Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 12

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

  1. #1
    Banned
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    South Western Ohio
    Posts
    5,278

    Patriots on brink of historic 16-0 season

    Patriots on brink of historic 16-0 season
    Saturday, December 29, 2007 3:06 AM
    By Mark Maske

    THE WASHINGTON POST



    The final weekend of the NFL regular season will be a curious mix of the New England Patriots chasing history, two other teams trying to win their way into the playoffs and just about everyone else simply awaiting a predetermined fate.

    It's not exactly the sort of wild, anything-can-happen culmination of four months of play that league officials envision annually when they draw up the schedule. The biggest question in many NFL cities this week is whether the local team will -- or should -- sit its key starters this weekend to keep them healthy and rested for the playoffs.

    The league at least has the Patriots attempting to complete the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history when they face the New York Giants tonight in Giants Stadium. It was to be the monumental game that practically no one got to see when it was to be carried only by the league-owned NFL Network, which remains in disputes with several large cable companies and is in only about 35 million U.S. households. Now it's the game that no one can miss, with the league announcing Wednesday that the NFL Network telecast will be carried by NBC and CBS in the sport's first nationwide simulcast since Super Bowl I.

    After reaching 15-0 with Sunday's triumph over the Miami Dolphins, even the tight-lipped, one-step-at-a-time Patriots loosened up a bit and acknowledged that an unblemished regular season record would be meaningful.

    "Being 16-0 would be a very special achievement, one that no other team has ever achieved," quarterback Tom Brady said during a midweek meeting with reporters. "And we're finally at that point."

    The 1972 Dolphins remain the only unbeaten team in NFL history, finishing the regular season 14-0 and then going on to win three more games in the postseason, capped by a 14-7 victory over the Washington Redskins in the Super Bowl. When other clubs threatened in recent years to finish the regular season 16-0, the conventional wisdom was that it was a next-to-impossible task in today's NFL, with great teams being ripped apart by free agency and the salary cap.

    "It's a great accomplishment," Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Jon Gruden said during a news conference this week. "I tip my hat to the coaches, the front office people and the players. It's unbelievable to do that and really in convincing fashion."

    The Patriots also have a chance to rewrite the record book. Brady is one touchdown pass shy of Peyton Manning's league record of 49 in a season. Receiver Randy Moss is one touchdown catch from Jerry Rice's record of 22. The Patriots are five points from the season scoring record of 556 set by the Minnesota Vikings in 1998.

    "I'd hate to think that we'd go out there and not put our best out there this week, so we've got to bring energy and excitement," Brady said.

    Patriots coach Bill Belichick has given no sign that he intends to ease off even with his club having clinched home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. Brady, Moss and other key Patriots players likely will be on the field unless they build a comfortable lead and Belichick decides to rest them. It's the Giants who could play with a diminished lineup.

    The Giants, whether they win or lose, will play a first-round NFC playoff game in Tampa against the Buccaneers the following weekend. They don't have the luxury, as the Patriots do, of having a first-round bye.

    So coach Tom Coughlin likely will sit receiver Plaxico Burress, who has played on a bad ankle all season. He also could sit quarterback Eli Manning and tailback Brandon Jacobs. A Giants team that has some of the elements necessary to challenge the Patriots, including superb pass rushers in defensive ends Osi Umenyiora and Michael Strahan, might be rendered a far less menacing opponent.

    Brady joked that he'd rest Umenyiora and Strahan.

    "Definitely Strahan and Osi should take the weekend off," Brady said. "I'd rest them, I know that. I definitely would not play those two. ... Coach Coughlin, if you're listening, definitely rest those guys."



    http://www.dispatch.com

  2. #2
    Banned
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    South Western Ohio
    Posts
    5,278
    If any of you Alipacers want to do a pick a team thing here on the play offs
    I can pit some thing to gather but we need allot of Guys and gals that want to play.
    it would be fin and we might be able to recruit some new volunteers

  3. #3
    Senior Member Richard's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2005
    Location
    Boston
    Posts
    5,262
    I usually do not follow sports but there is too much likelyhood of a Patriots win for me to get any suspense and therefor excitement abut the football situation at all.
    I support enforcement and see its lack as bad for the 3rd World as well. Remittances are now mostly spent on consumption not production assets. Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  4. #4
    Senior Member miguelina's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2007
    Posts
    9,253
    Sorry guys, I'll still be rooting for the Giants. It would be awesome if they win.
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)
    "

  5. #5
    Senior Member Shapka's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Staten Island, New York
    Posts
    3,044
    Quote Originally Posted by miguelina
    Sorry guys, I'll still be rooting for the Giants.
    Co-sign!



    Although, I suppose you could have guessed that.

    :P
    Reporting without fear or favor-American Rattlesnake

  6. #6
    Senior Member swatchick's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    Miami, Florida
    Posts
    5,232
    My Bills are out and New England will probably win it all. The Patriots will make it boring come Super Bowl time. Isn't it a coincidence that 25 years ago the Dolphins had an undefeated season?
    Join our efforts to Secure America's Borders and End Illegal Immigration by Joining ALIPAC's E-Mail Alerts network (CLICK HERE)

  7. #7
    Senior Member Shapka's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Staten Island, New York
    Posts
    3,044
    The only conceivable reason to root for The Pats-and that Neanderthal Bill Belichick-is because it'll wipe off the smug grins of that Dolphins' team.

    I hate that team almost as much as I hate the Pats.

    I'm still a Bills' fan though-I rooted against them last week because they were already out of the playoff hunt.

    Trent Edwards looks like he can be a good QB in the future. Maybe not Jim Kelly or Doug Flutie, but capable nevertheless.
    Reporting without fear or favor-American Rattlesnake

  8. #8
    Banned
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    South Western Ohio
    Posts
    5,278
    Quote Originally Posted by swatchick
    My Bills are out and New England will probably win it all. The Patriots will make it boring come Super Bowl time. Isn't it a coincidence that 25 years ago the Dolphins had an undefeated season?
    its Never happend yet but
    Boy that would be something
    if they took it all wouldnt it...
    but like they say there is a first time for every thing,
    and the New England started this grand year cheating
    Ill pick any body but new england if I follow my Hart
    but for the money ill play the spread

  9. #9
    Senior Member Shapka's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2006
    Location
    Staten Island, New York
    Posts
    3,044
    It's not even the cheating itself that rankles.

    Every team cheats. It's the fact that the Patriots felt compelled to cheat in a game they were going to win anyway.

    It's like President Nixon covering up for the Watergate burglars.

    Why were they even bothering with a break-in to the office of a candidate who was about to get crushed?

    It's the need to rub it in the face of your opponent that really upsets me.
    Reporting without fear or favor-American Rattlesnake

  10. #10

    Join Date
    Jan 1970
    Posts
    395
    C'mon Colts...C'mon Colts........You can beat the Pats......
    Che Guevara wears a picture of ME on his t-shirt.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •