Boston Sports Insider

Super Bowl XLVI: Patriots in a rematch against the Giants

Can you feel the excitement going into Super Bowl week? The Patriots have a great chance to win their fourth title in their fifth appearance in a Super Bowl since Tom Brady took over the reins at quarterback. Brady and Belichick should be licking their lips at a chance to get back at Eli Manning and the New York Giants after their famous loss in Super Bowl XLII.

The Giants explosive receivers were still in college back in 2008 and they are definitely looking to get a ring of their own. The Patriots 31^st ranked defense is going to have a hard time stopping these threats along with running backs Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs. They did, however, make some very important stops in the closely contested AFC Championship game against the Ravens.

New England’s rookie cornerback Sterling Moore made two huge defensive plays including one where he knocked the ball out of Ravens WR Lee Evans hands in the end zone during the closing minutes of the game. Not only did he stop what was in all likelihood a winning touchdown, but managed to knock away another pass in his direction that forced Baltimore to go for the now infamous field goal attempt by Billy Cundiff.

Vince Wilfork is coming of a great game in the AFC Championship and will be crucial in getting after Eli Manning and not allowing the Giants QB enough time in the pocket to utilize his explosive offensive weapons.

Boston Beats Struggling Wizards

The Celtics left our nation’s capital Sunday night with a win thanks in large part to the efforts of Paul Pierce. The team has struggled losing 6 of 7 games lately and had just one win away from home going into Sunday’s game. The win also came despite missing Rondo still who has been plagued with a wrist injury.

The Celtics scored 20 or more in each of the game’s quarters and got their biggest lift from the veteran Paul Pierce. Pierce scored a season high 34 points in the game. Pierce also was able to get a double-double in the contest as he collected 10 assist. Brandon Bass led the team in rebounds with 9. Kevin Durant also added 17 points of his own including a game-sealing dunk off a pump fake late in the 4^th. The win is just the second of the year for the Celtics away from home and brings them to 6-9 this season Read more about Boston Beats Struggling Wizards

AFC Championship

"I just feel real confident with Brady and Belichick."

First of all, I just want to congratulate myself on not being a prisoner of the moment and thinking that the Denver Broncos could even matchup to the New England Patriots. So now that we have that out of the way, the Patriots will be at loggerheads against the intense Baltimore Ravens less than 14 hours from now at home in Gillette Stadium.

In terms of the quarterback battle, New England definitely has the edge by a long shot with Joe Flacco’s leadership even being questioned by Ravens safety Ed Reed. So what will the game come down to and what are the keys to victory for the Pats?

The player that I expect to make a really make a big impact for the Pats is Tight End Rob Gronkowski with his size and speed who has had an excellent season so far. Wes Welker will also be key in moving the chains and to sustain the drive to enable Tom Brady to find his targets downfield.

When looking at these two teams, I think it comes down to the Ravens defense or the Patriots offense. The New England offense is going to be greatly helped by its receivers who will help to spread the field and allow Brady time in the pocket which is what the Ravens D will have to get about stopping. If the Ravens D do not put a lot of pressure on Tom Brady and come up with some sacks, it will be New England who will march onto Super Bowl XLVI. Read more about AFC Championship

Patriots vs. Ravens Statistical Breakdown

The 14-4 New England Patriots will host the 13-4 Baltimore Ravens on Sunday at 3 pm at Gillette Stadium. The game will pit one strength against the other as the Patriots bring one of the best offense against a tough Ravens defense. The game should show if the old saying defense wins championships is true or if we are heading into a new era of football where passing the ball 60 times a game gets wins. The following statistics show just how strong these teams are on each side of the ball.

Boston Rips the Raptors

The Celtics won at TD Garden in Massachusetts Wednesday by the final of 96-73 after an impressive showing from the field. The win moves the Celtics to just 5-8 on the season and breaks a 5 game losing streak. They are now 4.5 games back of first place in the division and still have. Toronto’s loss puts them at 4-11 this season and came on a day that no shots would fall for the hapless team.

Toronto was just 37% shooting from the floor and a measly 27% from 3- point range. There leading scorer was Forbes who had just 18 points in the contest. Derozen was 2nd best with 11 while their third place shooter had just 9 points. Even a sub-par Boston team was able to fully dismantle Toronto and totally dominate throughout. Even after losing Rondo in the third quarter, Boston was able to still pour points on.

Patriots should end Tebow magic come Saturday Night

Last night was a very exciting finish at Mile High Stadium with the Denver Broncos beating the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC wild-card playoff game on Sunday in what was an overtime thriller. The whole country is in love with Tim Tebow and the excellent performance that he had against the much fancied Steelers, but I feel the New England Patriots have nothing to worry about.

How Far will the Patriots Go

I know that anything short of a Super bowl victory is not going to satisfy the Belichick and Brady duo. Right now, the Patriots should be able to stay in Gillette Stadium all through the playoffs. I see them finishing the regular season with a 13-3 record by easily handling the Miami Dolphins and the Buffalo Bills at home in the coming weeks.

This Patriots team could go all the way. The offense makes up for the last-ranked defense in the National Football League. I mean this offense has to be in going at full force this season with Tight End Rob Gronkowski and Wide Receiver Wes Welker in the running for the league’s MVP. With Tom Brady again showing why he might just be the best quarterback in the NFL right now and Running Back Danny Woodhead and Tight End Aaron Hernandez ready to pick up the pieces in case the MVP candidates have a bad day, the New England Patriots need not have to worry about being outscored.

Patriots rout the Chiefs 34-3

The best quarterback in the league right now, Tom Brady, was able to get a lot out of the Patriots offense again and completed 15 of 27 passes for 234 yards with a couple of TDs and no interceptions. The opposing quarterback, Tyler Palko, had similar passing attempts but with 3 interceptions and no TDs. He was also sacked three times as he held the ball for too long at times.

Patriots Demolish the Jets

The Patriots have taken command of the AFC East by throttling the Jets at the MetLife Stadium in what was a highly anticipated Sunday Night Football encounter. Rob Gronkowski turned out to be Tom Brady’s top target with 8 receptions and 2 touchdowns as the Patriots buried the Jets. Things look even better for the Patriots as the Buffalo Bills, the other team in contention for clinching the AFC East, got blown out by the Dallas Cowboys 44-7.

The Jets made many mistakes that were acknowledged by the coach Rex Ryan and the quarterback Mark Sanchez in the post-game press conference. Sanchez was picked off twice by Patriots linebacker Rob Ninkovich with both resulting in touchdowns and one being returned 12 yards for a touchdown by Ninkovich late in the game. Also, Joe McKnight fumbled a punt at the start of the third quarter that was recovered by the Patriots and it led to a field goal.

Celtics’ great Ed Macaulay dies at age 83

“Easy Ed” as they called him was a legendary power forward/center for the Boston Celtics from 1950 to 1956. Macauley played in the first seven NBA All-Star Games and will always be remembered as being named the MVP of the first NBA All-Star Game. This occurred during his time with the Celtics. Furthermore, while he was with the Celtics he was also named to the league's All-NBA First Team for three consecutive seasons. In the 1953-54 season, he led the league in field goal percentage and was named to the All-NBA second team for the first and only time in his NBA playing career. He was also part of a legendary trade in April of 1956 when he and forward Cliff Hagan were sent to St. Louis in exchange for Bill Russell.