3rd down conversions vs. Pittsburgh

This statistic needs to be shared: we were 1/13 on third down conversions.

7%.

Mostly a frustrating day

Said Reiss before the game: "It is cold and wet here at Gillette Stadium. With that in mind, ball security will be something to watch." Wow. Was it ever.

I could talk about interceptions. I could talk about fumbles. I could talk about plays that really, hugely, gigantically cost us. I could talk about how Randy Moss couldn't hold onto the ball.

My main concern overriding most others though is that I hope Wes Welker is okay. Guess we will find that out later this week. Because if not, ARGH!

(I mean, it's already pretty much an ARGH all round, don't get me wrong, but that would be rubbing salt straight into that ARGH).

The knowledge that the Jets lost isn't even cheering me up at this point. To Denver. I guess I need to mention that they lost to Denver. So I guess I've got that going for me.

As you probably expected, Indy pulled off a 10-6 victory against Cleveland with their only score coming from an interception. ARGH! ARGH! ARGH!

Dare I dream?

Cleveland is ahead by 1 FG at the half: 6-3.

Okay, this is not much. But Peyton fumbled the ball on the penultimate drive from the 7 yard line when the Colts started with a full set of downs. They came away with no points. He was then intercepted on one of those 'throw it 'way down the field' passes to Dallas Clark.

Derek Anderson, the replacement QB for the Browns, is currently 7/8 with no interceptions and 40 yards passing. Naturally 40 yards passing is not much, but that's okay.

I have a terrible feeling that this game will end with the Colts pulling off some ridiculous play (see: their past few weeks) and winning. But for now I dare to dream.

More on the wild card situation

Indianapolis's next three games are against Cleveland, Cincinnati, and Detroit. Combined, these teams have 5 wins and 1 tie. This schedule clearly favors the Colts to get a wild card spot even though they played really badly in the first part of the season and barely squeaked by Houston and San Diego the past two weeks. I think that there should be a moral 'No you don't get to have a wild card' clause in this situation. Of these three teams, I suppose it is conceivable that Cleveland might step up; they have had some strange wins (they beat the Giants?) this season. However, their QB went on injury reserve this week, so great. I would laugh for days, *days*, if Indy lost to Detroit. *Days*

The Pats need to just win win win win win. Some of those we should be able to do (Buffalo, Seattle, and Oakland). I feel better about us being able to beat Arizona after Philly beat Arizona this week. After all, the Cards are in a relatively weak division and have had some lousy games this season. Unfortunately for us, teams tend to bring it when they play NE, but hey. That's just the reputation we've earned.

Tomorrow we need to win. I am hoping that we've started on some kind of crazy late-season run that will culminate in a good playoff season. Fingers crossed.

If you're curious, yes I am having fun using the 'Winless Detroit Lions?' label.

It's a lousy job, but someone has to do it

I feel sorry for the announcers for the Titans vs. Lions. First, they have to work on Thanksgiving, which kind of sucks. But then they also need to pretend like this might be some kind of interesting football game.

On the opening drive, the Lions fumbled almost immediately. It's 14:02 in the 1st and Titans ball (second snap of the game). Long day for Detroit I suspect.

Yep, touchdown on the same drive, 13:30 in the first quarter.

Lots of thanks for Pats fans

1) Matt Light, who was involved in an altercation (hockey-style) last week, was not suspended. Yay. That would have been a big blow before the Pittsburgh game.

2) Matt Cassel was the AFC Player of the Week.

3) Tom Brady helped out in Roxbury serving Thanksgiving dinners.

(I'm less grateful for the fact that Gisele was with him...)

Not to be outdone

"When 11 people are doing a good job on that you're probably going to have good offensive production. When you don't have 11 people doing a good job on that or it's poorly coached then you're probably not going to have a lot of production on that." Straight from the horse's mouth as to why Matt Cassel alone should not be getting the credit for two 400+ yard weeks in a row.