The Patriots will be hosting a divisional playoff game for the 7th straight year. What’s the buzz in New England like, is it any less for a team that is always playing football in January?
Volin: The buzz is that Patriots fans—and probably Patriots themselves—fully expect to get to Houston for the Super Bowl this year and anything less would be a major disappointment. Last season was a major disappointment for the Patriots. They started 10-0, things were going great, and then they really crumbled down the stretch. They got hit by the injury bug, they made some questionable coaching decisions, they lost four of their last six games, really stumbling towards the finish line and ended up losing to Denver in the AFC Championship game.