FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) -Bill Belichick was happy for Mike Holmgren when the Seattle coach won the last home game of his 10th and final season in the job.
The fact that Holmgren beat the Jets – and improved the playoff chances of Belichick’s Patriots – made the occasion even better.
“We are always happy to see teams in our division lose,” New England’s coach said Monday.
That, of course, would be New York, a team that is playing its worst football while the Patriots are at the top of their game.
New England pounded the playoff-bound but struggling Arizona Cardinals 47-7 on Sunday to improve to 10-5, tied for the AFC East lead with the Miami Dolphins. Then, when the Seahawks shut down the Jets 13-3 later in the day, New York dropped to 9-6 in the division.
hours of waiting to see if the Jets beat Miami or the Jacksonville Jaguars beat the Baltimore Ravens.
A Patriots win and a Miami loss would make them AFC East champions. They also could make the playoffs as a wild-card team with a win and a Ravens loss. If all three win to finish at 11-5, the Patriots would lose tiebreakers to both, making them just the second 11-5 team in 31 years of the 16-game schedule to miss the playoffs.
But on Monday, Belichick took a moment to recognize the 60-year-old Holmgren, who plans to take a year off. After Sunday’s win over the Jets, Holmgren had tears in his eyes as he took a victory lap.
“I was really happy for Mike Holmgren,” Belichick said. “Mike’s had a tremendous career. He is one of the real greats in our profession. I have a lot of respect for Mike, so I was happy that it worked out for him in his last home game.”
Holmgren was head coach of the Green Bay Packers when they beat the Patriots in the 1997 Super Bowl, when Belichick was assistant head coach to Bill Parcells.
The chances of the Patriots simply reaching the playoffs this season seemed very slim when Tom Brady suffered a season-ending knee injury in the first quarter of the opener. But Matt Cassel has played very well and has thrown seven touchdown passes in the last two games.
r the Denver Broncos, who needed a win to clinch the AFC West. Buffalo had lost seven of its previous eight games and was outgained 532 yards to 275 but overcame a 13-0 deficit.
“Based on what Buffalo did yesterday on the road in Denver, I think that right there tells you how they’re going to play,” Belichick said. “They are a good football team.”
The Patriots are a versatile one.
With snow falling for much of Sunday’s game and numerous injuries on defense, Belichick used guard Russ Hochstein at fullback and tight end, and rookie wide receiver Matthew Slater at safety.
“We thought we would be in some bigger personnel groupings (because of the weather) and Russ really did an outstanding job for us,” Belichick said. “We ran several of those plays behind him, again, playing at the end of the line, playing in the backfield, plays where he normally doesn’t get a lot of playing time.”
Slater worked out a lot during the week at safety. He also handled his usual special teams roles and took some snaps at receiver.
“Once the score got to where it was, we felt like it would be good to get him in there and give him some experience playing in that position,” Belichick said. “For the most part, he was in the right spot.”
Kurt Warner wasn’t.
s replaced by Matt Leinart on the Cardinals’ last series of the third quarter with the score 44-0. The Patriots, especially lineman Mike Wright, pressured Warner throughout the game.
“It really felt good because it’s so hard to get the quarterback,” Wright said. But now “it’s really on us. We can’t just sit there and watch (other teams next Sunday). We have to worry about ourselves and try to play our way in.”
The Patriots are on a roll with four wins in their last five games. “Unfortunately, we weren’t taking care of business in the beginning” cornerback Ellis Hobbs said, “or taking care of business enough.”
If the streaking teams keep winning, the Patriots won’t make the playoffs.
The Dolphins are on an 8-1 roll and face a Jets team that is 1-3 in its last four games, with Brett Favre throwing one touchdown and six interceptions. The Ravens are 8-2 in their last 10 games and play Jacksonville, just 2-7 in its last nine.
“I think, rather than being a fan here and a cheerleader, the best thing we can do is go out there and play good football on Sunday in Buffalo,” Belichick said. “Without that, nothing else will matter.’
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