The 0-5 Tennessee Titans visit the 3-2 New England Patriots on Sunday at 4:15 Eastern Standard Time on CBS (Channel 4 in Boston).

The Titans, coming off a stellar 13-3 season last year, hold the unfortunate distinction as being the best 0-5 team in the league.  They also present major trap game potential for the inconsistent Patriots.  As we await tomorrow's kickoff, we'll be looking at these emerging storylines:

Will Brady Awake?:Tom's comeback this year has been an exercise in 2-steps-forward, 1-step-back incremental improvement.  This week, against the worst pass defense in the league, Brady could be looking at his breakout game.  While he carries a 61.7 completion percentage coming into play on Sunday, his precision has deserted him at some very inopportune times this season, essentially neutering the Patriots long ball potential.  Through 5 games, their longest pass play from scrimmage has been a mere 36 yards.  With the Titans' 2 starting corners injured, and with two rookies starting in their place, look for the Tom Brady and Randy Moss to break out in a big way tomorrow, both in terms of yards from scrimmage, and in terms of points, as the Titans have been giving up an average of 27.8 points per game. 
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The Bucking Broncos (5-0) are making believers out of the entire NFL. On Sunday they beat the Patriots (3-2) 20-17 in overtime. Having the number one defense and the steady Kyle Orton who by the way does not get the credit he deserves will continue to show the league they mean business. Orton threw for over 300 yards and two touchdowns. Yes they play in a week division but having downed the Cowboys and Patriots in two straight weeks says something for a team who is running on all cylanders.  High praise must go to head coach (Belichick) disciple Josh McDaniels who kept this team together and showed whose boss after a disastrous training camp.

The field was wet making the game a little sloppy, but the New England Patriots (2-1) sent the Atlanta Falcons (2-1) home with an eye patch in their 26-10 victory at Gillette. Tom Brady was missing open receivers with some errant throws while still shaking off some rust, but he was also the victim of some ugly drops by his receivers. On the sideline he was seen letting off some steam as well. Leaders will do that and your quarterback had better be one. Today however Brady was assisted by a decent rushing attack with Fred Taylor having a one hundred yard plus effort as did Randy Moss through the air who was listed as questionable for the game.

Today's game ball goes to this team's defense who played with aggression and smarts. This outfit just seemed to be one step ahead of the Falcons who could not get it done. It wasn't pretty but it was gritty enough to to provide a glimpse of what could pan out to be a tight unit.

The offense got better as the game progressed and Brady also threw his 200th touchdown pass of his stellar career. This team still has some better days ahead and both coach Bill Belichick and Brady were heard stating they need to do a better job as a team. Every snap is scrutinized as this is a team not ready to just stand Pat!

The New England Patriots shut out the Buffalo Bills 13-0 despite stifling winds at Ralph Wilson stadium in Orchard Park, NY that grounded both team's passing game and improved the Patriots record to 11-5 which is a great accomplishment for a team who overcame a rash of injuries including their star MVP quarterback Tom Brady who went down in week one and countless of key starting personnel on both sides of the ball.

An 11-5 record would normally have your team preparing for a playoff game in the coming weeks but the Patriots needed a loss from either the Ravens or Dolphins to secure a spot in the post season. They got neither as the Dolphins beat the Jets 24-17 and the Ravens smashed the Jaguars 27-7 to earn themselves a wild card spot. The Dolphins 11-5 are the AFC east division champions after winning just one game last season which is the best turnaround in the history of the league while the Jets could have earned a playoff spot for themselves and the Patriots by beating Miami at home. They couldn't get it done.The sole reason for bringing Brett Farve and countless of other high priced free agents was to get them over the hump or past the Patriots for that matter but still wasn't enough due to the surprising success of the Dolphins. Heads should roll starting with Eric Mangini who couldn't motivate a cast of talented high priced additions to the offense and defense and Mr. Farve should hand them up for good. He threw "three" interceptions in one of the most meaningful games in the recent history of the franchise. He has a had a great career but his legacy will be tainted with him being prone to coughing it up in big situations. He led the NFL in interceptions and Jets castoff Chad Pennington is getting prepared for the Dolphins wild card playoff game against the Ravens. Pennington doesn't posses a rifle arm but he makes good decisions and knows how to win.

The Patriots did the best that they could and far exceeded expectations this season but lost the tie-breakers to Miami and Baltimore whose conference records were 8-5 respectively while New England's was 7-5. The numbers being as such didn't allow the Patriots to control their own destiny and it is sad that a team that posted a hard earned 11-5 record will not be in the playoffs while teams with shabby records such as the Broncos and Chargers still have a shot at the playoffs.

Matt Cassel who filled in admirably for Brady should feel good about himself leading this team week after week while watching key starters fall to injury was only 7-8 for 78 yards passing in windy Buffalo so the Patriots took it to the ground and pounded the Bills with some tough running particularly Sammy Morris who churned out 84 yards and in one play bowled over the Bills Donte" Whittner who is known for some hard hitting himself. Lamont Jordan chipped in with 64 tough yards also.

When all is said and done Bill Belichick must be considered for a coach of the year candidate for the job he has done preparing his club to fight through a tough season although the Dolphins first year coach Anthony Sparano will receive great consideration because of his team's worst to first turnaround.

One more win in the conference and this team would be preparing for their next game which would have been the playoffs and based on this season, they would have had great shot at doing some considerable damage because they proved they could play with anybody. A championship was not out of the question.

This leads us back to that old proverb that sometimes when you need something done, you have to do it yourself.

My hat goes off to the 2008 New England Patriots who by all accounts deserved to make the playoffs but sometimes things don't always happen the way they should. Thank You New England for a great show of character and showing the world that when the going gets tough, the tough gets going. See you next year and I'm sure we'll see you back on top where you belong.