On This Sunday In December

As I watch my beloved New England Patriots fight for their playoff lives on this final Sunday of the NFL regular season, I’m realizing that there are worse scenarios than this team not getting in. When Tom Brady went down in September, no one realistically expected this team would still be alive come Christmas. Sure, we all said we believed in them—that they were good enough to go 10-6, that they were good enough to make the playoffs—but no one really meant it. And even if we did, the thrashing Miami delivered in Foxboro during week 3 changed our minds.

But this team came together, and Matt Cassel proved he was better than I, for one, ever thought he was going to be. That is a point that should be remembered—Bill Belichick was right about Matt Cassel, and the rest of us were wrong. Dead wrong. Cassel is not only a suitable backup but he is about to become a well-paid starter somewhere. (Hopefully in the NFC, where he cannot come back to haunt us every season.)

That this team has a legitimate chance to finish 11-5 is better than we could have hoped for. It should be good enough to get into the playoffs…but if it isn’t, it is enough for the fan base to feel good about. The Indianapolis Colts would have folded like a house of cards if Peyton Manning ever went down in week 1. The New England Patriots not only survived the loss of Brady, the excelled without him. Both players and coaches alike deserve credit for that.