What do you expect from a magazine who's standards have so declined that their famed "Person of the Year" this year was "you" with a silvery piece of plastic on the cover? Time is a rag of its former self. I believe next year's "Person of the Year" will either be Bigfoot or Ratboy.

It is almost as amusing as the comics themselves that so many people take the time to post that they don't get the joke. In a social setting, most people won't admit they don't understand a joke, but here on the internet everyone can feel free to show their sense of humor is limited.

Not really. The Jets hung in there for a close game most of the way through. It was late in the the 3rd quarter, Pats leading 20 - 13 when there was a knocked down pass. Everone on the field stopped, thinking the play was over. Bellicheck realized the refs hadn't blown the whistle and screamed at one of his players to get the ball. Wilfork picked it up and got to the 15 before the Jets stopped him.

After that it was all over, sure. Before that fluke play it was still anyone's ball game.

Also, I have to agree with tangerine. I can't listen to Michaels half the time. Between his sucking up to Madden and his nasty Republican comments I don't really care if he manages to watch the game and tell me what I'm seeing. When I want that, I listen to the radio.

I only call it a flukey play because it wasn't just a routine backward pass that was well defended. Apparently the players and coaches all thought it was a forward pass and the play was dead. The announcers I was listening to also seemed surprised. A player picked up the ball only after Bellechek screamed at him once he'd noticed the refs weren't ending the play. The announcers seemed to think the ball was coming back while it was being run downfield because the play was over. Most of the players seemed to think the same thing.

And isn't it always anyone's ballgame before the key game-changing play

Only if it is "game changing". Had the Pats really been "pounding" the Jets, it wouldn't have been a "game changing" play, it would have just been "there they go again." If the play had taken place with the Patriots leading 35-16, then it would have been part of a "pounding". As it was, it was a late play that let the Pats put the game away. The interception Pennington threw on the next series was part of desperation and not game-changing. It wasn't "anyone's game" by then and the interception was likely thrown because a big play was needed and more risks were taken.

It wasn't a normal play. Go watch clips of the Jets "lateral". There's 6 seconds in between when the player touches the ball and when the announcer says "Wilfork picks it up". The announcer also says "Everyone stops but Wilfork." And "Are they calling that a lateral?" The player that defensed the pass pays no more attention to it after he hits it. The play was a fluke.

I'm not saying it wasn't a good play, just that it was out of the ordinary even for an unpredictable game like football. When everyone but one player stops, it is a flukey play.

After Marvin Jackson intercepted, he did the smartest thing I've seen a defensive back do in awhile. He took a few steps and then slid down onto his back so there was no chance of a turnover. He knew they'd win and didn't try to make the highlight reel, perhaps knowing he was already there. We saw Chicago fail to do this kind of smart play earlier in the day, booting away a fumble recovery because the defensive player was trying to pick it up and run with it instead of fall on it, but it didn't change the game for Chicago in the end. Heck, we've seen players fail to do this quite a bit over the season and in the playoffs. I think Marvin Jackson deserves mention just for choosnig to lie down.

pageiger -

The runner was hit on his way into the end zone, the defensive player's arm was knocked away as he tried to grab him. It was bad tackling, but there was contact.

DH -

You don't think a coach would do that? Especially not one considered a genius? But that's exactly what Holmgren did in the Superbowl against Denver. He let Terrel Davis score. He later admitted to doing so and admitted he had lost track of how many time outs the Packers had left. It is possible Bellecheck did the same thing. We've now learned it doesn't work. Holmgren has gone on to prove he has no idea how to manage a big game, the previous Superbowl was won despite him, not because of him. I wonder if Bellechck is headed for the same fate.

Anonymous -

I was confused at the time too, but the original call was not down by contact, the play proceeded and the Bears fumbled the recovery and the Saints recovered. That's what the Bears were challenging. Since he was down by contact and the play should have been over, the subsequent fumble didn't count and the Bears retained posession. The network did a miserable job of covering it, not really bothering to show the continuing play even though one of the announcers said "The play hasn't been whistled dead", the camera crew seemed to think it was.

Yes, and the "thing" that needs to get done that the American people are crying out for is him leaving office.