WEEK SIXTEEN VS. BUFFALO BILLS W 34-3

hey kids-

let’s hear it for the patriots! not much snow fell in the game against the buffalo bills, but lots of confetti did in the locker room afterward. our pats clinched the AFC west and secured a first-round bye in the playoffs with their 13th win of the season.  i can’t believe how far our team has come in the last 16 weeks, and after watching (and often sharing!) those midseason growing pains, i couldn’t be more proud. hurray patriots!

tommy threw for just 140 yards this week, but he had three touchdown passes and no picks, breaking bernie kosar’s all-time record for most consecutive pass attempts without an interception. interestingly, when kosar set the record, he was also coached by belichick – who demurred he’s been very lucky to work with smart players who take good care of the ball. i suspect both players would argue they were lucky to work with a smart coach who took good care of their games. as we approach the post-season, bill has tommy and the boys running like a well-oiled machine. isn’t it an awesome sight?

a string of injuries and a flu-gone-wild left our d a bit short-handed sunday– so much so that one of our starting lineman had just signed with the team the previous wednesday. still, this patchwork ensemble again held our opponent to one score and forced seven turnovers against the bills.  two of those – one interception, one fumble – came at the hands of rookie linebacker dane fletcher, and for that he gets the tommy of the week. dane is the third rookie to take home the coveted award this season, and it’s all the more impressive considering i didn’t even know he was on our team. oh, whatever – you didn’t either. congrats, dane – nice to meet ya! 

wes wound up on a few dud-of-the-week lists after dropping a couple of passes, but he’s still this week’s recipient of the i heart wes welker.  he hasn’t been quite on his game the last few weeks, but i heart him for better or for butterfingers. besides, it looks like he may be taking lessons from dan connolly!

we play the final game of the regular season at home against the dolphins on sunday – and it should be fun to watch. with nothing on the line except pride, i’ll be raising my glass to our patriots – repeatedly! feel free to clink me!

here’s wishing everyone all the best in 2011. happy new year – and go patriots!

love dav

WEEK FIFTEEN VS. GREEN BAY PACKERS W 31-27

hey kids-

well, the patriots managed to squeak out a victory over the green bay packers, thanks to a whole lot of getting lucky by pretty much everyone involved. i’d been wondering if one more loss before the playoffs might do the team some good, and i’m hopeful this dodged bullet will have the same effect – though we still play miami and the bills, and division matchups always give us a run for our money.

it was an average day at the office for our fearless quarterback, who had his seventh straight game with at least two touchdowns and no interceptions. tommy also set the single season record for most consecutive passes without a pick, but he got very lucky with several green bay drops– including one by charles woodson. woodson will probably complain about it for the next nine years, since he’s still raging about the tuck rule thing from that raider game in 2001. here’s our quarterback demonstrating the intentional forward movement of his arm for his former michigan teammate, just to clear up any confusion. oops – sorry charlie! hope the glare from the super bowl ring didn’t blind you!

it’s surprisingly how many offensive lineman have won the totw – and more surprising that it’s never been for an on-the-field play. matt light got one two years ago for grabbing channing crowder by the dreads and beating the living hell out of him, and dan connolly’s punt return sunday night was almost as fun to watch. connolly scooped up the ball, cradled it in his arms like a little baby, and lumbered his 316 pounds 71 yards down the field, leaving a trail of bewildered packers in his wake. it was a lucky break for our patriots– and a hilariously funny one, too. here’s dan, mid-lumber, in case you missed it. way to, uh, hustle, sort of, connolly!

in i heart wes welker news, wes looks just as unhappy about being molested in this picture as i was when i saw it. i don’t think this qualifies as getting lucky – but second base isn’t too shabby considering he was in the middle of a game.

we play the bills in buffalo on sunday, which makes me smile. the first patriots game i ever attended was in buffalo on a very snowy, freezing mid-december day. a little cider, a lot of snow, and a pats victory (fingers crossed) sound like the perfect way to wrap up a holiday weekend. hope santa’s listening!

sending warm and happy holiday wishes your way. merry christmas- and go pats!

love dav

WEEK FOURTEEN @ CHICAGO BEARS 36-7

hey kids-

i don’t know why i’m not feeling the tommy this week, especially since sunday delivered three of my favorite things in one fell swoop: the patriots (#1) in a blow out victory (#2) in the snow (#3)!!! really, what more could a girl want?

it was a veritable winter wonderland in chicago, and i was happy to see it was snowy somewhere – even if i didn’t get to play in it. our fearless quarterback appeared to have a blast in it, though, and continued to play like it’s dallas-or-bust, throwing for a season-high 369 yards. with wes, deion, and woody all coming in under 5’9, opposing teams have been complaining it’s hard to spot our tiny team on the field, but the bears can blame this loss on camouflage! we blend right into the snow in our away unis. funnily enough, tommy didn’t seem to have any trouble locating our receivers at all.

for the second week in a row, our defense held our opponents to just one score – which is crazy, considering they’re statistically one of the worst defenses in the league. not only did they manage to put up just as many points as the bears’ offense did, but they also recovered two fumbles and pulled down two more interceptions. even so, deion branch caught eight of the 10 passes thrown his way, including a 59-yard touchdown reception at the end of the first half. apparently, tommy pulled a nuke laloosh, shaking off the sideline call to take a knee and instead lobbing the ball downfield into deoin’s waiting arms. branch racked up a career-high 151 yards to earn his very first tommy of the week, and in keeping with tradition, he celebrated with a happy dance. watch out boys- i’m trying this move next week!  

there’s something about this picture that makes wes look like a superhero. faster than a speeding bullet, stronger than a locomotive, and able to leap tall bears in a single bound! or...maybe that’s just the i-heart-wes-welker talking.

we play green bay on sunday night, which means i’ll have a whole entire day of climbing the walls, watching crappy day games, and being annoyed that we don’t play til late – or maybe just that i’ll already be tipsy by the time the game starts. either way, it means you’ll have a few extra hours in which to sneak in a few extra happy patriots thoughts. don’t let me down!

have a great week! go patriots!

love dav

WEEK THIRTEEN VS. NEW YORK JETS W 45-3

hey kids-

unless you’ve been living beneath a rock, you probably heard that the patriots completely dismantled the jets on monday night. if you were listening closely, you may have even heard echoes of my giddy laughter reverberating through the fog, although you probably missed the happy dance that accompanied them (unless you were really lucky!).

for the second week in a row, our fearless quarterback threw four touchdown passes – and he broke brett favre’s home-game-win streak in resounding fashion with this rout of the jets. tommy’s been absolutely on fire lately, and clearly, i wasn’t the only one doing a happy dance!

i thought it would take a complete effort to stop the jets, and apparently, our coach agreed. every single patriot showed up on monday night, right down to rookie punter zoltan mesko, who threw an amazing block and shoved a punt-returning jet out of bounds before he got any ideas. still, the award is called the tommy of the week, and it’s going to tom brady again this week. tommy also earned his second consecutive AFC offensive player of the week and whispers of “mvp” got a little louder...but it was the totw that really got him excited.

tommy was all over wes this week, and i’ll admit it made me a little bit jealous – although i am really excited they’ve resumed their bromance now the novelty of branch has worn off. wes was sweet about it though, and it looks like he let tommy down easy. sorry dude – you’re a handsome guy, but dav totally hearts me!

some of  the jets called this the biggest regular season game of their careers, but as it turns out, it wasn’t even be the biggest regular season game of the week for our patriots. we face the 9-3 bears in chicago on sunday, and hopefully our pick-happy secondary is ready to show jay cutler how it feels like to play a team with a winning record. think happy four-touchdowns-for-us, four-interceptions-for-them thoughts- or happy patriots thoughts, if that’s easier to remember.

have a great week, and go pats!

love dav