Well I guess it’s time to look back on the New England Patriots 2011 season.  A season, which by all accounts, was supposed to be more of a rebuilding year turned into a wonderful regular season that ended once again too early with a disappointing playoff loss.  And a home playoff loss at that.

Back in the preseason I predicted the Patriots for 12-4 with a 7-1 record at home, 5-3 on the road, 5-1 in the division and 9-3 in the conference.  I had them losing to the Jets on the road, which they did.  I also had them taking back to back loses against the Ravens in Foxboro and the Chargers in San Diego.  They actually won those games.  I had their fourth loss in Chicago, which turned out to be a blow out win.  This would have given them the AFC East title in a tie break with the Jets and the #3 AFC seed.  I had them winning in the wildcard card weekend, but losing in the division weekend, right where they bowed out.    So for predictions I thought I did pretty well.

In reality, they finished 14-2 with an 8-0 home record, 6-2 on the road, 5-1 in the division and 10-2 in the conference.  Their only losses were Week 2 at the Jets 28-14 and the disturbing blowout loss at Cleveland in Week 9, 34-14.  They won the division and earned the top AFC seed and got a wildcard weekend bye.  They then lost to the Jets 28-21 in the division round.

As Patriots fans we are all disappointed in how the season ended with what was a pretty poor showing in the playoffs for the second consecutive year.  What we have to realize is that this team, especially on the defensive side of the ball is very young.

Defensively three starters this season were rookies.  CB Devin McCourty, LB Brandon Spikes and LB/DE Jermaine Cunningham.  After that you have many players with only 2 or 3 years in the league like CB Darius Butler, S Brandon Meriweather, LB Jerod Mayo, LB Rob Ninkovich and others.  The defense did a good job growing into the themselves and getting better as the season progressed.  In fact over the last five weeks of the regular season they went from being ranked 22^nd in scoring defense to finishing 8^th.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

They had outstanding contributions from Mayo who led the NFL in tackles and McCourty who was second in INTs to Wilfork who was the true big man in the middle.

Special teams wise this team was well, special.  They had eight non-offensive TD’s this season two of them were KORTD’s, there was a punt return TD, a blocked FG returned for a TD and a blocked punt returned for a TD.  S Patrick Chung, WR Matthew Slater and WR Brandon Tate were exciting to watch all season long.

On offense they were record setting.  nine consecutive games with 30 points scored, eight of them in a row without a turnover.  Probable NFL MVP QB Tom Brady had a 9:1 TD to INT ratio and went an NFL record 335 pass attempts without a pick, throwing only four all season.  The team itself had only 10 turnovers all season establishing a new NFL record.  They played better than expected and we got sucked in.

In the end they just weren’t good enough to get deep into the playoffs.  I heard someone say they remind him of the New York Yankees.  They haven’t won in a while but they’re always lurking, always dangerous to make that run.  They always have a good season and are just a few moves away from a great one.  I believe that the next three seasons maybe the greatest you will ever see a New England team have.  They have the best QB. They’re sold at WR although they do need a deep a threat and getting Chad Ochocinco from Cincinnati or drafting A.J. Green (Georgia) would do them a world of good.  They have two solid backs in BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead and hopefully Kevin Faulk is back.  They also have some fantastic young TE’s that are here for a while as well in Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Defensively thought, they need a pass rusher badly.  Someone to terrorize opposing QBs off the edge.  They need a James Harrison; they need a Dwight Freeney; a Julius Peppers.  The back end of the defense in the linebacking and secondary is young and solid as is the kicking game.  This team is good.  This team is just a few moves away from being great.   I trust Bill Belichick will make them so.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem and don’t forget to become a fan of us on Facebook.

Photo credit: AP Photo

This Week

The New England Patriots host the New York Jets at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 4:30 p.m. in the AFC Divisional Playoff.

The Patriots (14-2), AFC East champions, are 8-0 at the Razor, 5-1 against the AFC East and 10-2 in the conference. The Jets (12-5), an AFC Wild Card, are 6-2 on the road, 4-2 in the division and 9-3 against the AFC.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots minus 9. The over/under is 45. My prediction is Patriots 34, Jets, 21. Give the points (Patriots) and take the over. I am 9-5-2 against the spread and 12 of 16 on calling the over/under in 2010.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 181st consecutive sellout dating back to the 1994 season opener. The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking and stadium information, parking map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good.  And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme. Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someones house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS is televising the game nationally and Jim Nantz will do the play-by-play while Phil Simms will handle the game analysis. You can look here for your local affiliate.

There is no DirecTV Channel designation.

Here’s a wonderful Wikipedia page on all the rules for NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the flex scheduling, blackout policies and commercial breaks.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 5:30 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Channel 123, the Jets Radio Network has Bob Wischusen calling play-by-play and former Jet Marty Lyons does the color. Their call is available on Channel 125. XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games.  The Jets feed for this game can be heard on XM103, the Patriots on XM102.

Westwood One is also carrying this game to a nationwide audience.  They can be heard on Sirius 124 and XM 124.

Patriots All-Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in-depth features on the team.  It’s hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

Boston – TV 38 and  Providence – WNAC Friday at 7p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.; Manchester – WMUR Saturday at midnight; WMTW in Portland Saturday at 5 a.m.; WCTX – Hartford Saturday at 5 p.m.; WFXQ – Springfield Saturday at 7 p.m. and Bangor – WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the team website.

Continue reading the preview by clicking on the read more button if you’re on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots had a bye week as the AFC’s top seed. The Jets beat the Colts, 17-16 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis in the AFC Wild Card Playoff.

History

• The all-time series is tied at 51-51-1 record including playoffs.
• The teams have only met twice in the playoffs with New England winning both games.
• The Patriots are 27-24-1 as the home team in the series.
• The lone tie (24-24) in the series came on October 2, 1966, when both clubs were part of the AFL.
• New England is 7-3 (including playoffs) vs the Jets at home since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002.
• The two teams last met in Week 13 at the Razor and it was a 45-3 Patriots rout.

Game Notes

Patriots Team Notes:

Here is the Patriots Roster; Depth Chart and Injury List for the game.

2010 Patriots schedule/results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 401-362-9. They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXIII, XXXIX) in 6 appearances. They last appeared in the Playoffs in 2009 losing at home to Baltimore, 33-14.  They last appeared in a Super Bowl in 2007 losing to the New York Giants 17-14 in Super Bowl XLII.  They won the AFC Conference Championship that season with playoff wins over Jacksonville and San Diego.

The Patriots are 21-14 overall in the playoffs including 8-5 in AFC Divisional Round.

They have beaten the Jets twice in the playoffs.  In the 1985 Wild Card round they won in New York 26-14 on their way to the franchises first Super Bowl appearance and in the 2006 Wild Card round they won 37-16 in Foxboro.

New England is 11-2 at home in the playoffs.  The only losses were last season to Baltimore and in 1978 to Houston.

The Patriots have won the AFC East 8 times since 2000.

New England is just the third team in NFL history to score 30 or more points for at least 8 consecutive weeks.

Patriots set a NFL record for fewest turnovers in a season with 10.

Patriots QBs had the fewest INTs in the NFL (5).

New England was 8-0 at home. The fifth time in team history they’ve gone undefeated at home.  All have come since 2003.

Since 2001, New England is a NFL best 83-23 in games after November 1st.

Since Robert Kraft purchased the team in 1994, the Patriots are 22-13 vs the Jets.

The Patriots finished plus 28 in turnover differential for the season, first in the NFL.  They had given up 5 INTs and 5 fumbles, while picking off opponents 25 times and recovering 13 fumbles.

The Patriots had fewest turnovers in the league (10).  That is a new NFL record.

Based on points per game, the Patriots offense finished ranked 1st (32.4) in the league, while the defense was 8th (19.6).

In the final five weeks of the year the Patriots defense improved from 22nd to 8th in points allowed by trimming over 5 ppg off their average.

New England is 6-1 vs Top 10 defenses in 2010.  The Jets are ranked 6th.

Patriots have won 8 consecutive games against teams with winning records.

BoDog list the Patriots odds of winning the Super Bowl at 8:5.  Falcons and Packers are 11:2; Steelers 6:1; Bears 8:1; Ravens 9:1; Jets 12:1 and Seahawks 40:1.

Patriots Staff Notes:

This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Jets.

Bill Belichick is 16-9 in his career against the Jets. He is 15-8 against them as the head coach in New England and that includes one playoff win in 2006.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 162-94 in 15 NFL seasons. He is 126-50 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland. He is 15-5 in the playoffs, 14-4 as the head coach of the Patriots in the postseason. When you combine the regular season and postseason Belichick is 177-99.

Belichick after a bye week in the playoffs in 4-0, he is 9-2 after a bye week in the regular season.

Patriots Players Notes:

This is Tom Brady’s 11th NFL season, he is 14-4 against the Jets, including 1-0 in the playoffs.

Overall Brady is 111-32 as a starting QB and is 14-4 in the playoffs for an overall record of 125-36. Brady is a 5 time Pro Bowl QB, was NFL MVP in 2007 and won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP. He was recently named as the 21st Greatest Player in NFL History by the NFL Network.

He extended his NFL record to 9 consecutive games with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.

Brady’s 261 TD passes in his career ties him for 10th all-time with former Seattle QB Dave Kreig.

Brady lead the NFL with 36 TD passes and only 4 INTs.

He was just the 6th QB in a 16 game season to have at least 1 TD pass every game.

Brady had gone 11 starts without an INT (335 attempts).  His last one was a end of regulation Hail Mary against the Ravens. This is a regular season record.  Anything he does in playoffs will have no bearing on the record.

Brady was named AFC Offensive Player of the Month for December.

Brady is also nominated for the FedEx Air Player of the Year Award.  He is nominated along with San Diego QB Phillip Rivers and Green Bay QB Aaron Rodgers.  You can cast your vote until Friday January 28th at 9 p.m.

EPSN’s Trent Dilfer expects Brady “to unleash hell on the Jets” after all the comments.

CB Devin McCourty is one of five finalists for NFL Rookie of the Year.  It’s a fan vote, so vote early, vote often!

LB Brandon Spikes returns to play this weekend after a four game league suspension.

NT Vince Wilfork was fined $10,000 for his hit on Dolphins QB Chad Henne in Week 17.

DL Brandon Deadrick has had his suspension lifted by the team.

DL Mike Wright was placed on IR and DL Atiyyah Ellison was released.

The NFL Hall of Fame finalists have been announced and former Patriot and Jet RB Curtis Martin is among them.

Was Wes Welker dissing Rex Ryan in his press conference on Thursday?

What did Joe Theismann call Danny Woodhead?

The Patriots have 2 New England natives on the roster (DL Ron Brace -Worcester MA and TE Aaron Hernandez – Bristol CT) and they have 5 players who played for a college in New England or a Big East member team. They are: DL Ron Brace -BC; CB Darius Butler – UConn; OL Dan Koppen – BC; CB Devin McCourty – Rutgers; OL Quinn Ojinnaka – Syracuse and LB Brandon McGowan – Maine (IR). . DL Vince Wilfork played for Miami when they were a conference member, DL Mike Wright played for Cincinnati and WR Deion Branch played at Louisville but they were in Conference USA at that time.

News from this weeks opponent

Jets Team Notes:

Here is the Jets Roster; Depth Chart and Injury List.

2010 Jets schedule/results

The Jets all time record is 351-413-8 and they are 11-12 in the playoffs, with their last appearance before this season coming after the the 2009.  Last season they lost to Indianapolis 30-17 in the AFC Championship Game. The Jets last appeared in the Super Bowl following the 1968 season and defeated the Baltimore Colts 16-7 to win Super Bowl III. At that time it a considered the biggest upset in sports history.

They beat Indianapolis on the road last week in the Wild Card round.

New York has lost 13 of the last 17 meetings against New England including 1 playoff match up.

The Jets are 3-7 all-time at Gillette Stadium. Overall as the road team in the series they are 18-23.

The Jets were plus 9 in turnover differential for the season.  They have given up 14 INTs and 7 fumbles, while picking off opponents 12 times and recovering 18 fumbles.

Based on points per game, the Jets offense finished ranked 14th (22.9) in the league, while the defense was 6th (19.0).

Jets Staff Notes:

Hear what New York head coach Rex Ryan had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.

Rex Ryan is 20-12 in his 2nd season as a head coach.  For the second season the Jets are an AFC Wild Card team. He is 3-1 in the playoffs for an overall record of 23-13.

Ryan takes a swipe at Brady.  Then says it’s about him vs. Belichick and “it’s personal”.

Ryan thinks Brady was taunting the Jets sideline in Week 13.

Jets Players Notes:

Mark Sanchez is 18-12 as a starting QB and is 3-1 in the playoffs for an overall record of 21-13.  Sanchez was the Jets 1st round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft out of Southern California.

There is a huge amount of pressure on Sanchez.

The Jets players have been waiting a month and half for this chance.

Former Patriots OL Damien Woody is now on the IR and out for the playoffs.

Jets CB Antonio Cromartie hates Tom Brady he said ever since 2006.

New York hopes RB Shonn Green can come on strong Sunday.

Former UCONN player LB Cody Brown is on the Jets practice squad.

There are 7 other players on the roster from current or former Big East and New England based Universities. CD Darrelle Revis (Pittsburgh); LB Jamaal Westerman (Rutgers); OL Damien Woody (IR – Boston College); DE Mike Devito (Maine), OL Vladimir Ducasse (UMass); S James Ihedigbo (UMass); TE Matthew Mulligan (Maine).

Next Week

If the Patriots beat the Jets they will host the winner of the Baltimore Ravens/Pittsburgh Steelers game in the AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro on Sunday January 23rd at 6:30 p.m. on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

New England Patriots CB Devin McCourty is one of five finalists to be named NFL Pepsi Rookie of the Year in a vote of the fans.  McCourty, the Patriots first round pick from Rutgers (27th overall), earned his first Pro Bowl selection as rookie by leading the team in interceptions with seven and turning into a pure shutdown corner, the likes of which haven’t been seen in a while in Foxboro.

He started all 16 games and made 82 tackles, defensed 17 passes and had one sack in addition to the INTs.

Along with McCourty, others selected for the vote are: St. Louis QB Sam Bradford; Detroit DL Ndamukong Suh; Cleveland CB Joe Haden and Tampa Bay WR Mike Williams.

You can vote for McCourty from now until 9 p.m. on February 1st.  The winner will be announced on Thursday February 3rd in Dallas, TX, site of Super Bowl XLV.

McCourty’s twin brother Jason, who started on the opposite corner with him at Rutgers, is now playing in the NFL with the Tennessee Titans.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: Getty Images

Playoff tickets for the New England Patriots home game on Sunday January 16th at Gillette Stadium will go on sale to the general public Friday January 7th at noon through Ticketmaster.

There has been a limited number of seats held back for public sale.

All tickets will be handed through Ticketmaster there will be no sales of tickets at the Gillette Stadium Ticket Office.  To get tickets you can go online to the Ticketmaster website or call 800.745.3000.  Visa debit or credit cards will be the ONLY accepted means of payment.  There has been no announced price point on the tickets.

There will be a 6 ticket limit per person.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The New England Patriots (14-2) put a wonderful sweet cherry on top of yet another great season for the franchise on Sunday by beating down their AFC East rival the Miami Dolphins (7-9), 38-7 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.  The 14th win of the year marks the fourth time in 11 seasons under Bill Belichick that the team has had at least 14 wins.  Two of the three previous times they went to and won the Super Bowl.  The other time, we don’t speak of.

While the Patriots should be allowed to bask in the memory of their fine season, it was by far a different direction that the Dolphins went in.  In his third season, and after winning the Brady-less AFC East in 2008, CT native and Miami head coach Tony Sparano may actually be taking his talents somewhere other than South Beach in 2011.  After three seasons, the Fish are 25-23 under Sparano with one division title; a playoff loss and not a whole lot more to show.  After a promising 11-5 start he has led the team to back-to-back 7-9 seasons.  But alas, it’s not all his fault as former VP in charge of Football Operations Bill Parcells and General Manager Tim Ireland failed to find in some manner or form to find the franchise’s next quarterback.  For a team who knew how to select Hall of Famer Dan Marino, it’s shocking that they haven’t been able to find someone who could carry his towel since he retired after the 1999 season.

With that said lets take a look at how the Patriots wrapped up their season and headed into a playoff bye week as the top seed in the AFC.

In a game that meant nothing, QB Tom Brady took another step toward locking in his second MFL MVP award by throwing for 2 more TDs while not being intercepted for the 9th consecutive game.  When he left the game, his new NFL record for attempts without an INT were increased to 335. While he was in the game Brady was 10 of 16 for 199 yards with the 2 TDs and no INTs.  He also was not sacked.  Both of Brady’s TD passes went to TE’s one to rookie Rob Gronkowski who got his 10th TD catch of the year a new Patriots rookie record and one to the veteran Alge Crumpler, who afterward gave away the ball to a kid in the stands.

Also mixed in there before Brady was relieved for good in the third quarter was a 1 yard TD run by BenJarvis Green-Ellis giving him a team leading 13 TDs on the season, a 28 yard FG by Shane Graham and a Patriots team record 94 yard punt return by Julian Edelman just mere seconds before halftime.  With the aid of the Edelman return, the 9th non-offensive TD scored this season by the Patriots, the went into the locker room with a comfortable lead of 24-0.

After Brady left with a 31-0 lead in the third, second string QB Brian Hoyer came in and played well for a guy who never sees the field. He was 7 of 13 for 122 yards and threw his first NFL TD pass to rookie WR Brandon Tate who made a sensational diving catch in the end zone for the score.  Hoyer never saw it though as he got planted by a late hit and was spitting Field Turf pellets out of his mouth.

The Dolphins finally managed to get on the board with a late fourth quarter score when QB Tyler Thigpen, who replaced starter Chad Henne, threw a 21 yard TD pass to WR Devon Bess with 2:11 left to play and the game well in hand.

The Patriots did see their games with no turnovers stopped at 8 when RB Danny Woodhead fumbled the ball in the first quarter.  It was Woodhead’s first fumble of the season, the Patriots first turnover since a Hoyer pick in the Cleveland loss and just their 10th giveaway of the year. The Patriots though did get two takeaways.  Rookie CB Devin McCourty grabbed his 7th INT of the year when he stepped in front of a Henne pass on the games opening drive.  And Miami RB Ricky Williams coughed the ball up when DL Eric Moore stripped it and and LB Rob Ninkovich fell on it in the 2nd quarter.

So now the players will get Tuesday off, then return on Wednesday to get ready for their first playoff game.  The NFL announced the game will be on Sunday January 16th at 4:30 p.m. at Gillette Stadium against the lowest remaining AFC seed.  Depending on the outcomes of this weeks up coming Wild Card weekend battles the Patriots could play the (4) Chiefs, (5) Ravens or (6) Jets. They wouldn’t play Indianapolis or Pittsburgh until the AFC title game on Sunday January 23rd.

Dolphins at Patriots Gamebook.  This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Game Recap via team website.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below.

Turning Points of the Game

After New England forces Miami into a 3 out in a 17-0 game before half, Julian Edelman breaks a 94 yard punt return for a TD.  If they weren’t then as of that the Fish were fried.

Offensive Players of the Game

RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis had 20 carries for 80 yards and a TD.  He also eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season.

Defensive Player of the Game

NT Vince Wilfork who had 3 tackles and 2 sacks and was the ultimate run stopper up the middle.

Game Notes

The starters for the Patriots were:

On offense:

LT: Matt Light
LG: Logan Mankins
C: Dan Koppen
RG: Ryan Wendell
RT: Sebastian Vollmer
TE: Alge Crumpler
TE: Rob Gronkowski
QB: Tom Brady
WR: Brandon Tate
WR: Julian Edelman
RB: BenJarvus Green-Ellis

On defense:

DE: Kyle Love
NT: Vince Wilfork
DE: Gerard Warren
OLB: Rob Ninkovich
ILB: Jerod Mayo
ILB: Gary Guyton
OLB: Eric Moore
CB: Devin McCourty
CB: Kyle Arrington
S: Patrick Chung
S: Brandon Meriweather

Inactives for the game:

Patriots

WR Wes Welker
WR Deion Branch
OLB Tully Banta-Cain
DL Brandon Deaderick
OL Dan Connolly
DL Ron Brace
DL Mike Wright
TE Aaron Hernandez

Dolphins

TE Anthony Fasano
OT Lydon Murtha
CB Nolan Carroll
DL Chris Baker
DL Ryan Baker
OL Allen Barbre
LB Mike Rivera
WR Julius Pruitt

The spread (Patriots minus 4) was covered as was the over/under (43 1/2).  I am now 9-5-2 vs the spread and 12 of 16 calling the under/over.

The Patriots saw their NFL record seven consecutive games with 30 plus points scored and no turnovers end when Danny Woodhead fumbled in the first quarter.

New England is just the third team in NFL history to score 30 or more points for at least 8 consecutive weeks.

The Patriots are now 41-50 vs Miami in the overall series.

New England swept the season series from Miami for first time since 2007.

Patriots set a NFL record for fewest turnovers in a season with 10.

Patriots QBs had the fewest INTs in the NFL (5).

New England was 8-0 at home. The fifth time in team history they’ve gone undefeated at home.  All have come since 2003.

Since 2002, the Patriots are 34-5 in December games.

Bill Belichick teams are now 13-11 overall vs Miami.  He was 0-2 vs the Dolphins as head coach in Cleveland.

Belichick now has 177 wins10th all-time.

Tom Brady is now 12-6 vs Dolphins in his career and overall he is 44-11 vs the AFC East.

Brady won his 28th consecutive home game.

He extended his NFL record to 9 consecutive games with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.

Brady’s 2 TD passes give him 261 in his career he is now 10th all-time tied with former Seattle QB Dave Kreig.

Brady now has a league leading 36 TD passes and only 4 INTs.

Brady had at least 1 TD pass in all 16 games.  He is just the 6th QB in a 16 game season to have at least 1 TD pass every game.

Brady has gone 11 starts without an INT (335 attempts).  His last one was a end of regulation Hail Mary against the Ravens.

New England is now plus 28 in turnover differential after picking off Henne once and recovering a fumble.. The Patriots also had one giveaway a fumble by Woodhead.

Rookie TE Rob Gronkowski had caught his 10th TD pass of the season setting a Patriots rookie record.

RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis finished the season with 1,008 yards.  He is the 11th Patriot to get 1,000 yards and first since Corey Dillon in 2004.

TE Alge Crumpler caught a TD pass for the second consecutive game.

LB Rob Ninkovich and NT Vince Wilfork each had their first career 2 sack game.

Rookie CB Devin McCourty tied for the league lead in INTs with 7 with Baltimore S Ed Reed and Philadelphia CB Asante Samuel.

Rookie WR Taylor Price made his NFL debut.

K Shayne Graham finished the year 12 for 12 on FGA’s since replacing injured K Stephen Gostkowski.

WR Wes Welker did not play and appeared to be a healthy scratch. He has catches in 78 consecutive games played, 64 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

RB Danny Woodhead left the game in the first quarter with a head injury he did not return.

DL Myron Pryor left the game with an eye injury he did not return.

Terry McAulay was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 47, cloudy with occasional rain.

In the 2011 NFL Draft New England has a ton of high picks.  Which include the #17 overall pick from Oakland and the 33rd from Carolina.

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick; Patriots QB Tom Brady and Patriots NT Vince “Sponge Bob” Wilfork post game press conferences.

This Week in the AFC East

Jets beat the Bills, 38-7

FINAL AFC East Standings

• Patriots – 14-2/5-1
• Jets  – 11-5/4-2
• Dolphins – 7-9/2-4
• Bills – 4-12/1-5

Next Game

The Patriots have the week off.

On January 16th they will host  the lowest remaining AFC seed amongst (4) Kansas City, (5) Baltimore or (6) New York at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA at 4:30 p.m.

You can follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: Elsa – Getty Images

This Week

The New England Patriots host the defending Super Bowl Champion New Orleans Saints at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA on Thursday night at 7:30 p.m.

It is the preseason opener for both teams.

Here are the rosters for the Saints and Patriots.

Tickets

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.

Getting To The Game

If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking and stadium information, parking map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good. And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme. Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

WBZ-TV in Boston is televising the game to a regional audience. Here are a list of the 2010 New England Patriots Preseason Television Network affiliates.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.

Other News

2010 Patriots schedule/results

Next Week

The Patriots travel to Atlanta to face the Falcons on Thursday at 8 p.m.

For the 2010 season, New England Patriots fans can listen to every play of every game on the “Safety Insurance 98.5 The Sports Hub Patriots Radio Network”. Each game, home and away, from preseason to post season is broadcast from the three-time Super Bowl Champions flagship station WBZ-FM in Boston with Gil Santos calling the play-by-play and Patriots Hall of Fame member Gino Cappelletti providing the color commentary. The 2010 season marks the 27th year together of the Patriots announcing team.

To get you ready for the game, make sure you tune in along the Patriots Radio Network three hours prior to game time for Patriots Preview and stay for three hours after the game with Patriots Postgame. Veteran TV and radio personality Gary Tanguay hosts both shows and he is joined by former Patriots quarterback Sott Zolak and sports radio personality Andy Gresh. Patriots Preview is an information packed prelude to kickoff, and has the only game-day interviews with head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots president Jonathan Kraft. Patriots Postgame wraps up the game with a breakdown of the game, live press conferences with the players who made a difference and reaction from you, the fans.

A full look at the stations after the jump.

Below is a list of the stations in the Patriots radio network. If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live on your computer. NFL game feeds are also available with a subscription to Sirius Satellite Radio.