Patriots running back Stevan Ridley has his helmet twisted off by a San Francisco defender during Sunday night s costly loss in Foxboro.

That sloppy loss to San Francisco Sunday night in Foxboro really, really hurt.

The 41-34 defeat most likely means the Patriots will have to make it back to New Orleans the hard way.

That means three AFC playoff games instead of two. That means playing in the "wild card" game on the weekend of Jan. 5-6 instead of sitting back and resting all those aches and pains.

New England is at 10-4, and although all four games it lost were close enough to win, the record "is what it is" in the immortal words of Bill Belichick.

Houston is in the driver's seat for a coveted first-round bye. The Texans stand at 12-2 with games against the Vikings and Colts remaining.

Catching Houston may actually be New England's best hope for a bye. The Pats are likely to end up 12-4, with games left against the Jaguars and Dolphins, while the Texans could easily lose both of their remaining games and also finish 12-4. The Pats own the head-to-head tiebreaker.

Denver right now holds the other first-round vacation with a record of 11-3. With remaining tilts against the Browns and Chiefs, both at home, it's impossible to see the Broncos not finishing 13-3. Impossible.

So even though the Patriots own the head-to-head tiebreaker with Denver as well, I can't see Peyton Manning allowing his team to blow either of those cupcake games. Heck, they've won nine straight since losing to the Pats in Week 5.


So, the way it shakes out right now, New England would host either Indy, Baltimore or Cincinnati in the first round, then most likely have to go on the road and beat Houston and Denver, in some order, to reach the Super Bowl.

New Orleans seems a long way away today.

Although take heart: The last two Super Bowl champions, the Packers and Giants, played on wild-card weekend.

Schedule from hell

Who figured out the UMass Lowell hockey schedule?

First, with the exception of a game with Bentley on Dec. 30, the team will have had four weeks between games over the holidays (Dec. 10-Jan. 4).

Then, when they peel off the rust and turn the calendar into January, the River Hawks will play 13 of their final 19 games on the road.

This does not help the second-half comeback UML will need to climb the Hockey East standings and perhaps re-establish itself on the national scene.

Let's hope Norm Bazin can rally his 3-6-1 River Hawks or it's going to be a lost year at the Tsongas Center.

Haverhill's Husky

Has any baseball player stretched his career any further than Haverhill native Carlos Pena, the former Northeastern University star?

Just when you think he's finito, he resurfaces, this time with the Houston Astros, where he is poised to become the team's DH as it moves into the American League. One year, $2.9 million. Chump change for most Major Leaguers but not bad for a man given up for done on so many occasions.

Pena is 34 and coming off a season in which he hit .197 for Tampa Bay. It was his second stint with the Rays, for whom he had his most productive years from 2007-10, right after he left the Red Sox.

He's also played for the Rangers, Athletics, Tigers and Cubs. At nearly every stop the feeling was that Pena wouldn't be picked up by anybody the following season. But every time he is. Hey, the man has 277 career home runs!

Godspeed, Carlos.

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