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This time around, as the fates would have it, it would take the same score for the New England Patriots to realize a lesser but equally deserved kind of championship down in Jacksonville- the AFC East Title. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> Now, depending on what kind of person you are, you might say that it�s beyond coincidence, that it�s all part of some strange design. I�m not sure about the mumbo-jumbo, but one thing is for sure, beyond any good luck the Pat�s may have had in the past, there remains two constants- Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> And that�s all there is to it. For the past five years, the Pat�s have reinvented themselves countless times over with personnel/coaching changes, roster moves, injury replacements, Offensive schemes, and the list goes on. Yet still here they are, still quietly winning out their division the old fashioned way- through hard work and good coaching. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> �We fought hard through a lot of this year. You look at the games we lost, they were all hard fought. You know, moving forward, I like our chances,� said a smiling Tom Brady in his post game routine. The Pat�s star QB was less than spectacular on the day, throwing for just 249 yards with a touchdown. But those numbers are a poor indication of his importance in the win. Probably more telling are his completion numbers- 28 catches in 39 attempts, with a good many coming in crucial third down situations. Simply put, he delivered when he had to. <BR><IMG SRC="bruschiwin.jpg" ALIGN="RIGHT" BORDER=0 VSPACE=5>When asked about the dangerous hit he took in the fourth quarter, more specifically the one that had Pats fans everywhere nervously crying out �Oh Shit� in unison, Brady pooh-poohed it, saying �yeah he got me pretty good, I hadn�t seen the replay yet, but I�ll definitely feel sore. I�ll be ready to go, though.� Brady was sidelined for only one play in the series because of it, but the truth of the matter is he was lucky to walk away from the helmet-to-shoulder blade impact without a serious injury. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> Which brings me right down to the brass tacks of it; Now that that Patriots have secured at the very least a fourth seed playoff berth, it will take a bit of posturing on the part of Bill Belichick in the upcoming week to ensure the team is in the best position to win their first round match-up. In other words, what approach he will take against Tennessee this Sunday. As it stands right now, a fourth seed guarantees a home field contest against a wildcard opponent, and provided they win that, a second round follow-up against one of the two bye teams on their turf. But should the current three-seed Indianapolis Colts lose this week against the Miami Dolphins, coupled with a Patriots win over the Titans, the Patriot�s would find themselves with a better record than the Colts, meaning that they own the three seed. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> It�s all very conditional stuff, and shouldn�t really be taken too seriously from a media standpoint. But with that said, Bill Belichick might find himself with an interesting quandary this coming Sunday. At a glance, the AFC wildcards will likely go to Denver and New York, both of whom beat the Patriot�s in the regular season. I would say the Pat�s level of commitment to this Sunday�s game is dependent on how the wildcards play out, or said a different way, who they�d rather face in the first round. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> The situation is almost a mirror image of the one the Pat�s were in this time last year, when Belichick not so discreetly tanked the final regular season game against Miami on purpose in order to play the Jaguars in the first round- a team everybody knew was the easier obstacle. Around the league, that sort of thing isn�t talked about, but to everybody else it was as plain as day. What we saw in that game was the Patriot�s A squad replaced very early on with the B�s and the C�s, highlighted by a Doug Flutie drop-kick point-after that really showed just how serious Belichick was about winning. <BR><IMG SRC="tab.gif"> So don�t think the Pats are above taking a dive this week against the Titans, or on the other hand, playing full bore. It all depends on what is the most advantageous moving forward. But I think that with the team, and more importantly Tom Brady being a little banged up, the extra rest might be to everyone�s benefit. <BR> <BR> <B>Tell me, Tell me. <A HREF="mailto:josh@southcoast247.com">josh@southcoast247.com</A>.</B> <BR><BR><BR> <SPAN CLASS="LARGETEXT"><A HREF="pats.shtml">Read more from STATS ON PATS WEEKLY...</A></SPAN> <BR><BR> </SPAN> <BR><BR><BR><BR> <DIV ALIGN="CENTER">  <SCRIPT LANGUAGE=JavaScript>  </SCRIPT>  <BR></DIV> </TD> <TD VALIGN="TOP" WIDTH=225 BGCOLOR="#CC9900"> <SPAN CLASS="TEXT"> <IMG SRC="http://www.southcoast247.com/column_images/ev_calx.gif"> <script type="text/javascript" src="http://www.trumba.com/scripts/spuds.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> $Trumba.addSpud({ webName: "southcoast-calendar-arts-entertainment-nightlife-clubs", spudType : "upcomingfader" , teaserBase : "http://www.southcoasttoday.com/static/247calendar.html" }); document.write('<br /><a href="http://www.southcoasttoday.com/static/247calendar.html"><font color="#ffffff">View All Events</font></a>'); </script> <noscript>Your browser must support JavaScript to view this content. 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