funny how the numbers work sometimes ... a year ago, the patriots won 5 of their last 6 games including their last 4 ... the matt cassell led offense seemed to have found it's rhythm ... the team appeared ready to make some noise in january ... they finished the regular season 11-5 ... and became the 1st team in nfl history to win 11 games and not make the playoffs ... with identical 11-5 records, miami won the afc east and baltimore won a wild card slot, both on the conference record tiebreaker over the patriots

now comes 2009 ... new england is 5-4 over their last 9 games ... consistently inconsistent throughout ... and not a very good team away from home ... they finish the season 10-6 and qualify for the postseason (as a #3 seed) with a week to spare ... the afc wild card winners ... baltimore and the "playoff gifted" new york jets ... were 2 of 7 teams with just 7 or 8 wins who could have won those spots on the season's final weekend

i'm sure cousin ed can find the nfl's conspiracy against the patriots somewhere in these numbers ... i'll just say good luck to my wes welker-less new england patriots as they open their postseason against baltimore tomorrow afternoon in what is expected to be "frigid" foxborough ... for the first time in recent memory, my comfort zone is not so comfortable