Patriots Are Cool When It’s Cold

FOXBORO, Mass. — The Patriots have never lost a game played in snow in the history of Foxboro Stadium, which opened in 1971 and is scheduled for demolition. A new stadium is being built next door.

Most famous of all: the Snowplow Game.

In 1982, New England beat Miami in the snow when John Smith broke a scoreless tie in the fourth quarter by kicking a field goal after a prisoner on work release was called in with a tractor to clear a spot for good footing.

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The Patriots are 4-0 on snowy days over the years with victories over Buffalo, Miami and New Orleans--and the Raiders.

They’ll go out undefeated--unless Baltimore beats Pittsburgh today, which would mean the AFC title game would be played in Foxboro.

The Patriots went from worst to first in the AFC East--and might just go to AFC champions.

“We are not the underdogs,” safety Lawyer Milloy said. “Anybody who is facing our team has to look at us as a dangerous team. We believe in ourselves.”

Sort of.

“We were pushing the envelope a little bit today,” kicker Adam Vinatieri said.

Added running back Antowain Smith: “No words can describe what we are feeling right now.

“We came back from 10 points behind and tied the game up and won it in overtime. I think it’s characteristic of this team. We’ve been fighting adversity all year long.

“It was a scare, no need to lie about that. It was a scare, but we believed in ourselves. We’ve been believing in ourselves all year long. It worked out for us. We won in the end.”

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Patriot quarterback Tom Brady on the fumble reversal call: “You know, he hit me. I wasn’t sure. I wasn’t sure. If he hit me, I was going to throw it, how do you like that?”

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Robyn Norwood