Giving Thanks In The AFC East

Week 11 in the NFL coincided with Thanksgiving, and in the AFC East we have many things to be thankful for. Sadly, not a lot of them have to do with our NFL teams. The Patriots can be thankful that they survived a scare from the Philadelphia Eagles and remain undefeated. They can also be thankful for the Bills loss in Jacksonville, which clinched the 2007 AFC East Division title for the Pats. The Bills can be thankful for a surprising season that leaves them with a punchers chance at snagging an AFC Wild Card spot. And the Jets and Dolphins can be thankful that there are only 5 weeks left in the 2007 season.

On Thanksgiving Thursday the Jets travelled to Dallas to take on the white-hot Cowboys. Maybe they should have stayed home and enjoyed a second slice of pecan pie, because showing up in Dallas only led to a lopsided 34-3 loss. Honestly, there was nothing positive in this game for the Jets. They were dominated in all phases of the game by a far superior Cowboys team that looks to be the favorite to represent the NFC come Super Bowl time. I guess the only positive the Jets can take out of this is that it helps them get a better draft pick in April. Yikes.

Down in Jacksonville the Bills had a very tough day against a Jacksonville team that looks to be among the better teams in the AFC. The Jaguars had their way with the Bills, winning 36-14. It wasn’t really as close as the scoreboard showed, mainly because the Jaguars balanced offensive attack kept Buffalo’s defense on their heels all day. The biggest story for the Bills is that the QB merry-go-round is making yet another turn as rookie Trent Edwards moves back into the starting role.

The New England Patriots once again took center stage under the NFL’s primetime spotlight, this time taking on the Philadelphia Eagles in Foxboro. The Eagles gave the Patriots one of their toughest tests of the season, holding a 4 point lead in the fourth quarter, but a four yard run by RB Laurence Maroney gave the Pats a 31-28 leadthat ended up being the final score. QB Tom Brady was once again the star for the Pats offense, throwing for well over 300 yards once again, but only finding the end zone once. The Pats defense was led by CB Asante Samuel who had 2 interceptions, the first of which came just minutes into the game and was returned for a touchdown. The Pats defense did look flat for most of the game but came up big when it mattered most. The 11-0 Patriots look to continue their streak next Monday night in Baltimore.