The trickiest thing about the Patriot flea flicker that ripped Tennessee last Sunday was how deeply RB BenJarvus Green-Ellis had penetrated the line before his pitch-back to Tom Brady. I mean, what a sell job. Maybe too much of one. He nearly stepped too far into traffic. And the Titans almost wrecked the play.

Second quarter. The Pats led just 10-zip - yes, at one point it was still a contest. First-and-10 near midfield, and Brady hands to Green-Ellis, who broke for the middle of the line.

Tennessee reacted. The safeties moved in. And at the line DEs Kyle Vanden Bosch and William Hayes launched themselves toward the New England backfield. The Pats were countering with a two-TE setup to block it.

Vanden Bosch got his usual double-team, but Hayes ended up solo on TE Chris Baker and ripped underneath him, circling behind the ball carrier, who was now in the act of lobbing back to Brady. Hayes reached out and took a swipe, just ... just missing leather — and a possible turnover — by his fingerprint.

"I don't remember what defense they were in," said Brady afterward, "but Benny [Green-Ellis] kind of went through there and [Hayes] was really far upfield. He turned with Benny and Benny pitched it back and had great [timing] on the throw."

No, not quite. Benny got lucky. Baker had clamped onto Hayes in desperation ... not enough to draw the holding flag, but enough to slow down the Hayes charge. Otherwise, he slaps the ball down and the thing's loose in the snow and there's a scrum, and ... well, maybe the Titans recover, resetting their nerves and somehow making a game of it. May-be.

Instead, the trickery proceeded, with Brady taking the pitch then launching it to Moss, who had antelope-ed his way through double coverage, and New England had it 17-to-nuthin'.

OK, the Pats had set the table beautifully, a mini sting operation, with all the slush and the snowflakes oddly working to their advantage. Poor footing always tilts the odds toward the offense's side, especially in this era where receiver mugging is already heavily open to interpretation - and heavily flagged.

Nearly every New England rush attempt up to that point had picked up something ... Maroney for five ... Maroney for seven, then a 45-yard TD, then seven more. ... Green-Ellis for six. Chip, chipping away. An October ice pick. And with weather conditions likely worsening, the Titans knew more run plays were coming their way.

But Brady had also tested them deep a pair of times, once on a throw to Wes Welker (complete) and another to Randy Moss (not complete). You don't expect many long bombs on ugly fields, but there really is a school of thought behind this when it comes to game planning for the heavy elements — gusty rain, muck, blizzards, etc. The theory is, throw early ... before things get worse.

One year the Vikings stung the heavily-favored Rams in a playoff using this strategy. The L.A. forecast was for heavy rains. Waterfalls. And down they came. The thick, sloppy surface would consume both teams at the Coliseum. Had it been a day at the track they'd have sent everyone home, no action — ponies stuck in the mud.

So L.A.'s defense loaded up for the run, which was the typical Minnesota lead-in back then. But strangely the Vikings, using a backup quarterback named Bob Lee, came out flinging. Lee went 5-for-5 on his opening throws, and he moved the team 70 yards, and the Vikings punched it straight in for a quick 7-0 lead. Then they looked at the skies and headed for cover. Final: Vikings 14, Rams 7.

Afterward they cornered Bud Grant, Minnesota's coach, and asked, "You're a terra firma team, Bud — why the sudden air show?"

Grant was one of the league's great stonefaces, a permanent Mr. Rushmore. But he was a former Canadian League boss who knew a trick or two about hard weather.

"If you play on bad fields," he said, "they're going to get worse. We wanted to throw early and get any passing advantages we could, because we knew it would be difficult to throw the ball.

"On a good field, a seven or 14-point lead isn't very much, but on a bad field it gets to be monumental."
Weather and football, the strategy of it. You saw glimpses in New England last week, but more and more it's a lost intricacy on these showroom fields and domes of today.

"Here's another one for you," says former Vikes GM John Thompson. "Not bad weather passing, per se, but Grant and the outdoors ... and the Rams.

"We were closing out the 1968 season at home and it was a really bitter day, and Bud would never allow heaters on the Vikings sideline. A macho thing, tough guys handling the elements.

"Meanwhile, the Rams in preparation for the game had ordered several heaters for their bench. So during the pregame warm-ups, the Rams' great DB and kick returner, Eddie Meador, fielded a high punt and deliberately circled toward the Viking bench before turning upfield. Then shouted at the heater-less Vike players, 'Who are you guys shi--ing?', before going on his merry way."

Rams 31, Ice Cubes 3.