Five Thoughts on the New England Patriots

Here are five thoughts that have occurred to me since watching the Patriots dismantle the Vikings last night.

1. Tom Brady truly is old school. As you may recall - I am a big fan of the subtle thing and if you saw Tom Brady's on the field interview right after the game last night you saw Brady bring back something that was real old school. Many people have commented on the fact that Brady was all "we" and no "I" last night but at the end of the interview the last thing he said was "Hi Mom." When's the last time you heard a "Hi Mom"? Back in the early 70's you couldn't see an interview without a "Hi Mom".

2. As it happened - in one of my fantasy football leagues I had Tom Brady and the guy I was playing had Brad Johnson. I got 36 points with Brady and my opponent got 1 point with Johnson. That basically told the story of how the game went.

3. Next up for the Patriots are the Colts. I must make the observation that the guy who really has hurt the Patriots the past few years was not Peyton Manning so much as Eggerin James. Now James is out of the picture and I would look for Bill Belichick to come up with some really good schemes for Manning.

4. The over for last night's game was 40 points. The combined total was 38 (31-7) after 3 quarters. I can't tell you how frustrating it was to me that neither team could manage that final field goal to push the total to 41. Very frustrating to me if you know what I'm trying to say.

5. The Patriots play the Bears at the end of November and I would like to remind folks that the Vikings almost beat the Bears at the end of September before falling to them 19-16. The Patriots on the other hand - destroyed the Vikings. Just saying that the Patriots may be better than people have been giving them credit for.