I dubbed Asante Samuel’s interception return for a touchdown against the Philadelphia Eagles the best play of the year for the New England Patriots. So which might have been the worst play of the year for the league’s best team?

The answer is obviously the Indianapolis Colts 73-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Addai late in the second half.

However, the worst play on offense I’ve seen was a failed attempt to convert a third-and-one situation in the same game. Holy cow, what a bad play that was.

Patriots had a pretty good drive going in the bottom half of the third quarter, trailing 13-7, and had advanced the ball to Colts’ 23 yard line. On first down Tom Brady threw an incomplete pass intended for Randy Moss. On second and ten runningback Kevin Faulk took the ball up the middle for nine yards, setting the Patriots up for a highly makeable third and one situation at the Indy 14-yard line.

In spite of having had success moving the ball out of the shotgun, either throwing it or running between the tackles, Patriots brought in a rarely if ever before seen big-beef personnel group that lined up in the Power-I formation, a formation that was successful last year but hasn’t been used much this year, with back-up interior offensive lineman Russ Hochstein as eligible receiver at left tight end (tight ends Ben Watson and Kyle Brady were lined up on the right side).

There are a couple of things I have consistently praised New England’s offensive linemen for this season. One is that they rarely blow their assignments and another that they do a good job of covering for each other. If an offensive lineman or tight end at the point of attack whiffs on a block the fullback or a pulling offensive lineman will engage that defender. On top of that Bill Belichick is universally known as a coach who places great emphasis on situational and third-and-short in the red zone is presumably a situation he’d handle with care.

Yet, in spite of all those things, this particular third-down play against the Colts went to Hell in a hand basket. It was a pretty complete breakdown.

I don’t know for sure, but it appears as if Hochstein expected left tackle Matt Light to pull around him, while Light seemed to expect Hochstein to seal of pursuit from the inside. The mix-up resulted in Hochstein blocking Light, which looked exactly as farcical as it sounds. The mistake allowed Colts’ top-notch free safety Bob Sanders to shoot across the line-of-scrimmage unopposed. To make matters worse, he timed it so well that Evans couldn’t adjust and block him. Consequently, Sanders got through untouched and cut down Maroney who really had no chance of avoiding the tackle. Patriots had to settle for a field goal.

The Patriots still won the game, 24-20, but it was an unusual mistake for the Patriots, two veteran linemen with plenty of playing time under their belts get so crossed up.

I don’t know how I missed this but on November 19 the Indianapolis Colts (drumroll, please) added Mike Elgin to the practice squad. That’s right, the Mike Elgin. The offensive lineman from East North Central Iowa Community College Hawkeyes (or something like that) who was drafted by the New England Patriots, showed excellent skills during training camp and pre-season games but then was cut at the end of camp, then picked up by the New York Jets/New Jersey Rats, then cut, and cut he remained for week after week after week until the Colts finally picked him up. What’s funny about the Colts picking him up is that when they signed Corey Hilliard I found it absurd that Hilliard, who stinks, would be in football but not Elgin, who can actually play.

According to sources of probably ill repute a woman has to speak 6,000 words a day and she basically won’t stop talking until she’s filled that quota.

In other words, ladies, when your married friends call, PICK UP THE PHONE!

Top Line: New England Patriots had a down day while the visiting Philadelphia Eagles played their game of the season. When it was all said and done Patriots stood as 31-28 winners, as winners of the AFC Division East and with a still-perfect 11-0 regular-season record while the Eagles were left thinking about what could have been. Three interceptions, two by cornerback Asante Samuel and one by safety James Sanders, tipped the game in New England’s favor.

Offensive Line: The regular starters played, meaning left tackle Matt Light, left guard Logan Mankins, center Dan Koppen, right guard Stephen Neal and right tackle Nick Kaczur. The line had a tough outing. It was challenged by the Eagles like it hadn’t been previously this season, not even by the Dallas Cowboys or Indianapolis Colts. Kaczur gave up two sacks, although the second was more of a coverage sack that came about because Brady rolled out of the pocket to get away from the pressure and find an open receiver. The first sack, however, was simply Kaczur getting beat by nobody’s business. Light and Mankins also gave up a sack on a very well designed blitz. Eagles sent four guys over the left side of the Patriots offensive line. Faulk picked up linebacker Takeo Spikes, and Light blocked free safety Brian Dawkins and Mankins took on stunting defensive end Darren Howard. The clincher was linebacker Chris Gocong who pushed Howard through Mankins’s block so he could sack Brady. The left side couldn’t get help from Koppen because of a terrific double loop by the nose tackle and the left defensive end. The two of them not only occupied Koppen, Neal and Kaczur, they also opened a path for the nose tackle - Mike Patterson, I believe - to get to Brady had he somehow eluded Howard.

Brady endured plenty of pressure apart from the sacks and he was repeatedly hit as he threw the ball. Faced with a pass rush they couldn’t slow down the Patriots countered with a few screen plays in the second half, on one of which Welker gained 42 yards. The run blocking was also a mixed bag but as has been the case throughout the season the traditional down-blocking with traps and pulling linemen worked a lot better and more consistently than the fruity zone blocking the Patriots have used at times this season.

Mankins probably had the best day of the linemen. Light drew two false-start penalties.

Best Play of the Year: If you, like me, love football for its unique blend of scheming and execution of motion and violence you have got to love the play that produced cornerback Asante Samuel’s touchdown. That play was a master piece, a gem, something to treasure and remember from this season full of memorable moments. The Eagles ran a play that tried to take advantage of their strengths and New England’s tendencies. Patriots responded by playing against their own tendencies and they came out ahead.

Eagles went with a strong right formation, with Westbrook split wide right as flanker and LJ Smith as tight end. Correll Buckhalter was the lone runningback behind Eagles quarterback JFeeley. Patriots had Vrabel as left outside linebacker, Adalius Thomas as left inside linebacker and Samuel lined up over Westbrook.

As I mentioned after the Redskins game, Patriots usually give up a lot of yards to teams that have the patience and ability to work short outside patterns. By putting their feared play maker in that spot, the Eagles were presumably trying to force the Patriots’ hand in order to create a soft spot for the tight end behind Vrabel, who could reasonably be expected to rush the quarterback, outside Thomas, underneath strong safety Harrison and inside whoever would be covering Westbrook. But it didn’t work.

It didn’t work because Vrabel dropped back to cover the tight end after initially faking a blitz. Vrabel’s fake made Buckhalter take a couple of steps to his right in anticipation. That left him out of position as Thomas stormed into the pocket through the spot that right guard Shawn Andrews had vacated to block Wilfork so that the center could slide to his left in case Patriots right inside linebacker Tedy Bruschi blitzed, which he didn’t. Feeley looked for Smith, realized he was covered by Vrabel and, under pressure from a diving Thomas threw the ball in Westbrook’s direction. Samuel jumped the route, picked off the ball and returned it for a touchdown. Feeley reportedly said after the game he was trying to throw away the ball but couldn’t get enough on it because of the pressure Thomas applied.

It was beautiful. Team defense at its best. Scheming and execution. Motion and violence. Just beautiful.

The Gist: The 5-5 (now 5-6) Eagles launched their own Brusilov offensive against their stronger opponent. They used a flea-flicker, an onside kick, imaginative blitz-packages, aggressive passing schemes, fourth-down gambles and every ounce of energy they could muster in an all-out attempt to bring down the unbeaten Patriots. Journeyman quarterback AJ Feeley had the game of his life, completing 27 of 42 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns. He was surprisingly accurate, and his receivers made several good catches when he wasn’t. He also held up well to New England’s pass rush. But the Patriots were successful in what they set out to accomplish: Keep Westbrook from beating them. All Westbrook managed was 40 yards on seven receptions and 52 yards on 17 carries. Vrabel and left defensive end Ty Warren in particular deserve a lot of credit for making the left side of the Patriots defense a veritable no-go zone for Westbrook.

Patriots went with a shotgun spread formation for most of the game, especially in the first half. Eagles did an increasingly good job of taking wide receivers Randy Moss and Donte Stallwort out of the game, as well as little-used tight end Ben Watson. Except for a few runs in the third quarter the running game was pretty much abandoned. That left wide receivers Welker and Jabar Gaffney as the playmakers of the evening for the Patriots. Welker responded with a career-high 13 receptions for 143 yards. Gaffney caught six passes for 87 yards and one touchdown on a 32 yard pass.

Brady ended up with 34 completions on 54 attempts for 380 yards, one touchdown and perhaps most importantly no interception.

Runningback Laurence Maroney scored a four yard touchdown run up the middle behind solid blocking a nice trap by Neal.

The Patriots weren’t particularly sharp. Stallworth, Maroney, Moss and Faulk all dropped passes. Brady was off target on a handful of passes. Long snapper Lonnie Paxton managed a false start. The kick-return team surrendered an on-side kick (fullback Kyle Eckel and wide receiver Kelley Washington were the culprits).

Some plays to note: Philadelphia’s first touchdown was a one-yard run over the middle by Westbrook. For whatever reason cornerback Ellis Hobbs was lined up just behind the defensive line. His lame attempt at a tackle was thwarted by Eagles tight end Brent Celek who pushed Hobbs into Bruschi, a two-fer block that enabled Westbrook to leisurely skip into the end zone. Hobbs can barely cover people and he sure as heck can’t tackle them.

On third and three in the dying seconds of the third quarter Patriots used a weird formation where Welker lined up as a split end wide left when the ball was on the right hash mark. I imagine they were trying to create a favorable matchup for either Moss or Stallworth in the slot but it didn’t work and the play ended with Faulk dropping the pass.

On fourth and four early in the fourth quarter Patriots put Moss at right split end Welker in the right slot, while Gaffney and Stallworth was slot left and split end left. Eagles threw a seven-man blitz at Brady who underthrew a well covered Moss. Brady was off-target because Spikes shot the gap between Neal and Kaczur, both of whom engaged other pass rushers (Faulk filled the gap between Mankins and Light, as he should in those situations). Had Welker run a slant or on n in-cut behind the blitzing Spikes Brady could probably have him for a potentially huge gain. Instead he ran a square out, similar to the pattern that gave the Patriots the game-icing first down against the Colts.

The Patriots faced a similar situation on third and six, up 31-28 and looking to bleed the clock. Again the Patriots put Welker and Moss to the right and Gaffney and Stallworth to the left, and again the Eagles crowded the line of scrimmage. It turned into yet another chess match that the Patriots won: The cornerback who initially lined up to cover Gaffney crept up to the line of scrimmage to rush Brady. Over on the left side the Eagles ran a zone-blitz, dropping defensive end Juqua Thomas at the snap to keep Welker from running an in-cut behind the blitzing Eagles. Instead of looking right, as he had done on the fourth-down play, Brady threw the ball to the wide-open Gaffney who picked up the first down and then some.

Eagles missed what would have been a terrific blitz opportunity on third and nine situation in the fourth quarter. Fullback Heath Evans was in for Faulk and lined up to Brady’s right. Eagles had a linebacker in the gap between Mankins and Light but instead of blitzing he dropped to cover. Brady hit Welker for a first down.

Evans scored a one-yard touchdown run from the clown-formation (ie. Vrabel at tight end, linebacker Junior Seau at fullbck and Evans at tailback).

A Nice Little Duo:

Brady to Welker for 9 yards
Brady to Welker for 6 yards
Brady to Welker for 6 yards
Brady to Welker for 7 yards
Brady to Welker for 7 yards
Brady to Welker for 11 yards
Brady to Welker for 42 yards
Brady to Welker for 7 yards
Brady to Welker for 12 yards
Brady to Welker for 13 yards
Brady to Welker for 16 yards
Brady to Welker for 10 yards
Brady to Welker for 3 yards

Bottom Line: Eagles neutralized Patriots number one and two receivers and the running game, scored four touchdowns and still lost.

Links:

Game highlights.

Game Center @ NFL.com with stats, play-by-play and more.

The Boston Globe’s Ms. Tania deLuzuriaga has an article today on the much-delayed and much cost-overran Kenmore bus station in the heart of Kenmore Square. Ms. deLuzuriaga writes that the “projected completion has been pushed back until at least late 2008.”

Eight months ago the MBTA told the Globe’s then traffic reporter Mr. Mac Daniel that the station was “10 months behind schedule” and wouldn’t “be complete until the 2007 Red Sox season is well over, even if they [were to] make the playoffs.” True, the 2007 Red Sox season will be well over by late 2008.

Back in March an MBTA spokesman had his talking point down pat for Mr. Daniel:

“It’s extraordinarily difficult to do this kind of construction while keeping the station open the entire time,” said Joe Pesaturo, spokesman for the T.

A different spokesperson gave Ms. deLuzuriaga all kinds of excuses that turn out to be non-excuses:

Design problems, unexpected complications with utility lines, and difficulties working around the crowds of people who swarmed the Kenmore T Station during baseball’s postseason, have meant a much longer timeline for the project, officials with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said.

Actually, according to “the MBTA’s assistant general manager for design and construction” the design problems “didn’t push back the project’s overall completion date” (I’m quoting Ms. deLuzuriaga’s article).

So scratch that one.

Then we have my favorite issue, the utility lines:

When contractors began work [in early 2005, I assume], they ran into scores of undocumented utility lines that had to be moved or worked around, which delayed work, said Charlie O’Reilly, the MBTA’s assistant general manager for design and construction.

“Scores of undocumented utility lines?” The Kenmore station underwent major renovations after a massive flood in 1996. How could there possibly have been undocumented utility lines left after that incident? 2005 was also after the construction of Hotel Commonwealth at 500 Commonwealth Avenue immediately south of the station had been completed (the south exit from the station is in fact in that building). Hotel Commonwealth was built after an entire block had been demolished to make way for it. How, how could there have been “undocumented utility lines?” I really don’t get it.

Besides, those lines were supposedly encountered early in the process, so how could they possibly have contributed to the delayed completion date being pushed back from November 2007 - the estimate that was made back in March this year - to late 2008?

Red Sox play-off crowds? The Sox played eight play-off home games, three of which were weekend games. How could those five games possibly have delayed the project by an additional year (and here’s a question that has gone unasked by media since the 2005 season: Who are the people who’ve been parking at the construction site during Red Sox games? Must be sweet for them that the project has been dragging out season after season).

Basically, the T can’t muster any explanation at all for why the project has been delayed by yet another full year. I guess that leaves us with the tell-all reason that Boston talk-show host Howie Carr favors: Don’t kill the job.

There is some good news (or perhaps lies):

MBTA officials say they plan to move the temporary bus shelters on Beacon Street across the street to the depot by January, although construction on the glass structure will continue until at least March.

That could, if nothing else, reduce traffic congestion on Beacon Street.

It was all fun and games back in April 2005.

Top Line: New England Patriots improved their 2007 regular-season record to 10-0 by stomping Buffalo Bills 56-10 on the road. Quarterback Tom Brady threw five touchdown passes, four to wide receiver Randy Moss. New England’s defense held up its end of the bargain, limiting Buffalo’s offense to 229 yards, logging four sacks, forcing two turnovers and returning a fumble for a touchdown.

Offensive Line: Left tackle Matt Light, left guard Logan Mankins, center Dan Koppen, right guard Russ Hochstein (in for Stephen Neal who was out with a shoulder injury) and right tackle Nick Kaczur. Back-up Billy Yates also got a healthy dose of snaps at left guard.

The offensive line was once again magnificent. Brady wasn’t sacked once and the line’s performance didn’t degrade one bit after runningback Kevin Faulk - who’s an important piece of the Patriots’ passing-game puzzle, both as receiver and blocker - left the game.

A couple of less than stellar plays might be worth noting: Hochstein let a Bills defensive lineman slip by him on an end-around to wide receiver Wes Welker, greatly contributing to the run netting only three yards. On a screen-pass right Yates threw a pretty weak cut block on a Bills linebacker who was able to tackle the ball carrier (of course, the Patriots still got a first down on that play, I’m just saying there’s room for improvement. ).

The Gist: It was the Patriots most dominant performance of the season. Bills had no chance whatsoever. The competitive part of the game ended when cornerback Randall Gay put a quick end to the home team’s first drive with an interception. The score was 35-7 at halftime and Patriots could probably have put up another 35 in the second without much effort. They scored 21 almost without trying.

Bills quarterback JP Losman at times almost looked scared by the Patriots pass rush.

Patriots runningback Laurence Maroney had yet another disappointing outing, managing only 19 yards on 6 carries (including a six-yard touchdown run through a gaping hole up the middle) and once again doing too much dancing and stutter stepping behind the line of scrimmage. Back up Heath Evans produced 56 yards on 10 carries and fifth-string runningback Kyle Eckel ran for 40 yards on 10 carries and scored one touchdown.

Bottom Line: I’ve never seen anything like this in the NFL.

Truly Jörg’s closed its Kenmore Square location last month. I don’t know if the closure was purely a function of revenue trajectory or the result of several factors, including revenue, staffing, logistics and the violent hold-up last May.

It’s definitely a set-back for the upscale vision of the post-ruffian so-called new Kenmore Square. The main problem for the new square is that is has more or less the same demographics to work with as the old one: Students, Red Sox fans and Lansdowne Street revelers. If the proposed One Kenmore Square high-rise attracts a more upscale crowd then maybe the Square can sustain the lofty visions, but one should not take for granted that the high-rise comes to fruition, nor that it will be filled mostly with non-students if it does, nor that its residents will shop Kenmore Square rather than Trilogy/Landmark Center a couple of blocks down Brookline Avenue (the OKS developer owns Landmark).

And the landfill in the heart of Kenmore Square still looks like shit.

Yesterday, the injury ravaged Indianapolis Colts signed rookie offensive lineman Corey Hilliard, who first joined the team’s practice squad a couple of months ago after getting cut by the New England Patriots, the team who drafted him. Hilliard was an embarrassment at the rookie mini-camp, completely out of shape and unable to finish the work-out sessions, and then he was a stiff in pre-season camp who earned just a few snaps late in pre-season game. But the Colts’ tackle situation is that desperate. Stand-out left tackle Tarik Glenn retired after last year, his capable replacement Tony Ugoh is injured, his replacement Charles Johnson turned out to be awful and the team had to turn to a guy who basically is fourth-string left-tackle compared to last year. With Hilliard the Colts are reaching for fifth string.

Colts cut former Patriot Dan Klecko, a scrappy player who’s a little too small and a little too slow to play in the NFL [November 20 update: Colts re-signed Klecko].

Winchester, Massachusetts, observed Veterans Day today with the annual parade through the downtown, from the Church Common to the Veterans Memorial. Veterans, honor guards, scout troops, the high-school band, civic associations and others participated. My wife snapped some photographs of the event.

(Click here for a larger version (opens in a new window)).

Last Friday I went to a Boston Celtics game for the first time in seven years. That game back in 2000 was a pretty dreadful story. The Celtics played Chicago Bulls in the (final) post-Michael Jordan era. The Celtics stunk. The Bulls stunk. The game stunk. The crowd at hand was mostly interested in dancing their way onto the Jumbotron. I spent the whole game talking NFL with a co-worker.

It was a very different story last Friday, when the Celtics took on Atlanta Hawks. The Celtics now have a lot of talent, including the towering but athletic Kevin Garnett. The team entered the game with a 3-0 record, including a ridiculous blow out. The crowd was loud and supportive. All aspects of the floor show were excellent, and the Celtics now has a dance team, something it sadly lacked back in 2000. The Celtics are now demanding our attention, as Boston Globe sports columnist Bob Ryan put it last week.

After a somewhat slow and error-prone start to the game, Celtics took control and more or less cruised to a 106-83 victory.

Paul Pierce is an intriguing piece of the Celtics puzzle. He used to be the team’s only star, heck, at times he might have been the team’s only NBA-level player, but now he’s overshadowed by Garnett. He struggled a bit against the Hawks, but still ended up making bunch of plays and scoring a bunch of points. Not that I really know much about basketball, but perhaps a good portion of the Celtics championship chances hinge on Pierce’s performance throughout the season and in particular the play offs.

A most honorable guest at hand was Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona. The crowd was at its loudest when he was introduced by the announcer. Francona also took part in a down-time floorshow where he held the ball over his head, where Celtics Leprechaun mascot Lucky snagged it after jumping off of a trampoline (I imagine the “Lucky stole ball! Lucky stole the ball!”-joke has been done to death).

I also took a few pictures of the Celtics dancers.