The Quest for 7: Recapping the win over the Bills and other Patriots news, links & updates 12.23.19

Morning! Welcome to The Quest for 7, where volunteer writer, Steven Viner, scours the net for seven Patriots related articles from other sites offering different points of view on the six-time champs. Paid subscribers not only get to read all seven, but they also get to check out his always fiery "Steve's Soapbox" at the end.

1. Over the past six games, the Anti-Patriots guild has crowed and danced around Tom Brady's corpse. Until Saturday, when the Jason Vorhees of quarterbacks sat up, silencing the joyous party, and reinstilled the familiar fear that has haunted the other 31 team's fanbase for nearly 20 years. Greg Bedard has reported recent signs of life in his Patriots' offense takes baby steps article, before Brady and company's 414-yard return from the dead performance against Buffalo's 2nd ranked defense. Judy Battista of NFL.com gives her own take on how the Patriots' offense finds identity in division-clinching win over Bills.

2. Speaking of monsters. That same Anti-Patriots guild would also have you believe that Patriots owner Robert Kraft is a villainous scoundrel. Funny, on top of donating millions every year to charity, check out this short, feel-good piece by Scooby Axson of Sports Illustrated on what Mr. Kraft did for 17+ Parkland families, who fell victim to the tragic Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shootings. Yeah, real bad guy. Kraft is human. He isn't perfect ... just like no one else is.

3. Not everyone outside of New England is counting the Patriots out. Keeping up with my Pats-are-back-from-the-dead theme, this Win Over Bills Shows How Brady and Edelman Will Not Let the Patriots Die piece by Mike Freeman of the Bleacher Report will have you one-upping Bills fans and their jumping-through-tables schtick by running through a brick wall.

4. As it is with all four of the major sports, the NFL Pro Bowl voting process continues to prove it's nothing more than a who-has-a-bigger-name/popularity contest. Matt Dolloff of 98.5 The Sports Hub touches on how the Patriots reacted to their biggest Pro Bowl snubs. New England — who boast an all-time clutch receiver having a career year and a historic defense when you compare their numbers to the 85 Bears and 2000 Ravens — are a little perturbed at the lack of players who can't add "2019 Pro-Bowl selection" to their resume. In a recent piece, our own Greg Bedard also brings up some great points in why the neglect of this honor matters.

5. If you'd like a look at the possibilities and potential crazy scenarios that could take place this post-season in the NFL, (Spoiler alert! Patriots play a part) check out The Ringer's Danny Heifetz article on The Most Chaotic NFL Playoffs Still Possible, Ranked. Greg Bedard also brought a little clarity to how the playoff field is taking shape with his article explaining no top seed, but the Patriots get good news from the Steelers' loss.

6. It doesn't matter if Brady plays until he's 60 and wins seven more Super Bowls. There will always be idiots out there like Max Kellerman (loser) and Rob Parker (bigger loser) who will be the first in line when Brady retires to say, "I told you he was washed up and done!" Their terrible takes — Hack Kellerman's four-year-old "Brady will fall off a cliff," and Yawn Parker's "Brady is overrated and the L.O.A.T.!" (Luckiest of all time ... Hardy haha) — have shined a temporary spotlight on their clown show. That's why it's important to read Boston.com's piece by Chad Finn on why It's not time to call Tom Brady finished. It's time to appreciate what he's doing even more.

7. If #6 has you a little down, maybe this one will pick you back up. Mike Reiss of ESPN reminds Patriots fans that Tom Brady's stats have slipped ... except the one he really cares about. In six weeks, if the Patriots win Super Bowl number seven, and it's clear that defense and coaching were the biggest factors, so be it. Brady has done his share of carrying below-average defenses and bizarre coaching and player personnel decisions. No player in sports history has done more for his team than TB12. Twenty years on the grueling gridiron — I'm pretty sure all Patriots fans would be more than fine with Brady doing just enough to win, even if he isn't putting up godly numbers to do it.

STEVE'S SOAPBOX

Piggybacking off of #6, and how I feel toward the Kellermans, Parkers, and the Anti-Patriots guilds of the world, it's too bad these jealous haters don't realize the game is already over. It doesn't matter if Brady turns into Uncle Rico and throws a thousand interceptions in a row, or if Belichick never wins another game. The final forever score: Patriots 1, everyone else, ZERO. Unfortunately, us Patriots fans will have many years of eye-rolling moments when the dynasty does come to an end, but just remind yourself or anyone else who trashes these historic years, that no other team, and I mean nooooo other team, will ever top this run. Smile, gloat, and take great comfort in knowing this.

So if you're wondering, who the hell is this guy? I'm a born and raised Masshole. My old man got me hooked on Boston sports at the age of six, and even let me stay up on school nights for the west coast games. Growing up, like many of you, our local teams smashed my heart to sludge on a yearly basis, (With the exception of the 80's Celtics.) Now I bask in the awesomeness of being a Boston sports fan and rub it in to all of my new Florida friends my wife and I met when we moved down here over a year ago. Ask me questions in the comments, and I will always answer. Or feel free to tell me I'm entertaining or wicked suck.

Be on the lookout for more The Quest for 7 features, leading into what is hopefully another epic Patriots' Super Bowl run.