Welker and Cassel make just enough plays for Pats to hold off hapless Seahawks

The 2008 New England Patriots' playoff hopes looked over yesterday in Seattle as they quickly fell behind 14-3 to a terrible Seahawks (2-11) team.

From there, New England woke up and outscored Seattle, 21-8. It wasn't a thing of beauty but the Pats (8-5) made just enough plays on offense and finally a few stops on defense to propel them to a crazy 24-21 at Qwest Field.

Everybody's favorite short, white receiver Wes Welker (12 catches, 134 yards; 2-PT conversion catch) could not be stopped as he took over in the second half. Did I mention he's small?

Matt Cassel (26-for-44, 268 yards, touchdown) made a bunch of big-time throws and Brandon Meriweather forced a Seneca Wallace fumble on Seattle's last drive as they tried to tie it up. Richard Seymour recovered the ball and the Pats just took a knee for the clutch win.

Earlier, they had made Wallace, the backup quarterback, look like a Hall-of-Famer as he went 20-for-28 with 212 yards, three touchdowns and 47 yards rushing.

Old friend Deion Branch made up for lost time (he has been injured and virtually useless since he left New England) by burning the Pats for 88 yards on four catches, including two vintage Branch touchdowns.

Branch had the first score of the game as he caught a 14-yard TD after burning Meriweather.

Stephen Gostkowski's 50-yard kick cut it to 7-3 Seahawks after one quarter.

Rookie tight end John Carlson (8 catches, 69 yards) had a 10-yard TD catch which put Settle up 14-3 early in the second.

Cassel and the offense responded as Benjamin Watson hauled in a 2-yard touchdown catch in the back of the end zone.

It was 14-10 Seattle heading into halftime.

Another Gostkowski kick (42 yards), cut the Seahawk lead to one point in the third.

Branch worked some more magic with a ridiculous 63-yard catch and run where he went from one sideline to the other, juking past (and using blocks) to get by almost every Patriots defender.

He topped that with a juggling, one-handed grab on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Wallace.

New England made it 21-16 with Gostkowski's third field goal of the day (27 yards) early in the fourth then Sammy Morris jumped over the goalline on a gutsy fourth-and-1 run. Cassel found Welker with the two-point conversion and then Seattle did what it's done best this year (fail).

With Vince Wilfork and Tedy Bruschi going down during the game and Gary Guyton getting pulled, recently re-signed linebackers Junior Seau and Rosevelt Colvin were back on the field for New England.

Neither of them made any big plays but it was a time warp to see them again. That's how desperate New England is for warm bodies, they had to bring these two experienced veterans in.

The Pats will stay out on the West Coast as they travel to Oakland next Sunday to face an awful Raiders team with nothing to play for. The Jets once again choked yesterday (against the 49ers) and the Dolphins beat the Bills, so the AFC East is currently a three-way tie at the top.

The Patriots defense is a complete mess that can't stop anybody but if they can just make the playoffs, anything can happen. Especially in an AFC that still has no clear top teams other than the Titans and Steelers.

It Never Gets Old

For as long as you live, when your favorite team in any sport wins a big game, it gives you an incredible rush that simply cannot be duplicated (sex, drugs and rock and roll not withstanding). When said team advances to the Super Bowl for the fourth time in the last seven years and is now just win away from an unprecedented 19-0 campaign, what can you say? You've been there every step of the way but now that it's so close, you almost can't believe it. Such is the situation facing my New England Patriots, 21-12 winners over the spirited but ultimately undermanned San Diego Chargers yesterday in the AFC Championship game at Gillette Stadium. A week from Sunday, the Patriots face the New York Giants in Arizona for Super Bowl 42.

The story of the game was the Patriots red zone defense and the clutch play of the running back duo of Laurence Maroney (25 carries, 122 yards, 1 TD; 1 catch, 9 yards) and Kevin Faulk (8 catches, 82 yards; 1 carry, 8 yards).

Without LaDainian Tomlinson (2 carries, 5 yards; 1 catch, 1 yard) for most of the game and with Antonio Gates (2 catches, 17 yards) and Philip Rivers (19 of 37, 211 yards, 2 INT's) hobbled, nobody in the world was picking the Chargers to knock off the Patriots. Then again, nobody expected San Diego to go into Indy last weekend and knock off the Colts.

Nate Kaeding (4 field goals) was San Diego's best offensive player and when that's the case, odds are you're not going to beat the Patriots. You have to match them touchdown for touchdown, something that nobody has done so far this season.

Tom Brady (22 of 33, 209 yards, 2 TD's, 3 INT's) had his worst game of the season, Randy Moss (1 catch, 18 yards; 1 carry, 14 yards) was a complete non-factor for the second straight playoff contest and yet the Pats still found a way to win.

San Diego corner Quentin Jammer made a leaping interception of Brady in the first quarter, leading to the first Kaeding kick, putting San Diego up 3-0.

New England finally started to move the ball at the end of the first quarter and into the second as Maroney dove in from a yard out, giving New England a 7-3 lead.

Vincent Jackson (6 catches, 93 yards) killed the Pats on the next drive with three catches but once again, the Chargers offense was stuffed inside the red zone. Ellis Hobbs made a big tackle on third down as he tackled Chris Chambers (7 catches, 90 yards) on an underneath route. Kaeding's kick cut it to 7-6.

After a punt, the Pats capitalized on a Rivers mistake as Asante Samuel stepped in front of a pass intended for Chambers and returned it 10 yards to the San Diego 24-yard line. Two plays later, Brady found Jabar Gaffney over the middle with a 12-yard catch and run for a score.

Ellis Hobbs (8 tackles) picked off Rivers on the next San Diego possession but the Pats couldn't do anything and were forced to punt it back to the Chargers.

Going into yesterday, Kaeding had been 2 for 6 in his postseason career so it was surprising when he nailed his third field goal of the day (from 40 yards) just before halftime. The Pats held a 14-9 lead.

The third quarter was a nightmare for Brady as he was intercepted twice. The first one was on New England's opening drive of the second half. Brady's pass for Donte' Stallworth went off the receiver's hands and into Chargers cornerback Drayton Florence's waiting arms. Taking over at the New England 49-yard line, the Chargers settled for another red zone field goal (24 yards). Junior Seau (6 tackles, 1 sack) made the defensive play of the game for the Pats on third-and-1 from the Pats 4. He shot through the line and tackled Michael Turner (17 carries, 65 yards) for a two-yard loss.

The game was effectively sealed early in the fourth as Brady found Wes Welker (7 catches, 56 yards, 1 TD) with a six-yard touchdown strike. The o-line gave Brady plenty of time and he looked at Moss, Ben Watson and finally Welker before throwing the ball.

Not to state the obvious but there are many reasons why Norv Turner is the coach he is and Bill Belichick is a three-time Super Bowl winner (currently 14-2 in the playoffs with New England). Exhibit A: San Diego choose to punt the ball away facing a fourth-and-10 at the Pats 36 with 9:21 left in the fourth quarter and down two scores (21-12). The Chargers never got the ball back as New England grinded the clock away. Faulk made three catches for 32 yards and two first downs on the drive, proving once again that he is the most underrated Patriot. Maroney was a bull, rushing eight times for 37 yards and three first downs. It was his fourth 100-yard performance in the last five games as he matched his impressive rushing total from last week. The guy is a stud, plain and simple. Any questions about his ability have been put to rest weeks ago.

Now the Pats face the Giants, a team that they barely beat 38-35 in the last week of the regular season. The G-Men have certainly peaked in the playoffs, winning all three of their games on the road against favored opponents. New York is for real, no question about it. Eli Manning is playing the best ball of his career, they have a solid running game and outstanding defense. If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, they will have earned 19-0 and the label of greatest team of all-time. Let the two weeks of relentless hype commence.