19-0: 2 to go[/B]
I love the critics who are saying that the Patriots didn\'t look good in this game, and that they look beatable next week. They\'re
right. I love them because they\'re inadvertently heaping onto the pile of validation that this is the greatest team ever. When you win playoff games against very tough opponents by double digits...and that makes you look
weak...well, that\'s never happened before. The bar has never been so high for any team. When the 80\'s 49ers or the 90\'s cowboys won a tough playoff game by 11 points, it would be "Wow, what a team, another double-digit playoff win over a tough foe." With the 2007 Patriots it\'s "Hmmm, they\'re not playing as well as they could...perhaps they may actually lose a game." This is unprecedented.
The claim of greatest team ever is theirs for the taking. They do, of course, still have to take it. This game against the Chargers will be the toughest yet for sure. Tomlinson and Rivers are both definitely playing, no question. Even if LT isn\'t 100%, Turner and Sproles are very, very tough. To be fair, I don\'t think they\'d have any chance if Billy Volek played the whole game, but I also don\'t think he\'s going to play at all so it doesn\'t matter. You know who else is scary? Their punter Mike Scifres. OMG who saw that last punt...66 yards IN THE AIR. If the Colts had let it bounce, that ball could have easily rolled another 14 yards for an eighty yarder. Do you understand what that means? The Patriots could stuff the Chargers on the Charger\'s own 20 (great field position, right?) and then this guy could punt and pin the Pats at their own 1. That\'s just wrong. And he\'s consistent too. Yes, kicking outdoors is obviously tougher, but it also gives you the potential for a tail wind. The Chargers are not the same team that the Pats smoked in September. This will be war.
A fun sublot for everyone will be to see who can produce more roid-rage moments: Shawn Merriman or Rodney Harrison.
On the other side, congratulations to all the Giants fans on the board. No matter what happens, you now have the upper hand on division rival Cowboy fans forever, because the one time they met in the playoffs, you got them. That in and of itself is huge. What a day of football yesterday. Two absolutely riveting games.
One final thought: last year the AFC Championship was obviously the real Super Bowl. The Pats and Colts were so far and away superior to the NFC finalists Bears and Saints that it was pretty sad. This year, the AFC team will be at least a touchdown favorite, but the gap has shrunk significantly. Any of these four teams could win the Super Bowl. Let\'s do it.
