Do not ask me how I remained so calm in a room full of people screaming their heads off at the television.  Maybe it was my fire service training that helped me stay calm, maybe it was the fact that I’ve seen this same show so many times in the last decade I could have predicted the final act.  In my head I was screaming “SHANK IT!!!”, on the outside there were no signs.

I was the first one though in that room full of people to scream out “WIDE LEFT, HE MISSED IT!!!”

Thank you Billy Cundiff, for you are now my “Shankapotamus”.

What a game it was tight the entire time, it was one of the best games I’ve seen in a while and did you notice the officials only threw flags when they had to?  Offsides, illegal motion, etc and other than that they let them play.

Thank you Vince Wilfork, you are a beast amongst boys.  With all due respect to the late Clarence Clemons, Wilfork is “The Big Man”.  One handed he sacked Joe Flacco.  One handed he brought down Ricky Williams, one handed he made several plays and along with Kyle Love, Brandon Deaderick, Mark Anderson and “Big Money” Gerard Warren the defensive line was dominating.  The pushed, they pulled, they fought for what was there’s and what wasn’t.

Thank you Brandon Spikes, Rob Ninkovich and Jerod Mayo for your all out intensity in the middle of the field.  And one more for Moore, Sterling Moore, the rookie DB from SMU who last year was at the Super Bowl as a fan and this year will most likely play in it because in crunch time, game on the line, do or die, put up or shut up, he did them all.

The offense was only once again just decent and as Tom Brady said they carried the team because he “sucked pretty bad today”.  But the efforts were there by Rob Gronkowski, Aaron Hernandez, Wes Welker and BenJarvus Green-Ellis.  And with those all out efforts and the good play from the offensive line you guys are going to the Super Bowl.

In the end thought it may have been the teams guardian angel that blew that kick wide left, we will never know.  What we do know is the New England Patriots are once again going to the Super Bowl with a chance at their fourth championship in 10 years.

Stay with Sox & Dawgs for all your Patriots Super Bowl XLVI information.

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

Ravens at Patriots Game Recap.

To continue reading the Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots recap, hit the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Here are our picks for who we think will win the 2012 NFL Conference Championships in the AFC and NFC that will be held today.

AFC Championship

Ian - New England Patriots 23 Baltimore Ravens 17

Steve - New England Patriots 31 Baltimore Ravens 21

NFC Championship

Ian - San Francisco 49ers 27 NY Giants 24

Steve - San Francisco 49ers 30 NY Giants 24

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well. Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII.

This Week

The New England Patriots host Baltimore Ravens at Gillette Stadium on Sunday at 3 p.m. in the AFC Conference Championship Game.

The Patriots (14-3) are 8-1 at The Razor, 0-1 against the AFC North and 11-2 in the conference.  They are the AFC East Champions and the conferences top seed.

The Ravens (13-4) are 4-4 on the road, 1-0 vs. the AFC East and 10-3 against the conference.  They are the AFC North Champions and the conferences 2nd seed.

Alberto Riveron is the game referee; this is the 2nd Patriots game he has called this season.  He also called Week 16 vs. Miami.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 7 1/2.  The OVER/UNDER is 50 1/2.

My Prediction is Patriots 31, Ravens, 21.  Give the points (Patriots) and take the over.  I am 10-6-1 against the spread and 13 of 17 on calling the over/under in 2011.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 193rd consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

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

After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.

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 from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.

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

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  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 theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s 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 in televising the game nationally and Jim Nantz will do play by play while Phil Simms will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules, flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

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, former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color and new this year Scott Zolak will man the sidelines. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh and Zolak with the pregame show at 12 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

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

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.  They usually only carry the home team feed.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 86 and XM Channel 226.

The Ravens Radio Network has Gerry Sandusky calling the game while Stan White and Qadry Ismail provide the game analysis via their flagship station of WIYY-FM and WBAL. Their call is available on Sirius Channel 92 and XM Channel 225.

The game will also be broadcast to a national audience by Westwood One Radio Sports. Dave Sims and James Lofton will call the game. Tony Boselli will provide sideline analysis.  You can hear the national feed on Sirius Channel 88 and XM Channel 88.

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 MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading the Baltimore Ravens @ New England Patriots AFC Championship Preview, click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

If you woke me, or for that matter any New England Patriots fan, up on January 19, 2002 and said this game you will watch tonight is the pivotal game in franchise history.  This game will determine the next ten years of the franchise I, as well as those other fans, would have laughed in your face.

If you told me on that day that the kid running the offense and wearing #12 would become not only the “Greatest Patriot” but one of the greatest NFL players to ever wear a uniform, I would have laughed in your face.

If on that day in January you said the place kicker Adam Vinatieri would kick not one, but two, field goals in a driving snow storm.  That those field goals would not only tie, but also win the game in overtime, and that he would become the greatest clutch kicker in NFL history I would have laughed in your face.

If you were to say to me that day would propel that team, that coach and those players into the territory of becoming a NFL Dynasty, I would have laughed in your face.

If you said that a little known rule on the NFL books would save that game, the season and push a team towards being the team of the decade, I would have laughed in your face.

That play in the snow in Foxboro pushed New England into the conference championship game were they beat Pittsburgh, 24-17, on the road and into the franchises third Super Bowl appearance.

I remember saying to friends on “Super Sunday” as the team prepared to take the field against the St. Louis Rams, “why is it when we make the Super Bowl we always seem to play the team of the year?”

To continue reading a Decade of Tuck, please click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Well what do you say in recapping that one sided win over Denver in the AFC Division Round of the NFL Playoffs?  A lot has already been said regarding Tom Brady, the Patriots offense, Tim Tebow, Tim Tebow and Tim Tebow by everyone else that I am going to skip all that nonsense.

I also fully understand that they played the Denver Broncos, for the second time in a month, a team that is running a college option oriented offense and won big in part because the defense was dominating.

It had to be expected to some extent but there was no way anyone could have predicted that defensive prowess we all witnessed on Saturday night.  The stat sheet says five sacks, but I counted six, 15 plays for negative yardage…FIFTEEN!  I don’t think this team had more than 2 or 3 in a game prior to this week.

The biggest change in the defense was the healthy returns of S Patrick Chung and LB Brandon Spikes.  Both guys can really bring the wood shed when it comes to hitting people and that little edge, that toughness has been missing through the middle of the field the second half of the season.

There were a lot of players, in addition to Spikes and Chung, who came to play on defense Saturday night.  Among them were DE Gerard “Big Money” Warren, DE Shaun Ellis, DT Vince Wilfork, DT Kyle Love, LB Rob Ninkovich, LB Jerod Mayo, CB Devin McCourty, DE Mark Anderson, S Sterling Moore and S James Ihedigbo.  It was a true team effort and they looked very good all game.

Now the team prepares for it’s next opponent the Baltimore Ravens, who know about defense themselves.  It’s offensively that the Ravens appear to be challenged and you have to wonder if their defense can keep the Patriots point total down low enough for the Raven offense to outscore them.

Then there is the issue of retribution.  Sure they beat the Ravens in the regular season last year at Gillette 23-20 in OT but you can bet one of this week’s motivational posters is a picture of Baltimore RB Ray Rice going 83-yards on the games' first play in the 2009 AFC Wild Card Game.

That was New England’s first home playoff loss at Gillette and their first overall at home since 1978 when they had lost to the Houston Oilers.  That day Baltimore embarrassed them badly and Bill Belichick will not allow his team to forget it.  In fact I will say this, anyone left over from the 2009 team won’t need a reminder.  They’ve been waiting for this day for two years.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

The Denver Broncos came into Foxboro with hopes of upsetting the New England Patriots and once again send the Patriots home earlier than expected in the post season.  But with all the hype about Broncos QB Tim Tebow the sporting world seemed to forget about a man named Tom Brady.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again.  Brady plays best when he is pissed off.  He needs a chip on shoulder it pushes him.  If there isn’t one he will make one up. This time the chip was disrespect, I am willing to bet Brady has felt disrespected with all the attention given to Tebow when Brady is a three time champion, a two time most valuable player and a sure fire Hall of Famer.

I think it’s safe to say no one will ever forget about Brady again.  He just absolutely annihilated the Broncos from start to finish, he was 26 of 34 for 363 yards with 6 TD passes and 1 INT.  He set one NFL record, tied another and he and the team broke several other team marks in this one sided blow out as well.

But it just wasn’t Brady and his multitude of offensive weapons that did the damage in the 45-10 win over Denver on Saturday at Gillette Stadium.  The Patriots defense actually showed up sacking Tebow a half dozen times and stopping the Broncos running backs for several negative yard plays.

While Brady and Rob Gronkowski were setting records, Aaron Hernandez was showing his versatility by playing running back, as did Julian Edelman with time on both sides.  The defense led by Rob Ninkovich, Brandon Spikes, Jerod Mayo, Devin McCourty and host of others was really, really good.

The best part is that the Patriots will once again be at home next weekend playing against either the Houston Texans or the Baltimore Ravens for the AFC Championship.

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

Broncos at Patriots Game Recap.

To continue reading the Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots recap, hit the read more button below if you're on the home page.

New England Patriots punter Zoltan Mesko may have some competition at the punter spot during the week of preparation for next week's AFC Championship Game and it's from an unlikely source.

Check out this punt that Patriots QB Tom Brady had late in the 4th quarter of Saturday night's 45-10 win over the Denver Broncos.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Here are our predictions for what we think will happen in the 2012 NFL Divisional Playoffs taking place on Saturday and Sunday.

AFC Divisional Games

Ian - New England Patriots 27 Denver Broncos 17

Steve - New England Patriots 35 Denver Broncos 24

Ian - Baltimore Ravens 24 Houston Texans 21

Steve - Houston Texans 24 Baltimore Ravens 20

NFC Divisional Games

Ian - San Francisco 49ers 24 New Orleans Saints 21

Steve - San Francisco 49ers 28 New Orleans Saints 24

Ian - Green Bay Packers 37 NY Giants 27

Steve - NY Giants 34 Green Bay Packers 28 in OT

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well. Follow Steve on Twitter @SteveMichaelsII.

This Week

The New England Patriots host the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium on Saturday at 8 p.m.

The Patriots (13-3) are 7-1 at The Razor, 4-0 against the AFC West and 10-2 in the conference.  They are the AFC East Champions and the top seed in the conference.

The Broncos (9-8) are 5-3 on the road, 2-2 vs. the AFC East and 7-6 against the conference.  They are the AFC West Champions and the fourth seed in the conference.

The Line/Prediction

As of Thursday the line on the game from Yahoo! Sports has the Patriots at MINUS 13 1/2.  The over under is 50 1/2.

My Prediction is Patriots 35, Broncos, 24.  Take the points (Broncos) and take the over.  I am 10-5-1 against the spread and 12 of 16 on calling the over/under in 2011.

Tickets

The Patriots are reporting the game as a sell out. It is the 192nd consecutive sell out dating back to the 1994 season opener.  The record includes preseason, regular season and playoff games.

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

After market tickets are available through the Official Patriots Ticket Exchange where season ticket holders can sell their unused seats to fans on the season ticket waiting list.

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 from the Weather Channel for Foxboro MA.

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

Tailgating

Here’s a bunch of different tailgating recipes from Tailgating.com.  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 theme.

Whether it’s at the game, a bar or a friend’s 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 in televising the game nationally and Jim Nantz will do play by play while Phil Simms will provide the game analysis.  You can look here for your local affiliate.

Here are all the rules on NFL TV broadcasts including explaining the blackout rules; flex scheduling and commercial breaks.

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, former Patriot Gino Cappelletti does the color and new this year Scott Zolak will man the sidelines. It all starts with Gary Tanguay, Andy Gresh and Zolak with the pregame show at 5 p.m. along the network. The post game starts after the final gun and continues for three hours along the network.

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

All NFL Games are also available on Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio also carries all the NFL games under a special additional package.

The Patriots radio network call is available on Sirius Channel 86, XM Channel 226 and on SiriusXM Internet Channel 879.

The Broncos Radio network has Dave Logan calling play by play and former Bronco Brian Griese doing the color via their flagship station KOA.  Their call is available on Sirius Channel 92, XM Channel 225 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 870.

The game will also be broadcast to a national audience by Westwood One Radio Sports. Dave Sims and James Lofton will call the game.  The national radio feed from can be heard on Sirius Channel 88, XM Channel 88 and SiriusXM Internet Channel 88.

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 MA on TV 38 Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Providence RI on WNAC Friday at 7 p.m. and Sunday at 9 a.m.
• Manchester NH on WMUR Saturday at midnight
• Portland ME on WMTW Sunday at 5 a.m.
• Hartford CT on WCTX Saturday at 5 p.m.
• Springfield MA on WFXQ Saturday at 7 p.m.
• Bangor ME on WVII Sunday at 11 a.m.

You can also watch it anytime on the teams website in the media section.

To continue reading the Denver Broncos @ New England Patriots AFC Divisional Playoff preview, click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Well the New England Patriots come off their playoff bye week that they earned as the AFC’s top seed and they get to see a familiar foe come to Foxboro.  It’s a rematch of Week 15, as they will face the Denver Broncos, this time in the friendly confines of Gillette Stadium.

This means that Tebow-mania is coming to town after Denver’s second year quarterback Tim Tebow helped lead the Broncos to a 29-23 overtime win over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday.

Tebow didn’t throw a lot but when he did he was an effective 10 for 21 for 316 yards and 2 TD passes and it seemed like all ten of his completions were for big gains.  Pittsburgh decided to play the run all day and let Tebow get his throws and it ended up sending the Steelers home for the season.

The last time these two teams met a month ago, Denver’s defense had no answer for New England’s tight ends Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski.  While Gronk was slowed down, Hernandez stepped up and took up the slack.

This time around Denver comes to “The Razor” as a 13-point underdog just one day after their big win.  I’m not a big fan of huge point spreads (10+ points) as in most cases they aren’t covered but some are saying there are huge signs that this could be a blow out of epic proportions.

I’m just not sure I’m willing to go there with Tebow on the other sideline.  He’s been playing very smart and he did a lot of things against the Steelers that he hadn’t done this season and he looked good.  It will not doubt strengthen his confidence moving forward.

The other reason is the Patriots pass defense.  All season teams have shredded them between the numbers and that’s area were Tebow operated a lot on Sunday making the Steelers secondary, the top pass defense in the NFL, look foolish.  So what will that mean for New England’s pass defense?

The other concern I have, albeit a smaller one, is in Denver the Broncos ran all over the Patriots in the first quarter racking up 166 yards on the ground in 15 minutes.  Luckily defensive coach Matt Patricia threw out the game plan and reworked it on the sideline and the changes slowed down the Broncos rushing express and also created three turnovers.

The one thing I am not worried about is the offense, which I think will put up at least 30 points on Denver.  The questions is what will the defense give up?

I guess we’ll need to watch Saturday night and find out.

To continue reading, click on the read more button below if you're on the home page.