This Week

The New England Patriots host Indianapolis Colts at Gillette Stadium on Saturday January 11 at 8:15 p.m. in an AFC Divisional Playoff Game.

The Colts		–	The Patriots
Regular Season	11-5		Regular Season	12-4
Road Record	5-3		Home Record	8-0
Playoff Teams	4-2		Playoff Teams	2-2
AFC	9-3		AFC	9-3

Pete Morelli is the referee for the game.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Sports Betting via Yahoo Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 7.5.  The over/under is 53.

My Prediction is Patriots 31, Colts, 20.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the under.  I am 5-11 against the spread and 9 of 16 on calling the over/under in 2013.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 216th 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 drive sober or get pulled over.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS in televising the game nationally Greg Gumbel will do play by play while Dan Dierdorf will provide the game analysis and Allie LaForce will work the sidelines.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

CBS is also streaming the game via your computer, laptop or tablet.  Cell phone streaming rights belong to Verizon.

There is no DirecTV designation.

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. Bob Socci handles the play-by-play and former Patriots QB Scott Zolak will do game analysis. It all starts with Gary Tanguay and Andy Gresh with the pregame show at 5 p.m. on the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

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

The Colts Radio Network will carry the game with Bob Lamey calling the play-by-play and former Colts QB Jim Sorgi doing the analysis from their flagship stations, WFNI-AM 1070 and WLHK-FM 107.5.

Their game call is available on Sirius Channel 225, XM Channel 92 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 813.

The game will be carried nationally by Westwood One with Ian Eagle doing play by play, Trent Green provides the game analysis and Tony Boselli covers the sidelines.

Their game 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 Saturday 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 team website in the media section.

Last Week

Patriots had a bye after closing the season with a home win over the Bills, 34-20.  The Colts with the second largest post season comeback in NFL history beat the Chiefs 45-44 at home in the AFC Wild Card Game.

History

• This is the 74th meeting between the clubs since the 1970 merger.
• At one time the teams were rivals in the AFC East and faced each other twice a year from 1970-2001.
• Patriots hold a 45-28 series advantage in the regular season and 2-1 in the playoffs for an overall series record of 47-29.
• Patriots have won the last three games all were played at Gillette Stadium.
• They last played each other in 2012 and the Patriots won 59-24.
• The teams last played against each other in the post season in the 2006 AFC Championship game won by the Colts, 38-34 in Indianapolis.

Patriots Team Notes

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

2013 Patriots Schedule/Results

The Patriots overall franchise record is 437-373-9.  They have won three Super Bowls (XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX) in seven appearances.  Overall they are 24-17 in the post season.

They last appeared in the playoffs in 2012 when they beat Houston in the AFC Divisional Round 41-28 and lost to Baltimore 28-13 in the AFC Championship Game.

Patriots are 10-6 in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs.  They are 7-2 at home and 5-1 at Gillette Stadium.

Date               Opponent                  W/L    Score

01/13/13       Houston Texans        W       41-28

01/14/12       Denver Broncos        W       45-10

01/16/11       New York Jets          L        21-28

01/12/08       Jacksonville             W       31-20

01/14/07       at San Diego            W       24-21

01/14/06       at Denver                L        13-27

01/16/05       Indianapolis             W       20-3

01/10/04       Tennessee               W       17-14

01/19/02       Oakland                  W       16-13 (OT)

01/03/98       at Pittsburgh            L        6-7

01/05/97       Pittsburgh                W       28-3

01/04/87       at Denver                L        17-22

01/05/86       at LA Raiders           W       27-20

12/31/78       Houston                  L        14-31

12/18/76       at Oakland               L        21-24

12/28/63       at Buffalo                W       26-8

They have won the division 11 times and the conference 5 times since 2000.

The Patriots are the five time defending AFC East Champions (2009-13).

New England is first team to have earned 9 first round byes and first AFC team with 4 consecutive byes in the playoffs since this playoff format was established in 1990.

They are 10-3 in playoff games at Gillette Stadium they are 14-4 at home overall.

They have a home winning percentage in the postseason of .778 that is second best behind Oakland’s .792 among teams with at least 10 home playoff games

Patriots have 5th best postseason winning percentage (.585) for teams with 15 or more games played.

With a win Sunday they will tie the Oakland Raiders for the 5th most playoff wins in NFL history with 25.

New England is the only NFL team to finish .500 or better in each of the last 13 seasons.  Green Bay is 2nd with 5 seasons and then Cincinnati and San Francisco have 3 seasons in a row.

They have 11 consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins.

They are the first team in the free agency era (1993) to win more than half their games in a 13-season span.

In 2013 the Patriots have played in 7 games decided by 3 points or less and are 6-1.

Since the 1970 merger the Patriots are 4th all time with 28 winning seasons behind Dallas and Miami (29 each) and Pittsburgh (31).

New England was 3-2 against common opponents with Indianapolis in 2013 (Miami, Denver, Houston and Cincinnati).

With a win Patriots will be first team since 2001-04 Eagles to advance to three consecutive conference championship games.

Patriots lead the AFC in rushing TD’s in 2013 with 19 that was tied for 2nd in the NFL.

They were second in NFL in fewest penalties (69) and 3rd in fewest penalty yards (625) behind Indianapolis.

Their 444 points was third highest in NFL in 2013 and 5th highest in franchise history.

New England is PLUS 9 in turnover differential good for 8th in the NFL.  They have 17 INT’s and have recovered 12 fumbles while they have thrown 11 INT’s and lost 9 fumbles.

The Patriots are 3rd in points scored averaging 27.8 points per game and are 10th in fewest points allowed with 21.1 points per game.

This is the 20th season of Patriots ownership by the Kraft family.  Since Robert Kraft bought the team in 1994 they:

• Have the most Super Bowl wins, 3.
• Have the most regular season wins, 217.
• Have the most wins including playoffs, 237.
• Have the most conference titles, 6.
• Have the most division titles, 13.
• Have the most playoff wins, 20
• Have played the most playoff games, 32.
• Are tied for the most playoff seasons, 15.
• The fewest head coaches within the division, 3.
• Have drafted the most Pro Bowl players, 20.

From 1960 to 1993 the New England/Boston Patriots won a total of 225 games.

The Patriots have 21 players who have never played in the postseason. 

Patriots Staff Notes

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

Bill Belichick coached teams are 13-8 Vs the Colts.  He is 11-6 with New England and 2-2 with Cleveland including playoffs.

Overall in his NFL career Belichick is 199-105 in his 19th NFL season as a head coach.  He is 163-61 with New England and 36-44 with Cleveland.  He is 18-8 in the playoffs, 17-7 as head coach of the Patriots in the post season.  When you combine his regular season and post season records he is 217-113.

Belichick’s 18 postseason wins are good for 3rd all-time behind Don Shula (19) and Tom Landry (20).

He has won 5 conference titles; he needs one more to tied Don Shula’s record of 6.

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.

No coach either as the head coach or an assistant has appeared in more Super Bowls than Belichick who has been to 8 (five as a head coach).

Belichick started his coaching career in 1975 with the Colts on Ted Marchibroda’s staff.
Assistant Head Coach/Offensive Line Coach Dante Scarnecchia was the Colts offensive line coach in 1990-91.

Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels was interviewed on January 5th by the Cleveland Browns for their head coaching vacancy.  On January 8th he withdrew his name for consideration.

Patriots Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Solder
• LG: Mankins
• C: Wendell
• RG: Connolly
• RT: Cannon
• TE: Hoomanawanui
• WR: Edelman
• WR: Amendola
• QB: Brady
• RB: Blount
• FB: Develin

Defense:

• DE: Ninkovich
• DT: Siliga
• DT: Chr. Jones
• DE: Cha. Jones
• LB: Collins
• LB: Fletcher
• LB: Hightower
• LCB: Ryan
• RCB: Talib
• S: Gregory
• S: Harmon

Patriots Players Notes

Tom Brady Notes:

• In his 14th NFL season he is 10-4 vs. the Colts in his career including playoffs.  He is 83-13 at home in his career in the regular season and 11-3 in the post season for a combined record of 94-16.

• Is making his 25th career playoff start, most in NFL history.

• He made his first NFL start vs. Indianapolis on September 30, 2001 and won 44-13 at Foxboro Stadium.

• Overall he is 148-43 as a starting QB and is 17-7 in the playoffs for an overall record of 165-50.  He is a 9 time Pro Bowl QB; 3 time All-Pro selection; 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.

• Has 7 comeback wins in the post season including three in Super Bowls.  Two of those Super Bowl comebacks were completed with 1:21 or less left on the clock.

• His 17 post season wins are the most by any quarterback.

• His three Super Bowl wins ties him with Troy Aikman for second behind Terry Bradshaw and Joe Montana who have four each.

• Along with Bart Starr, Eli Manning and Bradshaw, his two Super Bowl MVP awards are second only to Joe Montana who has three.

• Is tied for the second most 300-yard games in the postseason with Kurt Warner and Montana with 6. Peyton Manning has the most, 8.

• All-time NFL leader in post season completions (553) and passing yards (5,949).

• Third all-time in post season TD passes (42) behind Brett Favre (44) and Montana (45).

• Has a TD pass thrown in 18 consecutive postseason games.

• Shares the record for most TD passes in a playoff game (6) with Steve Young and Daryle Lamonica.

Danny Amendola notes:

• Will play in his second career playoff game, first as a Patriot.

• Finished season with 54 catches for 633 yards and 2 TD’s.

• Set career high for yards per catch (11.7) and longest catch (57-yards).

• Has 3 100-yard games as a Patriot at Miami Week 15, vs. Pittsburgh in Week 9 and in Week 1 at Buffalo.

• Missed 4 games in 2014 due to injuries (groin, 3 and concussion, 1).

Julian Edelman notes:

• Will play in his 6th playoff game.  Missed the post season last year due to a foot injury that put him on IR after Week 12.

• Had his first 100-catch, 1000-yard season in his career and just the third Patriot behind Troy Brown and Wes Welker.

• His previous career high was 37 receptions for 357 yards in 2009.

• Has 4 of his 5 career 100-yard games this year, at Miami Week 15, at Houston Week 13, Week 12 vs. Denver and Week 4 at Atlanta.

• Set career high with 13 catches and 139-yards at Miami Week 15.

• Lead the team with 105 catches for 1,056 yards. He also had 6 TD catches.  He had just 21 catches in 2012. 

• He was 5th in NFL in catches for 2013.

• Has had 9 games with 7 or more catches in 2013.

Stevan Ridley notes:

• Will play in his 4th career playoff game.

• Had his 4th 2-TD game of his career against Pittsburgh in Week 9.

• Second season in a row with 4 fumbles

• Leads the team with 773 rushing yards in 14 games

• Lead team in TD’s with 7 with LeGarrette Blount.

• Has 14 runs of 20 or more yards in his career most for franchise since 2000.

Shane Vereen notes:

• Will play in his 3rd career playoff game.

• Set franchise record with receptions (12) and receiving yards (153) by a running back in a single-game Week 14 vs. Cleveland.

• Became just fourth NFL running back to post 150 receiving yards in a single-game in the last 10 seasons.

• Finished with 47 catches for 417 yards and 3 TD’s and 205 yards rushing with 1 TD.

LeGarrette Blount notes:     

• Will play in his first career playoff game.

• Was AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Week 17.

• Had first 2 TD game as a Patriot week 16 at Baltimore.  It was the third of his career.    

• Set franchise record with 334 total yards Week 17 vs. Buffalo (189 rushing; 145 KOR)

• Set career high with 189 rushing yards Week 17 vs. Buffalo. Previous high was 164 vs. Seattle Week 15 in 2010 while with Tampa Bay.

• Lead team in TD’s with 7 (career high) with Stevan Ridley.

• Second in rushing yards with 772, one yard behind Ridley.

Stephen Gostkowski notes:

• Will play in his 13th career playoff game.

• Needs two more postseason field goals to become 11th player with 20 or more.

• Needs 10 more postseason points to become 7th player ever with 100 or more.

• Has not missed an extra point since Week 17 2006 at Tennessee in his rookie season.  He has made 360 consecutive extra points.  He is 399 for 400 in his career for 99.8%.

• The 360 XPA converted in a row is fourth longest streak in NFL history.

• He is also 36 for 36 in extra points in the post season.

• Lead NFL in scoring with 158 points.

• Set franchise record for points in a season and field goals made (38) tied franchise record for field goal attempts (41).

• He is the most accurate kicker by percentage in team history at 86.3% (208 0f 241).

• Has scored at least 1 point in 107 consecutive games a franchise record.

• He is 3rd in team history in points with 1,023 trailing only Gino Cappelletti (1,130) and Adam Vinatieri (1,158).

• Has team record of 12 career field goals of 50+ yards.

• Has made 16 field goals of 40 or more yards in 2013, a franchise record.

• Has three game winning field goals in 2013 Week 1 at Buffalo, Week 12 vs. Denver and Week 13 at Houston he now has 4 regular season game winners in his career.

• The 54-yard field goal against New Orleans set a new career long.

Rob Ninkovich notes:

• Will play in his 7th career playoff game.

• In 5 seasons with New England has only missed one game.

• Forced 2 fumbles this season and tied for team lead with DB Kyle Arrington and S Devin McCourty.

• Has 12 fumble recoveries since 2010 the most in the NFL in that span.

• Lead the team with 2 fumble recoveries.

• Tied for 2nd on team in sacks with 8 and QB hits with 18.

• Had back to back 8 sack seasons.

• Had sacks in three consecutive games vs. Miami, vs. Pittsburgh and at Carolina.

Joe Vellano notes:

• Will play in his first playoff game.

• Rookie made his first NFL start Week 5 at Cincinnati.

• Had 49 tackles (28 solo), 2 sacks, 4 QB hits, 1 pass defensed and 1 fumble recovery as a rookie.

Chris Jones notes:

• Will play in his first playoff game.

• Had 56 tackles, 6 sacks and 8 QB hits as a rookie.

• Was second in NFL for sacks by a rookie.

• Made first NFL start Week 6 vs. New Orleans and had 3 tackles.

• Has three games with multiple sacks in 2013.

Brandon Spikes notes:

• Placed on IR prior to Divisional Game with Indianapolis with knee injury.

• 2013 was first season in which he played all 16 games.

• 2nd on the team in tackles made with 134 (78 solo).

• He has 6 games with 10 plus tackles in 2013.

• Had team high 22 tackles against Cincinnati.  It was a career high for Spikes.

• Broke his career high of 128 tackles in Week 16 at Baltimore.

• Has back-to-back 100 tackle seasons.

Chandler Jones notes:

• Will play in his 3rd career playoff game.

• Scored his first NFL TD Week 16 at Baltimore on a fumble recovery.

• Leads the team in sacks with 11.5 and QB hits with 21.

• Was 7th in sacks in NFL and had 4th highest total in franchise history.

• First player since Chris Slade to start career with two 5+ sack seasons.

• Blocked his first NFL field goal attempt Week 8 vs. Miami.

Logan Ryan notes:

• Will play in his first NFL playoff game.

• Had his first NFL 2 INT game week 16 at Baltimore.

• Led NFL rookies, the team and the AFC with 5 INT’s. Was 3rd overall in NFL.

• Had his first NFL INT at New York in Week 7 and returned it 79-yards for a touchdown.  He was the 11th Patriots player to return his first INT for a TD.

• Forced a fumble on his first NFL sack Week 8 vs. Miami.

Aqib Talib notes:

• Will play in his 3rd career playoff game.

• Named to his first Pro Bowl team.

• Lead the team with 13 passes defensed.

• Second in INT’s with 4.

• Had career high 4 passes defensed Week 4 at Atlanta including one in end zone to seal the win.

Sealver Siliga notes:

• Will play in his first NFL playoff game.

• Had 9 tackles (career high), 1 sack, 1 tackle for loss, 1 QB hit Week 17 vs. Buffalo.

• Had his first NFL sack at Miami in Week 15.

• Had 3 sacks and 3 QB hits as a rookie.

Kyle Arrington notes:

• Will play in his 8th career playoff game.

• Had first two sacks of his NFL career at Miami in Week 15 and at Baltimore Week 16.

• Recovered the onside kick Week 14 vs. Cleveland.  Was first Patriots since 1994 (AFC Divisional Playoff Game at Cleveland) to recover an onside kick.

• 2nd on team in passes defensed with 11.

• Forced two fumbles Week 1 at Buffalo.

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

NFL announced that three Patriots were named Second Team All-Pro’s they are:

• G Logan Mankins
• CB Aqib Talib
• S Devin McCourty

Roster moves this week:

• Re-signed WR Austin Collie to 53-man roster.
• Placed WR Josh Boyce on IR.
• Placed LB Brandon Spikes on IR.
• Signed WR Reggie Dunn to practice squad.
• Promoted LB Ja’Gared Davis to 53-man roster.

Patriots named to Pro Bowl for 2013 season:

• QB Tom Brady 9th selection
• G Logan Mankins 6th selection
• ST Matthew Slater 3rd selection
• CB Aqib Talib 1st selection

Patriots team captains for 2013:

• QB Tom Brady
• G Logan Mankins
• S Devin McCourty
• DE Rob Ninkovich
• WR Matthew Slater (special teams)
• DT Vince Wilfork (IR)
• LB Jerod Mayo (IR)

Former Colts on the Patriots:

• WR Austin Collie

Players with New England roots:

• WR Mark Harrison (IR) – Stratford CT
• TE Matthew Mulligan – Enfield ME

Players with Indiana roots:

• DT Chris Jones – Brownsburg IN
• OL Braxton Cave (PS) – Mishawaka IN

Players from New England based colleges and universities:

• RB James Develin – Brown
• TE Matthew Mulligan – Maine

Players from Indiana based colleges and universities:

• LB Rob Ninkovich – Purdue
• WR Greg Orton (PS) – Purdue
• OL Braxton Cave (PS) – Notre Dame

The Patriots have 6 retired numbers:

• 20 – Gino Cappelletti
• 40 – Mike Haynes
• 73 – John Hannah
• 78 – Bruce Armstrong
• 79 – Jim Lee Hunt
• 89 – Bob Dee

Colts Team Notes

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

2013 Colts Schedule/Results

Indianapolis’ all-time record is 475-420-7 they are 20-21 in the post season with their last post season appearance coming in 2012 when they lost to Baltimore in the AFC Wild Card game.

They last played in a Super Bowl in 2009 when they lost to the New Orleans Saints in Super Bowl XLIV, 31-17. They have won 2 Super Bowl titles (IV, XLI) in four appearances. 

As the Baltimore Colts they won three NFL Championships in 1958, 1959 and 1968.

The Colts are 1-0 in the 2013 NFL Playoffs after beating the Kansas City Chiefs at home last Saturday 45-44 with the second largest comeback in NFL post season history (28 points).

Colts are 7-9 in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs.  They are 4-4 as the road team.

Date               Opponent                  W/L    Score

01/16/10       Baltimore                W       20-3

01/13/08       San Diego               L        24-28

01/13/07       @ Baltimore             W       15-6

01/15/06       Pittsburgh                L        18-21

01/16/05       @ New England        L        3-20

01/11/04       @ Kansas City          W       38-31

01/16/00       Tennessee               L        16-19

01/07/96       @ Kansas City          W       10-7

01/09/88       @ Cleveland             L        21-38

12/24/77       Oakland                  L        31-37 (OT)

12/19/76       Pittsburgh                L        14-40

12/27/75       @ Pittsburgh            L        10-28

12/26/71       @ Cleveland             W       20-3

12/26/70       Cincinnati                W       17-0

12/22/68       Minnesota                W       24-14

12/26/65       @ Green Bay           L        10-13

This is the Colts 30th season in Indianapolis. Since moving for the 1984 season they are 253-226, have 18 winning seasons, 16 playoff appearances and 13 10-win seasons.

Since 2002 the Colts have won 8 AFC South division titles.

The Colts have never won a playoff game in Foxboro they are 0-2.  They lost the Patriots in the 2003 AFC Championship Game, 24-14 and in the 2004 AFC Divisional Game, 20-3.

Indianapolis is 2-6 at Gillette Stadium including playoffs. They last won at the Razor in 2006, 27-20 when WR Marvin Harrison caught two TD passes from Peyton Manning and former Patriots K Adam Vinatieri kicked two field goals.

Overall the Baltimore/Indianapolis Colts are 12-27 as the road team against the Patriots.  They are 5-21 as Indianapolis and 7-6 as Baltimore.

The Colts were 3-2 against common opponents with the Patriots in 2013 (Miami, Denver, Houston and Cincinnati).

Had 536 net yards in AFC Wild Card Game win over Kansas City setting a franchise record.

The 28-point comeback against the Chiefs was the second largest comeback in NFL postseason history only the Bills 32-point comeback over the Houston Oilers in January 1993 was greater.

Had fewest penalties in NFL with 66 for 576 yards.

Indianapolis was 6-1 in one possession games in 2013.

Team set franchise record for fewest turnovers in a season with 14.

Indianapolis is PLUS 13 in turnover differential good for 3rd in the NFL.  They have  15 INT’s and have recovered 12 fumbles while they have thrown 10 INT’s and lost 4 fumbles.

They had 4 giveaways (3 INT’s and 1 fumble) and 1 takeaway (fumble) in the AFC Wild Card Game vs. Kansas City.

The Colts are 14th in points scored averaging 24.2 points per game and are 9th in fewest points allowed with 21.0 points per game.

Colts Staff Notes

Hear what Indianapolis Colts head coach Chuck Pagano had to say to the New England media about the match up.

Chuck Pagano is in his 2nd year as head coach of the Colts and he has a record of 22-10 in the regular season and he is 1-1 in the post season for an overall record of 23-11.

Pagano is 0-1 vs. New England in his career.

Pagano missed 12 weeks of the 2012 season due to a leukemia diagnosis.  Then Offensive Coordinator Bruce Arians took over in his absence and led the team to a 9-3 record in Pagano’s absence.  Elias Sports Bureau credits the teams record to Pagano and not Arians, who has since become the head coach of the Arizona Cardinals.

Defensive Line Coach Gary Emanuel is a native of New London CT and earned his bachelor’s degree from Plymouth State in Plymouth NH.

Quarterbacks Coach Clyde Christensen spent two seasons as a position coach and offensive coordinator at the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester from 1989-90.

Offensive Line Coach Joe Gilbert held assistant coaching positions at Northeastern University for three seasons (1991-93) and the University of Maine for six seasons (1994-99).

Colts Possible Starters

Offense:

• LT: Costanzo
• LG: Thornton
• C: Satele
• RG: Linkenbach
• RT: Cherilus
• TE: Fleenor
• WR: Hilton
• WR: Branch
• WR: Heyward-Bey
• QB: Luck
• RB: D. Brown

Defense:

• DE: Redding
• NT: Franklin
• DT: Jean Francois
• LB: Walden
• LB: Sheppard
• LB: Freeman
• LB: Mathis
• LCB: Toler
• RCB: Davis
• S: Bethea
• S: Landry

Colts Players Notes

Andrew Luck notes: 

• Is 22-10 in his 2nd NFL season he is 1-1 in the playoffs for an overall record of 23-11.

• He was the first overall pick in the first round choice out of Stanford University in the 2012 NFL Draft.

• He is 0-1 vs. New England in his career.

• This is his 3rd career playoff game.

• Got his first playoff win last week vs. Kansas City in the AFC Wild Card Game.

• Threw for 443 yards and 4 TD’s in AFC Wild Card Game both were 2nd most in Colt’s postseason history.

• The 443 yards passing was fifth highest in NFL postseason history.

• Has back-to-back seasons with 23 TD passes.

• Cut his INT’s from 18 in 2012 to just 9 in 2013.

• Has 11 game winning drives in just two seasons (10 in regular season, 1 post season).

T.Y. Hilton notes:

• This is his 3rd career playoff game.

• Set Colts receiving record with 224-yards and 2 TD’s vs. Kansas City in AFC Wild Card Game.

• Had 13 catches in AFC Wild Card Game, 2nd most in NFL postseason history.

• With 74 yards receiving with move into 5th place in franchise history in receiving yards.

• Has 10 100-yard games in his first two seasons.

• Has 132 catches and 1,944 receiving yards in his first two seasons.

• Has 5 career TD’s of 50-yards or more.

• Had 6 catches for 100-yards and 2 TD’s vs. New England in 2012.

Adam Vinatieri notes:

• This is his 17th career postseason game.

• AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for Week 11 and Week 17.

• Has 205 postseason points most in NFL history.

• 49 postseason field goals most in NFL history.

• 58 PAT’s are tied for most in NFL post season history with David Akers.

• Has scored in 26 consecutive postseason games, most in NFL history.

• Has won 4 Super Bowls, two with last drive field goals. One with no time remaining and the other with 4 seconds left.

• Two-time Pro Bowl selection  (2002 and 2004 with New England).

• Only kicker in NFL history with field goals in four Super Bowls and only kicker to play in five Super Bowls.

• His 2,006 career points are 5th all-time in NFL history.

• Made career high 35 field goals in 2013.

Robert Mathis notes:

• This is his 18th career postseason game.

• Second in Colts history in postseason sacks with 5.5

• Franchise leader in sacks with 111.0

• Set team record with 19.5 sacks this season.

• Has had 27 career multi-sack games.

• Has five seasons with 10-sacks or more.

• Has five career sacks vs. New England.

• Named to his 6th consecutive Pro Bowl.

• Named first team 2013 All-Pro

• Deacon Jones Award winner for 2013.

Antoine Bethea notes:

• This is his 13th career postseason game.

• Has 4 postseason INT’s 3rd most in franchise history.

• Needs 1 INT to tie for most in Colts postseason history.

• Has started every game he has played in his career (123).

• Has started 96 consecutive games since returning from ACL surgery.

• Has 6 consecutive 100-tackle seasons.

Donald Brown notes:

• This is his 5th career playoff game.

• Needs just 61 yards for 8th place and 91 yards for 7th most rushing yards in franchise history.

• Finished 2013 with 5.3 yards per carry second highest season total in franchise history.

Darius Butler notes:

• Played college ball at UConn

• Drafted by Patriots in 2nd round of 2009 NFL Draft.

• Played for New England from 2009-2010.

• Led Colts with 4 INT’s in 2013.

• Was 8th on team in tackles with 52 (43 solo).

Colts team captains for 2013 are:

• WR Reggie Wayne (IR)
• QB Andrew Luck
• DE Cory Redding
• LB Robert Mathis
• P Pat McAfee

Players who attended New England based universities or colleges:

• RB Donald Brown – UConn
• G Donald Thomas (IR) – UConn
• CB Darius Butler – UConn
• LB Scott Lutrus (IR) – UConn
• QB Matt Hasselbeck – Boston College
• T Gosder Cherilus – Boston College
• OL Anthony Castonzo – Boston College

Players with New England roots:

• G Donald Thomas (IR) – West Haven CT
• QB Matt Hasselbeck – Westwood MA
• LB Bjoern Werner – Salisbury CT
• LB Scott Lutrus (IR) – Brookfield CT
• T Gosder Cherilus – Somerville MA

Former Patriots with the Colts:

• K Adam Vinatieri
• CB Darius Butler
• G Donald Thomas
• S Sergio Brown
• WR Deion Branch

The Colts have 8 retired numbers:

• 18 – Peyton Manning
• 19 – Johnny Unitas
• 22 – Buddy Young
• 24 – Lenny Moore
• 70 – Art Donovan
• 77 – Jim Parker
• 82 – Raymond Berry
• 89 – Gino Marchetti

Next Week

Up next: With a win will play at Denver or host San Diego

Location: Denver CO or Foxboro MA

Date/Time: Sunday January 19, 2014 at TBA

TV Network: CBS

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

Here are the highlights from the Baltimore Ravens 28-13 win over the New England Patriots in the AFC Championship on Sunday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA.

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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.

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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.

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Here are the highlights from the New England Patriots 41-28 win over the Houston Texans in the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs on Sunday at Gillette Stadium.

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