This Week
The New England Patriots host the Philadelphia Eagles at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro MA. Kickoff is at 8:15 p.m. for the nationally televised Sunday night contest.
The Patriots are 4-0 at home this season and 2-0 against the NFC. The Eagles are 3-2 on the road and 2-0 against the AFC in 2007.
Here are the rosters for the Eagles and the Patriots.
The Line/Prediction
As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo Sports is Patriots -22. The over/under is 50. It is the third largest point spread in the NFL since 1976.
My prediction is Patriots 45, Eagles, 21. Give the points and take the over. I am 9-1 against the spread and have called the over/under eight out of ten times in 2007.
Tickets
The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out.
Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here. Many times tickets are released in the last 48 hours prior to the game.
Getting To The Game
If you’re lucky enough to be going to the game make sure you check out the links.
Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from the American Weather Service.
Click for stadium directions, parking information, parking map, specific MBTA train times for this game and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.
Tailgating
Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgaiting America. There’s something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I’ve tried some of the recipes and they’re very good and for good measure here is one of my own.
BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television
NBC is televising the game, it is the national Sunday Night Football Game. The play-by-play duties will be handled by Al Michaels with John Madden doing game analysis. The entire country gets the game.
Radio
The Patriots Rock Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBCN-FM 104.1 in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color.
It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresch and the pregame show at 5 p.m. along the network.
The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.
Check this out for the low down on the Patriots Rock Radio Network and stations in your area.
If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Rock Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.
All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots radio call is available on Channel 126, the Eagles radio call is available on Channel 122.
The game will also be broadcast nationally by Westwood One. Dave Sims and BobTrumpy will call the game. Find a Westwood One station near you.
Last Week
The Patriots routed their division rival Buffalo Bills on the road 56-10 to improve to 10-0. The Eagles defeated the Dolphins 17-7 at the Linc to up their record to 5-5 on the year.
History
This is the first visit by the Philadelphia Eagles to Foxboro for a regular season game since 1987.
The teams last met in Super Bowl XXXIX, which the Patriots won, 24-21.
The Patriots also won the last regular season meeting when they beat the Eagles 31-10 at Lincoln Financial Field on September 14, 2003.
This is the tenth time the teams have met in the regular season in their history. The Eagles lead the series 6-3.
Connections
- Eagles chairman and CEO Jeffrey Lurie was born in Boston, MA.
- Patriots wide receiver Jabar Gaffney and his cousin, Eagles cornerback Lito Sheppard, were teammates at Florida. The two also attended the same high school.
- Patriots wide receiver Donte’ Stallworth was traded to Philadelphia from New Orleans in August 2006. He signed with the Patriots as an unrestricted free agent on March 13, 2007.
- Patriots guard Stephen Neal spend three months of the 2001 season on the Eagles’ practice squad before being signed to the Patriots’ active roster in December, 2001. He was originally drafted by New England and was waived following 2001 training camp.
- Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson and Eagles wide receiver Reggie Brown and guard Max Jean-Gilles were teammates at Georgia.
- Patriots running back Laurence Maroney and Eagles fullback Thomas Tapeh were on the same offense at the University of Minnesota.
- Patriots tight end Kyle Brady is originally from Camp Hill, PA. and attended Penn State.
- Patriots fullback Kyle Eckel is native of Haverford, PA.
- Patriots center Dan Koppen is from Whitehall, PA.
Other News
This is the link to head coach Bill Belichick’s Wednesday press conference on the Eagles. You can also see what Philadelphia head coach Andy Reid had to say about the game in a conference call with the New England media.
This is Tom Brady’s 104th consecutive start. It is the third longest streak among NFL quarterbacks behind only Peyton Manning and Brett Favre.
Here is the injury list for the game.
With a win the Patriots will clinch their fifth consecutive AFC East title. If the Patriots clinch the division they will tie for the earliest a team a clinched the title since the 16-game schedule came about in 1978.
The Patriots are 10-0 for the first time in franchise history. They have won 13 consecutive regular season games dating back to last season.
The 13-game regular season win streak is second only to the NFL record streak of 18 consecutive games the club set in 2003 and 2004. That was part of an overall 21 game win streak that set an all-time pro football record.
Since 2001, New England is 25-4 vs. the NFC and has won the last nine games.
The Patriots are only 12-22 all-time vs. NFC East teams.
Running backs Laurence Maroney and Kevin Faulk were available for the media portion of practice on Wednesday. This generally signifies that they will play on Sunday night.
There have been grumblings in the media that Maroney is a little soft and injury prone and hasn’t been the player the team hoped it was getting. Well someone in the locker room decided to put several diapers in his locker. With the other practical jokes that have gone on in the locker room this is believed to be a prank amongst the players and not a message from the staff.
Brady is 22-2 when the temperature is 40 degrees or less.
NFL Pro Bowl balloting runs through Dec. 11. Fans may vote online at nfl.com/probowl or by sending the text message “PRO” to 7777 from a phone with Sprint wireless service. The AFC and NFC All-Star squads are determined by the consensus votes of fans, players and coaches. Each group’s vote counts one-third towards determining each conference’s 43-man roster.
Tom Brady now has 38 TD passes just 11 from Peyton Manning’s record of 49.
Randy Moss has 16 TD catches just 6 short of Jerry Rice’s single-season mark of 22 and was named NFL Offensive Player of the week.
The Patriots have only allowed 10 sacks this season.
New England is +13 in turnovers after 10 games.
The Patriots signed TE Jason Rader to the practice squad and released QB David Greene from the practice squad.
Most Patriots fans realize the team has the 49ers first round draft pick in the 2008 draft. What many fans don’t realize is that if the season were to end today the Patriots would be drafting second overall.
News from this weeks opponent:
Donovan McNabb is 0-2 vs New England. McNabb did not practice this week (Monday through Thursday) as he tries to recover from thumb and ankle injuries he suffered on Sunday during the game against Miami.
“Right now the ankle is a little more swollen than the thumb,” said head coach Andy Reid. “We’ll take it day by day, we’ll see how he does.”
Back up quarterback A.J. Feeley took the snaps with the first team offense. Feeley has some experience playing against the Patriots from when he was in Miami.
McNabb’s latest injuries come nearly a full year after his 2006 season ended with a torn knee ligament in Indianapolis. McNabb certainly has a chance to play this weekend, but he knows he must be smart with both injuries.
Reid says it’s uncertain when McNabb will return to the practice field but he isn’t ruling him out from playing with out the benefit of practicing.
Eagles safety Quintin Mickell may not play because of a MCL sprain. If he can not go J.R. Reed will start in his place.
The Eagles have the 14th ranked pass defense in the league and they will be playing against the top rated pass offense.
And I leave you with these comments from Philadelphia running back Reno Mahe, who ever he is, who just felt a need to check in with comments on the camera incident earlier this season.
“I think they should forfeit, man,” Mahe said earlier this year. “We won the Super Bowl. I think we should get it. I’m going to go trade my NFC championship ring for a Super Bowl ring.”
You stupid, stupid boy. When will these guys ever learn.
Next Week
The Patriots visit the Baltimore Ravens on Monday night at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore. Kickoff is at 8:30 p.m. and the game will be seen nationally on ESPN. You can also follow all the action on the Patriots Rock Radio Network.
Want to find cheap hotel rates near the football game? Whether you are looking for spa resorts or something with great room service find the Philadelphia hotel that’s right for you. Don’t get stuck in a dirty hotel or paying too much for a room!
