Alright, alright, alright...

Some of you are wondering why there was nothing heard from me last week. Why weren't my thoughts written out here about the Pats win over the Rams?

Well, to be honest, I was caught up in the hype last week, and anyone who knows me by my Xbox Live gamer tag "Sinista1" knows that I was busy racking up stats for the "Sinista Clan" on "Halo 2", and trying to stay in the top 1200 rankings of ESPN's NFL 2K5 Titanium Bowl, which is turning out to be a tough feat, especially when you lose heartbreakers to players like "SlowBecky" in a defensive battle between the Eagles and Patriots by one point with less than 30 seconds to go in the game.

Well, I'm back, and I did see the Rams game, and it was impressive, but I 'm beginning to wonder if Rams head coach Mike Martz wants the number to WEEI's whiner line after crying about the play of WR Troy Brown at DB.

Anyway, let's get on to last night's game...

Remember in 2002 when the Patriots' opened their season in the brand spanking new Gillette Stadium as Super Bowl Champions, and remember they played the still sour Pittsburgh Steelers who had lost their hotel room deposits for violating the last minute cancellation policy? Remember how I said there was no way the Pats were going to lose that game because the emotion would be so high?

Well, I knew that this was going to be the same atmosphere with the World Series Champion, Boston Red Sox taking the field with the trophy Sunday night. The Bills had no chance, and when that golf cart came out from the tunnel, with Curt Schilling on crutches, the place was electric.

Add to the fact that how uncanny it was that Schilling was in Foxboro celebrating a World Series victory on the night we play the Bills. Schilling needed a house after signing with Boston, and it was QB Drew Bledsoe's house he bought at a steal for about $5.9 million when the Pats had shipped off Bledsoe almost a year after he had the house custom built to spec.

Gawd I love the mysteries of strange sports karma.

So with members of the Red Sox and management on the sideline last night the Patriots unleashed a ground attack on the Bills that put them out of commission long before the half. RB's Corey Dillon (26 for 151) and Kevin Faulk (13 for 61) finished the game with smiles along with WR Troy Brown (2 for 23 and 1 INT) who picked off a Bledsoe pass while playing defensive back. A play that Bledsoe will probably hear about from now until the opening kickoff of next week's game.

Hey Bledsoe, you don't play for the Patriots no more so stop throwing passes to Troy Brown!

The receiving corps of the Patriots also had a field day eating up 220 yards worth of receptions. WR David Givens (5 for 66) led the bunch, but it was TE Christian Fauria's (1 for 5) TD reception and David Patten's (3 for 43) TD reception that made things tough for the Bills as receivers were once again getting open lanes due to the running game and OC Charlie Weis routes.

The Pats defense came out last night with one mission at hand and that was to stop budding star RB Willis McGahee, and they did holding him to 14 carries for 37 yards. This was something yours truly wasn't too happy about since McGahee is on my fantasy league team. Once they established stopping the run they were able to terrorize QB Drew Bledsoe (8 for 19) holding him to 76 yards passing, three interceptions and four sacks which led to his late game benching.

Kicker Adam Vinatieri made fantasy league owners happy once again with another double digit performance going five-for-five on field goal attempts, but something that gets my goat somewhat. I don't mind FG's, but if I was a head coach, and had to settle for three points when in the red zone I would look at FG's as -4 instead of +3. That is how much red zone FG burn my arse.

Sunday night the Patriots had their second offensive victory in a row, and no matter what happens from here in out, I pray to the gridiron gods that this team can get a healthy shot at the Steelers in the playoffs after the junk they have been talking.

Don't get me wrong, the Steelers are a good team, but they talk too damn much as evident from yesterday! And every analyst, writer, and fans knows that if that game was played on level ground the outcome may not have been as one sided.

Bill Belichick has this team back on the winning track looking at 6 divisional games over the next six weeks; Chiefs (3-6), Ravens (6-3), Browns (3-6) Bengals (4-5), Dolphins (1-6), Jets (6-3). Games like last night play a major role into the playoff picture, and if the Pats continue their ways, the last game of the season against the 49'ers could be meaningless.

In the AFC East, the Patriots have now swept the Bills, and taken one a piece over the Jets, and the Dolphins leaving them atop of the division 4-0. In Miami Dave Wannastedt has stepped down, and the Dolphins are tied with the 49'ers having the worst record in the NFL at 1-8.

The Jets once again lost QB Chad Pennington at a crucial time of the season now losing two in a row with QB Quincy Carter taking snaps. The Jets are 6-3 in the division, second below the Pats, but they are 3-2 within the East. A second loss to the Pats on December 26th could seal their fate, but if things stay on the same path for both teams the Pats could clinch the East title within a short time.

Overall in the AFC, the Patriots are tied with the Steelers, and if the season was to end the Pats would be facing off in a rematch with the Steelers and home field advantage (16 consecutive wins at home) since the Steelers are 3-1 within their division.

As for conference standings at this time the Steelers have played one more than the Patriots so I can't use that for breaking down the overall AFC standings. For those who are still on the Indy bandwagon, just remember once the snow starts falling, and the bad weather rolls in there is no way QB Peyton Manning can keep throwing the ball way he has been doing. Eventually they will have to establish the run and play some defense; something their secondary is lacking.

Comments? Questions? Hit me up: Sinista1@msn.com