It was only a short few weeks ago that the debate was raging across the NFL. Tiger Williams Jersey . Had Tom Brady and Bill Belichick finally met their match? Was the Patriots dominance over the AFC East – and most of the AFC itself -- over. Had Belichick finally outsmarted himself by relying too heavily on Brady without surrounding him with much actual talent? At the time, the Patriots were 2-2 with wins over Oakland and Minnesota, a loss to division rival Miami and an absolute shellacking at the hands of the Kansas City Chiefs that produced an avalanche of critics and naysayers. (A confession ... yes, that was yours truly on the Oct. 1st Sportscentre, arguing with Tim Graham that Brady was no longer an elite NFL quarterback, based on his play during the first four weeks of the season.) Since then, New England has rattled off five wins in a row, outscoring opponents by an average of more than 18 points per game. Brady has been restored to his rightful place in the football universe and Patriots once again look like a force that will be hard to stop come December and January, erasing any doubt about what kind of threat they pose to the AFC by trouncing Denver. Before Sunday, the Broncos only loss had come in overtime to Seattle, but Peyton Mannings magic disappeared in New England, as it so often does, against the Bill Belichick defence. A healthy Rob Gronkowski has made a huge difference for New England. But to average more than 40 points per game on a team that was criticized for its lack of overall talent is about as remarkable as the manner in which the Patriots have overcome other injuries over that span. The most obvious answer comes down to coaching, with Sundays win over the Broncos illustrating the two most convincing points in the case for Belichick as the greatest NFL head coach ever. First, the manner in which New England was able to declaw the Broncos offence doesnt speak to the Patriots level of talent as it does to the fact that Belichick sees something in a Manning offence that others arent able to exploit. Secondly, it illustrates a signature of Belichick teams which traditionally get better as a season rolls along. Players improve and emerge between September and December, which is exactly what we saw back in 2001 when the Patriot greatness under Belichick first emerged. In that season, Belichick took a team that had been 5-11 the previous year, overcame an 0-2 start and led it all the way to the Super Bowl with a roster that wasnt exactly full of Hall of Fame players. In fact, the only one may have been the quarterback, a sixth-round pick whom few expected much of when he started and won a game for New England in Week 3 which sparked a remarkable turnaround. The quarterback of the other team that day? None other than Peyton Manning. The same Manning whose Broncos team looked like a sure thing to return to the Super Bowl this season, before being humbled by the Patriots. The Broncos were built to make a Super Bowl run, a veteran team stacked with talent, experience and depth. No one would say that about this edition of the Patriots. But would anyone really be surprised anymore if its them, and not Denver, thats playing for the Super Bowl come February? Darryl Sittler Jersey . He still wanted out. "It just seemed like the direction they were going didnt fit what I thought my career was going to be," Kesler said. "At the end of the day I want to win a championship and I want to win it now, and four years is a little too long for me. Bobby Baun Jersey .C. -- Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith has been ruled out for Sundays game against the Atlanta Falcons. http://www.officialmapleleafspro.com/Johnny-bower-maple-leafs-jersey/ . -- Tiago Splitter tipped in a rebound with 2.The Penguins get by the Blue Jackets, the Wild and Kings force Game Sevens. Notes on Malkin, Crosby, Johnson, Dubinsky, Parise, Kopitar, Williams, Stalock and more. PENGUINS GET PAST BLUE JACKETS Pittsburgh looked like they were free and clear after racing out to a 4-0 lead, led by Evgeni Malkins hat trick, but then the Blue Jackets scored three goals in a 4:52 span in the third period to make for a heart-stopping finish. In the end, the Penguins held on to win 4-3, taking the series in six games. Malkin, who took some criticism for his lack of production, finished the series with seven points in six games. Not bad at all. After being on the ice for 71.2% of 5-on-5 shot attempts in Game Six, Malkin finished the series with an impressive 59.2% Corsi percentage. Malkin was the driving force for Pittsburgh in the deciding game, as was D Kris Letang, who was on for 21 5-on-5 shot attempts for and seven against. Penguins D Matt Niskanen contributed a couple of assists, giving him eight points for the series. That tied D Paul Martin for the Penguins scoring lead. The ever-disappointing Sidney Crosby (I kid, I kid) had six assists in six games and was on the ice for 61.3% of 5-on-5 shot attempts. If thats a Crosby worthy of criticism, rue the day that he starts playing to his typical level of excellence. Columbus attack was paced by a couple of defencemen. Fedor Tyutin, with a goal and an assist, and Jack Johnson, with two assists, led the charge. Johnson finished the series with a team-leading seven points, despite struggling in puck possession terms. While Johnson struggled in terms of possession, James Wisniewski fared pretty well in that regard, at least in relative terms. Centres Brandon Dubinsky and Ryan Johansen each had six points for the Blue Jackets, while rookie LW Boone Jenner had five. Dubinsky had 40 hits over the course of the series, a total that leads the NHL postseason. That the series proved to be competitive should come as no surprise, but it should also come as no surprise that the Penguins had the high-end skill to overcome a spirited challenge from Columbus. WILD FORCE SEVEN Fighting for their playoff lives, the Minnesota Wild jumped out to a 2-0 lead, gave it back, then scored the winner with 6:29 left in third period, before adding a couple of empty-netters to ice a 5-2 victory in Game Six, forcing Game Seven back in Denver. Wild LW Zach Parise had a huge game, netting the game-winner as part of a two goal, two assist performance. Parise now has 10 points in the postseason, tied with Colorados Nathan MacKinnon for the playoff scoring lead. Ryan Suter and Mikko Koivu each had twoo assists and Jason Pominville had a goal and an assist. Grant Fuhr Jersey. Wild LW Nino Niederreiter had quite a game in possession terms, on for 15 shot attempts for and three against (83.3%). With Niederreiter off the ice, the Wild had 38.2% of the 5-on-5 shot attempts. Though they came out on the losing end, Colorado did get C Matt Duchene back in the lineup and he contributed an assist in 18:52 of ice time. RW Ryan OReilly assisted on both Colorado goals. That this series is going seven games is rather fortunate for the Avalanche. The Wild have the best Fenwick Close in the playoffs which, naturally, means Colorado has the worse and that 60-40 disparity in even-strength shot attempts is difficult to overcome. The Avalanche have overcome shot deficits all season, leaning heavily on G Semyon Varlamov, so that is likely what they will need if they are going to get through Game Seven. The Avalanche can also take some comfort in the fact that the home team has won every game in this series. KINGS PUSH SHARKS TO SEVEN Faced with the prospect of losing their three-games-to-none lead in the series, the San Jose Sharks were forced to go into Game Six without top defenceman Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who was injured in Game Five, and then made the decision to start backup goaltender Alex Stalock in place of Antti Niemi. The result? A 4-1 Kings win, sending the series to Game Seven back in San Jose. Tied at one, with 8:04 remaining, Kings RW Justin Williams scored the winning goal, pushing Stalock back towards the Sharks net, jarring the puck loose and into the net. As controversial as that goal was, the Kings tacked on two more in short order, both by C Anze Kopitar, in the next 2:46 to put the game away. Kopitar added an assist, giving him eight points in the series, to the lead the Kings, while D Drew Doughty added a couple of assists, giving him six points in six games. Williams finished with two goals and an assist to lead the Kings. This series has been very even, with the Sharks holding a 132-128 edge in unblocked shot attempts with the score close (within a goal for the first two periods, tied in the third/overtime). Thats close enough for goaltending to make the difference and, given the uncertainty in that respect with the Sharks, Jonathan Quick is more appealing. Even so, the Sharks do get home-ice advantage in their attempt to avoid being the fourth team in NHL history to lose a series in which they led three games to none. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. 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