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Cyd Zeigler
First, I got the
Eagles-Falcons game soooo wrong. I couldn’t have been
more wrong. The Eagles finally got over the hump – and I
think that’s a great thing. They’ve had a great season (and
a great four seasons – as I talk about below). Good for
them!
Second, I
got the Patriots-Steelers game dead on. I probably
couldn’t have picked it much better (I suppose I could have
picked them to win by 14, but 13 is pretty darn close).
So much for
the SI jinx (Pats linebacker Tedy Bruschi adorned the
mag's cover last week).
There are
so many reasons they won that game: Patriots head coach
Bill Belichick’s ability to defeat a quarterback the
second time they meet in a season (he’s now 14-0 in such
instances). That ability to adjust and learn from past
mistakes is incomparable, and is a huge reason why they are
one of the two best teams in the league in the last four
years.
Deion Branch. How did everyone
forget about him? I’ll tell you how. Branch caught one pass
against Indianapolis and didn’t play against Pittsburgh on
Halloween. It’s almost as though Belichick planned it that
way – keep him out of the headlines so he can explode in the
AFC Championship. I can’t imagine that’s the case – but,
with a coach like Belichick, you have to wonder. How much
you want to bet that David Patten – who has two
catches for 20 yards in the last two games – explodes in the
Super Bowl?
Quarterbacks. A two-time Super Bowl MVP who is 8-0 in the
playoffs, or a rookie who decides not to wear gloves because
the fans don't like it? Duh!
While all
of this reflects on a great team, don’t even talk to me
about a dynasty. I don't want to hear about it. It’s
a dumb conversation. To me, a dynasty team is one that
leaves a lasting mark on the League. The Steel Curtain
was one. The 49ers of the ‘80s was another. The
Cowboys of the ‘90s – they were good, but didn’t really
leave a “legacy” – the jury’s out.
Five years
from now, we could look back and, with some accuracy, assess
whether this Patriots team is a “dynasty.” I think that
chances are, the answer will be yes. When they win the Super
Bowl this year and manage another one in the next two or
three years, the case will be good. They also went 28-4 over
the course of two seasons; that hasn’t been done many times.
They also won 21 straight games; that’s never been done. The
key, to me, that may mark them as a dynasty five years from
now is the coaching. It’s just phenomenal. “Revolutionary,”
maybe.
But, again,
let’s talk about it in five years.
This Super
Bowl could be seen as a referendum on the last four years.
These are the two best teams in that time period. They each
won 48 games in the regular season – better than every other
team by at least four. They’ve been in a combined seven of
the last eight conference championship games. They’ve won a
combined seven division titles in four years. They’re a
combined 13-3 in the playoffs in the last four years.
It seems
fitting that they are playing for the championship now. For
the Eagles, it will be about getting respect as that
elite team they have been for four years. For the
Patriots, it will be about getting respect as that
super-elite team they have been for the last four years.
The
writing, to me, is on the wall. All season, the AFC has been
the better conference. Against the NFC, the AFC had a
remarkable 44-20 record this season. That is overwhelming
dominance. The Eagles lost two of their three games to AFC
teams (though their game against the Bengals in week
17 really can’t be counted).
And
consider this: the Patriots held the league’s
highest-scoring team to their season low of three points.
Against the league’s stingiest defense, they scored 34
(seven came via the Patriots' defense).
At the end
of the day, though, all of the statistics and numbers don’t
really matter. Matchups? Irrelevant. What matters is the
fact that the New England Patriots are simply in a class of
their own. The combination of coaching staff and players
they have on that team is unparalleled in this league right
now.
The moment
when this team won the Super Bowl was the moment the
Miami Dolphins intercepted Tom Brady’s last pass
in their game in December. That kind of wake-up call awoke a
team that may have started to get a little complacent. Had
New England won that game and gone into Pittsburgh at 15-1,
the outcome on Sunday may have been different.
Instead,
the Dolphins’ victory over the Patriots – the most
embarrassing loss by any team this season – secured the
Patriots’ third victory in four games.
The
Patriots redeemed their regular-season loss to Pittsburgh.
While they don’t get to play Miami in the playoffs, they do
get a chance to poetically redeem themselves for that game
by winning big in Florida.
And they
will.
I’m not
being smug about it. I’m not being an obnoxious fan about
it. It’s just the way it is. Yes, you should still watch the
Super Bowl – it’s a wonderful part of Americana. But,
instead of watching, wondering which team will win, sit back
and watch the best team in football in a long time secure
their spot among the NFL history’s elite teams – “dynasty”
or not.
And to Jim:
I don't need to fire back. It's just nice to see them win
and see you come around.
New England Patriots 31,
Philadelphia Eagles 10 |
Jim Buzinski
--Super
Bowl Pick: I’ve learned my lesson—never go against the
Patriots in a playoff game. I’ll have more before the game
(including my Super Bowl for the Clueless) but for now:
Patriots 31, Eagles 13. For point of reference, I had
picked Philadelphia by 13 in the NFC title game and
Pittsburgh by 3 in the AFC, so read into that what you will.
--Another
year, two more generally uninteresting conference title
games (unless you were a New England or Pittsburgh fan):
Philadelphia 27, Atlanta 10 and New England 41,
Pittsburgh 27. This is the third straight year that each
title game was decided by 10 or more points. In the 10 NFL
playoff games this year, only three can be considered
exciting, tense games. This is why the regular season still
trumps the playoffs in my book.
--Tom
Brady, you’re a terrific quarterback, but ditch the
beard! You look like a Serbian rock star, and that’s not
meant as a compliment.
--Freddie
Mitchell. Keep the Afro Mohawk. It’s absurd, which
describes your act. Never has such an average wide receiver
called so much attention to himself.
--Some
streaks stayed intact Sunday. Dome teams are now 0-9 in
outdoor conference title games after Atlanta’s loss to
Philadelphia. Brady is now 8-0 as a playoff quarterback, and
his Patriots are 31-2 in their last 33 games. Pittsburgh’s
Ben Roethlisberger lost, which means no rookie
quarterback has ever made it to the Super Bowl.
--So much
for home field. With New England’s win at Pittsburgh,
it marked the eighth straight year that a visiting team has
won a conference title game. In that period, away teams are
9-7. In this period, the Steelers have lost three home
championship games.
--After
hearing all week about blizzards and Arctic cold, the
weather wasn’t a huge factor in either game. We saw
several long passes and field goals and both fields were in
good shape.
--The
Patriots have been made an early 6- to 7-point favorite
by the bookies. In their two previous Super Bowls in their
run, they won both on last-play field goals.
--The
Patriots are amazing. Last week they held the league’s
most potent offense, Indianapolis, to 3 points. This week
they score 34 offensive points against the Steelers, who had
allowed the fewest points in the regular season. If they
beat the Eagles, they will be the Team of the Decade.
--There
were two keys to New England’s win. They picked off
Roethlisberger three times, and offensively they kept the
Steelers defense off-balance all game. The key play was
Rodney Harrison’s 87-yard interception return for a
touchdown with 2:14 left in the first half. It gave the Pats
a 24-3 lead and all but sealed the win. Had Big Ben thrown
the ball away, a field goal would have drawn the Steelers to
17-6, a much more manageable deficit than 21. In his two
playoff games, Roethlisberger threw five interceptions (but
he will only get better and be a force for the next decade
or so).
--Steelers
coach Bill Cowher made two fourth-down calls that
will be second-guessed, though I supported them at
the time. In the middle of the first quarter, down 3-0, the
Steelers went for it on fourth-and-1 at the Patriots 40.
They were stuffed and on the next play, Brady threw a
60-yard touchdown pass to Deion Branch.
The second
fourth-down call came early in the final period, with the
Steelers facing fourth-and-goal from the 2. Cowher kicked a
field goal, which cut the Patriots’ lead to 31-20. My three
friends thought Cowher was wrong on both, especially the
second. Their thought Pittsburgh was not playing to win; my
feeling is that neither was key to the game and
second-guessing always occurs when a call backfires.
--Between
commercials of the NFC game, we switched to the NFL Network
and watched some of “Football America.” One of the featured
subjects was a high school summer camp, and there were many
shots of the players cavorting shirtless in rustic cabins
and diving into a lake at a rock quarry. My friend, JP,
dubbed the coach the “Pennsylvania Porn King” since
he looked liked he was filming a Falcon video the way he was
directing his charges. This was the second straight year we
wound up seeing this same clip, which says a lot about the
NFL Network’s programming.
--Here are
the ratings of the four quarterbacks on Sunday (having a
rating of 100 is considered solid). Brady, 130.
Donovan McNabb, 111. Roethlisberger, 78.
Michael Vick, 46. The top two won, which is usually the
case in the playoffs.
--The
Eagles finally got the monkey off Philadelphia’s back
with their relatively easy win over the Falcons. Vick was
exposed as a one-dimensional player who isn’t effective if
he has to throw. His first-down third-period interception to
Brian Dawkins was a killer.
--Loved the
shot of Atlanta coach Jim Mora going ballistic late
in the game, tossing his headset, then stomping on it. He’s
the son of Jim Mora, the former coach who was 0-6 in the
playoffs and notorious for his post-game meltdowns after a
loss (“Playoffs?!!” was his most famous tirades.)
--For the
second straight game, Eagles running back Brian Westbrook
was great, accounting for 135 total yards and several key
first downs.
--Eagles
defensive coordinator Jim Johnson did a masterful job
of confusing and pressuring Vick all game. He's one of those
longtime coaches who never gets the kind of credit he
deserves.
--Yes,
Cyd is smug about the Patriots, despite his disclaimer
at the left. This is someone who was "over them" in 2002
(when they failed to make the playoffs) and suddenly
rediscovered them a year ago, and now is rhapsodizing about
their place in NFL history like he's been their longtime
chronicler. He's the same way with All Things Stanford and
it is one of his charms. Fire away at me, Cyd! I can take
it.
--Make your
Super Bowl prediction on our Discussion Board.
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