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New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady says he is prepared to play in Sunday's AFC Championship Game, a game that by any measure is among the top 20 to 25 biggest games he has ever played in.

"Oh, yeah, it's definitely a game that has my attention," said Brady. "Is it a huge game? No, it's not a huge game. I've played in four Super Bowls. Come on. But this is a game that I suppose sticks out a little more than an average one. Am I nervous or do I have butterflies or anything? Not at all. But I guess you could say that I'm not completely overlooking the game."

Brady says it's hard to rank all of his biggest games.

"Well, my first high school start was a very big game," he said. "And my senior year I had a start with a bunch of college scouts there. That was huge. And then my first college start, as well as my first bowl game. Oh, my first NFL game, of course. And my first playoff game. My Super Bowl that year — all the announcers said how that was the biggest game of my life. Then the other AFC titles games and Super Bowls, which I've already mentioned. My first game back from ACL surgery. Really all the games when we were zeroing in on 19-0. Where am I? I've lost track. I guess I'm comfortable saying this game against the Ravens is in the top 35 biggest games I've played."

The New England Patriots held their annual holiday party last night and the talk of the franchise this morning is the scene at the center of the dance floor late in the evening in which Tom Brady and Wes Welker were all hands and tongues.

"That's always the risk at a holiday party," said Patriots owner Robert Kraft. "There's free alcohol and everyone is blowing off the stress of the year. This isn't the first time it's happened and it won't be the last. Tom and Wes will just have to talk to HR to make sure everything was consensual and then we'll go from there."

While Brady and Welker's grope-fest is the topic du jour around the team water cooler, no one on the team says their actions were much of a surprise.

"Those two have worked closely together for years and no one can deny they have amazing chemistry," said linebacker Jerod Mayo. "Things happen. I know sometimes I've briefly thought about doing it with my position coach or a defensive linemen. It's natural in a work environment. I just hope Tom and Wes can move on from it and what happened doesn't make the workplace environment awkward for everyone."