We're On To Denver Or Pittsburgh

Shank, notably changing his tune from six days ago yet again, delivers a semi-decent column on this afternoon's game between the Patriots and the Chiefs, with helpful reminders about their travails from last year's Super Bowl run, just in case you forgot :

FOXBOROUGH — After 12 months of ideal gas law, the Wells Report in context, “more likely than not,” warm drinks, and trash cans, the Patriots are right back where they always seem to be at the end of January: They will play in the AFC Championship game for the fifth consecutive winter. A Patriot season that started with Scott Zolak screaming into the headsets of Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger looks like it might extend all the way to Super Bowl 50 in Santa Clara, Calif., on Feb. 7.

The Pats punched their ticket to another conference title game with a not-as-close-as-it-looks 27-20 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night. New England will play next Sunday at 3:05 p.m., either at Denver or in Foxborough vs. Pittsburgh, pending the outcome of Sunday’s divisional-round joust between the Broncos and Steelers.

The standard game recap follows - skip it if you watched the game, because there's nothing new or insightful there.

This last paragraph / sentence is curious / stupid:

The New England Patriots, once the joke of the NFL, are now the gold standard of excellence; the best franchise in America’s most popular sport.

He writes this as though it's a recent event. This is simply further evidence that whenever Shank heaps praise on the Patriots, he's not sincere about it.