The word "chemistry" is tossed around frequently when discussing what drives championships in the ultimate team sport, but mentioned far less is how coaches can establish it and how it can drive a locker room deep in the postseason, when bodies are worn down and the rigors of a 17-week season painfully begin to take their toll.

The Patriots have three winnable games remaining on their schedule against the Bills, Jaguars and Texans and can easily finish the final quarter of the season with four consecutive wins, recapture the division title from the Dolphins and head into the playoffs with momentum on their side. The greatest threat to Bill Belichick, with Richard Seymour now in Oakland, Mike Vrabel in Kansas City, Asante Samuel in Philadelphia and Rodney Harrison and Tedy Bruschi both working in broadcast booths, is losing a locker room now devoid of its more vocal leaders.

Belichick made a very bold move when he sent home Adalius Thomas, Randy Moss, Derrick Burgess and Gary Guyton after they arrived late for an 8 a.m. meeting trying to battle a winter storm on Wednesday. Mike Ditka, recounting a situation when Walter Payton was late for a meeting after getting pulled over for driving 110 mph, questioned Belichick for not thinking through the decision fully or entirely taking into account the "intent" of his players. Tony Dungy openly voiced similar sentiment, mentioning having reprimanded and fining players during his tenure, but never sending them home.

Belichick clearly was looking to send a strong message, and by rendering Thomas inactive after the player publicly criticized the coach, he sent an even stronger signal to the team about the need to pay attention to fine details and put the team first. Yet Moss, who always has taken some plays off and shown a tendency to cower in traffic, was at his worst against Carolina, when Chris Gamble shut him down with his physical play. Multiple drops, a lost fumble, disinterested blocking and lackadaisical route running that led to a Gamble interception defined Moss' day, when he looked much more like the disenchanted Moss from his Oakland days than the Pro Bowler he has been in New England.

After Moss' early display, it did not come as a surprise that five consecutive passes were thrown to Wes Welker on the Patriots' go-ahead drive early in the third quarter or that Moss saw only one more ball, another short-armed drop, thrown his way the rest of the game.

Executives around the league have begun to question whether Belichick's decision to so unemotionally ship out Seymour — not to a competitive team in Arizona, Dallas or Philadelphia, but to the empty heart of Oakland — had an effect on team morale, as a similar pattern has existed in the past with regards to dealing key performers who contributed to winning Super Bowls.

Lawyer Milloy was shipped to Buffalo, Deion Branch traded to Seattle and Samuel was allowed to skip town in free agency despite great contributions. With Vince Wilfork's contract now hanging in the balance with a new CBA agreement not expected to be reached next season, a pattern has begun to emerge about how clutch performers are treated in New England.

Executives surmise that the decision to sign Junior Seau on the heels of their first loss of the season to Denver had more to do with the leadership void in the locker room than the need for a linebacker, especially given Seau's limited participation thus far this season.

When the Patriots have had their greatest success, they have achieved beyond expectations with the sum of many average parts. With some of their more dependable veterans no longer in place, the Patriots clearly are in a transition phase and have been trying to develop younger talent that will keep its legs fresher through January, but they face a big obstacle keeping Moss, Wilfork and growing discord from boiling over in a locker room that previously policed itself. The Patriots' greatest enemy down the stretch, as it has been in four closely contested losses, is themselves.

• Lions WLB Ernie Sims was too often the last linebacker to move against the Ravens, and his questionable instincts and lack of discipline playing the cutback have created too many big plays for Lions opponents this season, as they did against the Ravens. On Ray Rice's 59-yard run, Sims was so late to react that ORT O'Neil Cousins easily cut him off and rode him out of the play as Rice stepped behind Cousins. Whether it is turning his back on the ball, crossing his feet or overrunning the ball, Sims is extremely undisciplined, and combined with a strong injury history, it's easy to understand why he has been dangled on the trading block in the past.

• The Vikings have the two most physical cornerbacks in the league in Antoine Winfield and Cedric Griffin. Winfield, after a six-week injury absence, did not show any hesitation propelling his body, upending Bengals FB Brian Leonard and forcing a fumble at the end of the first half and being very quick to disrupt several first-half screen passes. He is one of the NFL's toughest players pound for pound. Griffin packs even more punch and despite not having as many opportunities with the Bengals mistakingly targeting Winfield, delivered a big blow on a defenseless Chad Ochocinco late in the game. Winfield's solid play helped limit the Bengals to less than 100 yards passing and keyed the Vikings' win.

• Norv Turner has molded Philip Rivers into an efficient machine, and Vincent Jackson, Antonio Gates and Malcom Floyd provide huge matchup problems for secondaries with their great length and catching radius. They all combined to produce 10 fourth-quarter points against a Dallas defense that lost OLB DeMarcus Ware to a neck injury early in the final period and helped San Diego escape with its eighth consecutive victory. Most impressive in the Chargers' effort was their goal-line stand late in the first half when they shut down four consecutive Marion Barber runs to the right with an aggressive surge from ILB Tim Dobbins, who was first to arrive on all three runs from the one-yard line.

• Some players are affected by big contracts, but Eagles TE Brent Celek has only appeared more determined since the former fifth-round selection signed a contract rewarding him like the Pro Bowl-caliber performer he is emerging to be, continually vacuuming every catchable ball despite playing with a dislocated thumb. He has become so reliable that even Donovan McNabb became careless whipping it in Celek's general vicinity, not seeing Jonathan Goff and expecting it would be snared, in what was McNabb's only interception in Sunday night's 45-38 victory over the Giants. The rapport McNabb has developed with Celek and DeSean Jackson and the emerging, multidimensional "Wildcat" threat of Michael Vick could make the Eagles' offense very difficult to defend down the stretch.  

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