Isn't it funny, Saratoga how one's bet can determine how one views an outcome. Lucky me, was on New England (-7.5) and I can't agree that the Oakland loss was a "bad beat". It could be argued over a friendly (and I stress friendly) beer that the difference was a missed 39 yard field goal that would have gotten you the smiles instead of me. However NE did miss a point-after which would have made the difference 8 points. Also the last 6 pointer was a bit of a gift as the Pats were into time management and not worried about giving up a TD. If you take away the first 5 minutes and the last 5 minutes it was 30-7 being Oakland only had 1 73 yard score. DEpends which side of the field you are on.


Arguing over spilt milk is good over the beer, but what I really like about your post is your indication of the future for these 2 teams. Written them down in the little black book as I think you are spot on. Oakland looked terrific in that first drive and a couple of held catches could have really opened up the running game for them. I don't think it will be too long before they catch a weak defensive by surprise and score big time. Their defense did look vulnerable but the 2nd half as you point out could have gone in a different direction if not Collins made the turnover. Oaklnd receiving points could be good. The stats show total yards was Oak 351 to NE 379, so the stats were very close and you are right, the turnover made all the difference to the momentum of the match.

The Pats looked very good and to my mind have plenty of improvement in them. But, as you say a tough schedule coming up and if the line makers follow the press, we may see 12 point spreads which are very difficult for a road team to cover.

Enjoyed your write-up and hope you have time to give us more. I think you are in the USA so you may be interested to know that down here we get the Sunday Night and Monday night games on ESPN pacific and Fox does 1 game either live or a replay on our Monday morning. After the NRL and AFL seasons are over in November they will show two. This week we are getting Detroit and the Packers. Biggest trouble is its hard to get real excited as 6 am is too early for having that beer.