Beware The Patriots

Giants or Patriots?
Patriots or Giants?

I would have thought, immediately after the Conference title games of last Sunday, that the Patriots would have been favored going into the Super Bowl. And from what I have been able to gather, that's the way the early line went, New England favored by 3 1/2 and there has been some movement, but not much, and it is now 3.

But listen to sports talk radio and the conversation is all about the Giants. About a day after the games last week, all the talk seemed to be how the Giants really have the edge in the upcoming NFL championship. Former Giants players are interviewed, current Giants players are interviewed, the 2008 Super Bowl, in which the Giants beat the 18-0 Patriots, is re-hashed, the Patriots shaky defense is broken down and left broken. It sounds like there is a rush to announce to the world, "Not so fast, my friends! The Giants can win the Super Bowl!"

What if he plays better in the Super Bowl than
he did in the AFC title game?

And the response to that is, "Well, yeah, they can win the game, nobody said they couldn't." But while the whole world is looking over at the Giants have you noticed nobody is talking about the Patriots? Have you noticed the Patriots are not talking. Well, except where quarterback Tom Brady said he would play better. And I guess that was supposed to be a private conversation.

I think it's possible that the Patriots go into "nobody believes in us" mode. Now, that's a little hard to do when you are still a 3-point favorite, but Coach Belichik has the knack for building unity in a professional team like few other coaches. He can talk them into thinking nobody believes in them and preparing like it. It is possible this game may not be as close as we are presently expecting. Remember what happened after Spygate a few years ago? After being punished by the NFL, the Patriots played like they were possessed for the next few weeks, and were obliterating people.

I'm anticipating something similar this coming week. I think the Patriots won't be just playing to win. I think they will be playing to make a statement.

AFC Title Game Notebook

I had time on Sunday to jot some notes as I watched the AFC title game contested between the Baltimore Ravens and the New England Patriots. Now I'm going to write all that stuff again right here. It must have been really good stuff.

First Quarter
3:51 - The Patriots are going to win. (I didn't think of keeping notes of the game until this point. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything.)
3:41 - Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is intercepted. I went looking for art to illustrate this column and was surprised to find I don't have any Tom Brady cards. So I pulled an image from a book I have.
3:25 - Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco finds a guy wide open for 42 yards. I still say the Patriots will win. By the way, when you type 'Flacco', it feels like a misspelled word.
1:57 - I love that architectural feature of Gillette Stadium, the iron arch that spans an opening on one end of the field. So cool. It's shown in the lower center-right of this link.
1:51 - "Blindside" guy, Michael Oher, just rolled his ankle. Bet he didn't see that one coming.
PATRIOTS 3, RAVENS 0

Second Quarter
14:27 - Baltimore was lucky to be in that spot, 4th and 1 on the New England 3, and they didn't go for the first down/touchdown. They may not get back there again - you never know. The Patriots appear to be the better team, so Baltimore should have gone for it. Again, the Pats will win.
RAVENS 3, PATRIOTS 3

12:53 - Looks like Brady is just a touch off, just missing his guys.
12:01 - Brady finally hits a tight end right, Rob Gronkowski, on the button.
10:57 - It's always a relief to not see a head inside those helmets that go rolling around on the field.
10:35 - BenJarvus Green-Ellis, whose head was not inside the helmet that was just on the ground, executes a nifty run for a touchdown. Got the handoff, hesitated, found his blocks, and then ran, nearly untouched, for a 7-yard score.
PATRIOTS 10, RAVENS 3

6:42 - Looking at Flacco, I'm wondering who were the best players to wear the number 5 in the NFL? It's not that common for playmakers. Paul Hornung comes to mind.
RAVENS 10, PATRIOTS 10

I like the Verizon commercial that features R2-D2 - pretty clever. "It's like a million dollars in gas."

3:00 - PATRIOTS 13, RAVENS 10
3:00 - The fact is, New England's defense has not been outstanding this year. Baltimore may be good enough to make this a game.

Third Quarter
9:06 - PATRIOTS 16, RAVENS 10. (I was thinking, but didn't note, that this would be when New England begins to pull away for an easy win. Hmmm.)
3:38 - I think the Ravens' receiver, Torrey Smith, was out of bounds and they are reviewing the play right now. It's 16-16 pending the review.
RAVENS 17, PATRIOTS 16

A Masters commercial in January? In other words, CBS doesn't have the Super Bowl this year. They last had it in 2010 (Saints 31, Colts 17) and will have it next year (Seahawks 81, Broncos 6).
3:36 - The ensuing kickoff return is fumbled by Danny Woodhead and recovered by Baltimore. Kathy says, "Uh-oh. Your team is going to pot."
1:41 - CBS keeps showing Woodhead on the bench between each Ravens play.
0:50 - Baltimore field goal is good.
RAVENS 20, PATRIOTS 16

Fourth quarter
12:19 - Quarterback sneak and Brady is into the end zone for a go-ahead TD - unless it is overturned. And it is.
11:29 - Brady up and over for a touchdown. Patriots get to keep that one.
PATRIOTS 23, RAVENS 20

It's turnover time.
7:22 - And there it is. Flacco gets picked by Brandon Spikes.
7:07 - And the Patriots give it right back. Brady gets picked by Jimmy Smith.
4:55 - The Ravens are in field goal range.
2:55 - It's 4th and 6 on Patriots 33 and the Ravens are going for it. Or not. Time out is called. They do go for it but Flacco's pass is incomplete. The Patriots wind up taking over on downs.

I just CAN NOT take the new Hawaii Five-O seriously. Neither does Steve McGarrett.  The real one.
2:18 - Did the Ravens get anything out of Anquan Boldin today? Answer: Yes. Six catches for 101 yards.
1:44 - Here is the game. New England just executed a nifty three-and-out, so the Ravens have one more shot at it.
1:20 - On a 3rd and 5, a pass completed to, who else, Anquan Boldin. Thirteen yards to the Ravens 39 and a first down.
1:05 - Mayo on Rice, a recipe for an incomplete pass.
0:50 - On a 3rd and 1 from the 48, Flacco completes a pass to Boldin who tears down the sideline to the 23 yard line. Boldin got 60 yards here in this last series, so that's why it seemed he hadn't done much when I asked the question earlier.
0:23 - Pass incomplete to Lee Evans in the end zone. Looked like a TD to me.
0:15 - Field goal attempt to tie the game is - - - NO GOOD. Are you kidding me? Welcome to Scott Norwood's world, Billy Cundiff. Unreal.
Final: PATRIOTS 23, RAVENS 20

Later, the Giants beat the 49ers in overtime to win the NFC title. So to sum up the Super Bowl semi-finals: one missed field goal, one made field goal, and two Harbaughs out.

It's How You Play

From Gregg Easterbrook of ESPN.com -

"Everybody wants turnovers -- but luck with them can make you seem better than you are, while lack of luck with turnovers can show who you are. Good teams win regardless of turnovers, while pretenders rely on turnover luck. On the season the Pittsburgh Steelers are minus-12 for turnovers, while the Seahawks are plus-seven and the Bills plus-four. Which of these three teams would you least like to play?"

We here at Central Standard are Seahawks backers, but even we have to admit the answer to Easterbrook's question is the Steelers. After years of listening to network announcers on NFL broadcasts, one would assume you have to win the turnover battle to be a good team. Easterbrook's counter-intuitive observation challenges that. This is one reason his articles are so enjoyable.

Finally

Our long national nightmare is over. The ugliest uniform in the NFL is no more. The Buffalo Bills return to a more classic, ye classy, look for 2011.

Providing there is a season, of course.

All Favre, All The Time

It is probably a myth that fierce Nordic explorers of yore would burn their ship once they were ashore in a new land in order to prevent retreat. Today's NFL namesakes, the Vikings, have commenced burning the team ship with a third of the season to play and everyone still on board. Talk about poor clock management!

Just a few plays away from last year's Super Bowl, Minnesota has fired the coach, Brad Childress, as of Monday. What has gone wrong? ESPN.com's Gregg Easterbrook has a thought:

"Surely, the Vikings' problem is that they have not bowed low enough before Brett Favre! Childress only drove to the airport to pick him up. Why didn't he offer to fold Favre's laundry too? If only the Minnesota Vikings would show Favre some respect!

Favre leads the league with 17 interceptions -- and maybe he wouldn't be throwing to the wrong place so often if he'd bothered to attend training camp for the past two seasons. Favre also has lost five fumbles; 22 turnovers in 10 games by the starting quarterback would doom any NFL team. The Vikings are last in the NFL in turnover differential -- and Adrian Peterson hasn't fumbled this season! Yet Childress is scapegoated while Favre floats above it all. The Metrodome crowd chanted, "FIRE CHILDRESS!" They should have chanted, "PROTECT THE FOOTBALL!"

In 2007, Green Bay wanted to be rid of Favre because the team was sick of his attitude, which boils down to: me, me, me and have I mentioned me? Sunday, Green Bay's judgment was vindicated in emphatic fashion.

In 2008, Favre single-handedly blew up the New York Jets, leading to a fired head coach and bitter recriminations all around. In 2010, Favre has blown up the Vikings, with a fired head coach and bitter recriminations all around. This must be some inexplicable coincidence -- it can't have anything to do with Brett Favre."

Tim Tebow, Straight-Arrow, Hated

From the Orlando Sentinel:

"These are the sins of Tim Tebow: He is nice to strangers. He's never been arrested. His body is not a canvas of unsightly tattoos. He sometimes uses the word "freak" as a euphemism for the F-bomb because he doesn't curse. He is one of the greatest football players in college football history.

How anyone can stand him is anybody's guess.

The venom spews daily, in the anonymity of blog posts, in cyberspace hate groups, in the voices of callers from Alabama to Alaska. Tim Tebow, party pinata. Everybody take a whack.

The chaos that surrounds Tebow is baffling. He is the most polarizing athlete of this generation, for reasons that remain murky."

Tebow is a guy who, for me, I had no strong opinion about one way or the other. But now I cannot help but root for him, despite my antipathy for the Broncos, because of the sheer amount of baseless antipathy that a vast number of people seem to have for him.

There are real questions about his level of talent and the development of his skills. But for those questions there is an impending and unforgiving exam about to be administered. It will be proctored by the coaching staff in Denver and defenses all over the NFL will have red markers at the ready for any wrong or incomplete answers. Everybody will know whether he can play at the pro level soon enough.

But there is one question that won't be found on the gridiron: What is it about straight-arrows that drives some people bonkers?

OK, NOW They Tell Us

The 2006 Super Bowl featured the Pittsburgh Steelers and, my favorite team, the Seattle Seahawks. Pittsburgh wound up winning the game 21-10, but it was fairly close throughout and Seattle had chances that they did not take advantage of. There was also this matter of a questionable call or two that, were they not made, would have helped the Seahawks fortunes.

Well, now one NFL official, in Seattle's camp this week for a rules session, admits that he made mistakes in that Super Bowl. There's no way to really know, but it's conceivable that the Seahawks might have had a 17-14 lead in the fourth quarter if the calls weren't made.

Honestly, I glad for him for telling the truth and I think this will close that chapter, which still irritates Seattle fans.

Sure would have been nice to win that game.

Warner Done?

Watching Kurt Warner has been a fun ride.

Following that '99 St. Louis Rams team, dubbed 'The Greatest Show on Turf', was an adventure every week as they lit up the scoreboard with Warner at quarterback.

His life's story, stocking shelves at the grocery store, playing arena football, catching on with the Rams, becoming the starter when Trent Green got hurt and winning the Super Bowl, is a tale that defies belief. In fact, it's a good thing it's true, because it's too corny for fiction.

And since St. Louis he's had a great career, a Hall of Fame career, according to some. But the ride may soon be over.

From ESPN.com -

It'll be because it's become nine parts job and one part fun.

"Not the Sundays," he says. "The three hours on Sundays are still fun. But it's the whole week, the whole commitment, the ability to sustain it to your fullest, day in and day out.

"You feel the pressure. You have a game that isn't that great and people are like, 'What's wrong with Warner?' That wears on you. You don't have the joy and the fun and satisfaction of having one of those great games because everybody expects you to have one of those games. You never get to exhale."

Warner still hasn't made the decision and, maybe, he'll return.

But if he doesn't, it's been a great ride.