12 - 0

That's 12 down, 4 to go for the New England Patriots with a gutsy 27-24 win over the Baltimore Ravens last night in Baltimore. As much as last night's game was a real nail biter, I actually think it's more fun to have a close game like that than a blowout.

A few thoughts after the 12 midnight ending:

• The day after any Patriots game (win or loss), I like to go to the newspaper of the opponents' city and see how they covered the game. Here's the Baltimore Sun's take on last night's game or Sun columnist David Steele's take.
  
• The Ravens lost this game more than the Patriots won it. The Ravens had the Pats stopped at 4th and 1 with less than two minutes left in the 4th quarter last night and just before the ball was snapped, someone on the Ravens sideline called a time out! Good lord ... not good football on the Ravens' part. Had that not happened, the Ravens would've won. Wow.
  
• Speaking of 4th and 1 ... Pats QB Tom Brady did it again engineering a 13-play, 73-yard drive to get the ball in the end zone and win the game (it was his 21st game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime, the most in NFL history). He's becoming the John Elway of his generation. You just can't give Brady extra downs by making mistakes the way the Ravens D didn last night.
  
• The Pats Defense really needs to figure out how to stop the run. The Ravens' RBs had 166 yards on 37 carries. Not good. That kind of performance isn't going to win games in the post season.
  
• Pats WR Randy Moss needs to figure out how to get open. He's been virtually non-existent the past few games and the trend will likely continue for the rest of the season if the Pats can't figure out how to get him open again.
  
• Brady ended up on his kiester quite a few times in this game and still came out throwing as tho nothing happened.
  
• Speaking of throwing, Brady appeared to be too torqued up for this game. Even tho it was windy, he seemed to overthrow a lot of guys and was rifling short passes that made them tough (if not impossible) to catch, IMO.
  
• I just don't know what to make of RB Laurence Maroney. He had 13 carries for 44 yards and was good, but why isn't New England using him more? Bizarre ...
  
  Some overall kinda thoughts:
  
  
• I'm beginning to wonder if the Patriots are playing possum and not necessarily giving 100% in light of the impending playoffs. It seems as tho that since they clinched a playoff berth, they've let up a bit. I'm wondering if they're biding their time and just waiting out the season. Granted, they've faced two "better" teams the last couple of weeks in the Eagles and Ravens, but still ...
  
• For the love of god, will someone please tell NBC's Bob Costas to stop with the "The-Colts-should-have-beaten-the-Patriots" rap every time he talks about the potential for a 16-0 season?!? Hey Bob, the fact is the Colts didn't beat the Patriots ... it's irrelevant whether they "should" have beaten the Pats or not ... get over it!
  
• I almost hope the Pats do lose a game so this whole 1972 Dolphins and champagne BS can stop. I'm tired of hearing about it. I'm just saying ...
  
• Patriots' last four games of the season look like this: hosting the Steelers, Jets, Miami then traveling to the Meadowlands to face the Giants.