Ten random thoughts: Football mania edition

So, now that we know that next week's Championship weekend will be Indianapolis at New England and Carolina at Philadelphia, a few thoughts on the Patriots' battle with Tennessee yesterday.

• I unfortunately had to miss most of the first half, as I was out with friends for dinner, and we didn't leave the restaurant until kickoff. On the other hand, I had a chance to watch Return of the King, but I figured it'd be worth it to watch the game instead. This time, fortunately, I was correct in my judgment.
  
• The Boston Globe had it almost right when they claimed that the Patriots had "home-refrigerator advantage" in yesterday's game. It should, of course, have read "home-freezer advantage" given the extremely cold conditions; I suspect yesterday's game was one of the six or so coldest games ever (given that only three were played at 0 or below, and yesterday's temperatures plunged to 2 or below).
  
• Brady's impersonations of a running back and an offensive lineman were amusing to say the least; it's no surprise that they made the highlight reels.
  
• Speaking of highlight reels, has there been any game that has had such a string of highlight-reel worthy plays in a single five-minute span? Consider:
  
  • the fourth-and-3 pass from Brady to Brown to keep the final drive going;
    
  • the 46-yard field goal that was eerily reminiscent of the miracle kick from the "Snow Bowl" two years ago;
    
  • the not one, but two, back-to-back passes from McNair to Bennett which were "that close" to being out-of-bounds (and both of which had to be reviewed);
    
  • the final desperation stand at fourth-and-12, after third-and-23, that led to seemingly the entire Pats defense knocking Bennett out of the way, to stop what would have been an otherwise certain first down and Titans win.
  As I said, that's a lot for the final five minutes of the game, the last ninety-eight seconds of which were spent by the Patriots bleeding the clock dry after regaining possession.
  
• I think it was right around the fourth-and-3 pass that I knew this game was going to drive me nuts; it wasn't until the third-and-23 stand that I realized that the Patriots were going to find a way to win the game.
  
• I also think that the winners in this game were the Patriots and Mother Nature; she may have even one this one outright.
  
• Mad props to the Patriots for all of their work to make sure that fans could enjoy the game relatively safely. Allowing people to bring in blankets and sleeping bags, as well as distributing free (decaf!) coffee and hand warmers were nice and welcome touches. [Or at least I'd appreciate most of those if I had actually been attending the game.]
  
• So, naturally, I'm amazed that those players--particularly the Titans--were actually able to survive spending that much time outside without more cold-related injuries (frostbite, numbness, etc.)
  
• Frightening quote of the day: Vinatieri was quoted in the New York Times as saying: "The balls weren't real soft, but the nice thing about it was I couldn't feel my feet." This makes us all feel so much better--but at least we didn't know that before the kick.
  
• Finally, also from the post-game show: why Tom Brady likes to wear hats that went out with World War II--except for select golfers--is beyond my ken.