There’s hope for Western civilization after all. The voting public appears ready to support politicians with ethical substance, and the betting public has likewise turned its back on the New England Patriots.

The Pats have become the NFL’s version of the Evil Empire, joining the New York Yankees and the Duke Blue Devils among the most hated teams in North American sports. An Empire because of all those championships; Evil because of the controversy surrounding Spygate, which the New York Times recently dealt with in a refreshingly intelligent manner.

The problem isn’t that the Patriots apparently stole signals from the New York Jets last September. That’s legal. The problem is that they did it effectively, using video technology to record activity on the Jets sideline for further analysis. This falls into what ethicists call a “gray area,” doing something that is technically allowable yet violates the spirit of the rules. It’s not illegal, but it’s cheating just the same.

Not a lot of people predicted a Patriots-Giants matchup for Super Bowl XLII. But now that we’re here, let’s crank up the old crystal prolate spheroid and see what fate has in store for Glendale.

1. Wes Welker will be named Super Bowl MVP. The Giants will leave the middle of the field open for Welker to roam.
2. Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw will combine for over 100 yards rushing. Bradshaw is the X-factor in this one.
3. Lawrence Tynes will not miss a field goal. That was the case 14 times this year.
4. Domenik Hixon will return a kick for a touchdown.
5. Randy Moss will catch a TD pass.
6. Eli Manning will throw two interceptions.
7. Tom Brady will throw for over 400 yards.
8. Mike Vrabel will catch a TD pass.
9. Junior Seau will retire after the game.
10. You’ll be very tired of hearing the word “dynasty” very soon.

There will be a new NFL champion this year. The Indianapolis Colts (-11) had the better of the visiting San Diego Chargers on offense Sunday, but two tipped Peyton Manning passes for interceptions were the difference in a 28-24 Chargers victory. San Diego won despite in-game injuries to Philip Rivers and LaDainian Tomlinson.

Indy wasn’t the biggest chalk on the Divisional board. That was the New England Patriots (-13.5) in Saturday’s matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tom Brady was 26-of-28 for three touchdowns, and Laurence Maroney rumbled for 122 yards and a score, but the Jags were sufficiently pesky to grab the cash in a 31-20 loss.

The Pats will now prepare to host the resilient Chargers in the AFC Championship game. It was unknown at press time how the knee injuries suffered by both Rivers and Tomlinson would affect their status for Sunday’s matchup. New England reported no significant injuries.

You’re going to see it mentioned time and again this week. I was among the many who got burned last year picking the home team in the Divisional round of the NFL playoffs. They were 0-4 ATS.

I certainly won’t be shying away from taking the home side in the two AFC Divisional games this weekend. These are two of the best teams ever assembled: the New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts. They are so good that I have no problem taking New England (-13) over Jacksonville and Indianapolis (-9) over San Diego.

The bye week is the reason home teams (last year notwithstanding) have traditionally done well in this round. It’s going to be of particular use to the Colts, who had a number of nagging injuries on offense and needed the rest. And it’ll be very difficult indeed to out-coach Bill Belichick and Tony Dungy when they’ve had an extra week to prepare.

It’s been quite a season for the New England Patriots, hasn’t it? A perfect season, a handful of records and now QB Tom Brady has been chosen as the NFL’s Most Valuable Player, as voted by the Associated Press.

Brady picked up 49 of the 50 votes from a nationwide media panel that regularly covers the NFL. The only other vote went to Green Bay Packers quarterback Brett Favre..

In leading the Patriots to the NFL’s first undefeated regular season in 35 years, Brady was amazingly focused and it was clear that he had only one goal in mind: to win. He led the NFL with a passer rating of 117.2, a completion percentage of 68.9 and 4,806 yards, while also setting a league record with 50 touchdown passes.

This makes Brady the first Patriot to earn the MVP award. San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson won the award last year.

BTW, the New England Patriots are the heavy, heavy favorites to win the 2008 Super Bowl by 1/2 odds.

The NFL never ceases to amaze. We saw some amazing things happen both on and off the field in 2007. Some of what we saw, we wish we hadn’t. The Top 10 list of the league’s biggest stories of the year proves that truth is stranger than fiction.

Michael Vick arrested and jailed on dogfighting charges, suspended by NFL
New England Patriots go 16-0 during 2007 regular season
Sean Taylor shot at his home by intruder, dies at hospital
Marquise Hill dies in jet-ski accident
Indianapolis Colts beat Chicago Bears at Super Bowl XLI
Bobby Petrino signs with Atlanta Falcons, leaves for Arkansas after 13 games
Bill Parcells retires for third time, comes back as top exec for 1-15 Dolphins
Tom Brady (50 TD passes) and Randy Moss (23 TD catches) set league records
Brett Favre breaks Dan Marino’s career records for TDs and yards passing
Pac-Man Jones suspended for entire season following strip-club riot

A 16-0 record would indicate that yes — the New England Patriots are indeed a perfect team…this season. But as we all know no one team is “perfect”. For starters, they beat the New York Jets — a team that they were predicted to humiliate — by a stingy margin of 38-35. That doesn’t exactly qualify as an ass whooping now does it…?

“Everyone is going to enjoy this one,” said Pats QB Brady, who threw for 356 yards and completed 32 of his 42 passes. “This happens once every 35 years.”

Thirty-five years ago it was the Miami Dolphins who posted a perfect season. Looking at the Dolphins now and you’d think we’d be talking about a different league altogether. But no…same league, two totally different teams. And in the case of the New England Patriots we’re talking about a team that has done what no other team has done this season (win every single game, thank you very much).

But it was coach Bill Belichick who summed it up best: “That was some way to finish the season,” Belichick said. “It’s really something to be part of this team and what they accomplished today.”

Let’s see what they can do in the playoffs…

There’s a certain perverse delight in watching NFL games played in inclement weather. We saw one of those games in Week 15, a bizarre 8-0 win by the Cleveland Browns over the visiting Buffalo Bills. Snow and wind gusts of up to 40 mph turned the Cleveland Browns Stadium into a winter wonderland.
At least the Bills are familiar with these conditions. The victims in the NFL’s two most famous Snow Bowls were warm-weather clubs. In 1985, the Green Bay Packers beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 21-0 at Lambeau Field in the middle of a blizzard. Green Bay racked up 512 yards of offense; Tampa Bay (led by QB Steve Young) managed just 65.
And then there was the Tuck Rule. The New England Patriots dynasty might never have gotten off the ground without that 16-13 victory at Foxboro over the Oakland Raiders in the 2002 AFC Wild Card Game. Oakland fans call it “The Snow Job.”

We almost thought Randy Moss was washed up, or at least damaged goods, after watching him seemingly lose interest in the game while playing the last couple of seasons in Oakland. Hey, we can admit when we’re wrong.

A change of scenery has certainly done Mr. Moss well, as has playing with a quarterback who throws great long balls, and often. Moss caught 16 TD passes through New England’s first 10 games, including four against the Buffalo Bills in a 56-10 Patriots’ rout. But Philadelphia and Baltimore slowed him up a bit the next two weeks, although he bounced back with big numbers against Pittsburgh. The weather slowed the whole team up the next week vs. the Jets, though, and threatened to do the same the last two weeks.

Still, Moss grabbed two more scoring throws Sunday vs. Miami, bringing his total on the season to 21. So heading into the season finale this Saturday night at the Giants, a game the Patriots will play to win in their pursuit of perfection, Moss has an excellent shot to set a new record.

Two more games left to go in the NFL regular season, and for a change, not a lot of playoff drama. The only division up for grabs is the AFC North, where the Steelers and Browns each have a shot. Cleveland goes into Cincinnati Sunday afternoon laying three points; the Bengals are bad at 5-9 SU and ATS, but they have a stellar offense that can blow the doors off just about anyone.

Wild Cards have yet to be determined in either conference. The most intriguing Week 16 matchup with playoff implications features 7-7 Washington at 8-6 Minnesota. The Redskins are 6.5-point underdogs, but QB Todd Collins has saved their bacon with two straight winning performances. A Washington victory would make things very interesting indeed heading into the season finale.

Otherwise, this is the time of year when teams that already know their playoff seeds take it easy – except, perhaps, the 14-0 New England Patriots. Handicap accordingly.