Spin City

by Scott Benson
dan@patriotsdaily.com

Here at PD, we’re intent on moving beyond the high-tech lynching of Pats coach Bill Belichick because, frankly, we’d just as soon get back to the simple life of following our favorite football team without the disapproving finger being wagged at us from every hysterical, profit-driven, bottom-feeding direction.

We’re football fans, not Al Qaeda recruits. He’s a football coach, not Osama Bin Laden. Spare me the Homeland Security Advisory.

Still, I can’t help but be fascinated by the subtle nuances of the dogged reportage on this matter of grave national security. This, from someone named Pat Bigold at the Globe this morning:

Goodell keeps an open mind
By Pat Bigold
Globe Correspondent / February 7, 2008

HONOLULU - NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said yesterday he “reserves the right” to reopen an investigation into charges the Patriots videotaped opponents’ signals if credible new information is presented to his office.

Goodell spoke briefly prior to the AFC Pro Bowl squad’s practice at Kapolei High School.

“From Day 1 I have said that if I find new information inconsistent with what we’ve been told, then I reserve the right to reopen that,” he said. “If there’s new material or information that’s credible, then we’ll look into it.”

But Goodell made it clear he has not received anything new that would lead him to believe there is substance to any new reports about Patriots spying.

I just thought it was ‘unusual’ that the lead was “Commish reserves right to reopen investigation…..IF” instead of “nothing new of substance”.

The good news is that both Mike Reiss and John Tomase have posted new articles this morning that both look forward to what will be an interesting team-building off-season for the Patriots.

You know, actual football stories. Is that the sun I see?

Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da

logoby Dan Snapp
dan@patriotsdaily.com

I might have to give up the merit badges, the keys to the Patriots Daily executive washroom, even the cherished Troy Brown-inscribed rose-colored sunglasses.

Sorry, guys. Try though I might, I just can’t get worked up over the loss. I know this goes against the grain of the fandom, but I’m actually, well, OK with it.

The shame.

Look, of course it’s disappointing. But the truth is it was a hell of a game. The Giants made some amazing plays when they absolutely needed to, and they completely earned it. They were the better team. What more can be said?

The Patriots fan in me grieves; the football fan admires the magnitude of the achievement. No, I don’t have a key to the company liquor cabinet.

It would be easier if the Giants were more hateable. Yeah, there’s always Strahan, but that big fraud’s always been like that, a harmless goofball. There was some talk, but most of it was pretty muted. Yeah, yeah, Plaxico’s prediction, but who cares? What’s he supposed to say, that his team would lose?

Eli’s the lesser of two evils but now possibly the greater of two Mannings, at least in big games. He doesn’t do the Peyton face well enough to dislike him.  Plus, those last two drives, he was money. You gotta respect that.

I know, I know. Here’s my security badge.

There’s no pontificating head coach, no self-promoting star QB, no popcorn-eating wide receiver. No villains at all, really. Their coach is just as curmudgeonly and misunderstood as our coach. Their fourth receiver had the two biggest plays of the game. Their backup tight end took a pass 45 yards. Their third defensive tackle had the culminating sack of the game.

Hell, maybe these guys are the 2001 Pats after all. To paraphrase Helen Seinfeld, “How can anyone not like them?”

Guys, is the security guard really necessary?

Meanwhile, after two weeks of media proclaiming “the best team ever”, “the best quarterback ever”, “the best coach ever”, blah blah blah, I really found myself hating these over-hyped favorites. Oh wait, that was the Patriots they were talking about. Sorry. Old habit, hating the over-hyped.

Seriously, though, parade plans? A “19-0″ book? And even, God help us, copyrighting “19-0″? Please, please, please tell me that’s not really true. And who let Rick Pitino into the stadium complex in the first place?

That’s not the team we’ve come to love. That’s not the Bill Belichick way. To him, we’ve been trained, such actions are deemed “unseemly”.

But that’s just it about this season. None of it’s been the Belichick way. The scores, the records, the bests this and that. That used to be for the other teams. Let them have the records; we’ll take the rings. Right?

Even the premature pronouncements of Brady and Belichick, respectively, as “best ever”; those seem like titles both would rather see declared under the benefit of hindsight, long after their careers are over. “Just happy to be mentioned in the same breath,” is the proper phrase for the here and now.

Otto Graham, one of the greats Brady was scheduled to surpass, played 10 years of professional football and went to 10 championship games. He won the first four in the old All-America Football Conference (including a perfect season in ‘48), and then the next one in the Browns’ first year in the NFL. But then the Browns lost three straight title games. They responded by winning the next two.

This is the future I see for the New England Patriots. Built to compete for the title every year, winning some, losing some, but back to challenge every season. Not perfect, but a hell of a run.

Perfect was a pipe dream. One that so nearly came true, but in the end, still a dream. All the Patriots proved was they can be the 2004 Colts better than the 2004 Colts could, but with the same sad results.

The dream’s over. Let’s get back to what the Patriots were in the start of the decade: balanced offense, punishing defense, opportunistic special teams, and the team every vanquished opponent thought wasn’t “the better team.”

So can I get my shades back?

Mother Knew Best

It’s odd the moments you miss them most. Mom would have been the first to call Sunday night.

“Hi Mom.”
“Oh, do you have one of those caller identification things?”
“No.”
“So are you OK, honey?”
“I’m fine. Really.”
“That was such a tough loss.”
“It was.”
“Well, I remember how you used to get.”
“I was just a kid then.”
“You’d shoot baskets in the driveway for three hours after the Celtics lost. And that wasn’t even the playoffs.”
“I’m not like that now.”
“You’d destroy my marigolds.”
“Not on purpose. They were kinda in my baseline.”
“Well, I thought the Giants deserved to win! They played great!”
“Oh, I agree. The Pats have only themselves to blame. It’s not like the refs did them in or something, like a couple of those calls in Indy last ye…”
“Oh, I thought the referees were completely fair today!”
“No, no, me too. I meant last year in Indianap…”
“I was happy for Eli.”
“Well…”
“Dad says he misses you yelling at the TV.”
“I don’t really do that anymore, either. But I miss being there, too.”
“Something’s burning. Here’s your father.”

“‘ello?”
“Hey, Dad. What’d you think?”
“Entertaining! Wish they had found a use for Mr. Brown, though.”
“Yeah, me too.”
“Think he’ll be back one more year?”
“I doubt it.”
“Here’s your mother.”

“Hi, it’s me. So that play with Manning breaking free and the receiver catching it against his helmet. His helmet! I could barely stand to watch!”
“I know.”
“They earned that win!”
“Absolutely.”
“The Patriots had their chances, and they blew it!”
“No argument here.”
(pause)
“So I just called to say life goes on.”
“I know, Mom.”
“They’ll be back again.”
“Yeah, I think so too.”
“Your brothers are probably calling. Kiss your girls for me.”
“I will.”

What I wouldn’t give now to take that call.

Inside Gillette

logoby Christopher Price
chris@patriotsdaily.com

GLENDALE, Ariz. — In a cramped interview tent just outside of University of Phoenix Stadium late Sunday night, Randy Moss paused slightly for a moment while he pondered the question: Would he be back next year as a member of the Patriots?

“If I am in a New England Patriots uniform next year, I would love to be in one,” he said. “If I am not, you know, the show must go on.”

Moss was talking about himself, but he could have been speaking for almost one-fifth of New England’s 53-man roster. The Patriots face a number of personnel questions heading into the offseason — many of the players who were on the field Sunday night against the Giants may have been playing their final game in a New England uniform.

On offense, Moss is the biggest question, and the Patriots figure to try and move heaven and earth to get him to sign a cap friendly deal for next season and beyond. The wide receiver took a sizable pay cut to join New England last spring, and was a key part of a record-setting offense. It is known that a handful of players have been approached to re-do their deals, presumably in hopes of bringing players like Moss back. But late Sunday night, Moss wouldn’t tip his hand as to what he planned to do going forward, saying only he was just looking forward to the chance to spend some time with his family.

“I am not approaching the offseason. I have a family. I got kids to love and raise,” Moss said when quizzed again about his future. “I’m going to be with my kids probably until May or June. I am not thinking of anything football right now, so I can just relax my mind, my body, and love my kids.”

In all, the wide receiver position could ultimately see the same sort of turnover as last season when the Patriots completed an extreme makeover, bringing in new faces Moss, Donte Stallworth and Wes Welker. Stallworth is due an option bonus that is reportedly between $6 million and $8 million the team is not likely to pick up. (Stallworth declined interview requests after Sunday’s game.) In addition, Jabar Gaffney is an unrestricted free agent, while 36-year-old veteran wide receiver Troy Brown, who played in just one game this year, is a possible candidate for retirement. Wide receiver/special teams ace Kelley Washington is also due a sizable roster bonus, reportedly $4 million, while two others special teams stars, long snapper Lonie Paxton and special teams captain Larry Izzo, are unrestricted free agents.

On defense, cornerback Asante Samuel faces an uncertain future. Samuel was slapped with the franchise tag last season, which meant a one-year tender of $7.79 million. He was displeased with the offer and held out, eventually returning to camp two weeks before the start of the season. After another strong season — he now has 16 interceptions the last two seasons — he’ll become an unrestricted free agent in March, and it’s believed he’ll be seeking a lucrative deal somewhere in the neighborhood of the eight-year, $80 million deal that San Francisco’s Nate Clements signed, a deal he’s not likely to get with the Patriots.

Like Moss, Samuel would not elaborate on his future after the game.

“Everyone is down and heartbroken,” Samuel said when asked about the scene in the locker room after the game. “[Head Coach Bill Belichick] just told us that he appreciated everything we were able to do this season, like working hard and giving it our all. We weren’t able to do what it takes, and everybody is heartbroken.”

Fellow defensive backs Randall Gay and Eugene Wilson are also question marks as unrestricted free agents. Gay’s future may be tied to Samuel — if Samuel leaves, the Patriots would likely make more of an attempt to re-sign Gay in hopes of maintaining more continuity and depth in the secondary. As for Wilson, he has been bypassed on the depth chart at safety by James Sanders, and by the end of the season, was fighting rookie Brandon Meriweather for playing time.

The linebacker position is also unclear. Rosevelt Colvin, who ended the season on injured reserve, has a cap number that’ll increase to approximately $7 million next spring. Tedy Bruschi, 34, talked about the possibility of retirement in the days leading up to the game. Retirement could also claim linebacker Junior Seau — however, the 39-year-old would not commit one way or another after the game. “I haven’t thought about the future,” Seau said shortly after the loss. “I am having too much fun.” Asked if the loss will effect his decision to retire or not, Seau said, “No, this will not effect my decision.”

Christopher Price is an award-winning sportswriter who has covered the Patriots since 2001 for Boston Metro. He’s served a contributor to ESPN.com, SI.com, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post and The Miami Herald. He’s written “The Blueprint: How the New England Patriots Beat the System to Create the Last Great NFL Superpower,” and can be reached at chris@patriotsdaily.com.

Aftermath

by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

I turned off the TV before the final seconds ticked from the Super Bowl clock and I haven’t turned it back on since. How long do you think I can hold out?

I hit Reiss’s Pieces pretty hard afterwards, waiting for some post game comment and reaction, but I haven’t been back or looked at any of the other blogs and sports pages. Does this seem like a reasonable plan for the long term?

I’ve been visiting my regular Internet haunts this morning and find many who feel as I do - the shock, this disappointment, the utter fatigue that makes them recoil from sports radio, or ESPN, or the half-wit Nelson Muntz in the next cubicle. I’m not sure I like their chances any better than I like mine.

We can run, but we can’t hide. 

4th and 13

A lot of attention is being paid to this, the final play of the second half’s opening drive, when Bill Belichick eschewed a 48 yard field goal attempt for a fourth down try on 4th and 13 from the Giants 31. The Patriots, naturally, didn’t make the first down or score any points. I admit I never thought of the field goal either. All I could think of at the time was if the Patriots could somehow get a 14-3 lead on the Giants, it would be very difficult for New York to come back and win the game. I was pissed at Gostkowski anyway - that stupid kickoff out of bounds. They dodged a bullet on it thanks to a Ellis Hobbs interception, but I was beside myself at the sloppiness. No matter - he could have very well drained the field goal, and with those three points, there’s your tie game.

Really? Aren’t we talking about something that happened with more than twenty minutes left in the game? I look at it this way - they had a lead with two minutes left in the game, a long field for the Giants, and they couldn’t stop them, and that’s what finally cost them the championship (familiar theme). If issue is going to be taken with Belichick’s coaching - and even he is not immune to it - it seems like an atrocious performance by an offense that was said to be the greatest ever, or a defense that was once a champion ending the season for two years running by giving up a score in the final minutes, or his undefated team’s generally flat performance on the biggest stage there is, all take precedence over a coaching decision made with seven minutes left in the third quarter. He made a pretty good decision to force a review (too many men on the field) and extend the very same drive, but there was still a lot of football to play.

Let’s start with this - you’d rather have Belichick as Patriots coach over any other living person. Still, he had at least half a lousy game plan going in to this game, even with two weeks to prepare. During the game, he and his staff seemed unable to make adjustments to that fatally flawed plan. As far as having his team peak at the right time, forget it. Despite making “sixty minutes” his mantra since last January, his team could only offer 58 in the game they had been pointing to for more than a year.

All that stuff is more important than 4th and 13.

Overconfidence?

I kept telling my wife all week - they look really confident! What an idiot. Tedy Bruschi being interviewed on the sidelines before the game - “I really think - I’ve never seen them so confident. I think they know they’re going to kill them.” Oh, man. It’s good that she’s on my side because she could kill me with that for a good long time.

But were they overconfident? Did they take anything for granted? With the Patriots Super Bowl losers again, anything seems possible, even with their legacy of strong heart and sound mind when it’s all on the line. Something was going on, to be sure: they were merely passengers on that bus last night, never in control. You expect more than that from coaches and players that have been talked about as all-time greats. Patriots fans - which includes me - have gotten fat and happy on the belief that, based on all that they had achieved, and how they achieved it, the Pats would always have the answer for everything. Which is ridiculous, obviously, given recent developments.

That stupid Globe book and the team’s apparent advance plans to trademark ‘19-0′and make ‘Three Games To Glory 4′ available for immediate pre-order are a kick in the nuts, just to remind us. How embarrasing is all that stuff now? How many times have we crowed about the Steelers’ travel planning and the Eagles’ parade route? Man, we’ve lost that chip forever.  

It’s Not Like the Giants Didn’t Offer to Share

I don’t know whether I was in denial after the game, but I cannot believe I didn’t call out the fact that the Patriots were in position to make no less than three game-ending interceptions on the Giants final scoring drive, Asante Samuel’s being the worst non-play. Thinking of that now makes me feel kind of ill, actually. But it all goes to my prevailing feeling, right from the time the TV went off last night - this defense, the fulcrum on which three championships were balanced, is no longer capable of doing anything but hanging on for dear life and relying on their guile to make a handful of second half plays to pull out a game. They used to be a dynamic unit that changed games - think Indy in 03, or 04. Compared to then, they’re orange traffic cones now, laid out carefully to mitigate damage rather than to inflict it, and that’s probably because 03 and 04 is a hell of a long time ago in football years. Thing is, the Patriots still have essentially the same defense they had then, especially in the middle of the field. Losing the Super Bowl despite entering it undefeated is probably the right time to think about changing that.

And you have to wonder about the offense, and if all Belichick and Pioli accomplished was to take the the team in the Fouts/Marino direction in their effort to keep up with the times. We saw at the end of the season how Laurence Maroney can be impact player on the level of any they have (though he was not last night) - if he’s reduced to a bystander role at any point next season while four and five receivers get trotted out there for more pinball, we all ought to be screaming our bloody heads off. Because all that fastbreak basketball just ended up making the Patriots soft in the key, didn’t it?

New York, New York

It’s not right that we should go on about the Patriots’ failings without conceding all due credit to the fantastic performance of the New York Giants, who were truly the better team and deserve blah-blah-blah-blah-blah…….my wife just came downstairs and said “You know what? Screw the New York Giants! I’m not happy for Eli Manning, I’m not happy for that %$#&%@# Tom Coughlin, I hope they choke on it! Nobody was ever happy for us when we won!”

She’s a little upset. We both took the day off thinking we’d be able to sleep in and then happily watch winning press conferences and memorable hightlights and parade planning for a few hours. Now we’re boxed into watching HGTV shows about someone improving their deck, or wardrobe, or something. It’s the only safe place.

Seriously, this is a results business, baby. And the Giants got all the results last night, so good on them, for good. As we said repeatedly about our own team on this same morning six years ago: nobody will ever be able to take it away from them.

Another myth that’s been debunked, by the way.

Case Closed

Because they can take it away from you, or at least try, if you’re not a league meeting asskisser or beatific, media-savvy cross between Johnny Appleseed and Christ himself.

So here’s the deal, America - as Patriots fans, we have to suffer the indignity of hearing forever about 18-1, and about one of the biggest Super Bowl upsets in history, and about how the invincible Belichick and Brady ended up looking like saps. Nothing we can do about that, and it won’t go away. We own it, maybe for good. You’ll make sure of that.

In exchange for paying that penance for our real and/or perceived hubris over the past seven years, allow me to suggest that your penance is to stick your halfbaked sports moralizing and national referendums on classiness where the sun doesn’t shine. We’re done listening to a bunch of power-drunk, soccer mom hall monitors, emboldened by the shrieking of ESPN, an unholy alliance of yellow journalists and simmering fusspots bent on advancing their mealy-mouthed vindictiveness while duplicitously wrapped in the flag of ‘fair play’ and ‘honest competition’.

You don’t have an ounce of integrity yourself, so we’re done listening to you talk about it. We’re burying this agenda item today.

Final Thought

I’ve purged sufficiently now, I think, so that ought to be about it for me for a few days, unless some other shoe drops somewhere.  There will undoubtedly be more reaction from other members of the PD staff, and we’ll post that as it comes in.

Soon it will be time to talk about where PD goes from here, what our off-season plans will be, and what we want to do when next season rolls around. One thing we know - we want more writers and more features, and we’ll be back to talk with you about that in the days ahead.

 In the meantime, as I did last night, I thank you all for your support and participation throughout the year.

….And There Goes The No-Hitter

by Scott Benson
scott@patriotsdaily.com

I’ve had that headline since, like, the fourth week of the season, and I can’t believe I’m using it now.

It may, perhaps, be the worst loss in profesional football history, this 18-0 powerhouse, favored by two touchdowns, losing to the lowest seed of the allegedly inferior NFC in the only game that really matters when real history is written. It sure feels like the worst loss in history tonight, as the New York Giants scored the winning touchdown with less than two minutes left to beat the undefeated Patriots in Super Bowl XLII.

Dreams of immortality have been replaced by nightmares of ignominy that may last a generation, or two, or even longer.

The Patriots, frequently conceded the championship at various points through an often dominant but tumultuous season, were left flinging hopeless and aimless bombs to no one as the final seconds of the game evaporated into the Arizona desert. Their record-setting offense, the most prolific scoring machine in the history of the game, went out not with a bang, but with a whimper. Their once proud defense, now reduced to a mere supporting role in the shadow of their starry offensive teammates, was too old and too slow and too weak to win the game on their own, to make the one play they had to, when the outcome of the game rested solely in their hands.

Where to go from here? The heartbreak of Indianapolis has nothing on the pure devastation of this moment. How do they come back from this? How do they gather again, to go that one step farther, to once again be the last team standing? With the burden of this failed attempt at perfection strapped to their backs, in the harsh light of already furious opposition? For all their powers, it seems impossible in this aftermath of incredulity. For all this winning, this loss, this unforgettably awful loss, only makes me feel like it’s time for a page to turn.

It’s The Defense, Stupid.

I’m glad they got Wes Welker and Randy Moss and Donte Stallworth and I know that they probably wouldn’t have made it this far if they hadn’t. But what good did it do in respect to closing the deal? Super Bowl XLII was won with defense, and the defense that made the most plays took home the prize. Meanwhile, as the Pats loaded up their offense this off-season, they also also welcomed back 38 year old Junior Seau, 35 year old Rodney Harrison, 34 year old Tedy Bruschi and 32 year old Mike Vrabel as the core of their defense, with their only reinforcement coming in the way of 30 year old free agent Adalius Thomas. The middle of this defense, the core of so many past glories, the heart of so much of the organization, has gone as far as it can go. The game was in their hands tonight and they didn’t have enough left to grab it and hang on.

Tom Brady

Nothing - nothing - will ever take away from what Tom Brady has done for the Patriots, and tonight, he rallied a moribund offense to score the go-ahead points with just under three minutes to play in the Super Bowl. But for too much of the game, he and his record-setting teammates did nothing, and all the long bombs and jump balls and pinball machine scoring over the past five months meant less than nothing in the end. The Patriots defense lost the game at the end because Tom Brady and the offense put them squarely in the position to do so.  Brady’s the best player that ever has played, or ever will play, for the Patriots, but even that, even a perfect season punctuated by barrier-breaking offensive performances, was not enough. The road back after this season will be considerably longer than last.

A Truly Offensive Performance

As much as anyone, the offensive line lost the game for the Patriots. This decorated crew of pro-bowlers could not give their quarterback a moment’s peace from the opening gun. There was no running game, because after a few promising rushes, there were no holes. Stephen Neal went down to injury, but let’s face it, there is no excuse for the way the Patriots offensive line played tonight. It’s hard to believe that when the big game came, so many big game players didn’t show.

Randy Moss

His season here was an unforgettable one, and one gratifying thing about tonight’s game was to see Moss emerge, after a frustrating playoff, to make the difference on the Patriots last drive. I honestly thought Randy Moss had won the game for the Patriots. Who knows what happens from here; will his legal entanglements in Florida prove to be just enough to break up this marriage of convenience that produced so many memorable, but now bittersweet, moments? Will he return? If he does, we now know the Patriots can’t win the championship on he and Brady alone.

Wes Welker

I believe he tied a Super Bowl record for receptions tonight, and there’s two things for certain on a night of many doubts: Wes Welker is all football player, and he’s going to be with the Patriots through 2011. Not all news tonight is bad.

Ellis Hobbs

As long as he lives, Ellis Hobbs will never live down that fade route that left the Patriots down by three with 35 seconds left. Which stinks, because I remain convinced that he and Asante Samuel are the least of the Pats worries, if you don’t count Samuel’s upcoming free agency. Hobbs was out there on an island on that last play, and though he was helpless against it, that fade was merely the end result of a total team breakdown when it counted most.

The Coach

Before the game began, the names Lombardi, Noll and Walsh were being uttered. After the game, the words ‘undefeated three-time champ and two touchdown favorite loses the Super Bowl with two minutes left’ are too difficult to grasp when thinking about a coach who has become nearly invincible over the past eight years. Bill Belichick, Super Bowl loser? Like Brady, nothing can ever change what Bill Belichick has done for the Patriots and their fans, but has the phrase ’sixty minutes’ ever had such poignancy as it does tonight? Once again, they didn’t play sixty minutes.

From Here

There will no doubt be more thoughts in the days ahead, some of which we’ll share with you, some of which we’ll be better off not sharing at all. Perhaps other members of the PD team will stop by for a final word on what tonight became history, for all the worst possible reasons. In the meantime, we leave you with our thanks for your support this year - for your clicks, for your interest, and for your participation. It’s hard to call this a ‘good year’ tonight, but it will be one that we never forget. 

Roundtable Moment: Tim Jordan

I am not really happy with the Giants this week.  Haven’t been happy with them for the last 3 weeks, truth be told.  It’s not so much the attitude they’ve displayed this week or the bad judgment they’re guilty of, for showing up to Arizona dressed like pall bearers.  It’s not their lack of respect, it’s their lack of gratitude.  These are the same guys that have been talking all week about the galvanizing effect of playing the Patriots close in the regular season’s final game.  Many of them credited it with giving them the confidence to make their memorable run through the NFC conference.  Three impressive games that allowed them to show their city, and the rest of a doubting NFL, that they were championship timber.  They’re the toast of Manhattan and are the Last Hope for those who do not want to see the Patriots win another Super Bowl.  They are now America’s Underdog.  And they seem to really be enjoying it.  Not just the attention, but the thrill of playing their best and coming together at most important part of the season.  Who wouldn’t, right?

My problem isn’t with any of this, it’s the fact that I haven’t heard one Giant thank the Patriots for any of it.  After all, it’s the historic success of the Patriots that allowed the Giants to share some limelight in what would have been an uneventful evening at the Meadowlands 4 short weeks ago and ride that winning energy all the way to the Phoenix.  If the Patriots weren’t so damn good it’s likely that this week we’d be reading about Brett Favre’s favorite fertilizer, be subjected to Tony and Jessica at the Maxim party, or what it’s like to be reared by a man named Bum.  Instead it’s the shocking revelation that Eli Manning didn’t say a word to the world until he was three years old - a trait that virtually guarantees him Super Bowl glory (this is great news for my neighbor with the 6 year old who loves the taste of paint chips), actual score predictions, and half-hearted trash talk. 

And the Patriots are responsible.  They turned the 10-5 average team with the shaky QB and a bad secondary into the “hottest team in the NFL”.  They are so damn good they forced the Giants into playing inspired football and once they started, they didn’t want to stop.  They’ve taken this precious gift from New England and have cashed it in for a Super Bowl berth.  And not one word of thanks.  Not even an “hey, man, I appreciate it” head nod.

It’s just not right.

This years Patriot team is so damn good that it took two teams to the Super Bowl.  The Patriots made you, Giants, and Sunday they are going to destroy you.

Roundtable Moment: Kevin Thomas

The argument for the Giants winning this game seems to boil down to the fact that they outplayed the Patriots for 3 quarters a month ago, but couldn’t close the deal; now they are playing much better (an arguable proposition), the Patriots are the same or have even regressed a bit (also arguable), therefore the Giants will be able to finish the job this time around.  Even the most ardent Giant partisans seem to concede that at the very best, it will be a close game, and pin their hopes on the Giants making more big plays down the stretch and pulling out the win.  However, what this analysis ignores is that the Patriots are at their very best in close games when the game is on the line.  You can count on exactly one finger the number of big games in which the Patriots were outplayed late in the 4th quarter and let a tight game slip away.  That one time obviously was last year’s AFCCG, and this year’s team was built with the express purpose of not allowing that situation to happen again.  They proved that repeatedly this year–this was probably the best team since the ‘03 edition in terms of managing “close and late” situations and doing enough to win.  I do not believe this is entirely luck–I think there is a skill to it–and the Patriots are the best in these situations in today’s NFL.  I’ve resigned myself to the fact that this is probably going to be a real nail-biter (these games just always turn out that way, right?), but again, even if the Giants are able to neutralize the Patriots obvious strengths and keep the game close, they are still going to need to overcome the Patriots’ less obvious but equally important strength of managing the 4th quarter to victory.  It’s just too tall a task. Patriots 31, Giants 28.

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