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Updated Friday, Feb. 4, 2005, 6:15 p.m.
• Good news for Patriots fans with high-definition TVs.
A story on the WPRI-Fox Providence Web site reports that "subscribers of COX Communications will be able to view the Super Bowl in High Definition on COX, thanks to a last minute agreement reached Friday."
“We’re pleased to be able to provide our COX customers the Super Bowl on FOX Providence in High Definition,” said WPRI/WNAC President and General Manager, Jay Howell.
This year's Super Bowl is on Fox.
The report says Fox Providence is broadcast on WNAC-DT and on Sunday will be carried on Cox Communications, HD Channel 704.
Journal television writer Andy Smith wrote about the dispute Thursday.
He attributed the problem to a "long-standing squabble between Cox Communications and Providence-based LIN TV, which operates both Channel 12 and Fox Providence."
The sides were blaming each other, according to Smith.
The dispute has prevented high-definition TV owners from seeing last year's Super Bowl, last year's World Series or any other high-definition programming on either Channel 12 (WPRI), the local CBS affiliate, or Channel 64, (WNAC) Fox Providence.
The agreement is just for the Super Bowl, but negotiations will continue towards a long-term agreement, according to the report.
• Is anyone out there picking the Philadelphia Eagles to win the Super Bowl?
After two impressive playoff wins, the defending Super Bowl Champion Patriots may have hit their stride just when it counts most. Everyone from Boston, where all 14 of The Boston Gobe's prognosticators have picked the Pats, to Las Vegas, which has made the Patriots a 7-point favorite, seems to recognize this.
All six predictors for CBS Sportsline like the Patriots, and they like them to cover the point spread. Twelve of 16 staffers picking for ESPN.com like the Patriots.
In New England, we're all familiar with the many reasons the Pats should win their third Super Bowl in four years -- the genius coach, the cool quarterback, the solid running game, the stingy defense -- but, for a change, let's listen to a voice or two in the wilderness make the case for the Eagles.
Mike Vaccaro of the New York Post claims that the heavy weight of history sits on the Patriots' shoulder pads and the Eagles will win 20-16.
Here's some of his argument:
"The Eagles have a defense that won't be pushed around like the Steelers were. They have a quarterback, Donovan McNabb, who has yearned for this kind of stage, to paste shut once and forever the mouths of Limbaugh Nation. They have a coach in Andy Reid, who is every bit the match for Bill Belichick, far more so than Mike Martz was three years ago, and at least the equal of John Fox, whose Panthers pushed the Pats to the very last second last year.
"They also have the greatest X-factor in Super Bowl history. Maybe Owens really will be just a high-profile decoy. But maybe he won't. And if he isn't, you have to believe the Eagles will exploit the Patriots' secondary better than the hapless Steelers and hopeless Colts did."
In an entertaining piece that mixes the silly with the strategic, Greg Wyshynski argues for the Eagles on sportsfanmagazine.com.
Here's a sample of his argument:
"The Eagles will win the Super Bowl because as a God-fearing Christian, I cannot question His plan for Terrell Owens.
"The Eagles will win the Super Bowl because this is a different team with Owens and Brian Westbrook both on the field at the same time. While Philly's offense slowed a bit before Owens's injury, there's no question it was the best in football for three quarters of the season. Toss in the fact that McNabb has played out of his skull this postseason, and the Eagles might just have enough on offense to keep up with the Brady."
For the New York Daily News, staff writer Hank Gola doesn't say the Eagles will beat the Patriots, but in a series running this week, he explains what the Eagles would have to do to upset the Pats.
Gola writes:
"According to offensive coordinator Brad Childress, the Eagles are convinced they have "several" plays that can "defeat" the Patriots system. The problem is calling those plays at the right time. It will be up to Donovan McNabb to adjust his pre-snap read because the Patriots are so good at disguising fronts and coverages. McNabb's eyes must be keen in the first critical seconds as he takes his drops when the Pats will often jump into other defenses after showing him an initial look. If he can recognize how the Patriots deploy nickel back, Troy Brown, for instance, he can locate single coverage. McNabb may have only four or five opportunities to make a big play and he can't let the opportunities slip by."
• Island retreat
Win or lose, when it's all over, Patriots coach Bill Belichick will try to find some down time at his offseason retreat on Nantucket.
Writer Rob Duca explored the relationship between Belichick and the island in a piece in today's Cape Cod Times.
"It's sort of home for me," Belichick said. "As a football coach, I've ended up in a lot of different cities. But I've always been able to go back to Nantucket and to 'Sconset. Even when I've been in Cleveland, New York or Denver, there's been an anchor there."
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Updated Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005, 8:06 p.m.
• It's time to sideline these pre-game
topics
Maybe I'm getting cranky waiting through two weeks of Super Bowl hype, but is anyone else surprised that Jacksonville, Fla., has been unseasonably cool considering all the hot air being blown by the pundits, players and talk-show hosts?
Here are a few random thoughts from a frustrated fan on some of the major themes that have been explored ad nauseam over the past 10 days.
(I might have called this "five things I think
I think," a la Sports
Illustrated's Peter King, but I'd hate to get called
to Worcester (even from Providence) or busted down to blogging about
elementary school sports.)
The dynasty question: I love the Pats as much as anyone -- except maybe those guys who shave their heads and paint them silver -- but all this dynasty talk seems silly at best, pretentious at worst.
Can a team really be a dynasty if sports columnists and talking heads have to spend what seems like an eternity exploring and debating the issue?
Dictionaries and the wisdom of ancient linemen aside, I suspect that defining a dynasty is a lot like defining beauty: you know it when you see it.
Finally, can a real dynasty go 9-7 and miss the playoffs in Year 2 of its epic 4-year reign?
God's rooting interest: It's a good thing God healed Terrell Owens so quickly. That way He could turn his attention to Pope John Paul II, in the hospital suffering from respiratory difficulties.
I suspect God is a little more concerned with ensuring that the pope
can play on Sundays than wide receivers, even those as gifted and important
as Owens.
The emotion of Charlie and Romeo's (maybe) farewell: We might see some interesting things during the Super Bowl Sunday. We might even see the Philadephia Eagles win, but I guarantee we won't see Patriots coach Bill Belichick slobbering all over Romeo Crennel in the fourth quarter when he realizes this could be the last safety blitz they ever call together. Same goes for Belichick, Charlie Weis and their last draw play together.
The impact of trash talk: By the way, what's more likely to motivate the other team?
Repeated questions about whether their Super Bowl opponents are part of an unbeatable dynasty? Or one wisecrack from a flaky wide receiver more than a week before the game?
I'm guessing these players will have said far worse to each other within
10 seconds of the opening kickoff. After all, these are guys who sometimes grab
each other's privates during pileups.
The psychology of achievement: Are the Eagles just happy to have made it to the Super Bowl, having failed to win the NFC Championship game three straight times before finally prevailing this year?
Area talk-show hosts and guests have beaten this
topic into the ground, but they're really just killing time between commercials.
Even if somebody could prove that the Eagles are happy just to be in
Jacksonville (wouldn't
it be nice if somebody was?), Dr.
Phil couldn't figure out what impact that would have on the game.
It might mean the Eagles spend this entire week
at Hooters, go
into the game totally unprepared and get beaten badly. Or it could mean
they're so relaxed, they play the game of their lives and disrupt the
dynasty from New England.
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Updated Wednesday, Feb. 2, 2005, 6:39 p.m.
• College loss to McNabb added to Brady's toughness
Tom Brady wants to forget his first matchup with Eagles'
quarterback Donovan McNabb.
"The encounter took place a little over six years ago. McNabb was piloting Syracuse and being touted as a Heisman Trophy candidate. Brady, on the other hand, was an eyelash from losing his short-lived starting job with Michigan after beginning a college career that would never see him fully embraced by Wolverines fans," reports Charles Robinson for Yahoo! Sports.
Robinson notes that Brady and Michigan were coming off a tough, season-opening loss to Notre Dame and fans were calling for Brady, a junior, to be replaced by backup Drew Henson, a freshman.
Playing against Syracuse at home during that game in 1998, Brady was intercepted on his second snap of the game. By the end of the third quarter, McNabb had thrown for three touchdowns and Brady was benched in favor of Henson with Michigan trailing, 38-7.
Brady calls the game one of his "low points" at Michigan.
Life at Michigan wasn't quite as charmed as life in Foxboro has been for Brady. He struggled much of the time. And, as Robinson notes, although Brady started through his senior year, he shared the quarterbacking duties with Henson.
Brady was drafted by the Patriots in the spring
of 2000, but he wasn't picked until 197 spots after McNabb, who was
the second pick in the 1999 draft, Robinson notes.
But those difficult times in college may have played a big part in developing Brady into the hard-nosed winner he's become as a professional.
"Michigan is a tough place to play. The competition level amongst the players is high and I think coach Carr demands a lot of toughness and discipline from his players," Brady told Robinson. "School was tough and there was a time that I thought that it was too tough for me. Looking back, I'm glad I stuck it out. That toughness has made me much more mentally tough, much more battle-tested."
And, Robinson points out, Brady has gone 76-17 as a starting quarterback since that loss to McNabb and Syracuse.
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Updated Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2005, 4:06 p.m.
• Film, schmilm: It's what Pats do on field that counts
Even after winning two Super Bowls in the past three years, the Patriots are apparently underestimated by a lot of their peers.
Brian
St. Pierre, a backup quarterback for the Pittsburgh Steelers, tells writer Bill Kipouras of The Salem (Mass.) News that the Pats can look beatable on film, but almost always prove themselves unbeatable on the field.
"There are a lot of people who say the Pats
don't have this or that, that you can do this or that against them. But
nobody ends up doing what they think they can do," said St. Pierre,
a former star at St. John's Prep in Danvers, Mass., and Boston College.
"I've watched plenty of film on them, and you say to yourself, 'Hey, they're beatable.' But then you turn the tape off at the end, they're winning. It's a hard to thing to explain."
Kipouras wondered: Are opponents perhaps in awe of them?
"Not at all, but I think that actually helps them," St. Pierre responded. "Teams don't give them as much respect as they deserve, even with their record and Super Bowl accomplishments. It works to their advantage."
St. Pierre had the opportunity to study both teams in depth, as his Steelers beat both the Patriots and their Super Bowl opponents, the Philadelphia Eagles, during the regular season before the Pats beat the Steelers in the AFC Championship game.
St. Pierre also provides Kipouras with a positional comparison on both teams.
By the way, St. Pierre isn't underestimating the Patriots this time. He picks them to pull away from the Eagles in the third quarter to win, 28-17.
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Updated Friday, Jan. 28, 2005, 5:54 p.m.
• Calling all Pats fans: Send off your team on
Sunday
Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has invited Patriots' fans
to join him this Sunday in sending the Patriots off to the Super Bowl in Florida.
The "New England Send-off" will be from 9 to
11 a.m. outside of Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass. Romney, Pats' owner Robert
Kraft, and players past and present will speak.
The send-off also includes music, team highlights and
a performance by Patriots' cheerleaders.
Gates to the stadium parking lot will open at 8 a.m. Parking
is free.
The
MBTA will run a free commuter rail train to the stadium from Boston and
Providence. Trains will leave South Station and Providence Station at 8:15 a.m.
and arrive at Foxboro at 9:20 a.m. and 9:15 a.m., respectively.
Return trains will depart Foxboro Station about 30 minutes after the send-off.
By the way, Romney and Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell have completed their Super
Bowl bet, and it involves singing, not eating, according to a report from Pennsylvania's
appropriately named Patriot-News.
Their report says, "The losing governor will travel to the other team's
state, and during a match between the cities' NBA teams, don his rival city's
jersey and sing the " 'Star-Spangled Banner.' "
"At least Romney will, if the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New England
Patriots.
"If Rendell loses, his wife, Judge Midge Rendell, a trained opera singer,
will serenade Boston Celtics fans with the national anthem."
To Rendell's disappointment, Romney rejected the idea of betting food, which
is typically wagered in these types of ventures.
So maybe there's room for Rhode Island's Governor Carcieri -- who will be at
the send-off, too -- to wager some of Rhode Island's signature stuffies for
Philly's famous cheesesteak.
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Updated Friday, Jan. 28, 2005, 11:25 a.m.
• Eagles receiver Owens to ESPN: I'm ready to
play
Eagles top receiver Terrell
Owens, recovering from surgery on an injured ankle, says he plans to play
in the Super Bowl against the Patriots, according
to ESPN.com.
The Pro Bowler told ESPN's Michael Irvin that he expects
to play Feb. 6, barring any unforeseen setback, according to ESPN.com.
"Owens made more progress yesterday, running on the
field in the Eagles' indoor practice facility. When he returned with Eagles
trainer Rick Burkholder, Owens -- who was within earshot of several players
and members of the media -- shouted, 'Everybody said I couldn't do it, Rick.
But it's going down,'" ESPN.com reported, noting that Owens' proclamation came
two days after his doctor said he wouldn't clear him to play in the Super Bowl.
Updated Thursday, Jan. 27, 2005, 6:21 p.m.
• Player stats: The numbers don't always tell
the story
Statistics can lie, or at the very least, they can mislead.
Want proof? Check out some of the NFL playoff statistics.
Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady isn't even among the top five quarterbacks in
playoff passing yardage, according to statistics
on NFL.com.
Who's first? Peyton Manning, now home resting his arm after throwing for 695
yards in two playoff games. In fact, Manning's smiling faces peers out from
beside the list of the playoffs' 5 longest throwers. That picture must have
been taken before the Pats knocked Manning and his Colts out of the playoffs.
The other top four are the Rams' Mark Bulger, 612 yards; the Vikings' Daunte
Culpepper, 600 yards; the Eagles' Donovan McNabb, 466 yards; and the Jets' Chad
Pennington, 461 yards.
Brady actually ranks 7th -- behind Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger -- having
thrown for 351 yards in the Pats' two playoff games.
Reading those statistics, you might consider that Brady hasn't been very successful
during these playoffs, but, as many have observed, all he does is win.
And Brady does rank second in passer
rating for the playoffs, a statistical category with
a formula that also considers completion percentage, average yards per attempt,
percentage of TD passes per attempt and percentage of interceptions per attempt.
Brady's playoff passer rating is 108.9, behind the Eagle Donovan McNabb's 111.3
rating.
It's seems appropriate that the two QBs with the highest ratings will meet
in the Super Bowl.
It's also proof that not all statistics lie or mislead, so here's an attempt
to get to know some of the Eagles better by looking at their numbers.
McNabb
has followed the best year in his 6-year career with a strong playoff performance.
He has completed 64.4 percent of his passes, for 466 yards and 4 TDs in two
playoff games. That's after a year in which McNabb completed 64 percent of his
passes for 3,875 yards and 31 TDs, for a 104.7 passer rating.
McNabb is also a threat to run, although he ran for only 220 yards during the
regular season, his fewest yards rushing during his NFL career. McNabb has run
for 35 yards, 2.7 per carry in the playoffs.
McNabb's favorite receiver,
Terrell Owens, missed the end of the regular season and hasn't played yet
in the postseason because of an injured ankle. He's
rehabbing the ankle in the hopes of playing against the Patriots.
Owens, an All-Pro wide receiver, caught 77 passes for 1,200 yards and 14 TDs
this season.
Running back Brian
Westbrook is another powerful offensive weapon for Philly. He's the third
leading rusher in the playoffs with 166 yards, a 5.9-yard per carry average.
He rushed for 812 yards during the regular season, 4.6 yards per carry and 3
TDs.
Westbrook could be just as dangerous as a receiver. He's caught 10 passes for
86 yards and one TD in the playoffs. During the regular season, Westbrook caught
73 passes for 703 yards and 6 TDs.
If Owens cannot play Feb. 6, McNabb will have to turn to Westbrook and a group
of lesser-known wide receivers.
Greg
Lewis has been the team's leading wide receiver in the playoffs despite
doing little in the regular season. Lewis has caught four passes for 129 yards,
after catching 17 for 183 in the regular season.
Freddie
Mitchell has caught 7 for 85 yards, after catching 22 for 377 in the regular
season.
Todd
Pinkston has caught 4 passes for 59 yards in the playoffs after catching
36 for 676 during the regular season.
Tight end L.J.
Smith has caught 5 passes for 73 yards during the playoffs after catching
34 for 377 and 5 TDs in the regular season.
The team's other main tight end, Chad
Lewis, is out with an injury, after catching 4 passes for 20 yards and 2
TDs in the playoffs.
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Updated Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2005, 6:28 p.m.
• A new meaning to the term 'working vacation'
How will you spend your vacation? Skiing? Sitting on a
beach in Florida? Touring Europe?
Construction worker Jeff Thomason will spend his annual
break preparing to play in the Super Bowl.
That's right. He's preparing to play in it, not preparing
to watch it like the rest of us working stiffs.
Thomason, a construction project manager for a New Jersey
company and former NFL tight end, was signed by the Eagles after their three-time
Pro Bowl tight end Chad Lewis was injured in the NFC Championship game.
"It's incredible. I'm probably the luckiest guy in
the world," Thomason is quoted in a wire services story on
NFL.com.
Thomason played 10 seasons in the NFL, including three
with the Eagles, but he's been out of the league since 2002.
Thomason said he's using his two weeks' vacation to moonlight
as a football player, according to the story.
"When I get back, I'll have to work a year straight
without vacation," he said. "I'll probably make more during vacation
than my annual salary. Now I know how hard it is to earn a buck in the real
world. I worked a lot of hours."
Don't bet on the SI jinx
Guess who's on the cover of Sports Illustrated this week?
It's the Philadelphia Eagles, and that makes some people
nervous -- in Pennsylvania.
Ed Barkowitz writes for Philly.com,
"It has become remarkable folklore that bad things follow those who appear
on the Sports Illustrated cover.
"The SI jinx dates to the magazine's first issue,"
Barkowitz writes. "A week after Eddie Mathews was featured on the Aug.
16, 1954 cover, the Braves third baseman injured his hand and missed 7 days."
Philly fans shouldn't worry too much. The Patriots's
Tedy Bruschi was on last week's cover before the AFC Championship game, and
it worked out pretty well for the Pats.
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Updated Monday, Jan. 24, 2005, 6:20 p.m.
• Pats' killer instinct made all the difference
The New England Patriots have a smart, talented quarterback,
a solid running game, a tenacious defense, brilliant coaching, and, oh yes,
a nasty killer instinct.
Just ask the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Some oberservers, like Steve
Levin and Robert Dvorchak of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, write that the
Steelers self-destructed in yesterday's AFC Championship game.
Sure, the Steelers hurt themselves with three interceptions and a fumble. But
like sharks smelling blood in the water, the Patriots made sure those wounds
proved fatal.
Not every team does that. Consider the New York Jets, who should have beaten
the Steelers last week, but let them recover from their self-inflicted wounds
by missing a pair of field goals.
The Patriots jumped out to a big lead -- 17-3 by late
in the second quarter -- and every time the Steelers showed some life, the Pats
stepped on their throats until the breath ran out of them.
Surprised? You shouldn't be. After all, as Brian
Murphy writes in ESPN.com, the Patriots have "the killer instinct and
game plan commonly found in campaigns run by Karl Rove."
When Roethlisberger threw an interception on the Steeler's
first possession of the game, the Patriots turned it into three points on a
48-yard field goal by Adam Vinatieri, no chip shot at frigid and windy Heinz
Field.
The Pats struck an even sharper blow on Pittsburgh's next
series after Steelers' running back Jerome Bettis coughed up the football on
fourth and short at the Patriots 40. Patriots' quarterback Tom Brady immediately
went for the throat, connecting on a 60-yard bomb to Deion Branch. Pats up 10-0
in just 8 minutes .
Still, the key play of the game came late in the second
quarter with the Pats' ahead 17-3, according to Journal
sports writer Tom Curran.
Though down by two touchdowns, "the Steelers still
had time to narrow the Patriots lead before the break and get back to playing
the game on their terms," Curran writes.
"After a Duce Staley run for 4 yards to the Patriots 19, Pittsburgh had
second-and-6.
"Rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger looked out to his right, eyeballing
tight end Jermaine Tuman and that gave safety Rodney Harrison his opening.
"Stepping in front of Tuman, Harrison easily picked it off and returned
the pick 87 yards untouched. He was able to walk the final 5 yards to the end
zone to make it 24-3, NewEngland."
The only drawback to having a 24-3 halftime lead is that
there are still 30 minutes to play, plenty of time to score three touchdowns.
To his credit, rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger didn't
quit after a tough first half, even if many Steelers' fans headed for the exits
leaving behind a lot of silent yellow seats. At times, in the third quarter,
it seemed like the Steelers could mount a comeback and at least make the game
interesting.
Roethlisberger led his team to a touchdown on its first
drive, bringing the Steelers within 14 points.
The Patriots answered with a touchdown on a 25-yard run
by Corey Dillon, but Roethlisberger and Pittsburgh came back on their next series
with a 30-yard touchdown to Hines Ward.
After forcing the Patriots to punt after just three plays,
the Steelers kicked another field goal to draw within 11 points, 31-20.
But that's as close as they would get.
Here's how Michael
Smith of ESPN.com saw it: "Don't believe Patriots 41, Steelers 27.
The score was 24-3, New England, at halftime before Pittsburgh performed cosmetic
surgery in the second half. The intrigue of what was supposed to be a heavyweight
fight between the league's two best teams lasted about as long as a Mike Tyson
bout, circa late '80s, which is to say it was over early. Pittsburgh tried to
get up off the canvas a couple of times in the second half, but the champs just
kept putting them back on their butts."
Don
Banks of SI.com , who picked the Pats to win the Super Bowl after the Colts'
game, says the Patriots were playing to win, while the Steelers were playing
not to lose.
"Whatever it takes to win. That's what the Patriots
do," Banks writes. "Always better than you. They keep pressing, keep
attacking, keep making you stop them. And they don't get timid, and never go
wobbly in the knees. At times it seems like they don't even stop to consider
what would happen if they failed."
And that's a big part of the reason they will play next
month for their third Super Bowl victory in four years.
Updated Friday, Jan. 21, 2005, 5:32 p.m.
• No one's picking against the Pats this time
It took 14 regular season wins and a playoff whipping
of NFL glamour boy Peyton Manning's Colts, but the defending Super Bowl champion
Patriots have finally made believers out of just about everyone.
Before last week's game between the Patriots and Colts,
the flag football team from Indianapolis was the popular pick, but the Colts
weren't the only ones to learn a lesson from last week's man handling.
The Pats are the favorites going into Pittsburgh for the
AFC Championship game Sunday, despite Pittsburgh's home-field advantage and
domination of the Patriots in a 34-20 Steelers' win on Halloween.
After many of them dissed the boys in the red, white and
blue last week, a lot of national pundits have climbed on board.
Former wide receiver Cris
Carter, picking for Yahoo! Sports, might have summed it up best when he
wrote, "I'll never pick against the Pats again."
Another prognosticator who picked against the Pats last
week, Vinnie
Iyer, of the Sporting News, also changes his tune.
Iyer writes, "Dillon didn't play when the teams met
in the regular season, and it threw off the balance of the Pats' offense, which
after some early struggles couldn't effectively play from behind. A full-speed
force since that thigh injury, he should be motivated to run hard and power
through the stout front of his former AFC North rivals. When the game's close
late, I need to give the edge to Brady and Dillon, even if it's not much over
Roethlisberger, Bettis and Duce Staley.
"Also, in the waning seconds of the game, the Steelers will know why Adam
Vinatieri is just a 'little bit better' at making game-winning kicks than the
Jets' Doug Brien. Patriots 23, Steelers 20."
Sports
Illustrated's Dr. Z (registration required), who picked the Colts in an
upset last week, has also gotten in line.
He writes, "I don't like a rookie quarterback, even
one as formidable as Ben Roethlisberger, against a Bill Belichick defense. Of
course I said the same thing in October, when I picked the Pats to win. But
Pittsburgh beat a crippled team that played without Corey Dillon (144 rushing
yards against the Colts) and was without both tackles by game's end."
He didn't make a pick last week, but count Gil Brandt, former vice president
of player personnel for the Dallas Cowboys, among those who like the Patriots
on Sunday.
Writing
for SuperBowl.com, Brandt says, "Defensively, if head coach Bill Belichick
holds true to form, he'll focus on stopping the run and make rookie QB Ben Roethlisberger
throw the ball."
And the Patriots' victory over the Colts Sunday was enough to convince SI.com's
Don Banks that the Pats will not only beat Pittsburgh, but win the Super
Bowl for the third time in four years.
Banks, who did like the Pats over the Colts, writes, "No more calls, we
have a winner. Write it down. Underline it. Book it, however you want to say
it. The New England Patriots will win it all. Again.
"Anybody care to quibble with that after watching the Patriots on Sunday
pull off the football equivalent of turning water into wine? Miracles might
be getting commonplace in this neck of the woods -- after all, the Red Sox are
the World Series champions, praise be -- but this one was special. Unique. As
memorable as any that have come before for this win-spoiled, battle-tested New
England team."
We won't quibble with that.
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Updated Thursday, Jan. 20, 2005, 6:32 p.m.
• The gloves may came off this Sunday
Will "Big Ben" Roethlisberger wear gloves in the AFC Championship
game against the Patriots this weekend or won't he?
Apparently that's one of the burning questions in western Pennsylvania in the
middle of winter in the year 2005.
And the answer is (drumroll, please) probably not, according to a
story in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The rookie stripped down to his bare hands at practice and said the most famous
glove in Pittsburgh since Roberto Clemente patrolled right field for the Pirates
might disappear Sunday as well, reports Ed Bouchette.
"I'm going to try to go this week without it," Roethlisberger said,
"because it supposedly might snow this weekend. If it's wet, it makes it
worse. We'll see if we can go without this week."
The Post-Gazette reports that Roethlisberger wore gloves on both hands for
several games this season, as he did in college at Miami (Ohio), when it turned
cold.
It did not become an issue until he wore them against the New York Jets and
turned in one of his worst games in what has been the most successful season
of any rookie quarterback in history, Bouchette writes.
By the way, Peyton Manning would hate this weekend's forecast for Pittsburgh.
The National
Weather Service calls for at least a chance of snow every day through Sunday.
The weather service predicts a 50 percent chance of snow showers during the
day Sunday, with highs in the lower 20s and wind chill values as low as zero.
Sunday night should be mostly cloudy with lows of 10 to 15 degrees.
Wide receiver Hines Ward, who is heading to his fourth Pro Bowl, will be one
of "Big Ben's" favorite targets in cold Pittsburgh Sunday night. Ward
undoubtedly looks forward to connecting with Roethlisberger, but forgive him
if he's reluctant to renew acquaintances with Patriots' safety Rodney Harrison.
In
a Sports Illustrated First Person feature this week, Ward acknowledged that
Harrison has hit him harder than anyone else in the league.
"The hardest I was ever hit was by [Patriots safety] Rodney Harrison when
he was with San Diego. I caught a pass, and as soon as I caught it, bam! He
hit me straight up. My chin strap was on my eyebrows. I got right up and smiled.
After the game, he said to me, 'Man, you're one tough son of a bitch.' Great
moment for me."
SI featured Patriots' kicker Adam Vinatieri in the
same feature last week, and that interview raised an issue that could leave
some Pats' fans feeling as if they've been kicked in the teeth.
Asked how he would spend the offseason, Vinatieri replied, "It's a contract
year, so I don't know if I'll be back with the Patriots. We're just going to
stay at our off-season home in Orlando and relax as much as we can before the
baby comes. [Vinatieri's wife, Valerie, is due to deliver the couple's second
child in the middle of April. Son A.J. is 18 months.] Then it's a lot of sleepless
nights."
Sleepless nights for Pats' fans, too, if Vinatieri switches uniforms next season.
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Updated Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2005, 3:05 p.m.
• Will the Pats be able to clock 'Big Ben'?
Pittsburgh Steelers' quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is the NFL's
best story this year, perhaps the best story in several years.
The rookie from a small town in Ohio became the starting quarterback
of one of the NFL's most storied franchises when the veteran starter went down
with an injury in the season's second game.
With "Big Ben" at the helm, the 16-1 Steelers have not
lost a game. He's
thrown for 2,621 yards, and 17 touchdowns in completing more than 66 percent
of his passes and compiling a 98.1 percent quartback rating. Roethlisberger
won Rookie of the Year honors and has become wildly popular in the tough, football-mad
city in western Pennsylvania.
The stands will be full of Steelers' No. 7 jerseys when the Pats
play in Pittsburgh Sunday. Stores
cannot keep Roethlisberger shirts on their shelves. A Pennsylvania restaurant
offers customers the
Big Ben Roethlisberger Burger. And Big
Ben's Beef Jerky has hit the stores.
Showing far more compassion for victims of last month's tsunami
than he's shown for most defensive backs, Roethlisberger has pledged his $18,000
check from last week's playoff game against the Jets to the relief effort.
Roethlisberger's story has already reached made-for-TV-movie levels.
If he and the Steelers can beat the defending Super Bowl champion Patriots this
weekend and go on to win the Super Bowl, look for those Ben Roethlisberger Burgers
selling at your local McDonald's and the "Big Ben Story" playing at
a theater near you.
But that's a big if.
Maybe this is just the kind of conflict, the dramatic tension
needed to make "Big Ben's" story a classic, but Big Ben has hit a
few bumps in the road recently and life won't get easier for him this weekend
with the football genius from Foxboro, Bill Belichick, standing on the other
sideline.
Sure, Roethlisberger had a fine game, throwing for 196 yards and
two touchdowns, when he and the Steelers whipped the Patriots, 34-20, on Oct.
31.
But Roethlisberger and the Steelers don't look anywhere near as
scary as they did on Halloween, not after Roethlisberger threw two interceptions
last week against the Jets, and the Steelers escaped with a 20-17 overtime win
because Jets' kicker Doug Brien missed two field goals.
Rob
Longley of the Toronto Sun writes, "On Saturday night, the quarterback
struggled with his throws and looked every inch the rookie that he is. The Steelers
beat the New York Jets with a combination of lady luck and dominating defence."
And some in Pittsburgh are a little worried about Big Ben. Does
he have an injured thumb? Are injured ribs still bothering him? Is the long
grind of a tough season and the pressure catching up to him?
Ed
Bouchette of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette writes that the Steelers had to
overcome Roethlisberger's mistakes last weekend to pull out the divisional playoff
victory.
Bouchette writes, "Roethlisberger threw two interceptions.
He underthrew a pass to Antwaan Randle El that likely would have been a Steelers
touchdown but turned into seven points for the Jets when Reggie Tongue intercepted
it and returned it 86 yards. Roethlisberger's other interception gave New York
a chance to win in regulation before Doug Brien's 43-yard field goal missed
with no time left."
And it's not just the one game that has some in Pittsburgh worried.
Bouchette notes that Roethlisberger has thrown seven interceptions and four
touchdown passes in his past four games.
He adds, "Now Roethlisberger must face the New England Patriots'
confusing, teeming defense. One scout familiar with the Patriots described coach
Belichick as likely licking his chops and "rubbing his hands together in
his laboratory" as he prepares for the prospect of designing a defense
to stop Roethlisberger."
Now that Belichick has seen Roethlisberger, you can be sure he's
filed plenty of strategic information.
To be sure, too, the Steelers are much more than their rookie
quarterback. They have a pounding running game with Jerome Bettis and Duce Staley
and led
the AFC in rushing with 2,464 yards. They also have a
hard-nosed, stingy defense that gave up just 15.7 points per game, the best
in the NFL.
The Steelers will try not to leave the game in the rookie quarterback's
hands, but look for Belichick and defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel to try
thwarting that by stopping the run and forcing the Steelers into third-and-long
situations.
Bill
Livingston of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes, "The success of unbeaten
rookie quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is about 75 percent due to Pittsburgh's
system. Run the ball with the savagery of their past. Play defense as though
the foundries were still making Steel Curtains. Don't try to do too much. Belichick
will make "Big Ben" beat him this Sunday in the AFC Championship Game.
If he rattled Manning, he might turn Roethlisberger into Luke McCown."
The Ben Roethlisberger story is already a great tale. Look for
Belichick and the Patriots to keep it from getting any better.
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Updated Monday, Jan. 17, 2005, 1:06 p.m.
• How could we have ever doubted Thomas?
In hindsight, after the Patriots dismantled the Colts,
20-3, yesterday, all the hype about Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts
high-powered offense last week seems silly. Doesn't it?
How could anyone have doubted the defending world champion
New England Patriots, their brainy head coach Bill Belichick, clutch quarterback
Tom Brady and tenacious defense led by hard-hitting playmakers like Tedy Bruschi?
All the talk about Manning, his record 49 touchdown passes
and his "unstoppable" offense going against a depleted Patriots' defense
did offer some welcome pre-game suspense for fans of a team that cruised through
the regular season and has become almost boring in its efficiency.
But it was needless worry.
Sure, most of the fans responding to a
projo.com poll were in the Pats' corner. (That's not to say they weren't
biting their nails.) But at least one former Patriot turned local talk show
commentator picked the Colts. And many national pundits wondered how the defending
champs could ever stop the high-flying squad from Indianapolis.
Here's what Associated
Press writer Barry Wilner had to say before the game: "Manning is operating
on an unprecedented level, and he has more weapons to choose from than ever.
(Reggie) Wayne has become a premier receiver, not just a complement to the brilliant
(Marvin) Harrison. (Brandon) Stokley is a perfect slot man. Both tight ends
are especially dangerous near the end zone. The offensive line gives Manning
enough time to go through his progressions - and nobody reads progressions better."
The Pats were barely favored despite playing at home and
owning two Super Bowl rings. They proved the skeptics wrong. It's what they
do. Everyone should know better by now.
Sure, in cruising past Denver last week, 49-24, the Colts looked unstoppable,
but the Patriots don't play flag football like the Broncos and the Colts played
last week.
Here's how the
Indianapolis Star's Phil Richard's summarizes the game in today's edition:
"It was a frosty night in Foxboro, a night for tough-guy football, and
no one plays it better than the world champion New England Patriots. They outplayed,
outhit and outscored the Indianapolis Colts 20-3 on Sunday in an AFC divisional
playoff game."
Journal
columnist Jim Donaldson quotes cornerback Eugene Wilson, explaining the
Patriots' defensive strategy, "We were bumping them the whole game. We
didn't want to let them run free. We wanted to bring the game to them. Our linebackers
did a good job of jamming them at the line of scrimmage, and (the defensive
backs) played over the top."
When will we learn? Did we expect the Patriots to simply congratulate Manning
on a fine season and hand him a plane ticket to Pittsburgh for the AFC championship
game? The Patriots are football players, a team built for the playoffs and the
cold. They
offered the same the same lesson last year, when the Colts came to town
on the heels of a big offensive show, only to see the Pats stop them 24-14 in
the AFC championship game on the way to another Super Bowl.
Brady was almost invisible in Manning's shadow all week,
yet the two-time Super Bowl MVP hogged the camera and the field yesterday afternoon,
leading the Pats on three long scoring drives that had the doubly positive effect
of putting 17 points on the board and keeping Manning off the field and shivering
in the cold for nearly 25 minutes.
How could we have doubted Thomas?
Now some of the folks in Indianapolis are really starting
to doubt Manning. The Colts came into Foxboro averaging nearly 33 points a game.
Manning threw 53 touchdown passes, including four last week against Denver.
The Patriots held the Colts to three points. Manning didn't throw one touchdown
pass. Instead, he threw more groundballs than Derek Lowe and ran his winless
streak in Foxboro to seven games.
"How does Peyton Manning, owner of the greatest regular
season a quarterback has ever played, end up looking as dazed and confused as
a NFL Europe reject?"
asks Bob Kravitz in the Indianapolis Star.
It's on to Pittsburgh for
the AFC championship game next week against the Steelers, an impressive
team that lost only once this season and handed the Patriots an ugly loss on
Halloween, one of just two the Pats suffered this season.
But who in their right mind could doubt the Patriots now?
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Updated 5:50 p.m., Friday, Jan. 14, 2005
• National sportswriters: They're dissin' the
Pats
Colts' kicker Mike Vanderjagt, who claims the Super Bowl champion New England
Patriots are ripe for picking, isn't the only one disrespecting the team this
week.
Some national pundits are leaning against the Patriots in this week's divisional
matchup against Indy.
Vinnie Iyer
of the Sporting News says the Colts will win, 24-21.
"The Colts had no trouble moving the ball on Bill Belichick and Romeo
Crennel's defense in the teams' Week 1 meeting, which the Pats won 27-24. The
problem the Colts did have, however, were three critical giveaways in the red
zone, twice at the New England 1. Peyton Manning was intercepted by Tedy Bruschi,
and Edgerrin James uncharacteristically lost two fumbles.
"This time, the Patriots' defense is without top cornerbacks Ty Law and
Tyrone Poole, and Pro Bowl-bound end Richard Seymour also might miss Sunday's
game. Even with Belichick and Crennel's creative 3-4-based scheming, Manning's
wide receivers and tight ends will have favorable personnel matchups. Considering
all that, Indy should have even greater offensive success this week."
Sports
Illustrated's Dr. Z (registration required) thinks the Colts can upset the
Patriots, who are two-point favorites playing at home, but he doesn't go too
far out on a limb.
"Upset pick, and it's a mild one: Indianapolis wins it. If
I'm wrong, and I probably will be for underestimating the resilience and resourcefulness
of the Pats, I won't be surprised. New England always scores against the Colts
-- an average of 34.2 points in the last five meetings. But I can't get the
picture of Peyton Manning attacking Broncos corner Roc Alexander out of my mind."
Associated
Press writer Barry Wilner lists several reasons why the Colts can prevail,
including the Patriots' injury problems and the "officials' stronger emphasis
on not allowing receivers to be mugged downfield, a direct result of last year's
AFC title game, favors the Colts."
He adds, "Manning is operating on an unprecedented level,
and he has more weapons to choose from than ever. (Reggie) Wayne has become
a premier receiver, not just a complement to the brilliant (Marvin) Harrison.
(Brandon) Stokley is a perfect slot man. Both tight ends are especially dangerous
near the end zone. The offensive line gives Manning enough time to go through
his progressions - and nobody reads progressions better."
Wilner also claims that the Colts aren't intimidated by the Patriots, but we'll
have to see about that.
Former
wide receiver Cris Carter says he likes the Colts because of the matchups,
especially receiver Brandon Stokley versus Troy Brown, the Pats' wide receiver
pressed into duty as a defensive back because of injuries.
Former
quarterback Phil Simms, writing for SuperBowl.com, also sees a difficult
road for the Patriots, although he stops short of predicting a winner.
Simms writes, "I'm extremely curious to see the style of defense the Patriots
will play against the Indianapolis Colts. I love listening to people say, 'You've
got to pressure Peyton Manning. You've got to get in his face.' My observation,
this year more than ever, has been that when you blitz Peyton Manning, this
is what happens: You don't get to him and you expose your defense, which can't
cover his receivers long enough."
It takes a while, but Skip
Bayless of ESPN.com comes around with an argument for the Patriots.
"Maybe I'm the Only Person in the World who believes that Brady's receiving
corps is just as deep and dangerous as Manning's. Maybe I might as well be suicidal
to think that if I'm playing one game for my life, give me Brady over Manning.
Maybe I should be committed for even wondering if Brady's offense will move
(and control) the ball much more easily on Indy's defense than Manning's will
on Belichick's.
"Maybe I've overdosed on 'Cold Pizza' when I imagine New England running
back Corey Dillon bullying that undersized Colts defense for 150 clock-eating,
Manning-frustrating yards. Maybe I'm hallucinating when I think the Patriots
didn't have Dillon last season, and still won. Maybe it's beside all the points
Manning will score that Belichick and Weis weren't yet comfortable feeding Dillon
the ball in this season's opener, when New England barely survived Manning in
Foxboro 27-24. That night, Dillon carried only 15 times for 86 yards."
Closer to home, four of five members of the Boston
Globe's sports staff pick the Patriots.
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Updated 3:11 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 13, 2005
• Fans betting that wintry weather will give Pats
the edge
Forgive Patriots' fans for acting like worried schoolchildren
on the eve of a big test and hoping for a wintry storm on Sunday.
It's not that they want Sunday's playoff game cancelled.
It's just that they figure the weather-hardened Patriots are better prepared
to play in the cold, wind, snow or rain than their opponents from Indianapolis,
who play in a dome and typically prepare for the elements by practicing with
the dome's doors open.
In a column headlined "Here's
hoping for some nasty New England Weather" in The Morning Sentinel of Maine,
writer Travis Lazarczyk appears to have captured the sentiment of many Pats'
fans.
"Mt. Washington, the highest point in New England,
has some of the worst weather in the world. Wind that will pull your hair out.
The kind of cold that makes polar bears reach for a sweater. We need that kind
of weather on Sunday," Lazarczyk writes.
He notes that the Pats have done well winning in its last
three home playoff games in wintry conditions "a Nor'easter (vs. Oakland
in 2002), bone-numbing cold (vs. Tennessee last season) and more snow (vs. the
Colts last season)."
The hopeful theory goes that the Colts have been spoiled because they play
half their games in a climate-controlled dome on a fast turf, protected from
rain, wind, snow and mud.
Weather is certainly on the minds of Colts' fans too as the Indianapolis
Star's Web site includes a Boston weather forecast with its Colts' coverage.
Critics of Colts' MVP quarterback Peyton Manning claim he never would have
broken Dan Marino's record for touchdown passes in a season if he had to play
half of his games in an outdoor stadium in a brutal climate like, say, South
Florida.
Nobody in their right mind expects Manning to play like Ryan Leaf Sunday just
because he's playing outside in January, but the stats show the Colts aren't
necessarily the rugged outdoorsmen featured on those Saturday-morning hunting
and fishing shows.
Michael
Felger of the Boston Herald writes, "History shows that the worse the
conditions, the worse off the Colts will be. Of the Colts' four losses this
season, three came outdoors. And since Manning took over as starting quarterback
in 1998, the Colts are 25-25 (.500) outside. Their indoor record over that time
is 45-24 (.652)."
Meanwhile, the Patriots have protected their home turf
like junkyard dogs.
Glen
Farley of The Enterprise in Brockton, Mass., notes, "Now 23-3 all-time
in regular-season and postseason games at Gillette, the Patriots haven't lost
at home since the New York Jets dealt them a 30-17 setback on Dec. 22, 2002,
ultimately crushing their playoff hopes that year. Since then, the Pats have
won 19 straight regular-season and postseason games at home, a streak that includes
a 17-14 win over the Tennessee Titans in an AFC divisional playoff matchup last
January that was played with the temperature at kickoff all of four degrees."
Yes, apparently those junkyard dogs get even meaner when
it's cold.
Still, those Pats' fans hoping for four degrees and a
blizzard Sunday in Foxboro will be disappointed.
The National Weather Service doesn't call for snow or rain Sunday, but mostly
cloudy conditions with highs in the lower 30s during the day, lows 15 to 20
at night. That's relatively balmy, even dome-like for New England in January.
But don't forget. As
the Journal's Tom Curran and others noted today, the Patriots somehow neglected
to cover the playing field during yesterday's snow and rain storm. With more
rain in the forecast for tomorrow, it's an "oversight" that should
make it tougher for Indy's three big receivers to make their precision cuts
and stay in sync with Manning.
Curran writes, "For the Patriots, home-field advantage
doesn't just mean the crowd is on your side and you get to dress in your own
locker room. It means you get to set the track the way you want. Within reason."
Patriots coach Bill Belichick acted like landscaping at
Gillette Stadium was the farthest thing from his mind when asked about the field's
care yesterday. But some would argue that Belichick's attention to such details
has helped the Patriots win two of the last three Super Bowls.
And most Pats' fans would probably agree that yesterday's
apparent oversight by design is well within reason.
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Updated 6:06 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 11, 2005
• For Pats' fans, it's not the clothes that make
'the man'
The guy we turn to for faith and hope in times like these isn't the Hollywood-handsome
quarterback with the lightning-bolt arm.
And it's not the brash, hard-nosed safety who makes wide receivers wonder if
selling used cars isn't such a bad way to make a living after all.
The guy we worship in times like these never wears a uniform and knows he couldn't
chase down Edgerrin James on a bicycle.
After two Super Bowls here, Patriots Coach Bill Belichick has generated a
cult following among Patriots' fans. He has the charisma of an accountant, yet
we hang on every word and follow him with the fervor of true believers.
In Bill we trust.
One fan has dedicated a Web site to the coach, AllThingsBillBelichick.com.
On talk radio, the hosts and their guests mock those who have the audacity to
criticize the coach. "Didn't you drink the Kool-Aid?" they ask.
To be sure, Patriots fans are a little nervous this week as record-breaking
MVP Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts come to town, so we turn our lonely
eyes to our leader, the defensive guru who has befuddled Manning and guided
his team to victory in five of their six meetings.
Can Belichick do it again, we ask? Can he do it this time without star cornerback
Ty Law? Can he do it even if he doesn't have Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard
Seymour? Sure he can, we tell ourselves.
Belichick's reassuring competence is a consistent theme as sports columnists
play prognosticator and sometimes end up sounding like Dr. Phil for nervous
Pats' fans.
In a column headlined, "In Bill, We Trust," Lenny
Megliola writes in the Daily News Tribune of Massachussetts, "Hey,
no disrespect to the 45 uniformed Colts on Sunday. It's the one guy on the opposite
sidelines with the gray, hooded pullover and the grim demeanor that Patriots
fans figure will make the difference. That would be the head coach."
Dennis
Whitton of the Lowell Sun in Massachusetts writes, "If you don't think
Bill Belichick and Romeo Crennel can come up with a mass-confusion scheme that
will cover up the weaknesses in the Pats' defense, you haven't been paying attention
over the last few years."
And it's not just the New England writers who recognize the powerful hold Belichick
has over his team and its fans. SI.com's
Don Banks writes,"Admit it, it's only Monday and you can't fathom how
Belichick is going to put this particular jigsaw puzzle together. But you know
he will. Because he always has before.
Somehow, the Patriots' ever-resourceful head coach and defensive savant will
make Manning and the Colts' offense work for everything they get. With a strong
assist from Crennel, his talented defensive coordinator."
Yes, Patriots fans can sleep this week (even if the coach doesn't) knowing
that their Super Bowl dreams are about as safe as they can be in the mind of
the defensive savant in the gray, hooded pullover.
In Bill we trust.
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Updated 4:48 p.m., Monday, Jan. 10, 2005
• Who needs trash talk when you can lull the enemy
to its defeat?
Bob
Kravitz, a columnist for The Indianapolis Star, hopes the Patriots give
the Colts extra incentive this week by talking trash.
But as Celtics' legend Larry Bird, an all-star trash talker, might have said,
Kravitz has "a better chance of seeing God."
In an entertaining column posted on his newspaper's Web site, Kravitz imagines
Patriots' coach Bill Belichick unwittingly motivating the Colts by calling them
"gutless girlie men" and "clowns."
That tactic seems to have worked out pretty well -- for the Colts, that is
-- when some Denver players apparently questioned the courage of the Colts'
high-flying receivers before yesterday's 49-24 Indianapolis win over the Broncos.
Oh, if only life were so exciting in Foxboro. Patriots' beat writers could
stop dozing during Belichick's press conferences, and Pats fans wouldn't have
sleep-cheered through the regular season waiting for the real season to begin
with the playoffs.
At
Belichick's press conference today, writers took turns questioning the coach,
while Belichick spent his time deflecting their questions (Hey, the guy is a
defensive genius, right?) and praising the Colts offense in every way imaginable.
Here are some of the gems he threw into the writers' notebooks:
Quarterback Peyton Manning is "having a great year. They have a very
good football team. They're outstanding all the way across the board ...There
isn't a guy they put on the field offensively at a skill position that isn't
a productive playe r... They're good every week, all the time, against everybody."
Belichick relied on his self-effacing sense of humor (at least we think he
was trying to be funny) to avoid a real answer when one writer suggested that
Patriots' fans believe that Manning, who hasn't won in Foxboro, cannot come
to New England and beat Belichick.
The coach is way too smart to suggest that his defensive schemes have gotten
into Manning's head because, for example, the Pats beat the Colts, 24-14, in
last year's AFC Championship game and then beat them again, 27-24, during this
season's opener.
"Nobody wants to see me out there on that field against Peyton Manning,"
Belichick deadpanned. "I'm not going to be out there."
Ooh, wait until some of those quotes get pasted on the Colts' locker room
wall.
And we can expect more vanilla this week from the Patriots' players. These
defending Super Bowl champs don't make stupid mistakes, on the field or off
it.
As
Kravitz's colleague at The Indianapolis Star, Phillip B. Wilson, writes,
"The Patriots are like their coach, Bill Belichick. They're not much for
talking. They take pride in their reputation as the embodiment of blood-and-guts
football, unheralded guys who seem to prevail with sheer will."
No, Randy Moss doesn't play in Foxboro.
If we're looking for entertainment and drama, we won't get much from Belichick
and his players this week, but we will get all we want Sunday when those blood-and-gut
Patriots try to stop league MVP Manning and the game's best offense with a depleted
secondary.
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Instant replay: Look
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