An Ugly W is Still a W

Sunday's win against the Chargers may have looked ugly, (OK it was ugly) but it's better news than you think it is.

Welker continues to catch in every game he plays in, the defense is getting back to its old ways of forcing turnovers and getting to the quarterback, Hernandez and Woodhead are becoming big playmakers, Deaderick has sacked the quarterback in each of his two starts, Wright has done so in each of the last three games, Green-Ellis has scored in four consecutive games and the Pats can mail it in for a quarter and a half and still find a way to win. Sure, San Diego basically handed them a couple of opportunities (note to Richard Goodman: someone has to touch you while you're down for the play to end), but the teams that win are the teams that capitalize on the other teams' mistakes.

Kudos to the Chargers for almost getting it done, but almost doesn't win Championships. (Just ask the Giants. Hey, we almost beat them in SuperBowl XLII.) This game is not the red flag that some doomsayers around me are claiming. These are the Pats at their ugly best, winning when they show all the signs of coughing it up, turning it on only when they need to and then only just. We've had entire championship years that looked like this. Hence the saying around my family that Brady has a horseshoe up his...well, I'm sure you can figure out where.

What matters at the end of the season is how many games you've put in the W column. Nobody ultimately cares how they got there. Nobody is counting moral victories or beating an opponent in every stat except the one that counts. I'll take every W we get, the good, the bad and in this case, the ugly.