Friday December 31, 2010

The Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH — The New England Patriots are determined to bounce back from their big loss.

No, not that one.

While Sunday night’s 35-34 shocker against the Indianapolis Colts held the spotlight for days because of coach Bill Belichick’s ill-fated fourth-down decision, the Patriots want to even the score with another major rival, the New York Jets, on Sunday.

In the second game of the season, New York ended New England’s streak of 36 games with at least one offensive touchdown and forced Tom Brady into his worst game of the season.

“We can’t play much worse than we played,” Brady said.

A lot has changed since that 16-9 loss at the Meadowlands in a division game that left the Jets at 2-0 and the Patriots facing questions whether Brady was back to his old self after his season-ending knee injury in last year’s opener.

Jets coach Rex Ryan has gone from talking boldly to shedding tears — “I’m an emotional guy,” he said after crying in front of his players Monday. Nose tackle Kris Jenkins and running back-kick returner Leon Washington are sidelined for the season, quarterback Mark Sanchez has struggled, and New York (4-5) has lost five of its last six games.

The perception of Patriots coach Bill Belichick as a mastermind who makes the right calls has been blurred after he went for it on fourth-and-2 at his 28-yard line with a six-point lead and

just over two minutes left.

But Brady has thrown for more than 300 yards in his last four games; Randy Moss has more than 100 yards receiving in four of the seven games since being shut down by the Jets; Wes Welker is back after missing the first meeting with a knee injury; and the AFC East-leading Patriots (6-3) have won five of their last seven.

“We’re definitely better than we were in Week 2, but so is everybody else,” Belichick said. “It’s not about improvement, it’s about the rate of improvement.”

For the Jets, that rate may not be as low as their record indicates. They lost last Sunday to the Jacksonville Jaguars 24-22 on a field goal on the final play, their fourth loss by five points or fewer. A loss to New England would be their fourth in the division, a huge blow to their chances of winning the AFC East.

“We’ve found [different] ways to lose,” Ryan said. “We’ve basically been beat on the last play of the game in four games. So, if people think we’re going to be pushovers, they have another think coming.”

The Jets blitzed the Patriots often on Sept. 20 and allowed just 83 yards rushing with Jenkins clogging the middle. His absence should open up things, but the Jets still have cornerback Darrelle Revis, the main reason Moss had only four catches for 24 yards in that game.

Moss attributed that to double coverage, a notion Revis disputed.

“I was in man-to-man coverage,” he said. “One thing I know is I’m giving him respect. He’s one of their best and it’s great competition between me and him. I love it, and I’m sure he loves it, too.”

Patriots tight end Chris Baker, who played for the Jets the past seven years, called Revis “the best corner in the league.” Ryan called Moss “the best vertical receiver in football.”

Now the Jets also must contend with Welker. Despite missing two games, he’s second in the NFL with 64 receptions. Rookie Julian Edelman, similar in size to Welker, made eight catches in the first meeting.

“Whenever he’s not playing, you have to make up for it in other ways,” said Brady, who completed a season-low 48.9 percent of his passes in that game, “but there’s only one Wes Welker.”

Having Welker didn’t help last Sunday night when Belichick went for the first down instead of punting. Brady threw to Kevin Faulk, who bobbled the ball before catching it and missing the first down.

Tedy Bruschi, an ESPN analyst after spending the last 14 seasons as a Patriots linebacker, said Belichick’s decision “would be enough to make my blood boil for weeks” and showed a lack of confidence in the defense.

“I have the ultimate respect for Tedy,” Patriots inside linebacker Jerod Mayo said, “but he’s not in this locker room at this point in time so he doesn’t know the feeling that’s in this defense or that this team has. We still have our confidence. We still have our swagger.”

The Jets also have their critics,

“There are not a lot (of people) that believe in us outside of this locker room, but that really doesn’t matter,” said wide receiver Braylon Edwards, who was with the Cleveland Browns when the Jets and Patriots first met. “As long as we continue to believe in ourselves I think we can put something together and come out of it this week.”

Maybe then Ryan will be smiling instead of crying.

“We had the better team in Week 2,” he said. “Obviously, over the last month and a half, they’ve played much better than we have. But we’re going to find out who has the better team on Sunday.”

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – The New England Patriots have succeeded this season by following the “Patriots Way.”

That’s what coach Bill Belichick preaches. It involves focusing on team over individual success, preparing thoroughly, shutting out distractions, building team depth and looking no further than the next game.

Former Patriots safety Rodney Harrison says Belichick’s motto is that he’ll do everything he can to make the team better, so any decision he makes isn’t about the individual player but about the team as a whole.

That’s worked very well. The Patriots are 13-2 going into the regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday and have clinched homefield advantage for as long as they’re in the AFC playoffs.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — New England Patriots linebacker Jerod Mayo said Friday that he has been fined $10,000 for a second-quarter hit in Sunday’s game against the Buffalo Bills.

Mayo was not told which second-quarter hit drew the fine. It could have been his fourth-and-12 hit on Bills receiver Steve Johnson, which broke up a would-be first down, or possibly a second-and-8 hit on Bills receiver David Nelson, in which Nelson remained down after the hit.

Mayo was credited with five tackles and two passes defended in the Patriots’ 34-3 rout.

Mike Reiss covers the Patriots for ESPNBoston.com.

BOSTON — Tom Brady’s hair kept growing and so did the New England Patriots prospects for another Super Bowl championship.

Last season, that quest ended early when they suffered a stunning 33-14 first-round playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens on Jan. 10. But the Patriots ended 2010 as the NFL’s hottest team.

The other major pro teams in Massachusetts had similar experiences this past year.

The Red Sox were hit hard by injuries and missed the playoffs then loosened the purse strings to sign Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford.

The Celtics lost the NBA finals when they blew a 13-point second half deficit to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7, then added Shaquille O’Neal in the offseason and won 14 straight games in the new season.

The Bruins collapsed in the NHL playoffs, blowing a 3-0 lead in games and a 3-0 lead in Game 7 in the second round against the Philadelphia Flyers. They later drafted junior hockey star Tyler Seguin and climbed to the top of their division.

So 2011 will start with a great deal of hope with three teams that could be considered top contenders for championships and the Bruins still with a solid opportunity to reach the playoffs.

Three days before the season opener, Brady was unhurt in a two-car accident. He practiced the same day and the Patriots went on to beat the Cincinnati Bengals. And for the first half of their 2010 season, Brady was repeatedly asked about his shaggy mane. Then his play overshadowed all that.

He played the last 10 games of 2010 without an interception, threw at least one touchdown pass in all 15 games before Sunday’s regular-season finale against the Miami Dolphins and led the Patriots to a 13-2 record and home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs.

The Patriots won their eighth division title in 10 years.

“It never gets old,” Brady said. “We never get tired of winning. That’s what we have been preparing for all offseason and training camp.”

New England ends the year with the NFL’s best record despite a reliance on rookies and the departures of wide receiver Randy Moss and running back Laurence Maroney, the underachieving first-round draft pick in 2006. A trade that brought Deion Branch back to the Patriots improved the passing game and the emergence of undrafted BenJarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead fueled the running attack.

Now the Patriots must wait to see who their opponent will be after a first-round playoff bye.

The Red Sox know who their next opponent will be in a meaningful game — the AL champion Rangers at Texas on April 1. After its offseason moves — and the New York Yankees’ lack of them — Boston looms as a favorite to take that title in 2011.

The addition of three-time all-star Gonzalez and speedster Crawford adds plenty of pop to a lineup that already features Kevin Youkilis, Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz. The weak bullpen added former Chicago White Sox closer Bobby Jenks plus Dan Wheeler and Matt Albers.

“It’s a pretty rare opportunity,” general manager Theo Epstein said, “for an organization to add two of the best players in the game, in my opinion, under 30 to a core that I feel is already young and in its prime.”

The Celtics went in the other direction — adding two old veterans to a team led by three of the NBA’s most senior players. O’Neal, in his 18th season, and Jermaine O’Neal (14th) joined with Kevin Garnett (15th), Ray Allen (14th) and Paul Pierce (12th) on the team that ends the year with the best record in the Eastern Conference.

It had won 14 consecutive games before losing to the Magic in Orlando on Dec. 25.

“The winning track is always a good track to be on,” Pierce said. “You don’t want to be on that train when you’re losing and you’re going downhill fast. I don’t think we’ve been playing great. We can play a lot better.”

So can the Bruins.

Despite their place in the standings, there have been stretches of lack of effort and scoring. There’s even been speculation that coach Claude Julien’s job might be in jeopardy.

But after a 3-0 loss to Anaheim on Dec. 20, the Bruins won their next three games, the last two at the beginning of a five-game road trip.

“We want this road trip to be a stepping stone for our season,” forward Mark Recchi said.

Boston College also finished its year on a roll.

The football team won its last five games to finish at 7-5 and earn a spot in the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl against Nevada on Jan. 9 in San Francisco. Coach Frank Spaziani also got a two-year contract extension through the 2015 season. The basketball team, under first-year coach Steve Donahue, was 10-3 and beat Atlantic Coast Conference opponent Maryland on the road.

The Eagles also won the NCAA hockey title for the second time in three years, beating Wisconsin 5-0 in the championship game behind goalie John Muse.

In Major League Soccer, the New England Revolution missed the playoffs, and forward Taylor Twellman, the sixth highest goal scorer in league history with 101, retired because of the effects of a concussion.

The Boston Marathon got a new record holder when Robert Kiprono Cheruiyot finished in 2 hours, 5 minutes, 52 seconds — the fastest marathon ever run without a pacesetter. He broke the course record held by the unrelated Robert Kipkoech Cheruiyot. But hundreds of runners, including a contender, didn’t run because ash from a volcano in Iceland canceled thousands of flights across Europe.

The Red Sox didn’t limit their impact on 2010 to baseball.

On the very first day of the year, they lent their home to the NHL for its annual Winter Classic. The Bruins beat the Flyers 2-1 on Marco Sturm’s overtime goal on a rink set up at Fenway Park.

In October, New England Sports Ventures, led by Red Sox owners John Henry and Tom Werner, bought Liverpool, one of England’s most famous soccer teams. It hasn’t won a league title since 1990.

“We are committed first and foremost to winning,” Henry said then. “We have a history of winning.”

That history could become richer for all Massachusetts sports teams in 2011.

By The Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A game that means nothing in the standings means plenty to the teams playing in it.

The New England Patriots want to keep their winning momentum going after having clinched homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Miami Dolphins want to finish with a .500 record and their coach wants to keep his job.

Meaningless?

“It means something to us,” Patriots left guard Logan Mankins said. “Every Sunday that you go out there, you’re playing for your pride and your teammates. You don’t want to let the guys down beside you, so you’re still going to play hard. You don’t want to lose a game ever.”

The Patriots haven’t done that in seven weeks. Their 13-2 record is the best in the NFL. So is their quarterback, the league leader in passer rating, touchdown passes and fewest interceptions.

Tom Brady wants to play Sunday even though his team has locked up its eighth AFC East title in 10 years. That would give him a chance to add to his NFL records of 27 consecutive home wins in the regular season and 319 straight passes without an interception.

“I would expect to see a great deal of him,” Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. “I’m sure the Patriots … want to win their 14th football game so I would expect that they’re going to go out there and do everything in their power to be able to do that. Most teams going into the playoffs the way they’re going into the playoffs want to be as hot as they can be.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave few clues about how much his regulars would play, saying, as usual, that he’ll do what’s best for the team.

The Dolphins (7-8) are playing for a rather dubious achievement. A win would give them a 7-1 record on the road. Pretty impressive, until you realize that would be the best road record in NFL history by a team that didn’t make the playoffs.

“We play well on the road because we bond together,” quarterback Chad Henne said. “We just feel that we’re the only team out there and it’s kind of a backs against the wall mentality and we just love that environment and we just respond well to that.” Continued…

Like his coach, Henne’s future is uncertain.

He’s been erratic with 15 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions. He had two passes picked off last Sunday at home in a 34-27 loss to the Detroit Lions, the last-place team in the NFC North. And the Dolphins could finish last in scoring in the AFC for the first time in their 45-year history.

In the fourth week of the season, the Patriots scored on a blocked field goal, kickoff return and interception return to win 41-14 in Miami. Henne had his highest completion percentage of the season, 74.3, in that game but threw three interceptions.

A strong showing Sunday would add some highlights to his resume. But is he Miami’s quarterback of the future?

“Right now, I don’t know where that is,” Henne said, “but I’ve just got to worry about this game and how I play in this game.”

If he is the starter next season, will Sparano be coaching him?

“That’s a question for somebody else, not for me right now,” said Sparano, who has one year left on his contract. “I know I’m coaching the Dolphins this week against the New England Patriots and I’m excited about it. That’s the thing that I can control.”

Given Belichick’s past practice after his teams have locked up playoff spots, he’s likely to give many of his regulars considerable playing time. They say they’re ready for it.

Yes, even Wes Welker.

The star wide receiver suffered a serious knee injury on the first possession of last year’s final regular-season game at Houston. The Patriots already had clinched a playoff berth, but the injury kept Welker out of the 33-14 first-round playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Continued…

“I’m here to play football,” he said Thursday. “I love playing. So, no matter what’s at stake or no matter what the deal is, I want to play. I know people probably think differently about that, but I don’t worry about other stuff, and whatever coach Belichick decides for me, that’s what I’m going to do, but I’m always ready to play.”

Welker made a speedy recovery and leads the Patriots with 86 receptions.

His teammates also have something to play for.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who started the season deep down the depth chart, needs 72 yards for his first 1,000-yard rushing season. Rookie Devin McCourty is tied for the AFC lead with six interceptions. And the Patriots can end the season with eight straight games without committing a turnover.

More importantly, they want to keep improving going into the playoffs.

“The more you play during the season, the more in sync you will be,” nose tackle Vince Wilfork said.

The Dolphins, who were 7-9 last year, have more modest goals.

“We want to go on with an eight-win season and try to get out of the losing record column and improve from last year,” Henne said. “We’re going to play our hearts out for this game.”

By The Associated Press

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — A game that means nothing in the standings means plenty to the teams playing in it.

The New England Patriots want to keep their winning momentum going after having clinched homefield advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Miami Dolphins want to finish with a .500 record and their coach wants to keep his job.

Meaningless?

“It means something to us,” Patriots left guard Logan Mankins said. “Every Sunday that you go out there, you’re playing for your pride and your teammates. You don’t want to let the guys down beside you, so you’re still going to play hard. You don’t want to lose a game ever.”

The Patriots haven’t done that in seven weeks. Their 13-2 record is the best in the NFL. So is their quarterback, the league leader in passer rating, touchdown passes and fewest interceptions.

Tom Brady wants to play Sunday even though his team has locked up its eighth AFC East title in 10 years. That would give him a chance to add to his NFL records of 27 consecutive home wins in the regular season and 319 straight passes without an interception.

“I would expect to see a great deal of him,” Dolphins coach Tony Sparano said. “I’m sure the Patriots … want to win their 14th football game so I would expect that they’re going to go out there and do everything in their power to be able to do that. Most teams going into the playoffs the way they’re going into the playoffs want to be as hot as they can be.”

Patriots coach Bill Belichick gave few clues about how much his regulars would play, saying, as usual, that he’ll do what’s best for the team.

The Dolphins (7-8) are playing for a rather dubious achievement. A win would give them a 7-1 record on the road. Pretty impressive, until you realize that would be the best road record in NFL history by a team that didn’t make the playoffs.

“We play well on the road because we bond together,” quarterback Chad Henne said. “We just feel that we’re the only team out there and it’s kind of a backs against the wall mentality and we just love that environment and we just respond well to that.”

Like his coach, Henne’s future is uncertain.

He’s been erratic with 15 touchdown passes and 18 interceptions. He had two passes picked off last Sunday at home in a 34-27 loss to the Detroit Lions, the last-place team in the NFC North. And the Dolphins could finish last in scoring in the AFC for the first time in their 45-year history.

In the fourth week of the season, the Patriots scored on a blocked field goal, kickoff return and interception return to win 41-14 in Miami. Henne had his highest completion percentage of the season, 74.3, in that game but threw three interceptions.

A strong showing Sunday would add some highlights to his resume. But is he Miami’s quarterback of the future?

“Right now, I don’t know where that is,” Henne said, “but I’ve just got to worry about this game and how I play in this game.”

If he is the starter next season, will Sparano be coaching him?

“That’s a question for somebody else, not for me right now,” said Sparano, who has one year left on his contract. “I know I’m coaching the Dolphins this week against the New England Patriots and I’m excited about it. That’s the thing that I can control.”

Given Belichick’s past practice after his teams have locked up playoff spots, he’s likely to give many of his regulars considerable playing time. They say they’re ready for it.

Yes, even Wes Welker.

The star wide receiver suffered a serious knee injury on the first possession of last year’s final regular-season game at Houston. The Patriots already had clinched a playoff berth, but the injury kept Welker out of the 33-14 first-round playoff loss to the Baltimore Ravens.

“I’m here to play football,” he said Thursday. “I love playing. So, no matter what’s at stake or no matter what the deal is, I want to play. I know people probably think differently about that, but I don’t worry about other stuff, and whatever coach Belichick decides for me, that’s what I’m going to do, but I’m always ready to play.”

Welker made a speedy recovery and leads the Patriots with 86 receptions.

His teammates also have something to play for.

BenJarvus Green-Ellis, who started the season deep down the depth chart, needs 72 yards for his first 1,000-yard rushing season. Rookie Devin McCourty is tied for the AFC lead with six interceptions. And the Patriots can end the season with eight straight games without committing a turnover.

More importantly, they want to keep improving going into the playoffs.

“The more you play during the season, the more in sync you will be,” nose tackle Vince Wilfork said.

The Dolphins, who were 7-9 last year, have more modest goals.

“We want to go on with an eight-win season and try to get out of the losing record column and improve from last year,” Henne said. “We’re going to play our hearts out for this game.”