No. 11 Is No. 1 in Political Circles

Patriotic fever spread to Ted Kennedy, who presented a Drew Bledsoe model, No. 11 New England jersey to outgoing Secretary of Labor Robert B. Reich. The Massachusetts senator called Reich “the first-string quarterback on every labor issue.”

*

Also wearing a Bledsoe jersey was 9-year-old Christopher Barry of Hopkinton, Mass., when his mother told him Friday night that “the most unbelievable thing” had happened. . . . Christopher would take part in today’s pregame coin toss.

Christopher has had a brain tumor since he was 3. He underwent an eight-hour operation a few days after Christmas.

Kathleen Barry had called a ticket agency 40 times, trying to take her son to his first Patriot game. Nurses from the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute intervened, resulting in Christopher’s honorary participation in the coin flip, plus three tickets.

AFC Championship Team Comparison

*--*

OFFENSE JACKS. N.E. GAMES (W-L) 9-7 11-5 FIRST DOWNS 325 339 Rushing 90 103 Passing 208 206 Penalty 27 30 YDS. GAINED (tot.) 5,760 5,369 Avg. per game 360.0 335.6 RUSHING (net) 1,650 1,468 Avg. per game 103.1 91.8 Rushes 431 427 Yards per rush 3.8 3.4 PASSING (net) 4,110 3,901 Avg. per game 256.9 243.8 Passes att. 557 628 Completed 353 374 Pct. completed 63.4 59.6 Yards gained 4,367 4,091 Sacked 50 30 Yards lost 257 190 Had intercepted 20 15 PUNTS 69 64 Avg. yards 43.7 43.2 PUNT RETURNS 34 52 Avg. return 10.3 11.3 Returned for TD 0 1 KICKOFF RET. 67 64 Avg. return 21.8 22.3 Returned for TD 0 0 PENALTIES 127 97 Yards penalized 1,006 716 FUMBLES BY 29 25 Fumbles lost 10 12 POSS. TIME (avg.) 31:18 30:11 TOUCHDOWNS 33 48 Rushing 13 15 Passing 19 27 Returns 1 6 EXTRA PTS. (tot.) 32 43 Kicks made/2Pt 27/5 39/4 FIELD GOALS/FGA 30/36 27/35 POINTS SCORED 325 418

*--*

*--*

DEFENSE JACKS. N.E. POINTS ALLOWED 335 313 OPP FIRST DOWNS 315 305 Rushing 110 102 Passing 180 178 Penalty 25 25 OPP. YDS. GAINED 5,085 5,305 Avg per game 317.8 331.6 OPP. RUSH (net) 1,781 1,502 Avg. per game 111.3 93.9 Rushes 447 434 Yards per rush 4.0 3.5 OPP. PASS (net) 3,304 3,803 Avg. per game 206.5 237.7 Passes att. 508 596 Completed 290 322 Pct. completed 57.1 54.0 Sacked 37 33 Yards lost 237 252 INTERCEPTED BY 13 23 Yards returned 114 255 Returned for TD 0 2 OPP. PUNT RET. 44 34 Avg. return 9.1 9.8 OPP. KICKOFF RET. 71 81 Avg. return 23.6 20.8 OPP. TDS 37 34 Rushing 9 14 Passing 24 17 Returns 4 3

*--*

Regular-season statistics