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Referee Bernie Kukar was forced to leave the Panthers-Giants game after being drilled in the back by Giants safety Clarence LeBlanc trying to recover a blocked punt.
Kukar hurt his ankle and shoulder after being hit square in his back by LeBlanc with 10:51 left in the third quarter. Kukar was watching the ball rolling out of bounds at the Panthers 1-yard line after New York blocked its second punt of the game when LeBlanc caught him totally off-guard.
Kukar stayed on the ground flat on his back for about five minutes. He got up and hopped to a golf cart and was taken off the field.
Field Judge Gene Steratore took over as the referee.
Leave it to Bill Belichick to find something wrong with the best record in the NFL.
``When you're the first seed, you don't know who you'll be playing,'' the stonefaced Patriots coach said Sunday, a day after New England wrapped up the regular season with a 14-2 record and home-field advantage through the AFC playoffs. ``I think we are going to have to be prepared for all of them.''
The Patriots beat
the Buffalo Bills 31-0 on Saturday for their franchise-record 12th consecutive
victory. New England has a bye in the first round of the playoffs, so it can
rest this weekend and watch while the AFC field is winnowed from six to four.
Belichick gave his players Sunday and Monday off, and they will also have Thursday
through Sunday off so they can recover from the bruises acquired over the season.
The extra week also could have been a boon for Belichick, a master at preparation,
if he had known whom to prepare for.
But when the Patriots' game was done, there were five potential opponents for the second-round game Jan. 10 or 11. The end of the regular season trimmed that to three: Denver, Tennessee or Baltimore, whichever is the lowest seed remaining in the conference after the first round.
The Patriots have already played Denver and Tennessee, as well as Indianapolis, which could be a conference championship game opponent; Kansas City is the other AFC playoff team.
``The next team will be a darn good team that will have to come here and beat a dang good team,'' kicker Adam Vinatieri said.
And they will have to do it in a building that has been downright inhospitable to opponents this season.
The Patriots went 8-0 in Foxboro this year, and they have won 11 of their last 12 home games and 13 of 16 since they moved into their new stadium in 2002. They had three shutouts in their last four home games and allowed just 22 total points in their last six games at home, an average of 3.7 per game.
Tom Brady did not throw an interception at home this season in 241 pass attempts, but he insisted home-field advantage isn't exactly a ticket to the championship.
``I don't think anybody cares, to tell you truth,'' he said. ``Every team that is in the playoffs has had a successful season and they are really the best teams. Tampa Bay won it last year and they didn't have home field. We won it two years ago, we didn't have home field. And then Baltimore won it three years ago, they didn't have home field. So having home field is important. I think a bye is more important than that.''
Belichick agreed.
``Look, we are happy to play them here, don't get me wrong,'' he said. ``But our focus and our energy is playing the best we can play and it will be against a good team, we know that.''
Belichick insists there's nothing to celebrate yet, and his team seems to have gotten the message.
``As high as we are right now, tomorrow we have got to come down,'' linebacker Tedy Bruschi said Saturday. ``However many we won in a row, the division title, it doesn't matter if we lose. The veterans are going to stress that around here starting tomorrow.''
And no one around here needs to be reminded what happened to the last NFL team to go 14-2, the 2001 St. Louis Rams: They lost in the Super Bowl to New England.
``In reality, only one team has a great season,'' Brady said. ``You can have a good season, but only one team wins it all.''
Also Sunday, Belichick said he expected to give permission for his assistants to interview for head coaching jobs. New York Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi said he is seeking to interview off coordinator Charlie Weis and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel.
They are expected to be considered for other jobs as well.
Belichick said he would not stand in their way as long as it doesn't get in the way of the team's playoff preparation.
``It has to be worked out with us around our schedule,'' Belichick said. ``I am sure that we will be able to do that.''