Are You Ready For Some Football?

[Cin]

Originally Posted by Kobi

When I have no vested interest in either team, I pick the underdog as well. It just seems like the right thing to do.

This year, I do have an interest as I am a Patriots fan. This is not, however, stopping my inner dialogue from mulling things over.

To me, the Patriots have had a so-so season. The defense hasnt always been reliable. The number of new faces in and out of the front line was impressive. Tom Brady hasnt always been as sharp as I would like to see. And, I have seen him more flustered this year than ever before. The offense has varied as well. Some games they made it look easy, some hard, some impossible, some grateful to have the win courtesy of the other guys mistakes.

The Belichick/Brady magic and mystique isnt quite what it used to be. A few teams seem to have out coached us this year, using Belichick like stuff in the process.

Still my guys. Still hope they do well. Grateful they have gotten this far. But, still realistic.

The Giants have had an awesome second half. Their defense has stepped up when it counted the most. Their guys are huge and fast and tough. Eli, given enough time, can throw with the best of them. Their offensive can be explosive. They made minced meat out of the Packers, in the playoffs.

The Giants, to me, are a team on a mission this year. And they did it quietly but steadily to get to this point. Their coach, to me, is a formidable opponent with many Belichickesque techniques used, especially when playing the Patriots.

I think it is going to be a tough game. I hope the Patriots win but it wont surprise me if they dont.

Like you, I am a Patriots fan. I am a Belichick fan. I am a huge Tom Brady fan. The yard sale, flea market, bargain shopper in me thinks he was the best deal in NFL draft history. If he has at least some decent protection and doesn't get badly hurt he could play for a few more years. In that case he will break even more records and on paper will become the greatest quarterback to play the game. That he was a sixth round draft choice, 4th string quarterback is amazing to me. That he threw 3 passes in 2000, count them 3 and came in off the bench to quarterback a team that was 0-2 in 2001 and took them to super bowl and won just blows my mind. And the reality that Belichick loves to get no name guys to play for him hasn't eluded me either. Over the years he has had many walk ons play for him. He puts heart, practice, knowledge of the game, team play, toughness, and execution right up there with talent, maybe he even gives them the edge over it. This makes Brady and Belichick pretty much a perfect match. Not that Brady doesn't have talent, not that anyone who makes it to this level of play doesn't have talent.

But maybe you are right about Belichick, his super powers may be waning. But maybe not.

Anyway as far as the super bowl goes I, of course, want the Pats to win. This is the team who took the Pats perfect season and rendered it meaningless. This is the first year since that super bowl defeat that the Pats have actually won a play-off game. It would be awesome to kick some Giant ass. Yet, I actually like the Giants. Years and years and years ago before New England had a team, most people rooted for the Giants. They were my father's favorite team (until the Pats of course). So I do have a soft spot for them, although not that soft any more. They weren't my team. The Pats are my team.

I like Eli. He annoyed me when he stepped around the draft like he was special. I held the same thing against John Elway. But then I can understand, considering what his father went through in New Orleans, why he stated he would refuse to play for San Diego if they drafted him as the overall first round pick in the 2004 draft. Yet I just don't care for it when someone gets special treatment.

Anyway, I don't doubt that the Pats can beat the Giants. Will they? Who knows. That's why they play the game. But the Giant pass defense is no great shakes (29th I think) so it is likely to be an offensive game. And when it is about the offense, my money will always be on Tom Brady.