Are the Arizona Cardinals the worst playoff team in NFL history?

I mean honestly, I know the Cardinals clinched the NFC West two weeks ago but could a team put up less of a fight than Arizona showed yesterday in the snow/sleet at Gillette Stadium.

The Pats (10-5) embarrassed the Cardinals (8-7), 47-7, and kept their playoff hopes alive going into the final week of the regular season.

For a team that can't win on the road, especially on the East Coast and in bad weather, it was comical when Arizona came out and tried to run the ball (even though they have statistically the worst rushing attack in the NFL).

After the first three-and-out and a 28-yard punt return by Wes Welker, the Patriots moved the ball downfield until LaMont Jordan (20 carries, 78 yards) scored from a yard out. Another Arizona three-and-out and another Jordan TD (3 yards) gave New England a 14-0 lead barely 11 minutes into the game.

If there was any question how this would end up, New England added 17 more points in the second quarter. Kevin Faulk caught a 15-yard TD from Matt Cassel (20 for 36, 345 yards, 3 touchdowns), pro-bowler Welker (7 catches, 68 yards) snagged a 11-yard TD pass and fellow pro-bowler Stephen Gostkowski hit a 38-yard kick in a swirling wind with two seconds left in the first half.

With nothing to play for, the Cardinals never really tried to play in the unfavorable elements. Anquan Boldin sat out the game and Kurt Warner might as well have done the same. Everybody's favorite Jesus freak (this side of Jon Kitna) was 6-of-18 for 30 yards before he got the hook in the third quarter.

New England is now 10-0 at Foxboro in the snow and 9-0 under Belichick with those conditions.

In the first play of the second half, Randy Moss took a bubble screen pass, made one move and was gone 76 yards for a score. Gostkowski hit three more field goals (35, 24, 30) which helped him break the single-season Patriots record for kicks.

Arizona finally got on the board in the fourth quarter when Matt Leinart (remember him? 6-for-14, 138 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT) connected with Larry Fitzgerald (3 catches, 101 yards) for a 78 yard bomb.

Sammy Morris led the Pats with 88 yards rushing on 17 carries and Jabar Gaffney had a team-leading 90 yards on five catches.

The Ravens didn't do New England any favors by winning in Dallas Saturday night and the same goes for the Dolphins, who survived against Kansas City. Still, Brett Favre gave us a beautifully-wrapped gift when the Jets fell 13-3 in Seattle yesterday.

For New England to make the playoffs, they have to win in Buffalo on Sunday and either A) the Jets have to beat the Dolphins (which they did in the first game of the season) or B) the Jaguars have to beat the Ravens.

I feel very confident that the Pats can take care of the Bills, even though they knocked off the Broncos yesterday. The Jets game is a toss-up (the Jets are also still in the mix for a playoff spot) and Jacksonville is pretty unlikely to do anything other than lay down in Baltimore.

The good omen is that since the NFL expanded to six playoff teams in each conference (in 1990), no 11-5 team has ever missed the playoffs.

All I want for Christmas is for Patrice Bergeron to be healthy

Once the most promising young talent on the Boston Bruins, Patrice Bergeron's career was put in jeopardy last fall after a cheap-shot by the Flyers' Randy Jones. Bergeron missed the rest of the season and playoffs after the severe concussion and it wasn't until training camp this season that he fully returned to the ice.

He came into yesterday's game against the Hurricanes with four goals and 14 assists. His goal-scoring tough has clearly not been the same but Bergeron was slowly returning to the player he had been for a few seasons.

The B's (23-5-4) beat the Hurricanes (15-13-5), 4-2, at the Garden but unfortunately the lasting image from the game was Bergeron laying face down on the ice once again.

In the second period, he got hurt on a collision with a Carolina defenseman and it took him a few minutes to recover (possibly regain consciousness?) and get off the ice with help from teammates and the trainers.

It did not look good at first glance and with his concussion history, let's just hope that Bergeron somehow didn't get another serious head injury.

With Bergeron probably out for the near future and Marco Sturm recently placed on IR, the Bruins' injury list grows by the day. Aaron Ward and Andrew Ferrance are also out yet the team keeps winning.

Joni Pitkanen (Rod Brind'Amour, Joe Corvo) scored a power play goal at 4:50 of the first to give the Hurricanes an early 1-0 lead.

Marc Savard (Phil Kessel, Milan Lucic) tied it up with his 10th of the season in the second period.

3:54 into the third, David Krejci (Vladimir Sobotka, Shane Hnidy) put the B's up for good with a goal, his 12th of the season. Eight minutes later, tough guy Shawn Thornton (2nd of the year) gave Boston a 3-1 lead.

With less than five minutes left, Ray Whitney scored from Brind'Amour and Scott Walker but Stephane Yelle put in an empty-netter with three seconds left.

The Bruins have now won their last 13 home games. Goaltender Manny Fernandez made 32 saves and improved his record to 10-2-1.

Boston travels to St. Louis tonight for a rare Sunday night contest.

Another step closer to an NBA record

It's not enough to win in style, these days the Celtics also have to break or come close to tying incredible records in the process.

Last night, the host C's put up a season-high 126 points in a 126-108 win over the Bulls.

Boston (25-2) has won 17 games in a row, one shy of the franchise record and also one game away from the best start in NBA history (through 28 games).

Kendrick Perkins scored a career-high 25 points and hauled in eight rebounds as the Celts rolled. Ray Allen added 27 points, Kevin Garnett tossed in 17 points and Paul Pierce notched 16 points. Rajon Rondo had 15 assists (10 in the first half; 1 turnover) and four steals while Tony Allen put in 10 points off the bench.

For the Bulls (12-14), Luol Deng led the team with 19 points and seven rebounds. Andres Nocioni had 16 points off the bench, Derrick Rose had a quiet 15 points while Ben Gordon and Joakim Noah each added 10 points.

The Celts jumped out to a 31-21 lead after one but Chicago took the second quarter 34-26. Boston dominated the third quarter (41-27) and as a result, the starters sat most of the fourth quarter (28-26).

This was one of the first games (other than the ones I went to) that I caught most of and the passing display put on by the Celtics was nothing short of incredible. Everybody was looking to make the extra pass. They had 40 assists as a team.

Boston shot 59.5% to Chicago's 50.6%. The C's had nine more steals (14-5) and (20-13) seven less turnovers.

The New York Knicks come to Boston tomorrow night while this edition of the Celtics have a chance to tie those two aforementioned lofty NBA records.

Best team in the NHL?

They still have five more points and the best record in the NHL but the San Jose Sharks have lost two straight games, including a 6-0 beating in Detroit last night.

Your Boston Bruins (22-5-4) on the other hand, continue to cruise as they beat the Maple Leafs (12-13-6), 8-5, last night in a wild game at the Garden.

The B's have now won 12 consecutive home games and Phil Kessel (2 goals, 1 assist) picked up a point in his 16th straight game. Oh and David Krejci scored his first career hat trick and Marc Savard added a goal and three assists.

Sure, they had a big defensive lapse in the second period as a 5-1 lead turned into a 6-5 nail biter but they still won. Last night was the type of game that in the past 3-4 years that the B's would have lost, most likely in spectacular fashion.

Starting goaltender Tim Thomas was pulled in the third for Manny Fernandez and the moved paid off as Fernandez held the Leafs scoreless in the third.

It hasn't been as effortless and pretty lately for the Bruins but can we argue with the results? As far as them being the best team, that's also hard to say. They haven't played the Sharks yet but they did beat the Red Wings. It's all empty arguments that bloggers like myself get to make with no real evidence for or against our case. The wonders of the Internet indeed.

In his first game back after missing 12 games with a concussion, Marco Sturm scored 36 seconds into the game (from Chuck Kobasew and Patrice Bergeron).

Dubbed the Bruins' Willis McGahee by my buddy, Sturm proceeded to get hurt later in the period and didn't return. He's a talented player but he can never seem to get healthy for a lengthy span of time.

Less than four minutes later, Krejci scored his first goal of the night (9th overall), on a power play from Kessel and Milan Lucic.

At 7:23 Pavel Kubina scored a power play goal for Toronto, assisted by Nikolai Kulemin and Nik Antropov.

Charles Manson would have approved of the second period's Helter Skelter action (what a literary reference!) as the teams combined for a bat-shit crazy eight goals.

Savard scored a power play goal at 1:28 (his 9th) from Zdeno Chara and P.J. Axelsson. 35 seconds later, Krejci made it 4-1 with a sweet move around Leafs goalie Curtis Joseph (yes that one). Krejci collected the puck and deked around Joseph while Krejci's body was actually to the side and behind the goalmouth. He reached around the net and shoveled it in.

Kessel gave Boston its biggest lead at 4:21 when he scored his 20th goal of the year, from Savard.

In the span of eight minutes, Toronto used three tip-in goals to close the margin to 5-4. Alexei Ponikarovsky (Jeff Finger, Lee Stempniak), Antropov ( John Mitchell, Finger) and Mikhail Grabovski (Mike Van Ryn, Ponikarovsky) all lit the lamp.

With two minutes left in the second, Kessel scored again (Axelsson, Savard) but Jason Blake notched a power play goal (Tomas Kaberle, Kubina) when there was 44 seconds remaining.

The Bruins capped off a ridiculous 4-for-6 night on the power play with two more goals in the third on the man advantage.

Michael Ryder (11th) scored after a pass by Chara and Krejci completed his hat trick with Savard and Dennis Wideman providing the helpers.

Boston has today off but then Carolina comes to the Garden tomorrow for an afternoon matinee then they travel to St. Louis for a game Sunday night.

Even Ludacris can't save you Atlanta

For a game in December, the Atlanta Hawks and their fraud fans showed up in full force last night at the Philips Arena. Native son Ludacris even performed at halftime of this circus like atmosphere.

However, it will take more than that to stop the machine that is the Boston Celtics these days though as the C's (24-2) won 88-85. Boston has now won 16 consecutive games, including 10 straight on the road.

As we learned in the playoffs last spring and in the teams' first meeting in November, the Hawks (15-10) match up with the Celtics better than any other team in the league. That's not a misprint Lakers, Cavs, Pistons, Hornets or Spurs. Atlanta's combination of athletic youngsters (Josh Smith, Marvin Williams, Al Horford) with some great shooters (Joe Johnson and Mike Bibby) means that games between these two teams are almost always tight.

The Celts starting five once again was superb. Paul Pierce (7 rebounds) and Kevin Garnett (8 rebounds) each had 18 points while Ray Allen added 16. Rajon Rondo went for 15 points, seven assists, six rebounds and four steals. Kendrick Perkins had eight points, 10 rebounds and four blocks.

For the Hawks, Johnson led the way with a game-high 20 points. Williams had 16 points and eight rebounds while Smith and Bibby both notched 14 points.

The outcome wasn't decided until the final possessions as each team had clutch hoops and free throws. Boston went up one late with a KG hook shot. Johnson was fouled and had a chance to tie it (and likely send the game to OT) but he missed the second free throw.

Ray Allen hit two free throws to put Boston up three and Bibby missed a prayer 3-pointer at the buzzer.

The Celts shot 44.2% to the Hawks' 36.7%. That was the only number that was much different.

Boston comes home to play the Bulls tomorrow night with the chance to tie the second best win-streak in franchise history.

Celtics win 15th straight as Rondo sets a career high

Much like the UNC men's team right now in college hoops, Boston Celtic fans wonder not who will beat the Green but who can just give them a challenge.

It is cocky and ridiculous that it has already come to that, but what else can you expect after the Celts beat the Jazz, 100-91 last night at the Garden. Boston (23-2) won its 15th consecutive game.

Rajon Rondo scored a career-high 25 points with nine rebounds, eight assists and three steals. He's making the case for Boston to get four players in the All-Star game (him, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett).

The rest of the starting five for the C's all scored in double figures. KG had 19 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks. Kendrick Perkins continue to improve, posting another double-double with 15 points and 14 rebounds. Pierce added 15 points and Ray Allen had 12.

Paul Millsap led the Jazz (15-11) with 32 points and 10 rebounds. Deron Williams had 15 points and seven assists. Mehmet Okur scored 13 and Andrei Kirilenko tossed in 12.

Utah power forward Carlos Boozer missed the game with an injury while Boston guard Eddie House was at an aunt's funeral.

Gabe Pruitt was the backup point guard for the C's and he scored eight points in nine minutes.

Boston jumped out to a 28-16 lead after one but Utah came back in the second to make it 43 all at the half.

The C's took the third (26-22) and fourth (31-26) to notch another win on this amazing streak.

The Jazz got destroyed on the boards (50-30) which was pretty much the story of the game.

The Celts go to Atlanta tomorrow night for another chapter in their blooming rivalry vs. the brash, young Hawks.

"How to ruin a once proud franchise" by Al Davis

It's hard to imagine two professional sports teams taking a more divergent path than the New England Patriots and Oakland Raiders after they met in the 2001 playoffs. The Patriots pulled out that controversial game in overtime, a springboard to their first of three Super Bowl titles in four seasons.

Sure the Raiders made the next Super Bowl but they lost that to the Bucs and then since then they've been living on NFL's version of skid row with the Detroit Lions.

How else can you describe such a putrid franchise after yesterday's joke of a game in Oakland?

After two weeks on the west coast, the Patriots (9-5) came home with a 49-26 win that wasn't anywhere near that close.

New England scored on its first three drives and led 21-0 with 3:43 left in the first quarter.

The Raiders (3-11) certainly scored some points of their own but the outcome of this one was decided in the first half.

Matt Cassel's dad died unexpectedly last week but any thoughts of that being a distraction were quickly erased as Cassel set a career-high with four touchdown passes. He finished 18-for-30 for 218 yards and an interception (which clanged off stone hands Ben Watson who was wide open).

Even more impressive was the Pats three-headed rushing attack that for one day at least resembled the Giants' vaunted trio.

Sammy Morris (14 carries, 117 yards), LaMont Jordan (12 carries, 97 yards) and Kevin Faulk (45 yards rushing, 66 yards receiving) ran through the biggest holes in California, this side of your garden variety porn stars.

Faulk began the barrage with a 7-yard catch and run for a score (with a great block from Wes Welker).

Ex-Raider Randy Moss (5 catches, 67 yards) got his revenge for a couple wasted years of his life by hauling in a 20-yard pass from Cassel.

Morris made it 21-0 with a 29-yard run.

Oakland got on the board late in the first quarter when JaMarcus Russell hit Johnnie Lee Higgins with a 56-yard TD.

Welker (6 catches, 69 yards) scored a rare TD with a 13-yard catch.

Then on back-to-back plays, the Raiders and Patriots had kickoff returns for touchdowns.

Justin Miller (91 yards) did the honors for Oakland while Ellis Hobbs (95 yards) answered for New England.

In the third quarter, Moss' second TD (9-yards) put the Pats up 42-14 and sent many of the Raider faithful back to their various prisons and rehab facilities.

Still, in a driving rainstorm and watching their team get embarrassed, there was something very captivating about fans sticking it out. They are called many things but Raider fans are not frauds.

Russell (17-for-31, 242 yards, interception) completed his erratic day with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ronald Curry.

In garbage time, Jordan (another ex-Raider) scampered 49 yards (longest run of the year for New England) and rookie stud Darren McFadden (46 yards rushing; 68 yards receiving) ran in from 11 yards away.

There were only two bad things yesterday for the Patriots. Left tackle Matt Light left the game and appeared to have seriously injured his shoulder. Also, the Jets and Dolphins both hung on to win close games, meaning the Patriots are still tied with those two teams.

Only two games remain and the Patriots have to win out. They might not even make it if that happens but it would be surprising nonetheless.

The Cardinals, who have already clinched a playoff spot and are terrible on the road (especially on the east coast) come to Gillette next weekend. Hopefully Mother Nature helps the Pats out with some classic New England winter weather.