Down But Not Out

We all know that this city is a sucker for the underdog. We feed off of the drive that leads to the winning touchdown. We pride ourselves in being the comeback kid.

Colvin summed up the Patriots' fortune the best. “In the middle of the third quarter, I said ‘Junior, what were you doing a week ago?’ He said he was in Fiji, and I was in Missouri City. Now we’re out here playing professional football again. It’s crazy.” Of course it's crazy! These two weren't even playing the game a week ago and in Sunday's win, the two defensemen were 49% of the defensive snaps against Seattle.

The truth that comes with the Pats' most recent victory, however, is that if they win their next 3 games, they still might not make the playoffs. Currently, the team is in a 3-way tie for first in the AFC East. Unfortunately, New England has no real control over their season's destiny. If the Dolphins or Jets both finish their seasons with records of 11-5, which is also the best the Patriots can do at this point, Miami or New York would still win the division over New England. In the last week of the regular season, the Jets will host the Dolphins. Now clearly both teams can't win, so here are the possibilities:

- If the Jets win, it would make them 5-1 in the division, which would still be better than the Patriots' division record of 4-2.

- If the Dolphins win, their record would be 4-2 in the division, same as New England's. Miami and New England would also be 10-2 against common opponents, but Miami would edge past the Patriots by being 8-4 in conference games. The Patriots won't finish better than 7-5.

- Their only hope is gaining possession of one of the two wild-card slots, which is still pretty complicated and relies on the Colts losing 2 of their remaining 3 games since Indianapolis beat New England during the regular season.

Of course the Coach Belichick let the press know how he really feels about the remainder of their season:

"All I know is that there are a lot of teams in contention," said Belichick yesterday. "So right now we're worried about Oakland. We'll win as many games as we can. I'm sure if we qualify somebody will let us know."

Photo courtesy: Matthew J. Lee, Boston Globe