DIVISIONAL ROUND RECAP: SAME OLD NEW ENGLAND

Years from now when you look back on the New England dynasty, three people will stand out: Tom Brady, Adam Vinatieri, and Bill Belichick. However, there will be one player who may have been equally as crucial to the team's success that will most likely be forgotten. That player is not a household name or a league superstar. That player is Troy Brown. When the Patriots' dynasty began with a Super Bowl victory over the Rams, it was Brown who had his career season. In his ninth season as a pro, all with New England, Brown had a standout 101 catch season and was the reliable, veteran option for the young Tom Brady. After that season Brown never reached statistics like that again but still had a huge impact on the Patriots. He was the true team guy. When the Patriots needed some extra money to be able to re-sign other players on the team, it was Brown that took the pay cut. When the Patriots' secondary was ravaged by injuries, it was Brown who was used to play defensive back for the first time in his career. So when the Patriots were struggling, and it appeared like they were on their way back home for the rest of the postseason, who else was going to save their season than Troy Brown? Following a costly interception by Tom Brady on fourth down, the Chargers looked poised to host the AFC Championship game. During the return of that interception, is when the momentum of the game took its final shift. The savvy veteran, Troy Brown, slapped the ball out of Marlon McCree's hands for a fumble. The Patriots then recovered and never looked back. They would finish the game on an 11-0 scoring run and won the game 24-21. If the Patriots go on to win the Super Bowl for the fourth time this decade, they will once again have Troy Brown to thank.

When you watch the game again or look at the final statistics, it is absolutely mind boggling how the Chargers were able to lose this one. The league's MVP, LaDainian Tomlinson, ran for 123 yards and 2 TDs on Sunday, which would have been enough to win almost every game this season. In addition to that, the Chargers intercepted Tom Brady a postseason high three times. With statistics like these, you would assume the Chargers won by twenty points. So now that they lost, all the blame will fall on the shoulders of coach Marty Schottenheimer. While I never like to blame a coach who leads a team to a 14-2 record, this was in fact Marty's fault. There is absolutely no reason why the Chargers only ran LT nine times in the second half. This is the MVP of the league who is running over five yards every time he touches the ball. So when it's second and four in a tie ball game with less than four minutes to go, you cannot throw the ball twice and then punt. If your team loses, you want them to go down swinging, but the Chargers went down without a fight in the fourth quarter. San Diego has enough talent on both sides of the ball to be a playoff mainstay for the next five years, but the head coaching situation must be addressed. Considering the Chargers have never been enamored with Schottenheimer, I would not be surprised to see a switch very soon in San Diego. A new head coach and a play maker WR could give the Chargers the final pieces to a Super Bowl team. It should at the very least be an interesting week in San Diego.

While San Diego is in shock, the New England area once again has erupted in celebration. Their win brings the highly anticipated third playoff match-up between the Patriots and the Colts. What will be different this time is that the game will not be played in the cold conditions of Foxboro, but rather in the domed stadium of the Colts. While this may help the confidence of Peyton Manning a tad, just seeing the Patriots uniform on the field with him in January must bring back visions of failure. Unlike the pathetic offenses we saw from Baltimore and Kansas City, New England will score in this game. Tom Brady must do what Peyton Manning has not been able to and shake off his three interception performance. If Brady is on his game and the Patriots defense plays like it did against the Jets, we may once again see New England play in the Super Bowl. Ladies and gentleman, get ready for round three.