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The Patriots' season is on the line when they head to Buffalo.
Four straight losses. You know what, I don't care one bit. A lot of people said that the week eight match-up with the Broncos was a must win for the Patriots, and I disagreed. We were 3-4 last season, and in my opinion not nearly as good of a team as we are now. However, 3-5 is an extremely dangerous spot to be in, and it's one I don't see the Patriots coming back from to earn a spot in the post-season. And could there be a more perfect team to play that game that will determine our season against than the Buffalo Bills? Sure, we could take on the Seahawks and have a walk in the park back to .500, but that just wouldn't do it for me. I can tell you this much, Buffalo scares me to death. The moment I heard that Bledsoe was traded within the division, I knew that one day we would be decimated by such a bone-headed move. And maybe Sunday is that day. Face it, the Patriots are far from playing their best football. Drew Bledsoe has been a smoking gun, and now that he's got revenge on his mind, expect things to get even hotter. And so the Patriots may be entering their darkest hour. It could be a five game losing streak on our plate - an all too quick trip from the highest of heights to the deepest of depths. But if our season has to be broken or built on one game, this is the game I would have wanted it to be. This is the game where the gloves finally come off, and all the cards are laid out on the table. The Patriots season depends on their ability to cripple the man who once carried the weight of the franchise on his back. This is the type of game that a sports fan lives for. Sure it may end in bitter agony, but that doesn't mean you don't savor every moment of it. It's a chance to dig down deep and find out what you're really made of. Something special is going to happen in Buffalo on Sunday, I guarantee it. The last time I felt this way was back in January, when the snow was falling down. It was during the review for the "tuck rule" call in the snow game. I couldn't understand why my team had collapsed so. Everything I had hoped for was falling apart at the seams. Kinda like it is right now at 3-4. This is the song that was playing out of the speakers of Foxboro Stadium, when the play was being reviewed. In the midst of a silenced crowd, with the snow swirling in a black sky, came the voice of Phil Collins....
And I can feel it coming in the air tonight
I've been waiting for this moment for all my life
I can feel it in the air tonight
And I've been waiting for this moment all my life
Well, if you told me you were drowning
I would not lend a hand
I've seen your face before my friend
But I don't know if you know who I am
Well, I was there and I saw what you did
I saw it with my own two eyes
So you can wipe off the grin, I know where you've been
It's all been a pack of lies And I can feel it coming in the air tonight...
This song nails it right on the head. It's the moment every Patriot fan has been anticipating and dreading at the same time - Brady vs. Bledsoe. After all the hype and turmoil, these two, whose fates are so intertwined, will finally get the opportunity to go out and prove who they are by going head to head. And you know, I can feel it coming. I feel the most pivotal game in the Patriots quest to defend their title is going to take place over the course of three hours on a cold Buffalo Sunday afternoon. And I feel that the Patriots are going to walk away the victors. After losing our swagger, our ability to dominate, we finally began to jell as a team during the third quarter last Sunday. Had it not been for a blown call on a blatant face-mask during a drive in which we had all the momentum and the Broncs were reeling, we may have actually pulled it out. But that's the past, and the future is now. I feel the Patriots have an advantage in each of the last nine games on the schedule. There's not a team on there we shouldn't beat. But our time of grace has long since passed, and it's no longer time to talk about winning games, it's time to go out there and actually win games. It's time to prove why we were the only team left standing when the dust settled in Super Bowl XXXVI. And with all the build-up, the turmoil, the vengeance, the vindication, it's bound to be a "Battle of the Titans", a "Match-up for the Ages", but most importantly for every player wearing a New England Patriots jersey -- it's a game that determines the season.
I just checked the forecast for Buffalo on Sunday. It might snow...
