Ugh. How About That Pats Game?

What a frustrating Pats loss right? Please explain to me why they should not have won that game? The guy who will get crushed and I say rightfully so for a lot of the blame will be David Thomas thanks to that stupid penalty, but let's not forget Jabar Gaffney either. I don't know if Reche Caldwell poured chicken blood on him before the game or what, but that drop was just a bit on the huge side.

And I can't let Belichek off the hook either seeing as he flushed two timeouts down the toilet in the second half. The first was on the vain attempt to gain five yards via a "too many men on the field" penalty and the second came on account of his, "on second thought, maybe we should just take the three" decision. Those were a couple of uncharacteristically sloppy moves on his part.

Oh, and what about going for two after that touchdown in the second half. I hate needlessly going for two. You realize that if he just took the points there, and then Indy just takes the points on their second touchdown it's a 14-13 game. Follow that up with the matched field goals and Indy is leading 17-16. See where I'm going? In a 17-16 game, a field goal of course puts you ahead. Conversely, because he gambled and went for two - and Indy in turn followed suit but converted - the spread was three instead of one and you can only play for a tie then with the field goal. I really can't put into words how much needlessly going for two aggravates me.

On the plus side, it looks like the offense is finally finding an identity. Sure, Indy's D is pretty bad, but whatever. They were moving the ball at will for the most part and Cassell I can genuinely say played pretty well. Or more accurately, Cassell did every single thing asked of him and did not make any mistakes. Of course they lost the game, but the play from the QB position continues to improve and that is a big plus as we stand now in November.

I said on Friday and I still maintain that the Pats may actually need to be reckoned with down the road. They won't do it hanging 40 spots or even putting up 30, but I can't help but think that the team was a dropped pass and a couple of mental errors away from winning a huge road game. Yes, they lost and that is the bottom line, but color me encouraged for the team's prospects heading into the second half of the season. I think 11-5 takes the AFC East and I think that is well within the realm of possibilities.

And now I sign off for the night hoping that the Celtics can figure out a way to make their free throws. The Spurs have proven you can without being a good free throw shooting club. I'd just prefer to not have to put myself through that stress. That weakness is like a bad bullpen in baseball; it will always nail you at the worst of times and can make a lot of games much closer than they deserve to be.

And now I really sign off. The over/under on the number of times I check espn.com to monitor GM Meetings gossip has officially been set at 87. Take the over.