The Giants and the Chargers pulled off miracle wins.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!!!

as for blitzing, yes, it will slow down the patriots- but it’s very hard to get pressure on Brady without sending 5, the O-Line is pretty danged good and Brady can sidestep or step up in the pocket as well as any QB to buy time. Sending 5 is risky, too, because the pats run a 3 WR +1 TE as their base set, meaning you only have 6 DBs to cover 4-5 (depending on whether Faulk/Maroney stays in to block) receivers. that can lead to a big play even if you hurry Brady. e.g. the Giants game, where they have an excellent D-line and they blitzed fairly actively. they hit Brady a lot, but Brady still put up good numbers. so, it’s not a way to stop the pats, just to slow them down.

you’re completely right about Rosie Colvin- he was finally back to full speed after missing a full season when he first joined the pats, and losing him puts a lot of pressure on Bruschi and Seau, neither of who can cover much ground or react as quickly as a mike linebacker should. and getting Ugoh back will be key. i still think the Pats will win, but that’s my blind homerism (i thought the same thing last year and watched in dismay as we blew the AFC championship game, although i’m happy for Payton to get his ring because, lets face it, he’s the best QB of his generation and he doesn’t deserve to go through the “oh, he never won the big one!” crap).

continuing with my “naming obscure patriots to prove that i actually know the team and at the same time make the homophobes queasy” trend, it’s lunchtime here in the midwest, so i’m going to go grab appletinis at Cosmos with Bam Childress (practice squad guys have the day off, don’tcha know).