The New England Patriots are going to the Super Bowl again! Yes! The much-vaunted Indianapolis Colts offense was shown to be more air than substance when faced with the best defense in the league. Once again Peyton Manning was outfoxed by Bill Belichick and Romeo Crennel. I had jokingly predicted eight interceptions of Peyton before the game. At least the Pats had half that many.
Of course, let’s not forget the work of the offense. They had seven red zone scores, even if only one of them was a touchdown. Still, once again it was enough as the defense did the rest. And Adam Vinatieri—who struggled all season with his kicks—hit five in a row today. Reggie Jackson was Mr. October. I think Adam should be Mr. January.
Now it’s on to Houston to face the Panthers. It will be a tough battle; the Panthers’ defense has been playing well. But I think their defensive backs will be overmatched trying to cover all the different receivers that Brady spreads the ball out to. And whether it’s DeShaun Foster or Stephen Davis, I’m confident big Ted Washington and the rest of D will stop the run like they have everyone else. Then we’ll see whether QB Jake Delhomme lives up to the billing as the hot new quarterback.
It’s going to be a long two weeks.
George, I certainly was whopping it up. Actually, for the first half of the game I was in a tent in a parking lot across the street from the stadium at the local sports radio station’s tailgate party. As I’ve said before, my brother-in-law Pete paints faces there during home games and I went along with him again. When the game starts, the place empties out except for the radio hosts and the tent staff. That was fun, watching the local sports “experts” jumping around like fan boys.
At half time, we went to my brother Bernie’s house for the rest of the game and that was great, too. His wife Carol put out quite a spread of food.
New England Patriots… The New America’s Team!!!!
I will have to ask Fr. Sib. I know he’s a big Delhomme fan. He seems like a nice kid, but what exactly does he do except hand the ball off to one of his running backs?
Anyway, you should not doubt the Belichick plan. All Pats fans learned in 2001 that you must trust Belichick. I re-learned that lesson after he let Lawyer Milloy go the week the season began.
Remember, 14 wins in a row mean nothing unless you get the 15th.