Pats skin Cats; Road teams romp in Wild Card weekend

The Patriots began the long trip to Detroit Saturday, blowing out the Jacksonville Jaguars 28-3 with your Uncle Buck in attendance. The game was close going into half time, 7-3, with the Pats leading despite struggling against the Jaguars secondary. The second half was another story as Tom Brady (8 for 10 in the 2nd half) and company opened it up sending the Jags home for the winter.

The Pats defense sent a message to the rest of the teams in the playoffs, shutting down the Jacksonville run game. Willie McGinest broke two records for sacks, first in a game with 4.5, and he surpassed Bruce Smith's record for career postseason sacks, getting 1.5 in the closing moments. The Patriots set an NFL mark with 10 straight post season victories. 2002: Oakland (home), Pittsburgh (road), St. Louis (Super Bowl XXXVI); 2004 Tennessee (home), Indianapolis (home), Carolina (Super Bowl XXXVIII); 2005 Indianapolis (home), Pittsburgh (road), Philadelphia (Super Bowl XXXIX); 2006 Jacksonville (home).

Brady had touchdown throws of 11 yards to Troy Brown, 3 to David Givens and 63 to Ben Watson, though Watson did all the work on that one, breaking 3 tackles.

Cornerback Asante Samuel had a 73-yard interception return early in the fourth quarter that clinched it. The Pats finished with six sacks overall, one shy of Sports Illustrated columnist Peter King's prediction.

So the Jags are now forced to spend the off season in sunny Florida, the Pats are off to Denver, where they lost earlier in the year 28-20.

While tailgating at Gillette UB heard the end of the Redskins-Buccaneers game...Wouldn't that disputed touchdown pass drop from Chris Simms have been 100% better to watch if Phil Simms had been doing the game?

On Sunday UB tuned in to the Giants-Panthers game looking to see a tight defensive struggle...what he got was an excuse to watch his new "Batman" DVD as this game was over by the 3rd quarter.

Eli Manning got his 1st taste of playoff football in the 23-0 loss...but not to worry he's right on track...Peyton couldn't score in the playoffs early on either. As a matter of fact, counting the Colts loss to the Jets a few years back, the Manning brothers have now been outscored 67-0 in two playoff games in Giants Stadium.

Anyway about that new Batman DVD...This thing is great. Now UB thinks the new "Batman Begins" is the best of the Batman films but #2 has to be the original Batman with Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson and directed by Tim Burton.

I'm Batman. Yes "the" Batman...Um, a few years ago...how? Well I was sitting in my study, minding my own business, wait a minute, what am I saying? PUT DOWN THAT MACHINE GUN!!

Yes, your bat-breath stinks. Is this really the 1st time you're hearing this?

You wouldn't hit a guy with glasses would ya? Oh wait that one is actually in the movie...

Nicholson is just great in this, he plays a perfect psycho in the Joker. UB thinks they went a little overboard with the fake smile. On the special features disc Nicholson is interviewed and repeatedly says how much he loved the film and the Joker and the rest of it, to the point where you kind of wonder if he is a little crazy too...Keaton, on the other hand, is only in interviews from previous years, saying how he is tired of people calling him "Batman"...nice Michael, nice.

One of the other not-so-special features is the music videos that Prince did for the movie. How did they sell one album? These songs are AWFUL...Of course UB had the Batman album, of course UB also had the Batman toothbrush, Batman novelization, Batman cereal and Batman tennis shoes...lets just say that UB's monetary judgment was not so great back then...

UB wishes they added the original "Bat-dance" to the 2nd disc...

About the time the Joker was shooting Bruce Wayne, the Steelers-Bengals game started...Now at what point do people start saying that Bill Cowher is teaching his team to injure quarterbacks. Carson Palmer was knocked out of the game on his first pass attempt and could have major career problems after Kimo von Oelhoffen ("Hey honey, lets name the child Kimo") went shoulder first into Palmer's knee. This, four years after the Steelers knocked Tom Brady out of the AFC Championship game by hitting him in the back of the leg, causing a serious sprain. The hit removed Brady from the game that the Pats won.

The normally vocal Chad Johnson didn't have much to say after only 59-yards on 4 catches...His coach Marvin Lewis had plenty to say thought...When asked after the game what he thought when Palmer went out, Lewis said it wasn't worth crying about the injury, "like their quarterback did." The comment referring to earlier in the year when Ben Rothlesandwich acted like a baby after the Bengals knocked him out of the lineup for a few weeks...And one more thing...anyone who looks at this win and says what a great coach Bill Cowher is, wrap your brain around this: in 14 years of being a head coach, this is his 1st road playoff win.