The Patriots went into the game 18-0, paced largely by the NFL’s highest-scoring offense ever.

After Sunday night, they are merely the second team to fail to win the Super Bowl after breaking the league’s scoring record (Minnesota in 1998). It was caused quite simply by the fact the New York Giants’ defense suffocated the Patriots, put multi-colors on QB Tom Brady’s jersey and out-muscled the previously honored league’s greatest team. The Giants made huge plays when they had to, and the Patriots failed to do so. Most notably, the Giants had five sacks - a season-high for the Patriots - and every member of New England’s offensive line was suspect.

It was the greatest NFL upset since Broadway Joe and the Jets brought the NFL to the limelight by beating the heavily favored Baltimore Colts.

Patriots over the Rams in 2002? Not a chance the Rams offense was better than the Patriots of 2007. Sunday was also the date of arguably the best Super Bowl game in the 42 years of the event.

While New York celebrates and Boston remembers again how all but one other team finishes their season, it’s worthy to point out that while every possible superlative has been already used to describe the Patriots greatness, the highest of all tribute adjectives goes to, and only to, the New York Giants:

“Champions.”

Sports Cartel blogger Ryan is reporting Giants reserve DE Adrian Awasom was arrested early Friday morning on suspicion of DUI.

Awasom has been on injured-reserve since Week 2 this season with a neck injury. It is always fun to bring up memories of NFL Man of the Year Eugene Robinson getting arrested for soliciting a prostitute the night before the Super Bowl in 1999.

Meanwhile, Ryan on Giants Bits is just getting started in slamming former Giants RB Tiki Barber, and how the Giants are better without him.

Clearly. Judging by the final four teams in the NFL playoffs this year, it makes one wonder the true value of a running back, let alone one who decided to announce his retirement in the middle of the season.

Chargers RB LaDainian Tomlinson, no doubt, is a fantastic player. But the Chargers were competitive against the Patriots in the AFC Championship game without him. Brandon Jacobs wasn’t exactly gunning for the rushing title this season, and Ahmad Bradshaw probably makes people think of either a quarterback, a broadcaster or a wrestler.

The Patriots got a late first-round running back in Laurence Maroney. The Packers traded with the Giants for Ryan Grant. Both are fine examples of good backs who are able to gain a lot of yards by playing in pass-oriented offense with Hall of Fame quarterbacks. And considering both teams picked them up roughly on the cheap, and neither were nearly as valuable to their teams as several other players were, it doesn’t really seem a great running back is all that useful. Nice to have, no doubt, but when was the last time the league’s rushing champ won a Super Bowl?

Terrell Davis with the Broncos in 1998.

I’ll end this rant with a very simple proclaimation: Whether Tiki Barber was great or if he was just an above-average athlete for his profession who had some success, the Giants are in the Super Bowl without him. Is that because he isn’t there? We’ll never truly know, but one thing is true: No team in the history of the NFL ever won a Super Bowl with Tiki Barber on its roster.

With one half of the Sports Cartel Patriots blogging duo out traveling, Amy is stuck with single parent duties this week.

She will remember that on Father’s Day, Chris. Super Bowl week. You think you’re getting in a leisurely 18 down at the local course that morning?

(I won’t even get into the capital I’m gaining in having to go to a wedding this afternoon, and I’m not even a Patriots or a Giants fan)

Amy did have a dream the other night, though. It may or may not have been caused by spicy food at bedtime, but she envisioned a 38-0 halftime lead for New England, and Hiliary Clinton winning the Democratic nomination.

Not even sure how to respond, because this very well could be Amy proving her psychic ability. hmmm…

Anyway, she also gets into the Most Popular Politician in Boston…not Clinton, Sen. Arlen Spector (R) of Pennsylvania, who, you may have heard, has called the NFL onto the carpet to explain why video evidence behind Spygate was destroyed.

ESPN’s Len Pasquarelli agrees with Land of Patriots.  

Now…before we tar and feather him in written word, it needs to be pointed out that:

1. The NFL has a government-recognized anti-trust exemption, and that very much makes it Mr. Specter’s business (he’s the ranking member of the senate judiciary committee). So does professional baseball, by the way, and the government has a funny way of wanting to get involved in issues involving illegal drug sales and use and tax evasion.

2. Please spare us the “they have better things to do” argument. It’s not like your team got pulled over for speeding; Commissioner Goodell simply needs to explain why they had enough evidence on one tape to dock the Pats a draft pick and a total of $750,000, but the other five tapes were destroyed. I think the fans of the game (the people who shell out hundreds of dollars in merchandise and thousands of dollars in lost productivity at work) deserve at least a sworn statement as to why they chose to do that.

Taking out team bias from the equation, this is what you have: A multi-billion dollar U.S.-based industry in which is connected to basically every family in the country in some way has something of a controversial issue. After telling the followers of that company (the NFL) the guilty parties were fined quite extraordinarily, the leaders of that company sweep the matter under the rug, and we find out later there could have been far more evidence implicating more people, or further lessening the integrity of the company without providing a decent reason to do so.

It’s rarely about what you do when you get caught covering it up.

But is anyone going to be safe? The Matt Walsh story officially came into the press this week, after rumors floating around the media about his alleged “massive story” and how (I was told a while back, but asked not to print until it came out) “it could bring the league down to the depths of where baseball currently is.

Basically, my source said this has teeth.

From the same New York Times article as Specter’s declaration of war on Goodell:

“If someone wanted me to talk and tell them things, I would craft an agreement where they would agree from now until the end of my existence to pay for any legal fees that came up in regards to this, whether I’m sued by the Patriots, the N.F.L., anybody else,” he said. 

Two things, really. First, I’m not naive enough to think that every low-level employee of an NFL team doesn’t have dirt on the team employing him or her. I know people who work/have worked for the Minnesota Vikings who spill plenty of stories about certain players’ affinity for certain illegal substances (white, not green). And while I could very easily substantiate those stories with others willing to speak on the record, how would either my friends or myself gain anything from that?

This leads me to the second part: why would Walsh bother mentioning anything at all if he can’t profit from it financially somehow? Apparently, he signed a confidentiality agreement with the Patriots (that in and of itself is enough to turn heads. Outside The Lines, how ’bout a piece on how many teams make their employees sign one of those), so if he wrote a tell-all book, he’d have a tough time getting past the fact he’s obligated to not say a word about the things he saw or was asked to do.

Most media organizations hold to the standards of the Code of Ethics provided by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), and accepting idemnifcation agreements, like Walsh requested, is against that.

So now that Walsh let the cat take a peek at what’s outside the bag, he’s going to have a real tough time keeping it in there, and no rational thinking media organization is going to accept the legal windfall that will come with him airing the inside garbage he has.

He’s going to have a tough time keeping it quiet, and he’s going to have an even tougher time profitting on this in any way.

Burress stands on sideline, holding helmet, not pissing anyone off

Giants WR Plaxico Burress has pissed off most people outside of New York in preparation for Super Bowl XLII, if it wasn’t making predictions (23-17??). Now, along with the ankle injury he’s been nursing all season, he’s listed as questionable on the Giants injury report with a left knee injury.

Scoring 23 points is optimistic if Burress is not 100 percent. Amani Toomer and Steven Smith have had bricks for hands for much of the season, and giving Bill Belichick and the Patriots defense two weeks to prepare for a quarterback rarely results in a career passing day for him.

Burress is a gamer, and he’ll be out there, but without baring at least something of a deep threat, the Giants offense is going to struggle to get out of first gear. The last thing they want is to get Seau and Bruschi attacking the line of scrimmage; if New York can get both of them and Rodney Harrison dropping back into coverage, they may have a chance to do some damage. But if Manning is only able to consistently complete swing passes right at the Patriots’ athletic corners, Amy’s 38-0 haltime dream could become reality.

Key for Giants:  

The Giants won three post-season games this year without getting a sack from Pro Bowler Osi Umenyiora. They also were only able to manage one sack on Patriots QB Tom Brady in their Week 17 meeting.

Umenyiora’s end mate, Michael Strahan, is one of the best pass rushers in NFL history, and benefits greatly having someone as talented and athletic as Umenyiora on the other side of the line. Add in third DE Justin Tuck, the G-men have one of the more formidable pass rushes in the game. They’re going to need all three of them getting after Brady every time he drops back if the Giants want to hold the league’s most prolific offense at bay.

And even that might not be enough.

New York has an opportunistic secondary, which has played fantastic football this post-season. They have the ability as a unit to cover the field, and possibly buy that extra second-and-a-half needed to sack a passer as savvy as Brady is. But the primary weapon the Giants have on defense is knocking the quarterback down - sometimes he even has the ball.

Strahan, Umenyiora and Tuck are going to have to get after Brady, and give their secondary a chance to find a passing lane or two. Consistency in both of those phases of the game could lead to two things that don’t happen much: Sacking Brady, or being the recipient of a rare off-target Brady pass.

Key for Brady:  

As every team has seen this year, Brady is about as hard to sack as Sasquatch is to locate. WR Randy Moss will get massive accolades, but the simple fact is Brady is the NFL’s MVP because he is afforded six seconds to throw the ball, and his experience and intelligence can buy him an additional two seconds by sliding in the pocket.

As far as Moss goes, you can’t teach 6-foot-5. He’s going to get open against the two best coverage defensive backs in NFL history if he has seven seconds to run around the field. If Brady is able to break out a Barcalounger and pour himself a cup of coffee before he throws the ball (which Light and Kaczur have allowed him to do all season), the secondary is going to get burned.

Light is also going to the Pro Bowl, and not only has great strength, but he plays with tremendous balance. He’s the kind of tackle that doesn’t necessarily maul his assignment, but he executes at such a high level of efficiency, he’s never going to beat himself. As Umenyiora saw in Week 17, Light has an uncanny ability to use his opponent’s leverage against himself.  

Kaczur isn’t much different. A little smaller, and a little less dominant than Light, he still doesn’t allow much to get past him. Kaczur (and RG Stephen Neal) did not play in Week 17, and the Patriots still only allowed one sack to the NFL’s leading sack-producing defense. But giving a future Hall of Famer like Strahan two weeks to study doesn’t improve anyone’s chances.

Final word:

The Patriots’ offensive line has kept Brady’s jersey clean all season, and even while the Giants physically have a dominant pass rush, even the best the league has seen this year hasn’t been able to accomplish much. If New York is able to establish pressure on every Patriots passing down, they still will need to get four or five sacks, and probably two or three interceptions to keep the Pats off the scoreboard - or perhaps more importantly, keep the ball in their own possession.

Keeping Brady upright is pretty much all the Patriots need, and the offensive line has done that all season - including 60 minutes against the Giants with two of their five starters out. Look for much of the same Sunday, but if the Pats fall to 18-1, it will be because Brady wasn’t given the same protection he’s used to.

New York Post reporter Paul Schwartz all but begged Giants WR Plaxico Burress to make a prediction in the game.

Plex responded with “23-17.” Schwartz even notes that Burress didn’t declare a winning team, but wrote that “he didn’t have to” pick a team; he was predicting a Giants win.

I’m sure it will be pointed out by Patriots and national media alike, Burress used to be a Pittsburgh Steeler, home of the notorious Anthony Smith, who said he guaranteed a Steelers win over the Pats earlier this season, “if (the Steelers) defense plays the way it can.” It didn’t, and the Patriots won big.

Burress didn’t even add the disclaimer. Flat-out, a one touchdown win by the two touchdown dogs.

Gutsy. But hey, perhaps it puts some intrigue on the game. In Plex’s heart of hearts, he knows Bill Belichick with two weeks to prepare is a formidable opponent for Giants coach Tom Coughlin.

Namath wasn’t enough of a quarterback to beat Unitas, either.

After a week of reports saying Patriots QB Tom Brady’s ankle injury is a non-issue, it turns out that…his ankle injury is a non-issue.

Despite walking with a “slight limp,” Brady went through all drills Monday as the Patriots practiced for the first time in Arizona in preparation for Super Bowl XLII. Nothing from the practice session suggested the NFL’s MVP would not play Sunday.

“I am not concerned about how it is going to affect my playing, and I can’t run anyway, so it is not going to have much of an impact.”

Injury-free and witty, Giants, be warned: Brady is his old self.

Land of Patriots’ Amy delves into what could be a hot topic, as Super Bowl XLII is one week away.

It seems as if the Patriots are just going to sit NFL MVP Tom Brady, and, with the consult of University of Nebraska coach Tom Osbourne, slide Donte’ Stallworth under center, and start running the ol’ Option offense.

Amy quoted Stallworth:

“Well, Bill (Belichick) actually brought me in his office earlier (Saturday) morning and asked me if I wanted to move to quarterback, and we’re going to put in a whole new offense. He wants me to run the option.

A calculated move by the three-time Super Bowl champion coach. Belichick would tie Steelers coach Chuck Knoll for most Super Bowl wins with a victory Sunday.

He doesn’t seem to have any faith in his kicking game, either.

In Saturday’s walk-through, Pro Bowl LB Mike Vrabel was asked to give his leg another sort of workout. Vrabel, the team-first guy that he is, calmly strode up to the line, concentrated on the placement, drew back his leg, made contact with the ball, and…

…kicked the ball square into the snapper’s ass.

Vrabel drew a smile from Belichick, after taking a risk to break out his Belichick impersonation after the botched kick.

“I’ve been in football 35 years and I’ve never seen that!”

Also, in 35 years, Belichick has never seen a team sit at 18-0, looking for its fourth championship in seven years. Clearly, they are overwhelmed by the pressure of what faces them. (AHEM)

While Stallworth was clearly joking about taking over at QB, the Boston Herald did get a piece in today’s paper about Brady walking around with a noticeable limp. Sports Cartel still sticks with common thought, that while the injury, however severe, isn’t a good thing, per se, it won’t do much to affect a pocket passer.

He’ll have that thing wrapped up tighter than his spiral, and the Patriots are going to use Brady’s Probably-Status right arm 40 times in the game.

University of Minnesota product Laurence Maroney? Yeah, it’s been a nice run for you this post-season. Now it’s time to let the big dog eat.

But for Patriots fans, it’s good to know SeanMC has gotten to the bottom of Brady’s boot. It’s a simple endorsement tool. Genius marketing strategy, if you think about it. Peyton Manning has already sucked every last drop out of every potential advertising deal by glutting the market with hilariously fresh and original ads of any (every) product you can imagine. It left Tommy Terrific with a Stetson ad.

My grandpa recently tossed Stetson aside after 55 years of use.

But now, with the boot, Brady sets himself up for a lucrative deal with the goodly people at ActiveForever. Looking at the picture in the ad, I can’t help but just smell the Stetson cologne on whomever is wearing it.

(Why are we writing this? I dunno…think of it this way, the Sports Cartel staff isn’t being paid an industry-standard $49,000 a year to inform its readers that the Giants and Patriots led their conferences in sacks. At least ours is something you may not already know.)

Or…we could talk about how Giants WR Plaxico Burress thinks his fellow pass-catchers are better, top to bottom, than the Patriots.

Hmmm…

Now, to be totally objective and fair, it doesn’t seem to matter a good Gall Darn who has better receivers, because the only match-ups that matter in regards to that position is how they match up with the opposing secondary. That being said, Randy Moss broke the league’s touchdown receptions record (Rice set the record in 12 games), and Wes Welker led the NFL with 112 catches. Burress doesn’t sniff either one of them in terms of production.

Yet, we digress. The Patriots’ general reaction to all these “slaps in the face” is easily as boring and tiresome as the opposing claims themselves. The point is whether Burress actually does believe his team’s receiving corps is better than New England’s is irrelevent. The question is which team’s defensive backs will do a better job of not letting those receivers get open, which quarterback will be able to complete more passes to them, and whether the pass rush or protection will be stronger.

(This is possibly the most disgusting thing I’ve read…don’t open this link if you have a hangover.)

Either way, since NT Vince Wilfork is another $5,000 poorer, the obvious question now becomes, who’s a dirtier player, Wilfork or SS Rodney Harrison?

Certainly a better debate than who’s a better WR, Moss or Burress, but kind of annoying all the same. Looking at replays of the $12,500 cheap shot Wilfork took on Bills QB J.P. Losman, it really is difficult to take much of what Wilfork says seriously (or this moron who looked at the replay and thought it was unintentional). But, to an extend, he does make a good point:

“It’s bad because you go out there and you get a penalty and the first thing you say is, ‘Am I going to get fined?’ It’s ridiculous. Anything you do that’s a penalty, it’s a fine. I don’t think the game should be like that, but the NFL makes the rules and we have to abide by them. We have to do a better job of abiding by them.”

It’s just hard to hear that from the guy who’s been fined more than Mark Cuban this season. Kind of like Chargers LB Shawne Merriman calling DE Richard Seymour a dirty player. Nick Hardwick? Sure. He plays against him. But Merriman? The guy who tested positive? Hard to hear.

As far as Seymour goes…most will simply judge this clip for what it is. Did he or didn’t he? Just because it’s almost impossible for people to be objective about this, it usually ends up being horribly micro-analyzed. Being objective, it’s as clear as day, Seymour bumped his facemask off the Chargers coach’s face, and he clearly did it in a macho tough-guy way, trying to intimidate the man.

Is it all that big of a deal? Not really. But to suggest nothing happened is simple, blind Patriot-Homerism.

It’s probably the only time a fullback will get significant face time.

Giants FB Madison Hedgecock is taking full advantage.

Despite missing practice with illness (like three other Giants, Michael Johnson and Manny Wright), Hedgecock took the time to point out Rams coach Scott Linehan is a His Guy coach. Hedgecock claims that was the primary reason why the former Vikings (and Dolphins) and Louisville offensive coordinator went with H-back Richard Owens (“from….Louisville”) over Hedgecock - who was cut after Week 1 of the 2007 season. Owens played for Linehan at Louisville and in Minnesota. The Giants signed Hedgecock to a five-year contract during the 2007 season.

“They could have at least brought in somebody that was good to replace me,” Hedgecock said. “They brought in a guy that didn’t dress (for games). And he was the coach’s buddy. I don’t need that stuff. I don’t want to play for a buddy. I want to play for somebody that wants to win.”

Ouch!

It got better, though. Hedgecock continued to vent, laying into Linehan’s lack of ability to provide goose bumps in pre-game speeches.

“He’s pretty boring in my book,” Hedgecock said. “I think his players would fall asleep before a game. I can’t even be nice about it any more.”
 

Frankly, it was nice to see the Giants players going after someone other than the Patriots. Defense end Osi Umenyiora seems to be excited to face Patriots LT Matt Light again.

“It was a good matchup the last time. I mean, I think I got him a couple of times; he also got me a couple of times,” Umenyiora said. “It was a war out there, and to be honest with you, I’m not quite sure that he thought he was going to see me again because of some of the things he did and said during that game. But, you know, unfortunately he does have to see me again.”

We’re still not sure if he’s confusing Light with Eagles T Winston Justice, on whom Umenyiora hung six sacks earlier this season (and once in the parking lot), but just like most defensive ends this season, Umenyiora failed to register a sack against the Patriots in their Week 17 match-up.

BREAKING NEWS: Jeremy Shockey seen with a cast on his leg

In case anyone was wondering, yes, that was Giants TE Jeremy Shockey walking around in a cast and crutches. Unlike Patriots QB Tom Brady, Shockey missing practice isn’t the subject of doubt this week. He broke his leg earlier this season.

He does tell everyone, in a rather excellent interview with New York Post writer Steve Serby, not to be surprised if the Giants defeat the heavily favored Patriots in Super Bowl XLII. Shockey would know. He’s had a front-row seat in watching the Giants’ dramatic turnaround down the stretch of the regular season and in the playoffs.

Weis is newsworthy, somehow

Post writer Lenn Robbins talked to Notre Dame head coach Charlie Weis, a former offensive coordinator for the Patriots, and Giants assistant a long time ago, about his thoughts on the game.

The only interesting piece Robbins really came up with is his guess that Weis was the Patriots offensive coordinator when the Steelers beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL in Detroit.

Weis was the offensive coordinator for the Patriots, but New England’s bid for a threepeat came up short. So Weis was reduced to, as his mentor Bill Parcells would say, the status of just another guy.

He wasn’t. He left the Patriots for Notre Dame after the Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVIII (February of 2005). Super Bowl XL was Feb. 5, 2006.

Well, maybe this is interesting.

“As a coach, watching a football game [in person] is not a fun thing to do,” Weis told The Post. “I don’t think that I’ll ever go to a Super Bowl again.”

If Weis didn’t get fired after the Irish’s deplorable 2007 campaign, then yes, it doesn’t seem he’s going anywhere for a while.

Segue to Spagnuolo

It does provide a great segue to Ryan’s post on Giants Bits about the future of Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.

Weis said in his autobiography that he basically had the Bills vacant head coaching job offered to him after the 2003 season, but since the Patriots advanced to XXXVIII, Buffalo didn’t want to wait two more weeks to hire their head coach. Instead, they hired Steelers offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey. He quit after two seasons in Buffalo.

Incidentally, Mularkey was just hired as Mike Smith’s offensive coordinator in Atlanta. Not really sure why.

Anyway…Spagnuolo definitely would have drawn interest as a head coaching candidate - and still could be - but the fact the Giants don’t finish their season until Feb. 3, some teams are shy about waiting that long, just like the Bills did with Weis. By and large, the decision not to wait for Weis was Buffalo’s mistake, so it stands to reason a team would pay attention to that, and if they really want Spagnuolo, they would wait another eight days.

Reports now are saying Raiders owner Al Davis wants head coach Lane Kiffin to quit, and even went as far as to write the resignation letter for him. Seems a bit drastic. But then again, Davis is like 96 years old, maybe he doesn’t have much else to do.

The ESPN report says Davis is considering Denny Green to replace Kiffin, if/when he does quit/get the ax, but Spagnuolo would draw some interest, especially considering Al Davis seems to think Denny Green is their best option.

Former Giants TE Mark ‘Rambo’ Bavaro knows something about beating the heavy favorite in a Super Bowl.

So does Patriots coach Bill Belichick.

Bavaro and Belichick were on the Giants team that upset the Bills in Super Bowl XXV - a.k.a. The Wide Right Bowl (sorry, Bills fans). The media in New York dubbed it The Perfect Game, which is exactly what the Giants will have to play to defeat the undefeated Patriots.

“With Brandon Jacobs and (Ahmad) Bradshaw, that 1-2 punch is pretty formidable, and you combine that with Eli (Manning) all of a sudden looking better than his brother . . . he looks like a top-rated quarterback.”

Giants fans have to like Bavaro’s enthusiasm. However, Belichick was not only a part of the defense that slowed down the powerful Bills offense that year, he was the head coach behind the Patriots first Super Bowl championship, and slowed down one of the most powerful offenses in league history, St. Louis, in his third of five rings as a pro coach. If any coach knows what a team needs to do to stop a legendary offense, it’s Belichick.

This time, it’s his offense that the underdog needs to slow down. And no one has ever seen an offense like Belichick’s, in the Super Bowl or otherwise.

But now that Giants fans have to endure Eli Manning on the cover of Sports Illustrated, will the pluck that’s gotten them above where anyone figured they would be remain?

Last week’s cover man? Packers QB Brett Favre.

As Paul Schwartz of the New York Post mentions in his blog, Favre won four out of five games after being named the publication’s Sportsman of the Year on Dec. 10.

Brady’s injury a smoke-screen?

Ralph Vacchiano of the New York Post makes an interesting point in his blog The Blue Screen.

Could Brady’s injury be a fabrication, nothing more than Belichick’s desire to mess with the media, as he really seems to enjoy doing? In Hall of Fame linebacker Lawrence Taylor’s autobiography, LT writes about the days going into Super Bowl XXV, and how Belichick had instructed his players to pump gallons of sunshine up the posteriors of their opponents, filling them with obscene amounts of “Gee, they sure are a great team,” and “we’re going to have a helluva of a tough time out there.” Taylor, in his book, seemed convinced that was a big reason why they were able to score the upset.

Also, it’s no secret Belichick lists Brady on the injury report as “probable” with some sort of right shoulder ailment every week, and has been doing that for years.

But then again, it’s not like Brady is Randall Cunningham, the health of his ankle two weeks before his next game is ultimately irrelevent, especially for a bred pocket passer.

Dude, Tiki didn’t retire too early

 about former Giants RB Tiki Barber in his blog, The Blue Screen. Not surprising, Tiki wasn’t short on words:

“I’m not, dude. I really am not,” Tiki said. “It’s interesting. My wife asked me that exact question. Ginny asked, ‘So you have to feel, even just a little bit of remorse that you left early.’ I said ‘Honey, I’m trying to make myself think that and wish I was still there. But I’m not. I was done with football. In my heart I knew I didn’t want to do it anymore. My life, personally and professionally, has gone a different way. My passion is elsewhere.

“That being said, I’m ecstatic for those guys. My longtime teammates, like Michael Strahan, it’s awesome for him. Amani Toomer is the same way. He’s really one of the most underappreciated wide receivers in the history of the National Fotoball League. This is a chance for them, after 2000 when we lost that game, for them to finish or at least conclude their careers on a phenomenal note. I’m happy for them. I really am.”

When the subject of how Tiki threw the team under the bus earlier this season, calling out Giants coach Tom Coughlin for being out-coached at the end of the 2005 season, and Manning, for “not being a leader of men.”

Leave it up to Tiki to use terms usually reserved for Civil War generals. Can’t just say “he didn’t lead on the field,” or anything like that…

I’m just throwing this link out there because it’s hilarious, and this is really a great site.

It’s freezing in Green Bay, and all the heat of this weekend is focused on the undefeated Patriots and blazing-hot Chargers.

The latest on San Diego QB Phillip Rivers is that he is “optimistic” about his chances to play on Sunday. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday that he took about one-third of the snaps in practice on Friday, the first time he got on the field this week.

“The way I felt Monday morning, I didn’t think I’d feel as good as I do right now,” Rivers said. “Certainly, it can ease my mind a bit.”

NFL rules state listing a player as “doubtful,” which the Chargers did Friday afternoon, means he has a 25 percent chance of playing. Typically, a back-up QB will take less than one-third of the snaps if the starter of the game hadn’t been decided yet. For example, Matt Cassel, the quarterback who backs up New England’s Tom Brady, probably took 15 percent of the snaps in practice this week. Odds are pretty good that Brady will start Sunday. As for the rest of the team, they seem…completely healthy. Well, almost.

As Chris notes in Land of Patriots, New England LT Matt Light has the flu, and that could affect his conditioning by the fourth quarter. Not wishing harm on Brady, but it would take one Shawne Merriman bullrush for Brady to turn into Cassel. Hey, Rivers partially tore his ACL completing a screen pass. Things happen.

Is that honestly the best someone can come up with in regards to beating the Patriots? Possible injury? As Murtaugh tells Martin Riggs, “thin…real thin.”

We’ll turn it over to the Bolts expert. Jeff Williams of Chargers Coverage starts to go Bennett Brower on his readers in his game preview. (he knows the Patriots are “really good” and they are “undefeated” and they “beat the tar out of the Chargers earlier this season.”) Jeff also makes some pretty good points in laying out his reasoning behind why he is pretty much the only writer in the country picking the Bolts to score the upset:

In Week 2, the Patriots met the young talented team who had not pulled it together.  The process of adapting to a new coaching staff took some time, and the players had to look within themselves to realize their full potential.  The Chargers have yet to play their best game, but they are definitely peaking at a great time.  Can the Pat’s say that?  I expect the Bolts to play a fundamentally sound game, play HUGE on defense, and force the Pat’s into kicking some field goals that normally would have gone for TD’s.  That’s how you keep the game close.  And that’s how the Chargers will win the game. Chargers 31, Patriots 27.

Sports Cartel’s take? While running the risk of getting into yet another Manning vs. Brady argument (we’ll pass, no pun intended), this is the same Chargers defense that picked off Peyton Manning six times in a regular season game, and beat him with taxi squad guys playing the second half in the playoffs.

Chris goes over the last two times the Chargers and Patriots have met - both Patriots wins. While he admits San Diego defeating Indianapolis without LaDainian Tomlinson and Rivers, it’s difficult to discount what the Patriots were able to do against a good AFC South team in their own right.

As good as the Chargers looked last week, you would have a hard time finding fault with the Pats effort against a very tough Jaguars team. The Pats are showing a laser-like focus now that the goal is in sight. As much turnover as there was on the roster after last year, there are still plenty of guys that remember what it felt like to go home from Indianapolis. And I don’t think it sits well with them. And the new guys are all looking at a chance for the ultimate validation for coming to New England.

Gutsy. Very gusty. We’ll leave it at that.

Boston Herald reporter Karen Guregian earns her paycheck by breaking this story:

Brady is the best quarterback in the league.

And old media types wonder why blogs are so popular…Sports Cartel appreciates Queen Obvious’s cutting insight into the game. We aren’t sure what we would do without the Boston media’s insistence on making the Patriots some sort of underdog all the time, and their habit of using dramatic metaphors to explain how impressed they are with their teams. Apparently, Laurence Maroney is now “Mr. January,” which could possibly be the most ridiculously unmerited nickname ever.

The Herald focuses on the match-up between Chargers NT Jamal Williams and Patriots C Dan Koppen. After a slight snicker with the writer’s suggestion that Williams is cut from the same cloth as Pats NT Vince Wilfork (As if Wilfork has been doing it longer than Williams has…Williams has had far more success), he does admit Koppen ”will have his hands full.” For the pure football fans, that truly will be a fantastic battle, as the value of a center cannot be underestimated, and Williams is probably the best nose tackle in the game.

Either way, the Patriots seem to have every advantage on paper, and San Diego will have to do what no other team has done this year; play the Pats perfectly for 60 minutes. The only question in the NFL this season is very simple: Is playing perfectly for four quarters enough to beat the Patriots?

We can probably expect around 33 million people tuning in to find out the answer Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

Download podcast of Land of Patriots’ writer Amy on L.A. ESPN Radio

All three hours of a.m. 710 ESPN Radio host Steve Mason’s Friday show, including an interview with LofP’s Amy can be downloaded here. Give it a listen, feel free to leave a comment on this blog!