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Harry Colon's Sportscity Blog
The NFL Best
Written by Harry Colon on February, 12th 2008
This was the game of the decade, a chance to witness history, an opportunity for a team to match the great “1972 Miami Dolphins”. The pundits, commentators and beat writers went overboard reporting the New England Patriots and arguably the best quarterback in history, Tom Brady. This was the most watched game in history, 97 million (what were the other Americans doing?)
They all referred to how fast the track was and the advantage went to the most prolific offense in history; Brady, Moss and the mighty Belichick coached Patriots. They mentioned the undefeated regular season, the legendary coach and the records that were broken to validate their point. In doing so, they painted the Patriots as invincible and consequently overstated the 18-0 record. Las Vegas even joined the fracas by setting the line at an unprecedented 12 points! Little did we know...
Many of the beat writers never played or coached the game at the college level not to mention professional. They crunch the numbers, make note of the records and closely scrutinize every player actions and then report it with bias to the millions who read their column. I respect their view but they miss some of the nuances of the game.
As an ex-NFL player and someone who have been in the trenches, this is how I viewed the Patriots prior to the Super Bowl. The Patriots record was favorable for an undefeated season. Ten of the sixteen regular season opponents did not make it to the playoffs. The average margin of victory for the first 8 games was an amazing 22.3 points. The Patriots did not play a close game until week 9 when they visited the Indianapolis Colts.
All of these things benefited them tremendously! As we know, football is a game of attrition and injuries play a major role in the success of a season. Also, playing a high level week in and week out is very difficult and wear on a team’s mental state and focus. One slip and a defeat is staring you in the face by week 8. Fortunately, the Patriots drew a favorable schedule and took full advantage. They beat the teams they were supposed to beat and quite frankly several opponents allowed the talent of Moss and Brady to dominate.
Anyone who played the game knows that by midseason those nagging injuries are distracting, the meetings become longer and you begin to welcome an “easy” game. (That is if you have difficult schedule) The Patriots got exactly what the doctor would recommend….the 1-15 Dolphins, 4-12 Jets and the 7-9 Bills, all in the division whom they had to play twice. A total of six games!
The commentators ignored these facts and continued to be enamored with the New England Patriots pursuit of the 1972 Dolphins and history. So when it was time to promote the Super Bowl everything was a go and the Giants were just a by product of the inevitable…19-0 and never stood a chance of winning.
When evaluating the Super Bowl, I thought that the Giants could win if three things happened. Two were rational and one irrational, at least I thought so. One the Giants had to run the ball effectively (run Forest run), two get pressure on Brady with the four down linemen. There’s a saying that states “offense may win games by defense win championships”. Lastly, the irrational…Brady and the Patriots had to come out flat and not play well.
We now know the answer; the front four of the Giants were unbelievable and dominated the invincible Patriots. But who knew it would come from the inside, the defensive tackles when the defensive ends were garnering all the attention! We all thought that the fast track would favor the athletes on the offensive side but not the athletic defensive line of the Giants. They made the three pro bowl offensive linemen of the Patriots look like college players.
Give the Patriots some credit, they should be considered as one of the greatest teams in history. After all no other team has gone 18-0; not even the 1972 Dolphins who by the way, did not play a single winning team during the regular season. Tom Brady broke the single season record for touchdown passes with 50 and Randy Moss broke the record for touchdown receptions with 23.
I wanted the New England Patriots to win so I could witness history. I also thought that the Patriots were the better team. Consequently, I fell in the category of. “Never have so many, thought they knew so much, but actually knew so little.” The Giants proved this statement to be true.
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Comments
Harry Colon:
Harry,
I enjoyed your article, but I feel like this was our conversation when you guys came to L.A. Keep up the good work. I’ll continue to follow your blog.
Bert
Harry Colon:
Roomie. You are absolutely correct. It just proves the basics of football have not changed. If you can play good defense and run the ball, you can beat anyone. The question of whether defense wins championships is unproveable though. The same 2 teams with the same player’s (New England and the Giants) had a different result a few weeks ago. Nobody said then, “New England proved that, good offense beats good defense.” Defense wins championships is only said when a particular game seems to support the theory. Similarly, does good pitching beat good hitting in Baseball? Manager’s say that all the time. Yet, when it comes to a key moment in an important game, those same managers will routinely allow their Ace pitcher to walk the opposing teams best hitter. Why is that? Because most of the time it’s not simply whose better, defense or offense, pitcher or hitter, it’s all about timing. Who will (not can) make this play, at this time that determines champions.
Just a little feed back 21.
S’Mo
Harry Colon:
Pressure! Pressure, pressure, and more pressure is the reason for the fall of the mighty Patriots. I mean, let’s give the utmost credit to Giants for going to Arizona and doing what very few thought they could do (including me ‘cause I got paid!). They had a game plan and executed it as only they could. Pressure from the D-line was relentless, constant, and unbearable for the offense which forced the Patriots into uncharacteristic mistakes. Not to mention the steady play of Eli, who took a giant step from the shadows of big bro AND dad.
The pressure of the Patriots’ own expectations overcame them as well. They succumbed to their subtle arrogance which was displayed from week to week in interviews, press conferences, and other media outlets!
Did I say media? I did. This may have been the reason for the disappointment of the Patriots season that was (and let’s not get it twisted, it is a disappointment). Time and time again, the media will “crown” a champion before it plays out on the field, court, or diamond, only to be let down by the outcome. It’s no wonder Mercury Morris was so animated and rightfully so! Don’t they know pressure busts pipes! Nice write-up, Harry
Daddy Rich
Harry Colon:
Bottom line is this, “you gotto bring some,to get some” and the Gaints was bringing to much for the Patriots to get any of what they had been getting. Nice job Harry, Always keep it real and to the point.