FOXBORO — 

It goes on every week with every team in the NFL. A player goes down and someone shouts, “Man up.”

Injuries are an unwelcome, but grudgingly accepted part of football and no organization is immune to their potentially crippling consequences. But how the talent drain due to sprains, tears, twists, breaks and head shots is dealt with plays a crucial role in determining whether a season will be a success or failure.

The Patriots are 13-2 in large part because Tom Brady, who’s on the verge of becoming the third player in league history to throw for 5,000 yards in a season, has mostly remained upright. That he’s been able to do so despite multiple injuries to his pocket protectors can be directly traced to the universally acknowledged Patriot Way.

“I think there are probably a lot of places that may or may not have handled what we’ve had to go through up front as well,” said Pro Bowl guard Brian Waters, a 12th-year veteran and first-time Patriot. “I think that has to do a lot with the environment here. I think that has a lot to do with the way the organization has been built.

“Over the years you’ve seen a lot of players you’ve never heard of all of a sudden show up and do well and I think it has a lot to do with the way the coaches coach and the way the players take preparation seriously.

“I can definitely say I’ve been around places and been on different teams where a lot of people would have been in frantic or panic situations if they had to deal with some of the things we’ve had to deal with this year.”

At the middle of the medical madness has been the center position, which has dealt with more shuffling than a poker table at Foxwoods. Waters, the only one of the Patriots’ five starting offensive linemen with a chance to play in all 16 games, has lined up next to four different players.

Dan Koppen, who had been snapping for Brady since 2003, suffered a season-ending injury in Week 1. Dan Connolly stepped in at center until he was injured and replaced by Ryan Wendell, who was in turn injured and replaced by Nick McDonald.

Three rather anonymous substitutes, all of whom were undrafted and former practice squad players — two of whom were previously cut by other teams — filled in and did what they were supposed to do with minimal disruption to one of the most complex and prolific offenses in the league.

The bar is set high in Foxboro, and it isn’t lowered for anyone.

“Nobody comes here with limited expectations of themselves because I don’t think that’s going to be allowed here,” Waters said before amending himself. “That’s definitely not allowed here.”

Right tackle Sebastian Vollmer has only been available for six games due to back and foot injuries. Left guard Logan Mankins, a four-time Pro Bowler, suffered a knee injury on Christmas Eve that is expected to sideline him until at least mid-January and left tackle Matt Light, a Pro Bowler last season, missed that game with an ankle injury.

The Patriots replaced that trio against the Dolphins with rookies Nate Solder and Marcus Cannon and journeyman Donald Thomas. And while things were a little rough for one half, the patchwork line ultimately solved its communication issues and allowed Brady to do his thing as the Patriots rallied for a 27-24 victory.

“Everyone knows going into a game that they have to be ready to play,” director of player personnel Nick Caserio said. “Whatever happens before the game, whether it’s a day before the game or the day of the game, there’s really not much you can do about it. We have a lot of confidence in the players that are active for the game, so the expectation is that they’re going to go out there and perform and do their jobs.”

Bill Belichick seconded the motion while pointing out if the coaches didn’t have confidence in the player, he wouldn’t be on the field. You might get called on to douse a fire around here, but you’ll never be thrown into one.

“If they’re out there, we have confidence in them,” Belichick said. “If they’re not out there, there’s either another player ahead of them or we’re not confident that they can go out there and do it. It’s as simple as that. We’re not going to put anybody out there on the field that we don’t have confidence in.”

That in-game trust is built in practice where the offensive line is overseen by one of the best positional coaches in the league.

The Foxboro Faithful are quick to question the credentials of offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien and wonder if Matt Patricia is fit to be defensive coordinator — de facto or otherwise. But when it comes to Dante Scarnecchia, there are no such concerns.

“He does a hell of a job,” O’Brien said of the 63-year-old, no-nonsense assistant who has worked in the NFL since 1982, all but two of the years with the Patriots.

“I can’t say enough about Dante,” Brady said last week during his weekly paid appearance on WEEI. “His leadership at that position. He really handles the offensive line and coaches those guys extremely hard and he expects nothing less than their best every single day in practice and obviously in the game. I think you really see that.”

It all seems so seamlessly simple, but it isn’t. Just ask the 2-13 Rams or 6-9 Bills, both of whom have missed three-fifths of their starting offensive line for much of a season in which they ended up floundering after no one answered the call to “Man up.”

(Reuters) – Green Bay Packers‘ Aaron Rodgers and New England Patriots‘ Tom Brady were named on Tuesday as the starting quarterbacks for the National Football League (NFL) Pro Bowl.

Rodgers and Brady will square off in Hawaii on January 29 in the NFL‘s All-Star showcase but only if they are not in Indianapolis the following weekend playing in the Super Bowl.

The NFC quarterbacking line-up includes three Super Bowl most valuable players, led by Rodgers, who has guided the reigning Super Bowl champions to a 14-1 record this season.

Rodgers will be backed up by Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints, who claimed the NFL’s single-season passing record on Monday and will be making his sixth All-Star appearance.

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning earns his second Pro Bowl selection to match father Archie but will have some work to do to match brother Peyton who has been named to 11 All-Star teams.

Brady will start for the AFC (American Football Conference) for the second consecutive season and will be backed up San Diego Chargers’ Philip Rivers and Pittsburgh Steelers’ Ben Roethlisberger.

The Patriots led the AFC with eight Pro Bowl selections while the San Francisco 49ers were tops in the NFC (National Football Conference), also with eight and one better than the Super Bowl champion Packers with seven.

FAVORITE TARGETS

Brady will be joined in Hawaii by two of his favorite targets, Wes Welker, who leads the league in receptions and yards, and Rob Gronkowski, who has already set an NFL record for most touchdowns in a season by a tight-end with 15.

The AFC roster has 13 first-time All-Stars, including Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver A.J. Green, who becomes the first rookie wide receiver to be selected to the Pro Bowl since Anquan Boldin in 2003.

The other starting receivers will be Pittsburgh’s Mike Wallace and Miami Dolphins’ Brandon Marshall.

The AFC backfield will feature first-time starter Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens, backed up by Arian Foster of the Houston Texans and Maurice Jones-Drew of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

LeSean McCoy, who leads the NFL with 20 touchdowns, will be the NFC’s starting running back and will be joined by San Francisco’s Frank Gore and the Chicago Bears’ injured Matt Forte.

Starting wide receivers will include Arizona Cardinals’ Larry Fitzgerald, Detroit Lions’ Calvin Johnson, Green Bay’s Greg Jennings and Carolina’s Steve Smith.

Saints’ Jimmy Graham, who leads NFL tight ends with 91 receptions, earned his first Pro Bowl appearance ahead of Atlanta Falcons’ Tony Gonzalez, who celebrates his 12th All-Star selection, the most all-time for a tight-end.

The NFL combines voting by fans, coaches and players to determine its All-Star selections with the consensus vote of each group counting one-third towards the total.

(Writing by Steve Keating in Toronto; Editing by Mark Lamport-Stokes)

BOSTON (CBS) – The New England Patriots organization is mourning the loss of Houston Antwine, a member of the team’s 50th Anniversary Team, who passed away Monday night.

Antwine, a six-time All Star in the American Football League, was 72.

Compounding the loss was the news that his wife, Evelyn, also passed away Tuesday morning.

“For those of us who grew up watching the Boston Patriots, this is a really sad day,” Patriots Chairman and CEO Robert Kraft said in a release. “In the 1960s, the defensive tackle tandem of ‘Twine’ and Jim Lee Hunt were as good as any in the league and helped propel the Patriots to the franchise’s first division championship in 1963. Myra and I had the good fortune of hosting Houston and his wife, Evelyn, at my home just two years ago when we honored the Patriots 50th Anniversary Team. I loved hearing Houston’s stories about those early days in Boston. It was such a thrill for me, personally, to spend time with the players from that era. I am saddened to learn of the deaths of both Houston and Evelyn and want to express my deepest sympathies to the Antwine’s daughter, Regina, and all who mourn her losses. Let us all cherish life and remind loved ones how we feel about them daily.”

Antwine was drafted by the Houston Oilers in the eighth round, 64^th overall, of the 1961 AFL Draft, but was then traded to the Boston Patriots before ever playing a game for the Oilers. Antwine became a defensive catalyst for the Boston Patriots in the newly formed AFL and was selected as an AFL All-Star for six consecutive seasons, spanning 1963-1968. His play earned him the highest accolade as he was elected to the Patriots 1960’s All-Decade team and was named to the All-Time All-AFL Team.

Antwine spent 11-of-his-12 professional seasons with the Patriots (1961-69- AFL Boston Patriots, 1970- NFL Boston Patriots, and 1971- NFL New England Patriots) before playing the 1972 season, his final, with the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL.

In 142 regular season games for the Patriots, he recorded 39 sacks and led the team in that respective category during the 1967, 1968, and 1969 seasons.

In 2009, the New England Patriots Hall of Fame nomination committee selected Antwine as one of three Patriots alumni most deserving for the team’s Hall of Fame induction.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. —
The Dolphins have pretty much mastered the art of the collapse against the Patriots, each meltdown more vexing than the last.

There was the gruesome special teams collapse on a Monday night last season. The unspeakably awful defensive collapse in the season opener this year.

And on Saturday, there was a total collapse on both sides of the ball after intermission, erasing a 17-point Dolphins lead and resulting in a 27-24 loss that ensured Miami of double-digit defeats for the first time since 2007.

“Frustrating, but this whole season is frustrating,” Brandon Marshall said. “Immaturity. Stupid mistakes. Lack of execution. You can’t do that against this Patriots team.”

The Dolphins’ stunning 17-0 halftime cushion proved flimsy and fleeting, with Tom Brady and the Patriots needing less than 13 third-quarter minutes to tie the score. They went ahead for good on Stephen Gostkowski’s 42-yard field goal with nine minutes left in the game, then used a clock-draining drive to push the margin to 10.

Matt Moore’s 15-yard touchdown pass to Davone Bess with 1:48 left trimmed the Patriots’ lead to 27-24.

With three timeouts left, the Dolphins opted to kick deep, because interim coach Todd Bowles said the Patriots would have been close to field goal range if they had recovered an onside kick. But on third and five, Wes Welker caught a game-clinching first down.

“They wanted it more in the second half than we did,” Bowles said. “We didn’t play smart.”

The Patriots, who didn’t score on any of their seven first-half possessions, scored on their first five of the second half.

The Dolphins flustered and flummoxed Brady in the first half, holding him to a season-low 87 yards on 7 for 19 passing. But in the second half, Brady was 20 for 27 for 217 yards, finishing with 304 yards.

“They had guys running all over the place,” cornerback Will Allen said. “We didn’t have any blown assignments. They just made good plays.”

A Dolphins defense that generated three sacks in the first half produced only one (and not enough pressure) in the second. A defense that held NFL leading receiver Wes Welker to just two first half receptions (for 20 yards) allowed him to run free for 10 catches and 118 yards after intermission. Miami’s pass coverage and tackling also weren’t nearly as sharp after halftime.

“The only thing they did differently in the second half was using a little more no-huddle,” Yeremiah Bell said. “We didn’t have time to set our pressure package.”

But Bowles said, “We prepared for the no-huddle all week. It didn’t catch us off guard. They were throwing the ball underneath a little more.”

Safety Tyrone Culver said there was another issue: “They switched up a lot of things with their routes and a lot of things they have not really done and shown before.”

As the Patriots rallied, the Dolphins’ offense went dormant.

Moore had a very good first half – 10 for 19, 179 yards and two touchdown passes. But he fumbled twice after halftime – losing one of them – threw an interception and passed for just 35 yards in the first 27 minutes of the second half, before his late touchdown drive.

“We stalled in the second half,” said Moore, who was sacked three times and harassed several other times in the second half, and sacked five times overall. At least one of the sacks was allowed by John Jerry, who replaced Jake Long when Long left in the first half with an arm injury.

 

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP)

The New England Patriots emphasize playing well for 60 minutes every game. On Saturday, 30 was enough – barely.

Rallying from their worst half of the season, the Patriots scored on their next five possessions and clinched a playoff bye with a 27-24 win over the Miami Dolphins on Saturday.

”You don’t want to, certainly, make a habit of this,” said Tom Brady, who scored on two 1-yard sneaks and threw for a 1-yard touchdown. ”We showed some resiliency.”

New England (12-3) won its seventh straight game. After the Houston Texans lost to the Indianapolis Colts on Thursday night, the Patriots needed a win or a tie to lock up one of the top two spots in the AFC.

”It’s good to clinch,” said Deion Branch, who caught the touchdown pass from Brady, ”but not by the way we played. It’s not the way you want to do it.”

Miami (5-10) lost for the third time in eight games after opening at 0-7 and is 1-1 under Todd Bowles, who took over when Tony Sparano was fired.

”First half we came out and played our tempo and our ballgame,” Bowles said. ”The second half they made us play theirs.”

The AFC East champions trailed 17-0 at halftime but made the necessary adjustments and went to their no-huddle offense more, keeping the Dolphins from making defensive substitutions. And Brady was on target after a first half in which heavy defensive pressure against a makeshift offensive line affected his accuracy. He completed just 7 of 19 passes for 87 yards and was sacked three times in the half.

But in the second half, he completed 20 of 27 passes for 217 yards, finishing at 27 for 46 for 304 yards and leading one scoring drive after another – a 45-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski, the scoring pass to Branch, his own sneak that tied the game, Gostkowski’s 42-yard go-ahead kick after Devin McCourty’s first interception of the year, and the other sneak with 2:56 to go, making it 27-17.

The Dolphins made it closer on Matt Moore’s 15-yard scoring pass to Davone Bess with 1:48 to play. They had three timeouts left, but their hopes faded when Brady hit Wes Welker for a 6-yard gain and a first down.

”We had (Brady’s) number in the first half, but in the second half he came out and made a lot of plays,” Miami linebacker Karlos Dansby said. ”He is a coach on the field.”

The Dolphins seemed headed for a victory and got a break even before the game started when Patriots left tackle Matt Light hurt his ankle in warmups and didn’t play. Left guard Logan Mankins took his spot, but he left with a knee injury suffered on New England’s second series.

”There’s always things that are going to go wrong in a football game and things aren’t going to work out the way you want them to all the time,” said Welker, who finished with 12 catches for 138 yards after managing just two for 20 in the first half. ”The main thing is just playing a full 60 minutes and never giving in and understanding that one drive and one score (can) get things going.”

The Patriots punted on their first six series of the first half then missed a field goal on the other. The Dolphins struggled in the second half when Moore fumbled the snap at his 38-yard line and Vince Wilfork recovered, starting the drive capped by Branch’s touchdown.

”They committed penalties in the first half,” Dolphins guard Richie Incognito said. ”We turned the ball over and committed penalties in the second half. That is never a good recipe.”

Reggie Bush had another outstanding game for Miami with his fourth straight rushing day of at least 100 yards. He finished with 113 on 22 carries one week after gaining a career-high 203 yards.

His latest performance gave him 1,086 yards rushing for the season, the first time in his six years, the first five with the New Orleans Saints, that he passed 1,000.

”It really doesn’t mean anything right now,” he said. ”This one’s pretty tough.”

The Dolphins had taken a 3-0 lead on Dan Carpenter’s 47-yard field goal 4:01 into the game and made it 10-0 with 1:15 gone in the second quarter on Moore’s 19-yard pass to Brandon Marshall.

They stretched that to 17-0, the Patriots biggest deficit of the season, on a 1-yard touchdown pass from Moore to Charles Clay. The 89-yard drive was helped by two defensive pass interference penalties on third down.

But the Patriots remained calm in the locker room at intermission.

”There wasn’t a bunch of yelling,” Wilfork said. ”We just came in and said we’ve got to play better, we’ve got to make more plays.”

They did. The Dolphins didn’t.

”Our guys fought,” Bowles said, ”but we didn’t finish.”

Notes: Welker set a franchise record for one season with 1,518 yards receiving. He broke the mark of 1,493 set by Randy Moss in 2007. … Bush was checked my medical personnel on the sideline late in the game ”Something in my leg just didn’t feel right,” he said. ”I’m walking. If it was serious, I wouldn’t be walking.” … Moore completed 17 of 33 passes for 294 yards, his highest total as a Dolphin. He threw for more than that with the Carolina Panthers once in 2009 and once in 2010. … The victory was the largest comeback by the Patriots from a second-half deficit since Nov. 10, 2002 when they beat the Chicago Bears 33-30 after trailing 27-6 in the third quarter.