The 2011 NFL AP All-Pro Team was released on Friday and the New England Patriots found two of their players on the first team and two on the second team.

The two players from the Patriots named to the AP All-Pro First Team were wide receiver Wes Welker and tight end Rob Gronkowski. The two named to the AP All-Pro Second Team were guard Logan Mankins and defensive tackle Vince Wilfork.

The San Francisco 49ers had the most All-Pro’s with five selections. Wide receiver Calvin Johnson of the Detroit Lions and defensive end Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings each received the highest total of votes (49 out of a possible 50).

To see the 2011 NFL AP All-Pro team, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

OFFENSE

Quarterback — Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay.

Running Backs — Maurice Jones-Drew, Jacksonville; LeSean McCoy, Philadelphia.

Fullback — Vonta Leach, Baltimore.

Tight End — Rob Gronkowski, New England.

Wide Receivers — Calvin Johnson, Detroit; Wes Welker, New England.

Tackles — Jason Peters, Philadelphia; Joe Thomas, Cleveland.

Guards — Carl Nicks, New Orleans; Jahri Evans, New Orleans.

Center — Maurkice Pouncey, Pittsburgh.

Placekicker — David Akers, San Francisco.

Kick Returner — Patrick Peterson, Arizona.

DEFENSE

Ends — Jared Allen, Minnesota; Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants.

Tackles — Haloti Ngata, Baltimore; Justin Smith, San Francisco.

Outside Linebackers — Terrell Suggs, Baltimore; DeMarcus Ware, Dallas.

Inside Linebacker — Patrick Willis, San Francisco; NaVorro Bowman, San Francisco, and Derrick Johnson, Kansas City.

Cornerbacks — Charles Woodson, Green Bay; Darrelle Revis, New York Jets.

Safeties — Troy Polamalu, Pittsburgh; Eric Weddle, San Diego.

Punter — Andy Lee, San Francisco.

SECOND TEAM OFFENSE

Quarterback — Drew Brees, New Orleans.

Running Backs — Ray Rice, Baltimore; Arian Foster, Houston.

Fullback — John Kuhn, Green Bay.

Tight End — Jimmy Graham, New Orleans.

Wide Receivers — Larry Fitzgerald, Arizona; Victor Cruz, New York Giants.

Tackles — Duane Brown, Houston; Joe Staley, San Francisco.

Guards — Marshal Yanda, Baltimore; Logan Mankins, New England.

Center — Ryan Kalil, Carolina, and Nick Mangold, New York Jets.

Placekicker — Sebastian Janikowski, Oakland.

Kick Returner — Devin Hester, Chicago.

SECOND TEAM DEFENSE

Ends — Justin Smith, San Francisco; Jason Babin, Philadelphia.

Tackles — Geno Atkins, Cincinnati, Vince Wilfork, New England, and Richard Seymour, Oakland.

Outside Linebackers — Tamba Hali, Kansas City; Von Miller, Denver.

Inside Linebackers — Brian Cushing, Houston; London Fletcher, Washington.

Cornerbacks — Johnathan Joseph, Houston; Carlos Rogers, San Francisco.

Safeties — Ed Reed, Baltimore; Earl Thomas, Seattle.

Punter — Shane Lechler, Oakland.

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According to the Boston Herald’s Ian Rapoport, New England Patriots offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien has been telling people around the NFL that he has accepted the job to become the new head football coach at Penn State University late Thursday evening.

O’Brien has become a hot commodity this year after being named New England’s offensive coordinator prior to the start of the season after being the de-facto play caller since former offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels left to become the head coach of the Denver Broncos in 2009.

He has made headlines the last two seasons with sideline blowups with Tom Brady and former WR Randy Moss.  He was praised in both incidences for how he handled the situation with a star player by not treating them any differently than anyone else who had made the same error.

O’Brien had already been scheduled to interview for the Jacksonville Jaguars head coaching position and possibly could have had other NFL interviews lined up as well.

O’Brien, 42, is a Dorchester, MA native and a graduate of Brown University where he played defensive end and linebacker from 1990 to 1992.

He has extensive coaching experience at the college level starting in 1993 at Brown as tight ends and linebackers coach.  He moved on to Georgia Tech in 1995 as an offensive grad assistant and was promoted to running backs coach.  He then became quarterbacks coach and the Yellow Jackets offensive coordinator and later was also given the title as assistant head coach.

In 2003 he was hired at Maryland as running backs coach and he stayed until he moved onto Duke in 2005 as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

In 2007 he was hired by Bill Belichick as an offensive assistant.  The following season he was the Patriots wide receivers coach before replacing McDaniels as the quarterbacks coach in 2009.

It is expected that O’Brien would remain with New England through the NFL playoffs much like Charlie Weis did when he was hired following the 2004 season to be the head coach of Notre Dame.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: Getty Images

The New England Patriots announced that two-time NFL MVP Tom Brady was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for December/January.

During the month(s), Brady led the Patriots to a 5-0 record which was their seventh perfect December since 2000.

In the five wins, Brady was 124 for 190 for 1608 yards. He threw 11 TD passes and only 2 INTs.

For the season he became the third player to throw for more than 5,000 yards.  He also threw 39 TD passes and only 12 INTs as New England finished 13-3 and secured home field advantage through the playoffs.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: AP Photo

Editors Note: Sorry for the delay on this week’s “In The Red Zone” but with the team having been given Monday off plus working on a bye week it was decided to push it back a few days from its usual Tuesday morning run.

First off I hope everyone had a nice holiday season, no matter which ones you and your family and friends celebrate.  Also thanks to all the readers of “In The Red Zone”, the weekly game previews and recaps for stopping by each week for my look at the New England Patriots.

Overall the season for New England was a successful one; they finished 13-3 won another division title and clinched the top seed in playoffs securing home field advantage through the conference championship.  Now they just need to get there.

As we all remember the most recent Patriots playoff endeavors haven’t been all that good.  Since starting 18-0 in 2007 the Patriots are 48-16 in the next 4 regular seasons but 0-3 in playoff and Super Bowl games, with the loses coming at the hands of the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXLII, the Baltimore Ravens in the 2009 AFC Wild Card Round and the New York Jets in the AFC Division Round last season.

Since winning his first 10 playoff games, Tom Brady has won 2 NFL MVP Awards but is just 4-5 in the post season.  In addition to the above losses are an AFC Conference Championship game loss to Indianapolis in 2006 and a road playoff beat down by Denver in 2005.

New England needs to get back to its winning playoff ways.  Brady is a key cog and must play better than he has in some of those previous playoff losses. And the defense needs to be able to hold its own at key moments in the game.

They can’t afford to fall behind like they have the last two weeks and depend on a comeback.  It’s time for 60 minutes of solid New England Patriots football, let’s hope they come to play next Saturday night as they make a run at Lombardi Trophy #4 in Indianapolis in February.

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

New England head coach Bill Belichick now has 190 career wins including playoffs, which are good for 9th all-time. Former Los Angeles Rams, Washington Redskins and Seattle Seahawks head coach Chuck Knox is 8th with 193 wins.

Here’s the transcript to Belichick’s weekly day after the game media conference call he even closed with a little nugget on Miami DE Jason Taylor’s retirement.

Patriots clinched the Top Seed in the AFC with the win over Buffalo.

The AFC Playoff Seeds are as follows:

1. New England
2. Baltimore
3. Houston
4. Denver
5. Pittsburgh
6. Cincinnati

It sets up for Wild Card Weekend games of Cincinnati at Houston and Pittsburgh at Denver.

The Patriots will play either Cincinnati or the winner of Pittsburgh/Denver.

The NFC Playoff Seeds are as follows:

1. Green Bay
2. San Francisco
3. New Orleans
4. New York Giants
5. Atlanta
6. Detroit

The Patriots were 1-2 against playoff teams in 2011 beating Denver and losing to the New York Giants and Pittsburgh.

Awful Announcing has your full NFL Playoffs Announcing Schedule.

New England finished the season with 13 wins it was the first time they ever earned that win total in a season.

They were 7-1 at The Razor, 6-2 on the road, 5-1 against the AFC East, 0-1 against the AFC North, 1-0 against the AFC South and 4-0 against the AFC West for a 10-2 record vs. the AFC.  They finished 3-1 against the NFC East.

New England has won 8 consecutive games after a 2 game losing streak.  It is their longest win streak of the season.

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, New England is 74-15 at home including the playoffs it is the best record in the NFL in that time period.

The Patriots have lost their last three playoff games.  Two at Gillette Stadium (Baltimore and New York Jets) and Super Bowl XLII (New York Giants).  Their last post season win was the 2007 AFC Championship game played in Foxboro when they beat San Diego to go to 18-0.

Tom Brady had 3 TD passes to give him 300 TD passes in his career he is now tied with Hall of Fame QB John Elway for 5th place.

Brady has 124 career wins; he is tied with Hall of Fame QB Fran Tarkenton for 5th all-time.

Brady also eclipsed 5,000 passing yards in a season.

Here are the all-time single season passing yards leaders:

1. Drew Brees 5,476 (New Orleans 2011)
2. Tom Brady  5,235 (New England 2011)
3. Dan Marino 5,086 (Miami 1984)
4. Drew Brees 5,084 (New Orleans 2009)
5. Matt Stafford 5,038 (Detroit 2011)

Brady also checked in with WEEI-AM/FM for his weekly talk about the game and the upcoming playoffs.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 98 consecutive games including playoffs, 81 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

TE Rob Gronkowski set a NFL record for most receiving yards in a season by a tight end with 1,327.

TE Aaron Hernandez also eclipsed the 1,000 yards receiving mark possibly making them the most prolific tight end combo in NFL history.

RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis became just the third running back in franchise history with consecutive 10 TD seasons.

DE Mark Anderson had 1 sack on Sunday to give the Patriots two players with 10 or more sacks in a season joining injured team mate Pro Bowler, Andre Carter.

The New England defense sacked the opponents quarterback 40 times in the 16 game season.

CB Sterling Moore was named Pepsi NFL Defensive Rookie of the Week for his 2 INT; 1 TD performance against Buffalo last Sunday.

The Patriots released TE Garrett Mills from the practice squad and signed WR Britt Davis.

New England finished PLUS 17 in turnover differential. The offense gave up 12 INTs and 5 fumbles, while the defense had 23 INTs and 11 fumble recoveries.

In 15 of the 16 games this season the Patriots opened on defense.  They won 7 of 16 coin flips and elected to defer each time.  Opponents won the coin toss 9 of 16 times and 8 times elected to receive.

The lone game the Patriots opened on offense was Week 3 in Buffalo, a game they lost.

Russ Goldman of Pats Fans has five positives to take away from the Patriots victory over the Bills.

Mike Reiss charts the Patriots offensive snaps and defensive snaps played vs. Buffalo.

He also charted the hits QB Tom Brady took in 2011.

This is good stuff; Ian Logue of patsfans.com has a searchable table of all the team stats.

Patriots Haven has his Patriots report card on the Bills game.

Just for fun here’s The Big Lead’s view on the implosion of the Jets.

The Patriots have a playoff bye and are idle.  They will next play Saturday January 14 at 8 p.m. on CBS with a home game at Gillette Stadium against either Cincinnati or the winner of the Pittsburgh/Denver game.  Look for the Sox & Dawgs “In The Red Zone Game Preview” available on the Friday before the game.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

For the second consecutive week it was as if the New England Patriots forgot the game started at 1 p.m.  Last week’s shoddy first half led to a 17-0 deficit after 30 minutes.  This week they found themselves down 21-0 to the Buffalo Bills after the first 15 minutes.

Then the gun to end the quarter fired and it was if the Patriots were snapped out of their trance and they went on to score 49 unanswered points in what turned out to be a 49-21 rout of their AFC East rival Bills on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

The stench of an early game funk was on everyone, offense and defense, and after Buffalo WR Steve Johnson scored a TD to make it 21-0 it was hanging in the air pretty bad.  Then someone asked for a courtesy flush and miraculously the air cleared and the New England juggernaut was geared up.

Offensively Tom Brady had another typical Brady game he was 23 for 35 for 338 yards, 3 TD’s and 1 INT.  It was the first pick he threw in 3 games.  He also tied Hall of Fame QB John Elway on the all-time TD pass list finishing the season with 300 for his career.

Brady also finished with 39 TD passes on the year and became just the third player to surpass 5,000 yards passing joining former record holder Hall of Fame QB Dan Marino and current record holder Drew Brees of New Orleans.  Later in the afternoon Detroit’s Matthew Stafford would join the club as well.  Brees and Brady both eclipsed Marino’s mark this season and now stand #1 and #2 in passing yards for a season.

Other offensive mentions include TE Rob Gronkowski who passed New Orleans TE Jimmy Graham, who during his game Sunday, had just surpassed Hall of Fame TE Kellen Winslow Sr. for most receiving yards in a season by a tight end.

Gronk, who also caught the 300th TD pass of Brady’s career, finished with 1,327 yards and earlier this season set the single season record for most receiving TD’s by a tight end.  The new record stands at 17 receiving TD’s for tight ends.  He also added 1 rushing TD this season.

I also just want to mention there were solid offensive games from TE Aaron Hernandez 7 catches for 138 yards and 1 TD, rookie RB Stevan Ridley 15 carries for 81 yards and RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis who ran for 22 yards on 7 carries and scored twice.

On the other side of the ball we saw the return of S Patrick Chung who made an immediate impact.  Chung may be the hardest hitter on the team and when he is on the field bringing the wood his fellow defensive backs seem to step up their play as well.  He made his presence know on the Bills first drive when on third down he crushed the receiver 1-yard shy of the first down marker.  Too bad it didn’t prevent a fake punt that New England seemed ill prepared for.

This seemingly led to inspired play from LB Jerod Mayo, CB Antwaun Molden, CB Sterling Moore, who had two picks one of which he returned for a 21-yard TD, and CB Devin McCourty.

Maybe with the return of Chung and LB Brandon Spikes the defense will play better and give up fewer yards.  As I said before I only concern myself with points allowed but the problem now is that better, playoff caliber, teams with Pro Bowl quarterbacks and more offensive weapons will turn more of those yards allowed into points allowed in the playoffs.

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

Bills at Patriots Game Recap.

To continue reading the Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots recap, hit the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

Down 21-0 New England goes on a 9 play, 77 yard scoring drive that featured a Stevan Ridley run of 22-yards, a 27-yard pass to Aaron Hernandez and was capped by a 1-yard BenJarvus Green-Ellis TD run.

Offensive Player of the Game

Patriots RB Stevan Ridley who had 15 carries and rattled off 81 yards in his first career start.

Defensive Players of the Game

Patriots S Patrick Chung who had 7 tackles (6 solo) and 1 QB hit and set the tone for the defense.  CB Antwaun Molden had 6 tackles (all solo), 1 INT and 1 pass defensed and CB Sterling Moore had just 1 tackle but grabbed 2 INT’s, 1 was returned 21-yards for a TD.

Game Notes

Starters for the Patriots were:

On Offense:

LT Light
LG Wendell
C Connolly
RG Waters
RT Solder
TE Gronkowski
TE Hernandez
WR Welker
WR Branch
QB Brady
RB Ridley

On Defense:

DE Ellis
DT Wilfork
DT Love
DE Deaderick
LB Ninkovich
LB Mayo
LB Fletcher
CB McCourty
CB Arrington
S Ihedigbo
S Chung

Inactives for the Game:

Patriots

1. DE Ron Brace

2. G Logan Mankins (MCL)

3. T Sebastian Vollmer (back/foot)

4. LB Tracy White (abdomen)

5. RB Kevin Faulk

6. RB Shane Vereen (hamstring)

7. QB Ryan Mallett

Bills

1. QB/WR Brad Smith (hamstring)

2. QB Josh Nesbit

3. G Kraig Urbik (knee)

4. DT Jarron Gilbert

5. T Demetrius Bell (knee)

6. WR Kamar Aiken

7. TE Fendi Onobun

The spread (Patriots MINUS 11) WAS covered.  The over/under (51) WAS COVERED.  I GAVE the points (Patriots) and took the OVER.  I finished the regular season 10-5-1 vs. the spread and 12 of 16 calling the under/over.

New England finished the season with 13 wins it was the first time the ever earned that win total.

They were 7-1 at The Razor, 6-2 on the road, 5-1 against the AFC East, 0-1 against the AFC North, 1-0 against the AFC South and 4-0 against the AFC West for a 10-2 record vs. the AFC.  They finished 3-1 against the NFC East.

The Patriots are the AFC’s #1 playoff seed and will have home field through out the playoffs.

The Patriots lead the overall series 62-41-1 vs. Buffalo.

The 62 wins are the most the Patriots have over any opponent.

New England has won 21 of the last 24 meetings dating back to 2000.

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, New England is 74-15 at home including the playoffs.

New England has won 11 consecutive home games against Buffalo.

New England is 53-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when both Miami and New York swept them.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 40 times in 16 games.

New England is PLUS 17 in turnover differential. The offense has given up 12 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 23 INT and 11 fumble recoveries.

Belichick’s 189 wins are good for 9th all-time.  Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams, Redskins and Seahawks, is 8th all-time with 193.

Belichick is now 21-4 vs. Buffalo as a head coach with New England and Cleveland.

New England offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien is rumored to be the heading to Penn State University to become the Nittany Lions head football coach.

Tom Brady is 18-2 vs. the Bills in his career.

Brady has thrown 39 TD’s and 12 INT’s while being sacked 32 times in 16 games.

Brady has 300 TD passes in his career he is now tied for 5th all-time with Hall of Fame QB John Elway.

Brady has 124 career wins he is now tied for 5th all-time with Fran Tarkenton.

He became just the third quarterback to surpass 5,000 passing yards in a season he finished with 5,235 which is second most all-time to Drew Brees who had 5,476 this year.  Detroit QB Matt Stafford also went over 5,000 yards passing this season (5,038).

Brady also set a franchise record for completions in a season with 401 breaking the mark set by Drew Bledsoe of 400 in 1994.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 98 consecutive games including playoffs, 81 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

TE Rob Gronkowski set the NFL record for single season yards (1,327) by a tight end that was held by the great Kellen Winslow Sr. with 1,290 yards in 1980.  Earlier Sunday New Orleans TE Jimmy Graham broke the record first (1,310), then Gronk broke Graham’s mark.

RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis became just the third running back in franchise history with consecutive 10 TD seasons.

DE Mark Anderson had 1 sack on Sunday to give the Patriots two players with 10 or more sacks in a season joining injured team mate Pro Bowler, Andre Carter.

CB Sterling Moore had his first two NFL INT’s and his first NFL TD.

On Saturday CB Malcom Williams, a 7th round pick, was activated from the practice squad and placed on the 53-man roster.

The Bills are 0-10 all-time at Gillette Stadium.  Overall as the road team in the series they are 19-33.

The Bills last won in Foxboro in 1999 when they beat the Patriots, 13-10 in Week 16 behind Doug Flutie and Thurman Thomas.

Bill Leavy was the game referee.  The temp at kickoff was 51, sunny and warm.

Attendance – 68,756 at Gillette Stadium – Foxboro MA

Post Game Interviews

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

This Week in the AFC East

Miami beat the NY Jets, 16-10 to eliminate the Jets from the playoff push.

Final AFC East Standings

Patriots                   13-3/5-1

Jets                        8-8/3-3

Dolphins                  6-10/3-3

Bills                        6-10/1-5

Next Game

The Patriots have a playoff bye and are idle.  They will next play the weekend of January 14-15, 2012 with a home game at Gillette Stadium against an opponent to be determined.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: Getty Images

This Week

The New England Patriots host their AFC East Rival Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Patriots (12-3) are 6-1 at The Razor, 4-1 against the AFC East and 9-2 in the conference.  The Bills (6-9) are 1-6 on the road, 1-4 vs. the AFC East and 4-7 against the conference.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 11.  The OVER/UNDER is 51.

My Prediction is Patriots 36, Bills, 24.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 9-5-1 against the spread and 11 of 15 on calling the over/under in 2011.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 191^st 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 regionally and Don Criqui will do play by play while Randy Cross will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

See if you’re getting the game courtesy of J.P. Kirby at the506.com.

The DirecTV designation is Channel 705.

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 handles the play-by-play, former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color and new this year Scott Zolak will man the sidelines. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh and Zolak with the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

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

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.  They usually only carry the home team feed.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 93, XM Channel 226 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 879.

The Bills Radio Network has John Murphy calling the game while former Bills DB Mark Kelso provide the game analysis via their flagship station WGRF-FM. Their call is available on Sirius Channel 134 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 864.

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 Buffalo Bills @ New England Patriots Week 17 preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Last Week

The Patriots rallied in the 2nd half to beat the Dolphins at the Razor 27-24; while the Bills whipped Denver 40-14 at home.

History

• This is the 104th meeting between the Patriots and the Bills since they started to face each other as AFL foes in 1960.
• The Patriots lead the series 61-41-1.
• The 61 wins are the most the Patriots have over any opponent.
• New England has won 20 of the last 23.
• The Bills won the earlier meeting this season Week 3 in Buffalo, 34-31, snapping a 15-game losing streak to the Patriots.

Patriots Team Notes

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

2011 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 413-366-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in six appearances.  They last appeared in the playoffs in 2010 when they lost at home to the New York Jets in the AFC Divisional Playoff, 28-21.  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 dedicating the 2011 season to the memory of Myra Hiatt Kraft, the late wife of owner Robert Kraft. Every Patriots player and coach will honor Myra’s memory by wearing a patch with her initials on it in recognition of her lifelong contributions to the local and global community and her influence on the charitable mission of the entire Patriots organization. The patch will be worn on the left chest of every player throughout the season.

Former Patriots standout T Houston Antwine passed away this week at the age of 72.  Antwine played with New England from 1961-71 and made 6 consecutive Pro Bowls.  His wife Evelyn passed away 24 hours later.  They both died after long bouts of heart failure and lung cancer.

Former Patriot head coach and Hall of Fame WR Raymond Berry will help in the presentation of the Lombardi Trophy to the winner of Super Bowl XLVI in Indianapolis.

The Patriots 2012 opponents have been announced.  They play road games at Buffalo, at Miami, at NY Jets, at Jacksonville, at Tennessee, at St. Louis, at Seattle and AFC North winner, either at Baltimore or at Pittsburgh.  They will host Buffalo, Miami, NY Jets, Houston, Indianapolis, Arizona, San Francisco and AFC West winner, either Denver or Oakland.

The Patriots are the defending AFC East Champions as they have won the division 9 of the last 11 seasons and 3 years in a row.

The Patriots have had two double-digit win streaks against the Bills.  The latest was 15 games from December 2003 to September 2011; the other streak was 11 games from January 1983 to December 1987.

The 15 game win streak against one team was the third longest in NFL history.  San Francisco had a 17 game win streak over the Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams from 1990-98 and Miami had a 20 game win streak over Buffalo from 1970-79.

The Patriots are 32-19 as the home team in the series, they are 9-0 at The Razor; 17-14 in Foxboro/Sullivan/Schaefer Stadium and 6-5 in the Boston venues.

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, New England is 73-15 at home including the playoffs.

New England has won 10 consecutive home games against Buffalo.

New England is 52-15 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

New England’s largest margin of victory in the series is 46 points set in 2007.

An AFC East rival has not swept the Patriots in a season series since 2000 when Miami and New York swept them.

This is the 9th straight season the Patriots have had 10 wins or more and 10th time in the last 11 years.

The Patriots defense has allowed opponents to convert 44.5% of the time on 3^rd down, while the offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 45.5%.

The New England defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 38 times in 15 games.

The Patriots are 3^rd in the NFL in points per game with 30.9.  While they allow 21.4 points per game good for 14^th in the NFL.

New England is PLUS 14 in turnover differential, 3rd best in the NFL. The offense has given up 11 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 19 INT and 11 fumble recoveries.

Patriots Staff Notes

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

Bill Belichick coached teams are 20-4 vs. Buffalo. Belichick was 0-1 against the Bills as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 174-97 in 16 NFL seasons.  He is 136-53 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 15-6 in the playoffs, 14-5 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 189-103.

Belichick’s 189 wins are good for 9th all-time.  Chuck Knox, who coached the Rams, Redskins and Seahawks, is 8th all-time with 193.

He is the first coach in NFL history to have his teams win 10 games or more in 9 consecutive seasons.

He was named NFL Coach of the Year for the 3^rd time in 2010.

Belichick is one of five head coaches in NFL history whose father (Steve Belichick) played in the league.  The others are current Kansas City head coach Todd Haley (Dick Haley), former San Francisco head coach Mike Nolan (Dick Nolan), former Cincinnati head coach David Shula (Don Shula) and former NY Jets head coach Joe Walton (Frank Walton).

New England has only failed to make the playoffs three times under Belichick in 2000, 2002 and 2008.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

LT: Solder

LG: Thomas

C: Wendell

RG: Waters

RT: Cannon

TE: Gronkowski

TE: Hernandez

WR: Ochocinco

WR: Welker

QB: Brady

RB: Woodhead

Defense:

DE: Ellis

DT: Love

DT: Wilfork

DE: Deaderick

LB: Ninkovich

LB: Mayo

LB: Fletcher

CB: McCourty

CB: Arrington

S: Brown

S: Ihedigbo

Patriots Players Notes

This is Tom Brady’s 12^th NFL season he is 17-2 vs. the Bills in his career.

Overall Brady is 123-34 as a starting QB and is 14-5 in the playoffs for an overall record of 137-39.  Brady is a 6 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.

In 2010 Brady won his second NFL MVP and he was the first unanimous winner in league history.

Brady has thrown 36 TD’s and 11 INT’s while being sacked 28 times in 15 games.

Brady has 297 TD passes in his career he is now 6th all-time.  Hall of Fame QB John Elway is 5th with 300.

Brady has 123 career wins he is 6th all-time.  Fran Tarkenton is 5th with 124.

Brady needs 103 passing yards to be the 3rd player to ever surpass 5,000 yards passing in a season.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 97 consecutive games including playoffs, 80 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

TE Rob Gronkowski needs just 72 yards receiving to set a NFL record for single season yards by a tight end that is held by the great Kellen Winslow Sr. with 1,290 yards in 1980.

DE Andre Carter leads the team with 10 sacks.  DE Mark Anderson has 9 on the season good for 2nd on the team.

Carter leads the defense with 22 quarterback hits, Anderson is 2nd with 13 hits.

Carter and Anderson lead the team with two forced fumbles each.

LB Rob Ninkovich and DT Vince Wilfork lead the team with 2 recovered fumbles each.

CB Kyle Arrington leads the team and is in a 3-way tie for the NFL lead with 7 INT’s.

LB Jerod Mayo leads the team in tackles with 96, CB Devin McCourty is 2nd with 87.

WR Matthew Slater leads the special teams in tackles with 17 and LB Tracy White is 2nd with 14.

Eight members of the Patriots not only made the Pro-Bowl but seven are starters.

On Tuesday the Patriots signed free agent FB Louska Polite and promoted CB Malcolm Williams from the practice squad.

On Thursday DE Alex Silvestro was released leaving an open roster spot.

On Wednesday the following players were listed on the injury report. QB Tom Brady (non-injury); G Logan Mankins (MCL) and T Sebastian Vollmer (back) did not practice.  The following were limited in their participation: CB Kyle Arrington (foot); WR Deion Branch (groin); S Patrick Chung (foot); C Dan Connolly (groin); WR Julian Edelman (back); LB Dane Fletcher (thumb); S James Ihedigbo (shoulder); T Matt Light (ankle); CB Devin McCourty (shoulder); LB Rob Ninkovich (hip); WR Matthew Slater (shoulder); LB Brandon Spikes (MCL); RB Shane Vereen (hamstring); G Brian Waters (ankle); WR Wes Welker (knee) and LB Tracy White (abdomen).

On Thursday Brady was listed with limited participation for a shoulder injury, there were no other changes.

The Patriots have five New England natives on the roster they are: LB Niko Koutouvides (Plainville CT); TE Aaron Hernandez (Bristol CT); OL Donald Thomas (New Haven CT); S James Ihedigbo (Northampton MA) and DE Ron Brace (Worcester MA).  They have 12 players who played for a New England school or a Big East Conference member.  They are: WR Deion Branch (Louisville); WR/TE Dorin Dickerson (Pitt); S James Ihedigbo (UMass); CB Nathan Jones (Rutgers); C Dan Koppen (Boston College – IR); CB Devin McCourty (Rutgers); NT Vince Wilfork (Miami), OL Donald Thomas (UConn); DE Mike Wright (Cincinnati – IR); DE Ron Brace (Boston College) and WR Tiquan Underwood (Rutgers).

The Patriots have 7 retired numbers: 20 – Gino Cappelletti, 40 – Mike Haynes, 73 – John Hannah, 78 – Bruce Armstrong, 79 – Jim Lee Hunt and 89 – Bob Dee.

Bills Team Notes

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

2011 Bills Schedule/Results

Buffalo’s all-time record is 364-415-8 they are 14-15 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 1999 when they lost to Tennessee in the AFC Wild Card game. They last played for a conference championship in 1993 when they beat Kansas City in the AFC Title game, 30-13. They then went on to lose to Dallas in Super Bowl XXVIII. They have never won a Super Bowl title in four appearances.  The Bills franchise started in 1960 in the AFL and they won two AFL Championships in 1964 and 1965.

The Bills have new uniforms this season.  They look like a cross between the O.J. Simpson Era uniforms and the Jim Kelley Era uniforms and they include a white helmet for the first time since 1983.  This is the first major change to the Bills uniforms since 2002.

The Bills are 0-9 all-time at Gillette Stadium.  Overall as the road team in the series they are 19-32.

The Bills last won in Foxboro in 1999 when they beat the Patriots, 13-10 in Week 16 behind Doug Flutie and Thurman Thomas.

The Bills who started the season 5-2 had lost 7 consecutive games before beating Denver 40-14 last week at home.

The largest margin of victory for the Bills in the series is 35 points set in 1970.

The Bills are 21-46 vs. the AFC East since 2001.

The Bills defense has allowed opponents to convert 39% of the time on 3^rd down, while the offense has a 3^rd down conversion rate of 33.2%.

The Buffalo defense has sacked the opponents quarterback 24 times in 15 games.

The Bills are 14th in the NFL in points per game with 23.4.  While they allow 25.7 points per game good for 27th in the NFL.

Buffalo is PLUS 4 in turnover differential, 10th best in the NFL. The offense has given up 21 INT and 5 fumbles, while the defense has 19 INT and 11 fumble recoveries.

Bills Staff Notes

Hear what Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Buffalo head coach Chan Gailey in his 2nd season with the team is 10-21 since taking over.  He was previously the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for two seasons and had an 18-14 record and is 0-2 in the playoffs. His overall NFL record is 28-37 including playoffs.

Gailey is 1-3 vs. the Patriots in his career, 1-2 with Buffalo and 0-1 with Dallas.

Bills Players Notes

Ryan Fitzpatrick is 1-3 vs. New England and 18-33-1 in his NFL career with St. Louis, Cincinnati and Buffalo.

Fitzpatrick was a 7^th round choice of St. Louis in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Harvard.

Former UConn WR Marcus Easley was placed on season ending IR after Week 1 when it was discovered he has a heart ailment.  Buffalo drafted the Stratford CT native in the 4^th round of the 2010 draft.

Former All-Pro LB Shawne Merriman is out for the year he was placed on the IR in late October with an Achilles injury.

On Wednesday the following players did not practice: K Dave Rayner (groin); QB/WR Brad Smith (hamstring); G Kraig Urbik (knee); T Demetrius Bell (knee) and TE Mike Caussin (knee).  WR Ruvell Martin (hamstring) was limited and RB Johnny White (concussion) had full participation.

On Thursday Martin was upgraded to full participation there were no other changes.

Buffalo’s captains for 2011 are Fitzpatrick, RB Fred Jackson, DT Kyle Williams, LB Andra Davis, P Brian Moorman and S George Wilson.

There are 6 players on the Bills roster from Big East Universities and New England based colleges.  They are: TE Kevin Brock (Rutgers); QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (Harvard); RB Corey McIntyre (West Virginia); C Eric Wood (Louisville); WR Marcus Easley (UConn – IR) and DB Jon Corto (Sacred Heart – IR).

The Bills have one retired number: 12 – Jim Kelley.

Next Week

The Patriots have a playoff bye and are idle.  They will next play the weekend of January 14-15, 2012 with a home game at Gillette Stadium against an opponent to be determined.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The NFL has announced the opponents for the New England Patriots 2012 NFL season.

New England will go on the road to face their divisional foes Miami, Buffalo and New York plus have additional road games against the AFC South with Jacksonville and Tennessee as well as the winner of the AFC North, either Baltimore or Pittsburgh.  They also have road contests against NFC West foes St. Louis and Seattle, where they will face former head coach Pete Carroll.

In 2012 the Patriots will play host to division rivals New York, Buffalo and Miami as well as AFC South opponents Indianapolis and Houston and the AFC West winner, either Denver or Oakland.  NFC West teams making an appearance at “The Razor” in 2012 are Arizona and San Francisco.

Dates and times for all of the 2012 schedule will be announced at a later date.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Here’s the release from the New England Patriots about QB Tom Brady being named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week:

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. – The New England Patriots announced today that Tom Brady has been named AFC Offensive Player of the Week by the National Football league for his performance in the Patriots’ 27-24 victory over the Miami Dolphins last Saturday. It is the 20th time in his career and the third time in 2011 that Brady has received the AFC Offensive Player of the Week honor. He earned the honor for his performance in Week 1 and Week 2 of the 2011 season after throwing for 517 yards in the season-opener at Miami followed by a 423-yard performance vs. San Diego.

Brady completed 27 of 46 passes for 304 yards against the Dolphins, including a touchdown pass to WR Deion Branch. Brady also scored on two 1-yard touchdown runs. After falling behind 17-0 at halftime, Brady helped rally the Patriots by completing 20-of-27 passes for 217 yards in the second half and led the Patriots on five straight scoring drives. It was Brady’s 44th career 300-yard game and his career-high 10th 300-yard game of the 2011 season. After throwing for 304 yards against the Dolphins and 4,897 yards through the first 15 games, Brady needs 103 yards in the final game to join Drew Brees (5,087 in 2011 and 5,069 in 2008) and Dan Marino (5,084 in 1984) as the only players to reach 5,000 passing yards in a single season.

It is the sixth Player of the Week honor for the Patriots in 2011. Brady was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week following the first two games of the season at Miami on Sept. 12 and vs. San Diego on Sept. 18, Andre Carter was named AFC Defensive Player of the Week following the win at the Jets on Nov. 13, Julian Edelman was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week following the win vs. Kansas City on Nov. 21, and Rob Gronkowski was named AFC Offensive Player of the week following the win at Washington on Dec. 11.

Brady also was honored as AFC Offensive Player of the Month for November by the National Football League. Brady led New England to a 3-1 record in November, including 300 yard performances in three of the four games. For the month, Brady completed 93 of 149 passes (62.4 percent) for 1,266 yards with 10 touchdowns and a 106.3 passer rating. Brady’s 1,266 passing yards led the NFL for the month and his 10 touchdown passes ranked first in the AFC and tied for second in the NFL in November.

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Photo credit: Getty Images

The 2012 Pro Bowl rosters came out on Tuesday night and the New England Patriots had eight players named to the team, seven of them as starters. The eight players (seven starters) were the most in the AFC.

The offensive players named to the 2012 Pro Bowl were QB Tom Brady, TE Rob Gronkowski, G Logan Mankins, G Brian Waters and WR Wes Welker. The defensive players were DT Vince Wilfork and DE Andre Carter. Matthew Slater was named as a special teams player.

All but Slater were named starters. Carter will be unable to participate in the game because he was placed on injured reserve.

The 2012 NFL Pro Bowl will take place on January 29, 2012 at Aloha Stadium in Honolulu, HI and will be nationally televised on NBC. It is taking place a week before Super Bowl XLVI.

So while we are happy that eight Patriots made the Pro Bowl, we hope they are preparing for the Super Bowl that week and not playing in the Pro Bowl.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

I hope every one had a great holiday, mine sure was better with the win on Saturday over the Miami Dolphins.

I’d say there’s probably one more thing to accomplish for the team in the regular season and that’s to secure the top seed in the conference.  That happens with a win on Sunday or a Baltimore loss and a Pittsburgh loss.

After a short week then a game the team now gets an extra day to prepare for the Buffalo Bills who, with the exception of the Week 3 loss earlier this year in Southern Canada, have been New England’s whipping boys for the last 8 seasons.

It’s also the regular season finale and then the team will have two weeks to prepare for its first playoff opponent.  They’re hoping this year to get past the first round.  As Patriots fans recall the last two seasons have ended with home playoff losses to Baltimore and the New York Jets.

It will be interesting to see how much stock Bill Belichick and the staff put into getting home field advantage through out the playoffs.  Does he take the game against the Bills to rest some regulars or does he go all out?  I think with a bye week next week you will see an all out effort as being at home where the Patriots play so well is extremely important to playoff success.  You don’t want to lay back and get to the Conference Championship only to have to go to Pittsburgh or Baltimore.  While those teams are formidable no matter where they play I’m sure New England would rather have the Gillette Stadium crowd behind them in crunch time.

No if the defensive secondary could only hold up through the playoffs this has “Magical Run” written all over it.

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

Head coach Bill Belichick has 189 career wins, which are good for 9th all-time. Former LA Rams, Washington and Seattle head coach Chuck Knox is 8th with 193 wins.

Belichick and George Seifert are the only two head coaches with 13+ wins in 4 different seasons.  With a win on Sunday Belichick will have done it five times.

Patriots clinched a first round bye with the win over Miami.

After the game on Saturday, the team gave owner Robert Kraft the game ball and a painting honoring his late wife Myra.

New England has won 7 consecutive games after a 2 game losing streak.  It is their longest win streak of the season.

Since Gillette Stadium opened in 2002, New England is 73-15 at home including the playoffs and is 20-1 in December home games.  Both are the best in the NFL in that time period.

New England is 40-5 in December games, home or away, since 2001.  That’s the best in the NFL in that time period.

The Patriots went undefeated again in the month of December.  They now have had 7 undefeated Decembers since 2001.

Tom Brady had 1 TD pass to give him 297 TD passes in his career he is now 6th all-time.  Hall of Fame QB John Elway is 5th with 300.

Brady had two rushing TD’s in a game for the first time in his professional career.

Brady has 123 career wins he is 6th all-time.  With a win on Sunday he will tie Hall of Fame QB Fran Tarkenton for 5th with 124 wins.

K Stephen Gostkowski made a TD saving tackle, erasing the memory of his earlier missed FGA.

WR Wes Welker now has catches in 97 consecutive games including playoffs, 80 as a Patriot.  The last time Welker did not have a catch in a game was 12/24/05 as a Dolphin.

Look at that date in the last line…that’s 6 years with a catch in every game he has played in.

Welker had 138 receiving yards to break Randy Moss’ team record of 1,493 set in 2007.

TE Rob Gronkowski had 78 yards receiving to break the team record of 1,174 by a TE set by Ben Coates in 1994.

Gronk needs just 72 yards receiving to set a NFL record for single season yards by a tight end that is held by the great Kellen Winslow Sr. with 1,290 yards in 1980.

The coaching staff sings the praises of rookie RB Stevan Ridley.

New England was 8 of 17 (47%) on 3rd down and 1 of 1 (100%) on 4th down.  Miami was 5 of 13 (38%) on 3rd down.

Dolphins were 3 for 3 in the red zone and 1 for 1 on goal to go efficiency while the Patriots were 3 for 4 in the red zone and 3 for 3 in goal to go efficiency.

The Patriots tied their season high of five sacks in a game Saturday. (5 at Pittsburgh and 5 at New York Jets).

After not having allowed a 100-yard rusher all season New England has allowed a back to get 100 yards or more in two of the last three weeks.

On Monday the team released S Ross Ventrone from the 53-man roster and DL Cedric McKinley from the practice squad.

How the Patriots suddenly handled the Dolphins blitzes.

New England is now plus 14 in turnover differential after getting 2 takeaways against Miami.

Russ Goldman of Pats Fans has five positives to take away from the Patriots victory over the Dolphins.

Mike Reiss charts the Patriots offensive snaps and defensive snaps played vs. Miami.

This is good stuff; patsfans.com has a searchable table of all the team stats.

Ian Rapoport of the Boston Herald is reporting that on his way back from New York for holiday celebrations he listened to WFAN and it was All Jets, all panic, all the time. Just how we New England fans like it.

New England plays the Buffalo Bills on Sunday New Years Day at 1 p.m. at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.  Look for the Sox & Dawgs “In The Red Zone Game Preview” available on Friday.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem