6 posts tagged “new england patriots”

Ouch.

Super Bowl XLII was truly painful. My girls, especially the oldest, were crushed - welcome to being a sports fan. The late and ugly finished combine to make poor R truly distraught, but it also was perhaps the one thing that kept me from becoming catatonic - ya gotta stand tall for your kids. A few thoughts while the wound is still raw:

• That wasn't the Patriots of 2007, especially the offense. Our mantra the entire game was "take what is given you", yet the Patriots seemed ill-prepared and inflexible. Sure, give the Giants credit, but the Pats just didn't seem right.
• Given three straight years of failure at the highest levels, you have to wonder now about both Brady and Belichick. Sorry, it had to be said.
• They had their chances on defense at the end to put the Giants away, but I still blame the strangely ineffectual offense.
• R wants a Wes Welker jersey now
  

Oh well, on to the Beanpot...

Only a little more than two days before Super Bowl kick off. I'm not sure how I'm going to be able to concentrate until then. I have been a season ticket holder since 1993, when Bledsoe and Parcells showed up. Lived through some bad times up until the 2001 season, as my wife recalled, as she sent the girls off dressed in their Troy Brown and Tedy Bruschi uniforms this morning for Patriots Spirit Day, when she said "I don't remember any Patriot Spirit Days when I was in grade school!". Here's my thoughts on the upcoming game:

• It's going to be a blow out. Cold, Hard, Football Facts calls it the Mismatch of the Century. The weather is going to be good and the Patriots and Tom Brady don't miss when the wind isn't messing with the football.
• Although, as a Patriot fan, I should know better than anyone that a 14 point underdog can win the Super Bowl, as the 2001 Pats team upset "The Greatest Show On Turf", the St. Louis Rams, in Super Bowl XXXVI. But I know Bill Belichick, and Tom Coughlin is no Bill Belichick! And Belichick is no Mike Martz.
• The rout should be on if the Pats get the kickoff, as they scored on nearly every possession in the Giants "moral victory" in Week 17. And I don't see the Giants playing from behind very well.
• The only way I could see the Giants winning is if they score on special teams (like they did during Week 17 on a short kickoff).
• My favorite quote so far this media circus was Wes Welker's answer to the question "What's the difference between New England and Miami?" - "Weather, Women and Wins".
• My second favorite quote was Tom Brady's response when told the Giant's Plaxico Burress predicted a Giants win, 24-17:
• "We're only going to score 17 points?" Brady said with a smile. "Does Plaxico play defense? I wish he said 45-42, or something like that."
• One reason why I don't think the Patriots will be overconfident is that they are very serious about the undefeated season. It brings an added focus to the game, one they might have missed had they been, say, 14-2. At this point in the season, I don't see them letting such a remarkable feat slip through their hands due to a lack of concentration.
  

I'm pumped and excited and I have my Super Bowl XLII sweatshirt already. I need to buy some more for the rest of the family. I think we'll let the girls stay up for the entire game this year. We made them go to bed at halftime during Super Bowl XXXIX against the Eagles.

It sure is a grand time to be a New England sports fanatic!

Oh yeah, I'm ready for the Patriots to open up a big can o' whupass on the Chargers this Sunday! And here's the guy who'll open it:

It has been quite the snowy December here in the Northeast US. Last year, we went into January before seeing any snow, but this year gave us snow early in December, which, even more surprisingly, has stuck around. And given the two solid snowstorms we've had over the past few days, there is over a foot of snow on the ground and with the temps in the 20s, it is frozen solid.

Which made for a very interesting New England Patriots game. As expected, the nor'easter made for a great equalizer, neutralizing the Pats passing attack. Also, Brady seemed to force things, trying to hit Moss for the big play when there were plenty of options underneath. At least one commentator talked about that prior to the game - even an offense as effective as the Patriots can't sustain long drives consistently, so you need to take away the big play. And also, the Patriots can get impatient when the big play is held at bay. Now, I don't think it was the Jets that contributed much to it. In prior games, it was a heavy pass rush that did it. But yesterday, it was more a pelting, freezing rain and high winds that kept the offense at bay.

But, like all great teams, they still found a way to win. An early pressure by Seymour forced the Jets QB into an ill-advise dying quail of a throw from his own end zone and forgotten man Eugene Wilson returned it for an early score. And special teams maven Kelley Washington blocked a punt, leading to the only offensive touchdown of the day by another man of mystery, Laurence Maroney, who had a solid game at running back. I still think he missed some opportunities to pop it outside, which he finally did in the fourth quarter.

But it is impossible to argue with 14-0, only the second team to ever start that way. And just think, the Patriots should have five more games, while the '72 Dolphins were finishing up their regular season after fourteen games. It has been a great season so far, and the future's so bright, we gotta wear shades!

On the fantasy front, my team somehow pulled out a win to move to the finals. We only scored 61 points, but my opponent just pulled down 42, probably the low score for both of us for the year. His QB is Tom Brady, so the season's worst performance by Brady couldn't have come at a better time for me. Of course, my team was continually mocked in the post game wrapup stories, as my main point getter, Brian Westbrook, was running untouched into the end zone at the end of the Dallas-Philadelphia game, when he sat down at the one, realizing that, without any timeouts, the Cowboys couldn't stop the clock and get the ball back if he didn't score. And all the post game shows chided Westbrook's fantasy owners for having conniptions at losing the 7 points. Glad it didn't decide the game for me!

So on to defending my league crown in the finals next week. And, like last year, it is against the team with "LT" (LaDainian Tomlinson). Like my win this week against a subpar Brady, last year I beat the LT team when he scored well under his usual average. But they are playing at home against a poor Denver running defense, so I'm going to have to hope for a big Favre game!

Finally, to wrap up sports Monday, I wanted to show my picture of the 2007 World Series trophy, taken a couple of weeks ago at the local town hall Christmas celebration. It's a really poor picture, taken with a bad cell phone camera in terrible light, but still, I was within a couple of feet of it. Pretty neat!

Well, the Patriots once again snatched victory from the jaws of defeat this week, with the 27-24 win over the Ravens being an even closer run thing than last week's victory over the Eagles. And the Ravens spent the entire postgame whining about refs, who are always convenient whipping boys when you lose. My thoughts on the game:

• The Ravens got away with murder all game, manhandling the Pats receivers all over the field. Wes Welker was especially mauled virtually every play. So don't complain when it gets called.
• As the cold weather sets in and with 3 games in Foxboro and one in the Meadowlands, I hope last night's game isn't a harbinger for things to come. The receivers (all of whom are used to warm weather and/or playing in a dome) had a very hard time holding the ball last night in the cold, windy conditions. Moss, Watson (especially), Stallworth and even Welker each failed to catch one or more throws they should or could have had.
• If Tom Brady says he heard the whistle and eased up after the last second timeout by Baltimore on the fourth down sneak that was snuffed out, then I believe him. Looking at the replay, it does look like he and some of his linemen eased up a bit, as the whistle was clearly blown before the ball was snapped.
• Enough whining about the last touchdown reception by Gaffney. Jeez, it was first and ten from the eight, with 44 seconds left, when Gaffney made the catch. Even if the original TD call had been overturned, they still had plenty of time to get a TD. And the Ravens would have had less time to try and mount a comeback.
• I noticed a huge difference between Maroney and Faulk when it came to running. While Maroney made some great catch and runs, his straight runs were ineffective. But Faulk always seemed to get 6-8 yards on his carries, with an especially important one on the last drive, where he was almost tackled in the backfield but he slithered out for a good gain.
• Watson was definitely in line for the goat horns, especially after dropping an easy one in the end zone during the first drive. But he recovered the fumble that Faulk forced after the interception, and he made an excellent diving catch on the last drive.
• When the Pats defense needed a stand, they got it, forcing the Ravens to two straight three-and-outs during the fourth quarter. But it is annoying that for the second straight week, they turned a pumpkin into a prince, at least until the by now expected fourth quarter interception. Did anyone else notice that Feeley threw three interceptions last weekend, after looking like a king against the Pats?
• As I think Pittsburgh's defense is very similar to, and probably better than, the Eagles and the Ravens, it will be another test this Sunday in Foxboro. But at least it is a day game, albeit at 4pm instead of 1pm.