Pats barely win with sour Raiders on tap

The Pats went into Chicago last week, and scored the win on one heck of a comeback.

Now you, may try to figure out how in the world that win transpired, but if you know ball, then you clearly know that Bear's head coach Dick Jaron and his staff were out coached by the Pats' head coach Bill Belechick and his crew.

Just look at the evidence.

After watching their offensive line manhandle the Bears defensive front, the Pats converted a lot of third downs, but established a serious threat when they converted a fourth and third down late in the game.

Then they nipped away at the lead with a field goal by Adam Vinatieri who broke all types of personal and team records with his 57 yard boot.

When the Bears lost QB Chris Chandler, and put in an injured (tendonitis) QB Jim Miller, the Pats could have pass rushed him to death. Instead they used patience and waited till his passes started losing it's oomph. After that the Bears were forced to run or try tricking the Pats D with halfback pass options, but those aren't meant to be used on every possession either.

The Pats had allowed the Bears to have the wind to their backs in the third quarter knowing that Brady would be able to put it to use in the fourth.

The Bears also called a crucial timeout, which gave the Pats extra time to put together a game plan because they had a man offsides and didn't know what down it was.

If the Bears defense had done their homework, they would have realized that the route wide receiver David Patten ran to score the winning TD was the same exact play used against the Steelers in the AFC Playoffs last year with QB Drew Bledsoe. And, if I'm not mistaken, he may have ran that same play earlier this year in Foxboro.

To make matters worse, the Bears self-destructed in the fourth quarter as almost everything went the way of the Pats from down conversions to replay of alleged interceptions.

This was huge because I don't think Belichick would have challenged the call because everyone thought it was an interception and nobody thinks about possession on a midfield pick."

This, of course, all leads us up to this weekend's game where the beloved Boys in Blue head out to the Black Hole and take on the Raiders.

Let me get this off my chest though:

The Raiders are going to win this game as I predicted in the off season, but there is one sure way for the Raiders to lose this game.

If the Raiders come out of that tunnel thinking about last year, and the calls continue to go the Pats way like last week, the Raiders will lose the game in the same fashion. They can't come out and just rush Brady out of pent up frustration.

This Oakland team has the talent, but if they come out onto the field with an axe to grind, the Pats will rip that ax from their hands and chop away at that Raider Mystique. The Raiders need to stop the run, and not allow our TE's and guys like WR Deion Branch to step up and, and make plays.

I look for the Patriots win to come from special teams play, defense, and step up players.

On that note I'd like to finish with this little piece from the Webster's dictionary.

parity (par' i - ti) (n): equality in status, equality in quantity and kind.

Thanks to "greed agency," we have a lot of that around this season in the NFL. I've never seen so many 4-5 teams in the standings. This season will go down as the quickest, and the least predictable of all time.

One good thing has come out of this parity though...

The bookies have made up from the beating they took on last year's Super Bowl.

Oops, I forgot one more quick issue. What is with all of these fines being handed down by the NFL for hits? We as fans pay to see these hits and pay well. Granted, some of these wide receivers who make these plays across the middle are a Lawyer Milloy or Tebuckey Jones elbow away from injured reserve, but all of these wide outs know the risk once they arrive in the NFL. Wideouts have it so easy in college, one foot in, no pressure from cornerbacks or defensive backs, and easy routes.

Come on, let these guys play. Just last week Willie McGinest sacked former teammate Drew Bledsoe and took the flag for roughing the passer. The following week the league hit him with a $7,500 fine. There was no helmet use, no forearm, but one six-foot guy taking another six-foot guy down to the turf.

I think the NFL players union should get involved and start reviewing these fines and file grievances where necessary.

This game is a sport where all of the players know the risk. Watch WR Keyshawn Johnson come across the middle and take a shot. Three out of five times he'll give props to the guy who tags him because he feeds off of it.

Why?

Because when a wide receiver finally beats that linebacker, cornerback, safety or defensive back because they mistimed the hit, he knows that he has a better chance of scoring six because that midfield miss disrupts everyone's coverage in the backfield.

So to Paul (Tablibue, NFL commissioner) and the rest of the league masterminds.

You can tweak the league, but please don't change the league."

Comments, email me at the Sinista1@msn.com.