Patriot Games...Part 1 - by Apollo

How rare is it that the 2 Wise Men actually get a request for a topic? Well, it's so rare that it's never happened, until now. Here, with unprecedented timeliness, is our 2005 Super Bowl recap. As is our penchant (or at least mine anyway), the actual outcome of the game isn't nearly as important as the particular things we found interesting about the game itself. So, for all of you who didn't know, the New England Patriots defended their title with a 24-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Now on to more important matters...

Heading into the game, both Wongoz and I were picking the Patriots, even though we both have a soft spot for Eagles star quarterback, Syracuse graduate, and Reebok pitch man, Donovan McNabb. We love him. How can you not? When selected in the first round of the NFL Draft, McNabb was greeted by...boos...boos from some of the worst fans in pro sports. The same fans who cheered at the sight of Michael Irvin when he was nearly paralyzed against Philadelphia several years ago, but I digress. McNabb was bitter, and why wouldn't he be? But he used it as motivation, as fuel that has propelled him at the tender age of 28 years old to one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL. But despite McNabb's brilliance, the Patriots have already shown they can handle star quarterbacks and explosive offences with deadly efficiency, and it seemed a foregone conclusion that they would win their third title in four years.

The game itself seemed to start according to script. McNabb practically fumbled the ball on the opening series and but for a brilliant replay challenge by Eagles coach Andy Reid, the Patriots would have had the ball deep in Eagles territory in the opening minutes. Back and forth they went, and neither team was able to establish a rhythm. Although McNabb and the Eagles were performing much better offensively than the next Joe Montana, Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, the score was 7-7 after one half, and 14-14 after three quarters. The game wasn't particularly exciting, although purists surely appreciated the brilliant play calling and excellent defence from both teams. There were very few big plays. In short, the game was going exactly the way New England likes it. Throughout their amazing run, Patriots coach Bill Belichick has won all three Super Bowls by a field goal or less. Take away games against the Indianapolis Colts and the Patriots have won 5 of the 7 playoff games during their three championship seasons all by a field goal or less. The Patriots thrive in close, defensive, and sometimes boring, struggles. And this game was shaping up to be that way.

In the end, the Eagles and McNabb made far too many mistakes and their final drive stalled with a Rodney Harrison interception. I'm not sure that New England was the better team, which invariably leads to too much praise being heaped on the winner, and too much blame being heaped on the loser, but that's pro sports. What did stand out to me was the absolutely incredible performance of Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens who had a beautiful 122 yard performance while playing on an ankle that had been broken mere weeks before the game. While Owens had 9 catches and previously maligned Todd Pinkston also had a big game, it was again not enough to cancel out a coming out party for Deion Branch and another steady if not spectacular performance by Brady. Owens gets a lot of deserved criticism for his on-field antics and his sometimes ridiculous off-field comments. However, unlike the equally talented Randy Moss, Owens has the work ethic to back up his bravado.

Speaking of bravado, I've been trying to figure out why I don't like the Patriots. They're a blue collar team with a lot of great role players who have bought into a system and go about their business with little fanfare. They're the modern day equivalent of the New York Giants under Bill Parcells, which makes sense since Belichick was Parcells' student back in those days, whether either of them cares to admit it or not. But it's something else. It's linebacker Mike Vrabel, Branch, and Harrison flapping their arms mockingly following big plays. It's the arrogance and cockiness of Belichick and his coaching staff. The Patriots play and act as if they're still the underdog and now that they've won, they're going to shove it back at the world. It's an attitude that the Boston Red Sox shared to a certain degree during their improbable World Series run this past season. It's an attitude that a lot of Boston-area fans share, and I don't like it. Sure, New York is digustingly arrogant, Los Angeles is far too snobby and stuck up, and Toronto is somewhere in between. Those cities, and the teams that play there, (except for the Raptors), try to be bullies, and everyone hates them for it. What's more annoying than a bully though is the little kid who finally wins and then runs around telling the neighbourhood all about it all summer. I should like the Patriots. There's a lot to like about them. But I just don't. I don't like the Green Bay Packers fans who ridiculed Moss for losing in the playoffs after Minnesota beat Green Bay. I don't like Red Sox fans who made fun of Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter after eliminating the Yankees. So, I don't like the way the Patriots are handling themselves as champions. It's nitpicking to a certain degree, particularly since I find a lot of what Owens and others do rather hilarious, but I just don't get the feeling that this is a classy team or a classy organization...which is unfortunate, because that's probably selling them short. In the end, it's probably just jealousy. Brady has three Super Bowls and he's dating Bridget Moynahan. That's just so unfair.

It will be interesting to see whether the parity that the NFL likes to boast about will render both Philadelphia and New England to the ranks of the contenders or pretenders next year. The NFL has a way of bringing champions back to the pack, or in the case of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, to behind the pack completely. New England's vaunted coaching staff is being torn apart, with quarterbacks coach Charlie Weis, and defensive guru Romeo Crenell going to Notre Dame and Cleveland, respectively. The Eagles will have a ton of salary cap space and McNabb and Owens back next season, so the future looks bright.