I knew we were in trouble.
I was watching the FOX pre-game show on Sunday afternoon and the crew began previewing the upcoming Colts/Patriots match-up. And to my utter shock, not only did Terry Bradshaw, Howie Long, and Jimmy Johnson all talk about how Tom Brady is ultimately a better quarterback than Peyton Manning, but they each went on to actually pick the Patriots to win the game. It was the first of two "Twighlight Zone" moments I would experience that day, and I knew it meant we were in trouble...
You see, that's not the way things are supposed to play out. That's not how things have gone for New England the past five seasons. The Patriots always have a small stumble out of the gate that gets everyone doubting. They then proceed to reel off a string of victories to let people know they're still contenders. However, by this point there's always some team who's gotten hot way too early and is grabbing everyone's attention away from the Patriots. That team usually trips up, while New England ultimately continues to pile up wins, making them a huge threat to win the Super Bowl - except everyone's bought into all the hype that been spewed for the past 17 weeks. So some team like Pittsburgh, or Indy who either got the best of the Patriots early in the season, or has received a copious amount of undue praise during the past four months is favored in their post-season match-up. The Patriots go on to blow out their highly touted rival, and then proceed to win the Super Bowl.
That's been the Patriots recipe for success during their three Super Bowl seasons, and it's worked like a charm. There's just no substitute for discipline, dedication, and disrespect. And when Terry, Howie, and Jimmy began praising Brady and his teammates, they, and the rest of the media, effectively took that last ingredient away.
"No Respect" has been the cry of the New England Patriots locker room for six straight seasons. It was almost a game to watch ESPN each week and see what half-witted reason their analysts could come up with as to why the Patriots were going to come up short in their quest for a Super Bowl. And at the same time, it proved to be an effective motivator for the team to step it up each week.
So when the Patriots were pegged as three-point favorites over the undefeated Colts and became the consensus pick to win the game, it definitely startled me. It just didn't feel right. I wanted to say, "What are you guys thinking? What about Peyton Manning's incredible stats? What about Tom Brady's lack of receivers? Don't you guys remember what happened when these teams played each other last year?"
And then when Chicago, who was poised to be the classic "team that got hot way to early and is grabbing everyone's attention away from the Patriots", went and squandered their chance of going undefeated by crumbling against Miami, I really knew we were in trouble.
That meant a win against the Colts would catapult us to first place in the entire league and make us the undisputed #1 contender for the Super Bowl. Not a good thing for two reasons: One, achieving that status by Week 9 means that you're probably going down at some point. That's way to long to stay at the top with everybody gunning for you. And two, it would have made things far too simple for the Patriots. This is a team that lives on controversy. So of course we blew our shot.
I'm not saying the Patriots threw the game on purpose. They'd never do that. But anyone who follows sports knows how powerful irony is. And it doesn't get more ironic than the Patriots, a team who's been complaining about disrespect for years and is also the most clutch team in NFL history, blowing a huge game that would have ultimately won them all the respect in the world. It just wasn't meant to be.
Am I upset the Patriots lost? Yeah, I'm upset every time they lose. Am I worried about the Patriots chances of capturing a fourth title? Not in the least. The fact that the Colts have now beaten New England two times in a row doesn't mean the Patriots have any reason to be afraid.
And they proved that, down 7-0 in the first quarter, by going for it on 4th and 3, when they could have kicked a chippy field goal. It was an incredibly bold move. It was an incredibly brave move. And it was an incredibly cocky move. But it paid off. Bill Belichick was willing to make that move because he knows that when push comes to shove, the Colts just can't stop the Patriots.
They did on Sunday night. They won fair and square, outright, and they deserve every bit of credit they received. I won't take anything away from that win. But they just happened to play us on one of Brady's rare "human" nights. He has about one, sometimes two of these four-interception brain-fart games a season. And when he does, the Patriots chances of winning are about as good as surviving terminal cancer. We also were without Rodney Harrison for the majority of the game, which just killed our secondary. So when you combine those two setbacks, it's amazing that this team was still alive during its final drive against a team as good as the Colts.
So despite the fact that the Patriots lost their chance for respect, and threw away what would have gone down as the most memorable moment in Gillette Stadium history with Vinatieri missing a game-winner, their season is far from finished. If anything, they've now righted the course and are back on track to play out their usual championship storyline. Indy's got the headlines wrapped up. The Patriots have got a schedule that could easily lead to them carrying an eight-game winning streak into the post-season. And the table's been set for a classic AFC Championship battle in the RCA Dome. The invitations have gone out and the media are all invited.
Let's just hope they remember to bring the disrespect.
Predictions:
NFC NORTH:
1. Bears
2. Vikings
3. Packers
4. Lions
NFC SOUTH:
1. Saints
2. Panthers
3. Falcons
4. Buccaneers
NFC EAST:
1. Giants
2. Cowboys
3. Eagles
4. Redskins
NFC WEST:
1. Rams
2. Seahawks
3. 49ers
4. Cardinals
NFC SEEDING:
1. Bears
2. Giants
3. Saints
4. Rams
5. Panthers
6. Cowboys
AFC NORTH:
1. Ravens
2. Bengals
3. Steelers
4. Browns
AFC SOUTH:
1. Colts
2. Jaguars
3. Titans
4. Texans
AFC EAST:
1. Patriots
2. Jets
3. Bills
4. Dolphins
AFC WEST:
1. Broncos
2. Chargers
3. Chiefs
4. Raiders
AFC SEEDING:
1. Colts
2. Patriots
3. Broncos
4. Ravens
5. Chargers
6. Jaguars
NFC PLAYOFFS:
Wildcard Round:
Saints over Cowboys, Panthers over Rams
Divisional Round:
Panthers over Bears, Saints over Giants
NFC Championship:
Saints over Panthers
AFC PLAYOFFS:
Wildcard Round:
Broncos over Jaguars, Chargers over Ravens
Divisional Round:
Colts over Chargers, Patriots over Broncos
AFC Championship
Patriots over Colts
SUPERBOWL XLI:
Patriots over Saints
