Even though the New England Patriots lost their preseason finale to the New York Giants 18-17 Thursday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, overall it wasn’t too bad an effort by a mix of players, some starters and some of the young guys looking to make the team. 

There are still things to work on but come this weekend once the roster is paired down to the official 53-man roster and the practice squad players are signed things will finally fall into place to for good.

The Patriots jumped out to an impressive start again the Giants in the final preseason game when LB Rob Ninkovich forced a fumble on the Giants first offensive play and Patrick Chung recovered it.  Shortly there after RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis punched it in from one yard out and it was quickly 7-0 New England.

Newly acquired DT Albert Haynesworth started and played in his first game as a Patriot as did DE Shaun Ellis.  Both made some impact as Haynesworth got involved with a nice tackle in the second series and just before the end of the half Ellis got a 7-yard sack of Giants QB David Carr.

QB Tom Brady showed he is in regular season form and looking to defend his MVP award when he connected with WR Matthew Slater on a 64-yard catch and run.  It set up a field goal by Stephen Gostkowski that gave New England a 10-0.

The Giants responded with a 55-yard field goal from Rhys Lloyd to cut the lead to 10-3 heading into the second quarter.

Brady wasn’t long for the game as back up Brian Hoyer replaced him with 7 minutes to play in the second quarter.  Brady played 18 snaps in his final tune up.

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Hoyer led the team on another scoring drive capped by a second 1-yard TD run by “The Lawfirm” to give the Patriots a 17-3 lead at the half.

Rookie QB Ryan Mallett saw some game time entering for Hoyer with 4:25 left in the third quarter.  Hoyer played 14 snaps after replacing Brady including taking a big hot and fumbling but he did recover the ball and remained in the game.

Da’Rel Scott went on a 65-yard scoring romp for the Giants early in the 4^th as New York cut the New England lead to 17-10 with 14:50 left to play in the game.

Giants scored in the fourth quarter on an 11-yard fumble recovery by Derrick Martin to take an 18-17 lead with just over 9 minutes left in the game.  They got that lead when head coach Tom Coughlin decided to go for two after the defensive score.  Ryan Perrilloux threw the conversion pass to Jerrel Jernigan to give New York the lead.

Overall this was a good performance for the Patriots as they looked to build momentum for the regular season.  The top units got some time, stayed healthy and made some plays and all is well in Foxboro.

Game Notes

The spread (Patriots minus 7 ½) was not covered, as was the over/under (40).

WR Wes Welker was on the field in uniform for pregame warm ups r days after hurting his neck making a tackle in Detroit.

CB Antwaun Molden who was claimed on waiver yesterday is wearing #36 previously worn by James Sanders.

The starting front four on the defensive line for the Patriots was DE Shaun Ellis, DT Albert Haynesworth, DT Vince Wilfork and DE Andre Carter.

Rookie Ras-I Dowling started at RCB.

LB Niko Koutouvides was looked at on the sideline and was being given a concussion test after a shot to the head.

P Zoltan Mesko hurt his left hand making a tackle on a punt in the first quarter.  He returned.

LB Brandon Spikes among the players not dressed for the game.

Haynesworth played 16 snaps in the first half.

Rookie RB Shane Vereen saw his first game action as a Patriot.

Rookie OL Nate Solder saw every offensive snap through the first three-quarters.  After starting at right guard he flipped to the left side with the second unit.

S Brandon Meriweather saw his most playing time of the preseason.  All in the second half he saw time in the secondary mostly with the second team and guys who won’t be here come Sunday.

Patriots had three takeaways (1 INT, 2 fumbles) and 1 giveaways (0 INT, 1 fumble).

Next Game

The Patriots visit the Miami Dolphins at Sun Life Stadium on Monday September 12 in the 2011 Season Opener.  Kick off is at 7 p.m. on ESPN

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Photo credit: AP Photo

With the New England Patriots facing at the mandatory cutdown of rosters to 53 players on Saturday, there are several players currently on the 80-man roster eligible for the practice squad. 

Teams are allowed to have up to 8 players on the practice squad.  At noon on Sunday teams can establish their practice squad rosters.

Players are eligible for the practice squad once they have been cut and cleared waivers.  They must have less than three seasons on the practice squad roster or a year of NFL experience, which is 6 or more games, on a teams 53-man roster or the official injured reserve.  Rookies are eligible by default. 

Practice squad players are not allowed to play in games unless they are transferred to the 53-man roster from the practice squad of their current team.  The other 31 teams can sign players from a teams practice squad but they must be assigned to the 53-man roster of the team signing them.  Practice squad players are considered to be free agents.

To see the full list of Patriots players who are eligible for the practice squad, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

Here is the list of Patriots players who are practice squad eligible:

Offense:

R – Rookie

• QB Ryan Mallett – R
• RB Shane Vereen – R
• RB Stevan Ridley – R
• RB Richard Medlin – R
• RB Eric Kettani
• WR Taylor Price
• WR Buddy Farnham
• WR Jeremy Ross – R
• TE Carson Butler
• TE Will Yeatman – R
• TE Lee Smith – R
• OL Nate Solder – R
• OL Thomas Austin
• OL Rich Ohrnberger
• OL Marcus Cannon – R
• OL Steve Maneri
• OL Corey Woods – R
• OL Michael Berry – R

Defense:

• DT Darryl Richard
• DE Alex Silvestro – R
• DE Markell Carter – R
• LB Aaron Lavarias -R
• LB Jeff Tarpinian – R
• CB Ras-I Dowling – R
• S Ross Ventrone

In addition the following players who were released on Monday are also eligible:

• TE Garrett Mills
• WR Tyree Barnes
• DL Kade Weston
• DE Clay Nurse – R
• K Chris Koepplin – R
• OL Mark Wetterer – R
• CB Malcom Williams – R

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This Week

The New England Patriots host the New York Giants at Gillette Stadium on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

The Patriots are 2-1 in the preseason.  The Giants are 1-2 in the preseason.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Giants.

This is the final preseason game for each team.

The Line/Prediction

As of Tuesday, the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots minus 7½.  The over under is 40.

My Prediction is Patriots 24, Giants, 10.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the under.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 183^rd consecutive sellout 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.

To continue reading the New York Giants @ New England Patriots preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

The Patriots Preseason Television Network is televising the game through out New England and parts of Canada.

Longtime national play by play announcer Don Criqui and former NFL Pro Bowl offensive lineman Randy Cross will call the game with help from WBZ sports anchor Steve Burton and former Patriots quarterback Scott Zolak on the sidelines.

Stations in the Patriots Preseason TV Network include:

• WBZ-TV Channel 4 in Boston MA
• WNAC-TV Channel 64 in Providence RI
• WMUR-TV Channel 9 in Manchester NH
• WMTW-TV Channel 8 in Portland ME
• WCTX-TV Channel 9 in Hartford/New Haven CT
• WWLP-TV Channel 22 in Springfield MA
• WVII-TV Channel 7 or WFVX-TV Channel 22 in Bangor ME
• WVNY-TV Channel 22 in Burlington VT
• Canadian Maritimes on Rogers Sports Net

In the New York TV Market Bob Papa calls the play by play while Carl Banks provides color analysis in a radio simulcast.  You can see the game on:

• WNBC-TV 4 in New York NY
• WTIC-TV 61 in Hartford CT
• WNYT-TV 13 in Albany NY
• WICZ-TV 40 in Binghampton NY
• WSTM-TV 3 in Syracuse NY

Check your local listings for your station.

There is NO DirecTV designation.

Radio

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

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

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 149, XM Channel 229 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 863

The Giants Radio network has Bob Papa calling play by play and former Giant Carl Banks provides the color via their flagship station WFAN.  Their call is available on SiriusXM Internet Channel 877.

Last Week

The Patriots lost to the Lions on the road 34-10; while the Giants lost to the Jets, 17-3 at home.

Next Week

The Patriots open the regular season on Monday September 12 in Miami against the Dolphins.  Kick off is at 7 p.m. on ESPN.

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The New England Patriots worked out RB Kevin Smith today at Foxboro.  Smith, a former 2008 3^rd round pick of the Detroit Lions out of Central Florida is an unrestricted free agent.

Smith played three seasons for the Lions where as a rookie in 2008 he led the team in rushing attempts, yards, average and touchdowns.  In his career he has run for 1,723 yards and 12 rushing TD’s.  He has also caught 80 passes for 701 yards.

New England also cut two players today to get to the required 80-man roster by 4 p.m.  Released were LB Marques Murrell and WR Jeremy Ross.

Word is that the Patriots also have interest in DT Pat Williams formerly of the Minnesota Vikings.  He decided not to re-sign with the Vikings prior to the lockout.  Williams, if he plays in 2011, could be suspended by the NFL for a failed drug test from nearly 3 years ago.  Williams appeal on disciplinary action by the league was rejected by the Minnesota State Supreme Court in April clearing the way for a possible suspension for use of a banned diuretic that was in the weight loss supplement he was taking.

Well the New England Patriots didn’t look so hot on an August Saturday night in the Motor City, but that doesn’t mean it’s time to panic.  Looking back at the game, some things stand out.

• Poor offensive line play.
• An erratic offense while the first team was on the field.
• The officials were in “preseason” mode and they themselves were less than stellar.
• A majority of the defense either didn’t play or didn’t make the trip. 19 players were left in Foxboro.

One thing I do know about the team is that the coaching staff will not let the players soon forget the effort, or lack there of, anytime soon.  There will be no excuses for their play and lots of credit given to Detroit’’ staff and players who obviously came to play.

Bill Belichick will use this game to his advantage for as long as he can make it a motivational tool.  You can fully expect that once the season starts in Miami on September 12 this team will be ready to play.

Hurricane/Tropical Storm Irene knocked out the power Sunday at Gillette Stadium canceling Belichick’s day after conference call. The team returned from Detroit around 4 a.m. Sunday morning and had the day off.  On Monday there was no practice and Gillette was still without power so the staff and players went elsewhere for meetings, film study and injury treatments on Monday.

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Instead of having media availability with the players in the locker room, select players were made available via conference calls.

Here is New England head coach Bill Belichick’s conference call transcript with the local Boston media on Monday afternoon.

Patriots defensive lineman Andre Carter had a conference call with the Boston media and here’s what he had to say.

Tom Brady made his weekly appearance on the WEEI’s Dennis & Callahan morning show on “Patriots Monday” and this is what he had to say.

Linebacker Jerod Mayo spoke with the local media today via conference call.

Today is the day that NFL teams must cut their roster from 90 to 80 players with a final cutdown to the 53-man roster coming on Saturday September 3^rd.  There are a lot of players who are hoping to hold on for a few more days.

With cuts on the way expect the patriots to be active in the trade market looking to build more depth into their 2012 draft positions.  Among the players who could be moved are S Brandon Meriweather and former UConn Husky CB Darius Butler as well as DT’s Landon Cohen and Darryl Richard.

Among the players cut on Monday were:

• S James Sanders
• CB Jonathan Wilhite
• LS Matt Katula
• DE Clay Nurse
• K Chris Koepplin
• DT Kade Weston
• TE Garrett Mills
• WR Tyree Barnes
• WR Darnell Jenkins
• DB Malcom Williams
• OL Mark Wetterer

The team also made a few signings inking WR Tiquan Underwood, S Ross Ventrone and LS James Dearth.

Patriots rookie QB Ryan Mallett and Red Sox infield prospect Will Middlebrooks are best buds.

Wes Welker injured his neck on Saturday night and he said afterward that he was fine.  It was just one of several injuries Patriots players suffered against Detroit.

The coaches tried all sorts of rotations at safety on Saturday night looking for the right combination.  They paired Sanders and Meriweather; Patrick Chung and Sergio Brown; Chung and James Ihedigbo and Brown and Ihedigbo during the game.  Each pairing played at least 2 series together.

Did you know that the first preseason match up between the Patriots and Lions was on August 25, 1969 in Montreal, Canada?  The Patriots were still in the AFL as the merger was a year away.  The Lions won 22-9 in the exhibition game played at Jarry Park in front of 8,212 fans.  Patriots broadcaster Gino Cappelletti played in the game kicking three field goals for all of the Patriots points.

Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf were joined at halftime by New England owner Robert Kraft who talked CBA and about his late wife Myra.  Here’s the transcript of Robert Kraft’s halftime interview on CBS.

While we are on the subject of Kraft and the passing of his wife if you haven’t read it you need to read this wonderful and sad article written by Yahoo! Sports Michael Silver.

Among the many players, past and present, who have given contributions to the Myra Kraft Giving Back Fund are Tom Brady, Junior Seau, Matt Cassel and the Manning brothers – Peyton and Eli.

Like he has done in the past, last Wednesday, Belichick took the team to the movies where they saw “The Fighter” and met Micky Ward, who spoke to the team.

WR/KR Brandon Tate is on the bubble for making the team and he’s focusing on trying to get better.

NFL Films announced on Monday that in 2009 they had the unprecedented full season wiring of Belichick for a NFL Films series documentary “A Football Life”. Part 1 airs on September 15 and Part 2 is on September 22 on the NFL Network.

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After making several cuts to get the roster down to the 80-man limit for 4 p.m. on Tuesday the Patriots ended up signing three players in return.  The team announced that they have signed WR Tiquan Underwood, S Ross Ventrone and LS James Dearth.

Underwood was a 7^th round pick of the Jacksonville Jaguars out of Rutgers.  He played 10 games for the Jags in 2010 after spending the 2009 season on the practice squad.  He was released last week.

Ventrone, an undrafted free agent out of Villanova, was with the Patriots last season playing in the preseason before being cut and re-signed in October for the practice squad.

Dearth is a former New York Jets long snapper and tight end having played with the team from 2001-2009. Originally a 6^th round pick of the Cleveland Browns in 1999 out of Tarleton State, he spent two seasons in Cleveland before going to the Jets.  He was signed by Washington in 2010 but waived before the season started.  San Diego then signed Dearth as a long snapper and before playing in a game for the Chargers he ended up being placed on IR with a foot injury.

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The New England Patriots some cuts more than 24 hours early today.  The NFL mandates that teams have their rosters cut from 90 to 80 by 4 p.m. ET on Tuesday.  I don’t think the Patriots were quite sitting at 90 but here are the players that were released:

• S James Sanders
• CB Jonathan Wilhite
• LS Matt Katula
• DE Clay Nurse
• K Chris Koepplin
• DT Kade Weston
• TE Garrett Mills
• WR Tyree Barnes
• WR Darnell Jenkins
• DB Malcom Williams
• OL Mark Wetterer

The biggest names amongst the cuts are obviously Sanders, Wilhite and Katula.

Sanders, a former starter, was projected as the third safety and he was scheduled to make $2.8 million this season which the team probably thought was a bit pricey for a part-time player.

Wilhite was seemingly on the bubble of making the team all preseason as it tries to straighten out its secondary woes of last year.

Katula was struggling as a long snapper and Bill Belichick says he expects to sign another one in the next few days thereby negating using LB Rob Ninkovich in that role.

Among the others who were released was Williams, who was a 7^th round pick in this year’s draft.  All the other players were long shots at best to make the team that is very deep on the defensive line and at wide receiver.

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It was not a good night in Detroit for the New England Patriots.  The Lions, who for years have been everyone’s doormats, totally outplayed the Patriots in every phase of the game as they cruised to a 34-10 win Saturday night at Ford Field.

It didn’t start good for the New England Patriots didn’t look so hot in the first half Saturday night in Detroit.  The offensive line was shaky at best in their protection of Tom Brady allowing him to get sacked twice, hurried seven times and hit another six.  And the poor play resonated with both head coach Bill Belichick and offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien who both took time to rip into the entire offense at one point in the second quarter.

Detroit got on the board first with a 33-yard field goal by Jason Hanson that was set up by a big pass play when Matthew Stafford connected with Nate Burleson for 32 yards.

On the next drive Stafford once again found Burleson this time for a 9-yard TD pass that capped a 4 play 57-yard drive and gave the Lions a 10-0 lead.

New England got on the board after a 16-play drive stalled in Lions territory when Stephen Gostkowski nailed a 33-yard field goal to cut the Detroit lead to 10-3 at the start of the second quarter.

With New England’s struggling, Detroit stepped it up on both sides of the ball.  Stafford led the Lions on yet another quick hit drive that was only 3 plays going 51-yards it was capped off by a quick slant 22-yard TD pass to Tony Scheffler to give Detroit a 17-3 lead.

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With under four minutes left in the half Brady hit Wes Welker on a 44-yard seem route in which the wide receiver was left all by himself running up field after the Detroit corner bit on a sweet play action fake.  That cut the Lions lead to 17-10 but that would be as close as New England would get for the rest of the evening.

Detroit though wasn’t done in just over the last minute before the half they would tack on 10 more points to head to locker room up 27-10.  They got a 46-yard field goal from Hanson to make it 20-10 and quickly got the ball back following an interception of Brady by Ricardo Silva.  They were able to quickly march down field behind back up quarterback Shaun Hill and get a touchdown with just seconds left before the break when Aaron Brown hauled in a 9-yard pass.

Brady and the first team started the second half but remained for just one series before being replaced by Brian Hoyer.

In the 3^rd quarter the Lions looked to add more points but missed a field goal attempt and then 3^rd string quarterback Drew Stanton threw an interception in the end zone to kill a second scoring drive.

In the 4^th quarter Detroit went on it fourth and 2 and got a 4-yard TD pass from Stanton to Derrick Williams to push the lead to 34-10.

With about 6 minutes to play in the game the Patriots went for it on 4^th and 5 inside the red zone and Hoyer failed to connect on a pass and they turned the ball over on downs.

Game Notes

The Patriots wore their road uniforms – white jerseys with navy pants.

The spread (Patriots minus 4) was not covered; the over/under (44) was a wash.

The Patriots are 101-128-1 all-time in preseason.  They are 41-32 in the preseason since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994.

Bill Belichick is 38-30 overall in preseason and he is 27-21 with the Patriots.

New England is 2-5 vs. Detroit in the preseason including 1-4 as the road team.

This was the Patriots first preseason game at Ford Field.  The last preseason game in Detroit was at the Pontiac Silverdome.  The Patriots have played at Ford Field twice in the regular season.

The first preseason match up between these teams was on August 25, 1969 in Montreal, Canada.  The Lions won 22-9 in the exhibition game played at Jarry Park in front of 8,212 fans.  Patriots broadcaster Gino Cappelletti played in the game kicking three field goals for all of the Patriots points.

The Lions won the toss and decided to receive.

OL Dan Connolly hurt his ankle return was questionable.

OT Matt Light played the 1^st quarter it was his first game action since shoulder surgery.

Patriots took a lot of early penalties, some of which may have been phantom, and that cost them some field position.

The officiating crew was pretty inconsistent both in the penalties they called and the one’s they missed.

The New England offensive line did a fairly poor job of protecting Tom Brady in the first half.  Sebastian Vollmer, Rich Ohrnberger and Nate Solder all got burned good.

Lions QB Matt Stafford was 12 of 14 for 200 yards and 2 TD passes in a little under 1 half of play.

Brady started the second half.

Brady finished 12 for 22 for 145 yards 1 TD and 1 INT.

Detroit out gained New England 300-185 in yardage in the first half.

Wes Welker injured neck making a tackle on the Brady INT did not return

Jonathan Wilhite was injured on a coverage play in the 3^rd quarter.

Julian Edelman suffered a hand injury in the 3^rd quarter.

Here’s the transcript of Robert Kraft’s halftime interview on CBS.

Next Game

The Patriots host the New York Giants on Thursday, September 1.  Kick off is at 7:30 p.m. on Patriots Preseason Television Network.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

Photo credit: AP Photo

This Week

The New England Patriots visit the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on Saturday night at 8 p.m.

The Patriots are 2-0 in the preseason.  The Lions are 2-0 in the preseason.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and the Lions.

The Line/Prediction

As of Tuesday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots minus 4.  The over under is 44.

My Prediction is Patriots 30, Lions, 20 give the points (Patriots) and take the over.

To continue reading the New England Patriots @ Detroit Lions preview, click on the read more button below if you’re on the home page.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS is televising the game nationally. Check your local listings for your station.  Greg Gumbel, Dan Dierdorf and Lesley Visser will call the game.

There is NO DirecTV designation.

Note: The following CBS affiliates will not be airing Patriots-Lions due to other local games:

• Fresno, CA
• Los Angeles, CA (NE-DET wll air on KCAL 9)
• Palm Springs, CA
• Sacramento, CA (NE-DET will air on CW-31)
• San Francisco, CA (NE-DET will air on CW-44)
• Colorado Springs, CO (NE-DET will air on MyTV)
• Jacksonville, FL (NE-DET will air on MyTV)
• Miami, FL (NE-DET will air on MY-33)
• Atlanta, GA
• Peoria, IL
• Rockford, IL
• South Bend, IN (NE-DET will air on MyTV)
• Syracuse, NY
• Altoona, PA
• Pittsburgh, PA (NE-DET will air on CW-19)
• Bristol, TN
• Austin, TX
• Dallas, TX (NE-DET will air on KTXA 21)

Radio

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

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. 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 139 and XM Internet Channel 877.

The Lions Radio network has Dan Miller calling play by play and Jim Brandstatter provides the color via their flagship station WXYT AM & FM.  Their call is available on Sirius Channel 92, XM Channel 228 and XM Internet Channel 872.

Last Week

The Patriots beat the Buccaneers, 31-14 in Tampa Bay, while the Lions beat the Browns, 30-28 in Cleveland.

Next Week

The Patriots host the New York Giants on Thursday.  Kick off is at 8 p.m. on Patriots Preseason Television Network.

Follow Steve on Twitter @djstevem

The New England Patriots signed undrafted rookie free agent OL Mike Berry today.  If the name sounds familiar it’s because the team signed him on July 27 and released him on August 2 after spending the entire time on the non-football injury list.

Berry, who played his college ball at Auburn, is 6’3”, 316 pounds.  Terms of the contract were not disclosed.

The Patriots still have room on the 90-man roster and it’s unknown if they’ll sign another player.  NFL rosters have to be cut to 80 by 4 p.m. on Tuesday.

Photo credit: AP Photo