Game 7 of the Stanley Cup finals ended with Tim Thomas and the Bruins celebrating a championship. (AP)

Even though 2011 wasn’t the most successful year for all of Boston’s teams, it certainly was a memorable one. Playoff rivalries were renewed for the Celtics, Bruins and Patriots, while the Red Sox added another chapter to their legacy of heartbreak.

Picking out the 10 most memorable games of the year was not an easy task. The Bruins easily could have dominated this list, with all of their dramatic playoff victories en route to winning the Stanley Cup. But we’ve attempted to include fair representation from all four of Boston’s major pro sports squads, featuring games that were memorable for the local teams’ success or failure.

10. April 8: Red Sox 9, Yankees 6

The Red Sox’ season started much the way it ended, with a sense of impending doom around the corner. After the Sox started the season 0-6, swept by both Cleveland and Texas, the offense finally clicked when the Yankees paid a visit to Fenway for the home opener. Dustin Pedroia hit his first home run of the season and the Red Sox erupted for 12 hits, giving them — and John Lackey – their first win of the season.

9. April 17, Eastern Conference quarterfinals, Game 1: Celtics 87, Knicks 85

Ray Allen’s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left in the game made sure the Knicks’ return to the playoffs (their first appearance in seven years) was a painful one. The Knicks led for almost the entire game, but the Celtics came up big down the stretch (and yes, a questionable call went their way). “Down the stretch we found a way to win,” Paul Pierce said. “And that was because of our experience.” The Celtics went on to win the series in four straight.

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I grew up with the Paul Brown-led Cincinnati Bengals, the greatest teacher the NFL has ever known. The Bengals of the 1970s had players like Ken Anderson, Tommy Casanova, Bill Bergey, Al Beauchamp, Ken Riley and later Anthony Munoz, Tim Krumrie and Boomer Esiason. All of them had the great combination of talent, character and intelligence. The criticism of the 2-14 2002 Bengals (coached by Dick LeBeau) was that they had character and intelligence but not enough talent. They drafted talent but not enough character and football IQ. Now – following a 4-12 season with lots of questions about the future – it’s time to reassess and come up with a comprehensive football operations plan to put the Bengals on the right path.

No matter the criticism of ownership (some of it very legitimate) or how bad it gets, I believe the Cincinnati Bengals will someday compete year-in and year-out for an NFL championship with the right short-term and long-term plan. Do it the right way, and you wind up like the New England Patriots, the premiere organization in the NFL. That’s what they should aspire to. I’ve had the true privilege and benefit of watching the team work at different levels up close – or at least as close as you can without having Robert Kraft sign the paycheck.

If Mike Brown and his daughter, Katie, asked, here’s what I’d do:

1. Hire a true GM and a coach. Don’t laugh but this could be Marvin Lewis. Lewis is a tremendous evaluator of talent, much in the fold of Ozzie Newsome in Baltimore. There’s a reason Lewis is greatly respected around the NFL by people like Bill Belichick (who is for all intents and purposes GM/HC of the Patriots). If you’re Mike Brown, you have to start with the front office and the coaching staff. If you decide that Lewis is a good man and the right coach you’re most comfortable with – which I think is the case and that matters a lot to Brown – then bring him back for another year. Marvin has had to do way too much baby-sitting in the last four years, robbing him of on-field focus.

2. All about operations. If you bring back Lewis (and as I type this, NFL Network’s Steve Wyche reports and the Bengals later confirmed that Mike Brown has done just that) then that means you’ve decided to agree – to some degree – to his conditions of reworking the front office and facilities. While much has been made of the need of a true GM – like Mike Holgrem in Cleveland and Newsome in Baltimore – the Bengals desperately need to invest in their personnel/football ops departments even more. They need more people who can dedicate themselves to football research, including remote college, area and pro scouts who can offer constant input. Jim Lippincott is a terrific football man but he needs help like every other NFL Super Bowl-contending franchise has.

3. Decide Carson Palmer’s future. There is an out clause in his contract – which the Browns smartly wrote in – that allows them to move in a different direction if the wheels fell off. There are obviously those who think that’s what happened this year but upon further review, it is the opinion of this close observer that Palmer was distracted by receivers who made demands on him and he was not allowed to be the true leader of the offense. With Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco gone, Palmer can now work with the future skill stars of the offense in speedy Jerome Simpson, a solid slot receiver in Jordan Shipley (a bigger Wes Welker) and Jermaine Gresham (the best rookie tight end this side of Rob Gronkowski).

4. Bring in Josh McDaniels as your offensive coordinator. This serves a number of purposes. You need a new ‘voice’ and ‘direction’ from Bob Bratkowski for the offense. Josh McDaniels has clearly established himself as one of the best young coaches in the NFL who has worked with Bill Belichick and Tom Brady for several successful years. He has the cache to rework Carson Palmer‘s approach, vision, thinking, etc. Palmer’s biggest problem this season – without question – was forcing the ball into small spaces in coverage. His vision seemed to completely disappear or become VERY narrow. Examples… Tampa Bay, at Pittsburgh, at Baltimore, at Indy, etc. McDaniels would point this out and would be the PERFECT fit for the need the Bengals have. Also, Cedric Benson has proved himself a stud running back in the last two years. He’s 28 with lots left in the tank. Keep him and Bernard Scott.

5. Draft to needs, not best player. Get yourself an impact player with the 4th pick. Early consensus is DB Patrick Peterson of LSU. The Bengals have never been a team to move down and with prime position this season, there’s no reason to start now. With a rookie salary cap looming as part of a new CBA, signing a top-5 pick won’t be nearly the detriment to the Brown family as it has in the past. The Bengals are loaded with young talent. This is a great chance to add to it. Get a guy like Florida’s Mike Pouncey (brother of Pittsburgh Maurkice) as center and then steal a QB in fourth or fifth round. I am VERY HIGH on Greg McElroy. Traditional NFL-system pocket passer, very solid front-foot mechanics and has played in winning system at Bama. He is very, very bright and considered a strong character-type. I see him as a Ken Anderson-type only at a huge program.

6. Bridge QB. Get a good back-up to Palmer to bridge the present to the future. If you don’t bring back Palmer, you need someone to step in and win now. They did that with Jon Kitna in 2003 and it worked out very well early on for Palmer, long before the Bengals became a reality show and before Kimo VonOelhoffen hit his knee in Jan. 2005 and his elbow was banged in Dallas in 2008. Whether or not you bring Palmer back, you need a legit starting QB with experience and no disrespect to Carson’s brother Jordan and his runpee.com website won’t cut it. There are several options out there Alex Smith could be one. They had one in Ryan Fitzpatrick. Only one start in the books but Matt Flynn could be one. Actually, Jon Kitna could be brought back again. That wouldn’t be all bad.

7. Need to raise the on-field leadership of the D. They are clearly a very, very talented and deep group. They have a great coordinator in Mike Zimmer under contract who’s not going anywhere. However, they need what Romeo Crennel had with the Patriots in their back-to-back Super Bowl title years of 2003-04. Richard Seymour, Tedy Bruschi, Mike Vrabel and Rodney Harrison. They were much more than talented players. They were leaders on the field who directed and corrected. That’s what the Bengals could really, really use to reach the next level. That’s exactly what the Steelers have in Troy Palomalu and the Ravens have in Ray Lewis, Terrell Suggs and Haloti Ngata.

8. Draft or sign rookie free agent as an energy player. My personal favorite here is Matt Szczur of Villanova. Full disclosure – I am a Villanova ’88 grad but anyone who has watched Szczur on the Main Line of Philadelphia knows this kid can do it all. He’s the best NFL prospect to come out of Villanova since Brian Westbrook and Nova has produced NFL players like Ray Ventrone who played a key special teams role on the perfect regular season of the Patriots in 2007. His brother Ross (Villanova ’10) is on the Pats’ practice squad. Szczur is quick, tough and a bone marrow donor to a girl within the past year so that answers that character question. He has been drafted by the Cubs in MLB which speaks to his pure athleticism. Hearing he really wants to play in the NFL and he would be a perfect fit for a team like the Bengals. The Patriots have done a phenomenal job with this as they have 21 undrafted players on their roster. They’re 14-2. That worked out pretty good.

9. Get back to being a football team, not a reality show. With T-O and Ocho likely on their way out, this should be a pretty easy task. While it’s great that everyone was talking about the Bengals in the last two seasons because of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” in 2009 and Ocho’s and TO’s reality shows, it eventually became a focus. This was completely out of Lewis’ hands. The team committed WAYYY too many penalties that pointed to a lack of discipline and focus. They were among the league leaders in false starts and illegal formations – completely avoidable mistakes if you’re a focused team.

10. Preparation is everything. Too many times over the past five years – even in division winning seasons – the Bengals have suffered from not being ready for a multitude of game situations. They need more players committed to learning all of these scenarios, two-minute drills, etc. Again, while Lewis takes responsibility for this area, he needs more players who are committed to it.

The Bengals have the foundation of a winning franchise but they need to work on the infrastructure. By following the above general game plan, they have the chance of building a winner for years to come.

Respectfully,
Mike Petraglia
@trags

For the final 10 days of 2010, WEEI.com has counted down the top 10 stories of the year. The countdown ends with No. 1: Tom Brady’s MVP-caliber season.

Check out our previous entries:
No. 10: Kevin Garnett’s return to form
No. 9: Patriots’ playoff meltdown vs. Ravens
No. 8: Marc Savard-Matt Cooke incident and aftermath
No. 7: Red Sox derailed by injuries
No. 6: Bruins’ playoff collapse vs. Flyers
No. 5: Patriots’ Randy Moss saga
No. 4: Red Sox’ signings of Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford
No. 3: Patriots’ resurgence
No. 2: Celtics’ playoff run

Also, make sure to cast your vote in WEEI.com’s poll for the 2010 Boston Athlete of the Year.

No matter the weather, Tom Brady has delivered for the Patriots in 2010. (AP)

The Patriots exit a frigid Ralph Wilson Stadium, having just defeated the Bills, 34-3, to clinch the AFC East title, home-field advantage throughout the playoffs, and a first-round bye. Tom Brady, who has just broken former Browns quarterback Bernie Kosar‘s record by 11 after attempting his 319th consecutive passes without an interception, enters the bus. He lets the win marinate for a bit, yelling and clapping with his teammates. But after a half-hour of enjoyment, the quarterback takes out his laptop, pops in some film of Miami, and begins studying for the next game.

According to tight end Alge Crumpler, who was on the receiving end of one of three Brady touchdown passes that day, this is probably how the trip         home unfolded for Brady. It’s also why Crumpler, and many other players and football experts, have pegged Brady as the favorite to win the 2010 NFL MVP award.

“Because when we get on this bus, headed out of here, he’ll have his computer on and he’ll be studying Miami,” Crumpler said after the win. “Nobody works harder than Tommy.”

Sure, the stats have been nice. His 34 touchdowns and 109.8 passer rating are the second best of his career, trailing only the absurd, record-setting 50 TDs and 117.2 rating he posted in 2007, when he won his first and only MVP award so far. The four interceptions this season are a career low, and he’s thrown 24 touchdown passes since the last time he recorded a turnover back in Week 6 against Baltimore.

The embarrassing loss to Cleveland clearly stung Brady, as he’s played arguably the best football of his career since. He’s thrown 20 touchdown passes in those seven weeks. His passer rating hasn’t dipped below 107. But most importantly in the quarterback’s eyes, his team has gone undefeated in that span. Four of those wins — against the Steelers, Colts, Jets and Bears — came in matchups against teams atop their division at the time. Yes, his play in these games has been nothing short of phenomenal.

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For the final 10 days of 2010, WEEI.com will count down the top 10 stories of the year. In what was a memorable 12 months for all four of Boston’s major professional teams, there was a plethora of compelling storylines. The countdown continues with No. 5: The Randy Moss saga.

Check out our previous entries:
No. 10: Kevin Garnett’s return to form
No. 9: Patriots’ playoff meltdown vs. Ravens
No. 8: Marc Savard-Matt Cooke incident and aftermath
No. 7: Red Sox derailed by injuries
No. 6: Bruins’ playoff collapse vs. Flyers

Also, make sure to cast your vote in WEEI.com’s poll for the 2010 Boston Athlete of the Year.

Randy Moss talked his way out of town, and the Patriots haven't looked back. (AP)

The Patriots began the 2010 season with what many fans and analysts considered to be the best offense in all of football, topped off with star quarterback Tom Brady and wide receiver Randy Moss. The two teamed up to form the best quarterback-receiver duo in 2007, Moss’ first year with the Patriots. Brady highlighted the year with a single-season-record 50 touchdown passes, and 23 of them were to Moss. It was an incredible run that set the bar high in the eyes of New England fans for future seasons.

So, at the beginning of the 2010 season, when contract discussions surrounding Moss’ future with the team took over training camp and the first few preseason weeks, many began to wonder what the receiver known for his outspoken and attention-seeking ways would do. There were games toward the end of the 2009 season when Moss was accused of taking certain plays off, including ones in which he was targeted by Brady. When the 2010 season began, Brady and starting offensive tackle Logan Mankins were the two players drawing the most concern about contract extensions, leaving Moss to feel left in the dark.

The Patriots opened the season at Gillette Stadium against the Bengals, a game that featured three of the most controversial receivers in the league on the field at the same time in Chad Ochocinco, Terrell Owens and Moss. And after the Patriots handed the Bengals a 38-24 loss, it was, surprisingly, the New England receiver who stole the postgame show.

“If you got a boss, you would like to feel appreciated,” Moss said in a press conference following the Patriots’ win. “This is the last year of my contract, and there hasn’t been anything discussed. There hasn’t been anything said; not a letter, not nothing. I’m not saying that I want to stay here, but I love playing here. If the future of my job lets me go to another team, then that’s what it’s going to be.”

The comments stunned players, coaches and fans alike. Why had Moss chosen to bring his contract situation up now? Thus began the downward spiral of Randy Moss’ days as a Patriot.

In Week 2, the Patriots traveled to the new Meadowlands to face the Jets, their division rivals who received league-wide attention in the offseason for their big mouths and even bigger egos, as demonstrated by “Hard Knocks,” the HBO reality show. After jumping out to a nice lead (helped by a touchdown on a fantastic catch by Moss), Brady and the Patriots surrendered to the Jets in the second half, eventually dropping a 28-18 contest. Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez could do no wrong in the second half, while Brady struggled to find any receivers, especially Moss, who was thrown to a number of times. Cornerback Antonio Cromartie shut down the veteran receiver, filling in nicely for the injured Darrelle Revis.

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According to Mike Reiss of ESPN.com (via twitter), the Patriots worked out three free agents: wide receivers Sam Aiken and Andy Fantuz as well as defensive lineman Landon Cohen. The Pats reportedly have an open roster spot after waiving defense lineman Louis Leonard.

Aiken is the most familiar of those names, having spent the 2008 and 2009 seasons with New England as a special teams player and wide receiver. He set a career high with the Pats in 2009 by making 20 grabs. But he was released at the end of training camp this year and signed for the Browns, for whom he played three games before getting released in mid-October.

Fantuz plays for the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League. He led the CFL in receiving yards this year with 1,380, and was named the Most Outstanding Canadian in the CFL.

Cohen, a seventh-round draft pick in 2008 by the Detroit Lions, was a backup for the Lions in 2008 and a starter in 2009 before getting cut by the Lions on the final day of training camp. He signed with the Jaguars and played two games with Jacksonville before getting cut. He is listed at 6-foot-3 and 300 pounds.

Back on Oct. 12, the NFL broke news that Nike would be replacing Reebok as the official jersey provider of the league. Dramatic changes were promised, and if these “leaked” photos are actually the models, then it’s true. Warning: Peter King tweeted this in regards to the jerseys: “New England’s are worse than hideous. Rebel, Bob Kraft.”

Without further ado …

Word has come from Foxboro that Brett Favre will start against the Patriots after testing out his injured foot and ankle before the game. Favre had been expected to play after indicating that his injuries were healing quickly, although it’s not that much of a surprise that the veteran will be on the field for his start streak to 292 games.

Favre has struggled this season after posting his greatest statistical season in 2009. The veteran QB has thrown for 1191 yards, seven touchdowns, and ten interceptions while posting a completion percentage of 58.1%. His passer rating of 68 is below most starting quarterbacks in the league after posting a rating of 107.2 last season.

Baltimore Ravens tight end Todd Heap, who was on the receiving end of a helmet-to-helmet hit from Patriots safety Brandon Meriweather last Sunday, will start for the Ravens on Sunday against the Bills. Heap had been listed as questionable in Baltimore’s final injury report. For the full list of inactives in the Ravens-Bills game, click here.

It was widely assumed that the San Diego Chargers would not sell out Sunday’s game against the Patriots due to recent struggles by the Chargers. Fanhouse reports that the Chargers’ team Twitter account asked fans to buy tickets to avoid a local television blackout. The Patriots responded with their own account. “Hey Patriots fans on the West Coast, if you want to see the Pats play the Chargers, go to Chargers.com to buy tickets,” the tweet read.

After the tweet, all remaining tickets were purchased within a couple hours, with half of them purchased by Patriots fans. The game will be played in San Diego at 4:15 ET.

The Patriots lost a tough one on Sunday — the defeat to Miami marked their first back-to-back losses in three seasons. When you lose a close game, it’s usually because something wasn’t clicking. For the Pats, it appeared that their pass rush had stayed out too late, enjoying South Beach. Their sluggish effort netted one sack on the day — Tully Banta-Cain and Jerod Mayo shared the action.

It’s become evident the loss of Mike Vrabel (48 sacks in eight seasons) and Richard Seymour (39 sacks in eight seasons) has hurt the Pats ability to rush the passer and create pressure without blitzing. While this is far from great, it is possible to fix. If the Patriots follow the suggestions below, they can turn around their pass rushing woes. The best part, all they have to do is sign these guys off the street.

Andre Tippett
Tippett holds the Patriots franchise record for most sacks with 100. He knows how to play in a 3-4 and could bring some good pressure off the corner on third down situations. Plus, he’s currently the Pats’ Executive Director of Community Affairs, so really, he’s already signed. A quick in-house memo is all that’s required to get him on the field. Plus he can mentor Mayo.

Deacon Jones
Why not hire the person who invented the sack to help the pass rush? Jones played during an era when the sack wasn’t a recorded stat. However, in 1967, according to Jones, he recorded 26 sacks in 14 games.

Jones is a little older, and maybe not able to play, but as a defensive line coach, if nothing else, he can inspire Ty Warren and Vince Wilfork and Mike Wright to get after it.

Howie Long

Sure, he’s on TV now, but look at him. He can strap on a helmet Thursday and be effective. Long might not have as many sacks as others on this list, but his ability to play any defensive line position would be crucial to get other members of the the D-line some much needed rest during games. Plus he’s from Charlestown. Can’t the Pats get a hometown guy?

Bruce Smith
Smith is barely six years out of the league. He has to be itching to get back on the field. Not only that, he’s the official all-time sack leader in the NFL. The Patriots couldn’t use that? Plus he doesn’t have a ring. Picture it: “Bruce, come back for four games, add a few more sacks to your total, win a Super Bowl ring.” Sounds like the perfect pitch. Check out his highlight reel.

Reggie White
The “Minister of Defense” died in 2005. Still, film sessions focusing on his work could be used to motivate the defensive line.

With four games left, the Pats have a chance to turn their lackluster pass rush around. They have the talent to be productive, so perhaps some inspiration by these all-time greats is all that is needed.