It was a relatively easy win for the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon at Gillette has they had no problems taking care of the playoff bound Arizona Cardinals beating them 47-7. Yes that’s right, the Cardinals are going to the playoffs while the Patriots have to win and then wait for some help on Sunday. So be on the lookout on Friday for the SOX & Dawgs Patriots/Bills preview.

The NFL moved the Dolphins/Jets and the Ravens/Jaguars games to 4:15 PM so the Patriots will have to win and then wait until those games are over to know their playoff fate.

Via Reiss’s Pieces, here’s a look behind the scenes at the Patriots practicing in California last week over at NFL.com.

Mike Reiss and Chris Gasper will be hold a Patriots chat over at Boston.com on Friday at 1 PM.

Bill Belichick was happy to see Mike Holmgren get a win in his final home game and was even happier it was against the Jets.

Wes Welker found out the NFL isn’t too keen on having holiday spirit.

Here’s a look at the best and worst of the Patriots/Cardinals game on Sunday.

The Patriots running game was once again unstoppable on Sunday.

Stephen Gostowski now holds the Patriots record for field goals made in a season.

Richard Seymour could miss the game on Sunday with the back injury he suffered on Sunday.

Mike Reiss has a look at the offensive and defensive participation plus the positional groupings for the Patriots in the win over the Cardinals.

As we know, the New England Patriots took care of their business this afternoon with a 47-7 demolishing of the Arizona Cardinals to keep their playoff dreams alive. They also got some help from the Seattle Seahawks who beat the New York Jets 13-3.

Now the Patriots playoff situation looks like this.

To win the AFC East:

• The Patriots (10-5) must win against the Buffalo Bills and hope that the New York Jets (9-6) beat the Miami Dolphins (10-5).

To win the final Wild Card spot:

• The Patriots must win against the Buffalo Bills and hope that the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens.

By the late afternoon next Sunday, we will know whether or not the Patriots will be playing in the playoffs as they kickoff at 1 against the Bills in Buffalo while Jets/Dolphins start at 1 at Giants Stadium and the Ravens/Jags are also at 1 in Baltimore.

If the Patriots win the AFC East, they would host a first round playoff game at the Razor.  If they get the final wild card spot, they would be on the road.

Now let’s just hope that things go the Patriots way and they are back in the playoffs.

Update: The NFL has moved the Jets/Dolphins game and Ravens/Jaguars to a 4:15 kickoff so now we will have to wait until after 7 PM to find out the Patriots fate should they win.

New England Patriots: With the Baltimore Ravens win over the Dallas Cowboys last night, the Patriots playoff hopes took a big blow. If the Ravens had lost and the Pats win their final two games, they would have made the playoffs. Now they have to win both games and pray for help. Otherwise, they’ll be an 11-5 team that doesn’t make the playoffs should they win out.

[Reiss’s Pieces] [NFL Playoffs Week 16 Picture]

This Week

The New England Patriots welcome the Arizona Cardinals to Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA on Sunday at 1 p .m.  It is the Patriots home finale.

The Patriots are 4-3 at the Razor and 3-0 against the NFC. The Cardinals are 3-4 on the road and 2-1 against the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Cardinals and Patriots.

Here are the projected starting lineups for the game.

The Line

As of Wednesday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots -8. The over/under is 44½.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 159th consecutive sellout dating back to the 1994 season opener. The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

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

Getting To The Game

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

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from The Weather Channel.

Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.

And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or someone’s house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don’t drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

FOX is televising the game regionally and Kenny Albert will do the play-by-play while Daryl Johnstonwill handle the game analysis with Tony Siragusa on the sidelines. Check for your local FOX affiliate and see if you are getting the game.

Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket has the game on Channel 708.

For those of you overseas here is some general information on NFL Broadcasts for the 2008 season.

Patriots All-Access airs Saturday at 7 p.m. on WCVB TV 5 in Boston. It will also be simulcast on the team website at the same time. Make sure you check out the Patriots Football Network for information on when you can see Patriots All-Access in your market.

Radio

The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.

It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network.

The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

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

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Rock Radio Network call is available on Channel 130, the Cardinals Radio Network call with Dave Pasch doing play-by-play and former Cardinal Ron Wolfley with analysis is available on Channel 121.

Since the satellite merger XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games and in most cases has just the radio call of the home team. This game can be heard on XM Channel 106.

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Tom Brady: At the Patriots annual Salvation Army Holiday Party,  injured New England Patriots QB Tom Brady was a surprise visitor. He refused to answer any questions about the rehab of his knee but is doing his best to support the team. [Boston Globe]

Good win for the New England Patriots on Sunday afternoon as they kept their playoff hopes alive with the win. They are still tied for first in the AFC East with the Miami Dolphins and New York Favres Jets but the Jets hold the tiebreaker for the division. The AFC East teams are tied for the two wild card spots with the Baltimore Ravens although the Patriots are on the outside looking in due to having the worst record in the conference.

It’s quite conceivable that the Patriots could win their final two games and not make the playoffs with an 11-5 record. Art Martone of the Providence Journal breaks down the playoff scenarios for the Patriots.

The Patriots got an amazing effort from their QB1 Matt Cassel, who was able to put aside his grief for an afternoon and throw 4 touchdown passes, including two to former Raider Randy Moss. They also had 277 yards rushing. Just total domination by the offensive line.

Jerod Mayo should be a lock for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Matt Light injured his shoulder in the game on Sunday and according to John Tomase, he has a mild shoulder separation.

The sagging Arizona Cardinals come to town on Sunday having already clinched a playoff spot.

With just 4 accepted penalties, the Patriots are still on pace to break the NFL record for least accepted penalties in a season.

Brandon Meriweather has not missed a snap since Rodney Harrison’s injury.

Wes Welker joined an elite Patriots club with his second straight 100 catch season.

Matt Cassel’s numbers through his first 14 games compare favorably to Tom Brady’s through his first 14.

Ron Borges has his report card for Sunday’s game.

Bill Belichick was very critical of his own performance in Sunday’s win over the Raiders.

Gary Marby of WEEI.com has some postgame Patriots nuggets.

NFL Playoffs: Art Martone goes over all the different scenarios for the Patriots to reach the NFL Playoffs. Sadly enough, the Patriots can win both of their final two games and still not make the playoffs if the New York Jets, Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Ravens win their final 2.  [Providence Journal]

The Result

The New England Patriots came into their game today knowing that they needed to win to keep pace with the Miami Dolphins and New York Jets at the top of the AFC East. They also didn’t know how Matt Cassel would react after limited practice this week after the death of his father.

Like a true professional, Cassel was able to put aside his grief for 4 quarters of football as he led the Patriots to 4 touchdowns on their first 4 drives to help his team to a 49-26 manhandling of the Oakland Raiders on a rainy afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum.

The win keeps the Patriots tied for 1st place in the AFC East with the Jets and the Dolphins. Based on the tiebreakers right now, the Jets are the division leaders with the Patriots and Dolphins tied with the Baltimore Ravens for the final playoff spot. The Ravens hold that tiebreaker.

The Patriots were able to take advantage of some good field position in the 1st quarter to get out to a quick 14-0 lead behind Cassel. On the Patriots third offensive set of the game, he led them on a 9 play 83 yard yard drive that ended on a Sammy Morris 29 yard touchdown run. Considering everything he’s gone through this week, I was impressed with his play. He shared a moment with Bill Belichick after the game and tucked the game ball under shoulder as left the field.

Randy Moss and Lamont Jordan both returned to Oakland for the first time since leaving there (Moss via trade, Jordan via free agency after being cut). They were both showered by boos, with most of them directed at Moss. Both had great games as well as Moss had two touchdown catches and Jordan had a 49 yard touchdown run. As you can see by the picture at the top, Moss let the fans know who he was.

Defensively, the Patriots limited the big plays to just a few. They were also able to take advantage ofthe Raiders porous line to put a lot of pressure on Jamarcus Russell.

Hopefully the injury to Matt Light isn’t too serious as he will be needed during the final two games as the Patriots push for the playoffs continues.

Let’s face it folks. This game wasn’t supposed to hard and it wasn’t.  The Raiders right now are an awful team and an embarrassment. I will give them credit though they never gave up although I think they wished they stayed home instead of getting a beat down in a driving rain.

Scoring Plays

1^st Quarter

NE – Kevin Faulk 7 yard pass from Matt Cassel (Stephen Gostowski PAT)

NE – Randy Moss 20 yard pass from Cassel (Gostowski PAT)

NE – Sammy Morris 29 yard run (Gostowski PAT)

OAK – Johnnie Lee Higgins 56 yard pass from Jamarcus Russell (Sebastian Janikowski PAT)

2^nd Quarter

NE – Wes Welker 20 yard pass from Cassel (Gostowski PAT)

OAK – Justin Miller 91 yard kickoff return (Janikowski PAT)

NE – Ellis Hobbs 95 yard kickoff return (Janikowski PAT)

3^rd Quarter

NE – Moss 9 yard pass from Cassel (Gostowski PAT)

OAK – Ronald Curry 10 yard pass from Russell (Janikowski PAT blocked)

4^th Quarter

NE – Lamont Jordan 49 yard run (Gostowski PAT)

OAK – Darren McFadden 15 yard run (2-pt conversion failed)

Offensive Player of the Game

The offensive player of the game could be anyone of the following players.

• Matt Cassel – 18-of-30 for 218 yards with 4 touchdowns and an interception
• Sammy Morris – 14 carries for 117 yards and a touchdown
• Lamont Jordan – 12 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown
• Wes Welker – 6 catches for 69 yards and a touchdown
• Randy Moss – 5 catches for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns
• Kevin Faulk – 6 catches for 66 yards and a touchdown

I’m giving it to Cassel.

Defensive Player of the Game

Who else but the rookie Jerod Mayo. Mayo finished the game with 11 tackles.

Turning Point(s) of the Game

1. The opening kickoff when a Kelly Washington tackle on the opening kickoff pinned the Raiders deep in their own territory.  The Patriots forced a 3-and-out and got the ball in good field position to set up their first score.
2. After Justin Miller took a kickoff back for a touchdown to cut the Patriots lead to 28-14, Ellis Hobbs returned the favor with one of his own to put the game out of reach.

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The New England Patriots wrap up their stay on the west coast this afternoon when they take on the Oakland Raiders at the Oakland Coliseum. After last week’s nail biter of a win, we can only hope things are easier against the hapless Raiders.

The Patriots are in must win-out mode and then hope to get some help. Even though they are tied at the top of the AFC East with the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, they don’t have the tie breakers. So if they win out and get some help along the way, we could see the Patriots back in the playoffs again, which in itself would be a great story considering the massive amount of injuries the Patriots have suffered this year.

If you missed the SOX & Dawgs  Patriots-Raiders game preview, don’t forget to check it out.

Mike Reiss of the Boston Globe takes a look back at Randy Moss’ two years with the Raiders.

Randy Moss has decided not to speak about his former team.

Lamont Jordan is also returning to Oakland to face his former team.

Ben Watson was fined $10,000 by the NFL for his celebration in last week’s game against the Seahawks.

Reiss also has a look at the contracts of Junior Seau and Rosevelt Colvin.

Here’s an updated injury list for the Patriots for today’s game.

Raiders tight end Zach Miller is one of the lone bright spots on the team.

Jerrod Mayo hasn’t been slowed down by the long season.

Mike Petraglia of WEEI.com has his pregame take for us.

Matt Cassel will playing with a heavy heart this afternoon.

Former Oakland Raiders coach and current NBC analyst says the play of the Raiders is embarrassing.

The strength of the Patriots defense should return this afternoon.

Raiders left tackle Mario Henderson could have been drafted by the Patriots in 2007.

Gary Marbry of WEEI.com has some Patriots-Raiders nuggets for us to chew on.

The New England Patriots announced that they have placed linebacker Pierre Woods on season-ending injured reserve with a jaw injury. To take his place on the roster, they have signed offensive lineman Dan Connolly to the active roster from their practice squad.

Woods suffered a jaw injury in the loss to the Steelers back on November 30th. Woods played in 12 games (3 starts) and had 35 tackles and 1 sack.