The Award Section

Offensive Player of the Week

Carolina WR Steve Smith. Not just for his numbers -- 10 catches, 84 yards, two touchdowns -- but for how much he affects the game on every play. You could see it against the Giants. On the play which Smith caught the touchdown pass in the first half, safety Brent Alexander foolishly left him to old vet Terrell Buckley, alone, and got burned badly. From that point on, the Giants got burned on the run because they always had to make sure they respected the impact of Smith in the secondary. They could never devote the safety help to stopping the run as much as they would have liked to.

Defensive Player of the Week

Willie McGinest had a record 4 1/2 sacks against the Jaguars on Saturday. AP

New England OLB/DE Willie McGinest. Now 34 and in his 12th year with the Pats, McGinest is saving his best for last. With 4½ sacks against outmanned Jags right tackle Maurice Williams, McGinest set two records that might live for a while: Most sacks in an NFL playoff game (breaking the record of 3½ set by Washington's Rich Milot and Chicago's Richard Dent), and most career playoff sacks (16), breaking the record of 13½ by Bruce Smith of the Bills. McGinest has those 16 sacks in 17 career playoff games. On this night, his combo platter of speed and power, plus the fact that Byron Leftwich was a statue, doomed the Jags.

Coach of the Week

New England coach Bill Belichick. It was the little things he did on Saturday night. Then again, it's always the little things with him. Like this: Most everyone in press box looked down quizzically when the Pats had a fourth down at the Jacksonville 28 on their second drive of the game, and Belichick called for Adam Vinatieri to fake the field goal and pooch-punt the ball downfield. Particularly with the chance that Vinatieri might boot it into the end zone, where was the upside? But the upside was field position. It was a scoreless game, and for all Belichick knew, this was going to be a 13-10 field-position game. Lonie Paxton downed it at the Jags 4. Two series later, New England took possession to start a drive at the Jacksonville 37 and Tom Brady hit Troy Brown for an 11-yard touchdown, the only TD of the half. New England was on its way to a 28-3 win. I'm not saying Belichick is smarter than everyone else in this game, but he gives New England an edge that very few other teams have.

Goat of the Week

Tampa Bay WR Edell Shepherd, whose jaw-dropping fourth-quarter drop in the end zone on a perfectly thrown Chris Simms pass, led to the 17-10 loss to Washington in the first of four Wild Card games. Simms could not have made a better deep throw. It nestled into the hands of Shepherd, a free agent from San Jose State who was two yards deep in the end zone. Shepherd took one step, then another as the ball seemed to be coming out, and it slithered out entirely as he fell to the ground. It was a very, very close call -- the kind that referee Mike Carey could not have overturned had it been called either way on the field. And so he didn't overturn this one, to the immense pain of the Bucs.

Quote of the Week

"Sometimes people tend to forget they're even in the league.''
-- John Madden, during the ABC telecast, on the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Factoid That May Interest Only Me

I got a check for $8.01 in the mail the other day. A residual check for my stirring role in The Longest Yard. Glad to see a movie that grossed something like $160 million in movie and DVD sales is sharing the wealth in such an egalitarian manner. You'd think a guy who was on-screen for, oh, eight or nine seconds would be getting at least $22 or $23 for such a valuable role.

Aggravating/Enjoyable Travel Note of the Week

Those gouging fools at the Providence Westin have really gone and done it now. They are doing everything in their power to steer me to the Biltmore across the street, which I'd have already done if not for the Starwood points. Remember last month when I told you about the $6 health club charge at the Westin? It's one of the very few places on my hotel list that charges for using the health club. In fact, I haven't had a single health club charge from another hotel all season.

The new year has rung in a new tune on the Providence Westin cash registers. It's now $10 to use the health club.

I hope 10 people read this and say: I'm not paying that absurd fee to run on a treadmill for a half hour. And I hope they book their stay elsewhere in downtown Providence. Which, by the way, is one of the underrated cities in America.

The trip north also featured an educational column by Jan Gregory in the sports section of Sunday's Providence Journal. "Dog Notes,'' by Jan, was headlined: "New baby coming? Here's how to get Spot ready for the big event.''

Did you know that the K9 Connection in Warwick, R.I., is holding Post Grad For Pups classes beginning tonight at 7? Jan reports that puppy manners will be on the agenda tonight.

Stat of the Week

Tom Brady is 21-1 as an NFL starter when the temperature is 40 degrees or lower.

The one loss? New England's 28-26 setback to Miami to end the regular season last week -- a game in which Brady sat the last 46 minutes as Belichick got his starters some rest for the playoffs.