You heard me.  With the AFC East race tight, there is one team asides ourselves that can strongly help us win the crown: The San Francisco 49ers.

You may recall we defeated them early in the season.  Since then they have sacked their coach and installed Mike Singletary, who is attempting to whip them back into shape with unorthodox measures, and may have succeeded finally with their impressive romping over St. Louis this week.

Why should we send out good karma to the The City by the Bay?

Week 13: SF @ Buf

Week 14: NYJ @ SF

Week 15: SF @ Mia

Go get 'em Singletary!

This probably isn't a big deal, but if it's news anywhere, it should be news here.

ESPN reports that Brady had surgery again on his wounded knee, this time to clear up an infection no doubt caused by the first surgery.

The good doctor DiNubile says...

"This can happen to anyone having a surgery, but it's a relatively rare occurrence after knee procedures.  The earlier you recognize and treat it -- that's surgery and antibiotics -- the less likely you're going to have problems down the line. The best-case scenario is that they got it early, and if everything goes right, he would be back at the same time as was expected."

Let's hope this minor bump has no long reaching effects, and be glad Brady probably has the best medical care that can be afforded.  I for one will continue my fantasy of Brady descending from clouds to throw 6 TDs at next years season opener.

So I'm reading Gallo's article on Page 2 and what do I see?

3. Shameful showing by thousands of Patriots fans Sunday. Leaving at the start of the fourth quarter?

Good lord people, shameful indeed.  You call yourselves Pats fans?  Bostonians?  We do not flee our own stadium.  If the score is infinity to zero, you watch.  When your team is having it's 21 game winning streak broken, you do not boo, you applaud politely for what they have done for us over that span.  Have we become so spoiled we can't even act like men when the Ronnie Brown Express catches us by surprise?  I only expect such sick behavior from Yankees/Jets fans.  If you are going to leave early please just forward your tickets to me and I will distribute them to worthy fans.

Watch the whole game, and support the team no matter what.  Patriots law.

Perhaps indicating a preference for system over experience, Belichick has signed Matt Gutierrez to the practice squad.

Of course, Gutierrez was released when the roster was shrunk, but has been a Patriot for his entire 1 year career after spending all last season with the Patriots as the third-string quarterback behind Tom Brady and Matt Cassel. He originally signed before last season as a rookie free agent out of Idaho State.  He may well be activated for Jets game.

Sports Illustrated has printed their 2008 preview, and they have projected the Patriots as winners over the Eagles in the Super Bowl.  Tom Brady will grace the cover of the magazine when it is printed.

They have our regular season record as 13-3, and defeating the Colts at home for the AFC crown after beating the Steelers in the divisional game.

So they are predicting a victory over the Eagles just as in 2004, except the order of beating the colts and steelers is reversed and we lose 1 more regular season game than that season.

I have the Eagles as my NFC sleeper pick so I am not too surprised there, although I would have expected the Chargers to be in the AFC championship game again.

In Peter King's Monday Morning Quarterback he talks a bit with Tony Romo, but the interesting thing is that Romo is trying to make his style match Brady's:

Now Romo was up showing me.

"Before,'' he said, "I'd drop back seven and I'd be looking, looking, looking ... ''

He looked left, center and right in the room, bouncing on his feet, moving forward as he did it, ending up about three yards ahead in this imaginary pocket, throwing to an imaginary receiver on the right.

"I've moved way up. See? I better throw it now or the pocket's gonna collapse on me," he said. "What I was doing was creating pressure where there should be none. When I watched film, I wanted to change that.''

"To get out of the traffic?'' I said.

"Yeah,'' he said. "And as I watched film of other quarterbacks, I noticed one, Tom Brady, who didn't do it. As he looked 1-2-3-4, boom-boom-boom, I saw his feet. They weren't coming forward. He was seeing his receivers though.''

Now he dropped back, imitating the stay-at-home Brady."

Brady's like, back-back-back, stay, look, stay, look, boom! Complete. That's what I want to be doing.

Now, I'm no Cowboys fan so I'd rather not see Romo improve, but it's certainly interesting to see how much respect Romo gives our boy Tom.

News has come out that this will be Willie McGinest's last season.  He was with us for our three super bowl wins, and he was a great player.  I'll never forget when he stuffed Indy on 4th and goal at the 1.  Unless we come up against them, I'll be routing for the Browns this year in his honor.

Here is a list of his Patriot highlights:

Career GP/GS: 171/146 (18/16):

McGinest begins the 2005 season ranked fourth among the Patriots all-time sack leaders with 72.0 career sacks. He needs one more sack to pass Tony McGee (72.5) for third place on the Patriots all-time sack list.

McGinest's 72.0 career sacks rank second among all active NFL linebackers entering the 2005 season. He trails only new teammate Chad Brown's mark of 78.0 career sacks.

McGinest led the team and finished tied for seventh in the AFC with 9.5 sacks in 2004. His 9.5 sacks last season were his most since 1996 when he registered the same amount.

McGinest has recorded 11.5 career postseason sacks, ranking him third on the NFL's career postseason sacks list, behind only Bruce Smith (14.5) and Reggie White (12.0).

McGinest has played in 155 games during his 11- year career with New England, ranking second in games played among active Patriots players (Troy Brown, 162).

McGinest was named to his second Pro Bowl following the 2003 season after recording 79 tackles (58 solo), his highest tackle total since 1999.

McGinest set a Patriots record and led the NFL with 5.0 sacks in the 2003 postseason. His total included 3.0 sacks in the divisional playoff against Tennessee (01/10), where he set a Patriots record and tied for the third-most sacks in a playoff game in NFL history. ? McGinest earned the NFL's Levitra Play of the Week honors by providing one of the most memorable plays of the Patriots' 2003 season when he stuffed Indianapolis' Edgerrin James on the goal line with 11 seconds remaining to preserve New England's 38-34 win over the Colts (11/30).

McGinest finished tied for the Patriots lead with 5.5 sacks in 2002 along with Richard Seymour. It marks the fifth time in his career that he either led the team or was tied for the team lead in sacks.

McGinest led the team in sacks in 1995 (11), 1996 (9.5), 1999 (9), 2000 (6) and 2004 (9.5). His 11 sacks in 1995 were the most by a Patriot since Andre Tippett's 12.5 sacks in 1987.

McGinest earned back-to-back Miller Lite Player of the Game honors following his two-sack performances against Denver (10/28/01) and Atlanta (11/4/01). He became the first Patriot to record multiple sacks in consecutive weeks since Chris Slade accomplished the feat on 09/12/93 and 09/19/93. He has recorded multiple sacks in 17 games during his career (including playoffs), including three games in 2003.

McGinest led the Patriots with two sacks during the 2001 postseason, including a 16-yard sack of Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XXXVI.

The Patriots have qualified for the playoffs in seven of McGinest's 11 NFL seasons. He has played in a team-record 16 postseason games with New England, including 14 starts and has totaled 72 tackles (51 solos), including 11.5 sacks for 78 yards.

McGinest was voted defensive co-captain for the 2000 season by his teammates.

Earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week honors in the 1999 season opener at the N.Y. Jets (09/12/99) when he was credited with two sacks, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery. He recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchdown in a 30-28 victory over the Jets.

He was voted to his first Pro Bowl in 1996, after his first season playing defensive end.

In 1996, he earned AFC Defensive Player of the Month for his performances during the month of October when he combined for 21 tackles, including four sacks, one interception and three passes defensed to help the Patriots complete a 3-1 record during the month.

Earned AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance vs. Buffalo (10/27/96) when he posted seven tackles (5 solo), including a sack, had two passes defensed and returned his first career interception 46 yards for a touchdown.

Closed out the 1995 season in Pro Bowl form, recording 15 solo tackles and five sacks in the final three games of the season, including multiple-sack performances vs. the Jets (12/10/95) and at Indianapolis (12/23/95).