by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

Fleeting thoughts while waiting for the AFC Championship Game to return to Gillette Stadium for the first time in four years:

MOSS APPEAL

Attorneys and agents continue to hammer away at each other – and everybody else in the process – over allegations by a Florida woman that Randy Moss committed battery on her sometime earlier this month. Last night, agent Tim DiPiero e-mailed a lengthy counterstatement to the media in response to a statement released earlier by the attorney representing the alleged victim.

DiPiero’s detailed account of his contacts with attorney David McGill in the hours before last Saturday’s divisional playoff with Jacksonville will further buttress the hopes of Patriots fans who hope that Moss is simply the victim of a celebrity shakedown. The statement will just as assuredly be dismissed by those who hope (against hope) that the controversy will somehow derail the Patriots’ attempt at a perfect season and their fourth Super Bowl this decade.

Let’s be honest – that’s all anybody on either side of the latest American insta-controversy cares about.

FLU BLUE

It started with Ryan O’Callaghan and now it’s spread to Matt Light – another championship game flu bug. It’s become a tradition for these Patriots. As you’ll recall, the flu is blamed at least in part for the second half collapse in Indianapolis last January. On the other hand, Tom Brady’s 2005 performance in Pittsburgh while under the weather has become the stuff of legend.

I’m not surprised the flu strain started with the offensive line; those beards must be germ traps.

You have to wonder whether the Sixty Minute Men will have a full hour on their clocks when they take the field on Sunday.

RIVERS TORN?

For some reason, Butch Stearns of WFXT Fox TV has claimed that Philip Rivers has a torn, and not a strained, ACL. One question – how would Butch Stearns of all people know this?

The item showed up on Rotoworld overnight, apparently, along with the caveat that “Stearns isn’t exactly considered the most reliable source in the business.”

Your thoughts, Butch?

It says here that Rivers got off easy. He’s lucky that WFXT didn’t call his teammates, asking if he was dead.

OBJECTS MAY BE CLOSER THAN THEY APPEAR

I’m getting uncomfortable with this idea that the Chargers come in to Foxborough as a long shot, a poor substitute for the allegedly superior Indianapolis Colts, long considered the worthiest dance partner for the perfect Pats. Obviously, the injuries being nursed by some of their key players don’t help, but I’m pretty sure the Chargers would be getting dismissed even if Rivers, LaDainian Tomlinson and Antonio Gates were whole. With just two days to go, I’m feeling less and less certain that Sunday wll merely be a coronation. Should we be at all shocked if the game ends up as a tense, tight affair? As a great coach once said, they don’t give you those rings, you have to earn them.