Week after week we have heard again and again about how this week is only one step. And that it is pointless to think about step 12 when you are on, oh say,…step 5. So we have gotten in step with the head coach and the team and drunk the Kool-Aid and played the game while the team played THE games. And now the rules have changed. Because we are on the doorstep of the end of the regular season. We have arrived at Step 16.

Finally the team can talk about a perfect regular season, for the simple reason that the next step, no matter the outcome, is the last of the schedule that was set out last spring. The last of the season. The next season begins on the second weekend in January, but that discussion is for after this game. Because at 15 and 0 this team is on the brink of a precipice that no one has witnessed. The team is like Louis and Clark poised on the edge of some great landscape that no western man had seen before. Arriving there by way of a journey that at times was difficult and dangerous and at other times fun and exciting. And it all came about by making one step at a time. So here we are. On the edge of a vast frontier with hope and promise and legend.For all we know, here, there may be Giants or Titans. Even if there are, we know that this dream is ready to become a reality.

And I do mean that. Because as much as many of us might have dared to dream of the prospect of a perfect season, few among us ever thought it would really happen. Until we came to lucky 7. Oh-seven. Thank heaven for two thousand and seven. And thank heaven for the New England Patriots.

O Formations 101
More and more the Pats are send trips to one side and then throwing to the other side. - 3rd play of first drive, a 1st down at NE46,
- Stallworth is lined up wide to the right.
- Kevin Faulk is lined up to the right and slightly forward of Brady who is in shotgun. - About 3 yards to the left of the left tackle stands a close formation of 3 WRs.
- Gaffney is up on the LOS. On his left hip, 1 yard off the ball is Moss. On Gaffney’s right hip, off the ball is Welker.
- At the snap, Gaffney appears to run an outside slant.
- Moss, cuts in behind him and runs a slant across the middle.
- Welker runs a 4 yard route and then sits down on the spot.
- On the opposite side Stallworth runs a go pattern and then stops just short of the 1st down, coming back for the ball.

Where the defense seems vulnerable to me is that they have only 1 man up on the LOS for the Dolphins to cover the trio of receivers. The nearest linebacker is 4 yards off the ball and over center. The corner is 7 yards off the ball and 2-3 yards to the outside of the widest receiver. Donté, on the other side is clearly covered man to man, with the corner playing right up in his face.

This formation, which is one that I could not recall us using until after we saw Baltimore line up this way, is especially deadly. If the defense rolls over to give extra support to cover the lone WR (this is usually Moss) then you have a severe mismatch with the 3 on the left. Even if the defense plays straight up, you have the option on the left, when faced with this single man up, to run a WR screen of sorts.

On this play, Brady throws a bullet to Donté who turns back to the inside, where he is met by the linebacker that is coming over to assist. Nine Yard gain.

I want to compare that play to the next one. 2nd & 1 at the Miami 45.
- Brady is again in shotgun.
- Wide right is Stallworth. Gaffney is in the right slot about a yard outside the tackle.
- To the left Welker is lined up in the same slot spot. A yard outside of him and further off the line is Faulk.
- Moss is lined up at the far left.
- Miami has Stallworth covered man 2 man with the corner up tight.
- On the opposite side the corner is giving Moss a 5 yard cushion.
- Just before the ball is snapped, the right safety comes up to the LOS to cover Faulk. This leave a lone safety over the top.
- Miami has 2 down linemen and 2 others in a 2 point stance. The left LB is shading Gaffney to the outside, while the right OLB stacks up behind the right end. Finally the MLB drops back 5 yards off the ball and to the strong side of the center. I think that when Brady sees this last piece he knows he is going to Gaffney.

At the snap of the ball the left side is pretty predictable. Moss runs straight down field. Welker slants over the middle and Faulk looks to pick up a blitzer and then drags down the line while blocking the safety. Each of these guys is being covered man 2 man. The deep safety is hanging back to see which way the play develops, always keeping an eye on Moss. On the right side, once again given less speed protection, Stallworth cuts inside of the defender then continues down the field. At this point, needing only 1 yard it seems obvious to me that Brady will throw the ball to Gaffney who is running to the right sideline into the space vacated by Stallworth. I am guessing that it looked that way to MLB too as he charges up field to lend a hand to the OLB that is covering No.10. As soon as Stallworth clears the MLB’s area, he cuts inside where Brady delivers the ball in the seem of the defense. Brady’s timing here was perfect. A second sooner and the MLB would be able to get back to help. A second later and Stallworth’s route would have carried him too close to the deep safety.

On first down again they went back to the formation 2 plays ago with tight trips left. Miami changed their defense to make sure Stallworth did not burn them for 3 in a row. So Brady, with enough time to cook a burger, delivers the ball deep right to Moss who ran a crossing pattern. Had Brady not overthrown the ball Moss would have had a TD as Moss got behind the 2 DBs and had a step on them both. Good selection, less than good throw.

Out of sight
Chris Hanson, standing deep in his own endzone and needing a really good kick uncorks a boomer. 64 yarder. See Chris THIS is why you did not make the Pro Bowl. People knew you had this kind of leg and were just taking it easy. You had better make all the rest of your punts this season over 60 yards or you are going to become the humble pie king. If you fail to do this, you will be soon for the chop.

Once He got going
With much to do being done about the big nothing that was coming from Laurence Maroney and the Patriots running game this season, this game gave fans pause to think that maybe it all was not No. 39’s fault. Sure, Miami has a terrible run defense, but in this game Maroney had his two longest runs of his career. Coming into this game Maroney had a long run this season of 19 yards. Wooohoo. Defenses quaked in fear! Too often this season Laurence took the hand off only to find defenders in the Pats backfield. But with the added blocking of Heath Evans coming out of the backfield and hitting the hole ahead of the tailback, Maroney was able to finally get to the second level without being hit. The last play of the 1st quarter went for 51 yards. Then in the 2nd quarter he broke free for a 59 yard touchdown where he was never touched by a defender. In fact you could have driven a bulldozer through the hole that was before him. Things are not up to Barry Sanders standards yet, but at least this was the kind of game that could give the second year player some confidence.

One Oh One
Wes Welker approached a new team record for receptions in a season. At the end of the game he had a season total of 101 receptions which tied the total that Troy Brown put up in 2001. Oh BTW, that was the year we won our first super bowl. Welker is sure to be an important part of the offense next week and look for him to break that record. A good omen for the post season.

My question is, “How is it that he did not catch a pass for the final 29 minutes of the game?”

Ooh Ooh That S…ound
Do you remember back in week 9, when there was a big kafuffle about the cycling sound that was heard on TV? And how many thought it was proof that the Colts were piping in extra noise? Well the exact same sound was heard in this game at 10:04 in the 2nd quarter during the stoppage in play after Maroney’s 59 yard TD. So we are left with 2 options.
1) Either the Pats were piping ins the same sound, during a time when the game was not even playing, or
2) CBS has needs to use that Christmas gift card they got for Circuit City and buy some new mixing boards.

‘Only We Could Get Players Like That
During this game it became pretty obvious to me why the Dolphins have been on the decline these last few years. The realization cam crashing home on the kick off at 10:04 in the 2nd when Heath Evans made a wicked crazy tackle of Ted Ginn Jr that dropped him like a rock. At this moment I recalled that Evans was at one time a Miami Dolphin. And that got the ball rolling as I thought of all the players that we have that used to be in Miami. Evans, Sammy Morris, Wes Welker, Larry Izzo, Junior Seau. The list goes on and on. This leads to the questions of…

Did these players just improve this much here or were they just THAT misused in Miami? How is it possible for a team to let so much talent slip through their fingers? IN so many ways the Dolphins are the ANTI-Patriots. While most Miami players seem to go on to have better careers after leaving there, when was the last time that you heard of a player let go by the Pats whom performed better once gone?

Oranges and Lemon Pile On
On back to back plays inside the Patriots 1, Miami QB Cleo Lemon made two very questionable plays. On 3rd and goal Lemon rolled out to his right. Linebacker Eric Alexander is the only player who has anything close to a chance to stop Lemon from running the ball into the end zone. Suddenly Alexander stops pursuing the run and drops back into coverage on TE David Martin (88). Everyone in our section just kind of looked at each other because Lemon’s actions were very confusing. He threw a bad pass into tight coverage when the only player who could stop him had his back to the QB and was 10 yards away. Why did he not run there? This was made even more curious given the graphic that CBS had put up just before this play. Cleo Lemon had 4 rushing TD this season, tying him for most ever by a Miami QB. So why did he not run?

On the next play, 4th and goal from the 1. This time Lemon again rolls to the right and finding no one open or regretting his actions on the last play decided to run to the corner of the end zone. Again, oddly enough he runs out of bounds inches short of the orange pylon. This happened in part because 3 Patriot defenders were in pursuit and cutting off his angle. He chose to avoid a hit and tried to slide in. Had he dove, with any kind of force he would have made it in for the score. Thankfully he missed.

Ooops
Facing the chance to match the lowest number of turnovers in a season the Patriots turned the ball over 4 times, increasing their 2007 league fewest 11 to 15 all in one day. Basically, the Pats had as many give-aways in this game as they had in 4 ½ games for the rest of the season. Here is to hoping that this was an anomaly and the team has now gotten this out of their system.

Overpowered?
For the second game in a row the defense seemed to be jacked and pumped to manhandle and overpower the line of the opposition’s offense. The defensive line of the Patriots was roaming free in the Dolphins backfield like a pride of lions. Sacks and tackles for losses were mounting. And despite 7 sacks, there were so many times where the front 7 for New England just could not seal the deal. Most agregious of these came with 9:00 left in the 3rd. Miami had the ball on the NE 28. Lemon came under pressure, ran deeper, looped to his left, under more pressure, looped back to the middle, still deeper, under more pressure, reverse course and cuts back out to his left again. At 19 yards behind the LOS he finally throws down field for a 1st down. This is the kind of stuff that could hurt us in the playoffs. Yet all in all the defense is getting more active and aggressive.

Oh So Close
On the drive that yielded the Pats 4th TD of the game Jabbar Gaffney caught two passes that had no earthly business being thrown much less completed. The defenders were oh so close to knocking them down or as in the case of the second get an interception. On the second catch, where Jabbar ran for a touchdown, even the TV cameraman was faked out of his socks and let Gaffney get almost off camera before moving to follow his progress down the sideline. It has taken almost the entire season of being overshadowed by the likes of Moss, Stallworth and Welker, but Jabbar is hitting his stride making some amazing catches.

Oh Yeah
In holding the Miami Dolphins to a mere 7 points the Patriots now have scored the most points AND allowed the fewest points (tied with Tampa Bay). How often has this happened in the modern era? Only twice. The 1996 Packers (13-3) and the 1972 Miami Dolphins (14-0). Both won the Super Bowl.

Old Faithful
As we were preparing for the game, I offered the use of one of my many Patriot Jerseys to my friend who has for some years now, been a Pats fan after moving to RI from PA. When he stated his preference for the No. 80 jersey, if I had one, I knew that this was going to be the game where a warrior would return and the emotions of a fan base would meld to create a special event. And on most counts the evening did not disappoint.

When the team came out of the huge silver helmet, cheerleaders lined up in their crimson velvet santa suits, all the players stopped and let a lone individual come out before the rest. And as Troy Brown cleared the lines of sexy Santas and made his way to the center of the field to begin snagging punts from Hanson, the Foxboro faithful let Old Faithful know how they felt about the chance to see him in uniform again. Those that were in their seats stood and cheered and whistled and clapped. Troy acknowledged the recognition with a slight wave of his hand. Later when the Patriots defense ushered the Miami offense off the field with clinical efficiency the entire building shook with the ovation given to No.80 as he took his place to retrieve the first punt of the night. And with each successive punt return the crowd held it’s collective breath, each person hoping that Troy would take it to the house. But of course we were asking so much. We were asking the impossible. We should have all been happy just to see this hard working Patriot back on the field where he belonged. But then again, after the kind of season that this team has been conducting, the impossible has become the norm, and the happy endings seem to be expected.

I know not if we will see Troy Brown in the playoffs, or if we will in fact get to see him, the man who has done so much to help hang those banners in our house, score another touchdown. But I do know that for one evening, we the fans were able to give something back to this wonderful man.

Thank you once again for joining me on this journey through the 2007 season. Please be sure to come back next week when we wrap up game 16 sponsored by the letter P. As in ..well you know the word.

Go Pats!!

Erdoboy
Please visit the PatriotsArcive.com

And as always, Thank you Lord for giving us Tom Brady.
Amen.