New England Patriots Football Team

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- The winds are expected to howl through Gillette Stadium today when the undefeated New England Patriots play host to San Diego with a trip to Super Bowl XLII at stake. But are they the winds of change? The Chargers, who salvaged their season after a 1-3 start and are riding an eight-game winning streak, are determined to show they're not the same team that was demolished at Foxborough, 38-14, in Week 2.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Throughout the NFL season, quarterback Tom Brady carried his New England teammates when they needed him most. Sunday, it was the rest of the Patriots who did the lifting. With a trip to Super Bowl XLII at stake and NFL history hanging in the balance, the Patriots relied on their stout defense and clock-burning running game to beat San Diego, 21-12, turning back an inspired effort by the banged-up Chargers.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- Warm and fuzzy? The San Diego Chargers were cold and silly. Gritty and brave? The San Diego Chargers were tepid and boneheaded. Our Southern California neighbors walked out of Gillette Stadium on Sunday proud to have finished within a whisker of the undefeated New England Patriots in a 21-12 loss in the AFC championship game. Dudes, get real. You could have won. You should have won. You had the crowd quietly shivering. You had the Patriots oddly backpedaling.

A perfect season. Four championships in the space of seven years. If the New England Patriots defeat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XLII next Sunday, they will arguably become the gold standard for professional football. History will place them among modern dynasties in Green Bay and Pittsburgh, Dallas and San Francisco. They will continue to draw comparisons to the undefeated 1972 Miami Dolphins.

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. -- No wincing. No limp. No walking boot. So will Tom Brady be ready for Super Bowl XLII? No problem. That's essentially what the New England Patriots quarterback told reporters Sunday evening, talking publicly for the first time about the high ankle sprain he suffered in the third quarter of the AFC championship game against San Diego. "This won't keep me out of this game . . .

New England's Tom Brady, who is already breathing rarefied air among NFL quarterbacks, has the chance to join an even more elite club. He needs one more Super Bowl victory to join Pittsburgh's Terry Bradshaw and San Francisco's Joe Montana -- Brady's childhood sports idol -- as the only starting quarterbacks to win four Lombardi Trophies. "Joe Montana is the greatest of all time, and he always will be," said Brady, who was raised in the Bay Area.

Throughout former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson's heyday, his intimidation in the ring was legendary. For years, it wasn't unusual for Tyson's opponents to fear his knockout punch so much, they were defeated before ever being hit. New England receiver Randy Moss doesn't wear boxing gloves but he has had a Tyson-like effect on NFL defenses this season.

PHOENIX -- These brief moments of truth -- a blur, three or four steps, the clatter of impact -- pass too quickly for Brandon Jacobs to see fear in the other man's face. But later on, he can tell. After the game, Jacobs watches videotape of him bursting through the line, into the secondary, barreling toward a solitary and smaller -- usually much smaller -- defensive back. The New York Giants' 264-pound crash test of a running back can see who wants to tackle him. And who does not.

GLENDALE, Ariz. -- There was a lot of talk last spring that Randy Moss, then on Oakland's roster, might wind up in Green Bay. Moss thought that might happen, too, but said Wednesday he soured on the idea of playing for the Packers in his discussions with personnel executives there. "Green Bay was in the picture, but things were told to me about maneuvering money around and making it a good fit," he said. "The Packers were really talking about the wrong things, and not the right things.

After New York running back Tiki Barber retired at the end of last season, the Giants' ground attack was expected to suffer without the franchise's all-time leading rusher. After all, Barber had led the team in rushing for seven consecutive seasons, from 2000 through 2006, and was the main source of New York's offense when he decided to call it a career. Fortunately for the Giants, Barber did not take his blockers with him.