Mother Turned Monday Morning Sports Writer

I just need to say "Phew!" Last night was a close call for the New England Patriots, but they have managed to improve their record to 11-0 with a well-fought 31-28 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. I will have to admit, I enjoyed watching a competitive game after the previous week's blowout of 56-10 against the Buffalo Bills. As a football fan, I love to see my favorite team win, but sometimes when the game is so lopsided it takes the fun out of being a fan. Isn't part of the fun watching a team come from behind to win a game?

In fact, last night's game against the Philadelphia Eagles reminded me of the "underdog" New England Patriots team of years past. The team that beat all the odds to win without having the superstar receivers like Randy Moss, Wes Welker and Donte Stallworth. Don't get me wrong, I love that Patriots finally have some top receivers to make Tom Brady's job as quarterback easier. Now that he has those receivers, he is finally able to prove that he is a "Pro-Bowl Caliber Quarterback" and (what I have been saying all these years) that he is one of the best quarterbacks to have ever played the game.

At this point, I would like to say "thank you" and "game well played" to the Philadelphia Eagles for challenging the New England Patriots. There were definitely moments during the game, as the score flip-flopped between the Patriots and the Eagles, where I questioned if this was going to be the surprise upset of the season. Up until last night, the Eagles had been having a marginal season (partially due to injury) at best, but last night the Eagles played like a "playoff contender team" against the unbeaten Patriots, who aside from the game against the Indianapolis Colts (24-20) had won by 17 points or more including the 48-27 victory over the 10-1 Dallas Cowboys. This tells me that when the Eagles want to play ball they can play!

So, for now, I will take a deep breath and focus on my week's projects, while the Patriots focus on their strategy to beat the Baltimore Ravens next Monday in Baltimore, because at this point, I know even the teams with marginal records don't always play marginal ball when facing the best team in the NFL, the New England Patriots!