Patriots 36, Bears 7

If you're keeping score at home, that's consecutive wins by an aggregate 91-10 score over teams with a combined 18-8 record.  Not bad for six days work.  The Patriots kept the train a-rollin', outclassing the Bears 36-7 yesterday in snowy, windy Chicago.  The win gives the Pats a two-game lead in the division and essentially a two-game lead (with tie-breakers) over the Steelers in the AFC.  A desperate Green Bay team comes to town Sunday night for their shot at the Pats.

I will never understand how a quarterback from California plays so well in the snow, but Tom Brady is undefeated when the white stuff is flying.  His statline in horrible conditions yesterday: 27 of 40 for 369 yards, 2 touchdowns and (as always) zero interceptions.  He threw some bad passes, including two easy picks that the Bears kindly dropped.  But overall his command of the field and seemingly unaffected play in the face of the snow and wind was mind-boggling.  He led three touchdown drives of at least 80 yards; whereas the Bears could only muster one touchdown all day -- on a 35-yard drive after a long kick return.

Not that Brady did it alone.  The offensive line spent most of the day in superlative-land, and three sacks notwithstanding, they gave Brady plenty of time and great protection most of the day.  Logan Mankins and Dan Koppen played the part of road-graders, blowing the Bears defense off the ball and getting downfield for additional blocks on runs and screen passes.  They combined with tight ends Alge Crumpler and Rob Gronkowski to push the Bears around on wide runs and push them back on up-the-gut plays.  There were a few plays in the second half where the Bears pass-rushing talent shone through, getting to Brady from the inside and outside.  But the game was well in hand by then.

The receivers didn't let the cold affect them too much, with only a few drops and not a single fumble, despite some hard hits.   Deion Branch and Wes Welker had 8 catches each, and both topped 100 yards (151 and 115, respectively).  And it's been a long time since something on the football field made me say "Wow!" out loud, but Branch's 59-yard touchdown with time expired in the second quarter did the trick.  No excuse for the Bears to let it happen, and kudos to Branch and Brady for eschewing the kneel-down the sideline was recommending and going for the jugular instead.

Gronkowski just chugs along, showing excellent technique to get open for his touchdown and grabbing important first downs all game long.  Aaron Hernandez is returning to form after his four-week hiatus in the middle of the season.  Gronkowski leads NFL rookie tight ends with 7 touchdowns, and Hernandez is second with 4 of his own, along with 532 receiving yards (also tops among rookie tight ends).  Heck, even Brandon Tate held on to an amazing catch along the sideline, so *anything* is possible :)

The O-line also gave the running game lots of lanes, some of them huge gashes right up the middle.  BenJarvus Green-Ellis refuses to give way to veteran Fred Taylor, staking his claim again with 87 tough yards and 4.1 yards a carry -- both against a team that you supposedly can't run against.  Danny Woodhead is slowing down a bit; but his role is growing in the outside running and slant passing games.  Even Sammie Morris pitched in on Sunday with a key third-down conversion to keep a touchdown drive alive.

During the game, commentator Phil Simms said repeatedly that this is the best offense in the NFL, and that teams will be copying it for years to come.  It's tough to argue with that, except to say that if you don't have the right trigger-man and player versatility, this offense is not for you.  The Patriots excel at doing the best with what they have, and right now it's Brady, the short-to-intermediate passing game, and a flexible offensive line coached by one of the best in the NFL, longtime assistant Dante Scarnecchia.

The defense played smart and tough under difficult conditions, showing more resilience than the hometown Bears by a mile.  You don't hold your opponent to just 20:19 of possession time without killing drives and taking the ball away.  The Pats defense did both; holding the Bears to 38% on third down conversions and nabbing four turnovers.

I hate to say the secondary is all about Devin McCourty, but they'd be lost without him (and here's hoping his injury is minor).  He stripped the ball to cause a turnover that Gary Guyton returned for an early touchdown, and McCourty knocked away another pass and had three tackles, one for a loss when he blew up an outside run.  If only Bodden hadn't gotten injured, we wouldn't have Kyle Arrington on the other side.  Oh wait, Arrington actually had a good game.  He did give up some completions, but made sure tackles in the second half, knocked away a third-down pass to stall a drive, and had two tackles on special teams.

And the safety combination of James Sanders and Pat Chung excelled again this week.  Chung led the team with six tackles, and James Sanders doled out jarring hits across the middle and made sure not to get beaten deep.  Brandon Meriweather still looks lost sometimes, which is beyond explanation since he's been here for years.  He might never figure it out; but as long as Sanders and Chung stay healthy the Pats will be okay.

The defensive line was thin, with injuries to Mike Wright and Myron Pryor.  So the Pats plugged in someone named Eric Moore.  They signed him this past week, and he immediately notched four tackles and a sack.  Vince Wilfork was his usual dominant self, and Gerard Warren proves every week that he is a more than capable fill-in for Ty Warren.  The line still doesn't get great pressure, but they cleaned up multiple plays when Bears QB Jay Cutler was forced up in the pocket.  They harassed Cutler into an awful day, his worst passer rating of the season, a pathetic 32.9.  (Trivia question: Cutler played the Patriots one other time: when was the other game, and did Cutler win or lose?  Answer below.)

Linebacker play baffled even me yesterday.  Gary Guyton stepped in for the suspended Brandon Spikes, and he picked off a pass and returned a fumble for a touchdown.  But then he whiffed twice on the Bears' only scoring drive.  Jermaine Cunningham and Tully Banta-Cain continue to go a bit too wide on their pass rush, allowing QBs to step up too easily; but then Rob Ninkovich might blast up the middle or hold up at the end of the line -- or maybe make a saving tackle to force a punt.  It can be maddening to watch; but you can't argue with the results; the bend-but-don't-break defense is alive and well and living in Foxboro.  However, the team will welcome Spikes back for the playoffs; they'll need him to hold up against the running attacks they would face in the post season.

Shane Graham was Mr. Up-and-down.  He went 3-of-3 field goals off a frozen and slippery field through howling winds.  Then he missed an extra point.  And to top it all off, his kickoffs were returned for far too many yards.  Special teams coach Scott O'Brien has to work with Graham to use either squibs or directional kicks against better return men; they can't go into the playoffs playing Russian roulette every time Graham kicks it away.

So where does that leave us?  11-2 and a playoff berth sounds pretty good.  But if Aaron Rodgers plays next week (and you should expect him to play), the Packers present a lot of offensive problems for the Pats, with the kind of balance that can expose the Patriots defensive weaknesses.  The Pack also plays the 3-4 defense, which is better at stopping the pass, so that favors Green Bay, too.  And if you factor in that the Packers are fighting for their playoff life, while the Pats are already in, this becomes a very dangerous game.  So bring your pom-poms, and given Brady's record in the snow, hope for a blizzard.

Statistical Oddity of the Week: At the half, the Patriots had outscored two opponents 92-0 in their last 90 minutes played in the snow (59-0 over Tennessee last year, 33-0 over Chicago in the first half yesterday).

Weekly Water-cooler Wisdom: "If the Patriots were a stock, they'd be Google."

Bonus Weekly Water-cooler Wisdom: "If the Pats go 2-1 the rest of the way, they are the #1 playoff seed in the AFC."

Keep the faith,

- Scott

PS.  11-2!

PPS.  Trivia answer:

V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V
V

Playing for the Denver Broncos, Cutler lost 41-7 to the Patriots on October 20, 2008.  He is now an aggregate 77-14 loser in two tries against the Pats, with 1 touchdown, 4 interceptions, and a passer rating of 40.5.