Monday Morning Left Tackle

The last weekend of the regular season...yeesh.

Three exciting things happened:
1. Patriots - Giants and the numerous storylines from both sides
2. The Devin Hester show.
3. The Redskins got in and won every game since Sean Taylor's funeral (is there a morbid Patrick Ewing theory correlation in here at all Sportsguy?)

That's it. The rest of the weekend was terrible.

Some thoughts on the end of the regular season

• Stupid Flanders didn't even try to get the ball back in the final minute of the Colts-Titans game yesterday where they would have had a very small chance at kicking a field goal or heaving a hail mary to win the game. Why? Stupid Flanders and his lack of killer instinct. The Anti-Christ would have done it and won and evil disrespectful Tom Brady would have laughed all the way off the field.
• Since this is the Evil Patriots Blog, I must say how sad I am at the lack of vitriol directed at the Patriots over classless moves that have gone under the radar at the end of the season. We all know that Vince Wilfork was not trying to poke the guy's eye out, but I certainly thought I'd read about it in the New York Post, LA Times, or some other rag with an axe to grind.
• "That defense is suspect and could be the downfall in the playoffs" is the angle du jour for how the Patriots are (for the 6th consecutive week) very beatable. Not just beatable...very beatable. Why? The defense gave up 28 points (7 came off the kick off return). That is the most points they've given up this year and it was to a QB who played out of his head a la Jay Feeley. The Patriots have the #4 overall defense in the NFL this season. The Colts are the only comparable team because both their offense and defense rank in the top 5. Let's face it, the Patriots have been on cruise control for the last quarter of the season. Like all three superbowl teams, they did enough to win. They keep talking about Bruschi and Seau being old, but Bruschi is only playing half of the defensive snaps with Seau playing a little more. They are rested and will get more rested during the bye week. The defense is what it always has been: bend don't break. They'll give you the yards and let you try a field goal or get a turnover.
  
• Tangent Alert: How about those Celtics? Last night's Celtics-Lakers game was one of the most enjoyable games I've seen in 15 years. So nice to see the Celtics playing at a higher level than the Lakers. Don't know that I needed another interview with Donnie Wahlberg though.
  
• I'm going to miss the Jets. It was fun watching them implode week after week this season. Only 7 months to go before the start of training camp.
• I like how the Anti-Christ went out of his way to quote Parcells during his post-game press conference. It kind of sets the tone for how their relationship will be with him back in the division.
• I feel bad for the Browns fans today. They did blow it by losing to the Bengals last week, but it was a great ride for those fans who's coach was firmly on the hot seat to start the season and no one had ever given a second thought to Derek Anderson.

Should be a good wild card weekend. For Patriots fans here are a couple of things to keep in mind if you're feeling only cautiously optimistic:

1. Belichick has game film on every possible team that they can play in two weeks. He'll have a game plan in place the minute their opponent is decided and they'll be well ahead of whoever they play.
2. The offensive and defensive play-calling for the Patriots has been very vanilla for the last several weeks. I think that's on purpose and I think you're going to see something different and deadly effective right out of the gate in their first game.
3. Rest. They all need it, they'll get it, and they'll still be the most focused team on the field. Seymour needs the rest, Moss needs the rest, Bruschi needs the rest, Watson needs the rest, and Maroney needs the rest. And hopefully Kyle Brady, Nick Kaczur, and Stephen Neal will be active and rested.

Happy New Year!