Week Sixteen - vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Before todays game I was convinced we'd be done after the first round of the playoffs. After todays game I now think we'll advance to the divisional round. There are two things you need to win playoff games: 1) a solid run game, and 2) good defense. We did both of those things well today. We finally closed out a game with a 12:12 minute drive in the 4th quarter just running it down their throats. Aside from a goal line fumble and a Jacksonville touchdown during clean up time the game was pretty much picture perfect. It's nice to see the defense coming together and stopping one of the premier running backs in the league. This is a team worthy of the AFC East division title that they clinched with the win. This is a team worthy of the 3rd seed in the AFC playoffs which they maintained with the win. This is a team we haven't seen much this season, but if they stick around, they should put up quite a fight in the upcoming playoffs.

Namibia 2010

This summer my parents are putting together a team to work with His Promise Ministries in Arandis, Namibia. So I decided to join them before my fall semester starts up again next August. We will most likely be working with the orphans and vulnerable children supported by HPM and the ministry's school, Talitha-Kumi Christian Academy. We will also partner with Pastor Tresford and Fabiola Banda and their church, Arandis Christian Center, in the ministries they are involved with. If you're interested in learning more about the team or perhaps even joining us, check out our team blogsite at Nam2010.blogspot.com. Seriously, if you're interested in going, there are spots available. You don't even have to be from Raleigh to go; we'll work it out! There'll be updates to the blogsite building up to and during the trip as usual. Hope you'll follow along with us either in person or online!

Week Fifteen - @ Buffalo Bills

Another sloppy victory in the books. We're definitely not one of the elite teams in the league, but at least we can beat the bad teams . . . unlike Pittsburgh. The run game looked good today, although it should against the last ranked run defense. I'm also glad they found ways to get Randy involved. It seems the underneath routes are the Pats' bread & butter. They even swapped Welker to the outside to bring Randy underneath. On the other side, the line was getting wrecked with the run, but fortunately we got enough of a lead to force the Bills into throwing the ball. That allowed our depleted defensive line to get some good pressure on the QB. The most glaring disappointment is our fourth quarter offense, and it's not just today. We had the ball three times with opportunities to run down the clock and ice the game, but we couldn't even get the first down. They know we're gonna run so it gets stuffed at the line and we punt it away. We can't seal a victory for anything! We let the Buffalo Bills get within one possession of winning the game . . . the Bills! I still have no confidence in the playoffs, but fortunately with losses to Miami and New York today, our division title is all but wrapped up. Though with Jacksonville and Houston both fighting for their playoff lives, neither of those games will be a gimme.

Ahh 5th grade health

My youngest brother, Dakota, had his 5th grade health talks this week. You know, those talks we all got in the 5th grade where they tell you about puberty and hand out free sample sticks of deodorant. So tonight at dinner he said, "The one body part on girls that I know about . . . nevermind." To which I responded, "Good choice!" :) He also told me his deodorant, which he can't stop talking about, smells like me. I guess that's a good thing.

Free Christmas Music

Looking for a cheap Christmas present to give out to friends or family? How about a CD full of free Christmas music! Amazon is offering 30 Christmas songs to download for free! Some of it is worth what you pay for it, but some of it's pretty good, including one of my current favorites, Relient K's "I Celebrate The Day." So go on over to Amazon's free Christmas music downloads and see if there's anything you like! Tell your friends, or don't tell your friends and burn a CD for them instead! Merry Christmas!

Week Fourteen - vs. Carolina Panthers

Rough win today. This is not a good looking team. We won that game on Panther errors. They had 9 penalties in some key situations. That's why we won, only because we were playing a worse team. Randy Moss was not good. Brady had his issues. Three turnovers! Are you kidding me! The offense could do nothing the entire first half. They finally got it going the second half. Looking for something good, it was nice to see Ben Watson step in as a third receiver. And the running game actually looked good today, aside from Sammy Morris' fumble and 4th down failure. Fred Taylor seems closer to returning every week which will only help matters. If we can make teams respect the run that should help open up the passing game and take some pressure off Brady. Also Wes Welker's got to get his props. The guy's solid and does everything he's asked week in and week out. Defense did their job holding the Cats to 10 points, but it was mostly thanks to an inept offense. There were two easy passes where I know everybody was saying, "Rodney would've made that pick." Truth is, we're definitely missing all that veteran defensive talent and leadership that left in the offseason. That's not something you can draft, but I don't see another Super Bowl ring without it.

Almost there

Only 3 more finals till Christmas break...and boy am I ready to be done. I finished all my semester work before Thanksgiving so I've had nothing but studying for these finals for the past week and a half. One was a take home, open book essay which rang in at about 8 pages long. I'll take Gospels and Systematic Theology tomorrow which will give me all weekend to study up for Into to Theological Studies which is three 1,000 word essays, ugh. But then I'm off for a whole month during which I'll get a major head start on next semesters reading. Ah the joys of seminary life...

Nice tackle

The Patriots could use this kid on defense.

Week Thirteen - @ Miami Dolphins

All I have to say is our second half game is awful. We can't get to their quarterback. Miami receivers were finding wholes all over the field. We made Chad Henne look like a league MVP. All around, upsetting. But like I said last week, they're an average team. At this point I'd be very surprised if we make it past the Divisional Round of the playoffs. And if that weren't bad enough, Washington managed to blow my one consolation of the day and let the Saints come back and win.

Tree hunting

I had my first North Carolina Christmas tree experience last weekend. On Saturday the fam loaded up the Expedition and trooped off to the tree farm. It was a nice little country place, packed out with families getting an early evergreen for decoration. At the shop I noticed a three legged tree stand that had only a solitary spike that you jam your tree onto to hold it up. I commented how it would probably fall over pretty easily, but a young female employee quickly came to it's defense asking how big a tree we were looking for. I asked what's the biggest they had and she pointed to a row of about 10-12 footers. I couldn't help but laugh inside since our NH trees averaged around 20 feet or so. We went out to the cut-your-own field where they had an assortment of cedars, long needle trees that were trimmed by a cone shaper, and some kind which looked more like they belonged in a fish tank. Needless to say, we went back to the precut douglas firs that were shipped in from the mountains. That's a little more what us northerners are used to. With no great room to put the tree in this year we ended up with a modest 6 footer. It still smells of pine and does the job, so I guess I can't complain. I suppose New England spoils a guy at Christmas time.

Week Twelve - @ New Orleans Saints

It doesn't happen often, but yes, I walked out on the Patriots with seven minutes left to go in the game. It's been a long time since we've been schlacked that bad. With no pressure whatsoever, Drew Brees picked apart our secondary with ease. Their pass rush and inexperienced corners shut down our deep ball. Laurence Maroney (surprisingly!) was probably the only bright point of the evening. He ran hard knocking guys around and scored both our TDs. Before the game the commentators quoted one of New Orleans' coordinators saying, "Either you are or you're not." That about sums it up. Clearly the Saints are one of the best teams in the league. They can score at will and shut down a great offense. They are championship caliber, no doubt. And as much as it hurts to say, clearly the Patriots are not. I know every dynasty has an end, but that doesn't mean it's any less painful when it happens. Last night was the game where every Patriot fan had to realize, we're no longer the standard of the NFL. Since the 03-04 seasons, we've always been an elite team until we proved otherwise. Last night demonstrated that now we're a second tier team until we prove otherwise. We're no longer favored just because we're the Patriots. We're back to being the underdogs, because we deserve to be. Our days of expecting to win every game are gone. That doesn't mean we're not a good team, we're just not great. And for all those emotional fans (mostly female) who are objecting that I've lost hope and I'm bailing the bandwagon after one tough loss, suck it up and be realistic. Sure, we'll bounce back and beat Miami. Sure, we'll win the division and make it to the playoffs. But now greatness has to be attained rather than assumed. But then again, that might not be such a bad place to be because I remember a lowly 2001 franchise who had a lot of attaining to do.