - we won’t have to suffer through another McNabb performance tonight.

In the Herald, John Tomase says it’s on the great Brian Westbrook to ensure the Eagles don’t get blown out tonight. Tomase says watching to see if the Eagles can overcome the 24 point spread is one of five things to look for tonight. John goes on to inventory the team and individual records that the Pats will pursue over the final six games, and wonders if the NFL community can stomach giving coach of the year honors to the formerly-rebuked Bill Belichick.

Karen Gurgeian closes out the Herald coverage with her Pats notebook, where she catches up with forgotten man Jabar Gaffney, who is still hanging on to a role in the Pats offense.

In the ProJo, Shalise Manza Young says the Pats #3 ranked scoring defense has been challenged infrequently this season, but its members don’t doubt that it will respond when called upon. SMY goes on to chat with Donte Stallworth in her weekly Up Close segment (whatever happened to his alter ego, anyway?) and Jim Donaldson writes a column that somehow ends with a persistent “Wilhelm Belichick” challenging Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony. See, because he’s always serving up the Humble Pie, even to the Perfect Pats. I am not making this up.

Elsewhere, Douglas Flynn of the MetroWest Daily News reminds us that the Eagles took a very Steeler-like approach to the Spygate scandal, instead of just keeping their traps shut. That may cause them a few added problems tonight. Eric McHugh of the Patriot Ledger says he won’t question the Pats when they sign Pac Man Jones this spring, not after witnessing the resurrection of Randy Moss in New England. In the Courant, David Heuschkel says the 24 point spread is a whole new level of respect for the often-disrespected Pats. In Portland, the Sunday Telegram’s Mike Lowe visits with special teams captain Larry Izzo.

That’s it for this morning. Perhaps we’ll be able to return around 4:00 PM to declare the Pats AFC East champs.

by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

The College Scout has gone on holiday break for now, but Greg will return in a couple of weeks with a comprehensive bowl preview just as soon as all the matchups have been announced. Stay tuned, and as always, I’ll be back tomorrow morning with the Sunday Links.

In the meantime, gear up for tomorrow’s matchup with Philadelphia by making some authentic Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, paired with the perfect brews over on the Patriots Buffet Table.

by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.

You know what’s a great Thanksgiving tradition? Wildly speculating about playoff seedings that won’t be sown for another month and a half yet. Try it with your Grandma today. Here’s a few fun facts to get the ball rolling:

Naturally, we know already that the undefeated Pats still hold the number one seed, leading by two in the loss column with six to play. This Sunday, when they meet the Eagles, the Pats can tie a league record by clinching their division in 11 games. They can get in with a win on their own, or by a Buffalo loss at Jacksonville. You gotta like their chances, generally.

The slumping Indianapolis Colts managed to scrape by at home against Kansas City, holding on to the South division lead and regaining the #2 seed that they had vacated a week ago.

The team that replaced them, albeit briefly, was North division leader the Pittsburgh Steelers, who fell back to #3 when the Jets upset them at the Meadowlands. I’m sure it wasn’t because the Steelers strutted in there after listening all week to how great they are, and agreeing. 

In the West, the Chargers hang on to the division lead and the accompanying 4th seed, despite losing to the Jaguars in Jacksonville. Denver’s win over the declining Titans (two straight losses to potential playoff teams) on Monday night brought the Broncos to a tie for the division lead, but San Diego’s present head-to-head advantage gives them the edge here, though there’s still one game remaining between the teams.

Jacksonville’s consecutive wins over Tennessee and San Diego have put them right on the tail of the Colts in the South, and the clear edge for the first of two wild card spots.

The Titans are lucky they didn’t lose their 6th spot to the Browns, who went to 6-4 with their dramatic win over the Ravens. But as it stands today, the Titans keep their spot by virtue of the Strength of Victory tiebreaker. Still, with a month and a half left, Cleveland finds itself in a real playoff race in Romeo Crennel’s third season.

The Bills and Texans lag a step behind, and the Ravens and Chiefs even further, through Kansas City could still scramble back into the West race, because, well, the West stinks.

Let’s roll out the Big Board for another week.

Still six games left. Best not to take anything for granted - after all, that gets the Steelers every time.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Eagles at Patriots - Hat and t-shirt game.

Colts at Falcons - The NFL Network gets its first regular season game tonight, so hunker down for six weeks of NFL/cable fire. The fact that the Colts, struggling as they are, didn’t find a way to lose that game to the Chiefs last week is a testament to them, I think.

Dolphins at Steelers - A Dolphins upset here would make this the greatest Thanksgiving long weekend ever.

Ravens at Chargers - Did you know that the Chargers are 25th against the pass and 23rd against the run? And defense is their strength.    

Bills at Jaguars - Buffalo has to win in Jacksonville if its going to have any shot at a wild card, I think. The Jags have really come back since losing to the Saints three weeks ago. They go to Indy next week - will they look beyond this one?  

Titans at Bengals - Tennessee looked like the real threat to the Colts a few weeks ago, but you have to wonder about that now. Their whole offense seems to be Vince Young running out of the shotgun. Their defense is top ranked, but they’ve been pounded the last two weeks. A legit group should be able to manage the 3-7 Bengals, even on the road, so it will be interesting to see how this one works out.

Texans at Browns - The Browns are seemingly headed in the opposite direction with a 2-1 record over their last three, including that near-miss in Pittsburgh. They’re getting that old Cleveland Cinderella thing going, from the dramatic kick returns to the bank shot field goals. They’re only one game back in the division. This will all look great on NFL Films someday. They need to dispatch Houston at home to keep the momentum going, and once again, the way they handle that task will be telling.

Broncos at Bears - A mediocre team in the perfect division for it.  And Snidely Shanahan at the controls. Now that’s evil.

by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

Hey, was that Niner Watch I saw mentioned in Mike Reiss’s mailbag today? Mike, you shouldn’t have!

It was an appreciated mention - and timely, as it turns out. Big doings on the old bottom feeder chart this week. Last Sunday, the surrogate mother of the Patriots’ first round draft pick, the 2-7 San Francisco 49′ers, reached down deep and lost a HUGE matchup with the 1-8 St Louis Rams - at home, mind you, as if the loss itself wasn’t enough - to vault themselves from last week’s fourth spot to the NUMBER TWO PICK IN THE NFL DRAFT, if it was held today.

Even better, the 1-8 New York Stoolies somehow managed to beat the Pittsburgh “We’ll stop them, America” Steelers in the Meadowlands, meaning that the Jets dropped from (last week) the pick just ahead of the Niners to (this week) the one three slots after them. I am still checking nfl.com every twenty-minutes to make sure this wasn’t a mistake.

I’ve told you about my dream before, since Spygate - the Pats go undefeated, win Three Games to Glory, sign Randy Moss to a series of incentive-laden one year contracts (”$750,000 if you catch a touchdown pass between your knees.”), AND, just to send a disconsolate, embittered nation completely over the edge, the Pats get the number one pick in the draft, just ahead of the Jets.

So far, so good. Getting that first pick might be rough, in light of the historically awful Dolphins, but otherwise….I have a dream today.

Anyway, now we have the Niners, Rams, Raiders and Jets all tied at 2-8, but they get stacked on the basis of the second tiebreaker (after winning percentage), which is strength of schedule. Here, the Niners have all the advantage they need: their opponents have a meager .463 combined winning percentage, followed by the Rams at .506, the Raiders at .519, and the Jets at .538. Are these percentages going to swing that much to erase San Francisco’s advantage? The Niners’ remaining opponents are road games in Arizona (an improving 5-5) and Carolina (4-6, and they are horrible at home. This one worries me), then home games (where San Francisco is 1-4) with Minnesota (4-6), Cincinnati (3-7), and Tampa Bay (6-4), before a road finale in Cleveland, where the Browns could be playing for a playoff spot. A lot of promise in that slate.

The Bengals and Falcons, both 3-7, are still threats to jump into that first pool of teams, though the Bengals have the easiest remaining schedule of all and might have to deliberately lose in order to stay in the race.

We say goodbye to a handful of teams at the bottom of our list - the Cards, the Texans, the Broncos and the Eagles - who went to .500 with wins this week. Unless they all lose six straight, its unlikely they’ll be in contention for the top few picks in the draft. We’ll be leaner without their dead weight.

As Warner Wolf says, let’s go to the videotape!

I marvel that I can put a spreadsheet right on the Internet. As Warner says, come on!

SMALLEST GAMES OF THE WEEK

Jets at Cowboys - In Dallas, four days after a major upset at home? I don’t expect the Jets will do anything other than keep the pace on the big spreadsheet for another week. I’ll pull for another shocker, but I fear it will be in vain.

Niners at Cards - I’m encouraged by the Cardinals’ two game romp over the Lions and Bengals, which got them back to 5-5. Now, just one game off the pace in their division, Arizona has a home game against a team that has lost eight straight. As Warner (not Kurt, but Wolf) says, come on!

Dolphins at Steelers - No. I won’t say it. I won’t. It would be too, too much to ask for.

Raiders at Chiefs - Despite this matchup, the Raiders have a horrifyingly tough schedule the rest of the way (.627). They will be a factor.

Thanks for shopping with us and thanks again to Mike for the support. Be sure to check back next week.

by Christopher Price
chris@patriotsdaily.com

First impressions can be misleading.

For James Sanders, his introduction to most Patriots fans came on the night of Nov. 5, 2006. The defensive back, who had been taken by New England in the fourth round of the 2005 draft out of Fresno State, had occasionally popped up on the radar screens of area football fans over the first year and a half of his pro career, but it was mostly as a special teamer. He was mostly a blank slate — Sanders had just 19 tackles and one interception as a rookie. At most, he was seen as not much more than a potential backup for Eugene Wilson, who had only missed four games to that point in his career and was considered to have a solid hold on the safety spot, while veteran Rodney Harrison was entrenched at the other safety position.

But that night, with Wilson out and Harrison suddenly sidelined because of a first-quarter injury, the 5-foor-10, 210-pound Sanders was forced into action. Indianapolis quarterback Peyton Manning immediately zeroed in on the relatively green defensive back, who struggled in coverage much of game as the Colts took home a 27-20 win.

As first impressions go, it wasn’t much. However, that game marked a turning point for Sanders and Wilson: Since then, Sanders has clearly improved in all phases, and has played his way into the starters’ role. He hasn’t missed a game since that evening, and has done everything possible to wrest the position away from Wilson, who has played in just seven games since that night.

According to Head Coach Bill Belichick, that game was the approximate point where Sanders went from spare part to invaluable contributor.

“I think the biggest jump for him came last year between about the middle of the season to the end of the season,” Belichick said, reflecting on the last year and a half of growth for the Fresno State product. “I think he came on last year and played … had a very good roughly second half of the year, including in the playoffs, both in the running game and the passing game [and] continued to help us on special teams.

“This year, I think he pretty much picked up right where he left off at the end of last year,” Belichick added. “He has consistently been out there. He works hard. He gets better every day and he’s been on the field every day, so that enables him to take those meetings and that coaching and performing on the practice field and carry it over into the game.”

He’s been on the field every day. It’s something you can’t say about Wilson, who looked like an All-World defensive back as a rookie in 2003. He started 35 of his first 38 games in New England, and was named to ESPN.com’s All-Rookie Team. But the Illinois product has struggled with ankle and hamstring injuries since. Meanwhile, Sanders has steadily progressed through the system, gaining more and more playing time. With Harrison sidelined because of suspension for the first four games of the 2007 season, Sanders started at strong safety, but since Harrison returned — and Wilson has continued to struggle with injury — he’s seen the bulk of the time at free safety.

Sunday night, Sanders took another giant step forward. He led the team with four tackles, creeping up to the line several times to deliver big hits. Highlights included a crushing blow on Buffalo’s Anthony Thomas that resulted in an early three-yard loss, as well as a big hit on Bills’ running back Dwayne Wright that jarred the ball loose, resulting in a fumble that was returned by Ellis Hobbs 35 yards for the final touchdown of the night.

But more importantly than grasping the physical aspect, Sanders has clearly mastered the mental aspect of playing defensive back in the Belichick system.

“He understands the defense, he understands our adjustments and how the defense has to shift based on what the offense does before the snap,” Belichick said of Sanders, who has 45 tackles this season. “That’s part of a safety’s job, to make those adjustments and communicate those to the corners or in some cases the linebackers.”

“That’s an important part of his job, and he does it well,” added the head coach. “He’s very good at it and he works hard at it. He’s one of the hardest working players on the team, and we have a lot of them, and he’s up there.”

FIVE THINGS TO LOOK FOR THIS WEEK

1. “Spygate” fallout. The Eagles were one of the most quotable teams in the wake of the Patriots’ videotaping scandal, with several players telling the media — many of who were joking and many of who were ultra-serious — exactly what they thought of New England, and not all of it was positive. It’ll be interesting to see how much of it will be used as bulletin-board material by the Patriots, and how much will be discussed in the postgame Q-and-A’s.

2. Do the Patriots prepare for starting quarterback Donovan McNabb or backup A.J. Feeley? In what’s become as much a Philadelphia tradition as cheese steaks and the Mummers’ Parade, McNabb suffered his annual November injury last Sunday. This time, it was an ankle and thumb that slowed him Sunday against the Dolphins. His status remains a colossal question mark, and even trying to read between the lines via injury reports will be useless, because Philadelphia Head Coach Andy Reid told the media Monday that McNabb doesn’t need to practice this week to start against New England.

3. How the Patriots go about trying to stop Brian Westbrook. Philly’s do-everything running back — at his best, a Marshall Faulk clone — is the sparkplug for their offense. The 5-foot-10, 203-pound Westbrook had a career-best 148 yards rushing against Miami on Sunday, and is the fifth-best rusher in the league entering last night with 849 ground yards. In addition, he already has 518 receiving yards, tied for a career-best season output. (He’s been hobbled lately by knee and abdominal injuries, but is likely to play Sunday night.) If New England can contain Westbrook, they can significantly slow down the Eagles’ offense.

4. If Mike Vrabel can do something that hasn’t been done since 1995. Remarkably, no New England player has registered double-digits in sacks in a season since Willie McGinest finished the 1995 season with 11. (Since then, McGinest got to 9 1/2 twice and Vrabel got 9 1/2 once.) Vrabel enters Sunday’s game against the Eagles with 9 1/2 sacks. He’s a pretty good bet to reach double-digits Sunday night, especially against a Philadelphia offensive line that has allowed 32 sacks this season, 28th-worst in the league as of last night.

5. Randy Moss. Just as he demands constant attention on the field, his week-to-week performance within the context of the New England offense also makes him impossible to ignore. Moss continues his campaign to be the first wide receiver in the history of the league to win MVP honors, entering Sunday’s game against the Eagles with 66 catches for 1,052 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns. In the three occasions he’s faced the Philly defense, the Eagles have managed to hold him under 100 yards receiving each time — his best day against Philadelphia came in 2001 at the Vet, when he caught seven passes for 95 yards and a touchdown in a 48-17 loss to the Eagles.

STAT OF THE WEEK

22. The Patriots are a whopping 22-point favorite against the Eagles if Philadelphia starts A.J. Feeley at quarterback Sunday night, according to Las Vegas Sports Consultants senior oddsmaker Mike Seba. Seba said the Patriots would open at -18 if Donovan McNabb is behind center.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

“I saw the real 81. I think he had like 170 yards and four touchdowns. Yeah, I saw the real 81. But I don’t really get into that. I have a job to do, and that’s to go out and block and catch balls. To try to go out there and try to duplicate or do something better than a receiver did on Sunday is not my game, and I don’t want to do that.” — Patriots wide receiver Randy Moss on whether or not he saw Terrell Owens finish with four TDs earlier in the day against the Redskins.

Christopher Price is an award-winning sportswriter who has covered the Patriots since 2001 for Boston Metro. He’s served a contributor to ESPN.com, SI.com, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and The Miami Herald. He’s written “The Blueprint: How the New England Patriots Beat the System to Create the Last Great NFL Superpower,” and can be reached at chris@patriotsdaily.com.