After a topsy-turvy day in the NFL which saw the Washington Redskins and Tennessee Titans become the last two teams in, the playoff matchups are set for the first round of the playoffs.

In the AFC:

• 1. New England Patriots – First Round Bye
• 2. Indianapolis Colts – First Round Bye

Wildcard Round

Saturday, Jan. 5

5. Jacksonville Jaguars (11-5) at 4. Pittsburgh Steelers (10-6), 8 p.m. ET (NBC)

Sunday, Jan. 6

6. Tennessee Titans (10-6) at 3. San Diego Chargers (11-5), 4:30 p.m. ET (CBS)

Divisional Round

Jan. 12-13

San Diego, Pittsburgh or Jacksonville at Indianapolis

Pittsburgh, Jacksonville or Tennessee at New England

In the NFC:

• 1. Dallas Cowboys – First Round Bye
• 2. Green Bay Packers – First Round Bye

Wildcard Round

Saturday, Jan. 5

6. Washington Redskins (9-7) at 3. Seattle Seahawks (10-6), 4:30 p.m. ET (NBC)

Sunday, Jan. 6

5. New York Giants (10-6) at 4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7), 1 p.m. ET (Fox)

DIVISIONAL ROUND

Jan. 12-13

Tampa Bay or New York or Washington at Dallas

Seattle, Tampa Bay or New York at Green Bay

AFC & NFC Conference Championships

Will be held on January 20th at the site of the highest remaining team in each conference.

Super Bowl XLII:

Sunday, Feb. 3, 6 p.m., University of Phoenix Stadium (Glendale, Ariz.)

Even wearing vintage 1970’s short shorts couldn’t get the Los Angeles Lakers past the surging Boston Celtics as the Green improved to an incredible 26-3 with a 110-91 whipping of the Lakers in front of 18,997 at the Staples Center.

Both teams wore vintage throwback uni’s on Sunday night but the Lakers took it to the extreme before changing into baggy shorts at halftime. Neither style of short though was the answer for the Celtics as Paul Pierce scored 33 points and Kevin Garnett had 22 points, 12 boards and 6 assists. Even the Brothers Allen chipped in with Ray knocking in 19 and Tony adding 16 in leading the Bostonians to their 6th straight win. The win also kept Lakers coach Phil Jackson from passing Boston legend Red Auerbach on the all-time win list. Both are tied for seventh with 938 victories.

The Lakers were led by Kobe Bryant who had 22 points, Lamar Odom had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Derek Fisher tallied 11 points as they had their four game win streak snapped and dropped to 19-11 on the year.

The game had an old-time rivalry feel to it even beyond the throwbacks as the game got physical with several confrontations including 1 flagrant foul on Lamar Odom who practically tackled Ray Allen and 6 technical fouls – 3 on each squad – for the chippy play.

The Celtics swept the four game western road trip that was played in five days with two sets of back-to-back games in Sacramento, Seattle, Utah and Los Angeles. Granted it wasn’t Phoenix, Dallas and San Antonio but this was an amazing trip.

Celtics guard Rajon Rondo did not play due to tightness in his hamstring. It is unknown if he will be able to play on Wednesday at home against the Houston Rockets.

With the Patriots achieving the first undefeated season in the NFL in 35 years I got to thinking about a few things. First who are the Top Five Patriot players of the Bill Belichick era (2000-present) and second who are the top players at each position in this era.

The Top Five isn’t as easy as you think it is. When you think you have five all of a sudden you have ten. I think the Top Five obviously need to have had a major impact on the Belichick era and the franchise in general just based on the perfect season and three championships. The top players of the era are a bit different in that they are the top guys in this run but in Patriots history there maybe someone else who deserves the spot over them.

So after the jump I give you my choices.

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Carl Everett’s Crazy Hall of Fame has some new inductee’s for 2008. Without further audieu here is the Class of ’08:

The Oregon Duck who beat the crap out of the Houston Cougar on the sideline after the Cougar decided to do pushups after a Houston touchdown is the only member of the regular membership category as he garnered 71% of the vote.

The Veteran’s Wing of the Hall has four new members they are:

Don Zimmer, (71%) the senior citizen, is nominated for charging at Pedro Martinez in a bench clearing brawl between the Red Sox and Yankees and being grabbed by his gerbil ears and hurled to the ground by possibly the best pitcher in Red Sox history.

Jim Calhoun (57%) for his overall achievements in the way he deals with the officials and how he treats his players on the sideline after an error. Plus there will always be his “I fucked up” tirade at media regarding the recruitment of Ryan Gomes, a true classic.

Bobby Knight (57%) for his overall achievements of media and player berating. Some of the greatest Knight moments are post game press conferences especially come tournament time. He was Latrell Spreewell before Latrell was and of course the defining moment may possibly the throwing of the chair at the free throw shooter.

Robin Ventura (57%) for charging Hall of Fame pitcher Nolan Ryan after the “Express” drilled him with a pitch. The fight wasn’t very fair as Ryan, also a cattle rancher, put Ventura in a headlock and kicked his ever loving ass right on the mound as the benches emptied.

I had mentioned in the comments of the simulcast post that Patriots radio announcers Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti are merely shells of their former selves when it comes to calling a game.  Santos is listenable but Cappelletti has really fallen and now according to Scotts Shots the Kraft family has become aware of the slide in the booth.  

“The second is a murmur out of Foxboro that seems to indicate the lifespan of the badly deteriorated Gil Santos and Gino Cappelletti radio network pairing could be in its final weeks. Shots is being informed by some Ft. Foxboro spies that the Krafts are finally understanding just how far Gino has fallen and indications are that he will be slid out of the WBCN booth (perhaps kicking and screaming) and replaced by a more relevant (and cognizant) former player.

Shots has gone on record saying it’s time for both the G-Men to leave the P-Men’s airwaves, but if we can only get rid of one, the cap has to be shot into Cap. No ifs, ands or buts.”

I totally concur.  Cappelletti has been a wonderful member of the Patriots family but he add’s nothing any longer, while Santos still is decent but doesn’t identify the players as quickly as he should.  Case in point, the record setting touchdown from Tom Brady to Randy Moss.  Moss was not identified as the receiver until well into the celebration and then Cappelletti was the first to say who it was.  This isn’t ice hockey, this is football and a guy who is 6’5″ ran a go route and he should have been id’d before he ever caught the ball.  It was a history making moment for both players as two records were set but if you were listening on the radio you didn’t know it until the celebration had started.

I wonder who the Kraft’s have in mind to replace Cappelletti?  Off the top of my head some former players with some broadcast experience include Tim Fox, Pete Brock, Steve Nelson, Scott Zolak, Steve DeOssie and Fred Smerlas.  I wouldn’t want any part of DeOssie or Smerlas in the booth as for the others I think maybe Fox or Zolak would have the best shot.  And what about Steve Grogan?  As a former quarterback he’d surely add some insight and he’s far more relevant than ayone previously mentioned except maybe Nelson. 

I guess we will just have to sit back and wait to see what the Kraft’s do.  Personally I think it’s time for a complete overhaul of the game crew and if Santos goes too I’d love to see former Red Sox play-by-play man Sean McDonough take his spot.

Last Sunday, Steve broke down the NFL Playoff picture for you and I will do the same for you this week.

The following teams are in from the AFC. The New England Patriots, Indianapolis Colts, San Diego Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars are all in.

Tennessee gets into the playoffs with a win or Cleveland loss. A tie and a Cleveland loss will get them in as well. In order to do that though, they have to beat the Colts. The Browns must beat the San Francisco 49ers and hope the Titans lose. Cleveland is in if both teams lose.

As far as the seeding breaks down in the AFC, it looks like this.

The Patriots are the top seed and have clinched a bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Colts are the 2nd seed and will have a bye the first week as well. The Chargers can clinch the 3rd seed with a win. The Steelers can become the 3rd seed with a win over Baltimore and a Chargers loss. If the Chargers clinch the 3rd seed, the Steelers will be the 4th seed. Jacksonville will be the 5th seed and either the Titans or Browns will be the 6th seed.

The following teams are in from the NFC. The Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New York Giants.

The Washington Redskins can get into the playoffs with a win over the Cowboys. The Minnesota Vikings can make the playoffs with a win over Denver and a Redskins loss or tie. New Orleans has an outside chance of making it in if they win against the Chicago Bears and both the Redskins and Vikings lose.

The top 5 seeds are locked in already for the NFC. The Cowboys have clinched a bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. The Packers are the 2nd seed and will have a bye the first week. The Seahawks are the 3rd seed and will face either the Redskins, Vikings or Saints. The Buccaneers are the 4th seed and will host the 5th seeded New York Giants.

Stay tuned folks. It should be an interesting Week 17 in the NFL as the Titans and Browns compete for the final spot in the AFC and the Redskins, Vikings and Saints compete for the final spot in the NFC.

Paul Pierce was held scoreless in the first half by the Utah Jazz. They couldn’t stop him in the second half as he scored 24 points to lead the Boston Celtics to a 104-98 win in front of 19,911 at the Energy Solutions Arena.

Pierce also added 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block onto the score sheet as the Green improved to 25-3 on the season. The C’s had 5 players in double figures as Ray Allen had 23 points, Kevin Garnett had 15 points and 9 rebounds, Kendrick Perkins had 11 points and 9 board and Tony Allen chipped in 10 points off the bench.

The Jazz who dropped to 16-16 were led by Deron Williams 22 points and 11 assists, Carlos Boozer had 19 points and 11 boards and Mehmet Okur had 14 points.

The Celtics move onto Los Angeles to take on the Lakers tomorrow night as they try to finish the western road trip 4-0.

The Result

The New England Patriots are the first team in 35 NFL seasons to finish the regular season undefeated as the beat the New York Giants, 38-35 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford NJ behind a record setting performance by Tom Brady and Randy Moss.

First I want to say to the Giants and their fans I’m glad they decided to play. It means more that the opponent not only left everything they had on the field but they tried to win a game that meant nothing to their season and they gave the Patriots a battle. I’d much rather see New England win by 3 points as they did then by 33 over a team that gave up by half time. The Giants staff and players should be commended for not rolling over when they had every reason to do so and no one would have blamed them. It was unfortunate to see their players Kaweka Mitchell, Sean O’Hara and Sam Madison suffer injuries but it was all in the flow of the game. The NFL should be proud of their teams tonight.

I just hope that Indianapolis coach Tony Dungy took notice and he and his team and staff give their entire effort tomorrow and don’t rollover against Tennessee in a game that has playoff implications for the Titans and the Cleveland Browns.

This game was a back and forth battle all the way but yet had almost an anti-climatic feel to it even with the individual and team records that were set. The Giants got on the board first when they became the first New England opponent to score on their opening possession all year when Eli Manning threw a 7 yard TD pass to Brandon Jacobs.

It had some of that uh-oh feel to it as the Patriots took a short lived 10-7 lead with a Stephen Gostkowski field goal and the first TD pass by Tom Brady to Randy Moss. The G-men and the Pats played a game of back and forth as the Giants went up 14-10 only to see the Patriots take a 16-14 lead but Manning’s second TD pass of the night put New York up 21-16 just before the half.

After the half the Giants took an 12-point lead when Manning threw to Burress for a 28-16 lead and it was New England’s largest deficit of the season. The previous high was 10-points to Manning’s brother, Peyton and the Indianapolis Colts in Week 9.

But after that the New England defense helped produce the games turning point as they held the Giants to two punts and an Ellis Hobbs INT on the next three possessions while Brady and the offense showed why they score points at will. The Pats then proceeded to put up 22 unanswered points on three TD’s (two rushing by Maroney and 1 BOMB to Moss) and a 2-point conversion also by Maroney to give them a 38-28 lead. That was pretty much the game even though the Giants scored with 1:04 left to play for the final margin but their onside kick attempt went awry and Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots put their name in the record books.

Lost in all this was the fact that it was Brady’s 28^th time overcoming a 4^th quarter deficit to win a game. It was the 4^th time this season that he accomplished that feat doing it at Indianapolis, vs. Philadelphia, at Baltimore and tonight against the Giants.

It was also the Patriots 19^th consecutive regular season win breaking the NFL record of 18 set by the 2003-04 Patriots.

I hope Patriots fans everywhere realize how special this team is and this season was. I also hope football fans everywhere realize how great a player Tom Brady is. You can have any other quarterback that has ever played, go ahead take Manning, Montana, Unitas, Bradshaw, Aikman, Stauback, Starr, Favre, Young. I’ll take Brady anytime, any place, anywhere and I’ll take him twice over anyone else when a game is on the line.

This is the end of perfection part one. Part two and finishing 3-0 is next.

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The New England Patriots have completed the NFL’s first undefeated season in 35 years with a 38-35 win over the New York Giants.  The Patriots finish 16-0, it is the most regular season wins in NFL history.  They are the 4th undefeated team in NFL history along with the 1934 Chicago Bears, 1942 Chicago Bears and 1972 Miami Dolphins.