The New England Patriots took care of business, finishing the regular season with a perfect 8-0 record at Gilette Stadium after a 38-3 plastering of the NY Jets Sunday.
And with the win, the Pats grab the number two seed for the AFC heading into the playoffs, guaranteeing at least one home playoff game and a first round bye. They were the only team this year to win all their games at home.
Tom Brady threw three touchdowns in the first half to essentially put the game away, connecting with James White, Rex Burkhead, and Philip Dorset. The Pats also got a TD off a fumble recovery when Jets QB Sam Darnold coughed up the ball to have linebacker Kyle Van Noy pick up the gift and rumble 46 yards for a score. Van Noy turned around to fall backwards into the end zone at the end of his run. Hey, linebackers don't get to score a lot of touchdowns, so let him have his fun.
Jets coach Todd Bowles was fired following the game after a 4-12 season.
The NY Giants fought to the end even though they were already eliminated from the playoffs, losing to the Dallas Cowboys 36-35 on a two-point conversion by Dallas QB Dak Prescott to Michael Gallup, and that was only made possible after a 32-yard touchdown from Prescott to Cole Beasley was reversed on video replay after first ruled no catch.
The Cowboys will be in the 12-team superbowl tournament, hosting the Seattle Seahawks next weekend.
The rest of the playoff picture: In the AFC the Chiefs and Patriots get a first round bye. The Indianapolis Colts will travel to Houston to play the Texans, and the L.A. Chargers will take on the Ravens in Baltimore. In the NFC, the top seeded New Orleans Saints and second seeded L.A. Rams get to sit out round one, and the defending champion Philadelphia Eagles will contend with the stingy defense of the Bears in Chicago.
I think the Chiefs are going all the way.
The UVM men's hockey team closed out 2018 by winning the Catamount Cup over the weekend at Gutterson Field House, securing the trophy with a 4-2 win over Rensselaer.
The Catamounts trailed 2-0 before taking advantage of Engineer penalties that produced three power play goals in a four minute span. Owen Grant, Max Kauffman, and Matt O'Donnell all tallied for UVM on the man advantage to secure the come from behind win.
The Middlebury Panthers made the title game against Hobart, but fell to the Statsemen 3-0 in the 2018 Middlebury Holiday Classic.
The Middlebury men's basketball team made a run at Swathmore, falling just short against 82-80 at Tarble Pavilion. Jack Farrell scored 21 of his 24 points in the second half, but Swathmore scored the final 7 points of the game to thwart the Middlebury effort.
In western Massachusetts the Norwich Cadets men's basketball team went to overtime against the Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, but couldn't get the win, losing 78-69 despite a big game from Jesse Davis, who finished with a double double of 20 points to go with 11 rebounds.
The Castleton University women's basketball team played the Salem State Holiday Classic and scored a 59-37 victory over the host Vikings Sunday afternoon, improving to 9-3 with the win. Ashleay Wilcox came off the bench for the Spartans to lead all scorers with 14 points.
The Castleton men did not have as much success, ending the year with a loss to Sage College 62-53 in Albany.
Back to women's hoops and the UVM Catamounts had a tough task facing the Kansas Jayhawks, falling 77-36 yesterday at Allen Fieldhouse in Kansas.
