This Week

The New England Patriots visit their AFC rival Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, PA on Sunday at 8 p.m.

The Patriots (6-2) are 2-2 on the road and 5-2 in the conference. The Steelers (6-2) are 2-1 at home and 4-1 against the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the  Patriots and Steelers. Here are the depth charts for the Patriots and Steelers.

The Line/Prediction

As of Wednesday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots plus 5. The over/under is 45.

My prediction is Steelers 24, Patriots, 14. Give the points (Steelers) and take the under. I am 4-3-1 against the spread and 5 for 8 on calling the over/under in 2010.

Tickets

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.

Getting To The Game

If you're lucky enough to be going to the game in Pittsburgh make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions and parking, stadium information, parking map and a Heinz Field seating chart.

Tailgating

Here's a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating America. There's something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I've tried some of the recipes and they're very good.  And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme. Whether it's at the game, a bar or someones house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don't drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

NBC is televising the game to a national audience. Al Michaels will call the play-by-play while Cris Collinsworth will provide the analysis.  There is no Direct TV channel assignment for the game.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Channel 125, the Steelers Radio Network has Bill Hillgrove calling the game while former Steelers player Tunch Ilkin provides the game analysis with Craig Wolfley doing the sideline reporting. Their call is available on Channel 126. Since the satellite merger XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games and in most cases has just the radio call of the home team.  You can catch the Patriots radio call of game on XM Channel 102 and the Steelers call on XM Channel 103.

Westwood One will also provide national coverage on the airwaves with Dave Simms and James Lofton calling the game.  You an hear their call on Sirius Channel 124 or XM Channel 104 as well.

Patriots All-Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in-depth features on the team.  It's hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

Boston - TV 38 and  Providence - WNAC Friday at 7p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.; Manchester - WMUR Saturday at midnight; WMTW in Portland Saturday at 5 a.m.; WCTX - Hartford Saturday at 5 p.m.; WFXQ - Springfield Saturday at 7 p.m. and Bangor - WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

If you're on the homepage, you can continue reading by clicking the read more link below.

In what seems like a peculiar move the New England Patriots placed K Stephen Gostkowski on the season ending Injured Reserve (IR) list.  Gostkowski, who suffered a thigh injury Sunday in Cleveland, was only expected to miss a few weeks after being unable to continue for the last half of the game against the Browns.

Monday and Tuesday the team worked out kickers and decided to sign former Cincinnati kicker Shayne Graham to fill in.  The fill in will be longer than expected as now Gostkowski is done for the season and may even need surgery to repair what is being reported as a torn quad muscle.

The team should notice any difference in th accuracy of field goal attempts betwee Gostkowski who is 7th all-time in field goal percentage, and Graham, who is 6th and has made one Pro Bowl.

Graham, who hasn't kicked in a NFL game since last years playoffs with Cincinnati, had been staying sharp kicking on his own at Virginia Tech and kept a bag packed in his car waiting for a call.  This week both the Patriots and Lions needed a kicker and he felt New England was his best opportunity.

Photo credit: AP Photo

Remember all that feel good emotion the Patriots have been sending our way the last few weeks?  Well it all came crashing down, that was the thud you heard from Cleveland Sunday afternoon, or it might have been Cleveland RB Peyton Hillis landing, but in either case you heard it loud and clear.

The New England Patriots (6-2) plain old got their asses kicked up and down the field at Cleveland Browns Stadium yesterday by the Cleveland Browns (3-5) in front of a rabid sell out crowd.

And the onslaught started early, in fact after the opening kickoff went for a 36 yard return by Josh Cribbs, rookie QB Colt McCoy threw a 21 yard pass to Mohamed Massaquoi, then Hillis rumbled for 18 yards leaping a New England defender in the process.  Yes he hurdled him, this isn't Adrian Peterson we're talking about it's Peyton Hillis, a 24 year old who played 3 years behind Felix Jones and Darren McFadden at Arkansas. Shortly after that it was 3-0 Cleveland on a Phil Dawson 38 yard FG.

Then the walls came down.  On the ensuing kickoff, Cleveland decided to elude New England KR Brandon Tate and kick short.  The short kick was called for a fair catch by TE Rob Gronkowski who then decided to run away from the ball.  Then RB Sammy Morris decided to let the ball drop at his feet when by some miracle he realized that a kickoff is a live ball and either team can recover it, Morris dove for the lose ball only to be beaten to it by what seemed like the entire Browns kickoff team and half of their bench.  Former Patriots Ray Ventrone recovered the ball and it was 1st and 10 at New England's 19 yard line.  Two plays later it was 10-0 Browns and 4 minutes hadn't come off the clock yet.  The woman sitting next to me at the sports bar watching the game looked at me and said well this is over.  She must have been psychic.

After that with the exception of a first half scoring drive that saw rookie TE Aaron Hernandez catch a tipped ball for a TD it was all Browns.  Hey they even ran a "fumblerooski" that saw Chansi Stuckey go around the end for an 11 yard TD. The problems compounded themselves when just before halftime and New England on the move Gronkowski caught a short pass and while fighting for extra yards inside the 5 he coughed up the ball and the Browns recovered.  17-7 Browns at the half.

The second half didn't seem any better as the Browns got a score on a McCoy 16 yard run to up the lead to 24-7.  Early in the 4th Dawson added another field goal this one was from 37 yards and it was 27-7 and a game that was supposed to won by New England, and handily, was totally out of control and totally lost.  Someone who physically looked like Tom Brady, but played the game like Justin Bieber, led the Pats on a late scoring drive that saw Hernandez grab his second TD catch of the game and cut the lead to a manageable 27-14.  But even then with just over 6 and half minutes to play you knew it was futile and that there would be no comeback in Cleveland.

Hillis then pushed the dagger in even deeper when he ran for his second TD of the game a 35 yard romp in which he was untouched and only Jerod Mayo made an effort to chase him down.  The game was in the books at 34-14, Eric Mangini was able to claim victory against his mentor and the Patriots have a long hard week ahead of them as they prepare to hit the road and play the Steelers Sunday night in Pittsburgh.

Patriots at Browns Gamebook.  This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Game Recap

To continue reading, hit the read more button below.

ESPN's Kenny Mayne tries to find out what's up with New England Patriots QB Tom Brady's hair in the Mayne Event.

This Week

The New England Patriots visit the Cleveland Browns at Cleveland Browns Stadium in Cleveland, OH on Sunday at 1 p.m.

The Patriots (6-1) are 2-1 on the road and 5-1 in the conference. The Browns (2-5) are 1-2 at home and 1-3 against the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Patriots and Browns. Here are the depth charts for the Patriots and Browns.

The Line/Prediction

As of Wednesday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots minus 5. The over/under is 44.

My prediction is Patriots 32, Browns, 17. Give the points (Browns)  and take the over. I am 3-3-1 against the spread and 4 for 7 on calling the over/under in 2010.

Tickets

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.

Getting To The Game

If you're lucky enough to be going to the game in Cleveland make sure you check out the links. I hear the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a cool place to visit and unless you want a beatdown, don't mention LeBron James.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions and parking, stadium information, parking map and a Browns Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here's a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating America. There's something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I've tried some of the recipes and they're very good.  And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme. Whether it's at the game, a bar or someones house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don't drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

CBS is televising the game regionally, Bill Macatee will do the play-by-play while Rich Gannon will handle the game analysis. You can see if you are getting the game and look your local affiliate.

Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket has the game on Channel 704.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Channel 127, the Browns Radio Network has Jim Donovan calling the game while former Browns player Doug Dieken provides the game analysis with Andre Knott doing the sideline reporting. Their call is available on Channel 090. Since the satellite merger XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games and in most cases has just the radio call of the home team.  You can catch the Browns radio call (home feed) of game on XM Channel 110.

Patriots All-Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in-depth features on the team.  It's hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

Boston - TV 38 and  Providence - WNAC Friday at 7p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.; Manchester - WMUR Saturday at midnight; WMTW in Portland Saturday at 5 a.m.; WCTX - Hartford Saturday at 5 p.m.; WFXQ - Springfield Saturday at 7 p.m. and Bangor - WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

To continue reading, hit the read more button below.

When the New England Patriots started training camp back in late July/early August, they were without Pro Bowl guard Logan Mankins who decided he was going to hold out for a contract extension.

And with the NFL going with an uncapped season due to the owners opting out of the collective bargaining agreement, Mankins had until Thanksgiving to report or risk losing a year towards unrestricted free agency if a new CBA is reached.

Maybe it's the fact the Patriots are 6-1, maybe it isn't but Mankins decided to show up at Patriots camp on Tuesday. He'll sign a tender offer of $1.54 million down from the original $3.26 million. The $1.54 million will be prorated down to nine games meaning he'll make roughly $866,250 for the rest of the season.

Whether or not Mankins plays this weekend remains to be seen but one thing's for certain, he'll be getting a paycheck.

Photo credit: AP Photo

Less than one month after the New England Patriots traded future Hall of Fame wide receiver Randy Moss back to his original team, that club, the Minnesota Vikings, has sent him packing to the NFL waiver wire.

Moss, who will be a free agent at years end, made some critical comments of the coaches and the strategy during the game on Sunday against the New England Patriots in his post game press conference.  He also highly praised the Patriots owners, coaches and players during the same meeting with the press.

Moss never even made the trip back to Minnesota as he stayed in New England with his family, who still live in a Rhode Island home.  Moss who was acquired on October 6th for a 3rd round draft choice in 2011 played in four games with Minnesota catching 13 passes for 174 yards and two TDs.  He was held to one catch for 8 yards in his New England return yesterday.

For a Moss return to New England to happen, all the other 31 NFL teams would have to pass on him because the Patriots own the best record in the league right now.

Photo credit: AP Photo

Don't look now gang but the New England Patriots (6-1) have the best record in the entire NFL.  Yup you saw that correctly and they did it by pounding the Minnesota Vikings (2-5) and their aging quarterback Brett Favre on Sunday, 28-18 at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro.

After a scoreless first quarter and a 7-7 halftime tie, the game got into a better flow in the second half with Minnesota getting a 10-7 lead on 3rd quarter Ryan Longwell 24 yard field goal.  The Patriots answered back just over two minutes later when Tom Brady fought to elude the rush, did a little spin move and hit rookie WR Brandon Tate on the sideline for a 65 yard TD pass and a 14-10 New England lead.  The play was the Patriots longest from scrimmage this season.

New England expanded it's lead late in the quarter when the "Law Firm" BenJarvus Green-Ellis scampered for a 13 yard TD and 21-10 cushion with 2:25 left in the quarter.  It would be Green-Ellis' first of two TD runs the second late in the fourth quarter capped a 13 play, 80 yard drive after the Vikings had cut lead to 21-18 with a TD and 2 point conversion.

But prior to that last Viking score came the biggest hit of the day and it came via Myron Pryor and it took the 41 year old grandfather out of the game for good with a lacerated chin that required 8 stitches.  But it sure looked like more than a chin injury when Favre, trying to walk off the field, had his knees buckle bringing him to the turf.  He was then helped off by two Minnesota trainers and carted off the field to locker room looking like the NFL senior citizen he is and making many wonder if the Patriots had knocked the legend into retirement.

Once again it was a young defense showing you more of the bend but don't break attitude it's adopted.  They made great stops in the game on short yardage on Adrian Peterson on 4th and goal from the 1 just before half.  That whole little series in the red zone was great.  They stuffed Peterson on 1st and 10 for a 1 yard loss.  Then Toby Gerhardt looked to be going into the end zone and got crushed by Jerod Mayo at the one, setting up the Peterson attempt on 4th down.  They also made a nice stop on Visante Shiancoe with a one yard gain on 3rd and 3 near the end of the 3rd quarter.  Face it folks this defense is getting to be good and it's appropriate it happened on Halloween as Belichick played the role of mad scientist and helped his young guys get it done.

One other final defensive note.  The Patriots have yet to give up 100 yards to a single running back this season.  They held Peterson to 92 yards after he had 55 yards alone in the first quarter.

Vikings at Patriots Gamebook.  This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Game Recap

Hit the read more button below to keep reading if you're on the homepage.

This Week

The New England Patriots entertain the Minnesota Vikings at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, MA on Sunday at 4:15  p.m.

The Patriots (5-1) are 3-1 at home and 0-0 against the NFC, this season. The Vikings (2-4) are 0-3 on the road and 0-2 against the AFC.

Here are the rosters for the Vikings and Patriots. Here are the depth charts for the Vikings and Patriots.

The Line/Prediction

As of Wednesday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports is Patriots minus 5. The over/under is 44.

My prediction is Patriots 35, Vikings, 21. Give the points (Patriots)  and take the over. I am 2-3-1 against the spread and 3 for 6 on calling the over/under in 2010.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 175th consecutive sellout dating back to the 1994 season opener. The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

Tickets to the game, if available, may be purchased through Ticketmaster. You can check the availability here.

Getting To The Game

If you're lucky enough to be going to the game in Foxboro make sure you check out the links.

Here is the up to date weather forecast for the game from weather.com.

Click for all the game day information including stadium directions, parking and stadium information, parking map and a Gillette Stadium seating chart.

Tailgating

Here's a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating America. There's something there for everyone and every type of meal or snack. I've tried some of the recipes and they're very good.  And with tailgating many people enjoy some adult beverages. With that in mind check out Drink Nation for how to make all sorts of great drinks. You can look things up by name, ingredient(s) or by theme. Whether it's at the game, a bar or someones house moderation is always the key to a great time. Please don't drink and drive and designate a sober driver. Remember You Drink, You Drive, You Lose.

BROADCAST INFORMATION

Television

FOX is televising the game regionally and Thom Brennaman will do the play-by-play while Troy Aikman will handle the game analysis and Pam Oliver will cover the sidelines. You can see if you are getting the game and look your local affiliate.

Direct TV NFL Sunday Ticket has the game on Channel 712.

Radio

The Patriots Radio Network broadcasts the game from flagship station WBZ-FM, 98.5 the Sports Hub in Boston. Gil Santos handles the play-by-play and former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Scott Zolak and Andy Gresh and the pregame show at 10 a.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours.

If you are outside of the broadcast area of the stations on the Patriots Radio Network you can purchase NFL Field Pass which allows you to listen to any NFL game live. You can also pick which teams broadcasters you want to listen to.

All NFL games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio. The Patriots Radio Network call is available on Channel 121, the  Vikings Radio Network has Paul Allen calling the game while former Viking Pete Bercich provides the game analysis. Their call is available on Channel 123. Since the satellite merger XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games and in most cases has just the radio call of the home team.  You can catch the Patriots radio call (home feed) of game on XM Channel 105.

The game will also be heard nationally along the Sports Radio USA Network.  Larry Kahn and Ross Tucker will call the action with Tony Grazianai on the sidelines.

Patriots All-Access

Patriots All-Access features behind the scenes looks, interviews and breakdowns with head coach Bill Belichick and in-depth features on the team.  It's hosted by Steve Burton of WBZ-TV (Boston) and airs weekly in most New England television markets.

Boston - TV 38 and  Providence - WNAC Friday at 7p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.; Manchester - WMUR Saturday at midnight; WMTW in Portland Saturday at 5 a.m.; WCTX - Hartford Saturday at 5 p.m.; WFXQ - Springfield Saturday at 7 p.m. and Bangor - WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

Hit the read more button below to keep reading.

The New England Patriots (5-1) traveled cross country and were able to escape a last quarter comeback and beat the San Diego Chargers (2-5) 23-20 at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday afternoon as new San Diego kicker Kris Brown's 50 yard field goal attempt struck the right goalpost and fell wide.  It is the second consecutive week that New England has won by the same score.

This time around it was the young Patriots defense who came to play forcing Chargers turnovers on four consecutive first half drives.  Trailing 3-0 the Patriots came up with their first turnover when Kris Wilson fumbled and Jerod Mayo jumped on the ball at the San Diego 22.  That turnover led to the Patriots first points of the game a TD pass by Tom Brady to rookie TE Rob Gronkowski and a 7-3 Patriots lead.  The TD pass was the 236th of Brady's career tying him for 18th all-time with George Blanda.

As the second quarter started the Chargers were once again on the move as Phillip Rivers hit rookie WR Richard Goodman fell after a completed pass and thinking he was down he placed the ball on the field only to have an alert James Sanders recover the rookies mistake.

On the next San Diego drive still trailing 7-3 it was Rivers turn to cough up the ball when he threw a backwards pass to Jacob Hester, who saw the ball go off his finger tips.  Thinking it was a forward pass Hester did nothing an alert Rob Ninkovich jumped on the ball and after not being touched scampered 63 yards to the San Diego 8 yard line.  This led to a Stephen Gostkowski 40 yard field goal and a 10-3 Patriots lead.

After the ensuing kickoff rookie CB Devin McCourty grabbed his first NFL interception when he picked a Rivers pass at the New England 42.  While the offense was sputtering gaining only 38 yards in the first half the young defense stood tall, caused four takeaways that led to 10 points and a 13-3 halftime lead.

Overall it was a game to be proud of the young Patriots defense.  They bent but they never really broke and they were opportune and took advantage of the mistakes that were made for them.  This defense is never going to be like Baltimore or Pittsburgh where you know the opponent is only going to get 10 points a game.  They're going to give up yards and points but the offense usually bails them out.  But on a day when the offense was stagnant gaining just 179 total yards and was 3 of 12 in third down conversions and had only 15 first downs (4 by penalty) and was just 2 of 5 in the red zone, it was the defense that provided New England with a win.  They did it by stopping a last chance frantic effort by San Diego and then after a costly Chargers penalty on 4th down watch the 50 yarder doink the goal post making it a happy flight back home to Boston.

Patriots at Chargers Gamebook.  This includes the box score, all the stats, play by play, drive charts and more.

Game Recap

Hit the read more button below to keep reading.