As first reported by Sports Illustrated football writer Peter King, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady and the team have restructured his existing contract and got a year extension in the deal.

The three year extension is said to worth $27 million but it gives the team an additional $15 million against the flat cap over the 2013 and 2014 seasons.  The new deal will keep Brady in Foxboro through the 2017 season when he turns 40.

The new pact calls for salaries of $7 million in 2015, $8 million in 2016 and $9 million in 2017 and a $3 million signing bonus.

While other quarterbacks have signed larger deal that end up hampering their teams at times against the cap Brady has always been willing to restructure so the team will remain competitive in his time there. 

Among the teams free agents that may benefit include WR Wes Welker, CB Aqib Talib, WR Julian Edelman, RB Danny Woodhead and T Sebastian Vollmer.

Brady who is a three time Super Bowl Champion, two time Super Bowl MVP and two time league MVP now will have a cap number of $13.8 million in 2013; $14.8 million in 2014; $13 million in 2015; $14 million in 2016 and $15 million in 2017.

In the long run it’s a great deal for both Brady and the Patriots and the future.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: getty images

How My Predictions Worked Out

Before the season started I predicted that the Patriots would finish 12-4, with identical 6-2 records and home and on the road.  They would go 5-1 in the division, 9-3 in the conference and 3-1 against the NFC West.  I had road home losses to Buffalo and Houston and road losses to Baltimore and Seattle.

Officially the New England Patriots did indeed finish 12-4 in 2012.  They even had identical 6-2 records at Gillette and on the road.  They would go 6-0 in their division, 11-1 in the conference and 1-3 against the NFC West.  Their home losses were to Arizona and San Francisco and the road losses were to Baltimore and Seattle.

Too bad I wasn’t as accurate in picking games against the spread.  This season including the playoffs I was absolutely brutal picking correctly only 5 times while I would have lost money 13 times.  Jimmy the Greek was better when he was drunk, I wish I was drunk but alas I was stone cold sober.  Luckily if you’re a guy who loves to bet the total or over/under I got that correct 12 times out of 18 and much better percentage.

As for the playoffs the Patriots finished as the #2 seed, I predicted them as the #5 coming in second in the division to Buffalo.  I think I may actually have been drunk when I did that or at least I hope I was.

I had them going 1-1 in the post season winning Wild Card week and losing in the divisional round.  As we know they earned a bye this season and won in the Divisional round and lost in the AFC Championship Game.

All in all they finished 13-5 just as I said they would.

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Looking At 2013

With 2012 officially in the books we have to look ahead to the 2013 NFL season and see what changes the Patriots will make in the roster.

Where do I see changes?  On offense most likely in the wide receiver’s corps, Brandon Lloyd stays but Deion Branch probably will not be back and Kamar Aiken and Matthew Slater are not the teams 4th and 5th wideouts.  Slater will stay because he means too much to them on special teams. 

The biggest monkey in the room is Wes Welker’s contract.  He is currently on the franchise tag and if they tag him again he gets an additional 20% which puts him over $11 million for one season.  Bill Belichick is highly unlikely to pay him that, it goes back to value for the position.  Welker wants a long-term deal likely in the 3-year range and he wants to get paid.  My gut feeling is New England will let him test the market to see what offers he can get.  If that happens he is as good as gone.  I hope I am wrong.

In the tight end grouping Obviously Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez return the question is whether or not Daniel Fells and Mike Hoomanawanui will too.

On the offensive line the starters are solid, the team was very smart with making Ryan Wendell the starting center.  They need to see some more development out of Marcus Cannon and Markus Zusevics.  Other than that I expect to see some turnover among Nick McDonald and Donald Thomas.

The quarterbacks and the running backs should remain untouched, as should the special teamers LS Danny Aiken, K Stephen Gostkowski and P Zoltan Mesko.

Defensively they continue to need some pash rush help, Chandler Jones had a good first year but he lost time and effectiveness due to ankle injuries.  With a full, healthy season I expect more out of him in the sack department.  I’d like to see more out of Justin Francis and Jake Bequette moving forward.  I’m not sure if Trevor Scott returns in 2013, when he played he was fairly productive.  Also Jermaine Cunningham needs to continue to mature and play up to his potential.  He is entering his fourth season and time is running out on him.  The middle of the line remains stout and should be untouched with Vince Wilfork, Brandon Deaderick and Kyle Love forming a nice run stopping trio.

The three starting linebackers are solid and all have Pro Bowl potential.  It’s the bottom three in depth chart where we will see change.  Niko Koutouvides, Tracy White and Mike Rivera all made solid special teams contributions but saw very little time on defense.  Between the three they made 13 tackles on defense in limited action with White having 10 of them.  Expect some change their in at least two of the positions.  If you get a push rushing end you have the option of moving Rob Ninkovich back to linebacker.

Now we get to the secondary.  Since they acquired Aqib Talib the defensive backfield started to gel.  They need to sign Talib who will be a free agent.  Alfonzo Dennard got better as the season went on, Devin McCourty excelled after moving to safety and Steve Gregory was a nice pick up.  My feeling is that Kyle Arrington, Patrick Chung and Derrick Martin won’t be in Foxboro to start the season and that guys like Nate Ebner, Tavon Wilson, Marquise Cole, Malcolm Williams continue to grow and play a part in 2013.

By my projections that will leave the potential for 12-14 roster changes next season.  Now is the time for the staff to excel and make out their free agent and draft boards and try to return to the Super Bowl for the 8th time next season.

News and Notes

According to the team QB Tom Brady, G Logan Mankins, WR Wes Welker and DT Vince Wilfork have decided against playing in the Pro Bowl this weekend.

The Patriots also announced that they have signed some players to future contracts.  Future contracts are used on players who have expiring contracts and are on your practice squad at the end of the season or players who are not on the active roster of any team.  It allows these players to be able to take part in OTA’s with the team.  Signing deals were DL Tracy Robinson, WR Jeremy Ebert, RB James Develin, LB Jeff Tarpinian and WR Andre Holmes.  They also have QB Mike Kafka and DE Marcus Benard under future contracts for next season.

Bill Belichick met with the media on Monday to talk about the 2012 season. (patriots.com)

Five takeaways from the Patriots loss to the Ravens (Boston Globe)

Best and Worst of the Patriots-Ravens. (Boston Herald)

Ravens crush Patriots second half miracle (Hartford Courant)

With the loss the Patriots are locked in with the 29th pick in the first round of the NFL Draft.

This was the Patriot 20th playoff season, it was the 31st playoff game of the Kraft Era (20-11) and the team is now 24-17 all-time in the post season.

The Patriots are now 3-13 when they have a negative turnover ratio in a post season game.  Sunday they were MINUS 3.

The Patriots now are 10-3 at Gillette Stadium in the post season, 14-4 overall as the home team.

This was the third time in team history that the Patriots have played in back-to-back Conference Championship Games (2003-04, 2006-07 and 2011-12).

The Patriots 9 Conference Championship appearances are 5th most in the Super Bowl era.  They trail only Oakland (11), San Francisco (14), Dallas (14) and Pittsburgh (15).

They are now 7-2 in the AFC Championship Game.

New England is 4-1 in Conference Championship Games played in Foxboro (3-1 in Gillette Stadium).

The Patriots lead the overall series vs. the Ravens 7-3 including the post season (1-2).

Bill Belichick is now 205-109 including post season. 

Belichick’s 205 wins are good for a tie for 6th all-time with Marty Schottenheimer who coached the Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers.

He is 18-8 in the playoffs, 17-7 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.

His 18 playoff wins are the third most all-time behind only Don Shula (19) and Tom Landry (20).

Tom Brady is 17-7 in the playoffs and has an overall record of 153-46.

Brady is 11-3 at home in the post season.

Brady is 3rd all-time in postseason TD passes with 42.  Brett Favre is 2nd with 44 and Joe Montana leads with 45.

Brady holds the franchise lead for most playoff games as a Patriot (24).  It is the most all-time in the NFL for a quarterback (tied with Brett Favre).

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 119 consecutive games including playoffs, 102 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker is the all-time franchise leader with 69 playoff receptions.  He had 16 catches this post season for 248 yards and 1 TD.

 

TE Aaron Hernandez had 15 catches for 168 yards in two post season games.

WR Brandon Lloyd played his first two playoff games in his career and he had 12 catches for 102 yards and 1 TD.

RB Stevan Ridley led the team in rushing he had 70 yards on 18 carries.  He finished the post season with 152 yards on 33 carries and 1 TD.

In two games RB Shane Vereen had 162 yards from scrimmage (57 rushing yards, 105 yards receiving) and 3 TD’s.

LB Brandon Spikes had 11 tackles on Sunday (6 solo) and 1 QB hit.  He led the team in post season tackles with 17 tackles (10 solo).  DB Devin McCourty (10 solo) and LB Jerod Mayo (10 solo) had 15 tackles each in the post season.

LB Rob Ninkovich had the lone post season INT against Houston. 

Ninkovich also led the team in post season sacks with two against Baltimore.  The team got credited for a sack against Houston.

CB Alfonzo Dennard (vs. Houston) and Mayo (vs. Baltimore) each had 1 post season forced fumble.

CB Marquise Cole led the team with 4 tackles on special teams in the two playoff games.

New England had more first downs than Baltimore did, 28-25.

The Patriots were 7 of 15 (47%) on 3rd down conversions while they held the Ravens to 5 for 12 (42%). 

Baltimore did not attempt a 4th down play while New England was 1 for 2 (50%).

The Patriots had more total yards on Sunday against the Ravens, 428 to 356.

New England had 3 turnovers on Sunday 2 INTs and 1 fumble. 

They ended the post season MINUS 2 in turnover ratio (2 INT/1 fumble against and 1 INT/0 fumbles for).

The Patriots were 1 for 4 in the red zone with 1 TD, 2 FG’s and 1 loss of downs.

The Ravens were 4 for 4 in the red zone with 4 TD’s.

Baltimore won the time of possession 31:06 to 28:54.

The longest play allowed by the New England defense was 26 yards on a pass from Joe Flacco to Anquan Boldin in the 3rd quarter.

The Patriots had 2 plays for more yardage (36, 39) than the Ravens longest play (26). 

Each team had 4 plays of 20 yards or more.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

The AFC Championship Game between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA was a series of peaks and valleys.  In the end, there were more valleys and a disappointing 28-13 loss to end the season.

At times it would seem the Patriots offense would be peaking and they’d start moving the ball only to bottom out and have a drive stalled with incomplete passes or failed red zone opportunities.

Then it would seem as it the Patriots defense would peak and be playing aggressive only to turn around and start to get picked apart by Baltimore QB Joe Flacco.

For most of the afternoon the game could have gone either way but there was a huge momentum shift late in the third quarter and early in the 4th quarter that gave the Ravens a 21-13 lead after trailing 13-7 at the half.

In a period of 10:01 on the game clock the Ravens scored 21 unanswered points and pulled away from the Patriots while building a 28-13 lead on three Flacco TD passes.  Two went to All-World WR Anquan Bolden, who size and strength just proved too much for the overmatched New England secondary.  And the third went to TE Dennis Pitta who killed New England most of the afternoon with little shake routes over the middle.  Flacco kept finding him and the Ravens kept chipping away at the Patriots defense.

The defense was severely hampered when CB Aqib Talib came up lame with a pulled hamstring about midway through the first quarter.  It severely changed the way defense was able to cover the Baltimore receivers, especially Bolden.  With Talib on the field he matches up very well with guys like Bolden but it doesn’t help when he can’t get on the field.

As for the offense they struggled mightily, especially in the red zone coming away with two field goals and a touchdown in three first half tries.  There was also some sketchy clock management in the closing seconds of the half.  If Tom Brady had called time out after he slide he had 17 seconds and at least two shots at points, maybe three.  But he decided he wanted to try to save the time out and spike the ball and ended up running the clock to :04 seconds and forcing the field goal opportunity as a last ditch chance for points.

The end of the football season always leaves me a bit melancholy compared to other sports, it just seems to short.  One day a week for four maybe five months if you’re lucky and then it’s gone, especially in a one and done playoff situation.

The team was good this year, not great.  At times they played both above and below the expectations of the fans and themselves. While 2013 looks promising we also have to realize that next preseason Brady turns 36 and the window closes a little more not only on his career but possibly championship opportunities in Foxboro.

As they said in “Goodfellas” when they tell Jimmy they had to whack Tommy, “well that’s that, and there wasn’t anything we could do about it.”

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

Ravens at Patriots Recap.

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Turning Point(s) of the Game

RB Stevan Ridley gets popped by Ravens S Bernard Pollard and fumbles the ball.  The Ravens score on the ensuing drive and increase their lead to 28-13.

Offensive Player(s) of the Game

Ravens QB Joe Flacco was 21 of 36 for 240 yards, 3 TDs, O INTs and 2 sacks.  His passer rating was 106.2.

Defensive Player(s) of the Game

Ravens S Bernard Pollard had 9 tackles (4 solo), 1 pass defensed and 1 forced fumble.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

• LT Solder
• LG Mankins
• C Wendell
• RG Connolly
• RT Vollmer
• TE Hoomanawanui
• TE Hernandez
• WR Welker
• WR Lloyd
• QB Brady
• RB Ridley

On Defense:

• DE Francis
• DT Love
• DT Wilfork
• DE Ninkovich
• LB Mayo
• LB Spikes
• LB Hightower
• LCB Talib
• RCB Dennard
• S Gregory
• S McCourty

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. WR Kamar Aiken

2. CB Derrick Martin

3. DB Malcolm Williams

4. G Nick McDonald

5. G Markus Zusevics

6. DL Marcus Forston

7. DE Jake Bequette

Ravens

1. CB Asa Jackson

2. S Omar Brown

3. LB Adrian Hamilton

4. G Ramon Harewood

5. WR Deonte Thompson

6. DE DeAngelo Tyson

7. DT Bryan Hall

The spread (Patriots minus 9) WAS NOT covered.  The over/under (51.5) WAS NOT COVERED.  I GAVE the points (Ravens) and took the UNDER.  I finished the season 5-13 vs. the spread and 12 of 18 calling the under/over.

The Patriots lead the overall series vs. the Ravens 7-3 including playoffs.

The Ravens are 2-1 against the Patriots in the post season.  All three playoff games have been at Gillette Stadium.

This is the Patriot 20th playoff season, it was the 31st playoff game of the Kraft Era (20-11) and the team is now 24-17 all-time in the post season.

This was the first AFC Conference Championship Game rematch since the 1986 and 1987 when the Browns faced the Broncos.  It was the first Conference Championship rematch in either conference since 1992-94 when the 49ers and Cowboys met three times in a row.

They are now 7-2 in the AFC Championship Game.

This is the third time in team history that the Patriots have played in back-to-back Conference Championship Games (2003-04, 2006-07 and 2011-12).

The Patriots now are 10-3 at Gillette Stadium in the post season, 14-4 overall as the home team.

New England is 4-1 in Conference Championship Games played in Foxboro (3-1 in Gillette Stadium).

The Patriots 9 Conference Championship appearances are 5th most in the Super Bowl era.  They trail only Oakland (11), San Francisco (14), Dallas (14) and Pittsburgh (15).

The Patriots are now 3-13 when they have a negative turnover ratio in a post season game.  Sunday they were MINUS 3.

Bill Belichick is now 205-109 including post season. 

Belichick’s 205 wins are good for a tie for 6th all-time with Marty Schottenheimer who coached the Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers.

He is 18-8 in the playoffs, 17-7 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.

His 18 playoff wins are the third most all-time behind only Don Shula (19) and Tom Landry (20).

Belichick coached teams are 6-3 vs. Baltimore (including playoffs 1-2) all with New England.

Tom Brady is 17-7 in the playoffs and has an overall record of 153-46.

His 17 playoff wins are the most all-time for any quarterback.

Brady is 11-3 at home in the post season.

Brady is 3rd all-time in postseason TD passes with 42.  Brett Favre is 2nd with 44 and Joe Montana leads with 45.

Brady holds the NFL record with 553 postseason completions.

Brady holds the franchise lead for most playoff games as a Patriot (24).  It is the most all-time in the NFL for a quarterback (tied with Brett Favre).

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 119 consecutive games including playoffs, 102 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker is the all-time franchise leader with 69 playoff receptions.

CB Aqib Talib pulled a hamstring in the first quarter and didn’t return.

DT Kyle Love hurt his ankle and in the first quarter and didn’t return.

RB Stevan Ridley suffered a concussion in the 4th quarter and didn’t return.

Baltimore is 13-7 all-time in the post season.

The Ravens are the two-time defending AFC North champions.

Ravens in AFC Championship Game (2-2)

Date	Opponent	W-L	Score
1/14/2001	at Oakland	W	16-3
1/18/2009	at Pittsburgh	L	14-23
1/22/2012	at New England	L	20-23
1/20/2013	at New England	W	28-13

Baltimore is 9-5 on the road in the playoffs.

Baltimore is the only team to make the post season the last 5 seasons.

Baltimore has the best post season winning percentage (.650) of any team with at least 15 games played.

This was the third AFC Championship game for the Ravens under head coach John Harbaugh.

He will face his brother Jim Harbaugh’s San Francisco 49ers in Super Bowl XVLII.  It is the first time brothers have coached against each other in a Super Bowl.

Since 2008 Baltimore is 7-2 vs. the AFC East with both losses being to New England.

John Harbaugh is 8-4 in the playoffs for an overall record of 62-30. 

He is 3-3 vs. New England in his career including 2-1 in the post season.

Like his head coach, Joe Flacco is 8-4 in the playoffs for an overall record of 62-30 in 5 seasons.

He is 3-3 vs. New England in his career including 2-1 in the playoffs.

RB Ray Rice came into the game averaging 100+ yards per game rushing vs. New England.  In 5 career games he had 518 yards.  On Sunday they held him to 48 yards on 19 carries.

Bill Leavy was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 41 with wind chill of 32 it was clear and windy.

Attendance – 68,756 at Gillette Stadium, Foxboro MA.  It was the 205th consecutive sell out at a Patriots home game. 

Post Game Interviews

Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and Patriots QB Tom Brady post game press conferences via patriots.com

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

photo credit: getty images

This Week

The New England Patriots host the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday at 6:30 p.m.

The Ravens		—-	The Patriots
Overall	12-6		Overall	13-4
Road record	5-4		Home record	7-2
AFC East	1-0		AFC North	0-1
AFC	10-4		AFC	12-1

Bill Leavy is the referee assigned to the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from 5dimes.eu via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 9.  The over/under is 51.5. 

My Prediction is Patriots 28, Ravens, 21.  Give the points (RAVENS) and take the UNDER.  I am 4-13 against the spread and 11 of 17 on calling the over/under in 2012.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 205th consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

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

After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.

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 from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.

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

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  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 theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’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

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

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules; flex scheduling 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, who is retiring after the playoffs, handles the play-by-play and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak will do the game analysis. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 3:30 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Sirius Channel 86, XM Channel 226 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 818.

The Ravens Radio Network has Gerry Sandusky calling the game while Qadry Ismail and Stan White provide the game analysis via their flagship station of WIYY-FM and WBAL.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 92, XM Channel 225 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 802.

Dial Global Sports is carrying the game nationally via their affiliate network.  Kevin Harlan, Dan Fouts and Mark Malone will call the game starting at 6:15 p.m.

Their call is available on Sirius Channel 88, XM Channel 88 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 88.

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 MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading the Baltimore Ravens at New England AFC Championship Game Preview, please click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots closed out the Texans, 41-28 at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Divisional Round.  The Ravens edged the Broncos 38-35 in 2 OT’s at Mile High in the AFC Divisional Round.

History

• This is the 10th meeting between the Patriots and the Ravens since Baltimore became a franchise in 1996 when the Cleveland Browns relocated.  The team was unable to keep the Browns past records, nicknames and colors and was considered an expansion franchise.
• This is the third time the teams have faced each other in the post season with each team winning once.
• The Patriots lead the overall series 7-2 including playoffs.
• This is a rematch off the 2011 AFC Championship Game that the Patriots won at Gillette Stadium, 23-20.
• This is the first AFC Conference Championship Game rematch since the 1986 and 1987 when the Browns faced the Broncos.  It’s the first Conference Championship rematch in either conference since 1992-94 when the 49ers and Cowboys met three times in a row.

Patriots Team Notes

Here is the Patriots roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 426-369-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are 24-16 in the post season.

They are 1-0 in the 2012 playoffs having beaten the Houston Texans in the AFC Divisional Round.

The Patriots are the defending four-time AFC East Champions as well as the defending AFC Conference Champions.  They have won the division 10 times including this season and the conference 5 times since 2000.

The Patriots are 15-5 all-time against the AFC North in the regular season and 2-1 in the playoffs.

Patriots Playoff History (20 seasons)

Year	How Qualified	Seed	Record	Result
			24-16
2012	Division Champs	2	1-0	TBD
2011	Division Champs	1	2-1	AFC Champions
2010	Division Champs	1	0-1	AFC Divisional
2009	Division Champs	3	0-1	Wild Card Round
2007	Division Champs	1	2-1	AFC Champions
2006	Division Champs	4	2-1	AFC Finalist
2005	Division Champs	4	1-1	AFC Divisional
2004	Division Champs	2	3-0	Super Bowl Champs
2003	Division Champs	1	3-0	Super Bowl Champs
2001	Division Champs	2	3-0	Super Bowl Champs
1998	Wild Card	6	0-1	Wild Card Round
1997	Division Champs	3	1-1	AFC Divisional
1996	Division Champs	2	2-1	AFC Champions
1994	Wild Card	5	0-1	Wild Card Round
1986	Division Champs	3	0-1	AFC Divisional
1985	Wild Card	5	3-1	AFC Champions
1982*	16-Team Format	7	0-1	First Round
1978	Division Champs	2	0-1	AFC Divisional
1976	Wild Card	4	0-1	AFC Divisional
1963	Division Champs	NA	1-1	AFL Finalist

*-Strike Year

New England has the 4th highest winning percentage (.600) in the post season of teams having played a minimum of 15 games.  Only Pittsburgh (.611), Green Bay (.625) and Baltimore (.632) have higher winning percentages.

Since 2001 the Patriots have secured a bye week 7 times.  It is the highest total in the NFL in that time span.  Chicago and Pittsburgh have done it 4 times each since 2001.

This is the third time in team history that the Patriots have played in back-to-back Conference Championship Games (2003-04, 2006-07 and 2011-12).

New England is 4-0 in Conference Championship Games played in Foxboro (3-0 in Gillette Stadium).

The Patriots 9 Conference Championship appearances are 5th most in the Super Bowl era.  They trail only Oakland (11), San Francisco (14), Dallas (14) and Pittsburgh (15).

In addition to Baltimore/New England (2011-12) and Cleveland/Denver (1986-87) the other back-to-back AFC Conference Championship Games are Pittsburgh/Houston (1978-79) and Oakland/Pittsburgh (1974-76).

With a win on Sunday the Patriots will advance to their 8th Super Bowl it would tie them for the most all-time with Dallas (5-3) and Pittsburgh (6-2).

With a win on Sunday New England would return to the Super Bowl for the 2nd consecutive season.  They’d be the 8th team to return after losing the previous season.  The previous 7 returning teams are 2-5.

Team	Lost Super Bowl	Result of Return
Dallas	V	Won Super Bowl VI
Miami	VI	Won Super Bowl VII
Minnesota	VIII	Lost Super Bowl IX
Denver	XXI	Lost Super Bowl XXII
Buffalo	XXV	Lost Super Bowl XXVI
Buffalo	XXVI	Lost Super Bowl XXVII
Buffalo	XXVII	Lost Super Bowl XXVIII

This will be the 31st playoff game of the Kraft ownership era.  They are 20-10 in the post season since 1994.

Patriots Conference Championship Results (7-1)

Date	Opponent	Result	Score
1/20/2013	Baltimore	TBD	TBD
1/22/2012	Baltimore	W	23-20
1/20/2008	San Diego	W	21-12
1/21/2007	at Indianapolis	L	34-38
1/23/2005	at Pittsburgh	W	41-27
1/18/2004	Indianapolis	W	24-14
1/24/2002	at Pittsburgh	W	24-17
1/12/1997	Jacksonville	W	20-6
1/12/1986	at Miami	W	31-14

 

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002 New England is 10-2 at home in the playoffs.  One of those losses is at the hands of Baltimore in the 2009 AFC Wild Card Round.

Overall the Patriots are 14-3 (.824) as the home team in the postseason and have the best post season homefield winning percentage.

The Patriots had seven non-offensive touchdowns in 2012. The 2010 Patriots and 1961 Patriots teams own the team record with nine non-offensive touchdowns.

Date	Game	Touchdown
9/9/2012	at Tennessee	Dont’a Hightower 6-yd. Fumble Return
10/21/2012	New York Jets	Devin McCourty 104-yd. Kickoff Return
11/18/2012	Indianapolis	Julian Edelman 68-yd. Punt Return
11/18/2012	Indianapolis	Aqib Talib 59-yd. Int. Return
11/18/2012	Indianapolis	Alfonzo Dennard 87-yd. Int. return
11/22/2012	at New York Jets	Steve Gregory 32-yd. Fumble Return
11/22/2012	at New York Jets	Julian Edelman 22-yd. Fumble Return

New England set a NFL record with 444 first downs in 2012.

They had the fewest fumbles (7) in team history and led the NFL in turnover differential (+25) which was the second highest total in team history.

When the Patriots have a positive turnover ratio in a playoff game they are 18-1.  They are 3-3 when the turnovers are even and are 3-12 when they have a negative turnover ratio.

The Patriots have never lost a playoff game when they had a 100-yard rusher; they are 7-0.

In the Week 3 game against the Ravens the Patriots were 3 for 5 (60%) in the red zone with 3 TDs and 2 FG’s.  New England was 7 for 15 (47%) on third down conversions and 0 for 0 on 4th down attempts.

This season New England led the NFL in yards per game (427.9), interception rate (1.40%), first downs per game (27.8), third down conversions (48.6%), red zone pct (70%), points per game (34.8) and point differential (14.1).

The Patriots lead the league in points per game with 34.8.  While they allowed 20.7 points per game good for a tie for 9th.

The New England defense sacked the opponents quarterback 37 times this season while Tom Brady and Ryan Mallett were sacked 27 times.

New England ended the season PLUS 25 in turnover differential, 1st in the NFL. The offense gave up 9 INT and 7 fumbles, while the defense had 20 INTs and 21 fumble recoveries. 

For the season the Patriots were 110 for 226 (48.6%) in 3rd down efficiency and 8 for 12 (75%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents were 82 for 205 (40%) in 3rd down efficiency and 9 for 23 (39.1%) on 4th down attempts.

For 2012 New England was 40 of 58 (70%) in the red zone while opponents were 20 for 36 (55.5%) in the red zone in 2012.

In goal to go situations New England was 31 for 37 (83.7%) and opponents were 15 for 21 (71.4%).

In 2012 the Patriots scored over 400 points for the 6th consecutive season.  They also became the first NFL franchise to have 4 consecutive seasons of 500+ points.

New England led the NFL with 25 rushing TD’s in 2012.

Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 206.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 225.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 12.
• Have the most playoff wins, 20.
• Have played the most playoff games, 30.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 14.
• Have the best playoff win percentage, .671.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

Patriots Staff Notes

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

Bill Belichick coached teams are 6-2 vs. Baltimore (including playoffs 1-1) all with New England.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 187-101 in his 18th NFL season.  He is 151-57 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 18-7 in the playoffs, 17-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 205-108.

Belichick’s 205 wins are good for at tie for 6th all-time with Marty Schottenheimer who coached the Browns, Chiefs, Redskins and Chargers.

His 18 playoff wins are third most all-time behind only Don Shula (19) and Tom Landry (20).

With a win on Sunday Belichick will match Don Shula for the most Super Bowl appearances as a head coach (6).

Belichick’s .720 post season win percentage is 3rd all-time behind Tom Flores (.727) and Vince Lombardi (.900).

Belichick is one of just four coaches to win three Super Bowls, joining Chuck Noll (4), Joe Gibbs (3) and Bill Walsh (3).  Those men are all in the Hall of Fame.

He is the only coach in NFL history to win three championship titles in four seasons.

He is the only coach in NFL history to have led his team to 10+ wins in 10 consecutive seasons.

Belichick has 10 seasons of 11+ wins he is tied for 2nd most all-time with Tom Landry.  Don Shula is the all-time leader with 13 seasons of 11+ wins.

Staff with Baltimore ties:

Belichick was born in Baltimore and raised in Annapolis MD.

Special Teams Coach Scott O'Brien worked for the Baltimore Ravens as the Special Teams Assistant.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Soldier
• LG: Mankins
• C: Wendell
• RG: Connolly
• RT: Vollmer
• TE: Hernandez
• WR: Branch
• WR: Lloyd
• WR: Welker
• QB: Brady
• RB: Ridley

Defense:

• DE: Ninkovich
• DT: Wilfork
• DT: Deaderick
• DE: Francis
• LB: Mayo
• LB: Spikes
• LB: Hightower
• LCB: Talib
• RCB: Dennard
• S: McCourty
• S: Gregory

Patriots Players Notes

This is Tom Brady’s 13th NFL season he is 5-2 vs. Baltimore in his career including playoffs (1-1).

Overall Brady is 136-39 as a starting QB and is 17-6 in the playoffs for an overall record of 153-45.  Brady is an 8 time Pro Bowl QB; two time NFL MVP and has won 3 Super Bowls while twice being named the games MVP.  He is also listed as the 21^st Greatest Player in the History of the NFL according to the NFL Network.

Brady is 11-2 at home in the post season.

With a win on Sunday Brady will equal DL Mike Lodish for most Super Bowl appearances by a player (6).  Lodish went 4 times with Buffalo and twice with Denver.

He is 3rd all-time in postseason TD passes with 41.  Brett Favre is 2nd with 44 and Joe Montana leads with 45.

Brady shares the record with 6 TD passes in one post season game (Denver 2011) with Oakland’s Darryl Lamonica (Houston 1969) and San Francisco’s Steve Young (San Diego 1994, Super Bowl XXIX).

Brady holds the NFL record with 524 postseason completions.

Brady’s 17 playoff wins are 1st all-time.

Brady is the franchise leader with most playoff games as a Patriot (23).

In 2012 Brady was 401 of 637 (63%) for 4827 yards with 34 TDs and 8 INTs his passer rating was 98.7.

Earlier this season against Baltimore, Brady was 28 of 41 for 335 yards, 1 TD, 2 sacks and 0 INT’s. His passer rating was 101.2.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 118 consecutive games including playoffs, 101 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker led the team with 118 catches for 1354 yards and he was 2nd on the team with 6 receiving TD’s.

He is the 1st player in NFL history to have five 100+ catch seasons.

Welker has the second most receptions (768) all-time among undrafted receivers. Rod Smith is the NFL’s all-time leader with 849.

Welker is the Patriots franchise leader with 61 playoff receptions.

WR Deion Branch is third in franchise history with 54 playoff receptions.  Troy Brown is 2nd with 58.

Branch is the franchise leader in postseason receiving yards with 836.

In Week 3 at Baltimore Welker and Lloyd combined for 17 catches and 250 receiving yards.

RB Stevan Ridley finished the season with 290 attempts for 1263 yards and 12 TD’s.

Ridley was the 5th Patriot to have at least 1200 yards rushing in a season and he led the team in TD’s with 12.  TE Rob Gronkowski, who missed 5 weeks with an arm injury, was 2nd with 11 TD’s.

Ridley’s 1263 yards were the fourth highest total in Patriots history.

TE Rob Gronkowski joined WR Randy Moss and RB Corey Dillon as the only Patriots players to have had three straight seasons with 10+ TD’s.

K Stephen Gostkowski led the NFL in points with 153.

LB Jerod Mayo was the team leader in tackles again with 184 tackles (115 solo) it was the 5th highest total in team history.

Mayo (184) and LB Brandon Spikes (128) became the first Patriots teammates to record 100+ tackle season in the same year since 2006.

DE Rob Ninkovich finished with a team high 8 sacks in 2012.

Spikes and Ninkovich tied a team record this year with 5 forced fumbles each.  Mayo was second with 4 forced fumbles.

DT Vince Wilfork and Ninkovich had a team high 4 fumble recoveries in 2012.

Rookie DE Chandler Jones had a team high 12 QB hits and he was second on the squad with 6 sacks.

CB/S Devin McCourty had 5 INT’s to lead the team.  Rookie S Tavon Wilson had 4 INT’s; rookie CB Alfonzo Dennard and S Steve Gregory each had 3 INT’s.

It was the 2nd time in 3 years that McCourty has led the team and the AFC in INT’s.

McCourty also led the team in passes defensed with 13, while CB Kyle Arrington was 2nd for the year with 11 passes defensed.

Since CB Aqib Talib came to New England only the Tennessee Titans gave up fewer plays of 30 yards or more.

WR Matthew Slater had 20 tackles on special teams and rookie S Nate Ebner was 2nd with 17 tackles on special teams.

Patriots with Baltimore Connections:

• CB Kyle Arrington is a native of Accokeek MD and attended Gwynn Park High School in Brandywine MD
• DE Chandler Jones is the younger brother of Ravens DE Arthur Jones.  Their other brother, Jon “Bones” Jones is a Champion UFC fighter.
• S Derrick Martin was a 6th round draft pick of the Ravens in 2006.

There are only three players on the team who played on at least one of the Super Bowl championship teams, Brady (3), Deion Branch (2) and Wilfork (1).

Roster moves this week:

• TE Rob Gronkowski was placed on the IR

The Patriots captains for 2012 are QB Tom Brady, DT Vince Wilfork, G Logan Mankins, LB Jerod Mayo, CB Devin McCourty and WR Matthew Slater (special teams).

The Patriots have 5 New England natives on the roster they are: TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA); LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT) and OL Jamey Richard (Weston CT – IR). 

They have 10 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are CB Will Allen (Syracuse – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College); RB Tony Fiametta (Syracuse – Exempt List); DE Justin Francis (Rutgers); S Stephen Gregory (Syracuse); DE Chandler Jones (Syracuse); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); OL Donald Thomas (UConn); RB James Develin (Brown – Practice Squad) and NT Vince Wilfork (Miami).

The Patriots have 6 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Ravens Team Notes

Here is the Ravens roster, depth chart and injury report for the game.

2012 Ravens Schedule/Results

Baltimore’s all-time record is 150-121-1 they are 12-7 in the post season. The Ravens have won one Super Bowl in their only appearance beating the New York Giants (XXXV).

The Ravens are the two-time defending AFC North champions.

Baltimore is 2-0 is 2012 playoffs having beaten Indianapolis 19-13 at home in the AFC Wild Card Round and Denver 38-35 in 2 OT’s on the road in the AFC Divisional Round.

Ravens in AFC Championship Game (1-2)

Date	Opponent	W-L	Score
1/14/2001	at Oakland	W	16-3
1/18/2009	at Pittsburgh	L	14-23
1/22/2012	at New England	L	20-23
1/20/2013	at New England	TBD

Baltimore is 8-5 on the road in the playoffs.

The Ravens along with the Patriots are two of three teams to make the playoffs in six of the last seven seasons.  The third team is Indianapolis.

Baltimore is the only team to make the post season the last 5 seasons.

Baltimore has the best post season winning percentage (.632) of any team with at least 15 games played.

This is the third AFC Championship game for the Ravens under head coach John Harbaugh.

All four of the Ravens playoff losses under Harbaugh have come at the hands of the team that ended up representing the AFC in the Super Bowl.

Baltimore has the second most wins in the NFL since 2008 with 61.

Since 2008 Baltimore is 6-2 vs. the AFC East with both losses being to New England.

The Ravens set a franchise record by scoring 398 points in the regular season.

Baltimore had 72 plays in 2012 of 20+ yards.

In Week 3’s 31-30 victory vs. New England, the Ravens’ offense produced a 300-yard passer (Joe Flacco – 382), a 100-yard rusher (Ray Rice – 101) and a 100-yard receiver (Torrey Smith – 127) for just the fifth time in franchise history.

The Ravens were 10th with points per game with 24.9.  While they allowed 21.5 points per game good for a tie for 12th in the NFL.

The Baltimore defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 37 times this season, while their quarterbacks have been sacked 38 times.

Baltimore is PLUS 9 in turnover differential tied for 8th best in the NFL. The offense has given up 11 INT and 5 fumble, while the defense has 13 INT and 12 fumble recoveries. 

The Ravens are 80 for 217 (36.9%) in 3rd down efficiency and 6 for 14 (42.9%) on fourth down attempts.  Opponents are 83 for 232 (35.8%) in 3rd down efficiency and 6 for 12 (50%) on 4th down attempts.

Ravens Staff Notes

Read what Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and others had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Harbaugh is in his 5th season with the team, he is 54-26 since taking over and is 7-4 in the playoffs for an overall record of 61-30. 

He is 2-3 vs. New England in his career including 1-1 in the post season.

Harbaugh’s brother Jim is in his second season as the head coach of the San Francisco 49ers and for the second year in a row the brothers are one win away from facing each other in the Super Bowl.

He has won two AFC North Division titles as the head coach of the Ravens and his teams have made the playoffs all five years he has been in Baltimore.

He is the only NFL head coach to have won a playoff game in each of his first five seasons.

He is just one of three coaches to make the playoffs in each of his first five seasons the others are Bill Cowher (6 years) and Chuck Knox (5).

Staff with New England ties:

Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Jerry Rosburg was the secondary coach at Boston College.

Defensive Line Coach Clarence Brooks went to high school in New Bedford, MA. before playing guard at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. He was also a coach at UMass.

Offensive Quality Control Coach Jason Brooks, son of Clarence Brooks, was born in Amherst, MA. Brooks, like his father, severed as a coach at UMass.

Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach John Dunn was born in Great Barrington MA

Assistant Offensive Line Coach Craig VerSteeg served as the Quarterbacks/Wide Receivers Coach at Harvard University.

Ravens Linebackers Coach Dean Pees served as the Linebackers coach and Defensive Coordinator for New England.

Baltimore Assistant Offensive Line Coach Todd Washington coached the offensive line for the Hartford Colonials (UFL) in 2010.

Ravens Defensive Quality Control Coach Matt Weiss is a native of Cheshire CT and attended the Hopkins Grammar School in New Haven CT.

Baltimore Assistant General Manager Eric DeCosta is a native of Taunton MA and graduated from Colby College in Waterville ME.

Ravens Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: McKinney
• LG: Osemele
• C: Birk
• RG: Yanda
• RT: Oher
• TE: Pitta
• TE: Dickson
• WR: Smith
• WR: Bolden
• QB: Flacco
• RB: Rice

Defense:

• DT: Ngata
• NT: Kemoeatu
• DE: Kruger
• LB: Suggs
• LB: Ellerbe
• LB: Lewis
• LB: Upshaw
• LCB: Graham
• RCB: Williams
• S: Pollard
• S: E. Reed

Ravens Players Notes

Baltimore Ravens QB Joe Flacco is 54-26 in his career in the regular season and 7-4 in the playoffs for an overall record of 61-30 in 5 seasons.

Flacco was a 1st round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft out of the University of Delaware.

He is 2-3 vs. New England in his career including 1-1 in the playoffs.

In his last two games against the Patriots, Flacco is 50 of 75 for 688 yards, 5 TD’s and 2 INT’s.

Flacco threw for a career-high 3,817 yards, 22 TDs (second most of his career) and just 10 INTs (tying a career low) in 2012.

Flacco has the third current longest consecutive starts by a QB with 80.

RB Ray Rice totaled 1,621 yards from scrimmage (1,143 rushing and 478 receiving), the NFL’s ninth most. It marked Rice’s fourth-straight season with at least 1,600 yards from scrimmage.

Rice averages 100 yards per game rushing vs. New England.  In 5 career games he has 518 yards.

WR Torrey Smith was the Sox and Dawgs Offensive Player of the Game in Week 3, he had 6 catches for 127 yards and 2 TD’s on the day his younger brother died in a motorcycle accident.

Smith was 4th in the NFL in yards per catch with 17.4.

He led the Ravens with 8 TD catches.

WR/KR Jacoby Jones led the NFL with a 30.7 yards per KOR.

He had three returns for TD’s in 2012, 2 on kickoffs and 1 on a punt.

Jones made his first Pro Bowl as a special teams starter.

WR Anquan Boldin led Baltimore with 921 receiving yards.

TE Dennis Pitta had 7 TD catches most in franchise history for a tight end.

Rookie K Justin Tucker made 30 of 33 FGAs (90.9%), producing the second-best success rate in Ravens single-season history and also the second-best mark by a rookie kicker in NFL history.

Future Hall of Fame LB Ray Lewis is in his 17th and final season.  In his career he has 2,643 tackles, 31 INT’s and 20 recovered fumbles.

He is the only 40-sack/30 INT player in NFL history and along with another future Hall of Famer former Patriots S Rodney Harrison they are the only 30/30 players in the NFL history.

Lewis has 6 career forced fumbles in the post season.  He is tied with Neil Smith for most all-time.

He had a game high 17 tackles at Denver last week.

Future Hall of Fame S Ed Reed has 61 career INT’s and has returned 7 of them for TD’s.  The 61 INT’s are good for 10th all-time.

Reed has 8 INT’s in 13 career post season games. Only Charlie Waters, Bill Simpson and Ronnie Lott have more post season INT’s they all have 9.

He is the only NFL player to have scored return TD’s off of an INT, punt return, blocked punt and fumble recovery.

Overall Reed has 14 career TD’s.

Reed and CB Cary Williams led the Ravens with 4 INT’s each.

He is the NFL’s all-time leader in INT return yards with 1,541.

Since 1966 Reed has the most 2+ INT games in NFL history with 12.

Reed has the two longest INT returns for TD’s in NFL history 107 yards and 106 yards.

LB Terrell Suggs is the Ravens all-time franchise sack leader with 84.5.

Suggs has 12 sacks in 13 post season games.  He is tied for 3rd all-time with Reggie White.  Only Bruce Smith (14.5) and former Patriots LB Willie McGinnest (16) have more.

DT Haloti Ngata was the Sox and Dawgs Defensive Player of the Game in Week 3 when he had 9 tackles (7 solo), 0.5 sack, 2 QB hits and 1 tackle for loss.

S Bernard Pollard led the Ravens with 98 tackles in 2012.

Baltimore has no permanent captains, they are announced on a weekly basis.

Ravens with New England ties:

• S James Ihedigbo, an Amherst MA native and UMass grad, played for the Patriots in 2011.

• LB Ricky Brown (Injured Reserve) was in training camp with the Patriots in 2011.

• WR and Return Specialist David Reed is a native of New London CT and played for New Britain High School until he transferred to New London High School for his senior season.

Baltimore had 6 players named to the Pro Bowl.  They are S Ed Reed, RB Ray Rice, WR/KR Jacoby Jones, RB Vonta Leach, DT Haloti Ngata and G Marshal Yanda.

There are 9 players on the Baltimore roster from Big East Universities and New England based colleges.  They are C Matt Birk (Harvard); LB Ricky Brown (Boston College – IR); CB Corey Graham (New Hampshire); S James Ihedigbo (UMass); CB Chris Johnson (Louisville); DT Arthur Jones (Syracuse); LB Jameel McClain (Syracuse); RB Bernard Pierce (Temple); TE Alex Silvestro (Rutgers – Practice Squad) and RB Ray Rice (Rutgers).

The Ravens have no retired numbers.

Next Week

If the Patriots win on Sunday they will either play the winner of San Francisco and Atlanta in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Super Dome in New Orleans LA on Sunday February 3rd on CBS.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII

Effort Gets Your Everywhere

Do you remember your parents telling you I wish would you tried harder?  I do.  There were things I excelled at like sports and remembering my favorite player’s statistics.  While other things like my chores needed more effort.

Well it may be safe to say that Devin McCourty’s and Kyle Arrington’s parents and coaches have never had to ask for extra effort after watching the way they ran down the Houston Texans Danieal Manning on Sunday.

If you didn’t pay attention to the replay or get to see an overhead coach’s view what McCourty and Arrington did was pretty special and it doesn’t happen every day.

Manning, who is no slouch in the speed department, took the kickoff 6 yards deep in the end zone and ran it out.  He was almost immediately over run my McCourty, Arrington and Jackie Slater and Manning was in all purposes ticketed for the end zone.

But what happened was Arrington took one angle coming across the field, while McCourty ran straight down field.  Arrington who had taken the angle most likely would have gotten to Manning as well but when he saw McCourty he pulled up so he wouldn’t cut him off and next thing you know McCourty has him from behind and he is down at the 12 yard line.

Granted the Patriots gave up a 94 yard kick off return but there was no touchdown scored as a result of the kickoff.

Now it was up to the defense.

Arian Foster ran the ball to the 9-yard line on first down.  Then on 2nd down Matt Schaub went to J Casey at the goal line but the pass was dropped.  On 3rd and 7 Schaub over threw All-World WR Andre Johnson in the back of the endzone and the Patriots defense escaped by only allowing a field goal.

That few minutes of effort by the defense and McCourty and Arrington set the tone for the game.  You could see from the outset that with that effort the Patriots wanted it more than the Texans.  From that point on I had no doubt that New England would win.

It’s like your parents told you it’s all in the effort.

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News and Notes

According to sources, TE Rob Gronkowski re-fractured his arm and will need more surgery he is out for the remainder of the playoffs.

RB Danny Woodhead hurt his thumb early in the first quarter he never returned but could have according to Bill Belichick.  He will get looked at again during the week but at this time he is expected to be able to play on Sunday against Baltimore.

The Patriots have re-hired former WR’s coach Brian Daboll.  He had left to go to the jets with Eric Mangini in 2006 to be the QB’s coach.  He also has been with the Dolphins, Browns and Chiefs as an offensive coordinator.  He will join the staff in a capacity similar to Josh McDaniels last year.

Offensive snaps by skill players vs. Houston (ESPN Boston)

Defensive snaps played vs. Texans (ESPN Boston)

Five takeaways from the Patriots win over the Texans (Boston Globe)

Best and Worst of the Patriots-Texans. (Boston Herald)

The winning team as always, it’s Brady and Welker. (Hartford Courant)

The Patriots now are 10-2 at Gillette Stadium in the post season, 14-3 overall as the home team.

All-time in the post season the franchise is 24-16.

When the Patriots have a positive turnover ratio in a playoff game they are 18-1 on Sunday they were PLUS 1.

Bill Belichick is now 205-108 including post season.

He is 18-7 in the playoffs, 17-6 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.

His 18 playoff wins are the third most all-time behind only Don Shula (19) and Tom Landry (20).

Tom Brady is 17-6 in the playoffs and has an overall record of 153-45.

His 17 playoff wins are the most all-time for any quarterback.

Brady is 3rd all-time in postseason TD passes with 41.  Brett Favre is 2nd with 44 and Joe Montana leads with 45.

He was 25 of 40 for 344 yards, 3 TD’s 0 INT’s and 1 sack against Houston.  His passer rating for the game was 115.0

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 118 consecutive games including playoffs, 101 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Welker is the all-time franchise leader with 61 playoff receptions.

Welker led the team with 8 catches for 137 yards including a long sideline bomb from Brady that went for 47 yards.

The Patriots had four veterans WR Brandon Lloyd (10 yrs.), CB Aqib Talib (5), DE Trevor Scott (5) and G Donald Thomas (5) play in their first NFL playoff game.

RB Shane Vereen, RB Stevan Ridley and Lloyd all had their first NFL playoff touchdowns.

Vereen was the Sox and Dawgs Offensive Player of the Game he had 124 yards from scrimmage.  83 yards receiving on 5 catches and 41 yards rushing on 7 carries.  He had 3 TD’s 1 on the ground and two off of Tom Brady passes.

P Zoltan Mesko was fantastic on Sunday.  He had a 52.8 average on 5 punts.  His net was 49.4 and his longest kick was good for 64 yards.  He had 2 punts inside the 20 and 0 touchbacks.

Rookie CB Alfonzo Dennard had a forced fumble.

DE Rob Ninkovich was the Sox and Dawgs Defensive Player of the Game he had 4 tackles, 1 tackle for loss, 1 QB hit, 1 INT and 2 passes defensed.

LB Jerod Mayo had 2 tackles for loss to led the team.

CB Aqib Talib (9 solo and 1 assisted) and S Steve Gregory (6 solo and 4 assisted) led the Patriots with 10 tackles each.

New England was credited with a “team sack” when Houston QB Matt Schaub fumbled and recovered the ball for a loss of yards.  It was their only sack of the game.

The Patriots had 3 QB hits 1 each for Ninkovich, LB Dont’a Hightower and DE Justin Francis. 

The Texans won the first down battle 25-24.  Houston had 5 rushing, 19 passing and 1 by penalty while New England had 8 by rushing, 15 passing and 1 by penalty.

The Patriots were 6 of 13 (46%) on 3rd down conversions while they held the Texans to 4 for 15 (27%). 

New England did not attempt a 4th down play while Houston was 3 for 4 (75%).

The Texans had 3 fumbles and lost none. And that is not counting the one that was clearly a fumble but the officials claimed forward progress had stopped.

The Patriots were 4 for 6 in the red zone with 4 TD’s and 2 FG’s.

Houston won the time of possession 31:24 to 28:36.

The longest play allowed by the New England defense was 28 yards on a screen pass from Schaub to Arian Foster in the 3rd quarter.

The Patriots had 4 plays for more yardage (30, 33, 40, 47) than the Texans longest play (28). 

The Texans had 2 plays for 25 yards or more while the Patriots had 5 plays over 25 yards.

Next Week

The Patriots will host the Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium in the AFC Championship Game on Sunday January 20th at 6:30 p.m.

Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII