Just before this was written, the New England Patriots played the Miami Dolphins on their home turf in Foxboro, Mass. A win for Tom Brady and crew would’ve resulted in the Pats being a third seed for the playoffs, a loss pushing them to the fourth seed. Either way, they were in, so Belichick chose to protect his front line talent and flex the muscle of his reserves, which allowed veteran Doug Flutie to score with the only NFL dropkick since 1941.

For the past few years, New England has been the team to beat, and with a playoff spot all but wrapped up, it’s easy to see why the second stringers were employed. This is when slacking off a bit is acceptable – 80 percent will get the job done. But when your team is Pontiac, and your players include the Torrent SUV and Montana SV6 minivan, even the young Solstice convertible ain’t gonna be enough to put numbers on the board. Unfortunately, the all-new G6 Coupe does little for the offensive line, and gets bowled over on defense.

At a time when Pontiac is in dire need of some muscle, the 2006 G6 Coupe shows up weak and out of shape. Under the hood is a maximum of 240 horsepower, available in the super duper special GTP version, though that figure is four ponies shy of the Honda Accord Coupe, and represents 60 fewer horses than what’s offered in the Ford Mustang GT, a screaming value with a base price of about $25,000. The Pontiac G6 tries to up the ante with a sport suspension, optional airbags, and, most recently, a plan to lower sticker prices while still offering rebates. However, none of these items push the G6, with its mediocre build quality, lackluster performance, and generic design, into touchdown territory.