Only later, ruing a win given away, did I realize precisely how the refs had abetted this bit of highway robbery. "Just give it to them," was how Flutie reported the sideline official's explanation of the call.

New England had a Hail Mary answered with a pass interference call that looked like manna straight from heaven and I remained unruffled. So what if pass interference never gets called on Hail Marys. Score, I thought, no sweat. That just makes things more interesting.

And when Ben Coates elevated in the back of the endzone to snatch Bledsoe's one-yard touchdown toss, my attitude was bemused at best. Typical, I reasoned. Hardluck Boston fans get another week of falsely inflated hopes before the ultimate demise.

And then came the extra point.

Buffalo found the officiating so objectionable that it warranted boycotting the point-after. New England lined up 11 men against the ghost of an absent defense, and Adam Vinatieri trotted in untouched for two points. That's right, two points. 25-21. The Patriots covered the spread.

Resentful after my brilliant underdog pick had fallen by the wayside, I blamed the greedy Foxboro fans and their incessant "Go for Two" chant. Yuk it up, I fumed. Two years from now you'll all be pounding it down I-84 to Hartford to watch the Ex-Patriots.

And now I get to play the waiting game. My lead is still 12 games, but four weeks from now, when I'm sweating out the Panthers-Colts game because those 500 brownie points hang in the balance, don't think I'll forget how the officials tainted those two games. If I should come out on the short end, I suppose I'll protest the pool and argue for a revision of the standings.

That, or I'll tell my "bookie" that I meant to say Carolina even though he heard Indianapolis.