The big showdown is next week between New England and Indianapolis, but the Patriots didn't seem too concerned with a 52-7 pileup of the Washington Redskins.
Meanwhile, Steve Seidman did his own piling up with a 10-2 record which gave him the best Adultfyi pool record over the weekend. But this didn't stop Karl the Birdman from holding on to first, although Sean from www.pornlegends.com has cut his lead which is now at two games.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. [LA Times]-- They have fantastic players, extraordinary strategists, and three glittering Super Bowl rings.
But do the New England Patriots have a conscience?
That's what some Washington Redskins were asking Sunday after New England throttled them, 52-7, making the visitors look more like the Washington Generals.
Did the Patriots need to keep throwing the ball in the fourth quarter? Did they really need to go for it on fourth down when they were up 38-0 and 45-0?
"It's hard to say whether they're just padding the stats or just want to embarrass the teams," Redskins defensive end Phillip Daniels said. "It's one of those."
There's no pity on the road to perfection, and the Patriots (8-0) aren't fretting about what people outside their locker room are saying. They're headed into a showdown at Indianapolis on Sunday against the Colts (7-0) -- a matchup commentator Boomer Esiason has already deemed Super Bowl 41 1/2 -- so they scoff at the suggestion they would have any reason to coast.
"Obviously, they're a great team," Patriots Coach Bill Belichick said of the Colts, who beat his team in last season's AFC championship game. "They've won 12 in a row. They've beat us three straight, so there's no better team in football than the Indianapolis Colts."
The statistics tell a different story. The Colts are very good, perhaps even good enough to stun New England on Sunday, but no NFL team is rolling with the merciless momentum of the Patriots.
They are the first team since the St. Louis Rams in 2000 to score at least 30 points in each of its first eight games, and the first since the Colts in 2004 to score at least 40 in three consecutive games.
Indianapolis, meanwhile, is the first team since the 1929-31 Green Bay Packers to win its first seven games in three consecutive seasons. The Colts were 13-0 in 2005 and 9-0 last season.
Careful to focus solely on the task at hand, the Colts have steadfastly refused to address the possibility of a blockbuster game against New England . . . until Sunday, that is, after their 31-7 victory at Carolina.
"Everybody's been talking about it for a long time, except us," quarterback Peyton Manning said. "I guess now it's safe to talk about it."
Likewise, the Patriots can look back at their game at the RCA Dome last January, when Manning helped the Colts erase an 18-point deficit and ultimately win, 38-34.
"That film will definitely come up, I can tell you that," New England defensive end Ty Warren said. "But we're going to mainly watch what they've been doing this year."
In the last two years, the Colts have won regular-season games twice in Foxborough, beating the Patriots 40-21 in 2005 and 27-20 last November. New England had a combined seven turnovers in those losses.
"We know it's going to take our best effort," New England quarterback Tom Brady said. "We know you can't make a lot of mistakes against these guys. When you turn the ball over against the Colts, it's usually seven points. When you punt it to them, it's usually seven points.
"I'm happy we've got seven days to prepare because I think we're going to need each and every hour of that week."
The setting will have special meaning for Patriots linebacker Rosevelt Colvin. He grew up in Indianapolis and used to work at Colts games, making cotton candy at the stadium back when it was called the Hoosier Dome.
"I used to stock up about 10 to 15 bags of cotton candy, and then I could walk up the steps and look at the game, then I'd come back for the big crush," Colvin said.
"That was back when 'Big Play' Ray Buchanan was there, Eric Dickerson, man, that was back in the day. When the Colts moved there . . . that was the beginning of my hometown football history. Because before that, we'd just see the Bears on TV all the time. It's a part of me. It's a part of who I am."
Colvin, who scored the first touchdown of his career Sunday, on an 11-yard fumble return, still loves cotton candy and remembers how to make it. That's fitting, considering the type of atmosphere for which the teams are bracing.
Said Indianapolis Coach Tony Dungy when asked what lies ahead: "I think it will be a circus."
- N.Y. Giants 13, Miami 10: England's favorite part of the American game? The tee.
Detroit 16, at Chicago 7: It seems like the last time Lions were 5-2, George Plimpton was on the team.
at Tennessee 13, Oakland 9: An irate Al Davis sues Vince Young for not staying in school.
Cleveland 27, at St. Louis 20: Hey, the Rams and the L.A. NFL team have the same number of wins this season.
Philadelphia 23, at Minnesota 16: Slowly but surely, Donovan McNabb is playing like his old self.
Pittsburgh 24, at Cincinnati 13: We're guessing that Bengals Coach Lewis never goes "all in" in poker.
Indianapolis 31, at Carolina 7: Colts must be the least-noticed 7-0 team in NFL history.
Buffalo 13, at N.Y. Jets 3: Struggling Jets call Yankees, ask for Joe Torre's number.
Jacksonville 24, at Tampa Bay 23: Quinn Gray should retire now and finish his career undefeated.
at San Diego 35, Houston 10: Think Marty Schottenheimer is happy about the Chargers' turnaround?
New Orleans 31, at San Francisco 10: Gee, all that off-season spending really paid off for the 49ers.
at New England 52, Washington 7: A confused Joe Gibbs is still waiting for the caution flag to go up.
