Seattle Nearly Gave Away Another Game To The Pats, Until Newton Got Stopped On The Final Play

 

    I don't think that many sane and/or rational people gave the Patriots (1-1) much of a chance at all to win tonight in Sunday Night Football at CenturyLink Field vs. the Seahawks (2-0) which is why Seattle's 35-30 victory was entirely predictable if you only look at the final score and knowing that the Pats were a 4.5 point underdog coming in. However, the way that New England hung around while Russell Wilson (21-of-28 for 288 passing yards, 5 TDs; 39 yards rushing) absolutely shredded their overrated secondary was more than admirable, especially since it took a goal-line tackle by Seattle on the game's last play (an ill-fated 1-yard loss by Cam Newton) to seal the win. It's a real shame that these two teams (fun fact: with the league's oldest current head coaches) don't meet more often because every time that they do, it's an instant classic. In fact, their last five meetings have all been decided by seven points or less and the last three have all ended on the goal-line. 

    Newton (30-of-44 for 397 passing yards, TD; 47 yards rushing, 2 TDs) deserved better but he can at least take solace in the fact that this performance likely earned him a ton of money since at the moment he is the 48th highest paid QB in the NFL (gross, right?). Down one of his few weapons-James White-who missed the game for a tragic reason (his dad was killed in a car accident while his mom is in critical condition from it), Newton did everything he could to win his Patriots road debut. He already has built an obvious connection with Julian Edelman (8 catches on 11 targets for a career-high 179 yards) but perhaps the most promising aspect of Cam's numbers was his constant involvement with Damiere Byrd (6 catches, 72 yards) and N'Keal Harry (8 catches, 72 yards). We'd all love for New England to trade for a star receiver-say Allen Robinson or Odell Beckham (on second thought....) but the reality is that Newton will likely have to make the most of his new underwhelming at best supporting cast. 

    I didn't realize until the incomparable Sunday Night crew of Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth mentioned that Wilson had never received a single vote for NFL MVP. Wait what? If this non-stop highlight reel for him was any indication, that will soon change this season. He spread the ball around to seven different receivers led by a second-year beast named DK Metcalf (4 catches, 92 yards, TD) and the speedy Tyler Lockett (7 catches, 67 yards, TD) and five guys caught touchdowns from Ciara's husband. Amazingly, Seattle almost found a way to blow it as they stupidly tried a deep pass to Lockett on 3rd-and-1 from their own 31. Starting at the 19, the Patriots got the ball back and quickly marched the ball down the field (9 plays, 79 yards in 1:42) so that awful decision by the Seahawks definitely stirred up memories of their Super Bowl 49 blunder for the ages. 

    It felt like Bill Belichick should have used his last timeout earlier in the drive but the Patriots almost made that null and void since Henry's 12-yard catch-and-run ended at the 1-yard line with three seconds left in regulation. This is when the Pats offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels got in the way by calling for the most obvious play that he could think of: Newton took a shotgun snap and tried to run to the left but he was easily gang-tackled at the 2-yard line as time expired. After running for a pair of touchdowns again in his second game as a Patriot, it felt like everyone knew that they'd keep it in his hands to try and win it. Is it crazy to ask why Cam couldn't have done a play action pass but honestly who would be open since I'm sure that Edelman would have been doubled. 

Losing is never enjoyable but games against teams from outside of your division and conference often times aren't as valuable for the most part. I don't want to make too big a deal out of it but this was that elusive loss that proved to a national audience that with a healthy Newton, the Patriots will be a factor both in the AFC East (one of life's greatest certainties) and possibly the AFC as well. Honestly, what more could we ask for in this most uncertain year/season in our lives? Things couldn't have started better for the visitors as they picked off Wilson three plays into the game with Devin McCourty being in perfect position to intercept a pass that clanked off of ancient Greg Olsen's hands and the captain returned it 43 yards for the touchdown. 

    It takes way more than that to rattle Wilson as he brought his team 13 plays for 75 yards in 8:12 right after Devin's pick-six. Seattle tied it with a four-yard touchdown catch by Lockett from Wilson. Newton and the Pats took another lead on their following drive which eerily imitated Seattle's opening score: 12 plays, 72 yards in 6:28 that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Newton. This won't be the last time I probably say this in 2020 but this evening was the first time that the Patriots clearly missed Dont'a Hightower and Patrick Chung-two of their veteran leaders on the defense that understandably opted out from this nightmare Covid-19 season. Stephon Gilmore was the NFL's Defensive Player of the Year in 2019 and he just got a very rare raise from the Pats but much like Newton on the other side of the ball, he simply cannot do it all alone. He got burned by Metcalf for a 54-yard bomb that tied it at 14 midway through the second quarter and that turned out to be the score at halftime. The Pats had another chance to grab another lead earlier in the second but Nick Folk yanked a 51-yard-field goal that would have made it 17-14.

    Cam seemed to have things cooking on the opening drive of the third quarter (13 plays, 68 yards, 4:48) but it stalled in the red zone and they were forced to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Folk. The rest of the frame was defined by depth players on Seattle's roster making incredible plays: David Moore had a twisting catch and got his feet inbounds (with the second one hitting the end zone marker) for a ridiculous 38-yard touchdown that gave the Seahawks their first lead at 21-17. We all know that Bill struggles so much to draft decent wide receivers so maybe he should start to mimic Seattle who finds good ones on scrap heaps and deep into the later rounds of the NFL Draft. For instance, Moore was a seventh-round pick in 2017 and rookie Freddie Swain was a sixth-round pick who made the most of his one target by converting a short catch into a 21-yard touchdown that put the Seahawks up two scores (28-17). That drive began thanks to Cam's only significant mistake of the game: he forced a pass to Byrd on the sideline that got intercepted by cornerback Quinton Dunbar. 

I'm sure that many Pats fans went to bed at that juncture, figuring that it's late on a Sunday and their favorite team was probably done at that point. Have a little faith, my friends. Less than a minute into the fourth quarter, Newton found fullback Jakob Johnson with a play action pass for a 1-yard touchdown (the 1st career NFL TD for the German). Things looked bleak again as Wilson hit running back Chris Carson (72 yards rushing; 36 yards receiving) with an 18-yard touchdown pass. Trailing 35-23 with 4:32 left in the fourth and being so far away from home during a pandemic, I honestly would not have blamed Newton or other Patriots for (basically) giving up by then. Newton and Edelman thankfully didn't agree with that loser's mentality though as they hooked up for a 33-yard catch that went down to the 1-yard-line. On the next play, Cam took it in for his second rushing touchdown of the game. With only 2:16 left, New England was running out of time on the clock but incredibly, they got the ball back and had a wonderful chance to steal the win. 

    The stats show a game that you normally would believe that the Patriots found a way to win: they had seven more first downs (29-22), they ran 10 more offensive plays (70-60), gained 35 more total yards (464-429) and committed seven less penalties (9-2) so just how did they lose? It's tough to single out a player when the defense gives up 30+ points but I thought that former Jet Jamal Adams (game-high 10 total tackles, 6 solo tackles, 1 sack and 2 quarterback hits) proved as always that getting the hell away from that dumpstar fire of a franchise is a good thing. New England's offensive line or assigned blockers could never seem to slow him down. 

    No doubt that the Patriots will have the next few days off (at least in terms of normal practices) since they'll need their bodies to get reacclimated from traveling back here from the West Coast. When they do return to work, they'll be focused in on the Vegas Raiders (0-1) who host the Saints (1-0) tomorrow night in their team's home opener in Sin City. Regardless of what happens against New Orleans (that figures to be a Saints win), the Raiders coming to an empty Gillette Stadium next Sunday afternoon (1, CBS) has to be a win if the Patriots have any plans of going back to the playoffs this season. In fact, I think that's one of Belichick's most underrated genius aspects: his teams hardly ever lose to an opponent that is clearly below their weight class. The Pats almost always take every game seriously and their singular focus is annually rewarded by piling up double-digit win totals year after year. 

Super Bowl XLIX Instant Classic: Patriots Hang On For Crazy 28-24 Win vs. Seahawks

David Tyree. Mario Manningham. These names of Giants wide receivers that made miraculous catches have haunted the Patriots ever since New York knocked off New England in both the 2008 Super Bowl and 2012 Super Bowl. Seahawks wide receiver Jermaine Kearse appeared ready to add his name to that cringe-inducing list as he made an absurd juggling 33-yard grab in the dying moments of Super Bowl XLIX tonight in Glendale, Arizona at University of Phoenix Stadium. Fortunately for the Pats and their fans around the world suffering PTSD, they got a major break this time around as Seattle made one of the worst calls in Super Bowl history: to throw the ball at the New England 1-yard line instead of running it in.

Patriots rookie cornerback Malcolm Butler made his first career interception count as he picked off Russell Wilson (12 for 21, 247 yards, 2 TDs, 1 INT; 39 yards rushing) in the end zone to clinch a thrilling 28-24 victory for New England. It is the fourth Super Bowl title for the Patriots and their first since 2005. Tom Brady (37 for 50, 328 yards, 4 TDs, 2 INTs) earned his record tying third Super Bowl MVP in a game that will truly be talked about for as long as we live. Perhaps the best part is that this is one that should leave the many Patriots haters shut up for a quick second. I mean really, what can they possibly say now?

It was a bizarre game to say the least that felt like 2012 when Julian Edelman (9 catches, 109 yards) caught a 3-yard touchdown with 2:02 left in the fourth quarter that put the Pats up 28-24. The Seahawks had gone 80 yards in 29 seconds at the end of the first half to score on a gift 11-yard touchdown catch by something named Chris Matthews (4 catches, 109 yards) that tied it at 14 with two seconds left. We worried that Seattle had too much time left on the clock and another heart-breaking loss looked guaranteed after that circus catch by Kearse.

Nobody even scored a point until Brandon LaFell's 11-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. That opened things up as Marshawn Lynch (24 carries, 102 yards) answered with a 3-yard touchdown run. The Patriots took a 14-7 lead with 31 seconds left in the half when Rob Gronkowski (6 catches, 68 yards) caught a beautiful 22-yard pass from Brady.

Brady was far from perfect, he threw a truly awful red-zone interception to Jeremy Lane (who gruesomely broke his arms on the return) in the first quarter then Bobby Wagner jumped in front of a pass intended for Gronk in the third quarter. It got bleak since the Seahawks outscored the Patriots 10-0 in the third on a 27-yard field goal by Needham's Steven Hauschka and 3-yard touchdown catch by Doug Baldwin (his only target of the game, thanks Darrelle Revis).

That just set the stage for the biggest comeback in Super Bowl history as the Pats rallied from 10 points down with a 14-0 fourth quarter against the defending champs. New England's defense finally stepped up and pitched a shutout. Danny Amendola (5 catches, 48 yards) cut it to 24-21 with 7:55 left thanks to a 4-yard touchdown catch. Shane Vereen also deserves plenty of praise after he caught 11 of 12 targets for 64 yards. The Patriots were forced to basically abandon the run and they eventually found success with some old school dinking and dunking.

This was billed as a legacy game for Brady and New England head coach Bill Belichick (who tied Chuck Noll with his 4th Super Bowl title) so they certainly delivered the goods. Seattle is a fantastic team and it wouldn't be a shock (sorry rest of the NFL) to see them meet again in next season's Super Bowl. At least we know that they are pretty much guaranteed to play each other in regular season, hopefully at Gillette Stadium after the Pats went to Seattle in 2012.

As Boston sports fans, we ran out of things to legitimately complain about since this is our ninth champion since 2002: Patriots (4), Red Sox (3), Celtics (1) and Bruins (1). However, I also realize that the older I get, the more I appreciate these since I understand more and more how difficult it is to do this time and again.

This never gets old; it also doesn't get any better in sports than this to see an unselfish team struggle in the beginning of the season, tune out the critics, listen to their coaches, steadily improve and then peak at the end when it matters most.

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Pats Book Their Trip to Super Bowl 49 vs. Seahawks With Easy 45-7 Blowout of Colts

I can't ever recall being so confident heading into a big playoff game for the Patriots as I was this week for the AFC Championship Game at Gillette Stadium vs. the Colts. It turns out that I was giving Indianapolis way too much credit as they got run out of town 45-7. The Pats will take on the Seahawks a week from Sunday in Glendale, Arizona for Super Bowl 49.

Indy was so helpless and overmatched that this contest doesn't even deserve that many details of the one-sided carnage. Believe it or not, it was only 17-7 Patriots at halftime. Who knew that they'd go on to the second-biggest margin of victory in AFC Championship Game history? Tom Brady (23 of 25 for 226 yards, 3 TDs) threw an interception at the goal-line when he tried to force a throw to Rob Gronkowski but that was his only real mistake of the game and it didn't matter one bit. He became the first QB with 20 postseason wins as he advances to his record sixth Super Bowl.

Poor Andrew Luck can't do anything but get smoked by the Patriots, this is the fourth time (out of 4) in his young career that he's lost by over 20 points to New England. In many ways, it was a carbon copy of last season's blowout win by New England a round earlier. Like that, LeGarrette Blount (30 carries, 148 yards, 3 TDs) was unstoppable or should I say that nobody on the Colts wanted a piece of him when it came to tackling in space.

Indianapolis was extremely fortunate to make it this far after they upset Denver at home last Sunday. I'm not saying that crippled Peyton would have done much better but it's hard to think of a more one-sided affair than this was. Andrew Luck (12 of 33 for 126 yards, 2 INTs) was a disaster, not that his fraud teammates could get anything going as well to help him out.

The Pats continued to try and take advantage of the chaos with their cute ineligible receivers but Indy was there to stop most of them. In addition, Brady managed to hit James Develin for a 1-yard touchdown catch and offensive lineman Nate Solder caught a 16-yard touchdown to get the second half going in the right direction. New England exploded for 21 points in that frame. Gronk caught a 5-yard touchdown and Julian Edelman (9 catches, 98 yards) seamlessly replaces Wes Welker.

Darrelle Revis and Jamie Collins each had an interception for New England's defense (that looked like themselves again after last week's debacle vs. Baltimore) who pitched a shutout in the second half. It's hard to really evaluate Luck since everything around him is so average (at best). T.Y. Hilton was held to one catch and Reggie Wayne didn't have any, leading me to wonder if that was it and he'll retire this offseason since he's a ghost of his former Hall of Fame self.

The Packers had one of the great choke jobs in modern sports history against the Seahawks this afternoon in Seattle, allowing the home team to escape 28-22 in overtime. No matter how you evaluate it, the Seahawks are a scary matchup for the Patriots. Their only real noticeable weakness is at receiver but still guys like Jermaine Kearse (who caught the game-winner) and Doug Baldwin are good enough to make a couple big plays a game.

This is a dream matchup for the NFL and football fans (yes, I'd say that even if I didn't root for the Pats): it should get a record rating as the new dynasty goes vs. the old one, Belichick vs. Carroll, Brandon Browner vs. his former team, Brady vs. Wilson, Sherman vs. Revis and leftover feelings from Seattle's win a few years back vs. New England (when Sherman popularized "U Mad Bro?}. The two weeks between Championship Weekend and the Super Bowl always feel like they last forever but for once, I won't complain about it. If ever a game deserved that ungodly amount of hype, it's this one. I expect it to be an instant classic.

PS it'll be nice that unlike three years ago vs. the Giants when Gronk's ankle was hurt that we won't have to hear about blind injury speculation regarding him. Instead it will focus on Earl Thomas (shoulder) and Sherman (elbow) who are both getting MRIs on Monday. As Belichick, now the most winningest head coach in postseason history, said in the joyous post-game: "I've only got one thing to say-we're on to Seattle."

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Patriots Back Up the PED Truck, Get Brandon Browner

I didn't think we'd be saying this anytime soon but suddenly the Patriots might have the best pair of cornerbacks in the NFL: Darrelle Revis and Brandon Browner. The latter was signed to a three-year deal tonight worth $17 million. The former Seahawk is suspended for the first four games of the regular season but who cares since as the Pats have proven over the last decade, the AFC East is a joke and almost always a foregone conclusion that they can use as an extended preseason before the playoffs.

Browner played in eight games last season with Seattle (his third in the league) and put up 19 tackles and one interception. He was a Pro Bowler in 2011, his rookie season out of Oregon State where he had 51 solo tackles, six interceptions and two touchdowns. He played in all 16 games that year but received his first drug suspension for performance enhancers in 2012 and then he was hit with the nine-game suspension (last two regular season games, playoffs and four in 2014) for his second offense. He'll be eligible to attend training camp and play in the preseason games.

Like Revis, this is another great move by New England since Browner is clearly trying to rehab his image (no pun intended). He has to prove worthy of a long-term deal and I'm sure the Patriots will have countless clauses and incentives written in his contract should he screw up again. The good news is that the PEDs don't flow quite around here as freely as they do with Pete Carroll's boys in the Pacific Northwest.

Browner turns 30 in August (not sure why he entered the NFL that old) so he's in the prime of his career. His best asset is his size: 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds. He has to be the biggest cornerback in the NFL but he's not a freak though since he totaled 10 interceptions and 123 combined tackles in just 38 career NFL games. Teams around the league better enjoy Weeks 1-4 vs. New England in 2014 since by Week 5, passing outside is going to be very difficult against these two studs.

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Welcome To The AFC East: Where Everybody Is 3-3 After 6 Mediocre Weeks In 2012

Do you remember when the Patriots could put teams away when they had a comfortable lead? Can you recall a New England defense that made timely stops? Finally, what has happened to Tom Brady (36 of career-high 58, 395 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs) who used to be one of the most clutch athletes in sports history?

We are left with all these unanswered questions after yet another unexpected loss by the Patriots (3-3, 2-2 away) to an inferior team. In this case, the Seahawks (4-2, 3-0 home) benefited this afternoon from all of New England's mistakes in a 24-23 win by Seattle at rain-soaked CenturyLink Field.

The funny thing is that the Patriots' three losses so far this season are by a combined four points. That means two things: they've been in every game and they simply don't know how to close out a win against a decent opponent anymore. New England led 23-10 with 9:21 left in the fourth quarter but apparently, that's exactly where Seahawks rookie quarterback Russell Wilson (16 of 27, 293 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT) and his awful receivers wanted them.

Former Jets great Braylon Edwards cut it to 23-17 with a 10-yard touchdown catch with 7:21 left in the fourth quarter. Sidney Rice (3 catches, 81 yards) had the winning score, a 46-yard touchdown catch with 1:18 remaining. The Patriots bungled two chances to get a bigger lead between Seattle scores there but they were forced to punt both times. That's not even as bad as their bungled possession at the end of the first half that ended with Brady's intentional grounding penalty so a 10-second run off and no points. Brady had another intentional grounding called in the fourth quarter, what's with that (remember the last Super Bowl)?

He was off his game, especially in the second half. Brady badly underthrew a deep ball to Deion Branch (and why look for him in that spot?) in the third quarter which led to Richard Sherman's interception. Then he forced a pass to Wes Welker (10 catches, 138 yards, TD) in the fourth quarter and it deflected for Earl Thomas who picked it off.

After running the ball so well in the first five games, the Patriots seemed to leave that part of their team at home. Stevan Ridley, Brandon Bolden (who left with a knee injury) and Danny Woodhead combined for 87 yards rushing. The lack of a dependable running game really killed them at the end since they were forced to pass on every down which played into the top defense in the NFL's hands.

This game unfolded eerily similar to the loss at Baltimore in Week 3. In the same manner, the Patriots built up a lead after playing well on both sides of the ball then everybody (including the coaches) had a complete meltdown where everything went wrong.

Needham and Middlebury's Steven Hauschka gave Seattle a 3-0 lead with a 34-yard field goal. Welker answered with his second touchdown in as many games. He went 46 yards in the first quarter for a 7-3 advantage. Doug Baldwin (2 catches, 74) ensured that Kyle Arrington would see extended time on the bench in the second half with a 24-yard touchdown catch late in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, Aaron Hernandez returned and made an impact with a 1-yard touchdown catch on a beautiful fade pass by Brady to the corner of the end zone. Gostkowski's 25-yard field goal made it 17-10 in favor of the Patriots but as I said before, it should have been more.

The only points of the third quarter came on Gostkowski's 35-yard field goal that extended the lead to 23-10. Brandon Lloyd (6 catches, 80 yards) and Rob Gronkowski (6 catches, 61 yards) had decent performanecs but I'd love to see them get more cracks in the red zone. Chandler Jones (9 tackles, 4 solo, 2 sacks, 3 quarterback hits, forced fumble) was a beast as usual.

As pathetic as this loss was, to a team that the Patriots normally should wipe the floor with, they still have no chance to lose the AFC East to the assorted cupcakes around them. More importantly, they will look to get back on track as they host the Jets (3-3) on Sunday afternoon (4:25 p.m., CBS) at Gillette Stadium. The Patriots will have to put another disappointing loss behind them as they try to put together the first full 60 minute effort of the season.

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Week 6 Patriots-Seahawks Injury Report

Only a day and a half left before the New England Patriots (3-2) take on the Seattle Seahawks (3-2) at CenturyLink Field Sunday afternoon (4:05 p.m. ET, CBS). Today, the injury report shed some light on who we should expect to see or not see in action.

The Patriots have two guys already out: safety Steve Gregory (hip) for the second straight week and linebacker Tracy White (foot) who left last week's game against the Broncos with an injury. The Seahawks will be missing defensive tackle Jaye Howard (foot) and guard John Moffitt (knee).

As always, New England is taking advantage of the questionable label by putting a whopping 14 guys with that designation. Running back Brandon Bolden (knee), defensive end Brandon Deaderick (ankle), wide receivers Julian Edelman (hand) and Wes Welker (ankle), defensive tackle Justin Francis (ankle), tight ends Rob Gronkowski (hip), Aaron Hernandez (ankle) and Michael Hoomanawanui (concussion), linebacker Dont'a Hightower (hamstring), guard Logan Mankins (calf), center Nick McDonald (shoulder), cornerback Sterling Moore (knee), running back Shane Vereen (foot) and offensive tackle Sebastian Vollmer (back) are all 50/50 wink wink, nudge nudge.

Deaderick and Francis haven't played at all while Hightower missed last week. I'd say Dont'a along with Hernandez (out since Week 2) are the two names to watch out for since they are very important players that we know have legitimately been hurt.

For Seattle, defensive tackle Clinton McDonald (groin) is doubtful but he's the only other Seahawk that is expected to miss the game.

Stay tuned tomorrow and on Sunday as we find out who else will be on the sidelines.

UPDATE 10/14: Hightower and Edelman have been ruled out. The Boston Globe reports that Hernandez is expected to play but in a limited role so don't hold your breath for a big performance. Also, I wouldn't start him in fantasy football but that's just me.

The three other Patriots out today are defensive end Jake Bequette, center Matt Tennant and Hoomanawanui.

The Seahawks out are wide receiver Charly Martin, strong safety Winston Guy, cornerback Danny Gorrer, cornerback Jeremy Lane and McDonald.

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Okay, I'm Out...

Ladies and Gentlemen, the moment you have all been waiting for!!!

They finally did it. With the nation watching last night on Monday Night Football, the replacement referees screwed up so badly that it actually cost the Packers a football game. If you didn’t see it, (and I didn’t until after the game because I am boycotting as best I can) it was one of the most absurd plays/calls/endings of all-time as Seattle was handed a fraudulent 14-12 win at home.

On the last play of the game, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson dropped back and threw a hail mary to wide receiver Golden Tate. Tate, blanketed by several Green Bay defensive backs, went up for the catch but did not come down with the ball. Instead, Packer cornerback M.D. Jennings clearly intercepted the football. With Tate tugging at the ball, two referees came over and decisively called the play correctly. Just kidding, one signaled a touchdown and the other signaled that time had expired, in one of the most hilarious/pathetic/embarrassing moments in sports history.

Did they communicate with each other at all verbally? Of course not.  Simply looking at one another for a millisecond before giving two separate rulings would suffice. What a joke.

And if you thought Brandon Spikes’ tweet was bad, check out what Packers guard T.J. Lang tweeted after the game “Got fucked by the refs… Embarrassing. Thanks nfl.” Followed by “Fuck it NFL..Fine me and use the money to pay the regular refs.” At this point, I’m willing to chip in as well.

To make it worse, we then had to watch Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll (former Patriots coach) jump up and down and pump his fist like he had just won the damn Super Bowl. Jesus, how much punishment do Packers fans need right now?

This has gotta be it for Goodell and the owners right? I mean it was all fun and games when guys were running around wondering where to spot the ball, losing control of football games and taking 10 minutes to get clarification on a ruling. Now games are being lost as a direct result of these guys' incompetence. I don’t care where they have officiated before; there is no way anyone could have looked at that play last night and thought anything but interception.

If money is the top priority for the NFL and its owners, than public relations has to be priority 1-A. Thanks to these bozos, the running theme of this season so far has been the referees. Think about that for a second.

I didn’t watch last night because I have no interest in watching a knockoff version of the NFL. That is the only way that the owners will take notice. If Goodell and the owners want to salvage any part of this season, they have to accept pretty much anything that the referee’s union wants at this point.

At this point, the referees should double what they are asking for and if that doesn’t work, maybe Ed Hochuli can physically assault anyone standing in his way. All I know is Bill Belichick isn’t putting his hands on those guns.

Pause.

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Welcome back Deion

Last night, what had been whispered for days officially came through: former Super Bowl MVP Deion Branch is back with the Patriots.

The Seattle Seahawks basically dumped him (sound familiar Randy Moss?) for only a fourth-round draft pick in exchange.

Branch was drafted in 2002 by New England and in his four seasons with the Patriots, they won two Super Bowls while he proved himself to be a big time wide receiver that always shows up when the stakes are their highest.

Naturally, the local knuckle dragging Belichick sycophants love the move and I can't say I disagree with them. However, we have to keep in mind two things: 1) Branch is 31 and he has only played 16 games in a season once (2005, his last with the Pats) and 2) he wasn't even playing in Seattle anymore.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt since Seattle has been a mess the last few seasons and the fact that they paid him (and pictured him) as a No. 1 receiver is beyond laughable. Branch is the definition of a system guy and when he was with Tom Brady, he was teamed up with the perfect type of quarterback.

There's a reason Brady and Branch are BFFs and Brady reportedly texted him last week when he knew Moss was done in New England. The good news is that Branch doesn't have to be a savior (unlike Moss in Minnesota) and there's plenty of other weapons around him: Wes Welker, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, Brandon Tate, Julian Edelman, Danny Woodhead, etc. to ensure that he doesn't have to put up fantasy numbers right away.

Branch is a classy professional and he should be a good mentor for all the young talent on the Patriots. He is a key to the storied past but hopefully he still has something left to give to this team which can use anything he's got.

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.