Patriots' Last Stop before Playoffs

The reality is looking towards 16-0. Although it is unpatriotic to count your chickens so to speak, the Giants will have no real advantage in trying to compete with the Patriots compared with their opponents of the NFC Wild Card Playoff game and the game should be a fleeted victory. While the Giants may shake things up in the first half to try out some novelties, by the 2nd half, their starters should be sitting unless the game is less than 7 points. Then I could see Coughlin riding the game along until it is beyond concluded. But I don’t really see this happening and a few early Patriots scores should seal up any NFL competitiveness being displayed by half-time. That is not to say that the Patriots will not “practice” against the Giants.

Everyone is saying that no team, save the Colts, stands a chance against New Englans in the playoffs (and super bowl). This could not be any farther from the truth. Sure the Pats are a dominant team. But undefeatable? C’mon. We scratched out victories over the Eagles and Ravens, were effected by weather against the Jets and almost had a close one and then this past week defeated the worst team in the NFL by a final score of only 28-7 (More on that later). There is no such thing as automatic, and those who think this year’s Super Bowl run will be paved with yellow bricks should learn about the NFL. (The Pats were 14 point underdogs beating the League favorite Rams in 2001.) Everyteam will be hungry for upsets and every potential opponent will be seeking revenge (Pats beat Colts, Bolts, Steelers, Browns and have always been a roadblock to the playoff bound Jags). The scores may indicate an easy victory but there will be no more easy teams to play following the final regular season game.

Last week, my friend and I had the luxury of attending the Pats-Fins game sitting in 40 yard line club seats, enjoying the comforts of credit-card bought Guinness at the club bar and the warmth of the indoor concourse. There was just enough feel of a game to make it authentic, but it was a tease to see what real money can buy you at Gillette. We left in the early 4th quarter and wouldn’t have missed any important plays after the Dolphins touchdown. Of course everyone was disappointed not to see Brady throw a record tying third touchdown (49 TDs) in the game, but in all, it was a victory and we must learn not to be spoiled by the grandeur experienced so far, and begin to accept victory no-matter how stat-unfriendly. Brady’s two picks were a bit of a surprise inasmuch as he has not made many mistakes in prior games.

At halftime, I predicted a trouncing (56-0), especially after a late goal-line turnover on downs where the Dolphins were looking to punch in a 4th down touchdown instead of taking a field goal’s momentum into the second half. Instead, Lemon pulled up a lemon, running out of bounds before the pylon and thwarting a Miami touchdown. I have no idea why he didn’t take the Vrabel hit and score. If it were a HS game, you could give the afraid-to-take-a-hit excuse, but in the pros, that kind of explanation would be career crippling, not to mention embarrassing. But instead of coming out in the second half and annihilating the hapless Dolphins, the Patriots were a ghost of their first-half presence and instead of the trounce, the Dolphins actually scored. The lesson: you can never predict what is going to happen with this Patriots team outside of victory. I am hoping and predicting for a successful Patriots super bowl run, but I don’t think I will be able to predict how it’s going to be done, outside of them scoring more points than the opponent. Well, I think its safe to say Brady will be connecting to Moss for a few TDs.