:lol::lol: http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=easterbrook/080129&sportCat=nfl Monday, January 28, 2008 Updated: January 29, 2:57 PM ET If the Pats win, are they the best team ever? Maybe ... -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- By Gregg Easterbrook Special to Page 2 Forty-two of the 46 winners of the Associated Press NFL MVP award have been either quarterbacks or running backs. Into this breach each year steps the Tuesday Morning Quarterback Non-QB Non-RB NFL MVP Award -- see the 2007 winner below. But first, the Super Bowl. Let's ask what seem to be the two big questions about the upcoming game. First, if New England wins, are these Patriots the best team ever? Second, if the Giants win, will that constitute the greatest upset ever? If New England wins, the Patriots will not be the greatest team ever -- at least conditionally, until such time as the NFL reveals what was in the Patriots' cheating videos and documents that the league destroyed in September. Maybe once we know the full truth, then a 19-0 Patriots team could be considered the greatest, depending on what the full truth turns out to be. Most of the sports media have rolled over and played dead on the New England destroyed-tapes story; TMQ reminds you of the specifics here. The NFL promised to get to the bottom of the Patriots' cheating and reveal the truth to the public; instead, the NFL destroyed the New England documents and refuses to say what they contained. If the documents vindicated New England or the NFL, it would have been strongly in the league's interest to say so. Instead, the NFL has stonewalled us, so what does that make you think? Until we know what was on the videotapes and in the documents the NFL destroyed, there will always be a cloud of suspicion over the Patriots. How much of an advantage did they gain by cheating? Did they really hand over everything to the league? Are they still cheating now? Most important by far, have they cheated in the Super Bowl? No matter how well New England plays Sunday, every victory the team earned this season -- and perhaps victories in previous seasons, too -- is tainted until such time when we learn what was in the material the league destroyed. New England is aware that its season is an asterisk season; owner Robert Kraft has complained the Patriots are now viewed as "tainted," his word. For all we know, the Belichick Files vindicate the Patriots. But until such time when we learn what was in those files, even at 19-0, the New England Patriots should not be considered a great team because we cannot be sure whether these wins were earned or stolen. Nor can we be sure whether New England's three Super Bowl rings were earned or stolen. And all you sportscasters and sportswriters who will spend this week gushing over the Super Bowl, it would be nice if a few of you mentioned that, a mere four months ago, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell found the Patriots guilty of "a calculated and deliberate attempt to avoid long-standing rules designed to encourage fair play and promote honest competition." Two billion people will watch the Super Bowl; almost all of America's children and teens will watch the Super Bowl. If the bottom line of the event is "It's fine to cheat, you'll get away with it," what message does that send? The battleship Hood was considered invincible, just like the Patriots. Yet it had a hidden flaw. As for the Giants, should they win, that would be an upset, but not one of historic proportions. After all, New England was fortunate to prevail by a field goal when these two teams met a month ago. That day, Jersey/A played most of the game without starters Shaun O'Hara and Kawika Mitchell, both of whom will be healthy Sunday. Plus, the Giants are the darlings of the football gods at the moment. Plus, seemingly emotionless Bill Belichick has revealed, at least in public, affection for only two institutions: his alma mater Wesleyan and the Giants, the team with which he got his first big break and, as an assistant, won his first Super Bowl ring. Obviously, Belichick wants to beat the Giants on Sunday, but he might not want to beat them with the same intensity that he wants to beat everybody else. Achilles had a tiny vulnerability on his heel; the seemingly invincible HMS Hood had a faulty armor plate above a magazine; is Belichick's soft spot for the Giants a similar minor weakness that might be struck precisely? Vegas makes the Giants about two-touchdown dogs. But oddsmaker lines have nothing to do with relative quality of teams. Rather, they are set to motivate equal wagering on both sides, allowing the house to come out ahead regardless who wins. There have been some Super Bowl blowouts, notably San Francisco's 55-10 win over Denver. Sunday's game is likely to be close. The most recent memorable Super Bowl upset was the Giants over the Bills in 1991, the game that ended on the infamous Scott Norwood missed field goal with four seconds remaining. The parallels between that game and Sunday's contest are many. Buffalo came into that Super Bowl as the highest-scoring team in the league, widely viewed as unstoppable on offense; the Bills also had beaten the Giants at Giants Stadium in December, just as the Patriots beat this year's Giants at Giants Stadium in December; Buffalo won that first meeting by four points, New England won its first meeting with the Giants by three points; and, of course, Belichick was a major presence then as now, only then on the Jersey/A sideline. The Giants beat the Bills by playing an extra-rough, almost violent game on defense; by getting away with numerous uncalled pass-interference penalties; and by a conservative ball-control game plan on offense that kept the Buffalo offense off the field. When the Buffalo offense was on the field, it seemed overeager to score really fast and dropped many passes, never settling down. Also, Buffalo punted twice on fourth-and-short in Giants territory, which was puzzling, as throughout the season, the Bills had been aggressive on fourth down. Will any of these markers repeat? I make the Patriots a three-point favorite, based on a final score of New England 38, Jersey/A 35, one month ago. For my scouts' notes on the Super Bowl, see below.
How? It depends on how they loose obviously, if the Pats are up by 17 with 3 minutes left and loose I can certainly understand that but if they just get thoroughly outplayed it just means that they lost. To me a choke job is when a team has a major title or game well in hand but it then gets blown. The '07 Mets, the '04 Yankees, the '92 Oilers, etc. Right now based on nothing but the score the Pats and Giants have an equal chance of winning, so I don't understand how a Patriots loss would constitute a choke. The reason everyone automatically expects the Pats to win is for the most part based on their perception as an unstoppable force rather than an x's and o's analysis. Most people I've heard break down the depth charts of the two teams acknowledge the Giants can win without the Pats necessarily blowing it or playing an awful game. It's an overstatement to basically say that no matter how the Patriots loose (if they do) it's a choke.
LOL...No, if you (Pats) lose It'll be a the biggest choke job in history. Please don't try and sugar coat it. To me MLB, NBA and NHL are totally different, because its more than one game for the championship.
So if the Giants do everything right, Eli plays the game of his life, their front 4 gets insane penetration and the secondary plays well and the Giants win it means the Pats choked?
Well...yeah that was indeed an enormous choke job. Feel free to add that to your list of examples of choke jobs.
Yes, nobody gave them a chance meaning that people who don't understand football at all thought the Pats would crush them and they didn't? What I'm saying is that the Giants are playing damn well right now and should give the Pats a run for their money. Maybe the Pats can choke in certain situations but there are plenty of ways they loose without choking.
Again....if you guys lose then it'll be the biggest choke job in history, doesn't matter how you paint it bro. Good Luck.
Yes! The 18-0 team, from the superior conference, with the best coach in the league, the best QB in the league, and the best WR in the league, among other things, who set all kinds of records for their excellence in the regular season, loses to the NFC Wild Card team whose coach and QB, as recently as 8 weeks ago were both starting to feel the pressure of having to win soon or be done with.... If the Pats come out flat, that'd just magnify the choke job
I don't think an upset is necessarily a choke. If the Pats blow a big lead and lose, thats a choke. If its a close game and the Giants are the winners, well sometimes the better team wins. The Colts didn't choke in SB3, they got their asses kicked by the better team.
You guys are funny. You want it soooo hard. :lol: I still rank Douglas-Tyson as number 1. To each their own. I just love that we have a chance to make history. There are no guarantees, and the Giants are a great team. Hopefully we win. :beer:
